Monthly Archives: January 2021

Now more than ever, space agencies and starry-eyed billionaires have their minds fixed on finding a new home for humanity beyond Earth's orbit. Mars is an obvious candidate, given its relatively close proximity, 24-hour day/night cycle and CO2-rich atmosphere. However, there's a school of spacefaring thought that suggests colonizing the surface of another planet any planet is more trouble than it's worth.

Now, a new paper published Jan. 6 date to the preprint database arXiv offers a creative counter-proposal: Ditch the Red Planet, and build a gargantuan floating habitat around the dwarf planet Ceres, instead.

In the paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, astrophysicist Pekka Janhunen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Helsinki describes his vision of a "megasatellite" of thousands of cylindrical spacecrafts, all linked together inside a disk-shaped frame that permanently orbits Ceres the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Each of these cylindrical habitats could accommodate upwards of 50,000 people, support an artificial atmosphere and generate an Earth-like gravity through the centrifugal force of its own rotation, Janhunen wrote. (This general idea, first proposed in the 1970s, is known as an O'Neill cylinder).

Related: Populating a Mars base will be dangerously unsexy

But why Ceres? Its average distance from Earth is comparable to that of Mars, Janhunen wrote, making travel relatively easy but the dwarf planet also has a big elemental advantage. Ceres is rich in nitrogen, which would be crucial in developing the orbiting settlement's atmosphere, Janhunen said (Earth's atmosphere is roughly 79% nitrogen.) Rather than building a colony on the surface of the tiny world Ceres has a radius roughly 1/13th that of Earth settlers could utilize space elevators to transfer raw materials from the planet directly up to their orbiting habitats.

This orbital lifestyle would also address one of the biggest caveats Janhunen sees in the idea of a Martian surface colony: the health impacts of low gravity.

"My concern is that children on a Mars settlement would not develop to healthy adults (in terms of muscles and bones) due to the too-low Martian gravity," Janhunen told Live Science in an email. "Therefore, I searched for [an] alternative that would provide [Earth-like] gravity but also an interconnected world."

Even so, Janhunen's proposal comes with its own caveats that could work against a successful Ceres colony, an outside researcher pointed out.

According to Janhunen's proposal, each cylinder of the Ceres megasatellite would produce its own gravity through rotation; each cylindrical habitat would measure about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) long, have a radius of 0.6 miles (1 km) and complete a full rotation every 66 seconds to generate the centrifugal force needed to simulate Earth-like gravity.

A single cylinder could comfortably hold about 57,000 people, Janhunen said, and would be held in place next to its neighboring cylinders through powerful magnets, like those used in magnetic levitation.

That interconnectedness points to the other big advantage of megasatellite living, Janhunen said: New habitat cylinders could be added onto the edges of the colony indefinitely, allowing for near unlimited expansion.

"Mars' surface area is smaller than Earth's, and consequently it cannot provide room for significant population and economic expansion," Janhunen told Live Science. A Ceres colony, on the other hand, "is growable from one to millions of habitats."

Beyond the cylinders and their massive disk frame, the colony's main features will be two enormous glass mirrors, angled at 45 degrees relative to the disk in order to reflect just enough natural sunlight into each habitat. Part of each cylinder will be devoted to growing crops and trees, planted in a 5-foot-thick (1.5 meters) bed of soil derived from raw materials from Ceres, Janhunen wrote. The natural sunlight should keep them growing strong. (The "urban" part of each cylinder, meanwhile, would rely on artificial light to simulate an Earth-like day/night cycle. Janhunen does not stipulate where the settlement's oxygen comes from.)

Related: 10 interesting places in the solar system we'd like to visit

This society of floating, cylindrical utopias may sound a bit outlandish, but it has its proponents. In 2019, Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO and founder of the private space company Blue Origin) spoke at a Washington, D.C., event about the merits of building "O'Neill colonies" similar to the one Janhunen describes here. Bezos was skeptical that such a colony could exist in our lifetime, asking the audience, "How are we going to build O'Neill colonies? I don't know and no one in this room knows."

However, Janhunen is more optimistic. In an email to Live Science, he said that the first human settlers could start heading to Ceres within the next 15 years.

Manasvi Lingam, an assistant professor of astrobiology at the Florida Institute of Technology who studies planet habitability, said that the Ceres proposal presents a "plausible alternative" to colonizing the surface of Mars or the Moon, but still lacks some key considerations.

"I would say there are three main caveats," Lingam, who was not involved with the paper, told Live Science. "The first is a question of other essential elements, other than nitrogen."

One key element that isn't mentioned in the paper is phosphorus, Lingam said. The human body relies on phosphorus to create DNA, RNA and ATP (a vital form of energy storage in cells). All organisms on Earth including any plants colonists might hope to grow in their floating habitats need it in one way or another, but Janhunen's proposal doesn't address where or how this critical element would be obtained.

