Asteroid Apophis will visit Earth in 2029, and this European satellite will be along for the ride

This is a big deal because large asteroids don't come this close to Earth very often. It is thus scientifically precious that, on April 13, 2029, Apophis will pass within 19,794 miles (31,860 kilometers) of Earth. For comparison, geosynchronous orbit is 22,236 miles (35,786 km) above Earth's surface. Such close fly-bys by asteroids hundreds of meters across (Apophis is about 1,230 feet, or 375 meters, across) only occur on average once every 5,000 to 10,000 years. Miss this one, and we've got a long time to wait for the next.

Related: 

• 2 asteroids just zipped by Earth, and NASA caught footage of the action

When Apophis was discovered in 2004, it was for a short time the most dangerous asteroid known, being classified as having the potential to impact with Earth possibly in 2029, 2036, or 2068. Should an asteroid of its size strike Earth, it could gouge out a crater several kilometers across and devastate a country with shock waves, flash heating and earth tremors. If it crashed down in the ocean, it could send a towering tsunami to devastate coastlines in multiple countries.

Over time, as our knowledge of Apophis' orbit became more refined, however, the risk of impact  greatly went down. Radar observations of the asteroid in March of 2021 reduced the uncertainty in Apophis' orbit from hundreds of kilometers to just a few kilometers, finally removing any lingering worries about an impact — at least for the next 100 years. (Beyond 100 years, asteroid orbits can become too unpredictable to plot with any accuracy, but there's currently no suggestion that an impact will occur after 100 years.) So, Earth is expected to be perfectly safe in 2029 when Apophis comes through. Still, scientists want to see how Apophis responds by coming so close to Earth and entering our planet's gravitational field.

"There is still so much we have yet to learn about asteroids but, until now, we have had to travel deep into the solar system to study them and perform experiments ourselves to interact with their surface," said Patrick Michel, who is the Director of Research at CNRS at Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in Nice, France, in a statement. "Nature is bringing one to us and conducting the experiment itself. All we need to do is watch as Apophis is stretched and squeezed by strong tidal forces that may trigger landslides and other disturbances and reveal new material from beneath the surface."

By arriving at Apophis before the asteroid's close encounter with Earth, and sticking with it throughout the flyby and beyond, Ramses will be in prime position to conduct before-and-after surveys to see how Apophis reacts to Earth. By looking for disturbances Earth's gravitational tidal forces trigger on the asteroid's surface, Ramses will be able to learn about Apophis' internal structure, density, porosity and composition, all of which are characteristics that we would need to first understand before considering how best to deflect a similar asteroid were one ever found to be on a collision course with our world.

Besides assisting in protecting Earth, learning about Apophis will give scientists further insights into how similar asteroids formed in the early solar system, and, in the process, how  planets (including Earth) formed out of the same material.

One way we already know Earth will affect Apophis is by changing its orbit. Currently, Apophis is categorized as an Aten-type asteroid, which is what we call the class of near-Earth objects that have a shorter orbit around the sun than Earth does. Apophis currently gets as far as 0.92 astronomical units (137.6 million km, or 85.5 million miles) from the sun. However, our planet will give Apophis a gravitational nudge that will enlarge its orbit to 1.1 astronomical units (164.6 million km, or 102 million miles), such that its orbital period becomes longer than Earth's. 

It will then be classed as an Apollo-type asteroid. 

Ramses won't be alone in tracking Apophis. NASA has repurposed their OSIRIS-REx mission, which returned a sample from another near-Earth asteroid, 101955 Bennu, in 2023. However, the spacecraft, renamed OSIRIS-APEX (Apophis Explorer), won't arrive at the asteroid until April 23, 2029, ten days after the close encounter with Earth. OSIRIS-APEX will initially perform a flyby of Apophis at a distance of about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from the object, then return in June that year to settle into orbit around Apophis for an 18-month mission.

Furthermore, the European Space Agency still plans on launching its Hera spacecraft in October 2024 to follow-up on the DART mission to the double asteroid Didymos and Dimorphos. DART impacted the latter in a test of kinetic impactor capabilities for potentially changing a hazardous asteroid's orbit around our planet. Hera will survey the binary asteroid system and observe the crater made by DART's sacrifice to gain a better understanding of Dimorphos' structure and composition post-impact, so that we can place the results in context.

The more near-Earth asteroids like Dimorphos and Apophis that we study, the greater that context becomes. Perhaps, one day, the understanding that we have gained from these missions will indeed save our planet.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

18-08-2024 om 21:40 geschreven door peter  

Now, according to the findings of an international team of researchers led by the University of Trento in Italy, the existence of a subsurface tunnel-like lava tube cave beneath the Mare Plain has been confirmed.

A new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy revealed the discovery, which relied on data obtained with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

The discovery of the tunnel-like feature has been called a significant milestone toward understanding the Moon’s various geological components more fully. It also offers a potential shelter area that could be used by astronauts during future crewed missions.

Lorenzo Bruzzone, a professor at the University of Trento, said the existence of such underground features had long been suspected, although the team’s discovery is the first confirmation that they exist.

“These caves have been theorized for over 50 years,” Bruzzone said in a statement, “but it is the first time ever that we have demonstrated their existence.”

Data originally obtained in 2010 by the Miniature Radio-Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument aboard the LRO, which included radar reflections from a pit discovered in the Mare Tranquilitatis, were reexamined by the research team.

{ https://thedebrief.org/ }

18-08-2024 om 21:04 geschreven door peter  

Story by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

A full moon shines in the night sky in Surprise, Ariz., on Aug. 1, 2023.

© Diannie Chavez, The Arizona Republic via USA TODAY NETWORK

A rare sky spectacle will occur Monday night that (probably) won't happen again for years: A full moon that can be called both a supermoon and blue moon will grace the night skies over the U.S.

Dubbed a "super blue moon," the rare combination occurs when the different cycles of blue and supermoons happen to align on the calendar, said NASA's Noah Petro, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project scientist.

If that's not confusing enough, astronomers also have varying definitions for what counts as a supermoon and what counts as a blue moon. (Just last year a full moon met the criteria for both, by some definitions.)

Here's why Monday's full moon is so special:

What is a supermoon?

When the moon’s orbit brings it closer to Earth than usual, this cosmic combo is called a supermoon. A supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth at the same time the moon is full. The term was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.

"Different publications use slightly different thresholds for deciding when a full moon is close enough to the Earth to qualify as a supermoon," NASA said. "Because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to the Earth than at other times during its orbit."

Related video: 

• Tarantula warning for Texas, rare super blue moon (FOX 26 Houston)

When the moon reaches its closest point to Earth, about 226,000 miles away, full moons appears larger and brighter than at other times. A supermoon will appear 30% brighter and 14% larger than a typical full moon.

What is a blue moon?

There are two types of blue moons: seasonal and monthly. The one Monday will be of the seasonal variety.

A seasonal blue moon occurs when there are four full moons in a single season (on this occasion, summer). When this happens, the third of the four is considered a blue moon.

The second definition – which arose from a misunderstanding of the original – is the monthly blue moon, referring to the second full moon in a single calendar month.

In either case, blue moons earn their reputation for being rare because of a quirk in the typical rhythm of one full moon per month.

The moon's cycle takes 29.5 days. But, as Missouri State University professor of astrophysics Mike Reed notes, months can have 28, 29, 30 or 31 days.

The two cycles create odd mismatches resulting in one more moon in a season or month than is typical – that's a blue moon.

Months usually have one full moon – unless there's a (monthly) blue moon. And seasons typically have three full moons – unless there's a (seasonal) blue moon.

In addition, Monday's full moon is unlikely to appear blue, however: Blue-colored moons in photos are usually made using special blue camera filters or photo editing apps.

How rare is a super blue moon? When will the next one occur?

"It's tricky to answer, because it depends on your definition of a supermoon and a blue moon," Edward Bloomer, senior astronomy manager at the U.K.'s Royal Observatory Greenwich told USA TODAY via e-mail.

The answer is different depending on whether you're talking about a seasonal blue moon or a monthly blue moon. If you tweak what counts as a supermoon, the answer also changes.

In general, a blue moon happens once every two or three years on average, according to NASA. The time between super blue moons can be as much as 20 years – but in general, 10 years is the average.

So when will the next super blue moon actually occur?

A safe bet is January 2037, according to NASA.

However, depending on what you count as a super blue moon, you may hear of another one rising before then.

• This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Monday's rare super blue moon is a confounding statistical marvel

{https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

18-08-2024 om 20:34 geschreven door peter  

"Momenteel kennen we enkel ons eigen leven. We zijn druk aan het zoeken, samen met veel sterrenkundigen, maar tot nu toe is er geen enkele bevestiging van leven elders", zegt Decin in #weetikveel op Radio 1.

"We slagen er al niet in om met de mensheid op 1 aardkluit samen te leven, laat staan als er nog iets anders bestaat waarmee we niet kunnen communiceren", zegt ze. "De ene zouden blij reageren, maar anderen zouden misschien naar wapens grijpen om zich te verdedigen tegen het onbekende."

Zo ver zijn we echter nog niet. "Of we met meerderen zijn, hangt af van hoe je het leven definieert. Daar zit het struikelpunt: wat zien wij als leven?"

‘Leven’ definiëren

Er bestaat geen wetenschappelijke consensus over wat ‘leven’ precies inhoudt. Sterker nog, er zijn volgens Decin 300 tot 400 wetenschappelijke definities.

"Veel mensen denken dat leven gebaseerd is op de Darwiniaanse revolutie: jezelf kunnen reproduceren, natuurlijke selectie… maar dat is maar 1 manier van leven definiëren." Andere stromingen baseren zich niet op de processen zoals Darwin, maar zien leven als een "biochemische soep van kleine elementen". "Die kunnen interageren en hebben een laag energieniveau."

