Welcome to this edition of Over a Cup of Coffee!

In this newsletter

• Earth does not revolve around the Sun

• NASA cancels Moon rover, VIPER!

• Food tastes bland when lonely

Earth does not revolve around the Sun

It’s official now! NASA has confirmed that our planet does not actually revolve around the Sun. Do not worry, Copernicus was not wrong either. As it is with things, they are not always black or white, there is something in the middle as well. This time it is called the barycenter.

Both the Sun and the Earth are big objects in space and exert gravitational pulls on each other. Like a seesaw in space, the two objects have a point in space that balances these pulls and acts as a pivot point. This point is called the barycenter.

One would assume that since the Sun is over 100 times larger than the Earth, the barycenter for the two celestial bodies would be within the Sun, which it is most of the time. But as the Earth’s orbit is also not exactly circular, the barycenter also moves around.

The solar system's barycenter is affected by the gravitational pull of other planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, which pulls it outwards from the Sun’s boundaries.

Therefore, the barycenter moves somewhere between the center of the Sun and outside, and this is what the Earth revolves around.

Interestingly, NASA explains this on a webpage intended for kids, which makes one wonder why we did not learn this in school.

NASA cancels Moon rover, VIPER!

Earlier this week, NASA confirmed that it is abandoning its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) program as part of its budget cuts. The rover was intended to search for water ice on the lunar south pole and has cost the space agency over US$450 million.

Originally slated for a 2023 launch, NASA pushed the launch to 2024 after supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rover is finally ready, but NASA still needs to carry out additional tests to gauge how it will handle a rocket launch and a trip to the Moon. Put together, these tests would put the project cost well beyond $600 million.

So, NASA has decided to use the money to support its Artemis program instead. The rover will be disassembled and its instruments repurposed for other NASA missions, unless the private sector wants to use it instead, NASA said in a press release.

Food tastes bland when lonely

One of the major concerns for space agencies is that astronauts do not meet their nutritional needs when in space. As we prepare for longer-haul missions that will take humans to Mars and beyond, this could be potentially dangerous.

Over the years, astronauts have been given better food options than pre-packaged formula-like food, but the nutritional demands are still not met.

Previous research has attributed this to ‘fluid shift‘, where the weightlessness of space causes fluid to move to upper parts of the body, leading to swelling and nasal congestion. But even after these effects disappear, astronauts do not like the smell and taste of food.

Researchers at the RMIT University in Australia used virtual reality (VR) to simulate space-like environments and tested 54 individuals for their perception of aromas in different environments.

The team found that vanilla and almond aromas were much more intense in an International Space Station-like environment.

The researchers attribute this to a greater sense of loneliness and isolation and hope that they can use this information to design better diets for astronauts.

If you also think that your food tastes bland, then you do not have an excuse. You are on Earth!

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Ameya