Space: The Final Frontier

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Early in the thread the idea of mining rare earth minerals and such was brought up as a future aspect of space travel, which makes some sense.

Mercury Could Have A Layer of Diamonds 11 Miles Thick Beneath the Surface

A bi-disciplinary scientific study has revealed the likely presence of a layer of diamonds 11 miles thick at the boundary layer of Mercury’s core and mantle.

It was a remarkable finding, and came from what is the least understood planet in the solar system, despite being one of the closest to Earth.

Diamonds are forever—a girl’s best friend—but more importantly for science, they are pure carbon. Carbon is an awfully common chemical to find in the solar system, and many sources can become diamonds under the correct pressures and temperatures.

When viewed by the MESSENGER spacecraft from 2011 to 2015, Mercury appears exceptionally grey due to the high content of graphite on the planet. This mineral, responsible for our pencil tips among other things, is another form of pure carbon, and was a clue for the researchers that diamonds might be richly present beneath the surface.

“We know there’s a lot of carbon in the form of graphite on the surface of Mercury, but there are very few studies about the inside of the planet,” said Yanhao Lin, a staff scientist at the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research in Beijing and co-author of the study, which appeared in June in the journal Nature Communications.

In their study, the researchers placed graphite in a special pressure machine along with a smattering of elements believed to be rich in Mercury’s mantle layer, including silicon, titanium, magnesium, and aluminum.

They subjected the mixture to 70,000 times the pressure of Earth at sea level, and 2,000° Celcius (3,630 degrees Fahrenheit). These are the conditions believed to have been present at the core-mantle boundary layer while Mercury was forming 4.5 billion years ago when it coalesced from clouds of gas and dust.

Electron microscopy revealed that the mixture melted and the graphite had turned into diamond crystal.

By examining data from the MESSENGER mission about the mineral composition and depth of Mercury’s crust, mantle, and planetary core under the context of their experiment, the authors estimate the layer of diamonds should be about 11 miles thick.

Someone is bound to find a way to do it at some point.

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Fist Spacewalk Performed by Private Citizen Proves Smaller Flexible Spacesuit Is Winning Design for Polaris Dawn

Early Thursday morning at 7:58 a.m. ET, members of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew successfully completed the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk 450 miles above Earth’s surface.

Tech entrepreneur and adventurer Jared Isaacman was followed by Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer, in exiting the hatch of the Dragon capsule while it floated over Australia and New Zealand.

There have been several days of incredible scenes and celebrations to mark this momentous occasion—including their safe return on Sunday—but one very important detail hasn’t gotten the spotlight it deserves.

“The images of Isaacman and Gillis silhouetted more than 200 miles high against a dramatic backdrop of Earth will be added to the annals of space history at a time when companies such as SpaceX are authoring new chapters of exploration,” writes Christian Davenport at the Washington Post, who explored that detail in his write-up on the milestone.

The Polaris Dawn mission tested the most recent iteration of the spacesuit. With the success of Isaacman and Gillis’ spacewalks came the success of the SpaceX new extravehicular activity (EVA) suit, which is incomparably more mobile than what the Apollo Program astronauts wore, allowing the Polaris crew to maneuver inside the Dragon capsule and exit into the hatch into space without any airlock chamber.

In an interview with the Post, powered by Starlink high-speed wireless internet, Isaacman said the suit performed well and that their “pretty good data” will inform the design innovation of a further two suits.

NASA’s Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) has been worn by ISS astronauts since 1981 but weighs over 100 pounds without life support systems, and comes in only a few different sizes, meaning astronauts have to select which size of glove, for example, is the closest approximation to their hand size.

It includes several rigid components like the upper torso and rear-entry hatch. By contrast, the Polaris suits are designed to be almost entirely soft, with thermal insulation and radiation-proof textile designs salvaged from the spacecraft itself. The design keeps in mind that a multi-planet species will need millions of EVA suits, and reflects this need by being easier to manufacture, less expansive, and more customizable.

“We have a lot of different resources at our disposal here,” Chris Trigg, SpaceX spacesuit manager said during a talk in 2022. “There’s some thermal material that we ended up using on the boot, which was developed actually for Falcon and Dragon, and is used on the interstage on Falcon, and on the trunk of Dragon.”

