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☆ Unlocking the clues of a metal world
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —For the first time, a NASA mission is setting off on a distant journey to visit a metal world in our solar system. This illustration depicts how scientists envision the Psyche asteroid. Over time, Psyche likely collided with other rocky objects, losing its outer crust and mantle until only its metal core remained. “We have never seen the surface of a metal world up close. “If you brought back as much metal as likely exists in Psyche, then the metals would no longer be rare and the price would plummet,” Metzger said.

Persons: REx, Annibale de Gasparis, ”, Zoe Landsman, Psyche, Landsman, isn’t, ” Landsman, NASA’s, Anicia Arredondo, “, ” Arredondo, Philip Metzger, ” Metzger Organizations: CNN, NASA, JPL, Caltech, ASU, Exolith, University of Central, Radar, Astronomy, Boeing, ASU “, Southwest Research Institute, Division, Planetary Sciences, Europlanet Science Congress, Scientists, University of Central Florida’s Florida Space Institute Locations: Italian, University of Central Florida, San Antonio

☆ Photos show the 3.86 billion-mile journey of NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample mission from start to finish
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

NASA's OSIRIS-REx has been traveling for seven years to get an asteroid sample to Earth. Check out its 3.86 billion-mile journey from launch to asteroid sample landing in the photos below. NASA/Keegan BarberAfter collecting the largest asteroid sample ever brought to Earth, OSIRIS began its long journey home. AdvertisementAdvertisementSample retrievalRecovery team members gather around a capsule containing Bennu asteroid samples as part of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. Analyzing the sampleLockheed Martin recovery specialists Levi Hanish and Michael Kaye take the lid off NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample.

Persons: REx, —, what's, OSIRIS, imager, Bennu, NASA's, Dante Lauretta, Keegan Barber, Rick Bowmer, NASA’s, Molly Wasser, Martin, Levi Hanish, Michael Kaye, Robert Markowiz, Noah Petro, What's, It's Organizations: Service, REx, NASA, United Launch Alliance, Atlas, Goddard, University of Arizona, Survey, NASA's Goddard Space, Earth, Department of Defense's Utah, AP, US Air Force, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Space Center, JPL, Caltech Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, Salt Lake City, Houston, Houston , Texas

☆ NASA scientists plan to bake, slice, and fire lasers at the asteroid sample from OSIRIS-REx to understand the creation of our solar system
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to deliver a return capsule with asteroid dust on Sunday. Scientists hope to study the asteroid dust and dirt in every way possible. After nearly three years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to finally deliver the largest asteroid sample ever to the Utah desert at approximately 10:55 a.m. That's right, an asteroid sample is headed for Earth. A rotating mosaic of asteroid Bennu, composed of images captured by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft over a four-hour period.

Persons: NASA's, REx, Noah Petro, Petro, Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS, Lauretta, NASA's OSIRIS, University of Arizona Lauretta, Lori Glaze, they'll Organizations: Service, Empire, NASA's Goddard Space, NASA, Goddard, University of Arizona, Planetary Science, JPL, Caltech Locations: Utah, Wall, Silicon

☆ An amateur astronomer caught one of the brightest fireballs ever seen on Jupiter. Watch the rare video footage.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Maiya Focht | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

About 14 seconds into the video below, you can see a bright flash appear in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. AdvertisementAdvertisementOne of the brightest, biggest Jupiter fireballs ever recordedKo Arimatsu, an astronomer at Kyoto University, confirmed to The New York Times that there were six reports of this flash on August 28. AdvertisementAdvertisementA fragment of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impacts Jupiter’s night side in 1994. Jupiter is the 'vacuum cleaner of the solar system'As the largest planet in our solar system, by far, Jupiter has a powerful gravity that pulls in comets and asteroids. In fact, Jupiter's appetite for asteroids and comets has earned it the nickname "vacuum cleaner of the solar system," according to NASA.

Persons: Tadao Ohsugi, It's, Arimatsu, Shoemaker, Levy, Peter Vereš, NASA's OSIRIS, NASA's, Leigh Fletcher Organizations: Service, Kyoto University, The New York Times, TNT, NASA, ESA, Space Science Institute, Jupiter, JPL Arimatsu, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, University of Arizona, University of Leicester, Times Locations: Wall, Silicon, Japan, Boulder, Colo, Siberia

☆ This stay-at-home mom took a cybersecurity boot camp and landed an over $75,000 a year job at a NASA contractor
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Tammy Hinkle, 51, was a stay-at-home mom for eight years before returning to work. In 2020, she enrolled in a 10-month cybersecurity training program without any tech experience. About three years later, she'd landed a cybersecurity role with a subcontractor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab . In February 2022, she started her first cybersecurity job as an enterprise help-desk technician with the IT company OBXtek. In February, Hinkle started her subcontractor role as an IT-security engineer at JPL — she said she focused on identity credentials and access management.

