NASA is set to announce the four astronauts who will be part of the Artemis 2 mission on Monday, April 3.
After the success of the Artemis 1 mission, NASA is going full steam ahead on its path to putting humanity back on the Moon.
With the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission, NASA had tested the foundations of Its new human space exploration capabilities, including the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Orion spacecraft, and all associated ground systems. Artemis 2 will be the first crewed mission to test these.
During the 10-day-long mission, the four astronauts will fly around the Moon to test and stress Orion’s life-support systems to make sure that it is capable of supporting astronauts to live and work in deep space.
Blue Origin Wins , NASA Moon Lander Contract.
NASA's chief made the announcement
on May 19, Reuters reports.
The contract is worth about $3.4 billion.
Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos
took to Twitter to celebrate the news.
Elon Musk's competing SpaceX
won NASA's first Artemis program
contract, valued at $3 billion, in 2021.
Blue Origin and lawmakers later confronted NASA,
asserting that a second contract should be made
available to promote competition and have a backup plan.
In 2022, NASA announced that it would provide a second lander contract.
Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, said that
the Blue Origin "partnership will only add
to this golden age of human spaceflight.".
Blue Origin will build its Blue Moon lander with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Draper and Astrobotic.
American astronauts have not been on the moon since 1972, Reuters reports
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
Astronomers have found an Earth-size planet that isn’t like Earth at all. Instead, the exoplanet, called LP 791-18 D, is likely covered in volcanoes and may experience eruptions with the same frequency as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active place in our solar system, according to researchers. Data from NASA’s planet-hunting Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, the retired Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes was used to find the exoplanet. A study detailing the findings was published Wednesday in the journal Nature. LP 791-18 d is located about 90 light-years from Earth in the Crater constellation, where it orbits a small red dwarf star.
#Lp79118d #NASA #exoplanet
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An unusual shape of a rock on Mars has caught the attention of NASA scientists. The rock that looks like an open book was photographed by the US space research centre’s Curiosity Mars rover. Dubbed “Terra Firme”, this geological object’s appearance is that of a small book with overturning pages. Spotted on April 15, this book-lookalike object measures about 2.5 centimetres.
#NASA #CuriosityRover #MartianBook
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NASA has decided to end one of its crucial missions. After months of trying to salvage its lunar cubesat, NASA is calling an end to its water-hunting mission. The organization is finally giving up on its tiny water-hunting cubesat, officially named the Lunar Flashlight mission after failing to fix its propulsion issues. NASA engineers had has until the end of April to generate the required to conduct monthly flybys of the lunar South Pole. Lunar Flashlight’s miniaturized propulsion system was the first of its kind to be flown beyond Earth’s orbit as a demonstration of a new technology. It was highly successful from the standpoint of being a testbed for new systems that had never flown in space before. The briefcase-sized satellite was launched in December 2022 on a mission to shine infrared light on some of the Moon’s permanently shadowed areas…scanning the lunar South Pole for ice water reservoirs. Shortly after launch, however, the cubesat began experiencing problems with its propulsion system. Three of the Lunar Flashlight’s four thrusters were underperforming due to obstructed fuel lines…most likely due to debris buildup.
#Lunarflashlight #NASA #NASAspacemission
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NASA's WEBB Telescope Reveals, Evidence of Massive Collision , Around Nearby Star.
'The Guardian' reports that astronomers have
discovered an enormous cloud of dust surrounding one
of the brightest and closest stars in the night sky. .
Approximately 25 light years from Earth, the star
known as Fomalhaut appears as part of the Piscis
Austrinus, or the southern fish, constellation.
Images previously captured by NASA's Hubble space
telescope and other instruments were only able to provide
a partial picture of Fomalhaut's cloud of cosmic material.
'The Guardian' reports that new images provided
by the James Webb space telescope have
revealed exciting details of the star's surroundings. .
What we see is the dust produced
in collisions between planetesimals,
which themselves are the long
forgotten remnants of the formation
of the planetary system itself, András Gáspár, Lead author on the study at
the University of Arizona, via 'The Guardian'.
András Gáspár, lead author on the study at the University of
Arizona, says the team discovered that Fomalhaut has an
inner asteroid belt surrounded by a second ring of rubble.