For space nerds, this is exciting stuff. Can't believe it took 60 years to discover a better, more mobile suit, but that's the difference between government and private.

There's a 14 minute video in the link showing the spacewalk. Sounds like their next mission will be to save the Hubble by giving it a little push away from Earth's atmosphere as it's orbit has deteriorated over the years and without something being done, it'll burn up in the atmosphere sooner rather than later. Hubble still has good life and doing well otherwise.

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Musk isn't happy with government holding SpaceX back

And he's not wrong. The biggest roadblock to progress is government.

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This is kind of cool. I know there are a number of moons that have some potentially interesting and/or useful properties.

Largest-Ever Planetary Spacecraft Set for Launch Towards Jupiter to Study the Ocean Moon of Europa

NASA has seen some outstanding recent successes in robotic exploration over the past 20 years, but now the agency’s flagship explorer—the largest spacecraft ever built for planetary science—is poised for launch.

Delayed by chip shortages, budget negotiations, and soon-to-arrive Hurricane Milton, Europa Clipper has now only to pick the perfect conditions between the October 10th arrival of Milton and the end of the current launch window of November 6th to start its nearly 6-year journey to our solar system’s largest planet.

The target is also one of the largest moons in the solar system—Europa. It’s about the size of our Moon, but dwarfed by the Jovian Moons Io and Ganymede. However, in the field of planetary science, size doesn’t always matter.

Europa is all but guaranteed to hold an ocean—more voluminous than Earth’s—hidden under a surface layer of ice. That global glacier is believed to keep the vicious radioactive environment of Jovian orbit at bay from affecting the water below.

An off-world ocean would be the best place in the solar system to look for signs of life, but Europa Clipper isn’t just an astrobiology mission. Part of Europa Clipper’s mission is instead to assess the habitability of the planet.

This massive spacecraft, weighing as much as a bull elephant and stretching as tall as the Statue of Liberty when its solar arrays are unfolded, will be armed with 8 science instruments for studying gas, dust, and geology, ice-penetrating radar to plumb the depths of the sub-surface ocean, a magnetometer to understand Europa’s gravity, a thermal instrument to search for warmer pockets of ocean, and a spectrograph.

It’s been an exceptionally long time coming for this spacecraft, and Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory says it’s akin to a “modern cathedral.”

“They are generational quests,” she said of missions like Europa Clipper. “We scientists have been dreaming about a mission like Europa Clipper for more than 20 years. We’ve been working to build it for 10 years,” and will take another 5.5 years for it to arrive at Jupiter to begin its work, she told Euro News.

There's a four and half minute video at the bottom over this.

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I hope there isn't a monolith floating around there. We weren't supposed to go to Europa.

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Pretty cool potential here.

Scientists begin testing space thruster that could boldly go where no one has gone before (msn.com)

Deep space exploration might no longer be confined to sci-fi after scientists began testing a rocket thruster which promises to boldly go further than ever before.

Astro engineers from the University of Southampton are trialing a new propulsion system which can power spaceships through the stars using any type of metal as fuel.

They say this means crafts fitted with the technology could fly indefinitely by refilling their tanks using minerals harvested from asteroids or far-off moons.

Lead scientist Dr. Minkwan Kim, from the University of Southampton, has been tasked with testing the propulsion system in his labs to measure its thrust.

He said the tech could help spaceships and probes travel to regions of the universe previously thought unreachable.

Dr. Kim added, "Spacecraft have limited amounts of fuel because of the enormous cost and energy it takes to launch them into space.

"But these new thrusters are capable of being powered by any metal that can burn, such as iron, aluminum or copper.

"Once fitted, spacecraft could land on a comet or moon, rich in these minerals, and harvest what it needs before jetting off with a full tank.

"It could open up vast new frontiers and accelerate our understanding of the universe."

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SpaceX continues to break barriers

Space.com - SpaceX catches giant Starship booster with 'Chopsticks' on historic Flight 5 rocket launch and landing (video)

The most powerful rocket ever built took to the skies again — but this time, it came back.

