https://skyandtelescope.com

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Icy Rivers May Have Flowed on Ancient Mars -

A polar cap of carbon-dioxide ice may have provided the thermal blanket needed for rivers and a huge lake to form in the planet’s southern highlands.

The post Icy Rivers May Have Flowed on Ancient Mars appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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Makemake’s “Hot Spot”: Icy Volcano or Dusty Ring? -

Even though it’s nearly 4½ billion miles from the Sun, far-flung Makemake has surprised observers with a warmer-than-expected temperature that is challenging to explain.

The post Makemake’s “Hot Spot”: Icy Volcano or Dusty Ring? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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A Bubbly Origin for Odd Radio Circles -

Discovered in 2019, odd radio circles (ORCs) are among the newest and most mysterious astrophysical phenomena. New research examines how bubbles blown by black hole jets could create these striking features.

The post A Bubbly Origin for Odd Radio Circles appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 15 – 24 -

Venus and Mercury continue as a duo in the western twilight this week. The Moon visits Jupiter, then Mars. Saturn shines lonely below the Great Square.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 15 – 24 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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New Views of Vega’s Dusty Disk -

High-resolution images reveal the debris disk around Lyra’s brightest star to be exceedingly smooth. If any planets lurk therein, they must be small.

The post New Views of Vega’s Dusty Disk appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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Watch the Moon Occult the Pleiades, Spica too! -

The Moon crosses the Pleiades this week, then heads east for the year's most dramatic Spica occultation.

The post Watch the Moon Occult the Pleiades, Spica too! appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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Arecibo’s Powerful Radar May Have Contributed to the Telescope’s Demise -

The Arecibo Observatory’s radar system may have produced currents that weakened the zinc sockets holding the cables in place, new report says.

The post Arecibo’s Powerful Radar May Have Contributed to the Telescope’s Demise appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 8 – 17 -

The stars betray that we've tipped from the season of warm evenings to the cold (or at least crisp). And the Moon this week skims Saturn, then the Pleiades.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 8 – 17 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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A Radio Burst from a Giant "Dead" Galaxy -

Exotic magnetars make brief, powerful flashes of radio waves — but a new discovery suggests there may be more than one way to make a magnetar.

The post A Radio Burst from a Giant "Dead" Galaxy appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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Get to Know the Southern Constellation Grus, the Crane -

Take a flight through Grus, one of the famous “southern birds” constellations.

The post Get to Know the Southern Constellation Grus, the Crane appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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https://spaceflightnow.com

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral - The Starlink 6-66 mission comes near the end of a week during which SpaceX launched three Falcon 9 rockets in less than 20 hours and a Starship rocket. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 11:07 a.m. EST (1607 UTC).

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Super Heavy-Starship launches on sixth test flight, skips tower catch - With President-elect Donald Trump and newly-minted efficiency czar Elon Musk looking on, SpaceX launched the world's most powerful rocket on its sixth test flight Tuesday, an up-and-down trip to space by a gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship to evaluate a variety of safety and performance upgrades.

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Launch preview: SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 6 test mission from Starbase in southern Texas - The mission is likely to be the fourth and final Starship flight before the end of 2024. Liftoff from Pad 1 at Starbase at Boca Chica Beach, Texas, is set for 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC).

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SpaceX launches India’s GSAT-N2 satellite on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral - The satellite is designed to enhance broadband communications in India, both on the ground and during air travel. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:31 p.m. EST (1831 UTC).

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SpaceX launches 20 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from California - The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base included 13 Starlink satellites that include Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 9:53 p.m. PST (12:53 a.m. EST, 0553 UTC).

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SpaceX launches mystery ‘Optus-X’ on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center - The launch has been shrouded in secrecy and is being referred as the “TD7 mission” by SpaceX. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened Sunday, Nov. 17, at 5:28 p.m. EST (2228 UTC).

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AST SpaceMobile secures multi-launch agreements with Blue Origin, ISRO and SpaceX - A batch of rockets will support sending up to about 60 of AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites to orbit. The company’s goal is to establish a space-based cellular broadband network.

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SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral - The mission launched about eight hours after another Starlink launch from California. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 8:21 a.m. EST (1321 UTC).

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SpaceX launches 20 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from California - The Starlink 9-11 mission featured 13 satellites that include Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 9:23 p.m. PST (12:23 a.m. EST, 0523 UTC ).

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SpaceX lands Falcon 9 booster for a record 23rd time amid Koreasat-6A mission - The Koreasat-6A mission took off from Launch Complex 39 A at at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 12:22 p.m. EST (1722 UTC).

