Artikel door businessam.be

NASA’s Curiosity Rover vertoont tekenen van slijtage na jaren van verkenning van Mars

Key takeaways

• De Curiosity-rover van NASA verkent het Marslandschap al sinds 2012 en dat eist zijn tol.
• De rechtermiddenwielen van de rover vertonen tekenen van aanzienlijke slijtage, op foto’s van de “hand lens imager” is de gehavende staat te zien.
• Ondanks deze slijtage blijft de rover operationeel en heeft onlangs gebieden verkend zoals Gedis Vallis, Sheep Creek, Cloud Canyon, Moonlight Lake en Angora Mountain.

Sinds de landing in 2012 heeft NASA’s Curiosity rover het Martiaanse landschap nauwgezet verkend, op zoek naar bewijs dat de planeet ooit microbieel leven heeft gekend. Nu onthullen beelden de tol die deze verkenning heeft geëist van de rover zelf.

Ashley Stroupe, een mission operations engineer bij NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, benadrukte de veerkracht van de rover door te zeggen dat hij “nog steeds goed stand houdt ondanks de ergste mishandelingen van Mars”. Om haar punt te illustreren deelde ze beelden van de “hand lens imager” van de rover, waarop de gehavende staat van een van de middelste wielen te zien is.

De verkenningen en ontdekkingen van de Rover

Deze beelden, die deel uitmaken van NASA’s routinecontroles van de wielen van de rover, bieden een kijkje in het ruige Martiaanse terrein en de impact daarvan op Curiosity’s machines. Eerder dit jaar legde Curiosity een uniek beeld vast: De aarde naast een van de twee manen van Mars, Phobos. Het team van de rover deelde dit verbluffende beeld op X, waarbij het buitengewone uitkijkpunt van de rover werd benadrukt.

Curiosity heeft ongeveer 20 mijl afgelegd over Mars en bevindt zich nu in een gebied dat Gedis Vallis heet. Het primaire doel van de missie is om vast te stellen of Mars ooit omstandigheden heeft gehad die geschikt waren voor microbieel leven, een ontdekking die licht zou kunnen werpen op de mogelijkheid van leven elders in het universum.

Recente ontdekkingen en activiteiten

Onlangs voltooide de rover een gedetailleerd onderzoek van witte stenen in de Sheep Creek regio. Het team onderzocht ook nabijgelegen gebieden zoals Cloud Canyon, Moonlight Lake en Angora Mountain. Volgens atmosfeerwetenschapper Alex Innanen van York University geven deze suggestieve plaatsnamen treffend weer hoe de bleke stenen afsteken tegen het Martiaanse landschap.

De operators van de rover zijn vooral geïnteresseerd in het identificeren van zwavel in deze rotsen, wat doet denken aan een andere zwavelhoudende rots die eerder dit jaar werd ontdekt toen Curiosity deze per ongeluk openbrak met zijn wielen.

Toekomstige ambities en plannen

Mars neemt een belangrijke plaats in in de toekomstige ambities van de mensheid. Technologie- en ruimtevaartondernemer Elon Musk wil in de komende twintig jaar een zelfvoorzienende menselijke kolonie op Mars vestigen. Zijn ambitieuze plan omvat de lancering van vijf Starship-ruimtevaartuigen naar de planeet in de komende twee jaar, waarmee de weg wordt vrijgemaakt voor mogelijke menselijke missies in 2028.

Musk verwoordde zijn visie op X door te stellen dat uiteindelijk “duizenden Starships die naar Mars gaan” een adembenemend spektakel zullen creëren..

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

02-10-2024 om 23:16 geschreven door peter  

Thousands of strange white rocks found on Mars. Will they ever be brought to Earth?

Related: 

• NASA's Perseverance rover captures 360-degree view of Mars' Jezero Crater (video)

{ https://www.space.com/ }

02-10-2024 om 01:12 geschreven door peter  

A Decade of Exploration

NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down at the Bradbury Landing site in “Yellowknife” Quad of Aeolis Palus in early August 2012. The following June, it was announced that the rover would begin its roughly five-mile (8 km) trek to the base of Aeolis Mons, otherwise known as Mount Sharp, which forms the central peak of Gale Crater.

Curiosity has spent the last decade making its way up the mountain, traversing the peak’s layered lower foothills and allowing scientists to observe an area that showcases the changes of the Martian landscape over time.

A panorama shot captured from Curiosity’s left navigation camera reveals the Gediz Vallis in 360-Degrees, revealing dark sand and debris within the channel

(Credit: NASA/JPL).

One of Curiosity’s primary objectives is to determine whether water and the chemicals required for life to exist would have been present in the area. The existence of clay minerals already shows that water would have once interacted with the rock on the Martian surface. Current investigations by Curiosity are now looking at the presence of sulfates in the area, which is believed to have formed long ago as the last water in the region finally evaporated.

Signs of Water Flowing on Ancient Mars?

