Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 142

A former NASA astronaut has explained how he thought he would be the first astronaut to ever drown during a spacewalk.

Former NASA astronaut Garret Reisman took to Twitter to give an "astronaut tip" where he said that all astronauts should make sure their bite valve is firmly attached to your water bag straw. Looking at NASA documentation regarding astronaut suits and helmets, spacesuits contain a drinking bag of water that has a straw running into the astronaut's mouth. Reisman goes on to say that during a spacewalk, he saw his water bag floating inside of his helmet.

Here's what Reisman said, "Astronaut Tip #217: Make sure your bite valve is firmly attached to your water bag straw. When I saw mine float by INSIDE my helmet I was less than thrilled at the thought of becoming the first astronaut to drown during a spacewalk." Reisman added, "Fortunately, the surface tension proved to be enough to keep the majority of the water in the bag."

NASA is celebrating Nebula November and is going back through some of the images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the crazy nebulas that have been found.

To kick this week off strongly, the Hubble Twitter account has posted an image of the Red Rectangle Nebula that is formally called HD 44179. NASA explains on its website that at the center of this nebula is a dying binary star system that has been shedding its outer layers for around 14,000 years. NASA continued to explain that the unusual shape is likely due to "a thick dust torus which pinches the otherwise spherical outflow into tip-touching cone shapes."

So, what about its color? Researchers are yet to understand the colors of the nebula fully, but speculation has led scientists towards assuming that the color may be provided by hydrocarbon molecules that "may be the building blocks for organic life", writes NASA. The Red Rectangle nebula is positioned 2,300 light-years away from Earth within the Unicorn constellation. If you are interested in learning more about this strange nebula, check out this link here.

NASA announced on Sunday that the launch for SpaceX Crew-3 that is headed to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed yet again.

Originally, NASA and SpaceX had planned to swap over the Crew-2 astronauts onboard the ISS with the Crew-3 astronauts before Crew-2 departed the station, but that now isn't going to happen as the space agency has changed its plans for how the two teams will swap positions. NASA has decided to send the Crew-2 astronauts back down to Earth before the arrival of the Crew-3 astronauts. Crew-2 is scheduled to return back to Earth on November 8 at 2:05 pm ET.

Following the return of the Crew-2, SpaceX will launch Crew-3 on the back of its Falcon 9 rocket, marking the third long-duration crew mission to the ISS. That launch is scheduled for November 10, and at the moment, SpaceX is estimating that there is 80% of the weather will be favorable for launch, according to a recent tweet from the space transportation company. If you are interested in reading more about this story or would like to learn more about the launch, check out this link here.

A new video that is part of NASA's "We Asked a NASA Expert" series tackles the question, "When was the last time an asteroid hit Earth?"

NASA asteroid expert Marina Brozovic explains that the last time an asteroid hit Earth really depends on if you are asking about small or large impacts. Brozovic explains that Earth is bombarded by small asteroids all of the time, but luckily for humans on the surface, these small space rocks usually burn up in the atmosphere on their way towards the ground.

As for large asteroids that can cause impact craters that span miles in width, Brozovic explains that the last time such an event happened was millions of years ago. Large asteroid impacts are considered to be "rare", but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous, just unlikely. NASA and other space bodies around the world are tracking more than 90% of these large asteroids that could one day pose a danger to Earth. For more information on asteroids, check out this link here.

Three bursts from the Sun have been observed, and these bursts are heading towards Earth. Officials expect an impact very soon.

The Sun can launch what scientists call coronal mass ejections (CME) from its surface, which are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field that usually come after a sunspot, knots in the Sun's magnetic field, erupt. Officials at the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center confirmed that on November 1 and November 2, a sunspot called AR2887 released two of these CMEs, which was followed by a third CME from sunspot AR2891.

The first two blasts from the Sun are moving much slower than the third, as the third ate its way through the first and second. All three of the CMEs are on track to hit Earth, with arrival times for the large CME to be on November 3. Officials also warned that the CME impact might produce minor to moderate geomagnetic storms in Earth's upper atmosphere that can cause disruptions for power grids, satellite orientations, GPS communications, and more. On a more positive note, the CME impact can also cause beautiful auroras, such as this one.

