https://phys.org/space-news/space-exploration en-us Space exploration news and updates. Space missions and science news. Planet exploration and more. A new study develops a theory of how magnetic switchbacks are formed around the sun. This quantitative model can be used to predict magnetic field variations and potentially explain the heating and acceleration of the solar wind. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-theory-magnetic-switchbacks-solar.html Astronomy Space Exploration Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:42:04 EST news620581322 More than 50 years after the last Apollo mission, the United States will try once again to land a craft on the moon on January 25, said the head of what could be the first private company to successfully touch down on the lunar surface. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-years-moon-january.html Space Exploration Thu, 30 Nov 2023 03:03:12 EST news620535787 For the first time in history, two planets have been home to testing future aircraft designs. In this world, a new rotor that could be used with next-generation Mars helicopters was recently tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, spinning at near-supersonic speeds (0.95 Mach). Meanwhile, the agency's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has achieved new altitude and airspeed records on the Red Planet in the name of experimental flight testing. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-nasa-worlds-future-mars-helicopter.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 22 Nov 2023 16:07:42 EST news619891657 U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers have discovered solar-wind hydrogen in lunar samples, which indicates that water on the surface of the moon may provide a vital resource for future lunar bases and longer-range space exploration. Space-based resource identification is a key factor in planning for civilian- and government-led space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-hydrogen-lunar-samples-resource-availability.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Tue, 21 Nov 2023 12:19:02 EST news619791541 An international team of astrophysicists, aerospace engineers and balloonists has found that data recovery capsules are a viable means of ensuring data integrity in the event of loss of flight capabilities or communications abilities in balloon-based telescope projects. In their paper published in a special issue of Aerospace, the group describes their test of four Data Recovery System (DRS) capsules containing 5 TB of telescopic data sent aboard a helium-filled, super-pressurized balloon. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-recovery-capsules-loss-balloon-based-telescopes.html Space Exploration Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:30:01 EST news619700221 SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship but lost both the booster and the spacecraft in a pair of explosions minutes into Saturday's test flight. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-spacex-giant-rocket-pair-explosions.html Space Exploration Sat, 18 Nov 2023 09:49:43 EST news619523377 SpaceX is poised Saturday for the second test launch of Starship, the largest rocket ever built that Elon Musk hopes will one day colonize Mars, while NASA awaits a modified version to land humans on the moon. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-spacex-poised-mega-starship-rocket.html Space Exploration Sat, 18 Nov 2023 06:16:40 EST news619510591 A team of aerospace and mechanical engineers from the University of Arizona, California Institute of Technology, Project Pluto and the Planetary Science Institute has found evidence strongly suggesting that the March 4, 2022, WE0913A moon impactor was a Chinese booster rocket with an unknown object attached to its side. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-we0913a-moon-impactor-chinese-booster.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 17 Nov 2023 09:37:56 EST news619436271 Data from a NASA mission to map dark matter around galaxy clusters has been saved by a new recovery system designed by scientists at the University of Sydney. The system allowed the retrieval of gigabytes of information, even after communication failed and the balloon-based telescope was damaged in the landing process. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-downloading-nasa-dark-clouds.html Space Exploration Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:00:02 EST news619178350 Immigration to and living on Mars have long been depicted in science fiction. But before that dream turns into reality, there is a hurdle humans have to overcome—the lack of chemicals such as oxygen essential for long-term survival on the planet. However, the recent discovery of water activity on Mars is promising. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-ai-chemist-catalyst-oxygen-production.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 13 Nov 2023 11:00:02 EST news619091924 SpaceX is hoping to re-launch Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, next week, the company said, after an attempt in April ended in a spectacular explosion. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-spacex-starship-flight-week.html Space Exploration Sun, 12 Nov 2023 04:24:36 EST news618985474 Biomanufacturing based in space can improve the sustainability of deep space exploration. Bioprocessing systems to advance biomanufacturing for space applications need to be developed. In a new report now published in npj Microgravity, Mathangi Soundararajan and a team of scientists in bioengineering and space biosciences at the NASA Ames Research Center, California, have developed commercial technologies to design space bioprocessing systems that supply a liquid amine carbon dioxide scrubber with recombinant active carbonic anhydrase. The design workflows encompassed a biomass of 1 L of Escherichia coli cultures using recombinant protein purification. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-space-bioprocessing-recombinant-proteins.html Space Exploration Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:30:01 EST news618571733 In a hushed room of a museum in Washington, cameras and cell phones focus on a tiny piece of rock, no larger than a piece of gravel. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-capital-selfies-asteroid-hinting-earth.html Space Exploration Sat, 04 Nov 2023 06:58:24 EDT news618299890 The sky is no longer the limit—but taking flight is dangerous. In leaving the Earth's surface, we lose many of the cues we need to orient ourselves, and that spatial disorientation can be deadly. Astronauts normally need intensive training to protect against it. But scientists have now found that wearable devices which vibrate to give orientation cues may boost the efficacy of this training significantly, making spaceflight slightly safer. