NASA’s DART mission may have reshaped the asteroid moon Dimorphos

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

On September 26, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission successfully impacted Dimorphos, the natural satellite of the near-Earth binary asteroid Didymos. New numerical simulations show that the DART impact triggered global deformation and resurfacing of Dimorphos.

The asteroid moon Dimorphos was seen by NASA’s DART spacecraft 11 seconds before impact. His DRACO imager aboard DART captured this image from a distance of 68 km (42 miles). This image was the last one to include all dimorphos in the field of view. Image credit: NASA/Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

DART was a planetary defense mission that demonstrated the possibility of using kinetic impactors to alter the orbits of asteroids.

The collision was successful and highly effective, resulting in Dimorphos’ orbital period around Didymus being shortened from its original 11 hours and 55 minutes to 33 minutes.

The LICIACube Unit Key Explorer (LUKE) instrument aboard the cubesat took images of the system between 29 seconds and 320 seconds after impact, showing the ejecta stream and other debris that spread for several kilometers from the impact site. revealed a complex pattern.

Furthermore, the dramatic brightening of the Didymos system due to solar illumination of the ejected impact ejecta was observed by ground-based and space-based telescopes for many weeks after the impact.

These three Hubble images capture the breakup of Dimorphos when it was intentionally collided by DART on September 26, 2022. The top panel, taken two hours after impact, shows the ejecta cone (estimated at 1,000 tons of dust). The center frame shows dynamic interactions within the Didymos-Dimorphos binary system that begin to distort the cone of ejecta patterns approximately 17 hours after impact. The most notable structure is a rotating windmill-shaped feature. The windmill is connected to Didymus’s gravitational pull. In the bottom frame, Hubble captures debris being pushed back into the comet-like tail by the pressure of sunlight on tiny dust particles. This spreads out into a column of debris, with the lightest particles traveling fastest and furthest away from the asteroid. The mystery deepens after Hubble recorded the tail splitting into two for several days. Image credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/Jian-Yang Li, PSI/Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

In a new study, University of Bern scientist Sabina Raducan and colleagues use realistic constraints on the mechanical and compositional properties of dimorphos, informed by DART’s initial results, to create a state-of-the-art impact The DART impact was modeled using physical code.

The simulations that best match observations of the impact suggest that Dimorphos is weakly cohesive, similar to asteroids Bennu and Ryugu, and lacks large rocks on its surface.

The researchers suggest that Dimorphos may be a pile of debris formed by the rotational shedding and re-accumulation of material ejected from Didymos.

Their model also suggests that DART’s impact may not have created an impact crater, but instead may have changed the shape of the moon as a whole, a process known as global deformation, which could have been caused by material from within. It also indicates that it may have caused the resurfacing of Dimorphos.

The discovery provides further insight into the formation and characteristics of binary asteroids and could have implications for future exploration, including ESA’s Hera mission and asteroid deflection efforts.

“ESA’s future Hera mission may discover reformed asteroids rather than well-defined craters,” the authors concluded.

their paper It was published in the magazine natural astronomy.

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SD Raducan other. Physical properties of the asteroid Dimorphos obtained from the DART impact. Nat Astron, published online on February 26, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02200-3

Source: www.sci.news

Stunning Images of Jupiter’s Moon Io Captured by NASA’s Juno Orbiter

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

On February 3, 2024, NASA's Juno spacecraft made its second close approach to Io, the fifth and third largest of Jupiter's moons. Like the previous flyby on December 30, 2023, this second pass was approximately 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away. During the twins' flyby, the spacecraft's JunoCam instrument returned stunning high-resolution images and raw data. The flyby is designed to provide new insights into how Io's volcanic engines work and whether a global magma ocean exists beneath the volcanic moon's rocky, mountainous surface. has been done.

The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft imaged Io, the most geologically active object in the solar system, on February 3, 2024, from a distance of approximately 7,904 km (4,911 miles) . Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS.

Io is the innermost of Jupiter's four Galilean moons and the fourth largest moon in the solar system.

Its diameter is about 3,630 km (2,556 miles), making it only slightly larger than our moon.

It is the only place in the solar system other than Earth that is known to have volcanoes spewing hot lava like those on Earth.

Io has over 400 active volcanoes, which are caused by tidal heating. This is the result of a gravitational tug of war between Jupiter's gravity and the small but precisely timed gravitational pulls from Europa and Ganymede.

The moon's yellow, white, orange, and red colors are produced by sulfur dioxide, frost on its surface, elemental sulfur, and various sulfur allotropes.

