Science

Every second, 100 trillion tiny particles called “neutrinos” pass through your skin. Nearly all of these particles can penetrate your skin without interfering. These particles are extremely difficult to detect by physicists due to their shyness.

A Russian experiment was conducted deep below the Caucasus Mountains. Physicists found additional evidence, which was published on June 9, in two papers. They also discovered that some of the current theories of neutrinos are out of date. If the experiment is correct, it could reveal a rare type of neutrino which could fly further under the radar. This could explain why, the dark matter that forms most of the universe, is not visible to us.

“It is probably, in my opinion, one of most important results neutrino physics has seen, at least in recent five years,” stated Ben Jones (a neutrino physicist at Texas at Arlington), who was not involved in this experiment.

The case involving the misbehaving neutrinos

Neutrinos, like other creatures from an extraterrestrial plane, react to their physical surroundings very sparingly. They don’t exhibit electromagnetism due to their zero electric charge. They also do not participate in strong nuclear interactions, which help bind particles together at the heart of atoms.

However, neutrinos can play a role in weak nuclear forces. According to the Standard Model (the theoretical framework that provides the foundation for modern particle Physics), certain radioactivity types are caused by the weaker nuclear force

The majority of neutrinos seen on Earth were created by radioactive reactions in the sun. Scientists use neutrino observatories either under the sea or buried below the planet’s surface to watch these. It is difficult to check if neutrino detectors function properly so physicists calibrate their equipment by placing certain radioactive elements (such as chromium-51) near the planet’s crust.

Researchers began to notice an oddity as neutrino theory gained momentum in the 1990s. They found that there were fewer neutrinos in some experiments when they calibrated the detectors. This was contrary to theoretical particle Physics.

In 1997 at Los Alamos National Labs in New Mexico scientists from Russia and the USA set up a tank that contained gallium. Gallium is a metal that melts on a hot summer day. The elements’ atoms absorb the neutrinos as they strike gallium. This transformed gallium to germanium, which is a kind of reversed radioactive decay. To determine the number of neutrinos that had passed through the tank’s germanium, physicists measured it.

Los Alamos found too many galliums and too few neutrinos in their system when they tested it using chromium-51. This defect was called the “gallium anomaly”.

Experts have been studying the gallium anomaly since then and have come up with a tentative explanation. Particle physicists have discovered that neutrinos can be classified into three flavors: electron neutrinos (muon neutrinos), and tau neutrinos (tau neutrinos), each of which plays a different role in the dance of the quantum world. It is possible for neutrinos to switch between flavors under certain conditions. These shifts are known as “neutrino oscillations”.

This led to an interesting possibility: neutrinos could have been missing from the gallium anomaly due to their jumping into another hidden flavor that is even less reactive to physical reality. The category was named by physicists: sterile neutrinos.

Although the sterile neutrino story was a concept, it gained support. Around the same period, physicists from Los Alamos as well as the Fermilab in suburb Chicago began to observe neutrino oscillations. They found discrepancies between the expected number of neutrinos for each flavor and what actually happened.

Based on new data, the Large Hadron Collider experiment published updated results. The expectations were very close to reality, according to analyses. These types of irregular movements are due to random fluctuations of data. These irregularities are indicative that there is more to be done once the new stream has been created. Here are some examples of the recent compact-muon solenoid collaboration.

Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) reported a stunning collision with four-particle aircraft at the end of 2017. Each jet had an invariant mass of 8 TeV. It was possible to split the jets into two groups with a mass of 1.9 TeV. By colliding with proton beams, a new particle could be created with a mass of 8 TeV. This new particle would then decompose into a pair of 1.9 TeV masses. Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) has published a revised analysis. It seeks twin pairs with identical mass invariant masses. This analysis is based on data from LHC Run 2. Surprisingly another event with striking properties was also found, with 4-jet masses of 8.6 TeV and 2.15 TeV. Below is a plot of these events. It plots 4-jet events as a function of 2-jet and 4-jet mass.

While strong interactions between colliding photons most likely cause two-pair events, it’s rare to observe events that have high invariant masses. This means that 1 in 20 000 people will see these events without any new phenomena. This corresponds with a local significance of 3.9s. Although it may seem intense, this signal is essential to be considered global. It is indicative of the possibility of seeing excesses in any given region. The events have a global significance of 1.6

Two other searches found new heavy particles. They found small excesses in the data. High mass resonances refer to those that decay into W bosons which then decay into Leptons. A signal hypothesis that weighs 650 GeV is considered the highest deviation. It has a global significance and local significance of 2.5s. When looking for heavy particles which decay into a pair WW or WZ of bosons, the data diverge in two areas. These bosons decay into pairs or jets. The signal hypothesis could be either a 2.1- or 2.9% TeV W’ boson, which then decays into a pair of WZ couples. The local significance is highest at 3.6s and the global significance is at 2.3%.

Another result was obtained by searching for Higgs boson particles converting into tau pairs. Data shows that there is a slight excess for a new particle of 100 GeV Mass. It has a global significance of 3.1s to 2.7s. This excess coincides with the one Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) saw in a prior search to find low-mass resonances for the two-photon final state. It is pretty interesting. Another example is high-mass. This excess has the largest deviation from the expectation of a mass of 1.25 TeV, and a global (locally) significance of 2.28s.

The final state of the tau pair was used to search for new particles called leptoquarks. This is important because the LHCb experiment revealed flavor anomalies. This would allow us to see the anomalies from a new perspective if indeed they are the manifestations of new phenomena. Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) has not been found excessive, but analysis of leptoquark parameters is just beginning to reveal the possible explanations for flavor anomalies. Further data are needed to confirm the leptoquark hypothesis.

