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An annual accounting of CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels and land use change finds no sign emissions will peak this year

Eurasian reed warblers don’t just get a sense of direction from Earth’s magnetic field – they can also calculate their coordinates on a mental map

Samantha Harvey has won the UK's top fiction prize for a novel that takes place over 24 hours on the International Space Station

AI and Google Street View have created 'digital twins' of living trees in North American cities – part of a huge simulation that could help make urban tree planting and trimming decisions

Droplets of fluid have been known to hover above a hot surface, but a new experiment suggests the same can happen to tiny jets of liquid too

Researchers have developed PanoRadar, a new tool to give robots superhuman vision by transforming simple radio waves into detailed, 3D views of the environment.

Researchers have developed PanoRadar, a new tool to give robots superhuman vision by transforming simple radio waves into detailed, 3D views of the environment.

When active filaments are exposed to localized illumination, they accumulate into stable structures along the boundaries of the illuminated area. Based on this fact, researchers developed a model that can be used to simulate the self-organization of thread-like living matter. This model provides important insights for potential technical applications in the formation of structures.

Researchers have developed a patch for easier and more effective treatment of psoriasis. The method may also be used in treatment of other inflammatory skin diseases.

Researchers have combined two gene editing methods. This enables them to quickly investigate the significance of many genetic mutations involved in the development and treatment of cancer.

The standard model for how galaxies formed in the early universe predicted that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) would see dim signals from small, primitive galaxies. But data are not confirming the popular hypothesis that invisible dark matter helped the earliest stars and galaxies clump together.

Putting humans on Mars has been one of NASA’s driving missions for years, but they are still in the early stages of deciding what exactly that mission architecture will look like. One major factor is where to get the propellant to send the astronauts back to Earth. Advocates of space exploration often suggest harvesting the necessary propellant from Mars itself – some materials can be used to create liquid oxygen and methane, two commonly used propellants. To support this effort, a group from NASA’s COMPASS team detailed several scenarios of the infrastructure and technologies it would take to make an in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) system that could provide enough propellant to get astronauts back to a Mars orbit where they could meet up with an Earth return vehicle. However, there are significant challenges to implementing such a system, and they must be addressed before the 8-9-year process of getting the system up and running can begin.

To understand these challenges, it’s first essential to understand some of the requirements the team was trying to meet. The goal was to provide 300 tons of liquid oxygen and liquid methane to a Mars Ascent and Landing Vehicle (MALV) being developed at other parts of NASA. That much propellant is necessary to get a crew of astronauts back into orbit, where they can be met by an orbiting Earth return vehicle.

Creating liquid oxygen and methane requires many ISRU systems, such as pumps, electrolyzers, dryers, scrubbers, and significant power systems, to run all these machines. Some raw materials, such as CO2, can be pulled from the Martian atmosphere. However, the system will also require 150 tons of water, which could be trucked in from Earth or harvested from Mars.

Fraser discusses how ISRU can provide resources to use for exploration.

Designing the overall system architecture is the first step in determining the best method for getting enough propellant to get the astronauts back off of Mars. A paper from the group compares five different approaches to solving that problem and details three of them, focusing on three different methods of getting water to use in the creation of liquid propellants on the surface of Mars.

Let’s first look at the two options for extracting water locally on Mars. One architecture uses a borehole drill to melt subsurface ice and pump it back to the surface, which can be used in electrolysis. The other architecture uses surface harvesting techniques, where soil with a high frozen water content can be sorted, and the water itself melted to provide sufficient stockpiles for creating propellant.

Drilling a borehole deep enough to access subsurface ice has never been done before. It does have some advantages over other water collection methods, including taking less time and requiring one less MALV delivery of equipment (i.e., making it lower cost). However, it does require more power plants and some specialized equipment to be developed. 

Fraser speculates on how a real Mars mission could play out.

Collecting water from surface regolith utilizes some technologies already being developed at NASA – including the RAZZOR surface mining system that could be used on the Moon or Mars. However, it requires as much time and as many launches as shipping water from Earth, with many possible unknown failure points in the architecture. 

By comparison, sending 150 tons of water directly from Earth, while it might be expensive in terms of launch costs, simplifies the overall architecture significantly. There would still technically be ISRU in this scenario, as the water would still be used to create propellant from local Martian resources. However, the added step of getting that water locally would be eliminated.

