Space News from SpaceDaily.com
December 26, 2016
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OUTER PLANETS
Exploring Pluto and the Wild Back Yonder



Boulder CO (SPX) Dec 26, 2016
As 2016 ends, I can't help but point out an interesting symmetry in where the mission has recently been and where we are going. Exactly two years ago we had just taken New Horizons out of cruise hibernation to begin preparations for the Pluto flyby. And exactly two years from now we will be on final approach to our next flyby, which will culminate with a very close approach to a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) called 2014 MU69 - a billion miles farther out than Pluto - on Jan. 1, 2019. Just now, as 2016 ... read more

EXO WORLDS
The blob can learn and teach
It isn't an animal, a plant, or a fungus. The slime mold (Physarum polycephalum) is a strange, creeping, bloblike organism made up of one giant cell. Though it has no brain, it can learn from ... more
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Feeding the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way
Scientists at Princeton University and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed a rigorous new method for modeling the accretion disk that feed ... more
AEROSPACE
Preparing for air traffic control via satellite
ESA recently completed its first flight trials using satellites to help bring Europe closer to its goal of modernising air traffic control. The trials are part of the public-private partnership betw ... more
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Moth's Eye Inspires Critical Component on SOFIA's Newest Instrument
Nature, and more particularly a moth's eye, inspired the technology that allows a new NASA-developed camera to create images of astronomical objects with far greater sensitivity than was previously ... more
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ROCKET SCIENCE
New round of wind tunnel tests underway for more bigger SLS version
As engines are fired, software written and hardware welded to prepare for the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), engineers are already running tests in supersonic wind tunnels to deve ... more
EARTH OBSERVATION
exactEarth to study Small Vessel Tracking for UK Space Agency
exactEarth has been awarded a 1.1 million pound grant from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) under its 'International Partnerships Programme' (IPP). The IPP funding will support the operational deployment ... more
SPACEMART
Airbus DS and Energia eye new medium-class satellite platform
Europe's largest aerospace group Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) will develop and manufacture an advanced medium-class satellite platform in cooperation with Russia's Korolev Rocket and Space C ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
From outer space to inner eye
Contact lenses, spectacles and eye implants are now being made more accurately thanks to research instruments flying on the International Space Station. With the competitive lens market offeri ... more
SPACEWAR
Raytheon to demonstrate military satellite capabilities for U.S. Air Force
Raytheon has received a $37 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to demonstrate Wideband Global Satellite Communications capabilities. ... more


Stretching time to improve extreme event prediction

EARLY EARTH
A fertilizer dearth foiled animal evolution for eons
For three billion years or more, the evolution of the first animal life on Earth was ready to happen, practically waiting in the wings. But the breathable oxygen it required wasn't there, and a lack ... more
ABOUT US
Chimpanzees are 'indifferent' when it comes to altruism
New research into chimpanzees suggests that, when it comes to altruistically helping a fellow chimpanzee, they are 'indifferent'. The paper, published in Nature Communications, found no eviden ... more


'Passengers' and the real-life science of deep space travel
From "Aliens" to "Interstellar," Hollywood has long used suspended animation to overcome the difficulties of deep space travel, but the once-fanciful sci-fi staple is becoming scientific fact. The theory is that a hibernating crew could stay alive over vast cosmic distances, requiring little food, hydration or living space, potentially slashing the costs of interstellar missions and eradicat ... more
NASA Readies for Major Orion Milestones in 2017

India achieves advances multiple space systems in 2016

Spacewalk for Thomas Pesquet at ISS

New round of wind tunnel tests underway for more bigger SLS version
As engines are fired, software written and hardware welded to prepare for the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), engineers are already running tests in supersonic wind tunnels to develop the next, more powerful version of the world's most advanced launch vehicle capable of carrying humans to deep space destinations. "Aeronautics leads the way in the design of a new rocket," ... more
United Launch Alliance launches EchoStar XIX satellite

Preparing to Plug Into NASA SLS Fuel Tank

Ultra-Cold Storage - Liquid Hydrogen may be Fuel of the Future

Small Troughs Growing on Mars May Become 'Spiders'
Erosion-carved troughs that grow and branch during multiple Martian years may be infant versions of larger features known as Martian "spiders," which are radially patterned channels found only in the south polar region of Mars. Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) report the first detection of cumulative growth, from one Martian spring to another, of channels resultin ... more
All eyes on Trump over Mars

Opportunity performs several drives to ancient gully

Full go-ahead for building ExoMars 2020

Chinese missile giant seeks 20% of a satellite market
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the largest missile maker in the country, is taking aim at 20 percent or more of the small-satellite launch contracts in the world by 2020, company executives said. "We estimate that from 2017 to 2020, we will send aloft at least 10 solid-fuel carrier rockets each year, to send about 50 small satellites into orbit," said Guo Yong, president of the ... more
China-made satellites in high demand

Space exploration plans unveiled

China launches 4th data relay satellite



Airbus DS and Energia eye new medium-class satellite platform
Europe's largest aerospace group Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) will develop and manufacture an advanced medium-class satellite platform in cooperation with Russia's Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia, head of Airbus DS in Russia Vladimir Terekhov said. "This platform is our latest product created jointly by our industrial cooperation, that is why it does not even hav ... more
OneWeb announces key funding form SoftBank Group and other investors

Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development

Intel acquires ESA incubator company

Ultra-small nanocavity advances technology for secure quantum-based data encryption
Researchers have developed a new type of light-enhancing optical cavity that is only 200 nanometers tall and 100 nanometers across. Their new nanoscale system represents a step toward brighter single-photon sources, which could help propel quantum-based encryption and a truly secure and future-proofed network. Quantum encryption techniques, which are seen as likely to be central to future ... more
Meet a 'Spacecraft Dressmaker'

