News – Page 53 – Astronomy Now

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Israeli moon lander

24 February 2019 Astronomy Now

A small privately-funded Israeli spacecraft is on its way to the moon, the first non-superpower attempt to land on the surface of another world.

Japanese probe lands on asteroid to capture sample

24 February 2019 Stephen Clark

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft briefly landed on an asteroid Thursday more than 200 million miles from Earth and fired a bullet to scoop up a rocky sample, successfully accomplishing one of the mission’s most challenging manoeuvres before returning the asteroid specimen to scientists on the ground in December 2020.

New Horizons returns best view yet of Ultima Thule

23 February 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s New Horizons probe has sent back its best view yet of Ultima Thule, taken just 6.5 minutes before closest approach on New Year’s Day.

NASA orbiter spots Chinese lander on the Moon

21 February 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted China’s Chang’e 4 lander and rover on the far side of the Moon in new images, as the Chinese robots explore the floor of Von Kármán crater.

How’s the weather on Mars? Cold, with a chance of dust devils

19 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Weather data from NASA’s InSight Mars lander is now posted daily, allowing armchair astronauts to better appreciate conditions on the red planet.

New radio map reveals huge number of previously unseen galaxies

19 February 2019 Astronomy Now

A new radio map showing a small portion of the northern sky gives researchers a powerful new tool for studying galaxy clusters and supermassive black holes.

Gravity waves may help resolve Hubble constant conundrum

16 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Over the next 10 years, researchers say, gravitational waves from merging neutron stars may resolve discrepancies in the value of the Hubble constant.

MAVEN’s orbit lowered to support Mars 2020 data relay

16 February 2019 William Harwood

NASA is using aerobraking to lower the orbit of the agency’s MAVEN Mars orbiter to support data relay operations with the upcoming Mars 2020 rover.

NASA selects mission to explore origins of cosmos

14 February 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA has approved construction of a spacecraft to carry out all-sky spectral observations to learn more about the evolution of the universe.

End of an era: NASA gives up on Opportunity rover

14 February 2019 Astronomy Now

After a final attempt to restore contact with the Opportunity Mars rover, NASA managers declared the spacecraft lost, bringing a 15-year mission to an end.