Tag: nasa

10000x more sensitive Exolife test

The test uses a liquid-based technique known as capillary electrophoresis to separate a mixture of organic molecules into its components. It was designed specifically to analyze for amino acids, the structural building blocks of all life on Earth. The method is 10000x more sensitive than current methods employed by spacecraft like NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover.

Methane Reduction

we can now detect cow farts from space.

For the first time, an instrument onboard an orbiting spacecraft has measured the methane emissions from a single, specific leaking facility on Earth’s surface. The observation — by the Hyperion spectrometer on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) — is an important breakthrough in our ability to eventually measure and monitor emissions of this potent greenhouse gas from space.

2017-06-10: Methane-free cows

Scientists are also tweaking the cows themselves. The Genome Canada project identifies cows that produce fewer greenhouse gases, with the ultimate goal of distributing the responsible genes—conveniently transported in the form of bull semen—to areas that don’t have the resources to develop their own greener cows.

2020-04-02: Rice paddies produce a LOT of methane from the bacteria in the muck. Adding fish to the rice paddies could cut it by 90%
2023-09-08: Methanotrophs

A strain of bacteria called methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C can remove methane efficiently even when it is present in lower amounts. If it became widespread, the technology has the potential to help slow global warming.

Typically, this group of bacteria thrive in environments with high levels of methane (5k – 10k ppm). The normal concentrations in our atmosphere have much lower levels of 2 ppm. But certain areas such as landfills, rice fields and oilwells emit higher concentrations of 500 ppm. To implement methane-eating bacteria on a mass scale, 1000s of high-functioning reactors will be needed.

Mars Roadmap

the martian was amazing, go see it. such a delight that such upbeat, yet accurate movies about the future continue to be made.

Read a fascinating and well-written popular article on NASA’s newly released “Roadmap to Mars.” It is so good to see progress in the bureaucracy adapting to ideas some of use were bruiting decades ago — like in-situ production – on Mars – of the water and fuel and oxygen astronauts will need, instead of expensively hauling them all from Earth. (Note this concept was largely absent from The Martian.) It also includes testing our methods with asteroid retrieval projects that could wind up benefiting humanity and Earth more than the Mars missions would! Certainly it is good to see the plan almost completely leave out our sterile/useless (for now) moon. Been there. There’s nothing (for now) there.

Pluto

That flyby was far too quick.

2015-07-17: Animated Flyover

2015-07-24: Pluto’s atmosphere

Taken when New Horizons was about 2m kilometers past Pluto, when the tiny rock and ice world was very nearly between the spacecraft and the Sun. New Horizons looked over its shoulder, back at Pluto, to capture this breathtaking picture. The ring of light you are seeing? That’s Pluto’s atmosphere! Light passing through that cold, thin, nitrogen gas gets scattered, bent, and we see it as a halo surrounding the night side of Pluto.

2015-09-20: very nice Pluto picture.

New Horizons

After traveling ~5b km over the past 9.5 years, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is within hours of its rendezvous with Pluto. Back in 2006, when the space probe was launched, Pluto was classified as the 9th planet in the solar system, and was known to have 3 moons. During the long journey to this distant icy world, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet, 1 of many smaller bodies orbiting the sun, and another 2 moons were discovered. In 2007, New Horizons flew past Jupiter and its moons on the way to Pluto, capturing many spectacular images. On the morning of July 14, 2015, New Horizons will speed past the Pluto system at ~14 kilometers per second, making as many observations as possible. In the hours and days following, it will be sending the data to Earth, on its way to the Kuiper belt, with plans to target another smaller body sometime around 2018.

The Galaxy from Orbit


Astronaut Terry Virts, aboard the International Space Station, shared this picture earlier today, stating this was “the view of our Galaxy from space.”

Normally, the reason you can’t see stars in high oblique photos from the space station is that the shutter speed is too fast. Fast shutter speeds are used to eliminate blur from the motion of the orbiting outpost. One exception to this rule is when astronauts use camera settings specifically to photograph features such as the Aurora and the Milky Way. The crew must use slower shutter speeds in order to capture the light of the aurora. In these cases stars also show up in the photograph. The photos are also slightly blurry because very long exposures are needed to capture these dim nighttime features.