While NASA and other organizations around the world are setting their sights on Mars, China appears to be ramping up preparations to send astronauts to walk on the Moon’s surface. Image Credit: geralt/Pixabay The United States was the first and only country to successfully send human beings to the Moon, and they did so several times with a series of Apollo missions. A grand total of 12 United States astronauts have walked on the surface of the Moon since Neil Armstrong became the first to do so in 1969. If successful, China would become the second country to put mankind on the Lunar surface, even before Russia; the United States was racing with the Soviet Union to put a man on the Moon back in the 1960’s. The Soviet Union quickly moved a Lunar landing to low priority after the United States made it there first, and the goal never actually materialized. The Soviet Union then later dissolved and became Russia, where higher priorities like the International Space Station have since ensued and clogged up the nation’s space resources. China has sent unmanned spacecraft to the Moon before, which proves the country has the technology to make it there. On the other hand, manned missions are significantly more complex because the visitors need to make it there safely and be able to return to Earth. China’s intentions were initially unveiled last year, but officials are just now reporting that they’ve started the planning phase for the mission and that approval and funding for the project are likely. It may be just a few more years before the mission materializes. Related: The ESA wants to build a research facility on the Moon by the 2030's Like the United States’ Apollo missions, China will create a spaceship, a propulsion vehicle, and a Lunar lander that can safely put space men on the Moon for study so that they can return home when they’re finished. There’s no solid date estimate yet for when all of this might happen, but if one thing’s for sure, it isn’t going to be this year, or next year, or the next. Developing the technologies to take men to the Moon and then testing them for safety and reliability takes both time and patience. It should be interesting to see how China fares in sending mankind to the Moon, especially since the ESA has expressed interest in building a research base on the Moon similarly to the way NASA wants to set up research quarters on Mars. Source: Daily Mail, The Telegraph

When NASA sends astronauts into space to study science on the International Space Station, they sometimes get the honor of breaking space records. The most recent was Peggy Whitson, a female U.S. astronaut who’s in space right now and recently shattered a record of her own. Image Credit: NASA Having surpassed NASA astronaut Jeff Williams’ 534-day record for the most days in space for an American astronaut, Whitson was called up from the International Space Station by the United States president Donald Trump on Monday to be given huge congratulations for her achievements. The short telephone call was filled with excitement about NASA, jokes about how the astronauts recycle their urine as a water source, and enthusiasm for future missions to Mars. "How does it feel to have broken such a big and important record?" the president had asked Whitson. "Well, it's actually a huge honor to break a record like this," Whitson replied. "It's an honor for me, basically to be representing all the folks at NASA who make space flight possible and who make me setting this record feasible." You can watch the full interview between Whitson and the president here: Whitson’s current mission on the International Space Station should enable her to accumulate 650 total days in space before returning to Earth in September. This will be the new record that future American astronauts will need to overcome if they want to be put down in history books. Her 15 years of service as an astronaut have served as inspiration for women, both in and out of the space exploration field. Her first space launch was back in 2002, and she continues to love what she does for the agency today. Related: Samantha Cristoforetti is another female NASA astronaut who broke records in space As for Mars missions, they’re still a few decades away; perhaps around the 2030’s. Developing the technology to make it all possible takes both time and money, which are each a precious resource. Until then, the International Space Station might be all we’ve got, at least until it gets retired and control shifted to commercial parties sometime in the next decade or so. Source: New York Times

There’s a massive dust storm enveloping certain parts of Mars right now, and it just so happens that NASA’s Opportunity rover is stuck right in the middle of it. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Opportunity is a solar-powered rover and therefore doesn’t play nicely with dust storms. These storms kick massive clouds of dust into the atmosphere that block vital solar rays from reaching the vehicle’s onboard solar panels. That said, Opportunity has temporarily ceased scientific operations until the dust storm blows over. It’s currently sitting tight in standby mode, sipping off the battery power reserves it accumulated right before the dust storm struck. This wouldn't be the first dust storm that Opportunity has endured; a larger one forced NASA to shut the rover down for two weeks in 2007. That aside, this week’s dust storm has allegedly kicked up a thicker dust cloud than the 2007 storm, so it could take a bit longer for Opportunity to become fully operational again. Related: Check out this awesome panoramic taken by NASA's Curiosity rover In the meantime, the Mastcam mounted on NASA’s Curiosity rover is helping the space agency track the dust storm from a distance. "To measure dust in the atmosphere, we'll first point Mastcam towards the sun and take a tau measurement, which lets us determine the optical depth vertically," mission team member Rachel Kronyak said in a public statement. "Then we'll take a Mastcam image of the crater rim to determine line-of-sight extinction, which is directly related to the amount of dust present. ENV will also take a few movies with Navcam to assess clouds, wind direction, and to look for dust devils." Related: NASA's Curiosity rover finds 'organic compounds' and more on Mars NASA warns of the possibility that the dust storm could soon intrude on Curiosity’s territory, but unlike Opportunity, Curiosity operates on nuclear-power and can manage without sunlight. The space agency will continue monitoring the situation until the dust storm passes, ensuring that Opportunity stays warm enough amid the blocked sunlight. Onboard heating systems will prevent the rover’s delicate electronics from freezing over to avoid damage to vital components. Source: NASA via Space.com

