24/7 Coverage of GPS News
January 31, 2018
DRAGON SPACE
China's first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished



Beijing (XNA) Jan 29, 2018
China has accomplished its first successful Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), with a 1.2-meter telescope laser ranging system. Based on the signals of laser pulses reflected by the lunar retro-reflector planted by the U.S. manned mission Apollo 15, the applied astronomy group from the Yunnan Observatories measured the distance between the Apollo 15 retro-reflector and the Yunnan Observatories ground station to be 385823.433 kilometers to 387119.600 kilometers, from 9:25 p.m. to 10:31 p.m. Beijing Time, o ... read more

SOLAR SCIENCE
Rare 'super blood blue moon' visible on Jan 31
Miami (AFP) Jan 28, 2018
A cosmic event not seen in 36 years - a rare "super blood blue moon" - may be glimpsed January 31 in parts of western North America, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Australia. ... more
MOON DAILY
Chinese volunteers spend 200 days on virtual 'moon base'
Beijing (AFP) Jan 26, 2018
Chinese students spent 200 continuous days in a "lunar lab" in Beijing, state media said Friday, as the country prepares for its long-term goal of putting people on the moon. ... more
SOLAR SCIENCE
What scientists can learn about the Moon during the Jan. 31 eclipse
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 26, 2018
The lunar eclipse on Jan. 31 will give a team of scientists a special opportunity to study the Moon using the astronomer's equivalent of a heat-sensing, or thermal, camera. Three lunar events ... more
MOON DAILY
Russia at work on new station, lunar trips: says top rocket scientist
Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 24, 2018
Russia is set to spend the next decade working on a potential new station that might be built if the International Space Station (ISS) project is terminated, as well as a spacecraft capable of makin ... more
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WAR REPORT
Tet Offensive: audacious attacks that changed the Vietnam War
Hue, Vietnam (AFP) Jan 25, 2018
On January 30, 1968 - the eve of Vietnam's Tet lunar new year holiday - communist soldiers from the north and Viet Cong rebels launched a shock offensive on more than 100 cities and outposts throughout southern Vietnam. ... more
WAR REPORT
Bazooka fire rocks the building: Tet from AFP's bureau
Paris (AFP) Jan 25, 2018
As Vietnam celebrated the 1968 Lunar New Year, tens of thousands of North Vietnamese communist troops and Viet Cong guerrillas launched attacks that changed the course of the war. ... more
WAR REPORT
Unearthing dark history in Vietnam's war tunnels
Quang Tri, Vietnam (AFP) Jan 25, 2018
American bombs rained overhead as Ho Thi Giu was born in an underground tunnel on January 1, 1968, where hundreds of Vietnamese villagers carved out subterranean lives to escape the bloodshed of the country's brutal civil war. ... more
MARSDAILY
Next Mars Analog mission will help improve efficiency and reduce dust exposure
Daytona Beach, FL (SPX) Jan 18, 2018
As NASA and others look to return humans to the Moon for longer durations, lunar dust remains an industry concern. Apollo mission crew members described the dust as similar to sandpaper, havin ... more
MOON DAILY
Russian company declassifies 1973 report on Lunokhod-2 lunar rover
Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 17, 2018
Space equipment manufacturer Russian Space Systems declassified on Tuesday a report on unmanned lunar rover Lunokhod-2 and its 1973 Moon landing mission. The document describes all aspects of ... more
MOON DAILY
Possible Lava Tube Skylights Discovered Near the North Pole of the Moon
Mountain View CA (SPX) Jan 15, 2018
The SETI Institute and the Mars Institute have announced the discovery of small pits in a large crater near the North Pole of the Moon, which may be entrances to an underground network of lava tubes ... more
MOON DAILY
Funding runs dry for Indian Google X Prize lunar team
New Delhi (Sputnik) Jan 11, 2018
TeamIndus - India's first private aerospace startup that is contending for the Google XPrize, has failed to garner adequate financing for its moon mission. Its inability to pay $35 million to Antrix ... more


