Connect with us

Tech

Spacecraft snaps image of ancient Mars lake bigger than any on Earth

Published

1 month ago

on


Long ago, Mars teemed with water.

New imagery captured by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter depicts the planet’s once watery past. The spacecraft, which has orbited the Red Planet for two decades, snapped views of the eroded remains of once sprawling Lake Eridania — which the space agency noted was larger than any lake on Earth. (The largest lake on Earth is by far the Caspian Sea, which at some 149,200 square miles, or 386,400 square kilometers, is bigger than Montana.)

“We believe that water, and a lot of it, once existed here,” ESA said in a statement.

SEE ALSO:

NASA rover gets blasted by solar storm on Mars, captures footage

But Mars gradually lost its insulating atmosphere, the result of a lost magnetic field and relentless solar radiation. Ultimately Mars’ once thick atmosphere diminished, and bounties of water escaped. Without this insulating blanket, the planet dried out. Today, the planet is 1,000 times drier than the driest desert on Earth.

Views of the lakebed’s remnants can be seen below. In the first image, which depicts topography, the blue color (lower elevation), shows part of the lake basin. A large crater, itself with signs of past flowing water on its rim, sits next to the lake.

Mashable Light Speed

A topographic view showing remnants of a once sprawling Martian lake (blue area on the right).

A topographic view showing remnants of a once sprawling Martian lake (blue area on the right).
Credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin

In this view of Mars' tan-colored surface, a map scale can be seen on the bottom right (20 km is about 12.5 miles).

In this view of Mars’ tan-colored surface, a map scale can be seen on the bottom right (20 km is about 12.5 miles).
Credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin

For a wider perspective, the map below shows the region, Caralis Chaos, recently mapped by the Express orbiter. The smaller white box shows the area covered in the images above (while the larger white box depicts the total area recently imaged by the craft).

The body of water was truly huge. “This lake would have filled the flatter regions labelled Ariadnes Colles, Caralis Chaos, and Atlantis Chaos,” the space agency wrote. It would have harbored over three times the water held by the Caspian Sea.

A map showing the area once filled by Mars' Lake Eridania.

A map showing the area once filled by Mars’ Lake Eridania.
Credit: NASA / MGS / MOLA Science Team

Planetary scientists suspect that Mars could have once hosted primitive, microbial life in watery areas or moist Martian soils — such as the Jezero Crater, which also hosted a large lake.

Recently, NASA’s Perseverance rover drilled into a rock in Jezero, where the six-wheeled robot had detected organic molecules (aka the “building blocks of life” as we know it). The robot collected a sample, and inside, scientists spotted a telltale composition that suggests the potential of ancient microbial life. “The rock exhibits chemical signatures and structures that could possibly have been formed by life billions of years ago when the area being explored by the rover contained running water,” NASA said in a statement. But, crucially, much more research, over many years, is needed to confirm this possibility.

The ongoing exploration of intriguing Martian places will continue — and one day Martian astronauts may join this discovery effort.





Source link

Post Views: 18
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tech

LIVE: Watch SpaceX Launch Historic Polaris Dawn Astronaut Mission Today

Published

1 hour ago

on

September 15, 2024

By



The Polaris Dawn mission is lifting off today. It is targeted for launch with four astronauts by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 1:08 pm IST with backup opportunities available at 2:53 pm and 4:39 pm.

According to SpaceX, the weather is currently 40 percent favourable for launch. If the mission is scrubbed today, launch opportunities are available at the same time on September 11.

The Polaris Dawn crew includes mission commander Jared Isaacman, retired US Navy pilot Scott Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

All four astronauts have been strapped inside the Dragon spacecraft resilience which will take them to the highest Earth orbit since the Apollo missions. The launch is being streamed live on SpaceX’s X profile and on YouTube by popular channels like Everyday Astronaut and NASA Spaceflight Now.

ALSO SEE: Elon Musk Excited For SpaceX’s First Spacewalk Mission On August 26; ‘This Will Be Epic’

The crew will ascend to an altitude of 1,400 km during the mission which will last five days. Isaacman and Gillis will also script history by conducting the world’s first spacewalk in a commercial mission.

The Dragon spacecraft has been outfitted with a ‘Skywalker’ which is designed to help the crew perform a series of suit tests during their spacewalk. Notably, the spacewalk will take place at an altitude of 700 km on the third day of the mission. SpaceX has even designed special suits for the job.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX Unveils Next-Gen Spacesuits Ahead Of World’s First Commercial Spacewalk This Year

They are also carrying a Starlink router to test the satellite-based laser communication system in space for the first time. Another objective is carrying out experiments to monitor changes in human physiology in microgravity and high-radiation environment.

SpaceX says it is the third mission this Dragon spacecraft is supporting. It has previously been used for NASA’s Crew-1 and the world’s first all-civilian mission to space Inspiration4. Isaacman’s first trip to space was with Inspiration4 which raised $200 million for St. Jude’s children’s hospital. He is financing the Polaris Program which includes two more missions after Polaris Dawn.

