Image of Mysterious Object Shot Down Over Yukon Finally Released

In September 2024, a long-anticipated image of the mysterious object shot down over Yukon, Canada, in February 2023 was obtained by CTVNews.ca through a freedom of information request. The image, which has sparked significant public interest, shows a grainy, black-and-white representation of the object that was downed by a U.S. F-22 fighter jet after it crossed into Canadian airspace.

The object in question was one of three unidentified aerial objects shot down over North America within a short period, following the more widely reported downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon earlier that month. The object shot down over Yukon has been described in official documents as a “cylindrical” or “metallic” object with a tethered payload below it, although details have remained scarce, fueling speculation and public curiosity.

The Incident

The sequence of events leading to the downing of the object began when NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) tracked the unidentified object as it entered North American airspace. After moving through Alaskan airspace, the object entered Canadian territory on February 11, 2023, prompting swift action from NORAD. Following discussions between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Defence Minister, and U.S. authorities, the order to engage was issued.

At 15:41 Eastern Time, the object was shot down over the Yukon, and Canadian military personnel, in coordination with the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), were deployed to recover the debris. However, due to challenging winter conditions in the remote and mountainous region, the recovery mission was ultimately called off just days later.

Description of the Object

Documents obtained by CTVNews.ca revealed some details about the object. In a memo dated February 11, 2023, a Canadian brigadier-general described the object as cylindrical, with a metallic upper portion and a long wire hanging beneath it, supporting a suspended package. Some officials speculated that it could be a balloon with a tethered payload, similar to other unidentified aerial objects encountered during that period.

Interestingly, these objects, including the one shot down over the Yukon, were described as being much smaller than the towering Chinese surveillance balloon that had drawn global attention just days before. Although there was much speculation about the nature of the Yukon object, U.S. President Joe Biden later stated that these unidentified objects were likely private or research balloons and posed no significant threat.

The Image and Public Reaction

The image obtained by CTVNews.ca, which was part of a heavily redacted set of documents, appears to be a low-resolution photocopy, making it difficult to discern specific details. Despite being cleared for public release shortly after the incident, the image was withheld due to concerns from public affairs officials, who believed its release could raise more questions than it answered. The image was discussed internally, with some military officials advocating for its release on social media. However, the public release was delayed, partly due to the lack of clarity in the image and its potential to fuel further speculation.

This image has now been made public, and while it adds a visual element to the mystery, it does little to clear up the questions surrounding the object’s origin or purpose. The shape of the object in the image has drawn comparisons to a balloon, with a horseshoe or crescent-like shape visible, but the lack of detail makes definitive conclusions difficult.

Secrecy and Speculation

The secrecy surrounding the object, its brief tracking, and the lack of debris recovery have all contributed to an air of mystery and speculation. While officials have publicly stated that the object posed no significant threat, the minimal information provided has led to various conspiracy theories and concerns about North American air defense vulnerabilities.

Experts have suggested that the U.S. and Canadian governments’ hesitation to release more information could be due to the sensitive nature of NORAD operations and a reluctance to disclose potential defense weaknesses. Iain Boyd, the director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado, noted that withholding details may reflect concerns about how adversaries could exploit knowledge of such incidents.

Broader Context of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

The Yukon object, referred to as “UAP 23” in some documents (with UAP standing for Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), was the 23rd such object tracked over North America in early 2023. The term UAP has largely replaced “UFO” (Unidentified Flying Object) in official circles, reflecting the shift toward a more scientific and data-driven approach to such sightings.

The February 2023 incidents of unidentified aerial objects prompted further scrutiny of UAPs by governments around the world. In Canada, the Sky Canada Project, led by the Office of the Chief Science Advisor, is expected to release its own report on UAPs later this year, as public interest in such phenomena continues to grow. In the U.S., the Pentagon and NASA have been more transparent about their investigations into UAPs, signaling a shift toward more open dialogue on the issue.

VIDEO:

• https://youtu.be/vuFzjRaOwRA

The F-22 shooting down the Chinese balloon on Feb. 4, 2023, as seen from the ground. In the boxes: the F-22 and the balloon seen few seconds after being hit by an AIM-9X. (

Photos: @astroqv, @casual_Photoholic)

The release of the Yukon object’s image provides a glimpse into one of the more mysterious defense incidents of 2023. While the image adds to the body of evidence surrounding the event, the low quality and lack of detail leave many questions unanswered. As investigations into UAPs continue on both sides of the border, the public remains eager for further information about these objects and the implications they may have for air defense systems and international security.

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

29-09-2024 om 21:27 geschreven door peter  

Since Earth and the Moon have similar geological history, it made sense to look around on our planet for materials to simulate lunar dust. For LUNA, the agency partners created something called EAC-1. It’s based on volcanic powder spread out over the Eifel region in Germany some 45 million years ago. ESA has been working with this material for some years now, creating “moon bricks” that lunar colonists could use to build roads, launch pads, and habitats. Not only that, but lunar soil (like the EAC-1) contains a high percentage of oxygen. If astronauts can practice “cracking” that soil at LUNA, that would provide them with experience doing the same thing to tap in situ sources of oxygen they can use to survive.

Two astronauts simulate a training session in the new Luna Hall as part of the opening ceremony at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne.

Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Benjamin Westhoff

More about LUNA

The LUNA main hall isn’t just a soil pit, however. It also has a specialized illumination simulator. That allows astronauts to recreate and practice their work under lunar day-and-night cycles. The Moon’s “day” is 14 Earth days long and a lunar night is the same length. Future astronauts and colonists will need to adapt their living and working conditions to those cycles.

Eventually, LUNA will also incorporate gravity off-loading systems. These are simulations of reduced gravity environments. Since the Moon’s gravity is one-sixth that of Earth’s, it’s important for astronauts to train in lower-gravity environments. Plans include a system similar to the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) gravity system that NASA uses. It’s a device that suspends an astronaut trainee in a special trainer and uses sensors and other feedback that provide a simulated low-gravity environment.

In addition to astronaut training for low gravity and working with soil, LUNA will act as a testbed for operating robotic systems such as rovers and other tools. It will enable advanced science testing and activities, and teach astronauts how to build, manipulate, and operate energy systems. For example, researchers at the facility will test the regolith to understand the effects of moon dust on equipment space agencies plan to bring to the moon.

Preparing for Artemis and Beyond

All these activities should help future astronauts and mission planners develop solutions to challenges the Artemis and other explorers will face on the Moon. LUNA will also contain a unique habitat training area called FLEXHab. It is planned as a simulated habitat that will connect to the main facility.

Finally, ESA and DLR plan to repurpose a food production facility called EDEN-ISS. It’s actually a greenhouse that hosted a five-year-long food cultivation experiment. It will become part of the LUNA laboratory and is aimed at helping astronauts figure out how to grow and prepare food during their stay on the Moon.

Building accurate replicas of the lunar environment is a big training step toward permanent habitation on the Moon. The Artemis project will be one mission to take advantage of LUNA. Its mission timeline has slipped, but astronauts will still likely be headed toward the Moon within the decade. Test sites such as LUNA will play an important role in their training and eventual colonization activities.

For More Information

• New LUNA Facility Will prepare Astronauts for Moon Landings
• Full-Size Reduced Gravity Simulator For Humans, Robots, and Test Objects
  Bricks from Moon Dust

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

29-09-2024 om 00:47 geschreven door peter  

A mosaic of the images of 378 satellites across 101 Milky Way-like systems.

Credit: Yao-Yuan Mao (Utah), with images from the DESI Legacy Surveys Sky Viewer

This would seem to indicate that the Milky Way is rather typical. But then the team looked at those galaxies with a large companion, like the Large Magellanic Cloud we see in the southern hemisphere. For those galaxies the number of satellites is typically much larger than four. The Milky Way has an unusually low number of satellites. One reason for this may be that the Large Magellanic Cloud entered our sphere of influence rather recently on the cosmic timeline.

A second study based on the SAGA data looked at star formation in the satellite galaxies. It found that the closer a satellite is to the main galaxy the more likely it is to still be producing stars. This is similar to what we see among the Milky Way satellites. So it seems that while the Milky Way is a little unusual, it isn’t unique among galaxies of similar mass.

But it will always be our special spiral galaxy.

Reference: 

• Mao, Yao-Yuan, et al. “The SAGA Survey. III. A Census of 101 Satellite Systems around Milky Way-mass Galaxies.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14498 (2024).

Reference: 

• Geha, Marla, et al. “The SAGA Survey. IV. The Star Formation Properties of 101 Satellite Systems around Milky Way-mass Galaxies.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14499 (2024).

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

29-09-2024 om 00:25 geschreven door peter  

Breakthrough flying saucer technology could soon harness the power of waves: 'A competitive solution in our global energy mix'

The unit can provide air-pollution-free electricity 24/7, even in stormy waters.

