Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 104

Hours after regaining power following a previous outage, the plant has once again lost power.

Ukrenergo, Ukraine's electrical grid operator, has blamed Russian forces for damage to a high-voltage power line connecting the plant to the grid and has demanded a repair crew be allowed to access it. The power line was repaired by a crew on March 13th, allowing Ukrenergo to start delivering power to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and the city of Slavutych. Before power was fully returned, Russian occupying forces damaged the line again.

The plant requires power to cool the approximately twenty thousand spent nuclear fuel units still held at the site. Ukrenergo emphasized that the Chernobyl site is an important facility that requires a reliable energy supply to mitigate a repeat of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Elon Musk has called out Vladimir Putin on Twitter, issuing a challenge for "single combat."

Musk wrote Putin's name in Russian, and below his challenge wrote the "Stakes are Ukraine." In reply to his initial tweet, Musk wrote entirely in Russian to @KremlinRussia_E, the official Twitter page of the President of Russia, with a message translating to "Do you agree to this fight?" He then followed up with a reply to a Twitter user, writing "I am absolutely serious".

Since Musk's tweets, Dmitry Rogozin, the Director-General of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, issued his own tweets in response, translating to "You, little devil, are still young, Compete with me weak; It would only be a waste of time. Overtake my brother first." The tweet quotes a Russian fairytale by A. S. Pushkin, known as "The Tale of the Pope and his worker Balda".

The files residing in Barack Obama's Presidential Library have been uncovered by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The FOIA request was filed by John Greenewald Jr., of The Black Vault, which has filed over ten thousand FOIA requests and houses over three million declassified government documents on its website. The request sought documents related to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), which began as the Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications Program (AAWSAP) and had the objective of studying unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).

The library responded to the request by saying it has approximately 3,440 pages and 26,271 electronic files that potentially pertain to the topics in question. It will likely take some time before the files become available, as they will need to be examined and potentially redacted in places before becoming publicized. Obama has previously gone on record stating that UFOs are indeed real.

Jeff Bezos' aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company, Blue Origin, has announced the next space tourists.

Back in October 2021, Bezos' Blue Origin successfully took Star Trek star William Shatner to space, taking off from the launch site located in west Texas to the Karman line 66 miles above the surface of Earth. In December 2021 the aerospace manufacturer took NFL player and Good Morning America co-host Michael Strahan to space on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.

Now, Blue Origin has announced that Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson will be joining five other passengers on the next launch scheduled for March 23. The other passengers aboard Blue Origin's next ride to space will include CEO and investor Marty Allen, Sharon and Marc Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen and George Nield, a former NASA manager.

Russia has promised that it won't be leaving behind any NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Recently a strange video was released by a state-controlled media outlet that showcased the Russian side of the ISS detaching and cosmonauts leaving behind NASA astronaut Vande Hei who is currently onboard the space station. Hei is also scheduled to return back to Earth on Russia's Soyuz rocket, and after viewing the video, some individuals interpreted it as a potential threat of leaving Hei stranded in space.

However, Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has given a new statement via Russian state-owned news network TASS, where the agency vowed, "US astronaut Mark Vande Hei will travel back home in the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft together with Russia's Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov on March 30. Roscosmos has never let anybody doubt its reliability as a partner."

On July 17, 2014, the flight MH17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur mysteriously went missing and was later discovered to be shot down.

The flight carried 283 passengers and 15 crew members, and all were killed in what was discovered to be a missile strike in the Hrabove area of Eastern Ukraine, where the plane was shot down. A Dutch-led joint investigation concluded that four individuals were responsible for the destruction of MH17 and were charged, three of those individuals had connections to the Russian military.

Additionally, the missile that the four individuals used to shoot down the plane was a Russian Buk-TELAR, which is a surface-to-air missile system that originally belonged to the Russian Federation's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Military Brigade. On top of that, the investigation found that the missile system was moved from Russia to a location that was controlled by Russian-funded separatists and that the missile system could have only been operated under the supervision of an appropriately trained Russian military.

The Sun's chaotic behavior has resulted in eruptions being blasted towards Earth's general direction, which will cause geomagnetic storms into Earth's upper atmosphere, according to officials.

Since mid-January, the Sun has been very active with coronal mass ejections (CME) and solar flares, and due to this activity, it was only a matter of time before some charged particles were flung in Earth's direction. Officials at the Space Weather Prediction Center of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have confirmed that for the next few days, there are warnings in place for mild/moderate levels of geomagnetic storms measuring in at categories G1 and G2.

These warnings aren't anything to worry about on the surface of Earth, as our planet's protective layers protect us from the majority of the harmful particles, but they are very relevant for satellites as geomagnetic storms can cause interruptions in communications. On a more positive note, the British Met Office has said that as a result of two CMEs directed towards Earth, there is an increased chance of both aurora borealis and aurora australis over March 13 and 14.

