Salts could be important piece of Martian organic puzzle, scientists find
Friday, 21 May 2021 10:31
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A NASA team has found that organic salts are likely present on Mars. Like shards of ancient pottery, these salts are the chemical remnants of organic compounds, such as those previously detected by NASA's Curiosity rover. Organic compounds and salts on Mars could have formed by geologic processes or be remnants of ancient microbial life.
Besides adding more evidence to the idea that there once was organic matter on Mars, directly detecting organic salts would also support modern-day Martian habitability, given that on Earth, some organisms can use organic salts, such as oxalates and acetates, for energy.
Arctic sea ice succumbs to Atlantification
Friday, 21 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
With alarm bells ringing about the rapid demise of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, satellite data have revealed how the intrusion of warmer Atlantic waters is reducing ice regrowth in the winter. In addition, with seasonal ice more unpredictable than ever, ESA’s SMOS and CryoSat satellites are being used to improve sea-ice forecasts, which are critical for shipping, fisheries and indigenous communities, for example.
NASA's S-MODE takes to the air and sea to study ocean eddies
Friday, 21 May 2021 08:24 Write a comment
After being delayed over a year due to the pandemic, a NASA field campaign to study the role of small-scale whirlpools and ocean currents in climate change is taking flight and taking to the seas in May 2021.
Using scientific instruments aboard a self-propelled ocean glider and several airplanes, this first deployment of the Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) mission will dep First modernized SBIRS Missile Warning Satellite under Space Force control
Friday, 21 May 2021 08:24 Write a comment
Following a successful launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Space Force's Space Delta 4 operations team is now "talking" with the fifth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO-5) satellite.
As planned, SBIRS GEO-5-built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)-is responding to the Delta's commands. Signal acquisition was confir Metalysis–ESA Grand Challenge: team Malt wins first phase
Friday, 21 May 2021 08:15 Write a comment
Metalysis and ESA announce team Malt as winner of the first phase of the Grand Challenge to develop innovative techniques for future lunar settlements.
Vacancy: Director of Commercialisation, Industry & Procurement
Friday, 21 May 2021 07:20 Write a comment
The European Space Agency is currently looking for a new Director of Commercialisation, Industry & Procurement, to join its executive board and support the Director General, with responsibility for relevant ESA activities and overall objectives.
Lunch with the Moon
Friday, 21 May 2021 07:03 Write a comment
Lunar Eclipse Webcast 26 May 11:30 CEST start
Earth from Space: Los Cabos, Mexico
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The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Los Cabos – a municipality on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula.
Melroy wins strong support at hearing to be NASA deputy administrator
Friday, 21 May 2021 02:10 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The former astronaut tapped by the White House to serve as NASA deputy administrator told senators she supported extending the International Space Station and continuing limitations on the agency’s ability to cooperate with China.
SpaceX's 22nd Commercial Resupply Mission to ISS
Friday, 21 May 2021 02:04 Write a comment
The 22nd SpaceX cargo resupply mission carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations launches to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than June 3. Experiments aboard include studying how water bears tolerate space, whether microgravity affects symbiotic relationships, analyzing the formation of kidney stones, and more.
Highligh NASA fires up fourth RS-25 engine test
Friday, 21 May 2021 02:04 Write a comment
NASA conducted its fourth RS-25 single-engine hot fire of the year May 20, a continuation of its seven-part test series to support development and production of engines for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future missions to the Moon.
The engine was fired for more than 8 minutes (500 seconds) on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, the same amount Plans underway for Ingenuity's 6th flight
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Plans are underway for NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make its sixth flight on the Red Planet in the next week. The flight is the first to be executed during the helicopter's operations demonstration phase and includes scouting multiple surface features from the air and landing at a different airfield.
In this new phase, data and images from the flight will be returned to Earth in the Salts could be important piece of Martian organic puzzle
Friday, 21 May 2021 02:04 Write a comment
A NASA team has found that organic, or carbon-containing, salts are likely present on Mars, with implications for the Red Planet's past habitability.
A NASA team has found that organic salts are likely present on Mars. Like shards of ancient pottery, these salts are the chemical remnants of organic compounds, such as those previously detected by NASA's Curiosity rover. Organic compounds an European Space Agency plans network of moon satellites
Friday, 21 May 2021 02:04 Write a comment
The European Space Agency plans to build a communications and navigation network of satellites around the moon to aid future missions, including NASA's planned Artemis astronaut crews.
The agency has initiated a study of potential designs for the network, named Moonlight, that would tap private companies for proposals. Those firms include the United Kingdom's Surrey Satellite Technology NASA awards $500K in First Phase of $5M Watts on the Moon Challenge
Friday, 21 May 2021 02:04 Write a comment
NASA has awarded $500,000 to seven winning teams in Phase 1 of the agency's Watts on the Moon Challenge. The technology design competition challenged U.S. innovators, from garage tinkerers to university researchers and startup entrepreneurs, to imagine a next-generation energy infrastructure on the Moon.
Sixty teams submitted original design concepts aimed at meeting future needs for robu