SpaceX launched its 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship vehicle for the fifth time ever today (Oct. 13), sending the giant rocket aloft from its Starbase site in South Texas at 8:25 am. EDT (1225 GMT; 7:25 a.m. local Texas time).

The mission aimed to break new ground for Starship, and for spaceflight in general: SpaceX planned to return Starship's huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, directly to its launch mount, catching it with the "chopstick" arms of the launch tower in a bold and unprecedented maneuver.

And that's exactly what happened. About seven minutes after liftoff, SpaceX's Super Heavy executed what appeared to be a bull's-eye landing, hovering near the Mechazilla launch tower as the tower captured it with its metal arms.

Crazy impressive feat which is supposed to give them the ability to reuse the rocket in relatively short order. There's a ten minute video in the link. You can find clips on X and IG and you can probably find the full video on YouTube as well.

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China builds Mars battery that creates power from atmosphere, thrives in icy cold (msn.com)

Humans are gearing up to land and explore the Red Planet in the coming years. But with limited resources and harsh conditions, every ounce of weight matters.

A major obstacle is ensuring a consistent energy source for bases, rovers, and other equipment needed for Mars exploration and habitation.

Since it’s difficult to transport a lot of infrastructure to Mars, researchers are looking for alternative solutions.

A team of scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China has presented a novel solution — a unique battery designed to harness the Martian atmosphere as its fuel during discharge.

“This approach significantly reduces the battery’s weight, making it more suitable for space missions,” the researchers noted in the press release.

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New nuclear power generator for deep space missions is being developed in UK (msn.com)

Energy is a precious commodity in space exploration. Perpetual Atomics, a spin-off from the University of Leicester, is developing nuclear technology for space missions.

The recently launched spin-out company specializes in developing radioisotope power systems to provide a reliable and long-lasting energy source for deep space exploration.

Moreover, it aims to offer energy solutions that can withstand the extreme conditions of outer space.

“The cutting-edge technology that the team at Perpetual Atomics is developing could not only harness nuclear power to sustain exploration of space for longer periods of time but allow us to venture further into space than ever before, enabling more science and bringing more benefits back to Earth,” said Julie Black, Director of Missions and Capabilities at the UK Space Agency.

Not sure what's up with my feed today, but some interesting tech for space and earth keep popping up.

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The Europa Clipper has launched and should arrive at Jupiter some time in 2030.

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The next space station?

US firm unveils next-gen Haven-2 space station; potential ISS replacement (msn.com)

Vast, a US-based space habitation tech company, has unveiled Haven-2, which could be the successor to the International Space Station (ISS).

The company showcased the design of Haven-2 during the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC). This next-gen orbital station will offer a spacious and comfortable environment for astronauts, with plenty of room for research, recreation, and even personal hobbies.

The ISS is scheduled to be retired by 2030. In response, NASA has initiated the Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) program to develop a successor. And Haven-2 is a potential candidate for the CLD contract. NASA is expected to announce Phase 2 winners in mid-2026.

“Our focus this decade is to win the NASA Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) contract and build the successor to the International Space Station,” said Max Haot, Vast CEO. “To achieve this, we will first demonstrate our capability by building and operating the world’s first commercial space station, Haven-1, which is set to launch in 2025.”

Haven-1 serves as a precursor to the larger Haven-2 project.

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Possible way to help harness more power for satellites and such

Next-gen nanowire cells to boost satellite operations by absorbing solar energy in space

The future of space exploration hinges on the ability to harness energy efficiently in the harsh environment of space.

A European project named “ZEUS” has been awarded almost €4 million to advance a new photovoltaic technology.

ZEUS focuses on developing next-gen “nanowire solar cells” – a highly efficient and radiation-resistant technology for space applications. These solar cells can enhance the power systems of low Earth orbit communication satellites.

“The ‘ZEUS’ -Zero-loss energy harvesting using nanowire solar cells in space- project has been granted almost €4 million (€3,998,622.50) for its development over the next four years,” the press release noted.

The ZEUS project includes the University of Malaga (UMA) along with other institutes. Unique thin structure

The press release stated that these nanowires are extremely thin, needle-shaped structures that are exceptionally good at absorbing sunlight. They are so small, measuring only 200 nanometers in diameter, which is about a thousand times thinner than a human hair.

