Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
March 19, 2019
OUTER PLANETS
A Prehistoric Mystery in the Kuiper Belt



Laurel MD (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
The farthest object ever explored is slowly revealing its secrets, as scientists piece together the puzzles of Ultima Thule - the Kuiper Belt object NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past on New Year's Day, four billion miles from Earth. Analyzing the data New Horizons has been sending home since the flyby of Ultima Thule (officially named 2014 MU69), mission scientists are learning more about the development, geology and composition of this ancient relic of solar system formation. Ultima ... read more

IRON AND ICE
ESA's Hera asteroid mission borrows eyes of NASA's Dawn
Paris (ESA) Mar 19, 2019
The mission to the smallest asteroid ever explored will employ the same main camera as the mission to the largest asteroids of all. ESA's proposed Hera spacecraft to the Didymos asteroid pair has in ... more
MARSDAILY
Trembling Aspen Leaves Could Save Future Mars Rovers
Coventry, UK (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
Researchers at the University of Warwick have been inspired by the unique movement of trembling aspen leaves, to devise an energy harvesting mechanism that could power weather sensors in hostile env ... more
TECH SPACE
Acucela Signs Agreement to Develop a Compact OCT for NASA's Deep Space Missions
Seattle WA (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
Acucela Inc has signed an agreement with the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) to develop a compact OCT*1 device for NASA's Deep Space missions. Approximately 63% of lo ... more
MARSDAILY
Rehearsing for the Mars landings in Hawaii and Idaho
Hamilton, Canada (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
Imagine astronauts on Mars, tasked with picking rock samples that will be used by scientists to search for signs of life. But they can only transport a limited number back to Earth. What should they ... more
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EXO WORLDS
Neural Networks Predict Planet Mass
Bern, Switzerland (SPX) Mar 14, 2019
To find out how planets form astrophysicists run complicated and time consuming computer calculations. Members of the NCCR PlanetS at the University of Bern have now developed a totally novel approa ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Dormant viruses reactivate during spaceflight
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
Herpes viruses reactivate in more than half of crew aboard Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions, according to NASA research published in Frontiers in Microbiology. While only a sma ... more
ROBO SPACE
New cell-sized micro robots might make incredible journeys
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 11, 2019
Researchers have harnessed the latest nanofabrication techniques to create bug-shaped robots that are wirelessly powered, able to walk, able to survive harsh environments and tiny enough to be injec ... more
ROBO SPACE
Mathematics of sea slug movement points to future robots
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 11, 2019
What do pizza slices, sea slugs and one possible design for future soft-bodied robots have in common? They all have frilly surfaces, and new insights about the surprising geometry of frilly surfaces ... more
IRON AND ICE
OSIRIS-REx images close in on Bennu's northern hemisphere
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
This trio of images acquired by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft shows a wide shot and two close-ups of a region in asteroid Bennu's northern hemisphere. The wide-angle image (left), obtained by t ... more
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MARSDAILY
InSight lander among latest ExoMars image bounty
Noordwijk, The Netherlands (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
Curious surface features, water-formed minerals, 3D stereo views, and even a sighting of the InSight lander showcase the impressive range of imaging capabilities of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. ... more
TIME AND SPACE
Physicists reverse time using quantum computer
Moscow, Russia (SPX) Mar 14, 2019
Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology teamed up with colleagues from the U.S. and Switzerland and returned the state of a quantum computer a fraction of a second into the p ... more
EXO WORLDS
ALMA observes the formation sites of solar-system-like planets
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 14, 2019
Researchers have spotted the formation sites of planets around a young star resembling our Sun. Two rings of dust around the star, at distances comparable to the asteroid belt and the orbit of Neptu ... more
MARSDAILY
Pathfinder Rover May Have Explored Edges of Early Mars Sea in 1997
Tucson AZ (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
NASA's first rover mission to Mars, the Pathfinder, imaged an extraterrestrial marine spillover landscape 22 years ago, according to a new paper by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Alexi ... more
TECH SPACE
CesiumAstro raises $12M to develop faster comms for aerospace platforms
Austin, TX (SPX) Mar 14, 2019
CesiumAstro, Inc., pioneer of "out-of-the-box" high-performance multi-beam active phased array communication systems for space and airborne platforms, has announced the closing of a $12.4 million Se ... more