The volcano was first discovered on the island of Io in 1979, and since then studies using NASA's Galileo spacecraft and ground-based telescopes have shown that eruptions and lava fountains occur constantly, forming rivers and lakes of lava. Masu.

Only 13 large eruptions were observed between 1978 and 2006, in part because fewer astronomers were scanning the moon on a regular basis.

The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft imaged Io on December 30, 2023, from a distance of approximately 5,857 km (3,639 miles). Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has been monitoring Io's volcanic activity from distances ranging from about 11,000 km (6,830 miles) to more than 100,000 km (62,100 miles), providing the first view of the moon's north and south poles .

On December 30, 2023, Juno came within approximately 1,500 km of Io's surface. The orbiter made her second close flyby of the Moon on February 3, 2024.

The second flyby mainly flew over Io's southern hemisphere, but previous flybys flew over Io's northern hemisphere.

Juno captured two plumes rising above Io's horizon on February 3, 2024. These plumes were emitted from two vents from one giant volcano, or from two volcanoes located close to each other. The JunoCam instrument photographed the plume from a distance of approximately 3,800 km (2,400 miles). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Andrea Luck.

“We investigate the source of Io's massive volcanic activity, whether there is a magma ocean beneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter that are relentlessly squeezing this beleaguered moon. doing.”

“There are active plumes, high mountain peaks with distinct shadows, and evidence of lava lakes, some of which look like islands.”

Starting in April 2024, Juno will conduct a series of occultation experiments that will use Juno's gravity science experiments to investigate the composition of Jupiter's upper atmosphere. This provides important information about the planet's shape and internal structure.

Source: www.sci.news

Vulcan Launch: Exploring the Reasons Behind NASA’s Return to the Moon

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

On January 8th, a Vulcan rocket carrying a lander bound for the moon will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Greg Newton/AFP via Getty Images

NASA's first mission to the moon since the Apollo missions of the 1970s began with the launch of a new Vulcan rocket carrying a robotic lander carrying seven scientific instruments.

The mission, which launched at 7:18 a.m. GMT on January 8 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, forms the first part of NASA's ambitious Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) program, which will launch this year. Six more launches are planned.

Unlike previous NASA missions, which were carried out almost entirely in-house, these efforts will be a public-private partnership with support from space companies. The Vulcan rocket was built by Boeing and Lockheed Martin as part of the United Launch Alliance (ULA), and the Peregrine robotic lander was built by space robotics company Astrobotic.

The lander will take 46 days to reach the moon and will attempt to land on February 23rd. If successful, it will be the first time a private spacecraft has landed on the moon.

There are several reasons why it took NASA decades to return to the moon, but the biggest one is a lack of government funding. As Cold War spending increased in the 1960s, the total federal funding NASA received peaked in 1965, and as the U.S. government made cuts, there was too little money available for further lunar exploration.

But private space companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX are now cutting the cost of space launches, allowing NASA to plan new moon missions on tighter budgets.

A successful launch could also intensify competition among private space companies. ULA was the dominant force in the U.S. space launch business before SpaceX conducted the majority of U.S. launches and dominated the launch market. Vulcan could help ULA regain lost market share.

This is especially important for ULA because it is currently on the market, with potential buyers including Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin.

The Peregrine lander's science instruments include lunar surface water and radiation sensors and will be essential for NASA's future human missions in the coming years as part of the CLPS program. It also carries a 2-kilogram rover designed by students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania and five small robots built by the Mexican Space Agency.

Vulcan has two additional payloads that have caused controversy. A company called Celestis uses cremated ashes to conduct so-called “commemorative spaceflights.” Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry and actors James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols will be placed into orbit around the sun, while another capsule will contain the ashes of others bound for the moon. .

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Source: www.newscientist.com

NASA’s Rotating Explosive Rocket Engine Takes Flight with 3D Printing Technology

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

by Ramon J. Osorio, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center December 26, 2023

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, successfully completed a 251-second high-temperature combustion test of a full-scale rotary explosion rocket engine combustor in fall 2023, achieving more than 5,800 pounds of thrust. Credit: NASA

NASAMarshall Space Flight Center tested a 3D-printed Rotating Explosive Rocket Engine (RDRE) for more than four minutes and was able to generate significant thrust. This test is essential for deep space missions and represents a step forward in NASA’s development of an efficient propulsion system for the Moon. Mars vision.

