This week millions of science enthusiasts across the globe gazed at the image of one of the most extraordinary and mysterious things in the universe, the black hole which was previously considered to be non-observable. The woman who made this historical feat possible is just 29 years old. Katie Bouman, a computer scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), led the development of an algorithm which proved to be critical in the image development of a supermassive black hole some 55 million light years away from earth. Katie Bouman instantly got recognition across the internet and applauds for her contribution to this historical milestone.
The recently released image of a super massive black hole
Katie Bouman, a Ph.D. student at MIT, started working on the algorithm nearly three years ago when she was in her graduate studies while leading the project and assisted by teams from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Laboratory, MIT Haystack Observatory and Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Due to the extremely high gravitational pull of a black hole, nothing, not even light, can escape from. Although, Einstein’s theory of General relativity predict their presence in the universe. Since then no single telescope was powerful enough to capture a black hole, a network of telescopes spread all over the world, collected the data simultaneously on hundreds of hard drives. Dr. Bouman’s method was crucial for the transformation of enormous data into an image through the multiple algorithms she spearheaded. The results of the algorithms were then analyzed by different teams to provide a credibility to the findings.
Humanity’s quest to explore the cosmos is as old as the history
of civilization. The principles of rocket science can be traced back to more
than two thousand years. The first rocketeers did not know much about the
scientific underpinnings of rockets, they learned by doing, often failing. Through
their discoveries they laid the foundation for modern rocketry.
Rocket development dates back to somewhere “between 428 to 347
BC” when Archytus, a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, reported
having constructed and flown the first self-propelled, small bird-shaped flying
device. The ‘bird’ was suspended by wire or mounted at the end of a bar
that revolved around a pivot. Using a jet of steam, Archytus, was able to propel the bird through the air; in
effect he demonstrated the concept of reactive propulsion.
Over 500 years later, between 65 and 125 AD, another Greek
inventor, known as Hero of Alexandria, developed the first known device to use steam for propulsion, called
‘Hero engine’. It consisted of a hollow sphere placed on top of a vessel of heated
water. Around the same time, the Chinese developed a simple form of gunpowder,
prepared with saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal dust, which when ignited, produced
colorful sparks and smoke. They used these fireworks for religious and
social festivals. Soon they started experimenting by filling bamboo tubes with
gunpowder and noticed that if one end of the bamboo tube was tightly sealed
with clay and ignited, the fireworks escaped from the other end, producing an
upward thrust that led to the invention of the first solid rocket. However,
they were unaware that this could be used for destructive purposes or even for
travelling into space, from this point forward the use of rockets spread
to India and Europe.
Meanwhile, in the 13th century, Roger Bacon, an English monk, worked and improved the formula for
gunpowder so that it could result in more explosive power. He wrote down his
insights in manuscripts that became a part of a growing body of knowledge on
rocketry. By the 16th century, the chemistry and mechanics of rockets were
becoming well-known and military manuals included chapters on designing and
building rockets.
Later on,Kazimierz
Siemienowicz a commander in the Polish
Royal Artillery studied rocket design; one of his manuscript included a design
for a multistage rocket, consisting of two or more stages, each of which
contained its own engines and propellant. The staging became a critical
technology for rockets designed for space. The 16th and 17th centuries were
significant because of incredible advancements in astronomy, chemistry, physics,
and mathematics and the great contributors to these advancements
were Galileo and Newton.
Galileo investigated the effect of gravity on falling bodies and
summarized that all bodies fall at a uniform rate of acceleration assuming
there is no air resistance, while Isaac Newton turned out to be a game changer in rocketry and his three laws
of motion lay down the solid foundation for rocket development, his first law
of motion which stated, “A body will persist to do whatever it happens to be
doing unless it is acted upon by a force”, was key in these developments.
However, even with Newton’s scientific underpinnings, no further fundamental
advancements were made in the manufacture of rockets until Colonel William Congreve, who developed a standard set of rockets and made the greatest
impact by standardizing their parts and manufacturing techniques.
