Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
January 31, 2018
MARSDAILY
A vista from Mars rover looks back over journey so far



Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 31, 2018
A panoramic image that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took from a mountainside ridge provides a sweeping vista of key sites visited since the rover's 2012 landing, and the towering surroundings. The view from "Vera Rubin Ridge" on the north flank of Mount Sharp encompasses much of the 11-mile (18-kilometer) route the rover has driven from its 2012 landing site, all inside Gale Crater. One hill on the northern horizon is about 50 miles (about 85 kilometers) away, well outside of the crater, though mos ... read more

TECH SPACE
Contact with lost NASA satellite IMAGE confirmed
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 31, 2018
The identity of the satellite re-discovered on Jan. 20, 2018, has been confirmed as NASA's IMAGE satellite. On the afternoon of Jan. 30, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryla ... more
ROBO SPACE
Let's make a deal: Could AI compromise better than humans?
Provo, UT (SPX) Jan 23, 2018
Computers can play a pretty mean round of chess and keep up with the best of their human counterparts in other zero-sum games. But teaching them to cooperate and compromise instead of compete? ... more
TECH SPACE
Aerojet Rocketdyne seeks to reduce debris with recent SBIRS launch
Sacramento CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
Aerojet Rocketdyne played an integral part in the launch of the U.S. Air Force's newest missile warning satellite, including a role in helping to minimize the mission's impact on Earth's orbital env ... more
TECH SPACE
Updates on recovery attempts for NASA IMAGE mission
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 30, 2018
After an amateur astronomer recorded observations of a satellite in high Earth orbit on Jan. 20, 2018, his initial research suggested it was the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration ... more
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DRAGON SPACE
China's first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished
Beijing (XNA) Jan 29, 2018
China has accomplished its first successful Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), with a 1.2-meter telescope laser ranging system. Based on the signals of laser pulses reflected by the lunar retro-reflec ... more
EXO WORLDS
First Light for Planet Hunter ExTrA at La Silla
Garching, Germany (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
A new national facility at ESO's La Silla Observatory has successfully made its first observations. The ExTrA telescopes will search for and study Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby red dwarf stars ... more
MARSDAILY
NASA tests power system to support manned missions to Mars
Washington DC (VOA) Jan 30, 2018
United States government agencies say the first tests of a very small nuclear power system designed for missions to Mars have been successful. The American space agency NASA and the Department ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Jumping around for good health
Paris (ESA) Jan 29, 2018
Simple yet efficient: intensive jumping might be a panacea for strong bones, muscles and hearts. A European study has confirmed the benefits of making giant leaps not only for astronauts, but also f ... more
EXO WORLDS
NASA Poised to Topple a Planet-Finding Barrier
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
NASA optics experts are well on the way to toppling a barrier that has thwarted scientists from achieving a long-held ambition: building an ultra-stable telescope that locates and images dozens of E ... more
EXO WORLDS
A hot Jupiter with unusual winds
Montreal, Canada (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
The hottest point on a gaseous planet near a distant star isn't where astrophysicists expected it to be - a discovery that challenges scientists' understanding of the many planets of this type found ... more
MARSDAILY
Opportunity prepares software update as Sol 5000 approaches
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 29, 2018
Opportunity is continuing her winter exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater from a location in the north fork of the local flow channel. Color imaging of ligh ... more


Chinese volunteers spend 200 days on virtual 'moon base'

MARSDAILY
Dust storms linked to gas escape from Mars atmosphere
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 24, 2018
Some Mars experts are eager and optimistic for a dust storm this year to grow so grand it darkens skies around the entire Red Planet. This biggest type of phenomenon in the environment of modern Mar ... more
MARSDAILY
NASA's Next Mars Lander Spreads its Solar Wings
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 25, 2018
NASA's next mission to Mars passed a key test Tuesday, extending the solar arrays that will power the InSight spacecraft once it lands on the Red Planet this November. The test took place at L ... more
MARSDAILY
European-Russian space mission steps up the search for life on Mars
Moscowm Russia (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
In 2013, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos - the Russian governmental body responsible for space research - agreed to cooperate on ExoMars, the first joint interplanetary mission between ESA a ... more
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OUTER PLANETS
Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Spacecraft landing on Jupiter's moon Europa could see the craft sink due to high surface porosity, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Robert Nelson shows. Nelson was the ... more
EXO WORLDS
Johns Hopkins scientist proposes new limit on the definition of a planet
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Pluto hogs the spotlight in the continuing scientific debate over what is and what is not a planet, but a less conspicuous argument rages on about the planetary status of massive objects outside our ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
'Programmable droplets' could enable high-volume biology experiments
Boston MA (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
MIT researchers have developed hardware that uses electric fields to move droplets of chemical or biological solutions around a surface, mixing them in ways that could be used to test thousands of r ... more
EXO WORLDS
TRAPPIST-1 System Planets Potentially Habitable
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 24, 2018
wo exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system have been identified as most likely to be habitable, a paper by PSI Senior Scientist Amy Barr says. The TRAPPIST-1 system has been of great interest to o ... more
MOON DAILY
Russia at work on new station, lunar trips: says top rocket scientist
Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 24, 2018
Russia is set to spend the next decade working on a potential new station that might be built if the International Space Station (ISS) project is terminated, as well as a spacecraft capable of makin ... more
IRON AND ICE
Asteroid to pass by Earth in Feb.
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
A half-mile-wide asteroid is scheduled to make a close pass by Earth next month. ... more
MARSDAILY
Mystery Solved for Mega-Avalanches in Tibet - and Perhaps on Mars
Tucson Az (SPX) Jan 24, 2018
An international scientific effort determined the cause of a highly unusual and deadly glacier avalanche in Tibet in 2016, a new Nature Geoscience paper says. In July 2016, a glacier in Tibet ... more