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently said that Curiosity is probing the landscape for signs that the mysterious Gediz Vallis channel might have been slowly carved into the Martian bedrock by the flow of water billions of years ago. Although it was considered that the channel could have been formed by winds that are still prevalent on Mars, the steepness of the channel’s sides is more consistent with the movement of liquid water, either resulting from a sudden flow that carried debris from a landslide, or possibly the constant flow of water from a river.

NASA’s Curiosity rover approaches Mount Sharp

(Credit: NASA/JPL/Caltech).

“If the channel or the debris pile were formed by liquid water, that’s really interesting,” said  Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist with NASA’s JPL. “It would mean that fairly late in the story of Mount Sharp – after a long dry period – water came back, and in a big way.”

Vasavada and the Curiosity team believe that if this were the case, it would match previous findings that indicated water seems to have vanished and reappeared over several phases as the planet gradually became more arid.

Unraveling Mount Sharp’s Mysteries

The Curiosity team says the rover will take several months to explore the channel, which could help lead to new insights—and possibly revisions—to our understanding of the timeline for Mount Sharp’s formation.

Mount Sharp, as seen from Curiosity

(Credit: NASA/JPL/CalTech/MSSS).

Although the feature’s sedimentary layers were deposited by wind and water, they didn’t initially look like they do today; erosion over long periods gradually revealed the layers that are present today, processes that would have also been required for the formation of the Gediz Vallis channel.

In addition to searching for evidence of water that may have carved the channel, most of the stony debris that now fills its base probably originates from further up Mount Sharp’s slopes, which allows Curiosity a chance to observe the mineral composition of stone from a region that it will never actually visit during its mission.

NASA has made additional information about Curiosity’s investigations available on its Mars Exploration page, which includes its science goals and frequent mission updates on its ongoing exploration of the Red Planet.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.

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

02-10-2024 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

Catherine Stoddard

Astronomer’s at NASA discovered a supermassive black hole that has a Death Star-like jet shooting out at the core of a huge galaxy and it appears that stars along the beam’s trajectory are exploding.

"We don't know what's going on, but it's just a very exciting finding," said Alec Lessing of Stanford University, lead author of the paper published in The Astrophysical Journal. "This means there's something missing from our understanding of how black hole jets interact with their surroundings."

Stars are exploding but not destroyed

The stars that are exploding along the trajectory of the giant blowtorch-like beam are called novae.

The Hubble found that twice as many novae near the beam of plasma are exploding twice as much as compared to anywhere else in the galaxy during the surveyed time period.

These stars typically erupt in a double-star system where an aging star begins to spill hydrogen into a burned out white dwarf star companion, NASA explained. 

When the dwarf star has its fill of hydrogen, it explodes like a giant nuclear bomb. But the dwarf is not destroyed in this process, it simply starts this cycle over again.

While it has been theorized that the heat from the jet is leading to the novae explosions, researchers said it is not nearly hot enough in the observed locations to have this type of impact on the stars.

Researchers are still trying to figure out what’s going on.

"There's something that the jet is doing to the star systems that wander into the surrounding  neighborhood. Maybe the jet somehow snowplows hydrogen fuel onto the white dwarfs, causing them to erupt more frequently," said Lessing. "But it's not clear that it's a physical pushing. It could be the effect of the pressure of the light emanating from the jet. When you deliver hydrogen faster, you get eruptions faster. Something might be doubling the mass transfer rate onto the white dwarfs near the jet."

What is the jet of light?

A Hubble Space Telescope image of the giant galaxy M87 shows a 3,000-light-year-long jet of plasma blasting from the galaxy's 6.5-billion-solar-mass central black hole.

(NASA, ESA, STScI, Alec Lessing (Stanford University), Mike Shara (AMNH))

The jet is being shot out by a 6.5 billion-solar-mass central black hole which is engorged with infalling matter, NASA said.

The black hole is launching a 3,000-light-year-long jet of plasma that is blazing through space nearly at the speed of light.

Anything that is caught directly, or near, the jet "would be sizzled."

The Source

• Information for this article was gathered from NASA. This story was reported from Los Angeles. 

{ https://www.yahoo.com/news/ }

01-10-2024 om 22:26 geschreven door peter  

NASA engineers have successfully reactivated a set of thrusters on Voyager 1, unused for decades, to keep the 47-year-old spacecraft communicating with Earth. With the probe billions of miles from our planet, this maneuver was critical to ensuring it stays on course. The aging spacecraft continues to surprise with its resilience.

By Julian James

Voyager 1’s Ongoing Journey

NASA's Voyager 1 Fires Dormant Thrusters After Decades

© Provided by Ever-Growing

Voyager 1, launched in 1977, has far exceeded its expected lifespan, continuing to transmit data from interstellar space. Currently about 15 billion miles from Earth, the probe travels beyond the heliosphere, the Sun’s protective bubble of magnetic fields. As its components age, new challenges arise, requiring NASA engineers to find creative solutions to keep the mission alive. One such challenge emerged this year when the spacecraft’s thrusters started clogging, threatening its ability to communicate.