An asteroid approximately the size of a bus will make a close approach to Earth and will come within the distance between the Earth and the moon.

According to NASA's Asteroid Watch list, the next asteroid to make a close approach with Earth is asteroid 2022 ES5, which was only discovered on March 7. Researchers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona discovered the asteroid, mapped its orbit, size, movements, and published their results online. Now the asteroid appears in NASA's watch list and small body database where it states 2022 ES5 will come within 207,000 miles of Earth.

To put that number of miles into context, the average distance between the moon and Earth is about 238,855 miles. It should be noted that 2022 ES5 isn't categorized as a "potentially hazardous asteroid" due to its small diameter. NASA categorizes a space rock as "potentially hazardous" if its diameter is 500 feet or greater, and its orbit brings it within 4.6 million miles of Earth, or about 19.5 times the distance to the moon.

The chief of Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has subtly threatened to crash the International Space Station (ISS) over sanctions imposed on Russia.

The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, took to Telegram to voice his opinion on Western sanctions recently implemented on Russia while reminding everyone that the Kremlin controls the segment on the station that maintains the orbit of the ISS. Rogozin goes on to say that the Kremlin corrects the station's orbit at least 11 times a year and that other countries should consider the price of the sanctions against Roscosmos.

Additionally, the Russian space agency head published a map showcasing all of the possible locations the ISS could be brought down while also pointing out the 500-tonne station has a low chance of crashing into Russia. Rogozin wrote on Telegram the ISS could "fall down into the sea or onto land". This isn't the first time Rogozin has threatened to bring down the ISS, as last month the Russian space chief took to Twitter to say, "If you block cooperation with us, then who is going to save the ISS from an uncontrolled descent from orbit and then falling onto the territory of the United States or Europe?"

Russia is continuing its advance into Ukraine, and Maxar Technologies' satellites have captured Russian military movements around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

Russia is currently surrounding Ukraine's capital Kyiv, with Russian military forces advancing on almost every front. Recent satellite imagery was captured by Maxar Technologies' WordView-2 satellite, which has been observing Russia's invasion into Ukraine since February 24. Maxar Technologies' Earth-viewing satellites have previously taken images of Russia's military convoy that stretched 40 miles; those images can be found here.

The recent images from the WorldView-2 satellite captured Russian military on the outskirts of Kyiv, firing upon Ukraine's capital. The above image shows muzzle flashes and smoke from Russian artillery and showcases what Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described to the New York Times as "a war of annihilation". Ukraine has reported that it has caused Russia "heavy losses in manpower and equipment". For more information on this story, check out this link here.

In a recent Facebook post, Ukrainian officials have claimed that Russia is currently planning a "terrorist attack" on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The Facebook post comes from Ukraine's Ministry of Defense that claims Russia is currently "stockpiling" dead Ukrainian soldiers to use in a "false flag" attack. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense goes on to allege that Russia is planning on presenting the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers as "killed saboteurs", and that Russia is planning a "man-made catastrophe". These warnings from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense come as the White House recently warned that Russia may use a "false flag" attack to deploy chemical and biological weapons.

Read more: UN officials drop warnings for Chernobyl and this nuclear power plant

Russia continues its advance into Ukraine, and as Russian troops move deeper into the country, they are encountering Ukrainian forces in places they wouldn't expect.

Recently, Maxar Technologies, a US Observation Company that operates satellites, published images of Russia's military convoy that stretched some 40 miles. Included in that convoy were Russian tanks and various other vehicles that were/are traveling towards Kyiv. SkyNews has verified footage captured by a drone that shows an "ambush" of a Russian military convoy of tanks moving towards Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.

The footage shows around twenty vehicles, most of which are tanks and one personnel carrier parked stationary on the road in a village close to Kyiv. The drone observing the stationary convoy then captures a projectile being shot at a personnel carrier, followed by more fire from Ukrainians in the surrounding buildings. The Russian convoy retreats while still under fire back down the road in the direction they came from.

The US and UK governments are jointly concerned about the possibility of Russia deploying chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine.

Recently the US took aim at Russia and China over spreading false "conspiracy theories" about the United States operating biological and chemical weapons laboratories near the border of Ukraine and Russia. According to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, these claims are "preposterous" and categorized as a part of a "disinformation operation" by the Kremlin.

Additionally, Russia has accused Ukraine of preparing to use biological and chemical weaponry, which has sparked a response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said, "This makes me really worried, because we've been repeatedly convinced: if you want to know Russia's plans, look at what Russia accuses others of."

SpaceX has thrown a verbal jab out at Russia during its recent Starlink launch that was conducted on Wednesday.

