The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
01-01-2025
NASA Discovers Massive Planet Bigger Than Earth with Gas Tied Exclusively to Living Organisms
NASA Discovers Massive Planet Bigger Than Earth with Gas Tied Exclusively to Living Organisms
Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery on a planet over eight times the mass of Earth, located 120 light-years away. Using advanced technology, researchers detected a gas in its atmosphere that, on Earth, is only produced by living organisms. Could this be the first real hint of life beyond our planet? While the findings are intriguing, they come with questions that still need answering.
NASA Discovers Massive Planet Bigger Than Earth with Gas Tied Exclusively to Living Organisms
The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel
Breaking astronomical news: NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled a groundbreaking find—an exoplanet not only significantly larger than Earth, but also with signs of a gas only produced by living organisms on our planet. Could this be the closest we’ve come to proving life exists beyond Earth?
K2-18 B: A Colossal Planet with Life-like Gas
Named K2-18 b, this intriguing exoplanet is located 120 light-years away in the constellation Leo, orbiting a red dwarf star known as K2-18. This star is significantly smaller and cooler than our Sun, creating a potentially habitable environment for planets within its orbit. K2-18 b is a sub-Neptune-class exoplanet, a type absent from our solar system, with 2.6 times Earth’s radius and 8.6 times its mass.
First identified by NASA‘s K2 mission in 2015, the planet has become a focal point of atmospheric studies due to its unique size and position in the habitable zone. Recent investigations using the James Webb Space Telescope have provided groundbreaking insights into its atmosphere.
Atmospheric composition highlights:
Methane and Carbon Dioxide: Strong evidence of carbon-bearing molecules, indicative of active processes.
Potential Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS): On Earth, this molecule is produced exclusively by marine life, making its potential detection on K2-18 b particularly exciting.
Spectra of K2-18 b, obtained with Webb’s NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) and NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), display an abundance of methane and carbon dioxide in the exoplanet’s atmosphere, as well as a possible detection of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS). The detection of methane and carbon dioxide, and shortage of ammonia, support the hypothesis that there may be a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in K2-18 b. Illustration: NASA, CSA, ESA, R. Crawford (STScI), J. Olmsted (STScI), Science: N. Madhusudhan (Cambridge University)
Is K2-18 B a Hycean World?
The presence ofmethane, carbon dioxide, and a potential absence of ammonia support the hypothesis that K2-18 b could be a Hycean exoplanet. These planets are defined by their hydrogen-rich atmospheres and possible water-covered surfaces, making them promising candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Lead researcher Nikku Madhusudhan emphasized, “Traditionally, the search for life on exoplanets has focused on smaller rocky planets, but larger Hycean worlds are significantly more conducive to atmospheric observations.”
However, the planet’s size suggests challenges. It likely has a mantle of high-pressure ice beneath its hydrogen-rich atmosphere and ocean, which could be too hot to sustain life as we know it.
Key characteristics of K2-18 b:
Property
Details
Distance from Earth
120 light-years
Location
Constellation Leo
Mass
8.6 times Earth
Radius
2.6 times Earth
Discovery
NASA’s K2 mission (2015)
Groundbreaking Observations with the James Webb Telescope
The advanced capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope have been instrumental in characterizing K2-18 b’s atmosphere. By analyzing light as it passes through the planet’s atmosphere during transits, scientists identified its molecular composition with unprecedented detail.
Comparison to previous observations:
Webb’s two transits yielded insights equivalent to eight years of Hubble data.
Observations revealed robust spectral features, marking a milestone in atmospheric analysis.
The telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) will be used in future observations to confirm the presence of DMS and provide further data on the planet’s environment. “This result was only possible because of the extended wavelength range and unprecedented sensitivity of Webb,” noted Madhusudhan.
Potential Habitability and the Search for Life
Despite its position in the habitable zone, K2-18 b’s habitability remains uncertain. Its massive size and dense atmosphere might create conditions too extreme for life as we know it. However, the detection of DMS, if validated, would be a significant step in the quest to identify life-supporting environments.
stronomer Savvas Constantinou explained, “Our work here is but an early demonstration of what Webb can observe in habitable-zone exoplanets.”
The Road Ahead
NASA’s continuing exploration of Hycean worlds like K2-18 b is revolutionizing our understanding of exoplanetary environments. Future observations will seek to confirm the presence of DMS and further investigate K2-18 b’s potential to host life.
As Madhusudhan stated, “Our ultimate goal is the identification of life on a habitable exoplanet, which would transform our understanding of our place in the universe.”
This discovery brings us closer to answering humanity’s profound question: Are we alone in the cosmos? With K2-18 b as a beacon of possibility, the universe has never seemed more full of potential.
New Space Equation Unveils Hidden Asteroids That Could Be Heading for Earth
New Space Equation Unveils Hidden Asteroids That Could Be Heading for Earth
Scientists in Spain have devised a new equation that could reshape how we detect looming space threats. By improving how light bends around massive objects, this breakthrough exposes hidden asteroids that might be on a collision course with Earth.
New Space Equation Unveils Hidden Asteroids That Could Be Heading for Earth
The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel
In the unassuming city ofMurcia, Spain, a breakthrough has emerged that might forever alter how humanity navigates the universe.Oscar del Barco Novillo, a physicist from the University of Murcia, has devised an equation that exposes the cosmos with unparalleled clarity.
By refining the calculations for gravitational bending of light (GBL)—a phenomenon dictating how massive objects distort light—Del Barco Novillo has created a tool that not only identifies hidden dangers from space but also sharpens our understanding of celestial mechanics.
“The fundamental significance of our new equation is its high accurateness for the GBL angle calculation,” Del Barco Novillo explains. This innovation challenges entrenched notions of observational astronomy, opening new avenues in the relentless search for truth among the stars.
Unraveling the Gravitational Lens
The universe has always played with illusions. Gravitational bending, a consequence of massive celestial bodies warping space-time, tricks observers into misjudging the positions of stars and planets. Introduced by Newton, mathematically refined by Einstein, and debated for centuries, this distortion presents not only a problem but a mystery—a veil over the universe’s structure.
Del Barco Novillo’s equation dismantles the assumptions of infinite distances. “Our study, which is based on a geometric optics model, provides an exact equation for the most accurate calculation to date of the GBL angle by a static massive object—such as the Sun or Solar System planets,” he explains.
The equation also employs a technique called the material medium approach, which mimics the behavior of light passing through water or glass. These combined innovations replace estimation with precision, making it possible to track previously elusive objects like asteroids, comets, and dwarf planets.
The equation was verified using a scenario involving Mercury and the Sun. (Del Barco Novillo, MNRAS, 2024)
Planetary Defense: The Stakes of Precision
Asteroids hurtling through space are indifferent to humanity’s dreams, and a failure to predict their trajectories could mean disaster. Del Barco Novillo’s work turns uncertainty into opportunity by revealing pathways for prevention.
The Problem of Distortion
Gravitational fields distort the light reflected by asteroids, skewing observations and delaying detection. Del Barco Novillo’s formula strips away this distortion, allowing astronomers to calculate exact orbits.
A Tool for Survival
This advance transforms planetary defense:
Improved early detection: Astronomers can identify Earth-bound threats sooner, giving decision-makers more time to act.
Enhanced orbit predictions: The ability to trace asteroid paths with pinpoint accuracy enables targeted mitigation efforts.
“This might be instrumental in finding a precise location of minor celestial objects in our Solar System and, consequently, a better determination of their orbits around the Sun,” says Del Barco Novillo.
Reimagining Exploration
The implications ripple through space exploration. For missions like the European Space Agency’s Euclid project, which maps the positions of billions of galaxies, gravitational bending is both a tool and a challenge. By sharpening how scientists measure light distortion, Del Barco Novillo’s equation refines the mapping of dark matter, the invisible framework holding galaxies together.
Closer to home, it revolutionizes the search for neighboring stars like Proxima Centauri, offering a clearer map of the terrain between Earth and its cosmic neighbors. These benefits extend to the mechanics of stellar dynamics and the choreography of celestial objects, where every fraction of a degree in error can disrupt entire models.
“Different branches of astronomy and astrophysics, such as celestial mechanics or stellar dynamics, might benefit from this new result,” Del Barco Novillo explains. From astrometry to gravitational lensing, the potential applications are vast.
If you're a fan of stargazing, make sure you keep an eye on the skies over the next few weeks.
You'll soon have a rare opportunity to watch as a new star is born in the heavens.
The 'blaze star' T Coronae Borealis is set to flare into life any day now, going from invisible to as bright as the North Star overnight in a spectacular nova.
Once the nova appears, it will be visible to the naked eye for a couple of days before disappearing for another 80 years.
Dr Rebekah Hounsell, a NASA expert on nova, said: 'There are a few recurrent novae with very short cycles, but typically, we don't often see a repeated outburst in a human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively close to our own system.'
Dr Hounsell adds that this is 'a once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity to get front-row seats to a truly special cosmic event.
Unfortunately, astronomers have been unable to pinpoint exactly when it will spring into view.
However, Lord Martin Rees, the current Astronomer Royal and former president of the Royal Society and a fellow of Trinity College at Cambridge University, told The Telegraph that it could be any day now, addding that it is perhaps 'slightly overdue'.
If you're a fan of stargazing, make sure you keep an eye on the skies over the next few weeks. You'll soon have a rare opportunity to watch as a new star is born in the heavens
Stargazers will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the birth of a new star as the 'Blaze Star' T Coronae Borealis flares into life (artist's impression)
To spot this unique phenomenon, all you need to do is to head out on a dark, clear night and look to the North East.
The blaze star will appear in a faint constellation called the Northern Crown, or Corona Borealis, between the constellations of Boötes and Hercules.
But if this is a bit tricky to spot, there is a method to help narrow down your search using some brighter stars in the sky.
First, look for the Big Dipper, sometimes called the Saucepan or Plough, and follow the curve of the 'handle' till you find a bright reddish star above the eastern horizon.
From that star, which is called Arcturus, look to the North East on the same level and you should spot another bright star called Vega.
Halfway between these two, you will be able to find a faint curl of seven stars - this is the Northern Crown where the Blaze Star will appear.
Of course, it will be a lot easier to find the star constellation once the blaze star has appeared as it should be one of the brightest in the sky.
For the best viewing conditions make sure to get far away from any sources of light that could ruin your view.
To find the start look for the constellation of Corona Borealis which is between Hercules and Bootes in the North East
That might mean getting away from city lights where possible and avoiding using your torch while your eyes adjust to the darkness.
The star will be visible to the naked eye but you will be able to see more if you use a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.
There is no way of knowing exactly when the star will come to life, and even scientists are eagerly waiting for any signs of activity.
It is predicted that T Coronae Borealis should appear sometime between now and September, but that could happen any day.
Although the term 'nova' comes from the Latin for 'new star' it will actually only appear that a new star has been created.