NASA has achieved a new benchmark in the development of an innovative propulsion system called the Rotating Explosive Rocket Engine (RDRE). Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, tested his new 3D-printed RDRE for 251 seconds (or over four minutes) and were able to generate more than 5,800 pounds of thrust.

This type of sustained burn emulates the typical requirements for a lander touchdown or deep space burn that could set a spacecraft on a course from the Moon to Mars, the center said. said Thomas Teasley, lead Marshall combustion equipment engineer.

RDRE’s first high-temperature fire test was conducted in Marshall in the summer of 2022 in partnership with In Space LLC and Purdue University (Lafayette, Indiana). The test generated more than 4,000 pounds of thrust for nearly a minute. The main objective of the latest tests was to extend the combustor to different thrust classes, support all types of engine systems, and maximize the diversity of missions it can deliver, from landers to upper stages to supersonics. Teasley said the key is to better understand how to increase the Reverse propulsion is a deceleration technique that has the potential to land larger payloads, and even humans, on the surface of Mars.

Test stand video taken at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, shows the ignition of a full-size rotary-explosion rocket engine combustor that ignited for a record 251 seconds and achieved more than 5,800 pounds of thrust. It is shown.

“RDRE significantly increases design efficiency,” he said. “This shows we are getting closer to developing lightweight propulsion systems that will allow us to send more mass and payloads into deep space, a critical component for NASA. From the moon to Mars vision. “

Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; Venus Aerospace, Houston, Texas, is working with NASA Marshall to identify ways to scale the technology for higher performance.

RDRE is managed and funded by the Game Changing Development Program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Source: scitechdaily.com

Transforming NASA’s ISS Resupply with Revolutionary Technology

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

Illustration of Sierra Space’s first dream chaser, DC#1 (Tenacity). The Dream Chaser spacecraft developed by Sierra Space for NASA is gearing up for a demonstration mission to the ISS in 2024, with a focus on cargo delivery and in-orbit certification. .Credit: Sierra Space

NASA Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight to the ISS in 2024, carrying cargo transport and various on-orbit tests to ensure operational readiness for future missions. be exposed.NASA and Sierra Space are making progress toward the maiden flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft. international space station. The unmanned cargo spaceplane is scheduled to begin demonstration missions to orbital complexes in 2024 as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services.

Dream chaser and shooting starManufactured by Sierra Space, Louisville, Colorado, the Dream Chaser cargo system consists of two main elements: the Dream Chaser spacecraft and the Shooting Star cargo module. As a lifting body spacecraft, Dream Chaser is designed to be reused up to 15 times. HL-20 spacecraft It was developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.Shooting Star, a spaceplane cargo module companion, is designed to support the transportation and disposal of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the space station. The cargo module can only be used once and is disposed of before reentry.

The Dream Chaser system will be mounted on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan Centaur rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, inside a 5-meter fairing. It can be launched by folding its wings. Fairing panels protect the spacecraft during ascent, but are discarded once it reaches orbit. Dream Chaser’s cargo module and wing-mounted solar arrays will be deployed during an autonomous rendezvous with the space station. In the event of disaster, Dream Chaser is designed to be ready for launch within as little as 24 hours.

NASA and Sierra Space are making progress toward the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft’s maiden flight to the International Space Station. The unmanned cargo spaceplane is scheduled to begin demonstration missions to orbital complexes in 2024 as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services.Credit: Sierra SpaceMission overview

During the first flight, Sierra Space will conduct an in-orbit demonstration to qualify Dream Chaser for future missions. Teams from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Dream Chaser Mission Control Center in Louisville, Colorado will monitor the flight. Sierra Space flight controllers will control the Dream Chaser spacecraft at the launch pad until it is handed over to NASA Kennedy’s Sierra Space ground operations team after landing.

The far-field demonstration will be conducted outside the vicinity of the space station before the spacecraft enters the invisible 2.5-by-1.25-by-1.25-mile (4-by-2-by-2-kilometer) boundary around the ellipsoid. . Rotating laboratory. These demonstrations are required before Dream His Chaser enters joint operations with his NASA team at Mission Control Center in Houston. These include demonstrating postural control, translational movements, and aborting functions.

Near-field demonstrations must be performed in close proximity to the space station, and include activation and use of light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors, responding to commands sent from the space station, retreating from the station in response to commands, and initially This includes maintaining proximity. 1,083 feet (330 meters) from the station, then 820 feet (250 meters), and finally 98 feet (30 meters). After the successful completion of the demonstration, Dream Chaser will move towards the space station.

