Science & Technology

BEIJING (AP) — China’s first Mars rover will be named Zhurong after a traditional fire god, the government announced Saturday.

The rover is aboard the Tianwen-1 probe that arrived in Mars orbit on Feb. 24 and is due to land in May to look for evidence of life.

It is part of Chinese space plans that include launching a crewed orbital station and landing a human on the moon. China in 2019 became the first country to land a space probe on the little-explored far side of the moon and in December returned lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s.

WENCHANG, Hainan, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The combination of the core module of China's space station, Tianhe, and the Long March-5B Y2 rocket has been transported to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province on Friday.

The combination will then undergo various pre-launch function tests and joint tests as planned, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The facilities and equipment at the launch site are in good condition and preparations have been carried out as scheduled, the agency said. 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk’s rapidly expanding company.

The astronauts from the U.S., Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceX’s debut crew last May. They’ll spend six months at the orbiting lab.

 22 Apr 2021; MEMO: Palestinian from Gaza Loay Elbasyouni has helped American space agency NASA successfully fly a small helicopter on Mars.

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flew over the red planet two days ago, in a feat which NASA says represents the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another planet.

BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua) -- China will announce the name of its first Mars rover on the Space Day of China, which falls on April 24, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, will host the main events marking this year's Space Day of China, Lyu Bo, a CNSA official, told a press conference on Monday.

The events include the opening ceremony, bilateral talks on the international lunar research station, and the fourth China Space Conference.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s experimental Mars helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the planet’s thin air on Monday, achieving the first powered flight on another planet.

The triumph was hailed as a Wright Brothers moment. The mini 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) copter named Ingenuity, in fact, carried a bit of wing fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, which made similar history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

14 Apr 2021; MEMO: Japanese lunar exploration firm iSpace will collaborate with the UAE in taking a rover to the moon next year.

According to Reuters, the Rashid lunar rover will be built entirely by the Emirates, who had originally intended to launch it into space by 2024. The launch next year will be the company's first mission of its kind and will involve the use of a Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk's SpaceX, to be launched from Florida.

13 Apr 2021; MEMO:Turkey has successfully tested its first hybrid engine that will be used in its planned lunar mission, the country's Minister of Technology and Industry said on Sunday. According to Anadolu, the country is planning to send the unmanned spacecraft to land on the moon in 2023 as part of the country's National Space Programme.

12 Apr 2021; MEMO: The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, said the Islamic Republic is a leading global producer and exporter of radiopharmaceuticals.

"Our production of radiopharmaceuticals is increasing every year, for example, we have produced radioactive medicine whose foreign version is worth €15,000 [$17,828]," Salehi said, noting that in September Iran will launch a new project worth €60 million ($71.3 million) to produce radiopharmaceuticals.

12 Apr 2021; MEMO: Dubai has signed an agreement with General Motors Co's majority-owned Cruise self-driving car subsidiary to operate its autonomous vehicles in Dubai starting in 2023, Reuters reported the emirate's crown prince announcing today.