Four Current Space Missions Aimed At Helping Our Environment by Kale Cunningham

In celebration of Earth Day, I’ve decided to point out four current space missions that are helping us save our planet right now. 

EMIT

Currently onboard the International Space Station (ISS) is the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (nicknamed EMIT), which has been observing the Earth since July 2022. The spacecraft studies dust particles which are lifted into our atmosphere by strong winds and can block out sunlight. EMIT is designed to observe these events and scientists on Earth to study the data it sends back in greater detail. 
Landsat 9

Launched in September 2021, Landsat 9 takes a look at many different environmental problems such as deforestation, urban expansion, climate change, water pollution, and natural and man-made disasters. Using the information that the probe sends back NASA can alert other government agencies that deal with these growing problems.

ICESat-2

For the past several years ICESat-2 has been observing the melting ice sheets in the polar regions of Earth. The spacecraft scans the surface of the ocean and using laser technology can measure the thickness of ice from orbit. 
SMAP

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) has been helping collect a “‘snapshot' of soil moisture every 2 to 3 days,” since 2015. It helps predict areas that may be at risk of droughts and floods. In addition, it also helps with other issues such as human health, forecasting, and agricultural productivity.
These aren’t all of the space missions, and more are working to help us save our planet. Hundreds of space missions are helping us all achieve this goal. 

Sources:  

USAToday  

https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/

https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/climate-history/

2024 Solar Eclipse Break Down: Part 3 by Kale Cunningham

This upcoming Monday, April 8, will be the 2024 solar eclipse. This is the last article I will release before the solar eclipse. In my previous articles, I discussed what happens during a solar eclipse and safety advice. This article will focus on viewing conditions, the time the solar eclipse will take, and last-minute advice.

Weather

(Please note that this weather report is for State College Pennsylvania only. If you are traveling to see the eclipse then please rely on another source. ) 

Although this week is rainy, cloudy, and cold, next Monday should warm up into the low to mid-60s. The chance of rain is currently under 15%. Unless you are viewing the eclipse at a higher elevation, you shouldn’t need a coat to view the solar eclipse. The sky will be good for observing the solar eclipse. Currently, the forecasts are calling for a sunny day with fairly clear with a few scattered clouds. Perfect for viewing an eclipse.

(Please note that the weather can change, I’ve linked a reliable weather forecast that updates below.) 

What's So Special About This Eclipse?

According to NASA, the 2024 eclipse will be bigger and longer compared to the previous 2017 eclipse. Although the Moon stays at a somewhat consistent distance from Earth, its orbit takes it slightly further and closer to Earth. During the 2017 eclipse, the Moon was farther away from the Earth, which resulted in the Sun's light covering up less of the Moon. However, during the 2024 eclipse, the Moon’s orbit should be closer to Earth. This results in the Moon appearing larger covering up more and blocking out sunlight for much longer.

Last Minute Advice And Facts 

The 2017 eclipse attracted a record-breaking “215 million U.S. adults (88% of U.S. adults) viewed the solar eclipse, either directly or electronically.” According to NASA. 

This eclipse an estimated 5 million people will watch it live. And even more, are expected to watch the eclipse on a live stream. 

Avoid crowded cities such as Houston, Louisville, Columbus, Detroit, Eire, and Pittsburgh. If you want to see the eclipse in silence.     

Thank you and enjoy the eclipse

Want to see the weather for April 8? Click here! 

Can’t watch the eclipse in person? No worries! Click here to view the live stream

For more information visit NASA.gov

Sources: PBS, NASA. gov, USA Today 

2024 Solar Eclipse Break Down: Part Two By Kale Cunningham

When I wrote about the 2024 Solar Eclipse a few months ago, I covered the basics of what a solar eclipse is and the best places to see it. I plan to write another article in the upcoming weeks that will cover the weather conditions and last-minute details on April, 8 the day that the Eclipse is supposed to happen. Today, however, I will be discussing safety, what to expect, and the time that the eclipse is supposed to happen. 

Safety

The biggest tip of advice for safety when watching the eclipse? DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH YOUR BARE EYES!   Looking directly at the sun with your bare eyes can damage your eyesight temporarily or permanently.

NASA also states that “(v)iewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.” If you want to watch the eclipse without shielding your eyes, you can get approved eclipse glasses which are around a thousand times darker than standard sunglasses. 

NASA says that “regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun.” 

Below I’ve linked reliable solar eclipse glasses and lenses for telescopes that can be used during the eclipse. However, if you do order them, please note that if they are damaged in any way, do not use them.

What To Expect.

If the safety section of this article made you terrified of solar eclipses, then this should hopefully restore your confidence that an eclipse is a good thing. The eclipse on Monday, April 8 will be the last total eclipse seen in the U.S. until 2044. The Moon will pass in front of the sun and completely block out all Sunlight for several minutes. The stages of the eclipse will follow in this order:

First the moon will come in from the East, and start covering up the Sun. This is called a partial eclipse. In most places, this should last around 70 and 80 minutes according to NASA. 

