Space News

 

The Launchpad (Astrobotic/Astrolab) Private FLIP moon rover replaces NASA's cancelled VIPER The VIPER news keeps coming. Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic has found a replacement rover to fly on the first-ever mission of its Griffin moon lander. Griffin was originally supposed to deliver NASA's ice-hunting VIPER rover to the moon's south polar region on its debut flight, which is scheduled to launch late this year. The agency canceled the VIPER program last summer, leaving a big space open on Griffin. That space has finally been filled - by FLIP, a rover built by the California company Astrolab. Read More VIPER back from dead? NASA asks US companies to partner Space  (MAXIM SHIPENKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Putin axes Yuri Borisov, head of Russia's space agency Russia has a new space chief. Vladimir Putin has dismissed Yuri Borisov after 2.5 years in charge of the nation's space agency Roscosmos, The Moscow Times reported yesterday (Feb. 6). His replacement is 39-year-old Dmitry Bakanov, who most recently served as Russia's deputy transport minister Who is Dmitry Bakanov?

Skywatching The moon will be unusually high in the sky tonight (Chris Vaughan/Starry Night) Even to a casual viewer, the waxing gibbous moon of Friday will appear unusual. As it crosses the meridian, it will climb so very high in the sky that from central Florida and southern Texas it will be seen overhead. For watchers in Miami or Brownsville, the moon will even pass north of the point directly overhead (the zenith). Full Story: Space (2/7)

Science & Astronomy New FRN detector could sift through 'a whole beach of sand' (Alex Cherney/CSIRO) Researchers have successfully tested a new technology that detects fast radio bursts in the night sky faster than ever before, uncovering a treasure trove of data to help astronomers investigate the source of these mysterious space phenomena. Full Story: Space (2/7)