NASA has never before conducted a mission to collect samples from an asteroid. In 2004 and 2006, the US space agency sent spacecraft to collect samples of solar wind and comet material.

The analysis of Bennu’s sample will allow scientists to determine the origin of the Sun and other planets, as well as the formation of life on Earth. After dropping off the Bennu sample, Osiris-Rex headed for another asteroid Apophis and it is anticipated to reach there in 2029. The study of these asteroids will also aid scientists in devising methods to deflect them away from Earth.

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The container will be unveiled in public within the next two days.

What will the sample be like?

1. Pegged at a size roughly similar to a skyscrapper, Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid. Therefore, the rubble collected from its surface will have material filled with a lot of carbon content, as close to 5-10% by mass.
2. The sample is expected to be a mix of rocky fragments in sizes varying from a few millimetres to as small as a dust particle.
3. Due to its carbonaceous form, the sample is expected to appear very dark, almost black, as well as crumbly.
4. According to a theory, life on Earth began due to impacts of asteroids filled with important chemical compounds. Following on that, Bennu’s sample is also expected to have fascinating organic molecules such as compounds of amino acids, which are the building units of proteins.
5. The sample is also expected to show proof of water present in Bennu in different forms, as much as 10% by mass. It will also enable scientist to discover whether asteroids brought water along with it during collisions on the early Earth.

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The four astronauts will now commence training for the November 2024 launch of the historic Artemis II lunar flyby. This will be the first manned mission to the moon in 50 years. Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman of NASA are the astronauts. Media outlets reported that NASA has named the first woman, who is also one of the world’s most experienced spacewalkers and the first African-American astronaut ever designated, making the lunar mission quite unique.

In 2009, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, a 47-year-old decorated naval aviator and test pilot, was selected for the first time. He will serve as the mission commander for Artemis II.

In 2009, the Canadian Space Agency selected fighter pilot Hansen, 47, for astronaut training. He will be the first Canadian to ever travel to outer space.

According to media reports, Glover, a 46-year-old navy aviator, made his first journey into space in 2021, piloting SpaceX’s Crew Dragon on its second crewed mission and spending almost six months at the International Space Station.

Koch is the fourth member of the crew. Koch, 44, has conducted six spacewalks, including the first all-female spacewalk in 2019. She holds the record for the longest solitary spaceflight by a woman, with 328 days in space.

The Artemis II mission will vastly expand upon Artemis I, an unmanned test mission that concluded in December and sent NASA’s Orion capsule on a 1,400,000-mile trip around the moon.

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According to media reports, although the exact distance has not yet been calculated, the journey is expected to take approximately 10 days and will transport the crew beyond the moon, potentially further than anyone has ever traveled.

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“Monday morning, the space station manoeuvred out of the path of an Earth observation satellite. To evade the approaching satellite, the docked ISS Progress 83 resupply ship fired its engines for approximately six minutes, slightly increasing the station’s orbit “NASA published a blog entry.
The US agency also clarified that the new orbital trajectory of the International Space Station will have no effect on the impending launch of the Crew 5 mission.

Orbital decay: the Satellogic constellation is only one of a number of Earth observing constellations with multiple satellites entering the ISS orbital height regime. Im magenta, Nusat-17 which was the cause of yesterday's ISS dodge manuever pic.twitter.com/OM0mcToe0p

— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 7, 2023

Later in the day, the four-person crew is scheduled to return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft. NASA tweeted on Thursday, “Crew 5 has worked on more than a hundred diverse ISS research experiments during their five-month stay on the space station, from exploring quantum mechanics to growing space tomatoes.”

How frequently does the ISS alter its course to avoid collisions?

Since 1999, the International Space Station has made 32 course corrections in order to avoid satellites and trackable space debris. In order to avoid the Cosmos 1408 satellite debris that Russia destroyed during an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons demonstration in November 2021, two such corrections were required in the previous year, according to Space.com.

What caused ISS to alter its course?

NASA did not specify which satellite caused the International Space Station to deviate, but experts believe it was the Argentinian earth observation satellite Nusat-17. “Orbital decay: the Satellogic constellation is one of a number of Earth observation constellations with multiple satellites entering the orbital height regime of the International Space Station. Im magenta, Nusat-17, which prompted yesterday’s ISS manoeuvre to avoid it “In a social media post, Dr. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and astrophysicist at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, stated the following.

Also Read | Why Indonesia is moving its capital from Jakarta to Borneo?

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation are working together to develop NISAR, an Earth-observation satellite (ISRO).

NISAR was conceived by NASA and ISRO eight years ago, in 2014, as a powerful demonstration of the capability of radar as a science tool that would help us study Earth’s dynamic land and ice surfaces in greater detail than ever before.