The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center recently warned multiple coronal mass ejections (CME) are heading directly towards Earth.

Following up on yesterday's story, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center has published a new update regarding the incoming CMEs. For those that aren't aware of the multiple CMEs heading towards Earth, on 01-02 November, the Sun erupted several CMEs from its southwest area, one associated with a C4 solar flare and another related to an M1 flare. NOAA originally predicted that the impacts might cause a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm, but now the official prediction center has updated its forecast.

According to the recent update published to the official NOAA website, "The G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for 04 Nov has been upgraded to a G2 (Moderate) Geomagnetic Storm Watch. The G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for 03 November remains in effect." It should be noted that these impacts pose no danger to humans on the surface of Earth but can cause disruptions for satellites, GPS communications, and radio communications. Additionally, CME impacts can cause auroras to appear in the sky. To learn more about CMEs, check out this link here.

There are many asteroids floating around in the solar system, and sometimes one passes extremely close to Earth.

NASA, along with other official bodies around the world, are tracking all of the asteroids that are considered a "threat" to Earth. For an asteroid to be considered a "threat", it must be more than 460 feet in diameter, and luckily 90%+ of the asteroids that are this width or more are currently being tracked. The smaller asteroids are much harder to track, and sometimes researchers are unaware that they even have had a close flyby with Earth.

Asteroid 2021 UA1 is a prime example, as researchers didn't know it had come extremely close to Earth until after it passed by. Asteroid 2021 UA1 measures 6.6 feet in diameter, and on October 24, it passed over Antarctica within 1,800 miles of Earth. Researchers didn't know that the small asteroid was on its way because the asteroid approached from Earth's daytime side - the direction of the Sun. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.

NASA is inching closer and closer to the launch of its highly anticipated James Webb Space Telescope, which has been quite literally decades in the making.

NASA and many contractors have been building the James Webb Space Telescope for many years now, and unfortunately, the project has been plagued with delays that caused its budget to skyrocket into the multiple billions. But now the construction road is nearing its end, as the telescope has been transported to the last place, it will be on Earth, French Guiana, South America, where it will be launched into space close to the end of next month.

The launch and setup of the telescope will be the most challenging part of getting the telescope out observing the universe, as the entire process has to go according to plan, or the telescope will be completely useless. In the above video, the NASA team working on the telescope says that Webb has "300 single-point failure items, and they all have to work right. When you're a million miles from the Earth, you can't send someone to fix it". The European Space Agency and NASA have locked in December 18 for the launch.

Officials have confirmed that several coronal mass ejections (CME) are on the way from the Sun, some of which are directly in line to impact Earth.

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center confirmed with an update that several CMEs erupted on the Sun on the 1st and 2nd of November. With the data, the researchers applied it to their current models and found that there are "likely Earth-directed components to a few of them."

NOAA notes that the CMEs came from the southwest area of the Sun, with one CME being linked to a C4 flare from NOAA/SWPC Region 2887 at 01/2133 UTC (02/1:33 am EDT) and another CME being related to an M1 flare (R1-Minor Radio Blackout) from Region 2891 at 02/0301 UTC (02/7:01 am EDT) near the center disk. Additionally, NOAA states that its confidence in the measures of the Earth-directed components remains at "moderate" levels, "while there is less confidence in timing and intensity." At the time of writing this, current predictions state that there are G1 (minor) Geomagnetic warnings for November 3 and 4 that coincide with the arrival of the blasts.

A new video has been published on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel that details a NASA study that found global crop yields could decrease because of climate change.

NASA states in its video that civilization is already experiencing the effects of climate change, and with global temperatures continuing to rise, we are going to experience even more changes to our planet. The study found that average global crop yields for maize or corn may decrease by 24% before 2100.

Additionally, NASA states that the decline in global crop yield for foods such as corn, soybean, wheat, and rice will be determined by factors such as shifting rainfall patterns, higher temperatures, and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. While corn yields are expected to decrease, NASA predicts that wheat may see a slight uptick of about 17% until about 2050 where the uptick will level off. Lastly, NASA says that the effects of climate change on our global crop yields will become apparent as early as 2030.

