US to Return Astronauts to the Moon by 2024, VP Pence Says
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called on NASA to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024 — just five years from now — during the National Space Council meeting on Tuesday
US Is in a New Space Race with China and Russia, VP Pence Says
The United States‘ goal of putting astronauts on the moon by 2024 is motivated at least in part by a desire to defeat Russia and China, Vice President Mike Pence said.
Kein passendes Oberteil: Erster ISS-Außeneinsatz nur mit Frauen abgesagt
Auf der ISS kann ein Raumanzug in passender Größe nicht rechtzeitig vorbereitet werden. Damit scheitert der erste gemeinsame Außeneinsatz zweier Astronautinnen.
Fehlende Raumanzüge: Nasa sagt ISS-Außeneinsatz nur mit Astronautinnen vorerst ab
Am Freitag hätte es auf der ISS eine Premiere geben sollen: einen Außeneinsatz nur mit Astronautinnen. Doch daraus wird erst einmal nichts – es gab Probleme mit den Größen der Raumanzüge.
1st All-Female Spacewalk Scrapped Over Safety Concerns, Not Sexism
Two NASA astronauts were on the verge of making history this week by becoming the first women to take a spacewalk unaccompanied by men. Here’s why NASA canceled that milestone.
Neue Forschungsergebnisse: Saturn-Ringe sind wohl jünger als gedacht
Der majestätische Saturn ist viele Milliarden Jahre alt. Doch sein Markenzeichen hat er wohl noch gar nicht so lange, wie ein Forscherteam herausgefunden hat.
We’re looking at Saturn at a very special time in the history of the Solar System, according to scientists. They’ve confirmed the planet’s iconic rings are very young – no more than 100 million years old, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth.
NASA’s Cassini Data Show Saturn’s Rings Relatively New – Solar System Exploration: NASA Science
The rings of Saturn may be iconic, but there was a time when the majestic gas giant existed without its distinctive halo. In fact, the rings may have formed much later than the planet itself, according to a new analysis of gravity science data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
via Solar System Exploration: NASA Science – January 21, 2019 at 04:30PM
Hubble: Wide Field Camera 3 scheint wieder fit
Die Beobachtungen mit der Wide Field Camera 3 an Bord des Weltraumteleskops Hubbles dürften bald weitergehen: Die NASA hat das Instrument gestern wieder in den normalen Betriebsmodus versetzt. Nach einigen weiteren Tests könnte der normale Beobachtungsbetrieb bald wieder aufgenommen werden. In der letzten Woche hatte es Probleme mit der Kamera gegeben.
Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 Recovered, Collecting Science Data
The Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 was brought back to full operational status and completed its first science observations just after noon EST today, Jan. 17. The instrument autonomously shut down on Jan. 8 after internal data erroneously indicated invalid voltage levels. The Wide Field Camera 3 was installed on Hubble in May 2009 during the last servicing mission. It has taken over 240,000 observations to date and is the most used instrument of Hubble’s current complement.
The moon is a lifeless world once again. The cotton plants that sprouted on the moon’s far side aboard China’s Chang’e 4 lander are dead, done in by the bitter cold of the lengthy lunar night, GBTimes reported today (Jan. 16).
Ocean Moons, Promising Targets in Search for Life, Could Be Dead Inside
For more than two decades, scientists have wondered whether extraterrestrial life may be flourishing deep below the icy coatings boasted by moons in our outer solar system. Spacecraft like the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn have stumbled on evidence that some of their moons hide global oceans, warmed by the pull of the giant planet they orbit. And oceanic explorers much closer to home have discovered dynamic communities living in darkness around geologic features on the ocean floor. Combine the two and it’s easy to be carried away with dreams of alien seafloors teeming with microbes. But new research is looking deeper, into the rock itself, and suggesting that these worlds may be dead inside — not just biologically, but geologically as well.