The second caveat is the technology, Lingam said. Collecting nitrogen and other raw materials from Ceres would require mining the planet's surface and extracting those crucial elements from the rocks themselves. This operation likely wouldn't be possible without a fleet of autonomous mining vehicles ready to deploy on Ceres, plus satellites to guide them to the most viable nutrient-rich deposits. The idea is plausible, Lingam said, but technologically, we aren't there yet; just recently (on Jan. 15), a NASA Mars robot was declared dead after it failed to bury itself just 16 feet (5 meters) into the Martian surface, terminating a two-year mission.

Those technological limitations point to Lingam's third caveat, which is the proposed time frame. Janhunen's proposal suggests that the megasatellite's first cluster of orbiting habitats could be completed 22 years after mining begins on Ceres. But this estimate assumes the settlement's available power supply grows exponentially each year, beginning immediately and never stalling due to technological or logistical problems. That estimate "isn't inconceivable," Lingam said, but shouldn't be taken for granted.

"That timescale of 22 years might be the lower bound under optimal conditions, but I'd argue that the real timescale could be a lot longer," Lingam said.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says - Livescience.com

Artist impression of the rover on Martian ground.

National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) Perseverance Rover is all set to touch the Martian soil on February 18, 2021. This heavily anticipated mission will undoubtedly provide more information on our neighbouring planet, which not only remains a top contender for potential human colonies beyond Earth, but is also one of the likeliest hubs for possible life outside our world.

Thanks to several exploratory missions and scientific studies, we currently possess a decent amount of knowledge about how Martian geography, atmosphere, other vital characteristics, and essentially what the planet looks and feels like.

Now, through the Perseverance rover, we might also find out what the Red Planet sounds like for the very first time.

As per a new NASA announcement, the Perseverance Rover has been trained to record sounds of the Martian atmosphere. This will be the first attempt by the space agency to record sounds of any planet in our solar system.

The rover is equipped with a pair of microphones that can easily record the ambient sound of Mars. Placed on the SuperCam instrument atop the rovers mast, the microphone is also said to be quite flexible, and therefore, can be easily pointed in the direction of a potential sound source. It will be purposefully used to record all the natural sounds on Mars.

If all goes as planned, then just like images, the rover will also be able to send back some pristine sounds from our neighbouring world.

Meanwhile, another experimental microphone (aboard rover) is fitted with an aim to record sounds during the mission entry, descent, and landing (EDL). It is also protected with a grid to shield it from the Marian dust during the EDL process.

These instruments will be capable of easily recording sounds of pyrotechnic devices, the winds, wheels landing down the surface, and the roaring engines of the descent vehicle when it will move away from the rover.

An artist's concept of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flying through the Red Planet's skies.

Using the theoretical models of sound propagation in Mars, experts have decoded why the sounds are distinct on that planet as compared to ours. Three factors, viz. the atmospheric composition, the temperature, and density contribute to the difference in sounds on Mars.

Firstly, Mars's atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide, while Earths is that of nitrogen and oxygen. This makes the sound on Mars more attenuated.

Sounds on Mars are slightly different than they are on Earth because of the atmospheric composition and its properties. All sounds will be lower in volume due to the low pressure. In addition, the higher-frequency tones will be strongly attenuated by the carbon dioxide molecules. All in all, it would be like listening through a wall, explained Baptiste Chide, a postdoctoral researcher in planetary science at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a contributor to the SuperCam microphone.

The second factor is density, which is likely to make sound quieter on Mars, with less signal and noise detectable. Therefore, it will be not easy to hear quieter noises, and in fact, even some louder ones.

Lastly, as for the temperature, scientists have hypothesised that the colder atmosphere of Mars could lower the speed at which sound waves travel towards the microphone. Therefore, the sounds coming from a closer source may not have much difference, but the distant ones may vary.

NASA has already prepared some audios of how common Earthly sounds like birds chirping and bicycle bells ringing would sound on Mars. You can check them out here.

Besides recording ambient sounds, NASA aims to determine if life ever existed on Mars through this mission, while also kick-starting the preparation for future human exploration to the planet. While the previous NASA rover InSight played a key role in confirming the habitable conditions on Mars, Perseverance has been specifically designed to seek signs of past microbial life. It will also drill the Martian soil and collect rock samples for further scientific studies.

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Weve learned a great deal about Mars in recent years. Its not the alien-populated planet it was once believed to be, but its definitely not the dull, meaningless planet some portray it as. Mars is, in many ways, very much like Earth. Just like Earth, Mars hosted vast amounts of water (something weve also learned recently) but unlike Earth, it no longer has a rich atmosphere, its water is only preserved in pockets, and it is (at least for the most part) lifeless.