Persons: Tammy Hinkle, Hinkle, she'd, we're, She'd, —, it'd, It's Organizations: NASA, Service, California State University, Jet Propulsion, Cal State, JPL —, University of California Locations: Wall, Silicon, Pasadena , California, Long Beach, Los Angeles, OBXtek

☆ I was told I couldn't direct planes because I was a woman. I ended up a mission planner for the world's most powerful space telescope, the James Webb, instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Kari Bosley is the lead mission planner for the James Webb Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Thirteen years ago, I landed a job in the grants department at Space Telescope Science Institute. They support the daily activities of NASA's different space missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and James Webb Space Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful space telescope ever built, and has led to numerous scientific discoveries and firsts since it was launched to space. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the Ring Nebula in unprecedented detail with its mid-infrared instrument.

Persons: Kari Bosley, James Webb, wasn't, Amelia Earhart, Nancy Grace, Getty, NASA’s James Webb, Webb, Barlow, Cox, It's Organizations: Telescope Science, Service, Telescope Science Institute, NASA, Challenger, Space Telescope Science Institute, Hubble, James Webb Space Telescope, Space, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, ESA, CSA, UCL, Wesson, Cardiff University, Communications, JPL, Caltech Locations: Wall, Silicon, California

☆ Perseverance rover experiment creates oxygen on Mars for the final time
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The microwave-size device called MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, is on the Perseverance rover. The experiment kicked off more than two years ago, a few months after the rover landed on Mars. The instrument works by converting some of Mars’ plentiful carbon dioxide into oxygen. MOXIE works by dividing up carbon dioxide molecules, which include one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. Lessons learned from the small MOXIE experiment can now be used to create a full-scale system that includes an oxygen generator that can also liquefy and store the oxygen.

Persons: MOXIE, “, ”, Trudy Kortes, we’ve, ‘, Pam Melroy, Michael Hecht Organizations: CNN, NASA, Technology, . Engineers, JPL, Caltech, Mars, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

☆ A device on NASA's Perseverance rover generated enough oxygen on Mars for a small dog to breathe for 10 hours. Astronauts could be next.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A device on NASA's Perseverance Rover converted Mars' thin air into oxygen. That's where the microwave-sized device called the Mars Oxygen In Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, aka MOXIE, comes in. AdvertisementAdvertisementMOXIE hitched a ride to Mars on NASA's Perseverance Rover in 2021 and has been hard at work ever since. A photo of NASA's Perseverance rover just feet above the Martian surface — part of a video several cameras recorded of the landing on February 18, 2021. Technicians at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory lower the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument into the belly of the Perseverance rover.

Persons: we've, Trudy Kortes, MOXIE, Michael Hecht, Space.com, Pam Melroy Organizations: Rover, Service, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Space Technology, Jet Propulsion Locations: Wall, Silicon, Mars

☆ Black holes can speed through the universe at 17,500 miles per second, scientists say — and the discovery could reveal new laws of physics
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Black holes can move through the universe at 17,500 miles per second, scientists have calculated. That's why black holes appear black. The scientists estimate the recoil speed limit for black holes is around 63 million miles per hour. They calculated that the maximum speed limit that recoiling black holes could reach was around 63 million mph. What if astronomers observe black holes that break this speed limit, recoiling at speeds greater than 63 million mph?

Persons: Carlos Lousto, Imre Bartos Organizations: Service, Rochester Institute of Technology, NASA, JPL, Caltech, University of Florida Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Neptune’s disappearing clouds linked to solar cycle
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The findings are “extremely exciting and unexpected, especially since Neptune’s previous period of low cloud activity was not nearly as dramatic and prolonged,” Chavez added. The findings also contradict the idea of the clouds being affected by Neptune’s four seasons, which each last about 40 years. Additionally, Neptune storms rising from the deep atmosphere do influence the planet’s cloud cover — but aren’t related to clouds formed in the upper atmosphere. That variable could interfere with studies looking at correlations between photochemically produced clouds and the solar cycle. More research could also suggest how long the near absence of clouds on Neptune might last.

