Space and astronomy news
Sometimes, space probes that have long since ceased sending back data can still usher in new discoveries. That was the case recently when scientists used data from Rosetta, a probe that eventually crashed into comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2016, to understand what changes occur on a comet’s surface as it continues its spin around the Sun.
Continue reading “How Long do Good Landing Sites Last on Comets?”
Spaceflight can be dangerous – and not just because astronauts are strapped to an ongoing massive explosion for their ascent into orbit. Its long-term effects on the human body are starting to come more clearly into focus, and so far, none of the answers have been good. Now a new study from Mount Sinai Medical Hospital has found that, even on relatively short duration spaceflights, astronauts suffer potentially damaging DNS mutations.
Continue reading “Even Short Flights to Space Cause Cell Mutations That Could Lead to Cancer and Heart Disease”
Life on Venus, or the possibility thereof, has been a hot topic as of late. There’s also been plenty of controversies, including the (still disputed) discovery of phosphine, a potential biomarker in the atmosphere. The best way to lay that controversy to rest would be to go there and actually take samples, which at the very least, would help constrain the existence of life in Venus’ cloud layers. And a wide-ranging team from academia and industry hopes to do just that.
Continue reading “What Would it Take to Find Life on Venus?”
Student teams are an underappreciated resource in much of the scientific community. Joining a team working toward a goal while at university, whether for racing solar-powered cars or digging fish ponds in Africa, is an excellent way to sharpen technical and project skills while improving communication and teamwork. The space industry is starting to catch on to these strengths, with student teams developing exciting projects all over the world. A recent entry comes from students at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands – a six-legged robot called Lunar Zebro with a unique take on wheels.
Continue reading “Using “C-Shaped Wheels,” This Rover can Climb Over More Challenging Lunar Terrain”
The future of satellite communications is almost upon us. SpaceX has signed a deal with T-Mobile to provide the carrier’s customers with text services from its Starlink satellites anywhere in the US starting next year.
Continue reading “You’ll Soon be Able to Access Starlink Directly With Your Cellphone, From Anywhere in the US, and Eventually the World”
Artemis 1 delayed yet again, a direct image of an exoplanet from Webb, how Starlink will connect directly to phones, Voyager 1 is fixed, and the Crisis in Cosmology continues.
Continue reading “JWST Sees An Exoplanet, SLS Delay, Cosmology Crisis Continues”
Legendary astronomer Frank Drake has passed away at the age of 92. Known primarily for his Drake Equation — an estimate of the probability of intelligent extraterrestrial life — he pioneered the field of SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and was a noted astronomer and astrophysicist. His work and life have left an indelible mark on humanity and given hope and wonder to all our hearts.
Continue reading “Legendary Astronomer Frank Drake has Passed Away”
We are living in an exciting time, where next-generation instruments and improved methods are leading to discoveries in astronomy, astrophysics, planetary science, and cosmology. As we look farther and in greater detail into the cosmos, some of the most enduring mysteries are finally being answered. Of particular interest are cosmic rays, the tiny particles consisting of protons, atomic nuclei, or stray electrons that have been accelerated to near the speed of light. These particles represent a major hazard for astronauts venturing beyond Earth’s protective magnetic field.
At the same time, cosmic rays regularly interact with our atmosphere (producing “showers” of secondary particles) and may have even played a role in the evolution of life on Earth. Due to the way they carry an electric charge, which scrambles their path as they travel through the Milky Way’s magnetic field, astronomers have been hard-pressed to find where cosmic rays originate. But thanks to a new study that examined 12 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, scientists have confirmed that the most powerful originate from shock waves caused by supernova remnants.
Continue reading “Pulsars are Blasting out Cosmic Rays With a Million Billion Electronvolts”
When Artemis 1 finally takes flight (possibly this Saturday), twelve bags of baker’s yeast will go along for the ride. Millions of these cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae will experience deep space as it grows and reproduces. The yeast is a stand-in for actual people. The idea is to see what threat the radiation environment in deep space poses to living cells. The data from the experiment will point to how genetic engineering might help reduce damage to astronauts.
Continue reading “Yeast Will Fill in for Humans on Artemis I, Soaking up a Lunar Mission’s Worth of Radiation”
The James Webb Space Telescope has taken its first direct image of an exoplanet, a planet outside our Solar System. The exoplanet, HIP 65425 b is a gas giant that orbits an A-type star, has a mass of about nine times that of Jupiter and is about 355 light-years from Earth. While the planet has virtually no chance of being habitable, the data from these observations show just how powerful a tool JWST will be for studying exoplanets.
Continue reading “JWST Takes Its First Image of an Exoplanet”