Columbia MD (SPX) Mar 17, 2022
Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, some craters on Mercury's poles contain ice. The deposits, which were first detected in the early 1990s, were thought to be thick layers of nearly pure water ice. A new study published in the Planetary Science Journal was able to characterize the icy deposits in Mercury's north pole in greater detail and has provided a more robust way of finding and s

Boston MA (SPX) Mar 17, 2022
The Solar System has eight planets. In 2006, astronomers reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, the same class as contains Eris, Sedna, Quaoar, Ceres and perhaps many more solar system small bodies. These are defined approximately as bodies that orbit the Sun but that are not massive enough (unlike regular planets) to gravitationally dominate their environments by clearing away material. Astronom

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 17, 2022
Our Solar System is believed to have formed from a cloud of gas and dust, the so-called solar nebula, which began to condense on itself gravitationally ~ 4.6 billion years ago. As this cloud contracted, it began to spin and shaped itself into a disk revolving about the highest gravity mass at its centre, which would become our Sun. Our solar system inherited all of its chemical composition

Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 17, 2022
It takes a team to plan Perseverance's daily activities, including people in many different roles. One of these roles is called the tactical documentarian, or T-DOC. The tactical documentarian takes notes of the decisions made throughout the day as the rover's plan changes, and shares those notes with the team so that the next day's planning team knows what happened, and why. The planning

Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 17, 2022
Over the weekend, we completed the planned drive with a relatively easy (by "Greenheugh Pediment" standards) traverse in the pediment. With lots of bedrock in the workspace, we quickly identified a contact science target for APXS and MAHLI, "Oosta," that was slightly less dusty than the surrounding bedrock and nicely layered. We decided not to co-target ChemCam LIBS with the contact scienc

Beijing (XNA) Mar 17, 2022
A Chinese high-thrust oxyhydrogen rocket engine has completed a 520-second test in preparation for the upcoming launches of space station lab modules, its maker said on Wednesday. Developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the engine is designed for the core stage of the Long March-5 carrier rocket series, which will be used to launch two lab modules of China's or

Beijing (XNA) Mar 17, 2022
Smart Dragon 3, a new model of solid-propellant carrier rocket, is scheduled to make its debut flight in September, according to a senior rocket scientist. Engineers at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country's major rocket maker, are building the first Smart Dragon 3, which will be launched for the model's first mission, said Jiang Jie, a senior rocket scientist at the

by Steve Martin for Purdue News
West Lafayette IN (SPX) Mar 17, 2022 Achieving affordable space exploration will require lightweight structures for vehicles, solar arrays and antennas. Lightweight materials also will be used for components of structures like pressurized habitats, cryogenic tanks, landing gears and truss cages. The problem is that NASA envisions that many of those structures will be made from tailorable

New Delhi (Sputnik) Mar 17, 2022
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (INSPACe) has started hiring people for top posts at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to take on new space missions and increase the manufacturing and launch of satellites. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to take its missions to another level with an increase in the number of satellite manufa

Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 17, 2022
Crews on the International Space Station (ISS) will cope with almost unprecedented human congestion as 18 astronauts and cosmonauts arrive, work and depart from it over the next month, NASA ISS Operations Integration Manager Dina Contella said. "[The] Soyuz launch on schedule on Friday [is] bringing three Russian crew members to the ISS and then returning [on March 30] with three ISS crew