Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
September 29, 2020
IRON AND ICE
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Begins its Countdown to TAG



Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
A historic moment is on the horizon for NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. In just a few weeks, the robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will descend to asteroid Bennu's boulder-strewn surface, touch down for a few seconds and collect a sample of the asteroid's rocks and dust - marking the first time NASA has grabbed pieces of an asteroid, which will be returned to Earth for study. On Oct. 20, the mission will perform the first attempt of its Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event. This series of maneuvers w ... read more

TECH SPACE
Satcom to foster resilient digital systems
Paris (ESA) Sep 29, 2020
Telecommunications are becoming increasingly crucial to our society, economy and security. ESA is supporting the European satellite communication industry's efforts to identify how to meet future wo ... more
MOON DAILY
NASA and HeroX Seek Innovative Energy Solutions to Power Lunar Activities
Houston TX (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
HeroX, the social network for innovation and the world's leading platform for crowdsourced solutions, has launched the prize competition "NASA's Watts on the Moon Challenge" on behalf of NASA. In su ... more
MARSDAILY
NASA's New Mars Rover Is Ready for Space Lasers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 29, 2020
When the Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon, they brought devices with them called retroreflectors, which are essentially small arrays of mirrors. The plan was for scientists on Earth to aim laser ... more
OUTER PLANETS
SwRI study describes discovery of close binary trans-Neptunian object
San Antonio TX (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
A new study authored by Southwest Research In-stitute scientists Rodrigo Leiva and Marc Buie reveals the binary nature of a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). Leiva and Buie utilized data obtained by the ... more
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EXO WORLDS
CHEOPS space telescope makes ultra-precise temperature and size measurements of an unusual giant planet
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
Initial measurements made by the European CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) space telescope indicate that the giant planet, WASP-189b, located 326 light years from Earth, glows as hot as a ... more
MARSDAILY
Could life exist deep underground on Mars
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 24, 2020
Recent science missions and results are bringing the search for life closer to home, and scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian (CfA) and the Florida Institute of Techno ... more
OUTER PLANETS
JPL meets unique challenge, delivers radar hardware for Jupiter Mission
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 22, 2020
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory met a significant milestone recently by delivering key elements of an ice-penetrating radar instrument for an ESA (European Space Agency) mission to exp ... more
EXO WORLDS
Water on exoplanet cloud tops could be found with hi-tech instrumentation
Warwick UK (SPX) Sep 23, 2020
University of Warwick astronomers have shown that water vapour can potentially be detected in the atmospheres of exoplanets by peering literally over the tops of their impenetrable clouds. By ... more
SATURN DAILY
New chronology of the Saturn System
Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 24, 2020
A new chronology for the moons of Saturn has been developed by Planetary Science Institute Associate Research Scientist Samuel W. Bell. "Most studies dating surfaces on the Moon or Mars rely o ... more
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SPACE MEDICINE
Cosmonauts not ready to try Russia's virus vaccine
Moscow (AFP) Sept 24, 2020
Russian cosmonauts set to blast off for the International Space Station said on Thursday it was too early to get a coronavirus vaccine touted by President Vladimir Putin. ... more
IRON AND ICE
US probe to touch down on asteroid Bennu on October 20
Washington (AFP) Sept 24, 2020
After a four-year journey, NASA's robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx will descend to asteroid Bennu's boulder-strewn surface on October 20, touching down for a few seconds to collect rock and dust samples, the agency said Thursday. ... more
ROBO SPACE
Teams demonstrate swarm tactics in fourth major OFFSET Field Experiment
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 21, 2020
Two Swarm Systems Integrators - Northrop Grumman Mission Systems and Raytheon BBN Technologies - are creating swarm systems architectures, advanced interfaces, and virtual and physical swarm testbed ... more
EXO WORLDS
Evolution of radio-resistance is more complicated than previously thought
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 23, 2020
The toughest organisms on Earth, called extremophiles, can survive extreme conditions like extreme dryness (desiccation), extreme cold, space vacuum, acid, or even high-level radiation. So far, the ... more
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Controlling ultrastrong light-matter coupling at room temperature
Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX) Sep 23, 2020
Physicists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, together with colleagues in Russia and Poland, have managed to achieve ultrastrong coupling between light and matter at room temperature. T ... more