Photo Credit: Carnegie Clean Energy

The ancient Greeks knew Ceto as a sea goddess, cited by the History Cooperative as having power over monsters from the deep. But the modern-day incarnation might end up being better known for the power of ocean waves. 

That's because Carnegie Clean Energy's version of CETO is a sea-based contraption that can turn wave power into grid-ready electricity, according to the Australian firm. 

Wave-energy tech isn't new. Other iterations include buoy and raft designs. CETO is a submerged, flying saucer-shaped unit, according to CleanTechnica. 

The report noted that Carnegie received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in January to test marine-based energy production. Now, a Carnegie subsidiary has approval to place CETOs off the Spanish coast, and company leaders are pursuing various certifications to pave the way for expansion, all per CleanTechnica. 

"By aligning CETO with international standards, the company is moving toward wider adoption of the technology and a future where wave energy is a competitive solution in our global energy mix," Carnegie CTO Alexandre Pichard said in the story. 

CETO works with a fairly simple concept. Waves move in a circular motion, and CETO tracks and captures the energy generated by the movement. As the saucer-shaped unit rocks with the moving water, belts inside turn generators to make electricity. Artificial intelligence is used to help manage underwater operations, all per a video clip provided by Carnegie. 

What's more, the unit can provide air-pollution-free electricity 24/7, even in stormy waters. CETO simply submerges below the turbulence to continue its function. The tech has been proven during "tens of thousands" of testing hours, according to the company. 

It's part of a global renewable energy switchover leveraging abundant sun, wind, and waves. The United Nations reports that about 29% of the world's electricity comes from renewables. 

Wave energy has serious potential, too, with the U.S. Department of Energy estimating that kinetic waves could provide around 60% of the nation's electricity demand, as CleanTechnica observed.

If fascinating programs from other energy developers reach full vision, captured wave and wind power at sea could be collected at offshore artificial "energy islands" and efficiently sent to the coast. 

Importantly, the breakthroughs can help reduce the production of planet-warming air pollution, which NASA has linked to marine heat waves. The hotter water can harm coral and other sea life, according to the experts. 

Inspired inlanders can help to cut pollution with some simple changes around the house. Cleaning the lint out of filters on washers, dryers, and other appliances can save you 10% on the cost to run them, while also removing a fire hazard. Importantly, the machines will then use less energy, producing less heat-trapping fumes. 

For CETO's part, its developers are touting a scalable, modular design. Interestingly, the company-provided details even list a desalination ability.

Now, Carnegie seems poised to take CETO beyond myth, working toward a world powered by the "consistent rhythm of the sea," as the clip's narrator puts it.  

{ https://www.thecooldown.com/ }

28-09-2024 om 23:52 geschreven door peter  

Chilling video shows' 'horseshoe-shaped' UFO defying laws of physics after photo of similar craft shot down over Yukon is declassified

By James Cirrone For Dailymail.Com

UFO enthusiasts are attempting to draw parallels between a old video that appears to show a flying aircraft zooming through the clouds and the recently declassified image of the UFO that was shot down near Alaska last year.

The photo shows a seemingly glowing horse shoe-shaped object with ill-defined edges over the Yukon territory in northwest Canada on February 11, 2023. 

An internal email obtained by CTVNews had a Canadian brigadier-general describing it as such: 'Top quarter is metallic, remainder white. 20-foot wire hanging below with a package of some sort suspended from it.' 

It was shot down by a US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter on a joint mission with the Canadian Armed Forces following the now infamous Chinese spy balloon drama that made international news that month.

A former officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force told DailyMail.com that based on his conversations with three active-duty staff who were involved with the shootdown, the object was a balloon similar to the Chinese craft shot down days earlier.

Nonetheless, a user on Reddit said they were able to stabilize a different UFO video from over 12 years ago, claiming it is similar to the object that was shot down.

The declassified image of the UFO that was shot down in Yukon territory by US fighter jets on February 11, 2023. Canadian authorities suspect it was a balloon similar to the Chinese spy craft shot down in US airspace days earlier

This is photo of a supposed UFO that some on social media believe looks similar to the horseshoe-shaped craft shot down in Yukon territory. This photo comes from an alleged UFO sighting video that's 12 years old

'I recently stabilized this footage, which has drawn interesting comparisons to the “horseshoe” object reportedly shot down over the Yukon in 2023,' the poster wrote. 'After stabilizing the video, the object’s crescent or horseshoe shape becomes much clearer, along with its curious flight dynamics.'

They said the stabilization was done with Adobe After Effects and Premiere, software packages for editing motion graphics and video.

The video was originally posted by a YouTube channel called 'xxxdonutzxxx', which claimed the footage was shot over Busan, South Korea. 

The reactions to the stabilized footage were all over the place, with some people showing their excitement and others showing skepticism.

'A better way to avoid confusion would be to publish a color, high-res photo or video, as they did with that jet intercept and the Chinese spy balloon. Amazing how transparency actually works,' one user wrote.

A picture taken on February 1, 2023, shows the suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over Billings, Montana

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina on February 4, 2023

Another took issue with the entire idea that aliens are flying around in spacecrafts that always seem to look different in every UFO video.

They wrote: 'Serious question; why does every UFO look different? Do aliens hate mass production? Have they never heard of cost reduction through standardization? What does that say about their economy? Are they idiots?' 

Those who are more inclined to believe aliens are out there offered a number of explanations for this. There could many many different alien races with different vehicles, some said. Others thought their space crafts could probably shape shift.

Elsewhere on social media, people are claiming all of the videos on the now abandoned 'xxxdonutzxxx' are fake and were made by two CG artists named Nico and Marco Kaschuba.

A person posted an alleged UFO sighting in Monument Valley, Arizona, from the 'xxxdonutzxxx' channel to a UFO forum on April 5, 2012. 

At the bottom of the post, there is a copyright that belongs to 'Kaschuba Ufology.' 

DailyMail.com approached Marco Kaschuba for comment, but he didn't immediately respond.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

28-09-2024 om 23:27 geschreven door peter  

Ceres is Former Ocean World, Planetary Scientists Say

Ceres is a key object in understanding the evolution of small bodies and is the only dwarf planet to have been orbited by a spacecraft, NASA’s Dawn mission. Dawn data paint an inconclusive picture of Ceres’ internal structure, composition and evolutionary pathway. New research shows that a crust with nearly 90% ice near the surface, which gradually decreases to 0% at 117 km depth, simultaneously matches the Dawn observations. This crustal structure results from a frozen ocean that became more impurity rich as it solidified top-down. Therefore, the Dawn data are consistent with an icy Ceres that evolved through freezing of an ancient, impure ocean.

This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Scientists use false color to examine differences in surface materials. The color blue on Ceres is generally associated with bright material, found in more than 130 locations, and seems to be consistent with salts.

Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

“Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, and a dwarf planet. I think sometimes people think of small, lumpy things as asteroids (and most of them are!), but Ceres really looks more like a planet,” said Purdue University researcher Mike Sori.

“It is a big sphere, diameter 950 km or so, and has surface features like craters, volcanoes, and landslides.”

“We think that there’s lots of water-ice near Ceres surface, and that it gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper.”

“People used to think that if Ceres was very icy, the craters would deform quickly over time, like glaciers flowing on Earth, or like gooey flowing honey.”

“However, we’ve shown through our simulations that ice can be much stronger in conditions on Ceres than previously predicted if you mix in just a little bit of solid rock.”

This discovery is contradictory to the previous belief that Ceres was relatively dry.

The common assumption was that Ceres was less than 30% ice, but Sori’s team now believes the surface is more like 90% ice.

“Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ocean world like Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons), but with a dirty, muddy ocean,’” Dr. Sori said.

“As that muddy ocean froze over time, it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it.”

The authors used computer simulations to model how relaxation occurs for craters on Ceres over billions of years.

“Even solids will flow over long timescales, and ice flows more readily than rock,” said Purdue University Ph.D. student Ian Pamerleau.

“Craters have deep bowls which produce high stresses that then relax to a lower stress state, resulting in a shallower bowl via solid state flow.”

“So the conclusion after NASA’s Dawn mission was that due to the lack of relaxed, shallow craters, the crust could not be that icy.”

“Our computer simulations account for a new way that ice can flow with only a little bit of non-ice impurities mixed in, which would allow for a very ice-rich crust to barely flow even over billions of years.”

“Therefore, we could get an ice-rich Ceres that still matches the observed lack of crater relaxation.”

“We tested different crustal structures in these simulations and found that a gradational crust with a high ice content near the surface that grades down to lower ice with depth was the best way to limit relaxation of Cerean craters.”

“To me the exciting part of all this, if we’re right, is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth,” Dr. Sori said.

“Ceres may be a valuable point of comparison for the ocean-hosting icy moons of the outer Solar System, like Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.”

“Ceres, we think, is therefore the most accessible icy world in the Universe. That makes it a great target for future spacecraft missions.”

