November 24, 2021
twitter.com/nasa/status/1463315612042678279
Technically, the two asteroids the DART is aiming at are a “binary” (they orbit each other).
The BBC’s explanation is pretty good.
They don’t even mention Bruce Willis until the final sentence.
November 12, 2021
Hang on, I think I’ve seen this before…
Oh.
Not such a great idea, then, to send them on an interstellar cruise…
November 5, 2021
There. Feel better already?
🖖
July 28, 2021
Well, OK, technically it’s the mantle, not the crust.
But it is thick. Super thick. And no gradations like the Earth.
Extrapolating to the known surface geology of the rest of the planet, this suggests an average thickness of between 24km and 72km. By contrast, Earth’s average crustal thickness is 15-20km.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57935742
So what does this mean?
For one thing, it probably explains why there’s no breathable atmosphere on Mars.
Mars never developed a global magnetic field to block solar radiation. So it’s atmosphere was basically ripped right off.
And any terraforming attempts in the future would fail on a global scale. But maybe locally it might work…
June 27, 2021
Like other nations, China “regards Mars exploration as the preferred destination for deep space exploration,” Wang said.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Technology/china-unveils-ambitious-roadmap-human-mars-exploration/
China’s plan calls for setting up a permanently occupied base and a fleet of interplanetary craft. Probably it’s a good idea to first see whether it can meet its goal of landing people on Mars in 2033.
Of course, China is “willing to join hands with our counterparts and partners all over the world,” but it’s unlikely NASA, JAXA, ESA, and the UAE and other countries not named Russia will “cooperate.”
The next space race is here. Just wait until multinats actually decide asteroid mining is worth the risk and expense.
June 19, 2021
The inclusion of an ion propulsion system in a long-running, Earth-orbiting space station will give researchers a chance to test out the tech while astronauts are still close to home — and if it works as hoped, it could one day ferry explorers to Mars and even more distant destinations.
https://www.freethink.com/articles/ion-propulsion
That’s a big “if.”
Another is what the price will be, since no doubt this neat new tech won’t easily be shared among nation-states.
Just yesterday Chinese astronauts entered their new space station for the first time. They weren’t allowed into the ISS. Now they don’t need the ISS.
The old rivalries will follow humanity into space…but for how long will the rivalries remain…
April 19, 2021
“We together flew on Mars. We together have our Wright brothers moment.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/04/19/nasa-ingenuity-helicopter-mars/
Yeah, yeah, I know. Technically, a German immigrant in Connecticut flew a plane before Orville and Wilbur.
But PR counts. Kudos, NASA!
April 5, 2021
The gag practically writes itself…
…but seriously, this is neat. One source of the X-Rays is the Sun (it also bounces off of Jupiter and Saturn). But there may be yet another source…perhaps the rings of Uranus or the planet itself.
And no, it’s not really pink. That’s just a Chandra X-ray image.
Shame, really.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/images/first-x-rays-from-uranus-discovered.html
March 22, 2021
Hazardous asteroid!? Call out Bruce Willis!
No worries. “Close to Earth” in this is 1.25 million miles. But it’s a great chance to find out more about the early solar system.
February 18, 2021
Great job, NASA! Landing on Mars is always a tricky business.
Now all Perseverance has to do is find traces of life, save it without contamination, and then wait for another rocket, another rover, and a satellite to get in orbit so the samples can be sent back to Earth.
Piece of cake, right?
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56119931
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