Experience, charisma will steer NASA's choice for first woman on moon

MOON DAILY
NASA reveals new details of $28B Artemis lunar landing program
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 23, 2020
NASA has released new details of its Artemis project to send astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2024, including the cost of its first phase - $28 billion. In an update provided by the sp ... more
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ROBO SPACE
Technology developed for Lunar landings makes self-driving cars safer on Earth
Washington DC (NASA) Sep 21, 2020
NASA is advancing a laser-based technology designed to help spacecraft land on a proverbial dime for missions to the Moon and Mars. The technology will undergo testing on upcoming suborbital rocket ... more
MARSDAILY
Perseverance will use x-rays to hunt fossils
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 23, 2020
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has a challenging road ahead: After having to make it through the harrowing entry, descent, and landing phase of the mission on Feb. 18, 2021, it will begin searc ... more
IRON AND ICE
School bus-size asteroid to safely zoom past Earth
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 23, 2020
A small near-Earth asteroid (or NEA) will briefly visit Earth's neighborhood on Thursday, Sept. 24, zooming past at a distance of about 13,000 miles (22,000 kilometers) above our planet's surface. T ... more
MARSDAILY
China's Mars probe completes second orbital correction
Beijing (XNA) Sep 22, 2020
China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 on Sunday successfully carried out its second orbital correction, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The probe conducted the orbital corr ... more
TECH SPACE
18 SPCS now predicts debris-on-debris collisions in space, enhancing Space Domain Awareness for all
Vandenberg AFB CA (AFNS) Sep 29, 2020
For the first time, the Combined Force Space Component Command's 18th Space Control Squadron began publically sharing data for debris-on-debris conjunction predictions via www.Space-Track.org, Sept. ... more
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Could life exist deep underground on Mars
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 24, 2020
Recent science missions and results are bringing the search for life closer to home, and scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian (CfA) and the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) may have figured out how to determine whether life is - or was - lurking deep beneath the surface of Mars, the Moon, and other rocky objects in the universe. While the search for life ... more
+ NASA's New Mars Rover Is Ready for Space Lasers
+ China's Mars probe completes second orbital correction
+ Perseverance will use x-rays to hunt fossils
+ Study shows difficulty in finding evidence of life on Mars
+ AFRL technology traveling to Mars
+ Using chitin to manufacture tools and shelters on Mars
+ China's Mars probe travels 137 mln km


NASA reveals new details of $28B Artemis lunar landing program
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 23, 2020
NASA has released new details of its Artemis project to send astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2024, including the cost of its first phase - $28 billion. In an update provided by the space agency Monday, the administrators said $16.2 billion of the total would be to produce the initial Human Landing System - the new-generation moon landers which would carry astronauts to the lunar s ... more
+ Experience, charisma will steer NASA's choice for first woman on moon
+ NASA and HeroX Seek Innovative Energy Solutions to Power Lunar Activities
+ NASA publishes Artemis plan to return Americans to Moon in 2024
+ NASA plans for return to Moon to cost $28 billion
+ China determined to land astronauts on lunar surface
+ China to launch Chang'e-5 lunar probe this year
+ Astrobotic completes Peregrine Lunar Lander Structural Model testing
SwRI study describes discovery of close binary trans-Neptunian object
San Antonio TX (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
A new study authored by Southwest Research In-stitute scientists Rodrigo Leiva and Marc Buie reveals the binary nature of a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). Leiva and Buie utilized data obtained by the Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network (RECON), a citizen science research net-work dedicated to observing the outer solar system. The study was published this month in The Astrophy ... more
+ JPL meets unique challenge, delivers radar hardware for Jupiter Mission
+ Astronomers characterize Uranian moons using new imaging analysis
+ Jupiter's moons could be warming each other
+ Atomistic modelling probes the behavior of matter at the center of Jupiter
+ Technology ready to explore subsurface oceans on Ganymede
+ Large shift on Europa was last event to fracture its surface
+ The Sun May Have Started Its Life with a Binary Companion
CHEOPS space telescope makes ultra-precise temperature and size measurements of an unusual giant planet
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
Initial measurements made by the European CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) space telescope indicate that the giant planet, WASP-189b, located 326 light years from Earth, glows as hot as a small star as it orbits its central star at high speed on an unusual orbit that takes it close to the star's poles. At 3200 degrees Celsius, it is one of the hottest bodies of the over 4000 kno ... more
+ Evolution of radio-resistance is more complicated than previously thought
+ Water on exoplanet cloud tops could be found with hi-tech instrumentation
+ Let them eat rocks
+ Professor verifies centuries-old conjecture about the formation of the Solar System
+ Astronomers discover an Earth-sized "pi planet" with a 3.14-day orbit
+ How protoplanetary rings form in primordial gas clouds
+ Venus is one stop in our search for life
Space Force to start flying on reused SpaceX rockets
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 25, 2020
The U.S. Space Force will start to fly missions on reused SpaceX rockets next year to save millions of dollars, the service announced Friday. The Space Force will fly two GPS satellites into orbit on a Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The lower cost that SpaceX charges for reused rockets will save taxpayers $52.7 million, a statement from the military branch said. SpaceX has reused ... more
+ Powerful Delta Heavy rocket ready for another launch attempt from Florida
+ Rocket Lab to launch commercial rideshares mission for Planet, Canon
+ Blue Origin postpones Texas launch of experiments for NASA, universities
+ General Atomics delivers nuclear thermal propulsion concept to NASA
+ Complex to build 20 solid-propellant Long March 11 carrier craft every year
+ Hardware testing heats up at Marshall test lab
+ Rocket Lab completes final dress rehearsal for first Electron mission from US soil


