Science Wrap: 'Baal Veer' joins SpaceX crew, Orion readies for splashdown, Antarctic glacier has a massive breakdown
(photo-DailyO)
This week in science, global warming raises its concern yet again as a glacier the size of 10 football fields has started melting. Meanwhile, a Japanese billionaire who will be going on a SpaceX flight to Moon next year has announced his lineup of guests that includes an Indian actor and a K-Pop star.
And of course, how can we forget to give you one of the usual Artemis 1 updates? As per NASA, the Orion spacecraft is readying for a splashdown back on Earth, having achieved its purpose.
1. James Webb Telescope honoured by TIME Magazine as one of the “Best Inventions of 2022”
The James Webb Telescope has captured several startling images of the vast corners of our universe, thanks to its uniquely powered infrared cameras. Even though the project was conceived in 1995 and was planned to launch in 2007, the space telescope could only start functioning from Christmas last year.
Since then, the James Webb telescope has managed to capture highly-detailed photographs of Jupiter, and even spotted massive galaxies being born. In its year-end list of celebrating 2022, TIME Magazine calls it “the greatest cosmic observatory ever invented”.
2. Massive Antarctic glacier breaks down
It is common knowledge that the glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate. The latest update comes from Antarctica as the William Glacier disintegrated in front of the researchers on board the British Antarctic Survey’s RRS James Clark Ross.
Estimated to equal 10 football fields, the glacier broke down into thousands of pieces and was captured on video by members of the crew. While the glacier does have one or two “calving” events at this time of the year, such a massive “breakdown” was unprecedented.
3. Orion readies for homecoming journey
After much delays, the Orion spacecraft was finally launched as a part of NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission last month. Having captured images of the Earth and Moon, the spacecraft also aims to release ten miniature satellites to explore the ice deposits of the Moon’s south pole where eventually astronauts would land with the future Artemis missions.
Mission Time: 23 days, 4 hrs, 19 min
— Orion Spacecraft (@NASA_Orion) December 9, 2022
Orion is 190,219 mi from Earth, 199,423 mi from the Moon, cruising at 1,741 mph.
P: 144162, 128403, 20858
V: -1216, -1041, -686
O: 9º, 11º, 301º
What's this? https://t.co/voR4yGy2mg #TrackArtemis pic.twitter.com/lFbapl7xGf
Once it achieves this task, the spacecraft is expected to return to Earth by December 11. If this mission is proven to be an overall success, a crewed Artemis 2 flight can be on the cards for NASA, probably in 2024.
4. Baal Veer actor to join Yusaku Maezawa's SpaceX moon trip
Why should only white billionaires get to travel to space? Next year, even Japanese billionaires will follow suit. Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa has picked several personalities from around the world for his anticipated 2023 trip to the Moon aboard one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets.
Crew for Moon Trip Selected!!#dearMoonCrew @dearmoonprojecthttps://t.co/P0vEZ6Cibo
— Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) (@yousuckMZ) December 8, 2022
Indian TV actor Dev Joshi (AKA the lead in the Hindi fantasy series Baal Veer) is also a part of the crew for some absurd reason. He will be joining the likes of American DJ Steve Aoki, K-Pop star TOP, American filmmaker Brendan Hall and many others. Maezawa announced the names on Twitter and on a website for what he dubbed the #dearMoon Project.