No space for China's stay-at-home taikonauts

DRAGON SPACE
Backgrounder: China's six manned space missions
Beijing (XNA) Jan 23, 2018
Since the establishment of the Taikonaut Corps of the People's Liberation Army in 1998, Chinese taikonauts have completed six manned spaceflights, conducted over 100 scientific experiments and orbit ... more
DRAGON SPACE
Yang Liwei looks back at China's first manned space mission
Beijing (XNA) Jan 24, 2018
Yang Liwei felt everything vibrating violently. Experiencing acceleration of gravity at 8G, he thought his body was about to be torn apart. He couldn't move. He couldn't see. "I thought I'd di ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Soft, self-healing devices mimic biological muscles
Boulder CO (SPX) Jan 31, 2018
In the basement of the Engineering Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, a group of researchers is working to create the next generation of robots. Instead of the metallic droids you may be ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Human genome decoded with pocket-sized device
Paris (AFP) Jan 29, 2018
Scientists used a portable device no bigger than a cellphone to sequence the most complete human genome ever assembled with a single technology, according to a study published Monday. ... more



European-Russian space mission steps up the search for life on Mars
Moscowm Russia (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
In 2013, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos - the Russian governmental body responsible for space research - agreed to cooperate on ExoMars, the first joint interplanetary mission between ESA and Russia. This project now involves scientists from 29 research organizations, including MIPT and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is the leading contributor of ... more
+ A vista from Mars rover looks back over journey so far
+ Opportunity prepares software update as Sol 5000 approaches
+ Mystery Solved for Mega-Avalanches in Tibet - and Perhaps on Mars
+ NASA's Next Mars Lander Spreads its Solar Wings
+ NASA tests power system to support manned missions to Mars
+ Dust storms linked to gas escape from Mars atmosphere
+ Opportunity gets dust cleaning and passes 45 kilometers of driving


Russia at work on new station, lunar trips: says top rocket scientist
Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 24, 2018
Russia is set to spend the next decade working on a potential new station that might be built if the International Space Station (ISS) project is terminated, as well as a spacecraft capable of making trips to the Moon, General Designer of Russia's Manned Programs Yevgeny Mikrin said Tuesday. The ISS participants have agreed to maintain the program until 2024, but it is unclear what will ha ... more
+ Chinese volunteers spend 200 days on virtual 'moon base'
+ Russian company declassifies 1973 report on Lunokhod-2 lunar rover
+ Possible Lava Tube Skylights Discovered Near the North Pole of the Moon
+ Funding runs dry for Indian Google X Prize lunar team
+ Astronauts: Trump's proposed Lunar mission will take time
+ China Prepares for Breakthrough Chang'e 4 Moon Landing in 2018
+ China solicits messages to be sent to moon
Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Spacecraft landing on Jupiter's moon Europa could see the craft sink due to high surface porosity, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Robert Nelson shows. Nelson was the lead author of a laboratory study of the photopolarimetric properties of bright particles that explain unusual negative polarization behavior at low phase angles observed for decades in association wi ... more
+ JUICE ground control gets green light to start development
+ New Year 2019 offers new horizons at MU69 flyby
+ Study explains why Jupiter's jet stream reverses course on a predictable schedule
+ New Horizons Corrects Its Course in the Kuiper Belt
+ Does New Horizons' Next Target Have a Moon?
+ Juno probes the depths of Jupiter's Great Red Spot
+ Wrapping up 2017 one year out from MU69
Johns Hopkins scientist proposes new limit on the definition of a planet
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Pluto hogs the spotlight in the continuing scientific debate over what is and what is not a planet, but a less conspicuous argument rages on about the planetary status of massive objects outside our solar system. The dispute is not just about semantics, as it is closely related to how giant planets like Jupiter form. Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist Kevin Schlaufman aims to settle t ... more
+ NASA Poised to Topple a Planet-Finding Barrier
+ First Light for Planet Hunter ExTrA at La Silla
+ A hot Jupiter with unusual winds
+ TRAPPIST-1 System Planets Potentially Habitable
+ A new 'atmospheric disequilibrium' could help detect life on other planets
+ Viruses are everywhere, maybe even in space
+ Rutgers scientists discover 'Legos of life'
Irish first as Elfordstown tracks and monitors Rocket Lab satellite deployment
Elfordstown, Ireland (SPX) Jan 24, 2018
US space launch provider Rocket Lab successfully reached orbit this weekend with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle 'Still Testing' deploying 3 client satellites safely into space. The separation of the payload from the rocket was remotely tracked and monitored from Elfordstown Earthstation in Cork. This is the first time a satellite orbital insertion has been monitore ... more
+ Launch Vehicle Lingo
+ Ariane 5 satellites in orbit but not in right location yet
+ ASU student payloads selected to fly on Blue Origin space vehicle
+ Texas firm completes "tie down test flight" of suborbital SARGE Rocket
+ ULA to market Atlas V commercial launches
+ SpaceX CEO Sets Date for First Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch
+ Russia Working On Own, 100-Use, Environmentally Friendly Rocket


