Space Stuff

[Robert]

NASA's Kepler space telescope finishes its original mission catalog
Fifty possible planets later, we're a step closer to a possible vacation Earth

 

[adz]

NASA planning a visit to either Uranus or Neptune
http://www.iflscience.com/space/we-might-be-going-back-to-neptune-or-uranus/
I hope this goes ahead, seeing either of these planets close up would be awesome

 

[Robert]

NASA’s Journey to Mars seems to be pretty dead
New video is designed to highlight all of the things Trump has accomplished in space.

On Friday, the space agency released what it called a "mid-year report" on NASA five months into the presidency of Donald Trump. The nearly five-minute video is mostly a chronological summary of NASA's announcements so far this year and seems designed to highlight all of the things the new administration has accomplished in space. However, there are some curious inclusions and omissions in the promotional video that provide clues about where NASA is headed under the new administration.

 

[Robert]

Orbital shot of Curiosity rover climbing Mount Sharp (colour enhanced).

 

[adz]

NASA’s Journey to Mars seems to be pretty dead
New video is designed to highlight all of the things Trump has accomplished in space.

Seems the video has been pulled...

 

[Robert]

Seems the video has been pulled...

Dang!

 

[Robert]

Humanity uploaded an AI to Mars and lets it shoot rocks with lasers
Curiosity Rover's autonomous operation experiments have been a great success, say astro-boffins

In late 2015 NASA gave the Curiosity Mars rover a software upgrade to let it operate autonomously. The Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) code was uploaded because the rover can't be told what to do during the long periods communication with Earth is not possible. A little autonomy, NASA reckoned, could mean Curiosity could do more and perhaps better science.

We now know that letting Curiosity think for itself was a very fine idea, thanks to a paper (PDF) titled “AEGIS autonomous targeting for ChemCam on Mars Science Laboratory: Deployment and results of initial science team use.”

 

[Robert]

File under anywhere on the scale from Optimistic to Pipe-Dream:
City of a million people could be built on Red Planet by 2062

 

[Robert]

PLATO mission to find alien life is given the thumbs up
ESA to start the construction of space telescope network

The European Space Agency’s PLATO mission hunting for habitable exoplanets has been given the green light to move from blueprint into construction.

It was previously selected in 2014 as part of the ESA’s Cosmic Vision Programme, but the launch date has been pushed out two years from 2024 to 2026.

The goal is to detect Earth-size planets or super-Earths orbiting around stars in the habitable zone – an area with conditions that might support liquid water and an atmosphere.

 

[adz]

Exoplanet with partly cloudy atmosphere detected with direct imaging

Direct imaging of exoplanets was once only possible for the brightest of planets orbiting the dimmest of stars — but improving technology is turning this into an increasingly powerful technique. In a new study, direct-imaging observations of the Jupiter-like exoplanet 51 Eridani b provide tantalizing clues about its atmosphere.

 

[Robert]

SpaceX nails two launches and barge landings in one weekend

 

[adz]

Astronomers Observe Two Supermassive Black Holes Orbiting Each Other For The First Time

In a groundbreaking series of observations, astronomers have used radio waves to observe two supermassive black holes orbiting around each other. This discovery, combined with the observations of gravitational waves from LIGO, are opening up a completely new avenue in black hole studies.

 

[adz]

Incredible X-Ray Image Of Merging Galaxy Reveals A Bounty Of Black Holes

NASA's X-ray observatory Chandra has released an incredible image of a pair of colliding galaxies known as Arp 299. The observation revealed much more than just a stunning picture, the entire system itself has intriguing sources aplenty!

 

[Robert]

Astroboffins dig into the weird backwards orbit of the Bee-Zed asteroid
Tiny body moves similar to Jupiter – but travels in the opposite direction

Bee-Zed is an odd asteroid:

• It's rare in that only 82 of more than 726,000 asteroids orbit in the opposite direction of the incoming traffic of planetary bodies.
• Its orbit is similar to that of a planet – it has the same orbital period as Jupiter.
• Its configuration has been stable for millions of years, baffling scientists.

 

[Robert]

Japan vows to set foot on lunar soil by 2030

 

[Robert]

Wondering what the catch is....
Trump signs executive order creating a national space council

 

[metalman]

 

[adz]

The Best Image Of A Distant Star Yet

An international group of astronomers has snapped an incredible image of Betelgeuse, one of the best images of a star other than our Sun – certainly the best image at radio wavelengths. The incredible photo was possible thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array.

 

[Robert]

The Best Image Of A Distant Star Yet

An international group of astronomers has snapped an incredible image of Betelgeuse, one of the best images of a star other than our Sun – certainly the best image at radio wavelengths. The incredible photo was possible thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array.

 

[Robert]

NASA flies plane through Earthly shadow of Kuiper Belt object