"Er zijn veel definities, maar een van de zaken die je vaak naar voren ziet komen, is interactie met de omgeving." Waar alle definities toch op blijven botsen, zijn de grensgevallen. Is een amoebe (een eencellig organisme, red.) ‘leven’? En wat met een mechanisch hondje, dat in principe ook met de mens kan interageren?

"De overgang van niet-leven naar leven, kennen we niet", zegt Decin. "Zet een hoop moleculen samen, en die zullen interageren met elkaar. Sommige interacties gaan snel, anderen gaan traag. Maar het is niet omdat ze dan beginnen te groeien en grotere deeltjes vormen, dat dat leven moet zijn."

"Misschien moeten we het anders zien. Moeten we een verschil maken tussen leven en niet-leven? Misschien is het gewoon een heel stomme vraag." De vraag die we dan wel moeten stellen? Of er buitenaards leven bestaat waarmee we kunnen communiceren.

De hordes van het menselijke leven

"Onze aarde is ongeveer 4,5 miljard jaar geleden gevormd. Na een paar 100 miljoenen jaren zou er al leven geweest zijn." Dat lijkt misschien een gigantisch getal, in sterrenkundige termen is dat snel.

"Er zijn bepaalde omstandigheden die bevorderen dat er levensvormen interageren." Warmte en stabiliteit: dat zijn alvast 2 noodzakelijke basisingrediënten. "Om menselijk leven te creëren, heb je nog veel meer nodig. Het is bijvoorbeeld van belang dat we op een aardkluit leven, een vaste ondergrond. Ook het feit dat we vulkanisme hebben, was van belang."

"Er zijn veel hordes om te nemen om ons leven te krijgen. Stel dat elk van die hordes maar 1 kans op de 1.000 heeft om te slagen, dan heb je na enkele hordes nog maar een minuscule kans om leven te krijgen."

"Maar er is een tegenvoorbeeld: jij en ik. Dat maakt het bijzonder, het feit dat je niet 0 maar minstens 1 hebt, vertelt ons iets. Die hordes mogen er zijn, maar misschien moet je niet over die hordes, maar kan je errond. Je moet misschien niet de snelste manier hebben, maar een tragere manier die je ook over de finish brengt", besluit Decin. En daarin zou wel eens een kans kunnen schuilen.

En daarbuiten?

"We hebben bijzonder veel sterren. Rond elk van die sterren, of een grote fractie ervan, draaien 1 tot meerdere planeten. Ergens is er misschien wel een kans, die niet optimaal maar wel goed genoeg is, om toch een alternatieve vorm van leven te krijgen."

"We hebben al duizenden planeten ontdekt, maar slechts enkele zijn de tweelingzus van onze eigen aarde", zegt Decin. "Er zijn veel planeten die we kunnen uitsluiten waar zich geen leven op kan vormen." Groot genoeg, warm of koud, en nog een hele hoop andere parameters, zijn van belang in dat verhaal.

Een grote sprong in kennis op dat vlak, kwam er dankzij de James Webb-ruimtetelescoop. "De telescoop is een kanteling van ons veld. Het is een goudmijn als het gaat over het ontdekken van nieuwe planeten, maar ook over nieuwe kennis die we krijgen over planeten die we al kenden. Hoe ziet de atmosfeer eruit, is die aardachtig of niet?"

Dat kan nu bijvoorbeeld achterhaald worden over de TRAPPIST-planeten. "Dat zijn 7 aardachtige planeten rondom een bepaalde ster. 2 of 3 ervan bevinden zich in wat we de 'bewoonbare zone' noemen. Daar krijgen we nu waarnemingen van binnen. We beginnen stap per stap genoeg signalen te krijgen, mondjesmaat."

Dat alles klinkt optimistisch. Maar er is nog een groot verschil tussen een bewoonbare of een effectief bewoonde planeet. Hoe groot de kans op een bewoonde planeet is, weten we (nog) niet. "Daarvoor kennen we de chemie te slecht", zegt Decin. Chemische reacties op aarde zijn immers verschillend van die in de ruimte.

Maar of we dan ook moederziel alleen zijn in dit gigantische universum? Decin sluit ander leven alvast niet uit.

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

18-08-2024 om 20:18 geschreven door peter  

Multiple UFO Sightings Reported In Palmdale And Lancaster, California: Residents Share Eerie Encounters

Residents of Palmdale and Lancaster, California, are abuzz with reports of six UFO sightings, as multiple locals share eerie encounters of unexplained aerial phenomena. The mysterious sightings have sparked curiosity and concern, prompting an ongoing investigation by local authorities.

Locals Witness Unusual Aerial Sightings; Reports Of UFO Spread Across Social Media Photo: X

UFO sightings have been reported in California, particularly in the Palmdale and Lancaster areas, with residents detailing their experiences on the Ring Neighbors app. The reports of multiple UFO sightings on the app, stirring both curiosity and concern within the community, describe unusual aerial activity.

One person shared, "You guys.... You won't believe what I just saw. You guys I saw UFO, I was walking my dog in my backyard and saw a bright light up in the sky. At first I was like omg what a cool plane that Northrop assembled but to my dismay it was a hovercraft! Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw !!!"

 { https://www.outlookindia.com/ }

17-08-2024 om 22:04 geschreven door peter  

Dinosaur-Killing Chicxulub Asteroid Came from beyond Jupiter: Study

The so-called Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid that had formed beyond the orbit of Jupiter, according to a new paper published in the journal Science.

Ankylosaurus magniventris, a large armored dinosaur species, witnesses the impact of an asteroid, falling on the Yucatan peninsula 66 million years ago.

Image credit: Fabio Manucci.

About 66 million years ago, a 10-km-wide asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico.

The impact unleashed an incredible amount of climate-changing gases into the atmosphere, triggering a chain of events that led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and 75% of life on the planet.

Evidence includes high levels of platinum-group elements (PGEs) like iridium, ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, platinum, and palladium in Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layers, which are rare on Earth but common in meteorites.

• These elevated PGE levels have been found globally, suggesting the impact spread debris worldwide.

While some propose large-scale volcanic activity from the Deccan Traps igneous province in India as an alternative source of PGEs, the specific PGE ratios at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary align more with asteroid impacts than volcanic activity.

LINKS VIDEOS

• https://youtu.be/HZrjwIyw8iM

• https://youtu.be/blI2nB6yZ4M

• https://youtu.be/LeyJkLzyv5Q

However, much about the nature of the Chicxulub impactor — its composition and extraterrestrial origin — is poorly understood.

To address these questions, Dr. Mario Fischer-Gödde from the University of Cologne and his colleagues measured ruthenium isotopes in samples taken from three Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary sites.

For comparison, they also analyzed samples from five other impacts that occurred between 36 million to 470 million years ago; samples from ancient 3.5-billion- to 3.2-billion-year-old impact spherule layers; and samples from two carbonaceous meteorites.

They found that the ruthenium isotope signatures in samples from the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary were uniform and closely matched those of carbonaceous chondrites, not Earth or other meteorite types, suggesting that the Chicxulub impactor likely came from a carbonaceous-type asteroid that formed in the outer Solar System.

Photograph of the 66-million-year-old Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary layer at Stevns Klint in Denmark. This boundary layer contains the globally distributed fallout produced by the asteroid impact at Chicxulub.

Credit: Philippe Claeys

The five other impact structures have isotopic signatures that are more consistent with siliceous-type asteroids, which formed closer to the Sun.

The ancient spherule layer samples are consistent with impacts of carbonaceous-type asteroids during Earth’s final stages of accretion.

“The asteroid’s composition is consistent with that of carbonaceous asteroids that formed outside of Jupiter’s orbit during the formation of the Solar System,” Dr. Fischer-Gödde said.

“We found that the impact of an asteroid like the one at Chicxulub is a very rare and unique event in geological time,” said University of Cologne’s Professor Carsten Münker.

“The fate of the dinosaurs and many other species was sealed by this projectile from the outer reaches of the Solar System.”

• Mario Fischer-Gödde et al. 2024. Ruthenium isotopes show the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid. Science 385 (6710): 752-756; doi: 10.1126/science.adk4868

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

17-08-2024 om 21:51 geschreven door peter  

Een "oceaan" van vloeibaar water gevonden in de diepten van Mars: de ontdekking na de NASA-missie

door Janine

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars is al geruime tijd een van de doelstellingen van de ruimteverkenning, waarbij de interesse niet beperkt blijft tot de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven, maar ook de geologische en klimatologische geschiedenis ervan omvat. Tegenwoordig weten we dat Mars ooit vloeibaar water op het oppervlak had, dat tegenwoordig niet meer aanwezig is. Toch hebben onderzoekers onlangs ontdekt dat de rode planeet mogelijk nog steeds vloeibaar water onder het oppervlak heeft. Maar hoe is dit mogelijk? En wat betekent dit voor onderzoek naar andere organismen? Laten we het samen ontdekken!

Illustratie: NASA

InSight landde in 2018 op Mars en verzamelde een schat aan data.

Afbeelding NASA/JPL-Caltech

De erfenis van NASA's Mars InSight Lander-missie

De studie van Mars zou onmogelijk zijn zonder de sondes die verschillende ruimtevaartorganisaties op de rode planeet hebben gelanceerd. De bekendste zijn natuurlijk de Curiosity en Perseverance rovers, of de Ingenuity drone, maar ze zijn niet de enige. De ontdekking van een echte wateroceaan in de diepten van Mars is een gevolg van NASA's Mars InSight Lander-missie, die in 2018 landde met als taak seismische gebeurtenissen op Mars te bestuderen. En in feite heeft de sonde vier jaar lang gegevens verzameld over de geologie van de rode planeet... maar niet alleen.

