For a team of scientists and technicians from Europe and the US, the fact of ‘going back to the office’ this September has meant heading off to the Cabo Verde islands in the Atlantic – not to extend their summer holidays, but for a complex international experiment campaign that will scrutinise the data being delivered by one of today’s most innovative Earth observation satellites: ESA’s Aeolus wind mission.

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 17, 2021
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter provided a 3D view of a rock-covered mound during its 13th flight on Sept. 4. The plan for this reconnaissance mission into the "South Seitah" region of Mars' Jezero Crater was to capture images of this geologic target - nicknamed "Faillefeu" (after a medieval abbey in the French Alps) by the agency's Perseverance rover team - and to obtain the color pictures fro

Wenchang, China (XNA) Sep 17, 2021
The combination of the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y4 carrier rocket has been transferred to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said Thursday. The CMSA said the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time. The facilities and equipment at the Wenchang Spacecraft L

Washington (AFP) Sept 19, 2021
Four SpaceX tourists returned to Earth safely on Saturday after spending three days in space, successfully concluding the first orbital mission in history with no professional astronauts on board. The SpaceX Dragon capsule, whose heat shield allowed it to withstand descent, was slowed down by four large parachutes before splashing into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida at 7:06 pm (

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 20, 2021
Scientists found evidence that a region of northern Mars called Arabia Terra experienced thousands of "super eruptions," the biggest volcanic eruptions known, over a 500-million-year period. Some volcanoes can produce eruptions so powerful they release oceans of dust and toxic gases into the air, blocking out sunlight and changing a planet's climate for decades. By studying the topography

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 20, 2021
The Johnson Space Center scientist was tasked with helping guide the way for mission's first cored Mars rock sample. The evening of Aug. 1 felt a lot like a birthday to NASA planetary scientist Justin Simon. On that night, Simon attended a virtual watch party for researchers preparing to use NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to conduct the first detailed study of a candidate rock target

Huntsville AL (SPX) Sep 20, 2021
Dynetics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos, has been selected to help NASA enable a steady pace of crewed trips to the Moon's surface as part of the Artemis program's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Appendix N. As one of five companies selected for a firm fixed-price, milestone-based contract, Dynetics will receive an initial award of $40.8 million over

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 20, 2021
Two interactive web experiences let you explore the Martian surface, as seen by cameras aboard the rover and orbiters flying overhead. It's the next best thing to being on Mars: Two online interactive experiences let you check out Jezero Crater - the landing site and exploration locale for NASA's Perseverance rover - without leaving our planet. One new experience, called "Explore wit