Subscriber nudge+ Posted July 22, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted July 22, 2019 India has successfully launched Chandrayaan-2 - its first lunar landing mission - today! If everything goes according to plan the lander (including the rover) should land on the Moon on September 6. Some info on the components of the spacecraft: The Orbiter The Lander The Rover A 3D animation of the mission overview: Congratulations to ISRO for the successful launch and best of luck for the upcoming landing... Will be following it closely. @IgnisExcubitor @Mel81x @Stan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted July 22, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted July 22, 2019 14 minutes ago, nudge said: India has successfully launched Chandrayaan-2 - its first lunar landing mission - today! If everything goes according to plan the lander (including the rover) should land on the Moon on September 6. Glad they finally achieved it as the first launch was a failure, the more countries in the Space explorations the better for the future of mankind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted July 24, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted July 24, 2019 Nasa Moon lander vision takes shape Nasa has outlined more details of its plans for a landing craft that will take humans to the lunar surface. The plans call for an initial version of the lander to be built for landing on the Moon by 2024; it would then be followed by an enhanced version. The news comes as work was completed on the Orion spacecraft that will fly around the Moon in 2021. This mission, called Artemis-1, will pave the way for the first attempt to land since 1972. The presolicitation notice to industry calls for proposals on an initial lander design capable of carrying two people down to the Moon's South Pole in 2024. Companies will then be given the option to develop an enhanced lander capable of carrying four astronauts to the lunar surface. It would also be able to stay for longer, including through the two-week lunar night. To the Moon and beyond Can America get back to the Moon by 2024? Read the article This lander would support Nasa's plans for a "sustainable" return to the Moon that would eventually involve the construction of an outpost on the surface. In May, Nasa announced that 11 companies would be carrying out studies and developing initial prototypes of lunar landers. The lander would start its journey from a small space station in lunar orbit called Gateway. Nasa wants a lander that's split into three parts: a transfer vehicle or "tug" that would carry astronauts from Gateway to a lower lunar orbit, a descent stage that would take them from low lunar orbit to the surface, and an ascent stage that would blast the crew back to Gateway at the end of their mission. On 20 July, the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, Nasa unveiled the completed Orion crew module and service module for the Artemis-1 mission. The announcement was made by Vice President Mike Pence at a ceremony to celebrate the Apollo 11 mission at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. "Orion is a new class of spaceship, uniquely designed for long-duration deep space flight, that will return astronauts to the Moon and eventually take the first humans to Mars, and bring them all back safely," said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager of commercial civil space at Lockheed Martin, which has built the Orion crew module for Nasa. "Orion will accelerate the scientific discovery of our solar system and will be the cornerstone of the defining space achievement of this era." Lockheed Martin, Nasa and supporting contractors have assembled the Orion crew module to its finished state at KSC. The work included installing the capsule's avionic computers, harnesses, propulsion system, 11 parachutes, and the largest heat shield ever built. The crew module is designed to carry four astronauts beyond Earth orbit. The capsule and its service module were stacked together earlier in the week at Kennedy. The service module provides power and other life support systems to the crew module and houses 33 different engines to manoeuvre the spacecraft. It was provided by the European Space Agency (Esa) and built by Airbus. The combined Orion stack will soon be powered up and undergo a series of integrated systems tests. In September, the combined stack will be shipped to Nasa's Plum Brook Station in Ohio, where it will go through environmental testing in a large thermal vacuum chamber as well as testing for electromagnetic interference and compatibility. Once Orion returns to KSC at the end of the year, the spacecraft will go through final preparations before Lockheed Martin delivers it for launch processing in early 2020. The spacecraft will be launched on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, built by Boeing, possibly in 2021. The huge SLS launcher, taller than a 30-storey building, uses technology derived from the space shuttle programme. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49084696 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ Posted July 25, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted July 25, 2019 LightSail 2 spacecraft has successfully deployed its sail and is now sailing solely on sunlight. First images have been downloaded and released: Beautiful... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted July 26, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted July 26, 2019 Earth just had a near-miss with a 'city killer' asteroid Joe Gamp VIDEO An asteroid dubbed a ‘city-killer’ narrowly missed colliding into the Earth, say scientists. Asteroid 2019 OK - around 100 metres in diameter and racing at 24 kilometres a second - raced past earth at around 11.22am on Thursday morning. Astronomers had no idea the rock was heading towards our planet, due to the asteroid flying towards us from the direction of the sun. Associate Professor Michael Brown, from Monash University, said: “It’s impressively close. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet. It’s a pretty big deal. "[If it hit Earth] it makes the bang of a very large nuclear weapon – a very large one." Three other asteroids also raced past Earth on Thursday, but none were as close or as large as 2019 OK. The asteroid was picked up by separate astronomy teams based in Brazil and the US over the past few days. Swinburne University astronomer Associate Professor Alan Duffy: "It would have hit with over 30 times the energy of the atomic blast at Hiroshima. "It's a city-killer asteroid. But because it's so small, it's incredibly hard to see until right at the last minute. "It's threading tightly between the lunar orbit. Definitely too close for comfort." https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/earth-just-had-a-near-miss-with-a-city-killer-asteroid/ar-AAERcGr?ocid=chromentp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ Posted July 26, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted July 26, 2019 2 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said: Asteroid 2019 OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted July 27, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted July 27, 2019 A Fireball Meteor Lit Up Skies Over New England Last Night Michele Debczak Stargazers in New England were treated to a surprise light show last night. As NBC Boston reports, a green flash—likely caused by a fireball meteor—lit up skies over Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and other northeastern states on Wednesday, July 24, and the whole spectacle was caught on tape. Though they don't peak until August, the famed Perseid meteor shower has been peppering the Earth's atmosphere since mid-July. Most space debris that burns up in the sky is briefly visible as a faint streak of light, but the object that was spotted last night was much larger than the average shooting star. Some experts are calling it a "fireball," a designation reserved for meteors that are especially bright. The American Meteor Society began receiving reports of the flash after 10 p.m. on Wednesday night. The sightings came in from across New England and the Mid-Atlantic, with some originating as far south as North Carolina. Security cameras and dashcams throughout the region recorded the event, with the flash lasting just a few seconds. You can see a bright light illuminate skies in the video clips below. Fireballs are rare occurrences, but during the Perseids, which can reach over 100 meteors per hour, you have a better chance of spotting them. Scope out a place with clear skies and low light pollution when the meteor shower reaches its peak in mid-August. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/a-fireball-meteor-lit-up-skies-over-new-england-last-night/ar-AAET9zs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IgnisExcubitor Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 On 22/07/2019 at 16:51, nudge said: India has successfully launched Chandrayaan-2 - its first lunar landing mission - today! If everything goes according to plan the lander (including the rover) should land on the Moon on September 6. Some info on the components of the spacecraft: The Orbiter The Lander The Rover A 3D animation of the mission overview: Congratulations to ISRO for the successful launch and best of luck for the upcoming landing... Will be following it closely. @IgnisExcubitor @Mel81x @Stan Project headed by two women, and made by mostly women engineers. They have got some good minds there. Next year it will be Aditya. A spacecraft to study sun. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 1, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 1, 2019 (edited) Astronomers have discovered a 'super-Earth' just 31 light-years away. But, is it habitable or glacial? N'dea Yancey-Bragg © NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith This illustration shows one interpretation of what GJ 357 d may be like. A potentially habitable 'super-Earth' has been discovered just 31 light-years away from our solar system, astronomers announced Wednesday. The planet, named GJ 357 d, is about six times larger than Earth and orbits a dwarf sun GJ 357, much smaller than our own, every 55.7 days. The international team of astronomers that discovered the planet said in a news release that it could "provide Earth-like conditions." “With a thick atmosphere, the planet GJ 357 d could maintain liquid water on its surface like Earth, and we could pick out signs of life with telescopes that will soon be online,” Lisa Kaltenegger, the director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell and associate professor in astronomy, said in a statement. “If GJ 357 d were to show signs of life, it would be at the top of everyone’s travel list – and we could answer a 1,000-year-old question on whether we are alone in the cosmos.” Without an atmosphere, the planet would have an equilibrium temperature of 64 degrees below zero, according to NASA, which would make it "more glacial than habitable." While using NASA’s planet-hunting Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in early 2019, Kaltenegger's team first discovered another planet GJ 357 b, a “hot Earth," orbiting the dwarf sun. The satellite finds other worlds by monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in light. These dips, called transits, suggest a planet may be passing in front of its star. Follow up observations from the ground lead to the discovery of two more planets orbiting the dwarf sun, including the super-Earth. Two of the planets discovered are considered too hot to support life as we know it, but GJ 357 d is in the host star's habitable zone meaning it's not too hot or too cold. Kaltenegger told NBC News that a pair of telescopes that are expected to begin operating in 2021 and 2025 should reveal whether the planet is rocky or has oceans. “This is definitely going to be one of the best targets for these telescopes because it’s so close and so bright,” Kaltenegger told NBC News. “This means we can collect that light and analyze it further to see the chemical composition of the atmosphere, or if we see signs of liquid water or oxygen. The closer the better and