Stephen Clark – Page 23

Mars rover steers toward active sand dunes

22 November 2015 Stephen Clark

The Curiosity rover’s next destination is a moving mound of wind-blown dark sand blanketing the base of Mount Sharp, the focal point of the Mars mission’s research, scientists said.

Cassini images just a taste of Enceladus flyby science return

31 October 2015 Stephen Clark

Days after a fleeting plunge through the icy plumes of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is broadcasting tantalizing data back to Earth for scientists eager to address the moon’s prospects for life.

Secrets behind Pluto’s pastels far from being answered

24 September 2015 Stephen Clark

Geologists said Thursday they are bewildered by images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft baring unseen landscapes on Pluto with unexpected “snakeskin” textures, colourful chasms routing through ancient landforms, and vivid new views of apparent glacial flows.

China aims for landing on Moon’s far side by 2020

22 September 2015 Stephen Clark

A rover and landing platform developed as a backup for China’s Chang’e 3 Moon mission will be repurposed to attempt the first touchdown on the lunar far side by the end of the decade, Chinese officials said.

Launch of European Mars mission delayed two months

20 September 2015 Stephen Clark

Officials expect to delay next year’s launch of a European Mars orbiter and lander about two months — from January to March — to remove faulty pressure transducers from the landing craft’s braking system, the European Space Agency announced Friday.

The surface of Rosetta’s comet is changing

20 September 2015 Stephen Clark

Views from Europe’s Rosetta comet orbiter show mysterious markings appearing on the nucleus of Comet 67P in recent months, with new surface features forming within a matter of weeks, and scientists are digging into the complex causes of the cometary erosion.

Haunting sunset vista shows foggy hazes on Pluto

17 September 2015 Stephen Clark

A crescent Pluto stars in pictures captured just after NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s July flyby of the distant dwarf planet, exposing eerie backlit fog banks and glacial flows that scientists say hint at an Earth-like weather cycle.

Japanese X-ray observatory completes decade-long mission

4 September 2015 Stephen Clark

An orbiting astronomical observatory launched 10 years ago to probe violent stellar explosions and black holes has been deactivated after it stopped regularly communicating with the ground, the Japanese space agency said Thursday.

Scientists eager for restart of Pluto photo pipeline

27 August 2015 Stephen Clark

The first images from the New Horizons spacecraft since late July will come back to Earth on 5 September, and scientists are salivating over what the new pictures will reveal about Pluto.

Mountain-climbing Mars rover sends back low-angle selfie

23 August 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has recorded itself in another of its famous self-portraits as the mobile robot analyzes bore samples recently collected from a rock slab, the first use of the drill since a short circuit halted use of the device in February.