INFORMATION

Heat shields are undeniably one of the most important parts of any spacecraft that intends to enter an atmosphere. And the material they are made out of is absolutely critical. Improving them has been a bit of a challenge though, as typically researchers only get “before” and “after” pictures of when the heat shield completes its job of helping a spacecraft land safely back on Earth. That changed recently, though, with a collaboration between NASA and the Advanced Light Source (ALS) located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which allowed researchers to watch a heat shield fall apart in real time. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/wve15f7 via IFTTT

Using data from the Japan-led XRISM observatory, astronomers have directly observed a giant star’s stellar wind captured by its compact companion (triggering X-ray flares) for the first time. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/xdUu7gj via IFTTT

Asteroid sample return missions have brought well preserved samples of the early solar system (that hadn’t been roasted in a fireball) back to Earth for the first time. But those samples, like the OSIRIS-REx sample from asteroid (101955) Bennu, sometimes provide more questions than answers. A new paper, published in Science Advances from researchers at ETH Zurich and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, highlights one of those questions - why Bennu appears to have been born in both the inner and outer solar system - and a possible answer to it. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/WyBhRQj via IFTTT

NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), is advancing to the next phase of development. This space telescope is the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions, called Probe Explorers, within the agency’s longstanding Explorers Program. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/mJ4Aec3 via IFTTT

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope completed its 200,000th orbit around Earth on Sept. 19th and marked this milestone with observations that could help refine astronomers' measurements of cosmic expansion (aka. the Hubble Constant). from Universe Today https://ift.tt/v2p0cSz via IFTTT

Getting a human body to Mars will take a toll on it. NASA and other space agencies have been concerned for years that the 6-9 month travel time to get to the Red Planet could have such a deleterious impact on human anatomy that any crewed mission would fail before it even began. But a new study, co-led by Dr. Benjamin Levine of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and published in the journal Circulation, eases some of that concern by claiming that, given a sufficient exercise regimen in low gravity, astronauts should be able to operate on Mars upon arrival without any major cardiac issues. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/xcA4ybh via IFTTT

The planet Mars is known for its massive dust storms, dust devils, and two large polar ice caps, with its north polar cap being one of the Red Planet’s most striking features. Comprised of water ice, the north polar cap not only holds potential for being a source of water for future human missions, but it also helps researchers’ piece together past climates on Mars. But an ongoing debate within the scientific community is the ice-dust relationship at the north polar cap, specifically how much dust comprises the north polar cap compared to the much larger amount of water ice. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/UD7P41B via IFTTT