A new image snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope has been published by NASA, and it showcases a mysterious nebula.

The nebula is called N44, and it's located about 170,000 light-years away from Earth. The nebula is known for its dark, distinctive region that NASA describes as a "superbubble" - this region can be seen in the upper center of the image. The "superbubble" spans a distance of about 250 light-years, and the reasoning for how it came to be what it is today is still being figured out by researchers.

Researchers suspect that the stellar wind from massive stars within the bubble has pushed out the gas from the interior, however, this hypothesis is "inconsistent with measured wind velocities in the bubble." Another theory is that massive stars within the gap exploded in violent supernovae that "sculpted the cosmic cavern." Another distinctive feature is the deep blue area located at the 5 o'clock mark of the mysterious gap. This deep blue area is one of the hottest regions of N44 and one of the most intense for star formation.

A newly published study has revealed that NASA's Curiosity rover has just discovered never-before-seen organic molecules on Mars for the first time.

The new study has been published in the journal Nature Astronomy and details the discovery that occurred in March 2017 when NASA's Curiosity rover collected a dirt sample from the Bagnold Dune on Mars. Curiosity is equipped with 74 cups that can be used to store dirt samples, and nine of these cups are pre-filled with a chemical mixture. Due to Curiosity's drill being out-of-service at the time, the team behind the collection decided to place the dirt into one of the nine cups containing chemicals.

Initially, the team's motivation was to create a reference for future chemistry experiments that will be conducted on Mars with samples, but what the researchers didn't expect is their first sample to be rich with organic molecules. The team identified two significant organic molecules after performing analysis on the sample; benzoic acid and ammonia. Maeva Millan, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center and lead author of the new study, said, "This experiment was definitely successful. While we haven't found what we were looking for, biosignatures, we showed that this technique is really promising."

The new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience reveals that Earth was pummeled by asteroids and comets more often than previously thought, affecting the development of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Earth first began forming 4.6 billion years ago, and during its early formative years, it experienced regular asteroid and comet impacts; some asteroids had diameters of more than 6 miles. The study explored the impact these asteroids and comets had on the development of oxygen and found that the impacts delayed the time when oxygen started to accumulate in the atmosphere, and thus the timing of life that uses respiration to produce energy being supported.

When an asteroid or comet collides with Earth, a large vapor plume is created, and some of the vaporized rock within this plume begins to cool and fall back down to the Earth's surface. These ancient pieces of vaporized rock are around the size of sand but contain vital information for researchers. The study analyzed these particles to find out how often Earth was bombarded by a space-rocks and found that Earth was smacked with an impact every 15 million years, which was 10 times the rate of previously estimated models.

NASA is celebrating "Nebula November" and has decided to put out an informative video explaining exactly what nebulae are.

The video is titled "Hubble Field Guide to Nebulae" and has been posted to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. The video explains that nebulae are comprised of gas and dust, primarily hydrogen and helium. Nebulae exist within the interstellar medium, the space between stars systems, and occur when the region of space has become dense enough to form clouds. The shift in density can occur from gravity pulling in all of the gas and dust in the area or a star spewing its contents out into the region.

According to NASA's blog post, there are several different types of nebulae. One is an "Emission Nebulae", which is appropriately named due to its ability to emit its own light. "Reflection Nebulae" reflect the light from nearby stars as the stars aren't powerful enough to ionize the nebula's gas, as opposed to an emission nebula that is powerful enough. There are also "Planetary Nebulae", "Supernova Remnants", and "Absorption Nebulae". To learn about how each of these nebulae forms and their characteristic features, check out this link here.

It's "Nebula November", so expect a lot of incredible images of nebulas spotted by NASA's space telescopes!

To kick the month off strongly, NASA has released an image that was originally taken in August 2016 by the Hubble Space Telescope. Introducing the "Ghost of Cassiopeia" - officially named IC 63. This nebula resides in the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen, 550 light-years away from earth. The nebula has long veils of gas and dust, and features an eerie glow that NASA says may remind some people of "apparitions such as those reported by paranormal investigators".

