by (CNN) After more than 50 years of quiet, the moon is about to once again become a destination for space travelers.
The public will soon know the names of the four astronauts who will venture next year on a trip around the Moon aboard the Artemis II rocket. The three Americans and a Canadian, who will be revealed on April 3 by NASA, will fly further than any human traveled during the Apollo missions.
The selection process remains secret, but the pool of astronauts is much more diverse than it was decades ago.
As alluded to in Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book on the space race, each crew member must embody “the good stuff” – demonstrating the traits of a good teammate and an effective communicator who expects to unexpected.
And when the Artemis III astronauts go even further, landing on the moon perhaps as early as 2025, they’ll need something else: the right suit.
defy gravity
Axiom Chief Engineer Jim Stein wears the new spacesuit during the Axiom Space Artemis III Lunar Spacesuit event at Space Center Houston on March 15.
This week, NASA and Axiom Space unveiled the new spacesuit that will be worn by the first woman and first person of color to walk on the moon.
The Artemis III crew will aim to land at the uncharted lunar south pole, home to frigid, permanently shadowed regions where ice has remained frozen for billions of years.
The redesigned suit allows for a greater range of motion and includes extra-insulated boots and other innovations that should make exploring the lunar surface easier. And it was about time – the spacesuits worn by American astronauts haven’t been improved since the space shuttle program was active.
The prototype of the new Axiom Space design revealed appears black, blue, and orange. However, the actual suits will be the traditional Apollo-era white to protect astronauts from wild temperature swings.
Dino-mite!
Dinosaurs were among the largest creatures to roam the Earth. Now researchers have discovered one that has broken records among giants.
A dinosaur called Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum once enjoyed nibbling on green leaves from trees – which it could easily reach because the creature had a massive neck longer than a school bus.
The sauropod’s 49.5-foot-long (15.1-meter-long) neck, the longest of any known dinosaur, allowed it to stay in place and eat for hours.
But how did Mamenchisaurus manage not to feel overwhelmed by such an extreme feature? The secret was in his air filled bones.
wonderment
A recently discovered species of orchid has been discovered in Japan.
A stunning species of orchid has just been discovered in bloom in rural gardens and suburban balconies in Japan.
The rare find, with delicate pink and white flowers that appear to be spun from glass, belongs to a group of orchids called Spiranthes, or “ladies’ tresses.”
Scientists were able to distinguish this orchid from others in its family because the flowers bloomed earlier and the plant has smooth rather than hairy stems.
Other worlds
When a NASA mission scientist recently revisited images of Venus from 1991 captured by the Magellan spacecraft, he noticed something unusual. Two photos of the same feature taken months apart looked dramatically different.
Eight months after Magellan’s first pass, a vent on one of the largest volcanoes on the planet had nearly doubled in size and was filled with a lake of lava.
The change reveals never-before-seen evidence of volcanic activity on the surface of Venus, which future missions will be able to track within a decade.
Meanwhile, the search for water on Mars has revealed signs of a recent glacier that existed near the red planet’s hot equator.
The glacier is no longer present. But the researchers spotted a crusty layer of salt that preserved surprising detail from the chunk of ice – and it’s right in an area where humans could possibly land on Mars.
secrets of the ocean
A giant mass of seaweed is heading for the coasts of Florida and elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Beware The Blob, he crawls / And jumps and slips and slides / On the floor!”
These dramatic lyrics are taken from the theme song to the 1958 film “The Blob,” but they also serve as a warning about a giant mass crossing the ocean. A tangled ball of Sargassum seaweed stretching more than 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers) has formed in the Atlantic Ocean.
The floating blob – which could be the largest on record – could dump clumps of smelly seaweed onto beaches in Florida and elsewhere along the Gulf of Mexico this summer.
This unprecedented phenomenon could pose serious risks to humans and marine life.
The mass of algae makes an excellent habitat for fish and other sea creatures, but it can also create dead zones – and even release toxic gases once it hits land.
Discoveries
Get ready to have your mind blown:
“Perhaps it’s scarier than the blob. Scientists have discovered “terrifying” rocks made from plastic debris on the volcanic island of Trindade in Brazil.
— The remains of a Roman aristocrat have been found buried with her jewelry in a lead-lined coffin after archaeologists uncovered a hidden cemetery in northern England.
— The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a twinkling new image of a rare star that is about to explode.