Even that is a more complicated process than the other two options the team considered, without as much detail in the paper as the actual ISRU setups. Mission designers could send either the methane or both the methane and oxygen from Earth directly, bypassing the need for any ISRU to happen. While these options require potentially more MALV landers, their overall risk is minimized, as the necessary chemicals would be available for use at any point the astronauts would need them. However, they would take longer to set up – especially the option of sending all of the propellants directly from Earth, which could take upwards of 10 years to get set up.

Fraser interviews Dr. Michael Hecht, an expert in ISRU on Mars.

Other challenges abound for utilizing Martian resources to create propellants – including limited locations where the necessary water may be found. This geographical restriction might not overlap with where astronauts might be needed to do exciting science, so the architects would have to prioritize either scientific discovery or derisking the ISRU equipment – they likely couldn’t do both.

So, all things considered, if the purpose is to send people to Mars and back safely, it seems like the best, most reliable option is to send the total amount of propellant from Earth. However, in the long run, if humanity plans to make a sustainable presence on Mars, we will need to utilize local resources. The paper from the COMPASS team clearly defines a few strategies that could do that, and someday, it will become the better option – just maybe not quite yet.

Learn More:
Oleson et al – Kiloton Class ISRU Systems for LO2/LCH4 Propellant Production on the Mars Surface
UT – A Single Robot Could Provide a Mission To Mars With Enough Water and Oxygen
UT – Resources on Mars Could Support Human Explorers
UT – Mars Explorers are Going to Need air, and Lots of it. Here’s a Technology That Might Help Them Breath Easy

Lead Image:
Architecture Design of the water from Earth delivery option.
Credit – Oleson et al. / NASA

The post Scaling Propellant Production on Mars is Hard appeared first on Universe Today.

There are good reasons to keep an eye on the Leonid meteors this year.

It’s still one of the coolest things I ever saw. I was in the U.S. Air Force in the 90s, and November 1998 saw me deployed to the dark skies of Kuwait. That trip provided an unexpected treat, as the Leonid meteors hit dramatic storm levels on the morning of the 17th. Meteor came fast and furious towards local sunrise, often lighting up the desert floor like celestial photoflashes in the sky.

Once every 33 years or so, the ‘lion roars,’ as Leonid meteors seem to rain down from the Sickle asterism of the constellation Leo. And while the last outbreak was centered around the years surrounding 1999, there’s some interesting discussion about possible encounters with past Leonid streams in 2024.

The Leonids in 2024

To be sure, 2024 is otherwise slated to be an off year for the shower. The normal annual maximum for 2024 is expected to occur on Sunday, November 17th at around ~4:00 Universal Time (UT), with an expected Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of 15-20 meteors per hour seen under ideal conditions. This favors Europe in the early dawn hours.

The Leonid radiant, looking east at 2AM local. Credit: Stellarium. A Leonid Outburst in 2024?

But there are also a few other streams that may arrive earlier this week and are worth watching for. Jérémie Vaubaillon of the Paris Observatory IMCCE notes that Earth may encounter three older streams from periodic comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. The comet is the source of the Leonids. On a 33.8 year orbit, a meteor shower occurs when the Earth plows headlong into the stream of dust and debris laid down by the comet.

The three suspect trails are:

-A trail laid down in 1633 (the source of the 2001 meteor storm). Earth is near this trail on November 14th at 16:37 UT, favoring northwestern North America in the early morning hours.

-A dust trail from 1733, peaking on November 19/20th at 23:53 to 00:54 UT, favoring north/central Asia.

-And finally, an encounter with a string of older (more than a millennium old) streams on November 14th at 16:37 UT, (the same time as the 1633 stream). It is worth noting that the 1733 stream was the suspected source of the 1866 Leonid meteor storm.

A bright green Leonid from 2023. Credit: Frankie Lucena.

Watching this Thursday morning on the 14th could be a harbinger as to whether or not we’re in for a show. Unfortunately, the Moon is waxing gibbous and headed towards Full this week on November 15th, meaning that it with provide increasing illumination and cut down observed meteor rates.

The Leonids on past recent years have held steady at predicted rates of about or so 20 per hour. It’s worth noting that another encounter with the 1699 stream and possible outburst is predicted for next year, 2025.

Leonid TEFF (Total Effective observation time) rate versus meteors over the years. Credit: the International Meteor Organization (IMO). Meteor Shower… or Storm?

Meteor storms occur when the zenithal hourly rate tops 500 or more per hour. Keep in mind, a ZHR of a thousand or higher means that you’re seeing a meteor every few seconds. The October Draconids and the December Andromedids are also prone to great outbursts, but the Leonids are the most notorious and well-known. The 1966 shower seen over the U.S. southwest topped an amazing ZHR of up to 150,000 per hour (!)

