December 2019

A fragment of Muonionalusta meteorite

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports an analysis of the isotopic composition of six groups of iron meteorites, and the results offer evidence that some of the materials that formed the planet Earth came from red giant stars. Mattias Ek of the University of Bristol, Alison C. Hunt, Maria Lugaro and Maria Schönbächler examined in particular the isotopic composition of palladium finding that some dust has a composition that can be produced only by nuclear reactions that take place in red giants’ inner regions. This offers an explanation of the greater presence of that type of dust on Earth than on Mars or in asteroids.

The Progress MS-13 cargo spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket (Image courtesy Roscosmos)

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A little while ago the Progress MS-13 spacecraft blasted off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After about nine minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and was placed on its route. The cargo spacecraft began its resupply mission to the International Space Station also called Progress 74 or 74P. In this mission, the route used is out of the ordinary since the journey will last about three days.

The Dragon cargo spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in its CRS-19 (Cargo Resupply Service 19) mission, also referred to as SPX-19. After just over ten minutes it separated successfully from the rocket’s last stage and went en route. This is the 19th mission for the Dragon spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station with various cargoes and then return to Earth, again with various cargoes.