(Image: X/@JaredIsaacman)





Source link

Post Views: 0
Continue Reading

Tech

NASA’s Hubble And Chandra Telescopes Spot Supermassive Black Holes On Collision Course

Published

6 hours ago

on

September 15, 2024

By



NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory have confirmed an extraordinary discovery – two supermassive black holes locked in a close orbit within a distant galaxy. The galaxy, named MCG-03-34-064, is located about 800 million light years from Earth, and these black holes are the result of a collision between two galaxies.

The Hubble Telescope, using visible-light imaging, revealed three bright spots at the center of this galaxy. Two of these spots are supermassive black holes, detected due to the strong X-ray emissions captured by the Chandra Observatory.

These black holes shine brightly because they are actively consuming surrounding matter, converting it into energy, and releasing intense radiation across space. This makes them known as active galactic nuclei (AGN).

ALSO SEE: Astronomers Discover Supermassive Black Hole Equal To The Mass Of 40 Billion Suns

The distance between the two black holes, according to scientists, is about 300 light-years, which makes them the closest pair of AGNs observed using both visible light and X-rays. Their tight proximity suggests that they are in the early stages of merging, a process that will take millions of years but will eventually lead to a single, even larger black hole.

The third bright spot in the galaxy is a cloud of gas, while a striking blue streak near the black holes could be a jet of energy, likely emitted by one of the black holes as it consumes matter.

This discovery highlights the incredible power of combining Hubble’s sharp visible-light images with Chandra’s X-ray data, providing scientists with a unique view of black holes and galaxy mergers. Over time, the merging of these black holes will reshape the galaxy, offering astronomers valuable insight into the dynamic evolutionary process of the universe.

ALSO SEE: NASA Shares Dazzling Images From Chandra Telescope As It Completes 25 Years In Space

(Image: NASA/ESA)





Source link

Post Views: 1
Continue Reading

Tech

SpaceX Shares First Views Of Earth As Polaris Dawn Reaches Highest Orbit In 50 Years

Published

11 hours ago

on

September 15, 2024

By


Astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission are currently in space and pictures from their vantage point are getting released. SpaceX has shared the first visuals of Earth captured by the camera onboard the Dragon spacecraft Resilience.

The video features the top view of Dragon with ‘Starwalker,’ a new hardware installed in the spacecraft for spacewalking purpose, overlooking our planet. These views, according to SpaceX, were captured when Dragon was in a 190 X 1,216 km (closest and farthest point from Earth) orbit shortly after launch.

Dragon then circled our planet eight times before achieving highest orbit (1400 km apogee) in more than five decades.

The mission lifted off at 2:53 pm IST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on September 10 on a Falcon 9 rocket and will last five days. It has a four-person crew including mission commander Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott Poteet and mission specialists Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.

Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis (left to right) inside the Dragon spacecraft. Image: SpaceX

In an update shared today, SpaceX said that Dragon has achieved an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 1,400.7 km, making it the greatest distance any of its missions have achieved. It is also the farthest humans have been in space since the Apollo era over 50 years ago.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn Mission Finally Takes Off; Watch The Historic Moment

What did Polaris Dawn astronauts do on their first day?

The Polaris Program gave an update about the itinerary the four astronauts followed on their first day.

Once they were in orbit after liftoff, the crew began a two-day pre-breathe protocol wherein Dragon’s pressure was gradually lowered while increasing oxygen levels inside the cabin. This helped purge nitrogen from the astronauts’ bloodstreams and lower the risk of decompression sickness (DCS). It is an important drill before their spacewalk begins.

About two hours after liftoff, the crew had their first meal in space and carried out the first experiment involving Starlink for about 3.5 hours. They have carried with them 36 science experiments that will be conducted over the course of five days.

On the first day itself, the astronauts were also exposed to high doses of radiation when the Dragon passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). In this region, Earth’s magnetic field is weaker and more high-energy particles can enter Earth.

The crew is currently preparing for the historic spacewalk, which would be the first ever in a commercial mission. Isaacman and Gillis will step out of Dragon for the spacewalk on September 12. Interestingly, all four astronauts will get exposed to the vacuum of space during the spacewalk because the Dragon spacecraft does not have an airlock and the entire capsule will be depressurised when it opens.

SpaceX has designed new spacesuits which the astronauts are wearing for the spacewalk. Data gathered about its performance will pave way for new spacesuit technology to support missions to the Moon and Mars.

ALSO SEE: Elon Musk Excited For SpaceX’s First Spacewalk Mission On August 26; ‘This Will Be Epic’

(Image: SpaceX)





Source link

Post Views: 1
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2023 Dailycrunch. & Managed by Shade Marketing & PR Agency