Persons: ”, Imke de Pater, Neptune brightened, Erandi Chavez, ” Chavez, Neptune, Patrick Irwin, wasn’t, Irwin, Carlos Alvarez, ” Irwin, “ Organizations: CNN —, University of California, NASA, Hubble, Keck, Lick, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, JPL, Caltech, University of Oxford, Keck Observatory Locations: Berkeley, Hawaii, California

☆ Mars is rotating more quickly, NASA mission finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Mars is rotating more quickly than it used to, according to data that NASA’s InSight lander collected on the red planet. Initially, the InSight mission, the first to study the interior of Mars, was supposed to last about two years after it landed in November 2018. The InSight mission continued to collect data about Mars until the very end, falling silent in December 2022 after dust blocked its solar panels from receiving sunlight. Researchers then used RISE to measure the wobble of Mars as the core sloshes around inside it. This new figure was compared with previous estimates of the core’s radius that were collected by tracking seismic waves as they traveled through Mars’ interior.

Persons: CNN —, Viking landers, ”, Sebastien Le Maistre, Mars, “, Bruce Banerdt, “ I’ve Organizations: CNN, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Pathfinder, Space, Space Network, Royal Observatory of, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Locations: Royal Observatory of Belgium, Pasadena , California

☆ Congress's UFO hearing shows the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The discovery of extraterrestrial life is likely to be a slow build-up, rather than an explosive eureka moment. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

Persons: NASA isn't, David Grusch, Randall Hill, UAPs, Elon Musk, John Locher, Karine Jean, Pierre, we've, Lori Glaze, Glaze, James Webb, Jean, Philippe Arles, It's, Aaron Gronstal, Mary Voytek, Joe Biden, Anna Moneymaker, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Stephen Hawking, I'm, we're Organizations: Service, NASA, Beijing, Reuters, Department of Defense, Associated Press, AP, White House, Navy, US Department of Defense, JPL, Caltech, Delaware State University Locations: Wall, Silicon, South Carolina, Surfside Beach , South Carolina, US, Alaska, Canada, Lake Huron, Rachel , Nevada, Bugarach, France

☆ Mars is spinning faster and its days are getting shorter — and scientists aren't sure why
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Measurements from NASAs' InSight Mars Lander have uncovered a new Martian mystery. The red planet seems to be spinning faster, making its days a little shorter every year. The discovery, made using measurements from NASA's Insight lander, has left scientists baffled. While researchers aren't exactly sure what could be causing this landmass shift, a leading theory suggests it could be down to Martian ice. NASA/JPL-CaltechThe latest findings about Mars are the result of years of data gathered from NASA's Insight Lander over 900 Martian days.

Persons: Mars Lander, Sebastien Le Maistre, Bruce Banerdt, I've Organizations: Service, NASA, Royal Observatory of, JPL, Caltech, Malin, Science Systems, NASA's Insight Lander, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Locations: Wall, Silicon, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Southern California

☆ Carl Sagan’s personal master recording of Voyager’s iconic Golden Record goes up for auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The master recordings of the Voyager Golden Record still have their original boxes. Courtesy Sotheby'sNow, a copy of the master recording for NASA’s Voyager Golden Record — the one kept by the late astronomer Carl Sagan and his wife, producer Ann Druyan — will be for sale at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday. Both Voyager spacecraft carry a copy of the Golden Record. Each record cover was etched with symbols depicting how to locate the sun and instructions on how to play the record. Engineers can be seen securing the cover over the Voyager 1 Golden Record in 1977.

Persons: Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan —, Chuck Berry’s, Johnny B, Goode, Sagan, Frank Drake, Linda Salzman, “, ”, Suzanne Dodd, Dodd, ” Dodd, they’ve Organizations: CNN, NASA’s, Sotheby’s, Columbia Recording, United Nations, Cornell University, NASA, Voyager, JPL, Caltech, Engineers, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Neptune, Hulton, “ Locations: York, Senegalese, Peruvian, Indian, Pasadena , California

☆ The unlikely story of the first photo of Mars ever seen on TV
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It was one of a twin set of spacecraft designed to take images of Mars, and the first one failed. Dan Goods/NASA/JPL-CaltechThe transmission was incredibly slow by today’s standards, given that the Perseverance rover regularly sends back batches of high-resolution images from Mars. Together, they revealed craters on the Martian surface and clouds floating above in the atmosphere, both of which surprised scientists. The highest-resolution Mariner 4 image (right) revealed the cratered Martian surface from 7,830 miles (12,601 kilometers) above. JPL/NASAThe snapshots showed less than 1% of the Martian surface, missing the more diverse features on the planet’s surface that later missions such as Viking 1 would capture.

