#Europe pitches lunar satellites plan

#Europe pitches lunar satellites plan

“#Europe pitches lunar satellites plan” BERLIN — The European Space Agency presented a vision Thursday to put satellites in orbit around the moon that would facilitate future missions to Earth’s closest neighbor. The plan, dubbed “Moonlight,” would see ESA offer communications and navigation services to any country that wants to carry out lunar exploration missions….

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#NASA to show off space lasers, enabling faster transfer of data between Earth and space

#NASA to show off space lasers, enabling faster transfer of data between Earth and space

“#NASA to show off space lasers, enabling faster transfer of data between Earth and space” NASA is planning to unveil a new laser communications system next month that will allow data to be transmitted between Earth and space at an accelerated rate.  Slated for launch on June 23, NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstrations (LCRD) replaces radio frequency communications,…

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#China Mars rover to land between Saturday and Wednesday

#China Mars rover to land between Saturday and Wednesday

“#China Mars rover to land between Saturday and Wednesday” BEIJING — China says its Mars probe and accompanying rover are expected to land on the red planet sometime between Saturday and Wednesday Beijing time. The China National Space Administration said in a brief notice that the Tianwen-1 probe has collected a large amount of scientific…

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#Russia picks cast for movie to be shot in space

#Russia picks cast for movie to be shot in space

“#Russia picks cast for movie to be shot in space” Russia has picked four people to serve as nonprofessional crew members and actors in what is planned to be the first movie to be shot in outer space, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said on Thursday. Some of them are scheduled to be launched on a…

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#Perseverance Mars rover’s robotic arm starts conducting science

#Perseverance Mars rover’s robotic arm starts conducting science

“#Perseverance Mars rover’s robotic arm starts conducting science” NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is using its robotic arm to search for signs of ancient microbial life.  The rover, which landed in Jezero Crater in February, had been functioning largely as a communications base between the autonomous Ingenuity Mars helicopter and the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) over the last couple of weeks, helping to…

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#NASA spacecraft heading back to Earth after retrieving asteroid sample

#NASA spacecraft heading back to Earth after retrieving asteroid sample

“#NASA spacecraft heading back to Earth after retrieving asteroid sample” NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on Monday began its long journey back to Earth after collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer was NASA’s first spacecraft to visit an asteroid near Earth to bring back a sampling for scientists. …

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