As Dream Chaser approaches the orbiting laboratory, it will eventually park approximately 38 feet (11.5 meters) from the space station, where the station’s crew will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to maneuver the spacecraft in front of the team on the ground. Hold on to the cargo module fixtures. Attach the cargo module to the earth-facing port of the Unity or Harmony module.

Dream Chaser will carry more than 7,800 pounds of cargo on its first flight to the International Space Station. On future missions, Dream Chaser is designed to remain on station for up to 75 days and deliver up to 11,500 pounds of cargo. Cargo can be loaded onto the spacecraft up to 24 hours before launch. Dream Chaser can return more than 3,500 pounds of cargo and experimental samples to Earth, and more than 8,700 pounds of trash can be disposed of during reentry using its cargo module.return to earthDream Chaser will remain on the space station for approximately 45 days before being uninstalled using Canadarm2. After departure, the spacecraft can land within 11 to 15 hours at the earliest, with the possibility of landing daily if weather conditions permit.

Dream Chaser’s landing weather criteria typically require crosswinds of less than 17.2 mph (15 knots), headwinds of less than 23 mph (20 knots), and tailwinds of less than 11.5 mph (10 knots). Thunderstorms, lightning, or rain within a 20-mile radius of the runway or 10 miles along the approach path are not acceptable conditions for landing. Detailed flight rules help controllers determine whether a landing opportunity is favorable.

A combination of Dream Chaser’s 26 Reaction Control System thrusters ignites, sending the spacecraft out of orbit. Dream Chaser re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and glided in the style of NASA’s Space Shuttle to a runway landing at Kennedy Launch and Landing Facility, becoming the first spacecraft to land at the facility since the Space Shuttle’s last flight in 2011. becomes.Once Dream Chaser is powered down after landing, the Sierra Space ground operations team will transport Dream Chaser to the Space Systems Processing Facility for necessary inspections, unload remaining NASA cargo, and prepare for the next mission. let’s start doing ….Sierra Space (formerly Sierra Nevada Corporation) was selected in 2016 as NASA’s third commercial cargo replenishment spacecraft to service the International Space Station.

Source: scitechdaily.com

The Impact of NASA’s Reflectors on Our World

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

GPS satellites play a crucial role in Earth measurements by relaying information to other satellites. Laser retroreflector arrays (LRA) have emerged as a technological advancement that enhances the precision of geodesy, the study of the Earth’s shape and changes. LRAs enable the collection of precise distance measurements necessary for monitoring global phenomena like sea level rise and tectonic movements. They work by reflecting laser light back to its original source, allowing scientists to accurately measure changes in the Earth’s surface.

Numerous federal agencies, including NASA, the U.S. Space Command, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, have been involved in improving the accuracy of Earth measurements. The use of LRAs has allowed geolocation of all Earth observations to improve, enabling scientists to strategize and anticipate changes in the Earth’s angular momentum, changes in the Earth’s figure, and significant geodetic factors.

Laser retroreflector arrays function by reflecting light directly back towards its original source, as they consist of mirrors placed at right angles. They are instrumental in providing precise location information to ground stations on Earth, aiding in pinpointing the Earth’s center of mass and aiding in geodetic measurements. The ability to measure minute changes in the Earth’s center of gravity is of utmost importance as it aids in quantifying and understanding larger shifts resulting from events like tsunamis or earthquakes.

Overall, the implementation of laser retroreflector arrays is essential in studying Earth’s shape, gravity, and rotation, as well as determining changes over time. It is a fundamental component of daily life that aids in understanding how the world is changing.

Source: scitechdaily.com

NASA’s Infrared Telescope: A Remarkable Evolution

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

For the past 40 years, scientists have been using infrared space telescopes to study the universe, including NASA missions such as the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) launched in 1983, the Spitzer Space Telescope launched in 2003, and the James Webb Space Telescope launched in 2021. Although the Webb Telescope has opened a new window to the universe, it builds on missions from 40 years ago, including Spitzer and the Infrared Astronomy Satellite. The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful space observatory in history, celebrating its second anniversary since its launch. Its clarity of images has inspired the world, and scientists are just beginning to study its scientific benefits.

