Skip to main content

Posts

NASA's Psyche Mission Says Goodbye to Mars and Heads for its Metal-Rich Target

Spacecraft often use planets for gravity-assist or "slingshot" maneuvers. NASA's Psyche mission used Mars for that purpose during a May 15th flyby. The flyby accelerated the spacecraft and aimed it at its eventual destination, the asteroid 16 Psyche. The flyby was also an opportunity to take some pictures of Mars, and to test and calibrate the spacecraft's science instruments. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/CMd59K0 via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

It Looks Like Europa Doesn't Have Plumes of Water Vapour After All

In 2014, researchers presented the discovery of water vapour plumes being emitted from Jupiter's moon Europa. This caused quite a stir; it meant that the moon's buried ocean was accessible without contending with the thick ice shell that concealed it. But new research by the same researchers questions those detections. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/kEUFON1 via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

Extreme Lunar Conditions Need an Extreme Test Rig

When people eventually head to the Moon for long-term exploration and habitation, they'll need equipment and habitats made of well-tested materials. That's where NASA's Lunar Environment Test Rig (LESTR) comes in handy. It simulates extreme cold lunar night conditions right here in a NASA Glenn lab, testing equipment in temperatures ranging from 40K to 125K (-233 C to -148 C) in a vacuum. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/qyBPbAV via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

Mergers, Mayhem, and the Milky Way

Galaxies grow through mergers and collisions, and astronomers want to know more about the mergers in the Milky Way's past. But mergers can stir up the stars in the resulting galaxy, making it difficult to determine exactly when an ancient merger occurred. A new study led by researchers at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) may have overcome that challenge. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/2jEvFra via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

Is Dust the Best Thing in the Universe? Part 1: The Apology Begins

Years of grievance against dust. It ruins lungs, suits, rovers, and Mars missions. The first installment of an apology, sort of, to the most annoying substance in the cosmos. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/GMwcSNR via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

A Brief-ish History of SETI. Part VI: The Great Silence and the Great Filter

In the closing decades of the 20th century, several proposed explanations were put forward for why humanity has not yet found evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence in the cosmos. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/OQStrBZ via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

TESS Data Reveals 27 New Planet Candidates in Binary Systems

You’re doing some late afternoon work on the habitat as part of humanity’s first exoplanet settlement, but the sun is going down so you’re trying to speed things up. Just as the light dims, everything suddenly starts getting brighter. You look up and see the sun starting to rise again, except it’s your second sun. You kick yourself for not checking the daily sunrise and sunset logs, but you’re happy you get to put in a bit more work before you eat dinner. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/h3VIswp via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more