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☆ Earth is about to have a temporary ‘mini-moon’
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But as a mini-moon, Asteroid 2024 PT5 isn’t in any danger of colliding with Earth now or over the next few decades, de la Fuente Marcos said. Asteroid 2020 CD3 is considered a long-capture mini-moon, while the newly detected Asteroid 2024 PT5 is a short-capture one. Short mini-moon events can occur several times per decade, but long mini-moon events are rare, and only occur every 10 or 20 years, de la Fuente Marcos said. “In order to become a mini-moon, an incoming body has to approach Earth slowly at close range,” de la Fuente Marcos said. After 56.6 days, the sun’s gravitational pull will bring Asteroid 2024 PT5 back into its normal orbit.

Persons: PT5, Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, la Fuente Marcos, orbiters, flybys, It’s, ”, Robert Jedicke, ” Jedicke, Jedicke, “ Organizations: CNN, American Astronomical Society, Astronomers, NASA, Complutense University of Madrid, University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, Gran, Canarias, Telescope Locations: South Africa, Chelyabinsk, Russia, Hiroshima, Japan, Mars, Canary, Earth

☆ Oceans of water may be trapped deep beneath the Martian surface
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Data from a retired NASA mission has revealed evidence of an underground reservoir of water deep beneath the surface of Mars, according to new research. A team of scientists estimates that there may be enough water, trapped in tiny cracks and pores of rock in the middle of the Martian crust, to fill oceans on the planet’s surface. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took an image of InSight sitting on the Martian surface on February 2, 2019. “It’s certainly true on Earth — deep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life. Windows into Martian historyThe findings add a new piece to the Martian water puzzle.

Persons: ”, Vashan Wright, ‘, Mars, orbiters, InSight’s seismometer, Wright, James Tuttle Keane, Aaron Rodriguez, Michael Manga, “ It’s, haven’t, Alberto Fairén, Fairén, Bruce Banerdt, we’re, Banerdt, al, ” Banerdt, “, ” Wright Organizations: CNN, NASA, National Academy of Sciences, Reconnaissance Orbiter, JPL, Caltech, University of Arizona, University of California, Diego’s Scripps, of Oceanography, Mars, Interior Exploration, Transport, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of Maryland, Cornell University Locations: Mars, Berkeley

☆ Mars gets hit by hundreds of basketball-size space rocks every year
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Hundreds of basketball-size space rocks slam into Mars each year, leaving behind impact craters and causing rumblings across the red planet, according to new research. During its time on Mars, InSight used its seismometer to detect more than 1,300 marsquakes, which take place when the Martian subsurface cracks due to pressure and heat. Meteoroids are space rocks that have broken away from larger rocky bodies and range in size from dust grains to small asteroids, according to NASA. “We’re interested in studying that on Mars because we can then compare and contrast what’s happening on Mars to what’s happening on the Earth. Between 280 and 360 meteoroids hit the red planet each year, and they form impact craters larger than 26 feet (8 meters) across, according to the study.

Persons: ”, Ingrid Daubar, ” Daubar, NASA’s, “ We’re, Géraldine Zenhäusern, ” Zenhäusern, Natalia Wojcicka Organizations: CNN, NASA, Reconnaissance, JPL, Caltech, University of Arizona, Brown University, NASA’s Mars, Nature Communications, Switzerland’s ETH Zürich, Imperial College London’s Locations: Mars, Switzerland’s

☆ Solar storm hits Mars, creating planet-engulfing auroras, NASA says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —When the sun unleashed an extreme solar storm and hit Mars in May, it engulfed the red planet with auroras and an influx of charged particles and radiation, according to NASA. Solar radiation hits MarsThe most extreme storm occurred on May 20 after an X12 flare released from the sun, according to data collected by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft currently studying the sun. The Curiosity rover, currently exploring Gale Crater just south of the Martian equator, took black-and-white images using its navigation cameras during the solar storm. But Mars lost its magnetic field billions of years ago, which means the planet has no shield from incoming energized solar particles. By tracing the data from multiple Martian missions, scientists were able to watch how the solar storm unfolded.

