Tag: roscosmos

How dust could make some exoplanets more habitable

A new study from scientists in the UK suggests that atmospheric dust could increase the habitability of some exoplanets, especially those orbiting red dwarf stars. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/how-dust-could-make-some-exoplanets-more-habitable…

One Lucky Space Tourist Could Get a Shot At An ISS Spacewalk In 2023

Space tourism company Space Adventures announced a deal on Thursday with the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation to fly two space tourists to the International Space Station. What makes this contract an eye-opener is that it would give one of the tourists an opportunity to go for a spacewalk outside the ISS. CNET reports: Space Adventures said this person would…

Russia’s Soyuz Rocket Production On Hold Due To Coronavirus

Russian officials said they’ve halted manufacturing of the country’s workhorse Soyuz rocket, which most recently flew on April 9 to carry three astronauts to the ISS in a launch that was essentially unaffected by the pandemic. Space.com reports: The news of the pandemic’s impact on its production comes from an English-language transcript released on April 10 by Russia’s government of a…

Help NASA Choose the Name For Its Next Mars Rover

Slashdot reader DevNull127 writes: NASA will launch a new rover to Mars this July — and 28,000 American schoolchildren wrote essays with suggestions for what NASA should name it. NASA has now selected the top nine finalists, which they’ll let the public vote on through Monday on a special web page where they’re also displaying the schoolchildren’s essays. “Scientists are tenacious,”…

ExoMars Rover completes environmental tests

The Rosalind Franklin rover of the joint ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars mission completed a series of environmental tests at the end of 2019 at Airbus, Toulouse, France. This included final thermal and vacuum tests where the Rover is heated and cooled to simulate the temperatures of its journey through space and on the surface of Mars. For example, Rosalind Franklin can expect temperatures…

Glitch delays launch of Europe’s exoplanet hunter

A technical rocket glitch during the final countdown Tuesday pushed back by a day the blastoff of Europe’s CHEOPS planet-hunting satellite, launch company Arianespace and Russia’s Roscosmos agency said. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-12-glitch-europe-exoplanet-hunter.html…

First Arab on ISS returns to Earth (Update)

A three-man crew including an Emirati who became the first Arab to reach the International Space Station returned to Earth safely on Thursday and were in good shape, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-arab-iss-earth.html…

Russia Says It Will Keep Source of Hole (and Air Leak) on Soyuz Secret— But NASA Wants to Know: Report

Amid reports that the Russians will keep the cause of an air leak at the International Space Station secret, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has promised to speak personally with the head of Roscosmos. Source: https://www.livescience.com/russian-soyuz-hole-source-secret-nasa-chief.html

3-D models of Mars to aid Rosalind Franklin rover in quest for ancient life

Scientists at TU Dortmund University have generated high-accuracy 3-D models of terrain within the landing ellipse of the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin. The Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) have a resolution of about 25 cm per pixel and will help scientists to understand the geography and geological characteristics of the region and to plan the path of the rover around the…