The 19th century is remembered as significant for
scientific evolution and rocket science reached new heights during the same
time. Robert H
Goddard regarded as the “father of modern rocketry”. Although his basic
concept of liquid-fueled rocket got validation a few years after his death,
actually it was Goddard who launched his prototype space rocket in 1926 for the
first time in history. He and his team launched around 34 rockets between 1926
to 1941 through private sources. Due to Goddard’s efforts Yuri Gagarin carried out the first manned flight into space on 12th April 1961.
In 2011 the United Nations General assembly marked 12th April
as the International
Day of Human Space Flight. Since then, it is
celebrated across the globe to pay homage to the thousands of individuals whose
contributions turned an ancient dream into a reality.
The stars and heavens have always been fascinating humankind. Ancient hunter groups relied on celestial objects during the long journeys for the right direction and seasonal changes. In the early 15th century, Galileo Galilei was the first man who looked into the majestic cosmos through an optical telescope. But it would take another four hundred years until the man would able to travel into space, when on April 12th 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet fighter-pilot-turned Cosmonaut, became the first man in space. It was an unprecedented feat and the 108 minutes orbit of the Soviet Union’s spacecraft Vostok, some 327 kilometers above the earth, was the first of many odysseys to explore the vastness of cosmos.
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was born on a farm near a small village a few hundred miles from Moscow. His father was a carpenter. He got his education from the local school and later studied at vocational and technical schools. In his teen, he witnessed a Soviet fighter plane make an emergency landing near his village, this incident had a profound impact on young Yuri. Years later, when he got a chance to join a flying club, he eagerly accepted the offer and glided a solo flight in 1955.
It was a time of intense
rivalry between the USA and USSR to surpass each other and maintain global
dominance in every field of science and technology including space exploration.
The Soviet Space program was more advanced than the United States with the
successful launching of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik in 1957. In the
midst of this space race, 27 years old senior lieutenant submitted his
application and was amongst the 200 Soviet fighter pilots selected. The
selected candidates had a vast experience of flying high accelerating vehicles
under the influence of intense centripetal, centrifugal and gravitational
forces.
Soviets Union sent a couple of test flights before the final plunge and used a prototype of Vostok Spacecraft, on board was a life-sized dummy named Ivan Ivanovic and a dog named Zvezdochka.
Young Gagrin
On April 12, 1961, at
09:07 A.M Moscow time, the Vostok spacecraft first time blasted off into space
with an unprecedented speed of more than 17,500 miles per hour or 5 miles per
second. The spacecraft broke free of the Earth’s gravitational pull and entered
orbit around the planet, orbiting once before re-entering the atmosphere and
landing back on Soviet soil.
Since then, none had a physical experience of how weightlessness felt like and how it would impact the pilot, Vostok had little controls onboard. It either controlled from the ground or worked automatically. In case of an emergency, Gagarin supposed to receive override codes that would allow him to control the capsule manually. But Sergei Korolev, Chief Designer of the Soviet space program, disregarded protocol and proides these code to the pilot prior to the flight. Unlike modern spacecraft, it was a spherically shaped capsule to maintain the center of gravity for its one-man-crew, no matter what the spacecraft’s orientation was. The spacecraft 10 days’ worth of supplies in case the engines failed and Gagarin had to wait for the orbit to naturally die.
The Vostok capsule had to slow down its speed by means of a retrorocket for reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. The capsule accelerated at the speeds ranging from 500 mph to 225 m/s. During the free fall under the earth’s gravitational force, Gagarin experienced a tremendous gravitational pull that was eight times to the pull of Earth’s gravity. Fortunately, he was still able to maintain his conscience.
The mission was being monitored by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the governing body for aerospace records. According to its rules, the mission could only be counted as an official spaceflight if the pilot landed with the spacecraft but Gagarin parachuted from 4 km above the surface. His ejection kept as a secret by the Soviet authorities until 1971. Nonetheless, Gagarin still remembered as the first man to go into space and orbit around the planet earth.
