Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: space – Page 230

NASA Has a Slew of Fascinating Space Missions on the Horizon

The year 2023 proved to be an important one for space missions, with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/watch-live-ancient-aste…JBNopD%24″ rel=“nofollow”> returning a sample from an asteroid and India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission https://www.space.com/chandrayaan-3-moon-temperature-lunar-s…sYef5A%24″ rel=“nofollow”> exploring the lunar south pole, and 2024 is shaping up to be another exciting year for space exploration.

Several new missions under NASA’s https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/__;!!LsXw!R0aklfNlteeO…SEcWZi%24″ rel=“nofollow”> Artemis plan and https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/__;!!…V7gEoS%24″ rel=“nofollow”> Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative will target the Moon.

The latter half of the year will feature several exciting launches, with the launch of the Martian Moons eXploration mission in September, Europa Clipper and Hera in October and Artemis II and VIPER to the Moon in November—if everything goes as planned.

New clues emerge toward possible life on Enceladus

“Searching for compounds in the plume is a bit like putting the pieces of a puzzle back together,” says lead author Jonah Peter, “in that we look for the right combination of molecules that reproduce the observed data. Information theory allows us to determine how much detail we can extract from the data without missing important features or overfitting to statistical noise.”

Water, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and methane had previously been found in analyses of INMS data, but this study found additional compounds and molecules, including acetylene, propylene, ethane, methanol, molecular oxygen, and hydrogen cyanide. These add to the various hints that Enceladus, despite its frigid perch in the outer solar system, harbors an environment conducive to life deep within its oceans.

Scientists find first hints of nuclear fission in universe, challenging theories

Researchers have now identified the first signs of nuclear fission in the cosmos, something that has baffled scientists since the 1950s.

Scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory and North Carolina State University have uncovered compelling evidence of nuclear fission occurring in the cosmos, specifically during the merger of neutron stars. This discovery challenges long-held beliefs and opens a new chapter in our understanding of heavy element formation in the universe.

Nuclear fusion is the process by which two atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing significant amounts of energy. This process plays a crucial role in generating the energy that sustains a star’s luminosity.

Replicating nuclear fusion on Earth involves overcoming challenges such as creating and maintaining the extreme temperatures and pressures required for fusion reactions, achieving stable plasma confinement, and developing materials that can withstand harsh conditions within a fusion reactor.

Scientists find record-breaking collection of molecules in 2 extremely ancient galaxies

The two galaxies were targeted by astronomers using NOEMA, the Northern Extended Millimetre Array, in France. NOEMA is able to detect millimeter and submillimeter radio waves. Fascinatingly, the team, led by Chentao Yang of the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, detected emissions from a whopping 13 different molecules in these two galaxies.

Related: Earliest magnetic galaxy ever detected offers clues about Milky Way history

“We are seeing part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is hard to observe in nearby galaxies,” said Yang in a press statement. “But thanks to the expansion of the universe, the light from distant galaxies like these is shifted to longer wavelengths that we can see with radio telescopes observing [at] submillimeter [wavelengths].”

Using ‘waste’ product from recent NASA research, scientists create transformative nanomaterials

Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered the transformative potential of Martian nanomaterials, potentially opening the door to sustainable habitation on the red planet.

Using resources and techniques currently applied on the International Space Station and by NASA, Dr. Conor Boland, a Lecturer in Materials Physics at the University of Sussex, led a research group that investigated the potential of nanomaterials—incredibly tiny components thousands of times smaller than a —for clean energy production and on Mars.

Taking what was considered a by NASA and applying only sustainable production methods, including water-based chemistry and low-energy processes, the researchers have successfully identified within gypsum nanomaterials—opening the door to potential clean energy and sustainable technology production on Mars.