However, it seems like the more we learn about Mars, the more questions arise. For every tantalizing answer, three more burning questions arise. Thankfully, more missions are en-route to Mars, including Chinas Tianwen-1, the United Arab Emirates Hope Probe, and NASAs Perseverance rover, which could help solve some of these mysteries. For now, here are some Mars facts weve recently learned.

As the Earth spins during its day, it also wobbles and bobbles ever so slightly around its own axis. Astronomers arent really sure why this is happening, but they recently learned that Mars also does it.

Its called the Chandler Wobble: when a rotating bodys mass isnt distributed evenly, which causes a wobble. In Earths case, its mostly caused by its shape, which isnt perfectly round. In the case of the much rounder Mars, were not really sure why it happens, but it could be because of atmospheric motions.

Mars is, for the most part, a barren and inhospitable place. But go back a couple billion years, and the planet would have been much different. Researchers are now pretty sure that it was once home to oceans and river systems, but according to a new study, it was also subjected to powerful megafloods.

According to the new study, the megafloods would have been triggered by an asteroid impact 4 billion years ago. Although the water is now gone long, evidence of the ripples can still be seen in the shape of the Martian sediments. Early Mars was an extremely active planet from a geological point of view, a co-author of the study said in a press release. The planet had the conditions needed to support the presence of liquid water on the surface.

Speaking of water on Mars, September 2020 was a groundbreaking moment, as researchers published data showing that Mars still has salty lakes sealed under its icy polar regions. These subglacial lakes are exciting for two reasons: first, where theres water there could also be life, and subglacial lakes would be an ideal place to look for life on Mars; and second, this water could also be useful in establishing a human base or settlement on Mars.

When talking about water on Mars, we usually talk in the past tense. Mars had a rich water system, but now its gone the fact that it still has large bodies of liquid water came as quite a shock and made Mars much more interesting than before.

The Martian aurora takes place at night and is generated by the interaction of sunlight with oxygen atoms and molecules in the air. The emission is very difficult to see, even from Earth, which is relatively nearby. The Mars aurora was imaged by European Space Agencys Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which explored the Martian atmospheric environment before delivering the Schiaparelli lander, which crashed on the surface due to a premature release of the parachute.

But heres the thing: Mars gets auroras almost every day, its just that we cant see them. Unlike their Earthly counterparts, however, youd need some ultraviolet goggles to see the Martian aurora.

Mars and planetary rings dont really seem to get together in the same sentence. After all, planetary rings seem reserved for gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn. But astronomers have recently suggested that Mars may have also had planetary rings.

Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. These moons rotate almost in the same plane as the Red Planets equator, which means the moons likely formed at the same time as Mars. However, one of the moons (Deimos) is tilted by two degrees, something which no one really bothered with until recently. Now, a team of astronomers is suggesting that this tilt can only be explained by a grandparent moon which broke down, producing planetary rings in the process.

When researchers say Mars had water, its not a joke. Analyzing new images of the sedimentary structure of Mars, a team of researchers concluded that in order to produce what can be observed now, the Martian rivers must have lasted for a very long time up to billions of years.

The sedimentary rocks record layers of history, and the researchers were able to determine that the channels of these ancient rivers were around 9 or 10 feet deep. Mars had rivers that continuously shifted their gullies, creating sandbanks, similar to the Rhine or the rivers that you can find in Northern Italy, the researchers said in their study.

We dont know if Mars was ever truly habitable, but theres a good chance it was and for a long time. A 2019 study suggests that Mars may have exhibited conditions fit for harboring life as early as 4.48 billion years ago, predating the earliest evidence of life on Earth by around 500 million years.

Theres a great deal of speculation regarding the potential for life on Mars, but if the planet ever was habitable, and if it had conditions similar to Earth, then life may have well emerged on the Red Planet before Earth. Heck, it could have even migrated from Mars to Earth on meteorites though again, at this point, this is just speculation.

The first strange thing about the Martian clouds is that they exist at all. Down here on Earth, clouds form around tiny particles like grains of dust or salt which act as anchors for water vapor to condense on. But to our knowledge, this mechanism doesnt exist on Mars.

Around two to three tons of space debris rain down on Mars, on average, every single day, and a new study suggests that these particles form the seed of Martian clouds. The findings are supported by previous research showing that asimilar mechanismmay help seed clouds near Earths poles (where the magnetic shield is weakest).

Unlike Earth, Mars doesnt really have an active tectonics, which means that its seismic activity is way less intense than that of Earths. However, after months of waiting, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure(SEIS) on board the InSight Mars lander detected its first marsquake.

Earthquakes (and marsquakes) are useful for researchers because they can offer information about the subsurface. By analyzing the seismic waves, researchers can infer the structure of the entire planet thats how we know what the Earths inside looks like, and thats how we could also understand what Mars is like on the inside.