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https://www.space.com

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NASA's Curiosity rover captures 360-degree view of Mars — and finds strange sulfur stones - The Curiosity shows sulfur stones, with no explanation of how they occurred on the Martian surface.

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Final trailer for Prime Video's 'Secret Level' looks out of this world - A final trailer for Prime Video's "Secret Level" animated anthology

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SabersPro Obi Wan Ep3 lightsaber review - Take the high ground with this stunning, and very expensive, replica lightsaber.

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Watch Russian Progress cargo spacecraft launch to the ISS on Nov. 21 - Liftoff is scheduled for 7:22 a.m. EST. (1222 GMT).

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Supermassive black holes bent the laws of physics to grow to monstrous sizes - Scientists may have cracked one of the biggest mysteries in space science, determining that supermassive black holes bent the laws of physics to grow to their huge sizes.

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The not so 'wicked' path from 'The Wizard of Oz' to the moon landing - "The Wizard of Oz" and space exploration are two topics that by all rights should have nothing in common. But as it turns out, if you follow the Yellow Brick Road long enough you reach the moon.

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Black Friday Bargain: The best Sony camera for astrophotography is over $930 cheaper - Hurry, stocks are low! 25% off this versatile Sony camera that is also perfect for astrophotography, there's not a lot we don't love about this early Black Friday deal.

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'There are lots of mysteries in our backyard': Revised solar system chemistry explains long-standing puzzles - Pluto and other large bodies in the Kuiper Belt are surprisingly rich in rock rather than ice. It may be because the early solar system consisted of much more carbon than previously thought, a new study suggests.

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Did NASA's Perseverance rover really find organics on Mars? These scientists aren't so sure - Could Mars have once hosted life? NASA's Perseverance rover has uncovered a tantalizing clue, but scientists remain divided on what it truly means for the search for extraterrestrial life.

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ISS fires thrusters to dodge hunk of space junk - A Russian cargo ship docked to the International Space Station fired its thrusters on Tuesday (Nov. 19) to ensure that the orbiting complex dodged a piece of space debris.

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https://www.nasa.gov

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Sols 4368-4369: The Colors of Fall – and Mars - Earth planning date: Monday, Nov. 18, 2024 I am in the U.K., where we are approaching the time when trees are just branches and twigs. One tree that still has its full foliage is my little quince tree in my front garden. Its leaves have turned reddish-brown with a hint of orange, fairly dark by […]

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NASA, SpaceX Illustrate Key Moments of Artemis Lunar Lander Mission - NASA is working with U.S. industry to develop the human landing systems that will safely carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back throughout the agency’s Artemis campaign. For Artemis III, the first crewed return to the lunar surface in over 50 years, NASA is working with SpaceX to develop […]

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STS-129 Crew Aboard the Space Station - The STS-129 crew members pose for a portrait following a joint news conference with the Expedition 21 crew members on Nov. 24, 2009. Astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh, Mike Foreman, Leland Melvin, Robert L. Satcher Jr., Randy Bresnik, Butch Wilmore, and Nicole Stott launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2009, aboard […]

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Media Invited to Learn About NASA, GE Aerospace Contrails Flight Tests - Media are invited to learn about a unique series of flight tests happening in Virginia in partnership between NASA and GE Aerospace that aim to help the aviation industry better understand contrails and their impact on the Earth’s climate. Contrails are the lines of clouds that can be created by high-flying aircraft, but they may […]

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NASA’s Chandra, Hubble Tune Into ‘Flame-Throwing’ Guitar Nebula - Normally found only in heavy metal bands or certain post-apocalyptic films, a “flame-throwing guitar” has now been spotted moving through space. Astronomers have captured movies of this extreme cosmic object using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope. The new movie of Chandra (red) and Palomar (blue) data helps break down what is playing […]

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Discovery Alert: A Rare Glimpse of a Newborn Planet - The Discovery A huge planet with a long name – IRAS 04125+2902 b – is really just a baby: only 3 million years old. And because such infant worlds are usually hidden inside obscuring disks of debris, it is the youngest planet so far discovered using the dominant method of planet detection. Key Facts The […]

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Protected: 2024 Blue Marble Awards - There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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What is BioSentinel? - Editor’s Note: This article was updated Nov. 20, 2024 shortly after BioSentinel’s mission marked two years of operation in deep space. Astronauts live in a pretty extreme environment aboard the International Space Station. Orbiting about 250 miles above the Earth in the weightlessness of microgravity, they rely on commercial cargo missions about every two months to deliver new […]

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5 Surprising NASA Heliophysics Discoveries Not Related to the Sun - With NASA’s fleet of heliophysics spacecraft, scientists monitor our Sun and investigate its influences throughout the solar system. However, the fleet’s constant watch and often-unique perspectives sometimes create opportunities to make discoveries that no one expected, helping us to solve mysteries about of the solar system and beyond. Here are five examples of breakthroughs made […]

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NASA’s Brad Doorn Brings Farm Belt Wisdom to Space-Age Agriculture - From his South Dakota roots to leading NASA’s agricultural program, Brad Doorn’s mission has remained the same: help farmers feed the world.