The success of Webb builds on four decades of work with space telescopes that also detect infrared light. Telescopes such as the IRAS and the Spitzer Space Telescope provide crucial insights into star formation, cosmic gas and dust clouds, and the existence of exoplanets. These telescopes have contributed to groundbreaking discoveries about the universe and have paved the way for future infrared missions, such as NASA’s upcoming SPHEREx and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

The legacy of these infrared space telescopes is reflected in the images of star-forming regions, such as Rho Ophiuchus and Fomalhaut, which have revealed previously hidden features and provided insight into the formation of stars and planets. Infrared light has become an essential tool for understanding the universe on various scales, from the study of galaxy evolution to the detection of exoplanets and the investigation of dark energy.

The Webb Telescope is paving the way for complex and diverse scientific questions by building upon the knowledge gained from previous infrared telescopes such as IRAS and Spitzer. Its success is fueling the anticipation of future infrared missions that will continue to expand our understanding of the universe.

Source: scitechdaily.com

Solar Activity Brings NASA’s NEOWISE 10-Year Mission to a Close

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

NEOWISE Mission

This artist’s concept shows the Wide Field Infrared Surveyor (WISE) spacecraft orbiting the Earth. The NEOWISE mission will find and characterize asteroids.
Credit: NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology

Infrared space telescopes searching for asteroids and comets have collected vast amounts of observations, but are now at the mercy of the sun, which is accelerating their demise.

NASA’s Neowise It’s been a busy 10 years. Since its resumed mission began on December 13, 2013, the space telescope has discovered once-in-a-lifetime comets, observed more than 3,000 near-Earth objects, strengthened international planetary defense strategies, and It has helped other NASA missions rendezvous with distant space. asteroid. This is just a partial list of achievements.

But all good things must come to an end. Solar activity is pushing NEOWISE (short for Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) out of orbit. By early 2025, the spacecraft is expected to have fallen far enough into Earth’s atmosphere that it will become unusable. Eventually it will re-enter the atmosphere and burn up completely.

Approximately every 11 years, the Sun goes through a cycle of increasing activity, peaking during a period called solar maximum. Explosive events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections will become more frequent, heating the Earth’s atmosphere and causing it to expand. Atmospheric gases increase the drag on satellites as they orbit the Earth, slowing them down. Now, as the Sun approaches its next maximum, NEOWISE will no longer be able to maintain its orbit above the atmosphere.

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE is a composite of several heat-sensitive infrared images taken by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission on March 27, 2020. Appears as a blurry red dot.
Credit: NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology

“The mission has been planning for this day for a long time. After several years of lull, the sun is waking up again,” said NEOWISE co-principal investigator and researcher at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. said Joseph Masiello, a scientist with the organization IPAC. “With us at the mercy of solar activity and no means of staying in orbit, NEOWISE is now slowly spiraling back to Earth.”

wise beginnings

The past decade has meant a second life for the spacecraft. Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, NEOWISE is part of another mission launched in 2009, the Wide-Field Infrared Surveyor (wise). Data from WISE and NEOWISE is used to study distant galaxies, cold stars, and explosions. white dwarf Stars, gas-emitting comets, near-Earth asteroids, etc.

In 2010, WISE achieved its scientific goal of conducting an all-sky infrared survey with far greater sensitivity than previous surveys. WISE mission also discovered tens of millions of actively feeding supermassive black holes across the sky.through disc detective In this project, citizen scientists used WISE data to find circumstellar disks, which are clouds of gas, dust, and debris that rotate around stars.

Infrared wavelengths, which are invisible to the naked eye, are emitted by warm objects. To ensure that the heat generated by WISE itself does not interfere with observations in infrared wavelengths, the spacecraft relied on cryogenic coolant. NASA put the spacecraft into hibernation in February 2011 after it ran out of coolant and WISE mapped the sky twice.

Without the coolant, space telescopes could no longer observe the coldest objects in the universe, but they could still see near-Earth asteroids and comets heated by the sun. So NASA restarted the spacecraft in 2013 with a more specialized role in mind. The goal is to support planetary defense efforts by investigating and studying objects that may wander into Earth’s orbit and pose a potential collision hazard.

In addition to relying on missions to explore these objects, astronomers use that data to understand the object’s size, albedo, or how much sunlight its surface reflects, and the composition of its structure. You can also collect clues about the minerals and rocks you find.

“NEOWISE demonstrates the importance of deploying infrared space exploration telescopes as part of NASA’s planetary defense strategy while also monitoring objects in our solar system and beyond,” said lead researcher Amy, from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Mainzer said. .