LHC will be starting a new data-taking period in July with a higher energy level and upgraded detectors. This new stream of data will support searches for new phenomena

Germany must decrease consumption of natural gas and increase coal-burning to fill gas storage facilities next winter, Robert Habeck, German Economy Minister, announced Sunday. This announcement comes as Germany moves away from lower Russian gas supplies.

Habeck stated that it is a critical situation. They are taking further steps to decrease consumption and strengthen their precautions. Gas consumption must drop further. However, more gas must be stored to prevent winter from getting really tight.

Germany relies majorly on Moscow’s gas for powering its houses and heavy industry. However, it has been able to reduce Moscow’s imports to 35% which was 55% prior to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War.

Habeck stated that supply security is currently assured despite a “worsened market situation” in the gas markets in recent times. Habeck stated that soaring prices were Putin’s strategy to “unsettle us”, drive up costs, and divide us.”

He said that they won’t allow that and are decisively fighting back. He stated further that they are doing so thoughtfully and precisely.

Germany is planning to end energy production that is coal-fueled. However, Habeck, in the center-left coalition, announced that it would return to power plants that are coal-fired, reducing the consumption of gas for the production of electricity.

They have a substitute reserve that they will call upon, Habeck stated. He said that although it is bitter, it is quite essential in this kind of situation to lessen gas usage.

Rules for Storing Gas

As per the press release, Habeck’s ministry has begun to prepare an auction model of gas in encouraging industrial gas consumers to conserve gas. Habeck stated that industry was key to reducing gas consumption.

German legislators passed a gas storage law in March. It stipulates that storage facilities for the gas should be nearly full during the initial period of the heating to ensure winter safety.

According to law, the following are the minimum filling levels: Storage facilities must be full by October 1, November 1, 90, and February 1, still 40 percent.

Germany’s Gas storage tanks are currently at 56%. This is despite storage levels being at an all-time low at the start of the year.

We must, and will, do all we can in order to store as many gases as possible during the summer and fall. Storage facilities of gas should be fully stocked for winter. This is our utmost priority, Habeck stated.

Putin threatened in March, to reduce gas deliveries in “unfriendly” nations that denied to pay in rubles as an alternative to the dollars or euros stipulated in contracts.

Gazprom, Russia’s state energy giant, has provided customers with a solution since then. Customers could pay in dollars or euros to Russia’s Gazprombank. The bank would transform the funds into rubles, and then transfer the money to Russia.

However, several European companies including Shell Energy have not followed through, prompting Gazprom in June to cut off natural gas deliveries to Shell’s German customers.

The flow was cut through Gazprom’s Nord Stream 1 pipeline which is a major route linking Russia’s gas and Germany – for the additional consecutive day on Thursday. This sent prices skyrocketing.

The energy giant of Russia stated it cut gas deliveries due to delays by Siemens Energy in returning of turbines that needed repairing.

Siemens had taken the turbines from its Canadian factory for maintenance. He said on Tuesday, that it was not possible to return their equipment back to Russia due to sanctions Canada imposed on the country after its attack on Ukraine.

Habeck responded to Gazprom’s announcement by saying that the reason for announcing further cuts in gas supply to Europe was just an excuse to increase prices.

Particle physicists wowed the globe a decade ago. The Higgs boson, a massive, transient particle essential to their enigmatic explanation of how other fundamental particles acquire their mass, was discovered on July 4, 2012, according to 6000 researchers working with the largest atom-smashing machine in the world, the Large Hadron Collider, at the European particle physics laboratory. The discovery propelled scientists into the public eye, finalized the standard model theory, and confirmed a 45-year-old forecast.

Then there was the extended hangover. Physicists were concerned that the 27-kilometer-long ring-shaped Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which began collecting data in 2010, would only create the Higgs and nothing else, giving no clue as to what lay beyond the standard model. So far, the worst-case scenario has come to pass. Barry Barish, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology, admits, “It’s a little disheartening.” “I thought we’d find supersymmetry,” says the standard model’s leading extension.

Many physicists believe it is too early to be depressed. After three years of modifications, the Large hadron collider is finally ready for the three of five scheduled runs, and among the billions of proton-proton collisions it will generate every second, a new particle could emerge. In reality, the Large hadron collider should be able to run for another sixteen years and collect 16 times as much data as it already does with subsequent upgrades. All of these data could point to the presence of new particles and phenomena.

However, some physicists believe that collider physics is doomed. “If they don’t find anything, this field will die,” Juan Collar, a physicist at the University of Chicago who searches for dark matter in smaller experiments, says. Expectations of an immediate breakthrough have given way to the prospect of a long, uncertain journey toward discovery, according to John Ellis, a theorist at King’s College London. “It’ll be like extracting teeth rather than teeth coming out.”

The standard model has been battling with physicists since the 1970s. Ordinary matter, according to this theory, is made up of lightweight particles called up quarks and down quarks, which connect in trios to form protons and neutrons, as well as electrons and featherweight particles known as electron neutrinos. In particle collisions, two sets of heavier particles linger in the vacuum, waiting to be shot into life. The photon carries the electromagnetic force, the strong force binds quarks via the gluon, and the weak force is carried by the hefty W and Z bosons.

Everything scientists have seen at particle colliders so far is described by the standard model. It cannot, however, be the final hypothesis of nature. It excludes the force of gravity, as well as unexplained, unseen dark matter, which appears to outnumber regular matter six to one in the cosmos.

That was supposed to be broken by the LHC. The LHC is able to create particles that are too large to be created anywhere else because the protons in its ring clash at an energy that are roughly seven times higher than at any previous collider. Many physicists imagined finding new force-carrying particles or perhaps mini–black holes in a matter of years a decade ago. “In supersymmetric particles, one would drown,” says Beate Heinemann, director of particle physics at DESY in Germany. Physicists thought that finding the Higgs boson would take longer.

