Why visit the Moon once more?

A voyage to Mars can't happen for NASA unless the Moon is reclaimed.

After JFK's famous address, the US is returning to the Moon. AFP/Photo

Former US President John F. Kennedy announced his goal of sending a human to the Moon by the end of the decade in a September 12, 1962, address to the nation.

At the height of the Cold War, after the Soviet Union had launched the first satellite and placed the first man in orbit, the United States needed a significant triumph to establish its space superiority.

"Kennedy told 40,000 people at Rice University, "We choose to travel to the Moon because it's a challenge we're willing to accept and aim to win."

Sixty years later, the US is ready to dispatch Artemis, its first Moon mission. Duplicating work is useless.

Critics like Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins and Mars Society founder Robert Zubrin, who have long wanted the United States to go to Mars without stopping at the moon, have been vocal in recent years.

On the other hand, NASA insists that returning to the Moon is necessary before exploring Mars. This is the rationale behind it.

Protracted trips to space.

Unlike the brief Apollo flights, NASA's goal is to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, with missions lasting several weeks.

Prepare for a multi-year trek to Mars.

Extremely high levels of radiation are a genuine health risk in space.

Compared to the Moon, the International Space Station (ISS) operates in Low Earth Orbit, which is partially insulated from radiation by the Earth's magnetic field.

Numerous tests designed to examine the effects of this radiation on living organisms and evaluate the efficacy of an anti-radiation vest will begin with the first Artemis mission.

In addition, although resupply missions to the ISS are relatively routine, missions to the Moon, which are a thousand times further, are significantly more complicated.

NASA wants to use what's on the ground instead of transporting everything.

Moon's south pole ice includes water that can be divided into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.

Putting brand-new tools through their paces.

Furthermore, NASA hopes to test out on the Moon the technology that will eventually be used on Mars. The priority is the development of new spacesuits for use on spacewalks.

The first trip to land on the Moon, scheduled for no earlier than 2025, will use Axiom Space's design.

Also required are habitats and transportation systems, including pressurized and unpressurized vehicles for the astronauts.

Finally, NASA is developing portable nuclear fission technologies to ensure continued access to a reliable energy supply.

If issues develop, it will be much simpler to resolve them on the Moon (which can be reached in a matter of days) than on Mars (which will take at least several months to get).

Putting down roots.

Artemis relies heavily on a relay station orbiting the Moon named Gateway, which will be the first stop on the journey to Mars.

In charge of the Gateway program, Sean Fuller told AFP that all the essential equipment could be carried there in "several launches" before the crew is eventually joined to start the long trek.

"Like doing a final check at the convenience store before setting out on your journey."

Keeping one's position as China's leader.

The United States has proposed establishing a lunar colony for reasons other than beating the Chinese to Mars; the latter country plans to launch taikonauts to the Moon by 2030.

With Russia's once-proud space program now faltering, China has emerged as the United States' principal rival.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently stated in an interview, "We don't want China suddenly coming there and saying, 'This is our exclusive area.'"

Science needs to know this.

While over 400 kg of lunar rock was brought back to Earth during the Apollo missions, additional samples will allow us to learn more about the moon's origins.

Astronaut Jessica Meir told AFP, "The materials we acquired during the Apollo missions transformed how we perceive our solar system." That's something about the Artemis program, too, I believe!

She anticipates a new wave of scientific and technological advancements like the Apollo era.

 The Sun is what colour, exactly? The former astronaut at NASA says it's not yellow.

In a recent interview, a former NASA astronaut verified that the Sun is white, not yellow.

In response to a tweet from an account called "Latest in Space," astronaut Scott Kelly confirmed the information.

The dwarf star is white, but it appears yellow because of Earth's atmosphere. That's why the Sun seems white from above Earth's atmosphere: it's so far away that it's not even visible.

As reported by NASA, blue light is less likely to be scattered by Earth's atmosphere than red.

Since there isn't as much blue light as in the sky, the Sun seems yellow to the human eye.

Additionally, NASA assures us that we are shielded from x-ray and gamma-ray radiation.

More and more of the longest-wavelength red light, which occurs when sunlight travels through the outermost layers of the atmosphere, reaches our eyes. This is also why the Sun and sky look redder just before sunset.