01-10-2024 om 21:59 geschreven door peter  

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

01-10-2024 om 00:29 geschreven door peter  

Een nieuwe studie werpt licht op het intrigerende mysterie van Mars’ ontbrekende atmosfeer. Want mogelijk verbergt die zich wel vol in het zicht…

Mars was niet altijd de kille woestijn die we nu kennen. Er zijn steeds meer aanwijzingen dat er miljarden jaren geleden water over het oppervlak van de rode planeet stroomde. En als er water was, dan moet er ook een dikke atmosfeer zijn geweest om te voorkomen dat het bevroor. Maar zo’n 3,5 miljard jaar geleden droogde het water op en de lucht, die ooit vol koolstofdioxide zat, werd aanzienlijk dunner. Hierdoor wordt onze naaste buur nu nog slechts omhuld door een flinterdunne atmosfeer. Een vraag waar wetenschappers zich al jaren het hoofd over breken, is wat er precies met de Martiaanse atmosfeer is gebeurd. Twee geologen komen nu in het vakblad Science Advances met een verrassende theorie.

Klei
Volgens de twee geologen zou het antwoord mogelijk te vinden kunnen zijn in de klei van de planeet. In hun artikel suggereren ze dat een aanzienlijk deel van de verloren atmosfeer van Mars mogelijk is opgeslagen in de kleiachtige korst. Ze stellen dat het vloeibare water dat ooit zo rijkelijk over Mars stroomde, door bepaalde soorten gesteente had kunnen sijpelen, wat een langzame kettingreactie zou hebben opgestart. Deze reactie zou geleidelijk koolstofdioxide uit de atmosfeer hebben onttrokken en omgezet in methaan — een vorm van koolstof die gedurende lange tijd in de klei van de planeet kan worden opgeslagen.

Aarde
Deze theorie is niet eens zo vergezocht. Vergelijkbare processen komen namelijk ook voor in bepaalde gebieden op aarde. De onderzoekers hebben dan ook hun kennis van de interacties tussen gesteenten en gassen op aarde gebruikt om te begrijpen hoe soortgelijke processen op Mars zouden kunnen werken. Ze ontdekten dat, rekening houdend met de geschatte hoeveelheid klei die het oppervlak van Mars bedekt, deze klei tot 1,7 bar koolstofdioxide zou kunnen vasthouden. Dit zou ongeveer 80 procent van de oorspronkelijke atmosfeer van de planeet vertegenwoordigen.

Deze afbeelding toont de geleidelijke verandering van ijzerrijke rotsen op Mars wanneer deze in contact komen met water dat CO2 uit de atmosfeer bevat. In de loop van miljarden jaren zou dit proces voldoende CO2 in de kleilaag hebben kunnen opslaan, in de vorm van methaan, om het grootste deel van het CO2 te verklaren dat uit de vroege atmosfeer van de planeet is verdwenen.

Afbeelding: Courtesy of Joshua Murray, Oliver Jagoutz, et al.

Smectiet
Concreet zou de Martiaanse atmosfeer weleens opgegaan kunnen zijn in een soort oppervlakte-klei mineraal genaamd smectiet, dat bekend staat als een zeer efficiënte opslagplaats voor koolstof. In een enkele korrel smectiet zitten talloze ‘plooien’ waarin koolstof miljarden jaren lang ongestoord kan blijven. De onderzoekers hebben aangetoond dat de aanwezigheid van smectiet op aarde waarschijnlijk het resultaat is van tektonische activiteit. Zodra het aan het oppervlak kwam, konden de kleimineralen genoeg koolstofdioxide uit de atmosfeer opnemen en opslaan, waardoor de planeet gedurende miljoenen jaren afkoelde. Ook Mars blijkt bedekt te zijn met dezelfde smectiet-klei. De onderzoekers vroegen zich daarom af of deze klei op Mars een vergelijkbare functie zou kunnen hebben gehad in het vasthouden van koolstof. En als dat het geval is, hoeveel koolstof zou de klei dan kunnen opslaan?

Smectiet-klei op Mars
Zoals je hierboven kunt lezen, ontstaat smectiet op aarde door de beweging van continentale platen en het naar boven brengen van rotsen uit de mantel. Mars kent echter geen soortgelijke tektonische activiteit. Hoe het kan dat Mars dan toch bedekt is met smectiet-klei? In de loop van ongeveer een miljard jaar zou het water dat door de korst sijpelde geleidelijk reageren met olivijn. Wetenschappers denken dat de Martiaanse korst voornamelijk uit stollingsgesteente bestaat dat rijk is aan olivijn, een mineraal dat een gereduceerde vorm van ijzer bevat. Zuurstofmoleculen in het water zouden zich aan het ijzer hechten, waardoor waterstof vrijkomt en het rode geoxideerde ijzer ontstaat dat de planeet zijn herkenbare kleur geeft. Deze vrijgekomen waterstof zou vervolgens met koolstofdioxide in het water hebben gereageerd om methaan te vormen. Naarmate deze reactie in de loop van de tijd vorderde, zou olivijn langzaam zijn omgevormd tot een ander soort ijzerrijk gesteente, bekend als serpentijn, dat daarna bleef reageren met water om smectiet te vormen.

