SCIENCE
NASA splits its human spaceflight unit into two
Of the two units, the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) will develop systems for exploring the Moon and Mars, and the Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) will focus on space operations. NASA is making the changes because of increasing space operations in low-Earth orbit and development programmes well underway for deep space exploration.
Skygazers check out on Wednesday for #SepEquinox2021
Equinox comes from the Latin words equi, which means "equal" and nox, which means "night". The astronomical event is caused by Earth's tilt on its axis and its motion in orbit around the Sun. On Wednesday, the Sun will be exactly above Earth's equator, moving from north to south, making day and night nearly equal in length -- about 12 hours -- throughout the world, said US space agency NASA in a blogpost.
NASA's Artemis rover to land near Moon's south pole
The Artemis rover -- Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) -- during its 100-day journey will explore the region's surface and subsurface for water and other resources, the US space agency has confirmed.
Mars may be too small to retain enough water: Study
While Mars has no liquid water on its surface today, remote sensing studies and analyses of Martian meteorites dating back to the 1980s posit that Mars was once water-rich, compared to Earth
New dark energy may explain why Universe is expanding
According to cosmologists, the type of dark energy might have existed in the first 3,00,000 years after the Big Bang, Nature reported. A tentative first trace of this 'early dark energy' was detected in data collected between 2013 and 2016 by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in Chile, revealing two separate studies -- posted on the arXiv preprint server, meaning not yet peer-reviewed.
NASA's Ingenuity captures Mars rock feature in 3D
The mini-helicopter flew to the red planet on February 18 while being attached to the belly of NASA's Perseverance rover.
Coronavirus might have multiple animal origins: Study
The findings, posted on the virological.org discussion forum and not yet peer reviewed, may challenge the hypothesis that SARS-COV-2 escaped from a laboratory, Nature reported. The finding could be the "dagger into the heart" of the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 escaped from a lab, rather than originating from the wildlife trade, Robert Garry, a virologist at Tulane University in Louisiana.
Thousands of massive, ancient volcanic eruptions on Mars: NASA
Spewing water vapour, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide into the air, these explosions tore through the Martian surface about 4 billion years ago, according to scientists' estimates, reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. "Each one of these eruptions would have had a significant climate impact -- maybe the released gas made the atmosphere thicker or blocked the Sun and made the atmosphere colder," said Patrick Whelley.
Astronomers capture best images yet of peculiar 'dog-bone' asteroid
The observations have allowed the team to constrain the 3D shape and mass of this peculiar asteroid, which resembles a dog bone, to a higher accuracy than ever before. Their research also provides clues as to how this asteroid and the two moons that orbit it formed. "Kleopatra is truly a unique body in our Solar System," said lead researcher Franck Marchis.
Oxygen therapy may put a brake on Alzheimer's: Study
The study, by scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel, showed that breathing pure oxygen for some time in a pressurised -- or hyperbaric -- chamber can boost the functioning of the human brain. In animals, the therapy helped fight the build-up of brain plaque, the Times of Israel reported.
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