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Archive for the ‘Space’ Category

Water, Water Everywhere, But Is There Life? – The Search for Habitable Exoplanets Continues

Saturday, May 6th, 2023

If you’re like me and are always on the hunt for signs of life in the universe, then the latest discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is sure to get your attention. Scientists have detected water vapor around a distant rocky planet located 26 light-years away. Now before we all start packing our bags for interstellar travel, let’s take a closer look at what this means.

The exoplanet in question is called GJ 486 b and it orbits a red dwarf star in the Virgo constellation. Despite being three times the mass of Earth, it’s less than a third of our planet’s size. This little guy takes less than 1.5 days to orbit its star and is probably tidally locked – meaning it shows the same face to its star perpetually.

Now here’s where things get interesting. Red dwarf stars are the most common type of stars in the cosmos, so statistically speaking, rocky exoplanets are more likely to orbit them. But red dwarfs can be tricky – they emit violent ultraviolet and X-ray radiation when they’re young that could blast away any atmosphere planets too close to them might have.

So, scientists are keen to find out if a rocky planet like GJ 486 b could form an atmosphere and hold onto it long enough for life to take root there. On Earth, this process took about one billion years! Even though GJ 486 b’s parent star is cooler than our sun, water vapor could still concentrate in starspots which would mimic planetary atmospheres.

And here’s another thing – if there is an atmosphere around GJ 486 b, then radiation from its parent star will constantly erode it. That means any atmosphere has to be replenished by steam ejected from volcanic activity within the planet.

This discovery is important because it could lead us to find more habitable exoplanets outside our solar system. It’s also a reminder that the search for life beyond Earth is ongoing and far from over. So, while we may not have found little green men or women just yet, no one can say we’re not trying.

In conclusion, the latest findings by the JWST are exciting and hold promise for future discoveries. We may not have cracked the code on interstellar travel yet, but at least we know where to start looking for potential habitable worlds. And who knows? Maybe one day we’ll get lucky and find a planet with intelligent life – or at least some alien microbes that can do our laundry. A person can dream, right?

SpaceX Dragon Returns Home From ISS

Saturday, August 27th, 2016

Great, success!

A SpaceX Dragon capsule that helped prepare the International Space Station for future commercial astronaut flights has returned to Earth after a stay of more than month-long mission. A robotic arm released the unmanned capsule packed with 3,000 pounds of cargo at 6:11 a.m. EDT, then fired thrusters several times to move a safe distance away from the station orbiting about 250 miles up. The departure began a less than six-hour journey that culminated in a Pacific Ocean splashdown at 11:47 a.m. EDT, about 300 miles southwest of Baja, California. The Dragon launched from Cape Canaveral early July 18 on a Falcon 9 rocket and berthed at the station two days later. Among the cargo brought back from space Friday were a dozen mice from a Japanese science experiment — the first brought home alive in a Dragon. Samples from mice euthanized as part of an experiment by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly also were on board. Results were returned from an experiment that studied the behavior of heart cells in microgravity, and from research into the composition of microbes in the human digestive system, NASA said. Findings from both could help keep astronauts healthy during deep space exploration missions.

But SpaceX hopes to kick off Labor Day Weekend early next Saturday (September 3rd) with a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

This is a big deal if you have been following SpaceX news in recent months.