China's first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished
Beijing (XNA) Jan 29, 2018
China has accomplished its first successful Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), with a 1.2-meter telescope laser ranging system. Based on the signals of laser pulses reflected by the lunar retro-reflector planted by the U.S. manned mission Apollo 15, the applied astronomy group from the Yunnan Observatories measured the distance between the Apollo 15 retro-reflector and the Yunnan Observatories gro ... more
+ No space for China's stay-at-home taikonauts
+ Yang Liwei looks back at China's first manned space mission
+ Backgrounder: China's six manned space missions
+ Space agency to pick those with the right stuff
+ China to select astronauts for its space station
+ China Focus: The making of heroes - the women and men of China's space program
+ China to launch first student satellite for scientific education
Asteroid to pass by Earth in Feb.
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
A half-mile-wide asteroid is scheduled to make a close pass by Earth next month. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 4 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The intermediate-sized space rock will fly within 2.6 million miles of Earth, roughly 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon. The asteroid was first spotted ... more
+ Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth February 4
+ NASA, USGS confirm Michigan meteorite strike
+ Study identifies processes of rock formed by meteors or nuclear blasts
+ NASA's newly renamed Swift mission spies a comet slowdown
+ NASA image showcases Ceres mountain named for Kwanzaa
+ Development on muon beam analysis of organic matter in samples from space
+ Arecibo radar returns with asteroid Phaethon images


Navy orders laser weapon systems from Lockheed Martin
Washington (UPI) Jan 29, 2018
Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for the Surface Navy Laser Weapon System. The deal, announced Friday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $150 million under the terms of a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The contract taps Lockheed Martin's Aculight Corp. to develop, manufacture and deliver two test units in fiscal 2020 - one uni ... more
+ Lockheed Martin to develop compact airborne high energy laser capabilities
+ Lockheed Martin developing technology to intercept missile threats with Directed Energy
+ Upgraded Lockheed Martin Laser Outguns Threat in Half the Time
+ ATHENA laser testbed system successfully shoots down drones
+ DOD to invest $17M on laser weapons research in New Mexico
Qatar in talks for Russian S-400 missile systems
Moscow (AFP) Jan 25, 2018
Qatar is finalising a deal to buy Russian S-400 air defence systems, the isolated Gulf state's ambassador to Moscow said Thursday. "Negotiations in this direction are in an advanced stage," Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah told Russia's TASS state news agency. Talks were also ongoing for the purchase of "ground force technologies," he added. The announcement came after the historic v ... more
+ America's premier space wing completes SBIRS baseline constellation
+ Lockheed Martin Receives $459 Million THAAD Interceptor Contract
+ Lockheed tapped by Army for 10 more THAAD interceptors
+ Hawaii fires warning officer who sent missile alert
+ Alabama's PeopleTec awarded $33M for missile defense
+ SBIRS GEO Flight-4 Successfully Launched
+ Tokyo simulates first military attack since WWII amid N. Korea threat


