10 Important Space Explorations Made in the Last Month

happening every month most important space developments We came in August with a crowded agenda in our content series that we compile and discoveries. A lot has happened over the past month, both in terms of new discoveries and important developments.

From the unfortunate first launch attempt of NASA’s new manned Moon mission, Artemis, to the project where Russia will virtually blind orbiting satellites. all the news you should not miss Enjoy reading below!

Space news in the past month

Russia builds new laser plant that will ‘blind’ orbiting satellites

There are many satellites orbiting our earth, and each satellite has different tasks. Some of these satellites are ‘spy satellites’.

To combat these satellites, Russia has begun to build a new laser facility to be located on Earth. The goal is satellites by ‘blinding’ their optical sensors prevent them from working and receiving data on the country.

There is no example yet of this type of laser being developed and working successfully, but if Russia succeeds, it will be in the future. directly rendering satellites dysfunctional It is thought that it will pave the way for the development of projects.

The new laser, named Kalina, was developed to target low-orbiting spy satellites, and It can protect an area of ​​100,000 square kilometers from the ‘eyes’ of satellites. it is said. Russia claims to have used another much less powerful ‘satellite laser weapon’ in 2019, but this is not confirmed information.

James Webb captures a new image of the most distant star in the universe

One of the most primary missions of the James Webb Space Telescope, which officially began its mission last month by viewing the first stars and galaxies to answer our questions about the formation of the universe. A new image from James Webb, who has obtained many important images and data since he took office, allows us to take a look at the most distant star in the universe.

In one corner of this image from James Webb, discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope just earlier this year, Earendel, the farthest star in the universe viewed.

Although the resulting image is not a detailed and ‘fascinating’ image, it is very important for scientists. Because of this kind formed in the younger ages of the universe, It shows that we can obtain a lot of data by using gravitational lensing method for observing old and very distant stars.

Although James Webb was developed to observe the first generation galaxies and stars, these celestial bodies It was thought to be so far away that it could not be observed directly one by one.. However, these data indicate that we can make more detailed studies and observations than we thought, even on stars formed billions of years ago.

The oldest traces of dark matter in the universe have been detected for the first time: going back 12 billion years…

Dark matter is almost the universe covering 80% of however, it is a ‘mysterious’ substance that we know very little about yet. The reason why he has this ‘mysterious’ title is because not directly observable and does not emit energy or light.

However, although they cannot directly observe it, scientists existence and structure of dark matter. They continue to research. New data reveals the oldest traces of dark matter ever.

Scientists from Japan’s Nagoya University searched for the earliest traces of dark matter using ‘cosmic microwave background radiation’. formed 12 billion years ago They found traces of dark matter around early galaxies.

We can say that the cosmic microwave background radiation is the ‘trace’ formed by the energy left over from photons that were released approximately 380 thousand years after the formation of the universe and survived until today. Wherever we look in the universewe can see this radiation and we have it mapped.

Using the cosmic microwave background radiation, the research team peered into the depths of the universe and Traces of dark matter 12 billion years ago Has detected. However, according to the team’s statements, the data obtained conflicts with many theories about dark matter that have been considered ‘correct’ until now.

The team states that the most important finding is related to the structure of dark matter. Dark matter in the early universe indicating that it should be more intense Contrary to the accepted Lambda-CDM model, the team’s data show that dark matter less ‘densely’ clustered indicates it is. Team, to verify the data obtained. highlights the need for more research.

It has been determined that there may be a second meteorite that brought the end of the dinosaurs

Earth about 66 million years ago An asteroid with a diameter of 12 km struck, and this disaster was the one that dominated our planet at that time. wiped out the dinosaur species from the planet… Another newly discovered crater shows that a second giant meteorite may have hit our planet in the same period and contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

We are still experiencing meteorite cases that fell to the Earth today, but fortunately, these meteorites are often disintegrates as it enters the atmosphere and it either never reaches our planet or comes in small pieces. However, from the past to the present, we can detect that a large number of meteorites, which are not at all small in size, have hit our planet from the giant craters they left behind.

