Tag Archives: NASAs

For the First Time, NASA’s Endurance Mission Measures Earth’s Bipolar Electric Field

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First hypothesized over 60 years ago Bipolar electric field Polar winds are the primary driver of a constant outflow of charged particles into space above the Earth’s poles. These electric fields lift charged particles in the upper atmosphere to higher altitudes than usual, and may have shaped the evolution of Earth in ways that are still unknown.

Collinson othersThey report that a potential drop of +0.55 ± 0.09 V exists between 250 km and 768 km due to the planetary electrostatic field, generated solely by the outward pressure of ionospheric electrons. They experimentally demonstrate that the Earth’s ambipolar field controls the structure of the polar ionosphere, increasing its scale height by 271%. Image courtesy of NASA.

Since the 1960s, spacecraft flying over Earth’s poles have detected streams of particles streaming from Earth’s atmosphere into space.

Theorists predicted these outflows, named them polar winds, and stimulated research to understand their causes.

Some outflow from the atmosphere was expected — intense, unobstructed sunlight should send some atmospheric particles escaping into space, like water vapor evaporating from a pot of water — but the observed polar winds were more puzzling.

Many of the particles inside were cold and showed no signs of heating, but they were moving at supersonic speeds.

“Something must be attracting these particles to the outer reaches of the atmosphere,” said Dr. Glynn Collinson, Endurance mission principal investigator and a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The electric fields, hypothesized to be generated at subatomic levels, would be incredibly weak and their effects would be expected to be felt only for distances of hundreds of miles.

For decades, detecting it has been beyond the limits of existing technology.

In 2016, Dr Collinson and his colleagues began inventing a new instrument that they thought would be suitable for measuring Earth’s bipolar magnetic field.

The team’s equipment and ideas were perfectly suited for a suborbital rocket flight launched from the Arctic.

The researchers named the mission “Antarctic Expedition,” in honor of the ship that carried Ernest Shackleton on his famous 1914 Antarctic voyage. Endurance.

They set course for Svalbard, a Norwegian island just a few hundred miles from the North Pole and home to the world’s northernmost rocket launch site.

“Svalbard is the only rocket launch site in the world that can fly through the polar winds and make the measurements we need,” said Dr Susie Ingber, an astrophysicist at the University of Leicester.

Endurance was launched on May 11, 2022, reaching an altitude of 768.03 kilometers (477.23 miles) and splashing down in the Greenland Sea 19 minutes later.

Over the 518.2 kilometres (322 miles) altitude where Endurance collected data, it measured a change in electrical potential of just 0.55 volts (V).

“Half a volt is almost meaningless – it’s about the strength of a watch battery – but it’s just right for describing polar winds,” Dr Collinson said.

Hydrogen ions, the most abundant type of particle in the polar wind, experience an outward force from this field that is 10.6 times stronger than gravity.

“That’s more than enough to counter gravity, in fact to launch you into space at supersonic speeds,” said Dr. Alex Grosser, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Endurance project scientist.

Heavier particles are also accelerated: an oxygen ion at the same altitude, immersed in this 0.5 volt electric field, loses half its mass.

In general, scientists have found that bipolar magnetic fields increase what’s called the scale height of the ionosphere by 271%, meaning the ionosphere remains denser up to higher altitudes than it would be without the bipolar magnetic field.

“It’s like a conveyor belt that lifts the atmosphere up into space,” Dr Collinson said.

The Endurance discovery has opened up many new avenues of exploration.

The polarity field, as a fundamental energy field of the Earth alongside gravity and magnetism, may have continually shaped the evolution of the atmosphere in ways that we are only now beginning to explore.

Because it is generated by the internal dynamics of the atmosphere, similar electric fields are expected to exist on other planets, including Venus and Mars.

“Any planet with an atmosphere should have a bipolar magnetic field, and now that we’ve finally measured it we can start to learn how it has shaped our planet and other planets over time,” Dr Collinson said.

Team result Published in a journal Nature.

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G.A. Collinson others2024. Earth’s bipolar electrostatic field and its role in the escape of ions into space. Nature 632, 1021-1025;doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07480-3

This article is a version of a press release from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Source: www.sci.news

Cancellation of NASA’s VIPER lunar rover jeopardizes Artemis crewed landing in 2026

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VIPER won’t go to the moon after all

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA has announced that a completed rover scheduled for launch to the moon next year will be dismantled due to budgetary issues, leading researchers to question whether the space agency is really committed to landing a crewed spacecraft on the moon in 2026 as it currently claims.

