Mixed space news

''The helicon first stage of the VX-200 VASIMR plasma rocket prototype has achieved its full power rating of 30 kW with Argon propellant in tests conducted last Wednesday at Ad Astra’s Houston laboratory. The helicon first stage is an essential component of the VASIMR rocket and is responsible for generating the core plasma needed by the engine to operate.'' [source]


''solar system around nearby star
...
For the first time, astronomers think that they've found evidence of an alien solar system around a star close enough to Earth to be visible to the naked eye.
They say that at least one and probably three or more planets are orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani, 10.5 light-years — about 63 trillion miles — from Earth. Only eight stars are closer.'' [source]

''Do black holes increase in size indefinitely? According to an analysis by astronomers at Yale and the European Southern Observatory, the maximum size a black hole may reach is only few tens of billion of solar masses. It is thought that black holes of such size heat the surrounding gas to a temperature where the radiation pressure begins blowing outer layers into space.'' [source]

''NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has observed a new category of minerals spread across large regions of Mars. This discovery suggests that liquid water remained on the planet's surface a billion years later than scientists believed ...'' [source]

''Can a pendulum swing in space?
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The researchers call their device a Casimir Atomic Pendulum and calculate that it should have a period of about a tenth of a microsecond. They say that such a device could possibly be built with today's technology.

Since the force that would power the pendulum is the same everywhere in the universe, Roberto Onofrio, from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, US, and Giuseppe Ruoso from the Legnaro INFN National Laboratory, Padova, believe a vacuum clock could be useful for space applications, perhaps as a miniaturised clock for components of satellites.'' [source]

''NASA officials said Wednesday it might be possible to try out its new moon rocketship a year earlier than its current target date of 2015.
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NASA has been struggling with ways to make the new rocket safer and has come up with possible solutions for controlling its vibrations to prevent injuring the crew, and preventing the rocket from drifting into the launch tower at liftoff.'' [source]

''NASA's new prototype for a future moon truck is proving to be the ultimate lunar RV, allowing astronauts to take extended road trips without the constant drag of bulky spacesuits.
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The rover is part of NASA's bid to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 under the Constellation program.'' [source]