the brighter the better, and this one happens to be both.” https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/astronomers-have-discovered-a-super-earth-just-31-light-years-away-but-is-it-habitable-or-glacial/ar-AAF9u9j Edited August 1, 2019 by CaaC (John) Spelling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ Posted August 1, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted August 1, 2019 Brilliant, one more planet to destroy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 2, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 2, 2019 Milky Way galaxy is warped and twisted, not flat Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is "warped and twisted" and not flat as previously thought, new research shows. Analysis of the brightest stars in the galaxy shows that they do not lie on a flat plane as shown in academic texts and popular science books. Astronomers from Warsaw University speculate that it might have been bent out of shape by past interactions with nearby galaxies. The new three-dimensional map has been published in the journal Science. The popular picture of the Milky way as the flat disc is based on the observation of 2.5 million stars out of a possible 2.5 billion. The artists' impressions are therefore rough approximations of the truer shape of our galaxy, according to Dr Dorota Skowron of Warsaw University. "The internal structure and history of the Milky Way is still far from being understood, in part because it is extremely difficult to measure distances to stars at the outer regions of our galaxy," she said. More stories like this: 'Book of the heavens' takes shape Exact colour of Milky Way found Telescope spots galactic 'mega-merger'r This enables astronomers to calculate their distance with great precision. Most of the stars were identified by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) in Chile's southern Atacama Desert. Przemek Mroz, a member of the OGLE team, said that the results were surprising. "Our results show that the Milky Way Galaxy is not flat. It is warped and twisted far away from the galactic centre. Warping may have happened through past interactions with satellite galaxies, intergalactic gas or dark matter (invisible material present in galaxies about which little is known)." The Polish results support an analysis of Cepheid variable stars published in February in Nature Astronomy journal by astronomers from Macquarie University in Australia and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49182184 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IgnisExcubitor Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 (edited) Beautiful! Edited August 5, 2019 by IgnisExcubitor 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 7, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 7, 2019 Europe launches second EDRS space laser satellite Europe has launched the second satellite in its space laser telecommunications network. It will use optical beams to pull pictures and data from other spacecraft and then speed that information to the ground. EDRS-C, as it is known, was sent into orbit on Tuesday by an Ariane-5 rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. It joins the first node in the network, EDRS-A, which was put up in 2016. That spacecraft was positioned over Central Africa to service Europe. The new satellite will sit slightly to the east, where it will provide additional capacity. The European Data Relay System is a joint venture between the European Space Agency and aerospace giant Airbus. It is used predominantly by the European Union's Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Earth observation spacecraft. These platforms take images of the planet's surface. Ordinarily, such satellites would have to wait until they pass over a radio receiving dish on the ground before downloading their pictures, which could mean a delay of over an hour as they circle the globe. But the Sentinels were equipped to connect with the EDRS satellites' 1.8-gigabit laser links. The relay platforms orbit much higher in the sky - some 36,000km in altitude - and always have visibility of a radio antenna on the ground. The capability has particular relevance in the realm of natural disasters, such as major floods or big earthquakes. Information about the scale of these emergencies can be put in the hands of first responders much faster than would normally be the case. "We have demonstrated that it's possible to get a Sentinel image on the ground and ready to use after just 15 minutes of it being acquired," Magali Vaissiere, the director of telecoms at Esa, told BBC News. "The launch of EDRS-C brings additional capacity to the network, obviously, but it also provides redundancy, a back-up, which you need in an operational system." Between a third and a half of all image data from Sentinels 1 and 2 are now routed through EDRS, and usage is certain to expand with the second node now in orbit. There are plans to use the relay system to regularly pull data to the ground from the European Columbus science laboratory on the space station. Future Earth observation satellites are also actively being planned with EDRS in mind, including the EU's next batch of Sentinels and Airbus's Pléiades Neo satellites which will take Earth images at 30cm resolution. Airbus says airborne reconnaissance could make use of the laser links, too. A third node, EDRS-D, should be launched over the Asia-Pacific region before 2025. Esa wants to see optical technology play a much bigger role in space communications. Telecoms satellites that rely solely on radio frequency transmissions are being left behind by the performance of terrestrial fibre networks. In time, this is going to put significant constraints on applications that include TV broadcasting and the services carrying the messages of connected devices (the so-called Internet of Things). It is why the space agency will propose to Europe's research ministers in November that they fund the R&D necessary to break the "bottleneck in the sky". Esa's High Throughput Optical Network (HyDRON) project envisages laser links, not just between