近日,四川省甘孜州巴塘县首批本土特产——巴塘高原苹果正式配送供应国航西南分公司机组餐,标志着国航西南分公司助力乡村振兴的又一举措落地见效。 今年年初,国航西南分公司党委确定了统筹区域资源,集中力量帮扶巴塘乡村振兴的工作思路,制定了四年规划和2024年帮扶行动计划,并积极推进各项帮扶工作落实落细:赴巴塘开展实地考察调研,到巴塘县为驻村书记开展综合能力提升培训,在《中国之翼》机上杂志发布巴塘旅游文宣产品,将巴塘山泉水引入天府、双流两舱休息室,组织参加巴塘县举办的首届嘻啵生活节,鼓励区域各单位支持消费帮扶采购。 为顺利推进巴塘苹果进机舱,分公司多次召开农特产品上机专题会议,并与巴塘县相关部门、供应商深入沟通研讨,评估巴塘高原苹果的特性及供应量,明确巴塘高原苹果作为机组餐供应的意向,希望带动更多巴塘农特产品走出大山。经过选品及反复磋商,10月9日,巴塘高原苹果正式上机,按目前航班量测算,每年预计采购巴塘高原苹果14万斤左右。 (文:崔方 图:蓝枫)
Most cubesats weigh less than a bowling ball, and some are small enough to hold in your hand. But the impact these instruments are having on space exploration is gigantic. Cubesats — miniature, agile and cheap satellites — are revolutionizing how scientists study the cosmos. A standard-size cubesat is tiny, about 4 pounds (roughly 2 kilograms). Some are larger, maybe four times the standard size, but others are no more than a pound. As a professor of electrical and computer engineering who works with new space technologies, I can tell you that cubesats are a simpler and far less costly way to reach other worlds. Rather than carry many instruments with a vast array of purposes, these Lilliputian-size satellites typically focus on a single, specific scientific goal — whether discovering exoplanets or measuring the size of an asteroid. They are affordable throughout the space community, even to small startup, private companies and university laboratories. Related: Cubesats: Tiny, versatile spacecraft explained (infographic) Cubesats’ advantages over larger satellites are significant. Cubesats are cheaper to develop and test. The savings of time and money means more frequent and diverse missions along with less risk. That alone increases the pace of discovery and space exploration. Cubesats don’t travel under their own power. Instead, they hitch a ride; they become part of the payload of a larger spacecraft. Stuffed into containers, they’re ejected into space by a spring mechanism attached to their dispensers. Once in space, they power on. Cubesats usually conclude their missions by burning up as they enter the atmosphere after their orbits slowly decay. Case in point: A team of students at Brown University built a cubesat in under 18 months for less than US$10,000. The satellite, about the size of a loaf of bread and developed to study the growing problem of space debris, was deployed off a SpaceX rocket in May 2022. Sending a satellite into space is nothing new, of course. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 into Earth orbit back in 1957. Today, about 10,000 active satellites are out there, and nearly all are engaged in communications, navigation, military defense, tech development or Earth studies. Only a few — less than 3% — are exploring space. That is now changing. Satellites large and small are rapidly becoming the backbone of space research. These spacecrafts can now travel long distances to study planets and stars, places where human explorations or robot landings are costly, risky or simply impossible with the current technology. But the cost of building and launching traditional satellites is considerable. NASA’s lunar reconnaissance orbiter, launched in 2009, is roughly the size of a minivan and cost close to $600 million. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, with a wingspan the length of a school bus, cost more than $700 million. The European Space Agency’s solar orbiter, a 4,000-pound (1,800-kilogram) probe designed to study the Sun, cost $1.5 billion. And the Europa Clipper — the length of a basketball court and scheduled to launch in October 2024 to the Jupiter moon Europa — will ultimately cost $5 billion. These satellites, relatively large and stunningly complex, are vulnerable to potential failures, a not uncommon occurrence. In the blink of an eye, years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars could be lost in space. Because they are so small, cubesats can be released in large numbers in a single launch, further reducing costs. Deploying them in batches – known as constellations — means multiple devices can make observations of the same phenomena. For example, as part of the Artemis 1 mission in November 2022, NASA launched 10 cubesats. The satellites are now trying to detect and map water on the moon. These findings are crucial, not only for the upcoming Artemis missions but to the quest to sustain a permanent human presence on the lunar surface. The cubesats cost $13 million. The MarCO cubesats — two of them — accompanied NASA’s Insight lander to Mars in 2018. They served as a real-time communications relay back to Earth during Insight’s entry, descent and landing on the Martian surface. As a bonus, they captured pictures of the planet with wide-angle cameras. They cost about $20 million. Cubesats have also studied nearby stars and exoplanets, which are worlds outside the solar system. In 2017, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory deployed ASTERIA, a cubesat that observed 55 Cancri e, also known as Janssen, an exoplanet eight times larger than Earth, orbiting a star 41 light years away from us. In reconfirming the existence of that faraway world, ASTERIA became the smallest space instrument ever to detect an exoplanet. Two more notable cubesat space missions are on the way: HERA, scheduled to launch in October 2024, will deploy the European Space Agency’s first deep-space cubesats to visit the Didymos asteroid system, which orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt. And the M-Argo satellite, with a launch planned for 2025, will study the shape, mass and surface minerals of a soon-to-be-named asteroid. The size of a suitcase, M-Argo will be the smallest cubesat to perform its own independent mission in interplanetary space. The swift progress and substantial investments already made in cubesat missions could help make humans a multiplanetary species. But that journey will be a long one – and depends on the next generation of scientists to develop this dream.