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 of the International Space Station; CBS announces the return of 

 to the small screen after a decade-long absence; and NASA is asking who has the right stuff to become one of the next generation of astronauts to soar among the stars. 

Learn how Mars lost its atmosphere to the solar wind, how crickets soar in our own atmosphere, and watch the thermonuclear fire of the sun in ultraviolet light.

Last weekend's reading list


NASA wants you to apply to be an astronaut.  In anticipation of returning to the business of launching manned space flights from the U.S., NASA is looking to expand its astronaut ranks. Between the commercial manned craft being developed, the International Space Station and the upcoming 

 spacecraft, astronauts will soon have many options for leaving the atmosphere. 

How NASA is steering New Horizons toward a tiny space rock in the Kuiper Belt


As New Horizons continues to stream data from the Pluto flyby, planning for the next flyby is already in motion. The probe is 

 2014 MU69, a Kuiper belt object, for a rendezvous in January 2019. 

Inside the 50-year quest to build a mechanical heart


From the Jarvik heart to the latest artificial hearts of Carmat and SynCardia, the search for a man-made replacement heart is an elusive grail. 

The solar wind stripped most of the atmosphere from Mars when the magnetic field stopped

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) team has been able to determine the mechanisms and rate by which the atmosphere of Mars was stripped away. The sun emits a constant stream of ionized particles — the solar wind — and on planets with strong magnetic fields, like Earth, the solar wind is held at bay, protecting the atmosphere. Without this field, the planet is exposed to the raw solar wind, allowing it to strip away the atmosphere. 

The MAVEN team estimates that most of the atmospheric loss happened between 4.2 and 3.7 billion years ago, starting when the magnetic field of Mars ceased around 4.2 billion years ago. The exact cause for the ending of Mars' magnetic field is unknown and another mission is studying that. Currently on Mars the solar wind strips away around a quarter pound of oxygen and carbon dioxide each day. 

NASA | Solar Wind Strips Martian Atmosphere


A camel cricket is able to jump long distances, and remain stable during the flight, by using its entire body to soar through the air. 


30 minutes of the nuclear fire that keep us warm from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.


NASA | Thermonuclear Art – The Sun In Ultra-HD (4K)

Science

William Lager

Author

NASA wants you to be an astronaut to soar among the stars -- or, soar with the crickets and learn how Mars lost its atmosphere.

Soar as an astronaut or with the crickets: Your weekend reading list

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