The most interesting events of astronautics and astronomy for the week (01.03-07.03)

This week was no less interesting than the previous ones: earthly apparatuses still plow the expanses of the Universe, ride the surface of other worlds and send the results of their explorations to Earth. Earthly engineers and scientists are working tirelessly, working on the implementation of new and old projects.

As a result, the piggy bank of scientific knowledge is being constantly updated, and the data obtained by scientists are very important. In continuation - the main events in astronautics and astronautics for this week. If you missed something, there is a chance to fill the gap.

20% of the surface of Mars was covered by the ocean

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Scientists have found that the surface of Mars was covered by the ocean . It was a long time ago, about 4.5 billion years ago, but it was. And the ocean has existed for many millions of years. How the climate change took place on the Red Planet is not yet completely clear. But almost no one questions the fact that Mars used to have a much milder climate than now.

The video model of the ocean of the past can be viewed here .

SpaceX is a profitable company!

Ilon Musk achieved that one of his companies, SpaceX, became profitable . So, thanks to the conclusion of contracts with a number of partners, the company received billions of dollars. And although most of the money will be spent on the performance of contract work, SpaceX will have a considerable income in the piggy bank.

In Europe, the spaceport may appear

Plans to create a space center in the UK have received the approval of both the public and the government . So far, this project exists only in the form of plans and blueprints, but it is likely that the space center will still be built. And this means that Europe itself will be able to send its vehicles into space, plus carry out contract work on the removal of payloads outside the Earth.

When will the spaceport, and how much it will cost, is unclear. Nevertheless, the probability of this event is quite high.

Curiosity has problems

There was a big trouble with the Curiosity rover: <a href='http://geektimes.ru/post/246718/"> a brief short-circuit that stopped the device's manipulator. This tool is one of the most important for the rover if something happens to manipulator, the functionality of the device is significantly reduced.

Now NASA engineers are testing the entire system and are trying to figure out how to avoid problems in the future. In addition, it is vital to find out exactly where the short circuit occurred.

Astronomers have found an unusual galaxy on the edge of the universe.

Scientists have discovered one of the oldest known galaxies - at the moment the age of A1689-zD1 is 12.8 billion years. This means that the galaxy formed approximately 700 million years after the Big Bang.

But the composition of the galaxy is unusual: A1689-zD1 is rich in heavy metals and about the same ratio of dust and gas is found in it, as in our Milky Way. It turns out that in this galaxy, star formation was unusually fast. Now experts are actively discussing this problem, trying to find an explanation for the features of the object.

Supernova explosion and Einstein's Cross

Another significant event for science happened just the other day: a combined team of astronomers from the USA, Denmark, Italy, France, Australia could observe a supernova explosion four times, as a result of the distortion of the trajectory of light rays by the strong gravitational field of the MACS J1149.6 + 2223 galaxy cluster.

This phenomenon is called Einstein's Cross .