Multiple comments were placed on the astronaut's post by curious netizens. Others were on board with this, while others were still sceptical, and some even commented sarcastically.

The man may be lying for the sake of lying. Please, does anyone else confirm this?" A doubtful user expressed curiosity.

Another user asked, "What about Earth, is it flat or globe?" to mock the flat-earthers. Because some people still hold to the idea that the Earth is flat!

One person even chimed in with an argument that human eyes have evolved to perceive green as yellow.

When asked about the green Sun, another member whose profile said he was a scientist stated, "It peaks in green, yeah." To be sure, the colours on either side contribute roughly the same amount to the white overall. Even if we could see more of the E-M spectrum, this would still be the case (roughly) so long as our visual sensitivity also peaked in the green region.

 Scientists duplicated the diamond-raining phenomenon on Uranus and Neptune.

A worldwide team of scientists replicated the "diamond rain" believed to exist in Uranus and Neptune. Greg Stewart/SLAC

It's possible that Neptune and Uranus, two giant ice planets, provide the ideal circumstances for a diamond rain. Since we can't physically visit these places to verify, we must rely on artificial atmospheres created in a lab. To test how rapidly and readily diamonds may grow in such conditions, a group of physicists utilized a vaporized form of common polymers.

The idea of diamond rain sounds entire, yet it may work. Uranus and Neptune, the ice giants of our solar system, have the ideal pressures and temperatures for this process to occur in their upper atmospheres. Diamonds result from carbon atoms sticking together in the atmosphere's middle layers. When the diamonds have grown large enough, they will fall to Earth's surface. Overheated to the point where solidity is impossible, they sublimate back into gaseous carbon atoms and rise to the surface once more.

Similar to Earth's water cycle, except with carbon and diamonds instead of water vapor and precipitation.

Unfortunately, we lack the technology to probe the atmosphere of these planets; therefore, the only method to determine whether or not these worlds rain diamonds is to attempt to duplicate the atmospheric conditions of those planets in a laboratory setting. Recently, a group of scientists succeeded in creating diamonds on the nanoscale scale in the lab, but their findings were constrained by the fact that they only worked with carbon and hydrogen.

Now, a group from the United States has The presence of oxygen, which is plentiful in the atmospheres of the ice giants, was factored in by researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

According to Siegfried Glanzer, head of SLAC's High Energy Density Division, "the earlier work was the first time that we directly saw diamond creation from any mixes." Experiments with many pure materials have been conducted since then. However, the situation is significantly more intricate within planets due to the many molecules involved. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of these new compounds.

You may remember PET plastic as a typical material for food containers and bottles was used to create the desired environment. "PET provides a nice balance between carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen to imitate the activity on ice worlds," said Dominik Kraus, a physicist at HZDR and professor at the University of Rostock.

Researchers discovered that oxygen increased the rate at which diamonds formed and simplified the process by which they did so. According to Kraus, "the effect of the oxygen was to speed the splitting of the carbon and hydrogen," which favored the creation of nanodiamonds. As a result, "carbon atoms could unite more readily to make diamonds."

It's not a replica of the ice giant's atmosphere, but it's a significant improvement over earlier attempts. That diamonds are indeed growing on those planets is hinted at by this discovery.

During their investigation, the scientists only succeeded in growing diamonds for a brief moment. Diamonds, however, would have an infinite amount of time to develop in the environments of Uranus and Neptune. Researchers claim that diamonds growing in Uranus and Neptune could weigh as much as a million carrots each.

Now you know where to look for some shiny new jewelry.

 This Sunday, September 11th, the moon will be in close proximity to the solar system's largest planet.

As of this coming Sunday (Sept. 11), Jupiter and the moon will be in conjunction, an astrological configuration when both objects share the same right ascension in the sky.

Both Jupiter and the moon will be visible in the evening sky as they pass in front of Pisces, the Fish. The moon will be around one degree to the south of Jupiter. Starting at 8:37 p.m. ET (00:37 GMT on September 12), the moon and Jupiter will be visible in conjunction from New York City, at a height of about seven degrees above the eastern horizon. (About 10 degrees in the sky is equal to a fist held at arm's length.)

