Tag: science

Soil bacterium from Earth can both make and repair bricks made from Moon-materials

9:36 am

Researchers in India have now discovered that the same soil bacterium from Earth they used to manufacture bricks made from Moon-materials can also act to repair cracks in those bricks.

A few years ago, researchers at the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), IISc developed a technique that uses a soil bacterium called Sporosarcina pasteurii to build bricks out of lunar and Martian soil simulants. The bacterium converts urea and calcium into calcium carbonate crystals that, along with guar gum, glue the soil particles together to create brick-like materials. This process is an eco-friendly and low-cost alternative to using cement.

… In a new study, they created different types of artificial defects in sintered bricks and poured a slurry made from S. pasteurii, guar gum, and lunar soil simulant into them. Over a few days, the slurry penetrated into the defects and the bacterium produced calcium carbonate, which filled them up. The bacterium also produced biopolymers which acted as adhesives that strongly bound the soil particles together with the residual brick structure, thereby recovering much of the brick’s lost strength. This process can stave off the need to replace damaged bricks with new ones, extending the lifespan of built structures.

These results are encouraging but not necessarily for space exploration. This research can likely be applied with great profit here on Earth to repair damaged materials already in place.

As for using it in space or on the Moon, great uncertainties remain, such is whether the bacteria could even survive or function in a different gravity environment. The team hopes to test this on one of India’s planned Gangayaan manned missions.

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Another “What the heck?!” image on Mars

1:48 pm

Another
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on March 2, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

The scientists label this “Monitoring Irregular Terrains in Western Arabia Terra.” I label it more bluntly as another one of MRO’s “What the heck?!” images. For all I know, this is nothing more than a discarded Vincent Van Gogh painting, thrown out because even he couldn’t figure out what he was painting.

The best guess I can make, just from the picture alone, is that some of the dark spots are vents from which the white stuff vented at some point, either as small lava or mud volcanoes. As the location is close to the equator, near surface ice is almost certainly not a factor in what we see.

In any case there is no way to reasonably decipher this picture, just by looking at the picture. It is necessary to take a wider view.
» Read more

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White dwarf binary discovered only 150 light years away is a major supernova candidate in about 23 billion years

9:35 am

Astronomers have discovered only 150 light years away the most massive white dwarf binary system yet detected, that they believe is a major candidate for producing one type of supernova many billions of years in the future.

White dwarf stars in binary systems are thought to produce Type 1a supernova. The dwarf sucks material from the companion star, which eventually piles up on the surface of the dwarf until the extra mass, more than 1.4 times the mass of the Sun (dubbed the Chandrasekhar mass limit), causes the supernova explosion.

That’s the theory at least. Up to now astronomers have not yet observed this process, prior to the supernova. This newly discovered binary system however is a prime candidate, because its combined mass is already 1.55 the mass of the Sun. According to the researchers’ computer models, when these stars come close to merging the result will be a Type 1a supernova. From the peer reviewed paper:

The interaction of the accretion stream with the surface of the primary white dwarf ignites a helium detonation close to the point of interaction. The helium detonation then wraps around the primary white dwarf and sends a shock wave into its core that converges at a single point. This ignites a second detonation that completely destroys the primary white dwarf. When the shock wave of its explosion hits the secondary white dwarf, the double detonation mechanism repeats itself. The shock wave from the detonation of the primary ignites a helium detonation near the surface of the secondary which drives a shock wave into its core. It is sufficient to ignite the core detonation, destroying the secondary white dwarf as well.

These events won’t occur tomorrow however. The two stars orbit each other every 14 hours, but their high mass is causing gravitational waves to ripple outward from the system, robbing it of energy. The orbits of the stars are thus spiraling inward. In about 23 billion years they will be about to merge, which will be the moment when the above explosive events are predicted to occur.

If at that moment the binary system was still only 150 light years away, the explosion would do great harm to the Earth and likely cause a major extinction. In 23 billion years however the binary will no longer be so close, and could in fact be on the other side of the Milky Way.

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Engineers use simulated moon dust to make glass

9:06 am

Engineers have successfully manufactured glass using simulated moon dust, and found this “moonglass” works better than Earth glass in solar panels.

To test the idea, the researchers melted a substance designed to simulate Moon dust into moonglass and used it to build a new kind of solar cell. They crafted the cells by pairing moonglass with perovskite—a class of crystals that are cheaper, easier to make, and very efficient in turning sunlight into electricity. For every gram of material sent to space, the new panels produced up to 100 times more energy than traditional solar panels.

…When the team zapped the solar cells with space-grade radiation, the moonglass versions outperformed the Earth-made ones. Standard glass slowly browns in space, blocking sunlight and reducing efficiency. But moonglass has a natural brown tint from impurities in the Moon dust, which stabilizes the glass, prevents it from further darkening, and makes the cells more resistant to radiation.