During the SpaceX livestream of the Starlink launch, the launch director can be heard saying at 14 minutes into the video "Time to let the American broomstick fly and hear the sounds of freedom", and while that may not make any sense on its own, with context its a big middle finger to Russia. Last week the head of Russia's space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, announced that Russia would stop supplying the United States with rocket engines due to the sanctions imposed on Russia by President Joe Biden.

Rogozin took to state-run TV to announce, "In a situation like this, we can't supply the United States with our world's best rocket engines". Rogozin added, "Let them fly on something else, their broomsticks, I don't know what." The sly comment from the unnamed launch director for the Starlink launch was clearly referencing the comments from Rogozin.

Research aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has potentially been thrown into jeopardy as the world watches Russia invade Ukraine.

Following the invasion, Russia was slapped with numerous sanctions designed to cripple its economy, and while this was certainly achieved, those sanctions have also increased tensions between NASA and Roscosmos, Russia's space agency. The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, has been very aggressive towards the ISS space program by threatening to stop cooperation and even crash the floating laboratory into the United States.

In response to these stances, NASA astronauts have taken aim at the head of Russia's space agency, with decorated NASA astronaut Scott Kelly writing to Rogozin, "your space program won't be worth a damn. Maybe you can find a job at McDonald's if McDonald's still exists in Russia." Now, Russian state media company RIA Novosti posted a video online that shows the Russian segment of the ISS detaching from the station, with Russian officials clapping and applauding.

NASA is currently tracking an asteroid that is approximately the size of a football stadium as it makes a close approach with Earth.

The asteroid is dubbed "Asteroid 2015 DR215," and according to NASA's Asteroid Watch database, the asteroid will make a safe fly-by Earth at a distance of 4,160,000 miles. It should be noted that while 2015 DR215 is classified as a "Potentially Hazardous Object," it doesn't mean that it could collide with Earth. NASA classifies any space rock that comes within 4.6 million miles of Earth, or 19.5 times the distance to the moon, as a potentially hazardous object.

Read more: NASA spots bus-sized asteroid fast-approaching Earth

Russia is in control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine and Chernobyl, the defunct nuclear power plant that was the location of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Recently, Russian forces captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest nuclear power plant that provides Ukraine with around a third of its electricity. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was lost to Ukrainian forces by a battle last week that caused some damage to some buildings around the site. The plant is under control of Russia but is currently being operated by Ukrainian staff.

According to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an autonomous international organization within the United Nations system, the conditions the Ukrainian staff are working in are endangering the safety of the facilities. Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the IAEA, said that there was an interruption in data flows from instruments monitoring nuclear material at both Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhia power plants.

The Internet has decided it will debate whether there are more doors or more wheels on Earth? Which do you think?

A simple, yet interesting question has taken over TikTok with multiple different creators posing the question to their audiences, resulting in virtual sides being taken of people who believe there are more doors and people who believe there are more wheels. Individuals who believe there are more doors in the world have used arguments such as skyscrapers, hospitals, houses, cars, and more.

While individuals that believe there are more wheels have used similar arguments, such as office chairs within those skyscrapers, and there having to be four wheels on a car regardless of how many doors it has. Additionally, wheel-backing individuals pointed to freight trucks having a low amount of doors and a high amount of wheels.

A 1972 Apollo mission saw two NASA astronauts, Eugene Cernan and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt taking two samples from the lunar surface back to Earth.

One of the tube samples was placed in an unsealed container that was opened by NASA researchers and examined in 2019. The other tube was placed in a vacuum-sealed container that has remained sealed for 50 years, and now NASA researchers are preparing to open it carefully. The unsealed sample gave researchers insights into the layers of lunar soil and how landslides can occur in airless locations. Researchers hope that the sealed sample will provide new insights into soils and rocks, but also gas.

Since the tube has been sealed for all of these years, researchers hope that inside it are substances called volatiles. These substances, such as carbon dioxide and water ice, evaporate at normal temperatures, and since the sample tube has been kept at really cold temperatures, researchers are hoping it still contains traces of these substances. If it does, an analysis will assist researchers in telling the origin and evolution story of "volatiles on the Moon and within the early Solar System."

The project was developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Zhuhai Futian Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

The world's first pilot project for demonstrating gasoline production from carbon dioxide hydrogenation has completed its first trial operation and technology assessment on March 4th, located in Zoucheng Industrial Park, Shandong province, China. The demonstration device was completed in 2020 and completed a continuous 72-hour on-site assessment in October 2021 by China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF).

The site can produce a thousand tons of gasoline per year, realizing carbon dioxide and hydrogen conversion rates of 95% and producing gasoline with a selectivity of 85% in all carbon-based products. The octane number of the gasoline produced exceeded 90, conforming to the Chinese national VI standard while keeping energy consumption low for its production.