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Showing posts from December, 2020

Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth carrying moon rocks

  BEIJING: A Chinese lunar spacecraft capsule has returned to  Earth  with the first fresh samples of rock and  debris   from the moon in more than 40 years. The capsule of the Chang'e 5 probe landed in  the Siziwang district  of  the Inner Mongolia region , state media reported shortly after 2:00 a.m. on Thursday (1800 GMT). It had earlier separated from its  orbiter module  and performed a bounce off the Earth's atmosphere to reduce its speed before passing through and floating down on parachutes. Two of the Change 5's four modules set down on the moon on Dec. 1 and collected about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of samples by scooping them from the surface, and by drilling 2 meters (about 6 feet) into the moon's crust. The samples were deposited in a sealed container that was carried back to the return module by an ascent vehicle. The successful mission was the latest breakthrough for China's increasingly ambitious space program.

What Happens if Dark Matter Goes Missing? NASA's Hubble Has the Answer

Dark matter makes up for the larger part of the universe and it basically refers to particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light. This is also why they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation. We divide the particles in the universe to be either visible matter or dark matter. But what if the dark matter goes missing? No matter how weird this sounds but in 2018, scientists were left baffled when a neighbouring galaxy had no dark matter. The official Instagram handle of Hubble telescope shared the story on the platform recently describing how data from Hubble solved the mystery. It is understood that dark matter is a crucial component for the evolution of galaxies but it was simply not there in the galaxy NGC 1052-DF4. A year later, another galaxy that misses dark matter was discovered, called the NGC 1052-DF4 and the scientists were left more puzzled than ever. Now, data collected by the Hubble telescope has revealed why the dark matter was missing. Mireia Mont...

What Are Artificial Satellites & Why Don't They Drop Out Of Orbit And Fall Back To Earth?

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  Artificial satellites are among the top scientific and technological achievements of human civilization. Here's all you need to know about how they work Artificial satellites are among the most technologically advanced inventions by human civilization. These artificial satellites have allowed humans to have better communication, better knowledge about space - and most importantly, the largest among them have shown that it is possible for life to exist in the inky black void for extended periods. So what are satellites?  Satellites are objects in high orbit around a planet. While innumerable natural satellites exist, including the Moon, humans have also launched artificially designed satellites to space. Gravity dictates the equation of a heavenly body and its satellites. The solar system's two most massive planets - Jupiter and Saturn - have its largest (the Jovian moons) and most numerous (4) natural satellites respectively. Artificial satellites As per NASA's web...

NASA's Plant Habitat grows radishes in space under microgravity .

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  NASA's Plant Habitat-02 (PH-02) experiment made a breakthrough last month after it successfully managed to grow radishes onboard a microgravity chamber in the International Space Station (ISS), the space organisation said in a statement.  The experiment took place aboard the Advanced Plant Habitat chamber on the ISS' European research module, Columbus. The PH-02 Experiment is a larger part of NASA's Artemis programme, a sustainable exploration plan on and around the Moon and possible voyages to Mars. If the experiment gives satisfactory results, it could provide nutrition to astronauts in space with fresh produce for the crew on long-term missions, away from home. "Future astronauts bound for Mars will travel for about two years before returning to Earth and will have to carry all the supplies they need for the duration of the mission," NASA said. Having grown for a period of 27 days, the radishes were initially sown in porous clay, with water, oxygen, fertilize...

Indian-origin scientist-led US team finds new system to extract oxygen from Mars's salty water

  A US team led by an Indian-origin scientist has developed a new system that extracts oxygen from Mars' salty water. Anew system that can extract oxygen and hydrogen fuel from the salty water on Mars has been developed by a team in the US, led by an Indian-origin scientist. According to a  report in Edexlive,  the new finding by the team, led by Vijay Ramani, a professor at the Washington University in the US, has the potential to change the logistics of future mission to Mars and beyond. How does the new system work? As per the report, the researchers noted that Mars is very cold, and water that is not frozen is almost certainly full of salt from the Martian soil, which lowers its freezing temperature. Using the existing method of electricity to break the briny water down into oxygen and hydrogen fuel requires removing the salt, which is a cumbersome and a costly endeavour in a harsh, dangerous martian environment, they said. The team examined the new system in a simula...