Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 38

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has announced two new flights of a helicopter on the surface of the Red Planet.

That helicopter is none other than the Ingenuity helicopter that arrived on the surface of the Red Planet with its companion Mars Rover called Perseverance. Perseverance and Ingenuity touched down in the Jezero crater in February 2021, and since then, both the rover and the helicopter have been exploring the surface of Mars for any signs of microbial life.

It was only recently that NASA lost connection with Ingenuity after its 52nd flight as the helicopter flew too far away from its companion rover, temporarily severing the connection that was later re-established when the rover caught up to the small helicopter. Three months later, Ingenuity executed its 53rd flight, which, according to NASA, occurred on July 22 and saw the helicopter fly 468 feet horizontally at a maximum altitude of 16 feet. The flight lasted 74.9 seconds, and Ingenuity reached a maximum speed of 5.6 mph.

Nasa has announced that it successfully got into contact with Voyager 2, a historic spacecraft that is located 12.3 billion miles away from Earth.

Voyager 2 was originally launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets of the solar system. With the primary mission completed, the spacecraft went on to reach interstellar space, becoming one of the furthest human-made objects ever sent into the void. The problems began when NASA sent a command to Voyager 2 that moved its antenna 2 degrees away from Earth, severing connection with the planet.

Nasa quickly sprung into action after this command altered Voyager 2 antenna by sending out and receiving as many radio frequencies from the region of space Voyager 2 is located. NASA announced on Friday that its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) had succeeded in a long-shot effort to send the correct instructions to Voyager 2.

Fans of space will rejoice at Elon Musk's newest update on the next Starship flight, with the SpaceX CEO also giving a probability of reaching orbital velocity.

The last time we heard about Starship's next orbital flight was last month when Elon Musk sat down with Zuby for a podcast where he discussed various topics over the course of an hour. At the top of the podcast, Musk said he just flew in from Starbase, Texas, where he and the SpaceX team were hard at work on the construction of the next Starship launch vehicle.

For those that are out of the news loop when it comes to space launches, you may have heard of Elon Musk's rocket that exploded mid-air during its first launch attempt - that rocket was Starship. Now, Elon Musk is taken to his X account to share an image of Starship undergoing a chill and spin of the Raptor Engine pumps in an advanced static fire test. The captions of the image says that Starship is preparing for its next flight and that SpaceX has a greater than ~50% probability of reaching orbital velocity.

The Ring Nebula, scientifically referred to as Messier 57, or M57 for short, has been captured by the extremely impressive instruments attached to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The Ring Nebula is located 2,200 light-years away from Earth and resides in the constellation Lyra. The planetary nebula was created from the catastrophic destruction of a star, quite a classic event that happens in space, and due to its massive size, Messier 57 has become a prime target for astronomers as the planetary nebula can even be seen from an amateur astronomers backyard.

Webb's ability to capture the universe in high-detail infrared has unlocked a unique perspective of M57 that even adept astronomers aren't used to seeing. At the center of the Ring Nebula is a white dwarf star, the remnants of the star that exploded and what could be a glimpse into the future of our Sun.

For the first time ever, a group of astronomers has identified black hole's on a collision course within a dwarf galaxy, a scientific observation that was yet to be achieved until now.

As detailed in a February press release, a group of astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory identified two separate pairs of black holes and published their results in a study added to The Astrophysical Journal. The astronomers explain that dwarf galaxies on a set course to collide are expected to form a larger galaxy once the merger is complete. As for the black holes, the press release states that as gas is pulled toward the giant black holes within each of the dwarf galaxies, they grow in size.

Eventually, the black holes within each of those galaxies will grow and collide with opposing dwarf galaxies, forming an even greater black hole. Why is this important? Researchers believe studying dwarf galaxies unlocks more knowledge about the early stages of the universe, specifically several hundred million years after the Big Bang. The press release explains that scientists think that in the early stages of the universe, dwarf galaxies were in abundance, which, after millions of years, eventually collided together to form the galaxies we are observing today.

Researchers have, for the very first time, watched cracked pieces of metal fusing back together without any human intervention.

The newly discovered phenomenon could revolutionize engineering if it can be harnessed correctly, and according to the researchers that watched the event, it was "absolutely stunning to watch". The team behind the study is from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University, and according to the paper published in the journal Nature, the team has confirmed that metals "have their own intrinsic, natural ability to heal themselves, at least in the case of fatigue damage at the nanoscale."

Machines experiencing repeated stress eventually break through microscopic cracks that eventually become bigger and bigger. These small cracks can appear in various types of engineering, from vehicle engines, to bridges, to solder joints within electronic devices. All of these metals can break unexpectedly, which can lead to an eventual failure of the entire device/structure/creation. However, an experiment done at the nanoscale has proven that these microscopic cracks can heal, or at least they can within a vacuum.

A new simulation from an international team of scientists has given some insight into the inner workings of a star and how stars twinkle.