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Dan Kotlyar is an Associate Professor of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade – but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the chemically propelled rockets the agency develops now is called nuclear thermal propulsion, which uses nuclear fission and could one day power a rocket that makes the trip in just half the time. Nuclear fission involves harvesting the incredible amount of energy released when an atom is split by a neutron. This reaction is known as a fission reaction. Fission technology is well established in power generation and nuclear-powered submarines, and its application to drive or power a rocket could one day give NASA a faster, more powerful alternative to chemically driven rockets. NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are jointly developing NTP technology. They plan to deploy and demonstrate the capabilities of a prototype system in space in 2027 – potentially making it one of the first of its kind to be built and operated by the U.S. Related: NASA, DARPA to launch nuclear rocket to orbit by early 2026 Nuclear thermal propulsion could also one day power maneuverable space platforms that would protect American satellites in and beyond Earth’s orbit. But the technology is still in development. I am an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology whose research group builds models and simulations to improve and optimize designs for nuclear thermal propulsion systems. My hope and passion is to assist in designing the nuclear thermal propulsion engine that will take a crewed mission to Mars. Conventional chemical propulsion systems use a chemical reaction involving a light propellant, such as hydrogen, and an oxidizer. When mixed together, these two ignite, which results in propellant exiting the nozzle very quickly to propel the rocket. These systems do not require any sort of ignition system, so they’re reliable. But these rockets must carry oxygen with them into space, which can weigh them down. Unlike chemical propulsion systems, nuclear thermal propulsion systems rely on nuclear fission reactions to heat the propellant that is then expelled from the nozzle to create the driving force or thrust. In many fission reactions, researchers send a neutron toward a lighter isotope of uranium, uranium-235. The uranium absorbs the neutron, creating uranium-236. The uranium-236 then splits into two fragments – the fission products – and the reaction emits some assorted particles. More than 400 nuclear power reactors in operation around the world currently use nuclear fission technology. The majority of these nuclear power reactors in operation are light water reactors. These fission reactors use water to slow down the neutrons and to absorb and transfer heat. The water can create steam directly in the core or in a steam generator, which drives a turbine to produce electricity. Nuclear thermal propulsion systems operate in a similar way, but they use a different nuclear fuel that has more uranium-235. They also operate at a much higher temperature, which makes them extremely powerful and compact. Nuclear thermal propulsion systems have about 10 times more power density than a traditional light water reactor. Nuclear propulsion could have a leg up on chemical propulsion for a few reasons. Nuclear propulsion would expel propellant from the engine’s nozzle very quickly, generating high thrust. This high thrust allows the rocket to accelerate faster. These systems also have a high specific impulse. Specific impulse measures how efficiently the propellant is used to generate thrust. Nuclear thermal propulsion systems have roughly twice the specific impulse of chemical rockets, which means they could cut the travel time by a factor of 2. For decades, the U.S. government has funded the development of nuclear thermal propulsion technology. Between 1955 and 1973, programs at NASA, General Electric and Argonne National Laboratories produced and ground-tested 20 nuclear thermal propulsion engines. But these pre-1973 designs relied on highly enriched uranium fuel. This fuel is no longer used because of its proliferation dangers, or dangers that have to do with the spread of nuclear material and technology. The Global Threat Reduction Initiative, launched by the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration, aims to convert many of the research reactors employing highly enriched uranium fuel to high-assay, low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, fuel. High-assay, low- enriched uranium fuel has less material capable of undergoing a fission reaction, compared with highly enriched uranium fuel. So, the rockets needs to have more HALEU fuel loaded on, which makes the engine heavier. To solve this issue, researchers are looking into special materials that would use fuel more efficiently in these reactors. NASA and the DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO, program intends to use this high-assay, low-enriched uranium fuel in its nuclear thermal propulsion engine. The program plans to launch its rocket in 2027. As part of the DRACO program, the aerospace company Lockheed Martin has partnered with BWX Technologies to develop the reactor and fuel designs. The nuclear thermal propulsion engines in development by these groups will need to comply with specific performance and safety standards. They’ll need to have a core that can operate for the duration of the mission and perform the necessary maneuvers for a fast trip to Mars. Ideally, the engine should be able to produce high specific impulse, while also satisfying the high thrust and low engine mass requirements. Before engineers can design an engine that satisfies all these standards, they need to start with models and simulations. These models help researchers, such as those in my group, understand how the engine would handle starting up and shutting down. These are operations that require quick, massive temperature and pressure changes. The nuclear thermal propulsion engine will differ from all existing fission power systems, so engineers will need to build software tools that work with this new engine. My group designs and analyzes nuclear thermal propulsion reactors using models. We model these complex reactor systems to see how things such as temperature changes may affect the reactor and the rocket’s safety. But simulating these effects can take a lot of expensive computing power. We’ve been working to develop new computational tools that model how these reactors act while they’re starting up and operated without using as much computing power. My colleagues and I hope this research can one day help develop models that could autonomously control the rocket.
