Space News Roundup: August 6th-12th
Space is heating up! Here’s what you need to know about the biggest stories from the past week.
1. ANCIENT MUD CRACKS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED ON MARS!
In the sedimentary layers atop Mount Sharp in the Gale Crater, NASA’s Curiosity rover has found proof of ancient mud cracks on Mars. This finding raises the possibility that Mars was once a more hospitable planet. The mud cracks were discovered in a zone of transition between a clay mineral-rich layer and an upper layer that included sulfates, salty minerals that generally form when water dries up. Clay minerals are often formed in water, suggesting that water may have once existed on Mars.
NASA's Curiosity rover had previously identified T-shaped junctions in the mud cracks at "Old Soaker" on Mount Sharp. These junctions are a result of the mud drying out and contracting, providing evidence that the mud at Old Soaker had formed and dried out at least once.
However, the mud cracks at Pontours, a site higher up on Mount Sharp, tell a different story. The multiple exposures to water, will the T-shaped junctions to soften and become Y-shaped, eventually forming a hexagonal pattern. The hardy crust of sulfates along the cracks’ edges is what has made the mud cracks resistant to erosion, preserving them for billions of years.
The mud cracks found in Pontours offer fresh knowledge about Mars’ previous climate. They indicate the possibility of repeated periods of wetness and aridity, resembling Earth’s climate. This discovery holds significance as it could have fostered an environment suitable for the growth of microbial life.
“It’s pretty lucky of us to have a planet like Mars nearby that still holds a memory of the natural processes which may have led to life,” — William Rapin of France’s Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie.
The discovery of these mud cracks is a major breakthrough in our search for life on Mars.
2. MARS IS SPINNING FASTER
NASA’s InSight mission has found that Mars is spinning faster, resulting in a reduction in the length of a Martian day. The data collected over five years indicates that Mars’ rotation rate is increasing. Scientists have noticed an increase of about 4 milliarcseconds per year in its rotation speed, but the exact cause of this is still unknown.
Ongoing research based on the Insight lander’s findings continues to provide insights into Mars’ geology and climate patterns. These discoveries hold significant importance in assessing the planet’s ability to sustain life.
3. STARSHIP SUPER HEAVY BOOSTER 9 STATIC FIRE TEST.
When SpaceX conducts ground tests, be rest assured you will get fire pictures to add to your rocket album.
On August 6, 2023, SpaceX carried out a static fire test of the Starship Super Heavy Booster 9 at their launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. The purpose of this test was to assess the capabilities of the booster’s 33 Raptor rocket engines, which are fueled by liquid methane.
During the static fire test, 33 Raptor engines on Super Heavy Booster 9 were ignited, but the test was stopped at 2.74 seconds instead of the planned five seconds. Four of the 33 engines shut down prematurely.
The test was a major milestone for SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster development, an essential part of the Starship vehicle. Although the engines shut down earlier than intended, the successful ignition and partial operation of the engines showed progress in SpaceX’s iterative design strategy. Additionally, the test confirmed the effectiveness of upgraded ground systems, such as the improved water suppression system that safeguarded the rocket and launch pad.
This test was a significant milestone towards SpaceX’s goal of launching the Starship vehicle, which consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage. The valuable data and insights gathered from the test will undoubtedly help SpaceX make necessary design enhancements and optimize future tests as they strive towards launching the Starship vehicle for the second time.
4. BIG QUESTION MARK IN SPACE
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured a captivating celestial formation resembling a giant question mark in deep space while observing two young stars located more than 1000 light-years away.
An intriguing occurrence has been captured in an image of the Herbig-Haro 46/47 star system. This system is home to two young and forming stars surrounded by a disk of material that supports their development. The picture was taken with the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam, which employs infrared light to improve visibility through space dust.
The shape of a red question mark, with two bright spots, suggests the presence of either two merging galaxies or two interacting galaxies getting tangled in each other’s gravitational fields. These formations are rare but fairly common among galaxies and may indicate a future merger, as indicated by their shapes and bright spots that could be potential galactic nuclei.
5. EARENDEL: THE FARTHEST STAR EVER
The furthest star that mankind has ever seen is Earendel. The James Webb Space Telescope has since viewed it, confirming that it is the universe’s most distant star. It was found by the Hubble Space Telescope in March 2022. Earendel is situated in the Arc of Sunrise galaxy, which is located approximately 12.9 billion light-years away from Earth.
Since Earendel is thought to be 13 billion light-years from Earth, the light that we currently see from it started traveling in our direction when the universe was just 550 million years old. The star is extremely bright and hot, and its discovery has revealed fresh details about the creation of the early universe and stars.
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