NASA chief warns Congress about Chinese space station
Washington (AFP) Sept 23, 2020
NASA chief Jim Bridenstine told lawmakers Wednesday it was crucial for the US to maintain a presence in Earth's orbit after the International Space Station is decommissioned so that China does not gain a strategic advantage. The first parts of the ISS were launched in 1998 and it has been continuously lived in since 2000. The station, which serves as a space science lab and is a partners ... more
+ China's new carrier rocket available for public view
+ China sends nine satellites into orbit by sea launch
+ Chinese spacecraft launched mystery object into space before returning to Earth
+ China's reusable spacecraft returns to Earth after 2 days
+ Mars-bound Tianwen 1 hits milestone
+ China's Mars probe over 8m km away from Earth
+ China seeks payload ideas for mission to moon, asteroid
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Begins its Countdown to TAG
Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
A historic moment is on the horizon for NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. In just a few weeks, the robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will descend to asteroid Bennu's boulder-strewn surface, touch down for a few seconds and collect a sample of the asteroid's rocks and dust - marking the first time NASA has grabbed pieces of an asteroid, which will be returned to Earth for study. On Oct. 20, the missio ... more
+ US probe to touch down on asteroid Bennu on October 20
+ School bus-size asteroid to safely zoom past Earth
+ Comet Chury's ultraviolet aurora
+ SwRI instruments on Rosetta help detect ultraviolet aurora at comet
+ Ryugu's rocky past laid bare
+ OSIRIS-REx finds possible pieces of Vesta on Bennu
+ Comet discovered to have its own "northern lights"


Do Directed Energy Weapons finally live up to their expectations?
Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Sep 23, 2020
Since the mid-1960s few weapons have held as much potential and have constantly failed to live up to that potential as Directed Energy Weapons (DEW). However, since the turn of this century even as most countries have curtailed both their hopes and funding from the highs of decades past, DEWs have gradually and quietly matured. DEWs use the electromagnetic spectrum (light and radio energy) ... more
+ Army testing new air defense system, laser weapons
+ AFRL breaks ground on new directed energy facility
+ US Army plans to mount anti-aircraft lasers on Stryker armored vehicles
+ Northrop Grumman taps Epirus for Electromagnetic Pulse C-UAS Weapon System
+ USS Portland's high-powered laser disables drone in weapon's first at-sea test
+ Navy breaks ground on laser weapons test lab in California
+ The power of short range air defense
Lockheed Martin selected to integrate missile warning onto EGS via FORGE
Boulder CO (SPX) Sep 17, 2020
As part of the U.S. Space Force's effort to build a more flexible, resilient and survivable missile early warning system, while also reducing long-term sustainment and operations costs, control of our nation's advanced infrared surveillance satellites will soon be integrated via the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) onto the next-generation ground system, the Government-own ... more
+ Japan's Abe urges stronger defences to face missiles
+ Advanced Patriot missile fails in live-fire test
+ Russia testing news S-500 Systems, mass production on the way
+ Lockheed nets $18.8M to support Japan's Aegis Ashore system
+ IBCS engages advanced tactical ballistic missile and cruise missile during rigorous test
+ US Japan to build network of satellites to detect missile launches
+ MBDA and Lockheed Martin submit proposal for Germany's Integrated Air And Missile Defense System