In a research carried out in West Africa, a kind of crater was discovered about 1300 meters below the ground. Under 900 meters of water and 400 meters of sediment residue While it is stated that the diameter of the discovered crater is about 8 km, the researchers also simulated the damage and effects of the meteorite that caused such a large crater.

He calculated that this crater, discovered on the ocean floor about 400 km from the coast in West Africa, struck the ocean bed at that time with a force of 5,000 megatons of TNT, strong enough to produce a 10 km wide fireball. The jump created by the asteroid, which is thought to have caused an earthquake with a magnitude of about 7, at the time of impact may have increased by 2 km, The waves reaching the shore can reach 100 km in size. detected.

Examining the layers around this crater, which is also called the rare crater, the team found that, just like in the meteorite event, which we know brought the end of the dinosaurs, approximately. 66 million years ago It says it’s dated.

According to the team, the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs shattered on its way to Earth, and these pieces It could have hit the Earth in a few hours or days of different sizes. Another idea is that these two meteorites may have fallen on our planet a few million years apart as parts of the same asteroid that broke apart in the asteroid belt.

However, the team has yet to confirm these data, as this crater, which is currently submerged in water and sediment, has only been studied using seismic data. In the coming years, with new research and a bigger task, close inspection of the crater is planned.

Closest supermassive black holes to Earth ever discovered

NGC 7727, approximately With the collision that began 1 billion years ago By imaging the giant galaxy formed by the merger of two galaxies, scientists detected two supermassive black holes that started a ‘cosmic dance’ at the heart of the galaxy.

During their lifetimes of millions and billions of years, galaxies can ‘collide’ and merge with another nearby galaxy from time to time, and a new galaxy emerges. NGC 7727 is one of those galaxies and is the result of a merger that began about 1 billion years ago. Before the collision, the scientists photographing this galaxy two supermassive black holes at the center of their own galaxy but pulled together after a collision Imaged at the center of NGC 7727.

These two supermassive black holes are the closest supermassive black holes to our galaxy, and thus to Earth, ever detected. It is stated that the two black holes, which are only 1600 light-years away, will merge after about 250 million years to form a new and more powerful supermassive black hole. In the future, the study of such mergers and black hole formations Our galaxy that will merge with Andromeda It is said to strengthen research on what to expect.

As much oxygen has been produced on the surface of Mars as a small tree can produce

As you know, Mars is shown as the second celestial body to set foot after the Moon for humanity. With the researches carried out and the tasks carried out Creating an environment suitable for human life on the surface of Mars and improving conditions.

In this context, NASA sent Perseverance to Mars in 2020. Good news came from the spacecraft called Moxie, which was sent to Mars with Perseverance. The device developed by MIT, which produces oxygen by breaking down carbon dioxide, was tested at night, during the day and in different weather conditions, and it was operated for one hour at a time. It managed to produce 6 grams of oxygen. announced. This is said to be on par with the amount of oxygen a small tree produces. Moxie’s oxygen production was first announced about a year ago.

Scientists, who said that Moxie has been operated 7 times so far and that it has managed to produce oxygen regularly each time, will carry out longer runs and that it is aimed to produce more oxygen.

The first launch of NASA’s manned Moon mission Artemis has been delayed twice!

Perhaps one of the most exciting news of August was the first launch of NASA’s Artemis mission. in total It will take place in 3 launch stages There would be no astronauts on this first launch of the mission. Unfortunately, the launch failed on the first attempt, and the mission was postponed to an undisclosed future date due to problems with the second.

The statement that this problem, which caused the launch, which was canceled twice due to the fuel leak, was resolved, came in the past days. After the leak, the fuel tanks should be refilled and launched by 17 September. It is expected to take place on September 27.