Hoewel InSight Lander nu is beëindigd, zijn onderzoekers doorgegaan met het bestuderen van de verzamelde gegevens, die de aanwezigheid van vloeibaar water op diepten tussen 10 en 20 kilometer onder het aardoppervlak lijken te bevestigen. Kortom, zo beweren wetenschappers in een studie gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift PNAS, er zou nog steeds water in vloeibare vorm aanwezig zijn op Mars.

De analyse van seismische golven op Mars en de aanwezigheid van vloeibaar water

NASA

Mars InSight Lander verzamelde meer dan 1300 opnames van seismische trillingen die plaatsvonden op de rode planeet, en met deze gegevens konden onderzoekers de aard van de materialen ontdekken die door de golven werden doorkruist. Dit is een techniek die al op aarde wordt gebruikt om te zoeken naar hulpbronnen die in de diepte aanwezig zijn, zoals olie of gas, maar ook water. Dit laatste lijkt op grote diepten in de korst van Mars aanwezig te zijn, een verder bewijs dat Mars ooit rijk was aan rivieren en meren.

De afgelopen drie miljard jaar heeft de rode planeet bijna zijn hele atmosfeer en daarmee ook zijn oppervlaktewater verloren. Het lijkt er echter op dat een deel van het water van Mars binnen de planeet bleef, een beetje zoals wat er op aarde gebeurt, waar er hele oceanen in de korst en mantel zouden zitten. Waarom zou Mars anders zijn?

James Tuttle Keane en Aaron Rodriquez

Scripps Institute of Oceanography

Water en leven

De ontdekking van waterreserves in de diepten van Mars opent nieuwe onderzoeksperspectieven die in twee verschillende richtingen gaan. Aan de ene kant kunnen onderzoekers beter begrijpen hoe het systeem van rivieren en meren op de Rode Planeet werkte. Aan de andere kant is vloeibaar water gekoppeld aan de oude droom van de verkenning van Mars, de zoektocht naar buitenaardse levensvormen: waar water is, kan ook leven zijn, weten we, en niets weerhoudt hen ervan om ook in de korst van Mars te bestaan.

Helaas zijn deze reservoirs niet gemakkelijk toegankelijk vanwege hun diepte van tussen de 10 en 20 kilometer. Pas onlangs is een project gelanceerd dat tot doel heeft het aardoppervlak uit te graven en een diepte van 11 kilometer te bereiken: dit op een andere planeet doen zou een buitengewone uitdaging zijn. Zoals echter vaak gebeurt bij ruimteverkenning, zijn wat aankomstpunten lijken slechts startpunten voor nieuwe doelstellingen en nieuwe ontdekkingen. Kortom, de ontdekking van vloeibaar water op Mars, in de vorm van verzadigde sedimenten of aquifers, kan de geschiedenis van de ruimteverkenning herschrijven. En misschien zelfs zijn toekomst.

Foto: NASA

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

17-08-2024 om 20:57 geschreven door peter  

The differences that emerged between the seas corresponded to the sea’s latitude and location. Proximity to other features, such as rivers and estuaries, impacted the seas’ composition. Titan’s tranquil seas only show minor 3.3-millimeter waves, raising to 5.3 mm near regions where bodies of water meet, such as coasts, estuaries, and interbasin straits. This suggests the existence of tidal currents on the moon. On Earth, we typically measure waves in meters, not millimeters. So, while there is some variation, the surface is remarkably calm from our perspective.

Although their composition appears to be much different, the seas on Titan appear to be behaving quite similarly to the ones on Earth in certain other respects. On Earth, we are dealing with water and salt, but the methane and ethane existent in liquid form on Titan appear to flow quite similarly. Earth’s freshwater streams pour into salty oceans. On Titan, pure methane rivers flow into oceans mixed with ethane.

The new findings “fit nicely with meteorological models for Titan,” according to the study’s co-author, Philip D. Nicholson, an astronomy professor at Cornell. As predicted, it appears that Titan receives a rain comprised of methane and nitrogen.

However, the team has not concluded its work. Poggiali says, “This is only the first step.” With 13 years in orbit, Cassini has collected a mountain of data that still needs to be sifted. In short, our overall understanding of Titan and its seas is still only beginning.

The new study was made possible by international backing from NASA and the Italian Space Agency. While Cornell led the effort, contributors included the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Università di Bologna.

The study, titled “Surface Properties of the Seas of Titan as Revealed by Cassini Mission Bistatic Radar Experiments,” appeared in Nature Communications on July 16, 2024. 

• Ryan Whalen is a writer based in New York. He has served in the Army National Guard and holds a BA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He is currently finishing an MA in Public History and working with the Harbor Defense Museum at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

16-08-2024 om 23:53 geschreven door peter  

So why is NASA broadcasting hip-hop into space? In recent years, the space agency has integrated pop culture and space exploration to attract the masses and make space digestible and reachable for everyone. Space exploration, in other words, is not just for astronauts and people who enjoy nerding out over planets and distant star systems; it’s for all of us. Branching out and reaching a larger audience showcases the diversity of our planet, which parallels the diversity of the universe and the many cosmic mysteries it holds. 

“I still can’t believe I’m going out of this world with NASA through the Deep Space Network when ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ becomes the first ever hip-hop song to transmit to space!” Elliott said. “I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and my message with the universe!”

“Super Dupa Fly” went super dupa far, traveling 158 million miles (254 million kilometers) from Earth to Venus. The transmission was made by the 34-meter (112-foot) wide Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13) radio dish antenna, located at the DSN’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California. Coincidentally, DSS-13 is also nicknamed Venus.

“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” said Brittany Brown, director of the Digital and Technology Division, Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, who initially pitched ideas to Missy’s team to collaborate with the agency. “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos, so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”

The Deep Space Network (DSN) has an assortment of giant radio antennas that are used to track spacecraft, send commands, and receive scientific data from the Moon and beyond.  

• 
  See Also

“Risk of Extinction” From Artificial Intelligence Prompts Concerning New Warning From AI Experts

The DSN has transmitted only one other song into space, The Beatles “Across the Universe” in 2008. The recent transmission of Elliott’s song marks another groundbreaking moment, this time for for hip-hop culture. 

• Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and founder of VOCAB Communications. She hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton and at chrissynewton.com.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

16-08-2024 om 23:42 geschreven door peter  

Explore an Apollo-era mission gone wrong in sci-fi mystery game 'Lifeless Moon' (video)

• https://youtu.be/LsdcEBChh1s

Here's the official synopsis:

"What secrets will be unearthed on the moon?

"You cannot fathom what will come next in 'Lifeless Moon'. Reality itself unravels as the mysteries unfold, adding chaos to an already monumental mission. After stumbling upon a town on the moon that is eerily similar to one back on Earth, you are thrown into the middle of a much larger conspiracy. Venture through strange environments as you collect clues and decipher puzzles. The town is only the beginning of an unforgettable adventure across time and space.

"A sandy boardwalk, a cabin in the woods, and an ominous floating city in the sky are just a few of the peculiar stops along the way. Your surroundings may appear familiar, but nothing is as it seems. Reveal the truth behind these unique locations through environmental puzzle-solving and platforming. Gather documents and information in your journal during your lunar travels and piece together the origin of the many strange phenomena you encounter.

"You've uncovered a cryptic mystery on the moon. Confront a strange phenomenon, tap into its extraordinary powers, and overcome psychological challenges to reveal the truth."

"Lifeless Moon" acts as sort of a spiritual successor to Serenity Forge's "Lifeless Planet" from 2014,  and its "Lost"-style narrative design was influenced by classic science fiction literature and films where lunar explorers face inexplicable anomalies in time and space. It's also a throwback to TV series like "The Outer Limits," which often depicted astronauts or test pilots facing disorienting situations, psychological experiments, and dangerous discoveries while on routine missions.

Serenity Forge's "Lifeless Moon" is available now on your favorite gaming platform.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

16-08-2024 om 23:12 geschreven door peter  

Former US Army Colonel Warns Of Catastrophic UFO Disclosure That May Spark Social Unrest

Are we on the verge of a catastrophic UFO disclosure? The year 2023 has witnessed significant progress in bringing the UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) matter to the attention of the United States Congress. Pentagon whistleblower David Grusch has dominated discussions throughout the year. His testimony before Congress has raised numerous questions about the secrets the U.S. government has allegedly kept since the dawn of UFO sightings. Grusch is convinced that the world has been kept in the dark about this phenomenon for the past 80 to 90 years.

In November 2023, the Daily Mail published a bombshell story discussing the impending UAP Disclosure. Retired US Army Colonel Karl E. Nell was invited to a Stanford University conference to present a “campaign plan” aimed at achieving greater transparency. He also discussed a “Manhattan project,” dedicated to reverse-engineering recovered UFOs/UAPs.

During the conference, Nell showcased slides indicating his hope for disclosure by October 1, 2030. In the slides, he argued his plan, if achieved, would see “Proper Oversight Restored,” “Catastrophic Disclosure Avoid,” and “Scientific Understanding Advanced.” More specifically, Nell advocated for “restoration of proper Federal government oversight over all UAP legacy (and ongoing) program efforts” and “transformative” research and technology programs.

Daily Mail information was based on the first-ever symposium of the new nonprofit Sol Foundation, a group that wants serious research into UFOs and their effects on the world. In 2004, in response to the Defense Intelligence Agency’s decision not to release classified information about UFOs due to the perceived threat to national security, the Sol Foundation was formed.

At this meeting, both Colonel Nell and a former CIA scientist named Hal Puthoff spoke. Puthoff said that in 2004, these important groups chose not to share information about UFO research with the public. Among the Sol Foundation’s other speakers were former U.S. Air Force veteran David Grusch, who testified before Congress earlier this year under oath that “the U.S. government is operating with secrecy—above Congressional oversight” over UAP.