Mainzer also leads NASA’s future plans. NEO surveyor, built on the NEOWISE tradition. The next generation of infrared space telescopes will search for celestial objects close to the Earth, such as dark asteroids and comets that do not reflect much visible light, or objects that approach the Earth from the direction of the sun. Sun. The launch is scheduled for 2027. JPL-Managed missions will also explore objects known as Earth Trojans – asteroids that lead or follow our planet’s orbit. The first one is wise discovery In 2011.

Comet NEOWISE and beyond

Since becoming NEOWISE, the mission has scanned the entire sky more than 20 times and made 1.45 million infrared measurements on more than 44,000 Solar System objects. This includes over 3,000 near-Earth objects, 215 of which were discovered by his NEOWISE. Data from the mission helped refine the orbits of these objects, while also measuring their sizes.

Its strength is in revealing the characteristics of asteroids near the Earth. In 2021, NEOWISE became a key component of an international planetary defense exercise focused on the dangerous asteroid Apophis.

The mission also discovered 25 comets, including long-period comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). The comet was a dazzling object visible in the Northern Hemisphere for several weeks in 2020, making it the first comet to be visible to the naked eye since 2007, when Comet McNaught was primarily visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

Future researchers will use WISE in 2010, long after observations were made to characterize the asteroid Dinkinesh, in support of NASA’s Lucy mission before the October 2023 encounter. Just as we used the data, we will continue to rely on the vast archive of NEOWISE observations to make new discoveries.

“This is a bittersweet moment. We are sad to see this pioneering mission come to an end, but we know there are even more treasures hidden in the survey data,” Masiello said. “NEOWISE has a vast archive that covers a very long period of time and will inevitably advance the science of the infrared universe long after the spacecraft leaves.”

Mission details
NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor are part of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The NASA Authorization Act of 2005 directs NASA to discover and characterize at least 90% of near-Earth objects larger than 140 meters (460 feet) in diameter that come within 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) of Earth’s orbit. did. An object of this size could cause significant damage to the region, and it would be even worse if it crashed into Earth.
JPL manages and operates PDCO’s NEOWISE mission within the Science Mission Directorate. The Astrodynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah, built the scientific instrument. Ball Aerospace & Technologies of Boulder, Colorado, built the spacecraft. Scientific data processing will take place at IPAC at the California Institute of Technology. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Source: scitechdaily.com

NASA’s Laser Technology Beams Ultra-HD Cat Video from 19 Million Miles Away

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

NASA has made a significant advancement in deep space communications by successfully transmitting high-definition video from 19 million miles away. This breakthrough paves the way for advanced data transmission in space exploration. The video was transmitted from a cat named Taters and marked a historic milestone for NASA’s laser communications demonstration.

The Deep Space Optical Communications Experiment on December 11 transmitted ultra-high-resolution streaming video from a record-setting distance of 19 million miles. This milestone is part of a NASA technology demonstration aimed at streaming extremely high-bandwidth video and other data from deep space to enable future crewed missions beyond Earth orbit.

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy stated, “This achievement confirms our commitment to advancing optical communications as a key element in meeting future data transmission needs. Increasing bandwidth is essential to achieving future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to continued advances in this technology and the transformation of how we communicate during future interplanetary missions.”

The 15-second test video was transmitted using a Flight Laser Transceiver at a maximum bit rate of 267 Mbps and took 101 seconds to reach Earth. The instrument transmitted a coded near-infrared laser to the Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory, where it was downloaded. Each frame of the video was transmitted “live” to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in real time.

The video was sent via a Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration flight laser transceiver that was installed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Center in April 2021 and later integrated with NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. The technology aims to transmit data from deep space 10 to 100 times faster than the most advanced radio frequency systems used in today’s deep space missions.

The ultra-high-definition video features a cat named Taters and was transmitted from deep space on December 11, 2023. The video was part of a technology demonstration known as Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) as the Psyche spacecraft heads towards the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The system has demonstrated faster data downlink speeds and increased pointing accuracy during weekly checkouts. The project demonstrated downlink bit rates of 62.5 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 267 Mbps, comparable to broadband Internet download speeds. The team was able to download a total of 1.3 terabits of data during that time, marking a significant technological achievement.

Source: scitechdaily.com

Dragonfly: NASA’s Drone Mission Set for 2028

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

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Dragonfly Mission

An artist’s impression of a dragonfly flying over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA has cleared the mission team to proceed with development for a July 2028 launch.Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

The Dragonfly mission is moving toward building nuclear-powered drones. SaturnThe satellite Titan is aiming to be launched in 2028. The mission, which will involve extensive collaboration and technological advances, aims to investigate Titan’s organic matter and its potential links to life.

