A SpaceX rocket booster that landed on an ocean platform after last week’s launch has been damaged in rough seas. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-spacex-recovered-core-booster-rough.html…
Tag: Space Exploration
How to defend the Earth from asteroids
A mere 17-20 meters across, the Chelyabinsk meteor caused extensive ground damage and numerous injuries when it exploded on impact with Earth’s atmosphere in February 2013. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-defend-earth-asteroids.html…
CubeSats prove their worth for scientific missions
Only a few years ago, the astronomy and heliophysics communities were skeptical about whether CubeSats could reliably obtain scientific data. But these breadloaf-size satellites have proven their ability to return useful data. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-cubesats-worth-scientific-missions.html…
Former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott dies
Former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott has died at his home in Huntsville, Alabama. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-nasa-astronaut-owen-garriott-dies.html…
NEOWISE celebrates five years of asteroid data
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission released its fifth year of survey data on April 11, 2019. The five years of NEOWISE data have significantly advanced scientists’ knowledge of asteroids and comets in the solar system, as well as the stars and galaxies beyond. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-neowise-celebrates-years-asteroid.html…
Cassini reveals surprises with Titan’s lakes
On its final flyby of Saturn’s largest moon in 2017, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft gathered radar data revealing that the small liquid lakes in Titan’s northern hemisphere are surprisingly deep, perched atop hills and filled with methane. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-cassini-reveals-titan-lakes.html…
Israeli nonprofit vows new moon mission after 1st crashes
The Israeli start-up behind last week’s failed lunar landing has vowed to create a second mission to steer a privately funded spacecraft onto the moon. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-israeli-nonprofit-vows-moon-mission.html…
Meteoroid strikes eject precious water from moon
Researchers from NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, report that streams of meteoroids striking the Moon infuse the thin lunar atmosphere with a short-lived water vapor. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-meteoroid-eject-precious-moon.html…
Beresheet: First privately-funded mission crashes on moon, but its significance is huge
It came so close. It even took a selfie. But with only a few kilometres left to descend, something went wrong and the spacecraft Beresheet veered out of control, taking one final photograph just before it hit the surface. It is thought that there was a fault, possibly in the inertial system, possibly an engine failure, that led to the…
Moon Landing by Israel’s Beresheet Spacecraft Ends in Crash
The spacecraft’s orbit of the moon was a first for a private effort, but the landing failure highlighted the risks of fast and cheap approaches to space exploration. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/science/israel-moon-landing-beresheet.html?partner=rss&emc=rss…