#BBCSkyAtNight magazine has an article today about Philip T. Metzger's work on what are known as PSI (plume-surface interactions) with the slightly click-baity headline 'Humans may be too heavy to land on Mars'.

The article is based on a paper on arXiv by Metzger et al., dated 2021. That may seem all fine and dandy, but in fact what is on arXiv is in reality this conference paper, dated January 2009.

https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2009-1204

There have been 17 years of work in the field since then, and there is so much more that BBC Sky At Night could have pointed to, including a lot more work by Metzger just for starters.

Metzger had at the time of that paper only restarted research in this field, which had lain dormant for almost 3 decades, a few years earlier in 2004.

[Continued…]
#Mars #PlumeSurfaceInteractions #PSI #SpaceExploration #astronomy

Sky at Night Magazine: Bioluminescence and a sparkling night sky voted best Astronomy Photographer image by the public

#Photography #Astrophotograhy #SkyAtNightMagazine #BBCSkyAtNight

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/astronomy-photographer-year-peoples-choice-winner-2024

(1/2) Beautiful #aurora photographed by Saša Nikolić from Učka mountain in #Croatia. Taken on May 11, 2024 ⚡ Follow @xWxClub for more

#auroras #europe #auroraborealis #northernlights #solarstorm #stars #nightsky #geomagneticstorm #sky_brilliance #bbcskyatnight #bbcskyatnightmagazine #universetoday #astro_photography

(2/2) Beautiful #aurora photographed by Saša Nikolić from Učka mountain in #Croatia. Taken on May 11, 2024 ⚡ Follow @xWxClub for more

#auroras #europe #auroraborealis #northernlights #solarstorm #stars #nightsky #geomagneticstorm #sky_brilliance #bbcskyatnight #bbcskyatnightmagazine #universetoday #astro_photography

Mesmerizing #AuroraBorealis display above Pag, #Croatia by Danijel Palčić. Taken on May 10, 2024 ⚡ More from Danijel: https://bit.ly/danijelpalcic

#aurora #auroraborealis #northernlights #solarstorm #stars #nightsky #geomagneticstorm #sky_brilliance #bbcskyatnight #bbcskyatnightmagazine #universetoday #astro_photography

Enjoyed this month's #BBCSkyAtNight on asteroid impacts, it's a question I've been asked about a lot in my role as the local space geek.

Sometimes by worried people. If that's you, the risk for you is basically zero. Statistically, we're talking centuries before any know object *may* pose a risk to more than one person.

There's still the ludicrous sweet-spot of a ~1kg metallic killing you by fluke, but you'd be the first in recorded history. The odds are literally astronomical.