Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Space Highlights - August 3, 2016

August 3, 2016


India's student-designed IIT-B satellite is expected to be launched by ISRO in September.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Isro-to-finally-launch-IIT-Bs-satellite-from-Sriharikota-space-centre-in-September/articleshow/53496056.cms


NASA's Juno spacecraft has now passed the highest-point in its orbit and is heading back towards Jupiter for another close encounter with the gas giant.  Juno is intended to probe Jupiter's atmosphere with a suite of instruments unavailable to previous spacecraft.
http://www.space.com/33601-juno-halfway-through-first-jupiter-orbit.html


Competing teams from Israel and the United States are currently the front-runners to win the Google Lunar X-Prize to be the first to land a privately developed and funded spacecraft on the moon.  The teams at MoonExpress and SpaceIL are focusing on microspacecraft that would weigh only a few pounds each.  To succeed, the winning team must soft-land their spacecraft on the moon, move at least 500 meters in any direction on the lunar surface, and transmit high-definition video back to Earth.  The teams have until the end of December 2017 to complete the mission in order to claim the $20 million prize.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/26/technology/google-lunar-xprize/
http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2016/07/buzz-aldrin-pays-tribute-to-israel-s-moon-shot-effort-spaceil-001043081.html


Chinese researchers have announced that data from their Chang'e 3 lunar probe has confirmed the absence of water on the lunar surface.  Previously, scientists had speculated that some lunar craters, which are protected from sunlight, might harbor ice deposits.
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2016-08/01/content_38999618.htm

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