We have heard that peak climate change might be in sight. Does Mars have more clues about our future? Travelling from Mars’s equator toward its northern latitudes, planetary scientists reach a region called Coloe Fossae — a landscape carved by deep valleys, collapsed blocks of terrain, scattered craters, and remarkably, the fingerprints of a long-vanished ice age. New high-resolution images from ESA’s Mars Express mission offer the clearest evidence yet that the Red Planet once cycled through dramatic shifts in climate, much like Earth.

Earth has experienced several major ice ages over the past 2.5 billion years, the most recent peaking around 20,000 years ago when global temperatures fell to 7–10 °C. These events are driven by natural changes in Earth’s orbit and axial tilt — processes known as Milankovitch cycles. They bear no relation to modern, human-driven global warming, which scientists continue to warn about the climate crisis.

Mars, too, has undergone its own glacial rhythms. The new Mars Express imagery shows long, parallel lines cutting diagonally across Coloe Fossae — fractures created as alternating segments of ground collapsed over geological time. Scattered across the area are craters of every age and state: fresh and sharp-edged, or softened by erosion.

On the crater floors and valley bottoms lie the most intriguing features: swirling, textured patterns known as lineated valley fill and concentric crater fill. These formations arise when icy debris slowly flows, glacier-like, across the surface before becoming coated with rock and dust. On Earth, similar structures are found in glaciated mountain ranges and polar regions.

What makes Coloe Fossae especially fascinating is its latitude: 39°N — far from Mars’s polar caps. How did ice accumulate so far south?

The answer lies in Mars’s shifting axial tilt. Unlike Earth, whose tilt is stabilized by its large Moon, Mars wobbles chaotically over millions of years. During periods of extreme tilt, ice can migrate from the poles into mid-latitudes. Throughout multiple cold phases, glaciers spread outward and then retreated, leaving behind the flows and fills visible today. Scientists believe this region may have been covered in ice as recently as 500,000 years ago, when Mars’s most recent ice age ended.

The broader region, known as Protonilus Mensae, marks the dramatic boundary between Mars’s smooth northern lowlands and heavily cratered southern highlands. In some places, this global divide rises as a cliff two kilometers high; in others, like Coloe Fossae, it is a rugged transitional zone shaped by glaciers, impacts, and tectonic collapse. Similar features were observed in Acheron Fossae, highlighted in a previous Mars Express release.

These discoveries deepen our understanding of Mars as a dynamic planet with a shifting climate — and may even inform future studies of how planetary climates evolve, including our own,

The post What a martian ice age left behind tells us about our future appeared first on Green Prophet.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has spent three years exploring the floor of Jezero Crater, just north of the Martian equator, and the results are sparking new questions about life’s potential beyond Earth. A joint analysis by SETI Institute Senior Research Scientist Janice Bishop and University of Massachusetts Engineering Professor Mario Parente, published in Nature News & Views, reveals evidence of ancient chemical reactions that could have created energy-rich environments on early Mars.

Using hyperspectral images from the CRISM spectrometer aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Bishop and Parente produced a high-resolution mineral map of Jezero Crater showing deposits of clays and carbonates — minerals that form in the presence of water. “Coordinating mineral detections from orbit at Mars with in situ detections by the Perseverance rover gives us a detailed look at ancient chemical reactions for a few small areas and a broader view across kilometers of the surface,” said Bishop.

Clues in the Minerals

On its traverse from the landing site toward the crater’s western delta, Perseverance confirmed the presence of smectite clays and carbonates first spotted from orbit. More surprisingly, at sites named Bright Angel and Masonic Temple, it discovered tiny green-toned nodules of iron phosphate and iron sulfide embedded in clay-rich mudstone. On Earth, phosphates are essential to life, and such minerals can form through interactions between water, minerals, and organic matter.

“My group observed redox reactions in lab experiments where ferrihydrite containing oxidized iron was heated with organic compounds, including amino acids, to produce the mineral magnetite containing reduced iron,” Bishop explained. These “redox reactions” — transfers of electrons between minerals — can create energy that, on Earth, some microorganisms exploit for survival.