Persons: Pasadena , California CNN —, Mars, “, ”, David Delgado, Percival, Dan Goods, Richard Grumm, Grumm, ” Delgado, William Pickering Organizations: Pasadena , California CNN, Spacecraft, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA’s, JPL, Mariner, Venus, NASA Mariner, NASA, Caltech, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Locations: Pasadena , California, High, Pasadena, Flagstaff , Arizona, Goldstone , California

☆ Ancient regal tomb in Spain belonged to a revered female leader, archaeologists reveal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

While analysis of DNA is one factor, archaeologists have relied on other clues to gain insight, such as grave goods. European archaeologists made a “spectacular” find in 2008 of a tomb near Seville, Spain, that belonged to an ancient individual of great importance. The Ivory Lady, who possibly held a leadership role, was likely revered by her society for generations after she died. Defying gravityThe Perseverance rover snapped a new image of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars on April 16. As Ingenuity and the Perseverance rover begin to explore more challenging terrain, obstacles can block communications between the two — and Perseverance is the only one that can “call” Earth.

Persons: CNN — Piecing, Ivory Lady, ”, Graves, Leonardo García Sanjuán, Tom Booth, James Webb, — Doodles, Henry VIII, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Research, University of Sevilla, University of Seville, SpaceX, Boca, NASA, JPL, Caltech, ASU, Mars, James Webb Space Telescope, CNN Space, Science Locations: Seville, Spain, Boca Chica, Texas, Wild, Hong Kong, Indonesia

☆ Ingenuity helicopter phones home from Mars after 63-day silence
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —After 63 days of silence, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter is talking again. The mission team anticipated that radio silence might occur. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSSThat’s because Ingenuity communicates with mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, by relaying all messages through the Perseverance rover. And when Ingenuity took off for flight 52, a hill presented an obstacle blocking the helicopter and rover from communicating with each other. But Ingenuity has overcome landing on Mars, survived frigid nights, flying on Mars for the first time and numerous record-breaking flights since, and its journey to explore Mars like never before continues.

Persons: Perseverance, ”, Josh Anderson, ” Anderson, “, ” What’s, It’s, Travis Brown, ” Brown, Ingenuity’s Organizations: CNN, NASA, JPL, Caltech, ASU, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Locations: Pasadena , California

☆ Key building block of life found on ocean world orbiting Saturn
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A key chemical building block of life has been found on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. An ocean exists beneath the thick, icy surface of Enceladus, and plumes of material regularly release from geysers at the moon’s south pole. “Previous geochemical models were divided on the question of whether Enceladus’ ocean contains significant quantities of phosphates at all,” Postberg said. “This key ingredient could be abundant enough to potentially support life in Enceladus’ ocean; this is a stunning discovery for astrobiology.”Some of the additional ocean world moons around Jupiter and Saturn include Europa, Titan and Ganymede. Although the building blocks of life and conditions for habitability exist on Enceladus, no actual life has been detected yet.

Persons: ”, Frank Postberg, ” Postberg, Fabian Klenner, “, Postberg, Christopher Glein, Cassini, Linda Spilker, Spilker, ” Spilker, ” Glein, ” “, Nozair Khawaja, Mikhail Zolotov, Zolotov Organizations: CNN, Cassini, NASA, JPL, Space Science, Freie Universität, ATP, University of Washington, Southwest Research Institute, Clipper, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Freie Universität Berlin, Arizona State University Locations: Freie Universität Berlin, San Antonio , Texas, Europa, Pasadena , California

☆ Saturn's icy moon Enceladus harbors essential elements for life
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The discovery was based on data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, the first to orbit Saturn, during its 13-year landmark exploration of the gaseous giant planet, its rings and its moons from 2004 to 2017. The same team previously confirmed that Enceladus' ice grains contain a rich assortment of minerals and complex organic compounds, including the ingredients for amino acids, associated with life as scientists know it. Another is Jupiter's larger moon Europa, which also is believed to harbor a global ocean of liquid water beneath its icy surface. "This key ingredient could be abundant enough to potentially support life in Enceladus' ocean," said co-investigator Christopher Glein, a planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "Whether life could have originated in Enceladus' ocean remains an open question," Glein said.

