Tag: Planetary exploration
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Mars Returns: NASA Reestablishes Contact After Solar Conjunction, Kicks Off Bold 2026 Mission Plan
Mars Reconnects with Earth After Solar Conjunction NASA confirmed that its Mars rovers are back in contact with Earth following a two-week solar conjunction blackout. During solar conjunctions, the Sun’s intense activity interferes with the radio signals traveling between Earth and Mars, effectively plunging missions into radio silence. The recent recovery is a critical milestone…
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This Week in Science News: ISS Medical Evacuation, Mars Sample Return Canceled, and Woolly Rhino Flesh in Permafrost Wolf
Intro: A Week That Shook the Frontiers From human spaceflight to planetary mission plans and surprising paleontological finds, this week has offered a mix of urgency, debate, and curiosity. Major headlines include an early return of the ISS Crew-11 due to a medical event, the cancellation of the Mars Sample Return mission, and an intriguing…
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Marsplanbench and MoonPlanBench Datasets Accelerate Rover Navigation
Overview: Two Datasets Pushing Rover Autonomy Forward Rover navigation is entering a new phase as researchers unveil two comprehensive datasets—Marsplanbench and MoonPlanBench—that promise to enhance autonomous traversal on the Moon and Mars. Building on decades of planetary exploration, these datasets are designed to provide realistic, diverse terrain data that enable autonomous systems to plan paths,…
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Starship Super Heavy Launch LIVE: SpaceX Readies 11th Test Flight
Live Coverage: SpaceX’s 11th Starship Super Heavy Test Flight SpaceX is gearing up for the 11th test flight of its colossal Starship Super Heavy rocket from the company’s Starbase facility in Texas. This mission marks a significant milestone as the team pushes toward fully reusable spaceflight, setting the stage for future missions to the Moon…
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QUT Leads Roo-ver Navigation for Australia’s Lunar Rover
Australia’s First Lunar Rover Gains a Guided Path Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers are steering the navigation systems that will guide Roo-ver, Australia’s ambitious lunar rover, as it travels across the Moon’s surface later this decade. As part of the Australian consortium ELO2, QUT experts in robotics and planetary science are developing robust positioning…