2023-11-02 05:38:00
(Xinhua file photo: Atlas V401 rocket with Lucy spacecraft Take off from Launch Site No. 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. US state of Florida, Oct. 16, 2021) LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) — NASA reports that the Lucy spacecraft is scheduled to The flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh on Wednesday (Nov. 1) marks the first close approach of the asteroid. The flyby will allow the Lucy mission to test its instruments. As for preparations for a visit to the Trojan asteroid group, which orbits the Sun in the same orbit as Jupiter, during the next decade, NASA has determined that the Dinkinesh asteroid is less than one kilometer wide. It orbits the Sun in an asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The Lucy spacecraft has been following the asteroid Dinkinesh since September 3. Asteroid Dinkinesh will be the first of 10 asteroids that the Lucy spacecraft will visit during its 12-year spaceflight, the main goal of the Lucy mission. which was released on Oct. 16, 2021, is a survey of Jupiter’s Trojan asteroid family. This is a group of small objects orbiting the Sun that have never been observed before.
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#NASAs #Lucy #spacecraft #flies #asteroid #time
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NASA
Scientists Discover Ancient River Systems on Mars: New Insights for Life on the Red Planet
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-10-27 05:00:00
Written by Amira Shehata Friday, October 27, 2023 07:00 AM Scientists have discovered the remains of ancient river systems that once had the right conditions to support life on Mars, as researchers at Pennsylvania State University reanalyzed data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, They found that the formations were habitable bodies of water and much more abundant than previously thought. According to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, the team identified shallow areas and short hills they call “noses” within the landscape that might be indicators of ancient river deposits in the holes. The researchers said they also believe these bodies of water behave like those on Earth, and are important for life, chemical cycles, nutrient cycles and sediment cycles. “We found evidence that Mars was likely a planet of rivers,” said Benjamin Cardenas, assistant professor of Earth sciences at Penn State and the lead researcher. “We see signs of that all over the planet.” The study was conducted by mapping the erosion of ancient Martian soil using a computer model trained on satellite data. The data came from NASA Curiosity and a 3D scan of rock layers called strata that were deposited over millions of years under the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico. In designing their computer model, Cárdenas and his team found a new use for 25-year-old stratigraphy scans collected by oil companies. The survey, Cárdenas said, “provided a perfect comparison with Mars.” The team simulated Mars-like erosion using 3D scans of actual layers recorded on Earth. When they ran the simulation, the model revealed an eroded Martian landscape that formed topographic benches and noses instead of river ridges, and looked almost identical to the landforms observed by the Curiosity spacecraft. Inside a generation nozzle. The analysis revealed a new explanation for common Martian crater formations, which, until now, have never been associated with eroded river sediments, the researchers said. For his part, Cárdenas said: “We have everything to learn regarding Mars by better understanding how to interpret these river deposits, and by thinking of rocks today as layers of sediment accumulated over time.”
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#Life #Mars. #NASA #searches #remains #ancient #river #previously #habitable
Uncovering the Secrets of Mars: Ancient River Systems with Potential for Life Revealed by NASA’s Curiosity Rover
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-10-26 05:04:31
A team of scientists has discovered the remains of ancient river systems on Mars that once had the right conditions to support life. The research team at Pennsylvania State University reanalyzed data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, and found that the formations were bodies of water suitable for life. And much more abundant than previously thought. The team identified shallow areas and hills within the landscape, which might be indicators of ancient river deposits in the craters. These bodies of water are also thought to resemble those on Earth, and are “important for life, chemical cycles, nutrient and sediment cycles,” the scientists said. Benjamin Cardenas said “We’ve found evidence that Mars was likely rich in rivers. We’re seeing signs of that all over the planet,” said Penn State associate professor of Earth sciences and lead author. (Russia Today)
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#NASA #close #discovering #life #Mars
NASA doesn’t have the right screwdriver to open the box containing the fragments
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-10-24 17:20:09
NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold NASA doesn’t have the right screwdriver to open the box that contains the fragments of the asteroid Bennu
NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold
NASA doesn’t have the right screwdriver to open the box that contains the fragments of the asteroid Bennu
SPACE – Imagine the frustration: a container of asteroid dust is in your hands, following a journey of 200 million kilometers in space, an incredible recovery maneuver to take on board the precious pieces of extraterrestrial rock, a return to Earth too perilous as the going but successful… And you lack the right screwdriver to open it. Here is what has just happened (slightly exaggerating) to the American Space Agency.
On October 20, NASA published on his blog an update of the operation to open the precious cargo of the Osiris-Rex probe. The machine, launched in 2016, collected pieces of the asteroid Bennu using a telescopic arm. On October 21, 2020, the probe touched the ground of the asteroid for almost 6 seconds, the time to tear off a few fragments. An extraordinary success.
Since its return to Earth at the end of September 2023, the probe has already surprised experts: even outside the container, a small dose of space dust was already visible. Recovered and put under the microscope, it has for the moment demonstrated what astronomers had calculated from Earth: Bennu is made partly of water and carbon, essential pieces to the puzzle of the creation of life here on earth.
Wrong tool in the glove box
But the piece de resistance remains to come. It is inside the container that the bulk of Osiris-Rex’s catch is found, the 250 grams still isolated from the world by a box. But this is where there is a slight hiccup. The box in question, called TAGSAM, is so well sealed, and the precautions to reopen it are so great, that it remains closed for the moment.
“After several attempts, the team discovered that two of the thirty-five screws used on the TAGSAM might not be removed with the tools in Osiris-Rex’s glove box.”, thus recognized NASA. But what is this “glove box” ? This is a larger container, filled with nitrogen, into which the stubborn box was transferred. A type of aquarium, completely airtight, which should prevent the fragments from being contaminated by the earth’s atmosphere when they are recovered.
NASA The famous airtight glove box.
NASA
The famous airtight glove box.
To summarize, NASA did not place in this “glove box” the adjustable wrench needed to settle the score of two recalcitrant screws… The kind of thing that gets annoying following such an ambitious space adventure! Fortunately, this setback does not dampen the good mood of the American space agency, which expects to quickly find the right tool, even if there is a certain impatience.
NASA explains that it still recovered part of it “by sliding a pair of pliers inside” from the already unsealed area of the lid, a bit like trying to extract the contents of a poorly ajar can with a teaspoon. It’s time for new, more efficient screwdrivers to arrive in the glove box.
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#NASA #doesnt #screwdriver #open #box #fragments