Three NASA probes will study the ion layer during the upcoming solar eclipse in mid-October
The French company Maiaspace entered the race to manufacture small rockets
The height of Mont Blanc decreased by two meters compared to 2021
During the partial solar eclipse expected on October 14, NASA is preparing to study the effects of the sudden decrease in the sun’s brightness on the ionosphere in a mission called Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path (Apep). To achieve this goal, NASA will send three probes whose launch coincides with a solar eclipse, the astronomical phenomenon in which sunlight is blocked from the Earth when the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun are aligned on the same line. It will only be possible to observe the partial solar eclipse from the American continent, and the light of the sun’s glare will decrease by 10%. Through the three probes, NASA will attempt to investigate the effects of weak sunlight, especially at the level of the ionosphere, or layer of the ionosphere, whose dynamics are controlled by ultraviolet rays coming from the sun.
The ionosphere occupies a large portion of the Earth’s atmosphere and is located at an altitude of approximately 60 to 1,000 kilometers. The gases in the ionosphere are ionized, meaning that the atoms and molecules in them lose or gain one electron or a group of electrons, so that the gases become particles saturated with electrically charged ions.
Ionospheric gases act as an insulator, absorbing and reducing the amount of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface
But during a solar eclipse, sunlight disappears from Earth and returns after a while. This contributes to the temperature and density of the ionosphere decreasing and rising again when sunlight returns. As a result of this, waves are generated in the Earth’s ionosphere that move through matter, just as happens in a body of water when a ship moves, generating ripples behind it.
The three NASA probes that will reach the ionosphere and swim in it at altitudes ranging from 70 to 325 kilometers from Earth will measure changes in the electric and magnetic fields of the ionosphere, in addition to changes in temperature. At the end of the mission, the three probes will be removed from the atmosphere and will return and study the ion layer again during the next total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.
We point out that space scientists are trying to delve deeper into studying the physical dynamics in the Earth’s ionosphere because understanding what is happening in the ionosphere is of increasing importance when we know that all our communications via satellites pass through the ionosphere before they reach the Earth. Therefore, it seems necessary to fully understand the behavior of the ionic layer and to be able to predict disturbances that may occur in it to ensure high-quality communications service.
Competition intensifies in the manufacture of small rockets with simple payload
In the wake of the increasing projects in the race to launch small rockets capable of putting into orbit artificial satellites that weigh no more than 500 kilograms, the “Maiaspace” company, affiliated with the “Ariane Group” in France, manufactured the prototype of its small rocket, which it called Quasi-modo, within nine months. . The final model of the “Maiaspace” rocket will be reusable, and the company intends to launch it at the end of the year 2025, in a step through which it aims to seize a share of the global market in which there will only be room for “3 to 4 brands” of small rockets that can To deliver a total of 2,600 satellites to orbit, the Maiaspace rocket will have four Prometheus engines capable of operating on liquid oxygen and cryogenic biomethane that propel the rocket.
The German company “Isar Aerospace” has entered the line of competition in small rocket industries, which intends to launch its “Spectrum” rocket this year, while the “Electron” rocket from the New Zealand company “Rocket Lab” has been in operation since 2018.
Will climate change deprive us of the white quilt of the highlands?
The highest mountain in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, located between France and Italy, reached a height of 4,805.59 metres, a figure that was 2.22 meters lower compared to the last survey that took place in 2021. This is what experts from the Chamber of Surveyors in the Haute region reported. Since 2001, Savoie has been accustomed to conducting precise surveys of Mount Mont Blanc every two years by climbing to it with advanced tools, including a drone in the last survey, which lasted several days.
This initiative aims to develop ice cover models and collect scientific data on the impact of climate change on the Alpine mountain range. It is now up to climatologists, glaciologists and other specialists to review all the data collected and to develop hypotheses to explain the phenomenon of decreasing snow levels on the highest mountain in Western Europe.