Grusch told the symposium: “Let us advocate for transparency, not for ourselves, but for the generations to come, as we embark on a journey toward a more enlightened and interconnected world.”

Grusch has the support of many individuals in authority who believe he is an authentic person. In the June 2023 edition of the Debrief, authors Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal mention Karl Nell, the retired Army Colonel and aerospace executive who worked with David Grusch and characterized Grusch as “beyond reproach.” Nell speaks highly of Grusch’s integrity and credibility in his role as the Army’s liaison for the UAP Task Force from 2021 to 2022.

Grusch left the government on April 7, 2023, in order, he said, to advance government accountability through public awareness. He remains well-supported within intelligence circles, and numerous sources have vouched for his credibility.

“His assertion concerning the existence of a terrestrial arms race occurring sub-rosa over the past eighty years focused on reverse engineering technologies of unknown origin is fundamentally correct, as is the indisputable realization that at least some of these technologies of unknown origin derive from non-human intelligence,” Karl Nell said.

Ross Coulthart’s insights into UAP disclosure present a compelling narrative, suggesting that there’s more to this phenomenon than meets the eye. With mounting pressure from various quarters, including politicians and the media, the quest for truth regarding UAPs seems poised to intensify in the coming days.

The urgency for UAP disclosure has persisted for a very long time. Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the third CIA director, wrote to Congress in 1960, pleading for UFO disclosure. This confirmed a cover-up and a government disinformation campaign aimed at ridiculing and stigmatizing the topic. (Source)

Perhaps Hillenkoetter’s best-known statement on the subject was in 1960 in a letter to Congress, as reported in The New York Times: “Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.”

In his interview with NewsNation, journalist Ross Coulthart shed light on the Office of Global Access (OGA), a key entity where much of the coordination regarding the retrieval of unidentified crafts seems to be happening. He emphasized the seriousness of the matter, stating, “You’ve got to have an office to coordinate the retrieval of these craft.” While some may dismiss these claims as mere  science fiction, his recent interactions with credible intelligence sources have solidified his stance that operations related to UAPs are steered from within the CIA and OGA.

However, the scale of this phenomenon might be more extensive than what has been previously reported. Ross refuted claims that the U.S. only possesses nine such crafts. “I’m told that the United States has far more than nine craft,” he remarked, indicating that not all of them are intact. He further elaborated that JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) operators, primarily sourced from t he US Air Force special forces, are actively involved in retrieval missions.

A significant revelation from Ross’ sources is the recovery of what he terms as “biologics” — in simpler terms, Non-human Bodies. He shared, “We have recovered what David Grush euphemistically referred to as biologics. Alien bodies, non-human bodies.” This raises pressing concerns about the extent of knowledge the U.S. government possesses regarding non-human life forms.

Read also:

• US Military Has Machine That Can Levitate UFO Metal, Confirms Stanford Top Scientist
• Lue Elizondo’s Attorney Discloses We Have Working Teleportation & Anti-Gravity Technology

Ross expressed fears of a potential “catastrophic disclosure” if the government remains tight-lipped. He believes that withholding such crucial information from the public and Congress might lead to unforeseen consequences. He stated, “I think it’s incumbent on the president and members of the executive to start thinking seriously,” emphasizing the urgency of the matter.

When posed with alternate explanations, like the involvement of foreign adversaries, Coulthart was quick to debunk such theories. He clarified that the evidence and statements from government officials indicate that these phenomena are not associated with known foreign technologies. This assertion raises eyebrows and places the focus squarely on what exactly the U.S. government knows but is not sharing.

Ross pointed out the notable shift in stance by certain senior Republican politicians. He questioned their motivations behind opposing legislation that seeks transparency regarding non-human intelligence technology. Coulthart’s skepticism was evident when he questioned, “If this is all nonsense, why would somebody of the incredible reputation and seniority of Chuck Schumer and Marco Rubio, associate themselves with legislation that specifically talks over 20 times about NHI nonhuman intelligence technology?”

Danny Sheehan has been publicly pushing for the disclosure or revelation of information related to UAPs. In other words, he believes that there should be more transparency from governments or other relevant authorities about these unidentified phenomena.

In his other interview with James Landoli on “Engaging The Phenomenon,” Sheehan, who was a former Chief Council for the United States Jesuit order, revealed intriguing details about his conversations with the head of the Vatican archives regarding the Vatican’s knowledge of extraterrestrial life. Sheehan shed light on his involvement in a groundbreaking initiative to address the theological and philosophical implications of the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence.

During the interview, James raised the topic of David Grusch‘s claim that the Vatican possessed knowledge of extraterrestrial phenomena. Sheehan discussed his access to the classified files of the Project Blue Book, where he encountered photos of UFO crash retrievals and concrete evidence of non-human piloted vehicles.

He proposed the formation of a task force involving all 54 major religious denominations to address the issue from a theological perspective. However, at that time, there was insufficient consensus, and the proposal was declined. Sheehan is currently working through his New Paradigm Institute to organize a global summit conference involving world religious leaders to discuss the recent recovery of an extraterrestrial spacecraft.

“The United States government is in possession of biological evidence and has actually taken into custody alive an extraterrestrial person. They’re keeping this secret, interrogating the being, and distorting the information to justify massive expenditures on weapon development under the guise of a perceived threat.” 

Daniel Sheehan.

Sheehan highlighted the Vatican’s acknowledgment of the possibility of extraterrestrial life. He referenced a formal statement issued by the Catholic Church on November 10, 2009, authorized by Pope Benedict. The statement, issued by Father Jose Gabriel Alfuz, a director of the Pontifical Observatory in Rome, recognized the increasing discovery of exoplanets and called for a global discussion on the philosophical and theological implications of the imminent discovery of extraterrestrial life.

Sheehan disclosed that the government was telepathically interrogating the extraterrestrial biological entity (EBO) in custody. Despite acknowledging the bizarre nature of the revelation, Sheehan stood by the credibility of the information, having interviewed individuals directly involved in the process. The EBO allegedly conveyed that a coalition of star systems in our galaxy monitors the evolution of life on different planets, including Earth.

“Pope Benedict had a formal statement issued by the Catholic Church, saying that with the discovery of more exoplanets, it has become clear that we will be discovering life elsewhere in the universe. This prompted the need for a global discussion on the philosophical and theological questions posed by the discovery of extraterrestrial life.” 

Daniel Sheehan.

Meanwhile, Lue Elizondo expresses support for efforts to increase transparency around UAPs. He indicates that there are ongoing efforts behind the scenes to achieve this transparency and that even if certain official channels face challenges or opposition, there are alternative methods and backup plans in place for disclosure. Elizondo emphasizes the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities and challenges faced in these efforts, suggesting a comprehensive strategy is in play.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

16-08-2024 om 22:59 geschreven door peter  

Study: Asteroid Psyche Originated beyond Solar System’s Snow Line and Later Migrated to Main Belt

Planetary scientists using spectral data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed the detection of hydroxyl molecules on the surface of the metallic asteroid Psyche. The presence of hydrated minerals suggests a complex history for Psyche.

Jarmak et al. used Webb, shown in the bottom right corner of this illustration, to confirm the presence of hydrated minerals on the surface of Psyche.

Image credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Psyche, a metal asteroid about 226 km (140 miles) in diameter, is one of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt.

The object orbits the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter at a distance ranging from 378 to 497 million km (235-309 million miles) from the Sun.

An artist's visualization video showing the Psyche spacecraft getting closer to the asteroid. 

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)

Psyche takes about five Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun, but only a bit over four hours to rotate once on its axis.

Unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, planetary scientists think Psyche is comprised mostly of metallic iron and nickel similar to Earth’s core.

On October 13, 2023, NASA launched the Psyche spacecraft, which is traveling 3.5 billion km (2.2 billion miles) to arrive at the asteroid in August 2029.

“Our understanding of solar system evolution is closely tied to interpretations of asteroid composition, particularly the M-class asteroids that contain higher concentrations of metal,” said Dr. Stephanie Jarmak, a researcher at the Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics.

“These asteroids were initially thought to be the exposed cores of differentiated planetesimals, a hypothesis based on their spectral similarity to iron meteorites.”

The Webb data point to hydroxyl and perhaps water on Psyche’s surface. The hydrated minerals could result from external sources, including impactors

If the hydration is native or endogenous, then Psyche may have a different evolutionary history than current models suggest.

“Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the Solar Nebula,” said Dr. Anicia Arredondo, a researcher at Southwest Research Institute.

“Hydration that is endogenous could suggest that Psyche is not the remnant core of a protoplanet.”

“Instead, it could suggest that Psyche originated beyond the ‘snow line,’ the minimum distance from the Sun where protoplanetary disk temperatures are low enough for volatile compounds to condense into solids, before migrating to the outer main belt.”

However, the authors found the variability in the strength of the hydration features across the observations implies a heterogeneous distribution of hydrated minerals.

This variability suggests a complex surface history that could be explained by impacts from carbonaceous chondrite asteroids thought to be very hydrated.

Understanding the location of asteroids and their compositions tells us how materials in the Solar Nebula were distributed and have evolved since formation.

How water is distributed in our Solar System will provide insight into the distribution of water in other planetary systems and, because water is necessary for all life on Earth, will drive where to look for potential life, both in our Solar System and beyond.

“Using telescopes at different wavelengths of infrared light, the Southwest Research Institute-led research will provide different but complementary information to what the Psyche spacecraft is designed to study,” said Dr. Tracy Becker, a researcher at Southwest Research Institute.

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

16-08-2024 om 21:57 geschreven door peter  

These Rare Photos Reveal What It’s Really Like to Live At the International Space Station

A recent study reveals often-overlooked aspects of how astronauts live, work, and arrange their stuff in space.

by Kiona Smith

 

NASA/ISS Archaeological Project

In a few years, the International Space Station will be the ultimate lost civilization.