At the heart of stars is extremely hot material the moves around similar to boiling water, or waves in the ocean. An example of how these waves are generated we need to think about the star similar to a boiling pot of water on a stovetop. Similar to a bubbling boiling pot of water, the plasma within the core of the star is pushed to the surface since heat always rises.

When this plasma hits the perimeter of the star it creates clash that reverberates through the star, creating what is known as gravitational waves. When these gravitational waves are generated they can affect the iconic twinkle that observers see. Now, a new study published in Nature Astronomy puts forward a new simulation of stellar gravity that may allow astronomers to accurately predict how much "twinkling" a star can do.

The United States has turned on its first nuclear reactor in nearly seven years, with the new nuclear plant providing power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

The unit 3 reactor at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia, began commercial operations on Monday following its preliminary testing in March, which it passed. According to reports, the reactor is generating approximately 1,110 megawatts of energy which officials estimate is enough to power 500,000 homes and businesses.

CNBC notes that the last time a nuclear reactor was switched on to pump power into the electricity grid was in October 2016, when the Tennessee Valley Authority began using the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor located near Spring City. Before the 2016 reactor event, the last time a reactor was switched on was in May 1996. Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene said in a statement that the Unit 3 reactor will begin delivering electricity to customers within the next 60 to 80 days.

After announcing the tragic news that NASA lost connection with the iconic Voyager 2 satellite, the space agency has re-established communications, and they are up and working again.

The iconic satellite was launched in 1977 and is since been exploring interstellar space, sending radio signals back to Earth from its distant position of 12.3 billion miles away. On July 21, the space agency lost connexion with Voyager 2 as a command instructed the satellite to move its antenna just two degrees in the wrong direction, severing communications with Earth.

While the situation seemed dire since the satellites antenna was no longer sending or receiving data, the space agency remained steadfast as a protocol has been set up that initializes Voyager 2's antenna to regain connection with Earth in the event that Mission Control operators can't get in contact with the satellite.

Officials from the Australian Space Agency have confirmed the origins of a mysterious object that washed up on a Perth shore.

The mysterious object was found a few weeks ago and left onlookers confused before it was reported to local authorities that stood guard while an analysis was conducted. The object washed up on Green Head Beach in Western Australia, And immediately spectators began to theorize that the object was a piece of space debris.

Now the theories can be put to bed as the Australian Space Agency has taken to its X account to announce that the object was "most likely" debris from an "expended third-stage of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle". Notably, the medium left launch vehicle is operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation, and the third stage was jettisoned at approximately 264 miles above sea level.

A room-temperature superconductor would be a massive and seismic breakthrough for energy production, transport, and technology - from quantum computing to CPUs sitting on a desktop generating and dissipating energy and heat. The story of the LK-99 superconductor is causing quite a stir, and it's not hard to see why.

On July 22, physicists in South Korea published two papers claiming they have produced the world's first room-temperature superconductor made with readily available and cheap materials, dubbed LK-99. The room-temperature part is important because superconductors exist; they simply require extremely low temperatures to operate.

For example, the SCMaglev train in Japan can reach speeds of 311 mph via a superconducting niobium-titanium alloy that is cooled to minus 452 degrees Fahrenheit. And with that, it's no wonder that LK-99 has been met with widespread excitement and skepticism. Imagine a high-end CPU or GPU in your gaming PC operating without power loss. Let alone tens of thousands in an AI environment.

NASA has announced some tragic news, the space agency has unfortunately lost connection with the iconic Voyager 2 satellite located more than 12 billion miles away from Earth.

NASA announced on Monday that it has lost connection with the iconic satellite that was launched in 1977, as the interstellar probe stopped sending and receiving information after NASA instructed it to shift its antenna. NASA's instructions were initialized last week and moved Voyager 2's antenna just two degrees away from Earth. Since then, or more specifically, July 21, the space agency has been unable to get into contact with the space probe.

For those that don't know, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are space probes designed to explore interstellar space, the region of space between stars. Currently, Voyager 1 is approximately 15 billion light years away from Earth, while Voyager 2 is 12.3 billion light-years away from Earth. Each of the spacecrafts carry a Golden Record with Earth sounds, pictures, messages, etc - all of which is designed to provide basic communication to extraterrestrial life if the probes come into contact with such lifeforms.

One of the co-founders of OceanGate, the company that sent the submersible containing five people to their tragic doom near the Titanic has proposed a new voyage - this time to Venus.

On June 18, five people were confirmed deceased after OceanGate's submersible called Titan imploded on the way to visit the Titanic. One of the members of the crew was OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush, good friend of Guillermo SÜhnlein, an OceanGate co-founder that now wants to create a home for people inside Venus' atmosphere by 2050.

It seems the tragic events of the Titan submersible have hardly dampened SÜhnlein aspirations or ambitions. It should be noted that SÜhnlein stepped down as OceanGate's CEO in 2013, but kept a small stake of ownership in the company. However, SÜhnlein doesn't want people to dwell on the recent tragic events, and would prefer everyone to focus on the future.