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

28-09-2024 om 23:05 geschreven door peter  

De Aarde had ook zijn planetaire ringen, net als Saturnus: dat stelt een onderzoek

door Janine

Kevin M. Gill/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 2.0

We kennen allemaal Saturnus, een van de meest iconische planeten in het zonnestelsel vanwege zijn spectaculaire planetaire ringen. Natuurlijk hebben Uranus en Neptunus ook iets dergelijks, en hetzelfde kan gezegd worden van Jupiter, maar deze structuren hebben niet dezelfde charme. Onlangs is er echter een onderzoek gedaan dat suggereert dat ook de aarde zo'n 460 miljoen jaar geleden haar eigen ringenstelsel kan hebben gehad. Laten we eens kijken hoe dit mogelijk is!

Had de Aarde ook planetaire ringen?

Een team onderzoekers van de Monash University in Melbourne stelt deze hypothese voor in een studie die is gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Earth and Planetary Science Letters. De wetenschappers analyseerden inslagkraters die werden gecreëerd door asteroïden tijdens het Ordovicium, tussen 485 en 443 miljoen jaar geleden. Het probleem is dit: er werden 21 kraters geïdentificeerd die zich binnen 30 graden van de evenaar bevonden, maar de verdeling is te afwijkend om in traditionele theorieën te passen. Kortom, waarom zijn alle kraters geconcentreerd in deze gordel als meer dan tweederde van de aardkorst daarbuiten ligt?

Volgens de onderzoekers is het antwoord duidelijk: zo'n 460 miljoen jaar geleden zou een grote asteroïde de aarde hebben benaderd tot hij de limiet van Roche passeerde, waarna hij werd beïnvloed door getijdenkrachten. Als gevolg daarvan zou de asteroïde zijn gaan fragmenteren en deze fragmenten zouden hebben geholpen bij het vormen van een ring van puin rond de aarde. Net als bij Saturnus en andere gasreuzen.

Planeetringen en ijstijden

Oliver Hull/Monash University

Wat is het verband tussen de vorming van planetaire ringen en de concentratie inslagkraters die Australische onderzoekers hebben ontdekt? Simpel: na de vorming zouden de brokstukken die de ring vormden in de loop van miljoenen jaren beetje bij beetje op de aarde zijn gevallen en zo de piek in kraters hebben veroorzaakt. Maar dat is nog niet alles, want de studie probeerde ook bewijs te vinden voor de klimatologische gevolgen die een ringsysteem zeker zou hebben gehad op de aarde.

Vanuit dit perspectief zouden de planetaire ringen een deel van het zonlicht hebben kunnen tegenhouden en hebben bijgedragen aan de wereldwijde afkoeling. En in feite vindt precies aan het einde van het Ordovicium de Hirnatien-ijstijd plaats, die wordt beschouwd als een van de koudste periodes van de afgelopen 500 miljoen jaar. Bovendien is het deze ijstijd die de massa-uitsterving in het Ordovicium veroorzaakte, de eerste van de vijf grote massa-uitstervingen in de geschiedenis van de aarde. Gebeurde dit allemaal door 'onze' planeetringen?

Perspectieven van het onderzoek

De ontdekking door Australische onderzoekers kan veel bredere gevolgen hebben dan verwacht. In de praktijk gaat het niet alleen om het idee dat de Aarde ook een eigen planetair ringenstelsel kan hebben gehad, maar om overwegingen van complexere aard:

• ten eerste, wat er in het laatste deel van het Ordovicium gebeurde, zou ook gebeurd kunnen zijn in de 4 miljard jaar van de vorige geschiedenis van de Aarde;
• ten tweede kan de vorming en het daaropvolgende verval van een planetaire ring belangrijke gevolgen hebben gehad voor het klimaat op aarde;
• ten slotte spelen astronomische gebeurtenissen, waaronder de vorming van planeetringen, een veel belangrijkere rol in de geschiedenis van een planeet dan verwacht.

Kortom, als de hypothese van het onderzoek gegrond blijkt te zijn, staan we mogelijk aan het begin van een geheel nieuw onderzoeksgebied over de interactie tussen de aarde en de kosmos. Met gevolgen voor de hele evolutionaire geschiedenis van onze planeet.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

28-09-2024 om 22:04 geschreven door peter  

A photo recently captured by NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars has revealed a surprising object that stands out from the planet's natural landscape. 

The object in question looks like an artificial piece of glass or eventual a mirror, (the contours of the glass/mirror are clearly visible), partially located behind a rock formation. 

The fact that it could be a mirror is because the reflection in the mirror seems to show a part of what appears to be a metallic rectangular object what lies in front of the mirror. 

Both the glass/mirror and the metallic object seem to be remnants of something either abandoned or wrecked long ago. They clearly do not belong to the rover's equipment or any known NASA gear.  

This discovery joins a growing list of mysterious objects found on Mars hinting at the possibility that intelligent civilizations may have once existed on the planet potentially wiped out due to a catastrophic event which made life on the planet impossible. 

Link to the photo uploaded by Neville Thompson on his Gigapan page.

• http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/236036

{ https://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

28-09-2024 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

We spent 45 days in a simulated Mars habitat built by NASA - this is the brutal reality of life on Red Planet

• READ MORE: New map of Mars reveals hidden 'structures' below the surface

By Ellyn Lapointe For Dailymail.Com

Four volunteer scientists have just emerged from a 45-day stay inside NASA's most realistic Mars simulation yet.

The crew remained completely isolated inside the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) - a 650-square-foot habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas - until Monday, when the hatch opened and they finally 'returned to Earth.'

While inside, they completed 18 different studies that will help NASA and other space agencies learn how humans respond to the confinement, demanding work-life conditions and remote environments of deep-space missions, according to NASA

NASA has set a goal to get humans to Mars by the 2030s. With that deadline fast approaching, simulated missions like HERA provide key insights into how astronauts might survive the farthest crewed space mission ever attempted. 

The four person crew - comprised of Sergii Iakymov, Sarah Elizabeth McCandless, Erin Anderson, and Brandon Kent (L to R) - was the third to enter the HERA habitat

Above, a 3D-rendered image of the red planet Mars - as virtual as the team's HERA experience

The four person crew - comprised of Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Sarah Elizabeth McCandless and Brandon Kent - was the third to enter the HERA habitat.

Their mission was unique in that it included the more detailed assignments designed to closely replicate the living and working experience on Mars.

During the month-and-a-half-long simulation, the crew performed a wide range of tasks.

Their assignments included harvesting plants from a hydroponic garden, growing shrimp, deploying a small satellite, conducting a virtual 'walk' across the surface of Mars and flying simulated drones over Martian terrain. 

'These activities are designed to immerse the crew in the task-focused mindset of astronauts,' NASA wrote in a statement.

NASA even simulated the communication delays that real astronauts could one day face on Mars. During a real Mars mission, communications from Earth could take up to 20 minutes to reach astronauts on the red planet, and vice versa. 

All the while, the crew was being monitored by NASA scientists to assess how their day-to-day tasks, routine, and the isolation and confinement of their habitat affected their behavior and performance. 

When they weren't hard at work, the crew read books, played cards, built Legos and listened to music. 

The HERA mission three crew entered the habitat on August 9

Their mission was unique in that it included the more detailed assignments designed to closely replicate the living and working experience on Mars, including growing hydroponic plants

The volunteers also grew shrimp, deployed a small satellite, conducted a virtual 'walk' across the surface of Mars and flew simulated drones over Martian terrain

On Monday afternoon, the crew finally emerged from their tiny habitat, marking the end of their mission. 

'Following our safe passage to Mars, and our safe return to Earth, as the crew of Campaign 7, Mission 3, we hereby officially transfer this exploration vessel to the flight analogs operations team,' said Kent upon exiting HERA.

'We hope this vessel continues to serve as a safe home for future HERA crews,' he added. 

NASA also runs another, bigger simulated Mars habitat called the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA. This 1,700-square-foot is large enough to sustain volunteers for up to a year. 

The first CHAPEA volunteer crew emerged from their habitat in July. 

If you think you have what it takes to spend weeks inside cramped Mars simulation, NASA is actively seeking non-smoking volunteers between the ages of 30 and 55 for the next HERA mission. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

28-09-2024 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

The legendary SR-71 Blackbird, as soon as it has its successor, may certainly redefine the way aerial reconnaissance and strike capabilities are to be perceived because it is given its unparalleled speed and altitude. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works team is working on the SR-72 "Darkstar," a hypersonic aircraft that aims to reach Mach 6.0. This would be twice the capability of the predecessor./

The SR-71 was unveiled to the world over half a century ago and could reach an altitude of 85,000 feet and Mach 3.2.

The SR-71 was unveiled to the world over half a century ago and could reach an altitude of 85,000 feet and Mach 3.2.

Its retirement in the late 1990s meant it would never be challenged for this record, but the supposed SR-72 has promised much more.

Popularized by its appearance in the latest Top Gun movie, it promises to transcend feats that would never have been seen or imagined in this aircraft's lifetime.

