Space Exploration

You might think of satellites as large, imposing spacecraft that cruise through Earth’s orbit like hulking beasts, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Many modern satellites are tiny in size, but they do lots of very important work, and the International Space Station just dropped another one above Australia. Its mission will be to find missing matter. The mini satellite is called a CubeSat because, well, it’s shaped like a box, and this particular CubeSat is going to peer into the Milky Way and study its halo. What’s a galaxy halo? Well, dear reader, I’m so glad you asked! You see, when it comes to explaining the universe, astronomers have a pretty big problem on their hands. Based on past research and observations, scientists think they have a pretty good idea of how much of the universe if made up of normal matter (that’s what the Earth, the Moon, and even you yourself are made of), dark matter (nobody really knows what this is), and dark energy (a mysterious force t...

Mars 1M Mars 1M spacecraft Mars 1M was a series of two unmanned spacecraft which were used in the first Soviet missions to explore Mars. They were the earliest missions of the Mars program. The Western media dubbed the spacecraft "Marsnik", a portmanteau of Mars and Sputnik. Spacecraft Mars 1M No.1 , known in the west as Marsnik 1, Mars 1960A and Korabl 4, was destroyed in a launch failure on October 10, 1960. In 1962, NASA Administrator James E. Webb informed the United States Congress that NASA believed the mission was an attempt at a Mars flyby probe. Some Soviet scientists involved with the program at that time claim no knowledge of this mission, stating that only the second launch was an intended Mars mission. However, V. G. Perminov, the leading designer of planetary spacecraft at the Lavochkin design bureau, states that this mission was indeed intended for Mars and was identical to the later mission. Mars 1M No.2 , known in the west as Marsni...

Pioneer 5 Pioneer 5  mounted to its  Thor Able  launcher. Mission type Interplanetary space research Operator NASA Harvard designation 1960 Alpha 1 COSPAR ID 1960-001A SATCAT  no. 27 Spacecraft properties Manufacturer TRW Launch mass 43 kilograms (95 lb) Start of mission Launch date March 11, 1960, 13:00:07 UTC Rocket Thor DM-18 Able IV Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-17A End of mission Last contact April 30, 1960 Orbital parameters Reference system Heliocentric Eccentricity 0.1689 Perihelion 0.7061 astronomical units (105,630,000 km; 65,640,000 mi) Aphelion 0.9931 astronomical units (148,570,000 km; 92,310,000 mi) Inclination 3.35 degrees Period 311.6 days Pioneer 5 (also known as Pioneer P-2, and Thor Able 4, and nicknamed the "Paddle-Wheel Satellite") was a spin-stabilized space probe in the NASA Pioneer program used to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of Earth...

Spotting asteroids has become pretty routine for astronomers working with some of the most powerful telescopes on the planet, but every once in a while a seemingly mundane space rock proves to be something special. Late last year, scientists spotted a brand new asteroid, named it 2017 YE5, and added it to the long, long list of near-Earth objects that have already been observed. Astronomers are now saying that the rock isn’t what it seems to be. In late June the rock made its closest pass of Earth for the next 170 years, so scientists decided to spend a little more time studying it before it heads back out again. When they zoomed in on what they thought was a regular ol’ asteroid what they began to see double. 2017 YE5, it turns out, isn’t one asteroid. It’s two. Twin asteroids are incredibly rare, at least here in our Solar System, and they’re a huge treat for scientists whenever they’re spotted. Sometimes larger asteroids are orbited by much smaller rocks, but “equal mass...

The last time a person visited the  moon  was in December 1972, during NASA's Apollo 17 mission. Over the decades, NASA planned to send people back to the moon but has yet to succeed. Astronauts often say the biggest reasons why humans haven't returned to the lunar surface are budgetary and political hurdles - not scientific or technical challenges. Private companies like  Blue Origin  or  SpaceX  may be the first entities to return people to the moon. Landing 14 people on the moon remains one of NASA's greatest achievements, if not the greatest. Astronauts collected rocks, took photos, performed experiments, planted some flags, and then came home. But those week-long stays during the Apollo program didn't establish a lasting human presence on the moon. More than 45 years after the most recent crewed moon landing - Apollo 17 in December 1972 - there are plenty of reasons to return people to Earth's giant, dusty ...