近日,Ameco举办第三届“FlyingIdeas”创意论坛。Ameco飞机客舱产品事业部(以下简称OV)作《更好地满足美好出行新向往》主题报告。 本次论坛共有18组创意产品入围,这些产品立足提升飞机客舱产品和服务质量,融入前沿科技成果,紧贴旅客飞行切身需求,颇具设计感和实用性的方案令人耳目一新。经过多轮筛选,5位“创客”脱颖而出。国航相关部门负责人从乘客和市场层面分析了创意的可孵化性,提出更贴合用户体验的建议。其间,参加人员还参观了“MOCK-UP全尺寸模拟舱”“地空互联联合创新实验室”“I-Design劳模和工匠人才创新工作室”等多个Ameco“创新孵化营地”。 “FlyingIdeas”创意论坛迄今已收到100多名飞机客舱产品事业部员工提案,青年工程师占比高达64%,收集创意产品58件,8件创意产品实现成果转化。该论坛还成功孵化了“经济舱座椅椅背优化产品”“免接触式盥洗室产品”“客舱手机支架产品”“厨房卷帘/客舱隔板产品”等多项客舱改装产品,部分产品申请了国家专利。另外,“Fly-BuddyHub”经济舱多功能区快拆模块产品入围2024水晶客舱奖,引发国内外媒体争相报道,“Seat-Lite”经济舱座椅产品获得2023年IF设计大奖、2024年A’DesignAward设计奖。“FlyingIdeas”创意论坛已逐渐成为Ameco研发新产品、打造新模式、拓展新市场的重要平台。 (文:邢葳 宋晓驰 图:卢正泉 李开颜)
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Starfield's hopeful exploration of mankind's future among the stars (with a healthy dose of zany sci-fi thrown in too) seemed to convince enough critics when the game launched a little over a year ago, but it also faced harsh criticism from longtime Bethesda fans and players expecting much more advanced game design. Does the Shattered Space expansion fix any of those central issues? The short answer is: no, not really. Bethesda Game Studios seems to be quite proud of Starfield overall, and it makes sense that the studio is sticking to its guns with this new IP after being stuck bouncing between Fallout and The Elder Scrolls for more than two decades. "It is what it is," I’d say. For all its faults, the game seemingly was a financial success for Bethesda Softworks and its Microsoft overlords, and most of its rough edges (at least the ones that don't affect its philosophical and engine-related foundations) have been ironed out at this point via patches and free content updates. BGS still wants to support Starfield for a long time, and work on a second expansion seems to be underway, but are the Settled Systems worth exploring further? After this first DLC, I'd say yes, but Shattered Space is far from an ideal refresh, at least at this point in time. The story takes players to the striking Va'ruun'kai, the hidden homeworld of the huge and mysterious House Va'ruun, the cult-like faction that only reared its head in the base game and, for the most part, was the stuff of legends. In traditional sci-fi horror fashion, it all kicks off with a visit to a derelict space station. Instead of Xenomorphs, however, the player faces a reality-bending catastrophe that's messed with the fabric of space-time and created aggressive 'ghosts' out of the poor souls affected by it. This cataclysmic event took place on Va'ruun'kai, where we soon learn House Va'ruun is actually nicer than we'd been told... at least after moving on from the 'old' Serpent's Crusade. The religious zealots roaming the stars are rejected by the current leaders, so all is good as long as you don't offend them or bring more strangers to Va'ruun'kai. As for you, your arrival is seen as an auspicious sign from the Great Serpent, so you effectively become the 'main character' of yet another storyline. Let's get Shattered Space's biggest problem out of the way first: It's too expensive for what it offers. Priced at $30 (perhaps less if you grabbed Starfield's Premium Edition last year), it largely feels like a faction questline that couldn't be finished in time for launch. It's not substantially longer than the sets of missions from the UC Vanguard, the Freestar Rangers, or Ryujin Industries. Va'ruun'kai is a new world with its own culture, 'city' (more of a town), and hand-crafted locations, yet neither fighting its cosmic horrors nor exploring the cataclysm-affected locales feels very different from what's in the base game. Weapons and equipment sets aren't as distinct as in other DLC packs from Bethesda either. On the other hand, it packs one of the better-written questlines in the game, and the Va'ruun lore and mythology are genuinely fascinating, especially after learning they're not this naturally hostile group of people. In fact, they're dealing with as much political squabbling and infighting as the rest of the Settled Systems. Most of the six-to-eight-hour campaign (if you beeline the missions, that is) is actually spent convincing House Va'ruun's houses (yes, their society isn't a monolith) to collaborate and fix what's been broken. Of course, that involves looking after their pressing matters first, and it's a solid opportunity to learn more about Va'ruun'kai that Bethesda's writers made good use of. Combat encounters, while essentially identical to anything in the base game, feel quite intense very often, with the devs recommending that your character has at least reached level 35 or so. I can confirm things get hectic, especially during the final quest, and, without getting into spoilers, I highly suggest stocking up on meds and good armor. Perhaps the biggest disappointment that isn't related to the 'bang for the buck' is that the reality-bending situation affecting Va'ruun'kai is never properly explored beyond how and why it happened. Even if you go through every log you can find lying around, plenty of lingering questions aren't answered by the end. More egregiously, there aren't any new mechanics to speak of in this expansion. Beyond getting slightly teleported around after colliding with space tears and glowing goo, there's nothing in Shattered Space that affects how Starfield plays nor permanent upgrades that substantially alter the main character. While Starfield did 'well enough' and is slowly but steadily building up a modding community (much like every other BGS game), its redemption/improvement arc was demanding an absolute smash hit of an expansion. Instead, Shattered Space feels like more of the same, just of a different flavor and stuffed inside an expensive package. If you've played Starfield for hundreds of hours already, feel free to make the grav drive jump to Va'ruun'kai. Otherwise, get your space exploration fix elsewhere. Starfield: Shattered Space is currently available on Xbox Series X/S and PC. The base game can be played via Game Pass, but the DLC is sold separately.
