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Finding Ways to Protect Crews from Space Radiation
In the near future, crews will embark on multi-month missions to the Moon, and eventually Mars and beyond. All incredible adventures, however, have their hazards, and a major one for crews on long-duration spaceflights is the space radiation they will be exposed to during their missions. A new experiment aboard the International Space Station, The Growth of Large, Perfect Protein Crystals for Neutron Crystallography (Perfect Crystals) study, aims to help scientists find a way to deal with the problem using a protein that is already at work in our bodies.
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Mars Express gets festive: A winter wonderland on Mars
This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows Korolev crater, an 82-kilometre-across feature found in the northern lowlands of Mars. This oblique perspective view was generated using a digital terrain model and Mars Express data gathered over orbits 18042 (captured on 4 April 2018), 5726, 5692, 5654, and 1412. The crater itself is centred at 165° E, 73° N on the martian surface. The image has aresolution of roughly 21 metres per pixel.
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Mars Express beams back images of ice-filled Korolev crater
The stunning Korolev crater in the northern lowlands of Mars is filled with ice all year round owing to a trapped layer of cold Martian air that keeps the water frozen. The 50-mile-wide crater contains 530 cubic miles of water ice, as much as Great Bear Lake in northern Canada, and in the centre of the crater the ice is more than a mile thick.
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It was a big year in space. Here are the top 11 stories of 2018
Space fans had plenty to celebrate in 2018, including the launch of three new NASA missions and the debut of SpaceX’s giant Falcon Heavy rocket. In case you missed any of the action, here are 11 space stories that were particularly noteworthy.
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With First-Ever Landing on Moon's Farside, China Enters "Luna Incognita"
China is once again on the threshold of a historic first in its fast-paced exploration of Earth’s moon. Having sent three previous missions moonward since 2007, including one that hosted the nation’s first-ever robotic lander and rover, China’s latest lunar foray began in the early hours of December 8, 2018, when a Long March-3B carrier rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, carrying the Chang’e-4 spacecraft. Consisting of a lander and a rover, Chang’e-4 is targeting the...
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Excitement ahead of distant Nasa flyby
History will be made on Tuesday when Nasa's New Horizons probe sweeps past the icy world known as Ultima Thule. Occurring some 6.5 billion km (4 billion miles) from Earth, the flyby will set a new record for the most distant ever exploration of a Solar System object by a spacecraft. New Horizons will gather a swathe of images and other data over the course of just a few hours leading up to and beyond the closest approach.
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NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft just visited the farthest object ever explored
The nerdiest New Year’s party in the solar system happened 4 billion miles from Earth, where a lone, intrepid spacecraft just flew past the farthest object humans have ever explored. There was no champagne in this dim and distant region, where a halo of icy worlds called the Kuiper belt circles the outermost edge of the solar system. There were no renditions of “Auld Lang Syne” (in space, no one can hear you sing).
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New Horizons Reaches Ultima Thule
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past the most distant object ever visited.
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NASA's New Horizons spacecraft survives historic trip to world one billion miles beyond Pluto
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft raced past a frozen remnant of the solar system's birth early New Year's Day, phoned home to confirm a successful flyby and began beaming a treasure trove of pictures and other data to eager scientists waiting back on Earth some 4.1 billion miles away.
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'Snowman' shape of distant Ultima revealed
The first detailed picture from Tuesday's historic flyby in the outer Solar System is released.
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Rotating black holes may serve as gentle portals for hyperspace travel
One of the most cherished science fiction scenarios is using a black hole as a portal to another dimension or time or universe. That fantasy may be closer to reality than previously imagined. Black holes are perhaps the most mysterious objects in the universe. They are the consequence of gravity crushing a dying star without limit, leading to the formation of a true singularity – which happens when an entire star gets compressed down to a single point yielding an object with infinite density.
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Maybe You Really Can Use Black Holes to Travel the Universe
One of the most cherished science fiction scenarios is using a black hole as a portal to another dimension or time or universe. That fantasy may be closer to reality than previously imagined. Black holes are perhaps the most mysterious objects in the universe. They are the consequence of gravity crushing a dying star without limit, leading to the formation of a true singularity – which happens when an entire star gets compressed down to a single point yielding an object with infinite density.
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What Spacecraft Will Enter Interstellar Space Next?
In December 2018, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft reached interstellar space, following the example of its sister, Voyager 1. Right now, only five spacecraft have been launched capable of making such a grand exit, including the Voyagers. The remaining three are Pioneers 10 and 11, and New Horizons. Which one will be the next to make a great escape?
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SpaceX's Crew Dragon Looks Just Like a Toasted Marshmallow After Fiery Re-Entry
When SpaceX launched its first Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station last week, the gleaming white vehicle soared into space on its maiden voyage. Now, Crew Dragon is back, and it doesn't look so new. SpaceX's Crew Dragon returned to Earth today (March 8) with a smooth splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the east coast of Florida, ending a six-day test flight to the International Space Station. When the spacecraft undocked from the space station earlier in the day, it was still a clear white.
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NASA May Skip Its Megarocket and Use Private Booster for Orion Moon Trip
NASA is considering launching its Orion crew capsule on a commercial rocket rather than the Space Launch System, the agency's own megarocket that is currently under development. The Space Launch System (SLS) is a super-heavy-lift launch vehicle touted as what will be the most powerful rocket in existence. It will be capable of carrying astronauts beyond low Earth orbit, as NASA aims to do with the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.
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We're 'Well On Our Way' to Discovering Alien Life, NASA Chief Says
We may not have to wait much longer to get our first glimpse of E.T., NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said. NASA has made the search for alien life a high priority, and recent discoveries give ample reason for optimism that the endeavor will be successful soon, Bridenstine said last week at a ceremony announcing the death of the agency's record-setting Opportunity Mars rover.
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Moon Landing by Israel’s Beresheet Spacecraft Appears to End in Crash
The failure of the landing highlighted the risks of a fast and cheap approach to space exploration.
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How the Parker Solar Probe Survives Close Encounters With the Sun
Over the past six decades, 12 people have walked on the moon, spacecraft have visited every planet from Mercury to Neptune, and four rovers have racked up more than 60 kilometers traveling on the surface of Mars. And yet, despite the billions of dollars spent on the world’s civilian space programs, never has a probe journeyed very close to the sun. The nearest approach, by the Helios B probe in 1976, came no closer than 43 million km.
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NASA begins outlining roadmap for 2024 moon landing – Spaceflight Now
A senior NASA official said Tuesday that the Space Launch System, a huge heavy-lift rocket years behind schedule, could launch astronauts on a moon landing mission in 2024 on just its third flight to meet a goal announced last month by Vice President Mike Pence, while commercial companies will be entrusted with more responsibility to develop a lunar lander and a modest mini-space station, or Gateway, in lunar orbit.
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The White House is giving NASA another $1.6 billion to go to the moon. It won't be enough.
Returning humans to the moon and seeing the first woman take steps on the surface is something we can all get behind, but is there enough time?
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