Instead, the Higgs was discovered in just three years, thanks to the fact that it is less massive than many scientists thought, weighing roughly 133 times the mass of a proton, making it easier to make. No other new particle has been discovered in the ten years since that ground-breaking discovery.

NASA has announced that two astronauts from International Space Station (ISS), will perform a spacewalk outside of the station in a new development. This spacewalk will be used to prepare hardware for new solar panels that will be installed as part of the ongoing power system upgrade at the Hubble Telescope. This article will provide all the details about the spacewalk. NASA will also live stream the event online.

International Space Station (ISS) running, NASA will be bolstering its power upgrade program with the help of two astronomers. They will be performing a spacewalk on Wednesday in order to replace an external battery charger. This upgrade is necessary due to the age of the ISS and the growing demand for power from the various modules.

Two NASA astronauts will conduct the spacewalk from the ISS on Tuesday. Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and others will participate in the U.S. EVA number 79 spacewalk. They will continue to work on improving the station’s power systems. NASA has informed that the spacewalk will take place over six hours.

What does this mean for the station?

NASA has announced that it will be bolstering the International Space Station’s power upgrade program with the addition of two new astronauts. These astronauts, Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold will perform a spacewalk on Wednesday in order to help install additional batteries and cables. The station currently relies on solar power for energy, but these upgrades will help to ensure that the station can continue to operate safely and effectively into the future. This is good news for the station, as it means that its power supply will be improved and its functionality increased.

What can you expect from the spacewalk? How do you live to stream it?

They will be installing brackets, struts, and other components to allow for future solar arrays to be added outside the space station. NASA TV will live to stream Tuesday’s spacewalk. NASA TV will stream the entire spacewalk live from your home. You can also watch the embedded video by going to the NASA website. NASA has set the spacewalk for March 15th at 4:00 p.m. IST (3:30 a.m. PT). The spacewalk will begin at 8:05 AM. ET (8:35 p.m IST)

This power upgrade is sorely needed; the ISS has been in operation since 1998, and its power systems are starting to show their age. The new batteries and wiring will help to improve the station’s energy efficiency, as well as its overall performance. In addition, this upgrade will help prepare the ISS for future missions, including crewed flights to Mars.

When will the spacewalk take place?

The two astronauts, Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer will perform the spacewalk outside the ISS on Wednesday. This is a major milestone in NASA’s efforts to upgrade the power system on the ISS. The astronauts will replace an obsolete power control unit with a new one, and they will also install a new adapter cable. This spacewalk is expected to last for about six hours.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover captured a close-up photo of a small, flower-like mineral deposit that is located on Mars. The image of the mineral flower was taken by the Curiosity rover. It bears some resemblances to living organisms. It isn’t alive, however. Curiosity Rover captured this image near the AeolisMons (Mount Sharp), a martian mountain that forms the central peak of the Gale crater. The above was taken on February 25, 2022. You can find the official release here.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has photographed a Martian surface rock that appears to be flower-like. The image was taken on January 5, 2019, and was shared by the rover’s Twitter account. The rock is about 2 inches wide and is located in the “Rocknest” area of Gale Crater. This is not the first time that a flower-like rock has been spotted on Mars; in 2012, the Opportunity rover photographed a rock nicknamed ” jellyfish.

In a recently released photograph by NASA’s Curiosity Rover, a small, flower-like rock can be seen on the Martian surface. The rock is only about 6 inches wide and is located in the Marias Pass region of M. Initial speculation is that the rock may have been formed by an ancient riverbed, as the Marias Pass region is known to have been very watery in the past.

Curiosity Rover:

Curiosity launched on Nov. 26, 2011, and landed in Gale Crater, on Aug. 6, 2012. It continues to explore the Martian surface and provide valuable information to researchers. Curiosity has spent more than 2,800 Sols (Martian days) on Mars, taken over 700,000 raw photos, and covered 14 miles of the planet’s surface. Curiosity has a radioisotope energy system. This system generates electricity from the radioactive decay heat of plutonium.

NASA states that this power source has outlived its operational life expectancy of at least one Martian-year or 687 Earth days. Curiosity’s eight-year tenure on Mars is proof of its design.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has photographed a strange, flower-like rock on the Martian surface. The rover’s Mastcam took the photograph of the rock on January 24, 2019. The rock is about 2 feet wide and has delicate petals that curve inward. Scientists are still trying to figure out what the rock is and how it formed. Scientists believe that the rock may have been formed by an ancient river or stream.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has photographed a Martian surface rock that has been interpreted as looking like a flower. This latest discovery is just one more exciting example of the many wonders that continue to be uncovered by the rover as it roams across the Martian surface. The images of the flower-like rock were taken on March 18, 2015, and were subsequently published online by NASA on April 6, 2015.

Would you trust your doctor’s prescriptions to be objective if they worked for a pharmaceutical company? As a result of a series of prescription drug scandals, this question has become more prevalent in the medical community.

An analogous relationship is possible in the agriculture industry. Many of the “prescriptions” that agricultural advisors must sign for chemical pesticides or other products are signed by the same companies that produce and sell them.

Advisors and farmers are often in a mutually beneficial relationship. This relationship can lead to tension as farmers may question advisors’ motives. Advisors then have to debate with farmers about the best course of action. Both are not necessarily to blame. The system is the problem.

Some countries, like France, have taken steps to separate the advisor from the agrichemical business, but there is little talk about that happening in North America. There is a way to strengthen and repair these relationships without additional regulation.

We are seeing an important side effect as agriculture integrates technology and enhanced analytics. Independent technology companies have been collecting farm data which is helping farmers to see eye-to-eye.