China is overtaking US in artificial intelligence: researchers

ROBO SPACE
Faster robots demoralize co-workers
Ithaca NY (SPX) Mar 13, 2019
It's not whether you win or lose; it's how hard the robot is working. A Cornell University-led team has found that when robots are beating humans in contests for cash prizes, people consider themsel ... more
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STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Hidden phase of matter created by a burst of light makes for Supercrystal
University Park PA (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
"Frustration" plus a pulse of laser light resulted in a stable "supercrystal" created by a team of researchers led by Penn State and Argonne National Laboratory, together with University of Californ ... more
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Controlling thermal conductivity of polymers with light
Chicago IL (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
Polymers are regularly used as thermal insulators for everything from keeping beverages hot to keeping sensitive electronics cool. In some cases, polymers can even be used as thermal conductors to e ... more
MOON DAILY
Returning Astronauts to the Moon: Lockheed Martin Finalizes Full-Scale Cislunar Habitat Prototype
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
For long-duration, deep space missions, astronauts will need a highly efficient and reconfigurable space, and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is researching and designing ways to support those missions. ... more
EXO WORLDS
Cooking Up Alien Atmospheres on Earth
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 15, 2019
Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are cooking up an alien atmosphere right here on Earth. In a new study, JPL scientists used a high-temperature "oven" to heat ... more
MARSDAILY
Bernese Mars Camera CaSSIS Returns Spectacular Images
Bern, Switzerland (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
Three years ago, on 14 March 2016, the Bernese Mars camera CaSSIS started its journey to Mars with the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft. The camera system developed at the University of Bern has ... more
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InSight lander among latest ExoMars image bounty
Noordwijk, The Netherlands (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
Curious surface features, water-formed minerals, 3D stereo views, and even a sighting of the InSight lander showcase the impressive range of imaging capabilities of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. The ESA-Roscosmos Trace Gas Orbiter, or TGO, launched three years ago on 14 March 2016. It arrived at Mars on 19 October that year, and spent over a year demonstrating the aerobraking technique ne ... more
+ Pathfinder Rover May Have Explored Edges of Early Mars Sea in 1997
+ Trembling Aspen Leaves Could Save Future Mars Rovers
+ Rehearsing for the Mars landings in Hawaii and Idaho
+ Bernese Mars Camera CaSSIS Returns Spectacular Images
+ Opportunity's parting shot was a beautiful panorama
+ NASA is with you when you fly, even on Mars
+ Objects in the rear-view mirror may appear interesting


Returning Astronauts to the Moon: Lockheed Martin Finalizes Full-Scale Cislunar Habitat Prototype
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
For long-duration, deep space missions, astronauts will need a highly efficient and reconfigurable space, and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is researching and designing ways to support those missions. Under a public-private partnership as a part of NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Phase II study contract, Lockheed Martin has completed the initial ground ... more
+ Floating ideas for an airlock near the Moon
+ Goddard prepares for a new era of human exploration
+ Lunar water molecules hop as surface temperature increases
+ NASA selects teams to study untouched Lunar samples
+ NASA selects experiments for possible Lunar flights in 2019
+ Gateway to the Moon
+ How a vintage film format brought 'Apollo 11' back to life
A Prehistoric Mystery in the Kuiper Belt
Laurel MD (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
The farthest object ever explored is slowly revealing its secrets, as scientists piece together the puzzles of Ultima Thule - the Kuiper Belt object NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past on New Year's Day, four billion miles from Earth. Analyzing the data New Horizons has been sending home since the flyby of Ultima Thule (officially named 2014 MU69), mission scientists are learning more ... more
+ Ultima Thule in 3D
+ SwRI-led New Horizons research indicates small Kuiper Belt objects are surprisingly rare
+ Astronomers Optimistic About Planet Nine's Existence
+ New Horizons Spacecraft Returns Its Sharpest Views of Ultima Thule
+ Tiny Neptune Moon Spotted by Hubble May Have Broken from Larger Moon
+ Ultima Thule is more pancake than snowman, NASA scientists discover
+ New Horizons' evocative farewell glance at Ultima Thule
ALMA observes the formation sites of solar-system-like planets
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 14, 2019
Researchers have spotted the formation sites of planets around a young star resembling our Sun. Two rings of dust around the star, at distances comparable to the asteroid belt and the orbit of Neptune in our solar system, suggest that we are witnessing the formation of a planetary system similar to our own. The solar system is thought to have formed from a cloud of cosmic gas and dust 4.6 ... more
+ Neural Networks Predict Planet Mass
+ Cooking Up Alien Atmospheres on Earth
+ SETI Institute: Agreement with Unistellar to Develop Citizen Science Network
+ K stars more likely to host habitable exoplanets
+ UK to tackle danger of solar wind and find new Earth-like planets
+ "Goldilocks" Stars May Be "Just Right" for Finding Habitable Worlds
+ New surprises from Jupiter and Saturn
Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome Ready for Space, ISS Launches
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 19, 2019
One of the routes opened for launches of Soyuz-2 carrier rockets from the Vostochny space center can be used to launch manned and cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), a spokesperson for the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos told Sputnik on Sunday. "Indeed, [the route] with an inclination [of 51 degrees to the equator during launches from Vostochny spaceport] c ... more
+ Bridenstine addesses SLS and Orion workforce at NASA
+ NASA heavy rocket may not get off the ground in time for Lunar mission
+ Brazil leader, wooing Trump, opens base to US rockets
+ Aerojet Rocketdyne Powers WGS-10 Military Communications Satellite from Launch Pad to Orbit
+ ESA greenlight for UK's air-breathing rocket engine
+ Russia's New Hypersonic Nuclear Weapon
+ NASA chief acknowledges more trouble with SLS rocket


