Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
March 20, 2018
MARSDAILY
Mars' oceans formed early, possibly aided by massive volcanic eruptions



Berkeley CA (SPX) Mar 20, 2018
A new scenario seeking to explain how Mars' putative oceans came and went over the last 4 billion years implies that the oceans formed several hundred million years earlier and were not as deep as once thought. The proposal by geophysicists at the University of California, Berkeley, links the existence of oceans early in Mars history to the rise of the solar system's largest volcanic system, Tharsis, and highlights the key role played by global warming in allowing liquid water to exist on Mars. ... read more

MARSDAILY
Opportunity Mars Rover brushes a new rock target
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 20, 2018
Opportunity is continuing the exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned about halfway down the approximately 656 feet (200 meter) valley ... more
MOON DAILY
New AI mapping algorithm discovers 6,000 new craters on the Moon
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Mar 20, 2018
Wanting to make their job a little easier, researchers at the University of Toronto developed a new artificial intelligence algorithm that helped them identify 6,000 previously unseen craters on Ear ... more
ENERGY TECH
Laser-heated nanowires produce micro-scale nuclear fusion
Fort Collins CO (SPX) Mar 16, 2018
Nuclear fusion, the process that powers our sun, happens when nuclear reactions between light elements produce heavier ones. It's also happening - at a smaller scale - in a Colorado State University ... more
TECH SPACE
CosmoQuest releases Mappers 2.0 for crater mapping
San Francisco CA (SPX) Mar 14, 2018
The CosmoQuest Citizen Science facility released a major update to its Mappers software. This software previously demonstrated that everyday people can map craters as effectively as a group of profe ... more
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IRON AND ICE
NASA Dawn Reveals Recent Changes in Ceres' Surface
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 15, 2018
Observations of Ceres have detected recent variations in its surface, revealing that the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system is a dynamic body that continues to evolve and change. NASA ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Changed Man With 'Space Genes': Alterations in US Astronaut's Body Startled NASA
Washington (Sputnik) Mar 15, 2018
After a year in space International Space Station (ISS) astronaut Scott Kelly returned home slimmer, taller and with younger cells. However, some changes were not for the better. NASA research ... more
EXO WORLDS
Yale's Expres Instrument ready to find the next Earth Analog
New Haven, CT (SPX) Mar 14, 2018
A new, ground-based spectrometer designed and built at Yale represents the most powerful step yet in the effort to identify Earth-sized planets in neighboring solar systems. The new instrument ... more
EXO WORLDS
NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Nearing the End as Fuel Runs Low
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 15, 2018
Trailing Earth's orbit at 94 million miles away, the Kepler space telescope has survived many potential knock-outs during its nine years in flight, from mechanical failures to being blasted by cosmi ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Scientists mimic neural tissue in Army-funded research
Research Triangle Park NC (SPX) Mar 18, 2018
U.S. Army-funded researchers at Brandeis University have discovered a process for engineering next-generation soft materials with embedded chemical networks that mimic the behavior of neural tissue. ... more
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DRAGON SPACE
China plans to develop a multipurpose, reusable space plane
Beijing (XNA) Mar 18, 2018
China is developing its homegrown reusable space plane, which observers said could be used to attack foreign aircraft, space stations and even intercept missiles if used for military purposes. ... more
TECH SPACE
NASA, ATLAS to Mature Portable Space Communications Technology
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 15, 2018
Portable ground antenna stations could transform NASA's space communications capabilities. With access to undeveloped regions, the mobile systems could bolster the return of spacecraft science, inst ... more
ROBO SPACE
Robotic spiders and bees: The rise of bioinspired microrobots
Manchester UK (SPX) Mar 06, 2018
Jumping robot spiders and swarms of robotic bees sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers at The University of Manchester are already working on such projects and aiming to lead the ... more
EXO WORLDS
Team discovers that wind moves microinvertebrates across desert
El Paso TX (SPX) Mar 19, 2018
The work of faculty and students from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has yielded the first evidence of how waterborne microinvertebrates move across vast expanses of arid desert. An ... more
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Scientists invented method of catching bacteria with 'photonic hook'
Saint Petersburg, Russia (SPX) Mar 20, 2018
An international research team discovered a new type of curved light beams, dubbed a "photonic hook". Photonic hooks are unique, as their radius of curvature is two times smaller than their waveleng ... more