There’s more to deep-space missions than merely launching astronauts into outer space and saying “good luck!” The eventual goal necessitates a long-term plan for deep-space habitation; a place where these astronauts will live for long periods as they travel through the depths of outer space. On Thursday, American aerospace company Lockheed Martin unveiled one its first tangible habitation concepts at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The concept, which could one day be used by deep-space astronauts, utilizes a refurbished cargo module left over from NASA’s prominent Space Shuttle era. The module in question is the Donatello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, which NASA previously used during cargo resupply missions involving the International Space Station. The habitation concept effectively repurposes this module, converting it into living quarters for up to four deep-space astronauts. "You think of it as an RV in deep space," said Lockheed Martin’s Bill Pratt, the concept program manager. "When you're in an RV, your table becomes your bed, and things are always moving around, so you have to be really efficient with the space. That's a lot of what we are testing here." Lockheed Martin’s choice to use the Donatello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module for the backbone of its conceptual deep-space habitation project allegedly stems from the company’s desire to re-purpose existing resources before developing new ones. This way of thinking both reduces cost and conserves raw materials and time for future projects. "We want to get to the moon and to Mars as quickly as possible, and we feel like we [already] have a lot of stuff that we can use to do that," Pratt added. Related: Lockheed Martin is working with NASA to develop a low-boom X-Plane Lockheed Martin is just one of six different companies that are actively developing deep-space habitation concepts. Assuming NASA selects Lockheed Martin’s plan, then the company would be tasked with adapting the Donatello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to work with a space-based docking station known as the Deep Space Gateway. With interest in deep-space missions growing at the exponential rate that it is today, it should only be a matter of time before concepts like this one go on to help astronauts explore Mars and more distant parts of the solar system. But for now, there’s still more work to do. Source: Bay News 9, Phys.org

If you've been following news from the International Space Station, you've probably noticed that extended exposure to weightlessness can have deleterious effects on Astronauts' health. This is one of the main problems NASA and the world's other space agencies would like to find a solution to before we start sending people on really long-term missions, like, for example, a mission to Mars. So far astronauts aboard the ISS have been following a rigorous daily two hour exercise routine during which they use elastic cords to substitute for gravity. Even with all of this time and effort expended, all astronauts still suffer from bone loss and muscle atrophy. Many of them also experience problems with balance and coordination. The bottom line is that the standard exercise regimen for astronauts aboard the ISS isn't solving the problems created by micro gravity. But some MIT scientists are working on a possible solution to this.What, you may be wondering, is the big deal? We've all seen science fiction. Just make the space station, or whatever ship you're going to send people to Mars in in the shape of a wheel, and spin it. Centripetal force creates artificial gravity. Problem solved, right? Well, not exactly. If you were going to have astronauts in an artificial gravity environment all the time and not get disoriented by a difference in the amount of artificial gravity between their feet and their head, you'd have to have a really big wheel, somewhere around half a mile from side to side. This, obviously would massively increase cost, as well as the amount of stuff you have to get into orbit, both things every space faring entity is constantly working to decrease. And let's not forget the fact that you have to work out a whole new set of physics problems in terms of building the wheel and keeping it spinning, all of it adding exponentially to the cost. Also keep in mind the fact that the ISS was built with the express purpose of being a micro gravity testbed. So if you built it in the shape of a wheel, you'd have to either have a part of it that was isolated from the wheel part, or just have two space stations, any of which would increase weight and size and complexity and therefore, you guessed it, cost. So, what about having just a part of the ISS that had a centrifuge in it that astronauts could spend some time in, say a centrifuge module? Well, there was a centrifuge in the original plans for the ISS, back when it was just going to be an american station called Freedom. But as freedom morphed into the ISS, the centrifuge module was cut due to cost considerations. There was a more recent plan for Japan to build a centrifuge module that would be incorporated into the ISS, but, guess what happened to that. That's right. You guessed it: budget cuts.So, what's a space agency to do? Find out tomorrow in part II of this article.(Source: MIT Science News)

If you’ve been paying any attention to NASA lately, then you’ve undoubtedly heard a lot about the space agency’s InSight mission, which is poised to drop a specialized lander on the Martian surface that will study many of the red planet’s internal mechanisms. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA launched the InSight mission on May 5th, and it’s been traveling through space ever since. Now, more than six months later, InSight is homing in on Mars and is expected to enter the red planet’s atmosphere for landing on Monday, November 26th – less than one week from today. As you can probably imagine, NASA is getting rather excited about getting this show on the road. In an official statement released just this week, NASA unveiled its plan to involve the general public by live-streaming the landing event on its website and significant social media platforms. Anyone familiar with Martian landings should know the significance of such an announcement, as it’s the first time in more than six years that NASA has live-streamed any of its Martian landings. NASA doesn’t live-stream its spacecraft landings very often, which highlights the space agency’s intention of making this landing a special one. Related: This is where NASA will land its InSight mission on Monday The InSight landing is expected to transpire at 3 P.M. on Monday, so if you’re interested in watching it live, then you’re advised to tune into NASA’s YouTube channel by 2 P.M. Eastern time (7 P.M. UTC), so you don’t miss anything important. For your convenience, we’ve embedded the NASA Live YouTube frame below: After InSight lands, NASA will perform preliminary tests to ensure that the spacecraft touched down safely. Afterward, InSight will deploy its folded solar array so that it can begin collecting power for future scientific operations. Among the bevy of tasks set before InSight are drilling more than 18 feet below the planet’s surface to investigate internal temperature, utilizing onboard radios that will help discern planetary wobble, and studying tectonic activity to determine whether Mars exhibits Marsquakes. Not only will it be awe-inspiring to watch InSight land safely on the Martian surface, but it should also be captivating to see what scientific discoveries await us. Source: NASA

Just last week, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly broke a U.S. record by having spent more than 383 cumulative days in space, which surpasses the previous cumulative days in space record of 382 days set by U.S. astronaut Mike Fincke. Kelly’s time in space has been divided over four individual trips. It’s worth nothing that just last month, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka broke the record as the “most experienced spaceman” with a total of 879 days in space, but this number was divided over 5 separate trips back and forth between Earth and space. Scott Kelly has been on two space shuttle missions, as well as two International Space Station missions. Kelly shares his experiences and wisdom, along with various detailed photos of Earth from space in a Facebook post, where he reflects on his current mission, which he’s now halfway done with. I am halfway into a one-year mission aboard the International Space Station and what a journey it has been. A year really is a long time…a long time to never be able to go outside, or feel the sun on your face, or to see your family through anything besides a computer screen. But a mission to Mars is even longer, and the work we’re doing right now is a huge leap in reaching the goal of sending humans to walk on the Red planet. Being in space for long periods of time isn’t easy; being trapped in the International Space Station makes Kelly long for the luxurious windy breezes and warmth of Sunlight that can be experienced here on Earth, plus, being away from your family for so long can have unsettling effects on the mind and conscience. These long-term space missions are important to space agencies however, because it helps them research what is humanly possible in terms of how long mankind can survive in space, as well as what impacts space travel has on health over time. It’s hoped that the information obtained through this research will help bring us one step closer to that long-term mission to Mars that NASA keeps going on about. Below, you can see a chart that illustrates how Kelly's space experience compares to other U.S. astronauts: Kelly is scheduled to return to Earth on March 3rd of 2016 from his current mission that started on March of 2015, which means he will have spent a grand total of 522 days in space by that time. Source: NASA

