Lifeboat Foundation

At the south pole of Jupiter lurks a striking sight—even for a gas giant planet covered in colorful bands that sports a red spot larger than the earth. Down near the south pole of the planet, mostly hidden from the prying eyes of humans, is a collection of swirling storms arranged in an unusually geometric pattern.

Since they were first spotted by NASA’s Juno space probe in 2019, the storms have presented something of a mystery to scientists. The storms are analogous to hurricanes on Earth. However, on our planet, hurricanes do not gather themselves at the poles and twirl around each other in the shape of a pentagon or hexagon, as do Jupiter’s curious storms.

Now, a research team working in the lab of Andy Ingersoll, Caltech professor of planetary science, has discovered why Jupiter’s storms behave so strangely. They did so using math derived from a proof written by Lord Kelvin, a British mathematical physicist and engineer, nearly 150 years ago.

Watch yourself!! #SpaceExploration

Space robotics startup GITAI and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are teaming up to produce the world’s first robotics demonstration in space by a private company. The new agreement under the JAXA Space Innovation through Partnership and Co-creation (J-SPARC) initiative aims to demonstrate the potential for robots to automate of the processing of specific tasks aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Robotics is altering many aspects of our lives in many fields and one where it is particularly attractive is in the exploration and exploitation of space. Ironically, the great strides made in manned spaceflight since the first Vostok mission lifted off in 1961 have shown that not only is supporting astronauts in orbit challenging and expensive, there are also many tasks, like microgravity experiments, where the human touch isn’t the best choice.

Continue reading “JAXA teams with GITAI for world-first private sector space robotics demo” »

NASA’S Juno spacecraft snapped this “dramatic image” of an eclipse shadow passing over Jupiter, caused by its volcanic moon Io.

Even though it’s a month away from completing its primary task of capturing a sample, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission has already set records and revealed some surprising things about the asteroid Bennu: youtu.be/j_hSNBmpuqY

O,.o.

A new mini-moon might be about to join Earth’s orbit briefly, before being hurled back into space.

‘Minimoons’ are only a few feet across, and each tends to do a stint of around a few months in orbit – before resuming their previous lives as asteroids.

Continue reading “Earth is about to capture a new ‘mini moon’ (but it might not be a moon at all)” »

The “core space operators” deployed by the U.S. military’s controversial newest branch aren’t in orbit, they’re in Qatar.

Some experts worry that deepening civil-military ties could pose problems.

Following a series of critical contract awards and hardware milestones, NASA has shared an update on its Artemis program, including the latest Phase 1 plans to land the first woman and the next man on the surface of the Moon in 2024.