10月18日,民航局召开月度航空安全委员会全体(扩大)会议,分析近期民航安全形势,部署冬季航空安全重点工作。民航局副局长胡振江主持会议,民航局副局长韩钧、中央纪委国家监委驻交通运输部纪检监察组副组长胡志彬出席会议。 会议就做好近期安全工作提出四点要求。一是深入学习贯彻党的二十届三中全会和中共中央政治局会议精神,认真抓好民航年度任务落实和深化改革工作。深入学习领会9月26日召开的中共中央政治局会议精神和习近平总书记发表的一系列重要讲话精神,切实把思想和行动统一到党中央关于经济工作的决策部署上来,在确保安全的前提下圆满完成全年各项任务。严格落实《民航局关于贯彻落实党的二十届三中全会精神 进一步深化民航改革的实施意见》和任务分工方案,以钉钉子精神推进各项改革任务落实,突出抓好涉及国家和民航安全的各项任务。二是清醒认识安全运行态势,准确评估安全风险。前三季度民航运输市场呈现供需两旺、客货齐增局面,行业安全运行态势总体平稳。高度关注冬季安全运行风险、发动机空停风险、无人机扰航风险、地区安全局势风险,并及时关注国际民航高风险事件,及时有效采取防范措施,提高警惕性。三是科学把握冬季运行特点和规律,全力确保行业冬季运行生产安全。切实提高政治站位,牢固树立安全发展理念,坚持“安全第一”不动摇,强化底线思维和红线意识,严把运行控制关,建立健全快速响应机制;严把资质能力关,加强对飞行、维修、签派、机场、空管、安检等关键人员的知识培训、实操培训和应急演练;严把持续适航关,将航空器以及通导、气象、道面等各类设施设备的持续适航性和正常性作为保障重点;强化安全监管,对冬季运行的关键时期和节点扎实开展安全检查。四是强化主动性预防措施,严密防范突出风险。加大发动机空停防范力度,督促有关单位切实完善维修体系、提升维修能力,创新发动机健康管理手段,切实提升空停人防技防能力;严密防范无人机扰航风险,强化职责落实、梳理管理链条,做好信息核实、加强信息通报,落实应急处置程序、提高处置效率,加强技术研究应用、提高探测反制能力;持续整治“机闹”,严厉打击扰乱航空运行秩序的行为。 会议强调,各部门各单位要切实将思想和行动统一到党的二十届三中全会精神、党中央重大决策部署和习近平总书记重要指示批示精神上来,把学习领会、贯彻落实党的二十届三中全会精神同抓好安全工作、同当前各项重点工作结合起来,对标全年任务目标,以“时时放心不下”的责任感逐项落实好各项安全工作要求,确保全年安全运行形势稳定。要着手梳理和总结今年安全工作,提前谋划好明年安全工作,为构建更高水平民航安全、推动行业高质量发展,建设交通强国民航新篇章打下基础、做好铺垫。 会议以电视电话形式召开。中央纪委国家监委驻交通运输部纪检监察组、审计署交通运输审计局相关同志,民航局总飞行师、总工程师、安全总监和机关各部门负责人,民航各地区管理局、监管局班子成员和相关部门负责人,局属各单位和各运输(通用)航空公司、机场公司、地区空管局、空管分局(站)、服务保障公司主要负责人分别在主会场、分会场参会。
MILAN — After collecting the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon, China is now setting its sights on even more distant destinations — Mars, asteroids and Jupiter, positioning itself as a key player in space exploration for the coming decade. The country's plans span the moon, near-Earth asteroids, comets, obtaining the first-ever samples from Mars and a mission to the Jupiter system in the next few years, according to top Chinese space officials. The first look at the Chang'e 6 lunar far side samples — delivered to Earth in June— reveals these are lighter in color and lower in density than samples collected from the near side by Chang'e 5 in 2020, among other differences, according to Guan Feng, director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center (LESEC) at CNSA, speaking during a session at the 2024 International Astronautical Congress here on Tuesday (Oct. 15). These differences provide critical insights into the moon's geologic history and offer clues about the far side's unique characteristics, potentially informing future lunar exploration. But while detailed research and analysis of the new samples is just getting underway, China is already preparing a return to the moon and visits to interplanetary destinations. Related: China's Chang'e 6 mission carried a stone flag to the moon's far side Li Guoping, CNSA's chief engineer, stated that next year China is on target to launch the Tianwen 2 mission to sample the near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa. The spacecraft will deliver samples to Earth and then head off on an extended journey to study a main-belt comet. China's next two lunar missions will follow in 2026 and 2028, Li said. These will be Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8, respectively. Both will attempt to land near the lunar south pole. The first will hunt for water ice in permanently shadowed craters, while the second will carry in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and terrestrial ecosystem experiments. The pair will be precursors to an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), to be constructed with input from partners in the 2030s. China is actively seeking partners for the venture and has so far attracted more than 10 countries to its cause. China is also preparing to take its lunar-sampling capabilities to the Red Planet. CNSA is gearing up for an audacious bid to collect material from Mars using a two-launch architecture. Named Tianwen 3, the mission will see separate service and reentry module and Mars landing and ascent spacecraft stacks launch in 2028, aiming to deliver samples to Earth around 2031. The main aim is seeking evidence of past or present Mars life, according to scientists. The mission seems likely to attempt to collect Mars samples and deliver them to Earth before NASA's own Mars Sample Return efforts. That project is currently in doubt, with NASA seeking new proposals to cut costs and accelerate the timeline. Additionally, Li Guoping, speaking through an interpreter, said there is 55 pounds (25 kilograms) of payload space on the Tianwen 3 orbiter for international cooperation, and another 11 pounds (5 kg) available on the surface spacecraft. "We sincerely welcome participation from international space agencies, research institutions and education institutions," Li said. China's efforts at international space cooperation don't end there. Guan revealed that more than 30 applications have been made in response to a call of opportunity to participate in Chang'e 8. These applications are currently in the review and selection phase, Guan said. Li also stated China will open a second round of international applications for accessing the Chang'e 5 nearside samples for research. Around 2030, China will launch its first mission beyond the asteroid belt. Tianwen 4 will send a spacecraft to Jupiter, Li said. The mission will survey the Jupiter system before orbiting the Galilean moon Callisto. It could also include a spacecraft that will separately make a flyby of Uranus, according to earlier reports. Li also noted that a planetary defense mission is planned for the coming years. Another mission expected to launch in the coming years is an asteroid-deflection test, attempting to demonstrate a kinetic impactor similar to NASA's DART mission. The above missions will be robotic. But China is also planning a crewed effort, the most complex and challenging mission it has ever attempted: The country aims to land astronauts on the moon before 2030. Meanwhile, NASA is working on efforts to return its astronauts to the moon with Artemis 3. Further delays to the mission, currently scheduled for late 2026, could raise questions about which country — the United States or China — lands on the moon for the first time in the 21st century.
