Humanity's Next Leap of Space Knowledge

[Shade_Wilder]

1 hour ago, oldschooler said:

Because of Vastness of SpaceTime It comes down to Belief. No Evidence Yet. 100 Light Years of Unresponded Radio Wave Transmissions. Evolutionary Process. True Odds of Evolving non- Human Advanced Civilization are literally Astronomical. Drake is Wrong.

So Personally, I believe Universe is Cold Dark Empty ….. and Fascinating ……

 

I think, to be fair to Drake, that he never actually predicted alternate intelligences in our galaxy, but rather created a model/framework to permit a more serious, nuanced discussion.

"...I believe Universe is Cold Dark Empty..." is a statement that is impossible to argue either for or against with certainty; we don't know and likely won't know for a very long while. But, it certainly is "Fascinating". 

Very Fascinating.

Sometimes in the playground of my imagination, I am Captain of the Enterprise and occasionally visit the Orion Sector...

 

[AussieBob]

I am more with 

23 hours ago, Shade_Wilder said:

Hello Fellow Space Junkies!

In line with the idea of general Space discoveries and also 'Way Cool' space news, I was reading an article on 'Rogue planets'. What are Rogue planets? They are planets which roam freely through the universe, untethered to a star. Serious Trekkies will recall the Rogue World hunting expedition on Enterprise, various stories from TNG, and of course in DS9 that a rogue planet was the home-world of the Dominion's Changelings. Seriously, you didn't realize I was a Trekkie?

What's new is the number of them; scientists have always known they exist, but modern theory posits that there might be more of them than actual stars (See Universe Today article, link below). Further, it is possible that they have the occasional atmosphere and other life-giving possibilities (I'll wait for more definitive proof, but... interesting). Finally, as we aren't able to 'see' them too clearly at the moment, they could even be close by and more interesting than we know.

How are they formed? The Universe today mentions several possible methods;

"...astronomers have conjectured that planets regularly form in interstellar space, that they are pulled away by gravitational interactions with passing stars, that supernovae kick them out, or that they free float into space after their sun dies..."

What is the significance of this? My first thought is that it'll affect the Drake Equation, a mathematical formula for estimating the number of intelligence-supporting civilizations in the Milky Way. 

The Drake Equation is:

(Drake Equation Image and explanation from Google and Wikipedia)

Okay, a bit clumpy to work with and it definitely does not provide any definitive proof, but is does suggest that intelligent civilizations are out there, albeit rare. And, if you plug in Rogue planets that might have an atmosphere, as suggested in the latest research, the number rises.

The more we learn of the Cosmos, the greater the number of possibilities of having other life in some form or another. Our history suggests that it won't be good for us to meet them on their terms, but perhaps other species/other life is more enlightened about this than we are/were.

What a "Way Cool' time to be alive.

https://www.universetoday.com/153883/astronomers-find-70-planets-without-stars-floating-free-in-the-milky-way/#more-153883

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

I am more with @oldschooler regarding the Drake 'equation' - totally fabricated nonsense. I am sick of seeing this thing quoted in books and movies as if it is proof there are millions of advanced civilisations out there.  

Take the Drake equation - and then just for a start add the following. The Milky Way is 13.6 billion years old. The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Life started (we think) about 3.5 billion years ago.  Multi-cellular life started about 500 million years ago. Humans evolved about 2 million years ago. Advanced human civilisation capable of receiving signals from space began less than 100 years ago.  Then add the fact that the Earth has experienced at least 5 mass life extinctions, and it was only because of the last one that humans even got the chance to evolve, let alone actually survived as a species for over 2 million years. Then add the fact that 99.9% of all life forms that ever existed on Earth are extinct.  There are so many other factors that come into play when trying to calculate the likelihood of our advanced human civilisation ever actually occuring at all.  When you even start to attempt to do the math on all of that, it is more than the number of stars and planets in the known Universe to 1 that another advanced intelligent civilisation exists - despite what the movies and books say.  And the odds of another one existing at the same time as ours is and lasts - well that as close to Infinity as is worth noting.