Firm Lockheed Martin partnered with Aerojet Rocketdyne for the new engine for the SR-72; it would take advantage of technology from the now-canceled HTV-3X.

The turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine that the SR-72 will be using is a dual-mode ramjet engine, which will enable take-off at conventional jet speeds and then zoom up to hypersonic speeds of potentially over Mach 6.0.

It has not been an easy ride to develop the SR-72. The latest reports show that in Q2 2024, the program overspent by an additional $45 million, leaving it with a comprehensive loss since 2022 to $335 million.

Still, hope for the SR-72 remains alive. Lockheed Martin will continue to be extended with the program as shrouded in secrecy, marching toward operational status, perhaps to meet future U.S. Air Force needs.

Hence, the SR-72 would be an ISR asset with strike capability; whereas the SR-71 aircraft could only be used for reconnaissance missions, the SR-72 aircraft would engage the target directly.

Based on this feature added to hypersonic missiles, it would be possible for a weapon system to breach any airspace and strike any point on a continent within sixty minutes.

It would be an entirely new kind of strategic advantage, said Lockheed Martin's program manager, as such a machine "penetrates denied airspace and strikes at nearly any location across a continent in less than an hour."

It's a capability no other weapon in the U.S. Air Force's inventory can especially with rising tensions between Washington and Beijing continuing unabated.

The SR-72 has been classified, but Lockheed Martin upped its advanced development programs unit by 75 percent and hired more than 2,300 new employees since early 2018.

That kind of investment means that the production will be of a new classified aircraft for use in operational service.

The SR-72 is taking shape as an aircraft that will revolutionize the air reconnaissance and strike capabilities, permitting the United States Air Force to achieve unprecedented speed and strategic advantage.

VIDEOS

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28-09-2024 om 01:00 geschreven door peter  

Story by And¸elika

©And¸elika

NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
With all of the worrying things happening here, on earth, one way to take your mind off them is to look at the beauty of the cosmos. Luckily, NASA is still out there exploring outer space and providing us with the latest wonders. Recently The National Aeronautics and Space Administration released the brand new imagery of Jupiter. The captivating display of the stormy southern hemisphere of the planet which exists 484 million miles away from us, prompted us to share a list of most fascinating photos NASA has taken of the planet.
Nasa's Juno spacecraft has been taking snaps of the planet since it's first close pass by Jupiter in 2016. Since then, Juno took stunning images of and it, helping scientists learn the important information about the gas giant.

©NASA

#1 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft was a little more than one Earth diameter from Jupiter when it captured this mind-bending, color-enhanced view of the planet’s tumultuous atmosphere.

©NASA

#2 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
A multitude of swirling clouds in Jupiter's dynamic North North Temperate Belt is captured in this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Appearing in the scene are several bright-white “pop-up” clouds as well as an anticyclonic storm, known as a white oval.

©NASA

#3 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image captures the swirling cloud formations around the south pole of Jupiter, looking up toward the equatorial region.

©NASA

#4 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See Jovian clouds in striking shades of blue in this new view taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#5 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
During its 24th close flyby of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of a chaotic, stormy area of the planet’s northern hemisphere known as a folded filamentary region. Jupiter has no solid surface in the same way Earth does. Data collected by Juno indicate that some of the giant planet’s winds run deeper and last longer than similar atmospheric processes on Earth.

©NASA

#6 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Jupiter’s volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter’s cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun.

©NASA

#7 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno mission captured this look at Jupiter’s tumultuous northern regions during the spacecraft’s close approach to the planet on Feb. 17, 2020.

©NASA

#8 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This striking view of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and turbulent southern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed a close pass of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#9 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image of Jupiter’s turbulent southern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed its most recent close flyby of the gas giant planet on Dec. 21, 2018

©NASA

#10 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Thick white clouds are present in this JunoCam image of Jupiter's equatorial zone. These clouds complicate the interpretation of infrared measurements of water. At microwave frequencies, the same clouds are transparent, allowing Juno's Microwave Radiometer to measure water deep into Jupiter's atmosphere. The image was acquired during Juno's flyby of the gas giant on Dec. 16, 2017.

©NASA

#11 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image captures swirling cloud belts and tumultuous vortices within Jupiter’s northern hemisphere.

©NASA

#12 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image shows Jupiter’s south pole, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). The oval features are cyclones, up to 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in diameter. Multiple images taken with the JunoCam instrument on three separate orbits were combined to show all areas in daylight, enhanced color, and stereographic projection.

 

©NASA

#13 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This view from NASA's Juno spacecraft captures colorful, intricate patterns in a jet stream region of Jupiter's northern hemisphere known as "Jet N3."

©NASA

#14 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of an area within a Jovian jet stream showing a vortex that has an intensely dark center. Nearby, other features display bright, high altitude clouds that have puffed up into the sunlight.

©NASA

#15 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
A dynamic storm at the southern edge of Jupiter’s northern polar region dominates this Jovian cloudscape, courtesy of NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#16 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#17 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image of Jupiter’s swirling south polar region was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it neared completion of its tenth close flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#18 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See Jupiter’s southern hemisphere in beautiful detail in this new image taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The color-enhanced view captures one of the white ovals in the “String of Pearls,” one of eight massive rotating storms at 40 degrees south latitude on the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#19 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This view of Jupiter’s atmosphere from NASA’s Juno spacecraft includes something remarkable: two storms caught in the act of merging.

©NASA

#20 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Colorful swirling cloud belts dominate Jupiter’s southern hemisphere in this image captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

 

©NASA

#21 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This color-enhanced image of a massive, raging storm in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its ninth close flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#22 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See intricate cloud patterns in the northern hemisphere of Jupiter in this new view taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#23 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Dramatic atmospheric features in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere are captured in this view from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The new perspective shows swirling clouds that surround a circular feature within a jet stream region called "Jet N6."

©NASA

#24 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image captures the intensity of the jets and vortices in Jupiter’s North North Temperate Belt.

©NASA

#25 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Small bright clouds dot Jupiter’s entire south tropical zone in this image acquired by JunoCam on NASA’s Juno spacecraft on May 19, 2017, at an altitude of 7,990 miles (12,858 kilometers). Although the bright clouds appear tiny in this vast Jovian cloudscape, they actually are cloud towers roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) wide and 30 miles (50 kilometers) high that cast shadows on the clouds below. On Jupiter, clouds this high are almost certainly composed of water and/or ammonia ice, and they may be sources of lightning. This is the first time so many cloud towers have been visible, possibly because the late-afternoon lighting is particularly good at this

©NASA

#26 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Colorful swirling clouds in Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt practically fill this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. This is the closest image captured of the Jovian clouds during this recent flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#27 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See swirling cloud formations in the northern area of Jupiter's north temperate belt in this new view taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#28 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno mission captured this look at the southern hemisphere of Jupiter on Feb. 17, 2020, during the spacecraft’s most recent close approach to the giant planet.

©NASA

#29 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This extraordinary view of Jupiter was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on the outbound leg of its 12th close flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#30 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
A swirling, oval white cloud in Jupiter’s South South Temperate Belt is captured in this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Known as White Oval A5, the feature is an anticyclonic storm. An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon where winds around the storm flow in the direction opposite to those of the flow around a region of low pressure.

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27-09-2024 om 23:15 geschreven door peter  

Early Martian Atmosphere Could Be Locked Up in Planet’s Clay Surface

Geological observations of Mars indicate a dense early atmosphere ranging from 0.25 to 4 bar of carbon dioxide. But 3.5 billion years ago, the Martian atmosphere thinned rapidly to approximately 0.054 bar, suggesting a substantial loss of atmospheric carbon dioxide, either to space or the lithosphere. The mechanism by which Mars lost its carbon dioxide remains poorly understood. For MIT geologists Joshua Murray and Oliver Jagoutz, the answer may lie in the planet’s clay-covered crust. The researchers used their knowledge of interactions between rocks and gases on Earth and applied that to how similar processes could play out on Mars. They found that, given how much clay is estimated to cover the Martian surface, the planet’s clay could hold up to 1.7 bar of carbon dioxide, which would be equivalent to around 80% of the planet’s initial, early atmosphere. It’s possible that this sequestered Martian carbon could one day be recovered and converted into propellant to fuel future missions between Mars and Earth, the researchers propose.

This schematic illustrates the progressive alteration of iron-rich rocks on Mars as the rocks interact with water containing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Image credit: Joshua Murray & Oliver Jagoutz, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adm8443.

“Based on our findings on Earth, we show that similar processes likely operated on Mars, and that copious amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide could have transformed to methane and been sequestered in clays,” Professor Jagoutz said.

“This methane could still be present and maybe even used as an energy source on Mars in the future.”

Professor Jagoutz and Murray seek to identify the geologic processes and interactions that drive the evolution of Earth’s lithosphere — the hard and brittle outer layer that includes the crust and upper mantle, where tectonic plates lie.