Persons: Gale, “, ”, Don Hassler, ” Auroras, Mars, Deborah Padgett, MAVEN, Christina Lee Organizations: CNN, NASA, Solar Orbiter, Goddard Space Flight, Mars, Caltech, JPL, Southwest Research, Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of California, Space Sciences Laboratory Locations: Northern California, Alabama, Greenbelt , Maryland, Boulder , Colorado, Pasadena , California

☆ What Happens When NASA Loses Eyes on Earth? We’re About to Find Out.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Raymond Zhong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sometime in the next few years — no one knows exactly when — three NASA satellites, each one as heavy as an elephant, will go dark. Already they are drifting, losing height bit by bit. But age is catching up to them, and soon they will send their last transmissions and begin their slow, final fall to Earth. With some of the data these satellites gather, the situation is even worse: No other instruments will keep collecting it. In a few short years, the fine features they reveal about our world will become much fuzzier.

Organizations: NASA

☆ Opinion: The day of the Columbia disaster still haunts me
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Miles O'Brien | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

The CNN Original Series, “Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight,” uncovers the events that ultimately led to disaster. Miles O'Brien Vincent RicardelI was at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to cover the launch of the space shuttle, Columbia. Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:39 a.m. NASA Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003.

Persons: Miles O’Brien, ”, Miles O'Brien Vincent Ricardel, Ilan Ramon, Scott Andrews, NASA's, Michael P, Anderson, William C, McCool, Rick D, David M, Brown, Laurel, Kalpana Chawla, Joe Skipper, Karl Ronstrom, Ramon, NASA Chawla, Clark, Chawla, Robert Giroux, Kathryn O'Neill, Zachary, Brett Coomer, Florida Sen, Bill Nelson, Matt Stroshane, Tommy Peltier, Eric Gay, Smiley, Gene Theriot, Sean O'Keefe, George W, Bush, Ron Dittemore, Joe Cavaretta, O'Keefe, Mannie Garcia, NASA Sandy Anderson, Carlos Noriega, Michael L, Coats, Evelyn Husband, Thomas, John Raoux, Glenn Benson, Kim Shiflett, Dave Santucci, “, —, Heidi Collins, Janeane Garofalo, “ Let’s, would’ve Organizations: PBS, CNN, Space Shuttle Columbia, NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Engineers, Reuters Space Shuttle Columbia, Scott Andrews People, Control Center, Getty, NASA Space, Columbia, Israeli Air Force, Space Shuttle, Red Team, Blue Team, Shuttle Columbia, Space, Johnson Space Center, Former, Houston, Houston Chronicle, People, US Navy Corps, Columbia Reconstruction, NASA Workers, Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Reuters, Bannock, Bannock Junior, Senior, Bannock High School, Johnson Space, Challenger, Shuttle, CNN Center, US Locations: Atlanta and New York, Florida, Columbia, synchronicity, Houston, Israel, SPACEHAB, New York, Laguna Hills , California, Texas, San Augustine , Texas, Washington ,, Shoshone, Fort Hall , Idaho, Iraq, Atlanta, United States, California, Dallas

☆ Opinion: NASA was America’s crown jewel. After the Columbia disaster it was never quite the same
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Opinion Douglas Brinkley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:39 a.m. The environmentally controlled chamber was mated to Space Shuttle Columbia for access into the orbiter. NASA Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. Students and staff of the Shoshone-Bannock High School had an experiment on board Space Shuttle Columbia.

Persons: Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff, John F, Kennedy, ”, Douglas Brinkley Moore Huffman, Nancy Currie, Gregg, Scott Andrews, NASA's, Michael P, Anderson, William C, McCool, Rick D, David M, Brown, Laurel, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Joe Skipper, Karl Ronstrom, Ramon, NASA Chawla, Clark, Chawla, Robert Giroux, Kathryn O'Neill, Zachary, Brett Coomer, Florida Sen, Bill Nelson, Matt Stroshane, Tommy Peltier, Eric Gay, Smiley, Gene Theriot, Sean O'Keefe, George W, Bush, Ron Dittemore, Joe Cavaretta, O'Keefe, Mannie Garcia, NASA Sandy Anderson, Carlos Noriega, Michael L, Coats, Evelyn Husband, Thomas, John Raoux, Glenn Benson, Kim Shiflett, Sean O’Keefe, Jeff Bezos, Lockheed Martin, Sir Richard Branson, “ Organizations: Rice University, CNN, Shuttle Columbia, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, Russian Space Agency, Russia, United Arab, Challenger, Columbia, Space, Space Shuttle Columbia, Kennedy Space Center, Reuters Space Shuttle Columbia, Scott Andrews People, Control Center, Getty, NASA Space, Israeli Air Force, Space Shuttle, Red Team, Blue Team, Johnson Space Center, Former, Houston, Houston Chronicle, People, US Navy Corps, Columbia Reconstruction, NASA Workers, Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Reuters, Bannock, Bannock Junior, Senior, Bannock High School, Johnson Space, Shuttle, Investigation, Elon, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Boeing, Lockheed, Virgin Galactic, JFK Locations: China, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Columbia, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Houston, Israel, SPACEHAB, New York, Laguna Hills , California, San Augustine , Texas, Washington ,, Shoshone, Fort Hall , Idaho, American