Then, add to that the fact that interstellar travel is just not possible, even at the maximum speed of light. To say that it requires some form of drive technology (like in the movies/books) is delusional and overlooks the fact that force equals mass time acceleration. Space is not empty (unlike in the books/movies) - there are dust particles everywhere - and a lot of other crap. Over 100 tons of cosmic dust enters Earth's atmosphere every single day.  Hit a dust particle in a spaceship, at the speed of light and .... kaboom.

And even then - it takes light 105,000 years to get from one side of the galaxy to the other.  It takes light 2.5 billion years to get to the nearest other Galaxy (Andromeda).  Just to get here, an advanced lifeform from Andromeda would have had to have left there when the only life on Earth was single celled Amebae. 

Sorry, but IMO it is obvious that we are alone in this Galaxy.  Maybe, in one or more of the other 200 billion Galaxies that we know of, life has/is/will evolve to become an advanced civilisation. But they aint getting here, and we aint getting there.  We need to, and will, expand and colonise the solar system.  

Unless of course they have broken the Universe's physical laws associated with time and distance travel - but even then, how would they know where to go - which planet of the billions of billions of billions of billions (etc.) to travel to.  But just to be safe - maybe we should just stay quiet and keep our heads down. Whenever an advanced civilisation meets a primitive one - it never goes well for the primitive one. 

[Shade_Wilder]

1 hour ago, AussieBob said:

I am more with 

I am more with @oldschooler regarding the Drake 'equation' - totally fabricated nonsense. I am sick of seeing this thing quoted in books and movies as if it is proof there are millions of advanced civilisations out there.  

Take the Drake equation - and then just for a start add the following. The Milky Way is 13.6 billion years old. The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Life started (we think) about 3.5 billion years ago.  Multi-cellular life started about 500 million years ago. Humans evolved about 2 million years ago. Advanced human civilisation capable of receiving signals from space began less than 100 years ago.  Then add the fact that the Earth has experienced at least 5 mass life extinctions, and it was only because of the last one that humans even got the chance to evolve, let alone actually survived as a species for over 2 million years. Then add the fact that 99.9% of all life forms that ever existed on Earth are extinct.  There are so many other factors that come into play when trying to calculate the likelihood of our advanced human civilisation ever actually occuring at all.  When you even start to attempt to do the math on all of that, it is more than the number of stars and planets in the known Universe to 1 that another advanced intelligent civilisation exists - despite what the movies and books say.  And the odds of another one existing at the same time as ours is and lasts - well that as close to Infinity as is worth noting.

Then, add to that the fact that interstellar travel is just not possible, even at the maximum speed of light. To say that it requires some form of drive technology (like in the movies/books) is delusional and overlooks the fact that force equals mass time acceleration. Space is not empty (unlike in the books/movies) - there are dust particles everywhere - and a lot of other crap. Over 100 tons of cosmic dust enters Earth's atmosphere every single day.  Hit a dust particle in a spaceship, at the speed of light and .... kaboom.

And even then - it takes light 105,000 years to get from one side of the galaxy to the other.  It takes light 2.5 billion years to get to the nearest other Galaxy (Andromeda).  Just to get here, an advanced lifeform from Andromeda would have had to have left there when the only life on Earth was single celled Amebae. 

Sorry, but IMO it is obvious that we are alone in this Galaxy.  Maybe, in one or more of the other 200 billion Galaxies that we know of, life has/is/will evolve to become an advanced civilisation. But they aint getting here, and we aint getting there.  We need to, and will, expand and colonise the solar system.  

Unless of course they have broken the Universe's physical laws associated with time and distance travel - but even then, how would they know where to go - which planet of the billions of billions of billions of billions (etc.) to travel to.  But just to be safe - maybe we should just stay quiet and keep our heads down. Whenever an advanced civilisation meets a primitive one - it never goes well for the primitive one. 