satellites but between spacecraft and the ground. This brings certain challenges, including the issue of how to manage light transmissions through a turbulent - and often cloudy - atmosphere. However, if the technologies can be mastered they should permit terabit-per-second connections. "We have shown with EDRS that we have some leadership in Europe in these technologies, and one of the strategic lines we have defined for [the ministerial meeting] will be dedicated to optical uses so that we strengthen that leadership," the Esa telecoms director said. The 3-tonne EDRS-C satellite also hosts a Ka-band radio frequency payload for the London-based Avanti telecommunications company. Avanti calls the payload Hylas-3 and will be using it to deliver broadband and other data services to markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49240745 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 7, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 7, 2019 Tardigrades: 'Water bears' stuck on the moon after crash The moon might now be home to thousands of planet Earth's most indestructible animals. Tardigrades - often called water bears - are creatures under a millimetre long that can survive being heated to 150C and frozen to almost absolute zero. They were travelling on an Israeli spacecraft that crash-landed on the moon in April. And the co-founder of the organisation that put them there thinks they're almost definitely still alive. The water bears had been dehydrated to place them in suspended animation and then encased in artificial amber. "We believe the chances of survival for the tardigrades... are extremely high," Arch Mission Foundation boss Nova Spivack said. The Arch Mission Foundation keeps a "backup" of planet Earth - with human knowledge and the planet's biology stored and sent out to various solar locations in case of a life-ending event. The "lunar library" - something resembling a DVD that contains a 30-million-page archive of human history viewable under microscopes, as well as human DNA - was being carried on the Beresheet robot lander. And alongside them were dehydrated tardigrades - some in amber and some of the sticky side of Kapton tape. For most creatures there would be no coming back from being dehydrated - life without water is almost impossible. The toughest animals on earth Water bears in space But water bears - which have another very cute nickname, moss piglets - are not most animals. They can be brought back to life decades after being dehydrated. Scientists have found that tardigrades have what seems almost like a superpower. When dried out they retract their heads and their eight legs, shrivel into a tiny ball, and enter a deep state of suspended animation that closely resembles death. They shed almost all of the water in their body and their metabolism slows to 0.01% of the normal rate. And if reintroduced to water decades later, they're able to reanimate. All of that, plus the fact they became the first animal to survive in space back in 2007, made them a perfect candidate for Arch Mission's lunar library. "Tardigrades are ideal to include because they are microscopic, multicellular, and one of the most durable forms of life on planet Earth," Nova said. Even though the little moss piglets are likely to have survived the moon crash, it's very unlikely they'll be able to spring back to life without being reintroduced to water. But it would theoretically be possible for the tardigrades to be collected, brought back to earth, reanimated, and studied to see the effects of being on the moon. Still, it's nice to think that next time you look up at the moon, there might be thousands of (dehydrated) moss piglets looking back at you. And alternatively, there's definitely some great source material for a sci-fi/horror movie. Attack of the Moss Piglets from the Moon? We'd watch it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-49265125 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 10, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 10, 2019 Iceye satellites return super-sharp radar images Finnish space start-up Iceye has once again given an impressive demonstration of its novel technology's capabilities. The company's radar satellites are now returning sub-1m resolution images of the Earth's surface. This level of performance is expected from traditional spacecraft that weigh a tonne or more and cost in excess of one hundred million euros. But Iceye's breakthrough satellites are the size of a suitcase and cost only a couple of million to build. The Helsinki-based outfit is leading a group of "New Space" companies that aim to fly constellations of such radar imagers. This is something that would have seemed technically very challenging and prohibitively expensive just a few years ago. Today, Iceye has four satellites in orbit with plans for 14 more over the next two years. "We've always pushed back on what's been considered impossible," said co-founder and CEO Rafal Modrzewski. "They told us we couldn't make a small radar satellite. When we did it, they told us 'oh, but it's only 10m resolution'. Then we did 3m resolution, and they said 'ok, but that will be your limit'. "And here we are again, showing them that we can do what was previously the exclusive domain of the exquisite large satellites," he told BBC News. Radar images can be difficult to interpret for the casual observer, but they're a powerful tool with which to monitor and map the Earth. Radar's great advantage is that it will always sense the ground, even in darkness or in cloudy conditions. The Iceye sample picture at the top of this page shows Port Harcourt in Nigeria. It's made up of pixels that capture any features that are larger than just under 100cm across. The ships' deck infrastructure and individual cargo containers on the quayside are easy to discern - so too are vehicles on nearby roads. The satellite that acquired this picture was passing overhead at an altitude of about 500km. For comparison, an optical image (broadly what we see with our eyes) from the EU's Sentinel-2 Earth observation satellite is shown. This spacecraft has a best