New chronology of the Saturn System
Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 24, 2020
A new chronology for the moons of Saturn has been developed by Planetary Science Institute Associate Research Scientist Samuel W. Bell. "Most studies dating surfaces on the Moon or Mars rely on counting how many impact craters have formed and knowing the cratering rate, but on the moons of Saturn, we do not know the cratering rate," said Bell, author of "Relative Crater Scaling Between the ... more
+ Evidence for Volcanic Craters on Saturn's Moon Titan
+ Saturn's Moon Titan drifting away faster than previously thought
+ Discovered a multilayer haze system on Saturn's Hexagon
+ Data from NASA's Cassini may explain Saturn's atmospheric mystery
Nano particles for healthy tissue
Paris (ESA) Sep 07, 2020
"Eat your vitamins" might be replaced with "ingest your ceramic nano-particles" in the future as space research is giving more weight to the idea that nanoscopic particles could help protect cells from common causes of damage. Oxidative stress occurs in our bodies when cells lose the natural balance of electrons in the molecules that we are made of. This is a common and constant occurrence ... more
+ Hybrid nanomaterials hold promise for improved ceramic composites
+ Scientists open new window into the nanoworld
+ The smallest motor in the world
+ Crystalline 'nanobrush' clears way to advanced energy and information tech
+ 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


LSU develops method to improve gravitational wave detector sensitivity
Baton Rouge LA (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
Gravitational wave detectors have opened a new window to the universe by measuring the ripples in spacetime produced by colliding black holes and neutron stars, but they are ultimately limited by quantum fluctuations induced by light reflecting off of mirrors. LSU Ph.D. physics alumnus Jonathan Cripe and his team of LSU researchers have conducted a new experiment with scientists from Caltech and ... more
+ China plans to launch Taiji-2 satellite before 2024: chief scientist
+ Into microgravity with face masks
+ LIGO: "Bang" in Detectors Signals Most Massive Gravitational-Wave Source Yet
+ Gravity wave insights from internet-beaming balloons
+ New collaboration between gravitational-wave astronomy and particle physics
+ Tianqin-2 to test key technologies for next-gen gravity satellites
+ Are we still listening for gravity waves
Radio astronomers join moon mission to explore early universe
Charlottesville VA (SPX) Sep 23, 2020
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has joined a new NASA space mission to the far side of the Moon to investigate when the first stars began to form in the early universe. The universe was dark and foggy during its "dark ages," just 380,000 years after the Big Bang. There were no light-producing structures yet like stars and galaxies, only large clouds of hydrogen gas. As the ... more
+ Remembrance of waves past: memory imprints motion on scattered waves
+ New approach to exotic quantum matter
+ Why there is no speed limit in the superfluid universe
+ Ecologists confirm Alan Turing's theory for Australian fairy circles
+ New calculation refines comparison of matter with antimatter
+ Cosmic X-rays reveal an indubitable signature of black holes
+ Large Hadron Collider upgrade to be led by Manchester scientists


Teams demonstrate swarm tactics in fourth major OFFSET Field Experiment
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 21, 2020
Two Swarm Systems Integrators - Northrop Grumman Mission Systems and Raytheon BBN Technologies - are creating swarm systems architectures, advanced interfaces, and virtual and physical swarm testbeds for OFFSET. The Swarm Systems Integrators tested their autonomous platforms - comprising ground vehicles, multirotor and fixed-wing aircraft - in a multi-stage, interactive scenario to locate ... more
+ Technology developed for Lunar landings makes self-driving cars safer on Earth
+ Helping robots avoid collisions
+ Light processing improves robotic sensing, study finds
+ U.S. Navy selects Lockheed Martin to deliver large unmanned surface vessel study
+ DoD to start live fighter trials with AI pilots by 2024, Esper says
+ Miniature antenna enables robotic teaming in complex environments
+ Pentagon picks Google Cloud for AI-assisted cancer diagnoses
New MS-177 and upgraded AN/ASQ-230 sensors will enhance intelligence collection
San Diego CA (SPX) Sep 29, 2020
Northrop Grumman has delivered a pair of sensors to enhance the capability of its Global Hawk high-altitude long-endurance autonomous aircraft system. Enhancements include the deployment of the MS-177 multi-spectral camera system to provide additional high resolution imaging capability for operational users. The second new capability is the first fielding of the increment 1 upgraded AN/ASQ-230 s ... more
+ Robopilot unmanned air platform returns to flight
+ Army funding research to allow drones to run on multiple fuel sources
+ General Atomics nets $7.4B MQ-9 Reaper contract with U.S. Air Force
+ France sees joint European drone project launched this year
+ US Military set to deploy advanced Israeli drone system for US Special Forces
+ Adding chameleon-like capabilities to defence drones
+ Unmanned aerial vehicles help wheat breeders
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