Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
February 18, 2021
MARSDAILY
NASA confirms Perseverance rover has landed on Mars



Washington (AFP) Feb 18, 2021
NASA said Thursday that the Perseverance rover has touched down on the surface of Mars after successfully overcoming a risky landing phase known as the "seven minutes of terror." "Touchdown confirmed," said operations lead Swati Mohan at around 3:55 pm Eastern Time (2055 GMT) as mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory headquarters erupted in cheers. The autonomously-guided procedure was completed more than 11 minutes earlier, which is how long it takes for radio signals to return to ... read more

MARSDAILY
Was there ever life on Mars? NASA's Perseverance rover wants to find out
Washington (AFP) Feb 18, 2021
Seven months in space, a mission that was decades in the making and cost billions of dollars, all to answer the question: was there ever life on Mars? ... more
MARSDAILY
Mars rover mission could drive research for decades to come
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 18, 2021
After NASA attempts Thursday to land the biggest, heaviest vehicle sent to Mars yet - no small feat - scientists have planned an ambitious mission for exploration of the Red Planet's surface and col ... more
MARSDAILY
'7 minutes of terror': Perserverance rover's nail-biting landing phase
Washington (AFP) Feb 18, 2021
Seven months after blast-off, NASA's Mars 2020 mission will have to negotiate its shortest and most intense phase on Thursday: the "seven minutes of terror" it takes to slam the brakes and land the Perseverance rover on a narrow target on the planet's surface. ... more
MARSDAILY
Searching for life in NASA's Perseverance Mars samples
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 18, 2021
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will be the agency's ninth mission to land on the Red Planet. Along with characterizing the planet's geology and climate, and paving the way for human exploration ... more
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MARSDAILY
Skoltech's recent achievement takes us one step closer to Mars
Moscow, Russia (SPX) Feb 18, 2021
Scientists from the Skoltech Center for Computational and Data-Intensive Science and Engineering (CDISE) and the Skoltech Digital Agriculture Laboratory and their collaborators from the German Aeros ... more
EXO WORLDS
On the quest for other Earths
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Feb 18, 2021
In the search for planets capable of sustaining life, an international research team with members from ETH has taken a significant step forward. As the researchers reported recently in the journal N ... more
TECH SPACE
Northrop Grumman's SharkSat Payload Showcases Agility from the Ground to Orbit
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
A shark moves through the water with speed and agility, always focused on moving forward. It is in this same vein that Northrop Grumman recently developed SharkSat, a pioneering payload to demonstra ... more
TECH SPACE
Falling to Earth takes a long time
Paris (ESA) Feb 18, 2021
Our planet's atmosphere reduces the energy of satellites in orbit (on Earth, this would be like reducing their speed, but in space, it's complex!). This then brings them back down to Earth. Th ... more
ENERGY TECH
Advisory committee releases strategic plan for US fusion, plasma program
Berkeley CA (SPX) Feb 17, 2021
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) has adopted and endorsed a new report that lays out a strategic plan for fusion energy and plasma science resear ... more
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MARSDAILY
NASA ready to land another rover on Mars
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 17, 2021
With about 2.4 million miles (3.9 million kilometers) left to travel in space, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is days away from attempting to land the agency's fifth rover on the Red Planet. ... more
MARSDAILY
Staying long-term on Mars
Bremen, Germany (SPX) Feb 17, 2021
The "red planet" in the evening sky seems more and more within reach, as leading space agencies aspire astronaut missions to Mars in the future. Unlike the 1969 moon landing, these missions are desi ... more
MARSDAILY
The Mars Relay Network Connects Us to NASA's Martian Explorers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 17, 2021
A tightly choreographed dance between NASA's Deep Space Network and Mars orbiters will keep the agency's Perseverance in touch with Earth during landing and beyond. When NASA's Mars 2020 Perseveranc ... more
MARSDAILY
The geological context of the Mars 2020 landing site through the eyes of DLR
Berlin, Germany (DLR) Feb 17, 2021
On Thursday, 18 February 2021, at approximately 21:55 CET, NASA's control centre in Pasadena should receive the radio signal indicating that the Perseverance rover has been gently lowered onto the s ... more
MARSDAILY
Biotech fit for the Red Planet
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 17, 2021
NASA, in collaboration with other leading space agencies, aims to send its first human missions to Mars in the early 2030s, while companies like SpaceX may do so even earlier. Astronauts on Mars wil ... more


HKU planetary scientists discover evidence for a reduced atmosphere on ancient Mars