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https://astronomynow.com

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The Dark Tower - This eerie, dark silhouette is a cometary globule designated GN 16.43.7.01. Despite their name, cometary globules have nothing to do with comets, beyond having a similar shape of a dusty head with a tail.

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Legendary star lacks evidence for large planet formation - In the 1997 movie "Contact," adapted from Carl Sagan's 1985 novel, the lead character, scientist Ellie Arroway, takes a space-alien-built wormhole ride to the star Vega. She emerges inside a snowstorm of debris encircling the star – but no obvious planets are visible. It looks like the filmmakers got it right.

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Going south in Sculptor - The innocuous visual appearance of the southern constellation of Sculptor, even at far southerly climes, sharply contrasts its true nature as home to some great galaxies, including the magnificent Silver Coin Galaxy.

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‘Blood-soaked’ eyes: Webb and Hubble examine galaxy pair - By teaming up, these two space telescopes have delivered the highest resolution image of IC 2163 and NGC 2207 to date in a combination of mid-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light.

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Messier 103: one of Cassiopeia’s rich retinue of clusters - Messier 103 is an impressive object located in Cassiopeia, Autumn’s home for outstanding open clusters.

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A trio of elusive Local Group galaxies - The mighty Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies dominate deep-sky observer’s view of our Local Group of Galaxies. If you’re looking for more of a Local Group challenge however, check out Cassiopeia’s IC 10, NGC 147 and NGC 185.

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Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) emerges bright in UK’s evening sky - Following month’s of speculation, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) has emerged into the UK’s evening sky as a bright comet in the afterglow of the setting Sun.

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Observers across the UK treated to brilliant display of aurora borealis - Observers the length and breadth of the United Kingdom were treated to a brilliant display of the aurora borealis overnight on Thursday/Friday, 10/11 October 2024, during an extremely strong geomagnetic storm.

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South America’s annular ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse - The breathtaking majesty of a total eclipse of the Sun is unrivalled. However, an annular eclipse of the Sun is a very special event in and of itself. Parts of South America are the lucky ones on 2 October.

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NGC 7479: Pegasus’ superb barred spiral galaxy - There’s something especially spectacular about a spiral galaxy which sports a central bar. NGC 7479 fits the bill as a classic example and one of the best in its morphological class.

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https://www.marsdaily.com

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USF research delves into volcanic caves for Mars life insights - Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 19, 2024
An international research team, led by Bogdan P. Onac from the USF School of Geosciences, has conducted an in-depth study of volcanic caves called lava tubes. This investigation sheds light on how such structures may offer valuable insights for detecting life on Mars. The team, including experts from Portugal, Spain, and Italy, focused on six lava tubes on Lanzarote, a Spanish island near

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Making Mars' Moons: Supercomputers Offer 'Disruptive' New Explanation - Moffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 21, 2024
A NASA study using a series of supercomputer simulations reveals a potential new solution to a longstanding Martian mystery: How did Mars get its moons? The first step, the findings say, may have involved the destruction of an asteroid. The research team, led by Jacob Kegerreis, a postdoctoral research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, found that an a

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Curiosity prepares to leave sulfur stones behind for boxwork exploration - Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 19, 2024
NASA's Curiosity rover is set to embark on a new chapter of its mission, heading toward a distinctive geological formation called the boxwork, after concluding its investigations at Gediz Vallis channel. This channel has been a site of intrigue for scientists, raising questions about its formation during Mars' shift to a drier climate. Adding to the curiosity is the unexpected discovery of a fie

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Plates and Polygons Sols 4362-4363 - Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 16, 2024
After a successful 23-meter (about 75 feet) drive today in pre-planning we found ourselves in front of some rocks with a curious dark, platy topping. This is similar to material we have seen previously including over the weekend where MAHLI imaged "Buttress Tree." This beautiful hand-lens image is shown above, where you can see this more resistant platy texture at the top of the layered rock. Un