Next, the Moon will start to cover up a large portion of the Sun. However, little beads of sunlight will start to get through this stage.  This phenomenon is called Baily’s Beads because little beads of sunlight are getting through. 

After that, the Moon and Sun go into what's called a Diamond Ring. This is when only a small ring of sunlight is visible. According to NASA, “(t)his bright spot resembles the diamond in a giant diamond ring formed by the rest of the Sun’s atmosphere.” 

Finally, we reach the Totality, which happens when all direct Sunlight is completely blocked out, we only can see the Moon. In some locations, Totality will only last a minute or two; however, in other places, it will last almost ten minutes. 

After that, we go back through all the other stages, and then the moon leaves and there is nothing but our normal sun.

Time

Finally, the following times for the eclipse are 2:30 p.m. EDT and for CST (Central Time) 1:30 p.m. Enjoy the Eclipse! 

For more information about the Eclipse click here! 

Click here to find professionally approved solar eclipse glasses and lenses for your telescope/binoculars!  

Sources: USA TODAY and NASA.gov 

The Mighty Maus, Heaviest Tank In World History… Literally…by Stephen Austin

The one tank that shook the world to its core, when it took its first test - drive through the vast roads and pathways of Nazi Germany, making thunder every smack of the tread on the ground, the Panzerkampfwagen V l  l l Maus was born. Existing in the extreme heat, near the end, of WW2, 1944, the newly invented Maus (Panzer V l  l l) was roaming around the streets of Germany in its final Nazi stages, and came into existence relatively quietly. 

The Maus tank was made and constructed in secrecy because it was made to be the heaviest land vehicle to ever exist. The Maus tank was created to have the best armor and a very over-the-top main cannon to help protect itself and destroy anything in its way. The main reason it was conceived was because at the time, the USSR had been advancing in tank technology very quickly and were making more tanks that had better armor, stronger guns, and were getting faster at the same time. This was a huge problem for Germany because the USSR was becoming a very difficult combatant to deal with, which would also eventually lead to their downfall if they did not act soon with something. At this point in panic, the Maus tank was made. Plans for the project were quickly conceived and not very long, as being very tight on schedule, blueprints were then made and actions for the project started taking place. The Maus first was planned to have a flamethrower on it as an addition to its 150 mm main gun, however, after consideration and costs, the idea of a flamethrower was quickly removed, and instead replaced with a smaller gun.

Production of the Muas was set in 1943, being first introduced as a secret super weapon to fight against anything and anyone it was faced against. The Maus was kitted with a staggering 150 mm gun that could penetrate just about anything that was in its path, having roughly 130 mm of actual penetration, with an additional 75 mm coaxial gun mounted to the front. The Muas was also equipped with an insane 200 mm of armor, as an example, this is equivalent to stacking five doors, on the flat side, together. To put this into perspective, the average medium tank near the end of WW2 (1945) had about 60 mm thick armor and was equipped with a 75 - 85 mm gun, sometimes with a 50 cal mounted-machine gun on top. This was a huge upgrade up to this point, even just the secondary gun on the Maus was about as big as the average gun on a medium tank at this time period. The armor is also about two and a half times thicker and stronger than the average thickness of a light tank.

As good as the Maus sounded, it had some major drawbacks regarding its strengths and some huge weaknesses that were so bad to the point that there were only two ever made, and only one seeing the end of the war. During its time in WW2, there were two Maus’s to ever be made, however only one of them would come out of the war “alive”. The Maus had crazy thick armor and an insanely big gun because it was seen to be the wonder weapon, however, what German scientists forgot about was movement. Because of the Maus’s unconceivable weight of 188 tons, it took a lot of force to get the tank to move. The Maus had a 1,750 horsepower engine, which even for today's standard is absolutely insane, however even with all of the power it gained from the engine, it still only moved at a top speed of fifteen and a half miles per hour, which is far from sufficient enough for a tank to actually be considered good. A tank going that slow on the battlefield was basically a free target to hit, and even the slowest of tanks in WW2 could go at least twenty miles per hour, at which the Maus goes four fifths of that. The rotating turret on the top of the main shell also moved very slowly, losing a ton in mobility for mid combat situations. The rotating turret on the top of tanks is what usually makes tanks distinguishable to other vehicles. Usually the ammunition is stored in the turret and sometimes in the main hull if there is an overflow of ammo. When there is not a lot of mobility in the rotating turret, it is much harder to actually hit targets that are moving or even just generally hitting targets. Going back to the mobility problem that it was just a standing target, that is the sole reason that the Maus actually was taken out by an intense bombing after the USSR was closing in on the tank.