 

What can I say, AB? Your post is a good argument well made (cheers mate).

However, I also think that it is one of those issues where it can be turned around quite easily and quite rationally. 

Simply put, in all the immensity of the galaxy/universe that you describe, it seems a bit unlikely that life, or even just intelligent life, would only occur on one small planet in one solar system on the edge of the Milky Way and nowhere else. Further, and respectfully, you are making assumptions based on what we humans know and think we know, but our collective ignorance is staggering. I'll accept your point of FTL travel not being possible based on what we currently know, but to assume that we fully understand the universe is... misguided; what we don't know dwarfs what we do know. Finally, you are assuming a civilization roughly equal to our own to meet up with, but an older, more advanced one could easily be far beyond our understanding or even limited perception. I fall back on the famous quote by Arthur C. Clarke;

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

I choose to believe that we are not alone in the galaxy/universe, and I am comfortable with the ambiguity of not knowing for sure.

I think it would be sad if we were all alone.

 

 

[oldschooler]

4 hours ago, Shade_Wilder said:

What can I say, AB? Your post is a good argument well made (cheers mate).

However, I also think that it is one of those issues where it can be turned around quite easily and quite rationally. 

Simply put, in all the immensity of the galaxy/universe that you describe, it seems a bit unlikely that life, or even just intelligent life, would only occur on one small planet in one solar system on the edge of the Milky Way and nowhere else. Further, and respectfully, you are making assumptions based on what we humans know and think we know, but our collective ignorance is staggering. I'll accept your point of FTL travel not being possible based on what we currently know, but to assume that we fully understand the universe is... misguided; what we don't know dwarfs what we do know. Finally, you are assuming a civilization roughly equal to our own to meet up with, but an older, more advanced one could easily be far beyond our understanding or even limited perception. I fall back on the famous quote by Arthur C. Clarke;

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

I choose to believe that we are not alone in the galaxy/universe, and I am comfortable with the ambiguity of not knowing for sure.

I think it would be sad if we were all alone.

With little evidence we are free to adopt either belief and to fall back on what we know here. Evolution, Physics & Maths. The maths works both ways of course…. how can there not be intelligent life….or, how can such life possibly survive those 1000 filters resulting in us ……..

best scenario for space travel / colonization for me was the movie Passengers with 120 year near light speed trip to nearest habitable exoplanet  in suspended sleep in spacecraft with force field ….. but even that is 400 years away tech wise & would cost trillions with very high risk of total destruction ….. not economic unless Earth was doomed with no alternative…….

[Shade_Wilder]

 

Yes, an update on "Way Cool" Space stuff; I have gone a bit overboard on this recently, but it is fascinating, so...

The JWST has unfolded the first part of its telescope. So far, so good.

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-1st-primary-mirror-deploy

https://www.space.com/news/live/james-webb-space-telescope-updates

I found another explanation for L2 (Lagrange Point #2), but still haven't found any information on my question(s) of precision.

There must be a measurable place where there is perfect balance between the Earth's and the Sun's gravity (Hmm... CAN we measure to that specificity? Do we have both the technology and the mathematics?), but does the JWST need to be at that exact point? If not, what kind of distances away from that precise point are still okay? Or put another way, how big is L2? Is it the size of a coffee table? A House? A football field? 16 Square city blocks? A hundred Square kilometers? How many satellites can fit there at any one time?

Any members Astrophysicists by chance?