Raman data from Perseverance’s SHERLOC instrument suggest that the reduced minerals in Jezero’s mudstones appear more abundant in areas with higher concentrations of organic compounds. While not proof of life, this link hints at chemical pathways that could have supported microbial metabolism billions of years ago.

Signs of Change Over Time

The phosphate mineral vivianite, identified in the greenish nodules, was also found at a site called Onahu — but there it appears oxidized, or “rusted,” indicating environmental shifts in Mars’ history. Similar alternations in iron chemistry have been tied to changing habitability conditions on Earth.

Perseverance’s findings parallel discoveries in extreme environments here, such as Antarctic subglacial lakes, where microbes alter minerals in oxygen-poor water. “While there is no evidence for microbes on Mars today, if life once existed there, similar processes could have reduced sulfate minerals to sulfides in an ancient lake at Jezero crater,” Bishop said.

Parente’s work on CRISM data correction has removed distortions from Martian atmospheric effects and instrument quirks, allowing detection of subtle mineral “fingerprints” once lost in the noise. Using AI, his team created the most accurate mineral maps of Mars to date, pinpointing small outcrops and revealing mineral diversity that earlier surveys missed.

“By extracting the atmosphere’s imprint directly from the image itself, our technique yields cleaner surface spectra,” said Parente. “With CRISM data now clarified, subtle mineral features can be detected with greater confidence.”

Life, or Just Chemistry?

On Earth, similar mineral–organic interactions can be biological or abiotic. In Jezero Crater, the long geological timescales suggest the reduced vivianite and sulfides may have formed without biology — but organic compounds could still have driven the chemistry.

“Sulfur isotope analyses were used on Antarctic sediments to determine a biologic origin of the tiny sulfide crystals in anoxic water,” Bishop noted. Comparable tests on Mars samples, once returned to Earth, could help answer whether ancient Martian chemistry was purely geological — or something more.

The presence of clays, carbonates, phosphates, and organics together paints a picture of an ancient Mars where water was abundant and redox chemistry was active — two key ingredients for habitability. Whether this points to past life or not, the chemistry uncovered offers new insight into how planets evolve and how life might arise elsewhere.

More on Space from Green Prophet:

• NASA heads to Jupiter’s moon Europa to look for life below its frozen ocean
• Why Is the Martian Night Sky So Bright? New NASA video explains the Red Planet’s glow
• Mars found a way to store carbon. Can we?
• SpaceX and SETI partner to protect alien-hunting telescopes
• Ride on Japan’s space elevator
• Space-travel sunscreen found in new fungus experiment
• Can plants grow on the Moon?
• NASA’s rover finds opals on Mars
• Austrian Space Forum sets its next Mars mission to Morocco
• Microlightning in water might have sparked life
• Scientists design ‘Dune’-inspired spacesuit to recycle urine

The post Perseverance Rover Uncovers Ancient Martian Chemistry — And Raises the Question: Could This Hint at Past Life? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Last week, the most advanced Earth-mapping satellite ever built left Earth to watch over it. The joint NASA–ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite launched from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre into sun-synchronous orbit. This powerful radar sentinel will orbit the planet every 12 days, capturing changes on Earth’s surface in astonishing detail—down to a few centimeters—whether in daylight, darkness, or through thick clouds and vegetation.

Related: Make Sunsets geo-engineers climate with cooling credits

While the technology may sound like science fiction, NISAR’s mission is urgently practical: to track our changing planet and provide a planetary MRI scan every two weeks. The implications for climate, agriculture, disaster preparedness, and sustainable development are profound—and entrepreneurs are already eyeing the satellite’s open data streams as a platform for innovation.

Developed over a decade by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR is equipped with dual-frequency L- and S-band synthetic aperture radars, making it the first satellite of its kind. This unique combination allows it to detect subtle shifts in Earth’s crust, vegetation, ice sheets, and even groundwater levels.

Its potential applications are wide-ranging: In the Arctic, NISAR will track how fast Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting.