In a major step towards returning humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently announced they will be providing the airlock for NASA’s Lunar Gateway, which is the planned space station that will be in orbit around the Moon and responsible for ferrying future astronauts to and from the lunar surface. Artist’s rendition of the Lunar Gateway (left) and a potential future airlock provided by the UAE (right). (Credit: NASA) “The United States and the United Arab Emirates are marking a historic moment in our nations’ collaboration in space, and the future of human space exploration,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We are in a new era of exploration through Artemis – strengthened by the peaceful and international exploration of space. The UAE’s provision of the airlock to Gateway will allow astronauts to conduct groundbreaking science in deep space and prepare to one day send humanity to Mars.” This announcement continues the longstanding partnership between NASA and the UAE, as both countries are founding member nations on the Artemis Accords, which is a non-binding multilateral agreement between the United States and a multitude of countries as a framework for space cooperation, both on the Moon and beyond. While this announcement comes as NASA plans to delay future Artemis missions due to NASA’s Inspector General citing “three main challenges” NASA must address before humans can safely fly to the Moon, the partnership with the MBRSC is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for the long-term future of NASA’s Artemis program, whose goal is to land the first woman and person of color on the lunar surface. The UAE isn’t the only international partner on Gateway, as the future orbiting platform will be designed, built, and managed by a myriad of international and commercial partners. Along with serving lunar surface operations, Gateway will also act as a science platform like the International Space Station (ISS) while preparing astronauts for deep space missions, specifically to Mars. How will Lunar Gateway contribute to NASA’s Artemis program and future space exploration in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! As always, keep doing science & keep looking up! Sources: NASA, NASA (1), NASA (2), NASA (3), Reuters

Researchers from the University of Hawaii have noticed that the Moon is turning slightly red or 'rusty'- and that it is likely due to the Earth's atmosphere. Rust, an iron oxide, is a reddish compound that forms when iron is exposed to water and oxygen. As such, it is a common chemical reaction that we see in everyday life- on nails, gates, and wire. It also happens on Mars' surface, the planet itself thought to have gained its reddish color from interactions between iron, oxygen, and water on its surface. While Mars and Earth may be ideal environments for rust to form, researchers were surprised to notice the chemical reaction on the Moon too. This comes as it is generally thought not to contain sufficient oxygen and water for rust to form. It also has no atmosphere to protect against solar winds- thought to prevent rust from being able to form by knocking particles out of place before they can react with each other. The findings suggesting that rust occurs on the lunar surface come from data taken by the JPL Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which was onboard the Indian Space research Organisation's Chandrayaan-1 orbiter while it surveyed the Moon in 2008. During this mission, the Moon Minerology Mapper was able to identify compounds and elements present on the Moon by analyzing wavelengths of light reflected off of its surface. It was by focusing on the poles that the researchers found that the Moon held deposits of iron rich rocks with spectral signatures matching those of hematite- a kind of rust. "At first, I totally didn't believe it. It shouldn't exist based on the conditions present on the Moon," says co-author of the research, Abigail Fraeman. "But since we discovered water on the Moon, people have been speculating that there could be a greater variety of minerals than we realize if that water had reacted with rocks." As the Moon doesn't have a sufficient amount of oxygen to form rust, the researchers say that trace amounts coming from the Earth's atmosphere via an elongated extension of the planet's magnetic field (known as a 'magnetotail) likely made the process possible. They added that each time there is a full moon, the magnetotail is able to block 99% of the solar wind, thus allowing rust to form. Although these findings may play a part in reshaping our knowledge about the Moon's polar regions, the researchers warn that more data is needed. This comes especially as trace amounts of hematite were also found on the far side of the Moon, which is reportedly too far away to benefit from the Earth's magnetotail. Sources: Space.com, Science Advances, Live Science

NASA and space agencies from all around the world share the eventual goal of pushing humanity’s footprint far beyond Earth in our solar system. While Mars is an ultimate goal for everyone, it makes sense to take baby steps toward such an adventurous and dangerous task. The Moon, which resides right in our stellar backyard, seems like a great place to start. Image Credit: Ponciano/Pixabay In an announcement made just this week, both Russia and the United States revealed plans to work together in developing the first lunar-orbiting space station. It would be a step up from the International Space Station because it’s further in space than the current orbiting space lab is, but it would still be close enough that we could get to and from the lab in an emergency. NASA will lead the project, and Roscosmos will follow. Both agencies, which frequently collaborate on crewed missions to the International Space Station, have a good idea of what they need to make everything fall into place, so it’s up to the two to collaborate and develop a floor plan for the lunar-based space lab. Related: The ESA wants to build its own lunar base by 2030 “NASA is leading the next steps into deep space near the moon, where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems needed for challenging missions to deep space destinations including Mars,” NASA said in a statement. “The area of space near the moon offers a true deep space environment to gain experience for human missions that push further into the solar system, access the lunar surface for robotic missions but with the ability to return to Earth if needed in days rather than weeks or months.” Related: Russia wants to build a lunar base by the 2030's NASA and Roscosmos have already reportedly agreed on docking standards for the new space lab, but there’s still much work to be done. There’s no ETA for the space lab will be complete, but development could begin as soon as 2020 while modules for the space lab could be ready as soon as 2026.. Because both nations are familiar with one another’s methods in space, the new initiative should spell out two very different countries working together to achieve a common goal. The result should yield a more advanced space lab that will be used to propel scientific space research in the face of an aging International Space Station that NASA could one day rent out to commercial companies for private purposes. It should be interesting to see how this plan pans out. Source: Phys.org, The Guardian