Na een rekensommetje kwamen de onderzoekers tot een interessante ontdekking. Als Mars bedekt is met een laag smectiet van 1.100 meter diep, zou deze hoeveelheid klei in staat zijn om een enorme hoeveelheid methaan op te slaan. Dit zou overeenkomen met het merendeel van het koolstofdioxide in de atmosfeer dat sinds het opdrogen van de planeet verloren is gegaan. “We constateren dat de schattingen van de wereldwijde klei-volumes op Mars overeenkomen met een groot deel van de oorspronkelijke CO2 van de planeet, dat is vastgelegd als organische verbindingen in de kleirijke korst,” zegt onderzoeker Joshua Murray. “In zekere zin zou de ontbrekende atmosfeer van Mars zich weleens in het volle zicht kunnen verbergen.”

Kortom, de onderzoekers hypothetiseren dat de verloren koolstofdioxide mogelijk is opgeslagen in de kleiachtige oppervlakken van Mars. “Mogelijk hebben zich dus op de aarde en Mars soortgelijke processen voorgedaan,” denkt onderzoeker Oliver Jagoutz. “Grote hoeveelheden atmosferisch CO2 zouden kunnen zijn omgezet in methaan en in de klei zijn opgeslagen.” Deze ontdekking is niet alleen belangrijk voor de wetenschap van Mars, maar heeft ook implicaties voor toekomstige missies naar de planeet. Zo suggereren de onderzoekers dat deze opgeslagen Martiaanse koolstof op een dag weer kan worden teruggewonnen en omgezet in brandstof. “Mogelijk is er nog steeds methaan aanwezig,” stelt Jagoutz. “Dit zou in de toekomst als energiebron op Mars kunnen worden gebruikt.”

Bronmateriaal

• "Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight" - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (via EurekAlert)
  
• Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: via Canva Pro

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

30-09-2024 om 23:53 geschreven door peter  

The brains of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft are stored in a metal vault.

It's where the large exploration vehicle — the length of a basketball court — safeguards its computers, software, and many electronics. The craft is about to launch to Jupiter's moon Europa, a world planetary scientists suspect harbors an ocean twice the volume of Earth's. With around 50 close swoops by Europa, NASA will be able to confidently answer the question of whether this ocean realm also hosts the ingredients, such as an energy source and telltale materials, to support life.

Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Yet the radiation environs there are particularly harsh.

"The charged particle environment at Europa's location is immense," Cynthia Phillips, a NASA planetary geologist and project staff scientist for the space agency's Europa Clipper mission, told Mashable.

Jupiter, a gas giant planet 317 times more massive than Earth, generates a massive magnetic field shooting out between 600,000 to 2 million miles (1 to 3 million kilometers) toward the sun. It's created by the planet's liquid metal core, which spins and creates electrical currents (moving electric charges make magnetic fields). Crucially, this magnetic field grabs and then accelerates particles from the relentless solar wind — a stream of rapidly traveling charged particles emitted by the sun — which creates potent radiation belts around Jupiter.

"It bombards everything."

Any craft traveling around the planet will almost certainly pass through these hazardous zones and expose instruments to harmful particles, which can damage computer chips and electronics. "It bombards everything," Curt Niebur, Europa Clipper's program scientist, said at a press conference leading up to the mission's launch. Decades ago, during the Voyager mission, NASA's engineers were worried about the craft passing by Jupiter. A person hypothetically riding aboard Voyager as it passed Jupiter would have gotten hit with a radiation dose 1,000 times the lethal level.

A depiction of Jupiter's sprawling magnetic field. If was visible to the naked eye, "it would appear two to three times the size of the sun or moon to viewers on Earth," NASA explained.

Hence, the vault. "The vault seriously reduces the harmful radiation these electronics get," Phillips said. (NASA's Juno craft, exploring the greater Jupiter system, also carries a vault.)

Yet there are electronics outside this protective metallic box. And in May NASA received test data that suggested some transistors — which are electrical switches that control how electricity flows around the spacecraft — couldn't withstand the high radiation environs around Europa. Fortunately, intensive follow-up testing showed these switches will work as the craft makes some 50 flybys over three and a half years. "They unequivocally passed that review today," Nicola Fox, who heads NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said following a pivotal September decision to green-light the mission.

Related video:

• https://youtu.be/9rm8LMWxag8

• ISS Humanity’s Space Lab! (Newsworthy Women)
  

But mission engineers will be watching these transistors closely. As the New York Times reported, NASA bolted a late add-on to the craft, a small "canary box" holding the different types of transistors. If any show signs of damage or dysfunction as Europa Clipper swoops through belts of radiation, planners could adapt the mission.

In this graphic, the box illuminated in red shows the Europa Clipper's vault on the center of the spacecraft.

