Wet paleoclimate of Mars revealed by ancient lakes at Gale Crater
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 09, 2015 -
We have heard the Mars exploration mantra for more than a decade: follow the water. In a new paper published October 9, 2015, in the journal Science, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team presents recent results of its quest to not just follow the water but to understand where it came from, and how long it lasted on the surface of Mars so long ago.
The story that has unfolded is a wet one ...
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NASA's vapor tracers to turn the night sky into a rainbow
Wallops Island, Va. (UPI) Oct 7, 2015 -
In an effort to better understand "the naturally occurring flows of ionized and neutral particles" in the upper atmosphere, NASA is releasing a series of colorful vapor tracers 130 miles above the Earth.
The tracers will be released by a sounding rocket, set to launch between 7 and 9 p.m. EST from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Approximately six minutes after launch, four sub- ...
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Wet paleoclimate of Mars revealed by ancient lakes at Gale Crater
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 09, 2015 -
We have heard the Mars exploration mantra for more than a decade: follow the water. In a new paper published October 9, 2015, in the journal Science, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team presents recent results of its quest to not just follow the water but to understand where it came from, and how long it lasted on the surface of Mars so long ago.
The story that has unfolded is a wet one ...
more
NASA Challenge Seeks Ways to Use Mars' Natural Resources for Astronauts
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 09, 2015 -
Living off the land is different when the land is 140 million miles away, so NASA is looking for innovative ideas to use in situ (in place) Martian resources to help establish a human presence on the Red Planet.
The In Situ Resource Utilization Challenge offers the public an opportunity to submit designs for structures on Mars that would use existing material. The agency plans to award $10 ...
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ASU Mars images star in 'The Martian'
Tempe, AZ (SPX) Oct 09, 2015 -
Images of Mars taken by a visual and infrared camera designed at Arizona State University take a star turn in the new hit movie "The Martian." Last November, the film production company for "The Martian" approached ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration about using THEMIS - Thermal Emission Imaging System - imagery in the movie.
"We gave it, of course, and ASU is duly credited in the ...
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Seaspan chooses KVH's mini-VSAT Broadband solution for container ships
Middletown RI (SPX) Oct 08, 2015 -
Seaspan has selected for 18 of its newest vessels the complete mini-VSAT Broadband 2.0 maritime communications solution from KVH Industries. The solution includes KVH's global TracPhone V11-IP satellite communications system, mini-VSAT Broadband connectivity, IP-MobileCast content delivery service, and CommBox network management tools.
More Seaspan vessels are expected to receive the mini- ...
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NASA Prepares to Test Orion Service Module
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 08, 2015 -
Lockheed Martin technicians lift the Orion Crew Module Adapter Structural Test Article at NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station.
The adapter will connect Orion's crew module to a service module provided by ESA (European Space Agency).
NASA is preparing for a series of tests that will check out the Orion European Service Module, a critical part of the spacecraft that will be ...
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Kick-off for a new era of precision astronomy
Garching, Germany (SPX) Oct 08, 2015 -
The MICADO camera, a first light instrument for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), has entered a new phase in the project: by agreeing to a Memorandum of Understanding, the partners in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy, have all confirmed their participation. Following this milestone, the project's transition into its preliminary design phase was approved at a kic ...
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Curiosity Rover Team Confirms Ancient Lakes on Mars
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 09, 2015 -
A new study from the team behind NASA's Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity has confirmed that Mars was once, billions of years ago, capable of storing water in lakes over an extended period of time.
Using data from the Curiosity rover, the team has determined that, long ago, water helped deposit sediment into Gale Crater, where the rover landed more than three years ago. The sediment deposi ...
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NASA announces Challenge for Methods of Assessing Damage to Space Suits
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 08, 2015 -
Astronauts venturing beyond the controlled environment of a spacecraft require protection from the harsh conditions in space. They get that protection from a space suit, which is a multilayer garment specially designed to retain pressure, carry loads and offer structural support, and shield against the environment.
NASA is seeking proposals for test methods or procedures to assess wear/dam ...
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Indonesia launches indigenous satellite
Jakarta (XNA) Oct 08, 2015 -
Indonesia launched its indigenous satellite codenamed Lapan A2 on Monday, using rockets and launching pad in Satish Dhawan Space Center, India, highly expected as a milestone for Indonesia to master satellite technology, an Indonesian senior official said.
