#NASA’s Curiosity rover takes Mars selfie

#NASA’s Curiosity rover takes Mars selfie

“#NASA’s Curiosity rover takes Mars selfie” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) released a stunning “selfie” taken by the Curiosity Mars rover on Tuesday.  In a tweet, the Curiosity team explained the image was captured near the impressive rock formation named “Mont Mercou” after a mountain in France’s southern region. “Wish you were here! This selfie was taken in front of ‘Mont Mercou,’ a rock formation…

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#US, China consulted on safety as their crafts headed to Mars

#US, China consulted on safety as their crafts headed to Mars

“#US, China consulted on safety as their crafts headed to Mars” BEIJING — As their respective spacecrafts headed to Mars, China and the US held consultations earlier this year in a somewhat unusual series of exchanges between the rivals. China’s National Space Agency confirmed Wednesday that it had working-level meetings and communications with NASA from…

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#NASA’s Orion capsule begins new water drop tests

#NASA’s Orion capsule begins new water drop tests

“#NASA’s Orion capsule begins new water drop tests” NASA engineers at the Virginia-based Langley Research Center have begun a new series of four water-impact drop tests using a test version of the agency’s Orion spacecraft capsule.  The tests, conducted at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility Hydro Impact Basin in Hampton, will simulate various landing scenarios in order to help researchers get a clearer…

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#Earth safe from asteroid for 100 years says NASA

#Earth safe from asteroid for 100 years says NASA

“#Earth safe from asteroid for 100 years says NASA” Whew, now here’s some good cosmic news: NASA has given Earth the all clear for the next century from a particularly menacing asteroid. The space agency announced this week that new telescope observations have ruled out any chance of Apophis smacking Earth in 2068. That’s the…

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#Every step taken is ‘uncharted territory’

#Every step taken is ‘uncharted territory’

“#Every step taken is ‘uncharted territory’” NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the first-ever attempt at power and controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.  In a news conference Tuesday, members of the agency’s California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) explained that there are still a “number of challenges ahead” and that every single step of the…

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#NASA unveils plans for first-ever flight on Mars

#NASA unveils plans for first-ever flight on Mars

“#NASA unveils plans for first-ever flight on Mars” When NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars last month, it didn’t arrive alone. Tucked under the belly of the buggy, a helicopter named Ingenuity had hitched a ride to the red planet. Its mission: to complete the first powered flight on another world. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSIngenuity was stowed under…

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#’Space junk’ races at 10 times the speed of a bullet

#’Space junk’ races at 10 times the speed of a bullet

“#’Space junk’ races at 10 times the speed of a bullet” In space, no one can see the minuscule threats that risk total annihilation. Now circling Earth’s orbit are more than 128 million pieces of refuse leftover from degrading satellites, byproducts of past flight missions and other cosmic accidents — and that’s just counting the…

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#Mars is first inner planet after Earth to have core measured

#Mars is first inner planet after Earth to have core measured

“#Mars is first inner planet after Earth to have core measured” NASA’s InSight spacecraft has measured the size of Mars’ core for the first time.  The spacecraft launched in May 2018 and successfully landed on the red planet in November of that year.  InSight — which is short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport — was created to study the early evolution of terrestrial planets…

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