Sometime after 2030, a SpaceX ship will pull the ISS into Earth’s atmosphere, where heat and friction will break it apart. A space station the size of a football field, where spacefarers from 22 countries lived and worked for (by the time it’s all over) about 30 years, will be effectively erased from existence.

A lot of human culture is wrapped up in the things we make and use, and in how we interact with our environments. And once the ISS burns up in the upper atmosphere, the physical evidence of its spacefaring culture will just be gone.

Archaeologists, led by Flinders University archaeologist Alice Gorman and Chapman University archaeologist Justin Walsh, are trying to study the soon-to-be-lost culture of the ISS and its crews before it’s gone. In a recent study, Gorman, Walsh, and their colleagues asked astronauts to take regular photographs of six square sections of walls and surfaces aboard ISS, revealing clues about how people on the station used their space and adapted to the weird environment of an orbiting space station. The result is simultaneously a record of a place and culture that will soon vanish and a source valuable data to help engineers design future space stations.

The researchers published their work in the journal PLOS ONE.

The ISS is in an unusual place and has a tiny population. So far, fewer than 300 people have ever visited the station, for trips ranging from a few days to over a year. But life aboard the ISS has its own traditions, its own etiquette, and its own quirks and habits. According to Walsh and his colleagues, the station is a micro-society with its own culture.

In this image, astronaut Kayla Barron uses tape to mark the corners off a square on one of the station’s walls. For 60 days in early 2022, astronauts aboard the ISS took regular photos of six squares like this one, on walls and surfaces around the station. Walsh and his colleagues used the photos to track which objects people used and stored in different places. That, in turn, offered clues about how people lived and worked in different parts of the station.

Here on Earth, the story of who lived in a place, and what they did there, is encoded in layers of objects left behind and buried in layers of dirt. Archaeologists call this “material culture”: the physical stuff left behind by people. Archaeologists get to that evidence by digging in the ground, but also by using satellite or aerial surveys to look for structures that have been buried or hidden by plant growth. On the ISS, archaeologists can get information about the station’s material culture through photos.

For Walsh and his colleagues, each square aboard the ISS is like a “test pit,” a small hole that archaeologists dig to sample the layers of soil and artifacts at a site on Earth. And each day’s photo is like equivalent of a new layer of dirt and artifacts, showing what people did in that space over a period of time.

While archaeologists on Earth might look for stone tools, the charred remains of cooking hearths, or radar traces of ancient canals and fortifications, space archaeologists might look for other things that reveal people’s habits: hygiene gear stuck to a random wall near the toilet, for instance. They might also study objects like plastic clips or strips of velcro used to hold objects in place (a category of things Walsh and his colleagues call “gravitational proxies”).

It turned out that over the years, crews have started using some empty spaces for convenient storage — like a wall between the exercise equipment and the toilet compartment. The wall had no official purpose, but crews started using it to store their toiletries and hygiene supplies, probably just because the location was convenient, thanks to being so close to the toilet.

“If you look at older historic photos of that same location, it doesn't have the same things that it had when we were looking at it. I think the Google Street View virtual model of the ISS that wall actually has a tool kit stuck on the wall; it didn't have that at all when we were looking at it,” says Walsh. “So it's it's this area that can be malleable in terms of its function, depending on what the astronauts, who are the current crew, want to do with it.”

That’s the kind of detail Walsh says we still need archaeology to unearth, because it tends to be left out of official station plans and even astronaut’s biographies — if only because it’s the kind of detail that people seldom think to mention. And it could be important in planning future space stations.

“One of the themes that has emerged throughout our project is a need for increased crew autonomy: Having some sense of control over your context, like how to decorate it or where to carry out certain activities,” says Walsh.

Another “test pit” revealed that what was designed as a maintenance area had actually turned into a storage space. Walsh and his colleagues found no trace of actual work happening in the space, but lots of stored equipment.

“There were lots of objects, but as it turned out, those objects didn't move around a lot,” says Walsh. “They basically stayed static, and that was what led to the interpretation of this as a storage area.”

That kind of information is useful not only for understanding space station culture, but for helping design future stations to line up better with what people actually do and how they actually use their space in orbit.

“During debrief, one of the crew said they liked the idea that looking at these locations systematically over time could lead to better space stations,” says Walsh. “They understood that observing the material culture of the space station could lead to insights that otherwise people hadn't had.”

The ISS Archaeology Project team are still working through the data from the other four “test pit” squares, located on experiment racks in the Japanese Experiment module and the European Laboratory Module, a wall near the galley table, and a workstation in the U.S. Laboratory Module.

“The galley is probably the one that people want to know the most about,” says Walsh.

An earlier study focused on where station crews actually spend their time aboard, based on where they were seen in the thousands of photos that have been taken over the last 24 years. The International Space Station is supposed to be exactly that — international — but each module is owned by a particular country’s space agency. And it turns out that crew members spend most of their time in their own country’s modules.

That’s especially for Russian cosmonauts, who almost always appeared in the Russian modules — where crew members from other countries were very rarely seen.

The latest study showed the same thing. The maintenance area that the astronauts repurposed for storage is in an area that connects that U.S., European, and Japanese modules. And true to form, Walsh and his colleagues spotted just one Russian artifact, a pack of sanitary wipes, tucked into a hygiene kit. That’s the kind of physical evidence that tells archaeologists about who is using a space — and who isn’t.

In 2021, Walsh and his colleagues used some crew member photos to study how the crew decorated the walls of their station modules. In the Russian module, though, cosmonauts adorned the walls with religious icons, paintings of Russian political leaders, and above all, photos of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.

The aft wall of Russia’s Zvezda module also featured a framed photo of Yuri Gagarin. And even older photos from the Mir space station and the Salyut-7 space station show that Gagarin’s photo has been part of station décor for Russian cosmonauts for decades. It’s a way for the current ISS crew to show that they’re connected to a much older spacefaring culture.

In the U.S., European, and American modules, crews tend to decorate public areas with mission patches, name tags and photos of former crew members (and a geocaching tag). Walsh says all of this ties ISS crews not only to older generations of space explorers, but to the very first humans to draw and paint on cave walls tens of thousands of years ago.

“It’s like your refrigerator door with your kids drawings on it, or photos from your vacation that you put there; this is how we can both make comments about who we feel we are, and also to reinforce key elements of our identity,” says Walsh. “That’s what I mean by ‘people in space are people.’ Humans are gonna human.”

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

16-08-2024 om 20:50 geschreven door peter  

Mars Is Likely Hiding Oceans Worth Of Water Deep In Its Crust — This Could Upend Our Plans For the Planet

Miles below the surface, cracks in volcanic rock may be full of liquid water.

by Kiona Smith

 

NASA

Wright and his colleagues published their work in the journal Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences.

Reservoirs 7 Miles Deep

Wright and his colleagues recently simulated how seismic waves would move through different types of rock deep in the Martian crust and how fast those waves would travel if pores and cracks in the rock were filled with ice or liquid water. They compared those simulations to InSight’s measurement of actual seismic waves, as well as other missions’ measurements of the planet’s gravity and shape. In the end, the model that best matched the actual data was a deep layer of igneous rock (cooled, solidified magma), riddled with cracks and fissures that had formed as the magma cooled. And according to the researchers’ models, those cracks should be filled with liquid water.

The water-filled rock layer lies 7 to 12 miles beneath where InSight sits on the surface of Elysium Planitia, a wide swath of plain on the equator of Mars. The layers of rock closest to the surface are dry, based on the models, but about 7 miles down, cracks in the rock are filled with water. Wright and his colleagues aren’t sure if the deep crust beneath the rest of the planet looks the same, but if it does, then there could be more than an ocean’s worth of water hidden in the depths of the Martian underground, in cracks in long-ago-cooled magma.

Lost Water

Based on a mixture of geology and climate models, we’re pretty sure that Mars was a much warmer, wetter place 3 billion years ago. More than a third of the planet lay beneath ocean waves, and lakes and rivers watered much of the rest of the surface. But then everything changed: the spinning liquid core that powered Mars’s magnetic field slowly cooled. The magnetic field, which had shielded Mars from the Sun’s constant barrage of electrically-charged particles sputtered and died. Solar wind stripped away most of the Martian atmosphere, leaving behind an incredibly thin layer of mostly carbon dioxide.

When Mars lost its atmosphere, most of the water on its surface probably also evaporated because it would have boiled immediately in such incredibly low pressure (the air pressure on Mars’s surface today is less than 1 percent of Earth’s air pressure at sea level).

But Wright and his colleagues’ findings suggest the story may not be that simple. Mars may not have lost most of its water after all. The amount of water that Wright and his colleagues calculate could lie in the depths of the Martian crust means that “Mars’s crust need not have lost most of its water via atmospheric escape,” as the researchers write in their recent paper.

What’s Next?

More simulations, taking into account the possibility of whole oceans of water hidden miles beneath the surface, could reveal new information about Mars’s sparse but dynamic water cycle. The presence of water hidden in the cracks of deeply-buried rock could also suggest new places to search for evidence of ancient, or even modern, life on Mars. And if future Mars missions can drill deep enough wells, they may have a ready source of water for thirsty crews.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

16-08-2024 om 18:36 geschreven door peter  

The biggest asteroids to ever hit Earth were terrifying

By Mark Kaufman  

An artist's conception of a large asteroid impacting Earth 65 million years ago. 

Credit: MARK GARLICK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images

The reality about menacing asteroids coming to destroy Earth in the modern-day is, perhaps surprisingly, not too scary.

