China has named its first independent interplanetary mission “Tianwen-1”, with the combined Mars orbiter and rover spacecraft apparently proceeding towards launch in July. The name and mission logo were unveiled at a China National Space Administration online ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the country’s first satellite. China is understood…
by Giovanni Garofalo La digestione anaerobica è un processo biologico dovuto alla decomposizione microbica di residui organici in assenza di ossigeno molecolare (O2). Tale processo determina principalmente la formazione di due prodotti: metano (CH4) e biossido di carbonio (CO2). L’insieme combinato da origine al biogas, e permette la valorizzazione energetica di un opportuno…
by Eugenio Sorrentino Il lancio del rover ExoMars verso Marte, previsto per luglio 2020, slitta a ottobre 2022. Lo ha annunciato in una conferenza via streaming Jan Wörner, direttore generale dell’Agenzia Spaziale Europea. Il rinvio si è reso necessario a causa di problemi critic emersi durante i test con i paracadute ed è stato…
A new virus called SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus that has caused an outbreak of a disease called COVID-19. Public health groups, such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are still learning about the virus, monitoring the disease it causes, and researching potential ways to stop it. You…
Want to look inside a deep, dark pit on Mars? The scientists and engineers from the NASA’s HiRISE Camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have done just that. From its orbit about 260 km (160 miles) above the surface, HiRISE can spot something as small as a dinner table, about a meter…
Exactly a year from now, a capsule will come hurtling through the atmosphere of Mars with the Americans’ next big rover. If it survives the “seven minutes of terror” that describe its descent to the surface, the new robot promises a very different mission to all those that have gone before it. The rover…
The Mars Society is pleased to announce the holding of an international contest for the best design plan of a Mars city state of 1,000,000 people. There will be a prize of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second, $2,500 for third, $1,000 for fourth and $500 for fifth. In addition, the top 20 papers…
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano touched down in the Kazakh Steppe at 09:12 GMT , 6 February 2020 after his second six-month mission on the International Space Station. Luca returned to Earth in the Russian Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft alongside US astronaut Christina Koch and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. During his second mission, known as ‘Beyond’, Luca served as the third European and…
A new study from Caltech suggests that the theory, developed by physicist Robert B. Leighton and planetary scientist Bruce C. Murray, may indeed be correct. Carbon dioxide makes up more than 95 percent of Mars’s atmosphere, which has a surface pressure of only 0.6 percent that of Earth. Direct sunlight on the CO2 ice deposited…
A panel of volunteer judges, including educators, professionals and space enthusiasts around the United States, selected 155 semifinalists after evaluating more than 28,000 submissions in NASA’s «Name the Rover» essay contest open to U.S. students in kindergarten through 12th grade. NASA winnowed down the list to nine finalists and announced the prospective names Tuesday. Members…