🌑 Robot explorers to get nuclear heaters to fight harsh lunar nights, Tesla Roadster in space could hit the Earth, Heroic WW2 submarine that sunk most Japanese warships found

The harsh lunar night is more relevant than ever as nations set their sights on exploring the moon. Temperatures dip below 292°Fahrenheit (below 180°Celsius) in some areas, making it a daunting task for space engineers.

Conventional rovers and landers’ equipment cannot cope with such harsh circumstances. In the past missions, most of them have only been able to survive one lunar night.

iSpace and the University of Leicester are collaborating to develop nuclear-powered heaters that could warm robotic explorers during lunar nights and help conduct missions of longer duration. For more on this breaking news, check out today’s Must-Read.

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🌑 Robot explorers to get nuclear heaters to fight freezing lunar nights

Researchers at iSpace, the Japanese space company, and the University of Leicester envision Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) as a game-changer for future missions.

The heat generated by radioisotope decay is leveraged to keep spacecraft components, instruments, and other systems at the proper temperature. “The radioisotope power technology … is performing extremely well in our ongoing testing campaigns,” said Hannah Sargeant, the project lead at the University of Leicester.

NASA’s Perseverance rover uses a similar type of nuclear system to convert heat from plutonium-238’s natural radioactive decay into energy. Additionally, Europe’s upcoming Rosalind Franklin rover will leverage a similar technique to survive on the Red Planet.

🚘 Tesla car tossed into space 6 years ago may come closest to Earth in 2047

In 2018, SpaceX launched a Tesla Roadster into space, with Starman— a mannequin in a spacesuit— in the driving seat. According to a non-peer-reviewed paper, this Roadster has a 22 percent chance of hitting the Earth, albeit after centuries.

Additionally, the researchers predict that the car might also collide with Venus or the Sun, and a 12 percent chance of either of the two events taking place. The Tesla Roadster is currently 62,336,834 miles (100,321,441 km, 0.671 AU, 5.58 light minutes) away from Earth.

The Tesla is now drifting on a Mars-crossing orbit and is not expected to make any further course corrections. As per the paper, the object will likely burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere without causing much damage, or we will have better means of diverting it when it arrives.

🛥️ US’ WW2 submarine that sunk most Japanese warships found after 80 years

A US Navy submarine that sunk almost 80 years ago during WWII has been found. The wreckage of USS Harder was discovered off Okinawa, Japan, 3750 feet deep inside water.

The submarine sank the most Japanese warships during the Second World War, contributing to the US’ victory. The vessel was sunk by the Japanese escort ship CD-22 on the morning of August 24, 1944. Its three torpedoes had missed CD-22, but the Japanese escort ship’s depth charge attack led to its sinking.

The US Navy’s History and Heritage Command (NNHC) revealed that its Underwater Archaeology Branch confirmed the wreck site they discovered as the final resting place of USS Harder using data collected and provided by Time Taylor, CEO of Tiburon Subsea, and the Lost 52 Project.

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