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Jeff Bezos may have been beaten to space by rival Richard Branson, but the billionaire American businessman is poised to make history next week aboard what would be the world’s first unpiloted suborbital flight with an all-civilian crew.

Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, is due to be part of a four-person crew for a planned 11-minute ride to the edge of space on Tuesday inside his company Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft, another milestone in the nascent and potentially lucrative space tourism sector.

He is set to be joined by his brother and private equity executive Mark Bezos, trailblazing octogenarian woman aviator Wally Funk, and an as-yet-unidentified person who paid $28 million (roughly Rs. 210 crores) for a spot aboard the spacecraft, scheduled to launch from a West Texas site.

New Shepard is a 60-foot-tall (18.3-meters-tall) and fully autonomous rocket-and-capsule combo that cannot be piloted from inside the spacecraft. The crew is set to include only civilians and none of Blue Origin’s employees or staff astronauts, three people familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters.

Blue Origin’s astronauts include NASA space shuttle veteran Nicholas Patrick.

“To see the Earth from space, it changes you, it changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity,” Bezos said in a video last month discussing the flight.

There has never before been a fully autonomous suborbital or orbital flight with an all-civilian crew, Teal Group space industry analyst Marco Caceres said.

Branson, the British billionaire businessman, was aboard his company Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane for its pioneering suborbital flight from New Mexico on Sunday. The Virgin Galactic flight included two pilots, as well as the company’s chief astronaut instructor and its lead operations engineer.

New Shepard lifts off from a standing position on a launch pad, like traditional rocket launches. With Virgin Galactic, a rocket-powered spaceplane was dropped from a carrier plane in mid-air.

New Shepard, like Virgin Galactic’s flight, will not enter into orbit around Earth, but will take the passengers some 62 miles up (100km) before the capsule returns by parachute. Virgin Galactic’s flight reached 53 miles (86km) above Earth.

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s space transportation company SpaceX is planning an even-more-ambitious mission in September, sending an all-civilian crew for a several-day orbital flight aboard its Crew Dragon capsule.

‘Simple math’

Blue Origin’s flight is two decades in the making. Bezos founded the company in 2000. A pilotless craft was a financial strategy adopted by Blue Origin executives years ago.

“It’s simple math,” said one of the people familiar with the company’s thinking. “If you design a system so that you don’t need a pilot or a co-pilot you can have more paying customers.”

New Shepard can accommodate six people. Blue Origin and industry insiders had previously discussed company employees going up on the first flight.

A Blue Origin spokesperson confirmed the decision was made for four seats to offer an enhanced customer experience for the first flight.

The decision to skip over Blue Origin’s staff astronauts and technical experts has caused frustration for some company insiders who viewed the first crewed flight as a crucial opportunity to gather data and technical feedback for a program in its infancy, and to evaluate the experience for future paying customers, the sources said.

A seasoned astronaut would provide a calming presence for civilian crew members as New Shepard blasts off at speeds upwards of 2,200 miles (3,540km) per hour, the sources added.

The crew members will receive two days of training. Blue Origin has assigned two staff members, on the ground, to help the passengers strap in and to provide point-by-point instructions over headsets during the mission.

“It’s kind of like getting on a ride at an amusement park,” Caceres said. “You just trust that everything has been checked out, is in good working order … and you just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

Some industry sources have expressed concerns that passengers – overwhelmed by the experience or in a state of euphoria – could be rattled by routine noises, miss key instructions, pass out or injure themselves floating around the cabin, potentially dangerous scenarios a trained astronaut could respond to.

Funk, 82, was one of 13 women who passed the same rigorous testing as the Mercury Seven male astronauts in NASA’s 1960s space programme but were denied the chance to become astronauts because of their gender.

Proving the safety of space travel is important to developing what Swiss investment bank UBS estimates will be a $3 billion (roughly Rs. 22,350 crores) annual tourism market a decade from now.

“One of the main goals of the New Shepard mission is to demonstrate that going to suborbital space is perfectly safe for the average person,” Caceres said. “So there is a benefit to having as many average people on these flights as possible.”

© Thomson Reuters 2021

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Mealworms Can Eat Plastic, But Study Shows Limited Impact on Pollution Crisis

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December 4, 2024

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Mealworms Can Eat Plastic, But Study Shows Limited Impact on Pollution Crisis

An experiment conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia has revealed the limited potential of mealworms in addressing plastic pollution. The study, published in Biology Letters on December 4, estimated that 100 mealworms would take approximately 138 days, or 4.5 months, to consume a single disposable face mask made from polypropylene. The findings underscore the challenges of relying on insect larvae for large-scale plastic degradation as per various reports.

Plastic Pollution and Microplastics: A Growing Concern

The research focused on microplastics, which are plastic fragments smaller than 5 millimetres and linked to severe health issues such as increased risks of heart attacks and strokes, as suggested by prior studies. Earlier experiments had demonstrated the ability of several insect species, including yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) and superworms (Zophobas atratus), to degrade various types of plastics. However, most of those studies utilised powdered or pure forms of plastic, rather than the manufactured items people use daily, as reported by researchers.