The Maus was the heaviest tank in all of world history, both literally and figuratively, and was a staple in engineering during WW2. The Maus shows the drastic measures that countries will go to just to win a war. If the Maus was ever actually made, it possibly would have been an, okay at most tank, however, due to its testing being postponed by bombings and the end of the war, the plans for making it never went into effect. The Maus was only made as two prototypes, however, one was destroyed in testing, and the other was destroyed in fear that the USSR was going to take and steal the design of the Maus and use it against them, if the Germans had not lost the war soon after being compromised. Also, the Maus was a descendent of the panzer family, being the eighth one.

Work Cited

Candlin, Alex. “The super heavy Panzer VIII Maus, Hitler's secret monster tank that never saw combat.” Forces Network, 10 July 2023, https://www.forces.net/heritage/wwii/adolf-hitlers-secret-monster-tank-super-heavy-panzer-viii-maus. Accessed 14 March 2024

Private Japanese Rocket Self-Destructs During Launch by Kale Cunningham

Space One is a private space company stationed in Japan that attempted to launch its rocket, the Kairos yesterday (Wednesday, March 13th.) The rocket successfully cleared the launch tower, however, seconds later, the rocket unexpectedly exploded. The explosion was so loud that it was reportedly heard from several miles away. 

Space One

Space One is a private Japanese aerospace company, which was founded in 2018. The company has the goal of putting the first private Japanese satellite into Earth orbit. Space One is a part of Japan’s rapidly growing space exploration industry. The country has scored many victories in space in the past several years, including adding a large laboratory to the ISS in 2008 and more recently becoming the 5th country to land on the Moon. 

Space One has the goal of “providing a commercial space transportation service for sending satellites into space.”  

Kairos

The Kairos rocket is Space One’s first space launch vehicle. It stands at 60 feet and weighs over 20 tons. Even though this may seem very intimidating the Kairos is quite small compared to other rockets such as NASA’s SLS which stands at 321 feet and weighs in at around 2,610 tons. The Kairos is also fairly inexpensive, only costing 7 million. (For comparison it takes SpaceX, another private company over 60 million to launch one of their rockets.)

Yesterday was Kairos median flight, its mission was to carry Japan’s frist private satellite into a low Earth orbit. However, the spacecraft malfunctioned after it cleared 100 feet and exploded. As of today, Space One has launched an investigation, which could take several months. Although no major discoveries into what may have caused the explosion have been made yet, Space One announced the autonomous flight termination system (a system that destroys the rocket if it flies off course for the safety of people on the ground.) May have malfunctioned and activated destroying the rocket.

Sources: USA TODAY    

U.S. Lands On The Moon For The First Time In 50 Years by Kale Cunningham

On Thursday, Feb. 22, the spacecraft Odysseus touched down on the lunar surface. This marks the first time since 1972 that an American probe landed on the moon. Even though the landing was successful, the spacecraft landed unbalanced and tipped over. Fortunately, a nearby rock managed to prop the spacecraft at a 90-degree angle, allowing the spacecraft to perform its scientific experiments on the Moon. 

Odysseus

Odysseus stands at a height of 13 feet; the spacecraft’s estimated cost was around 120 million dollars. The spacecraft was the result of a joint mission between Intuitive Machines, a private aerospace company, and NASA. The spacecraft’s design was built by Intuitive Machines, but it carries 6 NASA instruments for learning about the lunar environment for when people return sometime later this decade. The spacecraft was launched on February 15, hitching a ride on board SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. After spending several days in space, Odysseus entered lunar orbit and slowly descended to the lunar surface. Although the spacecraft is slightly tipped over,  the mission was congratulated as a success. 

"You can say whatever you want to say," says Steve Altemus, the founder and chief executive of Intuitive Machines. "But from my perspective, this is an absolute success of a mission. Holy crap. The things that you go through to fly to the Moon. The learning, just every step of the way, is tremendous." 

NASA’s administrator, Bill Nelson, also commented on the successful landing, stating that the feats that Intuitive Machines performed “demonstrates the promise of American leadership in space and the power of commercial partnerships under NASA’s CLPS initiative. Further, this success opens the door for new voyages under Artemis to send astronauts to the Moon, then onward to Mars.”  

End of Mission 

Even though the mission has been very successful, the spacecraft’s 90-degree landing has pointed Odysseus’s solar panels away from the Sun. This has resulted in the spacecraft losing a significant amount of power and energy. It is expected that its battery will run out on Feb. 29, and there is a possibility that in two weeks the spacecraft will be pointed towards the sun again and that it will wake up. However, NASA has described this as a slim possibility. But nevertheless, America is thrilled that we have returned to the Moon. 

"The reason we made it is right here, our people," Altemus said after the landing. "The team we had, what they did, oh my God. They never quit. The perseverance, the resilience, just the power of the people we have in this team. That's why we're on the Moon." 

