The lunar rover portion of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe recently had a milestone after traveling 565.9 meters, as of Saturday, since leaving the lander portion behind. According to the China National Space Administration, the lander and the rover have been switched to dormant mode for the lunar night after operating stably for the 23rd lunar day.
A joint mission conducted by the ESA and the Japanese space agency JAXA called BepiColombo recently made a close approach to Venus. The close approach happened on October 15, and the main sequence of 64 images was captured by the Monitoring Camera 2 aboard the Mercury Transfer Module.
For many people worldwide, it's hard to imagine with the vast numbers of stars in the universe and the vast number of planets orbiting those stars that we are all alone. So far, scientists have discovered more than 4000 planets orbiting distant stars, known as exoplanets. Astronomers from Cornell University recently published a study where they ask the question of out of all those exoplanets we are looking at from Earth, could any of them be looking back?
SpaceX continues on its trail to build up its orbiting Starlink satellite network with the launch on Saturday that placed 60 additional satellites into orbit. With that launch, the size of the Starlink constellation is now 895. Eventually, there will be thousands of satellites in orbit beaming broadband Internet service everywhere in the US and around the world.
Tectonic plates are massive, and it's hard to imagine one being lost for 60 million years, but that is the case. Researchers from the University of Houston have discovered a lost tectonic plate that spent 60 million years hidden under the Pacific Ocean. The plate is known as Resurrection and was a controversial topic among geologists because many believed it never existed.
Skywatchers may have missed the peak of the Orionid meteor shower, which occurred in the predawn hours last Wednesday. However, there is still a chance to see a few meteors in the sky. The Orionid meteor shower continues through November 7.
It would be nearly impossible for anyone to not know this was an election year at this point. Between the presidential debates and all the political ads running on TV, the election is difficult to escape. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins is encouraging people to vote by pointing out that she voted from space. A picture was posted to the NASA Astronaut's Twitter feed, which can be seen below, with Rubens pointing to a small closet with a handmade sign that read "ISS voting booth."
SpaceX has conducted several test flights of its Starship prototype, and so far, they've all flown only a portion of the rocket. Previous test flights have lacked the nosecone where one day payloads and perhaps astronauts will sit. SpaceX is gearing up for another test flight, and this time it's attaching the nosecone on top of the rocket.
NASA has shared a new series of images featuring OSIRIS-REx, the spacecraft that successfully nabbed a sample from the surface of asteroid Bennu. These images show some of the collected material, including larger rocks, escaping from the collection tool on the spacecraft -- but that's not necessarily a bad thing. According to the space agency, scientists have a good reason to believe the Bennu sample is 'plentiful.'
The NASA Human Landing System Program has completed a key milestone in progress towards sending the first humans back to the moon since the Apollo era. The Human Landing System (HLS) has conducted its Certification Baseline Reviews with three US companies competing to provide Landers to deliver Artemis astronauts to the moon.
Microsoft Research has made progress over the years and moving towards a virtual reality experience where feelings in the VR setting are on par with the realistic visuals produced by head-mounted displays. Microsoft Research has moved beyond some of its past prototypes with a new controller called Haptic PIVOT to bring physical forces to VR controllers.
Stanford researchers have worked with collaborators in Korea to develop a new OLED architecture that borrows solar panel technology. The new displays could be used in televisions, smartphones, and virtual or augmented reality devices. Researchers say the screens could provide resolutions of up to 10,000 PPI.