In Indonesia or the Amazon, it will monitor deforestation, peatland collapse, and forest biomass.

In urban zones, NISAR can observe subsiding infrastructure, helping cities adapt to rising seas and overextraction of groundwater.

NASA’s Earth Science Division Director Karen St. Germain called it “the most advanced radar system for Earth observation we’ve ever put into orbit.”

For India, this is a leap into space-enabled environmental management. For a warming planet, data is power. By measuring the movement of glaciers, the expansion of wetlands, or the sinking of deltas, NISAR offers vital intelligence for managing climate adaptation and natural disasters.

Every region, from coastal cities to desert farms, is going to be impacted by changes NISAR can see coming,” says Karin Kloosterman, the editor of Green Prophet. This technology is like giving Earth a health checkup every two weeks. Existing startups in agtech, climate, solar, energy and mining will be improved with this robust new data. Thousands of exciting new opportunities in sustainable and clean tech await.”

Critically, NISAR’s data will be publicly available. That means not only scientists and governments, but also nonprofits, local planners, and startups can build tools and services using the data.

Entrepreneurs, take note. NISAR’s raw power is just the beginning—it’s what we do with it that matters. A few promising directions:

Disaster tech startups could build risk maps and alert systems for earthquakes, landslides, or floods based on ground deformation data.

Agri-tech companies can combine NISAR’s soil moisture and terrain maps with AI to help farmers in Africa or the Middle East optimize irrigation.

Climate risk insurers may use NISAR insights to assess premiums for homes near eroding coastlines or unstable hills.

Carbon credit marketplaces can verify reforestation or wetland projects through updated biomass assessments, ensuring transparency and accountability.

At a time when political uncertainty has cast doubt on future U.S. funding for Earth science missions, NISAR is a bright spot. But it could be among the last of NASA’s major Earth-monitoring projects for years if proposed budget cuts by U.S. lawmakers take effect.

Related: The history of drip irrigation

Still, the baton may be passing. By building collaborative platforms around satellites like NISAR, we can democratize access to Earth data and decentralize its benefits. In the face of floods, droughts, fires, and rising seas, it’s not just the scientists who will act—it’s technologists, policymakers, and concerned citizens who will rise to the challenge.

As climate change accelerates, our window to act narrows. With NISAR watching from above, we gain a clearer view of where the planet hurts—and where we still have time to heal.

The post The Satellite That Sees Earth Breathe: How NISAR Could Transform Sustainability From Space appeared first on Green Prophet.

Update: it’s been debunked as a fake.

A newly released NASA video captured by the Perseverance rover has sparked awe and curiosity: the Martian night sky, far from being pitch black, glows with an eerie brightness. The footage, taken from Jezero Crater, shows a surprisingly luminous Martian landscape illuminated under what seems to be a perpetual twilight.

So what’s behind this otherworldly glow?

The key lies in Martian dust. Unlike Earth, Mars has a thin atmosphere—just about 1% the density of ours—but it’s filled with ultra-fine particles of iron-rich dust that stay suspended in the air. These particles scatter sunlight long after sunset, creating a lingering glow in the sky. It’s similar to Earth’s twilight effect, but stretched much longer and redder due to the planet’s fine particulate matter and lack of moisture.

Related: Mars can teach Earth how to store carbon

Another factor is sunlight scattering at high altitudes. Even though the Sun sets on Mars just as it does on Earth, light continues to scatter off the high-altitude dust, keeping the sky bright for hours. This is why astronauts may one day be able to navigate or work during the “night” without artificial lighting—at least in the early evening.

Interestingly, the brightness also helps with scientific observations. The enhanced visibility aids in tracking passing meteors, dust devils, and even detecting faint clouds in the Martian atmosphere.

So while Mars might seem like a lifeless desert, its night sky proves it’s still very much a planet in motion—with light, dust, and mystery dancing above its rusty sands.

Elon Musk is preparing SpaceX to head to Mars. Would you like to see nigh skies like this?

The post Why Is the Martian Night Sky So Bright? New NASA Video Sheds Light on the Red Planet’s Glow appeared first on Green Prophet.

