Madrid, Spain (SPX) Feb 17, 2021
When NASA's Perseverance rover lands on the surface of the Red Planet next Thursday, key Airbus technology will be on board: the MEDA meteorological station will provide scientists with valuable Mars weather data and the High Gain Antenna System will ensure a high-speed comms link with Earth for the duration of the MARS2020 mission. Perseverance will use seven scientific instruments to stu

Beijing (XNA) Feb 10, 2021
China has published six documents detailing technical requirements and test methods for key civilian products using the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The documents have been issued to facilitate the construction of a certification system for key BDS-3 products, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office. Technical requirements and test methods were drafted for c

West Lafayette IN (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Emerging robotics technology may soon help construction companies and contractors create buildings in less time at higher quality and at lower costs. Purdue University innovators developed and are testing a novel construction robotic system that uses an innovative mechanical design with advances in computer vision sensing technology to work in a construction setting. The technology w

New York NY (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
A description of gravity compatible with the principles of quantum mechanics has long been a widely pursued goal in physics. Existing theories of this 'quantum gravity' often involve mathematical corrections to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle (HUP), which quantifies the inherent limits in the accuracy of any quantum measurement. These corrections arise when gravitational interactions ar

Atlanta GA (SPX) Feb 12, 2021
Individually, California blackworms live an unremarkable life eating microorganisms in ponds and serving as tropical fish food for aquarium enthusiasts. But together, tens, hundreds, or thousands of the centimeter-long creatures can collaborate to form a "worm blob," a shape-shifting living liquid that collectively protects its members from drying out and helps them escape threats such as excess

Moscow, Russia (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
Researchers from the Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and their Skoltech colleagues have surveyed the newest known 30-meter deep gas blowout crater on the Yamal Peninsula, which formed in the summer of 2020. The paper was published in the journal Geosciences. Giant craters in the Russian Arctic, thought to be the remnants of powerful gas blowouts, first att

Flyover movies, elevation maps, 3D views and detailed colour scenes: ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter missions have provided imagery of Jezero Crater and the surrounding region in support of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing on 18 February 2021.

WASHINGTON — NASA’s Mars 2020 spacecraft is operating “perfectly” ahead of its Feb. 18 landing on Mars that will be a key milestone for the agency’s future Mars exploration plans.

The spacecraft is scheduled to land the rover Perseverance on the surface of Jezero Crater on Mars at about 3:55 p.m.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force awarded LinQuest Corp. a $200 million contract for advisory and support services for one of the service’s field commands, the Defense Department announced Feb. 16.

The contract is for work performed at the Space Operations Command headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, between now and February 2030.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) was named chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces, SASC Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.