Sources: 

NASA. gov

ars-Technica

Birds of Pennsylvania by Henry Cleveland

Click here to read the article about Pennsylvania Birds

Image Source: Unsplash

Help the Dolphins by Juan Lorber

Did you know one of the most well-known marine animals is in great danger? The dolphins are fighting to survive because of prey shortage from human fishing, river trafficking, and most well-known, pollution. So many people are fishing for food and aren’t thinking about what it could change. But, it changes so much because sharks, other fish, and DOLPHINS still need food to survive like we do. Humans were hunting and selling dolphins, even killing them for food. This was until dolphin exports became illegal, but it was only for the Soloman islands. The oceans are also getting wildly polluted by people throwing trash into the ocean not thinking it would become a big cause until everyone followed. It caused so many marine animals to be endangered and some at the verge of extinction. But there are things we can do to help! We can stop using so much plastic, join beach cleanup clubs, and also travel the sea responsibly. 

Origin Of The Moon? Kale Cunningham

Introduction

Japan’s lunar mission, SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) landed upside down on the moon on January 20, 2024. While making its descent, it suffered an engine malfunction that caused it to become unstable. Fortunately, the onboard computer managed to keep the spacecraft under control until landing, after which it flipped over. 

"The pinpoint landing was achieved (with an) accuracy of less than 10 meters, and probably about 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet)," an official for JAXA told NBS News later. "We believe that this is a great achievement for future exploration." 

The spacecraft being upside down couldn’t charge its solar panels, which were on top of it causing it to shut down. However, a few days later some sunlight managed to make its way onto the spacecraft’s solar panels due to the shift in lighting conditions. Even though the spacecraft was upside down, the mission team was able to get data and images from it (They had to use photo editing to get the images right side up).  SLIM discovered possible evidence about the origins of the moon. Using technology that compares Moon rocks to Earth rocks, scientists say that it's likely the moon came from Earth. 

What We Know So Far

Today most scientists agree that the Moon came from the Earth. There is a theory called the Giant Impact Origin Hypothesis that says that 4.5 billion years ago, before Earth had any life, our solar system was mass chaos. Planets would crash into each other, spraying smaller debris across towards other planets. Earth was seemingly in the middle of it, then one day a Mars-sized planet which scientists today call Theia smashed into Earth (it is still debated if Earth hit Theia or Theia hit Earth). The impact caused a massive explosion that ejected debris. Even though Earth survived, it still was torn apart. It is believed that the remains of Theia and some rubble from the destruction of Earth merged, creating our moon. 

Disagreements: Even though most people in the science community largely believe this theory, not everyone is on board with this idea. Some scientists argue that we don’t have enough evidence for this theory. 

Two main alternative ideas have emerged as a result: The first one is called the Fission theory, which was proposed by George Howard Darwin, the son of the famous scientist/theorist Charles Darwin, in 1878. The Fission theory states that during the early solar system, Earth was spinning at such an astonishing rate that a large part of it broke off. This large chunk of Earth formed the Moon. This theory however has been criticized by many experts because if it did happen, the material that emerged from our planet wouldn’t just be captured into Earth's orbit it would either go crashing back down or be captured by our Sun and go into an orbit around it. 

The second theory dubbed the Capture Theory was around for years, but it was primarily brought to attention by British physicist and planetary scientist Michael Woolfson. Woolfson argued that the Moon was a small planet or Moon that was kicked out of its orbit by a larger planet and it was captured by Earth's gravity, which resulted in it starting to orbit Earth. However, this theory has also been questioned by scientists because there simply isn’t enough evidence to prove this theory correct. 

The Answer: Even today we don’t have a true answer for how we got our moon. We have the evidence to support all of the three main theories, and the evidence that goes against it as well. Scientists hope that more advanced robotic spacecraft like SLIM and NASA’s Artemis program to send humans back to the moon can help us better understand the true origin of the Moon.               

Sources: 

Vanderbilt University

NPR

NASA.gov                                  

Once in a Lifetime Event: Stingray Pregnancy at North Carolina's Aquarium and Shark Lab by Team Ecco by Serena Tian

The pregnancy of this stingray was deemed by the aquarium “a once-in-a-lifetime science mystery.”

Something fishy was going on in one North Carolina aquarium’s female stingray who was pregnant with her pups. The problem is: there aren't any male stingrays at the aquarium.

There are two possible culprits of this problem. One is asexual reproduction, the other is a shark had mated with the stingray.

Asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, is quite common among the stingrays. Asexual reproduction is when a parent, typically female, copies its DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and forms its own offspring. Usually this would occur when no other gender of that species is available near them. So, females in aquariums would asexually reproduce if the aquarium decided to have no other males of their species. It’s simply a survival mechanism to keep the species going.

The other answer may involve the two white-spot bamboo sharks that the Aquarium and Shark Lab by Team Ecco moved into her tank in July of 2023. 

