Space

Discovered a visitor named 2015 BZ509 from another solar system orbiting Jupiter upside down

A mysterious asteroid orbiting Jupiter dodging asteroids in its path, in addition to doing so in the opposite direction to the rest of space bodies of the solar system.(2015 BZ509)

2015 BZ509

The so-called asteroid, is known as 2015 BZ509 and has an orbit contrary to the rest of bodies that orbit our sun. The most surprising thing is that, in turn, it shares the orbital space of Jupiter. It is the only asteroid in the solar system that does not travel in programmed motion. And this opens the debate of whether it really is an asteroid.

In our solar system almost 900 thousand asteroids are known and all share the same system of orbital movement. However, 2015 BZ509 has its own system (natural or not) of movement. This supposed asteroid travels clockwise, and not vice versa, which is how the rest of bodies move.

This proves that the mysterious celestial body travels against the flow of energy that the gravitating force of the sun and the rest of bodies of great volume exert against it. Surprisingly, the 2015 BZ509 is propelled inexplicably, avoiding all kinds of objects like a camicace.

The autonomous asteroid, which has a size of 300 kilometers, manages to dodge all kinds of objects that travel in counter-direction without suffering any collision that slows or deviates its regular travel route. And each time it crosses Jupiter (which is a thousand times larger than Earth), it does so by sharing orbital space and, in turn, bypassing the thousands of asteroids that travel alongside the gas giant.

2015 BZ509

A challenge for the enigmatic asteroid and also for science, which does not know what it faces or can not explain the behavior of that body. But the truth is that, 2015 BZ509 has been doing the same route regularly since at least one million years. This means thousands and thousands of returns to the solar system, without having undergone any change.

It is thought that this asteroid (if it is), would have been from the beginning of the solar system, that means about 4,500 million years. It was detected at the beginning of the year and gave a lot to talk about due to its characteristics. It is a carbon-rich asteroid and formed outside the solar system. It is not known where it comes from.

Sara Rosell, from the Natural History Museum of the United States, points out that the work of science is to discover the origin of the universe and in this case, discover what this object is. It does not want to label it as an asteroid, because its behavior is not that of a regular asteroid, or at least, not one that is known with that characteristic.

As astronomy explains, everything that was formed from the gas disk and the primordial debris of its star, follow the direction of the rotation of its parent star. However, 2015 BZ509 does not behave in the same way. And maybe we are still too immature intellectually to understand the mystery that is presented to us.

Space

Martian sand dune looks like Starfleet logo

Image Credit: NASA

The dune looks very similar to the Starfleet logo.

New images taken by NASA’s MRO HiRise camera show a sand dune formation with a rather familiar shape.

The photographs, which were captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, have prompted some rather tongue-in-cheek references to Star Trek’s iconic insignia.

“Enterprising viewers will make the discovery that these features look conspicuously like a famous logo,” the HiRise team at the University of Arizona wrote in a Tweet.

Star Trek references aside, this intriguing formation and others like it have been helping scientists to learn more about the Red Planet’s atmosphere, temperature and topography.

This, in turn, will also help NASA to better plan out future manned missions.

Caption Spotlight (12 Jun 2019): Dune Footprints in Hellas
Enterprising viewers will make the discovery that these features look conspicuously like a famous logo.
More: https://t.co/CAq5xBbDwf
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/N5MfKQPiYt
— HiRISE (NASA) (@HiRISE) June 12, 2019

Source: IB Times

Space

Why Lockheed Martin Is Designing A Tiny Home To Orbit The Moon

NASA wants to build another space station, but this one won’t live in a close orbit around Earth. Within the last year, NASA has begun planning for a much smaller astronaut outpost in orbit around the Moon, a new destination dubbed the Gateway. The idea is for this space station, which will be a fraction of the size of the International Space Station, to serve as a place for astronauts to live and train for excursions to and from the lunar surface.

A crucial piece of hardware needed for this Gateway will, of course, be habitats — spaces for a handful of astronauts to do research, exercise, sleep, and eat. But what exactly does it take to build a habitat for deep space? NASA has tasked six companies with figuring that out, through the space agency’s NextSTEP program. Through a public-private partnership, companies like Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace are creating and executing their own designs for modules that could house astronauts in the environment around the Moon.

Another one of those companies is Lockheed Martin, a longtime contractor for NASA located in Colorado. Lockheed is currently working on a cylindrical deep-space habitat that will provide about 882 cubic feet of livable space, which is about the size of a bedroom for up to four astronauts to roam around in.

And just like designing a tiny home, Lockheed has gotten creative with storage. For instance, the design calls for water to surround the hull of the habitat, to be used as drinking water but also to be used as shielding for deep-space radiation. The habitat also has a treadmill on its ceiling; but, in orbit around the Moon, the microgravity environment means there is no ceiling. So every bit of exposed wall is used for a different purpose. The habitat will also include a workstation, as well as sleeping bags for the crew and storage for food and other essential living materials.

In the third episode of Space Craft season 2, we got to visit a mockup of Lockheed Martin’s deep-space habitat at the company’s headquarters in Denver. However, what we saw was just for show: a glimpse of what the final design might look like. We also were able to use augmented reality and virtual reality to get a better feel of what the final look of the habitat will be like. Currently, Lockheed Martin is building its first prototype of the habitat in Florida, so that NASA can analyze its design by 2019.

Meanwhile, Lockheed is also building another key piece of spacecraft hardware for NASA, one that will be used to potentially transport astronauts to and from this deep-space habitat. It’s a capsule called Orion, and it’s become a big part of NASA’s plans for the future. We also got to test out a simulation of what it might be like to dock the Orion capsule to the habitat — what future astronauts will do to get to their deep-space home.

Source www.theverge.com

Space

Your name can be on Mars in the year 2021

NASA has launched a campaign for anyone who wishes to send their name to Mars, in the form of a boarding pass digitized on a chip incorporated in the next Mars 2020 mission.

«Do you want to accompany me on Mars? Send your name to the surface of the red planet with the next rover of NASA, Mars 2020 », published the Twitter account of Curiosity, which explores our planetary neighbor since 2012.Ver imagen en Twitter

The tweet is completed with a link to a website that offers the form to fill out for the issuance of the personalized boarding pass. For example, we have completed ours, and Mystery Planet will be included among the names that will appear on the chip of the new rover to explore Mars.The ticket also includes “frequent flyer points”, which add to the previous ones if you were attentive and participated, for example, in similar initiatives for other NASA missions, such as InSight and Parker Solar Probe al Sol (in our case we have accumulated more than 614,000 million kilometers!).

Souvenir boarding passes will display names submitted by the public, which will also be on microchips aboard the Mars 2020 rover

To send your name CLICK HERE . You have time until September 30.

Mars 2020

The Mars 2020 mission is scheduled to be launched in July 2020 from Cape Canaveral, and its arrival is expected in February 2021 in the Jezero crater.

The rover, which weighs about 1,000 kilograms, will look for signs of microbial life, as well as make climatic and geological investigations, collect samples and pave the way for future human exploration and colonization.

Source: NASA