Anyone knowledgeable enough for an educated guess and a Layman's explanation?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-a-lagrange-point/

One of Sci-Fi's greatest propulsion ideas seems to have been discounted, at least until large scale technological advances are made. The Bussard Collector and the accompanying Bussard Ramjet of Sci-Fi propulsion fame won't work, at least not for now. Hopefully it'll make a comeback as tech and knowledge improves, or the other possibilities pan out.

https://www.universetoday.com/153803/new-calculations-show-that-an-interstellar-bussard-ramjet-drive-would-need-a-magnetic-field-stretching-150-million-kilometres/

Finally, the difficulties of Interstellar travel came up in this thread, and based on current knowledge and capacities, it's a looooong way off, if it ever happens. However, there is an idea (which has some funding; a KEY element) called the Breakthrough StarShot. Rather than think about sending people and/or large ships into Space, the basic idea is to use 'Micro' ships a centimeter wide with solar sails, initially propelled by earth-bound lasers, and send them (many of them at once) to Proxima Centauri. No, it is NOT going to launch anytime soon, and should the various needed inventions and concepts pan out, it'll still be 30 years-ish before we got the pictures back from there. But, it is an interesting idea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot

https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/concept/3

We are just beginning to scratch the initial surface of the Cosmos, but there is still lots of fascinating stuff that we will know about soon.

Imagine what we will know in another hundred years?

 

[Shade_Wilder]

They did it!

The JWST is deployed in one of humanity's most incredible feats of engineering ever.

The BBC story provides a great overview/summary of the project to date

"James Webb is set now to become a transformative tool in the study of all parts of the cosmos."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59914936

Space.com is a great site if you are interested in this (and, if you are reading this, you are).

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-fully-deployed

Universe Today provides another general article and briefly discuses the future.

"However, much work still remains before JWST can begin to operate in space. Five months of cooling, aligning, and commissioning the telescope and all the instruments will need to take place before the science can begin."

https://www.universetoday.com/153952/webbs-mirror-now-fully-unfolded-prepare-to-witness-the-power-this-unprecedented-space-telescope/#more-153952

The NASA page goes into some detail about the mirror, its creation and capacities and deployment. If you are interested in the more scientific/engineering side of this, read on.

https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/ote/mirrors/index.html

Finally, the Mashable page devolves into some geek humour. Yes, I know, but they have earned it.

https://mashable.com/article/webb-space-telescope-twitter

There are many people, myself included, who sometimes wonder what kind of a future humanity has; climate change, species extinction, near-Earth orbit squabbles among nations, the proliferation of micro-plastics in our environment and other planetary level issues could well doom the lot of us. However, we are also capable of truly wondrous things, and this telescope is a prime example of it.

The James Webb Space Telescope will give truly stupendous views of the Cosmos, but perhaps its greatest long-term achievement will b reminding humanity that we can actually accomplish great things when we put our collective minds to it.

Damn! It is going to be a LOOOOOONG six months waiting for the photos.

[AussieBob]

On 1/6/2022 at 7:38 PM, Shade_Wilder said:

What can I say, AB? Your post is a good argument well made (cheers mate).

However, I also think that it is one of those issues where it can be turned around quite easily and quite rationally. 

Simply put, in all the immensity of the galaxy/universe that you describe, it seems a bit unlikely that life, or even just intelligent life, would only occur on one small planet in one solar system on the edge of the Milky Way and nowhere else. Further, and respectfully, you are making assumptions based on what we humans know and think we know, but our collective ignorance is staggering. I'll accept your point of FTL travel not being possible based on what we currently know, but to assume that we fully understand the universe is... misguided; what we don't know dwarfs what we do know. Finally, you are assuming a civilization roughly equal to our own to meet up with, but an older, more advanced one could easily be far beyond our understanding or even limited perception. I fall back on the famous quote by Arthur C. Clarke;

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

I choose to believe that we are not alone in the galaxy/universe, and I am comfortable with the ambiguity of not knowing for sure.

I think it would be sad if we were all alone.

I hear you Shane, however if I may say, most of your 'argument' is only valid on the basis that one has feelings about the matter.  In things like this I always take a dispassionate indifferent view - otherwise it is always an emotional based decision to either 'believe' or 'not to believe'. I do not care one way or the other - I do not make any emotional commitment either way - I take the same view as to the existence of a God (Agnostic). The reason is that emotions about any issue makes humans assess and calculate things differently.