The aquarium found out when workers noticed bite marks on Charlotte, a common practice by male sharks attempting to mate. They were afraid cancer had struck on Charlotte, so in order to confirm or deny their suspicions, an ultrasound was conducted. Thankfully the swells were growths in her body that later would be eggs.

Team Ecco told FOX Carolina that “... the most current ultrasound showing two if not three pups. DNA will need to be done after the pups’ birth – unless we have visual cues about a mixed breed.”

Interbreeding of sharks and stingrays are actually possible, as they are taxonomically, or the classification of something similar.

The aquarium has also confirmed that Charlotte is soon to give birth.

Works Cited

“Female stingray's mysterious pregnancy: Male shark could be culprit.” USA Today, 15 February 2024, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/02/10/stingray-pregnancy-shark-nc-aquarium/72551486007/. Accessed 15 February 2024.

“Female stingray's mysterious pregnancy: Male shark could be culprit.” USA Today, 15 February 2024, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/02/10/stingray-pregnancy-shark-nc-aquarium/72551486007/. Accessed 15 February 2024.

“Mystery of Pregnant Stingray Could Be Explained by a Male Shark: Scientists.” Business Insider, 11 February 2024, https://www.businessinsider.com/mystery-of-pregnant-stingray-could-be-explained-male-shark-scientists-2024-2. Accessed 15 February 2024.

 – image

Axiom 3 Lands After Stay On ISS by Kale Cunningham

The crew of Axiom 3, a commercial space flight safely splashed down off the coast of Florida, today (Feb. 9.) After a series of delays regarding the weather, their mission was extended to 3 weeks onboard the space stations instead of the planned 2 weeks. 

The Crew

The Axiom mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 18th, NASA and SpaceX oversaw the launch activities until lift-off. The mission carried 4 people, the mission commander, Michael López-Alegría is a former NASA astronaut who signed up for the opportunity immediately. Walter Villadei also joined the mission. His former position used to be a colonel in the Italian Air Force. Joining them was Alper Gezeravcı, who became the frist citizen of Türkiye to reach space during this mission. To finish the crew, Axiom chose Marcus Wandt, a European Space Agency reserve astronaut.

All of the crew members were European, marking the frist time in history that an all-European crew reached space. 

An Out Of This World Vacation

After a 2 day trip through space, the crew docked with the International Space Station (ISS). They were greeted by the current seven occupants staying onboard the space station. The crew enjoyed being a part of their activities and routines as they learned how to live in space. Even though the ISS averages around the size of a football field, the crew members still had to make arrangements to find temporary bedrooms. It was more difficult than it sounded, the ISS is stuffed full of science experiments. So the crew had to sleep in sleeping bags pinned to the walls. One even slept in a reserved closet. However, it didn’t seem to bother the crew.

"It's been an incredible, busy and fun-filled two weeks up here," 

López-Alegría said during a live stream aboard the ISS 

"I am very proud of my Ax-3 crewmates, who helped their agencies achieve all of their science objectives, technology demonstrations, as well as the outreach events." 

However, the 2-week vacation was extended. Due to storms and gales in the planned landing area, it wasn’t safe for the crew to land. After being delayed for 6 extra days. It was time for the crew to come home. As they departed the ISS, astronaut Andreas Mogensen said a final farewell. 

"It's been a real pleasure and honor to have you onboard the International Space Station," he said "You guys have been great crewmates."

Fire! by Olive Hollis

Fire is awesome. That’s all there is to it. What could be better than fire? Nothing that’s what. You can do a lot of things with fire. Heck without fire humans would probably be dead by now. We preserve food with it and we keep warm and not die. 

Anyway you can do a bunch of really cool things with fire. Like when you add Borax to fire it will turn into a light green color.

 And supposedly sanitizer will make a light blue flame.

 But just because these things are in this article does not mean that you can do this all willy nilly. Fire can be dangerous and adding things to it can be even more dangerous. This is how explosions happen btw. So anyway… Fire is super awesome. 

• Copper sulfate makes fire green

• Cupric chloride makes fire blue

• Lithium chloride makes fire pink

• Barium sulfate makes fire a yellow-ish green color

• Potassium makes fire purple

  Hold on. So does that mean when you throw a banana into a fire it will turn purple?! I hope so. I’m going to try that out when I get home. And I looked up all these on google and got a variety of answers so I went with the most common one I got. And you have to put a certain amount of these things into the fire but I left that out cause I don’t know what will happen when you add these to fire other than change the color. Oh well.

And lastly magnesium makes fire white.

HOLD UP!!!! I did more digging on the internet and saw that you can make black fire? How come no one has ever told me this!?!? Okay okay so I’m getting that you need a sodium street light and add fire it turns black?!?!!?!?!? Okay so when I get home I need to burn bananas and some sodium and make this fire. I hope this was hopeful in some way or another. And remember that you should make sure that it’s safe to do 

all these things with fire because it’s dangerous as is. 