Though encouraging, they are many unknowns that could become show stoppers. For one, this research was all done in Earth gravity. In the Moon’s 1/6th gravity the results might be very different. For another, all they have done is demonstrate a way to make glass using Moon dust. That is a far cry from building solar panels, as implied by the press release.

Nonetheless, the results demonstrate one more way in which a lunar base can eventually become self-sufficient, the inevitable goal.

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China: samples from the near and far sides of the Moon are different

8:53 am

Scientists studying the lunar samples brought back from China’s Chang’e-6 mission to the far side of the Moon have determined that the different environments create differences in the surface material.

The study found that the solar wind exposure time of the Chang’e-6 samples was close to the minimum observed in the Apollo 11 samples, lower than that of the other Apollo samples, and slightly shorter than that of the Chang’e-5 samples. However, surprisingly, the npFe⁰ grain sizes in the Chang’e-6 samples were larger. “This might suggest that solar wind radiation in this region leads to more pronounced segregation and aggregation of iron,” she noted. These exciting new results add to the growing evidence that space weathering on the lunar farside may differ from that on the nearside, and, contrary to previous findings from Apollo and Chang’e-5 samples, solar wind radiation plays a more dominant role in the space weathering process on the lunar farside.

There are differences in the solar wind’s influence on different regions of the Moon. During each synodic month, the near side of the Moon enters Earth’s magnetotail, where the protection afforded by Earth’s magnetic field reduces its exposure to the solar wind; in contrast, the farside is continuously exposed to direct solar wind radiation. Moreover, due to orbital dynamics, different locations on the Moon experience varying impact velocities from cometary and asteroidal meteoroids. The relative velocity between the Moon’s surface and impacting meteoroids changes with the lunar phase: during a full moon, when the Moon and meteoroids move in the same orbital direction, the relative velocity increases; the opposite occurs during a new moon.

That there are differences between samples from the Moon’s two hemisphere should not a surprise. Confirming and characterizing those differences however is good.

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Terraces within one of Mars’ giant enclosed chasms

12:20 pm

Overview map

Terraces within Hebes Chasma

Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on January 27, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows the terraced layers descending down a 7,000-foot-high ridgeline within Hebes Chasma, one of several enclosed chasms that are found to the north of Mars’s largest canyon system, Valles Marineris.

The white dot on the overview map above marks this location, inside Hebes. The rectangle in the inset indicates the area covered by the picture, which only covers the lower 5,000 feet of this ridge’s southern flank.

The ridgeline might be 7,000 feet high and sixteen miles long, but it is dwarfed by the scale of the chasm within which it sits. From the rim to the floor of Hebes is a 23,000 foot drop, comparable to the general heights of the Himalaya Mountains. Furthermore, this ridge is not the highest peak within Hebes. To the west is the much larger mesa dubbed Hebes Mensa, 11,000 feet high and 55 miles long.

The terraces indicate the cyclical and complex geological history of Mars. Each probably represents a major volcanic eruption, laying down a new bed of flood lava. With time, something caused Hebes Chasm to get excavated, exposing this ridge and these layers.

The excavation process itself remains unclear. Some scientists think the entire Valles Marineris canyon was created by catastrophic floods of liquid water. Others posit the possibility of underground ice aquifers that sublimated away, causing the surface to sink, eroded further by wind. Neither theory is proven, though the former is generally favored by scientists.

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Webb infrared data increases odds asteroid 2024 YR4 will impact Moon in 2032

9:40 am

Asteroid 2024 YR4 as seen by Webb in the mid-infrared
Asteroid 2024 YR4 as seen by Webb in the
mid-infrared. Click for original image.

Using new infrared images and data from the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have further refined the orbit and size of the potentially dangerous asteroid 2024 YR4.

The image of 2024 YR4 to the right was taken by Webb’s mid-infrared camera, and provides information on its thermal surface characteristics.

First, the Webb data narrowed the uncertainty about the asteroid’s size, suggesting it is about 200 feet in diameter. You can read the paper outlining this result here. The data also suggested nature of the asteroid’s surface, which is important in determining its future path. The pressure from sunlight can change the orbits of small asteroids, but figuring out how much is extremely difficult without knowing the rotation of the asteroid and the reflective qualities of its entire surface.

Second, based on this new data, other astronomers are increasingly certain 2024 YR4 will not hit the Earth in 2032, but the odds of it impacting the Moon have now increased to 4%.

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Another example of the weird taffy terrain in Mars’ death valley

1:29 pm

More taffy terrain

Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken on January 30, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

The scientists label it dimply as “layers in Helles Planitia.” Other scientists have given this strange landscape a much more interesting label, “taffy terrain.” It is found only in the Hellas Basin, the basement of Mars, having the lowest elevation found anywhere on the red planet. According to a 2014 paper, the scientists posit that this material must be some sort of “a viscous fluid,” naturally flowing downward into “localized depressions.” Because of its weird nature I have posted many cool images of it in the past (see here, here, here, here, and here).