In 2023, they focused on a type of surface clay mineral called smectite, which is known to be a highly effective trap for carbon.

Within a single grain of smectite are a multitude of folds, within which carbon can sit undisturbed for billions of years.

They showed that smectite on Earth was likely a product of tectonic activity, and that, once exposed at the surface, the clay minerals acted to draw down and store enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to cool the planet over millions of years.

Soon after they reported their results, Professor Jagoutz happened to look at a map of the surface of Mars and realized that much of that planet’s surface was covered in the same smectite clays.

An illustration shows an misty atmosphere around the Red Planet Mars. Could this envelop of gas have "gone to ground" billions of years ago?

 (Image credit: Robert Lea (created with Canva)/NASA)

Could the clays have had a similar carbon-trapping effect on Mars, and if so, how much carbon could the clays hold?

Unlike on Earth, where smectite is a consequence of continental plates shifting and uplifting to bring rocks from the mantle to the surface, there is no such tectonic activity on Mars.

The scientists looked for ways in which the clays could have formed on Mars, based on what they know of the planet’s history and composition.

For instance, some remote measurements of Mars’ surface suggest that at least part of the planet’s crust contains ultramafic igneous rocks, similar to those that produce smectites through weathering on Earth.

Other observations reveal geologic patterns similar to terrestrial rivers and tributaries, where water could have flowed and reacted with the underlying rock.

The authors wondered whether water could have reacted with Mars’ deep ultramafic rocks in a way that would produce the clays that cover the surface today.

They developed a simple model of rock chemistry, based on what is known of how igneous rocks interact with their environment on Earth.

They applied this model to Mars, where scientists believe the crust is mostly made up of igneous rock that is rich in the mineral olivine.

The team used the model to estimate the changes that olivine-rich rock might undergo, assuming that water existed on the surface for at least a billion years, and the atmosphere was thick with carbon dioxide.

“At this time in Mars’ history, we think carbon dioxide is everywhere, in every nook and cranny, and water percolating through the rocks is full of carbon dioxide too,” Murray said.

Over about a billion years, water trickling through the crust would have slowly reacted with olivine — a mineral that is rich in a reduced form of iron.

Oxygen molecules in water would have bound to the iron, releasing hydrogen as a result and forming the red oxidized iron which gives the planet its iconic color.

An image of a dust devil sweeping over Mars captured by the Opportunity Rover in March 2016 as the robot investigated smectites in Marathon Valley. 

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This free hydrogen would then have combined with carbon dioxide in the water, to form methane.

As this reaction progressed over time, olivine would have slowly transformed into another type of iron-rich rock known as serpentine, which then continued to react with water to form smectite.

“These smectite clays have so much capacity to store carbon,” Murray said.

“So then we used existing knowledge of how these minerals are stored in clays on Earth, and extrapolate to say, if the Martian surface has this much clay in it, how much methane can you store in those clays?”

The researchers found that if Mars is covered in a layer of smectite that is 1,100 m deep, this amount of clay could store a huge amount of methane, equivalent to most of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is thought to have disappeared since the planet dried up.

“We find that estimates of global clay volumes on Mars are consistent with a significant fraction of Mars’ initial carbon dioxide being sequestered as organic compounds within the clay-rich crust,” Murray said.

“In some ways, Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight.”

• The results appear in the journal Science Advances.
• Joshua Murray & Oliver Jagoutz. 2024. Olivine alteration and the loss of Mars’ early atmospheric carbon. Science Advances 10 (39); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adm8443
• This article is based on a press-release provided by MIT.

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27-09-2024 om 21:24 geschreven door peter  

New map of Mars reveals hidden 'structures' below the Martian surface

• READ MORE:  Scientists discover smiley-face on Mars that may hold signs of life

By Ellyn Lapointe For Dailymail.Com

A new map of Mars has revealed mysterious structures hiding beneath the sediment layers of a lost ocean.

The researchers detected about 20 features scattered around the planet's north polar cap that are significantly denser than their surroundings. 

The structures vary in shape and size, with one resembling the shape of a dog, leaving the team puzzled because they do not know exactly what the formations are or where they came from. But they do have some theories.

One idea is that the structures were compacted by ancient meteor strikes, or  formed by volcanic activity, but more research is needed to get to the bottom of these underground anomalies. 

A new analysis of Mars' gravitational field has revealed mysterious structures lurking beneath the planet's surface

The team of researchers from Denmark's TU Delft and Utrecht University presented their findings at the Europlanetary Science Conference in Berlin this week.

The team used tiny deviations in satellite orbits to create a picture of Mars' gravitational field, or the region of space around a planet where its gravitational force can be felt. 

They did this to look for clues about how mass is distributed throughout the planet's subsurface. 

The team then combined these observations with data on the thickness and flexibility of the Mars' crust, as well as the dynamics of the planet's mantle and deep interior. 

These observations were collected by NASA's InSIGHT lander, which completed its study of Mars' crust, mantle and core in 2022.

This allowed the researchers to create a global density map of Mars that revealed the existence of 20 previously unknown underground structures scattered around the planet's north polar cap.

The structures are about 19 to 25 pounds per cubic foot denser than their surroundings, and vary in shape and size. 

Additionally, they are covered by a thick, smooth layer of sediment that may have once been a seabed. 

The researchers used tiny deviations in satellite orbits and data from NASA's InSIGHT lander to create a global density map of Mars

Their analysis revealed 20 previously unknown underground structures scattered around the planet's north polar cap

Billions of years ago, Mars was not the desert planet we know today. It was once covered in oceans and rivers, but water dried up in an extreme climactic shift. 

Now, the only evidence of these bodies of water lies in Mars' geologic record - like this sediment layer. 

As for the structures that lie beneath, 'there seems to be no trace of them at the surface,' lead author Bart Root, an assistant professor at TU Delft, said. 

'However, through gravity data, we have a tantalizing glimpse into the older history of the northern hemisphere of Mars.' 

This isn't the first time that scientists have uncovered oddities beneath the surface of Mars. 

In December 2023, China's Zhurong found large honeycomb-shaped crevasses buried dozens of meters beneath Mars' equator that likely formed when drastic temperature dips contract and fracture the ground.

But Root and his team are having a harder time figuring out what these most recently structures are, and where they came from. Right now, they have two main theories. 

Either the structures were compacted by ancient impact events, like meteor strikes, or they were formed by some kind of volcanic activity. This latter idea challenges scientists' longstanding view of Mars as a geologically inactive planet. 

But while studies have shown that Mars does not have as much geological activity as Earth, a growing body of evidence suggests that it isn't completely 'dead.'

Root's study adds to this evidence not just by discovering structures that may be volcanically formed, but through a totally separate finding. 

In addition to finding the mysterious structures, the team's analysis revealed that Mars' mantle may still host active geological processes that could be feeding Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system.

Olympus Mons is located in the Tharsis Montes region near Mars' equator. Scientists estimate that it hasn't erupted for 25 million years.

The subterranean geology of the Tharsis region is incredibly dense, but Root and his team detected a much lighter mass lying 700 miles beneath the surface. 

He believes this mass is an enormous plume of magma that stretches 1,000 miles across in Mars' mantle. What's more, this plume might be in the process of bubbling to the surface.

'This means we need to rethink how we understand the support for the Olympus Mons volcano and its surroundings,' Root said. 

'It shows that Mars might still have active movements happening inside it, affecting and possibly making new volcanic features on the surface.' 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

27-09-2024 om 20:50 geschreven door peter  

We spent 45 days in a simulated Mars habitat built by NASA - this is the brutal reality of life on Red Planet

• READ MORE: New map of Mars reveals hidden 'structures' below the surface

By Ellyn Lapointe For Dailymail.Com

Four volunteer scientists have just emerged from a 45-day stay inside NASA's most realistic Mars simulation yet.

The crew remained completely isolated inside the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) - a 650-square-foot habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas - until Monday, when the hatch opened and they finally 'returned to Earth.'

While inside, they completed 18 different studies that will help NASA and other space agencies learn how humans respond to the confinement, demanding work-life conditions and remote environments of deep-space missions, according to NASA.

NASA has set a goal to get humans to Mars by the 2030s. With that deadline fast approaching, simulated missions like HERA provide key insights into how astronauts might survive the farthest crewed space mission ever attempted. 

The four person crew - comprised of Sergii Iakymov, Sarah Elizabeth McCandless, Erin Anderson, and Brandon Kent (L to R) - was the third to enter the HERA habitat

The four person crew - comprised of Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Sarah Elizabeth McCandless and Brandon Kent - was the third to enter the HERA habitat.

Their mission was unique in that it included the more detailed assignments designed to closely replicate the living and working experience on Mars.

During the month-and-a-half-long simulation, the crew performed a wide range of tasks.

Their assignments included harvesting plants from a hydroponic garden, growing shrimp, deploying a small satellite, conducting a virtual 'walk' across the surface of Mars and flying simulated drones over Martian terrain. 

