The longstanding mystery of Mars' moons—and the mission that could solve it
Saturday, 09 December 2023 10:10The two small moons of Mars, Phobos (about 22km in diameter) and Deimos (about 13km in diameter), have been puzzling scientists for decades, with their origin remaining a matter of debate. Some have proposed that they may be made up of residual debris produced from a planet or large asteroid smashing into the surface of Mars (#TeamImpact).
An opposing hypothesis (#TeamCapture), however, suggests the moons are asteroids that were captured by Mars's gravitational pull and were trapped in orbit.
To solve the mystery, we'll need material from the moons' surfaces for analytical analyses on Earth. Luckily, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) will launch a mission, named "Martian Moon eXploration" (MMX), to Phobos and Deimos in September 2024. The mission will be carried by a newly designed rocket, the H-3, which is still under development.
The spacecraft is expected to reach Martian orbit in 2025, after which it will orbit Phobos and finally collect material from its surface before returning to Earth by 2029.
This will make it the next in a series of recent missions bringing material from space back to Earth, following on from Jaxa's successful mission to asteroid Ryugu (Hayabusa2), as well as Nasa's Osiris-Rex mission to asteroid Bennu and the Chinese Space Agency's Chang'e 5 mission to the Moon.
Three satellites presumed lost in Transporter deployment malfunction
Friday, 08 December 2023 23:03U.S. Space Force activates new unit to support operations in Europe and Africa
Friday, 08 December 2023 22:13Ghana warns against illegal Starlink services
Friday, 08 December 2023 21:50Experts raise concerns about U.S. commitment to GPS modernization
Friday, 08 December 2023 21:12Image: Hubble captures a cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Friday, 08 December 2023 16:34This striking Hubble Space Telescope image shows the densely packed globular cluster known as NGC 2210, which is situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The LMC lies about 157,000 light-years from Earth and is a so-called satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, meaning that the two galaxies are gravitationally bound. Globular clusters are very stable, tightly bound clusters of thousands or even millions of stars. Their stability means that they can last a long time, and therefore globular clusters are often studied to investigate potentially very old stellar populations.
In fact, 2017 research using some of the data that were also used to build this image revealed that a sample of LMC globular clusters were incredibly close in age to some of the oldest stellar clusters found in the Milky Way's halo.
Northrop Grumman tests new solid rocket motor technologies
Friday, 08 December 2023 14:06Week in images: 04-08 December 2023
Friday, 08 December 2023 13:10Week in images: 04-08 December 2023
Discover our week through the lens
GAO report recommends FAA evaluate launch mishap investigation procedures
Friday, 08 December 2023 11:26Space Systems Command and SpaceX Gear Up for USSF-52 Falcon Heavy Mission
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13Space Systems Command (SSC) and SpaceX are making final preparations to launch the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-52 mission into orbit. The Falcon Heavy mission is set to launch during a ten-minute window that opens Dec. 10 at 8:14 p.m. Eastern (5:14 p.m. Pacific) from the historic Launch Complex (LC)-39A at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida USSF-52 is tasked with carrying out the s
Hearing 'The Whole Sky' with Quasar Sense a Game Changer for Milspace
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13Quasar Satellite Technologies has introduced Quasar Sense, a novel tool in space domain awareness (SDA) for American defense, intelligence, and national security sectors. This innovative technology allows for the simultaneous tracking and characterization of over 30 satellites, marking a significant advancement in the field. Quasar Sense utilizes more than 30 steerable beams from a digital
Pacific Defense Secures Phase II Contract for Advanced Cislunar Space Sensor
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13Pacific Defense, a leader in Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) technology, has announced a significant development in cislunar space situational awareness (SSA). The company has been awarded a $9.4 million Phase II contract by the Space Control Technology Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to complete the development of a low size, weight, and power (SWaP) sensor. This sensor,
China's Quest for Space-Based Solar Power: A Clean Energy Revolution
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13Amid global efforts to transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources, Chinese scientists and engineers are pursuing an innovative solution-harnessing the abundant energy of the sun in space and beaming it back to Earth. Multiple teams in China are currently dedicated to developing the necessary technologies for constructing and operating a space-based solar power facility. This ambitiou
Iran hails capsule launch as step towards human spaceflight
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13Iran has launched a capsule designed to carry living beings in a step towards sending astronauts into space, state media reported Wednesday - the latest test of aerospace technology criticised by the West. The capsule was successfully sent up to a height of 130 kilometres (80 miles), the IRNA news agency quoted Telecommunications Minister Issa Zarepour as saying. He said the launch of t
To the moo-n: cow dung fuels Japan's space ambitions
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13Japan's space industry opened potentially an udder-ly new chapter on Thursday with a start-up testing a prototype rocket engine that runs on fuel derived purely from a plentiful local source: cow dung. The experiment saw the engine blast out a blue-and-orange flame 10-15 metres (30-50 feet) horizontally out of an open hangar door for around 10 seconds in the rural northern town of Taiki.