Deep in the Kubuqi desert in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, rows of blue solar panels glisten under the winter sun, converting sunlight into electricity that flows into thousands of households. Sandy and mostly devoid of life, the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia once had a reputation for being a “sea of death.”

Now, according to NASA tracking solar power developments in China, China’s dune fields have become a sea of solar energy, transformed by a surge of newly installed solar panels. The construction is part of China’s multiyear plan to build a “solar great wall” designed to generate enough energy to power Beijing. China is now the world’s biggest producer of solar power.

The project, expected to be finished in 2030, will be 400 kilometers (250 miles) long, 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide, and achieve a maximum generating capacity of 100 gigawatts. So far, Chinese officials say they have installed about 5.4 gigawatts. The US Geological Survey which is part of the Department of The Interior captured photos from 2017 to 2024 to show how quickly the plant has expanded.

The Kubuqi’s sunny weather, flat terrain, and proximity to industrial centers make it a desirable location for solar power generation. Panels are being installed in a long, narrow band of dunes just south of the Yellow River between the cities of Baotou and Bayannur. NASA’s OLI (Operational Land Imager) and OLI-2 on Landsat 8 and 9 captured this pair of images showing the expanding footprint of solar farms between December 2017 (left) and December 2024 (right).

The solar farm that resembles a galloping horse—Junma Solar Power Station—was completed in 2019, setting a Guinness world record for the largest image made of solar panels.

It generates approximately 2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, enough to meet the yearly electricity needs of 300,000 to 400,000 people.

Junma means “fine horse” in Mandarin.

In addition to generating power, planners hope that the installation will have other benefits. They think it may help curb desertification by preventing the movement of dunes and slowing winds. Also, the elevated panels create shade that slows evaporation and may make it easier to grow pasture grasses and other crops beneath them. Analysis of Landsat data indicates that solar projects have contributed to the greening of deserts in other parts of China in recent years.

Since 2024 China leads the world in solar energy production

As of June 2024, China led the world in operating solar farm capacity with 386,875 megawatts, representing about 51 percent of the global total, according to Global Energy Monitor’s Global Solar Power Tracker.

The United States ranks second with 79,364 megawatts (11 percent), followed by India with 53,114 megawatts (7 percent).

China’s solar growth has been particularly rapid during the past decade. Between 2017 and 2023, the country’s operational solar capacity surged by an average of 39,994 megawatts per year. The solar capacity of the United States expanded by an average of 8,137 megawatts over the same period.

Beneath the panels, different types of shrubs stand tall despite their dormant yellowed leaves, shielding the land from wind and sand.

“By the end of 2023, this one-gigawatt solar power project was successfully connected to the grid, transforming over 30,000 mu (about 2,000 hectares) of desert into a sea of solar blue, with thriving vegetation flourishing beneath the panels,” said Na Guiting, who is responsible for the solar great wall project.

The project Na is working on is the first phase of the Kubuqi Desert Ordos Central-Northern New Energy Base.

As one of China’s first large-scale renewable energy bases with a capacity exceeding 10 gigawatts, the base is set to develop eight gigawatts of solar power, four gigawatts of wind power, and four gigawatts of supporting coal power.

The electricity generated will be transmitted to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region through an integrated system combining solar, wind, coal, and energy storage, with 230,000 mu dedicated to photovoltaic sand control.

Once the project is completed, it will deliver approximately 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with over 50 percent coming from clean energy sources, according to Na.

It is equivalent to saving about 6 million tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 16 million tonnes each year, Na added.

The Kubuqi project exemplifies China’s broader effort to integrate renewable energy with ecological restoration. In the arid expanses of northern China, advanced technology is reshaping the battle against desertification, turning it into a narrative of resilience and renewal.

“I never would have imagined that as a farmer, I could find work in the sand dunes,” said Qin Zhaoping, a resident of Hengliang Township in Gansu’s Gulang County. His job involves adjusting the sprinkler irrigation systems beneath photovoltaic panels and tending to the thriving sand plants.

