Previously, astronomers had been under the impression that the heavy elements—gold, platinum, lead, uranium, etc.—came from supernova explosions. But now, scientists have announced a new theory for these highly valuable elements, this one involving two ultra-dense neutron stars and one spectacularly violent, grossly expensive collision.
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After the dinosaurs came the astronauts and their spaceships. At least that’s the sequence of events I recall from my history lessons in grade school. And thus the same sequence of events is playing itself out in the world of 3-dimensional cookie cutting. Previously, we had some awesome dinosaur cookie cutters, and now, you can buy outer space cookie cutters. History repeats itself. It’s Déjà vu all over again.
Just like the dinosaurs before them, these cookie cutters from Suck UK let you bake delicious 3-dimensional cookies by assembling components into a single composite treat. The series includes a rocket ship, a space shuttle, some sort of martian spacecraft, and something that looks vaguely like a TIE fighter.
So what’s not to like? You can grab these space cookie cutters at I Want One of Those for £7.50 (~$11 USD) each or three for £20 (~$30 USD).
After nearly a decade and billions of dollars in R&D costs, we’ve still barely scratched the surface of Mars. That sort of outlay just won’t work for exploring Jupiter’s moon Europa, especially since all the interesting parts of the moon—like its potential subterranean ocean—are encrusted with meters of ice. But with the help of the UK’s new space penetrator module, we may be able to inject our scientific devices meters deep into other celestial bodies.
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Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano is sitting out a scheduled spacewalk on Tuesday after the crew found water leaking "inexplicably" into his helmet.
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Astronomers have spotted a new moon orbiting Neptune—the first to be discovered in over a decade—by studying images that were archived all the way back in 2009.
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A baker’s dozen worth of moons might already sound like too many for us Earthlings, but Neptune has just had its count bumped to 14. Though the extra luna appeared as a white dot in over 150 photos taken by NASA’s Hubble telescope between 2004 and 2009, it took SETI’s Mark Showalter to discover it after poring over images of faint rings around the planet. Dubbed S/2004 N 1, the satellite is no more than 12 miles across and completes its orbit every 23 hours. Hoping to spot it in the night sky? You’re better off hitting the second source link for more pictures, as it’s 100 million times dimmer than the faintest star viewable with the naked eye, and it escaped Voyager 2, to boot.
[Image credit: NASA, ESA and A. Feild (STScI)]
Source: NASA, HubbleSite
In about a billion years the Sun will be too hot and bright for water to exist on Earth. We will probably mosey on at that point or perish. But if we’re still alive and somewhere in the neighborhood when the Sun runs out of hydrogen and becomes a red giant we can observe it looking something like this.
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It seems unlikely—impossible, even—that aliens would just happen to make contact today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after. But what if they did? How do you even deal with something like that?
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When it comes to planetary accessories, we’ve got our moon, but lovely as it is, it doesn’t hold a candle to some of the flashier bits of flair out there. I’m talking about rings. Here’s where they come from.
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In the latest of 3D-printed hardware, NASA has completed a series of test firings of the agency’s first rocket engine part made entirely from 3D printing. The component in question is the rocket engine’s injector, and it went through several hot-fire tests using a mix of liquid-oxygen and gaseous hydrogen.
However, NASA didn’t use ABS plastic that most 3D-printers use. Instead, the agency used custom 3D printers to spray layers of metallic powder using lasers. The lasers spray the powder in a specific pattern in order to come up with the desired shape for an object. In this case: a rocket engine injector.
The testing was done at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and the project is in partnership with Aerojet Rocketdyne. The company designed the injector and used 3D printing to make the component a reality. If they were to make the injector using traditional manufacturing processes, it would take over a year to make.
With 3D printing now an option, NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne are able to make the same component in just a matter of four months or less. Costs are a huge factor too, and the 3D-printed reduces costsby up to 70% compared to traditional methods and materials. This could lead to more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of rocket engines.
NASA didn’t say what was next for the 3D-printed injector as far as testing goes, nor do they have a timeline for when they expect to officially implement the new technology in future rocket engines. We can only expect them to implement it sooner rather than later, but it could take several more years until it can be fully operational and on its way into space.
SOURCE: NASA
NASA 3D-printed rocket injector undergoes first test firing is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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