Astronomy
NASA’s Hubble finds water in space!
If this turns out to be true, if NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope truly managed to find water in space, on another planet but Earth, then it has just made history. The scientists have been searching for water in space and on other planets since the first shy attempts in space and despite the fact that Ganymede is technically not a planet, but a celestial body caught in the immensely powerful magnetic field of Jupiter, it is still groundbreaking information.
Thus far, the information sent back to Earth by Hubble is the best evidence regarding water existing on other alien worlds in our solar system. According to it, Ganymede may not have just a sea, but an entire subterranean ocean, one that is larger than all Earth’s oceans combined. And, as we all know, if water exists somewhere, then life should not be very far from it.
John Grunsfeld, one of the scientists monitoring and receiving all the information Hubble is sending to Earth said that „this discovery marks a significant milestone, highlighting what only Hubble can accomplish. In its 25 years in orbit, Hubble has made many scientific discoveries in our solar system. A deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opens up further exciting possibilities for life beyond Earth.”
Now, you are probably asking yourself what is so special about Ganymede? Hell, most people haven’t even heard of it until now and considering the fact that it is not a planet, this is understandable. But why is there the possibillity for this moon to have an entire ocean on its surface, while other planets such as Mars don’t?
Let’s jot down a few known facts about Ganymede:
- Ganymede is the largest moon in our entire solar system.
- It has its own magnetic field, despite being embedded into Jupiter’s magnetic field. With the size of Jupiter, what body wouldn’t?
- This magnetic field surrounding the body causes aurorae, which as we know, are ribbons of hot electrified gas that glows and that appear primarily in the South and North Pole of the moon.
- When Jupiter’s magnetic field changes, the aurorae on Ganymede tends to “rock”, providing spectacular views, much like it happens on Earth when the northern lights appear on the sky in the Scandinavian region.
This “rocking” of the aurorea has given the scientists the idea that there may be some saltwater on the moon and with Hubble’s recent discoveries, the possibility has never been higher. The idea is that Ganymede’s aurorea wouldn’t “rock” as it does if it wouldn’t have a huge amount of saltwater beneath the crust, which will affect its magnetic field. Jupiter’s magnetic field, no matter how powerful, is simply not enough to cause this “rocking” effect.
Joachim Saur is one of the most important names that you have to remember. He and his team from Cologne, Germany, brainstormed how to look inside other planets and check whether they have water underneath their surface. Then, one of the members came up with the idea of using Hubble’s telescope and watch the aurorae that they already knew formed at the two Poles and see whether it changes. As explained above, if the aurorae shifts or “rocks”, then something affects the magnetic field, which in this case may be saltwater.
Based on the information sent by the Hubble Space Telescope, in order to create such a powerful magnetic field the ocean has to be at least 60 miles (100 km) deep, which is much deeper than any ocean on Earth. The scientists also suspect it is buried underneath a heavy crust of ice.
This is not the first time scientists have tried to find water in space and particularly, on Ganymede. Back in the 1970s, the first suspicions began to appear, while in 2002 NASA’s Galileo mission began measuring the magnetic field that surrounds the moon. Since this was the first attempt at measuring a magnetic field in space, the space images sent by Galileo to Earth did not reveal that much. It would take years before concrete proof would arrive to Earth.
Now, since this truly is groundbreaking information, maybe it’s time to start preparing messages and a welcoming scenario for the aliens that may hide on Ganymede. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
At the time of impact, the impactor vehicle, about the size of a vending machine, was moving at about 14,000 mph.
After traveling for over a year, NASA‘s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which attempted to provide answers, “Could a specially crafted satellite be used to divert an asteroid from its planet-destroying course? How about a number? “has effectively impacted the Dimorphos asteroid. However, NASA ground control has confirmed that the DART impact vehicle has intercepted the target asteroid. The results and data from the collision are still being received. Yes, Dimorphos is about the size of a football stadium, but space is very big, extremely dark, and both the asteroid and the spaceship were traveling rather quickly at the time.