'These activities are designed to immerse the crew in the task-focused mindset of astronauts,' NASA wrote in a statement.

NASA even simulated the communication delays that real astronauts could one day face on Mars. During a real Mars mission, communications from Earth could take up to 20 minutes to reach astronauts on the red planet, and vice versa. 

All the while, the crew was being monitored by NASA scientists to assess how their day-to-day tasks, routine, and the isolation and confinement of their habitat affected their behavior and performance. 

When they weren't hard at work, the crew read books, played cards, built Legos and listened to music. 

The HERA mission three crew entered the habitat on August 9

Their mission was unique in that it included the more detailed assignments designed to closely replicate the living and working experience on Mars, including growing hydroponic plants

The volunteers also grew shrimp, deployed a small satellite, conducted a virtual 'walk' across the surface of Mars and flew simulated drones over Martian terrain

On Monday afternoon, the crew finally emerged from their tiny habitat, marking the end of their mission. 

'Following our safe passage to Mars, and our safe return to Earth, as the crew of Campaign 7, Mission 3, we hereby officially transfer this exploration vessel to the flight analogs operations team,' said Kent upon exiting HERA.

'We hope this vessel continues to serve as a safe home for future HERA crews,' he added. 

NASA also runs another, bigger simulated Mars habitat called the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA. This 1,700-square-foot is large enough to sustain volunteers for up to a year. 

The first CHAPEA volunteer crew emerged from their habitat in July. 

If you think you have what it takes to spend weeks inside cramped Mars simulation, NASA is actively seeking non-smoking volunteers between the ages of 30 and 55 for the next HERA mission. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

27-09-2024 om 20:01 geschreven door peter  

Ex-CIA Officer: Truth About UFOs Is Terrifying & Interdimensional Beings Are Within Us

By Vicky Verma

The US Congress now suggests that some UFOs are non-human in origin. This is the most significant assertion made in UFOlogy to date. Several insiders have openly acknowledged the existence of UFOs over the past few decades and implied that the phenomenon is always present around us and that our limited senses prevent us from being able to see it.

A few months ago, former CIA officer Jim Semivan made a shocking statement, saying “there’s a whole other reality that surrounds us that we just simply don’t have the ability to see or interact with.” He had worked with the CIA for 25 years before joining Tom Delonge’s “To the Stars Academy” with other ex-government insiders. The “To The Stars Academy” is an organization that claims to have been responsible for the release of the now-famous Pentagon UFO videos.

He described how he joined the CIA and acquired years of specialized training in spycraft. Since the CIA operates under the “need-to-know” premise, Semivan was not specifically informed of any UFO-related study, despite the fact that CIA analyst Kit Green was well-known for exploring the paranormal.

According to him, “There is a force out there that can control our environment, that can put thoughts into our heads.” In fact, Mr. Semivan has previously stated that UFOs sighted by the Navy are from another world. He made shocking assertions regarding unidentified flying objects in an interview with James Iandoli, saying that the occurrence can be startling, especially to children.

“When we started TTSA, we had discussions about this all the time. Are we sure we want to disclose this information? I mean, you know, are we going to scare eight-year-olds?”

“I had some friends who were like, ‘Oh, my daughter wants to know all about UFOs. Can we talk to you about that?’ And I said no. I’m not going to talk to you about that. What am I going to tell her or him, these 10-, 11-year-olds? Could such a reality kill them psychologically for the rest of their lives?”

“Yes, that there is a force out there that can control our environment and put thoughts into our heads. That they can lie to you, deceive you, and that you are not in control of your life. Tell this to a 12-year-old,” while succinct, Semivan suggests that the “rabbit hole goes much deeper” when it comes to the UFO phenomenon.

Moreover, in his recent podcast appearance on “Calling All Beings,” he fiercely said that non-human intelligence is living with humans on Earth. “There’s an entity out there! There’s some kind of non-human intelligence that’s living with us on this F**KING planet,” Semivan said.

Semivan spoke about his own experiences with alien-like beings that started happening to him and his wife in their bedroom in 1990 on Coast to Coast AM. He insisted that the event was real and that it was not a hypnagogic or dream state. The couple thereafter had intermittent poltergeist activity in their home, and more recently, he claimed to have seen a hooded figure that resembled the Death Eater from the Harry Potter series, who perhaps materialized to herald the death of a close friend.

Mr. Semivan said he agreed with the statement made by Colm Kelleher, a researcher at Skinwalker Ranch, that the UFO phenomenon is much more than just mechanical parts and devices because psychic and biological factors also contribute to the event’s extreme strangeness. He stated that To the Stars was still looking into “metamaterials” with unusual isotope ratios that may be connected to UFOs.

In the first half of the interview, Semivan said:

“I think they mention that the phenomenon is a natural part of our universe, and we’re living in it but we don’t recognize it. The same way that insects and animals don’t recognize the human universe. A cat and a dog could be running through a library, but they don’t have the faintest idea what the books are all about and what libraries are all about. We might be walking through our existence and there’s a whole other reality that surrounds us that we just simply don’t have the ability to see or interact with.”

“It seems to be peeking inside our little consensus reality. As I explained to somebody once, it comes close, it teases us, it cajoles us, it lies to us, but you can never take it home to meet the parents. It won’t allow you to do that. There’s no formal introduction. Add on top that there’s no ontology, which is just a fancy word, it basically means there’s no structure to even discuss this. We don’t have a common lexicon. Somebody said we have dots but no connections. I don’t even think we have dots.”

Read also:

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• US Navy Chilling Underwater UFO Encounters Might Prove Aliens Hiding Under Ocean

Discussion on historical role of CIA and UFOs

George Knapp: What about now? Upper echelons of the intelligence community? Possible reactions? Jim Semivan: Speculating here. Now people in the IC are willing to take it on. We briefed senior people on the topic. They wanted it to be out in the open. It is truly a national security issue. Don’t like – the military/government doesn’t own the topic. The phenomenon shows up everywhere. I want to know what the hell it is. Let’s take it private.

GK: Big picture stuff. Anyone know the full picture? JS: Don’t think anyone knows the true picture. Col Kelleher said it’s a lot more than nuts and bolts. There is a biological side to it – high strangeness and scary. When started TTSA we discussed this. Do we really want to know?

GK: Stories from Vallee and Nolan, stories about entire craft and bodies. Real? Someone has craft and bodies? JS: Let that go. Not going there.

GK: CRADA timeline?

JS: Don’t know. Pieces of Mg-Bi – waveguide – Some say the result of some process. You don’t have to figure it all out, just get some ideas. The story of Bob Lazar. You gave me a thumbnail sketch of Lazar. I don’t have issues. I believe what he says is accurate. Edward Snowden was a smart kid. The government hired him yet he didn’t have any degrees. Shows no sign of deception in interviews. Phone question from a listener. The hitchhiker effect. Could relate it with hauntings. Could it attach itself to an entity/company/private contractor?

In an interview with Whitley Strieber, Mr. Semivan says he refers to the UFO, UAP, and Alien Phenomena as Jinn. He does not mean that in a religious way – credibility to the inter-dimensional hypothesis. (Source)

“This phenomenon does lie to you and it is very very deceitful at times. It will tell you things that sound wonderful but also make no sense and is it toying with us or is it using some kind of you know symbols that we don’t understand?

I refer to them as a ‘Jinn’ because you know in Arab culture they’re sort of like us or they’re made out of quote-unquote fire or ether or whatever. But they also have the same kind of emotions but there’s good Jinn and there’s bad Jinn.”

Inter-Dimensional BEINGS? UFO Hearing Sparks HOLOGRAPHIC THEORY Debate: Dr Avi Loeb Explains

Alien and UFO Encounters from Another Dimension

Discover what the Government doesn't want you to know! | UFO Conclusion | Aliens | Documentary

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27-09-2024 om 01:39 geschreven door peter  

Met behulp van de VISTA-telescoop van de Europese Zuidelijke Sterrenwacht heeft een team van astronomen meer dan 13 jaar lang de centrale delen van ons Melkwegstelsel waargenomen.

De eerste waarneming dateert al van 2010. Het hele project resulteerde in 500 terabytes aan gegevens. Daarmee is het het grootste waarnemingsproject dat ooit is uitgevoerd met een telescoop van ESO, de organisatie van 16 EU-landen die het heelal afspeurt vanuit een observatorium in Chili.

De hele kaart is zo groot dat ze niet in één beeld weergegeven kan worden. Hij omvat een resem hemellichamen, van nieuwe sterren in hun "stof-cocons" tot zogenaamde bolvormige sterrenhopen, een cluster van sterren rond een sterrenstelsel. 

Doordat het team verschillende keren dezelfde hoekjes van het heelal afspeurde, kon het niet alleen de objecten zelf in kaart brengen, maar ook hoe ze bewegen en mogelijke schommelingen in helderheid.

