How Mars 2020 will help bring part of the red planet back to Earth
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 14:04
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Out in the cold, empty void beyond Earth, NASA's latest Mars mission is hurtling at 43,000 miles per hour toward the Red Planet. The mission, Mars 2020, passed the halfway point of its journey in October 2020 and is expected to touch down on solid ground on February 18.
The mission is the first part of an audacious plan to do something humanity has never done before: bring a piece of another planet back to Earth. (NASA has retrieved rocks from the Moon, but it is not considered a planet.) This plan, known as Mars Sample Return, will involve three missions spanning a decade.
For Ken Farley, Caltech's W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry and the mission's project scientist, Mars 2020 is the culmination of years of dreaming and careful planning.
"The idea of bringing a sample back from Mars goes back decades," he says.
Democratic senators ask White House to continue Artemis lunar lander program
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 12:32 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Eleven Democratic members of the U.S. Senate have asked President Joe Biden to maintain “robust funding” of NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program given uncertainties about how the agency will proceed with that effort.
Aeolus shines a light on polar vortex
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 10:45 Write a comment
As this winter’s polar vortex currently sends extreme icy blasts of Arctic weather to some parts of the northern hemisphere such as the northeast of the US, scientists are using wind information from ESA’s Aeolus satellite to shed more light on this complex phenomenon.
US voices concern on Iran satellite rocket launch
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
The United States on Tuesday voiced concern about Iran's launch of a satellite-carrying rocket, saying the test could boost missile work at a moment when the two nations are inching back to diplomacy.
"The United States remains concerned with Iran's efforts to development space launch vehicles (SLVs), given these programs' ability to advance Iran's ballistic missile development," a State Dep Iran tests new solid fuel satellite launch vehicle
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
Tensions between the US and Iran have been especially high ever since Trump in 2018 withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reinstated harsh sanctions against Iran. The JCPOA stipulated that Iran would receive waivers from sanctions if it agreed to limit its nuclear programme.
Iran on Monday shared a video of its new domes SpaceX plans two communications satellite cluster launches in a day
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to launch two Starlink communications satellite cluster missions from Florida in one day Thursday - the first time in history for such a feat by a launch company.
The first launch is planned at 1:19 a.m. EST from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, followed by another just over four hours later at 5:36 a.m. EST from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Ce Digital platform helps rescue services during natural disasters
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
In the event of a forest fire, flash flooding or a landslide, how can firefighters and rescue workers get to the disaster site as quickly as possible? What measures need to be taken? What lessons can be learned from past disasters? The HEIMDALL project provides answers via a digital platform that collects all of this information.
At the virtual final presentation of the project, the benefi A fine-grained view of dust storms
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
A satellite-based dataset generated by KAUST researchers has revealed the dynamics of dust storm formation and movements over the last decade in the Arabian Peninsula. Analysis of this long-term dataset reveals the connection between the occurrence of extreme dust events and regional atmospheric conditions, a finding that could help improve weather forecasting and air-quality models.
Dust Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:27 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX successfully launched another set of Starlink satellites Feb. 4 in the first of back-to-back Falcon 9 launches scheduled from Cape Canaveral.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 1:19 a.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Lunar traffic to pick up as NASA readies for robotic commercial moon deliveries
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 04:48 Write a comment
NASA is working on various science instruments and technology experiments from the agency that will operate on the Moon once American companies on Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts deliver them to the lunar surface. Through CLPS flights, NASA is buying a complete commercial robotic lunar delivery service and does not provide launch services, own the lander or lead landing operat Mission control at work in Houston
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 04:48 Write a comment
A peak into NASA's Mission Control in Houston: what looks like a coffee break is actually ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen (centre) hard at work, guiding NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover via radio during last week's spacewalk.
Spacewalkers are in constant contact with just one person during a spacewalk. This 'ground IV' is a fellow astronaut who is experienced with every proced Amazon's Bezos, latest tycoon to pursue his 'passion'
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 04:48 Write a comment
Bill Gates set out to heal the world. His Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen bought sports teams. Ted Turner raced yachts. And Donald Trump went into politics.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, plans to build rockets and save the planet.
Bezos, 57, is the latest in a line of corporate titans who have stepped away from their day jobs to devote themselves to other activities Tech billionaire Elon Musk says he's off Twitter 'for a while'
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 04:48 Write a comment
Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Tuesday he was taking a break from Twitter "for a while", after his posts on the platform helped fuel a stock market frenzy that sent the share prices of several companies soaring.
Musk overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world's wealthiest person last month, with a fortune estimated at $185 billion following a nine-fold surge in Tesla's share price Tianwen 1 probe set to enter Mars orbit before New Year
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 04:48 Write a comment
China's Tianwen 1 Mars probe is set to enter the orbit of the red planet around Feb 10, two days before Chinese New Year, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor.
The State-owned conglomerate said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that the spacecraft will conduct a "braking" operation to decelerate and make sure it will be capture NASA, International Partners assess mission to map ice on Mars
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 04:48 Write a comment
NASA and three international partners have signed a statement of intent to advance a possible robotic Mars ice mapping mission, which could help identify abundant, accessible ice for future candidate landing sites on the Red Planet. The agencies have agreed to establish a joint concept team to assess mission potential, as well as partnership opportunities.
Under the statement, NASA, the It