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A dramatic moon landing might make you feel a little more special than usual as you gaze upon February’s full snow moon, which will light up the night sky this weekend.
A little more than a week after launch, the unmanned Intuitive Machines IM-1 lander, known as Odysseus or “Odie,” also touched down near the moon’s south pole on Thursday night.
It was a historic moment. The milestone marked the first soft landing of a commercial spacecraft on the moon — and the first US spacecraft to reach the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Odie’s journey was anything but as expected, however, and the spacecraft had a “dynamic state” that forced the mission crew to think quickly on their feet to avoid disaster.
Anticipating the webcast of the landing was as dramatic as watching a space thriller, and we were reminded why landing on the moon is still so difficult more than 50 years after mankind achieved the feat. reach first.
Lunar update
Hours before Odie’s landing, the spacecraft experienced an unexpected navigation system problem that could have prevented a safe landing.
Fortunately, the lander was carrying NASA’s Navigation Doppler Lidar. The sensor on board Odie was a technology experiment to help future landers achieve precise touchdowns, firing lasers at the surface to find a safe landing zone.
Experimental technology ultimately saved the day, playing a key role in unlocking the momentous achievement.
Although Odie landed on its side after catching one of its feet on a moon rock, the spacecraft is stable, able to charge its solar panels and has already achieved several key mission objectives.
Amazing creatures
Vultures are often thought of as dirty animals, but these misunderstood birds help keep the planet as clean as their own feathers.
“Vultures are meticulous about their cleanliness,” said Kerri Wolter, founder and CEO of the conservation group VulPro in South Africa. “They spend hours cleaning their feathers after feeding, because those feathers need to be streamlined as well as cleaned for flight. They are not like other birds, they soar.”
Vultures effectively scavenge dead animals and prevent bacteria from building up that could cause disease outbreaks in other animals and humans. Their stomachs are capable of destroying even anthrax.
But some vulture species in sub-Saharan Africa are in serious danger due to poisoning and hunting, which is why conservationists are keen to provide sanctuary for the much-vulnerable birds.
Inquiries
When a 280-million-year-old ancient reptile fossil was discovered in the Italian Alps in 1931, researchers thought it was an exceptionally well-preserved specimen.
The dark color of the remains of the lizard resembled soft tissue and skin that could contain biological information, which could be used to understand how the early reptiles evolved.
But new advanced analysis has shown that the fossil is largely a forgery. The dark color is just black paint covering scales and a few leg bones encased in carved rock.
Now, the team has a new puzzle: figuring out exactly what kind of creature was trapped inside the rock.
Sky watch
When a 5,000-pound European Space Agency satellite fell to Earth this week, it was just one example of the amount of space junk that surrounds the planet.
It is estimated that there are almost 30,000 objects larger than a softball swinging a few hundred miles above Earth at a speed 10 times faster than a bullet.
As governments and private companies launch thousands of satellites in the future, astronomers worry that light pollution from all the objects in low-Earth orbit will affect scientists’ ability to study the cosmos.
A new mission has been launched just to take a closer look at space junk, such as an abandoned rocket stage, to determine the best and safest way to remove it from orbit.
Secrets of the sea
Scientists heard whale songs underwater for the first time more than 50 years ago, and how the leviathans produce these reverberating sounds has long been a mystery to researchers – until now.
A baleen whale, like a humpback or minke whale, has a uniquely shaped voice box in its throat that enables the marine mammal to produce sound and take in large amounts of air when it surfaces.
The songs, both eerie and intriguing, enable the whales to find each other and mate within the dark depths of the sea.
But the low-frequency calls can only be made within 328 feet (100 meters) of the surface since whales have to breathe to send their calls – and man-made vessels are creating a major obstacle that interferes on whale communication.
The surprise
These stories may blow your mind:
— Astronomers have spotted the brightest known object in the universe, and it’s powered by the fastest growing black hole ever seen.
— Researchers have uncovered a stunning 240-million-year-old marine reptile fossil, and the mysterious creature resembles a mythical Chinese dragon.
— Forgotten artifacts in a Berlin museum collection have revealed that Neanderthals likely produced a glue that helped them grip stone tools, suggesting that these ancient human ancestors were capable of complex thinking.
— While humans can’t yet board a spacecraft to Mars, NASA is looking for volunteers to live and work inside a Mars simulator for a year.
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