Good intentions. Bad optics

Let me start by saying that there are many amazing agricultural advisors, and most of them play an essential role in the lives of farmers.

Advisors can be divided into three categories: Independent advisors who are independent and own their own businesses as well as in-house advisors who work on behalf of the farm.

The advisor is often included in a package when a farmer buys seeds or chemicals from a retailer. Many farmers appreciate the advice. These advisors are often called upon by farmers to obtain prescriptions for pesticides.

This relationship works well for many. Farmers swear by their advisors, which I have seen. There is also the risk of subtle misalignment between agendas, which can lead to unintended consequences, such as overspray. A survey of 540 advisors found that those associated with chemical companies were less likely to recommend lower pesticide doses. Overspray can lead to a cascading effect, from possible environmental damage to increased resistance and unneeded costs for farmers.

Instead of blaming anyone, it’s important to point out what is missing in the equation: reliable data that can be used to make collaborative decisions.

Advisors are able to bring years of experience and extensive training into the field. Farmers, on the other hand, are able to see and sense their field’s challenges and conditions better than anyone. The only thing that is lacking is an objective source of truth on which to base your decisions.

It doesn’t have that way.

Researchers from The University of Manchester were able to create a transuranium compound where the central metal, here called neptunium forms multiple bonds to one element. This breakthrough is crucial for the clean-up of nuclear waste.

Report in the journal Nature Chemistry that a team of researchers from The University Manchester and the European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe successfully created and characterized the long-awaited transuranium chemical bonds scenario in an isolable substance.

With decades of extensive research, the study of multiple metal-element bond interactions is a huge area of chemistry research. It has been a long-standing field of chemistry research that has sought to understand chemical bonds, reactivity, and separations applications. There is a lot of interest in understanding covalency in chemical bonding in extraction studies. This could help in the separation and cleanup of nuclear waste.

However, while multiple metal-element bond investigations are well documented across the Periodic Table up to uranium (the heaviest element to naturally occur in significant amounts), investigations involving transuranium components, which are elements that come to the following uranium on the Periodic Table, such as neptunium have been limited due to the necessity to perform work on radioactive elements in specialist facilities.

Due to the limited experimental work in transuranium-element multiple bonds, there is little knowledge transfer from these fundamental studies into potential separations applications.

Examples of transuranium-element multiple bonds chemistry have been found. These include two or more elements multiple bonds to a transuranium Ion to allow for sufficient stabilization to allow isolation of the compounds. These linkages cannot be examined in isolation due to the presence of multiple bonded elements. This complicates their analysis. It has not been possible to access transuranium compounds with only one multiple bond to an element stable enough to isolate. This makes it difficult to experimentally verify or disprove theoretical predictions.

The researchers were able to prepare a complex that contained a neptunium-oxygen ion and multiple bonds to one oxygen atom using specialist handling equipment. It was important to carefully design the supporting, cage-like organic binding framework that included four stabilizing nitrogen donors as well as a large silicon-based flanking group to help protect the neptunium oxygen bond and allow for its isolation.

The researchers extended their prior work on uranium to neptunium and were able to make previously impossible comparisons. They were surprised to discover that the neptuniumoxygen complex has greater covalent chemical bonding than an isostructural-uraniumoxygen complex. This is the opposite of predictions and highlights the difficulty in making predictions in this area.

The research was coordinated by Professor Steve Liddle (Co-Director of The University of Manchester’s Centre for Radiochemistry). He stated that the work was possible because of the collaboration between international specialists and the talents of the researchers involved in the study.

This was difficult work experimentally. It would not have been possible without three leading institutions combining their strengths to embrace our interdisciplinarity research approach. But it has been crucial because this work already highlights how predictions can easily be broken down in this complex area. This shows how important it is to experiment and test theories in order to establish benchmarks for the future.

Through the study of metal-element multiple bonds, thorium and molecular uranium chemistry have made great strides in recent years. However, transuranium science is still far behind because of the difficulties of working with these elements experimentally. This research shows that transuranium analogs can now be studied more widely, which opens up new opportunities for actinide science.

AI systems are being utilized to tackle both minor and major issues on both Earth and beyond. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence hold great potential to increase space travel prospects in great strides. From offering personal support to astronauts to assisting us in better understanding the Sun, here are several ways AI can aid in space travel. We’re still a considerable distance from a real-life R2D2, but AI-powered virtual assistants that can help astronauts are presently being developed. One recently created AI assistant can detect threats and dangers in extended space trips by monitoring changes in the spacecraft’s environment, such as rising carbon dioxide levels, etc. These mechanical helpers can notify the crew of sensor discrepancies and other concerns that need to be inspected. Similarly, a comparable AI helper known as Cimon reached the International Space Station in 2019 and will “live” there for 3 years.

Cimon will be put to the test to see if it can lessen the stress of astronauts by completing duties that are assigned to it. If you will, consider it an interstellar butler. Furthermore, NASA is creating Robonaut, an AI robot that will operate alongside astronauts in the harsh conditions of space, and even undertake tasks that are perhaps too risky for humans to complete. Studying the Sun is a particularly difficult task. According to NASA, solar telescopes deteriorate fast owing to strong levels of energy, and a “never-ending shower of solar particles.” Several researchers are employing artificial intelligence to advance solar studies. AI can assist scientists to guarantee that the data they need to study the Sun is still correct and allows them to readjust their telescopes regularly to preserve data quality. As a result, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has been continuously monitoring the Sun since 2010, obtaining photographs spanning 10 wavelengths, every 12 seconds.