Ultra-high-speed optical fiber sensor enables detection of structural damage in real time

NASA Satellite Servicing Office Becomes a Projects Division



Astronomers discover dark past of planet-eating 'Death Star'
An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Chicago, has made the rare discovery of a planetary system with a host star similar to Earth's sun. Especially intriguing is the star's unusual composition, which indicates it ingested some of its planets. "It doesn't mean that the sun will 'eat' the Earth any time soon," said Jacob Bean, assistant professor ... more
Microlensing Study Suggests Most Common Outer Planets Likely Neptune-mass

Searching a sea of 'noise' to find exoplanets - using only data as a guide

The blob can learn and teach

Exploring Pluto and the Wild Back Yonder
As 2016 ends, I can't help but point out an interesting symmetry in where the mission has recently been and where we are going. Exactly two years ago we had just taken New Horizons out of cruise hibernation to begin preparations for the Pluto flyby. And exactly two years from now we will be on final approach to our next flyby, which will culminate with a very close approach to a small Kuiper Bel ... more
Juno Captures Jupiter 'Pearl'

Juno Mission Prepares for December 11 Jupiter Flyby

Research Offers Clues About the Timing of Jupiter's Formation



Rising sea level estimates require collaborative response
Policymakers and scientists must act quickly and collaboratively to help coastal areas better prepare for rising sea levels globally, say climate change experts from Princeton and Penn State universities. Recent estimates suggest that global mean sea level rise could exceed two meters by 2100. These projections are higher than previous estimates and are bas ... more
Early action key to reducing sea lion impacts on salmon, new study finds

Rebels blamed for 'poisoning' Damascus water

Pakistan frees 220 Indian fishermen

Russia, China Making Progress in Synchronization of GLONASS, BeiDou Systems
Russia and China have achieved a significant progress in the synchronization of GLONASS and BeiDou navigation systems, Roscosmos head Igor Komarov said Monday. "We have achieved a considerable progress in the field of cooperation... on the harmonization and synchronization of GLONASS and BeiDou systems. All contracts have been signed, and the work is proceeding. There are prospects, ... more
Alpha Defence Company To Make Navigation Satellites For ISRO

Europe's own satnav Galileo goes live

Galileo, Europe's own satnav, to go online



Lunar sonic booms
The sonic boom created by an airplane comes from the craft's large, speeding body crashing into molecules in the air. But if you shrank the plane to the size of a molecule, would it still generate a shock wave? Scientists such as University of Iowa physicist Jasper Halekas hope to answer that question by studying miniature shock waves on the moon. These sonic boomlets, physicists believe, ... more
India Inc joins hands to bid for moon mission

TeamIndus signs contract with ISRO for lunar mission

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin stable after South Pole health scare

PANIC Lander to Revolutionize Asteroid Research
A US-German team of researchers has proposed to develop a micro-scale low-cost surface lander for the in situ characterization of an asteroid. The tiny spacecraft, called the Pico Autonomous Near-Earth Asteroid In Situ Characterizer (PANIC), could be a breakthrough for the scientific community, offering simple and cheap solutions for asteroid research. The concept of the PANIC mission envi ... more
Ceres Offers Insight Into Prospects For Life in Early Solar System

The case of the missing diamonds

Studies refute hypothesis on what caused abrupt climate change thousands of years ago



exactEarth to study Small Vessel Tracking for UK Space Agency
exactEarth has been awarded a 1.1 million pound grant from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) under its 'International Partnerships Programme' (IPP). The IPP funding will support the operational deployment of exactEarth's Satellite AIS-based small vessel tracking technology "exactTrax" to improve safety of life at sea (SOLAS) for South Africa's small boat owners and operators - in particular the artisan ... more
Airbus DS ships payload module for MetOp-C for final assembly

Neutron diffraction probes forms of carbon dioxide in extreme environments

NOAA's GOES-S Satellite Undergoing Environmental Testing

Moore Foundation provides libraries with a millione solar-eclipse viewers
The Space Science Institute was awarded a grant from the Moore Foundation that will provide 1.26 million solar viewing glasses and other resources for 1,500 public libraries across the nation. They will serve as centers for eclipse education and viewing for their communities. The libraries will be selected through a registration process managed by the STAR Library Education Network (STAR_N ... more
Preparing for the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Giving the Sun a brake

Perspectives on magnetic reconnection

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Festive nebulae light up Milky Way Galaxy satellite
The sheer observing power of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is rarely better illustrated than in an image such as this. This glowing pink nebula, named NGC 248, is located in the Small Magellanic Cloud, just under 200 000 light-years away and yet can still be seen in great detail. Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, is part of a collection of galaxies known as the Local Group. Along with ... more
VLA, ALMA team up to give first look at birthplaces of most current stars

Fluctuations in extragalactic gamma rays reveal two source classes but no dark matter

Feeding the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way

Laser pulses help scientists tease apart complex electron interactions
Scientists studying high temperature superconductors-materials that carry electric current with no energy loss when cooled below a certain temperature-have been searching for ways to study in detail the electron interactions thought to drive this promising property. One big challenge is disentangling the many different types of interactions-for example, separating the effects of electrons intera ... more
ALPHA observes light spectrum of antimatter for first time

Number of known black holes expected to double in two years with new detection method

New antimatter breakthrough to help illuminate mysteries of the Big Bang



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