Scientist reveals what is so special about Chines's next moon mission

MOON DAILY
Astronauts: Trump's proposed Lunar mission will take time
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 05, 2018
American astronauts aboard the International Space Station told VOA on Wednesday that their excitement about recently announced plans to restore U.S. manned space missions to lunar orbit was eclipse ... more
MOON DAILY
China Prepares for Breakthrough Chang'e 4 Moon Landing in 2018
Beijing (XNA) Jan 02, 2018
2018 could see a breakthrough in lunar exploration: China is planning a mission that, if successful, will see a space landing on the far side of the moon for the first time. The first part of ... more
MOON DAILY
China solicits messages to be sent to moon
Beijing (XNA) Dec 26, 2017
China will solicit 20,000 messages which will be sent into space by a relay satellite for the Chang'e-4 lunar probe, according to China's Lunar and Deep Space Exploration Center. The relay sat ... more
INTERN DAILY

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MOON DAILY
Thales Alenia Space signs 3 contracts for NASA's deep space exploration
Rome (SPX) Dec 17, 2017
Thales Alenia Space has signed three contracts in the frame of Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) activities with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Orbital-ATK, to develop c ... more
MOON DAILY
Will Trump send Americans to the Moon? Money talks: experts
Miami (AFP) Dec 14, 2017
US President Donald Trump's decision this week to return Americans to the Moon makes sense as a way to develop technology to one day reach Mars, but only if Congress allocates the money, experts say. ... more
MOON DAILY
Researchers analyze thousands of hours of Apollo mission audio
Dallas TX (SPX) Dec 13, 2017
NASA recorded thousands of hours of audio from the Apollo lunar missions, yet most of us have only been able to hear the highlights. The agency recorded all communications between the astronau ... more
MOON DAILY
Trump tells NASA to send Americans to Moon
Washington DC (AFP) Dec 12, 2017
US President Donald Trump directed NASA on Monday to send Americans to the Moon for the first time in decades, a move he said would help prepare for a future Mars trip. "This time we will not ... more
MOON DAILY
The Second Moon Race
Gerroa, Australia (SPX) Mar 13, 2017
The US and China are in an undeclared race back to the Moon. At first glance it's easy to dismiss China's efforts as being little more than what the US and Russia achieved decades ago. And whi ... more
MOON DAILY
Robot Moon Base: Beijing's New Lunar Landing Program
Beijing (XNA) Dec 12, 2017
Scientists are mulling a robot moon station, Chinese space experts said on Tuesday. The base can conduct bigger, more complicated research and experiments, according to space officials who ann ... more
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Beijing bans fireworks, evil spirits rejoice
Beijing (AFP) Dec 1, 2017
China may have invented fireworks but Beijing banned them from the capital Friday ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations, as authorities clamp down on potentially dangerous activities. ... more


December's 'supermoon' expected to be bigggest, brightest of 2017

MOON DAILY
Moon's crust underwent resurfacing after forming from magma ocean
Austin TX (SPX) Nov 22, 2017
The Earth's Moon had a rough start in life. Formed from a chunk of the Earth that was lopped off during a planetary collision, it spent its early years covered by a roiling global ocean of molten ma ... more
MOON DAILY
Japan signals growing support for Deep Space Gateway concept
Tokyo, Japan (Sputnik) Nov 27, 2017
The Land of the Rising Sun hopes to be able to put its astronauts on the moon sometime during the 2020s as part of an international program to build a space station in the moon's orbit, local Iomiur ... more
MOON DAILY
Russia tests new spaceship set to deliver people, cargo to moon
Moscow (Sputnik) Nov 15, 2017
Russia has successfully tested a simulator of the spaceship, with the objective of reaching the moon. The experiment's goal was to create conditions similar to those encountered by a mixed crew duri ... more
SPACE TRAVEL
SSL Selected to Conduct Power and Propulsion Study for NASA's Deep Space Gateway Concept
Palo Alto CA (SPX) Nov 17, 2017
SSL reports it was selected by NASA to conduct a four-month study for a module that will provide power and control for NASA's deep space gateway concept. The contract award is a tangible demonstrati ... more