Super-powerful Long March 9 said to begin missions around 2030
Xichang (XNA) Mar 12, 2019
Chinese scientists are designing what is expected to be the world's most powerful rocket, according to a senior researcher. Li Hong, deputy general manager at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, said the Long March 9 super heavy-lift carrier rocket will be capable of lifting 140 metric tons of payload into a low-Earth orbit, or a 50-ton spacecraft to a lunar transfer orbit. The gi ... more
+ China preparing for space station missions
+ China's lunar rover studies stones on moon's far side
+ China improves Long March-6 rocket for growing commercial launches
+ Seed of moon's first sprout: Chinese scientists' endeavor
+ China to send over 50 spacecraft into space via over 30 launches in 2019
+ China to deepen lunar exploration: space expert
+ China launches Zhongxing-2D satellite
ESA's Hera asteroid mission borrows eyes of NASA's Dawn
Paris (ESA) Mar 19, 2019
The mission to the smallest asteroid ever explored will employ the same main camera as the mission to the largest asteroids of all. ESA's proposed Hera spacecraft to the Didymos asteroid pair has inherited its main imager from NASA's Dawn mission to the Vesta and Ceres asteroids. Hera is currently the subject of detailed design work, ahead of being presented to Europe's space ministers at ... more
+ Ancient comet impact triggered fires, climate change
+ Turkish Meteorite Traced to Impact Crater on Vesta
+ OSIRIS-REx images close in on Bennu's northern hemisphere
+ What scientists found after sifting through dust in the Solar System
+ Asteroid Bennu is rotating faster over time
+ Video showcases Hayabusa-2's asteroid touchdown
+ Engineers published material standards for simulated asteroid surfaces


U.S. Air Force tests microwave, laser weapon systems
Washington (UPI) Jan 23, 2019
The U.S. Air Force announced it is planning future experiments involving laser and microwave energy weapons after recent successes in testing sessions. Future experiments in the Directed Energy Experimentation Campaign are planned at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the Air Force said Tuesday in a statement. The tests by the 704th Test Group, essentially the use of mi ... more
+ Radiance Technologies tapped for U.S. Army laser research
+ Lockheed Martin's missile defense laser concept continues toward development
Northrop Grumman awarded $713M for missile defense system for Poland
Washington (UPI) Mar 15, 2019
The U.S. Army has awarded Northrop Grumman a $713 million contract to provide a missile system for Poland as the United States considers setting up a major military base in the former Communist nation. The contract is for the first phase of Poland's Wisla Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, Northrop Gumman said in news releases Wednesday. Patriots are deployed in t ... more
+ Russia stations anti-missile system near Saint Petersburg
+ Pentagon Requests $13.6Bln for Missile Defence in Fiscal Year 2020
+ Raytheon awarded $92M contract for RAM ship defense missile systems
+ Lockheed awarded $945.9M for Saudi THAAD missile system
+ Lockheed Martin awarded $830M for THAAD system development
+ Lockheed awarded $680M for PAC-3 missiles for foreign militaries
+ Raytheon and General Dynamics to operate Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site


