Japan has become the fifth country to successfully land on the moon after confirming today that its SLIM lander survived its descent to the surface — but its mission is likely to be short lived. JAXA, the Japanese space agency, says the spacecraft is having problems with its solar cell and is unable to generate electricity. In its current state, the battery may only have enough juice to keep it running a few more hours.
Black holes are one of the most powerful forces in the universe, but we had never seen one until the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team released the first image back in 2019.
It looks like the Peregrine lunar lander’s final resting place will be back at home where it started.
You’d think grabbing a scoop of dirt off an orbiting space rock and then delivering it back to Earth would be the most complicated part of an asteroid sample collection mission, but the real challenge, it turns out, is actually opening that sample container once it’s back home.
Researchers at MIT’s CSAIL division, which focuses on computer engineering and AI development, built two machine learning algorithms that can detect pancreatic cancer at a higher threshold than current diagnostic standards. The two models together formed to create the “PRISM” neural network.
NASA’s X-59 Quesst supersonic commercial jet, which is being developed by Lockheed Martin, will have its flight test livestreamed as a demonstration of how quiet it can be in the air.
NASA is delaying its return to the Moon with the Artemis program. "To give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenges with first-time developments, operation and integration, we're gonna give more time on Artemis 2 and 3," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters on a call.
The Peregrine spacecraft has experienced an ‘anomaly’ that could endanger its planned moon landing, as reported by the BBC. Astrobotic, the private company behind the project, says this anomaly prevents the spacecraft from pointing its solar panels at the sun. In other words, the vehicle can’t charge its battery. Without power, the planned lunar landing for February might have to be canceled.
Hours before sunrise on Monday morning, United Launch Alliance’s brand spankin’ new Vulcan Centaur rocket is scheduled to make its maiden flight carrying a historic passenger: Peregrine, the first American lunar lander to be sent to the moon in over 50 years. And its mission could mark a turning point in humankind’s exploration of the cosmos. Peregrine is not a NASA spacecraft, but one developed by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic, a private company.
A few weeks ago, NASA’s robotic Mars explorers were given some time off from hard work while the agency waited out Mars solar conjunction, a natural phenomenon that could interfere with their communications. Leading up to the pause, the Curiosity rover was put in park — but its Hazard-Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) kept snapping away.