NASA’s Dragonfly mission team is moving forward with the next stage of development of an innovative car-sized nuclear-powered drone that plans to fly and land over the organic-rich sands of Saturn’s large moon Titan.

NASA has cleared Dragonfly to proceed with design and manufacturing work on its final mission, known as Phase C. The launch preparation date was revised to July 2028.

Artist’s impression of a dragonfly on the surface of Titan. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

Overcome challenges and prepare for Titan: “The Dragonfly team successfully overcame many technical and programmatic challenges in this bold attempt to collect new science on Titan,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Dragonfly, NASA’s only mission to the surface of another oceanic world, is designed to probe the complex chemistry that is the precursor to life. It will be equipped with cameras, sensors and samplers to survey the area. The water froze on the surface of the ice.

Artist’s impression of a dragonfly flying over Titan. Credit: Johns Hopkins University/APL

Teamwork and technical milestones: “Dragonfly is a very bold experiment that has never been done before,” said Elizabeth “Zibi” Turtle, Dragonfly principal investigator at APL.

Saturn’s largest satellite that will collect data in 2028. Credit: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Collaborative initiatives and future expectations: “The dedication of the Dragonfly team was nothing short of heroic,” said Bobby Brown, APL Director of Space Exploration.

APL manages NASA’s Dragonfly mission. The team includes key partners from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado; Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin Corporation. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania. Marine Space Science Systems (San Diego, California); Honeybee Robotics, Pasadena, California; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. French Space Agency (CNES) in Paris. German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany. and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Tokyo.

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Source: scitechdaily.com

NASA’s Exciting Test Phase for Dream Chaser

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

NASA and Sierra Space are testing the Dream Chaser spacecraft at the Neil Armstrong Test Facility, with a focus on environmental simulation for future ISS missions. After testing, the spacecraft will head to Kennedy Space Center for launch in 2024.

NASA and Sierra Space are preparing for the maiden flight of their Dream Chaser spacecraft. international space station. Dream Chaser and its accompanying cargo module “Shooting Star” NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility It will fly in Sandusky, Ohio, for environmental testing, scheduled to begin in mid-December ahead of its first flight scheduled for early 2024.

State-of-the-art testing equipment

The Neil Armstrong Test Facility, part of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, has multiple test facilities including the Space Environment Complex and the Space Propulsion Facility, both of which will be home to Dream Chaser. The complex includes a mechanical vibration facility that exposes test articles to the harsh conditions of launch.

During Armstrong’s stay, the Dream Chaser winged spacecraft will be stacked atop the Shooting Star cargo module on a vibration table, experiencing vibrations similar to those experienced during liftoff or atmospheric re-entry.

Rigorous space simulation

After vibration testing, Dream Chaser will be moved to the propulsion facility for thermal vacuum testing. Dream Chaser is placed in a vacuum and exposed to low ambient pressure, low background temperature, and simulated dynamic solar heating, simulating the environment the spacecraft will encounter during its mission. This facility is the only facility capable of testing full-scale upper stage rockets and rocket engines under simulated space conditions and conducting high-temperature fires.

After testing at Armstrong, Dream Chaser will be transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for further launch preparations, and is currently scheduled to launch in the first half of 2024.

Source: scitechdaily.com

NASA’s Webb and Hubble team up to capture the most vivid image of the universe

Posted on November 10, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

This panchromatic view of galaxy cluster MACS0416 was created by combining infrared observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with visible-light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Jordan CJ D’Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Haojing Yan ( University of Missouri)https://chat.openai.com/c/de5c3def-7d31-49b0-bd44-3d61675a3ae5

The result is a vivid landscape of the galaxy and more than a dozen newly discovered time-changing objects.

When the two flagship observatories come together, they reveal a wealth of new details that are only possible through their combined power. Webb and Hubble collaborated on studying MACS0416, a galaxy cluster about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth. Combining these data yields a prismatic panorama of blue and red. These colors provide clues to the galaxy’s distance. While the images themselves are surprising, researchers are already using these observations to fuel new scientific discoveries, such as identifying gravitationally expanded supernovae and ordinary stars.