According to official data, 53 percent of China’s treatable desertified land has been restored, leading to a net reduction of approximately 4.33 million hectares of degraded land.

In November 2024, a three-gigawatt solar power station in Otog Front Banner of Ordos, built by CHN Energy Investment Group, was connected to the grid. It is currently the largest single-capacity solar power base built on a coal mining subsidence zone in China.

The power station is expected to generate 5.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, sufficient to meet the yearly energy needs of two million families.

The post China’s solar great wall to power Beijing – captured by NASA appeared first on Green Prophet.

CubeSats have emerged as a university project, and, originally, this tech was used for educational missions – primarily because of its affordability. Today, with the rapid private space sector development, these compact, easily scalable mini-satellites are actively used for a wide range of commercial purposes and are steadily securing their positions in missions from international space agencies.

Thanks to advances in private-made CubeSat components, such as these https://dragonflyaerospace.com/components/, CubeSats are becoming increasingly more advanced and versatile. At the same time, they retain their uniform design, measuring 10x10x10 cm per unit (1U) while increasing scalability. Modern CubeSats can measure up to 27U, but that is still very compact compared to previous-generation space tech!

Below, we will explain the main CubeSat structures and mechanisms that make these satellites work, explaining the importance of CubeSat components in modern satellite missions. But first, we need to understand what today’s space missions are usually about, so let’s start with that. 

What are the objectives of the CubeSat mission?   

Right now, every launched CubeSat focuses on its own mission, but the range of applications has evolved far beyond education. Currently, the most common CubeSat missions include:

• Earth Observation: EO is an extremely vast industry segment – in fact, most spacecraft in our planet’s orbit are EO tech, and many of those satellites are CubeSat. Depending on the components they carry, actual applications may include environment monitoring of pollution levels in waters or air; urban planning; tracking illegal mining, fishing, or poaching activities, etc.
• Cosmic research: advances in CubeSat components, especially in imagers they carry, have made it possible to apply them in deep space exploration missions. For example, NASA’s HaloSat recently surveyed the Milky Way’s circumgalactic medium.
• Technology demonstration: most new space tech is tested and demonstrated with CubeSats because, if something goes wrong, the cost of losing a CubeSat is lesser than it could have been with a larger satellite. But that does not mean CubeSat technology is unreliable. In fact, these satellites successfully coped with most demonstration missions – including testing for NASA’s upcoming Mars landing.
• Internet of Things: most IoT devices remotely controlled from our smartphones are backed up by CubeSat constellations, so every time you turn up home heating while still at work, you can thank advances in CubeSat components.

Clearly, such a range of applications requires a series of advanced equipment to carry out designated missions. So, let’s take a better look at the CubeSat component’s functions and variations.

What are the main components of a CubeSat?  

Even though the actual CubeSat components list may vary slightly depending on mission goals, some components are an absolute must-have for a CubeSat to operate:

• Structure is a component that holds all other pieces together; it is normally made of highly durable materials to withstand harsh space environments;
• Power component supplies electricity to all other CubeSat components – usually through built-in batteries or by generating power via solar panels;
• Communication component is a series of antennae and receivers that transmit data back to Earth and receive new commands from ground stations;
• Computer component is exactly what you may think – a powerful processor that oversees all CubeSat operations;
• Attitude Determination and Control System, or ADCS component, is a complex mix of sensors that measure CubeSat position in space and make sure it is pointing in the right direction, i.e., to take images of designated areas of interest – on Earth or in deep space.
• Payload may be one of the most important CubeSat components because it is the equipment a CubeSat needs to carry out its mission goals. Obviously, that’s where the differences begin because satellites are made for different missions, so the equipment necessary to fulfil them will also be different!

Besides, there have been major advances in CubeSat propulsion systems  – normally, this component was reserved for pricier space tech. In a nutshell, propulsion is a series of thrusters and engines allowing satellites to adjust their position in orbit or even move to entirely new orbital destinations when initial mission objectives are complete, and it’s time to move on to a new stage.

