China's Place in Space

China has claimed to outpace the US-based SpaceX by successfully launching the world’s first methane-liquid oxygen rocket into orbit on July 12.

A commercial Chinese firm, LandSpace, launched its Zhuque-2 rocket late Tuesday and made history as the first company to send a methane-fueled launcher into orbit.

According to state media reports, the Zhuque-2 carrier rocket, developed by LandSpace, took off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 9 a.m. and successfully completed its planned flight.

The launch of the Zhuque-2 rocket by LandSpace marked the second attempt by the Beijing-based company following an unsuccessful first launch in December.

Nonetheless, the rocket successfully deployed a test payload into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), becoming the world’s first to execute this remarkable feat.

Furthermore, this accomplishment propelled China ahead of its US competitors, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, in the race to develop carrier vehicles powered by methane.

Methane is considered a cleaner, safer, and more cost-effective propellant for reusable rockets, enhancing China’s position in the field.

Early this year, the Terran 1 rocket by Relativity Space in the US and SpaceX’s Starship experienced unsuccessful maiden launches in their endeavors to reach orbit using liquid oxygen methane propulsion.

LandSpace’s achievement also marks the second instance of a private Chinese company launching a liquid-propellant rocket, with Beijing Tianbing Technology successfully launching a kerosene-oxygen rocket in April.   READ MORE...

Ancient Methane Release

A group of scientists this week said they have discovered new evidence of how methane deposits stored deep in the seafloor can break free — and they are now trying to figure out what this could mean for our climate future.

The research published Monday suggests a major destabilization of seafloor methane off the coast of Africa around 125,000 years ago, after a global shift in currents warmed the middle depths of the ocean there by 6.8 degrees Celsius, or 12.2 degrees Fahrenheit — a massive rise.

Several scientists who reviewed the study said they weren’t ready to raise major alarms about the planet’s ample stores of subsea methane in the form of what are called hydrates. 

While most experts agree that this methane could cause tremendous warming if it somehow hits the atmosphere, many say that the gas would be unleashed only slowly as the planet warms, and that the ocean itself would protect us by absorbing most methane before it can escape to the air.

Still, the new findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscore how little we still know about how the planet will respond to our uncontrolled greenhouse gas emissions — and how unpredictable that response may be.

The new sample of sediment unearthed from the seafloor paints a picture of tumultuous events during a period of Earth’s history around 125,000 years ago, called the Eemian. 

The era has often stirred scientists’ fears about the future, for while the Earth was not much warmer than it is today, seas were 20 feet or more higher. Some suspect the West Antarctic ice sheet may have collapsed at that time — and a few have even postulated superstorms powerful enough to lift boulders atop cliffs in the Bahamas.  READ MORE...