Lifeboat Foundation

ESA’s Mars Express orbiter is getting a major software upgrade that will extend its service life for years to come. On Sunday, the space agency uploaded the update into the veteran deep space probe’s computers where it will remain stored in memory until a scheduled restart on April 16. If successful, it will take some of the burden off the aging gyroscopes used to keep the unmanned spacecraft’s vital high-gain radio antenna pointed at Earth.

As anyone who regularly uses digital devices can tell you, software updates are a way of life. It turns out that Mars orbiting spacecraft are no exception, with aging electronics that need new instructions to deal with worn out components after years of heavy use.

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The University of Nebraska College of Law is joining forces with space and military law experts from Australia and the United Kingdom to take the lead on understanding how our Earth-bound laws will be applied in times of armed conflict in outer space.

Some of the best legal and policy minds at the University of Adelaide, UNSW Canberra, University of Exeter and Nebraska Law will draft the definitive document on military and security law as applied to space.

The Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations is to be completed in 2020. It will draw on the knowledge of dozens of legal and space operations experts from around the world.

Continue reading “Legal experts: Conflict in outer space will happen” »

Measuring the structure of antimatter could help us unlock the secrets of the universe.

Science.

NASA has just released an all-new 4K-resolution video showing the surface of the moon in incredible detail. Created using data gathered over the last nine years, the five-minute presentation shows our nearest neighbor like you’ve never seen it before.

Wow, I would love to stay here!

The Aurora Station, the “world’s first luxury space hotel,” orbiting 200 miles above the earth, is looking for guests.

Courtesy

Continue reading “A Luxury Space Hotel Is Taking Reservations for Anyone Who Wants to Get the Hell Off This Planet” »

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Sperm in space!!!

For the first time (officially), NASA will set loose some human sperm in outer space.

We’re never short of reasons to look up at the night sky — whether it’s the rare second blue moon we were just treated to, or a meteor shower.

But in case you need a little motivation to get out of the house and into the fresh air this month, we have a beautiful one for you: checking out the ever-changing celestial geometry above our heads.

This April, the gas giant Jupiter forms a rare and fleeting triangle with two bright stars in our night sky, and it’ll be visible with the naked eye if you know where to look.

Continue reading “Jupiter Forms a Triangle in The Night Sky This Month. Here’s How to See It” »

Imagine driving and being warned when you’re too close to the edge of the road.

That’s exactly what space technology developed by German researchers can do, and it could be in Northland trucks in the next year.

Researchers from the German Aerospace Agency have been in Whangarei with the Intelligent Positioning System, which has been designed to navigate the rover on Mars.