This side-by-side comparison of galaxy cluster MACS0416 seen in optical light from the Hubble Space Telescope (left) and infrared light from the James Webb Space Telescope (right) reveals different details. Both images show hundreds of galaxies, but the Webb image shows galaxies that are invisible or only barely visible in the Hubble image. This is because Webb’s infrared vision can detect galaxies that are too far away or covered in dust to be seen by Hubble. (Light from distant galaxies is redshifted due to the expansion of the universe.) Webb’s total exposure time was about 22 hours, while the exposure time of the Hubble image was his 122 hours. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

NASA’s Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope combine to create the most colorful view of the universe. NASA’s james webb space telescope and hubble space telescope They teamed up to study a vast galaxy cluster known as MACS0416. The resulting panchromatic images combine visible and infrared light to assemble one of the most comprehensive views of the universe ever captured. MACS0416, located approximately 4.3 billion light-years from Earth, is a pair of colliding galaxy clusters that will eventually merge to form an even larger cluster. Details revealed by the combination of stretching and contraction forces

This image reveals a wealth of detail only possible by combining the power of both space telescopes. This includes an abundance of galaxies outside the cluster and a scattering of light sources that change over time, possibly due to gravitational lensing (distortion and amplification of light from distant background sources). It is.

The galaxy cluster was the first in a series of unprecedented cosmic views into ultra-deep space from an ambitious joint Hubble program called Frontier Fields, launched in 2014. Hubble pioneered the search for some of the faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected. Webb’s infrared vision greatly enhances this deep observation by going even deeper into the early universe with its infrared vision.

This image of galaxy cluster MACS0416 highlights gravitational lensing background galaxies that existed about 3 billion years after the Big Bang. The galaxy contains an ephemeral object that the scientific team has named Mothra, whose brightness changes over time. Mothra is a star that is magnified at least 4,000 times. The researchers believe that Mothra is magnified not only by the gravity of the galaxy cluster MACS 0416, but also by an object known as a millilens, which weighs about the same as the globular cluster. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Jordan CJ D’Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Haojing Yan ( University of Missouri)

Roger Windhorst of Arizona State University, principal investigator of the PEARLS program (Extragalactic Field for Reionization and Lensing Science), which carried out the Webb observations, said: “We are looking at objects that are farther away and fainter. “By doing so, we are building on Hubble’s legacy.”Understand image color and scientific goals

To create the images, the shortest wavelengths of light were generally color-coded as blue, the longest wavelengths as red, and the intermediate wavelengths as green. The wide range of wavelengths from 0.4 to 5 microns provides particularly vivid galactic landscapes.

These colors provide clues to the galaxy’s distance. The bluest galaxies, as most commonly detected by Hubble, are relatively nearby and often exhibit intense star formation, while the redder galaxies, as detected by Webb, tend to be more distant. Some galaxies appear very red because they contain large amounts of cosmic dust that tends to absorb bluer-colored starlight.

“Until we combine the Webb data with the Hubble data, we won’t get the full picture,” Windhorst said.Scientific discoveries and the “Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster”

New Webb observations contribute to this aesthetic view, but they were taken for a specific scientific purpose. The research team combined his three epochs, each conducted a few weeks apart, with his fourth epoch by the CANUCS (Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey) research team. The goal was to search for objects that change in brightness observed over time, known as transients.

They identified 14 such transients across the visual field. Twelve of these transients are located in three galaxies that are highly magnified by gravitational lensing, and may be individual stars or star systems that are temporarily highly magnified. The remaining two transients are in more moderately expanded background galaxies and may be supernovae.

“We call MACS 0416 the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster, both because it is so colorful and because of the flashing lights found within it. Transients are seen everywhere. ” said Haojing Yang of the University of Missouri-Columbia, lead author of a paper describing the scientific results.

Among the transients the team identified, one in particular stood out. It is located in a galaxy that existed about 3 billion years after the Big Bang and has been magnified by at least 4,000 times. The research team nicknamed the system “Mothra” for its “monstrous nature” of being extremely bright and highly magnified. It joins another lensed star that researchers previously identified and named “Godzilla.” (Godzilla and Mothra are both giant monsters known as kaiju in Japanese movies.)

Interestingly, Mothra can also be seen in Hubble observations taken nine years ago. This is unusual because zooming in on stars this much requires a very specific alignment between the foreground galaxy cluster and the background stars. The mutual motion of stars and star clusters should eventually dissolve the alignment.

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Jordan CJ D’Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Haojing Yan ( University of Missouri)”

Source: scitechdaily.com

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State-of-the-art testing equipment

Rigorous space simulation

NASA’s Webb and Hubble team up to capture the most vivid image of the universe