orbiter

The sun readies for its close-up as Europe’s Solar Orbiter approaches

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The European Solar Orbiter mission will make its closest approach to the sun later this month, promising to capture images that could unravel some of the mysterious behaviours of the star at the heart of our solar system. Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency (ESA) mission with a contribution from NASA, launched in February 2020. … Read more

What an Unplanned Rocket Crash on The Moon Can Teach Us About Impact Physics in Space

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On March 4, 2022, a lonely, spent rocket booster will smack into the surface of the Moon at nearly 6,000 mph. Once the dust has settled, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will move into position to get an up-close view of the smoldering crater and hopefully shed some light on the mysterious physics of planetary impacts. … Read more

Mystery Rocket Will Crash Into The Moon Tomorrow, And Scientists Are Watching Closely

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On 4 March 2022, a lonely, spent rocket booster will smack into the surface of the Moon at nearly 6,000 mph (9,656 km/h). Once the dust has settled, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will move into position to get an up-close view of the smoldering crater and hopefully shed some light on the mysterious physics of … Read more

When a rogue rocket hits the moon March 4, NASA orbiter will hunt for its crater grave

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A doomed rocket stage that’s expected to crash into the moon on March 4 will do so out of view of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The collision is set to take place on the far side of the moon, out of range of Earthbound telescopes. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) does have the ability to … Read more

Solar Orbiter spacecraft captures huge eruption on the sun (video)

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The Solar Orbiter spacecraft made a milestone observation in space as it captured a huge solar prominence, or eruption. It’s the largest such event ever observed in a single image along with the full solar disk and will add to the joint NASA-European mission to better understand solar activity, mission officials said in a statement. … Read more

China’s Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter takes amazing video selfie for lunar New Year

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China’s Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter is once again delivering stunning imagery, with a new video released to celebrate the lunar New Year. The 38-second clip shows shadows and sunlight moving across the body of Tianwen 1, with the sunlight causing insulation to move slightly due to thermal expansion. Mars then appears below the spacecraft, with … Read more

Stunning, Otherworldly Images of Mars Captured by China’s Mars Orbiter

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High above the red planet, China’s Mars orbiter Tianwen 1 has captured a series of incredible, alien images of our neighboring planet. The shots were captured by a small camera that was deployed by Tianwen 1. Released on New Year’s Day, they show Tianwen 1, looking lonely above the red planet, as well as Mars’ … Read more

China’s Mars orbiter snaps amazing selfies above Red Planet

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China’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft at Mars pulled a big New Year’s surprise with stunning new images captured by a small camera that flew free of the orbiter to snap epic selfies above the Red Planet. The new images published by the China National Space Administration show Tianwen 1 above Mars’ north pole, with its solar … Read more

Europe’s Mars orbiter relays data from Chinese rover back to Earth

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The European Space Agency’s Mars Express collected data from China’s Zhurong Mars rover and successfully sent it to Earth following a series of experimental communications tests. The Zhurong rover was designed only to communicate with its companion orbiter, Tianwen 1; however, the rover has long outlived its planned mission and the orbiter is no longer … Read more