BE CAREFUL AND DON’T MESS WITH FIRE WITHOUT PROPER PROTECTION!

Saving Peregrine by Kale Cunningham

Peregrine, a privately owned spacecraft launched on January 8, 2024, was supposed to attempt the first American moon landing in over 50 years. However, shortly after launch the spacecraft faced an anomaly due to a stuck valve in its propulsion system, which damaged the spacecraft. The spacecraft lost a shocking amount of fuel, and now a lunar landing is impossible, but there is still some hope left. 

Failure Is Not (Currently) An Option

It was very terrifying for the mission control team of Peregrine when they learned that the spacecraft was leaking a sufficient amount of fuel into space. But the spacecraft was also losing power as well. The mission team saved Peregrine by pointing its solar panels towards the Sun to keep itself and its 10 different payloads it was carrying, from losing complete power. That was successful, 

"We have successfully received data from all 9 payloads designed to communicate with the lander. All 10 payloads requiring power have received it, while the remaining 10 payloads aboard the spacecraft are passive." The Astrobotic team wrote on X. 

The spacecraft can also reach the Moon, it just can’t land. Using Earth’s gravity the spacecraft will hopefully shoot itself to the Moon. Peregrine will also be able to use most of its instruments, such as NASA’s five instruments and the radiation detector built by the German Aerospace Center. However, some other spacecraft such Ireland's first moon rover will not be able to be used.

Llamas by Natalie Hallgren and Gloria Chi

First of all, how you pronounce llama is ˈlämə. You may think that llamas look like camels, but do not be fooled, that camel might actually be a llama. A main way to figure out whether the animal is a llama or a camel is checking to see if the animal has three humps on their backs. Most camels do have at least one hump on their back, while llamas do not have any. Llamas are eaten in some parts of the world.  Some use llama in stews, but many people also use llamas as filling in empanadas. In case you were wondering, llamas are harvested at 24 months old.

Gloria - So, like I thought that empanadas were like a dragon hybrid thing, because I was reading this book and it said they were fighting an empanada. So it turns out empanadas aren’t dragons, but like a bagel with filling in it. 

Llama males fight each other for a female to mate with. Llamas have many ways to communicate; one way is body posture, which can show  dominance or subordination, and ear positioning indicates their emotions. Llamas usually quietly vocalize to scare away predators. 

FUN FACT: Llamas expectorate (spit) at other llamas to teach inferior llamas manners!

Article Vocabulary:

expectorate - synonyms: spit, gob

inferior - synonyms: lesser-than, lower, beneath, underneath

empanadas - a Latin American Spanish bonbon turnover filled with lots of tangy components, including llama!

Send Your Name To An Alien Moon By Kale Cunningham

Next October, NASA will launch its Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. The spacecraft will start a 7 year-long voyage to the planet’s moon before arriving in 2031. But you can join the spacecraft on its journey too!

Send Your Name On A 1.6 Billion-Mile Trip

You can click the link at the bottom of this article to sign up.  Once you have, you can just enter in your name (first and last), your zip code, and your email! And that's it! It's free, and all you need is some sort of electronic device to register with. But time is running out. The last day to register is on December 31, 2023! 

More About Europa Clipper

The mission first started 26 years ago in 1997 when a proposal was made to send a spacecraft to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa. Since then, scientists have been searching for an opportunity to send the probe to the moon. Europa is considered to be one of the most likely places to discover alien life. It has been revealed that a hidden ocean is underneath its thick ice. The Europa Clipper will conduct a series of fly-bys around the moon during its mission. Using its powerful radio scanner, it will hopefully be able to map out the ocean underneath the ice. If successful, then the mission will map out a landing site for a lander mission, which would sample its surface.        

Want to Sign up? 

Click here!      

6th Gen Fighters They are coming soonish! Who will develop one first? by Torsten Bilen

5th gen fighter jets rule the skies right now. But by 2030, they will most likely be obsolete. This is because 6th Gen fighters are rapidly being prototyped by many powerful nations such as China, Russia, India, a few countries in the EU like the UK and Italy, Japan, and of course, the United States.

What is a 6th gen fighter?

A 6th generation fighter jet must have many key features such as: Stealth capabilities, a high top speed and great maneuverability, a long flight range, and the ability to house many different types of weapons, such as various types of missiles and bombs. Many 6th gen fighter jet concepts, including ones from the U.S. and China, have some form of augmented reality being displayed on the pilot’s helmet visor. The concepts range from simple gauges for things like speed and fuel, to making the plane look almost transparent from the perspective of the pilot. When it comes to making a 6th generation fighter jet, all these features must be in place or the plane will not be able to engage enemy fighters and win.

Who will develop one first?

