Recently Spotted Asteroid, Set for Near Miss With Earth.
ABC reports that an asteroid
is set to make a close pass
by Earth this weekend.
Asteroid 2024 MK should
be visible with the proper
equipment and timing. .
Asteroid 2024 MK should
be visible with the proper
equipment and timing. .
The space rock will make its closest approach past
Earth early on June 29, passing at just three-quarters
of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
The asteroid, which was first spotted two
weeks ago by an observatory in South Africa,
is estimated to be about 393 feet to 853 feet wide.
According to asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia,
who works for NASA's Center for Near-Earth
Object Studies, asteroids the size of 2024 MK
only pass by about every 25 years.
We’re going to see a few
of those during our lifetimes,
but it’s not something that
happens every other day, Davide Farnocchia, NASA Center for
Near-Earth Object Studies, via ABC.
On June 27, a 7,579-foot asteroid just passed
the Earth at a slightly greater distance and
was only visible with professional telescopes.
The upcoming 2024 MK will be visible
with a small telescope but will not
be visible to the naked eye. .
ABC reports that skywatchers in
the Southern Hemisphere will have
the best odds of spotting the asteroid.
The next major asteroid is set for April 13, 2029,
when Apophis will pass Earth and be visible with
the naked eye to viewers in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
ESA and China Space Agency , Collaboration Detects Negative Ions , on Dark Side of Moon.
China's Chang'e-6 lunar lander landed on the
dark side of the Moon, successfully gathered
samples and lifted off in just over 48 hours. .
'Futurism' reports that the historic feat resulted in the
first-ever samples collected from the far side of the
Moon, which permanently faces away from the Earth.
The trip also saw the lander deposit several scientific
payloads, including the Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface
(NILS) instrument for the European Space Agency.
This was ESA’s first activity on the
surface of the Moon, a world-first
scientifically, and a first lunar
cooperation with China, Neil Melville, ESA’s technical officer for the experiment, via 'Futurism'.
The moon's lack of a magnetic field makes
the surface extremely vulnerable to charged solar
particles, which create negatively charged ions. .
Before it could make its observations, the NILS instrument
had to be adjusted to the extreme lunar surface conditions,
going through a cycle of reboots and blackouts.
Once it adjusted, the instrument detected negative ions
from solar winds bombarding the Moon's surface and
successfully transmitted back usable data.
We have collected an
amount and quality of data
far beyond our expectations, Neil Melville, ESA’s technical officer for the experiment, via 'Futurism'.
'Futurism' explains that the data could have significant
implications for our understanding of how our celestial
neighborhood deals without having a magnetic field. .
These observations on the Moon will
help us better understand the surface
environment and act as a pathfinder
to explore negative ion populations
in other airless bodies in the
Solar System, from planets to
asteroids and other moons, Martin Wieser, NILS principal investigator, via 'Futurism'
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
China Raises Flag , on the 'Dark Side' , of the Moon.
'Newsweek' reports that for the first time in human
history, China has begun the process of returning
samples from the "dark side" of the moon to the Earth. .
The Chang'e-6 craft reportedly raised a small Chinese
flag after collecting the samples before ending
its two-day mission on the moon's "dark side.".
It is an impressive
demonstration of Chinese
technological capability, John Logsdon, professor emeritus at the George Washington
University and founder of its Space Policy Institute, via 'Newsweek'.
The "dark side" refers to the hemisphere of
the moon that faces away from the Earth most
of the time due to its synchronous rotation.
John Logsdon, professor emeritus at the
George Washington University and founder of
its Space Policy Institute, says the samples could... .
... "determine whether the lunar far side is
similar or dissimilar to the face of the moon
that has been explored for over 50 years.".
The Chang'e-6 landed at the moon's
South Pole in the Aitken Basin, one of our
solar system's largest impact craters.
In order to communicate with the spacecraft,
China used the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to transmit
messages to vehicles on either side of the moon.
The probe autonomously used a robotic arm
to drill into the surface and gather the samples. .
'Newsweek' reports that the lander also carried three
research instruments from European space agencies,
including Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics.
China's seventh Chang'e mission
is scheduled to take place in 2026.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published