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Have We Been Searching for Life on Mars in the Wrong Way - Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 20, 2024
In a provocative recent article published in Nature, astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch proposes that the ongoing quest to detect life on Mars may need a complete rethinking. His comment underscores that while NASA's Viking landers were groundbreaking for their time, the experimental approach taken might have inadvertently hindered the detection of Martian life by using methods unsuitable for it

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Meteorite contains evidence of liquid water on Mars 742M years ago - West Lafayette IN (SPX) Nov 14, 2024
An asteroid struck Mars 11 million years ago and sent pieces of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these chunks of Mars eventually crashed into the Earth somewhere near Purdue and is one of the few meteorites that can be traced directly to Mars. This meteorite was rediscovered in a drawer at Purdue University in 1931 and therefore named the Lafayette Meteorite. During early inve

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Peculiar Pale Pebbles - Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 13, 2024
During its recent exploration of the crater rim, Perseverance diverted to explore a strange, scattered field of bright white rocks which sparked the interest of the team scientists. Perseverance has been climbing up the steep slopes of the Jezero crater rim for over two months now, and ever since approaching the edge of the crater has been spying increasingly diverse and strange-looking ro

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Off-the-shelf thermoelectric generators could enable CO2 conversion on Mars - Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 08, 2024
Readily accessible thermoelectric generators (TEGs), operating with modest temperature differences, can drive CO2 conversion, according to new proof-of-concept research by chemists at the University of British Columbia (UBC). This development suggests that temperature differentials across a variety of environments - from geothermal sites on Earth to Mars's cold terrain - could support the

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3D-printed rovers challenge students in Mars exploration training - Paris, France (SPX) Nov 07, 2024
University students participated in a hands-on ESA Academy training course at ESA's ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands last week, where they worked with 3D-printed rovers to develop autonomous navigation skills. Six teams were tasked with programming their rovers to detect and move towards a blue ball in a simulated Mars environment. The students were provided with ExoMy rovers, 3D-

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Hera initiates journey to mars with key deep-space burn - Paris, France (SPX) Nov 09, 2024
ESA's Hera mission has completed its first major trajectory correction since its October 7 launch, positioning it for a vital Mars gravity assist scheduled for March 2025. On October 23, Hera's trio of orbital control thrusters operated for 100 minutes, altering its speed by roughly 146 m/s. A secondary 13-minute burn on November 6 added an estimated 20 m/s, ensuring the spacecraft stays o

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Chinese rover finds signs of ancient ocean on Mars - Paris (AFP) Nov 7, 2024
A Chinese rover has found new evidence to support the theory that Mars was once home to a vast ocean, including tracing some ancient coastline where water may once have lapped, a study said Thursday. The theory that an ocean covered as much as a third of the Red Planet billions of years ago has been a matter of debate between scientists for decades, and one outside researcher expressed some

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Ancient Martian waterways carved beneath icy caps - Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 03, 2024
On a cold, ancient Mars, thick ice layers protected vast lakes and river systems, providing clues to how water flowed across the Red Planet some 3.6 billion years ago. According to new findings by the Planetary Science Institute, carbon dioxide frozen out of Mars' atmosphere helped create conditions that allowed substantial water flow even without a warmer climate. Peter Buhler, a research

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Explanation found for encrusting of the Martian soil - Berlin, Germany (SPX) Oct 31, 2024
For four years, the Martian "Mole" HP3 experiment made notable contributions to planetary research on Mars. Named after the burrowing animal, the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), developed by the German Aerospace Center and European partners, was deployed on Mars in January 2019 as part of NASA's InSight mission. Its goal was to dig up to five meters into the Martian soil and mea

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Perseverance surveys its path as it ascends Jezero Crater - Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 29, 2024
NASA's Perseverance rover is navigating a challenging climb up Jezero Crater's western slope, aiming to reach the rim by early December. During the ascent, the rover captured a panoramic view of Jezero's interior along with images of its own tracks, left as its wheels encountered slippage on the slope. The image, composed of 44 frames taken on Sept. 27, Perseverance's 1,282nd Martian day,

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Latest Findings from China's Lunar and Mars Exploration Missions 2022-2024 - Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 28, 2024
China's recent lunar and Mars missions have provided unprecedented insights into the geological and environmental conditions of the Moon and Mars, yielding crucial data for future exploration. b>Chang'e-4 Lunar Mission: Far Side Insights br> /b> China's Chang'e-4 mission achieved the first successful landing on the Moon's far side, specifically within the Von Karman crater in the South

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