When NASA’s Perseverance Rover observed an image from Mars of its moon Phobos eclipsing the Sun, it was a reminder that the astronomical body is doomed to crash into the planet. Phobos is the closest of Mars’ two moons and it is due to fall out of orbit relatively soon.
In the ongoing quest for human habitation on the Moon, the issue of cleanliness within spacesuits is a critical one. Future astronauts venturing to the lunar surface will be equipped with a new generation of spacesuits designed to endure the harsh lunar environment, thanks to the European Space Agency’s PExTex project.
However, as these suits provide safety and comfort, they could also offer a conducive environment for harmful microbial growth. This issue is further exacerbated as astronauts may potentially share these suits.
PExTex is addressing this issue by assessing suitable textiles for future spacesuit designs. Collaborating with the Austrian Space Forum, they have launched a project named BACTeRMA. This project is focusing on ways to prevent microbial growth within the inner linings of the suits.
The Wallops Range forecast issued today for the Tuesday, Aug. 1, launch of Northrop Grumman’s 19th resupply mission to the International Space Station puts weather at 80% favorable.
A weak area of high pressure will move off the coast Sunday evening, as a weak upper-level disturbance tracks toward the Wallops region with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms Monday morning through late Monday evening. The upper-level trough will remain over the Wallops Region Tuesday with a chance of an afternoon, sea breeze, pop-up shower or thunderstorms during the countdown. At this time, the primary concern for launch is a slight chance of cumulus clouds.
NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is targeting 8:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 1, for the launch.
A number of entrepreneurial groups have shared their strategies to turn the moon into a hustle and bustle world of marketable services.
A Neptune-sized planet orbits close enough to its star that it is bombarded by dramatic flares which cook the planet with radiation and strip its atmosphere.
In October of 2021, NASA’s next-generation infrared observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), will be launched. As the most advanced and complex space telescope ever built, the James Webb will characterize exoplanets, explore our Solar System, and address the deepest cosmological mysteries of all.
NASA+ will be a “no subscription required” streaming service for viewing rocket launches and NASA science, with app integration coming later this year.
Two meteor showers, the Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids, are both expected to peak during the evenings of July 30 and 31.
They will have to compete with a bright moon that’s 95% full, but the Alpha Capricornids may still produce some scintillating fireballs that could outshine the moon.
The Delta Aquariids, also called the Southern Delta Aquariids, will favor skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere, although they will still be visible in the Northern Hemisphere (especially across the southern US) but lower on the horizon, according to EarthSky.
The stars have always held significance for humans, but it is only recently that we have begun to comprehend vast groups of them, or galaxies, in the far reaches of the universe. The Webb telescope was anticipated by everybody as a game-changer in the field of astronomy. And we knew exactly what we believed Webb would completely astound us with. However, its most recent findings have blown away the proportions of our expectations. The Webb Telescope, according to American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, has allowed us to glimpse ghosts from the past.
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Blog post: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2018/08/13/epis…n-nothing/
It’s fun to be in the exciting, chaotic, youthful days of the podcast, when anything goes and experimentation is the order of the day. So today’s show is something different: a solo effort, featuring just me talking without any guests to cramp my style. This won’t be the usual format, but I suspect it will happen from time to time. Feel free to chime in below on how often you think alternative formats should be part of the mix. The topic today is “Why Is There Something Rather than Nothing?”, or equivalently “Why Does the Universe Exist at All?” Heady stuff, but we’re not going to back away from the challenge.
What I have to say will roughly follow my recent paper on the subject, although in a more chatty and accessible style. It concerns ideas at the intersection of physics, philosophy, and theology, so tune in if you’re into that sort of thing.