☆ NASA’s space shuttle program reimagined rocketry. What went wrong?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

The CNN Original Series “Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight” uncovers the events that ultimately led to disaster. Deemed an “engineering marvel,” the first of five winged orbiters — the space shuttle Columbia — made its inaugural flight in 1981. Crews aboard the recovery ships Liberty Star and Freedom Star retrieve a reusable right solid rocket booster (below) after a space shuttle mission. Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:39 a.m. NASA Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003.

Persons: ”, Sean O’Keefe, Casey Dreier, Crews, O’Keefe, Scott Andrews, NASA's, Michael P, Anderson, William C, McCool, Rick D, David M, Brown, Laurel, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Joe Skipper, Karl Ronstrom, Ramon, NASA Chawla, Clark, Chawla, Robert Giroux, Kathryn O'Neill, Zachary, Brett Coomer, Florida Sen, Bill Nelson, Matt Stroshane, Tommy Peltier, Eric Gay, Smiley, Gene Theriot, Sean O'Keefe, George W, Bush, Ron Dittemore, Joe Cavaretta, O'Keefe, Mannie Garcia, NASA Sandy Anderson, Carlos Noriega, Michael L, Coats, Evelyn Husband, Thomas, John Raoux, Glenn Benson, Kim Shiflett, Rodney Rocha, Columbia’s, Rick Husband, “ Roger, Sen, Mark Kelly, “, ” Kelly Organizations: CNN, Shuttle Columbia, Sunday, NASA, Columbia, America’s, Planetary Society, European Space Agency, Space, International Space, Hubble, Liberty Star, NASA’s Ames Research Center, Space Shuttle Columbia, Kennedy Space Center, Reuters Space Shuttle Columbia, Scott Andrews People, Control Center, Getty, NASA Space, Israeli Air Force, Space Shuttle, Red Team, Blue Team, Johnson Space Center, Former, Houston, Houston Chronicle, People, US Navy Corps, Columbia Reconstruction, NASA Workers, Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Reuters, Bannock, Bannock Junior, Senior, Bannock High School, Johnson Space, Challenger, Shuttle, East Texas Locations: Columbia, America’s Soviet, Florida, Houston, Israel, SPACEHAB, New York, Laguna Hills , California, Texas, San Augustine , Texas, Washington ,, Shoshone, Fort Hall , Idaho, New Mexico, East

☆ SpaceX Starship’s second test flight ends in loss of megarocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Michael Ryan | Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. And after months of rebuilding following an explosive initial launch in April, SpaceX made a second attempt at launching its deep-space rocket system Starship, but not all went according to plan. Defying gravitySpaceX's megarocket Starship launched for a second test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on Saturday. The Wonder Theory team is taking some time off for Thanksgiving. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland and Katie Hunt.

Persons: CNN —, Jasmin Moghbeli, Eric Gay, “, ”, Marina Ascunce, Mertens, Anna Y.Q, Ho, James Webb, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, SpaceX, US Department of Agriculture, Caltech, Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences, Telescope, CNN Space, Science Locations: Starbase, Boca Chica , Texas, of Mexico, Americas, Africa, South Africa, Iceland, Grindavík, Japan’s Iwo Jima

☆ Solar conjunction halts communications between Mars missions and NASA
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Robotic explorers investigating Mars are currently out of touch with space agencies on Earth after hitting a giant communications roadblock. Mission controllers at NASA won’t send any commands to its fleet of orbiters and rovers, including Perseverance and Curiosity, for the next 10 days due to the Mars solar conjunction. During the roughly two-week period, the hot, energized gas continually spewed by the sun from its outer atmosphere can interfere with the radio signals that NASA uses to communicate with its Martian robotic explorers. A Mars solar conjunction occurs every two years when the sun moves between Mars and Earth. The Ingenuity helicopter, which has largely served as the Perseverance rover’s aerial scout, will also lie low and won’t conduct any flights during this time.

