October 12, 2022
“For the first time ever, humanity has changed the orbit of a planetary body,” said NASA planetary science division director Lori Glaze.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dart-mission-deflected-asteroid-for-planetary-defense
A change of 32 minutes in orbit — but only 4% of the total orbital period. To deflect an asteroid away from Earth, it’d better be done several years in advance. 🌏
Still, it can be done. An amazing first.
August 23, 2022
“We’ve never seen Jupiter like this. It’s all quite incredible,” said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, of the University of California, Berkeley, who helped lead the observations.
“We hadn’t really expected it to be this good, to be honest,” she added in a statement.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/james-webb-space-telescope-shows-jupiters-auroras-tiny-moons
The above is supposed to be in “quote” format, but WP really messed up this feature when they switched to so-called “block” mode (which I can’t stand).
Anyway, the image is fairly spectacular, from the new James Webb Space Telescope which is positioned 1 million miles away from Earth (i.e., in the second LaGrange point, or L2).
August 18, 2022
First of all, stop calling it “the golden asteroid.” That’s confusing people (the headline of the article linked below even uses the phrase “gold mine.” Come on, lazy journalists.)
If 16 Psyche is worth mining, when could such operations proceed? Citigroup thinks that space mining, including from the moon and asteroids, will be a $100 billion-per-year business by 2040. Launch costs will continue to decrease and experience in operating in space will continue to expand until such a business makes economic sense.
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3597381-nasa-might-cancel-mission-to-massive-gold-mine-asteroid-heres-why-it-shouldnt/
So is asteroid worth it?
Sure.
Is it horribly expensive right now?
Sure.
So why do it?
Well, how heavy do you think the materials to make buildings and ships in outer space are?
If we’re serious about putting people on the Moon and Mars, then it makes much more sense to set up robotic mining factories and assemble everything in space.
All this needs is a little incentive…like a new space race…
July 18, 2022
Yeah. So I missed another installment in my series.
Shoot.
Things are just ridiculously spiraling out of control at work. I hope to start posting more regularly again in a week or so.
In the meantime, check out more images from the Webb space telescope compared to Hubble. They’re pretty awe-inspiring.
July 12, 2022
…but it is worth USD $10 billion…
PS. Let’s look for the aliens, already…
https://apnews.com/article/james-webb-telescope-first-photos-32c7cad1f6b277f871990d029bedba72
May 16, 2022
The samples were extremely hydrophobic, and repelled water as if it were the most disgusting thing ever invented. Researchers labored to get the lunar soil to gradually soak up water. They also added a nutrient solution.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/05/12/plants-grow-in-lunar-soil/
Turns out that it is possible to grow plants on the Moon…
…although you might want to wear gloves while farming, since the “soil” contains tiny pieces of glass from constant bombardment.
Continue Reading
April 30, 2022
“Researchers think an in-depth study of Uranus can help them better understand the many similarly sized objects now being discovered around other stars.“
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61155725
Uranus is weird. It has rings. It has 13 moons, some of which may harbor life beneath their icy surfaces.
It has a funny name.
I get it. But learning more about how its formation affects planet formation is just not that important.
“Pure” researchers probably are interested, but frankly, if NASA wastes its time doing this, they will miss the opportunity to settle the Moon and Mars, mine asteroids for valuable resources, and explore other moons like Titan and Europa.
China will get there first.
Pure research is all fine and dandy, but it’s also incredibly expensive — taxpayer dollars should be spent on projects with more tangible benefits.
April 18, 2022
“Its size, which NASA noted is larger than the state of Rhode Island, is an estimation because the comet is still too far away for Hubble to tell for certain.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/largest-comet-ever-seen-barreling-toward-inner-solar-system-nasa-2022-4
Note that the original title was “…toward the Inner Solar System”…and yet the article goes on to explain that it won’t come any closer than a billion miles from the Sun, “‘slightly farther than the distance of the planet Saturn,’ NASA said in a statement.“
Uh. The inner solar system is *no where near* Saturn. Try again, fear-mongers.
Sigh.
Anyway, it really is the proverbial “tip of the iceberg,” since this was seen with Hubble, and we have yet to see just what the new James Webb telescope can do. The Oort Cloud is a big place. There must be millions upon millions comets just waiting to be discovered.
April 12, 2022
In short, the algae will use sunlight to transform CO2 into sugars that are then enhanced by bio-engineered E.coli into 2,3-butanediol. Interestingly, 2,3-BDO is not entirely conceptual as it currently exists and is mainly used to produce rubber components. It has just never been thought of as fuel before.
https://www.universal-sci.com/article/producing-rocket-fuel-on-mars-using-microbes?utm_campaign=Universal-Sci%20Weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter
Neat. So all the astronauts have to do is bring, uh, how much algae we talking here?
The article doesn’t say, but it does mention a by-product of the process: Oxygen!
That would seem rather helpful. Mars or bust?
March 18, 2022
Or, as I’m sure was unintentionally titled, ”Nasa probing people having sex in space.” 🤦
Ya know, I’m pretty sure we need to figure out “this whole food-air deal” first (to quote comedian Bill Hicks).
“The US space agency confirmed that there were currently no plans for a field or project office to explore the topic in any detail but that could change as we get closer to putting humans on Mars.“
Uh-huh.
Priorities…
Writing Fanfiction in the worlds of Tolkien and Beyond!
Learning more about our place in the universe...
Best Tech Gadgets Advise
Marvel Comics Reviews, Previews and News
Writing blogs is miracle I am a writer blogger and my site mission is to give information on maximum information to audiences
Reflections of an inquiring retiree ...
Bring the Outdoors In, and the Indoors Out
Rock & Metal Reviews That Hit Hard
Short stories | Reflections | Poetry
Read. Reflect. Grow
M Thomas Apple Author Page 