As shocking as it sounds today, prior to the 1990s, scientists couldn't be certain that stars beyond the sun also had planets orbiting them. Since the discovery of the first extra-solar planet, or "exoplanet," around 30 years ago, over 6,000 of these distant worlds have been revealed, with thousands more detected but not yet confirmed. The burgeoning exoplanet catalog has delivered a multitude of planets that really emphasize the "alien" in "alien worlds." With planets so hot they rain iron, planets with savage, glass-filled winds and planets so mishappen by their stars they roll around in their orbits like eggs, it is little wonder that exoplanets have captivated people beyond the hallowed halls of scientific academia, inspiring incredible and breathtaking works of art. One artist captivated by exoplanets is Martin Vargic, a Slovak artist and the author of the "Curious Cosmical Compendium." "I have been interested in astronomy since I can remember and was always captivated by the idea of other planets orbiting distant stars unlike anything in the solar system," 26-year-old Vargic told Space.com. "In 2015, I created the first version of what would eventually become my exoplanet infographics. After publishing my first book dedicated to maps and map-inspired infographics, I decided to create another visual book, this time focused on the universe, astronomy and space exploration." The book, which Vargic said took almost three years to complete, featured chapters such as "Scale of the Universe," "Timeline of the Universe" and, of course, an entire section focused on exoplanets. The artist organized these worlds by temperature, ascending page-by-page from Neptune-like ice worlds to blazing hot gas giants called "hot Jupiters." This progression led up to "failed star" brown dwarfs, or objects that form like stars, but have masses between the most massive planet we know of and the least massive star in our books. Brown dwarfs also can't trigger the nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium in their cores, the process that defines what a "main sequence star" is. Related: James Webb Space Telescope wins 'race against time' to directly observe young exoplanet Artwork of exoplanets, such as that created by Vargic, is valuable because, unlike other celestial objects such as stars and nebulas, exoplanets are usually too dim and too distant to be visualized directly. In fact, it is partially this element of mystery that inspires Vargic. "We have no way to determine how different exoplanets really look in detail yet, and this makes them a rich space for creativity," he explained. "The vast majority of existing exoplanets on the graphic have never been portrayed graphically before, existing in the minds of people just as a series of numbers and digits describing their different orbital parameters and size, the graphic adding texture, color and shape as the real objects they are, some of them possibly harboring life." Another aspect that fires up Vargic creatively is the huge variety and truly alien nature of exoplanets when compared to the relatively mundane and "safe" planets of the solar system. "The variety and diversity of the few thousand exoplanets we already know of is impressive. The planets in our solar system, varied as they are, represent only a minuscule part of a large, broad spectrum of planetary scale and temperature," he said. "Even very similar exoplanets could differ in striking ways. Different star systems having formed from distant nebulas of dust and gas could have different ratios of elements, and the process of formation and planetary evolution would be different depending on the size, activity, and spectrum of planets and their parent stars, making some planets richer or poorer in some chemical elements with potentially exotic consequences." The artist added that other differing characteristics, such as rotation speed, would lead to variations in exoplanets' cloud bands, atmospheric currents and equatorial bulges. Vargic has tried to reflect this variety in his work. "I decided to vary the color tones and the clouds structures of otherwise similar planets to represent this and make the infographic more varied and colorful," he explained. Of course, with such a wide range of exoplanets out there, it is only natural for exoplanet enthusiasts to have a few favorites. And Vargic is no exception. "One is Kepler 277b, an ultradense, rocky planet more massive than Saturn with a crushing surface gravity of over ten times that of Earth," Vargic said. "The TRAPPIST-1 system is also fascinating because it has so many Earth-sized planets orbiting incredibly close to each other." "Also fascinating is the fact that the star TRAPPIST-1 has a potential future lifespan of over 10 trillion years long, allowing potential lifeforms to exist and develop into the future for up to a thousand times longer than on Earth," he said. In terms of the art he has created thus far, Vargic said that his favorite exoplanet to design has been WASP-12 B. Located 1,400 light years from Earth, this exoplanet is so close to its star that it has been distorted into an egg-like shape. "Hot gas continuously escapes from the permanently star-facing 'day side' of WASP-12 B, which is siphoned by its hot star. It is estimated it will be completely consumed in less than 10 million years," Vargic said. "TRES-2b was also one of my favorite planets to design because it is the least reflective known planet. Perhaps Kepler-1652b — a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone — it is a possible candidate for an 'eyeball planet' that could have one hemisphere perpetually covered by ice and the other by a liquid ocean." Vargic explained how his art goes way beyond planets outside the solar system, with many other celestial bodies catching his attention. "I have visualized and explored many other interesting cosmic objects in the chapter 'Scale of the Universe' in my book 'Curious Cosmical Compendium,' comparing the sizes of asteroids, dwarf planets and dwarf stars to giant stars, quasars, black holes, nebulas, star clusters and galaxies," Vargic said. The artist added that he also plans to create a "Scale of the Universe" poster, showing the scale of various cosmic objects at gradually increasing orders of magnitude, from satellites and asteroids to the entire observable universe. "Regarding exoplanets, for the near future, I plan to continue making more artistic visualizations of individual exoplanetary systems," Vargic concluded. "I would like to finish an even bigger version of the exoplanet poster that would include every known exoplanet, but that might take a few years to get to." You can check out Vargic's stunning celestial artwork on his website here.