Following a six-month journey through space, NASA’s InSight spacecraft made a safe-and-sound landing on Mars’ barren surface last week. Comments made by the space agency after the landing signified how its next orders of business would involve deploying the lander’s solar array and surveying the landing site. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Citing a public statement released by NASA, InSight’s solar array appears to have deployed without any problems. But the good news doesn’t stop there – preliminary assessments concerning the landing site provided mission scientists with valuable information denoting the lander’s health and status. Mission scientists selected Elysium Planitia to be InSight’s landing site because it was flat and devoid of hazardous boulders. These factors meant that InSight could land safely without the risk of damage and that inclination would be negligible. "The science team had been hoping to land in a sandy area with few rocks since we chose the landing site, so we couldn't be happier," explained JPL’s Tom Hoffman, InSight’s project manager. "There are no landing pads or runways on Mars, so coming down in an area that is basically a large sandbox without any large rocks should make instrument deployment easier and provide a great place for our mole to start burrowing." Related: NASA is still trying to get in touch with its Opportunity rover following several-month planet-wide dust storm Slope was a particularly important factor in the landing because InSight was designed to function within a 15-degree inclination margin of error. Too much inclination would have prevented InSight from absorbing enough sunlight for power and impacted the lander’s ability to deploy its heat flow probe for studying Mars’ internal temperature. Fortunately, it touched down with only a 4-degree inclination. NASA is already tapping into InSight’s camera systems to snap pictures of its surroundings, and as expected, there aren’t many rocks surrounding the lander. Picture quality is slightly hindered by the dust covers that were installed on the lenses to protect them during the landing, but these will soon pop off, enabling NASA to obtain higher-resolution photographs. "We are looking forward to higher-definition pictures to confirm this preliminary assessment," added InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt of JPL. "If these few images—with resolution-reducing dust covers on—are accurate, it bodes well for both instrument deployment and the mole penetration of our subsurface heat-flow experiment." Given the circumstances, it certainly seems like the InSight lander is off to a great start. After it deploys its equipment, the lander will provide NASA with unprecedented information about Mars’ internal mechanisms, including the planet’s internal temperature, the nature of Marsquakes, and the planet’s orbital wobble, among other things. This data could help planetary scientists better understand how Mars compares with Earth. Source: NASA

While some are interested in colonizing Mars by sending astronauts there to reside permanently, Russia seems to be instead be taking an interest in utilizing the Moon, a much closer target, by 2031. Russian rocket firm Energia is responsible for setting the goal, as the words came out of the CEO’s mouth. If that sounds similar, it’s because it was the CEO of SpaceX, a rocket firm based out of the United States, who originally wanted to send U.S. missions to Mars, even before NASA's interest. Both goals were set without approval from each of the nations’ space agencies. That aside, the Moon-colonizing initiative would not only give Russia the potential to set up a colony on the Moon’s surface, but perhaps also to create yet another orbiting space lab that could orbit the Moon itself instead of the Earth. 4-12 cosmonauts could live on the Moon, in the permanent settlement, at one given time. Pieces of the settlement would be sent to the Moon at individual times, where it could then be assembled similarly to the way the International Space Station was built. Russia isn’t being selfish about it either; they’re inviting both the ESA and NASA to help collaborate and be a part of the fun. This would allow all of the major space agencies to make spacecraft that would be compatible with the docking stations that would be used. "A take-off and landing module [for a flight to the Moon] is a completely new development, which I believe we’ll be making together with our European and American partners. We’re inviting all the countries for participation and the development of new samples of space hardware and the implementation of the lunar program," Energiya CEO Vladimir Solntsev said. Unmanned flights could begin as early as 2026, if approved. These flights would serve as testing grounds for an upcoming heavy lift rocket that is being designed right now and would have the potential to send larger loads of equipment and cosmonauts into space. So far, NASA is the only space agency to be successful in landing mankind on the Moon, and they’ve done it more than once. A grand total of 12 astronauts have walked the Moon to this day, and all happened between 1969-1972, but the new goal by Russia, if successful, could change that within just a few more decades. The Moon base would be used for a variety of scientific experiments, space mining, and in some cases, perhaps even military affairs. That’s not to say the Moon base would start or fuel wars between nations, but it could help with technology advancements, perhaps even in strengthening our defense against major impacts from asteroids. Little is known about the mission at this point in time, as things remain very preliminary, however Russia also appears to be interested in having a spacecraft orbit the Moon by as soon as 2029; this spacecraft would be called Federation. It should be interesting to see if Russia would be successful in taking on this task, or if Elon Musk’s Martian goals will happen first. Source: DailyMail

Stephen Hawking is known for his sometimes-adventurous remarks, but the latest in his observational comments involves the time mankind has remaining to develop a means for interplanetary colonization before the Earth ultimately becomes overpopulated and we all die from one cause or another. He was quoted previously for giving mankind around 1,000 years before some major catastrophe would wipe us all out. He also noted how becoming an interplanetary species could help change all that, but his new perspective gives the previous timeframe a 10x boost in urgency. Hawking now says that we have just 100 years to become an interplanetary species or mankind will ultimately meet its maker. Related: Stephen Hawking's latest theory about black holes It sounds like Hawking is playing doomsayer here, but he may have a realistic point. After all, the world’s population continues to increase and we continue to knock down our valuable forests to build housing developments for everyone to live. Eventually, we won’t have nearly enough forests left to filter the CO2 from our air and produce the fresh oxygen we need to breathe. But that’s not the alarming part; there’s also the very realistic idea that whenever planet Earth becomes the target of a disaster, such as the devastation of climate change, a major asteroid impact, nuclear war, or even self-aware artificial intelligence, the human race could ultimately be wiped out. Hawking and many other well-known individuals who dabble in the scientific world have routinely expressed the importance of mankind becoming an interplanetary species. If this were to happen, one planet could be struck by a disaster and the others would remain, which means mankind could survive. As a civilization, mankind has been trying hard to come up with ways to populate Mars in the near future, but there is certainly interest in putting mankind on various plants throughout the galaxy, assuming we can ever get to them. Related: Stephen Hawking wants to use lasers to send spacecraft to other planetary systems It’s doubtful we’ll ever get mankind to planets in other systems within the next 100 years, but it may not be too far out of reach to put ourselves on Mars, as NASA and other space organizations are dealing with the realistic goal of putting the first astronauts on the red planet within the next 20-30 years. While Hawking’s words make you stop and think about what’s really going to happen in the near future, one really can’t argue with how cool it would be to have mankind on more planets than just one. It would make life a lot more interesting and would help preserve our life forms in the event that one planet faced a major catastrophe. Source: CNBC