resolution of 10m Iceye's processing team uses a "spotlight" mode on a radar spacecraft that enables it to dwell on a specific target and collect additional information. This extra detail can then be incorporated into a higher-resolution image. A full sub-1m scene is 5km by 5km. This compares with the normal observing mode for Iceye, which delivers 3m-resolution scenes that are 40km across. Having very detailed, sharp images is obviously important for identification purposes, but what will set the coming constellations apart will be the timeliness of their data. When Iceye has 18 spacecraft in orbit, it will be able to re-image the same spot on the Earth's surface every three to four hours. Every eight hours, one of the satellites will get a chance to view the target with exactly the same geometry, or look angle. Radar data has all kinds of applications, from rapid mapping in the aftermath of an earthquake to providing financial intelligence on economic activities - such as the comings and goings at big ports. The European Space Agency recently agreed to continue working with Iceyeto help calibrate and validate the young company's data, and to make it available to scientists who think it could have value for them. Iceye heads a pack of New Space start-ups developing small satellite radar constellations. Capella Space of San Francisco, Trident Space of Fairfax, US, and Synspective of Tokyo are all working on systems to try to take a share of this market. The British companies Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and Oxford Space Systems also have an innovative design for a small, low-cost radar platform called CarbSar. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49253951 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 12, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 12, 2019 (edited) Perseids meteor shower tonight: How to see the stunning celestial display as comet dust streaks across the sky Watch: When and where to see the Perseids meteor shower (ES) VIDEO The Perseids meteor shower is about to light up the sky with a stunning celestial display. The spectacle – often hailed as one of the best meteor showers there is – is caused by debris left behind from Comet Swift-Tuttle. As that dust hits the Earth's atmosphere, it lights up and causes a sight that can be easily seen from down on the Earth. The Perseids are said to be among the best of Earth's meteor showers, because there is a particularly high rate of streaking lights and it happens to arrive in the warmth of the late summer, making it more possible for people in the northern hemisphere to stay out to watch it. But it promises to be a little complicated this year: unfortunately, there will be a full Moon that comes at the same time as the peak of the meteor shower, hogging the limelight and making it harder to see. Related: Magical images of the Perseid meteor shower over the years (Photos) SLIDES 1/44 But there will still be plenty of fireballs streaking across the sky, despite that collision. The Perseids normally bring around 60 meteors per hour at their peak, and that will be reduced a little but not entirely. Seeing the meteor shower is simple: just go out and lookup. But you'll need to make sure you do it right and at the best time. The peak comes overnight on August 12 to 13. You should be able to see something if you head out any time after dark, at around 9 pm local time – but you'll get a better view if you wait until around 2 am or 3 am, around the same time as the Moon sets and gives you the chance to see a little more. To give yourself the best chance of spotting them, head out to somewhere as dark as possible and start looking up. You don't need any particular special equipment, and they appear all over the sky, so you should be able to see them straight away. If the sky looks a little dark, then allow your eyes time to adjust by keeping them locked on the black of the night sky (and away from the bright lights of your phone). That can take up to 30 minutes, but is worth it – after it has happened, you'll be more able to see the details of the stars. If that proves too difficult, or you can't see anything, then Nasa will be hosting a live stream of the Perseids too. The Perseids get their name from the fact they look like they come out of the constellation Perseus. There may b a variety of other meteor streaks at the same time, so, if you want to be sure that you're looking at a genuine Perseid, you can track the trail back to the constellation to check. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/perseids-meteor-shower-tonight-how-to-see-stunning-celestial-display-as-comet-dust-streaks-across-the-sky/ar-AAFGPR0?li=BBoPWjQ Edited August 12, 2019 by CaaC (John) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 16, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 16, 2019 Spaceplane gets a ride for space station trips The Dream Chaser spaceplane, which will ferry cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), now has a rocket to launch on. Sierra Nevada, the private company that builds the spaceplane, has chosen the Vulcan rocket as its ride into orbit. The company hopes to start launching missions by 2021, to deliver supplies to astronauts on the ISS. Neither the Dream Chaser vehicle nor the Vulcan rocket, has yet flown to space. Sierra Nevada was recently awarded the contract by Nasa to re-supply the ISS. It joins two other private companies that already ship cargo and experiments to the station - SpaceX and Orbital ATK. The Vulcan Centaur rocket, built by United Launch Alliance (ULA), is currently in production. Under its Nasa contract, Dream Chaser has to fly a minimum of six missions to the ISS. The first of these will serve as the Vulcan Centaur's second "certification flight" - which will validate the rocket. "Our first launch is 2021, so we can't wait to have the first successful mission," said Sierra Nevada Corp's chief executive Fatih Ozmen at a news conference in Louisville, Colorado. "[Dream Chaser] is the only privately-owned, commercial spaceplane in the world that exists that is runway- and landing-capable