Hasta La Gadget!

Could it be revenge for being demoted to “dwarf planet” status in 2006? New Hubble Space Telescope photos show that Pluto has turned redder–as if it were angry–and its ice sheets are also shifting around, according to the Associated Press.

In recent photos, Pluto is turning up significantly redder than it has during the past several decades. It still looks vaguely yellow-orange, but astronomers claim there is about 20 percent more red pigment in there than there was before, the report said. This is despite the fact that a “season” lasts 120 years in some regions of the planet.

The impending robot takeover gets closer: NASA and GM have developed and built Robonaut 2, a second generation humanoid robot that is faster, more dexterous, and more technologically advanced than before. Both companies said that the new robot can use its hands to do work, and even work safely alongside people. OR SO THEY SAY.

“This cutting-edge robotics technology holds great promise, not only for NASA, but also for the nation,” said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement. “I’m very excited about the new opportunities for human and robotic exploration these versatile robots provide across a wide range of applications.”

NASA and GM hope their robotics partnership–through a Space Act Agreement at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston–will lead to advanced safety systems for future vehicles, improved safety and efficiency in manufacturing plants, and in space, the ability to aid astronauts during hazardous missions. I’m not scared at all.

NASA announced that it has abandoned efforts to free the stuck Spirit Mars Rover after a six-year journey on the red planet, Space.com reports. The rover had been stuck in soft Martian sand just underneath the surface for the past nine months.

The good news: the space agency isn’t abandoning the rover altogether. NASA engineers are now preparing Spirit to survive the winter in Mars’ southern hemisphere, the report said, after which the rover will take on the role of fixed science outpost.

“This is not a day to mourn Spirit. This is not a day of loss,” said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA’s Mars exploration program, in a teleconference. “Its driving days are likely over, however its contribution will continue.” Possible studies include the dirt around the rover, as well as a very interesting chance Rover’s radio signals could help scientists figure out if the core is molten by recording the planet’s motion.

The other Mars Rover, Opportunity, meanwhile, is doing just fine on the other side of the planet, and is currently heading toward Endeavor, a huge crater. (Image credit: NASA)

The Obama Administration’s upcoming budget proposal, to be released on Monday, no longer contains money for NASA’s Constellation program or its upcoming Ares I rocket (pictured), which was supposed to replace the space shuttle, Popular Science reports.

As a result, the budget axes lunar landers, moon bases, and the Ares V cargo rocket, which was supposed to carry fuel and other supplies for American’s return to the moon’s surface. In short, Americans won’t be visiting the Moon again any time soon under the new proposals, the report said.

Instead, NASA would receive money to pursue a “heavy-lift” rocket that could carry humans and robots beyond low-earth orbit, but not until “some faraway, yet-to-be-determined date.” In addition, NASA would receive funding for climate change research, asteroid exploration, and inner solar system monitoring, plus a 2020 extension for the International Space Station, the report said. Stay tuned… (Image credit: NASA)

Researchers may have figured out a way to dislodge dust particles from sensitive equipment on the Moon or Mars using sound waves.

Here’s how it works: by playing back a high-pitched (13.8 KHz, 128 dB) standing wave of sound from a 1.25-inch tweeter, and focusing it on a reflector several inches away, researchers from the Department of Physics and Materials Science Program found it was enough to dislodge dust particles on the reflector’s surface, according to Physorg.com.

Later, the researchers tested this acoustic levitation process, as it is called, on a solar panel that was reduced to just 10 percent of its original power output after being coated with fine dust. The process boosted output back to 98.4 percent of maximum, the report said.

This is especially important since dust particles on the Moon and on Mars are sharper and more abrasive than on Earth, thanks to the thinner atmosphere. The next step: figuring out how to make the process work when actually out in the thin atmosphere; right now it would only work inside a sealed space station. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)