Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
June 13, 2020
MOON DAILY
NASA Selects Astrobotic to Fly Water-Hunting Rover to the Moon



Washington DC (SPX) Jun 12, 2020
NASA has awarded Astrobotic of Pittsburgh $199.5 million to deliver NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the Moon's South Pole in late 2023. The water-seeking mobile VIPER robot will help pave the way for astronaut missions to the lunar surface beginning in 2024 and will bring NASA a step closer to developing a sustainable, long-term presence on the Moon as part of the agency's Artemis program. "The VIPER rover and the commercial partnership that will deliver it ... read more

IRON AND ICE
First Citizen Science Successes for Backyard Astronomy
Mountain View CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2020
Citizen science pioneers recently made two contributions to a better knowledge of outer space. Backyard astronomers of the SETI Institute and Unistellar network conducted in April citizen science ob ... more
ROBO SPACE
New control technique could improve accuracy of industrial robots
Beijing, China (SPX) Jun 11, 2020
Feedforward mechanisms used to control machines are much more accurate than feedback mechanisms, but they can be computationally hard. A new method has improved over conventional techniques and is s ... more
MERCURY RISING
MESSENGER Shows How a Spacecraft Could End Neutron Lifetime Stalemate
Laurel MD (SPX) Jun 12, 2020
Neutrons aren't a model of resilience when it comes to living a single life. Strip one from an atom's nucleus and it will quickly disintegrate into an electron and a proton. But scientists can't det ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Neuroscientists discover neural circuits that control hibernation-like behaviors in mice
Boston MA (SPX) Jun 12, 2020
The dream of suspended animation has long captivated the human imagination, reflected in countless works of mythology and fiction, from King Arthur and Sleeping Beauty to Captain America and Han Sol ... more
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EXO WORLDS
Astronomers discover how long-lived Peter Pan discs evolve
London, UK (SPX) Jun 11, 2020
New research from scientists at Queen Mary University of London has revealed how long-lived Peter Pan discs form, which could provide new insights into how planets arise. Planet-forming, or pr ... more
MARSDAILY
First Arab mission to Mars designed to inspire youth
Dubai (AFP) June 9, 2020
The first Arab space mission to Mars, armed with probes to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, is designed to inspire the region's youth and pave the way for scientific breakthroughs, officials said Tuesday. ... more
EXO WORLDS
Mysterious interstellar visitor was probably a 'dark hydrogen iceberg,' not aliens
Chicago IL (SPX) Jun 09, 2020
The aliens came on Oct. 19, 2017. That was the day telescopes picked up a strange object with an odd, elongated shape that moved like a comet-but had no apparent tail. The object, which baffled astr ... more
MOON DAILY
First global map of rockfalls on the Moon
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Jun 09, 2020
In October 2015, a spectacular rockfall occurred in the Swiss Alps: in the late morning hours, a large, snow-covered block with a volume of more than 1500 cubic meters suddenly detached from the sum ... more
IRON AND ICE
OSIRIS-REx finds heat, cold fracturing rocks on Asteroid Bennu
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
Close-up observations of asteroid Bennu by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft contain the first evidence of thermal fracturing of rocks on an airless body, a Nature Communications paper by Planetary Scien ... more
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IRON AND ICE
Ancient micrometeoroids carried specks of stardust, water to asteroid 4 Vesta
St. Louis MO (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
The formation of our solar system was a messy affair. Most of the material that existed before its formation - material formed around other, long-dead stars - was vaporized, then recondensed into ne ... more
EXO WORLDS
Plant pathogens can adapt to a variety of climates, hosts
Washington DC (UPI) Jun 11, 2020
New research suggests crop pathogens are exceptionally adaptive - perhaps, alarmingly so. Scientists found a large percentage of known crop pathogens can adapt to a variety of climate conditions and infect a diversity of crop hosts. ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Space-enabled mobile bio-lab to test key workers for COVID-19
Paris (ESA) Jun 10, 2020
A deployable laboratory that can test frontline healthcare staff, civil protection volunteers and police forces for the coronavirus has left Belgium and is on its way to Piedmont, Italy. Italy ... more
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
'Whispering gallery' effect controls electron beams with light
Gottingen, Germany (SPX) Jun 08, 2020
When you speak softly in one of the galleries of St Paul's cathedral, the sound runs so easily around the dome that visitors anywhere on its circumference can hear it. This striking phenomenon has b ... more
EXO WORLDS
Presence of airborne dust could signify increased habitability of distant planets
Exeter UK (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
Scientists have expanded our understanding of potentially habitable planets orbiting distant stars by including a critical climate component - the presence of airborne dust. The researchers su ... more