Already, the mission's orbital plan — which is to zip away from damaging regions after making close flybys of the ice-covered moon — minimizes the time the craft is exposed to high radiation zones. During each orbit around Jupiter, the craft will spend under a day in an irradiated zone, before swooping out. It won't return for between two to three weeks.

"You get out of there," Phillips told Mashable.

"You get out of there."

The robotic spacecraft's exposure to radiation, however, comes with rewards. When the probe dips close to Europa between 2031 and 2034, it will have the chance to view, scan, and investigate Europa in unprecedented detail. A ground-penetrating radar will look under the ice, and potentially see areas of liquid water or even where the ice meets the alien ocean. An instrument called the SUrface Dust Analyzer, or SUDA, will literally sample particles of Europa that have been ejected into space by tiny meteorites. And, of course, Europa Clipper will capture a bounty of images.

"The images are going to be spectacular," said Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the agency center that built the craft.

In sum, with this orbiting laboratory of instruments, NASA will be able to determine if the ocean moon has the right stuff — energy sources, a long-lived stable ocean, organic compounds (like carbon) — for life. If so, the agency plans to return to Europa and land on the icy crust. This time, they won't just be looking to see if it's habitable. They'll drill into the ice, looking to see if it's inhabited.

"We'll be knocking on the door for a second mission," Niebur said.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

30-09-2024 om 23:22 geschreven door peter  

New Map Reveals Impressive Megastructures in Local Universe

The newly-developed map of the local Universe is based on the motions of 56,000 galaxies, according to a team of astrophysicists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam.

This map shows the distribution of matter in the local Universe; it shows how matter flows, i.e. along which trajectories (thin lines) the galaxies move.

Image credit: Valade et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02370-0.

“Mapping the Universe has always been one of the most challenging tasks in astronomy,” said lead author Dr. Aurelien Valade and colleagues.

“Inaccurate observations, observational errors and incomplete data make this work extremely difficult.”

“In addition, the observed galaxies make up only a small part of the total mass in the Universe, as much of the matter exists in the form of invisible dark matter.”

“Furthermore, galaxies are not bound to be formed in such a way that they accurately trace the underlying matter well, which makes them an uncertain indicator of the matter distribution in the Universe.”

“Therefore, in order to create a map of our cosmic environment, we also look at the motion of galaxies.”

“On the one hand, galaxies move away from us with the expansion of the Universe, but on the other hand they also attract each other due to gravity.”

“These movements can be mapped and reveal the cosmic currents — the rivers and gulf-streams throughout the cosmos on which galaxies move.”

“Since the motion is caused by gravity, it can thus be used to see the invisible.”

To create a map of the local Universe, the authors used data on the motions of 56,000 galaxies from the Cosmic Flows-4 catalogue.

“Since the measurements of each galaxy’s velocity are error prone and fairly uncertain, there are various possible cosmographic maps that would fit the observational data,” they explained.

“Thus, we developed a new approach: a ‘probabilistic’ map of the Universe.”

“Such a map indicates how likely it is that a certain feature, such as a ‘basin of attraction,’ actually exists.”

“A basin of attraction is a region which, absent the cosmic expansion, would collapse to a single point.”

With this new method, the researchers obtained a reliable picture of the large-scale distribution of matter and revealed astonishing structures of our cosmic neighborhood.

“Laniakea, the supercluster to which many believed that our Galaxy belongs, is probably merely an appendage of the much larger Shapley basin. It may not even exist as a separate entity,” they said.

“Even more astonishing is the fact that the Sloan Great Wall — an immense wall composed of hundreds of thousands of galaxies — at around a thousand trillion trillion cubic light years is currently the largest known structure in this cosmic network of galaxies.”

“It is perhaps unsurprising that the further into the cosmos we look, we find that our home supercluster is more connected and more extensive than we thought,” said Dr. Noam Libeskind, co-author on the study.

“Discovering that there is a good chance that we are part of a much larger structure is exciting.”

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

30-09-2024 om 21:52 geschreven door peter  

Earth to Pass Through the Same Taurid Meteor Stream in 2032 That May Have Triggered a Mass Extinction 12,800 Years Ago

Earth will travel right in front of the same Taurid meteor stream in 2032 that caused a mass extinction and worldwide flood ~12,800 years ago, plunging Earth into a mini-Ice Age for 1,300 years. Graham Hancock was right all this time but we did not listen to him.

Our solar system is a dangerous place, and every month Earth inches closer to one of its riskier places, the “Taurid swarm” of meteors. Our planet is predicted to pass directly through the “Taurid swarm” in November 2032.

An ancient monument found in Turkey might be more than just a monument—it could be the world’s oldest solar calendar. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh studied symbols carved on the pillars of Göbekli Tepe, a large, ancient site in southern Turkey. They think these carvings were used to track days, seasons, and years, like a calendar. (Source)

The team noticed that each “V” shape carved on the pillars might represent one day. One pillar even had 365 “V”s, the same number as days in a year. They also found that a special “V” around the neck of a bird-like figure could represent the summer solstice—the longest day of the year. This might explain why the “V” symbol shows up on many other statues in the area, often around the necks of figures connected to time and creation.

