Growing number of Americans want astronauts to visit Mars
The poll found that 67 per cent of Americans wish to see astronauts return to the moon, with 65 per cent supporting missions to Mars.
Support for space exploration is consistent across all age demographics, with younger adults aged 18-29 showing the highest favourability at 71 per cent.
A significant majority, 77 per cent, believe the 1969 moon landing was a worthwhile endeavour.
Most Americans also feel that space exploration contributes positively to both national pride and scientific advancements.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Radioactive wasp nest found at site where US once made nuclear bombs
Workers at a site in South Carolina that once made key parts for nuclear bombs in the U.S. have found a radioactive wasp nest but officials said there is no danger to anyone. Employees who routinely check radiation levels at the Savannah River Site near Aiken found a wasp nest on July 3 on a post near tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy. The nest had a radiation level 10 times what is allowed by federal regulations, officials said. The workers sprayed the nest with insect killer, removed it and disposed of it as radioactive waste. No wasps were found, officials said. The report said there is no leak from the waste tanks, and the nest was likely radioactive through what it called 'onsite legacy radioactive contamination' from the residual radioactivity left from when the site was fully operational. The watchdog group Savannah River Site Watch said the report was at best incomplete since it doesn't detail where the contamination came from, how the wasps might have encountered it and the possibility there could be another radioactive nest if there is a leak somewhere. Knowing the type of wasp nest could also be critical — some wasps make nest out of dirt and others use different material which could pinpoint where the contamination came from, Tom Clements, executive director of the group, wrote in a text message. 'I'm as mad as a hornet that SRS didn't explain where the radioactive waste came from or if there is some kind of leak from the waste tanks that the public should be aware of,' Clements said. The tank farm is well inside the boundaries of the site and wasps generally fly just a few hundred yards from their nests, so there is no danger they are outside the facility, according to a statement from Savannah River Mission Completion which now oversees the site. If there had been wasps found, they would have significantly lower levels of radiation than their nests, according to the statement which was given to the Aiken Standard. The site was opened in the early 1950s to manufacture the plutonium pits needed to make the core of nuclear bombs during the start of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Now the site has shifted toward making fuel for nuclear plants and clean up. The site generated more than 165 million gallons (625 million liters) of liquid nuclear waste which has, through evaporation, been reduced to about 34 million gallons (129 million liters), according to Savannah River Mission Completion. There are still 43 of the underground tanks in use while eight have been closed.
STV News
2 hours ago
- STV News
Satellite launched by India and Nasa to track changes to Earth's land and ice
Nasa and India have teamed up to launch an Earth-mapping satellite capable of tracking the slightest shifts in land and ice. The $1.3bn (£980m) mission will help forecasters and first responders stay one step ahead of floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions and other disasters, according to scientists. Rocketing to orbit from India, the satellite will survey virtually all of Earth's terrain multiple times. Its two radars – one from the US and the other from India – will operate day and night, peering through clouds, rain and foliage to collect troves of data in extraordinary detail. Microwave signals beamed down to Earth from the dual radars will bounce back up to the satellite's super-sized antenna reflector perched at the end of a boom like a beach umbrella. Scientists will compare the incoming and outgoing signals as the spacecraft passes over the same locations twice every 12 days, teasing out changes as small as a fraction of an inch. It's 'a first-of-its-kind, jewel radar satellite that will change the way we study our home planet and better predict a natural disaster before it strikes,' Nasa's science mission chief Nicky Fox said ahead of liftoff. Ms Fox led a small Nasa delegation to India for the launch. PA Media The Nisar satellite at the Indian Space Research Organisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Indian Space Research Organisation/Nasa/AP) 'Congratulations India!' minister of science and technology Jitendra Singh posted once the satellite safely reached orbit, adding that the mission 'will benefit the entire world community'. Nasa's deputy associate administrator Casey Swails, part of the delegation that travelled to India, said it 'really shows the world what our two nations can do. But more so than that, it really is a pathfinder for the relationship building'. It will take a week to extend the satellite's 30ft boom and open the 39ft-in-diameter drum-shaped reflector made of gold-plated wire mesh. Science operations should begin by the end of October. Among the satellite's most pressing measurements: melting glaciers and polar ice sheets; shifting groundwater supplies; motion and stress of land surfaces prompting landslides and earthquakes; and forest and wetland disruptions boosting carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Nasa is contributing $1.2bn (£900m) to the three-year mission – it supplied the low-frequency radar and reflector. The Indian Space Research Organisation's $91m (£68m) share includes the higher-frequency radar and main satellite structure, as well as the launch from a barrier island in the Bay of Bengal. It is the biggest space collaboration between the two countries. The satellite called Nisar – short for Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar – will operate from a near-polar-circling orbit 464 miles high. It will join dozens of Earth observation missions already in operation by the US and India. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Terrifying bioweapon plot that could destroy America without firing a shot... as expert reveals just how close it is to success
In a chilling warning from a top military strategist, China appears to be developing biological weapons — including deadly crop killers and parasites — in a shadow war aimed at crippling America from within. A bombshell report from James Kraska at the US Naval War College shows how Beijing could be working to harness bioweapons as the perfect tool for 'widespread disruption without kinetic conflict.'