NASA has shared a landscape view of a surface on Planet Mars that features what appears like crawling spiders. Image of the Day The image, which the U.S space agency posted as part of its Image of the Day series on Friday, was taken at the South Pole of the Red Planet on May 13. The image shows a carbon ice cap that enveloped the region during the winter as the sun returns in the spring. It shows what appears like silhouettes of spiders emerging from the Martian surface. Araneiform Terrain These arachnid-like features, however, are not actual spiders. These features are what scientists call "araneiform terrain." The mounds form when carbon dioxide ice beneath the surface heats up and is released. NASA said that the active seasonal process involved does not occur on Earth, but like dry ice on our planet, the carbon dioxide ice on Mars sublimates when it warms, causing it to change from solid to gas and become trapped below the surface. How Ara...

JULY 20 Space X SpaceX's Falcon Heavy happens to be currently the most powerful rocket operational in the world. After a successful test run back in February, SpaceX had announced its intentions for carrying much heavier payloads than it is used to. As such, SpaceX has secured its very first contract for the Falcon Heavy and it is from the US Air Force. The Falcon Heavy can carry nearly twice as much payload as compared to the next most powerful rocket which is the Delta IV operated by the United Launch Alliance (ULA). More importantly, the Falcon Heavy can achieve this at a fraction of the cost charged by ULA. This new contract will put in near $130 million in SpaceX's pocket, however, as it happens the mission will not take place before September 2020. The launch, in question, is to put Air Force Space Command-52 satellite [into] its intended orbit." As per the US Department of Defence's contract, it had received "two proposal...

On February 13, 2019, an Israeli-built unmanned spacecraft is expected to land on the moon The probe will be launched sometime in December from Cape Canaveral aboard a  SpaceX   Falcon 9 rocket, officials said during the media event, held at an Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) space technology site in Yehud. It is scheduled to land on February 13, 2019. “We will put the Israeli flag on the moon,” said Ido Anteby, CEO of SpaceIL . “As soon as the spacecraft reaches the landing point it will be completely autonomous,” Anteby said. “The motor will brake the craft and it will reach the ground at zero speed for a soft landing.” “In the first stage the Israeli flag will be put on the moon,” he said. “During the landing the craft will photograph the landing area with stills and video and even record itself.” SpaceIL’s vehicle is just two meters in diameter and 1.5 meters tall standing on its four legs. It weighs 600 kilograms, making it the smallest craft to touchdown on the moon....

7 August 1959 Explorer 6 Mission type Earth science Operator NASA Harvard designation 1959 Delta 1 COSPAR ID 1959-004A SATCAT  no. 15 Mission duration 60 days Spacecraft properties Manufacturer Jet Propulsion Laboratory TRW Launch mass 64.4 kilograms (142 lb) Start of mission Launch date August 7, 1959, 14:24:20 UTC Rocket Thor DM-18 Able III Launch site Cape Canaveral  LC-17A End of mission Last contact October 6, 1959 Decay date July 1, 1961 Orbital parameters Reference system Geocentric Regime Highly elliptical Semi-major axis 7,870.7 kilometers (4,890.6 mi) Eccentricity 0.7588469982147217 Perigee 237 kilometers (147 mi) Apogee 41,900 kilometers (26,000 mi) Inclination 47.0 degress Period 754 minutes RAAN 49.68 degrees Argument of perigee 47.26 degrees Mean anomaly 341.89 degrees Mean motion 1.89 Epoch 29 September 1959 15:00:37 UTC Revolution  no. 100 Explorer...