Real-World Testing and Observations

Led by ecologist Dr Michelle Tseng, the team opted for a more realistic approach by using disposable face masks containing additional materials from manufacturing processes. To encourage consumption, the plastic was processed into microbits and blended with wheat bran. According to Dr Tseng in a statement, the insects readily consumed this mixture, termed “face-mask granola.”

No significant reduction in the insects’ lifespan was observed. However, questions regarding the safety of using these larvae as feedstock in agriculture, particularly for poultry, were raised. Dr Tseng noted that mealworms consuming large amounts of microplastics may not remain safe for further use in food chains, as reported.

Challenges and Future Directions

The feasibility of using mealworms for large-scale plastic degradation remains doubtful due to the slow consumption rate. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia alone reportedly used 2 billion face masks per day, highlighting the impracticality of such a solution. Researchers have suggested that exploring the microbial composition of these insects could lead to advancements in waste breakdown technologies. Nonetheless, reducing plastic usage is emphasised as the most effective approach to managing this environmental crisis.

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Climate Change Causes Decline in Rice Quality Across East Asia, New Study Suggests

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December 4, 2024

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Climate Change Causes Decline in Rice Quality Across East Asia, New Study Suggests

A decline in rice quality across East Asia has been attributed to climate warming, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters. The research, led by Dr Xianfeng Liu of Shaanxi Normal University in China, highlights the vulnerability of rice—a dietary staple for billions—to rising temperatures. Using 35 years of data from Japan and China, the team analysed how various climate factors affect the “head rice rate” (HRR), a critical measure of rice quality based on the proportion of intact grains after milling.

Key Climate Factors Impacting Rice Quality

The study identified warmer nighttime temperatures as the primary driver behind reduced rice quality, as per reports. For Japan, HRR began declining at night temperatures exceeding 12 degrees Celsius, while for China, the threshold was 18 degrees celsius. Elevated nighttime temperatures during flowering and grain development phases were found to hinder photosynthesis and starch accumulation, causing more grains to break during processing.

Reportedly, solar radiation emerged as the second most significant factor, with higher radiation levels linked to reduced HRR. Other contributing factors included reduced precipitation and increased daytime vapor pressure deficit, with HRR declining when the latter exceeded 0.5–1 kPa.

Projected Declines in Rice Quality

As per multiple reports, projections under moderate and high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios suggest that rice quality will continue to deteriorate. Between 2020 and 2100, HRR is expected to decline by up to 1.5 percent in Japan and 5 percent in China, with the impact intensifying after 2050 under higher emissions. Southern regions in both countries, closer to the equator and more vulnerable to rising nighttime temperatures, face the greatest challenges.

Implications for Food Security

The findings raise concerns over the adaptability of rice cultivars to climate change. Southern provinces in China, the nation’s primary rice-growing regions, may struggle to mitigate these impacts, posing risks to food security, human nutrition, and economic stability. The study underscores the urgent need for climate-resilient agricultural practices and crop varieties to safeguard global rice supplies.

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Fourth Planet in Kepler-51 System

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11 hours ago

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December 4, 2024

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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Fourth Planet in Kepler-51 System

A recent study published in The Astronomical Journal has revealed the discovery of a fourth planet in the Kepler-51 system, an already remarkable planetary system known for hosting three ultra-low-density “super-puff” planets. This discovery was made by a research team led by Dr Jessica Libby-Roberts, a postdoctoral fellow at Penn State’s Centre for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, and Dr Kento Masuda, Associate Professor of Earth and Space Science at Osaka University. The finding suggests that the gravitational influence of the newly identified planet, named Kepler-51e, explains unexpected variations in the transit timings of the system’s known planets.

Unexpected Findings During Observations

As per a report by Phys.org, the researchers initially aimed to study Kepler-51d using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) but observed its transit occurring two hours earlier than predicted. This significant deviation prompted further analysis of data from NASA’s Kepler and TESS telescopes, Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories such as the Apache Point Observatory (APO) and Palomar Observatory, as per reports. According to the team, only a four-planet model could account for the observed transit timing variations.

Insights Into the Kepler-51 System

Kepler-51e is believed to have a mass comparable to the existing planets in the system, following a relatively circular orbit of approximately 264 days. However, its classification as a “super-puff” remains uncertain due to the lack of transit data needed to calculate its radius and density. The inner three planets, known for their extremely low densities, continue to intrigue scientists. The team noted that accounting for the fourth planet alters previously estimated masses of the inner planets, slightly increasing their values while maintaining their status as super-puffs.

Future Implications of the Study

Dr Libby-Roberts, in a statement, indicated the potential for further exploration, stating that Kepler-51e’s orbit, located just inside the system’s habitable zone, suggests the possibility of additional planets or complex gravitational interactions. Continued observations may uncover planets farther from the star, contributing to the search for potentially habitable worlds. Researchers are also analysing data from JWST to study the atmospheric composition of Kepler-51d, which may shed light on the formation mechanisms of such unusual planets.

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