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☆ How India landed on the moon and flew to Mars at a fraction of the cost of NASA and Russia missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

India has become the first nation to land a robotic mission to the crucial south pole of the Moon. AdvertisementAdvertisementSmall spacecraft, small costsIndian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3, the word for "moon craft" in Sanskrit, travels after it was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Aijaz Rahi/AP PhotoIndia's main strategy for being frugal on the moon seems to be that it kept the spacecraft small. NASA/JSCThis wasn't India's first attempt to land on the moon's south pole. It aimed to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon, where nobody had succeeded yet.

Persons: NASA's, Elon Musk, Aijaz, That's, Satish, Robert Braun, Andrew Coates, Anatoly Zak, They've, Braun, Russia's Luna Organizations: Service, Hollywood, ISRO, SpaceX, Twitter, Indian Space Research Organization, New York Times, NASA, Space, Chandrayaan, Space Exploration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, MAVEN, BBC, Planetary Society, JSC Locations: Wall, Silicon, India, Bengaluru, Sriharikota, Soviet Union

☆ India's adorable, dog-sized moon rover is set to roll out any minute and collect the first samples of the lunar south pole ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

India's moon rover could roll out any minute to collect the first-ever samples of the lunar south pole. It's set to collect the first samples ever of the lunar south pole. The Vikram lander is the first robot to successfully land on the lunar south pole. Inside, it carried the Pragyaan lunar rover, which rolls out and down to the ground on the ramp shown here. Indian Space Research OrganisationThe lunar south pole is thought to be the most water-rich region on the moon.

Persons: Vikram lander's, Robert Braun, Johns Hopkins, ILSA, Braun Organizations: Service, Indian Space Research Organization, New York Times, Exploration, Space Research Locations: Wall, Silicon, India, Mars, Russia, China

☆ Why Russia and India both crashed on the moon's south pole before India nailed the first soft landing there
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The feat comes just days after Russia crash-landed there, and four years after India's first attempt crashed into the lunar south pole. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt was the country's first bid at the lunar south pole, which is especially valuable space real estate because of its frozen-water reserves. Both the US and China also hope to land on the lunar south pole before the end of the decade. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe lunar south pole is uniquely hazardousThe very thing that makes the moon's south pole so desirable — the permanently shadowed regions that harbor water ice — also makes it more difficult to land on. AdvertisementAdvertisementAlso, nobody has ever been to the moon's south pole.

Persons: India's, Robert Braun, Braun, It's, Luna, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Aijaz, it's, you've, Rajanish, landers Organizations: Service, Space Exploration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA, Vostochny, Space Corporation, AP, European Space Agency, Space Research Organization, ISRO, India, Soviet Union, Operation, India's Bharatiya Janata Party Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russia, India, Russia's Far, Soviet Union, China, Europe, Ukraine, Bangalore, Mumbai

☆ Watch India attempt a historic moon landing on the lunar south pole, where 3 spacecraft have crashed and nobody has succeeded yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In this rush for the lunar south pole, India's space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is scheduled to make its new landing attempt on Wednesday. India, Russia, and Israel have all tried and failedRussia is the latest nation to fumble a lunar south-pole landing. If first you don't succeed try, try, againThe landing attempt scheduled for Wednesday will be India's second try. The new Vikram lander will be on its own. So it's the hardest of the hard," said Braun, who has worked on landing and descent teams for multiple NASA missions to Mars.

Persons: Luna, India's, Robert Braun, Rajanish, Vikram, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Aijaz, Braun, I'm, " Braun Organizations: Service, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, Space Exploration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, India's Bharatiya Janata Party, AP, Space Research Organization, NASA Locations: Wall, Silicon, India, Mars, Russia, Israel, Mumbai, Bangalore, Mars . India

☆ How bricks, a screwdriver, and a 'demon core' of radioactive material killed 2 Manhattan Project scientists
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Experiments on a so-called "demon core" of plutonium caused the deaths of two Manhattan Project physicists. The recreation of the experiment involving the plutonium "demon core" that killed Harry Daghlian. In seconds, the "demon core" of plutonium core had bathed him in a lethal dose of radiation. He again attempted to experiment on the demon core, sliding the screwdriver between the metal halves. The two deadly incidents earned the plutonium core the nickname "the demon core."