Surrounding these first two asteroid belts
is a third ring of debris that resembles
our own solar system's Kuiper belt. .
'The Guardian' reports that the team believe this
massive dust cloud was produced by a collision
between two 400-mile-wide space rocks.
The team believe that unseen planets are circling
within Fomalhaut's nested belts, determining the shape
of the star system with their gravitational fields. .
Planets as low in mass
as Neptune are sufficient
to carve the inner belts, 'Spatially resolved imaging of the inner Fomalhaut disk using JWST/MIRI' authors, via 'Nature Astronomy'
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
China , Explores 3D Printing , to Build Lunar Habitats.
On April 24, 'China Daily' reported that
Beijing will examine the use of 3D printing
technology to build habitats on the moon.
On April 24, 'China Daily' reported that
Beijing will examine the use of 3D printing
technology to build habitats on the moon.
Reuters reports that the announcement
comes as part of China's plans for
developing a long-term lunar habitat.
China has ambitious plans
to put astronauts on the surface
of the moon by 2030.
In 2013, China successfully completed
its first uncrewed lunar landing. .
In 2020, China's uncrewed Chang'e 5 lunar
mission returned samples of lunar soil to Earth.
Reuters reports that between now and 2030, China
plans three more Chang'e missions, which include
a search for reusable resources on the moon.
If we wish to stay on the moon
for a long time, we need to
set up stations by using
the moon's own materials, Wu Weiren, Scientist at the China National Space Administration, via Reuters.
The Chang'e 8 probe will test
the feasibility of using lunar soil to
3D print habitats on the surface of the moon.
Reuters reports that a race to return
humans to the moon has intensified in recent
years between China and the United States.
Earlier in April, NASA and Canada's space agency named
the crew of the 2024 Artemis II mission, which will conduct
the first human fly-by of the moon in decades.
Earlier in April, NASA and Canada's space agency named
the crew of the 2024 Artemis II mission, which will conduct
the first human fly-by of the moon in decades
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
Elon Musk's start-up Neuralink on Thursday said it has gotten approval from US regulators to test its brain implants in people. Neuralink said that clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its first-in-human clinical study is ‘an important first step’ for its technology, which is intended to let brains interface directly with computers.
#Neuralink #ElonMusk #FDA
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Former Pakistan PM and PTI Chief Imran Khan added to no-fly list; Guinea’s suppression of protests stokes anger against military; Germany, world's fourth largest economy, enters Recession; Wagner Group starts withdrawing from Bakhmut
#ImranKhan #NoFlyList #PTI #BushraBibi
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The Indian Navy achieved a historic milestone after the MiG-29K fighter jet conducted a successful night landing on the indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The video of the same was shared by the Indian Navy on its official Twitter account.
#MiG29K #INSVikrant #IndianNavy #RajnathSingh
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The first of the three Russian hypersonic missile scientists to be arrested on suspicion of treason will go on trial next week in a case which apparently involves accusations of betraying secrets to foreign adversaries. The criminal case against Anatoly Maslov, 76, will open in Saint Petersburg’s city court on June 1. The St. Petersburg City Court also ruled on May 24 that Maslov's detention would be extended until at least November 10. Soon after his arrest, authorities had flown him to Moscow and put him in pre-trial detention in Lefortovo prison…a former KGB interrogation site where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is also being held. The details of the case are classified, but some local media reports cited sources close to scientific circles as saying that the three scholars are suspected of handing information related to their research to China.
#Russiascientisttreason #russianmissile #russia #russianarmy #russiaukrainewar
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Multiple Interstellar Objects , Have Visited Our Solar System, , Study Suggests.
In 2017, astronomers identified the
first-ever Interstellar Object (ISO), dubbed
Oumuamua, traveling through our solar system.
ScienceAlert reports that Comet 2I
Borisov became the second ISO to
enter our solar system in August 2019.
A new study suggests that many ISOs have
likely visited in the past. Some may have even
been captured in solar orbits around our sun.
Interstellar objects present
a unique mechanism to investigate
the formation and evolution of
planetary systems including our own, 'Close Encounters of the Interstellar Kind: Exploring the Presence
of Interstellar Objects in Near Earth Orbit,' via ScienceAlert .