On Sunday, September 12 at 1:57 a.m. ET (05:47 GMT), the conjunction will be 49 degrees above the southern horizon, its highest point in the sky. Moon and Jupiter will remain visible until 6:13 a.m. EST (10:13 GMT), when they will be lost in the morning twilight at 19 degrees above the western horizon.

Moon and Jupiter will be too far apart in the sky for this conjunction to be seen in the telescope's field of vision. Due to this, the conjunction on Sunday can be observed with the naked eye or binoculars. To better observe the conjunction, clear, dark sky are recommended.

In the night sky, the moon zips from constellation to constellation at the rate of about once every month, making it the fastest moving object in the universe. Jupiter's orbit is far more leisurely, taking it across around one constellation per year.

As the fifth planet in our solar system's planetary order, Jupiter is approximately 484,000,000 miles from our star. In addition to being the brightest object in the night sky over Earth, it is also the largest planet in the solar system.

It would take around 1,300 'Earths' to fill Jupiter's volume, therefore if our own planet can hold around 50 moons, then Jupiter could theoretically fit around 65,000 moons within its volume.

If Earth were the size of a grape, NASA estimates that 11 Earths would be needed to encircle Jupiter, while the moon would be approximately the size of a garden pea.

Jupiter, which is mostly made up of gas, is so huge that it is thought to be more than twice as heavy as all the other planets in the solar system put together.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is visible to the naked eye from Earth at twilight and shines brighter than even Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Yet, despite this, Jupiter is still fainter than Venus.

If it weren't for how close they are to Jupiter, we'd be able to see their four largest moons, Ganymede, Europa, Io, and Callisto, with the naked eye.

Binoculars or a small telescope can reveal the white disc of Jupiter, and the bigger of the planet's more than seventy-five moons.

Jupiter's surface is banded with distinct stripes and swirls, which can be seen with a more powerful instrument or a closer look. Ammonia and water vapour clouds and winds are swirling in the gas giant planet's primarily hydrogen and helium-based atmosphere.

There are other large storms on Jupiter's surface, but the "big Red Spot" is the most famous. This hurricane has been raging for nearly a century and is so far embedded in Jupiter's atmosphere that it might consume the entire planet.

The moon and planets come into conjunction with one another around once a month at roughly the same time. Next month, on the evening of October 8 and morning of October 9, the moon will be in conjunction with Jupiter.

See our recommendations for the best binoculars and telescopes to observe the next moon-Jupiter conjunction. See what we think are the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography if you want to take pictures of Jupiter or the moon.

 Life in space is partially shielded by artificial gravity.

Astronauts' health may be compromised by the harsh environments they encounter on missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA researches the effects of space on "model organisms," or other forms of life that are biologically comparable to humans, to prepare for future long-duration missions. This includes studying the impacts of changes in gravity, radiation, and other factors. Recent research on fruit flies on the ISS indicates that space travel affects the central nervous system but that artificial gravity mitigates some negative effects.

"Microgravity puts the central nervous system at risk, suggesting that countermeasures may be needed for long-duration space travel," said Dr. Janani Iyer, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) project scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley and co-author on the paper published today in Cell Reports. To ensure the safety of future explorers as we return to the Moon and Mars, we must find ways to mitigate the negative consequences of microgravity. Studies like this are crucial to understanding how astronauts adjust to life on Earth after spending time in space.

Since fruit flies are so similar to human beings, they make great research subjects. Much of what happens at the molecular and cellular levels in humans also occurs in flies. Since around 75% of human disease-causing genes are also found in fruit flies, studying them can shed light on how the space environment might affect human health. Similarly, a fly only lives for around two months and can breed twice. Scientists can learn more about the flies' biology in a shorter time because the three weeks the flies spend in space is similar to about three decades of a human's existence.

Knowing the Seriousness of the Predicament.

