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NASA’s latest project ‘PACE’ has just been launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission is aimed at learning about microscopic plant life and particles from space. PACE is an acronym for the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem satellite.

 

For the first time ever, a satellite will study plankton from space, hundreds of miles above the earth, analyzing the impact of the tiniest life particles on the planet’s atmosphere and climate changes.

 

The reason why NASA is giving such meticulous importance to phytoplankton and other microscopic living organisms is because they play a key role in regulating the climate. Like regular plants, phytoplankton take planet-heating carbon dioxide in and produce oxygen via the process of photosynthesis. They also make the foundation of food chains in oceans, hence greatly influencing the health of marine ecosystems and fisheries. There are found in tens of thousands of different species, each designed to have unique interactions with their environment.

NASA Launches its First Space Satellite Dedicated to the Study of Microscopic Life and Particles


NASA’s GUSTO project that stands for ‘Galactic / Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory’ is a balloon telescope set to launch from the Antarctic McMurdo Station. The device been put together to collect data that will be used to understand the formation of stars and planets, as well as generate a 3D map of a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way.

 

The job of the telescope is to specifically detecting signals of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen in the interstellar medium – information that will ultimately help NASA scientists acquire valuable understandings of the formation of stars and planets. More precisely, it will likely help resolve the most important question from heliophysicists and astrophysicists: what makes space particles come together to make up the molecular clouds that are formed prior to stars?

NASA is Launching its First Explorers Program Project – the GUSTO Balloon Telescope

Countries Accountable for most Space Junk?

Human beings in different ways have always harmed and polluted the land but, it turns out that it is not just the land that is being damaged, the space is also being polluted now. Uncountable pieces of debris that comes from broken down satellites, rocket boosters and weapon tests that have been launched over the past years have now gotten stuck in orbit. Due to this, there is clutter in the orbit which is a problem for the active satellites needed now for monitoring the Earth. The other harm is that there is a release of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere as they burn up on re-entry, using up the ozone layer, as well as potentially creating problems for future launches and space exploration.

Countries Accountable for most Space Junk? #Infographic

Every Satellite Orbiting Earth and Who Owns Them

Did you know that there are 4,550 satellites orbiting the Earth right now? The United States is responsible for 2,804 satellites, with China coming in second at 467 satellites. The purposes of these satellites range from communications to observation. Which companies own the most satellites?

Every Satellite Orbiting Earth and Who Owns Them #Infographic

Twitter rolls out a new Spaces record option

A couple of months ago, Twitter added a new feature on the platform known as Spaces which is an audio room where people can join in and communicate. Since the launch of Spaces, the company has been working to make it better and provide an improved experience.

The latest update for the Spaces is the rollout of the new record and share feature which can be done by the host. A month ago, the company shared a preview of how the Spaces record option would look like, and finally, the feature has been officially released.

Unfortunately, the record feature will currently be available for specific Twitter Spaces hosts on iOS, and “within a few weeks”, as claimed by the company, would be available for all the hosts. Using this feature, the host can record their broadcast and share it after it ended so that the users who missed it can listen or anyone who likes can replay it.

Twitter rolls out a new Spaces record option

What Kind of Foods do Astronauts Eat in Space?

Astronauts in space can eat many different types of foods such as fruits, peanut butter, chicken, beef, seafood, candy, baked goods and more. Coffee and tea can be brewed in space and orange juice, fruit punches and lemonade can provide astronauts with a taste of home as well. Eating in space requires some different tactics however. Astronauts can't shake salt and pepper on their food if it's bland, because the pepper flakes and salt crystals would fly around the ship and could cause problems with filters and equipment. Salt and pepper in space come in liquid form. 

What Kind of Foods do Astronauts Eat in Space? #Infographic

 

The Model Rocket Experience

Space programs require extreme caution and attention to detail towards their spacecraft. SpaceX and NASA are both the biggest space associations in the world right now. They both have collectively achieved so much about the space that it is exceptional. Space rockets require very delicate touches before launching off, but that hasn’t stopped people from enjoying model rocketry.


