Astronomy

Travelling to Mars has its own challenges. The distance alone makes the journey something of a mission in itself. Arrive though, and the handwork has only just begun. Living and surviving on Mars will be perhaps humans biggest challenge yet.  It would be impossible to take everything along with you to survive so instead, it would be imperative to ‘live off the land’ and produce as much locally as possible. A new rover called AgroMars will be equipped with a number of agriculture related experiments to study the make up of the soil to assess its suitability for growing food. 

Growing food on Mars poses a number of challenges, chiefly due to the harsh environmental conditions. Not least of which is the low atmospheric pressure, temperature extremes and high radiation levels. To try and address these, new techniques have been developed in the fields of hydroponics and aeroponics. The key to these new techniques involves using nutrient rich solutions instead of soils. 

Special structures are build analogous to greenhouses on Earth with artificial lighting, temperature and humidity control. Genetic engineering too has played a part in developing plants that are more hardy and capably of surviving in harsh Martian environments. As we continue to explore the Solar System and in particular Mars, we are going to have to find ways to grow food in alien environments. 

The space station’s Veggie Facility, tended here by NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, during the VEG-03 plant growth investigation, which cultivated Extra Dwarf Pak Choi, Red Russian Kale, Wasabi mustard, and Red Lettuce and harvested on-orbit samples for testing back on Earth. Credits: NASA

Enter AgroMars. A space mission taking a rover to Mars to hunt for, and explore the possibility of establishing agriculture on Mars! The rover will be launched with similar capabilities to the likes of Perseverance or Curiosity. The rover will be launched to Mars by a Falcon 9 launch vehicle operated by Space X but this is some years off yet. The development phase has yet to start. In a paper by lead author M. Duarte dos San- tos the mission has been shaped, reality is a little way off. 

On arrival, AgroMars will use an X-ray and infrared spectrometer, high resolution cameras, pH sensors, mass spectrometers and drilling tools to collect and analyse soil samples. The samples will be assessed for mineralogical composition, soil texture, soil pH, presence of organic compounds and water retention capacity. 

To be able to assess the Martian soil the rover must possess advanced capabilities for collecting and analysing soil samples, more than before. The data will then be sent on to laboratories on Earth and it is their responsibility to interpret the information. The multitude of groups involved is a wonderful reminder how science transcends geographical borders. Working together will yield far better results and help to advance our knowledge of astrobiology and agriculture on Mars. 

‘Calypso’ Panorama of Spirit’s View from ‘Troy’. This full-circle view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the terrain surrounding the location called “Troy,” where Spirit became embedded in soft soil during the spring of 2009. The hundreds of images combined into this view were taken beginning on the 1,906th Martian day (or sol) of Spirit’s mission on Mars (May 14, 2009) and ending on Sol 1943 (June 20, 2009). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

This doesn’t come cheap though. The estimated cost of the mission is in the region of $2.7 billion which includes development, launch and exploration for the entire mission. 

The total cost of the mission is estimated to be around $2.7 billion, which includes $2.2 billion for the development and launch of the rover and $500 million for its exploitation during the entirety of the mission. Whether it – pardon the pun – gets off the ground is yet to be seen but if we are to explore and even establish a permanent base on Mars then we will have to gain a better understanding of the environment to feed and sustain future explorers. 

Source : AgroMars, Space Mission Concept Study To Explore Martian Soil And Atmosphere To Search For Possibility Of Agriculture on Mars.

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To remain youthful in a cosmic demolition derby around supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, some cannibalistic stars gruesomely bathe in outer layers of their stellar victims.

Combining PSA blood tests with MRI scans is making the screening less harmful, but it still should be targeted only at high-risk groups, such as men who are Black or have a family history of prostate cancer, says a new report

Combining PSA blood tests with MRI scans is making the screening less harmful, but it still should be targeted only at high-risk groups, such as men who are Black or have a family history of prostate cancer, says a new report

In a paper published on the 1st April, author Mark Popinchalk reported upon a fascinating piece of research focussing on which animal has seen the most solar eclipses! It turns out that, whilst us humans have seen our fair share we are nowhere near the top of the list.  According to Popinchalk, the horseshoe crabs have seen a staggering 138 trillion solar eclipses across the entire species. We are hot on their heels but it won’t be until about 10 million years that we catch up!