13 September 1959 Luna 2  (E-1A series) or  Lunik 2  was the second of the  Soviet Union's   Luna programme  spacecraft launched to the  Moon . It was the first spacecraft  to reach the surface of the Moon , and the first man-made object to land on another celestial body.  On September 13, 1959, it hit the Moon's surface east of  Mare Imbrium  near the craters Aristides,  Archimedes , and  Autolycus . Launch was scheduled for September 9, but the Blok I core stage was shut down after it failed to reach full thrust at ignition. The booster was removed from the pad and replaced by a different vehicle, delaying the flight by three days.  Luna 2 , like  Luna 1 , took a direct path to the Moon, with a velocity high enough to result in a travel time of around 36 hours.  Luna 2  hit the Moon about 800 kilometers (500 mi) from the centre of the visible disk on 1959 September 13 at 21:02:...

Replica of Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1  ( / ˈ s p ʊ t n ɪ k /  or  / ˈ s p ʌ t n ɪ k / ; "Satellite-1", or "PS-1", Простейший Спутник-1 or Prosteyshiy Sputnik-1, "Elementary Satellite 1") was the first  artificial Earth satellite .The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical  low Earth orbit  on 4 October 1957, orbiting for three weeks before its batteries died, then silently for two more months before falling back into the atmosphere. It was a 58 cm (23 in) diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. Its radio signal was easily detectable even by  radio amateurs ,  and the 65° inclination and duration of its orbit made its flight path cover virtually the entire inhabited Earth. This surprise success precipitated the American  Sputnik crisis  and triggered the  Space Race , a part of the  Cold War . The launch ushered in new political, military, technol...

Written by David Trang Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Palaeontology :- Nearly all lunar impact craters smaller than 15 kilometers in diameter come in one basic shape, a circular bowl with a rim around it. However, there is a category, called concentric craters, with the basic crater and rim, plus a dough nut-shaped feature within the crater that is concentric to the crater rim. Jeffrey Gillis-Davis (University of Hawai‘i), the late B. Ray Hawke, and I (still at the University of Hawai‘i) decided to take on the task of determining how these concentric craters formed. After long meticulous measurements of their shape, determining their composition, examining their spatial relationship on the lunar surface, and calculating their age, we find that these craters are regular impact craters that experienced intrusions of magma beneath them. Each intrusion pushed on the material around the crater causing the construction of the concentric dough nut-shaped topographic ridge. ...

Washington : The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump-nominated Representative Jim Bridenstine to lead the US space agency. The Senate narrowly on Thursday voted 50-49 on partisan lines to confirm Bridenstine to serve as NASA's 13th administrator. Bridenstine, a pilot in the US Navy Reserve and former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium, was elected to the US Congress in 2012 to represent Oklahoma's First Congressional District. He currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. "I am pleased to have Rep. Bridenstine nominated to lead our team. I look forward to ensuring a smooth transition and sharing the great work the NASA team is doing," acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement. "It is an honour to be confirmed by the US Senate to serve as NASA Administrator," said Bridenstine. Bridenstine will take over from Lightfoot,...

The first time India sent a lunar probe Chandrayaan to the moon in 2008, the world watched and applauded. It was a glowing moment in the country's tryst with space exploration program. And that it was at a project cost of Rs 386 crore ($59 million) and made India only the fourth country to plant a flag on the moon was a mammoth achievement. Now, ISRO is gearing up to send i ts second - Chandrayaan 2 - to the moon. Here is all you need to know about the mission that promises to underline India's space program and ability to go where few have gone before. * According to ISRO, Chandrayaan 2 is a completely indigenous mission which would comprise of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover. * After reaching the 100 kilometer lunar orbit, informs ISRO, the Lander housing the Rover will separate from the Orbiter. Following a controlled descent, the Lander will soft land on the moon at a specified time and then deploy the six-wheeled Rover. This Rover will then move around the landin...