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-wearable-devices-astronauts-lost-space.html Space Exploration Fri, 03 Nov 2023 01:00:01 EDT news618155979 NASA's Lucy spacecraft on Wednesday encountered the first of 10 asteroids on its long journey to Jupiter. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-nasa-lucy-spacecraft-swoops-asteroids.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 01 Nov 2023 16:58:23 EDT news618076698 After seven years in space and over 4 billion miles traveled, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully collected and delivered the first U.S. sample from a near-Earth asteroid. Yet, after all this time and travel, the spacecraft will not retire. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-osiris-rex-flies-osiris-apex-explore-asteroid.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 01 Nov 2023 15:00:04 EDT news618069602 Research from West Virginia University students and faculty into how 3D printing works in a weightless environment aims to support long-term exploration and habitation on spaceships, the moon or Mars. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-advance-space-colonization-team-explores.html Space Exploration Mon, 30 Oct 2023 12:16:03 EDT news617886961 Mouse embryos have been grown on the International Space Station and developed normally in the first study indicating it could be possible for humans to reproduce in space, a group of Japanese scientists said. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-mouse-embryos-grown-space-japan.html Space Exploration Sun, 29 Oct 2023 06:30:17 EDT news617779809 Two teams of economists have conducted economic assessments of mining asteroids—one of them is a trio with one member each from the University of Tor Rome Vergata, the University of Maryland and Middlebury College. They looked at asteroid mining as part of the next logical step in monetizing space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-groups-economic-viability-asteroids.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 23 Oct 2023 11:02:18 EDT news617277730 A small team of political scientists and astronomers at the University of British Columbia has conducted a study of the number of filings to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by entities wishing to send satellites into low orbit and has found the numbers growing so fast that soon there will not be room for new satellite deployments. In their paper is published in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-itu-tighten-orbit-satellites.html Space Exploration Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:35:51 EDT news616844137 The Space Age is leaving fingerprints on one of the most remote parts of the planet—the stratosphere—which has potential implications for climate, the ozone layer and the continued habitability of Earth. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-signatures-space-age-spacecraft-metals.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 16 Oct 2023 15:00:01 EDT news616679367 First came the darkening skies, then the crescent-shaped shadows on the ground, and finally an eruption of cheers by crowds that gathered Saturday along the narrow path of a rare "ring of fire" eclipse of the sun. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-eclipse-americas-shouts-joy.html Space Exploration Sat, 14 Oct 2023 17:07:16 EDT news616522028 After spending more than a year in space, Frank Rubio now has to get used to that pesky thing Earthlings call gravity. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-astronaut-earth-record-setting-days-space.html Space Exploration Sat, 14 Oct 2023 05:11:38 EDT news616479091 NASA's Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-nasa-spacecraft-mysterious-rare-metal.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 13 Oct 2023 10:28:08 EDT news616411682 It's a world like no other: a metal-rich asteroid that could be the remnants of a small planet, or perhaps an entirely new type of celestial body unknown to science. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-nasa-journey-metal-rich-asteroid.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 12 Oct 2023 15:53:44 EDT news616344819 It may be possible to create paved roads and landing pads on the moon by using lasers to melt lunar soil into a more solid, layered substance, reports a proof-of-concept study in Scientific Reports. Although these experiments were carried out on Earth using a substitute for lunar dust, these findings demonstrate the viability of the technique and suggest it could be replicated on the moon. However, further work may be needed to refine the process, according to the authors. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-small-lunar-roads-potentially-giant.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:00:01 EDT news616320072 If all goes well, on Thursday morning a NASA mission with extensive connections to MIT will be headed to a metal world. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-psyche-journey-ancient-asteroid.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Oct 2023 12:20:07 EDT news616245603 A sample collected from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu contains abundant water and carbon, NASA revealed on Wednesday, offering more evidence for the theory that life on Earth was seeded from outer space. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-nasa-asteroid-sample-life-critical-carbon.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Oct 2023 12:10:25 EDT news616245003 For decades, scientists have pondered the mystery of the moon's ancient magnetism. Based on analyses of lunar samples, its now-deceased magnetic field may have been active for more than 1.5 billion years—give or take a billion years. Scientists believe it was generated like the Earth's via a dynamo process, whereby the spinning and churning of conductive liquid metal within a rocky planet's core generates a magnetic field. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-magnetic-spacecraft-contamination-extraterrestrial-samples.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Oct 2023 11:59:56 EDT news616244389 NASA is set to reveal on Wednesday the first images of the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space, something scientists hope will yield clues about the earliest days of our solar system and perhaps the origins of life itself. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-nasa-unveil-images-historic-asteroid.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Oct 2023 04:29:58 EDT news616217393