A way NASA plans to get core samples from Mars, the Jovian moon Europa, and beyond – a drill designed to cut bedrock.
From the NASA Technical Report on the device:
… Read the rest “Science Art: Perspective Cutaway View of a Rotary Hammering Sample Acquisition Section (Fig. 5) from NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20150003208”Using
SONG: “My Batteries”.
ARTIST: grant.
SOURCE: Jacob Margolis’ Twitter feed, 13 Feb 2019, 3:30 AM “The last message they received…,” as used in … Read the rest “SONG: My Batteries”
Not the kind on a self-sufficient satellite, but, as Nature tells us, the kind used to beam clean solar power back to Earth:
… Read the rest “China says they’re ready to put solar panels in orbit.”The idea of space-based solar power stations has been around for
The rover was sent on a 90-day mission. It kept operating on Mars for 15 years, 28 miles and 5,000 charge cycles. Today, NASA said goodbye.
This Twitter thread from NASA Solar System is probably… Read the rest “A moment of silence for Opportunity.”
SONG: “2014 MU₆₉ (Approach Me)”.
ARTIST: grant.
SOURCE: Science News, 30 Dec 2018-1 Jan 2019, “Live updates: New Horizons’ flyby of a distant Kuiper Belt object,”… Read the rest “SONG: “2014 MU69 (Approach Me)””
Phoning home from the next world over.
This is how it looked half a century ago.
You can find more James Burns illustrations for the Apollo mission here.
[via Humanoid History… Read the rest “Science Art: RCA Lunar Communications by James Burns”
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This is the cover of an early science fiction hit, Robert Cromie’s A Plunge into Space, which was in print from 1890 to 1910. It’s about a scientist, Henry Barnett,… Read the rest “Science Art: A Plunge into Space, book cover, 1890.”
Science News gets the dirt on how we use space hardware to discover what penguins are eating:
… Read the rest “Penguin choices: Either the scientist comes and makes you puke, or else your whole family’s poop gets photographed from space.”Because Adélie penguins cluster together at a predictable rate, researchers have figured out
Science News gives us the latest on New Horizon’s flyby of Ultima Thule, giving us our closest look at the furthest object we’ve ever visited:
… Read the rest “A First Look at Ultima Thule”The last best view of Ultima Thule
NASA serves the ham in a tray.
“Little Joe” was a test rocket named for a kind of craps roll – because getting the rocket together was as unlikely as having… Read the rest “Science Art: Drawing of proposed Pig Capsule, Little Joe first shot”
Nature reports on the New Horizon space probe’s date for New Years – with Ultima Thule (formally, 2014 MU69), the most distant object visited by one of our spacecraft:
… Read the rest “New Years with Ultima Thule – that’s far out.”MU69
Buzzfeed reports on an unexpected personality clash with an AI on the International Space Station – an incident that could affect how similar synthetic companions are used on missions… Read the rest “It’s not quite “Please open the podbay doors, HAL,” but almost….”
Chemistry World introduces us to a particularly talented NASA veteran, George Aldrich – an expert smeller whose olfactory sensitivity ensures that bad smells don’t disrupt… Read the rest “Spacecraft sniffer makes sure NASA’s missions come up roses.”
Space.com makes an announcement that sounds… more fun than usual. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency landed two rovers that hop (like fleas? like springtails? like bunnies?)… Read the rest “Japan landed two bouncing rovers on an asteroid.”
SONG: “Taste the Wind”.
ARTIST: grant.
SOURCE: Nature, 13 Aug 2018, “Spacecraft sets off to make humanity’s closest approach to the Sun”, as used in the post… Read the rest “SONG: Taste the Wind”
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