They use machine learning and artificial intelligence to evaluate how much deterioration is affecting the telescopes’ current photos, and how much calibration is required. This leads to a far better knowledge of our universe’s most crucial star. Exploring the great beyond necessitates preparing for a slew of unknowns. As astronauts go to places where few, if any, have gone before, they must rely on limited knowledge gained from previous research or space flights. This data may be sparse and difficult to get a hold of. AI is now being used by mission planning teams to make gathering knowledge together from previous excursions an easier process.

One AI helper is already in place to speed up the process of developing a preliminary mission concept. Daphne is also an intelligent helper used in the construction of Earth observation satellite systems. AI has an obvious potential to cut the number of man-hours necessary to construct a mission plan, as well as to swiftly gather knowledge and comments. Space, as it were, is running out of space. There are roughly 34,000 items larger than 10 cm in size that potentially endangers existing space infrastructures, triggering accidents or otherwise destabilizing space operations. Using “collision avoidance maneuver designs,” machine learning is assisting in avoiding potential collisions with space junk. The AI performs sophisticated calculations to determine the optimal course for a satellite or spacecraft to take in order to escape incoming debris. These models can assist in increasing safety as well as the maintaining of satellites in orbit for extended periods of time.

Satellites generate so much information that scientists and academics can’t possibly analyze all of it in real-time. AI can assist by creating reports that have a genuine influence on Earth’s life. For example, AI may utilize satellite data to predict heat retention of buildings or meteorological information to improve the ability to estimate wind speeds more accurately. AI can also assist scientists in determining when satellites need to be recalled for repair, detecting issues or malfunctioning, and forecasting overall performance. AI is expected to play a bigger role in the form of software rather than hardware, hence, unfortunately, a humanoid assistant from the movie Alien: Covenant is unlikely to be a reality any time soon.

With commercial space travel becoming a more common reality, companies are anticipated to employ AI systems for purposes such as customer service in outer space, passenger onboarding, etc. As with the development of most technologies, space exploration is also expected to play a catalyst in the advancement of artificial intelligence as well as machine learning. Space agencies around the world are increasingly taking assistance from private space firms for various tasks such as launches, spacecraft assembly & design, alternative fuel tech, space equipment, food technology, etc. As a consequence of private players collaborating with public agencies, there has been a significant increase in the rate of advancement of all facets of the space industry.

On Tuesday, Nasa has temporarily delayed a scheduled space mission for 2 astronauts, outside the International Space Station, fearing a “debris notice” that was issued to the orbiting research laboratory. Astronauts Thomas Marshburn, as well as Kayla, were scheduled to leave the space station to repair a failing antenna, despite what Nasa officials described as a slightly higher danger posed by junk from a Russian anti-satellite missile launch weeks earlier. However, approx. 5 hours before the spacewalk was scheduled to begin, Nasa announced on Twitter that the spacewalk had been postponed for the time being. NASA received a notification that the space station had been hit by debris.  Teams have chosen to postpone the Nov. 30 spacewalk, until additional information is available due to not being able to adequately analyze this danger as it may cause harm to the astronauts.

It was unclear how near the debris came to the space station, which is approximately orbiting 250 miles (402 kilometers) above the Earth, and whether it was connected to the Russian missile launch. Nasa TV had intended to broadcast live footage of the 6-hour spacewalk, which was set to begin at 7.10 Am., ET (12.10 GMT). Their mission was to repair a malfunctioning S-band radio communications antenna component that had been in place for more than 20 years, as well as replace it with a new one stored outside of the space station. The faulty antenna recently lost its ability to transmit messages to Earth. Even though other antennas on the space station can serve the same role, mission managers chose to install a replacement.

Marshburn was supposed to collaborate with Barron while placed at the end of a robotic arm, controlled from within the station by European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, with assistance from American Crewmate Raja Chari. The 4 reached the space station on November 11 in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where they joined 2 Russian cosmonauts as well as a Nasa astronaut, who are now all currently on board. As per Nasa, 4 days later, a Russian anti-satellite missile test performed without notice caused a debris field in the Low-Earth Orbit, with all 7 members of the crew seeking refuge in their docked spacecraft to enable for a speedy escape, until the immediate threat had passed.

As per Dana Weigel, Nasa’s deputy manager for the International Space Station, the cloud of debris has subsequently dissipated. However, Weigel told reporters on Monday that residual shards posed a “slightly enhanced” background danger to the space station overall, as well as a 7% higher chance of spacewalker suits being perforated, compared to previous missile launch by Russia. She stated that Nasa has yet to completely calculate the increased risks presented by the more than 1,700 bigger debris shards it is monitoring all around the orbit of the station, however the 7% increase in danger to spacewalkers was “well within” variations previously found in “its natural surroundings.”

While NASA launched a mission that will deliberately crash into an asteroid, space enthusiast Elon Musk has something else in his mind. The SpaceX CEO sees NASA’s DART mission as an opportunity to avenge the extinction of dinosaurs from the Earth. Musk in a tweet to NASA said that the space agency will avenge an event that occurred million years. It is believed that an asteroid had hit the Earth causing the elimination of dinosaurs from the planet. Musk referred to this event to say that NASA’s spacecraft will avenge the wipeout of the creature. Past studies said that dinosaurs lived on the planet more than 65 million years ago. But dinosaurs became extinct because of the impact of asteroids hitting the Earth.

The DART is a planetary defense mission. The DART spacecraft will slam into an asteroid. It will demonstrate the asteroid-deflecting technology. The test is important as the technique could be used in the future to cut the risk of space rocks hitting the Earth. The impact generated by the spacecraft will change the motion and direction of the asteroid. According to NASA, the DART is the first such mission. It will showcase the kinetic impactor technique in space. The spacecraft will hit Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos even as NASA said that the system poses no threat to Earth. As per the date set by NASA, the spacecraft will slam into Didymos and Dimorphos in September next year. The spacecraft is carrying an autonomous targeting system.