"The Lapan A2 was originally made by engineers and facilities of Lapan," Head of Indonesia's National Institute of Aeronautics and Spac ...
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Mysterious ripples found racing through planet-forming disc
Paris (ESA) Oct 08, 2015 -
Using images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered never-before-seen structures within a dusty disc surrounding a nearby star. The fast-moving wave-like features in the disc of the star AU Microscopii are unlike anything ever observed, or even predicted, before now. The origin and nature of these features present a new mystery for as ...
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Both passengers for next Ariane 5 mission arrive in French Guiana
Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Oct 08, 2015 -
The Arabsat-6B and GSAT-15 telecommunications satellites are now in French Guiana - setting the stage for Arianespace's next heavy-lift mission, which is scheduled for an early November liftoff.
Arabsat-6B was delivered to Felix Eboue International Airport near French Guiana's capital city of Cayenne earlier this month via cargo aircraft. It joins GSAT-15 in French Guiana, which previously ...
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China launches cube satellites for civil aircraft tracking
Beijing (XNA) Oct 08, 2015 -
China has successfully launched three cube satellites (CubeSats), which are expected to help track civil aircraft and ships and avoid tragedies like missing flight MH370.
The three CubeSats in a mission coded STU-2 were launched on Sept. 25 and have entered their designed orbit, according to the mission's chief designer, Wu Shufan.
The three spacecraft are equipped with polar region ...
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Scientists present, discuss latest data from experiments smashing nuclei
Kobe, Japan (SPX) Oct 07, 2015 -
Scientists intent on unraveling the mystery of the force that binds the building blocks of visible matter are gathered in Kobe, Japan, this week to present and discuss the latest results from "ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions."
Known more colloquially as Quark Matter 2015, the conference convenes scientists studying smashups of nuclei traveling close to the speed of light at th ...
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GSSAP reaches initial operational capability
Peterson AFB CO (SPX) Oct 08, 2015 -
General John E. Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the first two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) spacecraft on Sept. 29, 2015.
This significant achievement is reflective of the outstanding collaboration between numerous organizations, including AFSPC, U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) and its J ...
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Russia Develops Portable Aerosol Cloud Generator to Conceal Missiles
Moscow (Sputnik) Oct 08, 2015 -
An aerosol generator is designed for creating aerosol curtains, or artificial clouds, to hide road-mobile missile complexes, according to Aleksei Solodovnikov, a lecturer at the Peter the Great Strategic Missile Forces College.
Russian experts have developed and successfully tested a device designed to conceal missile systems with an aerosol cloud, a lecturer at the Peter the Great Strateg ...
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Blue skies, frozen water detected on Pluto
Miami (AFP) Oct 8, 2015 -
Pluto has blue skies and patches of frozen water, according to the latest data out Thursday from NASA's unmanned New Horizons probe, which made a historic flyby of the dwarf planet in July.
Never before has Pluto - a resident of the distant Kuiper Belt, a frigid region of the solar system beyond Neptune that is home to many comets and asteroids - been observed in such detail.
"Who wou ...
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Pluto's Small Moons Nix and Hydra
Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 09, 2015 -
This week's beautiful Charon images remind us that Pluto is not just one body; it's a whole system of worlds. Pluto and its largest moon Charon dance around each other, making circles around their common center of mass, which lies in an empty space between them. Around the dancing couple are four small moons. In order of increasing distance, their names are Styx (just beyond Charon), then Nix, Kerberos and Hydra. These tiny moons also orbit around the system's center of mass. ...
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New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on Pluto
Laurel MD (SPX) Oct 09, 2015 -
The first color images of Pluto's atmospheric hazes, returned by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft last week, reveal that the hazes are blue. "Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It's gorgeous," said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado.
The haze particles themselves are likely gray or red, but the way t ...
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NASA unveils missing pieces in journey to Mars
Miami (AFP) Oct 9, 2015 -
NASA on Thursday outlined the many challenges that remain before humans can set foot on Mars, calling the problems "solvable" but setting no firm date for an astronaut mission to the Red Planet.
Updated details of the US space agency's Mars strategy were contained in a 36-page document released to the public ahead of upcoming talks with Congress about budgets for space exploration and a majo ...
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