Scientific Systems to develop satellite inspection software for U.S. Space Force
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 13:00

Satnav test on remote island lab
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 11:45
ESA’s navigation testbed vehicle participated in a campaign organised by Norwegian governmental authorities to assess the impact of jamming and spoofing on satnav systems and test innovative technologies for detection and mitigation.
Space Development Agency to evaluate SpiderOak cybersecurity software
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 11:10

NASA seeks development of universal payload interface
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:56
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
NASA is calling on innovators to help solve some of the challenges in rapidly testing technology payloads across a wide range of commercial flight vehicles and test environments. As NASA explores the unknown in air and space, the agency is making increased use of commercial suborbital vehicles, spacecraft, and lunar landers to help advance new capabilities. However, the process to ensure payload

Lucy continues approach to Asteroid Dinkinesh for November 1 encounter
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
San Antonio TX (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
Since NASA's Lucy spacecraft first imaged the asteroid Dinkinesh on Sept. 3, 2023, Lucy has traveled over 33 million miles (54 million km) and is now 4.7 million miles (7.6 million km) away from the small asteroid. However, as Dinkinesh continues on its orbit around the Sun, Lucy still has another almost 16 million miles (25 million km) to travel to its meet-up with the asteroid on Nov. 1.

Hypervelocity impact experiments probe the origin of organics on the dwarf planet Ceres
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
One of the most exciting findings from NASA's Dawn mission is that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, hosts complex organics. The discovery of aliphatic molecules, which consist of carbon and hydrogen chains, in conjunction with evidence that Ceres has abundant water ice and may have been an ocean world, means this dwarf planet might have once harb

Simulations of 'backwards time travel' can improve scientific experiments
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
Cambridge UK (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
Physicists have shown that simulating models of hypothetical time travel can solve experimental problems that appear impossible to solve using standard physics.
If gamblers, investors and quantum experimentalists could bend the arrow of time, their advantage would be significantly higher, leading to significantly better outcomes.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have shown

Cliffhangers go by the name of 'Stand By' in Mission Ops: Sols 3980-3981
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 17, 2023
Earth planning date: Monday, October 16, 2023: We are just at the first steps of the next drilling campaign, as regular readers of this blog will certainly have spotted already. The last plan had the preload test, that little dent we make into the rocks to gauge how both the rock and the rover's arm will react to the pressures and stresses of the drilling. It's a good forecast, but rocks are nat

Lab instrument now on two-billion-mile journey to the metallic asteroid Psyche
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
Livermore CA (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
An instrument designed and built by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers departed Earth last week on a two-billion-mile, nearly six-year journey through space to explore a rare, largely metal asteroid.
The Livermore high-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray sensor is an essential part of a larger gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) built in collaboration with researchers from Jo

Taking a Rain Check: Sols 3977-3979
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 17, 2023
Earth planning date: Friday, October 13, 2023: It's been an exciting week in space - Conor already mentioned the news from OSIRIS-REX on Wednesday and just before I logged on for my shift this morning the Psyche spacecraft launched. But the week isn't over and weekends on Mars have lots of room for excitement.
Wednesday's pre-drilling tests on target 'Sequoia' (shown in the image above) mo

Extreme habitats: Microbial life in Old Faithful Geyser
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
An eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park is a sight to behold. Indeed, millions of tourists flock to the park each year to see it. Hot water and steam are ejected in the air to a height of 100-180 feet approximately every 90 minutes. Many adjectives come to mind to describe it: powerful, mesmerizing, unique, otherworldly . . . homey? Not so much.
Yet new research by

Webb detects tiny quartz crystals in clouds of hot gas giant
Tuesday, 17 October 2023 10:48
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
Catching a glimpse of one of the most common and familiar minerals on Earth rarely merits a Webb detects tiny quartz crystals in clouds of hot gas giant. Quartz is found in beach sands, building stones, geodes, and gem shops around the world. It's melted to produce glass, refined for silicon microchips, and used in watches to keep time.
So what's so special about the latest discovery from