In reality, what we will see is the moment that a very faint star 3,000 light years from Earth suddenly becomes brighter.
T Coronae Borealis is a binary system nestled in the Northern Crown constellation, which means that it consists of two stars locked in orbit around each other.
One of those stars is a vast but cool red giant, while the other is a white dwarf - a hot, dense remnant of a dead star about the size of the Earth but containing the same mass as our Sun.
To find the star follow the handle of the big dipper (shown here from the Northern Hemisphere) and look for a reddish star named Arcturus. The blaze star should appear halfway between this star and another bright star to the North East called Vega
T Coronae Borealis is a binary system, meaning that is actually made up of two stars locked in orbit with one another (artist's impression)
As these stars orbit, the white dwarf is slowly devouring its neighbour, stripping the hydrogen from its atmosphere.
As this hydrogen piles up around the white dwarf it builds up massive pressure and heat.
When enough matter falls into the star at once, it triggers an enormous thermonuclear explosion so bright we can see it from Earth, blasting away the built-up material.
But, unlike a supernova which happens as a star dies, the white dwarf is left intact so that the process can begin again.
Because this build-up takes about 80 years, T Coronae Borealis flares on a regular cycle, making it a recurrent nova.
The first time the star was spotted was more than 800 years ago in 1217 when a man named Burchard, abbot of Ursberg, Germany, spotted 'a faint star that for a time shone with great light.'
This is also how scientists know that the star is set to blaze again since it is following the same pattern as it did in 1866 and 1947.
In those cases, the star first grew brighter before suddenly fading away in anticipation of the big bang.
Binary star system that explodes captured by two MAGIC telescopes
Scientists have been watching T Coronae Borealis grow brighter again since 2015 until it suddenly dimmed in March last year.
When it finally blows, it could grow up to 600 times brighter based on these previous flares.
Since T Coronae Borealis is quite close to Earth and flares regularly, it is also a great chance for scientists to learn more about novae.
The nova will be watched carefully by scientists all around the world using the James Webb Space Telescope, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and many others.
Dr Elizabeth Hays, chief of the particle physics laboratory at NASA Goddard, says this means the help of amateur stargazers will be vital to catch the first moments of the explosion.
'We'll observe the nova event at its peak and through its decline, as the visible energy of the outburst fades,' she said.
'But it's equally critical to obtain data during the early rise to eruption – so the data collected by those avid citizen scientists on the lookout now for the nova will contribute dramatically to our findings.'
When this happens, power grids will be damaged, satellites will fall from orbit, and the destruction of undersea cables could trigger an 'internet apocalypse'.
From the superflare's eruption from the sun, Earth will have just eight minutes before the first wave of radiation slams into the atmosphere.
However, the worst will still be yet to come as a vast wave of plasma and magnetic fields follows close behind, causing havoc for the planet's electrical system.
The last time Earth was hit by a blast on this scale was during the 1859 Carrington Event, which was strong enough to give electric shocks to telegraph operators and set sheets of paper alight.
But experts now say that the planet could soon be hit by a solar flare more than 100 times more powerful and far more devastating.
What is a superflare?
A solar flare is a huge explosion on the sun's surface which releases a huge amount of stored energy in a very short time.
These occur when magnetic fields become 'twisted' above cool patches of the sun's surface called sunspots.
Within minutes these tangled fields heat material to many millions of degrees before snapping into a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to X-rays and gamma rays.
However, that burst of energy is only part of the problem, since large solar flares are often accompanied by events called coronal mass ejections.
Professor Sean Elvidge, an expert on space weather from the University of Birmingham, told MailOnline: 'Coronal mass ejections (CMEs), on the other hand, are huge clouds of charged solar plasma and magnetic fields hurled into space.
'They move more slowly often taking one to three days to reach Earth, but can cause significant geomagnetic disturbances once they interact with our planet’s magnetic field.'
A so-called superflare is simply a particularly large solar flare capable of releasing one octillion joules of energy - that is one followed by 27 zeros.
Earth is overdue for a devastating superflare which could wipe out communication systems and knock satellites out of orbit, scientists have warned (stock image)
Superflare timeline
00:00Superflare erupts on the sun
00:08A wave of X-ray and high-intensity ultraviolet radiation hits Earth triggering radio blackouts.
00:30Energetic particles trigger a radiation storm, exposing astronauts to a deadly dose of ionising radiation.
16:00 The coronal mass ejection hits Earth, creating a geomagnetic storm. This will lead to blackouts and disrupt global internet connections.
17:00 Increased atmospheric drag starts to pull satellites out of orbit.
40:00 The geomagnetic storm subsides.
Time in minutes and hours since the superflare.
Previously, scientists had estimated that Earth would only experience one of these once every thousand to ten thousand years.
Given that a superflare hasn't hit Earth since 775 AD, we are well overdue for a run-in with one of these dangerous explosions.
So, if a superflare were to explode on the sun's surface, here's what would happen minute by minute.
Eight minutes since the superflare
Since electromagnetic radiation moves at the speed of light, we would only have eight minutes from the moment the flare bursts until we experience the first effects.
Dr Erika Palmerio, a research scientist at Predictive Science, told MailOnline: 'From the flare we get radiation and solar energetic particles and those are the first things that are coming to us because they are the fastest.'
As this initial wave of X-rays and intense ultraviolet radiation arrives, it creates a build-up of electrons in a layer of the atmosphere called the ionosphere.
A superflare would release the energy of several billion atomic bombs and transmit one octillion joules of energy, one followed by 27 zeros. The first wave of X-ray radiation would hit Earth in eight minutes, causing widespread radio blackouts (stock imiage)
Those electrons interfere with radio signals moving around the planet, scrambling and decaying any messages humans might be trying to send.
That means the first sign a superflare had hit would be a sudden and total radio blackout on the sunlit side of Earth.
Dr Palmerio says: 'That can be problematic if there is a disaster back on Earth, for example, a hurricane, since all those rescue teams communicate through radio.'
However, that lack of communication will become particularly dangerous when we consider what is still to come.
30 minutes since the superflare
Travelling just behind the solar flare's first flash of radiation, the next thing to arrive would be a cloud of ionising high-energy particles.
Dr Palmerio says: 'We have these solar particles which are launched by the flare and then accelerated as the CME moves through the lower atmosphere of the sun.
'They're not as fast as X-rays, but these particles are very energetic so within tens of minutes we can have a solar radiation storm.'
30 minutes after the superflare a radiation storm would hit Earth, exposing astronauts on the International Space Station (pictured) to a deadly dose of radiation
Down on the ground, we're unlikely to see any impact from this radiation storm since the charged particles will be directed away by the Earth's magnetic field.
However, passengers orcrew on commercial flights are very likely to receive a substantially increased dose of radiation.
This would be especially dangerous for anyone flying near the poles where the charged particles would be most concentrated.
But the biggest risks of all would be faced by astronauts out beyond the protection of the atmosphere.
Anyone on the International Space Station (ISS) would be in real danger of receiving a deadly dose of ionising radiation as the radiation storm batters the planet.
Nor is this threat hypothetical since NASA astronauts have very nearly been killed by solar flares in the past.
In August 1972, Earth was hit by one of the worst solar storms in recorded history, knocking out long-distance communications across some US states.
Dr Palmerio says: 'In that year we had the Apollo 16 mission in April and then Apollo 17 in December.
With radio blackouts on Earth, astronauts might not have time to receive a warning. But if they can, they would have about 30 minutes to either evacuate or shelter in a shielded area of the station
'It's been estimated that had that storm happened during one of those two launches, it would have been life-threatening for the astronauts.'
Additionally, since NASA uses radio frequencies to communicate with the ISS, astronauts might have no warning at all before receiving a deadly dose of radiation.
16 hours since the superflare
So far, most of the superflare's effects have been limited to the upper atmosphere.
But now as the wave of charged plasma and magnetic fields which make up the CME roll towards Earth, things are about to become significantly worse.
Professor Elvidge says: 'A strong CME usually takes between one and three days to reach Earth.
'The exact timing depends on its initial speed and the conditions of the interplanetary environment, but travel times of around 36 to 48 hours are often typical for significant events.'
However, this is no typical event and in the case of a superflare we may have far less time to prepare.
Solar flares can release large amounts of stellar material in events called Coronal Mass Ejections (pictured). The fastest CMEs can hit Earth just 15-16 hours after the solar flare erupts
'The fastest we have seen travel around 3,000 km/s and can reach the Earth in less than a day,' says Professor Elvidge.
The fastest CME on record, the August 1972 event, took just 14.6 hours to reach Earth after leaving the sun.
Leaving a generous window, we might have only 16 hours between realising a flare has happened and the CME hitting.
When it does arrive, it is this part of the superflare that is likely to cause the most long-lasting damage.
Professor Elvidge says: 'As a CME arrives, its interaction with Earth’s magnetic field can generate geomagnetic storms.'
These vast fluctuations in the magnetic field induce strong electrical currents in any long piece of metal on Earth including the wires in the power grids.
These power fluctuations can trip safety systems leading to regional outages or cascade failures and even set fire to the insulation surrounding electrical transformers.
As the CME hits the Earth's magnetic field it creates a charge which induces a strong current in power grids on the ground. These surges could cause widespread blackouts around the world
What is the solar cycle?
The solar cycle is the cycle that the sun's magnetic field goes through about every 11 years.
The beginning of a solar cycle is a solar minimum, or when the Sun has the least sunspots.
The middle of the solar cycle is the solar maximum, or when the Sun has the most sunspots.
The current solar cycle, numbered 25, started in 2019 and is expected to continue until about 2030, but the solar maximum is now expected in early 2024.
On the scale of a superflare, that could mean blackouts and power failures around the entire world lasting for years to come.
But the problems won't be limited to the power grid, since some researchers also believe that a superflare could lead to an 'internet apocalypse'.
While local internet connections have largely shifted over to non-conductive fibre optic cables, the subsea internet cables which join up the world are still made of copper.
These cables are equipped with repeaters every 30 to 90 miles (50-150km) to boost the signal over long distances which are very vulnerable to the effects of a solar flare.
If just one of these repeaters fails, the entire cable is rendered useless until it can be repaired.
That means that a failure rate of just one per cent would mean almost 15 per cent of subsea cables would be rendered useless.
This could cut entire parts of the globe off from the internet and take years to repair.
A recent study suggests that a solar storm could damage the undersea cables which provide the backbone of the internet. This could lead to entire parts of the world losing connection
17 hours since the superflare
Unfortunately for everyone on Earth, global power failures and the destruction of the internet are really just the start of the problems.
One of the biggest risks of a solar flare hitting Earth is that it will have a devastating effect on the network of satellites we use to communicate, navigate, and monitor the Earth.
Outside the protection of the atmosphere, satellites will be buffeted by all of the worst impacts of the solar Tsunami.
Professor Elvidge says: 'Satellites might be affected almost as soon as the storming begins.