A depiction of the 1833 outburst over Niagara Falls. Credit: Mechanic’s Magazine/Popular Domain. Observing and Imaging the Leonids

Early morning hours are best to see meteors, as you’re standing on the swath of the surface of the Earth that’s turned forward in to the stream. Pinpoint meteors will occur near the shower radiant, while long streaks will stand out out in stark profile about 45 to 90 degrees away on either side of the radiant. I like to aim my tripod-mounted DSLR at these regions, set the lens to the widest field of view possible, and simply let it run taking auto-exposures and see what turns up. An intervalometer is a great device to automate this process. This allows me to just sit back with a steaming hot cup of tea (a must for cold November mornings) and simply watch the show, as meteors slide by.

A Leonid pierces the night sky over southern Arizona. Credit: Eliot Herman.

Perhaps, we’ll simply have to wait for 2030s to see strong activity from the Leonids again. But do you really want to risk missing a surprise show? To quote hockey player Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The same holds true for missing versus catching meteor storms: you just have to show up and watch.

The post Is an ‘Off-Year’ Leonid Outburst in the Cards For November? appeared first on Universe Today.

An analysis of crystals in lava from the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa has revealed an unknown magma reservoir within the volcano, which could extend forecasts of eruptions from minutes to months

You might have heard about plans to establish a self‑sustaining city on Mars. Here’s what life would really be like on the Red Planet

An AI-assisted robot can listen to spoken commands and assemble 3D objects such as chairs and tables out of reusable building blocks

SpaceX is preparing for the sixth test flight of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket. Next week's launch – if successful – will be the fastest turnaround yet

Rarely does something get developed which is a real game changer in space exploration. One example is the Skylon reusable single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane. Powered by the hypersonic SABRE engine it operates like a jet engine at low altitude and more like a conventional rocket at high altitude. Sadly, ‘Reaction Engines’ the company that designs the engines has filed for bankruptcy.

Launching rockets into space is an expensive business and it has often been a significant barrier in space exploration. This is largely because traditional rockets include a significant proportion of expendable elements. A typical launch into low Earth orbit for example can cost anything from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars due to those single use components. Movement has however been seen with reusable rocket technology like the Falcon 9 and Starship rockets which are refurbished and reused for multiple launches. This has helped to drive down the cost of a rocket launch but still about $2,000 per kilogram there is still much to do to drive down the cost of space exploration. 

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft into space from its Florida launch pad. (Credit: SpaceX)

The idea for a fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spaceplane is one such development and was the brainchild of Reaction Engines Limited. The Skylon spaceplane was designed to take off and land like a conventional aircraft significantly reducing the launch costs. Instead of relying upon multiple expendable stages during ascent, Skylon’s Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) combines jet and rocket propulsion technology to reach orbit. Instead of being fuelled by conventional rocket propellant carried aloft, it utilises atmospheric oxygen reducing the need to carry heavy oxygen and therefore drastically improves fuel efficiency. Once at sufficient altitude, the SABRE engine switches to rocket mode and only then starts to use onboard oxygen to reach final orbit. 

An artist’s conception of Reaction Engines’ Skylon spacecraft. Credit: Reaction Engines

Reaction Engines Limited was formed in the UK back in 1989 and focussed its attention on propulsion technology. In particular to address access issues to space and hypersonic flight. The SABRE engine they developed showed successfully that a dual-mode rocket could efficiently transition between high speed flight within the atmosphere to rocket powered flight in space. It relies upon a pre-cooler system that cools incoming air from over 1,000°C to room temperature in fractions of a second to drive high speeds without the engine over heating. 

The company is based in Oxfordshire and has to date, secured significant investments including BAE Systems, Boeing and the European Space Agency. Unfortunately, the company has been struggling to source funding to continue operations so formally entered administration on 31 October 2024. An eight week process is now underway to develop plans to restructure, sell the company or liquidate its assets. Most of its 200 employees have now been laid off. 

Source : Reaction Engines Limited

The post Reaction Engines Goes Into Bankruptcy, Taking the Hypersonic SABRE Engine With it appeared first on Universe Today.

Bats are scary and rabies is deadly, but do you need to worry about you or your pets catching the disease from them?

Campaigners are calling for stricter controls on rodenticides after finding that birds of prey in England are increasingly being exposed to high doses of rat poison