Formerly known as 1999 RQ36, the space rock was chosen by process of elimination as the destination for the UA-led OSIRIS-REx mission, which will pick up a sample of its regolith and return it to Earth for analysis. Launch is little more than two months away. (more…)
*Scientists have endless ideas for extraterrestrial exploration. Some are feasible, some not. In a two-part series, we look at how UA engineer Roberto Furfaro gives the red or green light to space missions. First, searching for Delta-V, the complex factor that makes a space mission viable.*
Our solar system is becoming a familiar backyard, thanks to the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, or LPL, a world leader in interplanetary exploration.
LPL’s Phoenix Mission to Mars scooped up the first evidence of water-ice on the Red Planet, and its HiRISE camera continues to beam stunning images of the Martian landscape back to Earth. (more…)