Titan topographic map unearths cookie-cutter holes in moon's surface
Ithaca NY (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Using the now-complete Cassini data set, Cornell University astronomers have created a new global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan that has opened new windows into understanding its liquid flows and terrain. Two papers, recently published in Geophysical Review Letters, describe the map and discoveries arising from it. Creating the map took about a year, according to doctoral student ... more
+ Cassini finds Titan has 'sea level' like Earth
+ Giant Storms Cause Palpitations in Saturn's Atmospheric Heartbeat
+ Electrical and Chemical Coupling Between Saturn and Its Ring
+ Unique atmospheric chemistry explains cold vortex on Saturn's moon Titan
+ Cassini Image Mosaic: A Farewell to Saturn
+ Unexpected atmospheric vortex behavior on Saturn's moon Titan
+ Heating ocean moon Enceladus for billions of years
Optical nanoscope allows imaging of quantum dots
Basel, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
Physicists have developed a technique based on optical microscopy that can be used to create images of atoms on the nanoscale. In particular, the new method allows the imaging of quantum dots in a semiconductor chip. Together with colleagues from the University of Bochum, scientists from the University of Basel's Department of Physics and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute reported the findings in ... more
+ Touchy nanotubes work better when clean
+ On the rebound as nanoparticles self-heal
+ Ultra-thin optical fibers offer new way to 3-D print microstructures
+ Nanowrinkles could save billions in shipping and aquaculture
+ Building molecular wires, one atom at a time
+ Nanotube fibers in a jiffy
+ Silver nanoparticles take spectroscopy to new dimension


Scientists unveil world's most powerful tractor beam
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
For the first time, scientists have developed a tractor beam capable for levitating objects larger than an acoustic wavelength. Scientists believe the breakthrough could pave the way for tractor beams powerful enough to levitate humans. Until now, larger objects trapped in acoustic tractor beams proved unstable. Acoustic waves tend to transfer some of their rotational energy to objects, ... more
+ Acoustic tractor beam could pave the way for levitating humans
+ Students design and build augmented-reality 'sandbox' to show how gravity works
+ Next-Generation GRACE Satellites Arrive at Launch Site
+ A New Window on the Universe
+ Sierras lost water weight, grew taller during drought
+ Researchers measure magnetic moment with greatest possible precision
+ Physicists make most precise measurement ever of a proton's magnetic moment
Black hole jets account for three highest-energy particles in the universe
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
Scientists have traced the three highest-energy particles in the universe to a single cosmic origin. The latest research - published this week in the journal Nature Physics - suggests neutrinos, cosmic rays and gamma rays all results from the powerful jets of supermassive black holes. Astronomers at Penn State University found all three particle types supply the universe with similar ... more
+ First evidence of winds outside black holes throughout their mealtimes
+ Relativity matters: Two opposing views of the magnetic force reconciled
+ Scientists find two ways to create 4D quantum Hall effect
+ A new architecture for miniaturization of atomic clocks
+ DARPA Program Aims to Extend Lifetime of Quantum Systems
+ Odd behavior of star reveals lonely black hole hiding in giant star cluster
+ A look into the fourth dimension


Let's make a deal: Could AI compromise better than humans?
Provo, UT (SPX) Jan 23, 2018
Computers can play a pretty mean round of chess and keep up with the best of their human counterparts in other zero-sum games. But teaching them to cooperate and compromise instead of compete? With help from a new algorithm created by BYU computer science professors Jacob Crandall and Michael Goodrich, along with colleagues at MIT and other international universities, machine compromise an ... more
+ Dutch robots help make cheese, 'smell' the roses
+ 'Job-killing' robots, AI under scrutiny in Davos
+ AI, virtual reality make inroads in tourism sector
+ Feedback enhances brainwave control of a novel hand-exoskeleton
+ A miniaturized origami-inspired robot combines micrometer precision with high speed
+ Army scientists improve human-agent teaming by making AI agents more transparent
+ Stingray soft robot could lead to bio-inspired robotics
Drones learn to navigate autonomously by imitating cars and bicycles
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 24, 2018
All today's commercial drones use GPS, which works fine above building roofs and in high alti-tudes. But what, when the drones have to navigate autonomously at low altitude among tall buildings or in the dense, unstructured city streets with cars, cyclists or pedestrians suddenly crossing their way? Until now, commercial drones are not able to quickly react to such unforeseen events. Resea ... more
+ Northrop Grumman tapped to service Army's Hunter drones
+ L-3 awarded $8.2M for retrofits to Predator simulators
+ General Atomics awarded $49M for Reaper drone software development
+ Australia lifesaving drone makes first rescue
+ Boeing unveils UAV prototype for cargo, logistics use
+ Russia's army warns of 'terrorist' drones after attacks
+ Air Force to upgrade Reaper drone fleet as the Predator begins retirement
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