After the flight, Gagarin instantly became a global hero. He welcomed by a cheering crowd of hundreds and thousands of Russians at Red Square in Moscow. Later on, he traveled across the world and became a symbol of Soviet supremacy in space. He was made Deputy of the Supreme Soviet Council (the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union) and was appointed the commander of the Cosmonauts’ Detachment. Gagarin had become a prominent figure and portrayed a soft image of the Soviet Union. They did not want to risk losing such a popular public figure and therefore were hesitant about allowing Gagarin to return to space. Gagarin, however, was allowed to make test flights of fighter jets for Air Force.
International Day of Human Space Flight
Unfortunately, on March 27, 1968, Gagarin along with another pilot killed while on a test-flight of jet fighter aircraft, MiG-15. He survived by his wife, Valentina Ivanovna Goryacheva, and two daughters. When in 1969, NASA’s Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the moon landed, its crew left behind a commemorative medallion bearing Gagarin’s name to honor him.
Gagarin’s achievement still got celebrated . Russian cosmonauts participate in a number of pre-launch traditions before way up to the Soyuz spacecraft ― such as urinating on the launch bus tires and following in the footsteps of Great Gagarin. Every year on 12th April, the space community across the world commemorates Gagarin’s achievement, a part of this is “Yuri’s night” that founded in 2001 in honor of the great legend and attracts thousands of space enthusiasts every year.
Today, we remember Robert H. Goddard as the “father of modern rocketry”, yet during his lifetime he was mockingly called “the moon man”. The scientific breakthroughs carried out by Goddard in rocket engineering have often been compared and to the Wright Brothers’ first flight in terms of significance in their respective fields.
Robert H. Goddard was an American scientist and engineer who dedicated his life to rocketry to make space travel a reality, unfortunately, it could not possible within his lifetime but thereafter and now we are living in an era of space tourism. After successful modeling he experimented in his research lab and came to a conclusion that without air to push, the thrust and the resulting propulsion can happen in a vacuum, by the time, this was considered nearly impossible. Additionally, it provided hope for space-flight that a rocket would be able to propel itself in space (space is also a vacuum). He also pondered on the practical nature of rocket propulsion to reach the moon. A relatively new and unique concept that was unheard of before, that resulted in an outburst of mockery prevail even after his death.
Childhood
Robert H. Goddard was the only child of Fannie Louise Hoyt and Nahum Danford Goddard. He was born on October 5, 1882, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Throughout his childhood, Goddard was always interested in science. Goddard’s father was supportive of his passion and helped by buying microscopes and telescopes for his son. He lived most of his childhood in the countryside, where he was free to explore. His love for physics led him to read all sorts of science-based books. It was such that in 1898 he read “War of the Worlds”, a space-fiction novel by H.G. Wells. This inspired him greatly and led him to ponder space exploration and the possibility of space-flight. On October 19, 1899, Goddard climbed a cherry tree with the intent to cut off the excess dead branches but became mesmerized by the sky. It was then that the thought hit him that “how wonderful it would be to make a device which had even the possibility of landing on the Moon?” Goddard penned down in his personal diary that he for the very first time he found his existence more reasoning”. From then on, Goddard dedicated the rest of his life to the field of rocketry and space exploration.
Goddard with his Rocket in Marry Land
Likewise most of the genius of his time and hereafter, Goddard had always been a sickly and frail child. However, he quickly made up for the two worthy years of his life being lost and poured himself over books of mathematics and science. He excelled in his schoolwork, made class president twice and class valedictorian in high school. Once in a speech he memorizes his school days and said, “The dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow” which accurately represents his beliefs on space travel.
Academics & Professional life
Later on, Goddard spent his college years at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, Massachusetts and graduated in 1908. He got his Ph.D. in Physics from Clark University and joined it physics teacher. While experimenting in a less facilitated laboratory of Clark University, many breakthroughs such as thrust and propulsion can take place in a vacuum and the mathematical ratios of thrust and energy per different types of fuels were made. He started a series of small rocket experiments but being handicapped due to the lack of sufficient funding.
In September 1916, Goddard wrote a letter to Charles Greeley Abbot requesting funds from the Smithsonian Institution to continue rocket experiments. On January 5, 1917, his request was accepted and he was awarded $5000. Despite a series of sarcasm, criticism, and mockery the Institution continued funding for many years.
In the meanwhile, he met Charles A. Lindbergh who find his ideas more attractive and actually believed in the of space travel. Although Goddard tended to be very private with his research because of the public scorn he faced, he opened up to Lindbergh and shared his research. Lindbergh and Goddard shared a strong friendship based on their shared beliefs. Lindbergh helped Goddard procure a Guggenheim sponsorship for greater financial help in Goddard’s experiments.
Consequently, after receiving financial aid, Goddard moved to Roswell, New Mexico in 1930. Where he found large areas of land and also a peaceful atmosphere for his experiments. It was there that he opened a spaced outlet with a crew and did experimental flights. The locals were so respectful of Goddard’s privacy and did not interfere in his rocket experiments. In 1935 at Roswell, Goddard managed to be the first person to launch a rocket faster than the speed of sound.
R H Goddard
It was around the time when World War II sat in and Goddard patriotically offered his expertise to the military. He was sure that he could create weapons but the military was not interested in the offer because they could not see a viable future in rocketry. However, the navy contacted Goddard asking him to aid them in building a powerful thrust booster to propel airplanes from the sea directly. Goddard agreed and moved to Annapolis, Maryland to work on its development.
Later, a German missile called V-2 discovered with a liquid-fueled motor similar to Goddard’s. When he happened to inspect that rocket, he quickly realized that they copied him. While the V-2 may not have been copied from Goddard’s design, his work certainly helped the Germans.
He was the first man to theorize and find the mathematical ratios of thrust and energy per different types of fuels. This was especially important as Goddard experimented with liquid fuels such as liquid oxygen and hydrogen. By then, these fuels were uncommon since rockets were fueled with powder. This discovery proved worthwhile. In 1914 Goddard patented his design for the first liquid-fueled rocket and after multiple trials and failure, Goddard had finally built a model of a liquid-fueled rocket. So, on March 16, 1926, in Auburn, Massachusetts on his Aunt Effie’s estate, he launched this rocket. Eventually, the rocket successfully achieved a short lift-off, becoming the first liquid-fueled rocket to take flight. The launch site is now an American national historic landmark, named as the Goddard Rocket Launching Site.
It was during this time in 1914 where he also patented his design for the multi-stage rocket, which had two or three stages using solid fuel. Additionally, his rocket flight in 1929 in which his rocket had a barometer and camera as a scientific payload was the first of its kind.
The New York Times Mockery
Goddard proposed that his rockets might travel through space and reach the moon as well as other planets. The New York Times responded to this with an editorial titled, “A Severe Strain on Credulity”. It thoroughly rejected the notion of space travel being possible to that extent. They believed that a rocket could not propel itself in the vacuum of space and claimed that Goddard “does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react against”. The editor went to the extent that a rocket traveling through space would, “deny a fundamental law of dynamics, and only Dr. Einstein and his chosen dozen, so few and fit, are licensed to do” and “Of course he [Goddard] only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in highs schools”.
On July 17, 1969, the day after the launch of Apollo 11, 49 years after the editorial ridiculed Goddard, the Times published a retraction. It summarized the previous statements of “A Severe Strain on Credulity” and concluded by saying, “Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th Century and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error” thus, admitting their mistake.
Goddard’s lagacy
Although Goddard was heavily ridiculed and mocked during his lifetime, he has received many awards and accolades after his death for his commendable work in rocket science. In 1959, he awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and on March 16, 1961, NASA opened the Goddard Space Flight Center in his honor that eventually caused a recognition to him, he really deserved to.
Robert H. Goddard once dreamt of an impossible and devoted his life for. Consequently, with hard work and sheer dedication, he proved that there is no limit what one can accomplish unless he limits his own thinking.
