Tag: solar system

Osiris-Rex spacecraft to bring asteroid sample to Earth for NASA today
24Sep By adminNo Comments
Technology

Osiris-Rex spacecraft to bring asteroid sample to Earth for NASA today

[ad_1] The climactic end of a seven-year voyage comes Sunday when a NASA capsule is due to land in the Utah desert, carrying to Earth the largest asteroid samples ever collected. Scientists have high hopes for the sample, saying it will provide a better understanding of the formation of our solar system and how Earth became habitable. The Osiris-Rex probe's final, fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere will be perilous, but the US space agency is hoping for a soft landing, around 9:00am local (15H00 GMT), in a military test range in northwestern Utah.Four years after its 2016 launch, the probe landed on the asteroid Bennu and collected roughly nine ounces (250 grams) of dust from its rocky surface. Even that small amount, NASA says, should "help us better understand the types of aster...
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Historic NASA asteroid mission set for perilous return
23Sep By adminNo Comments
Technology

Historic NASA asteroid mission set for perilous return

[ad_1] NASA's first mission to retrieve an asteroid sample and return it to US soil is expected to reach a perilous finale on Sunday with a descent into the Utah desert.Scientists hope the material -- possibly the most ever retrieved by such a mission -- will provide humanity with a better understanding on the formation of our solar system and how Earth became habitable. The US space probe OSIRIS-REx, launched in 2016, scooped up the sample from an asteroid called Bennu almost three years ago. Touchdown is scheduled for Sunday at around 9:00 am local time (1500 GMT), at a military testing site in the western state.Some four hours earlier, at about 67,000 miles (108,000 kilometers) away from Earth, the Osiris-Rex probe will release the capsule containing the sample.The final descent last...
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NASA spacecraft delivering biggest sample yet from an asteroid
23Sep By adminNo Comments
Technology

NASA spacecraft delivering biggest sample yet from an asteroid

[ad_1] Planet Earth is about to receive a special delivery — the biggest sample yet from an asteroid.A NASA spacecraft will fly by Earth on Sunday and drop off what is expected to be at least a cupful of rubble it grabbed from the asteroid Bennu. closing out a seven-year quest. The sample capsule will parachute into the Utah desert as its mothership, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft, zooms off for an encounter with another asteroid. Scientists anticipate getting about a half pound (250 grams) of pebbles and dust, much more than the teaspoon or so brought back by Japan from two other asteroids. No other country has fetched pieces of asteroids, preserved time capsules from the dawn of our solar system that can help explain how Earth — and life — came to be.Sunday's landing concludes a 4 billion-...
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Earth’s violent history: The biggest asteroid impacts of all time
28Aug By adminNo Comments
Technology

Earth’s violent history: The biggest asteroid impacts of all time

[ad_1] Over the years, we have been warned by scientists about asteroids making close approaches to Earth. Every now and then we hear about huge plane-sized asteroids closing in on our planet, but none of them so far has crashed on Earth. Scientists believe that we will not see any humanity killing asteroids hitting Earth in the near future, but they also say that asteroid impacts are very much possible. Various space organizations all over the world are studying and identifying space rocks and ways to guard the planet against them. However, back in ancient history, Earth was prone to asteroid impacts and the study says space was more violent back in those days than now. Let's have a look at some of the biggest asteroid impacts on Earth.Biggest asteroid impact cratersVredefort CraterAcc...
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Sun-observing spacecraft sheds light on the solar wind’s origin
27Aug By adminNo Comments
Technology

Sun-observing spacecraft sheds light on the solar wind’s origin

[ad_1] The solar wind is a ubiquitous feature of our solar system. This relentless high-speed flow of charged particles from the sun fills interplanetary space. On Earth, it triggers geomagnetic storms that can disrupt satellites and it causes the dazzling auroras - the northern and southern lights - at high latitudes.But precisely how the sun generates the solar wind has remained unclear. New observations by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft may provide an answer. Researchers on Thursday said the spacecraft has detected numerous relatively small jets of charged particles expelled intermittently from the corona - the sun's outer atmosphere - at supersonic speeds for 20 to 100 seconds. The jets emanate from structures on the corona called coronal holes where the sun's magnetic field stretches...
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Japan’s JAXA to launch its SLIM ‘Moon Sniper’ lander on August 26
22Aug By adminNo Comments
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Japan’s JAXA to launch its SLIM ‘Moon Sniper’ lander on August 26

[ad_1] We have entered the year of great space exploration as various countries are in competition to reach the moon's surface. It is surprising to see the number of missions that are being planned and executed in 2023. First, we saw the launch of India's third moon mission, Chardrayaan-3, which is ready to land there tomorrow, August 23. Then came Russia's moon mission, which was conducted after 45 years of delay, but sadly the spacecraft crashed. Now, Japan's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is preparing to launch its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), which is also called 'Moon Sniper', on August 26.There are more! Various other moon exploration missions have been planned for the upcoming months of this year. Let's first know what Japan's moon mission is all about. ...
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Hubble Space Telescope has found a unique, evaporating planet 32 light years away from Earth
29Jul By adminNo Comments
Technology

Hubble Space Telescope has found a unique, evaporating planet 32 light years away from Earth

[ad_1] We know that the universe is full of strange, even unique, bodies, but it still never ceases to amaze and surprise us every day. Now, thanks to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, we have got to know about another unique planet out there - a planet in trouble. Recently NASA scientists have observed a planet whose atmosphere is spreading outwards and it is changing in unexpected manner due to the proximity to its star.Evaporating PlanetA recently discovered, youthful planet orbits a moody red dwarf star and is undergoing intriguing transformations with each orbit. Due to its proximity to the parent star, the planet endures a continuous and forceful influx of energy, leading to the gradual evaporation of its hydrogen atmosphere, resulting in a puffing effect on its surface. Astronomers ...
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope snaps amazing shot of ‘Baby Stars’ turning into giants
28Jul By adminNo Comments
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope snaps amazing shot of ‘Baby Stars’ turning into giants

[ad_1] The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a fascinating image of the formation of a pair of stars evolving rapidly. These celestial objects, collectively known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, reside within the heart of an orange-white region where the six diffraction spikes converge. According to NASA, these stars are mere infants, being only a few thousand years old, and are expected to undergo continuous growth until they reach maturity millions of years from now. The stunning photograph of this binary star system was captured using infrared light, a wavelength invisible to the naked eye. Nevertheless, the Webb Space Telescope's exceptional sensitivity to infrared radiation allows us to perceive it as heat. A Thrilling Discovery by the Webb TelescopeScientists have made a thrilling dis...
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400 Earth-mass rogue planets in the Milky Way Galaxy? NASA explains
26Jul By adminNo Comments
Technology

400 Earth-mass rogue planets in the Milky Way Galaxy? NASA explains

[ad_1] NASA reveals that the Milky Way Galaxy may contain over 400 Earth-mass rogue planets. These rogue planets drift in space and they do not orbit any star at all, which makes them special. It is speculated that these planets are hidden in the Milky Way Galaxy and NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could spot over 400 of these rogue planets. According to NASA's report, the unknown planets were from outside the galaxy, but drifted into it with some unknown mechanism. “We estimate that our galaxy is home to 20 times more rogue planets than stars – trillions of worlds wandering alone,” said David Bennett, a senior research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. About the rogue planet and upcoming missionSo far we know that planets outside the sol...
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