Astronomy

It is truly wonderful to see so many nations aspiring to space exploration and trips to the Moon. Earlier this week on the 27th May, South Korea innaugurated its new space agency, the Korea AeroSpace Administration otherwise known as KASA. The group is headed up by former professor of aerospace engineering Yoon Young-bin. Whilst the group has yet to announce detailed plans for their upcoming missions Young-bin has stated they hope to land on the Moon by 2032 and to get to Mars by 2045.

The President of Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, had confirmed that the government was committed to the space sector. To that end, they intend to secure investments of billions of dollars to fund the project. In March this year Korean Space Agency was formed in a ceremony that took place in March this year. Suk-yeol pleduged to facilitate 1,000 space companies and he hoped that 10 of the companies would become top-tier space firms. They would work hard to increase Korea’s share of the space market, aiming to hit 10% instead of the existing 1%. and create over 100,000 jobs. 

The Korean goverment has for sometime been keen to expand the space industry, Young-bin also prioritised support for the private sector. “The establishment of KASA will be an important stepping stone that guides the way for Korea to become a powerhouse in space economy by setting up the private-led space ecosystem,” Young-bin said. 

Young-bin is no stranger to space exploration since he had been researching space propulsion at the time of his appointment. His research chiefly focuses on liquid rocket engine. He has also been a serving director of the Institute of Advanced Aerospace Technology. 

Mid to long term goals and visions for space development are important next steps along the journey. To achieve those, KASA are striving for active cooperation from public, private and academic sectors. All of this is of course subject to securing the necessary funding. 

The framework for operations of KASA have been established and will be implemented with a maximum of 293 employees. Currenly only 110 are in place which includes a number of officials who were originally part of the Science Ministry in Korea. With the establishment of KASA, the Ministry of Science and ICT have been reorganised to align to their reduced scope of work but to find the remaining employees KASA will continue to search at home and abroad for the right people.

Along with their plans to explore the Moon and Mars, KASA is also planning to explore the Lagrangian Point known as L4. These regions in space lie along the Earth’s orbit and usually a little ahead or a litle behind but at these points, the gravitational force of the Earth and that of the Sun balance out against each other making for a highly efficient location for a probe. No country has acehived this yet so it will really put KASA on the international space exploration map.

They also plan to restore the Apophis mission which had been scrapped some years ago. The asteroid will pass close by Earth in 2029. The plan is for this to become an international mission, calling upon international co-operation. Other projects include participation in the Event Horizon Telescope and black hole imaging from one of NASA’s solar coronagraph.

Source : Korea ushers in new space era with KASA launch

The post South Korea is Planning to Send a Mission to Mars by 2045 appeared first on Universe Today.

If matter falls into one end of a wormhole, it could heat up in a tornado of plasma hot enough to initiate nuclear fusion – and come blasting out the other end

If matter falls into one end of a wormhole, it could heat up in a tornado of plasma hot enough to initiate nuclear fusion – and come blasting out the other end

Peru and Slovakia both signed NASA's Artemis Accords on Thursday (May 30). It's an agreement that promises peaceful and transparent exploration of the moon and outer space.

A simple statistical test can quickly guide humanitarian efforts in areas like Gaza and Ukraine impacted by war – and it could perform as well as more expensive, AI-powered methods

A simple statistical test can quickly guide humanitarian efforts in areas like Gaza and Ukraine impacted by war – and it could perform as well as more expensive, AI-powered methods

There have been some rumblings of the next Star Wars series, The Acolyte, getting the axe before its first season even premieres, but all is not what it seems.

Fossils from an ice age “spa” reveal a cluster of hot springs kept trees alive in the frozen Alps

SpaceX is set to launch another batch of its Starlink broadband satellites from Florida tonight (May 31), adding to a very busy stretch in spaceflight.

Lego is adding another color of spaceman minifigure to its roster, and you can vote for your favorite for a limited time.

Queen Asian hornets found in East Sussex this year are a genetic match to a 2023 nest, suggesting the invasive species is becoming established in the UK

Queen Asian hornets found in East Sussex this year are a genetic match to a 2023 nest, suggesting the invasive species is becoming established in the UK

The true nature of time has eluded physicists for centuries, but a new theoretical model suggests it may only exist due to entanglement between quantum objects

The true nature of time has eluded physicists for centuries, but a new theoretical model suggests it may only exist due to entanglement between quantum objects

To create more high resolution maps of the moon, scientists are enlisting the help of algorithms.

Voyager 1 is once again returning data from two of four science instruments onboard.

The post Voyager 1 (and Half Its Instruments) Are Back Online appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A simulation-generated image reveals how charge distributions and gas densities vary in the plasma that floats across our universe

A simulation-generated image reveals how charge distributions and gas densities vary in the plasma that floats across our universe

The First Annual Space Piracy Conference aims to explore the risks of piracy in space and solutions to this potentially devastating economic and legal problem.

An external high-definition camera on the International Space Station captured this image of Hurricane Idalia at 11:35 a.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 29, 2023. Idalia was a category 1 storm over the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 140 kilometers (85 miles) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. June 1 marks the beginning of the 2024 hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean.