Category: Blinded Me With Science

Mysterious Pink Pond

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

A wildlife refuge pond in Hawaii turns bright pink

A pond on Maui has turned so pink some people are causing it Barbie pink. Scientists say the Hawaiian island’s drought likely caused the bizarre but beautiful phenomenon. The Pacific Whale Foundation says drought closed the Kealia Pond’s connection to the sea allowing algae and bacteria to bloom, especially those who thrive in high salt content water. Biologists believe it’s those organisms that give the pond its pink glow, and while not toxic it’s so salty they don’t recommend drinking it.
Carmen Roberts. Fox News.

NASA Moon ROCKS!

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

NASA Scientists to Open Special Package March 9

NASA plans to open a special package today as it prepares for the return to the moon.

It’s an exciting event – 50 years in the making – the opening of one of the last sealed and pristine Moon rocks from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. NASA’s been saving the samples all these years because the agency figured science and technology would improve over the years and allow scientists to study the rocks in new ways and address new questions in the quest to put humans back on the Moon. NASA hopes to make that happen in 2025. Carmen Roberts. Fox News.

You can listen to NASA’s presentation — The Moon ROCKS! Apollo to Artemis — on Twitter Wednesday, March 9. It starts at 6:30PM ET on @TwitterSpaces.

NASA Names Moonikin

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

NASA selects a name for a manikin it plans to send into space. Fox’s Carmen Roberts reports.

Commander Moonikin Campos

When NASA launches a test flight of Artemis I around the moon later this year, a male manikin will fly in the commander’s seat. NASA held a contest to name him and after sorting through more than 300,000 votes, the winner is “Commander Moonikin Campos” in honor of Arturo Campos, who was a key player in bringing Apollo 13 safely back to Earth. Commander Campos will fly in the Orion spacecraft wearing the same type of survival suit astronauts will use and sensors to record radiation, vibration and acceleration data during the flight. Carmen Roberts. Fox News.

Arturo Campos was asleep in his home when he got the call from his colleagues at NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) on April 13, 1970. Something had gone wrong with the Apollo 13 mission, and he needed to report to work immediately.
Commander Moonikin Campos will fly on the Artemis I test flight set for November 22, 2021. Using robots and humans to explore more than ever before, NASA also will use the Moon for humanity’s next giant leap – sending the first astronauts to Mars.

Two female manikins will also be on the November test flight. Israel’s and Germany’s space agencies named them “Zohar” and “Helga.”

Data from the Moonikins will help NASA protect astronauts on Artemis II. That flight in 2023 will be the first mission in more than 50 years to send a human crew around the Moon.

NASA Gets Ready for a Test Flight on Mars

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

The US space agency will attempt to make flight history on Mars 118 years after humans first flew on Earth.

Ingenuity carries a piece of fabric under a solar panel that came from the Wright Brothers’ plane.

You’ve likely heard of NASA’s Mars rovers but how about a Mars helicopter? The latest rover mission carried the Ingenuity Mars helicopter to the red planet and NASA hopes to fly it as soon as April 8.

In tribute to human’s first flight here on Earth, Ingenuity has a tiny piece of fabric on board from the plane the Wright Brothers flew in 1903.

If Ingenuity is successful, this will be the first ‘known’ aircraft to fly on another planet.  Carmen Roberts. Fox News.

NASA says flying in a controlled manner on Mars is far more difficult than flying on Earth. The Red Planet’s gravity is about one-third that of Earth’s and its atmosphere is just 1% as dense. Plus temperatures are far lower, especially at night when they can drop as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius), which can freeze and crack unprotected electrical components.

Win a Free Trip to the Moon

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

A Japanese billionaire announces a contest for a free trip around the moon on a SpaceX rocket.

If you’re interested, you can apply on DearMoon.earth through March 14.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa says he’s looking for eight creative people to join him on a trip around the moon in a SpaceX rocket and he is paying! Maezawa released a video to encourage people to apply to be one of his guests on the flight called “Dear Moon.”

The CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, adds this will be a historic event. “What’s really significant about the Dear Moon mission is it will be the first private space flight, commercial space flight, with humans beyond Earth’s orbit.” Musk says it looks as if the systems should be ready for launch in 2023. Carmen Roberts. Fox News.