Verschillenden kaarten van onze Melkweg: van chemische samenstelling over interstellair stof tot de snelheid waarmee objecten bewegen

Langverwacht

"Dit is een project waar we al jaren naar uitkijken", zegt Leen Decin, hoogleraar Sterrenkunde aan de KU Leuven in De Wereld Vandaag. "De kaarten die we nu hebben binnengekregen, zijn ongelofelijk gedetailleerd, met miljoenen sterren."

"In 2012 hadden we al eens een voorlopige kaart gekregen van het Melkwegstelsel (het sterrenstelsel waar ons zonnestelsel, en dus ook de aarde, zich in bevindt, red.). Maar nu hebben ze gedurende 420 nachten waarnemingen gedaan. Al dat licht hebben ze gebundeld om één gedetailleerde kaart te maken. Dat geeft ons heel wat nieuwe informatie over ons eigen Melkwegstelsel."

Deze kaart, die door hetzelfde team is gemaakt, bevat 10 keer meer informatie dan die uit 2012.

"De Melkweg is enkele honderdduizenden lichtjaren groot. Het is gigantisch. Maar het is niet het enige. Wij wonen in één zo'n melkwegstelsel, maar er zijn nog honderdduizenden andere. Wij hebben nu ons eigen huisje wat beter in kaart gebracht, en niet door gewoon te kijken in het optische licht, dat dat we zien met onze eigen ogen. De VISTA-telescoop kijkt in infraroodlicht, zoals de infrarode stralen in een microgolfoven."

Dwars door ruimtestof heen

Zonder dat infrarood licht zou dat niet gelukt zijn. "Infrarode stralen zijn veel langer dan ons optisch licht. Het is veel gevoeliger voor koude objecten, waardoor we veel meer planeten kunnen ontdekken."

"Het kan ook gemakkelijk door stof heen kijken. Als je thuis niet poetst, krijg je stofwolkjes. Dat ligt er, maar we kunnen er niet doorheen kijken. Wel, als we met een infraroodcamera zouden kijken, dan zou het lijken alsof dat stof niet aanwezig is. Zo zitten er in het melkwegstelsel ook veel stofdeeltjes. En ook daar kijkt de VISTA-telescoop los door. Je kan dus veel dieper kijken in ons melkwegstelsel." 

Die kaart moeten we ons trouwens vooral niet voorstellen als een klassieke kaart. "Je ziet kleine en grote sterren en heel veel planeten. Maar je ziet ook bruine dwergen. Dat zijn mislukte sterren, sterren die net niet zwaar genoeg zijn geweest om binnenin hun eigen kernreactor op te starten."

"Je ziet ook sterren die heel dicht in de buurt zijn gekomen van het zwarte gat in het midden van ons eigen Melkwegstelsel. Als sterren daar heel dichtbij komen, kunnen ze worden opgeslorpt of weggeslingerd. Als ze worden weggeslingerd, hebben ze een heel grote snelheid. Die hebben we ook in groten getale ontdekt op de kaart."

Een zogenaamde bolvormige sterrenhoop, een cluster van sterren rond een sterrenstelsel, op de nieuwe kaart.

Foto: ESO

"Op die kaart gaan we nu nog jaren werken. Als je waarnemingen binnen krijgt, zijn die heel ruw. Die moeten gekalibreerd worden, de oneffenheden moeten eruit worden gehaald. Nu is alles echter mooi. Daarop zullen we nu beginnen werken. De volgende jaren zal je op tijd en stond nieuwigheden van ons horen."

Iedereen kan meehelpen

"We zullen bijvoorbeeld veel beter begrijpen wat er vlakbij het zwart gat in ons melkwegstelsel gebeurt. Daar zitten sterren tussen die pulseren: het licht wordt afwisselend helderder en minder helder. Als je weet hoe dat werkt, kan je een techniek toepassen om afstanden te meten. We zullen de afstanden in ons melkwegstelsel dus veel beter kunnen meten."

"Wat we ook willen weten, is hoeveel zware en minder zware sterren er zijn. Dat vertelt ons immers iets over de geschiedenis van ons eigen melkwegstelsel. Beetje bij beetje zullen we onze kennis kunnen verbreden of verdiepen."

Er is immers nog heel veel dat we nog niet weten over onze eigen melkweg. "Het is ook maar één bouwsteen van het universum. We hebben honderden miljarden andere melkwegstelsels. Wanneer we het onze beter begrijpen, zullen we ook beter begrijpen wat er bij de buren gebeurt. Eerst moet je je eigen huis kennen. Daarom is het zo cruciaal dat we nu een ongelofelijk accuraat beeld krijgen van ons eigen melkwegstelsel."

Iedereen kan daar trouwens aan meewerken in zogenaamde burgerprojecten. "Iedereen die interesse heeft in sterrenkunde kan aan de slag met onze waarnemingen. Die worden binnen de 6 maanden tot een jaar publiek gemaakt. Je kan meehelpen om die data te analyseren en nieuwe ontdekkingen te doen."

{ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/ }

27-09-2024 om 00:42 geschreven door peter  

Two images of the Moon from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper. The top is a black and white view of the north polar region while the bottom is a spectral map of water and hydroxyls seen in the south polar region.

Credit: NASA/ISRO/M3 Team/PSI/R. Clark

When you look at the Moon, you don’t see any water on its surface. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any. In fact, there’s a lot of “wetness” on the Moon, but it’s in places and forms we can’t see. Understanding where all those resources are is the subject of a study based on NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data taken from aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.

The analysis performed by a team led by Planetary Science Institute senior scientist Roger Clark shows that there are many sources of water and a group of chemicals called “hydroxyls” (OH). Water lies hidden in ice deposits in shaded areas, and inside enriched rocks.

Hydroxyls are interesting. They form as solar protons interact with electrons on the Moon’s surface. That creates hydrogen atoms which hook up with oxygen atoms found in silicates and other oxygen-bearing molecules in the lunar regolith. Together, the hydrogen and oxygen make hydroxyl molecules, which are a component of water. While it would take some work, mining those “raw materials” for water on the Moon could be a huge boost for future crewed missions, according to Clark.

“Future astronauts may be able to find water even near the equator by exploiting these water-rich areas. Previously, it was thought that only the polar region, and in particular, the deeply shadowed craters at the poles were where water could be found in abundance,” said Clark. “Knowing where water is located not only helps to understand lunar geologic history but also where astronauts may find water in the future.”

How They Identified Lunar Water Sources

Searching out sources of lunar water requires special instruments. This is where the Chandrayaan mission and NASA’s mineralogy mapper data came in handy. Clark and his team zeroed in on a set of data taken by the lander’s imaging spectrometer from 2008-2009. This infrared spectroscopy data contains the spectral fingerprints of both water and hydroxyl in sunlight reflected from the Moon’s surface. The M3 instrument dissected the light into 85 different visible and infrared “colors”. That’s how they were able to spot the distinctive hints of water and hydroxyls across much of the Moon.

The team also looked at the location and geologic contexts of water and hydroxyl distribution. They also had to take into account the “lifetime” of these resources on the Moon. Interestingly, water gets slowly destroyed over time. Hydroxyl, however, lasts much longer. So, for example, if a crater smacks into the lunar surface, the “wet” rocks it “digs up” will lose that content over time through the action of the solar wind. The result is a diffuse layer or “aura” of hydroxyls that remain behind. In other places, solar wind protons that collide with the surface contribute to a thin layer or “patina” of hydroxyls on the surface. The hydroxyls last much longer and exist on the Moon up to millions of years.

“Putting all the evidence together, we see a lunar surface with complex geology with significant water in the sub-surface and a surface layer of hydroxyl. Both cratering and volcanic activity bring water-rich materials to the surface, and both are observed in the lunar data,” Clark said.

Using Precious Lunar Resources

Lunar rocks may well help supply water to future visitors to the Moon. There are two kinds of rocks there. The dark mare rocks are mainly basaltic (like Hawaiian lava). The other type is the anorthosite rock. It exists in various places, including the lunar highlands. The anorthosites are relatively “wet” while the basalts remain very dry. The two rock types also contain hydroxyls bonded to different minerals.

The water-rich anorthosites should be a target for harvesting by lunar astronauts. To get a good supply, you have to heat the rocks and soils. The result of that process could be a long-lasting water supply. You could also get it by using methods to create chemical reactions that liberate hydroxyl and combine four hydroxyls to create oxygen and water.

Of course, a more immediate source lies at the poles. That’s where ice lies hidden inside shaded crater walls or under the surface, preserved for millions of years. That source is likely more easily harvested, but you still have to transport the water to other lunar regions. The downsides of getting water from rocks are the expense and the energy required to heat them for extraction. NASA and other agencies (such as the Chinese space agency) are looking at all the methods of producing supplies for upcoming missions. Studying the locations of ice deposits and hydroxyls is just one part of a larger “search for water” that will benefit future lunar bases.