On Monday we will be treated to another total solar eclipse across many parts of the globe. As the eclipse progresses – which is the result of a perfect Earth, Moon and Sun alignment – the Moon blocks sunlight from reaching parts of the Earth. When the Moon is directly between the two, from parts of the Earth, the Sun is completely blocked and we see a total solar eclipse. When only part of the Sun is blocked, we see a partial eclipse. As the eclipse progresses on Monday, hundreds of millions of people will witness the event unfold. 

Totality and the ‘diamond ring effect,’ captured during the 2023 total solar eclipse as seen from Ah Chong Island, Australia. Credit: Eliot Herman

It goes without saying that eclipses are not human constructs, nor are they purely the domain of the human being. Eclipses have occurred for millions of years, from a time long before humans appeared on Earth. This means that animals, for billions of years, witnessed eclipses long before we were the proverbial twinkle in the eye of mother Earth. 

Across the eons where eclipses have taken place there has been countless creatures walking/flying and swimming around. Even microbial activity Popinchalk suggests should be considered but it is impossible to say too much about them. In the Cambrian period there was a wide range of animals that evolved onto the surface of the Earth. The challenge however is to decide if an animal is actually aware of an eclipse, much less actually ‘observe’ it. There are anecdotal reports of birds going to roost during the lower light levels. Quantifying this is difficult.

Recent studies into the reaction of animals during total solar eclipses from zoos in metropolitan areas. Hartstone—Rose and team tracked the responses to 17 families of animals during the 2017 eclipse and found that 13 of them behaved differently than usual, with 8 performing night time routines. Others, such as primates, exhibited anxiety based behaviours much like our early ancestors did. 

Hartstone-Rose et al observed the Galapagos turtles turning to look toward the sky during an eclipse, were they perhaps observing and contemplating the event? Studies from Lofting and Dolittle (1920) have explored animal communications but until we can unlock the mystery of animal communication we may never know. We cannot however, hide from the fact that animals may well have seen eclipses, the debate is whether they really cottoned on to what was happening. 

In the conclusion, Popinchalk shows how, for an estimated standing population of horseshoe crabs of 120 million they would have witnessed 1.5 million eclipses making a total of 130 trillion total solar eclipse experiences. As for humans, if we take a standing (average) population of 1 million and 320,000 eclipses thats a mere 32 billion experiences. We are lagging behind. The paper is a fascinating read, give it a try, but do remember it was published on the 1st April, the numbers may have changed by then! It’s worthy of a winky emoji at this point

SpaceX has moved its giant Super Heavy booster to the pad for testing ahead of the next Starship test flight, which could launch as soon as May.

White House officials have directed NASA to begin work on establishing a standard time for the Moon, according to a report from Reuters this week. Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) is intended to help ensure synchronization between the various lunar activities planned under the Artemis program.

Timekeeping is essential to space travel. It ensures orbital maneuvers occur correctly, it helps communications between spacecraft remain secure, and it prevents errors in positioning and mapping. Without it, in other words, lunar exploration would get very complicated.

We can blame Einstein and his theory of relativity for part of the problem. Time is experienced differently under different gravitational conditions, an effect known as time dilation.

“The same clock that we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the moon,” Kevin Coggins, NASA’s space communications and navigation chief, told Reuters.

On the Moon, clocks move faster than their Earthly counterparts by 58.7 microseconds per day. While most humans wouldn’t notice such a tiny difference, spacecraft certainly do.

Currently, spacecraft in low Earth orbit, like GPS satellites and the International Space Station, run on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). But even in these cases, periodic corrections need to be made for time dilation, otherwise GPS systems would lose precision and ultimately fail.

Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques shows his watch, set to UTC, aboard the International Space Station. Credit: CSA.

The Apollo program’s moon missions in the 1960s-70s relied on Houston time. Mission control was the astronauts’ timekeeper – though astronauts made sidereal measurements using the stars to ensure they were on course and on time – that was enough for short-term lunar visits with only two vehicles (a command module and a lander).

But with dozens of countries and private companies vying to engage in long-term lunar exploration under the Artemis program, a shared timekeeping system is going to be vital.

“Think of the atomic clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory (in Washington). They’re the heartbeat of the nation, synchronizing everything. You’re going to want a heartbeat on the moon,” Coggins said.

NASA will need international cooperation to bring LTC into being. UTC, the global standard for Earthly timekeeping, is managed by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, and LTC will likely need to be brought before the same body to ensure its implementation is accepted internationally.

The White House memo proposing LTC recognized the need for international agreements to bring it to fruition. It suggested facilitating LTC through existing international bodies, but also through the Artemis Accords, a recent 36-nation agreement that outlines guidelines for cooperative space exploration.