Scientist sheds light on Titan's mysterious nitrogen atmosphere
San Antonio TX (SPX) Jan 24, 2019
A new Southwest Research Institute study tackles one of the greatest mysteries about Titan, one of Saturn's moons: the origin of its thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere. The study posits that one key to Titan's mysterious atmosphere is the "cooking" of organic material in the moon's interior. "Titan is a very interesting moon because it has this very thick atmosphere, which makes it unique amo ... more
+ Cassini data show Saturn's Rings relatively new
+ Scientists Finally Know What Time It Is on Saturn
+ Waves in Saturn's rings give precise measurement of planet's rotation rate
+ Saturn hasn't always had rings
+ Evidence of Changing Seasons, Rain on Titan's North Pole
+ NASA Research Reveals Saturn is Losing Its Rings at "Worst-Case-Scenario" Rate
+ Water on Saturn's Moon Phoebe Is Out of This World
Researchers report new light-activated micro pump
Houston TX (SPX) Mar 15, 2019
Even the smallest mechanical pumps have limitations, from the complex microfabrication techniques required to make them to the fact that there are limits on how small they can be. Researchers have announced a potential solution - a laser-driven photoacoustic microfluidic pump, capable of moving fluids in any direction without moving parts or electrical contacts. The work is described in th ... more
+ Defects help nanomaterial soak up more pollutant in less time
+ The holy grail of nanowire production
+ A new spin in nano-electronics
+ Nanoparticle computing takes a giant step forward
+ Breakthrough nanoscience discovery made on flight from New York to Jerusalem
+ Customized mix of materials for three-dimensional micro- and nanostructures
+ Nano drops a million times smaller than a teardrop explodes 19th century theory


Resolving the jet or cocoon riddle of a gravitational wave event
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Feb 22, 2019
An international research team including astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, has combined radio telescopes from five continents to prove the existence of a narrow stream of material, a so-called jet, emerging from the only gravitational wave event involving two neutron stars observed so far. With its high sensitivity and excellent performance, the 100- ... more
+ US-UK-Australia funding to improve global gravitational wave network
+ Gravitational waves will settle cosmic conundrum
+ New squeezing record at GEO600 gravitational-wave detector
+ Mini-detectors for the gigantic
+ Portsmouth researchers make vital contribution to new gravitational wave discoveries
+ Four New Gravitational Wave Detections Announced
+ Universal laws in impact dynamics of dust agglomerates under microgravity conditions
UK industry to help answer fundamental questions about universe
London, UK (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
A major new physics facility near Chicago is expected to have UK technology at its heart, and lead to significant spin-off opportunities for UK companies. The new PIP-II particle accelerator at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) will power the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which aims to address key questions about the origins and structure of the universe. The UK ... more
+ Physicists reverse time using quantum computer
+ New report on industrial physics and its role in the US economy
+ 'Meta-mirror' reflects sound waves in any direction
+ CERN Approves Hunt for New Cosmic Particles at Large Hadron Collider
+ Astronomers discover 83 supermassive black holes in early universe
+ Testing the symmetry of space-time by means of atomic clocks
+ Can artificial intelligence solve the mysteries of quantum physics?


Mathematics of sea slug movement points to future robots
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 11, 2019
What do pizza slices, sea slugs and one possible design for future soft-bodied robots have in common? They all have frilly surfaces, and new insights about the surprising geometry of frilly surfaces may help a future generation of energy-efficient and extremely flexible soft-body robots move. The complex folds of a frilly surface like coral reefs or kale leaves is a surface mathematicians ... more
+ New cell-sized micro robots might make incredible journeys
+ China is overtaking US in artificial intelligence: researchers
+ Faster robots demoralize co-workers
+ A robotic leg, born without prior knowledge, learns to walk
+ Movie technology inspires wearable liquid unit that aims to harvest energy
+ Will artificial intelligence be the future of music?
+ Progress on lifelong learning machines shows potential for bio-inspired algorithms
AirMap and Honeywell develop cost-effective tracking solution for UAVs
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Mar 13, 2019
World ATM Congress - Today, AirMap, the leading global airspace management platform for drones, and Honeywell announced the development of a cost-effective drone tracking solution to provide airspace safety authorities with situational awareness of manned and unmanned aircraft operations within an airspace system. Together, the companies will develop a cost-effective hardware device to all ... more
+ Northrop Grumman awarded $89M to support MQ-4C Triton system
+ Percepto UAV solution assessed in US operational experimentation program
+ Air Force's Predator, Reaper drones pass 4 million flight hours
+ MQ-9 Reaper drone detachment in Poland is fully operational
+ XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator drone makes maiden flight
+ Drones help scientists count koalas in Australia
+ Boeing unveils fighter jet-sized drone designed for Australia
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