Persons: Mars, NASA won’t, ”, Roy Gladden, “, Perseverance, MAVEN Organizations: CNN —, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Mars, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Reconnaissance Locations: Pasadena , California, Gale

☆ Explainer: Japan's moon landing: When is it and why is it important?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Japan aims to launch the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) into space by mid-September with a lunar landing seen starting as early as January 2024. Japan would become the fifth country to achieve a moon landing after the United States, the former USSR, China and now India. The success of India's Chandrayaan-3 moon exploration mission this month contrasts with recent setbacks in Japan's space missions. WHAT IS JAPAN'S LUNAR MISSION? WHY IS JAPAN'S SPACE PROGRAMME IMPORTANT?

Persons: India's, SLIM, Kantaro Komiya, Maki Shiraki, David Dolan, Nick Macfie Organizations: Smart, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, Soviet Union, Epsilon, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Japan, United States, USSR, China, India, U.S, Russia

☆ The unlikely story of the first photo of Mars ever seen on TV
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It was one of a twin set of spacecraft designed to take images of Mars, and the first one failed. Dan Goods/NASA/JPL-CaltechThe transmission was incredibly slow by today’s standards, given that the Perseverance rover regularly sends back batches of high-resolution images from Mars. Together, they revealed craters on the Martian surface and clouds floating above in the atmosphere, both of which surprised scientists. The highest-resolution Mariner 4 image (right) revealed the cratered Martian surface from 7,830 miles (12,601 kilometers) above. JPL/NASAThe snapshots showed less than 1% of the Martian surface, missing the more diverse features on the planet’s surface that later missions such as Viking 1 would capture.

Persons: Pasadena , California CNN —, Mars, “, ”, David Delgado, Percival, Dan Goods, Richard Grumm, Grumm, ” Delgado, William Pickering Organizations: Pasadena , California CNN, Spacecraft, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA’s, JPL, Mariner, Venus, NASA Mariner, NASA, Caltech, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Locations: Pasadena , California, High, Pasadena, Flagstaff , Arizona, Goldstone , California

☆ China could start building a moon base with lunar-soil bricks in 5 years, amid NASA fears of a moon territory dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China could be ready to start building its lunar base within five years, scientists said. China has made major strides in space exploration, recently launching its own crewed space station. "We will be using real moon soil to make the first brick right there on the moon," he added, per SCMP. These could be used to make habitats on the moon using traditional Chinese building techniques, he said. The agency wants to build its own station orbiting the moon, as well as an Artemis lunar base.

☆ Why we love to anthropomorphize space-faring robots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

We know Mars rovers are robots, but they feel like friends, or pets. "It's the way the rovers are designed," Abigail Freeman, the deputy project scientist of the Curiosity rover, told Insider. The first selfie NASA's Opportunity Mars rover snapped. Their ability to snap selfies on the Martian surface make them seem self-awareNASA's Curiosity Mars rover created this selfie in front of Mont Mercou. On February 12, 2019, mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, sent the last commands to ask NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars to call home.

☆ I pilot NASA's first and only Mars helicopter. My job can be like a video game, but not the kind with a joystick.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Håvard Grip pilots NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which has flown 40 times on Mars. I'm the chief pilot for NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in February 2021. NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, in a close-up from the Perseverance rover's cameras. Members of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team stand next to the Collier Trophy. How we fly a helicopter on MarsMembers of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory react to data showing that the helicopter completed its second flight.

The first full-color image released from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope is the sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institut / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERONASA released the first batch of images from the tennis court-sized observatory to much fanfare in July. The exoplanet HIP 65426 b in different bands of infrared light, as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope. Back to the moonFifty years after the final Apollo moon mission, NASA took key steps toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Chinese officials have also said they intend to use the space station for space tourism and commercial space initiatives.

The Rashid Rover was built by Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is being delivered by the HAKUTO-R lander, engineered by Japanese lunar exploration company ispace. The Rashid Rover, named after the late Sheikh Rashid Al Saeed, the former ruler of Dubai, will analyze the plasma on the lunar surface and conduct experiments to understand more about lunar dust. The Rashid Rover was built at Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC)The rover will be entirely solar-powered and equipped with four cameras, including a microscopic and thermal one. Al Marzooqi hopes that the lunar surface mission will be a stepping stone to Mars.

☆ China plans three missions to the Moon after discovering a new lunar mineral that may be a future energy source
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-11 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

China aims to launch three moon missions over the next decade as part of its Chang'e lunar program. China's National Space Administration won approval for the missions after it found a new mineral. The mineral, Changesite-(Y), could be a future source of energy and was found in lunar samples. It comes a day after China became the third country to discover a new lunar mineral, which it called Changesite-(Y), according to Chinese state-controlled newspaper the Global Times. The discovery may put more pressure on the US to ramp up its efforts after its Artemis I moon mission was postponed for a second time.

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