Persons: J, Robert Oppenheimer, Harry Daghlian, Louis Slotin —, Daghlian —, Daghlian, Louis Slotin, Slotin, Johns Hopkins, Enrico Fermi, Alvin Graves, Graves Organizations: Manhattan, Manhattan Project, Service, Los, Atomic Heritage Foundation, MIT, Los Alamos National Laboratory, United Energy Workers Healthcare, Louis Slotin . Los Alamos, BBC, Applied Physics Laboratory, Alamos National Laboratory, New Locations: Wall, Silicon, Los Alamos, New Mexico, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Los Alamos , New Mexico, Los, Canadian, Louis Slotin . Los, Alamos

The company also boasted of collaborations with reputable institutions that have since denied partnering with OceanGate on the submersible in question. The interior of OceanGate's Titan submersible is seen in 2018. It “hasn’t been used in a crewed submersible ever before,” he said in a video last year. OceanGate appears to have also overstated its relationships with two institutions widely respected for their innovation: Boeing and University of Washington. OceanGate had partnered with UW to create a different submersible before parting ways, the university said in a statement.

Persons: Stockton Rush, “, ” Rush, Rush, OceanGate, ” Rachel Lance, ” OceanGate, ’, Paul Henri, Nargeolet, David Pogue, ”, Pogue, Stockton, ” Stockton, don’t, Don’t, David Lochridge, Lochridge, OceanGate’s, Victor Balta, Balta, Guillermo Sohnlein, wasn’t, Anderson Cooper, Will Kohnen, ” Kohnen, Sal Mercogliano, ” Mike Reiss, ” Reiss, ” It’s, John Mauger, “ You’ve, CNN’s Gabe Cohen, Brad Lendon, Greg Wallace, Veronica Miracle, Allison Morrow, Rob Frehse, Paul Murphy, Celina Tebor Organizations: CNN, Stockton, US Coast Guard, Duke University, KOMO, OceanGate Expeditions, CBS, Getty, Boeing, University of Washington, OceanGate Inc, University of Washington’s, Physics Laboratory, UW, UW School of Oceanography, Titan, Marine Technology, Campbell University, Coast Guard Locations: Stockton, North Carolina, AFP

☆ Boeing and University of Washington deny OceanGate's claim that they helped design the lost Titan sub
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OceanGate's Titan submersible has been missing since Sunday. OceanGate claimed that Boeing, NASA, and the University of Washington helped design the Titan. In a statement sent to Insider, Boeing said the aircraft company was not involved with the development of OceanGate's Titan. The University of Washington also released a statement saying that it wasn't involved in creating OceanGate's Titan submersible. But the collaboration resulted in a "steel-hulled vessel, named the Cyclops 1," not the design for the Titan submersible.

Persons: OceanGate, Victor Balta, Balta, NASA's, Lance D, Davis, NASA's Marshall Organizations: Boeing, NASA, University of Washington, Titan, OceanGate Inc, CNN, Laboratory, University of Washington's School of Oceanography, UW, The University of Washington, NASA's Marshall Space, Space, OceanGate

☆ Safety concerns about missing Titan vessel voiced by former OceanGate employees years ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Celina Tebor | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Lochridge worked as an independent contractor for OceanGate in 2015, then as an employee between 2016 and 2018, according to court filings. Court filings from the company indicate there was additional testing after Lochridge’s time at OceanGate, and it’s unclear whether any of his concerns were addressed as the vessel was developed. He said more concerns were raised by contractors and employees during his time at OceanGate, and Rush became defensive and shied away from answering questions during all-staff meetings. In 2022, the legal representative updated the Virginia court on OceanGate’s expeditions in another court filing. “OceanGate decided to cancel the second mission for repairs and operational enhancements” after the vessel “sustained modest damage to its external components,” it reads.

Persons: David Lochridge, Lochridge, Stockton Rush –, “, Rush, OceanGate, of Virginia –, ” Kevin Williams, “ OceanGate, “ Classing Organizations: CNN, US Coast Guard, OceanGate, Stockton Rush, Titan, Coast Guard, U.S, Eastern, of, University of Washington’s, Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, American Bureau of Shipping, Lloyd’s Locations: Cape Cod , Massachusetts, OceanGate, of Virginia, Virginia

☆ First mission to ‘touch’ the sun catches the solar wind
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The slower solar wind, located in the same plane of the solar system as Earth, flows at a calmer 249 miles per second (400 kilometers per second). This flip causes the coronal holes to appear across the sun’s surface and release bursts of solar wind directly toward Earth. JHU Applied Physics Laboratory/NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterUnderstanding the source of the solar wind can help scientists better predict space weather and solar storms that can affect Earth. Fortunately, Parker Solar Probe and a separate mission, Solar Orbiter, are perfectly poised to observe the sun’s powerful, dynamic forces at play. “There was some consternation at the beginning of the solar probe mission that we’re going to launch this thing right into the quietest, most dull part of the solar cycle,” Bale said.