It is expected to launch from Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a near-polar orbit in January 2024.

The satellite will be operational for at least three years. It is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory. In 12 days, NISAR will map the entire world.

NISAR will be the first space-based radar of its kind to systematically map Earth using two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes in our planet’s surface that are less than one centimetre wide.

NISAR will provide a wealth of data and information about changes in the Earth’s surface, natural hazards, and ecosystem disturbances, thereby advancing our understanding of Earth system processes and climate change.

The mission will provide essential data to aid in the management of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, allowing for quicker response times and more accurate risk assessments.

By providing information on crop growth, soil moisture, and land-use changes, NISAR data will be used to enhance agriculture management and food security.

The mission will provide data for infrastructure monitoring and management, such as monitoring oil spills, urbanisation, and deforestation.

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NISAR will aid in the monitoring and comprehension of the effects of climate change on the Earth’s land surface, including melting glaciers, sea-level rise, and changes in carbon storage.

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is providing aerial images and data to aid earthquake-ravaged Turkey and Syria in their rescue efforts.

Administrator of the US space agency, Bill Nelson, stated that the teams of experts are working diligently to provide rescue workers with valuable information from the Earth-observing fleet. NASA is employing its synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which can monitor the planet in all weather conditions, day or night. According to the agency’s website, it is used to measure how the ground moves and the built landscape changes after an earthquake.

.@NASA is assisting @StateDept, @USAID, @USGS & first responders in the wake of the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria.

Our disaster response team uses @NASAEarth satellites to help determine areas in need of assistance and to assess additional risks. https://t.co/FAIs90kr4Z

— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) February 8, 2023

A team of scientists from the Earth Observatory of Singapore and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory gathered images before and after the earthquake and created a “proxy damage map” for Turkey.

These proxy maps compare the pre- and post-earthquake radar images to determine how the landscape changed as a result of the tragic event. The US State Department, the California Seismic Safety Commission, the World Bank, and Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief have access to these proxy maps via Earth Science Applied Sciences, national and international collaborations, and the World Bank.

In addition to providing observations and maps through the Disaster Mapping Portal, NASA personnel participate in US Agency for International Development coordination calls.

Lori Schulz, the disaster coordinator for the Turkey-Syria earthquake at NASA, stated that the agency does not know who uses the information it disseminates, but has heard that the World Central Kitchen has used the information to provide food to the displaced. Using space and ground-based observations, NASA scientists are enhancing their ability to decode the events resulting from the natural disaster.

The scientists utilise data from the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition programme, which utilises data from commercial satellites to assist NASA in achieving its research objectives. They are able to identify areas with elevated landslide risks.

According to NASA, the scientists intend to add a new tool to evaluate the earthquake’s aftermath. The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), which will be launched to the International Space Station in 2022, can assess methane emissions as part of observations of the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Its observation times are determined by the orbit of the ISS. Nonetheless, while passing over the earthquake sites, the measurements of new emissions may indicate events that are not easily detected from space.

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Shanna McClain, manager of the NASA Disaster Program, stated that the agency’s relief efforts include tracking disasters such as natural hazard-triggered technological disasters such as damaged infrastructure and pipeline bursts, which the agency wants to identify quickly in order to save the lives of nearby people. According to the report on the website, the EMIT’s ability to assist with such efforts is being evaluated.

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This week, stargazers should see the green comet that has been hiding in the night sky for months as it slowly passes Earth for the first time in nearly 50,000 years.

Space alien will pass Earth at a distance of around 26.4 million miles (42.5 million km).

The nature of comets and this one in particular are discussed below.

WHAT ARE COMETS?

Comets, dubbed “dirty snowballs” by astronomers, are balls of ice, dust, and rocks that originate from the Oort cloud, a ring of icy material at the boundary of our solar system. One known comet, 2I/Borisov, originated from outside the solar system.

A comet’s solid core of rock, ice, and dust is surrounded by a thin and gassy atmosphere of additional ice and dust, known as a coma. They release a stream of gas and dust pushed from their surface by solar radiation and plasma, generating a hazy and outward-facing tail as they approach the sun and melt.

When various gravitational forces dislodge comets from the Oort cloud, they travel into the inner solar system, becoming more noticeable as they approach the sun’s heat. Each year, fewer than a dozen comets are discovered by observatories around the globe.

This comet last passed by Earth during a time when Neanderthals still inhabited Eurasia, our species was expanding beyond Africa, large Ice Age creatures such as mammoths and saber-toothed cats roamed the planet, and northern Africa was moist, fertile, and rainy.

Thomas Prince, a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology, asserts that the comet’s formation in the early phases of the solar system can provide insight into its origins.

