The Sky Tonight

August 18, 2016

NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission Completes Design Milestone
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 17, 2016
Following a key program review, NASA approved the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) to proceed to the next phase of design and development for the mission's robotic segment. ARM is a two-part mission that will integrate robotic and crewed spacecraft operations in the proving ground of deep space to demonstrate key capabilities needed for NASA's journey to Mars. The milestone, known as Key Decision Point-B, or KDP-B, was conducted in July and formally approved by agency management Aug. 15. It is one ... read more

Previous Issues

Aug 17

Aug 16

Aug 15

Aug 13

Aug 12

Observatory Measures Oxygen in Galaxy 12 Billion Years Ago UCLA astronomers have used the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaii, to make the first accurate measurement of the abundance of oxygen in a distant galaxy. Oxygen, the third-most abundant chem ... more		Brown dwarfs reveal exoplanets' secrets Brown dwarfs are smaller than stars, but more massive than giant planets. As such, they provide a natural link between astronomy and planetary science. However, they also show incredible variation w ... more		New material discovery allows study of elusive Weyl fermion Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have discovered a new type of Weyl semimetal, a material that opens the way for further study of Weyl fermions, a type of massless elem ... more
				Computer programming made easier Nobody said computer programming was easy. But maybe in the future, it could be. In order to simplify program development, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported project called Expeditions in ... more		Cosmology: Lore of lonely regions A research group led by Ludwig-Maximilians-Unversitaet (LMU) in Munich physicist Nico Hamaus is calculating the dynamics of cosmic voids and deriving new insights into our entire universe. Muc ... more

Transition from Operations to Decommissioning by Preparing a Safe, Cost-Effective Shut Down and Waste Management Strategy

"Kitchen Smoke" in nebula offer clues to the building blocks of life Using data collected by NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and other observatories, an international team of researchers has studied how a particular type of organic mol ... more		Bringing Home NASA's First Asteroid Samples Studying comet and asteroid samples may seem like science fiction, but it's all in a day's work for NASA Johnson Space Center's Planetary Mission Research Scientist Keiko Nakamura-Messenger, Ph.D. ... more		U.S. defense in free fall Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact Brazil, Chile sign defense agreement		New study confirms possibility of fifth force of nature New research confirms the science behind a previous study suggesting the existence of a fifth force of nature. ... more
				UCI physicists confirm possible discovery of fifth force of nature Recent findings indicating the possible discovery of a previously unknown subatomic particle may be evidence of a fifth fundamental force of nature, according to a paper published in the journal Phy ... more		Scientists take big step toward recreating primordial 'RNA world' Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have taken a big step toward the laboratory re-creation of the "RNA world," which is generally believed to have preceded modern life forms based o ... more

2nd Integrated Air and Missile Defense - Securing the Complex Air Domain: Requirements for Sustainable, Global, and Reliable Solutions to Next Generation Air & Missile Threats - 28-30 September, 2016 | Washington D.C.

The World's Largest Commercial Drone Conference and Expo - Sept 7-9 - Las Vegas

NASA to map Asteroid Bennu from the ground up How do you study the topography of an asteroid millions of miles away? Map it with a robotic cartographer! NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith E ... more		Scientists to unveil new Earth-like planet: report Scientists are preparing to unveil a new planet in our galactic neighbourhood which is "believed to be Earth-like" and orbits its star at a distance that could favour life, German weekly Der Spiegel reported Friday. ... more		GUARDIAN Tsunami Detection Tech Catches Wave in Real Time Galileo daughter mission named Celeste to strengthen navigation resilience How quantum computers can be validated when solving unsolvable problems		Methane-Filled Canyons Line Titan's Surface Liquid methane-filled canyons hundreds of meters deep with walls as steep as ski slopes etch the surface of Titan, researchers report in a new study. The new findings provide the first direct eviden ... more
Neutrinos, ever bizarre, enjoy the spotlight Buzzing through space, through our bodies, virtually everywhere, are billions upon billions of neutrinos. Behind only photons as the most abundant fundamental particle in the universe, neutrinos are ... more		Discovery of a time-resolved supernova signal in Earth's microfossils Physicists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have succeeded in detecting a time-resolved supernova signal in the Earth's microfossil record. As the group of Prof. Shawn Bishop could show ... more		NASA's Fermi Mission Expands its Search for Dark Matter Dark matter, the mysterious substance that constitutes most of the material universe, remains as elusive as ever. Although experiments on the ground and in space have yet to find a trace of dark mat ... more		Much ado about nothing: Astronomers use empty space to study the universe Researchers who are looking for new ways to probe the nature of gravity and dark energy in the universe have adopted a new strategy: looking at what's not there. In a paper to appear in upcomi ... more

	NASA's Hubble Spots a Lopsided Lynx This galaxy, known as NGC 2337, resides 25 million light-years away in the constellation of Lynx. NGC 2337 is an irregular galaxy, meaning that it - along with a quarter of all galaxies in the unive ... more		Researchers find most volcanic activity on Mercury stopped over 3 billion years ago New research from North Carolina State University finds that major volcanic activity on the planet Mercury most likely ended about 3.5 billion years ago. These findings add insight into the geologic ... more

Ohio State scientists advance focus on nuclear propulsion

Mixing neutrinos of colliding neutron stars changes how merger unfolds

China launches experimental satellites to enhance mobile space internet

A Black Hole Story Told by a Cosmic Blob and Bubble		DDO 68: Among Galaxies, A Flea, But A Voracious One		Hubble spots pair of wild galaxies joining cosmic civilization		Rhea Shines Brightly About Saturn		1967 solar storm nearly took US to brink of war
Perseid meteors could see 'surge in activity' on Aug. 11-12		IceCube search for the 'sterile neutrino' draws a blank		Perseid meteor shower 'surge in activity' Thursday, Friday		Lockheed Martin, NASA Ink Deal for SkyFire Infrared Lunar Discovery Satellite		The long hunted sterile neutrino cannot be traced

IRIS Spots Plasma Rain on Sun's Surface

The First Commercial Interplanetary Mining Mission

Cassini discovers flooded canyon on Titan

Cassini shares infrared imagery of Saturn clouds

Cosmic blob and bubble tell story of supermassive black hole

SwRI space scientists observe Io's atmospheric collapse during eclipse

As dry as the moon

Astronomers catalogs most likely 'second-Earth' candidates

A Giant Stellar Void in the Milky Way

What's Inside Ceres? New Findings from Gravity Data

Decades of Discovery: NASA's Exploration of Jupiter

Do Black Holes Have a Back Door

IceCube Search for 'Sterile Neutrino' Draws a Blank

Scientists discover light could exist in a previously unknown form

Chorus of Black Holes Sings in X-Rays

US company gets historic nod to send lander to moon

Is Earthly life premature from a cosmic perspective?

The discovery of new emission lines from highly charged heavy ions

Bump in LHC data is not a new particle, scientists announce

Bridging the gap between the quantum and classical worlds

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.