European-Russian space mission steps up the search for life on Mars
Moscowm Russia (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
In 2013, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos - the Russian governmental body responsible for space research - agreed to cooperate on ExoMars, the first joint interplanetary mission between ESA and Russia. This project now involves scientists from 29 research organizations, including MIPT and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is the leading contributor of ... more
+ A vista from Mars rover looks back over journey so far
+ Opportunity prepares software update as Sol 5000 approaches
+ Mystery Solved for Mega-Avalanches in Tibet - and Perhaps on Mars
+ NASA's Next Mars Lander Spreads its Solar Wings
+ NASA tests power system to support manned missions to Mars
+ Dust storms linked to gas escape from Mars atmosphere
+ Opportunity gets dust cleaning and passes 45 kilometers of driving
Titan topographic map unearths cookie-cutter holes in moon's surface
Ithaca NY (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Using the now-complete Cassini data set, Cornell University astronomers have created a new global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan that has opened new windows into understanding its liquid flows and terrain. Two papers, recently published in Geophysical Review Letters, describe the map and discoveries arising from it. Creating the map took about a year, according to doctoral student ... more
+ Cassini finds Titan has 'sea level' like Earth
+ Giant Storms Cause Palpitations in Saturn's Atmospheric Heartbeat
+ Electrical and Chemical Coupling Between Saturn and Its Ring
+ Unique atmospheric chemistry explains cold vortex on Saturn's moon Titan
+ Cassini Image Mosaic: A Farewell to Saturn
+ Unexpected atmospheric vortex behavior on Saturn's moon Titan
+ Heating ocean moon Enceladus for billions of years


Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Spacecraft landing on Jupiter's moon Europa could see the craft sink due to high surface porosity, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Robert Nelson shows. Nelson was the lead author of a laboratory study of the photopolarimetric properties of bright particles that explain unusual negative polarization behavior at low phase angles observed for decades in association wi ... more
+ JUICE ground control gets green light to start development
+ New Year 2019 offers new horizons at MU69 flyby
+ Study explains why Jupiter's jet stream reverses course on a predictable schedule
+ New Horizons Corrects Its Course in the Kuiper Belt
+ Does New Horizons' Next Target Have a Moon?
+ Juno probes the depths of Jupiter's Great Red Spot
+ Wrapping up 2017 one year out from MU69
Microbes may help astronauts transform human waste into food
University Park PA (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
Human waste may one day be a valuable resource for astronauts on deep-space missions. Now, a Penn State research team has shown that it is possible to rapidly break down solid and liquid waste to grow food with a series of microbial reactors, while simultaneously minimizing pathogen growth. "We envisioned and tested the concept of simultaneously treating astronauts' waste with microbes whi ... more
+ Two US spacewalkers replace latching end of robotic arm
+ NASA-JAXA Joint Statement on Space Exploration
+ Space, the final frontier -- for nightclubs
+ Space station spacewalk postponed until mid-February
+ Orion Spacecraft Recovery Rehearsal Underway
+ Looking up a century ago, a vision of the future of space exploration
+ Explorer 1: The Beginning of American Space Science
Optical nanoscope allows imaging of quantum dots
Basel, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
Physicists have developed a technique based on optical microscopy that can be used to create images of atoms on the nanoscale. In particular, the new method allows the imaging of quantum dots in a semiconductor chip. Together with colleagues from the University of Bochum, scientists from the University of Basel's Department of Physics and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute reported the findings in ... more
+ Touchy nanotubes work better when clean
+ On the rebound as nanoparticles self-heal
+ Ultra-thin optical fibers offer new way to 3-D print microstructures
+ Nanowrinkles could save billions in shipping and aquaculture
+ Building molecular wires, one atom at a time
+ Nanotube fibers in a jiffy
+ Silver nanoparticles take spectroscopy to new dimension
Irish first as Elfordstown tracks and monitors Rocket Lab satellite deployment
Elfordstown, Ireland (SPX) Jan 24, 2018
US space launch provider Rocket Lab successfully reached orbit this weekend with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle 'Still Testing' deploying 3 client satellites safely into space. The separation of the payload from the rocket was remotely tracked and monitored from Elfordstown Earthstation in Cork. This is the first time a satellite orbital insertion has been monitore ... more
+ Launch Vehicle Lingo
+ Ariane 5 satellites in orbit but not in right location yet
+ ASU student payloads selected to fly on Blue Origin space vehicle
+ Texas firm completes "tie down test flight" of suborbital SARGE Rocket
+ ULA to market Atlas V commercial launches
+ SpaceX CEO Sets Date for First Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch
+ Russia Working On Own, 100-Use, Environmentally Friendly Rocket