Nothing paranormal is occurring here, as the space agency states that the glow is a result of hydrogen being bombarded with ultraviolet radiation from the nearby blue-giant star Gamma Cassiopeiae which isn't in this image. The interaction between the ultraviolet radiation and the hydrogen causes a red glow, while the blue glow is caused by light reflecting off the dust surrounding the nebula. If you are interested in reading more about the Ghost of Cassiopeia nebula, check out this link here.

Close to the end of last month, the Hubble Space Telescope experienced an error code that automatically puts all of its instruments into safe mode.

NASA first detected the error code when Hubble science instruments issued it at 1:46 a.m EDT on October 23. According to the space agency, the error code indicates "the loss of a specific synchronization message. This message provides timing information the instruments use to respond to data requests and commands correctly."

The following morning the instruments were reset, and science operations were resumed, but then on October 25, more error codes were issued that indicated "losses of synchronization messages. As a result, the science instruments autonomously entered safe mode states as programmed." NASA states on its blog that team members are currently evaluating data and system diagrams to discover the cause of the error codes and the apparent synchronization issue.

Astronauts aboard the ISS don't exactly have a large selection of gourmet meals, but sometimes the researchers get a very nice meal to enjoy.

The astronauts recently enjoyed some homemade space tacos that featured ingredients from the freshly harvested chile peppers that were a part of NASA's Planet Habitat-04 experiment that plans on inspecting the feasibility of growing food in space ahead of long-term missions to the Moon and eventually Mars. At the moment, there isn't much known about growing food in space beside the lower yields for reasons unknown, according to NASA.

"Studies of fruit development in microgravity are limited, and NASA researchers have noted lower fruit development versus ground observations in this experiment for reasons that are not fully understood at this point", stated NASA. While the yield from this particular crop was lower than what would be gained if it was grown back on Earth, the astronauts were still able to enjoy a selection of tacos that included "fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes & artichokes, and HATCH CHILE!", according to astronaut Megan McArthur.

The launch of SpaceX's fourth crewed mission to the International Space Station has been delayed yet again, this time over a "medical issue".

The launch was initially planned to take place on Halloween but was delayed due to bad weather and rescheduled for Wednesday, November 3. However, another delay has hit SpaceX's Crew-3 mission as one of the crew members is experiencing a "minor medical issue". NASA's blog post states that this minor medical issue is not an emergency or related to COVID-19.

In its blog post, NASA goes on to state that both the Falcon 9 rocket and SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft are in "good shape" and will remain at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Additionally, teams will continue to monitor the crew's health, which includes NASA astronauts Raja Chari, the mission commander; Tom Marshburn, pilot; and Kayla Barron, mission specialist; and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and mission specialist Matthias Maurer.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have introduced a new life form to outer space for the very first time.

NASA astronauts introduced a new life form into outer space on Friday as the first chile peppers grown onboard the International Space Station were harvested. The Hatch chile pepper seeds were brought to the ISS aboard SpaceX's resupply mission that occurred back in June. After retrieving the seeds from the cargo, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough planted them in an Advanced Plant Habitat, a growth chamber that features more than 180 sensors and LED lights controlled by a crew back at the Kennedy Space Station.

After several months the peppers were ready to harvest, marking the station's first crop of chile peppers ever grown in space. The growth of the chile peppers was a part of the Plant Habitat-04 investigation, which consisted of evaluating the feasibility of conducting a 120-day plant growth within the habitat and demonstrating the Advanced Plant Habitat's environmental control systems, LED lighting systems, and sensor-controller water delivery system.

NASA won't be returning to the Moon alone as it has announced it will be bringing along National Geographic to capture the moment for everyone back on Earth.

In a new blog post on the NASA website, the space agency announced it has entered in a non-reimbursable (no-exchange-of-funds) Space Act Agreement to collaborate with National Geographic on "audiovisual hardware to fly inside Orion and related support for the project." The news was announced by Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, who said, "Returning humans to the Moon with Artemis II will inspire the next generation of explorers."

Adding, "This time, we are bringing partners and technologies that will create additional opportunities for the world to share in the experience along with our astronauts." The decision to go with National Geographic came after a competition was held where NASA took proposals from companies for a unique public engagement campaign that could be created for Artemis II, the first Artemis flight that will carry astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth. (Artemis III, scheduled for 2024, will be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972).