According to the memo, plans for LTC are expected to be finalized by the end of 2026.

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The new BREAD experiment, which was designed to search the cosmos for mysterious dark matter, has returned its first results.

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What is Dark Matter? We don’t know. At this stage of the game, scientists are busy trying to detect it and map out its presence and distribution throughout the Universe. Usually, that involves highly-engineered, sophisticated telescopes.

But a new approach involves a device so small it can sit on a kitchen table.

A collaboration between the University of Chicago and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has resulted in a tabletop device called Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection or BREAD. BREAD is built to detect dark matter, and its first results are now available in a new paper.

The paper is “First Results from a Broadband Search for Dark Photon Dark Matter in the 44 to 52 µeV Range with a Coaxial Dish Antenna.” It’s published in Physical Review Letters, and the lead author is Stefan Knirck. Knirck is a Fermilab postdoctoral scholar who led the construction of the detector.

The word ‘mysterious’ barely describes dark matter. It constitutes about 85% of the matter in the Universe. It can’t be seen, but its presence is inferred from observations. Its mass holds galaxies together; without it, they would fly apart.

“We’re very confident that something is there, but there are many, many forms it could take.”

David Miller, University of Chicago

Dark matter is sometimes described as the Universe’s backbone or the scaffolding that holds regular matter. Simulations like TNG Illustris showed how dark matter is distributed throughout the Universe in a network of filaments and clumps. The distribution of galaxy clusters follows the same pattern.

TNG 50, TNG 100, and TNG 300 simulated increasingly large sections of the Universe, showing how dark matter is spread throughout the Universe. Image: IllustrisTNG

Physicists still don’t know what dark matter is. But it’s there, and there are several candidates.

“We’re very confident that something is there, but there are many, many forms it could take,” said University of Chicago Associate Professor David Miller. Miller is a co-leader of the BREAD experiment.

One of the candidates is a hypothetical type of particle called an axion. If they’re real and their mass is within certain limits, they could be one of dark matter’s components.

The BREAD experiment focuses on the mass range of 10.7–12.5 GHz. Within that range, it searches for dark photon dark matter. Along with axions, they’re one of the most promising candidates for dark matter. Dark photons are a hypothetical type of particle that physicists think might act as a force carrier for dark matter like photons are force carriers for electromagnetism. Axions and dark photons are linked in the search for dark matter, but a detailed explanation is beyond the scope of this article. (Watch Fraser Cain’s videos for a deeper dive.)

BREAD’s first run lasted 24 days and didn’t detect anything; if it had, it would be huge news, and we’d all hear it. But, since its effort is so focused, the lack of detection is still constructive.

“We’re very excited about what we’ve been able to do so far,” said Miller, “There are lots of practical advantages to this design, and we’ve already shown the best sensitivity to date in this 11-12 gigahertz frequency.”

Each candidate for dark matter requires a specific search. Physicists build detectors aimed at specific candidates. BREAD is a little bit different. As its name illustrates, it’s a broadband detector. It can search across a range of frequencies, though its precision suffers.

“If you think about it like a radio, the search for dark matter is like tuning the dial to search for one particular radio station, except there are a million frequencies to check through,” said Miller. “Our method is like doing a scan of 100,000 radio stations, rather than a few very thoroughly.”

This version of BREAD is a scaled-down version of what the full-scale version will be. Eventually, BREAD will sit inside a magnet. The magnetic field will boost the chances that dark matter particles will be converted into detectable photons. This first 24-day run was a proof of principle.

“This is just the first step in a series of exciting experiments we are planning.”

Andrew Sonnenschein, Fermilab Fermilab’s Stefan Knirck with components of the BREAD detector. Eventually, BREAD will be placed inside a magnet to boost the chances that dark photons will convert to photons. Image Credit: BREAD

Though this first proof of principle run didn’t detect any dark matter, the results were still helpful. The run showed that BREAD is very sensitive in its frequency range. The researchers think they can improve the sensitivity even more.

“This is just the first step in a series of exciting experiments we are planning,” said Andrew Sonnenschein from Fermilab, who originally developed the concept behind BREAD. “We have many ideas for improving the sensitivity of our axion search.”

This schematic from the research helps explain how BREAD works. Dark photons convert to photons emitted perpendicularly from the cylinder. The signal is focused on a coaxial horn antenna, amplified using a low-noise receiver chain (right), down-converted and digitized using a custom real-time field-programmable gate array-based broadband data acquisition system (bottom). Image Credit: Knirck et al. 2024

Dark matter and what comprises it is one of the most confounding questions in science. For Miller, BREAD is more than just another science experiment. It speaks to the creativity needed to explore dark matter thoroughly and the way researchers at different institutions can work together to make progress.