Persons: Eugene Parker, Parker, ”, James Drake, “ That’s, Stuart D, Bale, ” Parker, ” Bale Organizations: CNN, Parker, Probe, JHU, Physics Laboratory, Space, University of Maryland, College Park, University of California, Orbiter, Parker Solar Probe Locations: Berkeley

☆ Webb telescope detects mysterious water vapor in a nearby star system
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has detected water vapor around a rocky exoplanet that orbits a star located 26 light-years away from Earth. The presence of water vapor could suggest that GJ 486 b somehow has an atmosphere, despite its heat and proximity to the star. “Water vapor in an atmosphere on a hot rocky planet would represent a major breakthrough for exoplanet science. The results from the Webb data analysis pointed to water vapor being present around GJ 486 b. Future observations of the planet using different instruments on the Webb telescope could reveal additional details about the source of the water vapor.

☆ Live Updates: SpaceX Prepares Again to Launch Starship Rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

PinnedSpaceX’s first attempt on Monday to launch Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, was called off. During a livestream for a different SpaceX launch on Wednesday, the company noted that another Starship postponement was possible. Credit... Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWhy didn’t Starship launch on Monday? Splashdown Near Hawaii Launch SpaceX Starbase Boca Chica, TexasStarship is designed to be entirely reusable. About eight minutes after the launch on Thursday, the Super Heavy booster will splash into the Gulf of Mexico.

Entrepreneur Luke Iseman said the sulfur dioxide in the balloons would deflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere, a controversial climate strategy known as solar geoengineering. The Mexican government told Reuters it is now actively drafting “new regulations and standards” to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country. While the Mexican government announced its intention to ban solar geoengineering in January, its current actions and plans to discuss geoengineering bans with other countries have not been previously reported. GLOBAL GEOENGINEERING BANClimate policy experts said Mexico is in a position to help set the rules for future geoengineering research. David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University who has dedicated much of his research to solar geoengineering, called Iseman's launch a "stunt."

☆ Studies show how asteroid-bashing spacecraft was 'phenomenally successful'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] This image depicts NASA's DART spacecraft and its two long solar panels over the spot where it impacted asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022. "The DART test was phenomenally successful. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided on Sept. 26 at about 14,000 miles per hour (22,530 kph) into Dimorphos, an asteroid about 490 feet (150 meters) in diameter, roughly 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth. Finally, the spacecraft bus - the box between the solar panels - hit between these two boulders," Daly said. The research also clarified details such as the precise location of the impact and the angle of impact.

☆ Asteroid's sudden flyby shows blind spot in planetary threat detection
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NASA for years has prioritized detecting asteroids much bigger and more existentially threatening than 2023 BU, the small space rock that streaked by 2,200 miles from the Earth's surface, closer than some satellites. If bound for Earth, it would have been pulverized in the atmosphere, with only small fragments possibly reaching land. But 2023 BU sits on the smaller end of a size group, asteroids 5-to-50 meters in diameter, that also includes those as big as an Olympic swimming pool. But with current capabilities, astronomers can't see when such a rock targets Earth until days prior. The successful demonstration, called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), affirmed for the first time a method of planetary defense.

“Now, we have a better understanding of the kind of benefits that operating in cislunar space can bring countries back home.”Though definitions sometimes differ, cislunar space generally refers to the space between Earth and the moon, including the moon's surface and orbit. In 2021, Holzinger co-authored a report titled “A Primer on Cislunar Space“ to help U.S. government officials understand the ins and outs of cislunar space. That interest is apparent: Last year, the Space Force identified cislunar operations as a development priority, and in April established the 19th Space Defense Squadron to oversee cislunar space. In November, the White House released its own strategy for interagency research on "responsible, peaceful, and sustainable exploration and utilization of cislunar space." Together, these factors could make it difficult to manage traffic in cislunar space, particularly if adversaries intentionally try to mask their activities there.

There's a new heavy hitter in the hunt for planets beyond our solar system. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope — the next-generation observatory that has already beamed back some of the clearest and most stunning views of the universe — was used for the first time to confirm the existence of an exoplanet, scientists announced Wednesday. The exoplanet confirmation marks an important milestone for the $10 billion Webb telescope, which launched into space in December 2021 and began science operations less than a year ago. “These first observational results from an Earth-size, rocky planet open the door to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres with Webb,” Mark Clampin, director of the astrophysics division at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. “Webb is bringing us closer and closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside our solar system, and the mission is only just getting started.”

☆ On Pluto you could throw a baseball over the Great Pyramid of Giza, a scientist's animation reveals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An astronomer's animation reveals how far the average person could throw a ball on different worlds. On Pluto, your baseball could clear the Great Pyramid of Giza. Watch a ball throw on each planet in our solar system, plus Pluto and the moon, below. At just two-thirds the diameter of our moon, Pluto has such weak gravity that your baseball could clear the 455-foot-tall Great Pyramid of Giza — with room to spare. The video plays out in "real time," showing how long each ball throw would take, O'Donoghue said.

