Great News for a Mars Colony!

I think I'd pick nutrition in the near term. Still ties somewhat into gravity, a bit more to it. It will govern both physical, mental and communal health. In the longer term, vehicle protection and self-repair.

Sci-Fi has a pretty good track record of predicting needs. Community will of course be a big issue. The occasional alien bursting out of someone's stomach... stuff like that to prepare for. But keeping people fed, at least unless a true way of sleeping through is developed, I think it the biggest issue in a weight and space limited vehicle.
 
James Webb vs. The Big Bang seems to be the hot topic this week.

As some may have predicted, the new telescope is failing to verify the big bang, against the wishes of most astronomers. Instead, it's more or less dissolving the hypothesis as we know it.

The age of the universe is still officially unknown.
 

'Impossible' new ring system discovered at the edge of the solar system, and scientists are baffled​

Astronomers have discovered an entirely new ring system within the solar system, and it's located at such a great distance from its dwarf planet parent that it should be impossible.

The ring surrounds Quaoar, which is around half the size of Pluto and located beyond Neptune. It is only the third ring to be found around a minor planet and the seventh ring system in the solar system, with the most famous and well-studied rings surrounding the giant planets Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus.

"The six [previously known] planets with ring systems all have rings which are quite close to the surface of the planet. So this really challenges our ring formation theories," study co-author Vik Dhillon (opens in new tab), a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Sheffield in England, told Live Science. "It was previously thought to be impossible to have rings that far out, so in a nutshell, the ring of Quaoar is a real challenge to explain theoretically."
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www.livescience.com

'Impossible' new ring system discovered at the edge of the solar system, and scientists are baffled

A ring looping around the icy dwarf planet Quaoar is located much farther from its parent body than scientists thought was possible.
www.livescience.com www.livescience.com
 

Two companies will attempt the first US moon landings since the Apollo missions a half-century ago​

China and India scored moon landings, while Russia, Japan and Israel ended up in the lunar trash heap.

Now two private companies are hustling to get the U.S. back in the game, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended.

It’s part of a NASA-supported effort to kick-start commercial moon deliveries, as the space agency focuses on getting astronauts back there.
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apnews.com

Two companies will attempt the first US moon landings since the Apollo missions a half-century ago

Two private companies are aiming to get the U.S. back in the moon-landing business, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended.
apnews.com apnews.com
 
Yappi said:

Two companies will attempt the first US moon landings since the Apollo missions a half-century ago​


apnews.com

Two companies will attempt the first US moon landings since the Apollo missions a half-century ago

Two private companies are aiming to get the U.S. back in the moon-landing business, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended.
apnews.com apnews.com
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I hope this happens. I was twelve when we first landed humans on the moon and I would love to see it again in my lifetime.

Unfortunately, I am very skeptical about humans landing on Mars in the next 50 years, let alone in the 2030's as some are predicting. There are far too many obstacles to overcome, with the cost being #1.
 

Did James Webb find life on an alien planet? What you need to know​

Whenever the James Webb Space Telescope makes a shocking new discovery, it’s sure to make headlines. In fact, I write about Webb’s observations and data quite a bit here, and I’ve even done my best to keep up with an ultimate guide to James Webb for those who want to follow along. However, recent rumors that Webb found alien life on another planet have started to circle. Are they true? No, they aren’t. At least not yet.

These rumors have sparked quite a debate in the scientific community, and while many say that we haven’t found alien life just yet, others argue that we’re going to get a paper with strong evidence of alien life on an exoplanet very soon. But does that mean we’ve found life?
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bgr.com

Did James Webb find life on an alien planet? What you need to know

Rumors that James Webb found alien life on another planet have started circling, but are they true? Here's what you need to know.
bgr.com bgr.com
 
www.upi.com

Martian lake confirmation brings hope sediment samples may reveal past life - UPI.com

New research published Friday offers hope that Perseverance Rover's Mars sediment samples could reveal traces of life - if it ever existed on Mars. The rover has already confirmed an ancient lake on Mars.
www.upi.com www.upi.com

The new research published in Science Advances shows the Jezero Crater, where Perseverance verified lake sediments, is theorized to have been filled with water that deposited layers of sediments on the crater floor.

