SCIENCE - Page 16

On Saturday, the wondrous spectacle of an annular solar eclipse transfixed crowds across the Americas as thousands of astronomy enthusiasts gathered to see a celestial phenomenon that looks like the Moon is taking a bite out of the Sun. The rare event occurs when the Moon is at its farthest distance from Earth, does not entirely obscure the Sun, but leaves a stunning “ring of fire” in the sky. The dazzling display of physics can only be seen from locations

US space agency NASA’s Psyche spacecraft rocketed away on Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid. Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal world. Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an early planet’s core and could shed light on the inaccessible centers of Earth and other rocky planets. The uncrewed Psyche mission, designed to study the peculiar 16 Psyche, launched from Kennedy Space Center

Like a time capsule, the pristine asteroid that arrived on Earth on September 24 contained much more than just rocks and dust. It also contained water and carbon, which NASA on Thursday revealed are crucial ingredients for life. It’s the first time that such a large amount of these molecules have been found in an asteroid sample, NASA said during a press event. The samples, retrieved by the OSIRIS-REx mission, were “loaded with organics,” senior scientist Daniel Glavin said, calling

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Sunday revealed that its first solar mission, the Aditya L1, is successfully continuing its journey to the Sun. The satellite was placed in a halo orbit of the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point, located 1.5 million km from Earth, allowing it to view the Sun continuously without eclipses. This will help the satellite better understand solar activity and its impact on space weather. The Isro team, led by the mission director Thaddeus Baskar, said

Scientists from Mahidol University in Thailand have been exploring the potential of watermeal, the smallest flowering plant on Earth, as a source of nutrition and oxygen for astronauts. The research at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands involved subjecting the tiny aquatic plants to hypergravity conditions aboard ESA’s Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC). These hypergravity conditions mimicked the International Space Station (ISS) but could be maintained for extended periods – up to a year. The tests

Elon Musk’s levelheaded realism has tended to underestimate the odds of success. Still, the SpaceX CEO is more confident that Starship will fly again than he was when the program’s first attempt went wrong earlier this year. Speaking onstage at the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Baku, Azerbaijan, Musk said he expects the rocket’s third high-altitude launch and freefall landing to be successful. A fundamental change for the second test flight, scheduled for this week, is that SpaceX will

The first pair of prototype satellites for Amazon’s (AMZN.O) planned Kuiper internet network were launched into space on Friday from Florida, the company’s first step before it deploys thousands more into orbit to beam internet service globally and compete with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket emblazoned with the Amazon logo lifted off from Cape Canaveral shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern time (1800 GMT), and the 196-foot-tall rocket arced away from the coast of Florida, climbing

Over a month after its ambitious mission had a fiery end on the Moon, Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, has revealed that a malfunction resulted in the crash. A part that was supposed to stop the spacecraft’s engine didn’t work correctly, so it kept firing for much longer than needed. That caused the Luna 25 lander to accelerate, which made it spin uncontrollably. That ultimately led to the spacecraft crashing into the Moon on August 19, killing it. It marked

Venus has long been the center of our curiosity, known for its extremely harsh environment, unbreathable atmosphere, and hellish landscape of lava flows and sulfuric acid clouds. But the planet may have a hidden secret, and that secret could help us understand what makes Venus tick. The hottest planet in the solar system, Venus is notorious for being almost unbearably hostile to life. At 900 degrees Fahrenheit, it has the hottest surface in the Universe, and its clouds are corrosive

Switzerland and the United States have donated $8 million to Brazil’s fund to fight Amazon deforesting and preserve the world’s largest tropical rainforest. On Tuesday, the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) that manages the fund said that Switzerland contributed 5 million Swiss francs ($5.4 million) and the United States $3 million. The contribution will help Brazil achieve its goal of reaching zero deforestation by 2030. The Brazilian Amazon is a unique biome with iconic forests, rich biodiversity, and critical ecosystem