Today, many CubeSats can do the same, but those aren’t the only impressive advances in CubeSat components and applications. So, let’s see what space agencies have in mind.

Space agency missions: what is the importance of CubeSat? 

Even though most CubeSats, along with their components, are manufactured by private companies, NASA and other space agencies understand the amazing potential of this tech.  For example, mini-satellites play a huge part in NASA’s upcoming lunar mission, Artemis. Its first phase, which began in 2022, launched ten CubeSats that provided a wealth of information on our Moon, including its ice layer composition.

ESA also holds CubeSat components and their potential in high regard. Its upcoming Hera mission should study the Didymos asteroid system and check how NASA’s DART mission went – that’s when the US agency crashed its impactor tech into the asteroid to see if we could deflect asteroids from their course to avoid future collisions with our planet. So, heads up for HERA because it finally looks like our space tech is on its way to helping the planet – and advances in CubeSat components will prove useful in this process.

The post The Critical Role of CubeSat Components in Modern Satellite Missions appeared first on Green Prophet.

Today, no one doubts the existence of black holes, but until 2019, they remained pure hypothetical speculation – even though the term itself, and logically, the accompanying hypothesis, dates back to the mid-20th century. Well, now that the Event Horizon Telescope has officially confirmed the factual existence of such holes, astronomers have been discovering more and more of them, which raises a pretty relevant question – what is the closest black hole to Earth and should we be anxious about the neighbour?

Not to bury such a dramatic lead, let’s just say that we’re safe for now – actually, we should remain safe for a very long time. And now, in the comfort of our newly confirmed safety, let’s learn a few curious facts about the closest black hole to Earth 2024 astronomical facts we know so far. 

Closest Black Hole to Earth: Gaia BH1

In 2022, the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, originally set to create a three-dimensional map of our galaxy, discovered a black hole, which, logically enough, was dubbed Gaia. The object is situated in the constellation Ophiuchus and is part of a binary stellar system – that is, a system that consists of two gravitationally tied objects. One of those objects is a star very similar to our Sun, and it’s thanks to the gravitational interconnections that ESA scientists could determine there is a black hole. The thing is, these holes are still tricky to spot with our optics, so the first thing that caught the astronomers’ attention was the slightly unorthodox star behaviour, indicating a strong pull from another object, which turned out to be Gaia.

Another peculiarity that initially made Gaia tricky to spot is its dormant state. Unlike most of its rapidly-feeding and growing ‘sisters,’ Gaia is relatively quiet. But just how quiet and, more importantly, how close? Currently, the closest black hole to Earth distance is estimated at 1,560 light-years from our planet.

On a cosmic scale, that is not too far but consider for a second that our entire solar system stretches only a few light DAYS across. In contrast, the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, is about 4.37 light-years away — a fraction compared to 1,560 – but still incredibly far. Right, the fastest travelling object humanity has made, the Parker Solar Probe, is heading towards the Sun at 635,266 km/h. But to reach Gaia, it would need 2,650,358 terrestrial years!

Now that you know what’s the closest black hole near Earth? And more importantly, that it’s not that close, we can exhale once again and learn a few more facts about these mysterious matter-devouring objects.

Biggest Black Hole Ever Discovered

While Gaia BH1 is the closest black hole to Earth, it is by no means the largest – not even close!  These holes vary dramatically in mass, from a few times the mass of our Sun to millions or even billions of solar masses. In this regard, Gaia is about ten masses of our Sun. And the biggest title belongs to a quasar TON 618, weighing a staggering 66 billion solar masses! How far is this monster, then? Fortunately, way too far – 18.2 billion light-years!

What Happens if a Black Hole is Near Earth?

Black holes have a scary reputation for devouring everything in their path, but even this process, quick as it may be on a cosmic scale, is incredibly long from our human perspective. Assuming a hole, the mass of our Sun replaced our star at the centre of the solar system (just hypothetically, of course), the solar system planets would keep orbiting as if nothing had changed. We would lose our source of light and energy and freeze to death, but that’s an entirely different hypothesis.