Yes, the doomsayers thrive online, but the prognosis is encouraging:

- Astronomers have already found over 90 percent of the half-mile-plus "planet-killer" asteroids that at times pass near Earth's neighborhood, and there's no known threat of collision from these giant rocks for the next century; meanwhile, the likelihood of an impact in the next thousand years is exceedingly low.

- Using specialized telescopes, researchers are now discovering around 500 sizable space rocks (over 460 feet across) in our solar system neighborhood each year. None are threats, so far.

- NASA has successfully tested the first-ever endeavor to intentionally move an asteroid — a skill that may be necessary should we ever need to deflect an incoming object.

Yet, past cosmic violence is preserved in Earth's crust. Geologists have confirmed nearly 190 ancient impact craters on Earth — though our planet's evolving surface has certainly erased many of the earliest bombardments. The craters we know about tell a tale of a starkly different time in our planetary past, when fiery rocks plummeting through the sky were common.

"The solar system used to be a lot more violent than it is now," Sally Dodson-Robinson, a planetary scientist at the University of Delaware, told Mashable.

SEE ALSO: 

• If a scary asteroid will actually strike Earth, here's how you'll know 

Early in our solar system, small grains of rock and ice began clumping together, creating miles-wide objects called planetesimals. They would collide and at times merge, eventually forming the familiar planets we see today. But many planetesimals weren't fated to become planets. Some flew around the sun, smashing into planets. This evidence is written in the well-cratered moon, Mars, and beyond.

"Crater evidence shows that during the first billion years or so of solar system history, asteroids were regularly bombarding planetary bodies at a devastating rate," Dodson-Robinson explained.

Today, the leftover planetesimals are the rocky asteroids and icy comets in our much more tranquil solar system. (Of course, it's not completely tranquil.)

 "The solar system used to be a lot more violent than it is now."

Radar images of the 1,100-foot-wide asteroid Apophis. It will pass so close to Earth in 2029 that it'll be visible in the sky from certain locations. 

Credit: NASA

The preserved, or in some cases partially preserved, impact craters on Earth remain poignant reminders of our chaotic cosmic past. Here are some of the most significant known craters.

The largest impact crater on Earth

The Vredefort Crater in South Africa as viewed from above. 

Credit: USGS / Landsat / NASA

An asteroid some six miles (10 kilometers) wide or bigger smashed into Earth and created the Vredefort Crater, in present-day South Africa, some 2 billion years ago, long before even the dinosaurs evolved.

At the time, researchers estimate the impact crater was a whopping 112 to 186 miles (180 to 300 km) wide. "The world’s oldest and largest known impact structure was formed," NASA said.

Eons later, the south portion of the crater is no longer visible, having been blanketed in younger rock.

Sudbury basin

A view of the topography of the ancient Sudbury impact crater. 

Credit: NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

Some 1.8 billion years ago, a large comet — which is an ancient "dirty snowball" composed of icy and rocky grains — slammed into modern-day Canada. The impact basin is largely eroded today, though with aerial views and radar, one can make out parts of the impact crater.

The original crater was likely some 120 miles (200 km) wide.

Today, the region is home to nickel and copper mines. That's because the powerful impact, by cracking the crust and allowing parts of Earth's mantle to rise up from below, ultimately generated a great nickel deposit. Nickel is a vital element in electrical wiring, engines, batteries, and beyond.

"There have been positives from some of these impacts," Simon Jowitt, a geochemist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Mashable.

"But obviously we don't want something the size of Sudbury hitting right now," he added. (A roughly six-mile-wide behemoth wiped out the dinosaurs, and the Sudbury comet was probably similar in size.)

The Chicxulub dinosaur impact

A gravity anomaly map of the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatan Peninsula. 

Credit: NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

This one was the dinosaur killer.

The 65 million-year-old Chicxulub site, buried beneath the Yucatan Peninsula today, appears on gravity anomaly maps — which show how much the planet's gravity field, which is dictated by mass, differs from a hypothetically uniform surface. Today, it appears as about half of a huge crater.

The infamous six-mile-wide asteroid struck in shallow water, blowing prodigious amounts of pulverized earth into the skies which drastically cooled the climate. "The enormous amount of energy generated by this impact, equivalent to 10 thousand times the world's nuclear arsenal, ejected into the atmosphere huge quantities of dust particles and gases," NASA explained.

Crucially, scientists found this extremely fine dust proved extremely potent in blocking sunlight. A long, callous winter, with vastly reduced light for some two years, followed.

"That shuts down photosynthesis. And breaks down the food chain," David Fastovsky, a professor emeritus in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Rhode Island who has researched the dinosaur extinction, told Mashable.

Ultimately, the asteroid impact killed off around 70 percent of Earth's species. Though some dinosaurs survived.

Meteor Crater

The Meteor Crater in Arizona. 

Credit: NASA

The Meteor Crater in Arizona is relatively young, proof that Earthlings should track and be aware of potential incoming space rocks.

Some 50,000 years ago, a metal asteroid around 100 to 170 feet across slammed into modern-day Arizona. This is an object considerably smaller than those discussed above. Yet such a rock can still create a tremendous, regionally catastrophic blast.

"A similar-size impact event today could destroy a city the size of Kansas City," David Kring, an impact expert at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, told NASA.

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newsletter today.

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The Clearwater Lakes Craters

The Clearwater Lakes Craters in northern Quebec, Canada, as seen from space. 

Credit: NASA

A double-whammy.

Two big asteroids slammed into Quebec, Canada, right next to each other. Though researchers argue that these impacts are in fact separated by many millions of years.

Today, the impact basins are lakes. Clearwater West is estimated at some 280 million years old, while Clearwater East formed much earlier, around 450 million years ago. You can spot a ring of islands in the western lake that measures around six miles in diameter.

A colossal mystery in Australia

An image of the Deniliquin impact structure in Southeast Australia made using magnetic measurements. 

Credit: UNSW / Data from Geoscience Australia, published in Glikson and Yeates, 2022

Australian researchers propose that a massive structure — potentially the largest impact structure on Earth — exists deep beneath the southeastern part of the continent in New South Wales.

Called the "Deniliquin structure," magnet measurements of the deep earth show a colossal multi-ring formation underground. The structure is some 520 kilometers across (around 320 miles in diameter).

That would have been quite a blast. "It was more than double the scale of the Chicxulub impact that killed off the dinosaurs," wrote Andrew Glikson, a geologist at Australian National University who has researched the structure.

Yet finding direct proof of the event, which could have driven a mass extinction, won't be easy. "The next step will be to gather samples to determine the structure’s exact age," Glikson said. "This will require drilling a deep hole into its magnetic center and dating the extracted material."

The evidence dramatically carved into Earth's crust makes it clear: Giant objects have slammed into Earth, particularly when the solar system was a chaotic place. But big or catastrophic impacts have become rare. That's why traces of impacts on Earth are relatively few.

"The fact is that through geologic history these impacts are fairly infrequent," said UNLV's Jowitt.

Small rocky particles, however, hit Earth every day, but quickly vaporize in the sky. Here are today's risks from objects both small, and very large.

• Every single day about 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles fall through Earth's atmosphere and promptly burn up.

• Every year, on average, an "automobile-sized asteroid" plummets through our sky and explodes, explains NASA.

• Impacts by objects around 460 feet in diameter occur every 10,000 to 20,000 years.

• A "dinosaur-killing" impact from a rock perhaps a half-mile across or larger happens on 100-million-year timescales.

Other, developing solar systems are far more treacherous places. The solar system around the bright star Vega, for example, is likely filled with violent collisions. It's a young star surrounded by a rich disk of dust— which is evidence of ongoing impacts.

The young planets or objects out there must be unsettling places.

"They're pretty dangerous, I would guess," Dodson-Robinson said.

• This story originally published in July 2023 and has been updated.

{ https://mashable.com/ }

16-08-2024 om 17:45 geschreven door peter  

"We found that the composition of the asteroid that impacted at Chicxulub is the same as that of carbonaceous meteorites, which are fragments of carbonaceous (C-type) asteroids that originally formed beyond the orbit of Jupiter," Fischer-Gödde said.

Previous research suspected the culprit was a C-type asteroid, too, but didn't use ruthenium in the analyses. That's because making these ruthenium measurements is very difficult, and progressive technological advancements made the latest observations possible, Fischer-Gödde explained. Only three or so laboratories globally, including at the University of Cologne, can conduct this ultra-specialized research.

The C-type asteroid Mathilde as captured by the NEAR spacecraft on June 27, 1997. It's some 38 miles (61 kilometers) across.

A depiction of an asteroid collision that likely lead to a mountain-sized rock heading towards Earth 66 million years ago.

As the solar system formed, many C-type asteroids came to inhabit the outskirts of the main asteroid belt, a ring containing millions of rocky objects between Mars and Jupiter. It's here the six-mile-wide Chicxulub impactor was probably propelled towards Earth. This was likely triggered by a collision between two asteroids, Fischer-Gödde explained. Or exposure to sunlight, causing a region on the space rock to heat up and release energy, could have given the asteroid a nudge (an outcome called the "Yarkovsky effect").

16-08-2024 om 17:18 geschreven door peter  

Planetary scientists using spectral data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed the detection of hydroxyl molecules on the surface of the metallic asteroid Psyche. The presence of hydrated minerals suggests a complex history for Psyche.

Jarmak et al. used Webb, shown in the bottom right corner of this illustration, to confirm the presence of hydrated minerals on the surface of Psyche.

Image credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Psyche, a metal asteroid about 226 km (140 miles) in diameter, is one of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt.

The object orbits the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter at a distance ranging from 378 to 497 million km (235-309 million miles) from the Sun.

Psyche takes about five Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun, but only a bit over four hours to rotate once on its axis.

Unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, planetary scientists think Psyche is comprised mostly of metallic iron and nickel similar to Earth’s core.