MARSDAILY
Airbus space technology reaches Mars
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Feb 17, 2021
When NASA's Perseverance rover lands on the surface of the Red Planet next Thursday, key Airbus technology will be on board: the MEDA meteorological station will provide scientists with valuable Mar ... more
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ROBO SPACE
Emerging robotics technology may lead to better buildings in less time
West Lafayette IN (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Emerging robotics technology may soon help construction companies and contractors create buildings in less time at higher quality and at lower costs. Purdue University innovators developed and ... more
ROBO SPACE
Robots sense human touch using camera and shadows
Ithaca NY (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Soft robots may not be in touch with human feelings, but they are getting better at feeling human touch. Cornell University researchers have created a low-cost method for soft, deformable robots to ... more
ROBO SPACE
Collective worm and robot 'blobs' protect individuals, swarm together
Atlanta GA (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Individually, California blackworms live an unremarkable life eating microorganisms in ponds and serving as tropical fish food for aquarium enthusiasts. But together, tens, hundreds, or thousands of ... more
MARSDAILY
NASA wants to fly a helicopter on Mars for the first time
Washington (AFP) Feb 16, 2021
More than a century after the first powered flight on Earth, NASA intends to prove it's possible to replicate the feat on another world. ... more
MARSDAILY
Melting dusty ice may have carved Martian gullies
Tempe AZ (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
By analyzing the occurrences of exposed dusty ice on Mars using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ASU planetary scientists Aditya Khuller and Philip Christensen have found the lowest lat ... more
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RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
Airbus space technology reaches Mars
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Feb 17, 2021
When NASA's Perseverance rover lands on the surface of the Red Planet next Thursday, key Airbus technology will be on board: the MEDA meteorological station will provide scientists with valuable Mars weather data and the High Gain Antenna System will ensure a high-speed comms link with Earth for the duration of the MARS2020 mission. Perseverance will use seven scientific instruments to stu ... more
+ Mars rover mission could drive research for decades to come
+ Tuning in for a precision landing on Mars on Feb 18
+ Skoltech's recent achievement takes us one step closer to Mars
+ Staying long-term on Mars
+ NASA wants to fly a helicopter on Mars for the first time
+ '7 minutes of terror': Perserverance rover's nail-biting landing phase
+ Was there ever life on Mars? NASA's Perseverance rover wants to find out




How to Get Water on the Moon
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Given plans for future manned missions to the Moon - and interest in the potential for longer-term lunar habitation - the presence of water on the Moon is of critical importance. Studies over the last few decades have revealed water lurking on our satellite in numerous forms. But how does it get there? Lunar water has been found locked in ice form in the cold, permanently shadowed craters ... more
+ Teaching an Old Spacecraft New Tricks to Continue Exploring the Moon
+ NASA awards contract to launch initial elements for lunar outpost
+ Goddard's Core Flight Software Chosen for NASA's Lunar Gateway
+ Ozmens' SNC delivers prototype lunar crew module to DYNETICS
+ Chang'e 4 lander, rover resume work on moon
+ Orbit Logic Tackles Autonomous Lunar Exploration with Robotic Swarms
+ NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023
Solar system's most distant planetoid confirmed
Manoa HI (SPX) Feb 11, 2021
A team, including an astronomer from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA), have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down the orbit. The Minor ... more
+ Peering at the Surface of a Nearby Moon
+ A Hot Spot on Jupiter
+ The 15th Anniversary of New Horizons Leaving Earth
+ Juno mission expands into the future
+ Dark Storm on Neptune reverses direction, possibly shedding a fragment
+ The 'Great' Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn
+ NASA's Juno Spacecraft Updates Quarter-Century Jupiter Mystery