The ongoing partial government shutdown has grounded a NASA aircraft used for astronomical observations amid reviews about how to operate that program in the future. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a Boeing 747 with a 2.5-meter telescope mounted in its fuselage, has been unable able to perform any science flights since the shutdown started Dec. 22, project officials said during a town hall session about the program Jan. 8 during the 233rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) here.
Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway: NASA’s Proposed Lunar Space Station
The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway is a proposed NASA program that would bring astronauts to the moon to operate a lunar space station. The concept has generated a wealth of research and numerous political discussions since 2017, especially because NASA’s stated goal under the Trump administration is to return to the moon before going to Mars.
Cotton Seed Sprouts on the Moon’s Far Side in Historic First by China’s Chang’e 4
Before China finished packing up its Chang’e 4 lunar lander to be blasted off on a never-before-accomplished journey to the far side of the moon, scientists slipped in a small tank holding plant seeds. And now, the team announced, a cotton seed has sprouted.
China Details Future Moon Plans, Including Polar Research Station
China’s bold moon-exploration plans don’t stop with the pioneering Chang’e 4 mission, which made the first-ever soft landing on the lunar far side on Jan. 2.
The State Council Information Office of China (SCIO) held a press conference Monday (Jan. 14) to discuss that epic touchdown, and to give an overview of the nation’s future activities on Earth’s nearest neighbor.
Hubble Space Telescope’s Glitchy Eye Should Clear Up Soon
The Hubble Space Telescope’s main eye on the universe should be back up and running soon. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) took itself offline last week as a safety precaution, after onboard software noticed anomalous voltage readings within the instrument. But Hubble team members have now determined that voltage levels actually remained within the normal range, ascribing the glitch to a telemetry issue rather than a power-supply problem.
Hubble: Probleme mit Wide Field Kamera 3 / Problems with Wide Field Camera 3
Hubble: Wide Field Camera 3 macht Probleme
Die Beobachtungen mit der Wide Field Camera 3, dem fortschrittlichsten Kamerasystem an Bord des Weltraumteleskops Hubbles für Bilder im sichtbaren Bereich des Lichts, sind gestern Abend wegen eines Hardware-Problems ausgesetzt worden. Während die Ursache gesucht wird, gehen die Beobachtungen mit den anderen drei Instrumenten weiter.
Hubble Space Telescope’s Camera Eye Suffers Malfunction
A hardware problem has put the main camera onboard the Hubble Space Telescope out of operation, according to a brief statement released by NASA today (Jan. 9). The issue with the Wide Field Camera 3 occured on Jan. 8 at 12:23 p.m. EST (1723 GMT), according to the statement. NASA did not provide any details about the glitch itself beyond saying that it was caused by a hardware problem and that the camera carries redundant electronics that could be used to get the instrument running again.
New Horizons: Vorüberflug an 2014 MU69 offenbar erfolgreich
Die NASA-Sonde New Horizons hat ihren Vorüberflug am Kuipergürtel-Objekt 2014 MU69 am frühen Morgen des Neujahrstages offenbar erfolgreich absolviert. Darauf deuten zumindest die diagnostischen Daten hin, die im Laufe des gestrigen Nachmittags empfangen wurden. Erste Bilder sollte es auch schon geben, die werden aber noch bis zu einer Pressekonferenz heute Abend zurückgehalten.
via astronews.com – der deutschsprachige Onlinedienst für Astronomie, Astrophysik und Raumfahrt – January 5, 2019 at 12:35PM
Nach 6,5 Milliarden Kilometern: Nasa-Sonde erreicht „Ultima Thule“ am Rand unseres Sonnensystems – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Wissenschaft
Nach jahrelanger Reise ist es am Neujahrstag so weit: Die Nasa-Sonde „New Horizons“ fliegt am Himmelskörper Ultima Thule vorbei. Noch nie hat eine Sonde ein so weit entferntes Objekt besucht.