Methane is a key molecule for life. The presence of methane could enhance habitability and may even be a signature of life, but it was only confirmed independently on Mars in 2019. Using numerical modeling and geological analysis, a team of researchers at the National Institute of Astrophysics in Rome, Italy, propose not only that methane on Mars exists, but also suggest where it could be located.

Methane is a chemical compound closely associated with microbial life, but it isnt necessarily biological in nature. Theres a very good chance that the methane is generated geologically, and this is what this new paper also suggests. However, since researchers pinpointed a promising location for future investigations into the origin of methane on Mars, we have a starting point for future missions to look into the origin of this methane.

As you may have picked up already, a lot of what weve learned about Mars recently has to do with the water but theres a big reason why we focus so much on this. Water determines potential habitability, and where water exists, life (as we know it) can also exist. If water exists on Mars, this doesnt automatically mean that life also exists, but it means that life could exist on Mars, and thats exciting in its own right.

This is different from the study that found subglacial lakes. A 2018 study found that some of the subsurface water on Mars could be rich enough in oxygen to support aerobic life. Thats the thing of habitability; we never thought that environment could have that much oxygen, said one of the study authors.

If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you may have to invent the universe first but if you want to make bricks from Martian soil, all you need to do is press really hard on it. A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego worked with a Mars soil simulant and managed to develop durable bricks just by pressing them really hard.

All it takes is the for equivalent to a 10 pound hammer dropped from a height of one meters, they say. Surprisingly enough, with this method, you dont need ovens or any other ingredients. The method may be compatible with additive manufacturing, meaning astronauts wanting to build a structure would simply have to lay down a layer of dirt, compact it, lay another layer and so on until theyre done.

Another important question to answer is how Mars got to how it is today. How could a planet with lush river valleys, floods, and active geology become so barren? The key lies in the disappearance of its atmosphere, and according to a recent study, its atmosphere was stripped away by solar wind.

Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field to deflect the stream of charged particles continuously blowing off the Sun. Instead, the solar wind crashes into Mars upper atmosphere and can accelerate ions into space, and the atmosphere, once rich enough to support liquid water, is now all but gone.

A large number of valley networks scar the Martian surface, but they may have been caused by water melting beneath glacial ice, not free-flowing rivers.

Funnily enough, this type of environment would have been even better for possible ancient life forms. A sheet of ice lends protection and stability, as well as shelter from solar radiation in the absence of a magnetic field (something which Mars once had, but has been gone for billions of years).

These are just some of the many things weve learned about Mars recently, thanks to diligent observations and several landmark Mars missions, both in orbit and on the surface of the planet. As the missions continue to unfold and expand, so too will our understanding of the Red Planet.

Undoubtedly, we missed some bits here. Is there anything youd like to see added to this list? Mention it in the comment section.

Read more:

14 Mars facts weve only learned in recent years - ZME Science

Elon Musk's space internet project Starlink is available for users in the UK after receiving regulatory approval.

The service first launched in North America last year, offering people the opportunity to connect to a high-speed broadband network beamed from a constellation of SpaceX satellites.

More than 800 Starlink satellites are currently in orbit, with plans for tens of thousands more over the next few years.

Starlink remains a private venture but Mr Musk, who recently became the worlds richest man, hinted that it could go public once stable revenue growth has been achieved. Any money generated could be used to help fund his ambitions to establish a human colony on Mars.

Australia, Greece and Germany are among have also received licensing approval, while local reports in Russia claimed State Duma legislators may fine any individuals and companies who attempt to use the satellite internet service.

In response to the reports, Mr Musk tweeted: Were just trying to get people to Mars. Help would be greatly appreciated.

The Starlink service is currently aimed at people and communities in remote locations that do not have access to high-speed internet.

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In October, a remote Native American tribe in Washington State became one of the first users of Starlink, allowing them to conduct remote learning and telehealth appointments during the coronavirus pandemic for the first time.

Emergency responders in the state also used the network to set up a WiFi hotspot for the town of Malden, which was partially destroyed by wildfires.

SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 18 October, 2020

(SpaceX)

In the UK, Starlink customers will pay 439 for the satellite dish and other equipment needed to receive the signal. They will also need to pay a monthly fee of 84 to receive the service.

The cost of the service is likely to decrease as the network grows, while rival services from competitors like OneWeb could also see the price drop.

The network has received criticism from astronomers, who claim that the long strings of satellites are disrupting observations of the night sky.

SpaceX is currently working with several astronomy organisations and observatories to develop tactics that will reduce the visibility of the network, including painting them black and twisting the solar panels in order to not reflect light down to Earth.

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Starlink: Elon Musks space internet comes to UK as SpaceX CEO says it will help get people to Mars - The Independent