Many countries are racing to develop 6th generation fighters. As for who will develop one first, we can’t quite know for sure, but several countries are already developing concepts. The NGF (Next Generation Fighter) is a joint venture between France, Germany, and Spain, with a development budget of well over 100 billion dollars! The aircraft is expected to be flying by 2030, with full introduction by 2040, however there are some disagreements between these countries, which could push back these dates. And China or Russia might come out with something between 2030 and 2040, but both countries currently have mediocre 5th generation capabilities, so I am not too hopeful for a highly advanced 6th gen fighter from either of these countries, not to mention Russia's current military state after their invasion of Ukraine. So what about the U.S.?

NGAD

The Next Generation Air Dominance fighter platform (NGAD) could very well be the single most powerful fighter platform. Ever. The United States of America’s own 6th gen platform could be crucial in protecting the U.S. in the case of a potential Chinese invasion. The NGAD platform is going to include some of the most cutting edge technologies in the world. These range from adaptive engines, to an autonomous drone flying alongside the wings of the jet, to even making the pilot able to see through the plane using augmented reality! These planes might even be able to fly themselves, without a pilot! All this tech, combined with a several billion dollar development budget will be used to make this plane almost invincible in a battle with any other plane. In addition to these brand new technologies, NGAD will also incorporate some age old features such as missiles and bombs (all be it they will probably be laser guided and have some other insane mod cons) and possibly a gun, although the use for rapid firing machine guns on aircraft is fading, as there hasn’t been a dogfight in decades. Digital engineering technologies will play a crucial role in the development of this aircraft. Designers will be able to easily edit models and test features, without ever having to build an actual prototype during the early stages of development, although in later stages, test flights and wind tunnels will have to be used to make sure the aircraft works in real world scenarios.

Conclusion

I hope you have learned something from this article. Whether it is the technologies that will be part of these jets, or the countries involved in making 6th generation fighter jets, everything about these planes is just amazing!

Citations:

Losey, Stephen. “Future fighter program poses key test for US Air Force’s design method”, 30 Aug 2023, https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/08/30/future-fighter-program-poses-key-test-for-us-air-forces-design-method/

Tirpak, John A. “The Sixth Generation Fighter”, 1 Oct 2009, https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1009fighter/

Mars Rover Passes 4,000 Days On Mars by Kale Cunningham

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has been exploring Mars for the past 11 years. It has driven over 20 miles (32 kilometers) and it has just passed its 4,000th day on Mars. 

4,000 Days Of Success

Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012, for many years it was the most advanced device on another planet, until it was surpassed by the Perseverance Mars rover. Curiosity started driving around on the surface on sol 20 (A Mars day is called a sol.) Curiosity’s original mission was to discover evidence of life on Mars. Unlike all of the previous Mars rovers, that were only looking for evidence of water and dubbed ‘roving geologists.’ Curiosity was the first mission to be looking for life, therefore earning it the name, the roving biologist. The rover carries all the tools that you would see in a complex laboratory. 

The rover carries a drill that can collect samples and puts them inside a scanner that heats and cools the sample, trying to get a reaction out of the chemicals inside the sample. So far Curiosity has sampled 32 rock samples. 

4,000 Days Of Challenge

Curiosity has also had several challenges in its 4,000 days on Mars. One of the earliest challenges in the mission occurred in 2013 when the mission team noticed damage to the wheels of the rover. Curiosity’s wheels are made of aluminum, unlike the wheel design that cars use on Earth that are made of rubber, NASA uses light metals on Mars for their design. Unfortunately aluminum is one of the lightest and weakest metals, and on Mars, the winds sharpen the rocks making them sharp. In 2013, NASA discovered that the wheels had several holes and cracks in them. As of today the wheels are damaged but are still in operation. 

Another problem that Curiosity faced had to do with its drill. In 2016, when it was drilling into solid bedrock, the drill is supported by two small pillars that hold the drill into place. However one of these pillars jammed after all of the pressure that the rover was putting during the drilling operation. It would take almost two years before NASA could come up with a solution. In 2018, they finally decided to not use the supporting pillars to hold the drill in place and to just force the drill into the ground. This idea was tested in early 2019 and when proven successful has been the way the rover has drilled ever since. 

4,000 Days Of Discovery

Curiosity has found many supporting clues for life on Mars, one of the biggest clues came in 2022 when the rover reportedly found sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon in a sample. Which are all elements that help support life on Earth. Another major discovery came in 2015 when Curiosity discovered clues for a past ocean on Mars. Its most recent huge discovery was in February, 2023 when the rover found ripples in the rocks around it. They were believed to be carved out by waves on Mars 2.5 billion years ago. 

Curiosity has had an exciting 4,000 days on Mars and is expected to keep on exploring and making new discoveries.