Scientists reveal the first-ever direct image of one of the most mysterious things in the universe, the black hole, which was previously unseen and considered to be non-observable. The supermassive black hole seen in the image released is a halo of dust and gas tracing the outline of the accretion discs of the monster body in the core of Messier 87 galaxy, some 55 million light years away from the earth. The black hole itself–a trapdoor from which nothing and absolutely nothing can escape– it is considered that black hole cannot be seen and only the shadowy edges of hot swirling clouds of gas, destined to be sucked in by the monster, are visible.
The breakthrough image unveil by a team of more than 200 scientists working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a network of eight radio telescopes spread from locations in Spain, Chile, Antarctica and other parts of the world. These images will bring revolution in our understanding of one of the most mysterious things in the universe.
The massive swirling clouds of dust and gas are rotating around the black hole at the speeds nearly approaching to that of light. The crescent-shaped appearance of the swirling disc is because the particles in the side of the disc are thrown towards earth faster and appear bright. The dark shadow within the disc is the “event horizon”― a point of singularity. Beyond this singularity point, there is no escape from the enormous gravitational pull of the supermassive black hole from which even the light cannot escape. The research is also important because it tests the Einstein’s “theory of general relativity” which had predicted the presence of these massive sinkholes out there in the grand cosmos.
A Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa-2, successfully blasts the surface of an asteroid named Ryugu, creating an artificial crater on the small world’s surface which scientists hope to snag. Japan’s space agency, JAXA, reported that the projectile, a two-kilogram copper cylinder, separated from the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft along with a camera known as DCAM3 to record this “Small Carry-on Impactor” (SCI) operation. Hayabusa-2 flew to the far side of the Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, simply called Ryugu, to retreat from the debris that would be ejected when the projectile hit. “This is the world’s first collision experiment with an asteroid!” JAXA tweeted after the successful blast.
Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa-2 released photographs
Hayabusa-2 was launched in 2014 and has been studying the 900 meters wide asteroid Ryugu up close since last June. The mission plan includes a touchdown of the spacecraft inside the crater to pick up a pinch of dust samples of the asteroid. In February this year, Hayabusa-2 had touched down on the asteroid’s surface and successfully collected the samples. But the second upcoming touchdown onto the asteroid, preceded by the latest blast on the surface will provide scientists with samples of subsurface dust which has not been exposed to sunlight or other space radiations for billions of years. Scientists hope to additional knowledge about the origin of inner planets, in particular the origin of water and organic compounds on earth, all relevant to the origin of life on earth.
A team of scientists working with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express Orbiter has reported that methane gas episodically wafts into the Mars’ atmosphere within Gale crater, a 96-mile-wide crater near the Martian equator.
Mars Twin Rover
This notion once considered perplexing and bewildering is now widely accepted by scientists because NASA’s Curiosity Rover also measured a marked increase in methane gas around the same crater in 2013. However, quite mysteriously, the methane levels decreased within two months which was bewildering as according to the calculations, it would take a few hundred years for Martian atmosphere to breakdown methane molecules.
Mars methane mystery
Scientists are not sure if both, periodic increases and then subsequent decreases, are due to geological or biological processes. Two theories have been used to explain these findings: it might have been created by a geological process known as serpentinization, which requires both heat and liquid water. Or it could be a product of life — specifically methanogens, microbes that release methane as a waste product. Methanogens thrive in places lacking oxygen, such as rocks deep underground and the digestive tracts of animals.
Possible methane sources
The Mars Express findings also point to a possible source of the methane, about 300 miles east of Gale. In that region, ice must exist just below the surface. Dr. Giuranna, principal investigator for the Mars Express instrument that made the measurements, said: “methane could be released episodically along faults that break through the permafrost due to partial melting of ice”. The findings are especially important as they can help direct future missions and serve as prime locations to search for signs of life.
India joined an elite club of countries with anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities after ― USA, Russia, and China ― when it successfully destroyed one of its old satellite from a missile launched from the Abdul Kalam Island off the eastern coast of India. The March 27 test by India was not it’s first but a second attempt after a failed test on February 12, 2019. ASAT technology launches a missile from the surface which tracks and targets a satellite and destroys it with through collision.
