Testing is key to the success of any space mission, and the more complex the mission, the more testing is required to complete it successfully. The Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission is one of the most ambitious missions ever undertaken. It started with the Perseverance rover, which is currently exploring Jezero crater while occasionally stopping to fill sample bottles with interesting material. But the more impressive engineering feat is what happens next. NASA plans to launch a combination lander, rover, and ascent rocket that will land on the Martian surface, pick up the sample containers Perseverance has left behind, sterilize them, launch them back into space, and then return them to Earth.
Space News & Blog Articles
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How big is the universe?
Based on what we can observe, the universe appears to be almost 28 billion light-years in diameter. However, it is far larger than that.
Star facts: History, formation and classification
Learn how stars form, how stars and constellations are named, what happens when stars like our sun evolve, and ultimately, die.
What is the cosmic microwave background?
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is primeval radiation emitted shortly after the Big Bang. Regarded as an 'echo' of the Big Bang, CMB fills the universe.
Japanese company ispace delays its second private moon mission to 2024
A Japanese company that plans to put a robotic lander on the surface of the moon later this year had to postpone its second planned mission by at least 12 months.
Astronomers detect powerful cosmic object unlike anything they've seen before
Astronomers have discovered a mysterious, flickering object in the Milky Way that belches enormous amounts of energy toward Earth three times an hour.
Israel signs Artemis accords for moon exploration
The country is already testing a radiation vest on Artemis 1, the first uncrewed mission of the program.
Europe's sun mission flew through the tail of Comet Leonard
As Comet Leonard bid farewell to Earth and flew past Venus, a sun-studying spacecraft flew through the comet's long tail, giving humans a new perspective on the icy wanderer.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final destination. Let's celebrate the team that got it there (op-ed)
The successes notched by Webb, the biggest and most complex space telescope ever launched, reflect the grit and unity of thousands of people who worked together to place it in the heavens.
Crater tree rings
Image: Crater tree rings
This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 28 – February 5
The Winter Triangle, the Goat Star and the Kids, Orion nearing his peak standing on the giant Hare over the difficult Dove... there's plenty to occupy you in the evening even as most of the planets have migrated over to dawn.
Ariane 6 central core set for assembly
The lower stage of ESA’s next-generation Ariane 6 launch vehicle has been installed on the assembly line at Europe’s Spaceport behind the upper stage. It is now time to join the two horizontally to create the central core of Ariane 6 in readiness for the first combined tests on the launch pad.
Earth from Space: Lesotho
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over northwest Lesotho – a small, land-locked country surrounded entirely by South Africa.
Does the Andromeda Galaxy Harbor a Mid-weight Black Hole?
New observations suggest a black hole 100,000 times the mass of the Sun lurks in the center of a globular cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy.
The Higgs boson could have kept our universe from collapsing
The Higgs boson particle could have kept our universe from collapsing within a larger multiverse, physicists say.
SpaceX snags $102 million contract to rocket military supplies and humanitarian aid around the world: report
SpaceX has won a contract, worth over $102 million, to transport military supplies and humanitarian aid around the world using a rocket.
China's second launch of the year puts radar satellite in orbit
China launched the first of a pair of radar satellites that will provide important geological data following earthquakes and landslides.
SpaceX Rocket Booster to Hit the Moon on March 4th
A discarded Falcon 9 upper stage rocket booster will impact Hertzsprung Crater on the lunar farside on March 4th.
Animals in space
The first animals reached space in 1947, but it wasn't until 1960 that animals orbited Earth and landed safely.
Live coverage: SpaceX counting down to launch of Italian radar satellite
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The mission will launch a radar remote sensing satellite for Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation constellation. Follow us on Twitter.
