Lunar exploration equipment at any future lunar base is in danger from debris blasted toward it by subsequent lunar landers. This danger isn’t just theoretical – Surveyor III was a lander during the Apollo era that was damaged by Apollo 12’s descent rocket and returned to Earth for closer examination. Plenty of ideas have been put forward to limit this risk, and we’ve reported on many of them, from constructing landing pads out of melted regolith to 3D printing a blast shield out of available materials. But a new paper from researchers in Switzerland suggests a much simpler idea – why not just build a blast wall by stacking a bunch of rocks together?
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This Week's Sky at a Glance, July 19 – 28
Scorpius poses at center stage in the south. The Sagittarius Teapot follows behind it. And Rasalhague, the head star of Ophiuchus. turns the Summer Triangle into a big, upright diamond.
Ariane 6 science-after-school experiment sends back striking snaps
Image: Ariane 6 science-after-school experiment sends back striking snaps
Earth from Space: Central Ethiopia
Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission brings us a false-colour radar image of central Ethiopia.
Why is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Shrinking? It’s Starving.
The largest storm in the Solar System is shrinking and planetary scientists think they have an explanation. It could be related to a reduction in the number of smaller storms that feed it and may be starving Jupiter’s centuries-old Great Red Spot (GRS).
ESA is Building a Mission to Visit Asteroid Apophis, Joining it for its 2029 Earth Flyby
According to the ESA’s Near-Earth Objects Coordination Center (NEOCC), 35,264 known asteroids regularly cross the orbit of Earth and the other inner planets. Of these, 1,626 have been identified as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs), meaning that they may someday pass close enough to Earth to be caught by its gravity and impact its surface. While planetary defense has always been a concern, the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slamming into Jupiter in 1994 sparked intense interest in this field.
New Exploration of Titan's Seas
A new look at data from NASA's Cassini mission confirms methane cycles on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, just as water cycles on Earth.
NASA plans for space station’s demise with new SpaceX ‘Deorbit Vehicle’
An artist’s impression of SpaceX’s ISS Deorbit Vehicle pushing the lab toward a controlled re-entry and breakup in the 2030 timeframe, after a formal decision to retire the lab complex after three decades of operation. Graphic: SpaceX
SpaceX is building a souped-up version of its cargo Dragon spacecraft to drive the International Space Station out of orbit for a controlled re-entry and breakup over an uninhabited stretch of ocean when the lab is finally retired in the 2030 timeframe, NASA and company officials said Wednesday.
Preparing for Juice’s daring double flyby
Next month, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will carry out the first combined lunar-Earth flyby. Preparations are under way at ESA mission control for this highly precise manoeuvre, which will harness the gravitational forces of the Moon and Earth in quick succession to line Juice up for the next stage of its journey to Jupiter.
NASA cancels half-billion dollar water-ice-seeking VIPER Moon rover
NASA’s VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – sits assembled inside the cleanroom at the agency’s Johnson Space Center. Image: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas
NASA announced Wednesday it was pulling the plug on the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project. It was the second time in less than a decade, NASA scrapped plans for a roving scout to explore the Moon for water ice, the decision coming six years after cancelling a similar mission, the Resource Prospector.
ESA gears up for the Farnborough International Airshow
The Farnborough International Airshow is set to return for its 76th edition from 22 to 26 July 2024, and ESA will be there to showcase the agency’s latest achievements and to highlight its next steps and future vision for Europe in space.
Officially, Only the Sun Can Have Planets. Is it Time to Fix the Definition of “Planet”?
What is the true definition of a planet, and could there be a more refined definition in the future? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers from the United States and Canada investigated the potential for a new definition of a “planet”. This study holds the potential to challenge the longstanding definition outlined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which established IAU Resolution B5 in 2006, resulting in demoting Pluto from a “planet” to a “dwarf planet”.
Neutron Star is Spraying Jets Like a Garden Sprinkler
X-ray binaries are some of the oddest ducks in the cosmic zoo and they attract attention across thousands of light-years. Now, astronomers have captured new high-resolution radio images of the first one ever discovered. It’s called Circinus X-1. Their views show a weird kind of jet emanating from the neutron star member of the binary. The jet rotates like an off-axis sprinkler as it spews material out through surrounding space, sending shockwaves through the interstellar medium.
NASA Stops Work on VIPER Moon Rover, Citing Cost and Schedule Issues
NASA says it intends to discontinue development of its VIPER moon rover, due to cost increases and schedule delays — but the agency is also pointing to other opportunities for robotic exploration of the lunar south polar region.
'The Ark' season 2 is 'love letter' to optimistic classic sci-fi, creators say (exclusive)
An interview with showrunners Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner for "The Ark" season 2.
NASA Cancels Lunar Rover Mission
The development of the VIPER lunar rover has been discontinued.
NASA cancels $450 million VIPER moon rover due to budget concerns
NASA announced it has ended the VIPER rover project, which was intended to explore the moon in search of ice near the lunar south pole.
25 things to admire in the night sky that aren't just the moon and stars
We've picked out 25 skywatching targets to celebrate Space.com's 25th anniversary. Can you catch them all?
Experimental Radar Technique Reveals the Composition of Titan’s Seas
The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn generated so much data that giving it a definitive value is impossible. It’s sufficient to say that the amount is vast and that multiple scientific instruments generated it. One of those instruments was a radar designed to see through Titan’s thick atmosphere and catch a scientific glimpse of the moon’s extraordinary surface.
ISS could 'drift down' for a year before SpaceX vehicle destroys it in Earth's atmosphere
It will take some time for the ISS to come down to Earth in the 2030s. NASA says it will take about 12 to 18 months to naturally fall back to our planet before a new SpaceX deorbit vehicle pushes it back into Earth's atmosphere.
Vaya Space receives pathfinding liquid oxygen tank shell for its Dauntless rocket
A liquid oxygen tank shell was delivered from Scorpius Space Launch Company in California to Vaya Space in Florida on Monday, July 15, 2024. This will serve as a pathfinding test article as Vaya Space continues working on its forthcoming Dauntless rocket. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now
A delivery from California to Florida on Monday marked a new milestone for aerospace company, Vaya Space. It received its first, full-sized liquid oxygen tank shell for its two-stage Dauntless rocket.