With Ultima Thule Flyby, NASA Probe Helps Unlock Secrets of Planetary Formation
A close view of an ultra-distant fossil is helping to answer questions about the formation of planets throughout the universe. NASA’s New Horizons probe buzzed the outer solar-system object early on New Year’s morning, making the first flyby of such a primitive object. Because 2014 MU69 has remained virtually untouched since the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago, it can reveal new details about that era. Already the first puzzling photos are helping to prove models of the early solar system.
After Ultima Thule Flyby, New Horizons Hits Pause on Data Dump
The New Horizons spacecraft fell silent yesterday (Jan. 4), but the communications pause is expected, and scientists on the mission will have plenty of data to keep them busy during the intermission, mission staff members said during a news conference held Jan. 3.
‚Meet Ultima Thule‘: 1st Color Photo of New Horizons Target Reveals a Red ‚Snowman‘
We now know what Ultima Thule looks like, and it’s not a bowling pin.
The first resolved photos of Ultima Thule have come in from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which zoomed past the frigid faraway object just after midnight yesterday (Jan. 1). The historic imagery reveals that the 21-mile-long (33 kilometers) Ultima is a „contact binary“ composed of two roughly spherical lobes.
Find further news on this topic in chapter „Solar System“
Weitere Nachrichten zu diesem Thema finden Sie im Kapitel „Sonnensystem“
OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft reaches Asteorid Bennu / OSIRIS-REx erreicht Asteroiden Bennu
Zoom! Asteroid Bennu Slips Past in OSIRIS-REx Flyby View
A spooky new series of photos of the asteroid Bennu show the diamond-shaped space rock approaching the camera and receding into the distance during a trio of flybys by a NASA spacecraft.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Enters Close Orbit Around Bennu, Breaking Record – OSIRIS-REx Mission
At 2:43 p.m. EST on December 31, while many on Earth prepared to welcome the New Year, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 70 million miles (110 million kilometers) away, carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters – and broke a space exploration record. The spacecraft entered into orbit around the asteroid Bennu, and made Bennu the smallest object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft.
via OSIRIS-REx Mission – January 1, 2019 at 02:06PM
NASA-Sonde Osiris Rex kommt Asteroid Bennu näher
Die Sonde Osiris Rex tritt in eine nahe Umlaufbahn des Asteroids Bennu ein. In den nächsten Jahren soll sie die Oberfläche berühren und Proben zur Erde bringen.
At 2:43 p.m. EST (7:43 GMT) on December 31, 2018, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft went into orbit around asteroid Bennu — setting new records for the smallest body ever orbited by a spacecraft and the closest orbit of a planetary body by any spacecraft.
via Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com – January 7, 2019 at 03:09PM
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx has started orbiting asteroid Bennu
After NASA’s OSIRIS-REx arrived at asteroid Bennu in early December, its ground team quickly started measuring and mapping out the celestial body. They needed all the information they could get in order to enter Bennu’s orbit, since the asteroid has such a small gravity pull. Sounds like the scientists were able to get what they needed, because OSIRIS-REx has successfully started circling the asteroid at 2:43 PM ET on December 31st.
Record Breaker! NASA Probe Slips into Orbit Around Asteroid Bennu
A NASA asteroid-sampling probe has begun circling its space-rock target, setting a new record for the smallest body ever orbited by a spacecraft. The OSIRIS-REx probe achieved orbit around the 1,640-foot-wide (500 meters) near-Earth asteroid Bennu with an eight-second engine burn today (Dec. 31) at 2:43 p.m. EST (1943 GMT).
Die Sonde „Osiris Rex“ ist in eine extrem nahe Umlaufbahn um den Asteroiden Bennu eingeschwenkt. Sie kreist seit Montagabend in 1,75 Kilometer Entfernung vom Asteroidenkern um Bennu. So dicht habe sich nie zuvor ein Raumfahrzeug seinem Untersuchungsobjekt angenähert, teilte die Amerikanische Astronomische Gesellschaft mit.