"The delta deposits in Jezero Crater contain sedimentary records of potentially habitable conditions on Mars," the research article's abstract stated. "NASA's Perseverance rover is exploring the Jezero western delta with a suite of instruments that include the RIMFAX ground penetrating radar, which provides continuous subsurface images that probe up to 20 meters below the rover."
 
The latest from THE Ohio State University:

www.sciencedaily.com

Researchers spying for signs of life among exoplanet atmospheres

The next generation of advanced telescopes could sharpen the hunt for potential extraterrestrial life by closely scrutinizing the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets, new research suggests.
www.sciencedaily.com

The next generation of advanced telescopes could sharpen the hunt for potential extraterrestrial life by closely scrutinizing the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets, new research suggests.

Published recently in The Astronomical Journal, a new paper details how a team of astronomers from The Ohio State University examined upcoming telescopes' ability to detect chemical traces of oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane and water on 10 rocky exoplanets. These elements are biosignatures also found in Earth's atmosphere that can provide key scientific evidence of life.
 
Good thing this is happening FAR away. But man the scale of this is astonishing:

www.space.com

A monster black hole is throwing a galaxy-size tantrum

The XMM Newton space telescope caught a black hole "flipping over the table," preventing its parent galaxy from birthing new stars.
www.space.com www.space.com

In some cases, AGN-powering supermassive black holes exhibit even more drastic behavior, flipping over their entire cosmic dinner table by flinging gas in surrounding accretion disks outward in every direction. This results in "ultra-fast black hole winds."

When this happens, not only does the tantrum-throwing black hole deprive itself of gas to feed on, but it also drives gas away from its host galaxy, halting star birth over a vast region.
 
www.sciencealert.com

Amazing New Photos of Saturn's Moons Have to Be Seen to Be Believed

Invoking Saturn calls to mind images of the planet's glorious, one-of-a-kind ring system, but that's not all the planet has to offer.
www.sciencealert.com www.sciencealert.com

1707663636111.jpeg
 
lotr10 said:
www.sciencealert.com

Amazing New Photos of Saturn's Moons Have to Be Seen to Be Believed

Invoking Saturn calls to mind images of the planet's glorious, one-of-a-kind ring system, but that's not all the planet has to offer.
www.sciencealert.com www.sciencealert.com

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Some truly awesome pictures. Lotr, thanks for posting!

Saturn has 156 known moons. I'm not sure how big a planet's satellite has to be in order to be considered a moon. I'm sure there a thousands of tiny rocks and particles orbiting Saturn within the rings.
 
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www.sciencealert.com

Life Spreads Across Space on Tiny Invisible Particles, Study Suggests

Does life appear independently on different planets in the galaxy? Or does it spread from world to world? Or does it do both? New research shows how life could spread via a basic, simple pathway: cosmic dust.
www.sciencealert.com www.sciencealert.com

New research examines the idea that cosmic dust could be responsible for spreading life throughout the galaxy by panspermia. Life arose elsewhere, and was delivered to the young Earth. This is not a new idea, but in this work, the author calculates how quickly it could happen.

The research is titled "The Possibility of Panspermia in the Deep Cosmos by Means of the Planetary Dust Grains." The sole author is Z.N. Osmanov, from the School of Physics at the Free University of Tbilisi in the country Georgia. The paper is in pre-print and hasn't been published yet.
 
BlackHawk said:
Some truly awesome pictures. Lotr, thanks for posting!

Saturn has 156 known moons. I'm not sure how big a planet's satellite has to be in order to be considered a moon. I'm sure there a thousands of tiny rocks and particles orbiting Saturn within the rings.
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Several of the moons orbit in the rings.