Chirping is welcome in birds but not in fusion devices

MARSDAILY
360 Video: Tour a Mars Robot Test Lab
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 12, 2018
NASA's InSight lander looks a bit like an oversized crane game: when it lands on Mars this November, its robotic arm will be used to grasp and move objects on another planet for the first time. ... more
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EXO WORLDS
Heat shock system helps bug come back to life after drying up
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 12, 2018
The larva of the sleeping chironomid, Polypedilum vanderplanki - a mosquito-like insect that inhabits semi-arid areas of Africa - is well known for being able to come back to life after being nearly ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
UH optometrist investigates changes in eye structure in astronauts
Houston TX (SPX) Mar 14, 2018
Astronauts who spend time aboard the International Space Station return to Earth with changes to the structure of their eyes which could impact their vision. NASA has studied the phenomenon, known a ... more
ROBO SPACE
Tokyo Tech's six-legged robots get closer to nature
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 13, 2018
A study led by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) has uncovered new ways of driving multi-legged robots by means of a two-level controller. The proposed controller uses a netw ... more
OUTER PLANETS
New Horizons Chooses Nickname for 'Ultimate' Flyby Target
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 14, 2018
As NASA's New Horizons mission continues exploring the unknown, the mission team has selected a highly appropriate nickname for its next flyby target in the outer reaches of the solar system. ... more
OUTER PLANETS
Jupiter's turmoil more than skin deep: researchers
Paris (AFP) March 7, 2018
Jupiter's tempestuous, gassy atmosphere stretches some 3,000 kilometres (1,860 miles) deep and comprises a hundredth of the planet's mass, studies based on observations by NASA's Juno spacecraft revealed Wednesday. ... more
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Opportunity Mars Rover brushes a new rock target
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 20, 2018
Opportunity is continuing the exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned about halfway down the approximately 656 feet (200 meter) valley. Opportunity is continuing the imaging survey at each rover location within the valley. In addition to both Navigation Camera (Navcam) and Panoramic Camera (Pancam) panoramas, targeted Pancam multi-s ... more
+ Mars' oceans formed early, possibly aided by massive volcanic eruptions
+ 360 Video: Tour a Mars Robot Test Lab
+ Next NASA Mars Rover Reaches Key Manufacturing Milestone
+ Asteroids and comets shower Mars with organics
+ Opportunity is Halfway Down the Valley
+ Travis AFB delivers NASA InSight Spacecraft
+ The Case of the Martian Boulder Piles


New AI mapping algorithm discovers 6,000 new craters on the Moon
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Mar 20, 2018
Wanting to make their job a little easier, researchers at the University of Toronto developed a new artificial intelligence algorithm that helped them identify 6,000 previously unseen craters on Earth's moon. Researchers first trained the neural network on 90,000 images that covered two-thirds of the moon's surface before testing its ability to detect craters on the remaining third portion ... more
+ 'Luna City 2175' will take audience to a future community grappling with how to be civilized
+ Scientists Share Ideas for Gateway Activities Near the Moon
+ The moon formed inside a vaporized Earth synestia
+ Research details mineralogy of potential lunar exploration site
+ Study details new story for how the moon formed
+ How does water change the moon's origin story?
+ On second thought, the Moon's water may be widespread and immobile
Jupiter's turmoil more than skin deep: researchers
Paris (AFP) March 7, 2018
Jupiter's tempestuous, gassy atmosphere stretches some 3,000 kilometres (1,860 miles) deep and comprises a hundredth of the planet's mass, studies based on observations by NASA's Juno spacecraft revealed Wednesday. The measurements shed the first light on what goes on beneath the surface of the largest planet in the Solar System, which from a distance resembles a colourful, striped glass mar ... more
+ New Horizons Chooses Nickname for 'Ultimate' Flyby Target
+ Jupiter's Great Red Spot getting taller as it shrinks
+ Jupiter's Jet-Streams Are Unearthly
+ Unveiling the depths of Jupiter's winds
+ You are entering the Jovian Twilight Zone
+ The PI's Perspective: Why Didn't Voyager Explore the Kuiper Belt?
+ Chasing a stellar flash with assistance from GAIA
Yale's Expres Instrument ready to find the next Earth Analog
New Haven, CT (SPX) Mar 14, 2018
A new, ground-based spectrometer designed and built at Yale represents the most powerful step yet in the effort to identify Earth-sized planets in neighboring solar systems. The new instrument, the Extreme Precision Spectrometer (EXPRES), is now operational and collecting data at the Lowell Observatory Discovery Channel Telescope in Arizona. EXPRES will improve measurement precision by a f ... more
+ NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Nearing the End as Fuel Runs Low
+ Team discovers that wind moves microinvertebrates across desert
+ Study sheds light on the genetic origins of the two sexes
+ Heat shock system helps bug come back to life after drying up
+ Can Space Junk Help Us Find Aliens?
+ The search for interstellar water
+ JHU performs first laboratory simulation of exoplanet atmospheric chemistry
Aerojet Rocketdyne Ships Starliner Re-entry Thrusters
Redmond WA (SPX) Mar 18, 2018
Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed delivery of all of the crew module engines for Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft. Boeing will integrate the engines into the Starliner crew module at its Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Starliner crew module is designed to transport up to seven passengers or a ... more
+ SpaceX launches innovative secondary payload dispenser along side Hispasat
+ Air Force Chief of Staff: US 'On Track' to Replace Russian RD-180 Rocket Engine
+ Soyuz rocket rolled out for launch
+ Air Force awards launch contracts to SpaceX and ULA
+ India working on 16 ton payload capacity to GEO Transfer Orbit
+ It's Business Time at Rocket Lab
+ ILS secures additional launch orders for Proton medium vehicle


