Carbon dioxide reactor makes Martian fuel
Friday, 24 September 2021 06:41
Engineers at the University of Cincinnati are developing new ways to convert greenhouse gases to fuel to address climate change and get astronauts home from Mars.
UC College of Engineering and Applied Science assistant professor Jingjie Wu and his students used a carbon catalyst in a reactor to convert carbon dioxide into methane. Known as the "Sabatier reaction" from the late French chemi Come on in, the water is superionic
Friday, 24 September 2021 06:41
The interiors of Uranus and Neptune each contain about 50,000 times the amount of water in Earth's oceans, and a form of water known as superionic water is believed to be stable at depths greater than approximately one-third of the radius of these ice giants.
Superionic water is a phase of H2O where hydrogen atoms become liquid-like while oxygen atoms remain solid-like on a crystalline lat Cloud-spotting on a distant exoplanet
Friday, 24 September 2021 06:41
An international team of astronomers has not only detected clouds on the distant exoplanet WASP-127b, but also measured their altitude with unprecedented precision. A presentation by Dr Romain Allart at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2021 shows how, by combining data from a space- and a ground-based telescope, the team has been able to reveal the upper structure of the planet's atmospher Cloudy days on exoplanets may hide atmospheric water
Friday, 24 September 2021 06:41
Water is a hot topic in the study of exoplanets, including "hot Jupiters," whose masses are similar to that of Jupiter, but which are much closer to their parent star than Jupiter is to the sun. They can reach a scorching 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celsius), meaning any water they host would take the form of water vapor.
Astronomers have found many hot Jupiters with water in t Hubble finds early, massive galaxies running on empty
Friday, 24 September 2021 06:41
When the universe was about 3 billion years old, just 20% of its current age, it experienced the most prolific period of star birth in its history. But when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in northern Chile gazed toward cosmic objects in this period, they found something odd: six early, massive, "dead" galaxies that had run out of the col Gigantic cavity in space sheds new light on how stars form
Friday, 24 September 2021 06:41
Astronomers analyzing 3D maps of the shapes and sizes of nearby molecular clouds have discovered a gigantic cavity in space. The sphere-shaped void, described in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, spans about 150 parsecs - nearly 500 light years - and is located on the sky among the constellations Perseus and Taurus. The research team, which is based at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Hubble snapshot of "molten ring" galaxy prompts new research
Friday, 24 September 2021 06:41
This Hubble picture exemplifies the fact that the universe is a vast stage for grand illusions. Albert Einstein realized this a century ago as he formulated his law of general relativity. Gravity, he said, warped space like stretching and twisting a rubber sheet.
The consequences would be that images of distant objects would be magnified, brightened, and distorted into funhouse mirror view NASA urged to avoid space station gap
Thursday, 23 September 2021 23:02
NASA needs to ensure that commercial space stations are ready before the International Space Station is retired to avoid a “space station gap” with geopolitical consequences, industry officials and other advisers warn.
Northrop Grumman to launch new satellite-servicing robot aimed at commercial and government market
Thursday, 23 September 2021 20:00
Northrop Grumman in 2024 plans to launch a new servicing vehicle equipped with a robotic arm that will install propulsion jet packs on dying satellites.
Elon Musk says Inspiration4 crew had 'challenges' with toilet, vows for bathroom upgrades
Thursday, 23 September 2021 19:05
The private space flight, SpaceX, completed a historic mission with the first all-civilian flight crew last weekend. The four members of the Inspiration4 crew raised $200 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and helped prove SpaceX founder Elon Musk's belief that non-professional astronauts can venture into space in regularity.
Every successful mission has its learning moments, however. One key takeaway from a three-day trip in space: Spacecraft bathrooms aren't ideal whatsoever.
In responding to followers asking about the mission, Musk tweeted Monday night that the Inspiration4 crew had some difficulties with the bathroom and promised upgrades for future missions.
"Definitely upgraded toilets :) We had some challenges with it this flight," Musk tweeted. The billionaire also promised better WiFi and oven.
While Musk didn't elaborate (for which we'll thank him), Inspiration4 member Jared Isaacman told Insider in July the facilities were located near the spacecraft's large cupola window.
"It's not a ton of privacy," he said. "But you do have this kind of privacy curtain that cuts across the top of the spacecraft, so you can kind of separate yourself from everyone else.
Smallsat specialist OrbAstro busy building downstream dreams
Thursday, 23 September 2021 15:02
OrbAstro, a space-as-a-service startup with visions of flying “tiny satellites in large flocks,” is gearing up to launch its first half-dozen smallsats in 2022 — including its just-announced first micro satellite.
Next commercial Falcon Heavy mission to launch debut Astranis satellite
Thursday, 23 September 2021 14:30
Astranis said Sept. 23 that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket will launch its first commercial satellite in a direct-inject mission to geostationary orbit in spring 2022.
Life support cooked up from lunar rocks
Thursday, 23 September 2021 13:59
Engineers have successfully shown how water and oxygen can be extracted by cooking up lunar soil, in order to support future Moon bases. A laboratory demonstrator, developed by a consortium of the Politecnico Milano, the European Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency and the OHB Group, is presented this week at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2021.
The set-up uses a two-step process, well known in industrial chemistry for terrestrial applications, that has been customized to work with a mineral mixture that mimics the lunar soil. Around 50% of lunar soil in all regions of the Moon is made up of silicon- or iron-oxides, and these in turn are around 26% oxygen. This means that a system that efficiently extracts oxygen from the soil could operate at any landing site or installation on the Moon.
In the experimental set-up, the soil simulant is vaporized in the presence of hydrogen and methane, then "washed" with hydrogen gas.
NASA Announces Virtual Webb STEAM Day Event for Students, Educators
Thursday, 23 September 2021 13:20
NASA invites learners of all ages, including students and teachers who recently returned to the classroom environment, to register for a special event ahead of the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. 