China's first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished
Beijing (XNA) Jan 29, 2018
China has accomplished its first successful Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), with a 1.2-meter telescope laser ranging system. Based on the signals of laser pulses reflected by the lunar retro-reflector planted by the U.S. manned mission Apollo 15, the applied astronomy group from the Yunnan Observatories measured the distance between the Apollo 15 retro-reflector and the Yunnan Observatories gro ... more
+ No space for China's stay-at-home taikonauts
+ Yang Liwei looks back at China's first manned space mission
+ Backgrounder: China's six manned space missions
+ Space agency to pick those with the right stuff
+ China to select astronauts for its space station
+ China Focus: The making of heroes - the women and men of China's space program
+ China to launch first student satellite for scientific education
Updates on recovery attempts for NASA IMAGE mission
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 30, 2018
After an amateur astronomer recorded observations of a satellite in high Earth orbit on Jan. 20, 2018, his initial research suggested it was the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) - a NASA mission launched into orbit around Earth on March 25, 2000. Seeking to ascertain whether the signal indeed came from IMAGE, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Mary ... more
+ Better than a hologram: Research produces 3-D images floating in 'thin air'
+ Scientists achieve high power with new smaller laser
+ Contact with lost NASA satellite IMAGE confirmed
+ UK to launch new radar against 'severe' Russian threat
+ Aerojet Rocketdyne seeks to reduce debris with recent SBIRS launch
+ Putting everyday computer parts to space radiation test
+ Quantum cocktail provides insights on memory control


Scientists unveil world's most powerful tractor beam
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
For the first time, scientists have developed a tractor beam capable for levitating objects larger than an acoustic wavelength. Scientists believe the breakthrough could pave the way for tractor beams powerful enough to levitate humans. Until now, larger objects trapped in acoustic tractor beams proved unstable. Acoustic waves tend to transfer some of their rotational energy to objects, ... more
+ Acoustic tractor beam could pave the way for levitating humans
+ Students design and build augmented-reality 'sandbox' to show how gravity works
+ Next-Generation GRACE Satellites Arrive at Launch Site
+ A New Window on the Universe
+ Sierras lost water weight, grew taller during drought
+ Researchers measure magnetic moment with greatest possible precision
+ Physicists make most precise measurement ever of a proton's magnetic moment
Astrochemists reveal the magnetic secrets of methanol
Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX) Jan 30, 2018
A team of scientists, led by Boy Lankhaar at Chalmers University of Technology, has solved an important puzzle in astrochemistry: how to measure magnetic fields in space using methanol, the simplest form of alcohol. Their results, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, give astronomers a new way of investigating how massive stars are born. Over the last half-century, many molecules hav ... more
+ Chasing dark matter with the oldest stars in the Milky Way
+ Follow The STTARS to find the Webb Telescope
+ Astronomers produce first detailed images of surface of giant star
+ Theory shows unified origin for 3 types of extreme-energy space particles
+ How we created a mini 'gamma ray burst' in the lab for the first time
+ Most Powerful Dutch Supercomputer Boosts New Radio Telescope
+ NRL improves optical efficiency in nanophotonic devices