Die Sonde „Osiris Rex“ ist in eine extrem nahe Umlaufbahn um den Asteroiden „Bennu“ eingeschwenkt. Sie kreist seit gestern Abend in 1,75 Kilometer Entfernung vom Asteroidenkern um „Bennu“. So dicht habe sich nie zuvor ein Raumfahrzeug seinem Untersuchungsobjekt angenähert, teilte die Amerikanische Astronomische Gesellschaft mit.
Chang’e-4: Landung auf der erdabgewandten Seite des Mondes
Die chinesische Raumfahrtagentur CNSA hat offenbar erfolgreich eine Sonde auf der erdabgewandten Seite des Mondes gelandet. Der Lander Chang’e-4 setzte in der vergangenen Nacht um 3.26 Uhr MEZ im Südpol-Aitken-Becken des Mondes auf. Der Rover an Bord soll Medienberichten zufolge noch heute mit der Erkundung der Umgebung beginnen.
via astronews.com – der deutschsprachige Onlinedienst für Astronomie, Astrophysik und Raumfahrt – January 5, 2019 at 12:34PM
„Chang’e 4“: China schickt Kieler Messgerät zum Mond – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Wissenschaft
An Bord der chinesischen Mondsonde ist auch ein Messgerät aus Kiel, entwickelt vom Physiker Wimmer-Schweingruber aus Kiel. Das Gerät soll das Krebsrisiko für Astronauten erforschen – und hat einen wichtigen weiteren Auftrag.
Roboter an Bord der „Chang’e 4“: Chinas Mond-Rover rollt los – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Wissenschaft
Die historische Landung der Sonde „Chang’e 4“ auf der Mond-Rückseite ist geglückt. Nun ist auch der mitgebrachte Roboter unterwegs. Es stehen zahlreiche Experimente an.
Chinese Moon Rover Making Tracks on Lunar Far Side (Photo)
China’s far-side moon rover is already busy exploring its exotic new home. On Wednesday night (Jan. 2), the Chang’e 4 rover and its stationary-lander companion pulled off the first-ever soft touchdown on the lunar far side, coming to a rest inside the 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Kármán Crater. The six-wheeled rover, known as Yutu 2, isn’t pausing to catch its breath, as a newly released photo shows. Yutu 2 has already put a fair bit of space between itself and the lander, trundling over near the rim of a small crater on the floor of Von Kármán, which itself lies within an even larger impact feature — the 1,550-mile-wide (2,500 km) South Pole-Aitken Basin
China Makes Historic 1st Landing on Mysterious Far Side of the Moon
China’s robotic Chang’e 4 mission touched down on the floor of the 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Kármán Crater Wednesday night (Jan. 2), pulling off the first-ever soft landing on the mysterious lunar far side. Chang’e 4 will perform a variety of science work over the coming months, potentially helping scientists better understand the structure, formation and evolution of Earth’s natural satellite. But the symbolic pull of the mission will resonate more with the masses: The list of unexplored locales in our solar system just got a little shorter.
China’s Yutu 2 Rover Is Driving on the Far Side of the Moon
China’s robotic Chang’e 4 lander-rover duo pulled off the first-ever soft touchdown on the moon’s largely unexplored far side. And today (Jan. 3), the rover rolled onto the gray dirt floor of the 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Kármán Crater, creeping down twin ramps from a previous position atop the stationary lander.
Find further news on this topic in chapter „Solar System“
Weitere Nachrichten zu diesem Thema finden Sie im Kapitel „Sonnensystem“
Resist the ‚Dark Side‘ of Moon Names: The Lunar Farside Is Plenty Bright
Pink Floyd has a lot to answer for when it comes to popular ideas about the moon, but here’s how to always keep your lunar sides straight.
