Science

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Earth will have a small asteroid zip close by in March

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This upcoming March will bring with it a small (relatively speaking) asteroid that will zip by our planet at its closest distance so far. The asteroid previously flew by Earth a couple years ago at a distance of 1.3 million miles, nowhere close to hitting us. This upcoming time, though, it may come as close as 11,000 miles to our planet, one of many possible trajectories.


This latest instance of an asteroid getting up close and personal involves 2013 TX68, a piece of space rock that is about 30 meters/100ft across. Fortunately, the odds of it hitting Earth during future flybys are very low, and people shouldn’t worry. Still, on March 5, the asteroid may get very close, depending on which trajectory it ends up following.

While TX68 could get as close as 11,000 miles, it may end up passing by as far away as 9 million miles, a substantial span of space. NASA, which has been tracking near Earth objects (NEOs) such as this, says the March flyby in no way could result in an impact, however. The nearest very improbable but possible impact would in late September 2017.

The odds are extremely low, though, being only 1 in 250 million odds. Other flybys happening in 2046 and 2097 also could result in impacts, but are said to have even lower odds than next year. Should an asteroid of its size ever impact Earth, though, it could cause damage and injuries if it were to fall in a populated region.

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Researchers develop carbon nanotube material stronger than kevlar

While the material pictured above might not look like much, it is actually both stronger and more pliable than kevlar or carbon fiber. Developed by researchers from the East China University of Science & Technology, the film is made from carbon nanotubes, getting its strength from tubes that remain aligned parallel to each other, as opposed to other materials that use different layouts.


The process to create the carbon nanotube material is comparable to glass-blowing, with the team of researchers coating a tube with a layer of carbon nanotubes using nitrogen gas, and then putting in a furnace at a temperature of 2,100°F. Afterwards, the tubular material cools in a flattened position, as a layer of film, which can then be compressed further under pressure.

Not only is the new film stronger than existing materials, with an average of 9.6 gigapascals compared to kevlar's 3.7 GPa and carbon fiber's 7 GPa, but it can be stretched as well, with an 8% extension rate. That tops carbon fiber's stretching ability of 2% by a significant deal.

The hope is that the material will find use as a structural coating for things like vehicles or aerospace parts, and since it offers electrical conductivity it could act as electrodes at one point.

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China is Building a Floating Spaceport for Rocket Launches

In the near future, launch facilities located at sea are expected to be a lot more common. SpaceX announced that it is hoping to create offshore facilities in the near future for the sake of launching the Starship away from populated areas. And China, the latest member of the superpowers-in-space club, is currently building the “Eastern Aerospace Port” off the coast of Haiyang city in the eastern province of Shandong.

This mobile launch facility is being developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country’s largest aerospace and defense contractor. Once fully operational, it will be used to launch light vehicles, as well as for building and maintaining rockets, satellites, and related space applications. As China’s fifth launch facility, it will give the country’s space program a new degree of flexibility.

The addition of a sea platform will also help mitigate the risk to populated areas. At present, all of China’s other launch facilities are located inland at Jiuquan (northwest China), Taiyuan (north), Xichang (southwest), and the coastal site at Wenchang (south) on the island of Hainan. Launches from these locations often result in spent stages falling back to Earth, which requires extensive safety and cleanup operations.

Chart showing the number of launches per year for China. Credit: M. Williams/Data: Jonathan’s Space Page/Graphics: Visme.co
The addition of a floating spaceport is also in keeping with the expansion in launch services that China has seen in recent years. In the last 20 years, the country has seen an exponential increase in launches made using the Long March rocket family. In 2001, the CNSA performed only one launch using a Long March 2F. That number increased to 37 by 2018, using a combination of the Long March 2, 3, 4, and 11 models.

The agency has managed to conduct 26 launches so far this year, in spite of the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also hoped that the addition of the spaceport just off the coast of the Shangdong Peninsula will lead to the development of an aerospace and industrial manufacturing cluster in the region, which includes the construction of a commercial launch complex near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Much of this growth is due to large-scale projects, which include the third iteration of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. In addition, China has announced its intention to create constellations supporting satellite internet, as well as and other space-related “infrastructures” that will support its growing national space program and burgeoning commercial space industry.

A good deal of this growth can also be attributed to the political reforms that have taken place in China’s aerospace sector in recent years. In 2014, the federal government opened the sector to private investment for the first time. In early August, CAST also underwent an internal merger where some of its institutes came together to create the new Remote Sensing Satellite General Department.

Three weeks ago, CASC signed an agreement with its fellow state-owned aerospace and defense company and contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC). The agreement calls for an increase in cooperation to bolster China’s competitiveness in the international arena and foster the development of military and national strategic capabilities.

The first launch of a Long March 11 from the Eastern Aerospace Port took place on June 5th, 2019 – which transported seven satellites to orbit. Another Long March 11 was launched for the first time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Thursday, May 24th, which carried two technology-demonstrator satellites to orbit.

The crews at are hoping to mount a second launch with the Long March 11 before the end of 2020, with an early launch possibility in the next few weeks. The site was also visited recently by Wang Xiaojun, the head of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), which is overseen by CASC, who indicated that they were making “substantial progress” on the facility.

These and other advancements are part of China’s evolving 14th Five Year Plan (2021-2025), which is expected to include the launch of all the components that will make up the Chinese Large Modular Space Station from 2021 to 2023. China also plans to send three sample-return missions (Chang’e-5, 6, and 7) to the Moon as part of the Chinese Lunar Exploration (Chang’e) program.