Asteroid Sample Contains Carbon And Water by Kale Cunningham

On September 27, 2023 the Osiris-rex spacecraft returned a sample from a 4.5 billion year old asteroid. After a quick study, space scientists are already excited about the results. The asteroid sample had “evidence of high-carbon content and water” NASA wrote in a report released earlier this week. 

What Does This Mean?

Finding high evidence of Carbon and Water means that the 4.5 Billion year old asteroid that Osiris-rex collected could have been related to Earth in some way. Data collected says that in Earth’s early years it would have had high carbon content to help form water. And that water helped create life on Earth. Astroid  Bennu is believed to be from another planet, we have never fingered out which one. But now scientists are questioning if the asteroid could be a large chunk of
Earth orbiting less than 2 million miles away. 

“The OSIRIS-REx sample is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever delivered to Earth and will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our own planet for generations to come,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Almost everything we do at NASA seeks to answer questions about who we are and where we come from. NASA missions like OSIRIS-REx will improve our understanding of asteroids that could threaten Earth while giving us a glimpse into what lies beyond. The sample has made it back to Earth, but there is still so much science to come – science like we’ve never seen before.”

Studying The Sample In The Future 

Even though we found some fantastic results from the sample, we still have much more to learn. The sample is like a 4.5 billion year old history book that we still have to read. NASA will ship some parts of the sample off to experts in other countries so they can research the sample trying to see if they can find something that researchers in the United States could have missed. One of the countries, Japan, has also done asteroid sample return missions. And most recently the Japanese Space Agency JAXA agreed to trade out one of their  asteroid samples for the Bennu sample. Which means that NASA will be able to have access to samples from another asteroid as well. 

A Update On Osiris-Rex

The remaining part of the Osiris-Rex mission, the spacecraft which is still operational in space, has recently sent course for its new target, a asteroid named Apophis. It should reach its target in 2029.     

Mission To Explore Metal Asteroid Launched by Kale Cunningham

On Friday, October 13th,  NASA launched their newest space probe to the asteroid Psyche. After years of planning and one year delay, the mission is now on track. 

Asteroid Psyche

Psyche or its original name 16 Psyche, was discovered in March, 1852. Its diameter is about 140 miles. It orbits around 7.5 million miles away from Earth. It may seem like a typical asteroid in our solar system, weirdly shaped, craters litter its surface, and it spins oddly like an out of control top. 

However there is something else that is very different about Psyche from the rest of the asteroids, it's made of metal. Unlike most asteroids that are from rock and dust, Psyche has an unusual amount of iron-nickel metal content. Which happens to be the same material that Earth and its neighboring planets cores are made out of. So scientists believe that Psyche used to be a planet’s core. However the planet that Psyche used to belong to must have been smashed to pieces in the early solar system.

Problems And Delays 

NASA approved the idea for a mission to the asteroid in 2018, the spacecraft was named after the asteroid that it was going to. However, Psyche has had its challenges, Covid-19 delayed critical testing and assembling dates. Testing that was supposed to start in 2020 was delayed to 2021. It was planned at the time that Psyche would launch in October 2022, but with a limited testing window and a major budget cut in the mission by Congress in the summer of 2022, the mission seemed over. However, the Psyche team did not want to have the mission canceled, so they delayed the Psyche mission by 12 months and in that time they successfully completed all of the testing and packed the spacecraft up for launch in Florida.

Going Up Close And Personal 

When the Psyche mission was launched the rocket pointed it in the direction of Mars, and sent it off towards the Red Planet. NASA plans to have the spacecraft fly by Mars and use its gravity to shoot it towards Psyche. However even going a shocking 15 kilometers per second (or nine miles per second), it will still take the spacecraft six years to reach Psyche. Once it does it will enter in a low orbit and start a 21 month mapping mission. The spacecraft will use its instruments to try and detect any unusual minerals inside the asteroid. The spacecraft will orbit as close as 75 miles above the surface of Psyche.

James Webb Makes New Discovery by Kale Cunningham

The James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021, and ever since its first images have been released to the public in July 2022, it's been a big hit. 

However, most recently astronomers noticed something different about the photographs that have been coming back. The stars and galaxies seemed to be much brighter than usual, which was a bit of a problem. Brighter light covered up many of the dimmer stars which meant that if the telescope were to do a counting of how many stars were in a particular area then the readings would come out false. At first some people thought that it may have been James Webb’s sensitive instruments that were giving the extra light, and that the telescope itself had a minor problem. But after doing a check up on the telescope nothing seemed off about its instruments or camera. Which means that James Webb was actually giving us the right information, and the early universe is just much brighter than we expected. 

"The discovery of these galaxies was a big surprise because they were substantially brighter than anticipated," Claude-André Faucher-Giguère of Northwestern University said. "Typically, a galaxy is bright because it's big, but since these galaxies formed at cosmic dawn, not enough time has passed since the Big Bang.”

James Webb will continue to study the early universe looking for more discoveries like this one, who knows what it will discover next?