NASA has been getting pressure from Congress to embark on a mission that is dangerous – but could offer up some much needed information. They will be sending a spacecraft closer to the sun that any has ever been able to go.
NASA has already begun work on a Solar Probe mission – which is costing them close to $750 million if not more. They have ordered the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory to begin the work as of last month.
Astronomers were able to take more clearer and contrasted pictures of a black hole – which has opened new doors for discoveries to be made. For many years scientists have created their own theories over the years – but until now they have not been able to confirm any of them. One of the more important questions that they wanted an answer for was how black holes are able to discharge powerful jet particles at the speed of light.
Scientists had thought that they might have discovered a way to stop global warming or at least a way to slow it down by ‘cooling’ off the Earth. Their plan was to inject sulfate particles into the atmosphere. Unfortunately their research showed that if they were to do this they would be depleting the ozone layer and could potentially harm the Earth.
But a study performed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) cautioned that more research is needed before so-called geoengineering efforts are pursued. It specifically raised the alarm over the idea of regularly sending sulfate particles into the stratosphere to reduce the Earth’s temperature. It’s one of the most discussed geoengineering proposals put forth by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen and others.