HOW COME THE COMET “C/2022 E3 (ZTF)” IS GREEN?
C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the green comet, was found by scientists using the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego on March 2, 2022. Its greenish, emerald tint is a result of a collision between sunlight and carbon-based molecules in the coma of the comet.

NASA intends to observe the comet with its James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which may reveal insight into the creation of the solar system.

Stefanie Milam, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, explained, “We will be searching for the fingerprints of specific compounds that are inaccessible from Earth.” Because JWST is extremely sensitive, additional discoveries are anticipated.

HOW CAN ONE SEE GREEN COMET?

On a clear night, the comet can be observed in the northern sky using binoculars. It emerged between the Big Dipper and Polaris, the North Star, on Monday. And on Wednesday, it was positioned to appear close to Camelopardalis, a constellation surrounded by Ursa Major, the Big Dipper, and the Little Dipper.

Finding a secluded place to prevent light pollution in populated areas is essential for obtaining a clear view of the comet as it passes our planet on its path away from the sun and back to the solar system’s furthest regions.

Also read:- As the air quality in Delhi-NCR has gotten better, Stage II GRAP restrictions have been lifted.

A green comet called C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is set to pass by Earth for the first time in 50,000 years on February 1.

Find out more at https://t.co/uLeB2kC1Yc 🚀#engineering #interestingengineering pic.twitter.com/WxJnpgmc9M

— Interesting Engineering (@IntEngineering) January 14, 2023

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On January 27, 2023, a box truck-sized asteroid is anticipated to come quite close to Earth. According to NASA, the asteroid 2023 BU will fly by Earth at a distance of 3,600 kilometres above the surface of the planet, which could be one of the closest passes by a near-Earth object ever noted.

When will asteroid 2023 BU come in contact with the Earth up close?

At around 7:27 p.m. EST on January 26 (5:57 a.m. IST on January 27), the asteroid 2023 BU will fly directly over the southernmost point of South America, well within the geosynchronous satellites’ orbit.

The asteroid may strike Earth.

The asteroid won’t strike Earth, though. The asteroid would become a fireball and generally dissolve harmlessly in the atmosphere, even if it had the potential to strike Earth. It’s possible that some of the larger material will disperse as tiny meteorites. NASA has assessed the asteroid’s size to be between 3.5 and 8.5 metres.

Who made the asteroid discovery?

On January 21, amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov found the asteroid 2023 BU from his MARGO observatory in Nauchnye, Crimea. The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov had also been found by Borisov. He sent more data to the Minor Planet Center (MPC), a clearinghouse for tiny celestial body position measurements that is well-known on a global scale. The information was then immediately uploaded to the Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page. After gathering enough data, the MPC made the discovery public, and within three days, a number of observatories all across the world had made dozens of observations. This improved how the orbit of 2023 BU was defined by astronomers.

The information on the MPC confirmation page was analysed by NASA’s Scout impact hazard assessment system, which quickly foresaw the asteroid’s close encounter. The Scout impact hazard assessment system is run by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

Even though there were very few observations of asteroid 2023 BU, NASA’s Scout was still able to anticipate that it will approach Earth extremely closely, according to Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at JPL, in a statement provided by NASA. He continued by stating that this was one of the known near-Earth object’s closest encounters ever seen on record.

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After striking Earth, what will happen to the asteroid’s orbit?

The gravitational pull of Earth will cause every asteroid that approaches to alter its route. Asteroid 2023 BU is anticipated to vary dramatically its orbital route around the Sun due to its close approach to Earth. The asteroid took 359 days to complete its orbit around the Sun, which was roughly circular before it came into contact with Earth.

At its furthest point from the Sun, the asteroid’s orbit will travel out to a location that is roughly halfway between Earth’s and Mars’ orbits after its encounter on January 27. The asteroid will then make one orbit every 425 days after that.

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The American space agency NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos are facing a challenge. The aircraft ‘Soyuz’, which brought 3 astronauts back to Earth out of 7 astronauts present in the International Space Station (ISS), has become a victim of a technical glitch. Last month, a coolant leak was detected in this spacecraft and then information about a small hole came to the fore. Soyuz is made by Russia. Recently, it was told by Russia that it would send another spacecraft to the ISS to bring the three astronauts back to Earth. However, to deal with an emergency, there is a plan to install a seat in the spacecraft of Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.

According to media reports, 4 astronauts reached the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. There is a plan to install one more seat in this spacecraft. There is a plan to shift this seat from the existing Soyuz spacecraft to the Dragon spacecraft.