Here's an article on a few of them: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/cassini-finds-saturns-rings-coat-tiny-moons/

One of them, Daphnis, was discovered in 2005 and sits near the A ring and disturbs the edge of it. It's 5 miles diameter at its widest point.

science.nasa.gov

Daphnis - NASA Science

Discovery Daphnis was discovered by the Cassini mission team on 1 May 2005. Prior to its discovery, scientists posited the existence of a moon in Daphnis’ position due to the ripples observed along the edge of the Keeler Gap. Overview Daphnis has a mean radius of 2.4 miles (3.8 km) and orbits...
science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov
 
lotr10 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1760191356281266278
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That's a bunch of space stuff out there! A lot of it is orbiting the third planet from the Sun and will eventually fall back to Earth. Hopefully we won't have a scenario like in the movie "Gravity" where space debris collides and causes a chain reaction cascading effect.

No wonder we now have a Space Force in our military. We rely increasingly on satellites and need to protect them, while the bad actors would like to destroy them. We are entering a brave new world with some previously unimaginable scenarios in the future.
 
I appreciate Musk a lot but I do wish there were more like him around. It seems he's the pariah of the elite class. Nearly everyone else seems to be in lock-step toward dissolving borders and putting a CCP-like government in control.
 
Been watching a 1989 documentary titled "For All Mankind", mostly consisting of on-board footage from Apollo missions 7 thru 17.

Stunning film. I still remember seeing that in the theater, blown away by how they captured that feeling of floating in nothingness, knowing you're 100,000 miles from either the earth or the moon, in claustrophobic quarters, and with no backup plan if something should strand you at that point. I think I shivered through much of it.

For you youngsters, when they finally get that Mars colony started, remember the pioneers that led the way.
 
Zunardo said:
Been watching a 1989 documentary titled "For All Mankind", mostly consisting of on-board footage from Apollo missions 7 thru 17.

Stunning film. I still remember seeing that in the theater, blown away by how they captured that feeling of floating in nothingness, knowing you're 100,000 miles from either the earth or the moon, in claustrophobic quarters, and with no backup plan if something should strand you at that point. I think I shivered through much of it.

For you youngsters, when they finally get that Mars colony started, remember the pioneers that led the way.
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Realistically, I'm still not convinced we will colonize Mars in my lifetime or even in my son's lifetime (he's 31) and certainly not in the 2030's like some (Musk?) are predicting. Far too many obstacles. Money is the biggest one. The estimated 100-180 day one-way trip is another major concern. What could go wrong, other than anything and everything? Even if all the obstacles are figured out, then thousands and thousands of things have to go right and only one thing has to go wrong. Sorry for my pessimism. I hope I'm wrong.
 
lotr10 said:
Damn, this sucks, if true:

scitechdaily.com

Titan, Saturn’s Largest Moon, Most Likely Not Habitable

Astrobiologist finds Titan may not have enough amino acids for life to emerge. A study led by Western astrobiologist Catherine Neish shows the subsurface ocean of Titan – the largest moon of Saturn – is most likely a non-habitable environment, meaning any hope of finding life in the icy world is de
scitechdaily.com
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While there may not be life on Titan, I believe life exists in other parts of our Galaxy, many times over, albeit fairly rare.

The Milky Way has an estimated 100-400 billion stars, with an average of at least 1 planet (per NASA) per star system. Add all the moons orbiting these planets AND dwarf planets, "asteroids", meteors, comets, etc. and there are literally trillions and trillions of possible homes for life, just in our galaxy. The question becomes: how rare is "intelligent" life? And, do they know we are here?

Also, scientists estimate anywhere between 200 billion and 2 trillion galaxies in our "known" universe. The Andromeda Galaxy (our closest big neighbor) has an estimated 1 trillion stars. Scientists have found another humungous galaxy with an estimated 100 trillion stars! Life is definitely out there.

Pretty awesome and heady stuff to ponder for us humans.
 
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