Copernical Team
NASA's MAVEN continues to advance Mars science and telecommunications relay efforts
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With a suite of new national and international spacecraft primed to explore the Red Planet after their arrival next month, NASA's MAVEN mission is ready to provide support and continue its study of the Martian atmosphere.
MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered the Martian atmosphere roughly a year later. Since that time, MAVEN has made fundamental contributions to understanding the history of the Martian atmosphere and climate. A few science highlights include:
- Determination that the bulk of the Martian atmosphere has been lost to space through time, driving changes in the Mars climate and the ability to support life at the surface.
- Characterization of the mechanisms by which gas is stripped away from the atmosphere to space and of the role of solar storms hitting Mars in enhancing the escape rate.
- There is significant unexpected variability in the loss rate of hydrogen to space through the seasons, which has important implications for the history of water.
ExoMars orbiter's 20,000th image
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The CaSSIS camera onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has captured its 20,000th image of Mars.
The image, taken on 13 December 2020, features Solis Dorsum, a segment of a prominent wrinkle ridge system in a vast volcanic plateau, known as Tharsis. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features that form in layered basalt lavas due to loading and flexure of the planet's crust and upper mantle. These tectonic stresses are caused by the planet's interior cooling and subsequent contraction.
The study of wrinkle ridges, and in particular their distribution and orientation, can reveal details of the complex and dynamic geological history of Mars.
The scale is indicated on the image. Download high-res PNG for the full image swath.
NASA, Rio De Janeiro Extend Disaster Preparedness Partnership
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NASA and the city of Rio de Janeiro have extended an agreement to support innovative and collaborative efforts to better understand, anticipate, monitor and respond to natural hazards and other impacts affecting the city. The collaboration leverages the unique attributes of NASA's satellite data and modeling frameworks and Rio de Janeiro's management and monitoring capabilities to improve awaren MDA appoints new VP of Satellite Systems
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MDA is pleased to welcome Amer Khouri as the company's new Vice President of Satellite Systems. As the leader for this business, Mr. Khouri will be responsible for all business area activities including successful execution of existing programs and the continued growth of MDA's Satellite Systems business, which is based in Montreal, Canada.
Mr. Khouri has an extensive 25-year career in gen Compelling evidence of neutrino process opens physics possibilities
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The COHERENT particle physics experiment at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has firmly established the existence of a new kind of neutrino interaction. Because neutrinos are electrically neutral and interact only weakly with matter, the quest to observe this interaction drove advances in detector technology and has added new information to theories aiming to explain myst SpaceX engaged in legal battle with oil company for land to drill for gas
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The spat of land in question is located near SpaceX's Boca Chica launch site, which according to the company's CEO would be used exclusively for Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicles design for long-duration space missions.
SpaceX is locked in a legal battle with Dallas Petroleum Group, which claims ownership of some inactive wells sitting on the same 806-acre (326-hectare) piece of le Spacewalk to fit ground-breaking British kit to ISS
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Two astronauts will undertake a spacewalk to install a revolutionary piece of government-funded technology on the International Space Station (ISS), marking the UK's first major industrial contribution to the spacecraft.
Called ColKa for 'Columbus Ka-band Terminal', the UK Space Agency-funded system will revolutionise scientists' ability in the UK and Europe to access the results of their Rocket Lab demonstrates new orbital maneuvering capability
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Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, demonstrated the increased maneuvering capability of the Kick Stage during the company's 18th Electron launch, successfully burning the Curie engine for more than twice the standard mission duration and delivering more than 1,700 km of perigee change.
On January 20, 2021, Rocket Lab successfully launched a communications sa Earth from Space: Lake Titicaca
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Ahead of World Wetlands Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Lake Titicaca – one of the largest lakes in South America.
Ariane 6 upper stage heads for hot-firing tests
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The first complete upper stage of Europe’s new Ariane 6 launch vehicle has left ArianeGroup in Bremen and is now on its way to the DLR German Aerospace Center in Lampoldshausen, Germany. Hot firing tests performed in near-vacuum conditions, mimicking the environment in space, will provide data to prove its readiness for flight.