GRAPHIC-INDIA-ANTI-SATELLITE-MISSILE
The capability can not only be used to neutralize old or useless satellites but can also be used to target satellites of any adversary, in case of a conflict, thereby crippling enemies’ missile and radar systems. However, the debris created by such a test remains in the earth’s orbit for days or even years (one-third of the debris in the space was created after China’s anti-satellite test in 2007) and poses a threat to hundreds of other satellites in earth’s orbit as well astronauts working on the International Space Station (ISS).
Different stages of anti satellite missile
NASA said that it had identified 400 pieces of orbital debris from that one event and the risk of small debris impacting ISS is above 44% over a period of 10 days. Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, said: “that is a terrible terrible thing to create an event that sends debris in an apogee that goes above the international space station.” He also said that “We are charged with enabling more activities in space than we’ve ever seen before for the purpose of benefiting the human condition”. Referring to various experi-ments and research being done on ISS, he said “whether it’s pharmace–uticalss or printing human organs in 3-D to save lives here on Earth, or manufacturing capabilities in space that you’re not able to do in a gravity well, all of those are placed at risk when these kinds of events happen”
Top three teams, competing in the latest level of NASA’s “3-D Printed Habitat Challenge”, have been awarded a share of $100,000. Team SEArch+/Apis Corn, who won the first prize in the software modeling, presented a unique shaped habitat which is structurally designed to reinforce itself continuously and allows light to enter through trough-shaped ports on the sides and top. Zopherous won the second price and their design would be autonomously built by a roving printer.
3D-Printing
The roving printer would construct habitat one at a time and then move to the next site. Mars incubators came up with a model consisting of four volumes separated into functional zones which will provide a safe and robust environment for human life on earth.
3D-printed-habitat-challenge
The teams also made short interactive videos providing detailed insights into their designs and 3-D miniature models to showcase the interiors. The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge is a competition to create sustainable shelters suitable for the Moon, Mars or beyond using resources available on-site in these locations. The multi-level 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge puts teams to the test in several areas of 3D-printing, including modeling software, material development, and construction. In addition to aiding human space exploration, technologies sought from this competition could also lead to lower-cost housing solutions on Earth and other benefits.
zopherus-exterior-NASA-3D Printing
The latest level ― Complete Virtual Construction ― is one of the multi-level competition comprised of three phases and was started in 2015 by NASA in a partnership with NASA’s Centennial Challenges program and Bradley University.
Imperial College London, held fifth annual science competition. The competition invited pupils from secondary schools and for the first time was open to international students. Out of a total of 150 participating teams, from across the globe, seven were chosen to showcase their projects at Imperial College in front of live audience and panel of judges.
The Science steins team
The competition aims to encourage and motivate young students through fun activities involving the solution of global problems. The competition’s aims were aligned with four of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations ― affordable and clean energy, good health, clean water, and sanitation.
Dr Jess Wade trying out the piezo electric plate
The winning team from Pui Ching Middle School, Macau, presented the idea of Zinc-air batteries, powered from reacting zinc and oxygen. These are not only rechargeable but also have low cost, safe and environment-friendly. But the reaction was carried out in the presence of platinum and palladium which are rare and expensive elements. The team has, therefore, replaced platinum and palladium with Metal-Organic Framework (MOF), a crystalline material composed of a 3D network of metal ions.
ICL Fringe March 2018 | Photo by Owen Billcliffe Photography
Sciencesteins, the runner up team, presented an idea for treatment of polluted water through nanorobots―tiny machines designed to perform a specific task at nano-dimensions. Another team, The Handy-Capable, worked on the challenge of clean and affordable energy: their idea was to place the piezoelectric plates (plates made from materials which accum-ulate electric charge in response to certain mechanical stress) before and after ticket barriers at train stations to power London streetlights.
The winners and runners up won trophies while all participants were given certificates and a Schools Science Competition mug.
