Space News thread

[Takeovers]

The New Horizons probe that has given us those stunning images of Pluto is now approaching a Kuiper Belt object called Ultima Thule. It will have its closest approach around the change of the year. This is the farthest object we ever had the chance to observe. At the closest approach it will have the same apparent size as our moon. The cameras and other instruments will deliver exciting pictures. Hopefully revealing a lot of interesting information. One thing the scientists are surprised of is that this object does not change its brightness as it spins and they have no explanation. It is not a sphere, it is irregular in shape as any object this size. It should change brightness but it does not.

[Luigi]

While we're all waiting for New Horizons to fly by the furthest object ever for humanity, a billion miles past Pluto, today, this is another really cool mission currently underway.


'Leap for humankind' as NASA spacecraft orbits Bennu, an ancient asteroid

The record-breaking achievement comes as another spacecraft prepares to fly past an icy world lying a billion miles past Pluto.



A NASA spacecraft has broken records by successfully going into orbit around an ancient asteroid.

The Osiris-Rex spacecraft is now orbiting Bennu - a tiny asteroid that is just 500m (1,600ft) long and found 70 million miles from Earth.

Bennu is the smallest celestial body to ever be orbited by a spacecraft, and Osiris-Rex's laps are barely one mile above the asteroid's surface.


NASA says the spacecraft's objective is to grab samples of gravel from the asteroid in 2020 and return them to Earth by 2023 - a manoeuvre described as a "gentle high-five".

https://news.sky.com/story/leap-for-...eroid-11595867

[OhOh]

a manoeuvre described as a "gentle high-five".

One hopes the "gentle high-five" is not mistaken by the sentry satellite as an attack, triggering a flash transmission back home and unleashing the Kraken.

[Luigi]

The New Horizons probe that has given us those stunning images of Pluto is now approaching a Kuiper Belt object called Ultima Thule. It will have its closest approach around the change of the year. This is the farthest object we ever had the chance to observe. At the closest approach it will have the same apparent size as our moon. The cameras and other instruments will deliver exciting pictures. Hopefully revealing a lot of interesting information. One thing the scientists are surprised of is that this object does not change its brightness as it spins and they have no explanation. It is not a sphere, it is irregular in shape as any object this size. It should change brightness but it does not.

Currently going past it.

Will take around 6 hours for the pictures to arrive, ETA 10:28pm Thai time.

Not sure how long before being released publicly.

[Takeovers]

Contact is established after the flyby. All parameters seem green. Download of data will be very slow. Expect to be completed some time middle of 2020. We will see at what time we will get data that are interesting to us fans. Communication over this distance with very limited power available is very slow.

Some explanation. During the flyby the probe is oriented to the target Ultima Thule and can not contact earth. Once all planned observations are done the spacecraft reorients its antenna to Earth and begins transmitting data. First data are on status of the spacecraft, which have been received just now. Transmission of science data comes after that. The flyby time is a time where the scientists are quite anxious until contact is reestablished.

[Luigi]

^

Signals from Nasa probe confirm it survived flyby of Ultima Thule, most distant object ever explored in Solar System


This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46729898

Download of data will be very slow. Expect to be completed some time middle of 2020

No point staying up then.

[Takeovers]

No point staying up then.

True. But first low resolution images are expected within hours or tomorrow. Something to tease the public and to get the scientists working.

[NamPikToot]

Perhaps the answer to energy generation may lie in the water source on Mars itself? but i'm sure they have thought of this to supplement the solar


Scientists Have Developed The Most Efficient Water-Splitting Catalyst Yet
DAVID NIELD 17 MAY 2017


Scientists just found a new way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen that's cheap and effective - and it could mean we're able to produce an abundance of clean hydrogen fuel in the future.


Hydrogen is a fantastic source for clean energy, but the challenge is making enough of it to be efficient and practical price. A newly developed catalyst now reportedly addresses both issues, boasting more efficiency for a lower cost than existing solutions - and it can run for 20 hours straight.