On the quest for other Earths
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Feb 18, 2021
In the search for planets capable of sustaining life, an international research team with members from ETH has taken a significant step forward. As the researchers reported recently in the journal Nature Communications, they found signs of a Neptune-sized planet in the Alpha Centauri star system, a mere 4.4 light years away from Earth. This exoplanet is located in a zone that may offer sui ... more
+ NASA's TESS discovers new worlds in a river of young stars
+ Lasers reveal the secret interior of rocky exoplanets
+ A new way of forming planets
+ A new way to look for life-sustaining planets
+ Vaporised crusts of Earth-like planets found in dying stars
+ A new method to search for potentially habitable planets
+ Pollution could be one way to find an extraterrestrial civilization
Russia plans at least 10 launches from Baikonur in 2021
Moscow (Sputnik) Feb 16, 2021
Russia is going to carry out more than 10 launches of Soyuz-2 carrier rockets from the Baikonur cosmodrome this year, Ruslan Mukhamedzhanov, the head of the Centre for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities, said on Monday. "Twelve launches will be carried out from this site [in 2021]. These are federal launches, and commercial launches [in the interests of UK commun ... more
+ DLR ready to test first upper stage for Ariane 6
+ Kremlin 'interested' in Elon Musk-Putin conversation
+ Space Nuclear Propulsion Technologies central to future of Mars Exploration
+ NASA assigns astronauts to next SpaceX Crew-4 mission to ISS
+ SpaceX calls off Starlink launch due to 'unfavorable weather'
+ UK government publishes environmental guidance for spaceflight
+ Ozmens' SNC Dream Chaser spaceplane closer to commercial runway landing




Chinese tracking vessel sets sail for monitoring missions in Indian Ocean
Nanjing, China (XNA) Feb 12, 2021
China's tracking vessel Yuanwang-6 on Wednesday departed from a port in east China's Jiangsu Province for maritime spacecraft monitoring missions in the Indian Ocean. The Yuanwang fleet will continue to carry out intensive and challenging maritime missions this year, and Yuanwang-6 alone will operate at sea for over 200 days, according to sources with the country's satellite maritime track ... more
+ China's 'space dream': A Long March to the Moon and beyond
+ Three generations dedicated to space program
+ China's space station core module, cargo craft pass factory review
+ China's space tracking ship completes satellite launch monitoring
+ Key modules for China's next space station ready for launch
+ Major space station components cleared for operations
+ Chinese space enterprise gears up for record-breaking 40-plus launches in 2021
The comet that killed the dinosaurs
Boston MA (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
It was tens of miles wide and forever changed history when it crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago. The Chicxulub impactor, as it's known, left behind a crater off the coast of Mexico that spans 93 miles and goes 12 miles deep. Its devastating impact brought the reign of the dinosaurs to an abrupt and calamitous end by triggering their sudden mass extinction, along with the end of ... more
+ Ceramic chips inside meteorites hint at wild days of the early solar system
+ What Hollywood gets wrong, and right, about asteroids
+ NASA's OSIRIS-REx to Fly a Farewell Tour of Bennu
+ NASA's first mission to the Trojan Asteroids installs its final scientific instrument
+ An asteroid "double disaster" struck Germany in the Miocene
+ ESA and JAXA meet online to agree future cooperation
+ NASA's Psyche mission moves forward, passing key milestone




Second test of Air Force's drone-killing laser may start later this year
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 17, 2021
Further experiments in directed energy weapons - which use of lasers and microwaves to intercept hostile airborne objects - are expected in 2021, the U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday. A one-year assessment of the High Energy Laser Weapon System 2, or HELWS2, made by Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, began in spring 2020, with a second test expected 6 to 12 months after it is comple ... more
+ AFRL holds new directed energy wargaming event
+ DARPA seeks compact, deployable electron accelerator
+ Lockheed Martin delivers HELIOS Laser to US Navy for testing and integration
+ Navy tests autonomous drone as target for laser weapon testing
+ Do Directed Energy Weapons finally live up to their expectations?
US renews call on Turkey to dump Russian missile system
Washington (AFP) Feb 10, 2021
The United States on Wednesday renewed its call on Turkey to get rid of an advanced Russian air defense system, appearing to reject an offer by Ankara to avoid US sanctions. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in an interview this week proposed a compromise in which the NATO ally does not fully deploy the S-400s, which Russia originally built to target Western jets. "Our policy vis-a-vi ... more
+ Turkey hints at compromise with US over Russian missiles
+ China tests its missile interception equipment
+ Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Phase IIb Awards
+ Northrop builds command centers for Poland's air, missile defense system
+ Israel delivers second Iron Dome Defense System battery to U.S.
+ Congress adds $1.3B to Missile Defense Agency's budget in spending bill
+ IMDO and MDA complete intercept test of the David's Sling Weapon System