ScienceAlert reports that ISOs offer
astronomers insight into how other
solar systems form and evolve.
According to the paper's authors, ISOs offer an opportunity to "… investigate the formation and evolution of planetary systems, including our own.".
The team found that the Earth, Moon and Jupiter create a capture cross-section that dominates , "the capture of interstellar objects into near-Earth orbits
by a factor of 104 compared to that of Earth-Moon.".
The team found that the Earth, Moon and Jupiter create a capture cross-section that dominates , "the capture of interstellar objects into near-Earth orbits
by a factor of 104 compared to that of Earth-Moon.".
A captured ISO is unlikely to have
a stable orbit, but these odd
orbital parameters could level out over time. .
We caution the reader that this is not
a full representation of present-day
captured ISOs by Earth and Jupiter
(should they exist). ISOs captured
in the past will evolve their orbital
parameters over time due to interactions
with other planets in the Solar System, 'Close Encounters of the Interstellar Kind: Exploring the Presence
of Interstellar Objects in Near Earth Orbit,' via ScienceAlert .
We caution the reader that this is not
a full representation of present-day
captured ISOs by Earth and Jupiter
(should they exist). ISOs captured
in the past will evolve their orbital
parameters over time due to interactions
with other planets in the Solar System, 'Close Encounters of the Interstellar Kind: Exploring the Presence
of Interstellar Objects in Near Earth Orbit,' via ScienceAlert .
The authors of the study say the best way to explore
ISOs is by investigating one. The European Space Agency has partnered with the Japanese Space Agency to
launch the Comet Interceptor in 2029. .
The authors of the study say the best way to explore
ISOs is by investigating one. The European Space Agency has partnered with the Japanese Space Agency to
launch the Comet Interceptor in 2029.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
A ghostly shine is predicted to appear on the moon glowing on the edge of the lunar body. A lunar phenomenon called the "Da Vinci glow" which lights up the unlit side of the moon, is expected to be visible from Earth this week and over the coming weekend. It is named after Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci, who explained the phenomenon for the first time in the 15th century. This process is a faint glow of the moon's shadowed "dark" side due to sunlight reflecting off the Earth’s surface and back onto the moon. This dull glow is visible only on a slim crescent lunar surface when the moon is close to the horizon during both the last few days and the first few days of its orbit around the Earth. During this time, the Earth's Northern or Southern Hemisphere tilts towards the Moon enabling sea ice and clouds to bounce an exceptional amount of sunlight towards the dark parts of the lunar surface. This sunlight reflected by our planet is termed ‘Earthshine’, and it will render an eerie glow to the Moon.
#DaVinciGlow #MoonGlow #Space
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Saudi Arabia is going to launch its first space mission. The maiden space mission is scheduled to launch on May 21, with the Kingdom’s first ever astronauts Ali al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, on board. Rayyanah Barnawi is the first Arab Muslim female astronaut. The two astronauts are set to travel to the International Space Station. They will be part of the four-man crew Axiom-2 mission scheduled to leave on May 21 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Saudi space mission, which marks a historical moment for the Kingdom, will be launched from the United States. The astronauts will conduct 14 pioneering scientific experiments in microgravity that will help scientists and researchers devise new ways to provide suitable conditions for humans to further explore space. They will conduct trailblazing experiments…including research into predicting and preventing cancer and a study into how to generate artificial rain in future human settlements on the Moon and Mars. They will also conduct three educational awareness experiments with 12,000 Saudi students via a live feed.
#Saudispacemission #Rayyanahbarnawi, #Saudiarabia
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On April 20, parts of the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions will experience a rare type of event called a hybrid solar eclipse. This will be a rare event as the moon will block the sunlight coming towards the Earth.
#HybridSolarEclipse #SolarEclipse #Earth
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NASA Announces , Historic Crew of Upcoming , Artemis II Mission.
On April 3, NASA announced the four
astronauts who will crew the upcoming
Artemis II mission to the far side of the moon. .
'Time'..
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
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NASA has named the first woman and the first African American ever assigned as astronauts to a lunar mission, introducing them as part of the four-member team chosen to fly on what would be the first..