In this experiment, researchers used the Multi-use Variable-gravity Platform (MVP), a new piece of hardware capable of housing flies in varying gravity levels, to send fruit flies on a month-long voyage to the International Space Station. When the flies were living and reproducing in this apparatus, they could feed on fresh food. The MVP's use of individual containers made it possible to keep together generations of fruit flies that had previously been kept apart. One set of fruit flies on the space station experienced microgravity the same way humans do. The centrifuge, an apparatus that spins to simulate gravity, was used to expose another group to artificial gravity on the space station, simulating the force of Earth's gravity. Cameras installed in the station's hardware captured the "flyonauts" antics while in orbit. Some of the flies were frozen at various times and sent back to Earth so that researchers could examine the expression of genes at those times.

To continue their research, scientists at Ames sent the fruit flies back to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, down in the Pacific Ocean. Scientists at Ames worked nonstop for two days to sort the flies and conduct behavioral and metabolic testing as soon as they arrived. Data from "flyonauts" were compared to that from a group of flies that remained on Earth as a control experiment.

This was the first study to consider space's effects on the neurological system holistically. The researchers studied fly behavior by watching them move around in their natural environment, analyzing cellular changes in the fly brain, determining the effects of gene expression variations on the nervous system, and other methods. A wide variety of changes were detected, some of which could be seen immediately by examining the footage from the cameras installed in the MVP's storage areas. In contrast, others necessitated additional investigation once the craft had returned to Earth. Flying behavior and the ability to rise the following landing were the characteristics examined. After landing, the flies tested their abilities by tapping on the top of their container, eliciting the insect's natural response of climbing higher. Despite being more active in microgravity than in the artificial Earth gravity, flies had trouble with this climbing test after returning to Earth.

Neurological alterations in flies exposed to microgravity were discovered through further study upon their return to Earth. Flies exposed to artificial gravity in space aged differently as they readjusted to life on Earth following their journey. They had difficulties analogous to microgravity-bound flies, albeit on a milder scale.

Creating a Foundation for Future Research.

This study's findings, which demonstrate that spaceflight produces stress in the fly cells, also suggest that this stress has deleterious behavioral and neurological effects and alterations in gene expression in the fly brain. While prolonged exposure to microgravity in space presents serious health risks, artificial gravity can mitigate the effects of this condition on a fruit fly's nervous system in the short term.

These findings cannot be extrapolated to the human experience of long-term space travel due to the significant biological differences between fruit flies and humans (despite some shared genetic material). Still, they pave the way for future research into protecting astronauts from the effects of shifting gravity on their bodies.

Dr. Siddhita Mhatre, a senior scientist at KBR Wyle in Ames and co-author of the paper, said, "With the upcoming long-duration deep space missions, where astronauts will be exposed to varying levels of gravity, it is imperative that we understand the impacts of altered gravity on the neurological function." Possible future mission extensions are possible if artificial gravity can be used to postpone space-related deficits. And flies in space with astronauts will aid in our ongoing efforts to keep astronauts healthy.

 The secrets of the planet's past may be revealed through new photos of its ancient waterways.

              Mars Express' April photograph of Holden Basin. ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

The minerals in the formerly water-rich Holden Basin may have once supported life.

Impressive pictures of the Holden Basin on Mars were taken by the European Space Agency's Mars Express probe. This region is important for the ongoing hunt for life on the Red Planet. The pictures and additional research into the area may show how water formerly moved across Mars' surface.

The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express obtained this close-up view of the Holden Basin on April 24, 2022. It reveals the geological features of the former water reservoir close to the Holden Crater, which is almost 95 miles (150 kilometers) wide.

The Uzi-Ladon-Morava (ULM) outflow system on Mars' southern hemisphere comprises several channels and sinks, including the Holden Basin. Because researchers believe this system formerly drained as much as 9% of the water on Mars, it has become a crucial target for Mars orbiters like Mars Express.

Liquid water would have flowed via channels that drain into the Argyre Planitia before Mars lost its water around 4 billion years ago, probably due to the Martian atmosphere being stripped by strong solar radiation, which caused water vapor to "leak" into space.

Water would have flowed past the region currently designated by the Holden Crater — which was constructed later in the planet's history — via the valley known as the "Uzboi Vallis," which is 1,100 miles wide (1,770 km) and descends as deep as 3.2 miles (5.2 km).