Saturn's Tilt Caused By Its Moons
Paris, France (SPX) Jan 22, 2021
Rather like David versus Goliath, it appears that Saturn's tilt may in fact be caused by its moons. This is the conclusion of recent work carried out by scientists from the CNRS, Sorbonne University and the University of Pisa, which shows that the current tilt of Saturn's rotation axis is caused by the migration of its satellites, and especially by that of its largest moon, Titan. Recent o ... more
+ Astronomers estimate Titan's largest sea is 1,000 feet deep
+ SwRI models point to a potentially diverse metabolic menu at Enceladus
+ Impact craters reveal details of Titan's dynamic surface weathering
+ NASA Scientists Discover 'Weird' Molecule in Titan's Atmosphere
+ ALMA shows volcanic impact on Io's atmosphere
+ Interplanetary storm chasing
+ Titan's lakes can stratify like those on Earth
Nanowire could provide a stable, easy-to-make superconducting transistor
Boston MA (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Superconductors - materials that conduct electricity without resistance - are remarkable. They provide a macroscopic glimpse into quantum phenomena, which are usually observable only at the atomic level. Beyond their physical peculiarity, superconductors are also useful. They're found in medical imaging, quantum computers, and cameras used with telescopes. But superconducting devices can b ... more
+ New technique builds super-hard metals from nanoparticles
+ Scientists see competition of magnetic orders from 2D sheets of atoms
+ Atomic-scale nanowires can now be produced at scale
+ Weak force has strong impact on nanosheets
+ Making 3D nanosuperconductors with DNA
+ Researchers share design for affordable single-molecule microscope
+ Scientists explain the paradox of quantum forces in nanodevices




Placing cosmological constraints on quantum gravity phenomenology
New York NY (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
A description of gravity compatible with the principles of quantum mechanics has long been a widely pursued goal in physics. Existing theories of this 'quantum gravity' often involve mathematical corrections to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle (HUP), which quantifies the inherent limits in the accuracy of any quantum measurement. These corrections arise when gravitational interactions ar ... more
+ NANOGrav finds possible 'first hints' of low-frequency gravitational wave background
+ Zero-G and gravity effects in Low Earth Orbits
+ Strongest squeezing ever seen in a gravitational-wave detector
+ Using ancient fossils and gravitational-wave science to predict earth's future
+ Arecibo observatory helps find possible 'first hints' of low-frequency gravitational waves
+ 'Galaxy-sized' observatory sees potential hints of gravitational waves
+ What happens when your brain can't tell which way is up or down?
Scientists manipulate magnets at the atomic scale
Lancaster UK (SPX) Feb 15, 2021
Fast and energy-efficient future data processing technologies are on the horizon after an international team of scientists successfully manipulated magnets at the atomic level. Physicist Dr Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy from Lancaster University said: "With stalling efficiency trends of current technology, new scientific approaches are especially valuable. Our discovery of the atomically-driven ... more
+ Supercomputer turns back cosmic clock
+ Hubble uncovers concentration of small black holes
+ Quantum causal loops
+ Charge radii of exotic potassium isotopes challenge nuclear structure theory
+ A new tool in the search for axions
+ How do electrons close to Earth reach almost the speed of light?
+ Solving complex physics problems at lightning speed




Robots sense human touch using camera and shadows
Ithaca NY (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Soft robots may not be in touch with human feelings, but they are getting better at feeling human touch. Cornell University researchers have created a low-cost method for soft, deformable robots to detect a range of physical interactions, from pats to punches to hugs, without relying on touch at all. Instead, a USB camera located inside the robot captures the shadow movements of hand gestures on ... more
+ Collective worm and robot 'blobs' protect individuals, swarm together
+ Emerging robotics technology may lead to better buildings in less time
+ This robot doesn't need any electronics
+ Machine-learning program imagines a protein's many possible structures
+ Artificial skin brings robots closer to 'touching' human lives
+ How modern robots are developed
+ New AI system uses radio signals to detect a person's emotions
NATO AGS drone reaches initial operational readiness
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 16, 2021
The NATO AGS RQ-4D remotely piloted aircraft has reached initial operational readiness, according to Gen. Tod Wolters, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander. The AGS system enables NATO to perform persistent surveillance over wide areas from high-altitude long-endurance aircraft at considerable distances, according to NATO. All 30 NATO allies will have access to the intelligence the ra ... more
+ Commercial 1-ton cargo delivery glider to be scaled down for expanded military operations
+ French Armed Forces selects Airbus Survey Copter Aliaca fixed-wing drone
+ DARPA initiates design of LongShot unmanned air vehicle
+ Fabricating fully functional drones
+ Pipistrel selects C-Astral Aerospace as industrial and R and D partner with C4 solutions for the Nuuva V20
+ USAF plans more tests of drone-fighter plane collaborations
+ Citadel Defense wins major contract for AI powered counter drone system
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