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New study provides evidence that Jupiter is the oldest planet in the solar system A new discovery has added to the evidence that Jupiter is not only the largest planet in our solar system, but also the oldest. The study which was conducted Institut für Planetologie at the University of Münsterin Germany and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have concluded that the gas giant was formed around 50 million years before the Earth and just a million years after the sun was formed, which was approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The team of scientists came to the conclusion after analyzing meteorite samples that had fallen to the surface of the earth. The samples were tested for the presence  molybdenum and tungsten isotopes which was found in abundance. The data from molybdenum showed two distinct reservoirs of materials which had existed before but had become separated after the formation of the solar system. The scientists have concluded...

NASA’s Orion spacecraft with launch abort system passes key safety test NASA said its Orion spacecraft, which will take astronauts to deep space destinations, did well in a key safety test. At the Promontory, Utah, facility of Orion subcontractor Orbital ATK, engineers tested the abort motor for Orion’s launch abort system (LAS) this week, firing the 17-foot tall motor for five seconds, NASA said. The motor was fastened to a vertical test stand with its nozzles pointed toward the sky for the test. It produced enough thrust to lift 66 large SUVs off the ground and helped qualify the system for future missions with astronauts, the US space agency added. “The launch abort system is an important part of making sure our crew members stay safe on the launch pad and on their way to space,” said Robert Decoursey, manager for Orion’s LAS. “It takes us another step closer to proving the safety of our spacecraft as we prepare for missions beyond the moon,” Decoursey said. The launch a...

US universities demonstrate various methods of drilling water from simulated Mars subsurface ice As part of plans for long-term human survival on Mars, NASA this week held a competition in which students from seven US universities demonstrated various drilling technologies to extract water from simulated Martian subsurface ice. The three-day ‘Mars Ice Challenge’ was held at the Langley Research Center in Virginia from June 13-15. The students — divided into eight teams — used drills, augers and an excavator positioned over large fishing coolers to get through about 16 inches (a half-metre) of simulated Martian soil to reach solid blocks of ice about 16 inches (a half-metre) deep. The teams also built their innovative drilling and water extraction systems, designed according to mass, volume and power constraints. The projects are “based in reality to what NASA wants. When we give those challenges to students, they’re able to start solving them in their unique way”, Shelley Spear...