China plans to develop a multipurpose, reusable space plane
Beijing (XNA) Mar 18, 2018
China is developing its homegrown reusable space plane, which observers said could be used to attack foreign aircraft, space stations and even intercept missiles if used for military purposes. The reusable spacecraft can transport people or payloads in orbit from any airport and return to earth, CCTV reported. Unlike rockets which have to be recycled, the space plane will revolutioni ... more
+ China moving ahead with plans for next-generation X-ray observatory
+ China to launch Long March-5B rocket in 2019
+ Satellite will test plan for global China led satcom network
+ China plans rocket sea-launch
+ China speeds up research, commercialization of space shuttles
+ Long March rockets on ambitious mission in 2018
+ Chinese taikonauts maintain indomitable spirit in space exploration: senior officer
NASA plans giant spacecraft to defend Earth by nuking deadly asteroids
Livermore CA (SPX) Mar 18, 2018
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are part of a national planetary defense team that designed a conceptual spacecraft to deflect Earth-bound asteroids and evaluated whether it would be able to nudge a massive asteroid - which has a remote chance to hitting Earth in 2135 - off course. The design and case study are outlined in a paper published recently in Acta Astronautica ... more
+ NASA Dawn Reveals Recent Changes in Ceres' Surface
+ Russian scientists use lasers to destroy mini asteroids
+ Russian physicists make toy asteroids and blast them with a laser
+ Lessons from the Tunguska event
+ Comet Chury formed by a catastrophic collision
+ Watch an asteroid pass between Earth and the moon on Friday
+ Hayabusa2 has detected Ryugu


US Air Force to begin fighter-mounted laser testing this summer
Washington (AFP) March 19, 2018
The US Air Force will this summer begin testing a laser that will be mounted on an F-15 warplane, an official said Monday. The Pentagon last year awarded a $26 million contract to Lockheed Martin for a laser program called SHiELD (Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator.) The idea is to put a laser system on aircraft with an output of about 50 kilowatts to test their ability to zap ... more
+ Navy taps Northrop Grumman for laser weapon system
+ Lockheed Martin awarded first part of billion dollar laser weapons deal
+ Navy orders laser weapon systems from Lockheed Martin
+ 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
Raytheon to support Qatar patriot missile system
Washington (UPI) Mar 16, 2018
Raytheon has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army for services in support of Qatar's patriot missile system. The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $150.4 million under the terms of a cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales contract. The agreement enables Raytheon to provide the government of Qatar with staff ... more
+ JV will deliver Germany's NextGen ground based air defense system TLVS
+ Lockheed PAC-3 missile-defense system successful in demo
+ Northrop Grumman to develop ballistic missile defense simulation models
+ Lockheed Martin Wins $80 Million Contract to Build Missile Defense Targets
+ Lockheed Martin tapped to speed up AEGIS system
+ Interceptor test underscores reliability of proves PAC-3 anti missile system
+ Will missile defense be feeble against hypersonic weapons