The asteroid that led to the disappearance of dinosaurs had originated from the outer half of the main asteroid belt in the solar system. The impact was such that it caused a massive global extinction event on the Earth. The object was approximately 9.6 km wide. When the space rock made sudden contact with Earth, it wiped out dinosaurs and more than 75 percent of animal species on the planet. NASA said that the main purpose of the DART mission is to make Earth ready to counter any threat that emerges from bodies from space.

Blue Origin, the rocket company of Jeff Bezos, is preparing for its third crewed flight to the edge of space. This crewed mission will carry six people, two more than that previous suborbital space flights. The third crewed flight is scheduled for December 9 launch. This time there will be two special guests along with four other paid customers. The special guests include Michael Strahan – the popular host of Good Morning America. Strahan will be joined by Laura Shepard Churchley. She is the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard. It must be noted that Shepard was the first American to fly to space. He first went on a suborbital flight in the year 1961. Later, he walked on the moon.

They will be joined by space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor. The other three members who will be aboard the capsule are investor Evan Dick along with Bess Ventures found Lane Bess and his son Cameron. Lane and Cameron will create history by becoming the first parent-child pair to reach space. Blue Origin is calling Churchley and Strahan ‘honorary guests.’ Though others appear to be paying for the trip, there is no detail about how much they have paid for the trip. Just like William Shatner who did not pay for the flight when New Shepard went to space for the second time. 90-year-old Shatner created a record after the trip by becoming the oldest person ever to reach space.

The company said in a statement that the flight will move Blue Origin closer to its vision of people living in space and working for the benefit of Earth. This is going to be New Shepard’s third human flight in 2021. Blue Origin said that the flight will the sixth under the program this year and 19th in its history. Blue Origin is moving closer to launching a regular commercial space tourism service. The company has said that scientists and students will have access to the service to carry our experiment and microgravity conditions. By offering a free trip to space, the company is getting plenty of publicity for the service it is planning to launch. Blue Origin is competing with companies like Virgin Galactic for short trips. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is looking to launch a similar commercial service but for longer orbital flights. SpaceX had a successful test mission in September this year by putting four civilians into space. The civilian crew was in space for three days.

Russia has defended its anti-satellite test. The country was facing flak for its test. The test created space debris. Russia has now said that its test poses no threat to the International Space Station. It said that the ISS is intact and doing science experiments. According to NASA, the test created debris and therefore increased the risk of hitting ISS and other satellites. Russia had on November 15 launched a direct-ascent anti-satellite. The satellite collided with a defunct satellite in low Earth orbit. The collision generated debris. NASA said that more than 1,500 pieces of orbital debris. Besides, it also generated thousands of small pieces of debris. It is said that the debris can threaten the ISS and other space activities.

The collision forced the ISS control team to wake up the ISS crew soon after the collision. They were notified about the satellite breakup in space. The astronauts aboard the laboratory were asked to take safety measures to protect themselves in any adverse situation. The crew took shelter in Soyuz and Dragon vehicles. The vehicles are currently docked at the ISS. They remained inside the vehicles for around two hours. The rotating laboratory passed through a field of debris that was created by Russia’s satellite breakup. Seven astronauts and cosmonauts are currently present on the ISS. Defending the test, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that fragments pose no threat to the ISS and other space activities.

Russia said that the debris generated from the collision has moved away from the orbit of the space station. The ISS orbits around the Earth at an altitude of 400 km. According to LeoLabs, the altitude of debris is estimated to be 440 to 520 km. LeoLabs is a space debris tracker agency. NASA condemned Russia’s actions. It described the test as dangerous and irresponsible behavior. Russia is also a partner on the ISS. However, Russia has said that it will exit the program soon. The country has plans to set up a new space station. It will be called Russian Orbital Service Station. The construction is likely to begin in 2025. The country said that the proposed space station will feature next-generation modules.

The long-awaited visit of the first female, as well as an individual of color on the lunar surface, will have to be postponed. The latest arrival of NASA boots on the surface of the moon through the Artemis mission will not take effect in 2024 as projected due to delays resulting from disputes with Blue Origin, as well as numerous considerations, including the pandemic, stated NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Tuesday. “We’ve lost about 7 months in this lawsuit, and that has certainly postponed the first human landing to no sooner than 2025,” Nelson stated at a news conference.

And, according to Nelson, the China space program is growing competent in putting taikonauts on the lunar surface considerably sooner than initially anticipated, but he did not specify the original forecast. Additionally, it’s very probable that China may arrive on the lunar surface before the US astronauts return. “We’re up against a very ambitious and good Chinese space program,” he explained. “This has occurred in the past 5 years, and we’ve seen them do quite a few things.” They have announced that they will go to the moon’s southern pole.

NASA and I think the US government, feel that America should be the first to return to the lunar surface after more than a half-century’s absence. We will be as proactive as we can be while being safe as well as technically viable to beat our opponents with footprints on the lunar surface.” The Blue Origin lawsuit stems from a decision made by NASA earlier this year. Elon Musk as well as Jeff Bezos both want their firms to be at the heart of NASA’s ambitions to return people to the lunar surface. However, NASA only has funding for one of these, and it chose Musk’s SpaceX to create the manned landing spacecraft mechanism.

Blue Origin, Bezos’ space endeavor, has been fighting that selection ever since, claiming that NASA unlawfully favored SpaceX and that the space program would be served better by financing both SpaceX as well as Blue Origin’s ambitions to create moon-landing spacecraft. The Court of Federal Claims decided in favor of NASA on Friday, which implies that the Artemis program may continue. During the dispute, NASA was prohibited by law from communicating with SpaceX about their construction of a human landing mechanism for Artemis astronauts. Nevertheless, SpaceX has proceeded to build the probe without receiving any funding from NASA.