“It’s been a successful completion of the first part of the world’s first planetary defense test,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said after the impact. “I believe it’s going to teach us how one day to protect our own planet from an incoming asteroid. We are showing that planetary defense is a global endeavor and it is very possible to save our planet.”
In an effort to investigate the employment of defensive satellites as a method of planetary defense against Near Earth Objects, NASA launched the DART mission in November 2021. Nearly 68 million miles from Earth, the DART impactor vehicle, about the size of a vending machine, tragically crossed Dimorphos’ path while traveling at about 14,000 MPH.
It remains to be seen if future generations of a planetary defense system will be packed with satellites ready to go full June Bug vs. Chrysler Windshield against real planet-killer asteroids. Dimorphos is one of two asteroids that are gravitationally entangled; its parent rock is more than five times larger than Dimorphos itself, but both are dwarfed by the space rock that struck Earth 66 million years ago and destroyed 75% of the planet’s multicellular life while gouging out the Gulf of Mexico.
The world of science and technology brings us yet another crazy possibility that’s going to be explored quite soon. Fourth Generation Cellular Networks are seeing implementations on various places. One of them could be the natural satellite orbiting the earth: The Moon.
A partnership between Nokia, Vodafone and Audi is looking to implement cellular networks on the moon sometime next year. Even if the proposition sounds crazy, it seems like they have a lot of plans to make this dream a reality.
Vodafone will be designing the lunar network and will make use of equipment designed by Nokia Bell Labs. This connectivity will allow two Audi Lunar Quattro rovers to communicate wirelessly with a base station at the Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module.
Using existing satellites, mission organizer Part Time Scientists will also be able to live stream scientific data and HD video content from the Moon to viewers on Earth. In other words, we will be getting some very detailed views of Earth for public viewing.
The networking equipment will be launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. If you think it’s going to be very heavy and sloppy to handle. Nokia’s engineers have worked really hard to make it weigh less than one kilogram.
We’re seeing the vestiges of life in the moon very frequently now. All thanks to the options becoming more and more accessible with the fast advancements in technology. Of course, this rapid growth is far from reaching its peak potential.
Who knows? Maybe we will be able to look at interplanetary travels and living. The sky is the limit when it comes to the amount of creations. Nowadays bizarre ideas like mobile networks in different planets aren’t that far fetched eiher.
It’s going to be an interesting ride, for sure. However, we must be also conscious about the planet we’re currently living in. Even though there are efforts to make this planet greener, there is a lot left to do.
Alright, it’s been some time since we’ve talked about developments in Space Technology. This development in particular can actually save the lives of countless astronauts who find themselves in quite nightmarish situations. I mean, being “lost in space” is a very serious issue for a lot of astronauts.
A recent patent made by Kevin Duda, a space systems engineer at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts shows a self-return system that allows safety for spacewalking astronauts. Even in the most threatening scenario of the crewmates not being able to rescue the astray spaceman.
The self-return spacesuit system, Duda explained, had to be capable of determining a precise location in a harsh space environment where GPS is unavailable. This basically makes for a “Return to Home” button that is very tricky to develop.
The system has to compute an optimal return trajectory that accounts for time, oxygen consumption, safety and clearance requirements. Not only that but the system has to be able to guide a disoriented and possibly unconscious astronaut to safety effectively.
Draper Director of Space Systems Séamus Tuohy said the return-home technology is an advance in spacesuits that is long overdue. He mentions how current spacesuits feature no navigation system and could be a very challenging aspect for astronauts in the current age.
The patent also shows how the system works. It monitors the movement, acceleration and position of the crewmember relative to a fixed object nearby. The navigation module can also be configured using GPS, vision-aided navigation or a star-tracker system.
Additionally, to improve the astronaut’s positioning and orientation, Draper has developed software that fuses data from vision-based and inertial navigation systems and that benefits from the advantages of both sensing approaches. The development of this and other kinds of spacesuits will be handled by NASA
Not only that, but this technology can be used to help Earth’s inhabitants as well. Clothing equipped with sensors of this caliber could help First Response members and even firefighters during dire situations. If you want to see the full patent listing, I’d suggest you read it right here.
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