Space

European Space Agency to launch space debris collector in 2025 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 11, 2019
Robotic junk collector will be first mission to remove item of debris from orbit

By David Aragorn
Explaining the ‘tiger stripes’ of Saturn’s moon Enceladus 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 11, 2019
Saturn’s tiny, frozen moon Enceladus is a strange place. Just 300 miles across, the moon is thought to have an outer shell of ice covering a global ocean 20 miles deep, encasing a rocky core. Slashed across Enceladus’ south pole are four straight, parallel fissures or “tiger stripes” from which water erupts. These fissures aren’t quite like anything else in the Solar System.

By David Aragorn
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission explains Asteroid Bennu’s mysterious particle events 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 10, 2019
Shortly after NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu, an unexpected discovery by the mission’s science team revealed that the asteroid could be active, or consistently discharging particles into space. The ongoing examination of Bennu — and its sample that will eventually be returned to Earth — could potentially shed light on why this intriguing phenomenon is occurring.

By David Aragorn
Mysterious ring galaxy continues to puzzle astronomers 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 10, 2019
Of all the galaxies observed by astronomers, barely any are as strange or geometrically unique as Hoag’s Object.

By David Aragorn
There’s Something Weird About the Craters of Asteroid Ryugu 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 9, 2019
The Japanese mission Hayabusa2 just bid farewell to the asteroid the probe spent a year and a half studying, and scientists have now announced some intriguing trends they noticed in the spacecraft’s photos.

By David Aragorn
Tardigrade DNA Added to Human Cells Could Help Us Survive on Mars, Scientist Says 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology, Space
- December 7, 2019
Will we one day combine tardigrade DNA with our cells to go to Mars?

By David Aragorn
Eruptions on Asteroid Bennu Hint at Causes of Space Rock Explosions 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 7, 2019
The eruptions may hurl meteors toward Earth.

By David Aragorn
Sun-bombing spacecraft uncovers secrets of the solar wind 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 6, 2019
Surprise magnetic reversals and an unexpectedly fast rotating wind mark the first findings from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe.

By David Aragorn
Europe Officially Signs on for Asteroid-Smashing Effort 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 6, 2019
The Hera spacecraft will observe the effects of a NASA probe’s high-speed crash into an asteroid.

By David Aragorn
Forbidden planets: Understanding alien worlds once thought impossible 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 6, 2019
When astronomers discovered the first exoplanet around a normal star 2 decades ago, there was joy—and bewilderment.

By David Aragorn