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Hot Topic
Exploration
Missions
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| Kepler Mission Down But Not Yet Out |
| Topic: Missions |
05/15/13 |
| Scientists involved in NASA’s Kepler mission reported today that the telescope is in “safe mode” and no longer able to make observations. While not officially "dead," this may be the end of the road for the telescope that has discovered thousands of exoplanets, many of them "Earth-sized" |
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| Searching for Organics in a Nibble of Soil |
| Topic: Missions |
02/18/13 |
| An all-in-one chemical analysis instrument -- currently under development -- could potentially detect a single amino acid in a gram of Martian soil. |
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| O/OREOS Nanosatellite Success in Orbit |
| Topic: Missions |
03/22/12 |
| In November of 2011, NASA's O/OREOS nanosatellite carried microorganisms into low-Earth orbit. The mission is now providing astrobiologists with valuable information about how the stresses of space affect life's ability to survive beyond our planet. |
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| Five Steps Toward Future Exploration |
| Topic: Missions |
06/04/11 |
| The NASA Astrobiology Science & Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) program has announced a set of new projects to develop and test technologies that will enable the astrobiological exploration of the Solar System. By exploring Earth's extreme environments, astrobiologists advance the search for life on other planets. |
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| Rage Against the Dying of the Light |
| Topic: Missions |
06/02/11 |
| Astronomers have found hundreds of planets orbiting far-distant stars, but the road to discovery has been rough, and often led to dead-ends. Geoff Marcy, a planet-hunting pioneer, stomped a few miles down this road at a recent exoplanet symposium. |
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| Setting Sight on a Single Star |
| Topic: Missions |
05/13/11 |
| NASA recently selected 20 small satellites to fly as auxiliary cargo aboard rockets that are planned to launch in 2011 and 2012. The 'CubeSats' include the ExoPlanetSat, which will aid in the search for Earth-like planets by monitoring a single star. |
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| Beaming Rockets into Space |
| Topic: Missions |
01/20/11 |
| An advanced rocket propulsion concept calls for heating a rocket´s propellant by focusing energy on it from ground-based lasers or microwave sources. The technology could cut the cost of putting payloads into orbit by a factor of five or more. |
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| Setting Sail in the Sun |
| Topic: Missions |
09/02/10 |
| Propelled by sunlight pressure, large lightweight sails made of ultrathin aluminum-coated plastic could one day take probes to the edge of our solar system and other stars. |
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| Tiny Satellites for Big Science |
| Topic: Missions |
07/12/10 |
| The shrinking technology of cell phones, laptops and cameras are now leading to palm-sized satellites. Easy to build and affordable, these small satellites offer a new way to conduct astrobiology research. They also could change the way we explore the universe. |
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| Up, Up and Away with Aerobots |
| Topic: Missions |
05/13/10 |
| Unmanned blimps or balloons flying for thousands of kilometers could offer a bird´s eye view of planets and moons. |
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