Mini Ice Age

The ancient calendar focused on tracking day, night, and seasonal changes, which might have become more important after a major comet hit Earth around 10,850 B.C. This event likely caused a mini-ice age that wiped out many species. According to Martin Sweatman, a researcher from the University of Edinburgh, the people at Gobekli Tepe were careful observers of the sky, possibly because the comet strike had changed their world.

This disaster may have sparked the beginning of civilization by starting new religious beliefs and pushing people to develop agriculture to survive the colder climate. Their carvings might be some of the earliest attempts at writing. These carvings also tracked the cycles of the Moon and Sun, long before similar calendars were made. They may have even shown for the first time that comet strikes are more likely to happen when Earth crosses the path of comet fragments, something that modern scientists have confirmed.

To help support this theory, the team points to another pillar at the site appearing to picture the Taurid meteor stream lasting 27 days, which was quite possibly the source of the ancient comet strike. The researchers believe that the temple carvings show the ancient civilization was recording dates precisely, noting how the movement of constellations across the sky differed based on the time of the year. This would be 10,000 years before Hipparchus of ancient Greece documented the wobble in the Earth’s axis in 150 BC, making this newfound calendar well ahead of its time.

The Younger Dryas boundary (YDB) cosmic-impact hypothesis suggests that around 12,800 years ago, Earth was hit by pieces of a large comet, which broke apart as it entered the inner solar system. This event likely caused a chain reaction, leading to an “impact winter” (a period of intense cold) and a climate change episode called the Younger Dryas (YD). (Source)

The collision is also believed to have caused massive wildfires, the extinction of large animals like mammoths, and changes in human cultures and population decline. Evidence of this impact includes unusually high levels of platinum found at 26 sites across the Northern Hemisphere, including in ice cores from Greenland, which show platinum deposits over a 21-year period.

The start of the Younger Dryas also shows an increase in dust and chemicals linked to wildfires, like ammonium and other burning aerosols, found in ice cores from Greenland, Antarctica, and Russia. These signs point to one of the biggest wildfire events in over 120,000 years, with about 9% of Earth’s forests burned, covering 10 million square kilometers.

This large-scale burning and the cooling effect of the impact may have triggered the Younger Dryas climate change, according to the theory.

A 2021 study (Taurid complex smoking gun) found that 88 near-Earth asteroids, hidden in the debris that creates the Taurid Meteor Shower, likely came from the breakup of a single comet about 20,000 years ago. Astronomers at the University of Antioquia in Colombia studied the ‘Taurid complex’ to learn more about where these objects came from.

In the 1980s, scientists William Napier and Victor Clube noticed large asteroids in the Taurid stream. They suggested these asteroids had the same origin as Comet Encke, which orbits the Sun every three years. However, some asteroids are over a mile wide, meaning they couldn’t have come from Comet Encke itself. Scientists Ignacio Ferrín and Vincenzo Orofino reviewed old research and measured light reflected from the larger asteroids.

They found more evidence that both Comet Encke and the big asteroids came from the breakup of a huge ice comet, 62 miles wide, about 20,000 years ago. The team warned that these asteroids could be dangerous to Earth, and others from the ancient comet might have already hit our planet in the past. Every year, Earth passes through a stream of debris, causing shooting stars to appear in October in the southern hemisphere and November in the north.

Comet Encke, first seen in 1786, left a trail of debris as it got closer to the sun, like other comets. This trail, made up of rocks, dust, and debris, sometimes comes close to Earth, leading to lots of scientific study. Some studies focus on larger asteroids.

Experts think impacts from the Taurid stream may have contributed to the extinction of ancient cultures and global cooling during the Younger Dryas period. The 1908 Tunguska event, where a small asteroid exploded above Russia, destroying millions of trees, is believed to be connected to this debris stream.

In 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor, which injured over 1,500 people in Russia, may have also come from the Taurid stream. In 2005, NASA astronomer Rob Suggs observed a flash from a meteor hitting the moon, which was part of the Taurid meteor shower.

A team of Colombian researchers, along with astronomers from Italy’s University of Salento, reviewed many studies on space impacts. They confirmed that a group of space objects contains up to 88 large pieces. Using a method called secular light curves, they noticed changes in the brightness of these objects and found that 67% showed signs of “comet-like” activity. This supported the idea that these objects came from a common origin.

Napier, another scientist, supported their findings. He said that these asteroids, which have orbits like Comet Encke, could either be affected by unknown forces or are pieces of a larger, older comet that lost its gases. This original comet may have been a “rubble pile” – a mix of rocks and other materials held together by ice. Over time, this pile could have broken apart, possibly due to forces from the Sun or another object, creating smaller fragments.

One asteroid, Oljato, is an example of a rubble pile. It’s still held together by ice, which gives it comet-like activity, but it’s much smaller than its parent. Bigger inactive objects like Morpheus are similar, but their ice is trapped inside. Smaller objects, like 2006 SO198, might be the original rocky pieces. The team explained that even if an object looks like a regular asteroid, it could still have a comet-like origin.