'Increased radiation can disrupt onboard electronics, degrade solar panel efficiency, and interfere with communication and navigation signals.'
With an exceptionally large storm like a superflare, this could cause serious damage to systems we are extremely reliant on.
However, the real problems will begin about an hour later as the CME causes the atmosphere to warm and expand.
If a solar flare hits it will cause serious damage to our orbiting communications and GPS satellites. An hour after the CME arrives, satellites will begin to experience increased atmospheric drag and slip from their orbits
This plunges satellites in low-Earth orbit into a denser region of the atmosphere than they are used to moving through.
That increased drag slows down a satellite and deteriorates its orbit, slowly pulling it back down to Earth.
'Depending on the CME’s intensity and a satellite’s resilience, these disruptions can last from a few hours to several days,' says Professor Elvidge.
While most satellites won't necessarily plummet to Earth, even small issues can lead to big problems since sensitive navigation systems are set to work at a certain altitude.
And with every satellite around Earth simultaneously falling towards the ground, significant disruption is almost inevitable.
Months and years afterwards
Depending on the alignment of the CME's magnetic fields, the worst of the geomagnetic storm should subside between 10 and 24 hours after it began.
However, the lingering effects of the superflare could take months or years to fade.
Scientists demonstrate how observations of the rate of decrease of the Sun’s dipole magnetic field can be usefully combined with sunspot observations to predict when the ongoing cycle would peak. Their analysis suggests that the maximum of solar cycle 25 is most likely to occur in early 2024
Geomagnetic storms can cause dazzling aurora displays to appear at unusually low latitudes (pictured) but they can also damage sensitive computer equipment around the world, creating disruption that could take years to repair
Professor Alan Woodward, a computer security expert from the University of Surrey, told MailOnline: 'You could get effects in the national grid but, probably more importantly, you'd also get them in delicate electronics like computers.
'As a result, you'd have a lot of equipment that suddenly wouldn't work properly.'
In the case of a superflare, Professor Woodward says this wouldn't just be big things like your laptop but all the devices which make our modern world possible.
Professor Woodward says: 'Think of your phone or the industrial control systems that are controlling traffic lights and heating systems, anything that uses computing could be damaged and cause a massive amount of disruption.
'When you start looking at it, you suddenly realise how unbelievably dependent we are on modern communication.
'Commerce, personal life, certain ways of working, certain ways of living; that would literally disappear.'
For humanity to recover, this would mean replacing all the damaged computer components while dealing with the fallout of massive power failures and the potential collapse of the internet.
And with every nation on Earth simultaneously competing for the same computer parts, that process could take months or years to complete.
Solar storms, or solar activity, can be divided into four main components that can have impacts on Earth:
Solar flares: A large explosion in the sun's atmosphere. These flares are made of photons that travel out directly from the flare site. Solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the sun facing Earth.
Coronal Mass Ejections (CME's): Large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun. These clouds can erupt in any direction, and then continue on in that direction, plowing through solar wind. These clouds only cause impacts to Earth when they're aimed at Earth.
High-speed solar wind streams: These come from coronal holes on the sun, which form anywhere on the sun and usually only when they are closer to the solar equator do the winds impact Earth.
Solar energetic particles: High-energy charged particles thought to be released primarily by shocks formed at the front of coronal mass ejections and solar flares. When a CME cloud plows through solar wind, solar energetic particles can be produced and because they are charged, they follow the magnetic field lines between the Sun and Earth. Only charged particles that follow magnetic field lines that intersect Earth will have an impact.
While these may seem dangerous, astronauts are not in immediate danger of these phenomena because of the relatively low orbit of manned missions.
However, they do have to be concerned about cumulative exposure during space walks.
This photo shows the sun's coronal holes in an x-ray image. The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields, which when closed can cause the atmosphere to suddenly and violently release bubbles or tongues of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections
The damage caused by solar storms
Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.
The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing Earth's magnetic field.
Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies.
When Coronal Mass Ejections strike Earth they cause geomagnetic storms and enhanced aurora.
They can disrupt radio waves, GPS coordinates and overload electrical systems.
A large influx of energy could flow into high voltage power grids and permanently damage transformers.
This could shut off businesses and homes around the world.
New Study Advances Understanding of Habitability of Ocean Worlds within Solar System and Beyond
New Study Advances Understanding of Habitability of Ocean Worlds within Solar System and Beyond
In a new paper, planetary researchers from Texas A&M University and the University of Washington introduce a new thermodynamic concept called the centotectic and investigate the stability of liquids in extreme conditions — critical information for determining the habitability of icy moons and ocean exoplanets.
The surface of Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view; image scale is 1.6 km per pixel; north on Europa is at right.
Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.
The exploration of icy ocean worlds represents a new frontier in planetary science, focusing on understanding the potential for these environments to support life.
The new research addresses a fundamental question in this field: under what conditions can liquid water remain stable on these distant, frozen bodies?
By defining and measuring the cenotectic, the absolute lowest temperature at which a liquid remains stable under varying pressures and concentrations, the authors provide a critical framework for interpreting data from planetary exploration efforts.
The study combines their expertise in cryobiology, with the expertise in planetary science and high-pressure water-ice systems.
Together, they developed a framework that bridges disciplines to tackle one of the most fascinating challenges in planetary science.
A 2016 artist’s concept of the Europa Clipper spacecraft. The design is changing as the spacecraft is developed.
Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
“With the launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper, the largest planetary exploration mission ever launched, we are entering a multi-decade era of exploration of cold and icy ocean worlds,” said Dr. Baptiste Journaux, a planetary scientist at the University of Washington.
“Measurements from this and other missions will tell us how deep the ocean is and its composition.”
“Laboratory measurements of liquid stability, and notably the lowest temperature possible (the newly-defined cenotectic), combined with mission results, will allow us to fully constrain how habitable the cold and deep oceans of our Solar System are, and also what their final fate will be when the moons or planets have cooled down entirely.”
“The study of icy worlds is a particular priority for both NASA and ESA, as evidenced by the flurry of recent and upcoming spacecraft launches,” said Dr. Matt Powell-Palm, a plaentary scientist at Texas A&M University.
“We hope that Texas A&M will help to provide intellectual leadership in this space.”
The paper was published on December 18, 2024 in the journal Nature Communications.
A. Zarriz et al. 2024. On the equilibrium limit of liquid stability in pressurized aqueous systems. Nat Commun 15; doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54625-z
De planeet Jupiter in verbluffende, nieuwe beelden van NASA
De planeet Jupiter in verbluffende, nieuwe beelden van NASA
Artikel door thedailydigest.com
Een fascinerende planeet
NASA heeft onlangs nieuwe beelden van Jupiter vrijgegeven, die door de Juno-sonde naar de aarde zijn verzonden. Deze ruimtesonde, die sinds juli 2016 in een baan om de grote bal van gas draait, helpt onderzoekers de planeet beter te begrijpen en heeft onze kennis van de 'gasreus' verdiept.
Afbeelding: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / R. Ethington
Gelegen op 1,7 miljard kilometer van de aarde
NASA lanceerde de Juno-sonde in 2011. Na vijf jaar reizen en 1,7 miljard kilometer afgelegd te hebben, bereikte de sonde zijn bestemming en kon zijn verkenningsmissie beginnen.
Afbeelding: NASA
Een grote gasreusplaneet Omdat Jupiter een gasplaneet is, is hij voortdurend in beweging, met hevige winden die voortdurend van uiterlijk veranderen. Deze eigenschap biedt wetenschappers en astronomieliefhebbers elke dag nieuwe beelden.
Afbeelding: NASA
Verbazingwekkende afmetingen Jupiter is de grootste planeet in het zonnestelsel, met een indrukwekkende diameter van 139.822 km, elf keer de diameter van de aarde. De massa van de planeet bedraagt 1,9 × 10²⁷ kg, wat gelijkstaat aan 318 keer de massa van de aarde, volgens de Canadian Space Agency. Deze afmetingen zijn des te verbazingwekkender, aangezien Jupiter een gasplaneet is.
De samenstelling van Jupiter Volgens de Canadian Space Agency is Jupiter een planeet die voornamelijk uit gas bestaat. De atmosfeer bestaat uit moleculair waterstof, helium en methaan. Daarnaast geloven wetenschappers dat Jupiter een rotsachtige kern zou kunnen hebben, ter grootte van de aarde, maar ze hebben dit nog niet kunnen bewijzen.
Afbeelding: Katie Jolly CSUMB
Een compleet beeld van Jupiter Dankzij de Juno-sonde hebben wetenschappers nu een compleet beeld van Jupiter en kunnen ze de planeet vanuit elke hoek observeren. "Vanaf de allereerste baan, die zich uitstrekt over 53 dagen van de wolkentoppen van Jupiter tot de grenzen van het magnetische veld. Juno heeft onze kijk op de gasreus en zijn omgeving op zijn kop gezet," merkte NASA op op zijn website over de gasreus.
Afbeelding: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Jackie Branc
Duizenden afbeeldingen Sinds de start van de missie in juli 2016 heeft de Juno-sonde duizenden high-definition afbeeldingen verzonden. Deze stellen ons in staat om Jupiter met ongekende precisie te observeren, zoals deze afbeeldingen laten zien.
Afbeelding: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Björn Jónsson
Beeldverwerking Het Juno-missieteam maakt zijn afbeeldingen beschikbaar voor het grote publiek, inclusief burgerwetenschappers. Deze enthousiastelingen analyseren elke afbeelding en bewerken ze tot creatievere en artistiekere versies.
Afbeelding: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Jackie Branc
Sterke wind De beelden van de Juno-sonde laten met name uitzonderlijk sterke winden en stormen zien, meteorologische verschijnselen die kenmerkend zijn voor Jupiter.
Winden bij de Grote Rode Vlek van Jupiter Bij de Grote Rode Vlek, een gigantische anticycloon in de atmosfeer van de planeet, kunnen winden oplopen tot 700 km/u. Op de polen zijn dankzij het Alma-radiotelescoopnetwerk, onder leiding van de Europese Zuidelijke Sterrenwacht (ESO), echter nog krachtigere winden gedetecteerd van wel 1.450 km/u.
Afbeelding: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / Thomas Thomopoulos
Belangrijke ontdekkingen Volgens NASA heeft het Juno-ruimtevaartuig grote ontdekkingen gedaan, waaronder “nog nooit eerder geziene netwerken van enorme stormen die rond de polen van Jupiter wervelen”, evenals actieve vulkanen en lavameren op de gasreusmaan Io.
Juno's missie eindigt in september 2025 De Juno-sonde bevindt zich nu in de laatste fase van zijn missie, die in september 2025 zal eindigen. Tot die tijd kijken we ernaar uit om nieuwe fascinerende beelden van Jupiter te ontdekken!
