Weekly space news - 11/Sep/2022
5 points in 5 minutes
China discovers a new mineral on the moon
China has recently discovered a brand new mineral on the moon, making it the third country to ever do so. The new mineral, Changesite-(Y), a clear crystal is the first mineral discovered by china on the moon, and the 6th mineral discovered by mankind.
Rocket Labs successfully retrieved rocket engine
A small space startup called Rocket Labs sent a rocket engine to space and successfully retrieved it. After a test, they have proved it is still working fine. This shows that even other companies, not only SpaceX are capable of reusing rockets.
ISRO successfully tests IAD technology to land missions on Mars, Venus
ISRO successfully tested its Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator this week. The IAD aerodynamically decelerates (slows down) an object descending through the atmosphere. The technology was folded and kept inside the payload bay of a sounding rocket that was launched from Thumba. The rocket took the IAD to an altitude of 84 kilometers where it was inflated and descended through the atmosphere with the payload part of the sounding rocket.
Russia and China team up to make lunar base.
Artemis is not the only misson aiming for the moon. Russia and China have teamed up to create a lunar base. There are three main phases in the effort. Reconaisence, construction and utilization. The first phase is already in progress. The construction will begin in 2026.
Scientists spot a ring of light around a super massive blackhole.
Scientists working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) spotted a sharp ring of light created by photons racing around the back of the super massive black hole, M87. This black hole is 7 billion times more massive than the sun.