This effort is unique in itself, because all this has to be done in space. If NASA is successful in its plan, if needed, American astronaut Frank Rubio can be brought to Earth from SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

Significantly, Soyuz and Dragon spacecraft are currently docked on the ISS. The Soyuz spacecraft named MS-22 technically ‘failed’ last month. First it leaked coolant and then the information about having a small hole came to the fore. How all this happened is being investigated. On the other hand, Russia has planned to launch another Soyuz on February 20 to bring back the astronauts who reached the ISS from this spacecraft.

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According to reports, if there is an emergency, only 2 astronauts from the technically failed MS-22 Soyuz spacecraft will be able to return to Earth. In such a situation, NASA is planning to put a seat on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. It is designed to carry 7 people. In such a situation, Frank Rubio can be moved if the seat is available.

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The joint NASA-JAXA Geotail spacecraft has been in orbit for 30 years, but its mission operations have ended because its last data recorder broke.

Since its launch on July 24, 1992, Geotail has been in orbit around Earth, gathering a huge amount of information about the structure and behaviour of the magnetosphere, the protective magnetic bubble around Earth. Geotail was supposed to run for four years, but the mission was extended several times because the data it sent back was so good that it was used in more than a thousand scientific papers.

After 30 years, it’s time for the Geotail mission to retire.

Launched in 1992 to study Earth's magnetosphere, Geotail – the 1st joint NASA/JAXA mission – has long outlived its planned 4-year lifetime, contributing to over 1,000 science publications. More: https://t.co/O3u0ezNzmY pic.twitter.com/gCR4f4JFfG

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) January 18, 2023

One of Geotail’s two data recorders broke in 2012, but the other one kept working until June 28, 2022, when something strange happened. After a failed attempt to fix the recorder remotely, the mission stopped running on November 28, 2022.

“Geotail has been a very useful satellite, and it was the first joint NASA-JAXA mission,” said Don Fairfield, emeritus space scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and NASA’s first project scientist for Geotail until he retired in 2008. “The mission helped us learn a lot about how the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field work together to make magnetic storms and auroras.”

With a long orbit, Geotail sailed through the invisible edges of the magnetosphere. It studied the physical processes at work there to learn more about how energy and particles from the Sun reach Earth. Scientists learned a lot from Geotail. For example, it helped them figure out how quickly material from the Sun gets into the magnetosphere, what physical processes are going on at the edge of the magnetosphere, and where oxygen, silicon, sodium, and aluminium are in the lunar atmosphere.

The mission also helped figure out where a process called “magnetic reconnection” happens. Magnetic reconnection is a major way that material and energy from the Sun get into the magnetosphere, and it is one of the things that causes the aurora. This discovery paved the way for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, or MMS, which started in 2015.

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Over the years, Geotail worked with many of NASA’s other space missions, such as MMS, Van Allen Probes, the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms mission, Cluster, and Wind. With an orbit that took it as far as 120,000 miles from Earth at times, Geotail helped scientists get a full picture of how events in one area affect other areas by giving them data from faraway parts of the magnetosphere. Geotail was also combined with observations made on the ground to confirm where and how auroras form.

Even though Geotail is done gathering new data, scientists are still making new discoveries. In the coming years, scientists will keep looking at Geotail’s data.

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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft recently caught a glimpse of Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn that hides an ocean beneath its frozen surface. When you look at the beautiful picture, the tiny moon’s cracked surface might look like rivers cut into it, but scientists think they are just heated spots in the crust where ice water and gases rise from the ocean floor and feed Saturn’s E ring.

There is a chance that some of these cracks have hydrothermal vents at the bottom that lead to the ocean floor.

What is Saturn’s moon- Enceladus?

Enceladus, Saturn’s moon, is the sixth largest in size and the 19th largest in the Solar System, for those who don’t know. Enceladus is one of the most reflective things in the Solar System because its surface is made of pure ice.

Enceladus is cooler than a substance that absorbs light and gets to 198 degrees Celsius at noon because it reflects light. Even though Enceladus is small, its surface has a wide range of features, from old areas with a lot of craters to new areas where technology has changed the shape of the land.

In an elliptical orbit, the moon moves away from Saturn at a speed of about 148,000 miles per hour. Because of this, Saturn always sees the same side of the moon. Because of this, the average temperature is –330°F.

Also read: Indian scientists make the first-ever discovery of its sort on Mars.

Why is Enceladus in the news?

Scientists are looking for life outside of Earth, so the news about Enceladus is important. While Enceladus’s chemistry, huge oceans, and hot core are some of the things that make it an interesting target, it is also a very small planet.

According to reports, scientists have recently thought of a way to search for life on the moon’s icy surface without having to land a space probe on the moon.

NASA Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Cassini spacecraft
MORE: https://t.co/6QPxk1TKMg pic.twitter.com/67DXpsgk8x

— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) January 12, 2023

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