The nanowires’ combination of small size, specific arrangement, and hollow-like behavior provides them with exceptional resistance to radiation and high light absorption capabilities. Overall, this makes the tech ideal for use in space-based solar energy applications.

Interestingly, the nanowire solar cells can efficiently capture nearly 100% of sunlight.

“Covering approximately 10 percent of a surface with active material is all that is needed to absorb as much light as a thin layer covering the entire surface of the same material would do,” the researchers noted.

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Scientists look for alien technology from the TRAPPIST planets

Since its discovery eight years ago, the TRAPPIST-1 star system has excited astronomers because of its potential for supporting life.

Around this cool red dwarf are seven rocky, Earth-sized exoplanets, some of which are at the right distance to possibly have air and water.

While some scientists are using the James Webb Space Telescope, the leading observatory in the sky run by NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts, to study the planets' chemical compositions, others are cutting to the chase: looking for signs of intelligent alien civilizations in this system 40 light-years away from Earth.

A team of researchers recently spent 28 hours scanning space around these worlds, looking for radio signals from extraterrestrial technology. The project marked the longest single-target search for technosignatures from the TRAPPIST-1 system.

"Most searches assume some intent (behind the signals), like beacons, because our receivers have a sensitivity limit to a minimum transmitter power beyond anything we unintentionally send out," said Nick Tusay, a graduate student at Penn State University, in a statement. "But, with better equipment, like the upcoming Square Kilometer Array (SKA), we might soon be able to detect signals from an alien civilization communicating with its spacecraft."

Kind of a fascinating study. Sounds like they believe they need newer, better equipment to really pick up on if there are deliberate, unnatural signals to be detected. Also cool that they're using both Hubble and Webb to study this system and hope to find that one or two planets may have the ingredients needed for life as we know it. They've already ruled out two such planets that appear too close to the star anyway. If they're working their way through them, it'll be a bit before they get to TRAPPIST-1e, which they seem to believe holds the most hope based on positioning.

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Wooden satellites? It could make some sense.

Groundbreaking Launch: World's First Wooden Satellite Reaches Space

In a groundbreaking mission for sustainable space exploration, Japanese scientists have successfully launched LignoSat, the world’s first wooden satellite, aboard a SpaceX rocket.

The satellite is part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will be released into orbit in the coming month. The pioneering project was developed by Kyoto University scientists and Sumitomo Forestry, marking a milestone in environmental innovation in space technology.

LignoSat’s purpose is to demonstrate that wood could be a viable material in space.

The satellite is set to orbit Earth for six months, enduring the intense conditions of outer space as researchers monitor its strength and durability.

Wood, surprisingly resilient in space due to the absence of oxygen and water, could offer a solution to a significant issue facing the satellite industry: metal debris from retired satellites re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Traditional metal satellites often generate metal particles upon burning up, but LignoSat, designed to disintegrate harmlessly on re-entry, has the potential to avoid this environmental impact altogether.

Kyoto University forest science professor Koji Murata noted that wood’s natural durability in the absence of oxygen could make it a reliable material for spacecraft, minimizing environmental harm when the satellite returns to Earth.

The satellite was installed in a specialized container by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and “flew into space safely,” according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

There's a near two minute video at the bottom if interested.

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NASA engineer developed a propellant-less rocket that defies conventional laws of physics

In a recent revelation, Dr. Charles Buhler, a seasoned NASA engineer and co-founder of Exodus Propulsion Technologies, unveiled a groundbreaking achievement: their propellantless propulsion drive has demonstrated the capability to counteract Earth's gravity, defying conventional laws of physics.

With a wealth of experience from NASA's most iconic missions under his belt, including the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS), Dr. Buhler and his team perceive this discovery as a monumental breakthrough set to redefine the landscape of space travel for centuries to come.

Dr. Buhler emphasized the significance of their finding, stating, "The most important message to convey to the public is that a major discovery occurred."

Their innovation, harnessing electric fields to generate sustainable thrust without expelling mass, represents a paradigm shift in propulsion physics. Buhler envisions this newfound force propelling objects into space for the next millennium, heralding a new era in exploration.

This could be a massive discovery with loads of potential.