NASA's MOXIE Experiment Completes Mission, Successfully Generates Oxygen on Mars
American space agency NASA announced that its oxygen-generating experiment that accompanied the Perseverance rover successfully completed its mission and generated oxygen on the Red Planet. Developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a microwave-oven-sized device called MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment), generated oxygen for the 16th and final time aboard the Perseverance rover.
The tech demo successfully tested converting Martian CO2 into oxygen, which could help pave the way for future human missions to Mars.
Sep 07, 2023
Japan Launches 'Moon Sniper' Lunar Lander SLIM into Space
Japan launched its lunar exploration spacecraft aboard a home-grown H-IIA rocket, hoping to become the world's fifth country to land on the moon early next year.
The rocket took off from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan and successfully released the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM). Unfavourable weather led to three postponements in a week last month (August 2023).
Dubbed the 'moon sniper', Japan aims to land SLIM within 100 metres of its target site on the lunar surface. The $100-million mission is expected to start the landing by February after a long, fuel-efficient approach trajectory.
Sep 05, 2023
UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and Three Space Station Fliers Return to Earth
UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, his crewmates from NASA, Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev returned to Earth in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
The splashdown happened in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. Al Neyadi's mission became the longest in Arab history, as Crew-6 spent 186 days in space.
On March 2, 2023 Crew-6 was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Crew-6 orbited the Earth 2,976 times and travelled 78.9 million miles. Throughout their mission, the Crew-6 astronauts welcomed seven visiting vehicles. They also carried out three spacewalks. Al Neyadi joined Bowen for a third excursion to retrieve a failed antenna package and do other maintenance.
Sep 04, 2023
ISRO Launches India's First Solar Mission Aditya-L1
India's first solar observatory mission, Aditya-L1, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 59th flight with the Aditya-L1 onboard, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Following the launch, Aditya-L1 will stay in orbit around Earth for 16 days, during which it will undergo five manoeuvres to gain the necessary velocity for its long journey towards the sun.
Aditya-L1 will stay approximately 1.5 million km away from earth, directed towards the sun, which is about 1% of the earth-sun distance.
Aditya-L1 has a mission life of five years during which its payloads are expected to provide the most crucial information to understand the problem of coronal heating; coronal mass ejection; pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics; dynamics of space weather; and propagation of particles and fields.
The following are the seven payloads onboard Aditya-L1: Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC); Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT); Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS); High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS); Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX); Plasma Analyser Package For Aditya (PAPA); and Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers.
Sep 02, 2023
NASA to Test End-to-end Laser Communication in Space
NASA is advancing towards a pivotal test of end-to-end laser communication in the realm of space. This cutting-edge communication system is poised to outperform conventional methodologies currently utilised aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The implementation of advanced technologies, including an integrated Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal named LCDR, is slated for this year's launch.
This strategic move underlines NASA's dedicated endeavours to augment the capabilities of space communications.