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Hot Topic
Exploration
Missions
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Into the Mouth of a Volcano
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| Topic: Missions |
03/02/10 |
| Scientists are testing a miniature laboratory that could be used to study the composition of rocks and atmospheres on moons, asteroids and planets in the solar system. A recent field test of the instrument was performed in the mouth of a sleeping Hawaiian volcano. |
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2010: An Astrobiology Odyssey
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| Topic: Missions |
02/26/10 |
| Scientists and students interested in astrobiology will want to make an odyssey to two conferences this year: AbSciCon and AbGradCon. |
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Voyager's Group Portrait
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| Topic: Missions |
02/16/10 |
| NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft sailed beyond the outermost planet in our solar system 22 years ago. As a parting gift, the craft turned its camera back toward the Sun and captured a family portrait of the planets. The image showed the Earth as a tiny and precious 'pale blue dot' among the stars. |
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The Stars My Destination
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| Topic: Missions |
11/09/09 |
| The Voyager spacecraft are now in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, traveling toward interstellar space – the first man-made spacecraft to travel such a vast distance from Earth. |
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Fantastic Voyage
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| Topic: Missions |
11/02/09 |
| By travelling to the outer solar system, the two Voyager spacecraft allowed us to see amazing details of far-distant planets and moons. |
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Spotting Spores
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| Topic: Missions |
10/27/09 |
| Chemists have developed a technology to rapidly assess the presence of microbial life on spacecraft. The method will help in decontaminating spacecraft before launch, and could have medical and pharmaceutical uses on Earth. |
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Migrating Microbes
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| Topic: Missions |
10/15/09 |
| With every spacecraft that leaves Earth, millions of microbes hitch a ride into space. As astrobiologists search for life in other worlds, preventing forward and back contamination remains a key priority. |
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Green Rocket Fuel
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| Topic: Missions |
10/14/09 |
| Researchers are developing a new type of rocket fuel made from a frozen mixture of water and 'nanoscale aluminum' powder. The fuel would be more environmentally friendly, and could be manufactured on the moon, Mars or other water-bearing bodies. Such fuels could play an important role in future missions beyond our planet. |
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Building an Astrobiology Tool Kit
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| Topic: Missions |
10/19/09 |
| In this blog entry, Juan Diego Rodriguez Blanco from the AMASE 2009 team discusses how instruments for future Mars missions are tested on Earth. This year, equipment for ESA's ExoMars mission and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory were put through the ropes on the arctic island of Svalbard. |
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Space Hand-Me-Downs
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| Topic: Missions |
09/17/09 |
| Much of the biology on Earth involves molecules that are oriented in a left-handed direction. A proposed nano-satellite would carry up some of these bio-molecules to see if something in space might be responsible for this left-handed excess. |
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