Artemis moon mission

 

NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission

NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission, the agency's first big step toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface, launched to the moon on Nov. 16 on a critical test flight to return astronauts to the moon. It splashed down on Dec. 11.

Artemis 1 is the first test flight of the agency's new Space Launch System megarocket and the Orion spacecraft. The SLS rocket launched the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a 26-day mission, during which it will orbit the moon before returning to Earth. Find out how to track Orion on Artemis 1.  

Two hurricanes, two months and a number of technical fixes since previous launch attempts were thwarted, and Nasa’s Artemis 1, the most powerful space rocket in history, is finally on course for the moon after lifting off from Florida early on Wednesday.

The spacecraft, comprising the mighty Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and pioneering Orion capsule, lit the night sky as it rose from its Cape Canaveral launchpad at 1.47am ET. The 25-day, 1.3m-mile journey to the moon and back is Nasa’s first crew-capable deep-space mission for half a century.

“On behalf of all the men and women across our great nation who have worked to bring this hardware together to make this day possible, and for the Artemis generation, this is for you,” the launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, said shortly after liftoff.

It was the first time that the Nasa SLS rocket and Nasa Orion have flown together. “Artemis I begins a new chapter in human lunar exploration,” the Space agency tweeted.

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REFERENCE :THE GUARDIAN

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Nuclear fusion may still be decades away, but the latest breakthrough could speed up its development

 Nuclear fusion holds huge promise as a source of clean, abundant energy that could power the world.

Now, fusion researchers at a national laboratory in the US have achieved something physicists have been working towards for decades, a process known as "ignition". This step involves getting more energy out from fusion reactions than is put in by a laser.

But just how close are we to producing energy from fusion that can power people's homes? While ignition is only a proof of principle and a first step in a very long process, other developments are also in the works and together they could spark renewed enthusiasm for making fusion a practical reality.

First it's important to recognize that the latest result is indeed a real milestone. The researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California fired the world's biggest laser at a capsule filled with hydrogen fuel, causing it to implode and starting fusion reactions that mimic what happens in the Sun.

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REFERENCE :PHYSICS.ORG