and reusable." Dream Chaser will deliver more than 5,443kg (12,000 lbs) of cargo to the space station, remaining attached for up to 75 days as an orbiting laboratory. When the missions end, the vehicle will return through the atmosphere and land at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Vulcan Centaur will use BE-4 engines developed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin. Tory Bruno, chief executive of ULA, said the Vulcan was currently "on time" for its journey to the launch pad in 2021. But he added that if a delay did arise, ULA would use its Atlas V rocket as a back-up. Dream Chaser was designed as a crew vehicle. Sierra Nevada Corp competed for the Nasa contract to send astronauts to the ISS, under the agency's Commercial Crew Program. The contract eventually went to Boeing and SpaceX, but Sierra Nevada made it to the final round. And the company still wants the spaceplane to fly astronauts one day. "The bridge to a crewed vehicle is not that far," said John Curry, programme director for Dream Chaser. "The capability is there and we're more than happy to do it, whether it's for Nasa or for somebody else. "Crewed missions are coming, we just need to build it and they will come." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49352720 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 18, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 18, 2019 Nasa picks headquarters for Moon lander A Nasa facility in Alabama that developed the giant rocket for the Apollo programme in the 1960s will play a key role in sending astronauts down to the Moon's surface in 2024. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville will lead the development of a vehicle that will land astronauts on the body for the first time since 1972. The decision was announced by Nasa's administrator Jim Bridenstine. But it's a disappointment for Texas, which was in the running. The White House wants to send a man and a woman to the South Pole of the Moon in five years, under a programme called Artemis. Huntsville in northern Alabama is known as "Rocket City", because of its long association with the space programme. It was here that the huge Saturn V launcher, which lofted humans into orbit during the Apollo programme in the 1960s and 70s, was designed, built and tested. Nasa Moon lander vision takes shape Mr Bridenstine made the announcement at the Marshall facility in front of a test version of the 45m- (149ft-) tall hydrogen tank for the Space Launch System rocket, which will launch the astronauts on their journey from Earth in 2024. "This was not a decision that was made lightly. A lot of hard work has been done here in Huntsville over well over 10 years now regarding landing systems," Mr Bridenstine said on Friday. But not everyone will be happy about the decision. Before the formal announcement, Texas legislators including Senator Ted Cruz had written an open letter to Mr Bridenstine pushing for Nasa's Johnson Space Center, based in Houston, Texas, to lead the lander development. Splitting work Responding to a report that Marshall would be announced as the lead, the lawmakers said: "While the Marshall Space Flight Center specialises in rocketry and spacecraft propulsion and is undoubtedly the leader in these areas, it is the Johnson Space Center, which has been, and continues to be, ground zero for human space exploration. "We are deeply concerned that Nasa is not only disregarding this history but that splitting up the work on the lander between two different geographic locations is an unnecessary and a counterproductive departure from the unquestionable success of the previous lunar lander programme." Johnson Space Center was in charge of lunar lander development during the Apollo programme. Responding to the objections, Mr Bridenstine pointed out that of 363 jobs associated with the lander, 140 would be based at Huntsville, while 87 would be at Johnson Space Center. How America will return to the Moon "Johnson Space Center, when it comes to human-machine interface, all the great capabilities that they have throughout time, with the astronaut corps being headquartered there, there's going to be lots of opportunity for them," Mr Bridenstine added. He also said Nasa Johnson would be leading work on the Gateway, a small space station in lunar orbit where astronauts will dock before going down to the lunar surface. Last month, Nasa called on the industry to submit ideas for an initial version of the lander that could take two astronauts down to the Moon in 2024. Eventually, it wants to build a lander split into three stages that can ferry four people down from Gateway to the lunar surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 19, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 19, 2019 Aug. 9, 2019 Hubble Catches 2 Galaxies at Play The pair of strange, luminescent creatures at play in this image are actually galaxies — realms of millions upon millions of stars. This galactic duo is known as UGC 2369. The galaxies are interacting, meaning that their mutual gravitational attraction is pulling them closer and closer together and distorting their shapes in the process. A tenuous bridge of gas, dust and stars can be seen connecting the two galaxies, created when they pulled the material out into space across the diminishing divide between them. Interaction with others is a common event in the history of most galaxies. For larger galaxies like the Milky Way, the majority of these interactions involve significantly smaller so-called dwarf galaxies. But every few billion years, a more momentous event can occur. For our home galaxy, the next big event will take place in about four billion years, when it will collide with its bigger neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy. Over time, the two galaxies will likely merge into one — already nicknamed Milkomeda. Text credit: ESA (European Space Agency) Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Evans Last Updated: Aug. 13, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 20, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 20, 2019 (edited) Nasa