On October 13, 2023, NASA launched the Psyche spacecraft, which is traveling 3.5 billion km (2.2 billion miles) to arrive at the asteroid in August 2029.

“Our understanding of solar system evolution is closely tied to interpretations of asteroid composition, particularly the M-class asteroids that contain higher concentrations of metal,” said Dr. Stephanie Jarmak, a researcher at the Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics.

“These asteroids were initially thought to be the exposed cores of differentiated planetesimals, a hypothesis based on their spectral similarity to iron meteorites.”

The Webb data point to hydroxyl and perhaps water on Psyche’s surface. The hydrated minerals could result from external sources, including impactors

If the hydration is native or endogenous, then Psyche may have a different evolutionary history than current models suggest.

“Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the Solar Nebula,” said Dr. Anicia Arredondo, a researcher at Southwest Research Institute.

“Hydration that is endogenous could suggest that Psyche is not the remnant core of a protoplanet.”

“Instead, it could suggest that Psyche originated beyond the ‘snow line,’ the minimum distance from the Sun where protoplanetary disk temperatures are low enough for volatile compounds to condense into solids, before migrating to the outer main belt.”

However, the authors found the variability in the strength of the hydration features across the observations implies a heterogeneous distribution of hydrated minerals.

This variability suggests a complex surface history that could be explained by impacts from carbonaceous chondrite asteroids thought to be very hydrated.

Understanding the location of asteroids and their compositions tells us how materials in the Solar Nebula were distributed and have evolved since formation.

• How water is distributed in our Solar System will provide insight into the distribution of water in other planetary systems and, because water is necessary for all life on Earth, will drive where to look for potential life, both in our Solar System and beyond.

“Using telescopes at different wavelengths of infrared light, the Southwest Research Institute-led research will provide different but complementary information to what the Psyche spacecraft is designed to study,” said Dr. Tracy Becker, a researcher at Southwest Research Institute.

• The findings will appear in the Planetary Science Journal.
• Stephanie G. Jarmak et al. 2024. Estimate of water and hydroxyl abundance on asteroid (16) Psyche from JWST data. Planetary Science Journal, in press; doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad66b9
• This article is based on a press-release provided by Southwest Research Institute

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

16-08-2024 om 15:39 geschreven door peter  

Dit gebeurde direct na de inslag van de meteoriet die 66 miljoen jaar geleden het einde betekende voor de dinosaurus – ‘Ze werden gefrituurd en daarna bevroren’

Aylin Woodward

Foto: Wikimedia Commons/NASA

De inslag van een meteoriet in het huidige Mexico 66 miljoen jaar geleden, was een belangrijke oorzaak van het uitsterven van de dinosaurus. Wetenschappers zijn het daar al langere tijd over eens.

Maar er zijn ontelbare theorieën over wat er nu precies is gebeurd met onze planeet en de bewoners na de inslag.

Een enorme afkoeling van de aarde omdat grote puin- en roetwolken de zon blokkeerden, zou dinosaurussen de das om hebben gedaan. Een andere verklaring luidt dat schadelijke gassen door wereldwijde vulkaanuitbarstingen de planeet voor hen onleefbaar zou hebben gemaakt.

Volgens nieuw onderzoek dat is gepubliceerd in het wetenschappelijk tijdschrift ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ was de wereldwijde afkoeling de oorzaak.

Door de inslag van de zo’n 10 kilometer brede Chicxulub-meteoriet, ontstonden er honderden meters hoge tsunami’s. Er braken enorme branden uit tot honderden kilometers in de omgeving en er kwam voor miljarden tonnen aan zwavel in de atmosfeer terecht. Al die gassen blokkeerden de zon en koelden de aarde sterk af.

De meteoriet zorgde regionaal voor een inferno, gevolgd door langdurige afkoeling van de hele planeet. Het betekende het einde van de dinosauriërs.

"Ze werden gefrituurd en daarna bevroren", zegt onderzoeksleider Sean Gulick over het lot van de dinosauriërs in een persbericht. "Niet alle dinosauriërs stierven op de dag van de inslag, maar vele wel."

Onderzoek in de Chicxulub-krater

Foto: Donald Davis/NASA

Om beter te begrijpen wat er op die fatale dag in de geschiedenis van onze planeet is gebeurd, hebben wetenschappers diepgravend onderzoek gedaan in de Chicxulub-krater. Een hele uitdaging omdat de krater deels in de Golf van Mexico ligt.

In 2016 hebben Gulick en zijn collega Joanna Morgen, monsters genomen in het deel van de krater waar in de 24 uur na de inslag stenen en puin terecht zijn gekomen. Er was nooit eerder materiaal uit dat gedeelte van de krater gehaald.

Na drie jaar lang onderzoek, hebben Gulick en Morgan een nauwkeurige tijdlijn kunnen opstellen van de nasleep van de inslag.

Foto: Sean Gulick en Joanna Morgan.

Bron: The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences

"Het is een uitgebreid verslag van de gebeurtenissen die we van binnenuit hebben kunnen reconstrueren, zegt Gulick.

De meteoriet sloeg in met een kracht van 10 miljard atoombommen

Dit is de door Gulick en Morgan opgestelde tijdlijn:

De meteoriet sloeg een gat van 190 kilometer breed en 30 kilometer diep in de zeebodem.

Daarin ontstond een borrelende put van gesmolten steen en superheet gas. Die enorme vuurketel leidde tot een kilometershoge pluim van puin en rook.

Die pluim zakte binnen enkele minuten in elkaar en stolde in pieken van golvend lava en rotsachtig materiaal. De pieken werden later bedekt met meer steen en sporen van verbrande grond en houtskool, die door enorme golven uit de oceaan werden meegebracht.

De aanwezigheid van die houtskool is volgens de onderzoekers het bewijs dat er grote branden zijn ontstaan na de inslag. Sommige branden woedden op honderden kilometers afstand van de krater.

Foto: Shutterstock

De wetenschappers schatten dat de kracht van de meteoriet vergelijkbaar was met die van 10 miljard atoombommen, zoals die zijn gebruikt in de Tweede Wereldoorlog.

Water in het omliggende land verdampte door de inslag van de meteoriet, terwijl het water in de oceaan zich verplaatste met de snelheid van een vliegtuig, zegt Gulick. Dat water vormde een tsunami die mogelijk wel tot de huidige Amerikaanse staat Illinois reikte, voordat hij ging liggen.

Gulick zegt tegen Newsweek dat de meteoriet met een snelheid van zo'n 20 kilometer per seconde moet zijn ingeslagen, waardoor de enorme hitte binnen mum van tijd dinosaurussen tot wel 1.5000 kilometer verderop bereikte.

"Binnen de 1.500 kilometer zou je heel weinig gezien hebben voordat je verbrandde", stelt hij.

Het gevolg van miljarden ton aan zwavel in de atmosfeer

De dinosaurus was niet de enige soort die uitstierf na de inslag van Chicxulub. Vliegende pterosauriërs en mariene roofdieren, zoals de mosasaurus en de plesiosaurus verdwenen ook, net als 75 procent van al het leven op de planeet.

Veel dieren kwamen uiteraard om in de directe omgeving van de inslag, maar het massale uitsterven was hoogstwaarschijnlijk een gevolg van veranderingen in de atmosfeer.

De inslag zou volgens het team van Gulick voor verdamping in zwavelrijke rotsen hebben gezorgd, waardoor enorm veel zwavel in de lucht terechtkwam. Vervolgens kon de zon daar niet doorheen dringen en koelde de planeet sterk af.

De wetenschappers zijn tot die conclusie gekomen omdat de monsters die ze onderzochten, wel veel zandsteen, kalksteen en graniet bevatten maar geen zwavel. En dat terwijl de rotsen in de buurt van de inslag helemaal vol zouden moeten zitten met zwavel.

Ze schatten dat er minstens 325 miljard ton zwavelgas in de atmosfeer terecht moet zijn gekomen.

Foto: De vulkaan Kraktau in Indonesië spuwt as uit.

Bron: Reuters

Ter vergelijking: een kwart van die hoeveelheid zwavel kwam in de atmosfeer terecht na de uitbarsting van de vulkaan Krakatau in Indonesië in 1883. Door die vulkaanuitbarsting zakte de temperatuur op aarde met 1,2 graden voor een periode van vijf jaar.

De gevolgen van de inslag van de Chicxulub-meteoriet waren vrijwel zeker veel ingrijpender en veel langduriger, stelt Gulick.

"De aarde zal er vanuit de ruimte waarschijnlijk niet uitgezien hebben als de bekende blauwe bol en het zal misschien wel twintig jaar hebben geduurd voordat het weer helder werd."

Lees meer over natuurrampen:

• 8 angstaanjagende manieren waarop de wereld écht kan vergaan
• Deze 8 superrampen kunnen minstens 10% van de mensheid uitroeien
• Indonesië opnieuw getroffen door tsunami, zeker 220 doden – de oorzaak is waarschijnlijk een aardbeving bij Krakatau, de vulkaan die ooit het klimaat veranderde

{ https://www.businessinsider.nl/ }

16-08-2024 om 14:51 geschreven door peter  

Meteoriet verantwoordelijk voor uitsterven dinosaurussen afkomstig uit rand zonnestelsel

Meteoriet verantwoordelijk voor uitsterven dinosaurussen afkomstig uit rand zonnestelsel

De meteoriet die 66 miljoen jaar geleden het uitsterven van de dinosaurussen heeft veroorzaakt, is afkomstig uit de buitenste lagen van het zonnestelsel. Dat blijkt uit een onderzoek van VUB-geologen, gepubliceerd in het wetenschappelijke tijdschrift Science. De inslag van dergelijk type meteoriet is tot vandaag een uitzonderlijke geologische gebeurtenis.