Taurid meteors, part of this group, are usually larger than normal meteors. They shine brightly and go deeper into the Earth’s atmosphere, sometimes creating fireballs. While this is mostly harmless, the discovery of larger asteroids in one “dangerous” part of the meteor stream could be a real threat.

Earth passes through this risky area every few years, leading to more shooting stars and possibly large objects hitting Earth instead of burning up in the atmosphere. Future encounters are expected in 2022, 2025, 2032, and 2039.

In 2021, David Asher, Armagh Observatory astronomer predicted that in 2032 and 2036 we are likely to pass through the centre of the Taurid complex, where there will be a ‘noticeable enhancement of fireballs.’ According to study [Taurid complex smoking gun] authors Ignacio Ferrín and Vincenzo Orofino, outgassing from comet-like objects within the complex could be hiding smaller, but still potentially dangerous, asteroids that might hit the Earth.

‘The Tunguska cosmic body was 60 to 90 meters in diameter,’ he told Discover Magazine, adding that we ‘now believe the complex may contain many more objects of that size. It is not the tame, simple and innocent complex we thought it was.’

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

30-09-2024 om 21:11 geschreven door peter  

China transformeerde maangrond in water: de eerste stap naar echte kolonisatie?

door Janine

NASA

Dat China plannen heeft om de maan en haar grondstoffen te gebruiken is zeker geen mysterie. Tegelijkertijd heeft het Aziatische land de afgelopen jaren verschillende sondes naar onze satelliet gestuurd, waaronder naar de verborgen kant. Meer recent is echter het nieuws dat een team van Chinese wetenschappers enkele monsters die door de Chang'e 5-missie naar de aarde zijn teruggebracht, heeft gebruikt om water te produceren. Zou dit de eerste stap kunnen zijn naar een toekomstige menselijke aanwezigheid op de maan? Laten we het samen uitzoeken!

Chang'e 5 en de maanmonsters teruggebracht naar de aarde

Zoals de naam al doet vermoeden, is de Chang'e 5-missie zeker niet de eerste die op de maan is gearriveerd. Het bijzondere aan deze missie is dat er voor het eerst in 44 jaar monsters van de maanbodem naar de aarde zijn teruggebracht. Ondanks de daaropvolgende Chang'e 6-missie, waarbij in plaats daarvan de verborgen kant van onze satelliet werd betrokken, zijn de resultaten van Chang'e 5 simpelweg buitengewoon. Zoals te lezen is in een recente studie gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift The Innovation, hebben Chinese wetenschappers ontdekt dat de mineralen waaruit de bodem van de maan bestaat rijk zijn aan waterstof en kunnen worden gebruikt om ter plekke water te produceren. Maar hoe?

De methode waarmee je water uit eenvoudige grond kunt halen, vereist het verwarmen van de mineralen waaruit het bestaat tot extreem hoge temperaturen, om een ​​chemische reactie van de elementen met waterstof te veroorzaken en daardoor tot de vorming van waterdamp te leiden.

Hoe je water van de Maan krijgt

Chen et al./The Innovation - 2024

Dankzij de innovatieve methode van Chinese wetenschappers kan uit elke ton maangrond ongeveer 50 liter water worden gewonnen. Het lijkt misschien niet veel, en het is ongetwijfeld een proces dat om verschillende redenen op aarde geen zin zou hebben. Op de maan verandert dit echter: 50 liter water kan voorzien in de dagelijkse behoeften van de leden van een hypothetische menselijke missie op een hypothetische maanbasis. De maanbasis vormt een concreet doel van de Chinese ruimteverkenning: het ter plekke kunnen produceren van water zou een enorm voordeel betekenen.

In feite wil China vòòr 2035 een permanent onderzoeksstation op de maan bouwen, terwijl China vòòr 2045 een ruimtestation in een baan rond de satelliet wil bouwen. Als Chang'e 5 na 44 jaar de eerste missie was die maanmonsters terugbracht, is de Chang'e 6-missie de eerste die monsters van de andere kant van de maan terugbracht. Kortom: China lijkt het serieus te nemen.

Naar een toekomstige maanbasis... en verder

Dat het mogelijk is om water rechtstreeks uit de maanbodem te halen is buitengewoon nieuws dat echter ook een aantal overwegingen met zich meebrengt. Allereerst moeten we begrijpen hoeveel energie er nodig is om de bodem te verwarmen en welke andere elementen betrokken zijn bij het proces van waterdampvorming. Ten tweede mogen we de geopolitieke implicaties niet vergeten van de belangstelling die China toont voor onze satelliet: de concurrentie om maanbronnen zal in de toekomst steeds levendiger worden. En mogelijk ook heviger.