According to the University of Houston scientists who developed the catalyst, it ticks all the boxes in terms of durability and energy storage, as well as cost and efficiency.


"Hydrogen is the cleanest primary energy source we have on Earth," says one of the team, Paul C. W. Chu. "Water could be the most abundant source of hydrogen if one could separate the hydrogen from its strong bond with oxygen in the water by using a catalyst."


To split water into hydrogen and oxygen, two reactions are needed - one for each element. The main issue has been getting an efficient catalyst for the oxygen part of the equation, which is what these researchers say they've now cracked.


The catalyst is made up of a ferrous metaphosphate and a conductive nickel foam platform, a combination of materials the team says is more efficient and less expensive than existing solutions.


It also shows impressive durability in tests, operating for more than 20 hours and 10,000 cycles without a hitch.


Using the new method means hydrogen can be produced without creating waste carbon. That's something that existing production methods, like steam methane reforming and coal gasification, can't avoid.


And until now, oxygen reactions have often relied on electrocatalysts that use iridium, platinum, or ruthenium - 'noble' metals that are difficult and expensive to source. Experts say oxygen reactions have become a bottleneck to the whole process.


Nickel, in contrast, is more abundant and so easier and cheaper to get. The metal forms the basis of another water-splitting method discovered last year, so scientists now have several avenues to explore for improving hydrogen production.


The actual splitting itself is usually powered by an electric current or solar power, but because water only captures a small portion of the light spectrum, it's more productive to convert sunshine into energy first, then use the electricity to release hydrogen.


If scientists can crack the formula, hydrogen could eventually power everything from homes to cars. And it's a far better option for the environment than CO2-gushing fossil fuels - hydrogen fuel produces water as a by-product of combustion, which is both sustainable and non-polluting.


And the good news is, should the water electrolysis route not work out, researchers are also exploring ways to get hydrogen from biomass.


The less heat and the less energy we use preparing the hydrogen in the first place, the better it is for our planet - and once we have it ready, it's far cleaner and greener than fossil fuels.


"We believe our finding is a giant step toward practical and economic production of hydrogen by water splitting, which will significantly contribute to the effort to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels," say the Houston researchers.

[Takeovers]

"Hydrogen is the cleanest primary energy source we have on Earth,"

Ouch, that hurts, a lot! The worst kind of bullshit. I don't blame you, I blame either the "scientist" or more likely the idiot writer who wrote the article.

Hydrogen is not a primary energy source. It is a carrier of energy, like electricity. No matter how efficient a catalyst it always takes more energy in form of electricity to produce the hydrogen than can be gained by consuming the hydrogen.

That nickel alloys can be made that are extremely resistant against oxidation is nothing new BTW.

True that in the long run it is better to produce hydrogen using electrolysis than steam reforming. Steam reforming is cheap because fossil fuels are cheap.

Not to talk about the disadvantages of a hydrogen economy. I started looking at that about 40 years ago and there are reasons why it did not come to pass. Electricity stored in batteries is better for energy storage purposes. Hydrogen has its place in the chemical industry, replacing fossil raw materials like coal or oil or LNG.

[OhOh]

I started looking at that about 40 years ago and there are reasons why it did not come to pass.

What are these reasons. Simplified for us non PhD chemists, please.

[Takeovers]

What are these reasons. Simplified for us non PhD chemists, please.

Basically storage. Hydrogen is very particular in handling. It even evaporates through metal tanks, making them brittle in the process for added headaches. Hydrogen cars were not allowed in parking garages. Hydrogen mixed with our atmosphere makes a fine explosive. Hydrogen tanks are huge because of low density. Somewhat higher density only if kept liquid which requires extreme temperatures.

-253°C, -423°F, 20° K is the boiling temperature. In a car this means you fuel it up in the morning and next morning there is nothing left, it just evaporates. Potentially you could use it in a bus. Tank whatever is needed for the day and return to the depot in the evening nearly empty. Still difficult to plan and operate.