Jupiter’s 3D Atmosphere Revealed by NASA’s Juno Spacecraft (Media Briefing)
Jupiter seen in ‘remarkable’ detail in new images from Nasa’s James Webb Telescope
Scientists have discovered that the 'weak spot' in Earth's magnetic field is growing, allowing harmful radiation to come closer to our planet's surface.
The region, known as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), spans more than more than 4.3 million square miles over parts of Africa and South America and is moving westward.
The SAA has increased by seven percent and moved 12 miles to the west since experts first sounded the alarm in 2020.
While scientists believe that the SAA's weakening magnetic intensity is still within the range of normal variation, recent studies have shown that it is starting to split from a single blob into two distinct regions of minimal magnetic field strength.
Models predicting changes in the SAA suggest this division will continue from 2025 onward, and scientists believe this could create additional challenges for satellite missions.
Researchers have speculated that the weakening is a sign that Earth is heading to a pole reversal that happens when the north and south poles switch places — and the last time this occurred was 780,000 years ago.
They said that if the poles are in the process of reversing, it will happen over several thousand years and it is unlikely the field will disappear completely.
NASA has been monitoring the South Atlantic Anomaly, a weak-spot in Earth's magnetic field sitting 40,000 miles above the planet's surface between South America and southwest Africa
Scientists first sounded the alarm about the weak spot in 2020, but new data shows it has increased by another seven percent over the past four years
The cause of SAA sits deep within Earth's surface.
'The magnetic field is actually a superposition of fields from many current sources,' geophysicist Terry Sabaka from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland explained in a 2020 statement.
While regions outside of Earth contribute to the observed magnetic field, the primary source stems from inside the planet.
This, coupled with the tilt of the planet's magnetic axis, is what produces the SAA, according to NASA.
But scientists have also suggested the SAA could be linked to a huge reservoir of dense rock known as the African Large Low Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP). The area of the anomaly appears to correspond to that of this geologic region.
The magnetic field surrounding our planet works as a shield, trapping and repelling particles of radiation from the sun. But the SAA allows radiation to come closer to Earth's surface
These researchers believe that the African LLSVP changes the flow of molten metal in the outer core underneath, which in turn changes the way the magnetic field behaves above this region, they explained in a 2017 article for the Conversation.
While much remains unknown about how the SAA came to be, recent studies have shed new light on how it is changing.
Tracking conducted by small satellites known as CubeSats confirmed that the SAA does not remain fixed in one place, but rather drifts around.
Researchers have also discovered that the anomalous region is splitting into two, with each representing distinct centers of minimum magnetic intensity within the greater SAA.
And another study suggested that this phenomenon is actually a recurrent event that may have affected Earth up to 11 million years ago.
If that proves true, this would contradict the idea that the SAA is a precursor to Earth's magnetic field flipping.
This vast, developing weak spot is a point of intrigue and concern for scientists, especially those at NASA whose satellites and orbital spacecraft can be significantly damaged by the SAA — including the International Space Station.
When these orbiters pass through the anomaly, it can cause satellites and spacecraft to experience short-circuits and malfunctions.
That's because the reduced strength of Earth's magnetic field allows the orbiters to be pummeled by incoming solar radiation that disrupts technological systems.
Typically, this only causes low-level glitches. But in extreme cases, it can permanently damage critical hardware inside an orbiter.
To avoid such damage, operators regularly shut down spacecraft and satellite systems before they enter the SAA.
The weakened field has been on the radar of experts for years — they know that it has lost nine percent of its intensity over the last 200 years.
It also appears to influence the strength of the southern aurora, a natural light display that occurs in the skies over the high-latitude regions of the southern hemisphere.
A study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in February found a 'substantial weakening' of magnetic fluctuations in the southern aurora where it overlaps with the SAA.
This weakening is even visible to the naked eye, the study's authors told Live Science.
They believe the weakened magnetic force of the anomaly reduces the amount of energy solar particles can put into Earth's atmosphere — which is what causes aurora — even through more of these particles are coming close to the surface.
To further understand how the SAA impacts orbiting satellites and spacecraft, and how it influences geophysical phenomena like the southern aurora, NASA scientists have been monitoring it for years.
Earth’s magnetic field acts like a protective shield around the planet, repelling and trapping charged particles from the Sun. But over South America and the southern Atlantic Ocean, an unusually weak spot in the field – called the South Atlantic Anomaly, or SAA – allows these particles to dip closer to the surface than normal. Currently, the SAA creates no visible impacts on daily life on the surface. However, recent observations and forecasts show that the region is expanding westward and continuing to weaken in intensity. The South Atlantic Anomaly is also of interest to NASA’s Earth scientists who monitor the changes in magnetic strength there, both for how such changes affect Earth’s atmosphere and as an indicator of what’s happening to Earth’s magnetic fields, deep inside the globe. Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio
Earth’s Magnetic Field Is Going To Flip! Apocalyptic Implications For The Entire Planet
2025 in SPACEFLIGHT: The incredible missions set to take off next year, revealed - from China's daring asteroid retrieval to the first private trip to Venus - PART I
'In 2024, NASA made leap after giant leap to explore, discover, and inspire – all while bringing real, tangible, and substantial benefits to the American people and to all of humanity,' said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
And 2025 is set to be an even more remarkable year for space agencies and companies around the world, who have an assortment of exciting missions lined up.
There's also the European Space Agency, which is set to launch its futuristic 'Space Rider' spaceplane – described as a 'robotic laboratory the size of two minivans'.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk's SpaceX could go one step further in 2025 with its 395-foot Starship vessel as it prepares for a trip beyond Earth orbit.
Here, MailOnline takes a look at the incredible space missions set to take off in 2025 that you won't want to miss.
MailOnline takes a look at the incredible space missions set to take off in 2025, from the first private mission to Venus to China's ambitious asteroid mission
TIANWEN-2
Surely one of the most ambitious trips of the year will be China's Tianwen-2, which is set for launch in May 2025.
Tianwen-2 is an asteroid sample return mission with near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3) as its destination.
The asteroid is roughly the size of a Ferris wheel – between 150 and 190 feet in diameter – and gets as close as about 9 million miles from Earth.
Tianwen-2 will conduct remote sensing observations in orbit, before landing on the asteroid to collect about 100g (3.5 oz) of dusty surface rock ('regolith').
It will then return to Earth to drop off a return capsule containing the sample before a gravity assist maneuver will propel it toward a comet called 311P/PANSTARRS.
Kamo'oalewa has been considered for use as a space station for Earth-to-Mars travel, but samples from the asteroid could also reveal more about the solar system's formation and evolution
While the launch from Xichang is planned for May, Tianwen-2 won't reach Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3) until 2026 and 311P/PANSTARRS until 2034.
Image from China National Space Administration shows the Tianwen-1 probe en route to Mars. The follow-up, Tianwen-2, has a distant asteroid in its sights
At the start of December, NASA delayed its manned mission to the moon yet again.
It blamed 'technical issues' and needing time to allow critical changes for crew safety.
Artemis II - which will send four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back home - has been delayed from 2025 to 2026.
Meanwhile, Artemis III - which will actually land humans on the lunar surface - has been pushed from 2026 to 2027.
VENUS LIFE FINDER
No definitive evidence has been found of past or present life on Venus – but an upcoming mission to the solar system's second planet could change that.
Venus Life Finder – the first private mission to Venus – will launch an uncrewed 17 kg (37 lb) spacecraft from New Zealand sometime in January.
If all goes to plan, the craft will arrive at Venus in May and drop a small probe into Venusian atmosphere that will scan for organic molecules, which could be a possible sign of life.
Launch vehicle company Rocket Lab is partnering with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the mission, which was originally planned for 2023.
Venus is known as Earth's 'evil twin' because its also rocky and about the same size, but its average surface temperature is a blistering 870°F (465°C).
The rocky sphere is not only inhospitable but also sterile – with a surface hot enough to melt lead and toxic clouds of sulfuric acid.
Launch vehicle company Rocket Lab is partnering with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to send the first private mission to Venus as soon as January 2025. Pictured, artist's impression of the Venus Life Finder craft in space
Venus is known as Earth's 'evil twin' because its also rocky and about the same size, but its average surface temperature is a blistering 870°F (465°C). Pictured, the surface of Venus, as interpreted by the Magellan spacecraft
What is Dream Chaser?
Dream Chaser is a reusable spacecraft developed by Colorado firm Sierra Space.
The world's only commercial spaceplane, it's designed to take people and cargo to space (specifically low Earth-orbit).
It will make its maiden trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in low Earth-orbit after more than a decade in development.
DREAM CHASER
After more than a decade in development, Sierra Space's 'Dream Chaser' – which can land horizontally on a runway like a traditional aircraft – is ready to fly.
The craft will make its maiden trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in low Earth-orbit no earlier than May 2025, carrying over 7,800 pounds (3,540kg) of cargo.
Dream Chaser will remain at the space station for about 45 days before it makes the journey back down to Earth.
Although this first flight will be an unmanned mission, it will eventually carry astronauts to the space station, much like SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
Along with SpaceX and Boeing, Sierra Space is one of the companies contracted by NASA a decade ago to send people and equipment to the ISS – but so far only SpaceX has been successful.
Sierra Space revealed in May 2024 that the ship had completed testing and was shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of an imminent launch – but it was pushed it back to 2025.
Although the project is geared towards delivering professional astronauts to space, the company hasn't ruled out using Dream Chaser for tourist trips later in the future.
It will make its maiden trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in low Earth-orbit, after more than a decade in development
Pictured, artist's impression of the Dream Chaser spacecraft during its descent back towards Earth
SPACE RIDER
Space Rider, a 26-foot uncrewed robotic laboratory, will be the European Space Agency's first re-usable space vehicle.
About the size of two minivans, Space Rider is scheduled for its maiden flight during the third quarter of 2025 – so between June and August.
After launch on the Vega-C single-body rocket from Guiana Space Centre, Space Rider will stay in low orbit for about two months.
On-board robotic experiments will benefit research in pharmaceutics, biomedicine, biology and physical science, says the agency.
At the end of its mission, Space Rider will return to Earth with its payloads and land on a runway to be unloaded and refurbished for another flight.
It's akin to the much larger Space Shuttle, NASA's legendary low Earth orbital spacecraft operated 1981 and 2011.
ESA says: 'Space Rider provides a range of possibilities and benefits to potential customers who want to use the advantages of microgravity and exposure to the space environment.'
Space Rider is an uncrewed robotic laboratory about the size of two minivans. After launch on Vega-C it will stay in low orbit for about two months
It's akin to the much larger Space Shuttle, NASA's legendary low Earth orbital spacecraft operated 1981 and 2011 (pictured)
ESCAPADE
NASA's upcoming 'ESCAPADE' project is the first ever mission to send two identical spacecraft to the Martian atmosphere.
For the mission, Rocket Lab has designed and built twin spacecraft, called Blue and Gold, which will launch from Cape Canaveral no sooner than spring 2025.