Persons: NASA's Cassini, Read, Frank Postberg, Cassini, Christopher Glein, Glein, Steve Gorman, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: NASA's, Nature, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Free University, Southwest Research Institute, Thomson Locations: German, Los Angeles, Berlin, Europe, Japan, San Antonio , Texas

☆ NASA’s Psyche mission will launch to an unexplored metal world this fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The endeavor, known as the Psyche mission, was originally expected to lift off in 2022. But the launch window opened on August 1 and closed October 11 before the spacecraft’s flight software was ready. The analysis included ways to address issues with the mission as well as “JPL institutional issues” that caused the delay. This rendering shows how scientists think the Psyche asteroid appears up close. Rubin/NASA/JPL-CaltechThe Psyche asteroid is so metal-rich, some scientists believe it’s the exposed core of a planetesimal, or a planet in the making that separated into layers.

Persons: “, ”, Laurie Leshin, ” Leshin, Peter Rubin The, ’, Nicola Fox, Psyche, Rubin Organizations: CNN, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, JPL, Engineers, Caltech, Arizona State Univ, Systems Locations: Pasadena , California, Florida, Arizona

☆ NASA's Webb Telescope spots a water plume twice the length of the US, spewing from a Saturn moon that could host alien life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA's Webb Telescope revealed just how giant the water plumes shooting out of a Saturn moon are. The water gushes 6,000 miles, or about twice the length of the US, from the moon called Enceladus. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSIBut the James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful observatory ever launched into space. A water vapor plume jetting from the southern pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, as captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. "It was just so shocking to detect a water plume more than 20 times the size of the moon."

Persons: NASA's, —, James Webb, Cassini, Webb, NASA’s James Webb, Geronimo Villanueva, " Villanueva, Leah Hustak, Saturn Organizations: Service, NASA, JPL, Caltech, SSI, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, ESA, CSA, Goddard Space Flight Locations: Los Angeles , California, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Angeles, San Francisco

☆ Perseverance rover captures new images of ancient river evidence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Perseverance rover has captured new images that appear to reveal geologic evidence of a fast-flowing river that fed into Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient Martian lake. The bands of rocks in this image of "Skrinkle Haven" taken by the Perseverance rover may have been formed by a fast-flowing river. The rover also captured a mosaic of "Pinestand," where layers of sedimentary rock could have been formed by a deep, fast-flowing river. The Perseverance team is also analyzing other images taken by the rover. We struggle even with early Earth rocks to answer this question.

☆ Photos from NASA's Mars rover show the red planet's ancient rivers were much wilder than scientists first thought
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA's Mars rover found evidence to suggest deep, powerful rivers once raged on the red planet. The Perseverance rover took close-up images a specific region in Jezero Crater for the first time. The discovery may help scientists figure out what kind of ancient life existed on the planet. Scientists studying rock formations, features, and valleys on Mars, so far, have found evidence to suggest Mars was once covered by water. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSSAnother image from Perseverance further supports this idea of a powerful ancient river that once roared across Jezero Crater.

☆ How the Voyager probes keep going decades after launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Voyager 2’s priceless data is captured and returned to Earth through its five science instruments, while Voyager 1 still has four operational instruments after one failed earlier in the mission. Both Voyager probes rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Over time, the Voyager team has commanded the probes to turn off instrument heaters and other nonessential systems. The Voyager proof test model, seen here in 1976, has a platform showcasing several of the science instruments. “Picture it as an ocean of space with waves and turbulence and activity going on, and the Voyager instruments can measure what’s happening,” Spilker said.

☆ A mysterious object has been spotted that is 10 million times brighter than the sun. Scientists can't work out why it hasn't exploded
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX) are objects that shine ten million times brighter than the sun. NASA has been tracking so-called ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX), impossible objects that can be 10 million times brighter than the sun, to understand how they work. A new study categorically confirms that M82 X-2, a ULX 12 million light-years away, is as bright as previous observation suggested it to be. But if it were not falling in, the matter shouldn't be radiating, which means the object shouldn't be that bright. (A neutron star is a superdense object left behind when a star has run out of energy and dies.)

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