The most interesting events of astronautics and astronomy for the week (23.02-28.02)

Astronomers of the Earth make dozens of important discoveries every day, astronautics also goes forward with long strides. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of the interesting and important becomes known to the general public, that is, you and me.

Nevertheless, there is still a lot of news, and not everyone manages to keep track of important information. Today is another digest of the most interesting events in the world of astronautics and astronomy for the week.

1. Ufologists and “dinosaur skull” on Mars

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In the photos sent from Mars, a “dinosaur skull” was discovered; almost all the world's media covered the news. Nevertheless, this “skull” is a simple stone caught in a frame under a certain angle. There are no skulls, snowmen and other little drums on Mars (in any case, they have not yet been found).

2. What does a cheeseburger look like in zero gravity?

An important study conducted by astronauts on the ISS. Cosmonaut Terry Wörts made a cheeseburger under the lens of cameras , showing the world what fast food looks like in zero gravity. Probably, this information will be very important for companies that in the future will begin to deploy a network of fast food cafes in orbit. Space tourists need something to eat, right?

3. Sunset on Mars

NASA experts once again showed us all how the sunset looks on Mars. An interesting sight, it’s a pity, not a single person has ever seen it all with his own eyes.

4. Orbiter predicting drought is ready for operation.

Satellite Soil Moisture Active Passive , launched by NASA, is designed to measure the level of soil moisture in different regions. Now the satellite has successfully deployed the antenna, and scientists have obtained a reliable tool for predicting drought.

5. The main directions of the space program of China

China is doing a lot in the field of space exploration and the solar system. The important projects of China in the field of space sciences can be found here on this reference ( translation of the Chinese article from the magazine "International Space").

6. New photos of Ceres from the probe Dawn

The white spots on Ceres are becoming more visible - thanks to the Dawn probe, which is approaching a planetoid, the surface of Ceres is getting better and better.

7. Discovered the brightest quasar and a huge black hole

Chinese astronomers discovered the brightest of all known quasars , formed by a supermassive black hole with a mass of about 1.2 * 1010 solar masses. Quasar was named SDSS J0100 + 2802. The uniqueness of the find is that it is also the most distant known quasar of such a large mass. The distance to it is about 12.8 billion light years, so it appeared no later than 900 million years after the Big Bang. But current theories of the origin of quasars do not explain the possibility of the existence of such a massive black hole formed so early.

8. Google Lunar XPRIZE: Moon Racing

On the moon, there will soon be several spacecrafts created under the Google Lunar XPRIZE program at once . A device that wins the moon race will receive $ 20 million.

9. What should be the space Internet?

This is an important problem - without appropriate communications, no, the most promising expeditions will be able to send and receive important information. In space, the exchange of data is vital , it’s not chat or photo sharing on social networks.