Science And Space

  NASA's Mars plans need 'paradigm shifts' to succeed (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS) NASA has released a new document that highlights planned programmatic paradigm shifts in Mars exploration over the next 20 years. This plan was prepared for the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Mars Exploration Program (MEP). The report is titled "Expanding the Horizons of Mars Science: A Plan for a Sustainable Science Program at Mars -- Mars Exploration Program 2024-2044." Full Story: Space (12/13)   Astronomer captures possible Geminid lunar impacts  (LeonardoFernndezLzaro / 500px via Getty Images) As we approach the peak of the Geminid meteor shower overnight on Friday (Dec. 13), the skies are beginning to light up with impressive meteors striking Earth's atmosphere. But Earth isn't the only target; the moon is regularly bombarded with such meteors, and Daichi Fujii, the curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum ...

  Rocket Lab's last launch was a US military hypersonic test Rocket Lab's pioneering suborbital launch last month conducted hypersonic tests for the U.S. military, the company has revealed. The mission in question lifted off on Nov. 24 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Virginia's Wallops Island. It employed HASTE, the suborbital variant of Rocket Lab's workhorse Electron launcher. Less than 22 hours later, an Electron lofted five "Internet of Things" satellites to orbit for the French company Kinéis, notching an unprecedented spaceflight doubleheader for Rocket Lab. Full Story:  Space