However, I am not saying you are wrong. Other advanced civilisations could exist - and now (relatively speaking).  What I am saying is the fact is that the 'odds' of that actually also occurring now are more than the Universe to 1. The odds of advanced life existing on Earth alone are Astronomical - it is indeed a 'miracle' that we do exist and it is why humans do innately  'believe' in 'something higher'. But even if there was another one, the fact is that our understanding of the Universe indicates that any form of 'travelling' (as we know it) across the vast expanses of space and time is also extremely unlikely.  Add both those 'odds' together and it is just not a real possibility.

Therefore, based on the 'science', there are no other advanced civilisations, and even if there was, we will never meet. Because by the time (and we have a very strong grasp of time) that they get here or we get there, we/they will no longer exist. Look up 'time dilation' in Wikipedia.  As I said, I dont care one way or the other - so I dont chose whether to believe or not.

But as you said, science always moves forward and things always change and our knowledge will always grow.  The benefit of that 'logical scientific' approach in this matter (and many things), is that when new facts/developments emerge, then it is not about changing one's opinions and belief, it is just about adjusting the 'science' to arrive at a new possible outcome, or keeping the old one.  For many decades scientists have been conducting more and more advanced experiments and observations to confirm/deny Einstein's theory of relativity. So far what they have done is to increase the odds that he is correct - I believe that he is at 5 nines right now (99.999%). But until we can 'play around' inside a black hole (a la Interstellar movie) then it can not be 100% (yet). 

[Shade_Wilder]

4 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

I hear you Shane, however if I may say, most of your 'argument' is only valid on the basis that one has feelings about the matter.  In things like this I always take a dispassionate indifferent view - otherwise it is always an emotional based decision to either 'believe' or 'not to believe'. I do not care one way or the other - I do not make any emotional commitment either way - I take the same view as to the existence of a God (Agnostic). The reason is that emotions about any issue makes humans assess and calculate things differently.

However, I am not saying you are wrong. Other advanced civilisations could exist - and now (relatively speaking).  What I am saying is the fact is that the 'odds' of that actually also occurring now are more than the Universe to 1. The odds of advanced life existing on Earth alone are Astronomical - it is indeed a 'miracle' that we do exist and it is why humans do innately  'believe' in 'something higher'. But even if there was another one, the fact is that our understanding of the Universe indicates that any form of 'travelling' (as we know it) across the vast expanses of space and time is also extremely unlikely.  Add both those 'odds' together and it is just not a real possibility.

Therefore, based on the 'science', there are no other advanced civilisations, and even if there was, we will never meet. Because by the time (and we have a very strong grasp of time) that they get here or we get there, we/they will no longer exist. Look up 'time dilation' in Wikipedia.  As I said, I dont care one way or the other - so I dont chose whether to believe or not.

But as you said, science always moves forward and things always change and our knowledge will always grow.  The benefit of that 'logical scientific' approach in this matter (and many things), is that when new facts/developments emerge, then it is not about changing one's opinions and belief, it is just about adjusting the 'science' to arrive at a new possible outcome, or keeping the old one.  For many decades scientists have been conducting more and more advanced experiments and observations to confirm/deny Einstein's theory of relativity. So far what they have done is to increase the odds that he is correct - I believe that he is at 5 nines right now (99.999%). But until we can 'play around' inside a black hole (a la Interstellar movie) then it can not be 100% (yet). 

Morning AB

500 years ago, we would have been burnt at the stake for thinking that we could visit outer space (the Heavens).

100 Years ago mankind learned to fly, albeit not well. 

50 years ago we made it to the Moon.

20-30 years ago we made it possible to hold the majority of human knowledge in the palm of our hand (smart phones).

In the last week, we managed to unfurl a ground-breaking telescope which is on is way to L2 (see my post, two above).