There is very little doubt that Earth is getting warmer, and that this warming is a result of human-driven gases in the atmosphere that store heat and redirect it toward our planet's surface. And Earth isn't the only planet to have experienced this so-called "greenhouse effect." Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system and is often referred to as Earth's "evil twin." The two planets are similar in size and mass, with Venus only slightly more diminutive than Earth. They are also comparatively similar in their distances from the sun, and even started off looking remarkably similar to each other. Venus also has volcanoes like Earth, though it isn't clear if they are still active. Yet something seems to have gone drastically wrong in the development of Venus, leaving it quite hellish and inhospitable. There is a good chance that "something" is an extreme runaway greenhouse effect, the consequence of an overabundance of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Since the 1970s, satellites stationed in space have been vital in gathering a picture of how Earth is being impacted by global warming — and this warming is caused by the greenhouse effect. Humans are pumping increasing amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels and, in turn, are forcing the planet to heat up far faster than it should. However, as warnings come in from space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency regarding the changes Earth is experiencing because of this greenhouse effect, an even starker and more extreme warning about the greenhouse effect may be coming from a world away from Earth. It could be coming from Venus. The causes of this greenhouse effect on Venus and Earth are different, to be clear. On Venus, the effect was natural and likely the result of excessive volcanism millions or billions of years ago — on Earth, it is the result of humankind's burning of fossil fuels. Still, that doesn't mean Venus doesn't have lessons to impart about climate change and the need to stymie the flow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. "Venus is certainly a good example of one extremity of the greenhouse effect run amok," Eryn Cangi, Research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, told Space.com. "Venus is unique in our solar system in lots of ways. In many ways, it's similar to Earth but also very different. It's also one of just a few objects in our solar system with a substantial atmosphere, and it's by far the one with the thickest, hottest, most intense atmosphere. "We can learn about terrestrial Earth-like planets by observing and studying Venus and interpreting it as an extreme case of what can happen." Related: Venus' atmosphere: Composition, clouds and weather The major differences between Earth and Venus mostly come down to the planets' differing atmospheres. Venus' atmosphere at the surface is 90 bars, which means that it is 90 times as thick as Earth's atmosphere. This means that, at the surface of Venus, there is a pressure similar to what's found in the ocean at a depth of around 2,550 feet (777 meters). As you might imagine, for a planet experiencing a runaway greenhouse effect, Venus is also far hotter than Earth. The hottest temperature ever recorded on the surface of our planet was 134.1 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius) at the aptly named Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, California on July 10, 1913. Venus makes this seem like a winter walk in the park. Temperatures on Earth's evil twin are estimated to reach around 870 degrees Fahrenheit (465 degrees Celsius), which is hot enough to melt lead. You could find similar temperatures here on Earth — but only if you were to climb into a pizza oven. "This hot, thick atmosphere means Venus can't have any liquid water on the surface today, unlike Earth. But we have evidence that Venus has lost huge amounts of water over its history enough to suggest that ancient Venus might have had a similar amount of water as Earth does today," Cangi said. "However, we don't know if that water was ever in the liquid form — it may have only existed as steam in the atmosphere." The second planet from the sun, Venus, is closer to our star than Earth is, so it is natural to expect it to be hotter. But Venus orbits the sun at a distance of around 70% of that between Earth and the sun, which isn't that much closer. Mercury is actually much closer to the sun than Venus, orbiting at a distance equivalent to around 33% of the distance between our planet and the sun — yet temperatures on the closest planet to the sun reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit (465 degrees Celsius). So, there must be some reason behind Venus' heat other than its proximity to the sun. And, well, it turns out that the mystery of why Venus diverged from Earth in its early history, and the puzzle of how it can be hotter than the closest planet to the sun, both have the same solution: a runaway greenhouse effect. Earth and Venus receive heat from solar radiation, but some of that radiation gets radiated back into space when sunlight is reflected back by clouds or ice. The planet's surface absorbs the heat that is not radiated back from space. Certain gases in a planet's atmosphere can trap heat, affecting how much energy that planet loses back to space. They're called greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can bounce the heat around in all directions, meaning some of the heat inevitably gets directed back to the surface of the planet, thereby raising the planet's overall temperature. The main greenhouse gases are water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide, which are released by the burning of fossil fuels. Without this greenhouse effect, it is estimated that Earth's surface temperature would be tens of degrees lower. Without the greenhouse effect on Venus, the temperature on the second planet from the sun would be an estimated 700 degrees (390 degrees C) cooler. Scientists aren't exactly sure when this greenhouse effect grabbed Venus in a stranglehold, with estimates ranging from 3 billion years ago to 250 million years ago. Quite how this "Great Climate Transition" took Venus from potentially habitable to a hellish wasteland is also debated, but one possibility is that a massive bout of volcanism greater than anything ever seen on Earth ripped open the crust of Venus and released vast amounts of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide. As temperatures on Venus soared, liquid water would have boiled away, with water vapor joining other vast amounts of greenhouse gases in the Venusian atmosphere, causing more and more heat to be trapped, further driving up temperatures. This would have caused a feedback loop of more and more water evaporating, and more heat being trapped, creating a "runaway greenhouse effect." Though Venus is a striking example of the greenhouse effect, it shouldn't serve as a "crystal ball" to predict the future of the Earth. The situation on our neighboring planet is different from that on Earth. "I think it's pretty unlikely that Earth would end up the same as Venus, which has 90 Earth atmospheres worth of carbon dioxide. On Earth, carbon dioxide is only 0.04% of the atmosphere, and the orbital mechanics also play into the difference," Cangi explained. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't worry about climate change on Earth. Many societal and energy system changes that can help mitigate anthropogenic [human-caused] climate change are also good for the health of ourselves, our societies and our economies." The unlikeliness of Earth in following Venus down the highway to climate hell also doesn't mean we can't learn anything about the climate dilemma facing our planet by investigating Venus. Several upcoming missions will visit Venus in an attempt to unlock the secrets of its violent conditions and its transformation into the solar system's most fearsome world. NASA's Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry and Imaging (DAVINCI) spacecraft will be of particular interest. Set to reach Venus in the late 2030s, DAVINCI will be the first spacecraft to drop a probe through the dense atmosphere of this hellish world, gathering data about its structure and composition. Though this probe isn't predicted to survive its fall, scientists are prepared for the possibility that it could briefly survive the crushing atmospheric pressures of Venus to gather data directly from the Venusian surface for humanity. "I'm interested in anything we don't understand, so other planets are perfect! Venus is especially fascinating because there's still so much we don't know. I'm very excited to learn more about the surface of Venus from upcoming missions, especially the extent of present-day volcanism," Cangi concluded. "Below the clouds, we know so little about the lower atmosphere. I'm very interested in what makes planets habitable or not and how that can change over time, so Venus is a great case study and example of a planet that could have once been habitable but isn't today." Though this could reveal more about the greenhouse effect on Venus, for us to learn really learn more about climate change and the greenhouse effect's impact on our own planet, we depend on space monitoring and the kind of technology World Space Week will highlight over the next few days. This article is part of a special series by Space.com in honor of World Space Week 2024, which runs from Oct. 4 to Oct. 10. Check back each day for a new feature about how space technology intersects with climate change.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been an astonishing piece of technology for the advancement of humankind's understanding of the universe, and the source of awe-inspiring images of black holes, galaxies, and nebulae it's returned to scientists and astronomers since it was deployed into a solar orbit back in 2022. "Infinite Cosmos: Visions From the James Webb Space Telescope" is a 224-page hardback published Oct. 8, 2024 from National Geographic that breaks down the history of this remarkable $10 billion observatory platform from conception to deployment, and reveals the inspired minds responsible for its engineering, construction, lift-off, and inspiring operational record. Written by astrophysicist and popular online science host Ethan Siegel ("Starts With a Bang") and including a comprehensive introduction by noted science author Brian Greene ("The Elegant Universe," "Until the End of Time"), "Infinite Cosmos" reveals the myriad ways the JWST has altered everyone's perceptions of the night sky with volumes of illuminating imagery straight from our mysterious heavens. Here's the official synopsis: "From the years of design and manufacturing through launch and deployment to the extraordinary images and the new science they inform, 'Infinite Cosmos' showcases the revelations coming from the James Webb Space Telescope — the sharpest planetary vistas and the deepest views of the cosmos humankind has ever seen. "Stars forming in clouds of cosmic dust. Jupiter and its moons sharper than we've ever seen them. Galaxies billions of years old. The first images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have electrified the world — and astonished veteran scientists with the wealth of information they reveal. In 'Infinite Cosmos,' National Geographic tells the 20-year saga of the telescope's development and the feats of science needed to send it into orbit around the sun, a million miles from Earth. "Page after page showcase more than 100 spectacular photographs picturing the cosmos as never seen before, from stardust coalescing in the Eagle Nebula's 'Pillars of Creation' to glittering galaxies, newly discovered exoplanets, deep-space fields of stars, and the planets of our solar system in vivid detail. The definitive printed record of these historic astronomical accomplishments, this is a book that inspires awe and admiration, perfect for space and aerospace enthusiasts, libraries, and anyone who looks up in wonder at the starry skies." Siegel is well known in the scientific community and with this new JWST book he wanted to provide a more optimistic, alternative narrative to recent documentaries that negatively focused on the project's backstory, setbacks, and struggles. "Aside from the beautiful images, JWST is really showcasing what humanity can do if we make a sustained investment even for something that we only get one shot at," Siegel tells Space.com. "It was this sustained effort over decades by thousands of people, and in particular I want to emphasize the role of scientists, engineers, and technicians as well as the role of private companies in partnership with NASA, the ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency. This had a lot of different moving parts that had to come together, work together, be checked, and tested over and over again, to ensure that when we get that one shot at launch, and that one shot at deployment, and that one shot at orbital insertion, that this is going to be a success. "Now in 2024, I'm going to tell you that in just two years into its science mission, we've learned things about the universe that we never expected, and that to me is the big story. Yeah, we built this observatory, we had our goals in mind, but the biggest news are the surprises we found. We built this all-purpose observatory with a larger diameter mirror and a more precise surface, a new set of wavelength capabilities, a brand new technology that enabled us to have a folding segmented mirror and a passively-cooled sunshield, new instruments that were superior designs to any designs before, and the cleanest clean room ever. You put it all together and you have an observatory that can go out and find these things we know how to look for. But you also have an observatory that has discovery potential." One thing Siegel wished to emphasize in this project is when the JWST was designed, it was calculated that the telescope would only offer up to a decade of longevity. "That was based on saying, 'We're going to launch this telescope, we've got to burn it so it gets inserted into orbit, then we hope we have enough fuel left onboard to operate for five-to-ten years," he adds. "When crunch time came, the launch was so perfect that we now expect to get between 22 and 23 years of operation out of it. "I [...] watched this launch live and got up at like 4 a.m. on Christmas morning in 2021. I cried at one critical moment, when the spacecraft released the telescope and seconds later the solar panels started coming out. It wasn’t a mistake. It was an automated feature that said when you’re on a specific trajectory, deploy the solar panels. That first spacecraft burn that it was expecting to need to do where it would expend fuel to put it on the right course, it was unnecessary because the launch was so good. We didn’t even need to touch the 'steering wheel' at all once the rocket released it. That saved so much fuel that we can spend almost all of it on science operations. The biggest thing I hope to communicate with this book is to help people develop an awareness of what we're learning with the investments we've made.” "Infinite Cosmos: Visions From the James Webb Space Telescope" is available now.