Following an 11-month, 230 million mile journey, together they will measure plasma and magnetic fields around the Red Planet.
It's hoped the data will reveal more about the processes that strip away atoms from Mars' magnetosphere and upper atmosphere, driving Martian climate change.
'This mission can help us study the atmosphere at Mars – key information as we explore farther and farther into our solar system and need to protect astronauts and spacecraft from space weather,' said Nicky Fox, NASA's science administrator.
In August, NASA said the twin spacecraft had arrived in Florida in preparation for launch on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.
ESCAPADE will use two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars' magnetic environment (artist's impression)
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, depicted in space in this artist's impression, will send the ESCAPADE craft into space
HAVEN-1
Haven-1 is another big milestone for the private space industry – where companies launch spacecraft rather than government-backed agencies.
It's an ambitious new space station, just 33 feet in length – a fraction of the International Space Station's 356 feet.
Despite its humble size, Haven-1 will offer a luxury space for four astronauts, with queen-size beds, a state-of-the-art gym, maple wood interiors and a huge window to observe the Earth as it floats in orbit.
Haven-1 will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than August 2025.
Shortly after, the as-yet-unknown crew will travel to the station, which has been designed by California-based space firm Vast.
The seats will go to individuals who are involved in scientific or philanthropic projects at an unknown price – but potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While the cost to build Haven-1 has not been disclosed, Vast says it will have invested about $1 billion by the time the station launches.
Haven-1 is an ambitious new space station, just 33 feet in length – a fraction of the International Space Station's 356 feet - launching in August
Haven-1 will offer a luxury space for four astronauts, with queen-size beds, a state-of-the-art gym, maple wood interiors and a huge window to observe the Earth as it floats in orbit
2025 in SPACEFLIGHT: The incredible missions set to take off next year, revealed - from China's daring asteroid retrieval to the first private trip to Venus - PART II
'In 2024, NASA made leap after giant leap to explore, discover, and inspire – all while bringing real, tangible, and substantial benefits to the American people and to all of humanity,' said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
And 2025 is set to be an even more remarkable year for space agencies and companies around the world, who have an assortment of exciting missions lined up.
There's also the European Space Agency, which is set to launch its futuristic 'Space Rider' spaceplane – described as a 'robotic laboratory the size of two minivans'.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk's SpaceX could go one step further in 2025 with its 395-foot Starship vessel as it prepares for a trip beyond Earth orbit.
Here, MailOnline takes a look at the incredible space missions set to take off in 2025 that you won't want to miss.
MailOnline takes a look at the incredible space missions set to take off in 2025, from the first private mission to Venus to China's ambitious asteroid mission
GAGANYAAN
Compared with 2023 when it sent its budget rover to the moon, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has had a quiet 2024.
However, 2025 is set to be a bumper year for India's space agency, with an anticipated three missions set to take place as part of its Gaganyaan programme.
Gaganyaan I, II and III, all scheduled throughout 2025, will send an uncrewed spacecraft into orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
Should all go to plan, Gaganyaan IV – scheduled for 2026 – will carry a three-member crew into an orbit of 400 km (250 miles) for three days, before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
On-board the crewed and uncrewed flights will also be Vyommitra, a humanoid robot specially designed for Gaganyaan.
India's space agency, ISRO, has said it will explore ways to achieve a sustained human presence in space once Gaganyaan is completed.
Gaganyaan is a crewed spacecraft being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the country's space agency
India's space programme has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008
The first set of launches in India's Gaganyaan programme were intended to go ahead in 2024, building on momentum set by Chandrayaan-3.
However, ISRO pushed this back a year to ensure more time for essential safety checks and astronaut training.
STARSHIP
Last but by no means least is Elon Musk's company SpaceX, which is edging closer and closer to its ultimate goal of sending its Starship to other worlds.
This advanced mechanism is key to Starship not only landing safely, but being able to quickly refuel before another launch.
And although it's unclear exactly what feat Starship – the most powerful rocket in the world – will attempt in 2025, it's bound to be just as audacious.
It's possible SpaceX could capture both parts of the ship – the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage; MailOnline has contacted the firm for comment.
In October, SpaceX completed possibly its most impressive feat yet – it managed to catch the 'booster' section of the Starship system with metal 'chopsticks' so it could be reused
SpaceX pulled off its boldest test flight yet of the enormous Starship rocket in October, catching the returning booster back at the launch pad with metal 'chopsticks' - marking another milestone on Elon Musk's quest to get humanity to Mars
Musk's firm SpaceX is responsible for the most powerful rocket ever built on Earth - the Starship. The multi-billion-dollar, stainless-steel, 395-foot vessel has been designed to transport crew and cargo to Earth's orbit and the moon. But Musk thinks 'Earth to Earth' travel on Starship is also a possibility
SpaceX intends to launch Starship 25 times in 2025, the company recently revealed, and is seriously intending to ramp up production of the rocket.
Eventually, Elon Musk wants to launch Starships on a daily basis.
Musk predicts Starship will go to Mars in 2026, although it will be an uncrewed mission.
Two years after that in 2028, Starship will transport people to Mars for the first time – which would mark the first time humans have ever walked on another planet.
Parker Solar Probe Survives Closest-Ever Approach to Sun
Parker Solar Probe Survives Closest-Ever Approach to Sun
On December 24, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe soared just 6.1 million km (3.8 million miles) above the surface of our home star, racing through the solar atmosphere at 692,000 km per hour (430,000 mph) — the fastest speed ever achieved by a human-made object; a signal received two days later confirmed the spacecraft had made it through the encounter safely and is operating normally.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun.
Image credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Close to the Sun, Parker Solar Probe relies on a carbon foam shield to protect it from the extreme heat in the upper solar atmosphere called the corona, which can exceed 500,000 degrees Celsius (1 million degrees Fahrenheit).
The shield was designed to reach temperatures of 1,427 degrees Celsius (2,600 degrees Fahrenheit), while keeping the instruments behind it shaded at a comfortable room temperature.
In the hot but low-density corona, the spacecraft’s shield is expected to warm to 982 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit).
“Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star,” said Dr. Nicky Fox, the associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
“By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our Solar System, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the Universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.”
“Parker Solar Probe is braving one of the most extreme environments in space and exceeding all expectations,” said Parker Solar Probe project scientist Dr. Nour Rawafi, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
“This mission is ushering a new golden era of space exploration, bringing us closer than ever to unlocking the Sun’s deepest and most enduring mysteries.”
Parker Solar Probe’s record close distance of 6.1 million km (3.8 million miles)may sound far, but on cosmic scales it’s incredibly close.
Image credit: NASA / APL.
“It’s monumental to be able to get a spacecraft this close to the Sun,” said Parker Solar Probe mission systems engineer John Wirzburger, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
“This is a challenge the space science community has wanted to tackle since 1958 and had spent decades advancing the technology to make it possible.”
By flying through the solar corona, Parker Solar Probe can take measurements that help scientists better understand how the region gets so hot, trace the origin of the solar wind and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to half the speed of light.
“The data are so important for the science community because it gives us another vantage point,” said Dr. Kelly Korreck, a program scientist at NASA Headquarters.
“By getting firsthand accounts of what’s happening in the solar atmosphere, Parker Solar Probe has revolutionized our understanding of the Sun.”
So far, the spacecraft has only transmitted that it’s safe, but soon it will be in a location that will allow it to downlink the data it collected on this latest solar pass.
“The data that will come down from the spacecraft will be fresh information about a place that we, as humanity, have never been. It’s an amazing accomplishment,” said Dr. Joe Westlake, the director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters.
The spacecraft’s next planned close solar passes come on March 22 and June 19, 2025.
RELATED VIDEOS
RECORD-BREAKING APPROACH! NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Closest Approach to the Sun
History-making probe is about to make the closest-ever approach to the sun
Nasa's Parker Solar Probe Attempts Closest Ever Approach To Sun
Covering an Asteroid With Balls Could Characterize Its Interior
Exploring asteroids and other small bodies throughout the solar system has gotten increasingly popular, as their small gravity wells make them ideal candidates for resource extraction, enabling the expansion of life into the solar system. However, the technical challenges facing a mission to explore one are fraught – since they’re so small and variable, understanding how to land on one is even more so. A team from the University of Trieste in Italy has proposed a mission idea that could help solve that problem by using an ability most humans have but never think about.
Have you ever closed your eyes and tried to touch your fingers to one another? If you haven’t, try it now, and you’ll likely find that you can easily. It’s possible to do even without guidance from your five normal senses. That is what is known as proprioception – our hidden “sixth” sense. It is that ability to know where objects are in relation to one another – in this case, where your hands are in relation to one another without any other sensory indication.
Taking that basic idea and extrapolating it to a mission to an asteroid, the basic concept of the mission involves a lander with what seems like a dome with a ton of little balls on it, each facing a slightly different direction. Those balls are then ejected from the dome with varying degrees of force and land on various parts of the asteroid or comet.
Fraser discusses why swarms are becoming so central to our idea of space exploration.
They then create what is known in networking as a “mesh” system by connecting through one another and back to the main lander, which has a higher power output and larger communications array. They also contain a series of sensors, such as a camera, a magnetometer, and, importantly, an inertial measurement unit, or IMU.
IMUs are commonly used in cell phones to tell which direction the phone is oriented—that’s why your phone’s screen will flip upside down if you hold it upside down. They can also measure acceleration, which is why many are used in modern rocketry. They’re tiny and not very power-hungry, allowing them to fit into the ball format used for this mission.
Measurements from each of the remote sensors IMUs can be combined with data about the strength of the force that propelled them to their final resting place and fed into an algorithm, which will then help the base station determine the location of each sensor unit. That then allows measurements from the other sensors, such as the magnetometers and cameras, to paint a picture of the body’s external and internal structure – since magnetic fields, surface objects, and even gravity can vary significantly on small celestial bodies.
There are plenty of missions using swarms to explore asteroids – like the MIDEA project, as described here. Credit – Cosmic Voyages YouTube Channel
As a proof of concept for this mission design, the team ran a simulation of a mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, most widely known for being visited by Rosetta, the ESA mission whose lander, Philae, experienced some of the trouble that is so common on these missions. They found that, depending on the number of projectile sensors, the mission could cover even weird morphologies like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s two-lobed form.
No agency has yet taken up the mission, but as electronics and sensors get smaller and more power efficient and more small bodies become potential resource sources, there might be a place for testing these spaced-out sensors. We’ll have to wait and see—just not with proprioception alone.
New Image Revealed by NASA of their New Martian Helicopter.
Ingenuity became the first aircraft to fly on another world in the first half of 2021. It explored the Martian terrain from above proving that powered air flight was a very efficient way to move around alien worlds. Now NASA have released a computer rendering of their next design, the Mars Chopper!