NASA awards Northrop Grumman Artemis contract for Gateway Crew Cabin

TECH SPACE
Digital lift-off: Roscosmos and Zyfra to jointly develop digital technologies for Russia's space industry
Helsinki, Finland (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
Russia's state corporation responsible for space flights and cosmonautic programs, Roscosmos, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Finnish-Russian industrial digitalization leader Zyfra ... more
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IRON AND ICE
NASA's OSIRIS-REx discovers sunlight can crack rocks on Asteroid Bennu
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
Asteroids don't just sit there doing nothing as they orbit the Sun. They get bombarded by meteoroids, blasted by space radiation, and now, for the first time, scientists are seeing evidence that eve ... more
MARSDAILY
Three new views of Mars' moon Phobos
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 09, 2020
Three new views of the Martian moon Phobos have been captured by NASA's Odyssey orbiter. Taken this past winter and this spring, they capture the moon as it drifts into and out of Mars' shadow. ... more
SATURN DAILY
Saturn's Moon Titan drifting away faster than previously thought
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 09, 2020
Just as our own Moon floats away from Earth a tiny bit more each year, other moons are doing the same with their host planets. As a moon orbits, its gravity pulls on the planet, causing a temporary ... more
MOON DAILY
NASA to announce selection of company to fly VIPER rover to Moon
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 09, 2020
NASA will announce the commercial provider selected to deliver NASA's new water-hunting mobile robot, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), to the South Pole of the Moon durin ... more
DRAGON SPACE
Private investment fuels China commercial space sector growth
Paris, France (SPX) Jun 05, 2020
In its latest research titled "China Space Industry Report," Euroconsult provides in depth analysis of how commercialization is driving both growth and technology advances in the Chinese space secto ... more
24/7 Nuclear News Coverage
24/7 War News Coverage
24/7 War News Coverage

First Arab mission to Mars designed to inspire youth
Dubai (AFP) June 9, 2020
The first Arab space mission to Mars, armed with probes to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, is designed to inspire the region's youth and pave the way for scientific breakthroughs, officials said Tuesday. The unmanned probe Al-Amal - Hope in Arabic - is to blast off from a Japanese space centre on July 15, with preparations now in their final stages. The project is the next giant ste ... more
+ Three new views of Mars' moon Phobos
+ Perseverance Mars Rover's extraordinary sample-gathering system
+ Scientist captures new images of Martian moon Phobos to help determine its origins
+ Martian moon orbit hints at ancient ring
+ MAVEN maps electric currents around Mars that are fundamental to atmospheric loss
+ The detective aboard NASA's Perseverance Rover
+ Air deliveries bring NASA's Perseverance Mars rover closer to launch


NASA Selects Astrobotic to Fly Water-Hunting Rover to the Moon
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 12, 2020
NASA has awarded Astrobotic of Pittsburgh $199.5 million to deliver NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the Moon's South Pole in late 2023. The water-seeking mobile VIPER robot will help pave the way for astronaut missions to the lunar surface beginning in 2024 and will bring NASA a step closer to developing a sustainable, long-term presence on the Moon as par ... more
+ First global map of rockfalls on the Moon
+ NASA awards Northrop Grumman Artemis contract for Gateway Crew Cabin
+ NASA to announce selection of company to fly VIPER rover to Moon
+ Xplore to host Space for Humanity Payload on its first lunar mission
+ New study provides maps, ice favorability index to companies looking to mine the moon
+ Get your ticket to the Moon: Europe's lunar lander for science and more
+ Will US Attempt to Introduce New Moon Mining Rules Trigger New Space Race?
SOFIA finds clues hidden in Pluto's haze
Moffett Field CA (SPX) May 14, 2020
When the New Horizons spacecraft passed by Pluto in 2015, one of the many fascinating features its images revealed was that this small, frigid world in the distant solar system has a hazy atmosphere. Now, new data helps explain how Pluto's haze is formed from the faint light of the Sun 3.7 billion miles away as it moves through an unusual orbit. Remote observations of Pluto by NASA's teles ... more
+ New evidence of watery plumes on Jupiter's moon Europa
+ Telescopes and spacecraft join forces to probe deep into Jupiter's atmosphere
+ Newly reprocessed images of Europa show 'chaos terrain' in crisp detail
+ Mysteries of Uranus' oddities explained by Japanese astronomers
+ Jupiter probe JUICE: Final integration in full swing
+ The birth of a "Snowman" at the edge of the Solar System
+ New Horizons pushing the frontier ever deeper into the Kuiper Belt
Mysterious interstellar visitor was probably a 'dark hydrogen iceberg,' not aliens
Chicago IL (SPX) Jun 09, 2020
The aliens came on Oct. 19, 2017. That was the day telescopes picked up a strange object with an odd, elongated shape that moved like a comet-but had no apparent tail. The object, which baffled astronomers and led some to claim it could be a spacecraft sent by intelligent life, was named 'Oumuamua, which means "messenger from afar arriving first" in Hawaiian. But a new theory proposed by Univers ... more
+ Astronomers discover how long-lived Peter Pan discs evolve
+ Plant pathogens can adapt to a variety of climates, hosts
+ Presence of airborne dust could signify increased habitability of distant planets
+ Ancient asteroid impacts created the ingredients of life on Earth and Mars
+ Mirror image of Earth and Sun
+ New experiments show complex astrochemistry on thin ice covering dust grains
+ ESPRESSO confirms the presence of an Earth around the nearest star
Winds scrub Rocket Lab launch from New Zealand
Washington DC (UPI) Jun 10, 2020
Winds have scrubbed a rocket launch planned in New Zealand early Thursday morning is to propel five small satellites into orbit, including a Boston University experiment to measure solar winds and the Earth's magnetosphere. A new target launch date has not been announced. California-based Rocket Labs, which owns the New Zealand launch site, is scheduled to send the satellites into orbit aboard the company's Electron rocket at 12:43 a.m. EDT from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula. The launch was set for 2:32 a.m. if delays happen. ... more
+ Kids are building rockets from their bedrooms
+ New Zealand rocket launch postponed due to wind gusts
+ Agency seeks hypersonic missile defense system proposals
+ China plans to develop new solid-fueled carrier rocket
+ Arianespace Vega mission to perform Small Spacecraft Mission Service Proof of Concept flight
+ ULA on track to launch new Vulcan rocket in early 2021
+ ESA moves ahead on low-cost reusable rocket engine