Back to the subject of black holes, one of these would need to venture into the inner solar system to cause immediate trouble for Earth. The thing is, relative to their huge mass, the holes are very small. So, to exert any kind of immediate damage, a planet would really need to be in the hole’s vicinity. And our home system is relatively well-studied, so we can safely state no black holes are lurking around the corner.

Takeaway: Should We Worry about Black Holes?

As you have probably guessed already, the answer to that is a definite no. Even the closest black hole to Earth is incredibly far away on the scale of our solar system. Besides, the gravitational pull of the cosmic monster diminishes with distance – that, as we already explained, needs to be a close one to cause immediate damage. Of course, our telescopes keep developing, and we may discover new cosmic holes soon enough – some of them might even rob Gaia of its closest title. Still, there is every reason to believe our home system and our planet is safe. 

Author: Emma Thorpe

The post What Is the Closest Black Hole to Earth & Should We Fear the Neighbour? appeared first on Green Prophet.

America’s space agency NASA has identified nine potential landing regions for its upcoming Artemis III mission, the first crewed Moon landing since 1972.

The regions are all near the lunar South Pole, an area of the Moon that has never been explored. Selection criteria included terrain suitability, lighting conditions and communication capabilities with Earth.

“The Moon’s South Pole is a completely different environment than where we landed during the Apollo missions,” says Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead. “It offers access to some of the Moon’s oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds.”

Related: read all about space junk

These regions contain diverse geological characteristics and offer flexibility for mission availability. The lunar South Pole has never been explored by a crewed mission and contains permanently shadowed areas that can preserve resources, including water.

The refined candidate Artemis III lunar landing regions are, in no priority order:

• Peak near Cabeus B
• Haworth
• Malapert Massif
• Mons Mouton Plateau
• Mons Mouton
• Nobile Rim 1
• Nobile Rim 2
• de Gerlache Rim 2
• Slater Plain

To select these landing regions, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers analyzed the lunar South Pole region using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and a vast body of lunar science research.

Factors in the selection process included science potential, launch window availability, terrain suitability, communication capabilities with Earth, and lighting conditions. Additionally, the team assessed the combined trajectory capabilities of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Orion spacecraft, and Starship HLS (Human Landing System) to ensure safe and accessible landing sites.

Read more: on light pollution

“Artemis III will be the first time that astronauts will land in the south polar region of the Moon. They will be flying on a new lander into a terrain that is unique from our past Apollo experience,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist. “Finding the right locations for this historic moment begins with identifying safe places for this first landing, and then trying to match that with opportunities for science from this new place on the Moon.”

NASA’s site assessment team will engage the lunar science community through conferences and workshops to gather data, build geologic maps, and assess the regional geology of eventual landing sites. The team also will continue surveying the entire lunar South Pole region for science value and mission availability for future Artemis missions. This will include planning for expanded science opportunities during Artemis IV, and suitability for the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) as part of Artemis V.

Related: NASA heads to Jupiter moon to look for water

Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.

More on the mission here

The post Landing spots for Moon to Mars mission selected appeared first on Green Prophet.

If we look at Frank Herbert’s Dune novels is mostly desert, with extreme heat and an almost total absence of water and inhabitants rely on stillsuits, which recycle water from sweat and urine to sustain them in the dry environment. Drinking purified moisture from the body is not just a fantasy invention, however – it could soon be reality for astronauts, thanks to a prototype urine collection and filtration system inspired by stillsuits.

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University have developed a new spacesuit, inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune, that recycles urine via a filtration backpack to extend spacewalks and improve hygiene. Unlike the traditional NASA suits, which have led to issues like UTIs, the new design features a vacuum-based external catheter and forward-reverse osmosis, though NASA has yet to adopt the technology.

Outside the safety of a space station, spacewalkers rely on their suits for oxygen and protection from the environment. Over the five to eight hours of a typical mission, they may also need to relieve themselves, which is often uncomfortable and unhygienic. It is also wasteful, as the water from urine is not recycled in current suits, unlike wastewater on the International Space Station.

No more astronaut diapers?