BTW the idiotic idea of hydrogen cars recently popped up again, just to argue against battery cars. Not that it has become any more practical over the decades.

BTW not my field of expertise. I was just curious because even back then it was obvious that we can not rely on fossil fuels forever.

[NamPikToot]

TO, thanks for the clarification. I get the energy requirement to produce Hydrogen outweighs its energy provision but thought that if Solar was limited in that locale where the water is it could be used to produce the gas anyway together with Oxygen and also potentially for propulsion and other uses. Well out of my comfort zone as you can guess.

[Takeovers]

TO, thanks for the clarification. I get the energy requirement to produce Hydrogen outweighs its energy provision but thought that if Solar was limited in that locale where the water is it could be used to produce the gas anyway together with Oxygen and also potentially for propulsion and other uses. Well out of my comfort zone as you can guess.

Yes indeed. On Mars efficient electrolysis will be needed. The plan of SpaceX is to produce propellant for the return flight using water from the ground and CO2 from the air to produce methane and oxygen. They will need massive amounts of solar panels for that purpose. Unlikely they will have nuclear reactors any time soon. Solar panels the area of several football fields.

BTW there has been a lot of new info released over the last weeks and I have been glued to the computer trying do digest it all. I am planning to do an update on the "on to Mars" thread.

[Looper]

Scientists just found a new way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen that's cheap and effective

Don't these scientists know anything about the secret life-cycle of the water molecule?

Here is the lowdown from a 'science' info board I found in KL botanic gardens last month...



The hydrogen and oxygen atoms in H2O separate naturally during the process of evaporation and only come together again when rain drops are formed during the process of condensation inside clouds!!

[OhOh]

I am planning to do an update on the "on to Mars" thread.

I look forward to it and thanks for the Hydrogen info.

[Looper]

first low resolution images are expected within hours or tomorrow

Ho Ho Ho!!

[jabir]

Don't these scientists know anything about the secret life-cycle of the water molecule?

Here is the lowdown from a 'science' info board I found in KL botanic gardens last month...



The hydrogen and oxygen atoms in H2O separate naturally during the process of evaporation and only come together again when rain drops are formed during the process of condensation inside clouds!!

So new water is being formed all the time with different atom combos, and the available combos of H and O atoms make it virtually impossible for a single drop of water to have ever existed before in the same form. Mindfcuk, makes sense, just learned something.

[Takeovers]

So new water is being formed all the time with different atom combos, and the available combos of H and O atoms make it virtually impossible for a single drop of water to have ever existed before in the same form. Mindfcuk, makes sense, just learned something.

No, it is complete idiocy. Looper pointed at this discretely. The bond between the oxygen atom and the two hydrogen atoms is very strong. The person making this table thought of molecules that dissolve in solvents like water to ions. For example our common table salt NaCl dissolves in water into a Na+ and a Cl- ion. Chemistry is weird that way. Chlorine as a gas is highly poisonous. Chlorine as a Cl- ion in water is not.

[Luigi]

The Snowman. 6.5 billion Km away.

[Cujo]

Chinese are landing a probe on the dark side of the moon today.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/...moon-chang-e-4

[jabir]

Just thinking, while the bond may be strong enough to withstand the forces that cause evaporation, unless the entire cycle is constant and immutable under all conditions then nobody could know what happens to individual molecules after that. And even if the cycle is constant that's only per molecule, and every drop of water is still unique.

[jabir]

The Snowman. 6.5 billion Km away.

Point to ponder, when space travel becomes routine someone might go the extra to dress it up with giant carrot, scarf and woolly hat. And a long time after that it might scare the fcuk out of hostile aliens and send them packing.

Cause and effect Lulu, you may have just saved the world.

[Luigi]

Probably better than dressing it up as a buttplug.

[OhOh]

Notice: Chang'e 4 has sent you a new message

chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-01-03 13:07

Good news about China’s space program has come to us just as the new year begins.
The Chang’e 4 mission has succeeded in making the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon in human history.

How did it make it?