If you’ve been paying any attention to SpaceX lately, then you’ve undoubtedly caught wind of the plethora of controlled launching and landing tests involving the commercial space company’s Starhopper starship project – an ongoing endeavor to construct a reusable space vehicle platform that could one day transport humankind to other worlds besides Earth. Image Credit: SpaceX/YouTube Over the course of these flight tests, the reflective stainless-steel Starhopper has gradually flown higher and higher into the atmosphere before returning back to solid ground to conduct a soft landing. But as of this weekend, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk elucidated how the futuristic starship has been inching ever so closer to its first sub-orbital and then orbital test flights. SpaceX fans gathered around a stage at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas facility on Saturday to listen to Musk talk about the company’s future plans for Starhopper. Behind him stood the shiny spacecraft itself; and right beside it, a Falcon 1 rocket to commemorate the 11th anniversary of a SpaceX rocket reaching orbit around Earth for the first Time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Musk spent time discussing the Starhopper starship and its planned uses as SpaceX looks to the future with bright plans for colonizing other worlds, such as Mars and beyond. “Consciousness is a very rare and precious thing, and we should take whatever steps we can to preserve the light of consciousness,” Musk said. “I think we should do our very best to become a multiplanetary species and extend consciousness beyond Earth, and we should do it now.” Of course, for this to happen, we’d need to rethink the way we launch missions into space. Every aspect of the launch vehicle and the accompanying spacecraft would need to be entirely reusable such that missions could go to other worlds and return back home if need be. This has been a particularly challenging endeavor, to say the least. “The critical breakthrough that's needed for us to become a spacefaring civilization is to make space travel like air travel,” Musk continued. “A rapidly reusable rocket is basically the holy grail of space.” Related: SpaceX's Starhopper prototype conducts its first untethered flight This is where Starhopper comes into play. The starship will be capable of leaving Earth’s atmosphere atop a Falcon Super Heavy rocket and then landing on another world’s surface to deliver its living payload. After which, that same starship could leave the other planet’s atmosphere to return home if need be. Generating the power necessary for this performance will be a series of Raptor engines, which SpaceX is currently ramping up production of. While the Starhopper starship has only flown to a maximum altitude of 150 meters thus far, Musk hopes to raise the bar to a suborbital altitude of 12 miles sometime in the next one or two months with another launch reaching orbital altitude sometime in the next six months. While it remains to be seen when Starhopper would send humans to other worlds officially, it’s worth noting that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has already purchased seats on SpaceX’s upcoming space vehicle to become the company’s first space tourist. The trip could transpire by 2023, enabling Maezawa and a handful of passengers to fly around the Moon. It should be interesting to see how the Starship project comes together, especially given the apparent growing interest in colonizing the Moon and Mars, among other worlds in our solar system. Source: New York Times, Wired, YouTube

A study published in the Nature journal Communications Earth & Environment comments on the reasons why Earth has remained habitable for much of the planet’s existence. The answer, according to Professor Toby Tyrrell from the University of Southampton, has a lot to do with luck. Why Earth has not fallen into a completely inhabitable state for over three billion years is a question that fascinates geologists and earth scientists. Given the planet’s predisposition to extreme climates – having experienced multiple intense ice ages and high-temperature eras over its history – it is a wonder that life still continues to survive, says Professor Tyrrell, who is a specialist in Earth System Science. "A continuously stable and habitable climate on Earth is quite puzzling. Our neighbors, Mars and Venus, do not have habitable temperatures, even though Mars once did. Earth not only has a habitable temperature today but has kept this at all times across three to four billion years - an extraordinary span of geological time." In contemplating this conundrum, Tyrrell modeled simulations of exoplanets in our galaxy that are similar to Earth, of which there are estimated to be billions. He wanted to see how 100,000 randomly different planets responded to random climate-altering events (such as asteroid impacts, solar flares, and major geological events) over a time period of three billion years. The goal was to understand when and why planets would become uninhabitable. The findings from these simulations could not have been more clear: most of the planets that stayed habitable throughout the simulated time period had a mere probability of doing so. Of the 100,000 planets that Tyrrell simulated, 9%, or 8,700 planets, remained habitable for the three billion year period at least once. Out of those 8,700 planets that were successful, roughly 8,000 were successful fewer than 50 times out of 100 and approximately 4,500 were successful fewer than 10 times out of 100. From these simulations, Professor Tyrrell explains: "We can now understand that Earth stayed suitable for life for so long due, at least in part, to luck. For instance, if a slightly larger asteroid had hit Earth, or had done so at a different time, then Earth may have lost its habitability altogether. To put it another way, if an intelligent observer had been present on the early Earth as life first evolved, and was able to calculate the chances of the planet staying habitable for the next several billion years, the calculation may well have revealed very poor odds." This information is telling in the search for exoplanets that host life. While scientists are enthralled by the idea of the existence of “twin Earths” in the galaxy, Tyrrell explains that his findings suggest that while some such planets may have been habitable at certain moments in their history, most have likely lost their habitability due to chance events over billions of years. Sources: Communications Earth & Environment, Eureka Alert