☆ 7 of the most iconic photos of Earth taken from space
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The first photo of Earth from space, taken just 65 miles above our planetThe first shot of Earth from space captured by a camera at an altitude of 65 miles, just above the edge of space U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics LaboratoryOn October 24, 1946, 11 years before the launch of Sputnik I, a 35-mm motion picture camera onboard a V-2 rocket captured a grainy black and white photo of Earth. It's the first image of our planet from space. The image was taken at an altitude of 65 miles, just above the Karman Line, which is the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. No astronauts were onboard the rocket — the camera automatically took a picture every 1.5 seconds. The film miraculously survived the missile's planned crash landing.

☆ The Taurids meteor shower is expected to peak this weekend. Here's how to watch bright fireballs dazzle the night sky.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Northern Taurids meteor shower will be at its best overnight, between November 11 and 12. In the Southern Hemisphere, the meteor shower reached another peak in mid-October. The Southern and Northern Taurids' last peaks were in 2015. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/Southwest Research InstituteIn 2005, a Taurids meteor struck the surface of the moon. During the peak, the American Meteor Society says you might see around five meteors per hour under clear, dark skies.

☆ See video of the moment NASA's DART spacecraft crashed itself into an asteroid and its livestream cut out
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA crashed a space probe into an asteroid on Monday night, practicing to deflect dangerous space rocks. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) hit the space rock in an effort to change its orbit. Watch the DART spacecraft's final moments in the footage from its camera, below. As NASA planned, DART crashed into the craggy surface and its camera feed died. Astronomers are poised to point their telescopes to Dimorphos as it continues to orbit a much larger asteroid called Didymos.

A DART view of the Dimorphos asteroid right before impact. NASA via YouTubeThe DART spacecraft, which is about the size of a vending machine, crashed into Dimorphos at 7:14 p.m. "Oh my goodness," said Elena Adams, a DART mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The DART mission is functioning as a proof of concept of asteroid deflection as a planetary defense strategy. Betts said he hopes the DART mission will continue to raise awareness about the importance of planetary defense.

☆ NASA’s DART Spacecraft to Smash Into Asteroid in Planetary Defense Test
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Aylin Woodward | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An uncrewed spacecraft is on track to smash into and deflect a distant asteroid on Monday, the dramatic climax of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission to test whether the technique could one day be used to protect Earth. “For the first time ever we will measurably change the orbit of a celestial body in the universe,” said Bobby Braun, head of the space exploration sector at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. The research center built the Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission spacecraft and is responsible for its operation at the direction of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

☆ NASA crashes DART spacecraft into an asteroid, testing a tactic to bump space rocks away from Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

NASA's 1,376-pound probe traveled about 6.8 million miles before crashing into the asteroid, as part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. Scientists will be monitoring the trajectory of the asteroid, Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid, Didymos. As the DART spacecraft flew closer, Dimorphos emerged as a separate point of light that grew larger and brighter. NASABelow, one of the last frames beamed at Earth from DRACO before the DART spacecraft ate it, showing several boulders on the asteroid surface. The DART mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory erupted in applause after the probe's successful demise.

☆ NASA spacecraft closes in on asteroid for head-on collision
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A NASA spacecraft closed in on an asteroid at blistering speed Monday in an unprecedented dress rehearsal for the day a killer rock menaces Earth. The galactic grand slam was set to occur at a harmless asteroid 7 million miles (9.6 million kilometers) away, with the spacecraft named Dart plowing into the rock at 14,000 mph (22,500 kph). The $325 million mission is the first attempt to shift the position of an asteroid or any other natural object in space. The spacecraft packed a scant 1,260 pounds (570 kilograms), compared with the asteroid's 11 billion pounds (5 billion kilograms). Monday's dramatic action aside, the world must do a better job of identifying the countless space rocks lurking out there, warned the foundation's executive director, Ed Lu, a former astronaut.

☆ NASA's asteroid-deflecting DART spacecraft nears planned impact with its target
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft prior to impact at the Didymos binary asteroid system showed in this undated illustration handout. NASA/Johns Hopkins/Handout via REUTERSSept 26 (Reuters) - Ten months after launch, NASA's asteroid-deflecting DART spacecraft neared a planned impact with its target on Monday in a test of the world's first planetary defense system, designed to prevent a doomsday collision with Earth. Neither object presents any actual threat to Earth, and NASA scientists said their DART test cannot create a new existential hazard by mistake. Also, their relative proximity to Earth and dual-asteroid configuration make them ideal for the first proof-of-concept mission of DART, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. ROBOTIC SUICIDE MISSIONThe mission represents a rare instance in which a NASA spacecraft must ultimately crash to succeed.

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