Ingenuity was a small helicopter, or rather more a drone, that was carried to Mars on board the Perseverance rover mission in 2020. It was designed as a technology demonstration to prove that powered flight was possible in the thin atmosphere of Mars. It made its first flight on 19 April 2021 and hovered just 10 feet above the ground before safely landing again. Since then, Ingenuity has completed 60 flights on Mars helping to survey and scout for areas of interest for further study.
This view of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was generated using data collected by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover on Aug. 2, 2023, the 871st Martian day, or sol, of the mission, one day before the rotorcraft’s 54th flight. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Operating a drone in the Martian atmosphere offers challenges largely due to the lower density. Compared to Earth, the atmosphere is less than 1% the density of Earth’s atmosphere. This means the blades on any aerial vehicles need to work harder and generate more lift than their Earth-bound counterparts.
Image of the Martian atmosphere and surface obtained by the Viking 1 orbiter in June 1976. (Credit: NASA/Viking 1)
Density aside, the fine dust on the surface of Mars is often lifted up into the atmosphere which could damage the delicate mechanisms of operating craft. Not only must these types of vehicles be carefully designed to fly in alien atmospheres but they must also be able to protect themselves from local hazards.
Moving on from the success of the Ingeniuty drone, NASA has released a rendering of its next generation vehicle for aerial flight on Mars, known as the Mars Chopper. Ingenuity was a feasability study and proved aerial flight successful, new craft on the drawing board come with a greater payload capacity to carry scientific instruments such as imaging and analysis kit. This will enable them to undertake the basic tasks like scouting activity to support future exploration but also undertake analysis and terrain mapping work. Ultimately even providing support to the human exploration of Mars.
A conceptual design of the successor to NASA's Ingenuity helicopter.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
The image released reveals a drone like vehicle which is about the size of an SUV with six rotors. Each rotor has six blades which are smaller than those on Ingenuity but collectivity can provide even more lift. The payload capacity of the Chopper in its current design configuration is 5 kilograms a distance of up to 3km. The design is a collaboration between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the Ames Research Center.
This new model will be a real game changer for the exploration not only of Mars but of any alien worlds with a solid surface and an atmosphere that can support flight. Ingenuity led the way proving the technology and now, with the new concept Mars ‘Choppers on the drawing board, aerial reconnaissance on these new worlds will vastly improve the value of ground based exploration. Remote aerial exploration will also be of invaluable benefit to support human exploration where rovers will be unable to reach.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes its Record-Breaking Closest Approach to the Sun
In August 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe(PSP) began its long journey to study the Sun’s outer corona. After several gravity-assist maneuvers with Venus, the probe broke Helios 2‘s distance record and became the closest object to the Sun on October 29th, 2018. Since then, the Parker probe’s highly elliptical orbit has allowed it to pass through the Sun’s corona several times (“touch the Sun”). On December 24th, 2024, NASA confirmed that their probe made its closest approach to the Sun, passing just 6 million km (3.8 million mi) above the surface – roughly 0.04 times the distance between the Sun and Earth (0.04 AU).
In addition to breaking its previous distance record, the PSP passed through the solar atmosphere at a velocity of about 692,000 km/h (430,000 mph). This is equivalent to about 0.064% the speed of light, making the Parker Solar Probe the fastest human-made object ever. After the spacecraft made its latest pass, it sent a beacon tone to confirm that it made it through safely and was operating normally – which was received on December 26th. These close passes allow the PSP to conduct science operations that will expand our knowledge of the origin and evolution of solar wind.
Every flyby the probe made with Venus in the past six years brought it closer to the Sun in its elliptical orbit. As of November 6th, 2024, the spacecraft reached an optimal orbit that brings it close enough to study the Sun and the processes that influence space weather but not so close that the Sun’s heat and radiation will damage it. To ensure the spacecraft can withstand temperatures in the corona, the Parker probe relies on a carbon foam shield that can withstand temperatures between 980 and 1425 °C (1,800 and 2,600 degrees °F).
This shield also keeps the spacecraft instruments shaded and at room temperature to ensure they can operate in the solar atmosphere. Said Associate Administrator Nicky Fox, who leads the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a recent NASA press release:
“Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star. By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.”
Nour Rawafi, the project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), is part of the team that designed, built, and operates the spacecraft. “[The] Parker Solar Probe is braving one of the most extreme environments in space and exceeding all expectations,” he said. “This mission is ushering a new golden era of space exploration, bringing us closer than ever to unlocking the Sun’s deepest and most enduring mysteries.”
The Parker Solar Probe was first proposed in a 1958 report by the National Academy of Sciences’ Space Science Board, which recommended “a solar probe to pass inside the orbit of Mercury to study the particles and fields in the vicinity of the Sun.” While the concept was proposed again in the 1970s and 1980s, it would take several more decades for the technology and a cost-effective mission to be realized.
The Parker Solar Probe also made several interesting and unexpected finds during previous close passes. During its first pass into the solar atmosphere in 2021, the spacecraft discovered that the outer boundary of the corona is characterized by spikes and valleys, contrary to expectations. It also discovered the origin of switchbacks (zig-zag structures) in the solar wind within the photosphere. Since then, the spacecraft has spent more time in the corona, closely examining most of the Sun’s critical processes.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on December 24th, 2024. Credits: NASA
The probe’s discoveries are not limited to the Sun either. As noted, one of the PSP’s primary objectives is to study how solar activity influences “space weather,” referring to the interaction of solar wind with the planets of the Solar System. For instance, the probe has captured multiple images of Venus during its many gravity assists, documented the planet’s radio emissions, and the first complete image of Venus’ orbital dust ring. The probe has also been repeatedly blasted by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that swept up dust as they passed through the Solar System.
“We now understand the solar wind and its acceleration away from the Sun,” said Adam Szabo, the Parker Solar Probe mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “This close approach will give us more data to understand how it’s accelerated closer in.”
The probe even offered a new perspective on the comet NEOWISE by capturing images from its unique vantage point. Now that the mission team knows the probe is safe, they are waiting for it to reach a location where it can transmit the data collected from its latest solar pass. “The data that will come down from the spacecraft will be fresh information about a place that we, as humanity, have never been,” said Joe Westlake, the director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “It’s an amazing accomplishment.”
The spacecraft’s next solar passes are planned for March 22nd, 2025, and June 19th, 2025.
NASA has announced that the Ingenuity helicopter has formally concluded its mission on Mars, following dozens of successful test flights during its three-year tenure on the planet.
The small helicopter, specially designed for flight in the Red Planet’s thin atmosphere, made history as the first aircraft to perform a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
Although initially planned as a technology demonstration that would only conduct five test flights, Ingenuity went on to perform a remarkable 72 flights, many of which provided useful aerial reconnaissance for the Perseverance rover in advance of its movement to areas of interest for potential study.
“It is bittersweet that I must announce Ingenuity… has taken its last flight on Mars,” Nelson said in a statement.
Characterizing the small aircraft as “the little helicopter that could,” Nelson said the helicopter sustained damage to one of its rotor blades while attempting a landing.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter takes off above Jezero crater
(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS).
“At least one of its carbon fiber rotor blades was damaged,” Nelson said. “We’re investigating the possibility that the blade struck the ground.”
The damage occurred during a vertical flight the helicopter performed to determine its location several days ago, following an emergency landing during its previous flight.
Although the aircraft achieved a maximum altitude of 40 feet, hovering for a total of 4.5 seconds before beginning its descent, Ingenuity lost contact with Perseverance before reaching the ground. Several days later the rotor blade damage was revealed.
“What Ingenuity accomplished far exceeds what we thought possible,” Nelson said.
“Ingenuity demonstrated how flight can enhance operational missions, and it’s helping us in the search for life on Mars.”
Ingenuity’s first flight occurred on April 19, 2021, after arriving on the Red Planet earlier that year with the Perseverance rover.
Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said Ingenuity was “an exemplar of the way we push the boundaries of what’s possible every day.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team behind this historic technological achievement and eager to see what they’ll invent next,” Leshin added.
Comparing Ingenuity’s operations to the pioneering flights of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Nelson said the Mars helicopter has set the pace for the future use of aircraft in space exploration.
“Ingenuity has paved the way for future flight in our solar system,” Nelson said, “and it’s leading the way for smarter, safer human missions to Mars and beyond.”
9 Phenomena NASA Astronauts Will Encounter at Moon’s South Pole
An artist's rendering of an Artemis astronaut working on the Moon's surface.
Credits: NASA
9 Phenomena NASA Astronauts Will Encounter at Moon’s South Pole
NASA’s Artemis campaign will send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon’s south polar region, marking humanity’s first return to the lunar surface in more than 50 years.
Here are some out-of-this-world phenomena Artemis astronauts will experience:
1. A Hovering Sun and Giant Shadows
This visualization shows the motions of Earth and the Sun as viewed from the South Pole of the Moon. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Near the Moon’s South Pole, astronauts will see dramatic shadows that are 25 to 50 times longer than the objects casting them. Why? Because the Sun strikes the surface there at a low angle, hanging just a few degrees above the horizon. As a result, astronauts won’t see the Sun rise and set. Instead, they’ll watch it hover near the horizon as it moves horizontally across the sky.
2. Sticky, Razor-Sharp Dust ...
This dust particle came from a lunar regolith sample brought to Earth in 1969 by Apollo 11 astronauts. The particle is about 25 microns across, less than the width of an average human hair. The image was taken with a scanning electron microscope.
NASA/Sarah Noble
The lunar dust, called regolith, that coats the Moon’s surface looks fine and soft like baking powder. But looks can be deceiving. Lunar regolith is formed when meteoroids hit the Moon’s surface, melting and shattering rocks into tiny, sharp pieces. The Moon doesn’t have moving water or wind to smooth out the regolith grains, so they stay sharp and scratchy, posing a risk to astronauts and their equipment.
3. ... That’s Charged with Static Electricity
Astronaut Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, inside the lunar module on the Moon after his second moonwalk of the mission in 1972. His spacesuit and face are covered in lunar dust.
NASA
Because the Moon has no atmosphere to speak of, its surface is exposed to plasma and radiation from the Sun. As a result, static electricity builds up on the surface, as it does when you shuffle your feet against a carpeted floor. When you then touch something, you transfer that charge via a small shock. On the Moon, this transfer can short-circuit electronics. Moon dust also can make its way into astronaut living quarters, as the static electricity causes it to easily stick to spacesuits. NASA has developed methods to keep the dust at bay using resistant textiles, filters, and a shield that employs an electric field to remove dust from surfaces.
4. A New Sense of Lightness
In 1972, Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke hammered a core tube into the Moon’s surface until it met a rock and wouldn’t go any farther. Then the hammer flew from his hand. He made four attempts to pick it up by bending down and leaning to reach for it. He gave up and returned to the rover to get tongs to finally pick up the hammer successfully. NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Artemis moonwalkers will have a bounce to their step as they traverse the lunar surface. This is because gravity won’t pull them down as forcefully as it does on Earth. The Moon is only a quarter of Earth’s size, with six times less gravity. Simple activities, like swinging a rock hammer to chip off samples, will feel different. While a hammer will feel lighter to hold, its inertia won’t change, leading to a strange sensation for astronauts. Lower gravity has perks, too. Astronauts won’t be weighed down by their hefty spacesuits as much as they would be on Earth. Plus, bouncing on the Moon is just plain fun.