For More Information

• Sources of Water and Hydroxyl are Widespread on the Moon
• The Global Distribution of Water and Hydroxyl on the Moon as Seen by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-09-2024 om 23:39 geschreven door peter  

The new historical temperature comes from an effort named PhanDA, which stands for Phanerozoic Data Assimilation. PhanDA combined data from climate models with data from geology to determine how the climate has changed over the last nearly 500 million years. The Phanerozoic is Earth’s current geological eon, and it started 538.8 million years ago. It’s known for the proliferation of life, and its beginning is marked by the appearance of the hard shells of animals in the fossil record.

PhanDA is a mix of data and prior simulations by the scientific community. “This approach leverages the strengths of both proxies and models as sources of information, providing an innovative way to explore the temporal and spatial patterns in Earth’s climate across the Phanerozoic,” the researchers write in their paper. It allowed the researchers to reconstruct the climate more thoroughly.

“This method was originally developed for weather forecasting,” said Judd. “Instead of using it to forecast future weather, here we’re using it to hindcast ancient climates.”

We’re blowing by atmospheric carbon benchmarks, and the Earth is warming. We’re now at over 420 ppm of CO₂. The best way to understand what’s coming our way is by looking at the past.

“If you’re studying the past couple of million years, you won’t find anything that looks like what we expect in 2100 or 2500,” said co-author Scott Wing, the curator of paleobotany at the National Museum of Natural History. Wing’s research focuses on the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, a period of dramatic global warming 55 million years ago. “You need to go back even further to periods when the Earth was really warm, because that’s the only way we’re going to get a better understanding of how the climate might change in the future.”

During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a massive amount of carbon was emitted into the atmosphere and the oceans. The Earth’s temperature reacted swiftly, warming by between five and eight degrees Celsius in only a few thousand years. While a few thousand years might seem long compared to a human lifetime, it’s nearly instantaneous for the climate of an entire planet. It likely triggered the massive extinction of between 35% to 50% of benthic life. Fossils show that during this time, sub-tropical planets grew in the polar regions.

Many scientists think the PETM is the best analogue for what we’re facing today. No matter what we do with our emissions in the next several decades, much of the carbon humanity has released into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution will persist in the atmosphere for thousands of years.

PhanDA illustrates the unbreakable link between carbon and global warming. According to co-author Jessica Tierney, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Arizona, the link between the climate and carbon is undeniable. “This research illustrates clearly that carbon dioxide is the dominant control on global temperatures across geological time,” said Tierney. “When CO₂ is low, the temperature is cold; when CO₂ is high, the temperature is warm.”

While proof of the link between climate and carbon isn’t new, this long timeframe drives it home. “The consistency of this relationship is surprising because, on this timescale, we expect solar luminosity to influence climate,” the authors write. “We hypothesize that changes in planetary albedo and other greenhouse gases (e.g., methane) helped compensate for the increasing solar luminosity through time.”

Overall, Earth’s global mean surface temperature (GMST) ranged from 11° to 36°C during the Phanerozoic, a larger range than previously thought. It also shows that greenhouse climates were hotter than thought. The largest temperature swings were in the high latitudes, but tropical temperatures ranged from 22 C to 42 C. This goes against the idea that the tropics have a fixed upper limit and shows that life must have evolved to survive in those higher temperatures.

The research also shows that our current climate is actually cooler than the climate through most of the Phanerozoic. Technically, Earth is in an ice age right now, though the ice is receding and has been for thousands of years. Earth’s current GMST is 15 Celsius, lower than during most of the Phanerozoic.

But while that may sound comforting, it’s not. It’s the rate of change in the GMST that’s dangerous. Our GHG emissions are warming the planet faster than at any time during the Phanerozoic.

“Humans, and the species we share the planet with, are adapted to a cold climate,” Tierney said. “Rapidly putting us all into a warmer climate is a dangerous thing to do.”

While PhanDA is generally in agreement with previous climate reconstructions, it deviates in some ways. For example, cold climate periods don’t always coincide with glaciation and ice ages. Earth’s surface is ever-changing, and that can make some conclusions difficult to reach. “Many of the traditional glacial indicators can have nonglacial origins, complicating the interpretation of the rock record, and limited outcrop of older rocks and poor age control can make it difficult to discern between isolated alpine glaciers and widespread ice sheets,” the authors explain.

But that doesn’t take much away from PhanDA. It strengthens our understanding of climate and carbon.

Shockingly, the work suggests that Earth’s climate is even more sensitive to CO₂ than some current models show.

“PhanDA GMST exhibits a strong relationship with atmospheric CO2 concentrations, demonstrating that CO₂ has been the dominant force controlling global climate variations across the Phanerozoic,” the authors write in their conclusion.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-09-2024 om 22:58 geschreven door peter  

Researchers have developed a set of hexagon-shaped robotic components that can be snapped together into larger and larger structures. Each one of the component hexagons is made of rigid plates that serve as its exoskeleton. Driven by electricity, the plates can change their shape, shifting from long and narrow to wide and flat at high speed. The combined structures are capable of jumping four times their own body height, then can shape-shift to roll extremely fast, or use multimodal actuation to crawl through confined spaces.

The robotic components were developed at the Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS). The modules are made of six lightweight rigid plates made from glass fiber that form a hexagon. Magnets embedded into the plates allows for quick connection to other components as well as providing a shared electrical ground between the modules.

The design team integrated artificial “muscles” into the inner joints of the hexagons, called hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) muscles. Applying a high voltage to the module causes the muscle to activate, rotating the joints of the hexagon and changing its shape from long and narrow to wide and flat.

“Combining soft and rigid components in this way enables high strokes and high speeds. By connecting several modules, we can create new robot geometries and repurpose them for changing needs,” said  Ellen Rumley, a visiting researcher from the University of Colorado Boulder, in a press release from MPI-IS. Rumley and Zachary Yoder, who are both Ph.D. students working in the Robotic Materials Department, are co-first authors of a new paper, “Hexagonal electrohydraulic modules for rapidly reconfigurable high-speed robots,” published in Science Robotics.

The modules are reconfigurable, with an easy process of attaching or detaching the modules. Chains of modules can be rapidly connected and can operate from one voltage source. The modules can each have their own behaviors, which allows for various operations.

The team created a video to show the various configurations and behaviors that can be created with HEXEL modules. The modules can be seen rolling, dancing, jumping, crawling, and many other motions.  

“In general, it makes a lot of sense to develop robots with reconfigurable capabilities,” said Yoder. “It’s a sustainable design option – instead of buying five different robots for five different purposes, we can build many different robots by using the same components. Robots made from reconfigurable modules could be rearranged on demand to provide more versatility than specialized systems, which could be beneficial in resource-limited environments.”

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-09-2024 om 22:27 geschreven door peter  

We have known that water ice exists on the Moon since 1998. These large deposits are found in the permanently shadowed craters around the polar region. The challenge is how to get it since shadowed craters are not the best place for solar powered vehicles to operate. A team of engineers have identified a design for an ice-mining vehicle powered by americium-241. With a half-life of 432 years, this element is an ideal power source for a vehicle to operate in the dark for several decades. 

Ice in the polar regions of the Moon is of vital importance for our future space explorations, not just lunar visits but as we stretch our legs in the Solar System. Its thought to be ancient material deposited by comets or formed by interactions with solar wind. It is expensive to take materials to the Moon so harvesting on site is far more efficient. Ice on the Moon can provide drinking water, oxygen for breaking and even hydrogen for rocket fuel. Surveys suggest something in the region of 600 billion kilograms of ice deposited at the lunar poles. 

The challenge facing future lunar harvesting missions is that operations in the permanently  shadowed regions (or PSRs as they have been called) cannot be powered by solar panels as is often the case. The environment is cold too, in the region of 40K, that’s -233?C and at those temperatures special power considerations are required. 

A team of researchers have been exploring the use of Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) to provide thermal and electrical power systems. These power systems have been used before during deep space missions for example Voyager and New Horizons. They work by generating electricity using the heat that is released from the natural decay of a radioactive isotope usually plutonium-238.

The team led by Marzio Mazzotti from the University of Leicester have explored an ice-mining rover using power generated by the radio activate decay fo Americium-241. It has a half-life of 432 years which means it takes 432 years for half of a sample of Americium to decay. During this time, half of the atoms in the substance will transform into a different element. Using this power source will provide a stable power supply for an ice-mining rover in the darkness of the lunar polar craters for decades.

Using a radioisotope power system is not new however the team came upon the idea that the excess heat that is not used can be used to thermally mine ice from samples of lunar material. The rover would be fitted with a sublimation plate that would turn any ice deposits into a gas which would be collected in a cold trap.

The team developed a model of its Thermal Management System and tested it for icy regolith (the fine dusty lunar surface) material with a water ice content of 0-10 vol %. Their simulations showed that it is possible to mine ice using thermal techniques in the PSR of the Moon using an RPS (I had to really concentrate writing that sentence!) powered lunar rover. 

Source : 

• Ice-Mining Lunar Rover using Americium-241 Radioisotope Power Systems

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-09-2024 om 22:12 geschreven door peter