The island nation of Maldives is a tourist attraction. (Source: business-standard) The Maldives Islands have decided entry ban for people from South Asian countries; including India, in an effort to prevent the spread of the acute respiratory infection pandemic COVID-19 . The Maldives Ministry of Tourism on May 12 said: “The Maldivian government has decided to temporarily stop issuing tourist visas to visitors from South Asian countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.” The ban also applies to passengers who transit more than 24 hours in these countries and who have been to these countries within the past 14 days. Meanwhile, guests from other countries are still allowed to go to the Maldives resort islands if available negative PCR test within 96 hours before entry, but do not have contact with local people. Previously, the Maldives has reopened tourist resorts from July 2020 after 3 months of closure against the epidemic. But the country has recorded a record high number of new infections per day (1,500 cases on May 11), while a month ago, this number was less than 100 cases / day.

Illustration. That could improve your chances of discovering organisms in distant worlds. How to find exoplanets Since 1999, a process of detecting exoplanets called the transit method has found thousands of other worlds by measuring the brightness of the stars that these planets orbit around. No one knows if these planets have any life, but if scientists observe the Earth using this method, they will probably detect signs of life. Once those signs are identified from Earth observations, experts can then find similar clues in the exoplanets. Scientists have recently described this approach as a mission called the Earth Transit Observer (ETO). This year, they presented this at the 52nd Moon and Planetary Science Conference. Most of the exoplanets we know of are found by transit, according to the US NASA Space Agency. Modern telescopes such as the Kepler Space Telescope and the Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) can detect exoplanets when the path of a planet dims a star’s light overnight. slice. This is true even for stars thousands of light-years away. Scientists can estimate the magnitude of a planet based on the amount of light it is blocking and calculate the size of its orbit. The size and temperature of a host star as well as the distance between the planet and the star will provide additional clues as to whether exoplanets have life or not. The measure of transit can also hint at an exoplanet’s atmosphere. During a transit, a star’s light is filtered through atmospheric molecules. This could help researchers identify elements like oxygen and methane there. Such signs are often so small that astronomers need more transit observations to confirm the existence of these elements – according to a statement by the scientists. However, other factors on exoplanets and stars can affect the reading of molecules in the atmosphere. For example, planets change with the seasons, weather patterns and ocean currents. In addition, the activity of the Sun, such as the rise and fall of the solar wind, and the formation of solar storms also change. Any of these conditions can shape the behavior of the atmosphere, thus potentially affecting the proportion of molecules and elements in their atmosphere. Illustration. Finding “New Earth” Lead author Laura Mayorga of the planet-finding mission article in the Journal of Planetary Science says that, to understand those variables, “you need to know your stars as well as predict your planets. what do you look like ”. This can be a challenge when both the stars and the exoplanets are alien. “This is a very difficult problem,” says exoplanet astronomer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel Maryland (USA). Luckily, scientists already have all of those answers for a pair of inhabited planets and stars. That is our Earth and the Sun. For the ETO mission, a small satellite with a device capable of imaging near-violet to near-infrared light spectrum will observe the Earth as it passes in front of the Sun. The spectrophotometer will check for water and carbon dioxide markers as well as biological markers – oxygen and methane, ozone and methane. Besides, it is to point out the favorable conditions for life (of course, also to see if the signs are unique to Earth or not). The transit technique used in such an investigation would be similar to the technique used by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study some of the thousands of exoplanets, scientists say. know moving through their host stars ”. Since we all know the climate change on Earth and the patterns of the Sun’s activity, scientists can observe how they affect the reading of atmospheric molecules and then apply them to our observations. close to the “new Earth”. “The Solar System is the only place where we know all the answers. We can test our technique, point out limitations and make a connection between the results, ”said Mayorga in the statement -“ Then we can connect that with Unanswered observations from exoplanets ”. Scientists plan to submit the ETO proposal to NASA’s Astrophysical Pioneer Program in the fall of 2021.

Image source: NASA

NASA shared a set of pictures showing what the upcoming Lunar Gateway space station (Lunar Gateway) looks like when it launches to the moon in 2024.

NASA said the orbiting laboratory will provide astronauts with a “distant home” during their lunar trips and serve as a lunar replenishment station. This orbital laboratory can accommodate 4 people, and NASA will cooperate with existing partners of the International Space Station in Europe, Japan and Canada.

Most of the space station will be built by commercial partners and will provide a docking port for the SpaceX starship lunar lander, which will transport astronauts between the orbital base and the lunar surface.

NASA also confirmed that the platform will help solve one of the biggest problems of space travel outside the Earth’s orbit by measuring radiation levels. The radiation detection research instrument kit is planned to be launched in the first module of the multi-purpose international outpost, which will orbit in an elliptical 7-day orbit around the moon.

The “Lunar Gateway Space Station” is the core part of the “Artemis” mission. By 2024, NASA will send the first woman and a man to the moon, but this may be delayed. Most of them will be launched to the moon using NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket.

The development of the rocket is almost complete, and the first test flight will be carried out later this year or early next year, which will allow the Orion spacecraft to fly around the moon without a crew.

However, NASA announced in February that they would use SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle to begin construction of the “Gateway” space station. SpaceX will launch the basic modules of the Moon’s Orbital Gate, including Power and Propulsion Elements (PPE) and Residence and Logistics Outpost (HALO). They are expected to be launched to the moon in May 2024 at the earliest, but may also be October 2024 at the latest.

According to the Artemis plan for manned return to the moon, NASA hopes to use the Space Launch System rocket to send four astronauts into the Orion capsule, and then dock with the “Gateway” lunar space station.

The first manned mission will be called “Artemis 3”, and up to 4 astronauts will enter the lunar orbit in the “Orion” space capsule. If ready, they will be there and “Gateway”. “Butt.

Image source: NASA

The starship will be ready, waiting to dock with the portal to welcome the two astronauts on the last part of their journey on the surface of the moon. The idea is to make the “Portal” an intermediary, but in the initial mission, “Orion” may directly dock with the starship-if the “Portal” is not ready yet.

Astronauts will stay on the moon for a week, then board the starship to return to lunar orbit, and then take Orion back to Earth. When it starts in 2024, the “gateway” can accommodate up to 4 people, but over time, it is expected that facilities will increase and new modules will be added.

This is similar to the growth of the International Space Station, which currently has 7 personnel. Since its launch in the late 1990s, it has gradually increased from 3 to 6 people.

In the future, with the launch of the new module of the Lunar Gateway Space Station, it may become a science and exploration center far away from the Earth’s near orbit.

There will be four core modules at launch, the power and propulsion element (PPE), which was originally part of the asteroid redirection mission, but was later cancelled by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory team.

Image source: NASA

It will serve as the “gateway” command and communication center and provide power to a wider range of sites. It was built by Maxar Technologies, which won a $375 million contract from NASA.

The second major module, which will be launched by SpaceX in 2024, is the Residential and Logistics Outpost (HALO), built by Northrop Grumman and headquartered in the United States. “Cygnus Cargo” (Cygnus Cargo) supply module. It will be equipped with a pair of interfaces, batteries, communication antennas and a fully pressurized cabin for command, control and data processing capabilities.

The third module, built by the European Space Agency, is called the European System Fuel Support, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT) module, and will also be launched in 2024. It will provide additional power, communications, airlocks and scientific capabilities for the other two core modules, built by Airbus and Thales Alenia Aerospace.

Prospective Economist APP Information Group