5. A Waxing Crescent … Earth?
This animated image features a person holding a stick with a sphere on top that represents the Moon. The person is demonstrating an activity that helps people learn about the phases of the Moon by acting them out.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
When Artemis astronauts look at the sky from the Moon, they’ll see their home planet shining back at them. Just like Earthlings see different phases of the Moon throughout a month, astronauts will see an ever-shifting Earth. Earth phases occur opposite to Moon phases: When Earth experiences a new Moon, a full Earth is visible from the Moon.
6. An Itty-Bitty Horizon
A view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft in July 1969 shows Earth rising above the Moon’s horizon.
NASA
Because the Moon is smaller than Earth, its horizon will look shorter and closer. To someone standing on a level Earth surface, the horizon is 3 miles away, but to astronauts on the Moon, it’ll be only 1.5 miles away, making their surroundings seem confined.
7. Out-of-This-World Temperatures
This graphic shows maximum summer and winter temperatures near the lunar South Pole. Purple, blue, and green identify cold regions, while yellow to red signify warmer ones. The graphic incorporates 10 years of data from NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter), which has been orbiting the Moon since 2009. NASA/LRO Diviner Seasonal Polar Data
NASA/LRO Diviner Seasonal Polar Data
Because sunlight at the Moon’s South Pole skims the surface horizontally, it brushes crater rims, but doesn’t always reach their floors. Some deep craters haven’t seen the light of day for billions of years, so temperatures there can dip to minus 334 F. That’s nearly three times colder than the lowest temperature recorded in Antarctica. At the other extreme, areas in direct sunlight, such as crater rims, can reach temperatures of 130 F.
8. An Inky-Black Sky
An animated view of Earth emerging below the horizon as seen from the Moon’s South Pole. This visual was created using a digital elevation map from LRO’s laser altimeter, LOLA.
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
The Moon, unlike Earth, doesn’t have a thick atmosphere to scatter blue light, so the daytime sky is black. Astronauts will see a stark contrast between the dark sky and the bright ground.
9. A Rugged Terrain
An overhead view of the Moon, beginning with a natural color from a distance and changing to color-coded elevation as the camera comes closer. The visual captures the rugged terrain of the lunar South Pole area. It includes a color key and animated scale bar. This visual was created using a digital elevation map from NASA LRO’s laser altimeter, LOLA.
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
Artemis moonwalkers will find a rugged landscape that takes skill to traverse. The Moon has mountains, valleys, and canyons, but its most notable feature for astronauts on the surface may be its millions of craters. Near the South Pole, gaping craters and long shadows will make it difficult for astronauts to navigate. But, with training and special gear, astronauts will be prepared to meet the challenge.
By Avery Truman
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Why is the moon's south pole so significant? | DW News
NASA is Considering Designs and Simulations to Prepare Astronauts for Lighting Conditions Around the Lunar South Pole
In the coming years, NASA and other space agencies will send humans back to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo Era—this time to stay! To maximize line-of-sight communication with Earth, solar visibility, and access to water ice, NASA, the ESA, and China have selected the Lunar South Pole (LSP) as the location for their future lunar bases. This will necessitate the creation of permanent infrastructure on the Moon and require that astronauts have the right equipment and training to deal with conditions around the lunar south pole.
This includes lighting conditions, which present a major challenge for science operations and extravehicular activity (EVA). Around the LSP, day and night last for two weeks at a time, and the Sun never rises more than a few degrees above the horizon. This creates harsh lighting conditions very different from what the Apollo astronauts or any previous mission have experienced. To address this, the NASA Engineering and Safety Council (NESC) has recommended developing a wide variety of physical and virtual techniques that can simulate the visual experiences of Artemis astronauts.
In the past, the design of lighting and functional vision support systems has typically been relegated to the lowest level of program planning. This worked well for the Apollo missions and EVAs in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) since helmet design alone addressed all vision challenges. Things will be different for the Artemis Program since astronauts will not be able to avoid having harsh sunlight in their eyes during much of the time they spend doing EVAs. There is also the challenge of the extensive shadowing around the LSP due to its cratered and uneven nature, not to mention the extended lunar nights.
Artist’s rendering of the Starship HLS on the Moon’s surface. NASA has contracted with SpaceX to provide the lunar landing system. Credit: SpaceX
In addition, astronaut vehicles and habitats will require artificial lighting throughout missions, which means astronauts will have to transition from ambient lighting to harsh sunlight and/or intense darkness and back. Since the human eye has difficulty adapting to these transitions, it will impede an astronaut’s “function vision,” which is required to drive vehicles, perform EVAs safely, operate tools, and manage complex machines. This is especially true when it comes to rovers and the lander elevator used by the Starship HLS – both of which will be used for the Artemis IIIand IVmissions.
As Meagan Chappell, a Knowledge Management Analyst at NASA’s Langley Research Center, indicates, this will require the development of new functional vision support systems. That means helmets, windows, and lighting systems that can work together to allow crews to “see into the darkness while their eyes are light-adapted, in bright light while still dark-adapted, and protects their eyes from injury.” According to the NESC assessment, these challenges have not been addressed, and must be understood before solutions can be implemented.
In particular, they indicated how functional vision and specific tasks for Artemis astronauts were not incorporated into system design requirements. For example, the new spacesuits designed for the Artemis Program – the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) – provide greater flexibility so astronauts can walk more easily on the lunar surface. However, there are currently no features or systems that would allow astronauts to see well enough when transitioning between brilliant sunlight into dark shadow and back again without losing their footing.
The NESC assessment identified several other gaps, prompting them to recommend that methods that enable functional vision become a specific and new requirement for system designers. They also recommended that the design process for lighting, windows, and visors become integrated. Lastly, they recommended that various physical and virtual simulation techniques be developed to address specific requirements. This means virtual reality programs that simulate what it is like to walk around the LSP during lunar day and night, followed by “dress rehearsal” missions in analog environments (or both combined!).
Astronauts operating around the Lunar South Pole. Credit: NASA
As Chappell summarized, the simulations will likely focus on different aspects of the mission elements to gauge the effectiveness of their designs:
“Some would address the blinding effects of sunlight at the LSP (not easily achieved through virtual approaches) to evaluate [the] performance of helmet shields and artificial lighting in the context of the environment and adaptation times. Other simulations would add terrain features to identify the threats in simple (e.g., walking, collection of samples) and complex (e.g., maintenance and operation of equipment) tasks. Since different facilities have different strengths, they also have different weaknesses. These strengths and limitations must be characterized to enable verification of technical solutions and crew training.”
This latest series of recommendations reminds us that NASA is committed to achieving a regular human presence on the Moon by the end of this decade. As that day draws nearer, the need for more in-depth preparation and planning becomes apparent. By the time astronauts are making regular trips to the Moon (according to NASA, once a year after 2028), they will need the best training and equipment we can muster.
NASA makes HISTORY as spacecraft survives closest-ever approach to Sun: US space agency confirms Parker Probe is 'operating normally' after coming within just 3.8 million miles of the solar surface
The US space agency has confirmed that its Parker Solar Probe survived the close encounter, and is now 'operating normally'.
'Parker Solar Probe has phoned home!' NASA tweeted this morning.
'After passing just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface on Dec. 24 — the closest solar flyby in history — we have received Parker Solar Probe's beacon tone confirming the spacecraft is safe.'
During the flyby, Parker endured temperatures of up to 982°C, while moving at 430,000 miles per hour.
Despite these extreme conditions, the probe's heat shield effectively protected its instruments.
NASA said the mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, received the signal on Boxing Day evening.
The spacecraft is next expected to send back detailed data about its condition and experiences on January 1.
The US space agency has confirmed that its Parker Solar Probe survived the close encounter, and is now 'operating normally'
'Parker Solar Probe has phoned home!' NASA tweeted this morning. 'After passing just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface on Dec. 24 — the closest solar flyby in history — we have received Parker Solar Probe's beacon tone confirming the spacecraft is safe'
NASA said: 'Following its record-breaking closest approach to the sun, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has transmitted a beacon tone back to Earth indicating it's in good health and operating normally.'
The news of Parker's survival has been welcomed by space fans across X (formerly Twitter).
'We live in an amazing time! Congratulations!' one user replied to NASA.
Another added: 'It worked. You guys are special.'
And one joked: 'It's like a sun-kissed spacecraft now.'
The Christmas Eve flyby was the first of three record-setting close passes, with the next two - on March 22, 2025, and June 19, 2025 - both expected to bring the probe back to a similarly close distance from the sun.
Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), said: 'No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory.'
Beyond breaking records, scientists hope the mission will allow them to measure how material is heated to millions of degrees, find where solar wind comes from and learn how energetic particles reach near light speeds.
The Parker Solar Probe launched from Cape Canaveral in August 2018 before embarking on the 93 million-mile journey to the sun
Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist for NASA, says: 'This is one example of NASA's bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe.'
The Parker Solar Probe travelled seven times closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it
Nasa's Parker Solar Probe (PSP) will travel seven times closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it by the end of its mission.
It launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on August 12, 2018.
The probe flew to the sun's outer atmosphere to study life of stars and their weather events.
It is hoped that Parker can help scientists to better understand solar flares — brief eruptions of intense high-energy radiation from the sun's surface that can knock out communications on Earth.
Over the next few years the probe will continue to make new discoveries as it moves closer to the sun, eventually making its closest approach in the year 2024, as it flies 3.9 million miles above the solar surface.
The craft faces extremes in heat and radiation and will reach speeds of up to 430,000 miles per hour (700,000 kph) at its closest flyby of the star.
The craft's kit includes a white light imager called Whisper, which will take images of solar waves as the craft propels through them at high speeds.
To measure the 'bulk plasma' of solar winds — described by Nasa as the 'bread and butter' of the flares — a set of magnetic imaging equipment will also be stored on board.
NASA Science Live: Parker Solar Probe Nears Historic Close Encounter with the Sun
Telescopes in space and on Earth snapped some incredible shots too, capturing stars, other planets and even entire galaxies in unprecedented detail.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and European Southern Observatory (ESO) are just a few of the highly-sophisticated imaging instruments that changed our understanding of the universe this year.
Below, DailyMail.com highlights some of 2024's most jaw-dropping space photos.
Star-forming region NGC 604
JWST captured this near-infrared view of the star-forming region NGC 604, which sits in the Triangulum galaxy 2.7 million light-years from Earth
JWST's NIRcam instrument is a powerful near-infrared camera that can capture images of distant nebulae in astonishing detail.