NASA has postponed the launch of its next flagship mission to Jupiter by at least another day as the agency and SpaceX conduct additional checks to ensure the spacecraft is ready to fly after Hurricane Milton battered its Florida launch site. The mission, called Europa Clipper, is now targeted to launch to Jupiter's icy moon Europa no earlier than Monday (Oct. 14) atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The launch has been delayed since Oct. 10, first to Oct. 13 as Hurricane Milton approached Florida on Wednesday, and now another day due to additional checks in the storm's wake. "Following Hurricane Milton, teams are continuing to do checkouts to ensure flight readiness," NASA wrote in an update late Friday (Oct. 11). The storm hammered Florida on Wednesday and Thursday. NASA and SpaceX have until Nov. 2 to launch Europa Clipper in the current planetary window, mission managers have said. Europa Clipper is a $5 billion mission to explore Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa, a world known to harbor vast plumes of water geysers that may contain a subsurface salty ocean with more water than all of Earth's oceans. The moon is one of the most promising places to seek out signs of alien life. Mission scientists hope to use Europa Clipper to determine exactly how habitable Europa's ocean may be beneath the moon's thick ice shell. It carries a suite of instruments to measure the moon's gravitational field, interactions with Jupiter, and a radar that can peer through Europa's ice into the ocean below, amid other instruments like cameras and dust analyzers to study the moon's thin exosphere. If all goes well, Europa Clipper will arrive at Europa on April 11, 2030. But first, Europa Clipper needs to get off the ground and that will depend on conditions at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) near Cape Canaveral, Florida, which was damaged by Hurricane Milton. An early assessment found minor damage to the center, NASA officials said. "The Damage Assessment and Recovery Team has completed their assessment of the center and its facilities, and determined that employees can safely return on-site to resume working," KSC officials wrote Friday evening on X (formerly Twitter). "The damage identified is manageable and in-line with the items the Ride Out Teams previously identified, including minor impacts such as ripped awning, and damage to doors and traffic lights." Photographs released by KSC officials showed damage to a building exterior and an overturned flatbed truck trailer. NASA and SpaceX have not released a target launch time for the Europa Clipper mission, but a list of launch windows for the mission states an Oct. 14 liftoff would occur at 12:06 p.m. EDT (1606 GMT). The liftoff time moves a few minutes earlier each day as the mission moves later into its launch window. NASA and SpaceX will livestream the launch of Europa Clipper on Oct. 14, with a webcast that likely begins well before launch time. You'll be able to watch the Europa Clipper launch live on Space.com once a final date and time are set.
Richard Branson is going back to his balloon roots. The Virgin Galactic founder made record-breaking hot-air balloon flights across the Atlantic and the Pacific in 1987 and 1991, respectively — and he'll soon take to the winds again, serving as co-pilot on the first crewed flight by Space Perspective, a Florida-based stratospheric ballooning company. That landmark mission is expected sometime in 2025. "Some of the most magnificent experiences of my life have happened on ballooning expeditions, and I'm excited to support Space Perspective in its journey," Branson said in an emailed statement today (Oct. 17). "I look forward to dusting off my old ballooning license ahead of some magnificent test flights." Branson has also invested in Space Perspective, which has raised $100 million to date, according to the statement. "I'm passionate about adventure and helping fellow entrepreneurs reach their business dreams," he said Related: Space Perspective completes 1st uncrewed balloon flight to the edge of Earth's atmosphere (video) Space Perspective plans to send paying customers to the stratosphere using a giant, hydrogen-filled balloon and an eight-passenger crew capsule called Spaceship Neptune. It will be a much different experience than the rocket-powered suborbital rides offered by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' aerospace company. For example, each Space Perspective flight will be long and leisurely, traveling at the average speed of the wind and lasting roughly six hours. Spaceship Neptune is designed to keep people happy for such long jaunts. It's large enough to walk around in, for example, and features big windows, a bar and a fully appointed bathroom. Spaceship Neptune will reach a maximum altitude of about 20 miles (32 kilometers) — far below the boundary of space, which is either 50 miles (80 km) or 62 miles (100 km), depending upon whom you ask. But that's still high enough to get breathtaking views of Earth against the blackness of space, according to the company. Branson will get to compare the Spaceship Neptune experience with a suborbital trip; he went to the final frontier aboard Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity space plane in July 2021. Space Perspective conducted its first full-up test flight last month, using an uncrewed test capsule called Excelsior. Everything went well on that mission, which traveled on the same trajectory that tourist flights will take. Branson will be joined on the upcoming crewed flight by Space Perspective co-founders Taber MacCollum and Jane Poynter, who will also serve as co-pilots. "Richard's pioneering efforts in the ballooning industry were a key inspiration for us when we founded Space Perspective," Poynter said in the same statement. "We are now on a mission to give Explorers breathtaking views of the Earth against a black sky, and do so gently in a way that only balloons enable." More than 1,800 people have reserved a seat aboard Spaceship Neptune, for $125,000 a pop, according to the company. For comparison, Virgin Galactic currently charges $450,000 for a ride to suborbital space. Blue Origin has not released its ticket prices.
10月14至18日,第59届亚太地区民航局长会议在菲律宾宿务召开,中国民用航空局副局长梁楠率团参会,并围绕“塑造航空运输的未来:可持续、韧性和包容性”的主题参加高级别小组讨论。亚太地区37个民航当局以及11个国际组织300余名代表注册与会。国际民航组织理事会主席夏基塔诺、秘书长萨拉萨尔,亚太地区办事处主任马涛出席会议。 梁楠在高级别小组讨论中分享了中国民航通过“干支通、全网联”服务模式,拓展服务网络、挖掘市场潜能、增强发展韧性的有益经验;介绍了深化改革促进低空经济发展,更好发挥行业支撑经济社会可持续发展的新做法;倡议各国加大开放力度、增强互联互通、深化务实合作,共同促进本地区安全发展,携手创造更具韧性和包容性的民航业。梁楠还向参会代表介绍了中国推进空铁联运,助力交通强国建设,共促高质量发展的情况。 会上,中国代表团围绕会议主题和航空安全、空中航行、航空安保与便利化、航空运输经济发展、航空与环境等议题同各方深入交流,积极介绍中国方案、分享中国经验,提交的16份工作文件获得会议广泛关注,其中空中交通流量管理、人工智能在安保领域应用等文件的多项措施和建议纳入会议决定的行动事项。中方还参加了ICAO组织的援助座谈会,就中国对全球民航特别是亚太地区发展中国家提供支持情况,并就如何携手促进亚太地区民航安全发展阐述观点、分享经验。 会议期间,代表团会见了国际民航组织理事会主席、秘书长,与菲律宾、日本、越南、蒙古、孟加拉国、东帝汶、巴布亚新几内亚、所罗门群岛、阿联酋、法属波利尼西亚、欧盟航空安全局等举行双边会谈,就扩大航空运输市场、完善交流合作机制、深化拓展合作项目等议题深入交换意见。代表团还与菲律宾航空就在华运营问题进行了交流,并与国际航空运输协会、飞安基金会亚太航空安全中心、新加坡航空创新中心就加强合作进行了探讨。
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