July 25, 2020

NASA Mission Will Study the Cosmos With a Stratospheric Balloon (Source: NASA)
Work has begun on an ambitious new mission that will carry a cutting-edge 8.4-foot (2.5-meter) telescope high into the stratosphere on a balloon. Tentatively planned to launch in December 2023 from Antarctica, ASTHROS (short for Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Submillimeter-wavelengths) will spend about three weeks drifting on air currents above the icy southern continent and achieve several firsts along the way.

Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ASTHROS observes far-infrared light, or light with wavelengths much longer than what is visible to the human eye. To do that, ASTHROS will need to reach an altitude of about 130,000 feet (24.6 miles, or 40 kilometers) – roughly four times higher than commercial airliners fly. Though still well below the boundary of space (about 62 miles, or 100 kilometers, above Earth's surface), it will be high enough to observe light wavelengths blocked by Earth's atmosphere. (7/24)

3 Great Mysteries About Life on Mars (Source: New York Times)
Mars is the most explored planet in the solar system other than Earth. With all of our robotic visitors there, we’ve discovered that it is a world far too dry, cold and irradiated to support the scheming humanoids or tentacled invaders once imagined by science fiction. But our trips to Mars have opened a window into the deep past of the red planet, when conditions were far more conducive to life. “The evidence for the lakes and rivers [on Mars] is incontrovertible,” said Ken Farley. Although Mars was once a wet planet, there is substantial debate about the origins, extent and life span of its long-lost bodies of water.

For instance, early Mars might have been warmed by the gassy belches of active volcanoes, which thickened its atmosphere and caused Martian permafrost to melt. Cataclysmic asteroid impacts might have also unleashed 900-foot mega-tsunamis that flooded the planet’s terrain. There’s even disputed evidence that an ocean once covered its northern lowlands.

One major question concerns the longevity of Mars’ liquid water. Nobody knows how much time is required for life to emerge on a planet, including on Earth. But the odds of life forming get better the longer that stable bodies of water persist. During Curiosity’s eight-year journey across Gale Crater, an ancient lake bed, the rover discovered sediments that suggest water was present for at least a few million years. Curiosity also detected organic compounds, key ingredients for life as we know it. (7/24)

Myanmar Joins Band of Asian Nations Launching Satellites (Source: AFP)
Myanmar is preparing to launch its first-ever satellite, joining an unlikely coalition of nascent space nations aiming to protect millions from environmental disasters. The future "super constellation" of micro-satellites from nine Asian countries will track typhoons, seismic activity and water flows, as well as provide data on land use, the growth of crops and disease outbreaks. It is the first space venture for Myanmar, the least economically developed country in a consortium that includes the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. The benefits of observing the environment from space match the millions of dollars Myanmar is spending, says Kyi Thwin, rector of the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University. (7/24)