Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
In a significant development for space exploration, Nasa has delayed the return of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS). Nasa’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission, originally scheduled for February 2025, has now been rescheduled to no earlier than late March 2025. Technical complications, including thruster malfunctions and helium leaks, forced Nasa to return the Starliner uncrewed in September, leaving astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded on the ISS. What was originally planned as a brief eight-day mission has transformed into an unexpected nine-month journey of scientific endurance.
"And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." — Nietzsche 💀
— Chandra Observatory (@chandraxray) October 31, 2024
This Vela Pulsar sonification is just one of many sounds that will send shivers down your spine on @NASA's Sinister Sounds playlist at SoundCloud: https://t.co/zZEAmmSrIo Happy Halloween!🎃 pic.twitter.com/XpTYeQjYYj
(Credit - X/@chandraxray)
NASA, through its Chandra X-ray Observatory and Universe of Learning programs, brings the world of audio in a project known as “A Universe of Sound.” The research team has converted openly available data from Chandra, supplemented by open data from other observatories, into dozens of “sonifications,” with more on the way. This helps members of the public who are blind or low vision experience NASA data in a new sensory way. Sighted users also enjoy listening to the sonifications. The team brought together people of various backgrounds to make the project a success – scientists to obtain and interpret the data, audio engineers to mix the sonifications, and members of the blind and low vision community to direct the product into something that brought a greater understanding of the data.
India's Gaganyaan crew, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who has been designated as the primary astronaut, will receive training in Europe, the European Space Agency (ESA). Gaganyaan, India's first human space mission, is one of the projects approved by the Union Cabinet, envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to Earth. The partnership between ESA and ISRO follows the successful launch of the Proba-3 satellite by India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) on December 5 and the signing of an ESA-ISRO Technical Implementation Plan (TIP).
Scientists are closely monitoring asteroid 2024 XN1, which is scheduled to pass Earth on December 24. The asteroid measures around 120 feet and will pass 4,480,000 miles away. This is 16 times the distance of the Moon and Earth. The Christmas Eve guest from outer space will move at a massive speed of 14,743 miles per hour. The scientists termed this event as a "near miss," who as there is no danger at all to Earth during the flyby. Meanwhile, Asteroid 2024 XN1 is the largest of the next five asteroids that will make close approaches to Earth.