“There are still so many open questions in science and an enormous space for creative new ideas for tackling those questions,” said Miller. “I think this is really a hallmark example of those kinds of creative ideas—in this case, impactful, collaborative partnerships between smaller-scale science at universities and larger-scale science at national laboratories.”

The post A New Tabletop Experiment to Search for Dark Matter appeared first on Universe Today.

Starliner, the new crewed capsule from Boeing, has been in the works for a long time. Originally unveiled in 2010, the capsule has been under development for the last 14 years, primarily utilizing NASA grants and contracts. However, Boeing itself has taken upwards of 1 billion dollars in hits to earnings as part of the craft’s development. After all that time in the prototype stages, Starliner is finally ready for its first crewed flight – which has now officially been scheduled for May 6th.

The launch will utilize a ULA Atlas V, which was also partly developed by Boeing. Like most Atlas V launches, it will take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida and take two astronauts – Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore – to the International Space Station.

To make room for the capsule, the crew already stationed on the ISS has to do some additional work, including moving a Dragon capsule out of the docking port on the ISS’s Harmony module to which the Starliner will have to attach. To move the capsule, they will also have to complete some additional “science and cargo logistics,” according to a NASA Press release.

Fraser covers Starliner’s successful test flight.

Those logistics seem to be the primary cause of a final five-day delay (from May 1st to 5th) that the Starliner will have to endure. Once at the ISS, Williams and Wilmore will spend a week helping out on the ISS before using the Starliner capsule to return to Earth.

That is assuming all goes well with their flight. Starliner has had at least one spectacular failure as part of its development, though it successfully completed an uncrewed flight in May of 2022. If any astronauts are ready to ride on a new crewed capsule, it’s Williams and Wilmore. Both have been astronauts for over 20 years, and each was a trained Navy Test Pilot before joining NASA.

The capsule they will be using, known as Calypso, has already been to orbit, though not as many times as the astronauts themselves. It was used in the first orbital test flight, and while it didn’t manage to dock up with the ISS, it did land successfully and wouldn’t pose a risk to any astronauts on board.

Video from Boeing showcasing Starliner mounted atop an Atlas V.
Credit – Boeing YouTube Channel

Upon completing this test flight, NASA hopes to rely on the Starliner to provide regular crewed missions to the ISS. This would be supplemental to the SpaceX Dragon capsule the agency already uses and mark the definitive end to the drought of American crewed spaceflight.

Future missions include a four-person flight planned for 2025, assuming all goes well with this first one. Boeing also has a contract with NASA for five additional flights between 2026 and 2030. But first, if all goes well, on May 6th, after decades of work, the world will hopefully gain another crewed vehicle to help facilitate our path to the stars.

Learn More:
NASA – NASA, Boeing Update Launch Date for Starliner’s First Astronaut Flight
UT – Starliner Faces New Delays for Crewed Flights to ISS
UT – Finally! We get to See a View From Inside Boeing’s Starliner During its First Flight
UT – Starliner Needs Even More Fixes, and Probably won’t Carry Astronauts Until 2023

Lead Image:
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 4, 2022.
Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

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The six-person crew of Blue Origin's seventh human spaceflight includes Ed Dwight, who was picked in 1961 to be the nation's first black astronaut candidate.

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A solar geoengineering experiment in San Francisco could lead to brighter clouds that reflect sunlight. The risks are numerous

One person in the US has contracted bird flu after being exposed to dairy cows that have the virus, but experts say there is no immediate threat of a wider outbreak in people

One person in the US has contracted bird flu after being exposed to dairy cows that have the virus, but experts say there is no immediate threat of a wider outbreak in people

If there’s a Holy Grail on Mars, it’s probably a specific type of rock: A rock so important that it holds convincing clues to Mars’ ancient habitability.

Perseverance might have just found it.

If scientists could design the perfect rock for Perseverance to find, it would be one that displayed evidence of ancient water and was the type that preserves ancient organic material. The rover may have found it as it explores the Margin Unit, a geologic region on the inner edge of Jezero Crater’s rim. The Margin Unit was one of the reasons Jezero Crater was selected for Perseverance’s mission.

“To put it simply, this is the kind of rock we had hoped to find when we decided to investigate Jezero Crater.”

Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist, Caltech.

The Margin Unit is in a narrow band along the crater’s western rim. Orbital observations showed that it’s one of the most carbonate-rich regions on the planet. “Its presence, along with the adjacent fluvial delta, made Jezero crater the most compelling landing site for the Mars 2020 <Perseverance> mission,” presenters at the 2024 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference wrote.

The Margin Unit lies near the western rim of Jezero Crater. White dots show Perseverance’s stopping points, and the blue line shows the rover’s future route. Image Credit: R.C. Wiens et al. 2024

The decision to send Perseverance to the Jezero Crater and the Margin Unit seems to be paying off. Bunsen Peak caught scientists’ attention because it stands tall compared to its surroundings. One of the rock’s faces also has an interesting texture. Scientists thought the rock would allow for nice cross-sections, and since it stood vertically, there’d be less dust when working on it. Surface dust is a problem for Perseverance because it can obscure the rock’s chemistry.

The Perseverance team decided to sample it and cache the sample along with the rest of its cores for eventual return to Earth. But first, they scanned the rock’s surface with SuperCam and PIXL, the rover’s spectrometers. Then, they abraded the rock’s surface and scanned it again. The results show that Bunsen Peak is 75% carbonate grains cemented together by nearly pure silica.

This image mosaic shows the Bunsen Peak rock that has ignited scientists’ excitement. The rover abraded a circular patch to test its composition and extracted a core sample for return to Earth. The lighter surfaces are dust-covered, so Perseverance avoided those areas as the dust can obscure the rock’s chemistry from the rover’s instruments. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

“To put it simply, this is the kind of rock we had hoped to find when we decided to investigate Jezero Crater,” said Ken Farley, project scientist for Perseverance at Caltech in Pasadena, California. “Nearly all the minerals in the rock we just sampled were made in water; on Earth, water-deposited minerals are often good at trapping and preserving ancient organic material and biosignatures. The rock can even tell us about Mars’s climate conditions that were present when it was formed.”

This image shows the bottom of the Bunsen Peak sample core. The sample contains about 75% carbonate minerals cemented by almost pure silica. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Here on our planet, carbonate minerals can form directly around microbe cells. Once encapsulated, the cells can quickly become fossils, and are preserved for a long time. This is what happened to stromatolites here on Earth, and they now constitute some of the earliest evidence of life on our planet.

These minerals are a high priority for return to Earth. This sample is number 24, named Comet Geyser, because everything gets a name when you intend to transport it to Earth from another planet.

There’s something specific that makes this sample even more intriguing. They’re microcrystalline rocks, meaning they’re made of crystals so small that only microscopes can see them. On Earth, microcrystalline rocks like Precambrian chert hold fossilized cyanobacteria. Could the same be true of Bunsen Peak?

“The silica and parts of the carbonate appear microcrystalline, which makes them extremely good at trapping and preserving signs of microbial life that might have once lived in this environment,” said Sandra Siljeström, a Perseverance scientist from the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) in Stockholm. “That makes this sample great for biosignature studies if returned to Earth. Additionally, the sample might be one of the older cores collected so far by Perseverance, and that is important because Mars was at its most habitable early in its history.”

via GIPHY

Comet Geyser is Perseverance’s third sample from the Margin Unit. There’s still more work to do, but the samples support what scientists thought about Jezero Crater before Perseverance landed there: it was once a paleolake.

“We’re still exploring the margin and gathering data, but results so far may support our hypothesis that the rocks here formed along the shores of an ancient lake,” said Briony Horgan, a Perseverance scientist from Purdue University. “The science team is also considering other ideas for the origin of the Margin Unit, as there are other ways to form carbonate and silica. But no matter how this rock formed, it is really exciting to get a sample.”

It wasn’t that long ago that we knew very little about Mars. In the absence of knowledge, imagination took over. American astronomer Percival Lowell wrote three books about canals on Mars, popularizing the idea that intelligent life was extant on Mars and engineering the planet’s surface.

Astronomers didn’t buy the idea, which turned out to be untrue. But now we know that Lowell was at least partially, though inadvertently, correct. There are no canals, but there may have been lakes.

There was no intelligent life, but there may have been simple life in those lakes. Once we get Comet Geyser and the other samples back to Earth, we may find out for sure.

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The standard model of cosmology says that the strength of dark energy should be constant, but tentative hints are emerging that it may have weakened recently

The standard model of cosmology says that the strength of dark energy should be constant, but tentative hints are emerging that it may have weakened recently