March 2019

Artist's concept of star system with planets as spinning tops (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech, Sarah Millholland)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” offers a solution to a mystery concerning a configuration of exoplanets pairs’ orbits discovered over the years by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. According to Sarah Millholland and Gregory Laughlin of the American Yale University, obliquity, which is the inclination between these planets’ axis and their orbit, is a key element to explain why those orbits are just outside the natural points of stability.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module by completing the first leg of its SpX-DM1 (SpaceX Demonstration Mission 1) or SpaceX Demo-1 mission that started yesterday with its launch. The opening of the hatch is scheduled for 13.45 UTC and all the tasks concerning the Crew Dragon will be completed rather quickly, since its departure is scheduled for March 8.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket in its SpX-DM1 test (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft blated off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral base in its SpX-DM1 (SpaceX Demonstration Mission 1) or SpaceX Demo-1 mission. After about eleven minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went on its way to carry out its mission. This is the first test of the Crew Dragon spacecraft with a journey to the International Space Station and back. In this case there’s no one on board but if all goes well in the next launch there will be the first transport of astronauts.

Mars basin that could host a lake (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

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An article published in the “Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets” report geological evidence that on planet Mars in ancient times there was a system of interconnected underground lakes and five of them could contain minerals essential for life. A team of researchers used data collected by ESA’s Mars Express space probe to investigate what are now basins, deep craters in the red planet’s northern hemisphere, finding evidence that they once housed lakes.