This week, we welcome Dr. John Kiss from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro (UNCG). Tonight, Dr. Kiss will be discussing the sensory physiology of plants in space research, including the effect of Mars’ levels of gravity on plant development.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: September 30, 2020, Dr. John Kiss Discusses the Growth of Plants in Space”Testing the Rover That’ll Land on Phobos
Rovers seem to be proliferating all over Mars. There are currently 4 on the surface, and another (Perseverance) will be arriving in a few months after a successful launch at the end of July. Mars itself isn’t the only interesting rocky body in the Martian system, however. Its two moons, Phobos and Deimos, pose a bit of a mystery. How were they formed? Were they captured asteroids or caused by an impact similar to Earth’s own Moon?
Scientists and engineers are now one step closer to answering those questions with the successful test of a rover that will visit Phobos with JAXA’s Martian Moon Exploration (MMX) mission that will launch in 2024. The rover, which has yet to be separately named from its parent mission, just underwent some testing that will help to prove it’s worthy to join the pantheon of rovers roaming around the Martian system.
Continue reading “Testing the Rover That’ll Land on Phobos”Astronomers think they’ve found an exoplanet in a galaxy 23 million light-years away
Using a variety of techniques astronomers have successfully identified thousands of exoplanets, which are planets orbiting stars outside of our own solar system. But a new research paper introduces a breakthrough: the first detection of an exoplanet not just in another solar system, but in an entirely different galaxy sitting millions of light years away.
Continue reading “Astronomers think they’ve found an exoplanet in a galaxy 23 million light-years away”Cheops Finds a World That’s Utterly Alien From Anything We Have in the Solar System
The ESA’s CHEOPS (Characterizing Exoplanets Satellite) mission has announced its first discovery. It’s called WASP-189 b, and it’s a blistering hot temperature of 3,200 °C (5,790 °F), hotter than some stars. They’re calling the planet an “ultra-hot Jupiter.”
Continue reading “Cheops Finds a World That’s Utterly Alien From Anything We Have in the Solar System”A Galaxy has been Found That’s as Bright as a Quasar… But it’s Not a Quasar
Astronomers have found a new type of galaxy that is very old, very distant and very bright in ultraviolet light. This is somewhat an unusual combination, and so when this bright galaxy was first detected, the team of researchers who found it first thought it was a quasar. But detailed study revealed it was actually a galaxy with some other unusual features, which contributes to its brightness: it is busy with star formation, it has almost no dust.
As of now, this galaxy – with the license plate-type name of BOSS-EUVLG1 – appears to be the only one of its kind.
Continue reading “A Galaxy has been Found That’s as Bright as a Quasar… But it’s Not a Quasar”Another Starship Test Tank is Pushed to the Limit and Explodes
They say that failure can be the greatest teacher of all, and it’s easy to see why. Those who learn from their mistakes become informed as to what can go wrong, and will develop the necessary strategies to avoid making the same mistake in the future. This philosophy is also at the core of SpaceX rapid-prototyping process, where full-scale models of the Starship and its components are tested to the point of failure.
At Boca Chica, SpaceX ground crews continue to follow this process in order to get the Starship ready for orbital testing. The latest piece of hardware that was tested to failure was the SN7.1 Test Tank, which was pressurized until it exploded. This test took place a week ago (on the evening of September 23rd) shortly after the SN5 and SN6 prototypes both completed a 150 m (~500 ft) hop test.
Continue reading “Another Starship Test Tank is Pushed to the Limit and Explodes”Maybe Volcanoes Could Explain the Phosphine in Venus’ Atmosphere
The detection of phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere was one of those quintessential moments in space science. It was an unexpected discovery, and when combined with our incomplete understanding of planetary science, and our wistful hopefulness around the discovery of life, the result was a potent mix that lit up internet headlines.
As always, some of the headlines were a bit of an over-reach. But that’s the way it goes.
At the heart of it all, there is compelling science. And the same, overarching question that keeps popping up: Are we alone?
Continue reading “Maybe Volcanoes Could Explain the Phosphine in Venus’ Atmosphere”Is There Life Deep Underground on Mars?
It’s been a great month for planetary science. Scientists first discovered the chemical signature of phosphine on Venus, then found additional underground lakes on Mars. While no life has been conclusively found yet, science continues to take incremental steps toward proving what could be one of the most impactful discoveries in history: that we are not alone.
But in order to definitively prove that, science will have to conclusively find life first. The methods for doing so will differ dramatically based on whether the location is in the clouds of Venus or under the ice of Mars. Scientists have come up with a model to understand the conditions for any life to exist in the subsurface oceans of not only Mars, but any rocky body with underground liquid water.
Continue reading “Is There Life Deep Underground on Mars?”Astronomers Find a New Binary Object in the Kuiper Belt
Scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have presented the discovery of a binary pair of objects way out in the Kuiper Belt. They’re Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) which means their orbit is outside the orbit of Neptune, our Solar System’s outermost planet. This binary pair is unusual because of their close proximity with one another.
Continue reading “Astronomers Find a New Binary Object in the Kuiper Belt”Just A Couple Of Weeks From Now, OSIRIS-REx Will Grab A Sample From Bennu
NASA is about to achieve another first for their organization. In about three weeks time, on October 20th, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will descend to Bennu’s surface, briefly touch down, and collect a sample from the asteroid. The spacecraft will collect a minimum of 60 grams (2 oz.) of material for return to Earth.
Continue reading “Just A Couple Of Weeks From Now, OSIRIS-REx Will Grab A Sample From Bennu”