07 June 2016
A green light for the LISA Pathfinder mission
... blocks to an accuracy of 10 picometres (1 picometre is equal to one millionth of a millionth of a metre). The spacecraft also acts as a shield, to guard the cubes from any unwanted external interference. “We shrunk the arm of a large gravitational...
28 June 2016
Oxides discovered on Mars hint at an oxygen-rich past
...It is possible that Mars’s atmosphere had an abundance of oxygen due to the planets weak magnetic field. Without a protective shield, ionising radiation would be able to penetrate the atmosphere and break water molecules down to its constituent parts...
06 July 2016
The next trio of intrepid explorers head to the ISS
... on Saturday, July 9th. A number of modifications have been applied to the spacecraft including additional micrometeoroid debris shielding and increased power with more photovoltaic cells on the spacecraft’s solar arrays. The newly arrived Expedition...
07 July 2016
Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launched successfully from Baikonur
... commands when passing over Russian ground stations. The MS-01 also has an improved docking mechanism, better micrometeoroid shielding and solar arrays, an extra set of batteries and a reusable “black box” that records and stores various...