Private investment fuels China commercial space sector growth
Paris, France (SPX) Jun 05, 2020
In its latest research titled "China Space Industry Report," Euroconsult provides in depth analysis of how commercialization is driving both growth and technology advances in the Chinese space sector, with oversubscribed IPOs and a wave of private investment. China Satcom is now the world's highest valued pure satellite operator with a market cap of US$11 billion as of May 2020, while Chin ... more
+ More details of China's space station unveiled
+ China space program targets July launch for Mars mission
+ More details of China's space station unveiled
+ China's tracking ship Yuanwang-5 back from rocket monitoring mission
+ China's Kuaizhou rocket industrial park partially operational
+ China's experimental new-generation manned spaceship works normally in orbit
+ Long March-5B rocket enables China to construct space station
OSIRIS-REx finds heat, cold fracturing rocks on Asteroid Bennu
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
Close-up observations of asteroid Bennu by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft contain the first evidence of thermal fracturing of rocks on an airless body, a Nature Communications paper by Planetary Science Institute Research Scientist Jamie Molaro says. Thermal fracturing or thermal stress weathering occurs as rocks heat and cool each day, and mechanical stresses build up that can cause cracks ... more
+ Ancient micrometeoroids carried specks of stardust, water to asteroid 4 Vesta
+ First Citizen Science Successes for Backyard Astronomy
+ NASA's OSIRIS-REx discovers sunlight can crack rocks on Asteroid Bennu
+ STEREO watches Comet ATLAS as Solar Orbiter crosses its tail
+ Ancient asteroids helped synthesize life's molecular building blocks, study finds
+ OSIRIS-REx swoops over sample site Osprey
+ Queen's Brian May works to probe origin of asteroids


USS Portland's high-powered laser disables drone in weapon's first at-sea test
Pearl Harbor (USN) May 22, 2020
Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) successfully disabled an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a Solid State Laser - Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) MK 2 MOD 0 on May 16. LWSD is a high-energy laser weapon system demonstrator developed by the Office of Naval Research and installed on Portland for an at-sea demonstration. LWSD's operational em ... more
+ Navy breaks ground on laser weapons test lab in California
+ The power of short range air defense
+ Lockheed nabs $22.4M for work on LCS-based laser system
+ Navy: Chinese warship fired laser at U.S. aircraft
+ AFRL engineer leaves a legacy called HADES
+ Israel hails 'breakthrough' towards laser air defence system
+ China's air force seeks aircraft-mounted laser weapon
US Senate Panel Approves More Funds for Missile Defence in 2021 NDAA Act
Washington DC (Sputnik) Jun 12, 2020
The US Senate Armed Services Committee approved additional funding for missile defence, including for hypersonic weapons, in the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2021, a summary of the draft bill revealed. The Armed Services Committee on Thursday voted 25-2 to advance the fiscal year 2021 NDAA to the Senate floor. "The amended measure provides additional ... more
+ Turkey to buy additional S-400 missile defense system from Russia
+ Israel says 'successfully' tested ballistic missiles
+ US approves sale of 84 Patriot missiles to Kuwait
+ Advanced Air and Missile Defense, in the hands of soldiers
+ Boeing awarded $128.5M modification to GMD missile upgrade contract
+ US pulling Patriot missile batteries from Saudi
+ Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Missiles and Defense Partner on Next Generation Interceptor