After an official delivery from a recent SpaceX mission, NASA’s plans to attach an inflatable module to the International Space Station for testing were a success. NASA reports that the inflatable module was attached to the International Space Station successfully over the weekend with the help of an external robotic arm. Dubbed the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short, the module is filled with air and kept at a constant pressure to ensure it will be habitable. Over the time it is attached to the International Space Station, it will remain air-locked from the rest of the International Space Station during the testing period. This will prevent any leaks that could occur from posing any risk to the rest of the International Space Station. During its testing, astronauts will monitor its performance. They’ll keep a close eye on oxygen levels, temperature levels, radiation levels, and check up often on how its material handles impacts from small space junk. It'll be used only for storage for now, rather than as a habitation module. In the event that a small puncture does occur, the inflatable module is designed to collapse on itself rather than pose any threat to the International Space Station. Inflatable modules are step in the right direction for space travel, because they are easily compacted to take up a small volume of space in the trunks of the spacecrafts that deliver them. In fact, these kinds of inhabitable modules may be useful for long-term missions on other planets, such as Mars because many of them can be packed into a small storage compartment. Moreover, along with 3D Printers and materials, astronauts could have a highly-portable habitation concept in their hands. BEAM will remain attached to the International Space Station for two years for testing. After the testing phase is complete, BEAM will be inspected and NASA will make any necessary modifications to better construct the device for its needs. Source: NASA, Tumblr

In April of this year, NASA will send a new type of technology to the International Space Station; an inflatable module that would be perfect for long-term missions to the Moon, Mars, or anywhere else space agencies may want to send human beings. The module, which is being called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short, attaches to the International Space Station just like any other module, but because it’s inflatable, it takes up hardly any room on the rocket that will be taking it there. As you can imagine, being efficient on storage space is a relatively important step in space travel, and this is precisely the reason that 3D printing is of big interest to space agencies that are looking to pack lightly. BEAM is going up to the International Space Station on April 8th aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. While in its compact form, the BEAM measures about 7.8 feet by 5.7 feet, and when fully inflated, it will expand to a size of 12 feet by 10.5 feet, giving it an interior storage volume of 565 cubic feet. There, a robotic arm will affix it to the side of the International Space Station and crews on the space station will monitor its effectiveness, measurements, and performance over time to see if it’s something we should pursue. Because this expandable module technology is very much under-tested, bringing it to the International Space Station is a great choice for finding out whether or not something like this could be used long-term on another planet or spatial body for temporary habitation. A video about the BEAM can be watched below: Source: NASA via Space.com

Depending on location, those that turned their attention to the night sky on Friday, July 27th might have noticed a particularly red Moon. Experts refer to these occasions as ‘Blood Moons’ because of how the Moon looks throughout the event. Image Credit: Giuseppe Petricca Blood Moons commonly transpire during total lunar eclipses because of how the Earth’s atmosphere interferes with and scatters the sunlight passing through it as the Moon enters our planet’s shadow. We can compare this lighting phenomenon to the sunrises and sunsets on Earth, in which the Sun’s light is forced to travel through more of our planet’s atmosphere to reach us. Consequently, sunrises and sunsets on Earth usually emit a distinctly red hue. But despite how common as Blood Moons can be, planetary scientists say Friday’s occurrence was a particularly special one. Why? – Because it was the longest one to take place during the 21st century. Persisting for a total of 103 minutes (one hour and 43 minutes), Friday’s Blood Moon lasted approximately 15 minutes longer than most. This period, known as totality, was when the Moon appeared its darkest during the lunar eclipse event. Related: Israel wants to put an unmanned spacecraft on the lunar surface The Blood Moon was visible from several countries; unfortunately, North America wasn’t one of them. In some parts of the world, poor weather meant unsatisfactory viewing conditions. Nonetheless, online webcasts published all over YouTube documented the event in real-time so that everyone around the world could experience it. Coinciding with Friday’s Blood Moon was a marvelous opportunity to view Mars in the night sky. Our red planetary neighbor is making its closest approach to Earth in 15 years, causing it to appear as a bright dot amongst the rest of the stars. Did you get a chance to look at Friday’s Blood Moon? Source: Space.com

NASA sent a very important inflatable module to the International Space Station on April 8th that could set a precedent for space travel and space habitation for human beings. Nearing the end of this week, NASA attempted to inflate the module for the first time, which goes by the name of Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short, and it didn’t quite go as planned. The module, which measures at 7.09 feet long and 7.75 feet in diameter when compacted, was expected to inflate to its full size of 13.16 feet long and 10.5 feet in diameter. Instead, as NASA astronaut Jeff Williams slowly filled it with air, the module only inflated widthwise, and the height didn’t really budge any. A long story short, the module didn’t inflate as it was expected to, and rather than risking damaging the equipment, or putting the astronauts lives in danger they’ve went ahead and postponed the inflation until it can be figured out what exactly went wrong. The exact date for when the new inflation attempt will occur is still unknown at this point in time. There isn’t a whole lot known yet about what went wrong, but it is confirmed that everyone aboard the International Space Station is safe and no astronauts were harmed during the test. Because the module is the first technology of its kind to be used in space, no one really knows yet how it’s going to react to the micro-gravitational effects of space. If it can be perfected, such technology would be compact enough to easily stow away on cargo ships and are light enough to carry many at a time on a space-bound rocket, making it a potential helper in future missions to the Moon, Mars, and anywhere in between. Source: Wired