Is taffy terrain still viscous, or has it become solidified? That question I think remains unanswered, though pictures taken of the same spot over time do not yet appear to show changes.
» Read more

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Sunspot update: NOAA scientists try to hide how wrong they have gotten things

12:00 pm

My monthly sunspot update today will have less to do with the Sun’s sunspot activity itself — which continues to show a very very slow decline from a peak in August 2024 — and more to do with more games-playing by NOAA solar scientists to fool the public into believing they know more than they do.

Below is my annotated version of NOAA’s monthly graph showing the amount of sunspot activity on the Earth-facing hemisphere of the Sun. This graph is significantly different from the graph that NOAA’s scientists have issued for the past few years, with all the changes designed to make it seem as if these scientists’ predictions are on the money, when they have been entirely wrong now for two solar cycles in a row.
» Read more

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Twenty years of Hubble data map one long season on Uranus

9:09 am

Uranus over twenty years
Click for original image.

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope multiple times since 2002 have now tracked the changes in its atmosphere during one quarter of its 84 year orbit around the Sun.

The image to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, shows Hubble’s views across several electromagnetic wavelengths. Uranus’s rotational tilt or inclination is almost 90 degrees, so that it literally rolls on its side as it orbits the Sun. You can see this especially in the bottom two rows. From 2012 to 2022 one pole slowly shifted westward. From the press release:

The Hubble team observed Uranus four times in the 20-year period: in 2002, 2012, 2015, and 2022. They found that, unlike conditions on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter, methane is not uniformly distributed across Uranus. Instead, it is strongly depleted near the poles. This depletion remained relatively constant over the two decades. However, the aerosol and haze structure changed dramatically, brightening significantly in the northern polar region as the planet approaches its northern summer solstice in 2030.

Since we have not yet observed Uranus over one full year, there are a lot of uncertainties in any conclusions the scientists propose. For one, we don’t know the general atmospheric patterns across all four seasons. For another, any changes seen now might simply be the planet’s weather, random events not directly related to long term climate patterns.

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Airbus wins contract to build lander for Europe’s long delayed ExoMars Franklin rover

5:17 pm

Low resolution cropped section of map
Geology map for Franklin landing site. Click for
original image. Click here for original article.

The European Space Agency (ESA) late yesterday announced that it has awarded Airbus a $194 million contract to build the lander that will place Europe’s long delayed ExoMars Franklin rover on the Martian surface, replacing the Russian lander that became unavailable when the ESA/Russian partnership ended after Russia invaded the Ukraine in 2022.

Airbus announced late March 28 (Eastern time) that it was selected by ESA and Thales Alenia Space, the prime contractor for the mission, to build the landing platform for that rover mission, scheduled to launch in 2028.

The landing platform is the part of the ExoMars spacecraft that handles the final phases of its descent to the Martian surface in 2030, including performing the final landing burn. After landing, the platform will deploy ramps to allow the ExoMars rover, named Rosalind Franklin, to roll onto the Martian surface.

This project was first begun in the early 2010s, with a launch date targeting 2018. Initially a partnership between ESA and NASA, Obama canceled all American participation in 2012. Russia picked up the slack, but then the mission had numerous technical problems that caused it to miss first that 2018 launch window, and then 2020 window as well. Then, just months before launch in 2022, Russia invaded the Ukraine, resulting in Europe ending all its partnership deals with Russia.

The mission is now working to launch in the 2028 window. We shall see if it can meet that date.

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NASA experiment on Blue Ghost demonstrates the ability to repel the Moon’s abrasive dust

9:31 am

Before and after
Click for original blink movie.

In a press release yesterday, NASA revealed that one of its technology experiments on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully demonstrated the ability to repel the Moon’s abrasive dust from the surfaces of various materials.

Lunar dust is extremely abrasive and electrostatic, which means it clings to anything that carries a charge. It can damage everything from spacesuits and hardware to human lungs, making lunar dust one of the most challenging features of living and working on the lunar surface. The EDS technology uses electrodynamic forces to lift and remove the lunar dust from its surfaces. The “before” image highlights the glass and thermal radiator surfaces covered in a layer of regolith, while the “after” image reveals the results following EDS activation. Dust was removed from both surfaces, proving the technology’s effectiveness in mitigating dust accumulation.

The images to the right, taken from a blink movie showing the change after the EDS technology was used, suggest that though this technology does work, it is not yet wholly successful in some cases. The thermal radiator was not cleared entirely of dust. More engineering research will be necessary, both on the Moon and here on Earth.

Nonetheless, this success is important and a major step forward for future exploration of the Moon, Mars, and the asteroids. In all these places dust is going to pose a major problem for equipment and spacesuits. New techniques must be developed to clean the dust away, since traditional Earth-based cleaning methods using water will not be available.

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