August 2016 was the hottest month measured since contemporary records began in 1880, according to a NASA analysis.
• It was not only the hottest August ever, but also it ties July 2016 as the hottest month ever—an extraordinary occurrence.
• In 2015, the hottest October ever took place, and it was followed by the hottest November ever, and then by the hottest December ever—and this sequence continued right up to the present.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) keeps separate records, and its streak of record-breaking months stretches even further back in time: Every month since May 2015 has been the hottest version of that month ever, according to the agency.
• Second, August’s record essentially ensures that 2016 will be the warmest year on record.
• 2016 could wind up being as much as 1 degree Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial temperature average.
• This is a stark accomplishment when you consider that the nations of the world committed last year to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.
• We are two-thirds of the way there already.
The US space agency, NASA, on 8 September 2016 launched OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.
• The unmanned spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, blasted off onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
• OSIRIS-REx is United States’ first mission to collect samples from an asteroid and return to Earth.
• The 800 million dollar mission will travel for two years on a journey to Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid about the size of a small mountain.
• NASA feels that the asteroid may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.
• Scientists at NASA said OSIRIS-REx's main goal is to gather dirt and debris at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth by 2023 for further study.
• 800 मिलियन डॉलर के मिशन बन्नू, करीब 2 साल तक यात्रा करेगा.