Why is the far side of the moon so mysterious?

What would you want to do on the moon if you visited it one day in the future?

Click Notice: Chang'e 4 has sent you a new message to see what Chang’e 4 wants to tell you about its journey to the far side of the moon.

You’re welcome to reply to Chang’e 4’s message in the comment area below. Would you like to say congrats, ask more questions about its journey to outer space, or share your ideas about lunar exploration?

update:

Chang'e 4 makes world-first landing on moon's far side

By Zhao Lei | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-01-03 12:19

Humankind's lunar exploration history saw the opening of a new chapter on Thursday morning as the world's first explorer of the moon's far side landed at its destination after a 26-day space journey.

The Chang'e 4 lunar probe, the latest step in China's endeavor to explore the silver sphere, landed at 10:26 on the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin and then sent back a picture of the landing site shot by one of the monitor cameras on the probe's lander, marking the world's first image taken on the moon's far side.




Photo provided by the China National Space Administration on Jan 3, 2019 shows the first image of the moon's far side taken by China's Chang'e-4 probe. The picture, published by the China National Space Administration, shows the place where Chang'e 4's rover will be heading to roam and survey.

The successful landing formally inaugurated the world's first expedition to the far side that never faces the Earth and is expected to fulfill scientists' long-held aspiration to closely observe the enormous region.

A simulated landing process of Chang'e-4 lunar probe is seen through the monitor at Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, Jan 3, 2019.

[Photo/Xinhua] Tidal forces on Earth slow the moon's rotation to the point where the same side always faces Earth. The other side, most of which is never visible from Earth, is the far side of the moon. Though the far side has been extensively photographed by spacecraft, starting with a Soviet probe in 1959, no probe had ever made a soft landing onto it, so scientists around the world had not been able to conduct close observations and surveys of the region for decades.

The probe conducted rapid position adjustments when it reached to an altitude 6 to 8 km above the moon. The descent then paused for a while at an altitude of about 100 meters as the spacecraft needed to detect and analyze the inclination as well as possible obstacles at its preset landing site so it could autonomously avoid hazards.

Chang'e 4 was lifted atop a Long March 3B carrier rocket on Dec 8 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China's Sichuan province.

It consists of two parts – a lander and a rover, and the two carry eight mission instruments including two jointly designed by Chinese scientists and their counterparts in Sweden and Germany.

The successful landing formally inaugurated the world's first expedition to the far side that never faces the Earth and is expected to fulfill scientists' long-held aspiration to closely observe the enormous region.


A simulated landing process of Chang'e-4 lunar probe is seen through the monitor at Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, Jan 3, 2019.
[Photo/Xinhua]

With its investigation into the far side, particularly the Von Karman crater, the Chang'e 4 mission will enable scientists to discover what they haven't known about the moon and deepen their knowledge about the early histories of the satellite and the solar system.

Researchers also can take advantage of the far side's shield against Earth's interference to make clearer observations into deep space, scientists involved in the program expect.

Chang'e 4 is the fourth lunar probe China has launched since the country's lunar program was opened in 2004.

Named after the goddess of the moon in Chinese legends, the first Chang'e spacecraft was launched in October 2007 to verify China's lunar probe technology, obtain lunar images and perform scientific surveys. The Chang'e 2 followed in October 2010 to carry out high-definition imaging of the moon and investigate landing conditions for the Chang'e 3. Chang'e 3, lifted in December 2013, was a milestone in the country's space exploration history because of its status as the first Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon and also the first man-made craft to touch down on the lunar surface in nearly four decades. Chang'e 3 released the first Chinese lunar rover, Yutu, on the moon. Yutu worked there for around 1,000 days.


Chang'e 4 makes world-first landing on moon's far side - Chinadaily.com.cn

https://sputniknews.com/science/201901031071181042-china-moon-dark-side-landing/

https://www.rt.com/news/447980-china...oon-dark-side/

Well done China, a historic event for mankind.

[Takeovers]

The Chinese have successfully deployed their rover from the lander.