Then, after gathering in the Holden Basin, water would have flowed via the Ladon Valles, an ancient series of river valleys that leads to the 274 miles (440 km) wide Ladon Basin.

A significant crater can be seen in the new image to the south of the basin, and the basin's walls have a gentle incline that descends to a depth of about 5,000 feet (about 1,500 meters) below the surrounding Martian surface.

Where water would have flowed from this reservoir to the Ladon Valles is visible on the northeastern border of the Holden Basin. The image shows scarring and uneven topography that was probably produced by melting water ice beneath the Martian surface.

There is a prospect of life wherever there is water.

According to experience with our planet, the European Space Agency (ESA) stated in a statement(opens in new tab) that water and life are inextricably linked. Scientists are eager to find out if Mars experienced the same situation billions of years ago.

The phyllosilicate mineral, which contains clays produced by the interaction of rock and water, is present in Ladon Valles and Holden Basin soils. These clays have been associated with the beginnings of life on Earth. These areas contain phyllosilicates in layered deposits that would have served as a reaction hub for the organic compounds that made up terrestrial life. Scientists are quite interested in the area because of this.

When debris ejected by the impact fell back to the planet's surface and filled the older Holden Basin, which had been created by an earlier impact in the planet's history, Holden Crater most likely developed as a result of an ancient asteroid hit.

Scientists assume that the Holden Crater must have originated after the ULM system dried up since it lacks any indication that water ever flowed through it.

The Holden Crater was considered a prospective landing location for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers due to its geological significance and potential to contain signs of ancient life. However, Gale Crater and Jezero Crater ultimately won out.

The region is currently being thoroughly examined by Mars Express, mapping the Martian surface and atmosphere from the planet's orbit since 2003.

In earlier photos of the Holden Basin, Martian winds had created ridges and grooves, ancient rivers, impact craters, lava lakes, and volcanoes.

 This is the new, highly regarded theory.

How did the Moon come to be? There are several possibilities, but a new one seems to be gaining ground now. These are the main findings of this new study.

The universe's beginning has been the subject of extensive research. More specifically, because it is closer to the Earth, a unique path has been taken to the creation of what interests us. The Moon, a satellite traveling with our planet for millions of years, is the best illustration of this. What was the source of the mass discovered in our orbit? There are still many unexplored areas, yet a new idea might invalidate all of the existing studies.

The Earth, which was then very different from what it is now, was thought to have been struck by Theia, an element smaller than a planet like Mars. Due to this cause, a significant amount of land mass ultimately rebounded, emerging from the atmosphere itself. The gravitational pull He kept putting the pieces together until he had the Moon. Furthermore, this phenomenon can happen in a relatively short amount of time. Possibly less than 100 years old. Is there room for other theories and solutions? There is, in fact, a new version.

Let's look at the final alternative being considered for the development of the lunar satellite, the reasons it is a novel hypothesis that might make sense in the future, and of course, the amount to which it is scientifically viable. There is no doubt that the scientific community will continue to dispute the Moon. Even though it has been extensively investigated, there are still several mysteries.

The answer may lie in the examination of meteorites found in the 2000s.

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) has examined this regard, according to the data provided by Wired. Patrizia Will, a Ph.D. student, has ordered it. The study of a total of 6 meteorites that fell in Antarctica at the beginning of this century has been used to support the new hypothesis. What has been learned thus far? Here are the essential components of this newly developed alternative.

It was feasible to confirm how helium and neon, which were materials trapped in small glass beads, were found in these meteorites, according to the official inquiry published in the scientific journal Science. Oddly, this kind of proposition might have been created during volcanic eruptions on the lunar surface as magma was drawn out of the Moon's innards. Therefore, it would be a novel explanation that altered how the Moon's genesis was perceived.

One of the research's findings is the same composition of the rocks found on Earth and the Moon. However, a discernible distinction is specifically connected to the satellite's decreased chlorine content. This may imply that a violent incident may have divided a piece of immense size, resulting in the emergence of these 2 forms inside the Solar System.

A mass spectrometer was used to make this discovery possible. This is nothing more than a meter that can distinguish between the various weights of molecules, allowing one to ascertain the chemical composition of an object. This significant development might inspire more investigation into the Moon's creation.