Het team van VUB-geologen heeft in het onderzoek de Krijt-Paleogeen-grenslaag onder de loep genomen. Deze grenslaag in de samenstelling van het aardoppervlak is 66 miljoen jaar geleden ontstaan als gevolg van een meteorietinslag die het uitsterven van 70 procent van de toen levende dieren, waaronder ook de dino's, betekende. De asteroïde met een diameter van meer dan 10 kilometer is ingeslagen nabij de plek waar vandaag de Mexicaanse stad Chicxulub ligt. De impact was zo krachtig dat er over de hele aarde een kleilaag is gevormd als gevolg van de vrijgekomen stofdeeltjes.

Eindelijk weten we waar de planetoïde die de dino’s uitroeide vandaan kwam

© Scientias.nl

Deze K-Pg-grenslaag bevat elementen die slechts uitzonderlijk in het aardoppervlak terug te vinden zijn, waaronder onder meer osmium, iridium en ruthenium. Uit een analyse van de chemische elementen in de kleilaag blijkt dat de Chicxulub-asteröide uit het buitenste gedeelte van het zonnestelsel afkomstig is. "We ontdekten dat de samenstelling van de asteroïde die insloeg op Chicxulub dezelfde is als die van koolstofhoudende meteorieten", zegt Steven Goderis, een van de auteurs van de studie. Deze C-type-asteroïden zijn "oorspronkelijk ver buiten de omloopbaan van Jupiter gevormd".

De uitzonderlijke aard van de Chicxulub-meteoriet blijkt ook uit de vergelijking van de chemische elementen uit andere lagen van het aardoppervlak. "Deze gegevens tonen aan dat in de afgelopen 500 miljoen jaar de dominante samenstellingen van lichamen die op aarde insloegen fragmenten van het steenachtige S-type asteroïden waren", aldus de geologen. Dit type asteroïden vormt zich in het binnenste zonnestelsel. "De inslag van een C-type asteroïde lijkt een tot nu toe unieke gebeurtenis te zijn".

Chicxulub Crater Yucatan Asteroid - asteroids 2020

• https://youtu.be/5qJPTjMnwNk

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16-08-2024 om 14:31 geschreven door peter  

Can you have sex in space? How astronauts stuck on board the ISS could join the '220-mile-high club' (although NASA insists that no humans have done it before!)

• Sex in space is not physically impossible, although it would be difficult
• READ MORE:  NASA astronauts could be stuck on the ISS until 2025

By Wiliam Hunter

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams hit the headlines this month, after NASA revealed that they would be stuck on the International Space Station together for six months, despite originally expecting to be there for eight days. 

Butch and Suni's predicament has left a few dirty minded space fans with one burning question - could they have sex to pass the time?

On social media, commenters rushed to speculate how the pair could spend their six months, with one cheekily tweeting: 'I hope they brought birth control with them.'

While Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are both married to partners back on Earth, experts predict that space tourists will be getting in on in orbit within 10 years. 

But from the logistical issues of intimacy in microgravity to the unfortunate effects of orbit on erectile dysfunction, joining the 220-mile-high club might not be as fun as it seems. 

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams hit the headlines this month , after NASA revealed that they would be stuck on the International Space Station together for six months, despite originally expecting to be there for eight days. Butch and Suni's predicament has left a few dirty minded space fans with one burning question - could they have sex to pass the time? 

On social media, commenters rushed to speculate on how the pair could spend their six months, with one cheekily tweeting: 'I hope they brought birth control with them' 

Another commenter added that the astronauts would be 'coming home with a baby on board'

Has anyone ever had sex in space?

According to NASA's official line, no human has ever had sex in space and there is very little reason to doubt this is true. 

While astronauts are only human, they are also highly-trained professionals operating in an extremely high-stress environment. 

While the ISS theoretically spacious enough for an amorous couple, there are very few private areas and the station is constantly monitored. 

However, NASA did once unknowingly send a newly married couple on the same mission to space.

In 1992, the Space Shuttle Endeavor was launched with Mark Lee and Jan Davis on the crew who had secret married the year before. 

Both NASA and the newlyweds deny that the couple made use of this unique opportunity, but we can never know for certain.

As a direct consequence of this, NASA made a formal ruling that married couples could not fly together and since 2010 has explicitly said it does not allow sex between astronauts. 

Experts say there is nothing theoretically stopping astronauts from having sex in space but there are dangers for reproduction. Pictured, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in the 2016 film Passengers

NASA says that no one has ever had sex in space, but the best possible contenders would be Jan Davis and Mark Lee (pictured) who are the only married couple to visit space

Read More

• A day in the life of a NASA astronaut trapped on the ISS: From 6am wake-up calls to 15-HOUR shifts 

Is sex in space possible?

Whether or not anyone has actually had sex in space, there doesn't seem to be anything to prevent people from trying. 

Dr Adam Watkins, Associate Professor in reproductive and developmental physiology, at the University of Nottingham told MailOnline: 'Sex in space is physically possible, but would not be as easy as it is here on Earth.'

Dr Watkins notes that simple constraints such as a lack of privacy would make sex on the ISS difficult but the biggest problem is likely to be the lack of gravity.

While this might call for some more acrobatic solutions, there is nothing that human ingenuity can't overcome.

For an interesting example, you can look at how astronauts train to do CPR while in orbit.

To stop the first-aider drifting away while trying to apply compressions to their patient, the ISS uses a 'CPR bench' which straps the rescuer to the equipment.

Sex in space would be logistically challenging, but astronauts have found their way around similar problems such as how to deliver CPR. Pictured, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti demonstrates how to deliver CPR in microgravity 

With months to kill aboard the space station, there is certainly nothing stopping astronauts figuring out how to give this device a second purpose.

German astronaut Ulrich Walter once said in an interview  that humans could also look to the animal kingdom for inspiration.

Dolphins will sometimes enlist the help of a third to push the couple together and prevent them from drifting apart while mating.

Walter suggested that open-minded astronauts might also enlist the help of a willing friend to push them together. 

Alternatively, Paul Root Wolpe, a former NASA Bioethicist, has described how the humble Velcro strap could be the answer. 

Read More

• The 100-mile-high club! Space tourists will have to sign legal waivers BANNING them from having sex in space, expert claims 

Mr Wolpe told DW: 'Everything on the walls of the space station is covered in Velcro, so you could take advantage of that by velcroing one partner to the wall.

'You have to get creative in this space.'

But even if a couple could overcome the logistical issues, physiological barriers might still get in the way.

Exposure to conditions in space causes intense disruptions to astronauts' hormonal cycles including reduced levels of oestrogen.

That hormonal imbalance leads to a lower libido, which might stop astronauts wanting to have sex in the first place. 

Dr Watkins says: 'There can be some biological issues such as getting, and maintaining an erection in space is more difficult than here on earth due to the blood pressure changes that occur while in space.' 

Additionally, in microgravity, blood doesn't pump around the body in the normal way but instead tends to rush towards the head.

Inside the 'bedroom' of the ISS (pictured) there isn't a lot of room for moving about but the velcro on the walls has been suggested as a way of overcoming the logistical challenges of sex in space 

Astronauts need to use straps and velcro to avoid drifting away while sleeping, it is possible that similar methods could be used to prevent two people drifting apart. Pictured astronaut Gregory C. Johnson rests in the Shuttle Atlantis 

A paper published last year found that simulated spaceflight in rats leads to 'long-term impairment of neurovascular erectile function'. 

While NASA has stayed surprisingly quiet on these suggestions, a few former astronauts have stepped in to dispel any concerns.  

In an Ask Me Anything Reddit thread, former NASA astronaut Ron Garan was asked whether erections were possible in space.

In response, Mr Garan simply replied: 'I know of nothing that happens to the human body on Earth that can't happen in space.'

Some astronauts such as Mike Mullane, a former NASA astronaut, are far less subtle.

In his book, Riding Rockets, Mr Mullane wrote: 'I had an erection so intense it was

He added: 'I could have drilled through kryptonite.'

Overall, while having sex in space is likely unpleasant, time-consuming, and awkward, it is probably possible. 

Sex in space may be made difficult by the fact that microgravity lowers oestrogen levels which reduces the libido while also leading to erectile dysfunction  (file photo)

Read More

• One small step for mice, one giant leap for mankind: Scientists grow mouse embryos on the International Space Station for the first time, paving the way for humans to reproduce in space 

Should astronauts have sex in space? 

However, just because sex in space is possible, that doesn't necessarily mean it is advisable.

The biggest problem for any astronauts thinking about getting intimate is the risk of pregnancy.

Most female astronauts take birth control to delay their periods while in space but this is by no means compulsory.

Likewise, since NASA has a blanket ban on sex in space there are no other means of contraception aboard the station.

A number of studies have shown that getting pregnant in space is extremely difficult and potentially even impossible.

However, Dr Watkins notes that since no one has ever gotten pregnant in space we just can't know what the consequences will be.  

Dr Watkins says: 'DNA damage from the high levels of cosmic radiation is a real concern. Astronauts who spend six months in space are exposed to roughly the same amount of radiation as 1,000 chest X-rays.

'A pregnant woman, and her developing fetus, would also be exposed to that cosmic radiation while in space. This could be harmful to the embryos and the fetus.'

A recent study conducted on the ISS found that mice embryos developed for four days on the ISS showed no signs of damage.

But an earlier study published in 2020 conversely found that mouse embryos developed in space 'contain severe DNA damage'.

Likewise, since only a few people have gone to space we don't have enough data to really know what the effects would be on an unborn child. 

Dr Watkins concludes: 'Until recently, reproduction in space has not been a major priority for the different space agencies. 

'Now that there are plans to colonise the moon and even Mars, how we would populate other worlds has become more of a focus and will need to be addressed if we are to establish, maintain and grow human colonies off Earth.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

15-08-2024 om 21:46 geschreven door peter