Saturn's Moon Titan drifting away faster than previously thought
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 09, 2020
Just as our own Moon floats away from Earth a tiny bit more each year, other moons are doing the same with their host planets. As a moon orbits, its gravity pulls on the planet, causing a temporary bulge in the planet as it passes. Over time, the energy created by the bulging and subsiding transfers from the planet to the moon, nudging it farther and farther out. Our Moon drifts 1.5 inches ... more
+ Discovered a multilayer haze system on Saturn's Hexagon
+ Data from NASA's Cassini may explain Saturn's atmospheric mystery
+ Why is NASA Sending Dragonfly to Titan
+ New SwRI models reveal inner complexity of Saturn moon
+ Huygens landing spin mystery solved
+ Final images from Cassini spacecraft
Crystalline 'nanobrush' clears way to advanced energy and information tech
Oak Ridge TN (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
A team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory synthesized a tiny structure with high surface area and discovered how its unique architecture drives ions across interfaces to transport energy or information. Their "nanobrush" contains bristles made of alternating crystal sheets with vertically aligned interfaces and plentiful pores. "These are major technical accomp ... more
+ Transporting energy through a single molecular nanowire
+ To make an atom-sized machine, you need a quantum mechanic
+ Magnetic nanoparticles help researchers remotely release adrenal hormones
+ New DNA origami motor breaks speed record for nano machines
+ Deep-sea osmolyte makes biomolecular machines heat-tolerant
+ Nanobubbles in nanodroplets
+ New production method for carbon nanotubes gets green light


Thailand team wins UN access to ESA's hypergravity centrifuge
Paris (ESA) Jun 10, 2020
ESA and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs have selected a team from Mahidol University, Thailand to carry out research using ESA's hypergravity-generating Large Diameter Centrifuge. The team will see how watermeal - the smallest flowering plant on Earth, even smaller than the more familiar duckweed - responds to changing gravity levels to assess its usefulness for space-based lif ... more
+ New gravitational-wave model can bring neutron stars into even sharper focus
+ Seeing the universe through new lenses
+ L3Harris lays foundation for first space-based gravitational wave observatory
+ Gravitational waves could prove the existence of the quark-gluon plasma
+ TAMA300 blazes trail for improved gravitational wave astronomy
+ A gravitational-wave signal like none before
+ Solar gravity lens concept receives $2m NASA grant for technology maturation
Scientists carry out first space-based measurement of neutron lifetime
Durham UK (SPX) Jun 12, 2020
Scientists have found a way of measuring neutron lifetime from space for the first time - a discovery that could teach us more about the early universe. Knowing the lifetime of neutrons is key to understanding the formation of elements after the Big Bang that formed the universe 13.8 billion years ago. Scientists at Durham University, UK, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, ... more
+ Quantum 'fifth state of matter' observed in space for first time
+ New distance measurements bolster challenge to basic model of universe
+ Astrophysicists confirm cornerstone of Einstein's Theory of Relativity
+ Shock waves created in the lab mimic supernova particle accelerators
+ Black hole's heart still beating
+ Cosmic quasars embrace 1970s fashion trend
+ Hubble makes surprising find in the early universe


New control technique could improve accuracy of industrial robots
Beijing, China (SPX) Jun 11, 2020
Feedforward mechanisms used to control machines are much more accurate than feedback mechanisms, but they can be computationally hard. A new method has improved over conventional techniques and is set to be tried out on industrial robots and machine vision. Most people will be familiar with 'feedback', where a machine such as a thermostat corrects itself after observing an error in perform ... more
+ Robot dog hounds Thai shoppers to keep hands virus-free
+ Next-generation cockroach-inspired robot is small but mighty
+ These flexible feet help robots walk faster
+ Algorithm quickly simulates a roll of loaded dice
+ The concept of creating brain-on-chip revealed
+ Denmark develops robot to conduct coronavirus tests
+ Next generation of soft robots inspired by a children's toy
GMV supplies the Spanish MoD with systems of the RPAS Seeker
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
The technology multinational GMV has won a contract under the Spanish MoD's RAPAZ program for the supply of four Class I Seeker RPASs, to be integrated into the intelligence units of the Paratrooper Brigade and the Tercio de Armada de Infanteria de Marina (Marine Infantry Protection Force), thus providing them with the most advanced version of the unmanned aircraft Seeker. The UAS Seeker i ... more
+ Aussie scientists turn to drones to protect sea turtles
+ India moots drone ports across country in maiden policy for use, manufacturing of UAVs
+ UAV Navigation tests its autopilot against an anti drone system
+ Pacific Air Forces return Global Hawk drones to Yokota Air Base
+ Researchers use drones, machine learning to detect dangerous 'butterfly' landmines
+ Citadel Defense launches Deepfake AI to prevent drone attacks on military and government assets
+ How drones can monitor explosive volcanoes
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