Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 26, 2022
In NASA's hunt for water and resources beyond Earth, a new technology could coat the "skin" of a satellite, turning its entire surface into a sensor that tallies the chemicals present on distant planets. Solving the mysteries of our home planet, solar system, and beyond is a key priority for NASA, and the new sensor could be a powerful tool in the investigation. Mahmooda Sultana, an instru

Los Alamos NM (SPX) Aug 26, 2022
Scientists on NASA's Perseverance mission made a surprising discovery about the composition of rock in Jezero Crater, one that will help them get a better idea of when water existed on Mars, and ultimately, help them understand if the red planet was ever habitable to microbial life. "The SuperCam instrument suite of remote chemical and mineralogical tools on the Perseverance rover has made

Week in images: 22-26 August 2022

Discover our week through the lens

Save the date: this year’s 11^th annual ESA Open Day at ESTEC in the Netherlands is confirmed to take place on Sunday 2 October. One of a string of ‘ESA Days’ across Member States, this is the day when the gates of the Agency’s technical heart will be thrown open to the general public, to see space hardware and testing facilities and meet space scientists, engineers and ESA astronauts.

Image:

The Orion spacecraft with integrated European Service Module sit atop the Space Launch System, imaged at sunrise at historic Launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.

The Flight Readiness Review has deemed the trio GO for launch, marking the dawn of a new era in space exploration.

The first in a series of missions that will return humans to the Moon, including taking the first European, Artemis I is scheduled for launch no earlier than Monday 29 August, at 14:33 CEST.

This mission will put NASA’s Orion spacecraft and ESA’s European Service Module to the test during a

Image: ESA astronaut rad-detectors on Artemis

Los Angeles (AFP) Aug 26, 2022
Elon Musk's SpaceX satellites will connect directly to T-Mobile cellphones to provide service access even in the most remote places beyond the reach of cell towers from next year, the two companies announced Thursday. The new service, which will work on existing cellphones and utilize SpaceX's network of thousands of Starlink satellites in Earth's orbit, will begin offering text messaging se

Washington (AFP) Aug 25, 2022
The months-old James Webb Space Telescope has added another major scientific discovery to its growing list: detecting for the first time signs of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system. Although the exoplanet would never be able to support life as we know it, the successful discovery of CO2 gives researchers hope that similar observations could be carried out o

Washington (AFP) Aug 25, 2022
The first crewed flight of Boeing's space capsule Starliner is scheduled for February 2023, the company and NASA announced Thursday, as the United States seeks to secure a second way for its astronauts to reach the International Space Station. Since 2020, American astronauts have traveled to the ISS aboard SpaceX's vessels but the US space agency wants to widen its options. After a serie