A team of astronomers has imaged a comet that's slowly on its way to approaching Earth, and on its way, it experienced an eruption.

The comet is called 12P/Pons-Brooks and is classified as a cold volcano comet. Much like other comets 12P/Pons-Brooks has a solid nucleus that's comprised of a mixture of ice, dust, and gas. This mixture is slowly expelled out the comet's exterior, resulting in a cloud forming around the comet as well as the iconic comet's tail. However, 12P/Pons-Brooks (12P) is slightly different compared to other comets as its interior mixture has the chance to explode violently, which causes its frozen insides, or cryomagma, to leak out of the nucleus's shell.

Such an explosion was detected by astronomers on July 20 when 12P/Pons-Brooks suddenly became 100 times brighter than it usually appears to be. This increase in brightness can be attributed to a swelling of gas around the comet, which reflected more sunlight. On July 26, the coma of 12P/Pons-Brooks stretched some 143,000 miles, or 7,000 times wide than the comet's nucleus, which is estimated to be about 18.6 miles across.

Space X has successfully conducted yet another launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket, with the spacefaring company posting to its dedicated X account stunning footage of the rocket lift off and landing.

The Elon Musk-led company took to its account to share video footage of the rocket carrying what is now considered the largest commercial communications satellite ever built, Jupiter 3. The satellite is nine metric tonnes and will expand the reach of the HughesNet satellite internet service to nearly 80% of the Americas, with its 300 spot beams and 500 Gbps of total capacity.

As for the Falcon Heavy, the successful launch marked the seventh mission for the workhorse rocket and the third time it's flown this year. SpaceX shared images of the launch to its X account along with an epic video of both of Falcon Heavy's side boosters returning back to Earth and announcing their entry with sonic booms.

Earthquakes are typically caused by subtle movements of tectonic plates that sometimes result in powerful tremors across regions.

Residents in the United States' Pacific Northwest are no strangers to these small tremors, and on July 22 and July 23, seismologists detected one, but it wasn't traced back to tectonic activity. According to Western Washington University's Dr. Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, this 2.3 magnitude quake was a result of Taylor Swift fans, or Swifties, jumping up and down to the singer's music during her Eras tour concert at the Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.

This isn't the first time that an entertainment event has resulted in seismologists picking up seismic activity. Notably, researchers compared the recent Swiftquake to the Beastquake of 2011, which was caused by Seahawks fans when they celebrated Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard touchdown against the New Orleans Saints. According to Caplan-Auerbach, "The shaking was twice as strong as 'Beast Quake'. It absolutely doubled it."

There are billions of planets in the universe, and one, in particular, is suffering a tragic fate as its host star continuously pulls it closer and closer to its doom.

That planet is called AU Microscopii b, and its located just 32 light-years away from Earth, which is relatively close when you consider the sheer breadth of the universe. Its host star, AU Microscopii, is a red dwarf that is slowly but surely pulling pieces off of the planet that will ultimately end in a tragic demise of evisceration.

This morbid event, while tragic for the planet, is a prime target for scientific observations, which has already begun with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope that has pointed its highly sensitive instruments at the star and planet combo. So what will scientists learn from observing the death of this planet? Researchers expect that they will learn more about atmospheric evaporation, or the process of a planet's atmosphere slowly being destroyed by its host star.

The world's most powerful space telescope has imagined a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars bringing forth an absolutely gorgeous new image.

That telescope is none other than the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and according to the European Space Agency, which recently published a new image, the two tightly bound stars are called Herbig-Haro 46/47 and are located approximately 1,470 light years away from Earth within the Vela constellation.

The above image shows how both of the stars are being fed over the course of millions of years. As reported by Space.com, the image depicts an extremely large disc of material containing dust, which is slowly consumed by both stars aiding their growth.

SpaceX's Starship launch vehicle could soon become a new destination in low Earth orbit as the company is currently getting advice from NASA to convert the rocket into a space station.

For those unaware of Starship, the original design was unveiled by Spacex in 2016, with company CEO Elon Musk saying the next generation rocket is the Interplanetary Transport System, a rocket designed to carry 100 people, along with cargo, to Mars in a single flight.

Now how does this tie into a new space station? Reports indicate that NASA and SpaceX are in talks to convert a Starship launch vehicle into a space station as the International Space Station is nearing its end of life, with the space agency expecting that the legendary floating laboratory will come to its operational end by the end of 2030.

In a groundbreaking collaboration, NASA and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have joined forces with aerospace giant Lockheed Martin to accelerate space exploration with the development of a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine.

The project, named the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO), aims to achieve the world's first in-orbit demonstration of this cutting-edge Propulsion technology. According to Dr. Tabitha Dodson, the program manager for the effort, A nuclear thermal rocket will be similar in terms of thrust during in-space travel as A conventional chemical rocket, but will be two to three times more efficient.