Assuming that we don't kill ourselves off (we are humans with all the bad stuff that entails), imagine what we will accomplish next week, 20-30 years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now or 500 years from now.

The Human Enlightenment Project (as I call it) doesn't move forward in a steady, mappable route to greater understanding, but it does move forward. 

Perhaps, as you say, it is a matter of faith, but one that is backed by data.

'The Past is a Prologue for the Present' isn't always correct, but it often is.

Enjoy your weekend.

[Shade_Wilder]

 

Hello Again Fellow Space Junkies!

JWST Update.

The telescope is still travelling to L2, but the process of unfolding and aligning the mirror is beginning. It is an incredibly complex maneuver that requires precision almost beyond the imagination. 

"To fit inside the nose cone of the Ariane 5 rocket that launched it, the telescope had been designed to fold up, origami-style, and unfold once in space. The approach was risky: Like a Rube Goldberg machine, every step needed to occur correctly, in order. An engineering report concluded there were 344 different ways the process could fail, dooming the $10-billion observatory." (Astronomy.com, my bold) 

The sheer size of the mirror is going to mean an increased ability to see into the distance/past and the primary reason that the JWST is so much more advanced than Hubble. The alignment process is incredibly delicate and precise.

"Consisting of 18 hexagonal segments of gold-plated beryllium metal, the primary mirror measures 21 feet 4 inches (6.5 m) in diameter - a much larger light-collecting surface than Webb's predecessor, the 30-year-old Hubble Space Telescope...

...Those segments must now be detached from fasteners that held them in place for the launch and then moved forward half an inch from their original configuration - a 10-day process - before they can be aligned to form a single, unbroken, light-collecting surface...

...Aligning the primary mirror segments to form one large mirror means each segment "is aligned to one-five-thousandth the thickness of a human hair", Feinberg said. (my bold)

"All of this required us to invent things that had never been done before," such as the actuators, which were built to move incrementally at -400 Fahrenheit (-240 Celsius) in the vacuum of space, he added." (reuters.com)

The alignment process will take about three months.

For those who are interested in more detailed specs of the telescope in general and the mirror(s) in particular, have a look at the NASA page (link below) outlining the mirrors and some more detailed close-ups of the telescope.

Finally, even more great news. Due to a launch on Christmas day that went so well, and the splendid positioning that has occurred since then, it is now projected that the JWST might have a functional life of around 20 years.

""Right now, because of the the efficiency or the accuracy with which Ariane 5 put us on orbit, and our accuracy and effectiveness implementing our mid-course corrections, we have quite a bit of fuel margin right now relative to 10 years," Ochs said, speaking of an earlier fuel estimate. "Roughly speaking, it's [now] around 20 years of propellant, roughly speaking, and that's TBD [to be determined]," he added." (Space.com, my bold) 

As I said before, it is going to be a loooong 6 month wait until we get the first images.

https://astronomy.com/news/2022/01/james-webb-space-telescope-unfolds-mirrors-completes-deployment

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/nasa-begins-process-bringing-new-space-telescope-into-focus-2022-01-13/

https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/ote/mirrors/index.html

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-fuel-20-years

 

[Vince]

On 12/15/2021 at 4:05 AM, Shade_Wilder said:

I hope that all my fellow Space Junkies are already familiar with this story, but on the off chance...

The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched soon, and it'll GREATLY expand our knowledge of the cosmos when it becomes operational.

I have added links to a pair of CNN articles and a BBC report which goes into some detail. (Below)

We are truly blessed to be alive during this period of discovery; given that the Universe seems endless, us getting in on the proverbial 'Ground Floor' of Space knowledge is a pretty neat place to be.

I look forward to discussing it all over the next few years...

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/18/world/james-webb-space-telescope-faq-scn-film/index.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/15/world/james-webb-space-telescope-explainer-scn/index.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59476869

I think Astronomy is a great topic. I would think some rural areas might have good star gazing, Elon's satellites not withstanding. 

[Shade_Wilder]

 

Hello Fellow Space Junkies!