“However, our crew still requires time to sort through the intricacies,” Nelson explained. And, there is still much work to be done. Other problems contributing to the 2025 postponement include a shortage of funding for the construction of a human landing system, as well as “the Trump administration’s aim of 2024 human landing was not anchored in technological viability,” according to Nelson.

Campaigners headed by Global Witness, a human rights organization, evaluated the UN’s participation list, which was made public at the outset of the summit. They discovered that 503 representatives had ties to the fossil fuel industry who were granted accreditation for the climate conference. These delegates are reported to lobby for the petroleum & oil sectors, and protesters believe they should be barred from attending. “The fossil fuel sector has spent years rejecting and postponing serious action around the climate crisis, which is why this is such a significant concern,” Global Witness Murray Worthy warns. “Their involvement is one of the primary reasons that 25 years of UN climate discussions have failed to result in meaningful reductions in global emissions.”

The COP was attended by around 40,000 individuals. The United Kingdom, which is holding the conference in Glasgow, has 230 registered delegates. A fossil fuel lobbyist is defined by Global Witness, Corporate Accountability, and others who analyzed somebody, as a representative of a trade organization, delegation, or a body that promotes the objectives of petroleum & energy firms. At the summit, they recognized 503 individuals who were employed by or linked to these organizations. They also discovered that advocates for fossil fuels are members of 2 country delegations, Canada as well as Russia. The fossil fuel lobby at the COP is greater than the 8 delegations from the nations most affected by global warming over the last 2 decades combined.

At the COP, around 100 fossil fuel firms were present, as 30 trade groups and membership organizations. By a factor of two, fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber the UNFCCC’s recognized indigenous group, the LCIPP. The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) was one of the largest organizations they discovered, with 103 representatives in attendance, including 3 from the petroleum & energy major British Petroleum. As per Global Witness, the IETA is supported by several big oil firms that encourage offsetting as well as carbon trading as a means of continuing to produce petroleum and gasoline. “This is an organization with a large number of oil & coal businesses as members.”

Its purpose is controlled by fossil fuel firms and supports the interests of fossil fuel corporations,” according to Mr. Worthy. “What we are witnessing is the promotion of phony solutions that look to be climate movement but maintain the status quo, preventing us from adopting clear, easy steps to keep fossil fuels underground that we understand are the true solutions to the climate issue.” According to the IETA, it exists to determine the most effective market-based ways of reducing emissions. Members include fossil fuel firms, as well as a variety of other organizations. “We have legal firms, project developers, and the people who deploy cleaner energy on the ground all across the world.

“We’re not coming to a halt today and tomorrow, and there will be no emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels.” “There is a transition process going on, and carbon markets are the best way to ensure that transition occurs.” Campaigners say that the World Health Organization did not take tobacco prohibition seriously until all business representatives were barred from attending WHO conferences. They want petroleum & energy corporations to be treated the same way at the COP. “Despite publicly admitting to increasing their production of fossil gas, companies such as Shell and BP are involved in these negotiations,” stated Pascoe Sabido of the Corporate Europe Observatory.

The Chandrayaan-2 recently had a close shave. The lunar orbiter avoided a possible collision with NASA’s counterpart. Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second lunar exploration mission. India’s space agency said that the orbiter avoided the collision with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This was for the first time in the history of Moon exploration when two orbiters came so close. The agency said that an evasive measure was carried out. This helped in avoiding the collision. The two were predicted to come very close near the North pole in lunar orbit on October 20. As per the calculations, the closest approach distance between the two spacecraft would have been around three km.

The space agencies of both countries decided to move away from the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter well before the two spacecraft came close to each other. Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter was moved away on October 18. This ensured large radial separation between the two spacecraft at the closest conjunction in the lunar orbit. The agency said after the maneuver there will be no close conjunctions further between the two spacecraft. Chandrayaan-2 and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter orbit the Moon in a nearly polar orbit. Therefore, the two come close to each other near the Lunar poles. While Chandrayaan-2 is circling the Moon since 2019, NASA’s orbit has been going around the moon since 2009.

Such maneuvers for satellites in Earth orbit are common. This is important to avoid collisions between operational satellites and space debris. Such maneuvers have been becoming frequent. Satellites face threats from space junks that block the routes of satellites. Space debris in recent times has increased at an alarming rate and could be riskier for operational spacecraft. Recently, the International Space Station faced the risk of being hit by space junks created by Russia’s satellite breakup. Back in 2020, earth observation satellites of India and Russia had a near miss. They had come as close as 224 meters in outer space. Space agencies regularly monitor for close approaches. This was the first time when India’s space agency experienced such close conjunction and performed a collision-avoidance maneuver.

NASA’s solar probe has a guest on its way to the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe was hit by solar dust and debris. According to NASA, the Parker probe will help in a better understanding of the Sun. The probe was launched in 2018. It travels through the atmosphere of the Sun to move closer to the surface. The spacecraft is facing an immense amount of solar radiation conditions. NASA said that the Parker probe is the closest-ever object to be sent to the Sun. Scientists said that they examined the collisions between the Parker and solar dust. They said that as the probe passed through the zodiacal cloud, thousands of tiny dust grains at hypervelocity bombarded the spacecraft. The grains were around 2 to 20 microns in diameter.

The zodiacal cloud is very thick. The dust cloud is like a pancake in shape. It is mainly composed of dust grains that are shed from space rocks. The cloud extends throughout the solar system. The impact of dust grains on the spacecraft made the surface hot. The surface temperature of the spacecraft first vaporized most of the dust grains. It was followed by an ionization process. This leads to plasma explosions lasting for nanoseconds and creating clouds of debris. The debris expands away gradually from the spacecraft. NASA said that the findings can provide new insights into weather around the Sun. The impacts can pose a threat to the spacecraft’s safety and affect its lifespan majorly.

