Source: ESA
CryoSat’s exceptionally detailed data.
Image credits: CPOM/UCL/ESA.
The first map of sea-ice thickness from ESA’s CryoSat mission was revealed at the Paris Air and Space Show during last week. This new information is set to change our understanding of the complex relationship between ice and climate. (see video)
Source: NASA.
Image credit: NASA.
NASA's next Mars rover has completed the journey from its California birthplace to Florida in preparation for launch this fall.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, also known as Curiosity, arrived Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center aboard an Air Force C-17 transport plane. It was accompanied by the rocket-powered descent stage that will fly the rover during the final moments before landing on Mars. The C-17 flight began at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., where the boxed hardware had been trucked from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.
The rover's aeroshell -- the protective covering for the trip to the Red Planet - and the cruise stage, which will guide it to Mars, arrived at Kennedy last month. The mission is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station between Nov. 25 and Dec. 18. The car-size rover will land on Mars in August 2012. (read more)
Source: Skymania/Paul Sutherland
An asteroid with a diameter between 10meters and 50 meters was discovered on June 22nd and will pass Earth at a distance of less than 17,700 km (11,000 miles) on Monday June 27, 2011. That’s about 23 times closer than the Moon. The size and location of the asteroid, named 2011 MD, should allow observers in certain locations to take a look at the space rock, even with small telescopes. It’s closest approach will be at 13:26 UTC on June 27.(read more)