confirms ocean moon mission Scientists working on an audacious mission to the ocean world of Europa can proceed with the final design and construction of the spacecraft, Nasa says. The Europa Clipper mission will target the ice-encrusted moon of Jupiter, which is considered a prime target in the search for life beyond Earth. Below its icy shell, Europa is thought to hold a 170km-deep body of water. This could have the right conditions for biology. Due to launch in 2025, the Europa Clipper mission has now passed a stage called Key Decision Point C, a crucial marker on the road to the launch pad. "We are all excited about the decision that moves the Europa Clipper mission one key step closer to unlocking the mysteries of this ocean world," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for Nasa's science mission directorate. Europa Clipper will carry out an in-depth investigation of the watery world, including whether it can support life in its subsurface ocean. Gravitational interactions with Jupiter generate tidal forces and heat, which keeps Europa's ocean liquid. The heating may even drive volcanic vents on the seafloor; on Earth, such vent systems support a wide array of life forms. But it has taken decades to bring a dedicated mission this far, in part because of cost considerations and the challenges posed by the space environment around Jupiter. Europa's orbital path takes it deep into belts of intense radiation that surround the giant planet. This radiation fries spacecraft electronics, which limits the durations of prospective missions to months or even weeks. So rather than orbiting Europa, Clipper will make repeated close flybys of the moon, to reduce its exposure to the energetic particles trapped by Jupiter's magnetic field. Europa: Our best shot at finding alien life? The spacecraft will carry nine science instruments, including cameras and spectrometers to produce high-resolution images of the moon's surface. a magnetometer to measure the strength and direction of its magnetic field (providing clues to the ocean's depth and salinity) and an ice-penetrating radar to determine the thickness of the icy crust above the ocean. The icy shell could be tens of kilometres thick. Luckily, scientists think there are several ways for ocean water to get up to Europa's surface. In recent years, the Hubble Space Telescope has made tentative observations of plumes of water-ice erupting from beneath Europa, much as they do on Saturn's ice moon Enceladus, which also has a subsurface ocean. The first concepts for missions to explore Europa were drawn up in the 1990s, around the time that data from the Galileo spacecraft helped build evidence for a subsurface ocean. Since then, however, one proposal after another has been thwarted, including an ambitious US-European mission along the lines of the Cassini-Huygens mission. But Clipper has had a key champion on Capitol Hill, in the form of Republican congressman John Culberson who, as chairman of the US House of Representatives appropriations committee that funds Nasa, channelled money to the mission. But last year, Culberson, who had become known for his advocacy for Europa exploration, was unseated in Texas' 7th congressional district by Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher. During the campaign, a pro-Democrat political action committee ran an ad saying: "For Houston, Lizzie Fletcher will invest in humans, not aliens." A follow-up mission to go and land on Europa has also been proposed. But the most recent federal budget request included no funding for the lander. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49408495 Edited November 13, 2019 by CaaC (John) Spelling corrections 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 21, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 21, 2019 Asteroid ‘twice the size of the Shard’ to hurtle past Earth next month A huge asteroid with a diameter twice as big as London’s Shard skyscraper is to hurtle past Earth next month, skywatchers say. But don’t head for the doomsday bunkers quite yet. The asteroid identified by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) is going to fly past quite safely. The object, identified as 2000 QW7, has an estimated diameter of 2,133 feet and will fly past at a safe distance of 3.3 million miles on September 14. We’re all going to be perfectly safe, there’s no chance of it hitting Earth, and no need to be alarmed. It’s an Amor asteroid, which orbits Earth and the Sun, but whose orbit does not cross that of Earth. Space X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk pointed out on Twitter this week that Earth currently has no defence against ‘killer’ asteroids. Replying to a Tweet about the asteroid Apophis (which will give Earth a narrow scrape in 2029), Musk pointed out that there is, currently, no defence system to protect our planet. Musk said, ‘Wouldn’t worry about this particular one, but a big rock will hit Earth eventually & we currently have no defence.’ But don’t fret too much: NASA is looking into what to do. NASA has already taken steps towards a real solution if an asteroid is hurtling towards Earth - a mission to knock potential doomsday asteroids onto less-threatening flight paths. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) has just entered the final design and assembly phase and will launch into space between 2020 and 2021. The idea is that a fridge-sized DART spacecraft will hit the asteroid faster than a bullet - and change its orbit https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/asteroid-twice-the-size-of-the-shard-to-hurtle-past-earth-next-month/ar-AAG4TH4?ocid=chromentp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ Posted August 21, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted August 21, 2019 22 hours ago, CaaC (John) said: Nasa confirms ocean moon mission Scientists working on an audacious mission to the ocean world of Europa can proceed with the final design and construction of the spacecraft, Nasa says. The Europa Clipper mission will target the ice-encrusted moon of Jupiter, which is considered a prime target in the search for life beyond Earth. Below its icy shell, Europa is thought to hold a 170km-deep body of water. This could have the right conditions for biology. Due to launch in 2025, the Europa Clipper mission has now passed a stage called Key Decision Point C, a crucial marker on the road to the launch pad. "We are all excited about the decision that moves the Europa Clipper mission one key step closer to unlocking the mysteries of this ocean world," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for Nasa's science mission directorate. Oh oh someone didn't get the memo p Worth nothing it's only a flyby, not a lander and not even an orbiter. Still cool though and hopefully that gives us plenty of new infos on the composition and other characteristics of the surface. Also worth noting that ESA are launching a similar Jupiter icy moons exploration mission called JUICE in June 2022 and will focus on Ganymede as a primary target (orbiter + potentially a lander in partnership with Roscosmos) while also doing a Europe and Callisto flybys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 24, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 24, 2019 Repeated signals coming to Earth from another galaxy, scientists say Numerous repeated signals are being sent through the universe to Earth, scientists say. Researchers have detected eight repeating blasts of energy, or fast radio bursts (FRB), that have been picked up on Earth by telescopes. The discovery could mark a major breakthrough for researchers as they attempt to discover the source of the mysterious signals. Scientists found the first FRB in 2007, and have found dozens since. But they have only confirmed two that repeat. Repeating FRBs are so valuable because they offer researchers the opportunity to predict where they might come from, and study them in more detail. As such, discovering eight more repeating bursts could provide huge value to the researchers who are attempting to find where the bursts are coming from. That source could be surprisingly close. The researchers suggest that one of the bursts could be coming from a galaxy that neighbours own Milky Way – though caution that further work will need to be done to discover more about the bursts. The new data comes from the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, a telescope that scientists had hoped would shed new light on FRBs. Now it has done so, with the discovery of eight more that have been described in a new paper published on Arxiv. Nobody knows where the FRBs are coming from, or what they might be. The profound intensity of the blasts suggests that they are being sent by some extreme event – but that could be anything from a star falling into a black hole to a message being sent through the cosmos by aliens. To try and understand their source, scientists have searched for more bursts and looked to understand them in better detail when they come. Repeating bursts are likely to be key to that since they can be examined with so much more clarity. In addition to the two confirmed bursts, other researchers have reported two more that are yet to have been published in peer-reviewed journals. The new discovery, therefore, triples the number that has been found and could lead to much more detailed research on where they are coming from https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/repeated-signals-coming-to-earth-from-another-galaxy-scientists-say/ar-AAGdCwN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted August 25, 2019 Author Subscriber Share Posted August 25, 2019 Nasa investigates space crime after ‘astronaut accesses partner’s bank account while on International Space Station’ Nasa is investigating claims ones of its astronauts accessed their estranged partner’s bank account while onboard the International Space Station, it has been reported. The New York Times reported that Nasa is examining what could be the first allegation of a crime committed in space. Astronaut Anne McClain has acknowledged accessing the bank account of her ex-partner Summer Worden while on the space station. However, she denies any wrongdoing and insists she was checking her former spouse had enough money to pay for the care of Ms Worden’s son, who the pair had been raising together before their break-up. Ms Worden has reportedly filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Ms McClain has since returned to Earth. The astronaut’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, told the New York Times: “She strenuously denies that she did anything improper.” Ms Worden, an Air Force intelligence officer, married Ms McClain in 2014 but then filed for divorce in 2018. She has been contacted about her allegation by Nasa’s Office of Inspector General, it was reported. Gallery: World marks 50 years since the Apollo 11 moon landing (Deutsche Welle) SLIDES - 1/8 Ms McClain started flying for Nasa in 2013 following more than 800 combat hours over Iraq as an army pilot. She spent six months on the International Space Station and was scheduled to take part in the first all-female spacewalk with Christina Koch earlier this year, but it was cancelled because there was only one medium-size spacesuit available. The International Space Station is owned by the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, and the laws of each apply to those on board depending on their nationality. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nasa-investigates-space-crime-after-astronaut-accesses-partners-bank-account-while-on-international-space-station/ar-AAGgGBJ?ocid=chromentp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ Posted August 26, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted August 26, 2019 Take the Astronaut Aptitude Test - a series of questions based on official NASA Astronaut Candidate requirements and real-life psychological tests to see if you've got what it takes for intergalactic exploration, or if you're galactically grounded... https://www.astronaut-test.com/ @CaaC (John) @Bluewolf @Mel81x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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