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Research into Martian soil could lead to new antibiotics

Shane McGlaun | Apr 8, 2019

The medical field is faced with a very hard to win battle with all sorts of bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics. Increasingly resistant bacteria could mean infections that are hard or impossible to cure leading to the death of sick people. Researchers working on helping humans to live on Mars might be able to help with the problem of drug-resistant bacteria. One challenge for living on Mars is that the soil there has perchlorate chemical compounds in it.

Astronaut bed rest study pays participants $19,000 for 89 days

Shane McGlaun | Mar 29, 2019

A few days back we talked about a joint NASA and ESA study that was being conducted in Germany looking at long term effects of weightlessness on astronauts and how artificial gravity might help them. More details have surfaced about that study, and it pays very well for doing nothing but laying in bed. The study pays participants $19,000 (16,500 euro) and is known as AGBRESA study 2019.

Hubble captures rare image of an active asteroid disintegrating

Brittany A. Roston | Mar 28, 2019

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a rare image of an active asteroid that is in the process of self-destructing, the ESA and NASA have jointly announced. The image features asteroid (6478) Gault, which was discovered in 1988 and is estimated to have a width of at least 2.5 miles / 4km. Visible in the image are two debris tails, which experts say are signs that the asteroid is disintegrating.

NASA and ESA test effects of artificial gravity for astronaut health

Shane McGlaun | Mar 25, 2019

NASA and the ESA have teamed up to conduct studies looking at the value of artificial gravity for the health of astronauts. The study starts with test subjects in Germany that will be confined to a bed for 60 days starting on March 25. The research is jointly funded between the two space agencies.

ESA shoots and blows up batteries in project to reduce space debris

Brittany A. Roston | Mar 14, 2019

The European Space Agency has conducted a series of tests that involve blowing up batteries as part of research into preventing space debris. The work took place in bunkers and involved engineers using a variety of methods to destroy lithium-ion space batteries, including short-circuiting them, shooting them, and causing them to overcharge and overheat.

Mars had a vast underground water system new research claims

Chris Burns | Mar 1, 2019

Last year Mars Express detected water under Mars' south pole - now it's become more clear to which extent that water represented Mars' watery past. According to new findings with the ESA and Mars Express here in the present, early Mars had water - lots and lots of water, on the surface, in liquid form. Researchers found evidence of massive amounts of water by studying 24 individual deep, enclosed craters in the planet's northern hemisphere. They found features that couldn't have formed in any way other than in the presence of liquid water.

This stressed asteroid could put a new spin on NASA’s comet blasting plan

Chris Davies | Feb 18, 2019

Groundbreaking analysis of a distant, fast-moving comet has revealed new details in how asteroids form, shedding light on the formation of unusual shapes and, potentially, paving the way for more effective protection of the Earth from meteor impacts. The asteroid, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, is around 2.7 miles across and moving at as much as 84,000 miles per hour, but scientists have long been fascinated by its unusual shape.

ESA’s new challenge seeks innovations for future space missions

Brittany A. Roston | Jan 22, 2019

The European Space Agency has announced the Metalysis-ESA Grand Challenge, a new competition seeking innovation for future space missions. The space agency is offering 500,000 Euros as rewards for European innovations that focus on the lunar surface and how it could help humanity move toward a more sustainable, long-term future in space -- both on the moon and beyond.

Gaia satellite spots dim, low-density galaxy hiding in the Milky Way’s shadow

Shane McGlaun | Nov 14, 2018

Massive amounts of data are generated by orbiting scientific platforms like the Hubble, and the ESA's Gaia satellite; so much data that it often takes years for researchers to pour through. An international team of astronomers were pouring through Gaia data recently and discovered a massive "ghost" galaxy hiding behind the shroud of the Milky Way's disc. The new galaxy has been named Antila 2 or Ant 2 and is said to be an extremely low-density galaxy.

ESA ExoMars mission leans towards Oxia Planum for Mars landing site

Shane McGlaun | Nov 13, 2018

The ESA is working on a mission that will put another rover on the surface of Mars with launch aiming at 2020. The ExoMars Landing Site Selection Working Grop has now issued its recommendation on a landing site for that mission; the landing site is a location called Oxia Planum. The final step in the selection process is an internal review by the ESA and Roscosmos.

This is what a space launch failure looks like from the International Space Station

Eric Abent | Oct 11, 2018

Earlier this morning, the two astronauts on board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft had a close call on what was an otherwise routine mission. The spacecraft experienced a booster failure just a couple of minutes after launching, resulting in a launch abort. Luckily, the two astronauts on board - Alexey Ovchinin and Nick Hague - made it back to Earth safely, narrowly avoiding tragedy.

ESA’s Gaia finds the Milky Way is still recovering from near collision

Shane McGlaun | Sep 20, 2018

Gaia is a star mapping mission that the ESA is conducting, and it recently discovered something very interesting. Gaia has found that the Milky Way galaxy is still facing the effects of a near collision that set millions of stars to rippling like water in a lake. ESA scientists believe that the near collision happened in the past 300-900 million years.