Astronauts have long complained about a lack of comfort and hygiene when using the maximum absorbency garment (Mag diaper), NASA’s ‘waste management system’ that essentially works like a multi-layered adult nappy made of superabsorbent polymer.

“The Mag has reportedly leaked and caused health issues such as urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal distress. Additionally, astronauts currently have only one litre of water available in their in-suit drink bags. This is insufficient for the planned longer-lasting lunar spacewalks, which can last 10 hours, and even up to 24 hours in an emergency,” said Sofia Etlin, research staff member at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, part of the study detailing the new suit.

The new design includes a vacuum-based external catheter leading to a combined forward-reverse osmosis unit to provide a continuous supply of potable water, with multiple safety mechanisms to ensure astronaut wellbeing.

The urine collection device includes an undergarment made of multiple layers of flexible fabric. This connects to a collection cup of moulded silicone, with a different shape and size for women and men. The inner face of the collection cup is lined with polyester microfibre or a nylon-spandex blend, drawing urine away from the body.

An RFID tag linked to an absorbent hydrogel activates a vacuum pump when moisture is detected, sucking the urine into the filtration system. There, the urine is recycled with an efficiency of 87% through a two-step, integrated forward and reverse osmosis system. This uses a concentration gradient to remove water from the urine, as well as a pump to separate water from salt.

While the prototype looks bulky we could call on SpaceX designers to make the final look more appealing.

The purified water is then enriched in electrolytes and pumped into the in-suit drink bag, available for consumption. Collecting and purifying 500ml of urine should take only five minutes, the researchers claimed.

“Our system can be tested in simulated microgravity conditions, as microgravity is the primary space factor we must account for. These tests will ensure the system’s functionality and safety before it is deployed in actual space missions,” said Dr Christopher E Mason, the study’s lead author.

Related: Are Muslims allowed to travel to Mars?

The system, which integrates control pumps, sensors, and a liquid-crystal display screen, is powered by a 20.5V battery with a capacity of 40 amp-hours. Its total size is 38x23x23cm and it weighs 8kg, which its developers said should be “sufficiently compact and light to be carried on the back of a spacesuit”.

The prototype was developed with one eye on upcoming NASA Artemis missions.

A crew will orbit the Moon in 2025, followed a year later by a landing on its south pole.

Crewed missions to Mars are expected in the early 2030s – and the Emirates plans on being there along with Elon Musk.

The post Scientists design ‘Dune’-inspired spacesuit to recycle urine appeared first on Green Prophet.

Earth briefly hit the 2 degree warming limit not once, but twice in November. Two degrees since pre-industrial times is the feared warming milestone that would cause ‘cascading effects’ of climate change over time. Increased flooding in Pakistan, forest fires in Canada. What’s it going to take for the world to wake up? This past Friday the globe hit 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above the preindustrial levels of temperature for the first time in recorded history, said Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of Copernicus Climate Change Service. The next day, it broke the threshold again.

Provisional ERA5 global temperature for 17th November from was 1.17°C above 1991 to 2020 – the warmest on record, she said. “Our best estimate is that this was the first day when global temperature was more than 2°C above 1850-1900 (or pre-industrial) levels, at 2.06°C.”

She updates: “2.07°C above preindustrial and provisional data for 18th Nov at 2.06°C above preindustrial. Now two Nov 2023 days where global temperature exceeded 2°C in ERA5.”

That’s the exact temperature level the world has wanted to avoid, experts say: “A 2-degree rise in global temperatures is considered a critical threshold above which dangerous and cascading effects of human-generated climate change will occur,” according to NASA.

Indeed, one or even two days above 2 degrees of warming “does not mean that the Paris Agreement has been breached,” Burgess said in an interview with CNN, “but highlights how we are approaching those internationally agreed limits. We can expect to see increasing frequency of 1.5-degree and 2-degree days over the coming months and years.”

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia announces it has discovered more natural gas. We are not going to get out of global warming without a shift in mentality.

The post Earth passes the 2 degree threshold 2 times in November appeared first on Green Prophet.