Model rocketry is very diverse and historic. Amateurs from all over the world have enjoyed constructing and launching their own model rockets. The art of model rocketry is more like a hobby that includes people of all ages, clubs, sizes, and rocket brands. However, not many know about the world of model rocketry, and hence the demand for its information as a hobby has increased.

The Model Rocket Experience #infographic

NASA and Nokia join hands to launch a lunar LTE network

Making calls to astronauts on the Moon? Sounds unreal, no? Well, in a world that relies on technology, nothing is impossible. NASA and Nokia have collaborated in order to launch a 4G network on the Moon so that direct contact with the moonwalkers can be made to get real-time news. 

According to the announcements by a Finnish phone company, Nokia, they have started working with American space administration NASA to create the first-ever cellular lunar network. The 4G LTE will be launched somewhere in late 2022 and would allow the users to have voice calls, navigation, data transmission, and also stream the astronaut’s biometric data to keep their vitals in check. 

NASA and Nokia join hands to launch a lunar LTE network

Cities With the Highest Frequency of UFO Sightings
One of the first widely reported alien encounters in the US is known as the Barney and Betty Hill incident. The Hills were a couple who lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They claim they saw a UFO on September 19th, 1961 as they were driving back from a vacation in Montreal. Betty Hill's statements from that evening said she observed a bright orb of light that moved upward in the sky. As the light grew bigger and brighter Barney pulled the car over and got out some binoculars. They kept watching as the mysterious craft moved erratically in the sky before descending to right above their vehicle. In the events that occur after the initial UFO sighting, the Hills state they saw humanoid beings looking out at them from the windows of the craft. They also swear that they were left in an altered state of consciousness and found they had traveled nearly 35 miles back the other way before remembering they stopped and made an unplanned turn once encountering the UFO.

Cities With the Highest Frequency of UFO Sightings #Infographic

The United Arab Emirates to launch its first mission to Mars

The United Arab Emirates is set to launch its first space mission to Mars today. The schedule is set for 5:58 PM EST. The spacecraft that will go on the mission is named “Hope,” and it is just a matter of hours before the countdown. The mission is also viewed as pride for UAE’s 50th anniversary of founding in December next year.

The main objective of the mission is to provide a global snapshot of the weather on our neighboring planet. The average travel time to reach Mars from Earth and back with the current spacecraft technology is 21 months, and to ensure that the mission is accomplished by the time of the anniversary, the spacecraft will be launched today.

The United Arab Emirates to launch its first mission to Mars

Catch the 'Ring of Fire' Live Via these Streams

A 'ring of fire' occurs when the moon comes in front of the sun in a way that the Sun's light sneaks from behind, in the shape of a ring. The 'ring of fire' for this year is all set to arrive this Sunday, on June 21, 2020. As per astronomers, the event is highly anticipated because it is coinciding with the summer solstice. In the last 40 years, such a coincidence has happened only twice, so it makes all the more special.

Catch the 'Ring of Fire' Live Via these Streams

SpaceX to bring more opportunities for NASA?
SPACE X’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on June 13, 2020 – relaunching American space flight after NASA was forced to retire its Space Shuttle in 2011.

The Crew Dragon’s flight marks a special milestone in the history of America for being the first that takes astronauts into the orbit. It is also the first privately built spacecraft to take a successful flight. The two crewmembers of Crew Dragon – Bon Behnken and Doug Hurley have safely reached the orbit and later docked with the ISS on May 31.

NASA also benefited from the overall expenditure of Crew Dragon. According to the news report, NASA paid both SpaceX and Boeing contracts worth $3.1 billion and $4.8 billion respectively. This is deemed as the cheapest spaceflight development effort in close to 60 years. A NASA audit also concluded that the price per seat on SpaceX is significantly more cost-effective than their previous programs.

In fact, the Apollo program had a cost per seat of $390 million and the figures for Space Shuttle come in at $170 million. However, SpaceX Crew Dragon will cost NASA around $55 million per seat, while Boeing’s Starliner adds up to $90 million.

SpaceX to bring more opportunities for NASA? #Infographic

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