This year, the telescope snapped this photo of the star-forming nebula known as NGC 604.
This enormous cloud of gas and dust is located 2.7 million light-years from Earth in the Triangulum galaxy.
Stretching almost 1,500 light-years across, NGC 604 is nearly 100 times larger than the Orion Nebula in our own galaxy.
NHC 604 contains more than 200 hot, massive young stars — significantly more than the Orion Nebula's four.
This JWST image shows the nebula's arms of gas and dust, which serve as a nursery for young, still-forming stars.
Starlink satellites captured by ISS astronaut
Don Pettit, a NASA astronaut aboard the ISS, shared this photo he took in November, which shows Starlink satellites streaking by
In November, NASA astronaut Don Pettit shared this image taken from the ISS, which shows Starlink satellites streaking by.
In a post on X, Pettit compared the satellites to 'a miniature version of the monolith from '2001: A Space Odyssey', where the large flat face of the monolith points towards earth and the solar panel protrudes outward like the fin on the back of a Dimetrodon.'
He described the image, saying: 'Compared to the well-defined streaks from star trails, this time exposure shows wonky streaks flashing ISS.
'These are Starlink satellites reflecting pre-dusk or pre-dawn sunlight off their solar panels. They are only seen from 5 to 18 degrees preceding or trailing the sun.
'They create bright flashes, perhaps lasting for a few seconds each due to the orientation of their outward pointing solar panels.'
Pettit is well-known for his orbital astrophotography, which he creates from the unique vantage point of the ISS.
SpaceX's 'chopsticks' rocket catch
SpaceX achieved a historic spaceflight maneuver this year when the Mechazilla launch tower's 'chopstick' arms caught the Super Heavy booster in mid-air, executing a bull's eye landing
Elon Musk's SpaceX made spaceflight history in October with the successful execution of a 'chopstick' maneuver.
It was the fifth time the spaceflight company launched its 400-foot-tall Starship rocket, but this launch was anything but routine.
In a world's first, SpaceX aimed to return the rocket's Super Heavy booster directly to its launch mount, snatching it out of mid-air with a pair of 'chopstick' arms attached to the launch tower.
Just seven minutes after liftoff, Super Heavy executed a bull's eye landing, hovering near the 'Mechazilla' launch tower as the metal arms caught it.
The bold, historic maneuver marked a major achievement for SpaceX and the spaceflight industry at large.
'Are you kidding me?' SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot added from the launch site following the event. 'Even in this day and age, what we just saw — that looked like magic.'
Supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*
In 2024, astronomers captured the first image of the polarized light and magnetic fields that surround Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way
This year, astronomers captured the first image of the polarized light and magnetic fields that surround Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole that sits at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
This image was made using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global network of radio telescopes that can observe a supermassive black hole's event horizon, or the boundary where the velocity needed to escape exceeds the speed of light.
At just 26,000 light years from Earth, Sagittarius A* is one of very few black holes in the universe where astronomers can actually observe the flow of matter around it.
This historic image provides the first direct visual evidence of this supermassive black hole's existence.
Although we cannot see the black hole itself — as it is completely dark — the glowing whirls of gas around it reveal a telltale signature: a dark central region (or 'shadow') surrounded by a bright ring-like structure.
The image therefore shows light bent by the black hole's extreme gravity.
HP Tau: An infant star
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the infant star HP Tau this year, located 550 light-years from Earth
The Hubble Space Telescope snapped this stunning photo of the infant star HP Tau this year.
HP Tau is located roughly 550 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. At just 10million years old, it is the youngest among its neighbors.
It can be seen at the top of a trio of stars captured in this Hubble image. These three stars reside within a hollow cavity in a huge cloud of gas and dust, 'looking like a glittering cosmic geode,' as NASA described it.
HP Tau is a T Tauri star, a type of young variable star that has not begun nuclear fusion yet, but will eventually evolve into a hydrogen-fueled star similar to our sun, according to NASA.
At 4.6 billion years old, our sun is far older than this infant.
First-ever commercial spacewalk
Tech billionaire and SpaceX astronaut Jared Isaacman made history when he emerged from the Polaris Dawn capsule to complete the first civilian spacewalk
In September, SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew made history by executing the first privately-funded spacewalk.
The achievement marked a major milestone for the commercial spaceflight industry, of which SpaceX is a key leader.
In this image, tech billionaire and Polaris Dawn mission commander Jared Isaacman can be seen emerging from the Crew Dragon capsule 434 miles above Earth's surface as the sun rises over the eastern portion of the US.
He spent 12 minutes testing the mobility and functionality of SpaceX's new extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, which had never been used in space before.
After Isaacman retreated back into the capsule, Polaris Dawn mission specialist Sarah Gillis, emerged and performed the same EVA test maneuvers.
'Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do,' said Isaacman as he looked down at our planet. 'But from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.'
'Doomed' star Eta Carinae
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the unusual nebula that surrounds Eta Carinae, a star that is likely to explode at any time
This 2024 image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope brings out details in the unusual nebula that surrounds Eta Carinae, a star that may be about to explode.
Scientists aren't sure exactly when this explosion could occur. According to NASA, it could be next year, or it could be a million years from now.
But when it does blow, it will likely cause a supernova — the biggest type of explosion known to man. Eta Carinae is about 100 times more massive than our sun.
Located 7,500 light-years away in the Keyhole nebula, its violent death would not impact Earth. But still, Hubble has been monitoring Eta Carinae for the last 25 years, waiting for it to explode.
In this image, two distinct lobes of the surrounding Homunculus Nebula encompass the hot central region, while some 'strange' radial streaks are visible in red extending toward the right, according to NASA.
Total solar eclipse
On April 8, skywatchers in 15 US states witnessed a total solar eclipse
On April 8, millions of Americans looked up at the sky in unison to witness a total solar eclipse.
All of North America experienced at least a partial solar eclipse. But 15 US states from Texas to Maine were in the 115-mile-wide path of totality, which also stretched through Canada and Mexico.
In this area, spectators experienced several minutes of near-total darkness as the sun disappeared behind the moon's shadow.
Images of the eclipse were shared widely on social media, including this one which shows solar prominences erupting from the sun's surface - the squiggly red lines that appear to be jetting out from the perimeter of the sun.
Solar prominences are eruptions of solar plasma, a hot gas made of electrically charged hydrogen and helium.
US sees far-reaching aurora
The aurora borealis is typically only seen at northern latitudes. But in October, this dazzling light display stretched as far south as Florida
In an extremely rare event, the aurora borealis — also known as the northern lights — stretched as far south as Key Largo, Florida in October.
The dazzling light display was triggered by a severe geomagnetic storm, or a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when an outburst of solar radiation impacts out planet.
This storm was a G5, the most severe class of geomagnetic storm. Aurora were visible at much lower latitudes than usual, with spectators sharing images from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and other southern states.
Perseid meteor shower
This long exposure photo shows the Perseid meteor shower over Osijek, Croatia on August 11
In August, the Perseid meteor shower streaked across the night sky, allowing stargazers to capture striking long-exposure photos like this one taken in Osijek, Croatia.
The Perseid meteor shower occurs annually, and is considered the best meteor shower of the year. It can produce 50 to 100 shooting stars per hour, which frequently leave long 'wakes' of light and color behind them, according to NASA.
This meteor shower results from the Earth passing through debris, or bits of ice and rock, left in the wake of the comet Swift Tuttle, which last passed close to Earth in 1992.
The peak of the shower is from August 11 through 12, when our planet travels through the densest part of this debris trail.
Craziest Space Discoveries You Missed in 2024 | Space Documentary
7 INSANE Space Discoveries Of 2024!
Mind-Blowing Space Discoveries From 2024 That Will Change Everything!
Donut-shaped spheres disrupt NASA's Stereo Lasco C3 satellite near the sun
Donut-shaped spheres disrupt NASA's Stereo Lasco C3 satellite near the sun
On December 25, 2024, NASA's Stereo Lasco C3 satellite captured an extraordinary phenomenon near the sun. In a split second, the satellite's imaging was disrupted by what appeared to be a swarm of spherical objects hurtling through space at incredible speeds.
Speculation surrounds the event, with some suggesting it could be a meteor debris field. However, the unusual appearance of the objects has raised questions. Could debris naturally form into such perfectly round shapes, each featuring a dark center that resembles donut-shaped UFOs?
This event might be a natural occurrence, however, with all the recent strange sightings of unknown drones, UFOs, and orbs combined with predictions from several specialists that something significant might happen soon in the realm of the UFO phenomena, one might wonder if these mysterious spheres are connected to something larger on the horizon?
UFOs on official NASA LASCO C2 & LASCO C3 satellite images in the solar space - December 18, 2018
For decades cosmologists have wondered if the large-scale structure of the universe is a fractal: if it looks the same no matter the scale. And the answer is: no, not really. But in some ways, yes. Look, it’s complicated.
Our universe is unimaginably vast and contains somewhere around two trillion galaxies. These galaxies aren’t scattered around randomly, but are assembled into a series of ever-larger structures. There are the groups, containing at most a dozen galaxies are so. Then there are the clusters, which are home to a thousand galaxies and more. Above them are the superclusters, which twist and wind for millions of light-years.
Is this the end of the story?
In the mid 20th century Benoit Mandelbrot brought the concept of fractals into the mainstream. Mandelbrot didn’t invent the concept of fractals – mathematicians had been studying self-similar patterns for ages – but he did coin the word and usher in our modern study of the concept. The basic idea of a fractal is that you can use a single mathematical formula to define a structure at all scales. In other words, you can zoom in and out of a fractal and it still maintains the same shape.
Fractals appear everywhere in nature, from the branches of a tree to the edges of a snowflake. And Mandelbrot himself wondered if the universe is a fractal. If as we zoom out we will see the same kinds of structures appearing again and again.
And in a way, that’s what we see: a hierarchy of structures at ever-larger scales in the universe. But that hierarchy does come to an end. At a certain scale, roughly 300 million lightyears across, the cosmos becomes homogenous, meaning that there are no larger structures and the universe is (at that scale) roughly the same from place to place.
The universe is definitely not a fractal, but parts of the cosmic web still have interesting fractal-like properties. For example, clumps of dark matter called “halos”, which host galaxies and their clusters, form nested structures and sub-structures, with halos holding sub-haloes, and sub-sub-halos inside those.
Conversely, the voids of our universe aren’t entirely empty. They do contain a few, faint dwarf galaxies…and those few galaxies are arranged in a subtle, faint version of the cosmic web. In computer simulations, the sub-voids within that structure contain their own effervescent cosmic webs too.
So while the universe as a whole isn’t a fractal, and Mandelbrot’s idea didn’t hold up, we can still find fractals almost everywhere we look.
VIDEOS
Fractal Universe Theory Unveiled | Investigating The Universe
Is the Universe a Fractal? - Ask a Spaceman!
Fractal Universe Theory Unveiled | Investigating The Universe
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