Yes, time for an update on the space/science stories that I thought were interesting ('Way Cool!').

Thoughts? Comments?

A space object emitting radio waves every 18 minutes.

The CNN story outlines a discovery of an unknown object that emits radio waves on a regular basis. The article speculates on the cause(s) and links to a 'Nature' article which seems too complex for me. 

However, there was one facet which got me thinking. The article notes 

"This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations," said lead study author Natasha Hurley-Walker, an astrophysicist at the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, in a statement.

"That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there's nothing known in the sky that does that. And it's really quite close to us -- about 4,000 light-years away. It's in our galactic backyard." (my bold)

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/26/world/unusual-space-object-transient-scn/index.html

And that got me thinking of Sci-fi. What if it isn't a natural phenomenon? What if it is a beacon of some ilk placed there by a more advanced civilization which would let them know we are developed "enough" to be of interest, given that we managed to leave our solar system and travel there? Yes, pure speculation on my part, but a cool idea, I think. (Well of course I am a Trekkie; was there doubt?)

A Space X Falcon 5 rocket will crash into the moon.

A Space X Falcon 5 rocket, or more accurately one of its booster/stage rockets, will crash into the far side of the moon. It is not expected to lead to any new discoveries or anything 'Way Cool!', but the beauty of Space is that since it is an unexplored environment, anything is possible. The article notes that a previous crash of a rocket saw water molecules fly into he air, thus identifying and confirming water, the key to human life. What might this one do?

"First example of a Regolith Unplanned Disassembly if orbital dynamics holds true."

(you'll have to read the story to understand the quote. https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-hit-moon-march-2022)

A competition in Europe to simulate finding resources on the moon.

Universe Today has an interesting article on a simulated expedition to find and identify resources on the moon. Okay, yes, it sounds a bit like a high-school science fair competition, but it is a wee bit more developed than that. Further, it is a simulation harnessing the most potent power we as a species have for scientific breakthroughs; the power of human competition. Finally, it shows one of the simplest, yet complex, things that we will face in space exploration: the question of resources. Yes, we can leave the surface of Earth with food and water for a few days (proven), but we can't do it with supplies for a long trip, much less some sort of lunar colony. Simply put, we are going to have to 'live off the land' and we are going to have to have an idea of what is there/available before we go. Yup, it is 'dog work', but crucial to any future mission(s).

One further note: have a look at the video at the mid-point of the article. It takes a surface look at the question of whether we should be focusing our efforts on the Moon or Mars. No, it isn't exactly a 'deep dive' on the subject, but if you haven't given the question to much thought...

"13 Rovers Recently Competed to Scour the (Simulated) Moon to Harvest Resources"

https://www.universetoday.com/154173/13-rovers-recently-competed-to-scour-the-simulated-moon-to-harvest-resources/#more-154173

"5,000 Exoplanets!"

"Before NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission launched in 2018, astronomers tried to understand what it would find in advance. One study calculated that TESS would find between 4430 and 4660 new exoplanets during its primary two-year-long mission.

The primary mission (PM) is over, and TESS is in its extended mission (EM) now. The extended mission is 1.5 years old, and TESS has discovered 176 confirmed exoplanets and 5164 candidates. Scientists are still going through data from the primary mission, so the data might be hiding many more exoplanets. And TESS isn’t finished yet."

Time to update the Drake Equations, if you believe in their potential.

https://www.universetoday.com/154217/5000-exoplanets/

Finally, the JWST.

Not much new information, other than it has arrived. Yup, we are spoiled in that the arrival of a space telescope at L2 isn't MUCH bigger news, but we have already learned so much that it isn't as spectacular as it otherwise would be. The link below has pretty much everything that you will want to know.

https://www.space.com/news/live/james-webb-space-telescope-updates

More news, as it develops...

Thoughts? Comments?

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by Shade_Wilder

[Cabra]

Send the bill to Elon Musk