NASA is closely watching the dwarf planet of Ceres, which is the largest object in the asteroid belt between the planets of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres is about 587 miles in diameter, which is about one-third the size of Pluto. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is one of the things the United States space and astronomy firm is using to monitor Ceres, and the most recent images that Dawn is sending back to Earth is exciting astronomers. The image shows a close-up of a large conical mountain that is about 4 miles high and has very steep edges. It’s a part of a series of images that Dawn will be acquiring during the mission. The plan is to map out as much of the surface of Ceres as possible in both 2D and 3D within the next two months. "Dawn is performing flawlessly in this new orbit as it conducts its ambitious exploration. The spacecraft's view is now three times as sharp as in its previous mapping orbit, revealing exciting new details of this intriguing dwarf planet," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and mission director, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Dawn is not only snapping pictures, but it’s collecting data so that scientists can learn what the mineral composition of Ceres’ surface is composed of. This information can provide clues about the formation of our solar system, as well as shed light on the constant search for life. Since this is the first mission to visit a Dwarf planet, there are a lot of things NASA scientists want to do. Dawn is also the first spacecraft to ever visit two solar system targets, which means Dawn is setting records all over the place. There will be more to come as Dawn continues to probe the planet and snap pictures. Source: NASA

Researchers from The National Center for Scientific Research at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (CNRS/IPGP/IGN) are turning to chemistry to answer questions about volcanoes and our planet’s early beginnings. The resulting study was published recently in the journal Nature. Led by a CNRS researcher, Jabrane Labidi, the team gathered gas samples from volcanoes around the world. The idea was to figure out where the nitrogen that makes up Earth’s atmosphere originally came from. Earth’s atmosphere is a unique combination in our solar system. While the atmospheres of Venus and Mars are made up principally of carbon dioxide, Earth’s is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen. We know that the oxygen initially came from our planet’s original organisms, but what about the nitrogen? This team of scientists hypothesized that the nitrogen came as a result of volcanic eruptions from deep within Earth’s mantle. This hypothesis, however, was quickly debunked from their gas samples. The samples showed the researchers that the nitrogen found from magma that comes from Earth’s mantle is isotopically distinct from atmospheric nitrogen, meaning it could not account for the atmospheric composition of nitrogen. So, while that question continues to be unanswered, the researchers didn’t come away from their study empty-handed, so to speak. From their sample measurements, there were able to identify how volcanic gases contributed to the atmosphere (from heated rainwater) and the Earth’s mantle (forming magmatic gas). For example, they observed that small amounts of magmatic gas in geysers in Yellowstone National Park, which indicates renewed activity. Observations such as this could be useful for predicting future volcanic activity, say the authors. Sources: Nature, Science Daily

Pluto was once called a planet in our solar system, but those definitions changed in 2006, and this officially demoted Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet in the minds of scientists. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the decision was met with substantial amounts of hesitation from the general public. Even today, more than a decade later, people wonder why Pluto was demoted from planet to dwarf planet; many still disagree with the ruling and have their reasons why. But as it would seem, experts at the International Astronomical Union had their reasons for demoting Pluto, and it was to make the definition much more suitable such that every space rock in the solar system that orbited the Sun wouldn’t be deemed a ‘planet.’ As it turns out, the Kuiper Belt is chock-full of Pluto-like dwarf planets, and the rapid rate at which they were being discovered would quickly outpace printed science textbooks. Moreover, these worlds weren’t quite like the other terrestrial planets in our solar system, such as Earth, Mars, and Venus, to name a few. The current definition for a planet is an object that: 1) orbits the Sun, 2) has a nearly round shape, and 3) has cleared its neighborhood of rocks and debris. Pluto meets two of these criteria, but not the last one, as other planets in the solar system have. This new definition ensures that the seemingly-endless space rocks we find in the Kuiper Belt with similar size and shape to Pluto don’t get called ‘planets’ in the conventional sense.

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) officially began scientific operations at the end of last month, a move that will help the space agency search the vast sky for the existence of distant exoplanets. But while the TESS’ primary function might be exoplanet discovery, that didn’t prevent the spacecraft from witnessing a stunning comet flyby on July 25th, just before scientific operations went live. Image Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center In an official statement, NASA shared the following footage that shows 17 hours’ worth of footage of comet C/2018 N1 buzzing past TESS’ optical equipment: The comet is the brightest and most eye-catching object in the entire frame, but also visible in the surroundings are assorted asteroids, variable stars, and even light that has been reflected by the neighboring planet of Mars. If you look closely, you’ll also see the comet’s tail pointing toward the top of the frame. The tail points away from the direction of the Sun, as it’s comprised of tiny particles that are being stripped away from the comet by the solar wind. Comet C/2018 N1 was initially discovered by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) satellite on June 29. It was approximately 29 million miles away from Earth when it was picked up by TESS’ instruments. Related: Here's what the TRAPPIST-1 system looks like from Kepler's perspective Worthy of note, TESS sports an enormous field of view that will help astronomers discover distant worlds, and this video footage demonstrates only a small fraction of it. It should be interesting to see what TESS discovers as scientific observations continue. After all, it has the Kepler Space Telescope’s legacy to compete with, and could also help astronomers discover new targets to study with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. Source: NASA

Scientists have developed a new superelastic alloy or SEA, that has the capacity to regain its original shape even after exposure under extreme temperature conditions. The iron-based SEA can withstand temperatures past traditional points of critical stress and it a cost-effective alternative to conventional SEAs. These findings, published in Science from researchers from Tohoku University's Graduate School of Engineering, overcome the limits of expensive metal-based SEAs such as Ti-Ni, which require temperatures lower than -20C or higher than 80C. “The discovery possesses wide-spread application for outer-space exploration given the large temperature fluctuations that occur," says Associate Professor at Tohoku University, Toshihiro Omori. Professor Omori and his team describe the SEA system they have developed, citing it as Fe-Mn-Al-Cr-Ni. They write in their study that what makes Fe-Mn-Al-Cr-Ni unique is its temperature balance. “Temperature dependence is a common feature that often restricts the use of metal shape memory alloys in applications. We discovered an iron-based superelastic alloy system in which the critical stress can be optimized,” say the authors. While most SEAs have a positive temperature dependence, meaning the critical stress increases as the temperature rises, the team figured out that adding more Chromium to Fe-Mn-Al-Cr-Ni shifted the temperature dependence from a positive to a negative. As explained by Eureka Alert, “Balancing the Chromium content resulted in zero temperature dependence with the critical stress remaining almost constant at various temperatures.” They say that its durability under extreme temperatures could play a part in developing a superelastic tire for missions to Mars and to the Moon, where temperatures range from -150C to 20C and -170C to 120C respectively. "Yet, the new, SEA's usage does not stop there." Professor Omori comments, "It can potentially be used in tension braces in buildings or column elements in bridges - providing greater resistance to earthquakes." Sources: Science, Eureka Alert