Let’s start with the farside, where China’s Chang’e 4 lander touched down yesterday (Jan. 2), making China the first country to land a spacecraft there. Our moon has a nifty trick: It’s tidally locked to Earth, which means that one half of the lunar surface always faces us, while the other half always faces away from us.
Raumfahrt und Mythos: Warum es die „dunkle Seite des Monds“ nicht gibt
Erstmals ist eine Sonde auf der Rückseite des Mondes gelandet, die oft irrtümlich die „dunkle Seite“ genannt wird. Licht bekommt sie schon – nur ist eine Mondhälfte von der Erde aus nie sichtbar. Eine kurze Erklärung.
Das chinesische Raumlabor Tiangong 1 kreist seit Herbst 2016 unkontrolliert um die Erde und verliert an Höhe. Sein Eintritt in die Atmosphäre wird ab Karfreitag erwartet. Bis zu 3,5 Tonnen könnten nicht verglühen und auf die Erde stürzen.
On 18 February, errors of two electrical units on the service module of Gaia led the spacecraft to trigger an automatic safe mode. Safe modes occur when certain spacecraft parameters fall out of their normal operating ranges and the spacecraft automatically takes measures to preserve its safety….
Nachdem wir vor Kurzem eine gedankliche Reise zur Sonne unternahmen, um sie besser kennen zu lernen, passt es nun sehr gut, dass die NASA in diesem Sommer eine Sonde dort hin schicken will. (Danke …
Long March 5’s return to flight will carry an experimental, 300 Gbps telecommunications satellite named Shijian-20 based on a new, large DFH-5 satellite platform.
For the first time, the Moon’s far side will be on the receiving end of a robotic lunar lander – China’s Chang’e-4. Zhao Xiaojin, secretary of the CPC (Communist Party of China) committee at the China Aerospace Science and Technology (CAST), explains that the two-phase Chang’e-4 mission…
On 6 March 2018, the BepiColombo engineering model was delivered to ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany.BepiColombo – ESA’s first mission to Mercury – is based on two spacecraft: the ESA-led Mercury Planetary Orbiter, with 11 experiments and instruments, and the Japanese sp…
The BepiColombo mission to Mercury passed a review milestone last week, confirming that it can leave Europe and begin preparations for launch at the Kourou spaceport.The spacecraft and ground equipment, along with personnel, will start transferring to Kourou towards the end of next month.…
Die Merkur-Mission der ESA geht in eine weitere entscheidende Phase. In dieser Woche traf am Kontrollzentrum ESOC in Darmstadt das Konstruktionsmodell des Satelliten der BepiColombo Mission ein. An der originalgetreuen Kopie testet das Missionsteam nochmals alle Systeme des Orbiters vor …
Die Merkur-Mission der ESA geht in eine weitere entscheidende Phase. In dieser Woche traf am Kontrollzentrum ESOC in Darmstadt das Konstruktionsmodell des Satelliten der BepiColombo Mission ein. An der originalgetreuen Kopie testet das Missionsteam nochmals alle Systeme des Orbiters vor …
„The only problem is, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had dismissed Swarm’s application for its experimental satellites a month earlier, on safety grounds. The FCC is responsible for regulating commercial satellites, including minimizing the chance of accidents in space. It feared that…
Engineers removed the combined optics and science instruments of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope from their shipping container in a high bay at Northrop Grumman on March 8, signaling the next step in the observatory’s integration and testing.
China’s Mars 2020 probe is undergoing testing for atmospheric entry, descent and landing on the red planet, a researcher involved in the mission has stated.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) declared Friday that it would start to make preparations for a new flagship X-ray space observatory for the research of black holes, neutron stars and quark stars.
China’s latest lunar probe, the Chang’e-4, is expected to land on the far side of the Moon on the second half this year in what is to be the first soft landing on the dark side of the moon in the history of space flight.
China’s Chang’e 4 mission to the far side of the Moon will include two microsatellites to be used to test low frequency radio astronomy in lunar orbit.
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Volker Nawrath 