Kortom, de resultaten van de Chinese Academie van Wetenschappen laten zien hoe het mogelijk is om steeds dichter bij het idee van een permanente aanwezigheid van de mens op de maan te komen. Aan de andere kant zijn er tientallen jaren verstreken sinds de laatste keer dat een astronaut een wandeling maakte op onze satelliet. De volgende zou wel eens een ruimtestation op de maan kunnen bewonen, op haar grond kunnen lopen... en haar water kunnen drinken.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

30-09-2024 om 18:48 geschreven door peter  

Artikel door businessam.be

 

Revolutie in de ruimtevaart: nieuw aandrijfsysteem maakt oneindige ruimtereizen mogelijk

Key takeaways

• Super Magdrive gebruikt direct beschikbare metalen in de ruimte als brandstof.
• Traditionele raketmotoren zijn afhankelijk van schaarse bronnen zoals xenon of krypton.
• Dit nieuwe systeem maakt gebruik van metalen zoals ijzer, aluminium en koper.

Onderzoekers van de Universiteit van Southampton ontwikkelen een baanbrekend aandrijvingssysteem dat direct beschikbare metalen uit de ruimte gebruikt als brandstof. Deze innovatieve technologie, bekend als Super Magdrive, zou ruimtetuigen in staat kunnen stellen om oneindige reizen door de kosmos te maken.

Traditionele raketmotoren zijn afhankelijk van schaarse grondstoffen zoals xenon of krypton, die overvloedig aanwezig zijn op aarde maar moeilijk te verkrijgen zijn in de diepe ruimte. Dit nieuwe systeem maakt daarentegen gebruik van metalen zoals ijzer, aluminium en koper, die in overvloed aanwezig zijn in ons zonnestelsel. Hoofdonderzoeker Dr. Minkwan Kim benadrukt in een gesprek met Sky News dat dit een revolutionaire benadering van ruimteverkenning is, waardoor ruimtetuigen zich ver in de kosmos kunnen wagen en gedurende langere perioden kunnen werken.

Kritische ontwikkelingen en samenwerkingsverbanden

Het team van Dr. Kim werkte samen met het Britse ruimtevaartbedrijf Magdrive aan de ontwikkeling van Super Magdrive. De Britse overheid heeft 1 miljoen pond beschikbaar gesteld om dit project te ondersteunen. Dr. Kim ziet deze technologie als een hoeksteen voor toekomstige missies in de diepe ruimte, die mogelijk tot ongekende ontdekkingen kunnen leiden.

Toekomstige implicaties en verwachtingen

Hij gelooft dat het een revolutie teweeg kan brengen in ons vermogen om nieuwe planeten te verkennen, naar buitenaards leven te zoeken en de grenzen van menselijke verkenning te verleggen door reizen mogelijk te maken die verder gaan dan eerder bedachte grenzen.

De ruimtevaart van de toekomst documentaire fragment

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

30-09-2024 om 18:01 geschreven door peter  

SpaceX launches mission to rescue astronauts stranded at ISS

A SpaceX spacecraft has lifted off to rescue two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) due to technical issues.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov took off on Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida to bring back Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore.

The Dragon spacecraft, operated by SpaceX, the private company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is set to arrive at the ISS on Sunday.

Originally, astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were set to be part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

However, they gave up their spots to accommodate Williams and Wilmore, astronauts stranded on the ISS due to technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft.

Williams and Wilmore were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 13, after their Boeing Starliner capsule launched its first crewed flight from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5. But the Starliner had been plagued with issues, even before the June 5 launch. A previous launch attempt was scrapped on June 1 just moments before launch because of a ground control computer performance issue.

During the 25-hour flight to the International Space Station, the spacecraft experienced several helium leaks and a malfunctioning thruster. Then, when the Starliner arrived on June 6 and attempted to dock at the ISS, four more of the 28 thrusters malfunctioned causing the ship’s arrival to be delayed.

Saturday’s launch of NASA’s mission had been delayed for several days due to the effects of Hurricane Helene. Weather concerns persisted until the last minute, with rain and storms posing risks to the mission.

“The crewmates will conduct more than 200 scientific investigations, including blood clotting studies, moisture effects on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts during their mission,” read a NASA statement.

Williams and Wilmore are expected to return to Earth in February 2025, along with Hague and Gorbunov.

Related video:

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

29-09-2024 om 23:51 geschreven door peter  

Story by Joe Hindy

 

29-09-2024 om 23:14 geschreven door peter  

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

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

Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Benjamin Westhoff

More about LUNA

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

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

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

Preparing for Artemis and Beyond

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

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

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

For More Information

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

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

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

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

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

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

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

But it will always be our special spiral galaxy.

Reference: 

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

Reference: 

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

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

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

Ceres is Former Ocean World, Planetary Scientists Say

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

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

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

door Janine

Kevin M. Gill/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 2.0

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

Had de Aarde ook planetaire ringen?

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

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

Planeetringen en ijstijden

Oliver Hull/Monash University

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

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

Perspectieven van het onderzoek

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

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

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

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Ellyn Lapointe For Dailymail.Com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The HERA mission three crew entered the habitat on August 9

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

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