SpaceX originally designed its acclaimed Falcon 9 rocket to be a reusable rocket platform. With literally dozens of Falcon 9 rocket launches and landings in just the past three years, it’d be an understatement to say that SpaceX has exceeded this momentous goal, but for the most part, SpaceX limits the number of times that a Falcon 9 rocket can fly. The highest number of times that any Falcon 9 rocket booster has flown is three, and three separate rocket boosters have achieved this feat, including B1046, B1048, and B1049. After the third launch, SpaceX seems to retire the rocket booster, instead opting to launch a newer one, presumably on the grounds of safety and reliability concerns. The latest iteration of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, dubbed ‘Block 5’ is designed to be the most reusable Falcon 9 rocket yet. It’s intended to make refurbishing the rocket easier and to reduce the amount of time needed to make it flight-ready again. The average turnaround time for rocket booster refurbishment is approximately 107 days. Theoretically, a SpaceX Falcon 9’s Merlin engine should be capable of at least one-thousand maintenance-free flights, but there are several other components of a rocket to take into consideration besides the engine, such as the fuel tank, the landing gear, and the payload vehicle, among other things. Each of these systems must work flawlessly to ensure a safe and reliable flight. In the future, SpaceX may phase out the Falcon 9 rocket in place of larger and more advanced rocket systems, such as the upcoming Starhopper starship, which could double as a transportation system in low-Earth orbit and for deep space missions to Mars and the Moon.

As NASA prepares for the decades to come, which will undoubtedly involve more deep space missions and fewer International Space Station trips, the agency is making some important decisions that will decide the fate of the International Space Station so it doesn’t go to waste. Image Credit: NASA Soon, NASA won’t be restricting International Space Station module access to just major space agencies. Even private companies involved in space technology development will be able to dock their modules on the giant space lab that orbits our Earth for the sake of space experimentation ‘off-the-Earth, for-the-Earth.” The news comes from NASA administrator Charles Bolden in a White House blog post, which outlines the importance of furthering our footprint in space and opening opportunities for using space to private companies. As the blog post indicates, NASA’s recent question to private space companies about how they would use the International Space Station’s docking modules reportedly received a truckload positive feedback. Perhaps even so positive, that it persuaded NASA to go ahead with the idea. “The private sector responded enthusiastically, and those responses indicated a strong desire by U.S. companies to attach a commercial module to the ISS that could meet the needs of NASA as well as those of private entrepreneurs,” Bolden said in the blog post. In the mid-2020’s, when the International Space Station mission is retired and NASA focuses its efforts on deep space missions like those to Mars, perhaps private companies can find a use for the space lab that NASA will no longer really need. Opening up access to the International Space Station to private space companies as soon as this Fall will help make that transition to the International Space Station’s successors easier, and may even prove useful for businesses that wish to use space as a tool. Source: White House Blog

Scientists who inhabit the International Space Station (ISS) typically have 12-hour shifts. These include two and a half hours of gym time and six and a half hours working in a lab. Sleep takes up eight hours, meaning they have a total of four hours to themselves. So what do astronauts do in their spare time? As it turns out, staying entertained aboard the ISS is a crucial part of their work. Boredom, after all, leads to performance errors, according to NASA Senior Operation psychologist, James Picano. Helping the team to unwind and ensure operations run smoothly, staying entertained also helps the astronauts engage with pop culture and inform others about their work. According to NASA’s website, a popular pastime while aboard the ISS is simply looking out the window. As such, the station has numerous windows for crew members to peer out of and let lose their fascination and awe as they look at the Earth beneath them. They are said to enjoy sunsets and sunrises, in particular, visible every 45 minutes while above the Earth’s atmosphere. Considerations about entertainment, however, are increasing as we edge ever closer to the reality of a 7-month voyage to Mars. This is especially important given the size of the living space during the voyage- expected to be roughly that of a two-car garage- somewhat smaller than the ISS. As such, NASA is investigating opportunities to include virtual reality as a part of their entertainment package. This way, astronauts could experientially take time off work to chill at the beach or take to the Himalayas, while still hurtling through space. “As a species, we are innovators,” says Picano. “If you send soldiers or scientists to confined or austere environments, they will find ways to play. It never ceases to amaze me.” Sources: Popular Science, NASA

A meteorite that landed in the Nubian Desert of Sudan almost a decade ago appears to be stirring up quite a bit of attention in the scientific community this week. Image Credit: Peter Jenniskens/SETI/NASA Traces of extraterrestrial diamond crystal found within the space rock have unknown origins, but a study published in the journal Nature Communications this week by a team of Switzerland-based researchers suggests how they could be remnants of a protoplanet from the early solar system. Related: Are iron meteorites buried underneath Antarctica? The team reportedly reached this conclusion after studying the meteorite with high-resolution observation technique called transmission electron microscopy; this allowed them to discern the circumstances in which the crystals formed, and the results don’t seem to disappoint. Image Credit: Dr. F. Nabiei/Dr. E. Oveisi, EPFL, Switzerland The crystals’ characteristics exhibit evidence for forming at high pressures that exceeded 20 gigapascals. That said, they would have stemmed from the formation of a rocky protoplanet sporting a size between that of Earth’s Moon and the planet Mars. Related: Did life come to Earth on a meteorite? Researchers have long theorized about protoplanetary presence in the early solar system, but most theories have relied on computer models. Proving them with concrete evidence isn’t easy, but the discoveries made within this particular space rock have the potential to set a precedent in that regard. The few small pieces of diamond crystal found within this meteorite aren’t much to go by, but follow-up research could provide additional clues about what the early solar system may have really been like. Source: Space.com