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
UCLA researchers develop a new class of two-dimensional materials
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 14, 2018
A research team led by UCLA scientists and engineers has developed a method to make new kinds of artificial "superlattices" - materials comprised of alternating layers of ultra-thin "two-dimensional" sheets, which are only one or a few atoms thick. Unlike current state-of-the art superlattices, in which alternating layers have similar atomic structures, and thus similar electronic properties, th ... more
+ Nanostructures made of previously impossible material
+ Mining hardware helps scientists gain insight into silicon nanoparticles
+ Big steps toward control of production of tiny building blocks
+ New technique allows printing of flexible, stretchable silver nanowire circuits
+ Nanomaterials: What are the environmental and health risks?
+ UT Dallas team's microscopic solution may save researchers big time
+ Researchers invent light-emitting nanoantennas


Astronomers discover galaxies spin like clockwork
Perth, Australia (SPX) Mar 14, 2018
Astronomers have discovered that all galaxies rotate once every billion years, no matter how big they are. The Earth spinning around on its axis once gives us the length of a day, and a complete orbit of the Earth around the Sun gives us a year. "It's not Swiss watch precision," said Professor Gerhardt Meurer from the UWA node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research ... more
+ New method enables high-resolution measurements of magnetism
+ ESA Creates Quietest Place In Space
+ Bursting with Excitement - A Look at Bubbles and Fluids in Space
+ NASA Technology to Help Locate Electromagnetic Counterparts of Gravitational Waves
+ Transportable optical clock used to measure gravitation for the first time
+ Acoustic tractor beam could pave the way for levitating humans
+ Cutting-Edge Technology Enhances Virgo Gravitational-Wave Detector
Scientists detect radio echoes of a black hole feeding on a star
Boston MA (SPX) Mar 20, 2018
On Nov. 11, 2014, a global network of telescopes picked up signals from 300 million light years away that were created by a tidal disruption flare - an explosion of electromagnetic energy that occurs when a black hole rips apart a passing star. Since this discovery, astronomers have trained other telescopes on this very rare event to learn more about how black holes devour matter and regulate th ... more
+ 'Red and dead' NGC 1277 offers insights on the early universe
+ Stephen Hawking: a brief history of genius
+ Quantum vacuum may allow stars to exist in unconventional configurations
+ Double or Nothing: Astronomers Rethink Quasar Environment
+ The occurrence of magnetism in the universe
+ The Schrodinger Equation makes an unlikely appearance at the astronomical scale
+ Dressing atoms in an ultracold soup


Robotic spiders and bees: The rise of bioinspired microrobots
Manchester UK (SPX) Mar 06, 2018
Jumping robot spiders and swarms of robotic bees sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers at The University of Manchester are already working on such projects and aiming to lead the world in micro robotics. But what will these kinds of robots be used for and is it something we should be worried? Dr Mostafa Nabawy is the Microsystems Research Theme Leader at The University ... more
+ Tokyo Tech's six-legged robots get closer to nature
+ Novel 3-D printing method embeds sensing capabilities within robotic actuators
+ UTSA researchers want to teach computers to learn like humans
+ Modified, 3D-printable alloy shows promise for flexible electronics, soft robots
+ Researchers find algorithm for large-scale brain simulations
+ Don't want to lose a finger? Let a robot give a hand
+ Beware of replicating sexism in AI, experts warn
Bell tapped for services to support MQ-8 Fire Scout
Washington (UPI) Mar 19, 2018
Bell Helicopter has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy for three Bell 407 variant commercial airframes in support of the MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aerial system. The deal, announced Friday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $9.8 million under the terms of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. The agreement between Naval Air Systems Command a ... more
+ US State Dept approves Kratos tactial UAV system for international sales
+ Google guru Page tests flying taxis in New Zealand
+ US gives Philippine air force first drones
+ URS awarded contract for support of Air Force's drone fleet
+ Scientists use satellites and drones to discover antarctic penguin 'super-colonies'
+ Unclassified version of new report predicts small drone threats to infantry units
+ Chinese drones slink into North Korean arsenal
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