The pictures were taken by Parker’s navigational and scientific cameras. Images show metallic flakes and paint chips knocking loose when hit by solar dust. NASA said that debris also scattered sunlight into the cameras. This prevented the probe temporarily from determining how it was oriented. The Parker probe has completed nine full orbits of the Sun since its launch in 2018. The prime mission will end in 2025. By that time, the spacecraft will complete at least 24 orbits of the Sun. It uses Venus’ gravity during flybys to bring its orbit closer to the Sun. It is currently flying into Corona which is the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere. NASA said that the probe will revolutionize the understanding of the solar wind. It will also help in enhancing the ability to forecast changes in Earth’s weather.

NASA’s mission to land humans on the Moon has suffered a setback. The space agency has delayed the mission by a year. The agency said that it was forced to push back its goal to land humans on the lunar surface from 2024 to 2025. NASA wanted to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024. The latest decision to delay the landing is believed to be influenced by the legal challenges that the agency is faced with and several other factors. Accordingly, the crewed lunar landing as a part of the Artemis program will now take place in 2025. The agency was embroiled in a controversy over selecting lunar lander prototypes. The prototype aims to demonstrate a modern lunar lander system for NASA’s Artemis program.

NASA had planned to select two lunar lander prototypes for the mission. However, it picked only one. This led to a controversy over its selection procedure. Private aerospace company Blue Origin filed a lawsuit against the agency’s selection criteria. NASA had picked SpaceX’s prototype over Blue Origin’s. The decision was taken after Congress decided to cut the agency’s funding. Blue Origin in April petitioned the Government Accountability Office. NASA was then forced to put the SpaceX contract on hold. The GAO later squashed Blue Origin’s challenge as it noted that NASA followed all the procedures during the selection, and it holds the right regarding the awarding of the contract.

Blue Origin then filed a lawsuit against the space agency. However, the company lost out on its lawsuit and NASA’s selection of SpaceX was upheld. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that the human lunar landing is not possible before 2025 because of the lawsuit and other factors. He said that the agency has resumed conversations with SpaceX on taking the contract forward. Before NASA lands humans on the Moon, it will launch two flight tests. While Artemis-I will be an uncrewed mission and Artemis-II will be a crewed flight. According to Nelson, the agency is planning around 10 landings on the Moon. It wants to set up a base on the Moon that will pave the way for a crewed mission to Mars.

Private aerospace company SpaceX has completed the second full astronaut mission for NASA. Four NASA, ESA, and JAXA astronauts have returned to Earth from the International Space Station. They flew back aboard the Crew Dragon spaceship. The capsule landed off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The four astronauts returned home after spending 200 days at the rotating laboratory. They returned eight hours after leaving the ISS. The return has now paved the way for SpaceX to launch the next four astronauts to the ISS. The four returned astronauts are Thomas Pesquet of ESA, Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough of NASA, and Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA.

SpaceX launched the Crew-2 in April. The four astronauts conducted spacewalks, undertook maintenance activities, and performed science experiments at the ISS. They also grew hot chilis during their stay in space. The Crew-3 mission will be launched with four astronauts from NASA and ESA. The three are Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron. The ESA astronaut is Matthias Maurer. Their mission was originally slated to launch on Halloween. But the launch was delayed by NASA due to weather. The space agency also said that one of the astronauts faced some minor medical issues just before the launch. It didn’t disclose more about the medical issue.

According to NASA, the Crew-3 astronauts are under quarantine at Kennedy Space Center. It said that the Crew Dragon spaceship and Falcon 9 rocket are in good condition. The Crew-3 astronauts will spend six months at the space station. They will likely return in April next year. This will be the fourth flight of a Crew Dragon spaceship with astronauts and the third crew rotation mission. NASA said that the four astronauts will conduct many additional experiments at the ISS. They will push the effort to test exploration risks in space. They will also demonstrate technology for deep space exploration. NASA specified that experiments would include human research and rodent research on the space station. The mission is also crucial for the testing of new upgrades to the ISS’ Environmental Control and Life Support System.

Scientists are studying how the Milky Way was evolved. In a bid to further advance the study, NASA has selected a proposal for a new space telescope. The observatory will allow scientists to study star birth, death, and chemical elements among others. The US space agency said that the new telescope will be called the Compton Spectrometer and Imager. It is a gamma-ray telescope. Astronomers hope that the instrument will provide a breakthrough in the study of the recent history of the Milky Way evolution. As per the proposal, the telescope will be launched in 2025. NASA said that it will a part of the agency’s latest small astrophysics mission.

According to NASA, its Astrophysics Explorers Program in 2019 had received 18 proposals for a new telescope. The agency, however, selected only four proposals. The proposals were then taken into consideration for advanced studies. Scientists and engineers undertook an exercise to review the studies in detail. Based on their submission, the agency selected COSI. It means that NASA has paved the way for the work on the development of the telescope to continue. The agency expects that the new telescope will be able to answer questions related to the evolution of chemical elements in the galaxy. Chemical elements are critically crucial to the formation of planets including the Earth.

The telescope will study gamma rays emanating from radioactive atoms. These atoms were produced when massive stars exploded. The telescope will map where these chemical elements were formed. It will also collect data about the mysterious origin of positrons. NASA said that the mission will cost USD 145 million. This excludes that cost for the launch. The agency will select a launch provider later. The team behind the new telescope spent decades in finding a technology to better understand the Milky Way’s evolution. NASA had in 1991 launched the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. This was NASA’s one of four Great Observatories that it launched to explore the sky.