Lifeboat Foundation

NASA’s sun-touching Parker Solar Probe spacecraft will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) by making another close approach to our star. While people all over Earth enjoy a cold beer, the spacecraft will brave blisteringly hot temperatures as high as 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,400 degrees Celsius) as it makes its 15th close approach to the sun, or perihelion.

According to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe website, (opens in new tab) the exact time of the close approach will be 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) when the spacecraft comes to within around 5.3 million miles (8.5 million km) of the sun’s surface, the photosphere.

Dr. Aled Roberts.

Scientists have been testing various materials for the construction of such habitats on Mars. An innovation in this field comes from scientists at the University of Manchester. They have developed a new ‘cosmic concrete’ composed of extraterrestrial dust, a press release stated.

Year 2022 😗😁

For decades we have dreamed of true holographic displays for entertainment, communication, and education. Star Wars had 3D projections rendered in real-time — the definition wasn’t great, but they were communicating across interplanetary distances — and Avatar had holographic maps showcasing the terrain of Pandora. In reality, we mostly have 2D images which show dimension and depth when viewed from different angles. That might be on the verge of changing.

Pierre-Alexandre Blanche from the Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona recently published a paper in Light: Advanced Manufacturing which acts as a roadmap toward true 3D holographic displays.

Continue reading “3D holographic televisions are much closer than a galaxy far, far away” »

Astrophysicists in Australia have shed new light on the state of the universe 13 billion years ago by measuring the density of carbon in the gases surrounding ancient galaxies.

The study, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, adds another piece to the puzzle of the history of the universe.

“We found that the fraction of carbon in warm gas increased rapidly about 13 billion years ago, which may be linked to large-scale heating of gas associated with the phenomenon known as the Epoch of Reionization,” says Dr. Rebecca Davies, ASTRO 3D Postdoctoral Research Associate at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia and lead author of the paper describing the discovery.

Saturn ’s giant moon, Titan, is due to launch in 2027. When it arrives in the mid-2030s, it will begin a journey of discovery that could bring about a new understanding of the development of life in the universe. This mission, called Dragonfly, will carry an instrument called the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS), designed to help scientists hone in on the chemistry at work on Titan. It may also shed light on the kinds of chemical steps that occurred on Earth that ultimately led to the formation of life, called prebiotic chemistry.

Titan’s abundant complex carbon-rich chemistry, interior ocean, and past presence of liquid water on the surface make it an ideal destination to study prebiotic chemical processes and the potential habitability of an extraterrestrial environment.

Continue reading “NASA Dragonfly Bound for Saturn’s Giant Moon Titan Could Reveal Chemistry Leading to Life” »

It’s moving towards a “single network future.”

Scientists found large swaths of jagged landforms on Pluto’s surface.

In July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft had its first close encounter with Pluto and its moons. It went on to explore the icy edge of the solar system, generating a wealth of data in the process.

The formation of Arrokoth.

Continue reading “New Horizons gives new insight about Pluto, finds bladed terrain” »

SpaceEngine is Google Earth meets No Man’s Sky in the best way.

The Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit is designed to enhance mobility and offer extra protection from hazards on the Moon. The prototype is dark gray in color, but NASA’s Johnson Space Center confirmed in a tweet (Opens in a new window) that the final design is probably going to be “all-white.”

Axiom Space, which last year snagged a $228.5 million contract to deliver a “moonwalking system,” will continue innovating the suit’s life support systems, pressure garments, and avionics ahead of NASA’s scheduled 2025 trip to the lunar South Pole.