China's first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished
Beijing (XNA) Jan 29, 2018
China has accomplished its first successful Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), with a 1.2-meter telescope laser ranging system. Based on the signals of laser pulses reflected by the lunar retro-reflector planted by the U.S. manned mission Apollo 15, the applied astronomy group from the Yunnan Observatories measured the distance between the Apollo 15 retro-reflector and the Yunnan Observatories gro ... more
+ No space for China's stay-at-home taikonauts
+ Yang Liwei looks back at China's first manned space mission
+ Backgrounder: China's six manned space missions
+ Space agency to pick those with the right stuff
+ China to select astronauts for its space station
+ China Focus: The making of heroes - the women and men of China's space program
+ China to launch first student satellite for scientific education


Rare 'super blood blue moon' visible on Jan 31
Miami (AFP) Jan 28, 2018
A cosmic event not seen in 36 years - a rare "super blood blue moon" - may be glimpsed January 31 in parts of western North America, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Australia. The event is causing a buzz because it combines three unusual lunar events - an extra big super moon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse. "It's an astronomical trifecta," said Kelly Beatty, a senior editor ... more
+ What scientists can learn about the Moon during the Jan. 31 eclipse
+ Magnetic coil springs accelerate particles on the Sun
+ Sounding rockets study space x-ray emissions and create polar mesospheric cloud
+ Eclipse megamovie projects seeks public's help analyzing 50,000 photos
+ Special star is a Rosetta Stone for understanding the sun's variability and climate effect
+ August eclipse left a wake in ionosphere, researchers reveal
+ Report Highlights Social and Economic Impacts of Space Weather
Europe's space agency braces for Brexit fallout
Paris (AFP) Jan 17, 2018
The European Space Agency (ESA) is drawing up contingency plans for projects, commercial deals, and staffing that may be adversely affected by Brexit, senior officials said Wednesday. Programmes throw in flux by Britain's pending departure from the European Union (EU) include the Copernicus satellite constellation to monitor environmental damage, and the Galileo satellite navigation system. ... more
+ Xenesis and ATLAS partner to develop global optical network
+ GomSpace signs deal for low-inclination launch on Virgin's LauncherOne
+ SES-15 Enters Commercial Service to Serve the Americas
+ Aerospace Workforce Training - National Mandate for 2018
+ Intelsat signs contract with Arianespace for two launches
+ Nationwide search begins for young space entrepreneurs
+ Russia restores contact with Angolan satellite


Asteroid to pass by Earth in Feb.
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
A half-mile-wide asteroid is scheduled to make a close pass by Earth next month. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 4 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The intermediate-sized space rock will fly within 2.6 million miles of Earth, roughly 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon. The asteroid was first spotted ... more
+ Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth February 4
+ NASA, USGS confirm Michigan meteorite strike
+ Study identifies processes of rock formed by meteors or nuclear blasts
+ NASA's newly renamed Swift mission spies a comet slowdown
+ NASA image showcases Ceres mountain named for Kwanzaa
+ Development on muon beam analysis of organic matter in samples from space
+ Arecibo radar returns with asteroid Phaethon images
Let's make a deal: Could AI compromise better than humans?
Provo, UT (SPX) Jan 23, 2018
Computers can play a pretty mean round of chess and keep up with the best of their human counterparts in other zero-sum games. But teaching them to cooperate and compromise instead of compete? With help from a new algorithm created by BYU computer science professors Jacob Crandall and Michael Goodrich, along with colleagues at MIT and other international universities, machine compromise an ... more
+ Dutch robots help make cheese, 'smell' the roses
+ 'Job-killing' robots, AI under scrutiny in Davos
+ AI, virtual reality make inroads in tourism sector
+ Feedback enhances brainwave control of a novel hand-exoskeleton
+ A miniaturized origami-inspired robot combines micrometer precision with high speed
+ Army scientists improve human-agent teaming by making AI agents more transparent
+ Stingray soft robot could lead to bio-inspired robotics
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