The Volatile Investigation Polar Rover (VIPER) would be sent to the moon’s south pole in September 2025 to search for water ice. The rover, equipped with a drill, would search for subsurface ice in several locations on the moon, including in craters that are permanently in shadow.

But on July 17, NASA announced it was canceling the mission. “Decisions like these are never easy,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement. “But in this case, VIPER’s remaining projected costs would have forced us to cancel or terminate many other missions, so we have made the decision to abandon this particular mission.”

NASA has already spent $450 million on the rover, and canceling it is expected to save only $84 million. NASA says it welcomes “expressions of interest from U.S. industry and international partners” to purchase VIPER, but if this does not occur by August 1, VIPER will be dismantled with the aim of reusing its parts for future missions.

Phil Metzger Metzger of the University of Central Florida said canceling the mission would be a “huge mistake” for NASA, especially since the space agency has ambitious goals of landing humans on the moon’s south pole in 2026 as part of its Artemis program. It could also jeopardize plans to use lunar ice as a source of rocket fuel. “The rover with the drill is an absolutely essential part of the mission,” Metzger said. “It would definitely have some impact on plans for a human mission.”

The cancellation of VIPER could also give China an advantage in lunar resource exploration: The unmanned probes Chang’e-7 and Chang’e-8, scheduled for 2026 and 2028, respectively, are set to head to the lunar south pole to search for water ice.

Grant Tremblay Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said the cancellations highlight the budgetary challenges facing NASA and other U.S. government agencies, which have Funding is down 8.5% this year The funding came in just under $25 billion, less than the requested amount. “This is a perfect example of how tight the budget is across the board at NASA,” Tremblay said. “NASA can’t print money.”

Other NASA missions, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Mars Sample Return mission, which would bring rocks from Mars, are also facing cuts or cancellations due to shrinking budgets. “More bad news is sure to follow,” Tremblay said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

NASA’s long-term plan to decommission the International Space Station

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The International Space Station (ISS) has been operational since 2000 and is continuously manned by astronauts, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.

Throughout its operation, the ISS has served as a hub for scientific experiments, space travel research, and international cooperation. Over 280 astronauts from more than 23 countries have visited the space station.

However, as the decade nears its end, the ISS is reaching the end of its functional lifespan, prompting the need to address its future once it’s no longer in use.

Abandoning the craft is not an option due to its size and potential risk to other satellites in orbit. NASA has explored various options, including pushing the ISS higher, but ultimately determined that salvaging parts for historical preservation or technical analysis would be too complex and costly.

Therefore, the only viable solution is to deorbit the ISS. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has been awarded an $843 million contract by NASA to develop and deliver a deorbit vehicle for the ISS.

Plans are still being finalized, but the general idea is for the deorbit vehicle to guide the ISS into the atmosphere, where most of it will burn up upon re-entry. Careful considerations will be made to ensure any remaining parts land in uninhabited areas.

With the ISS’s days numbered, the future of space habitation is shifting towards private sector initiatives, such as NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development program and the Lunar Gateway project.

Despite the end of the ISS era, experts like Dr. Darren Baskill emphasize the station’s contributions to science, exploration, and international collaboration, paving the way for future advancements in space.

About our experts

Darren Baskill is an Outreach Officer and Lecturer at the University of Sussex, with a background in astronomy and science outreach.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Equipment failure forces NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to scale back observations

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Hubble encountered additional difficulties.

The space telescope entered hibernation over a week ago due to the failure of one of its three remaining gyroscopes, which are part of its pointing system. This same gyro had been malfunctioning for months, affecting its scientific capabilities.

NASA confirmed on Tuesday that efforts to repair the gyro had been unsuccessful, leaving the spacecraft operating with just one gyroscope, limiting its scientific functions.

As a result, Hubble will be inactive until mid-June. The telescope will have reduced agility and slower target acquisition. Despite these limitations, officials believe that Hubble will still be able to make significant discoveries in the coming decade.

“We are optimistic about Hubble’s future,” said Patrick Close, NASA’s project manager.

Mark Crump, NASA’s astrophysics director, stated that there are currently no plans to launch a mission to extend Hubble’s life by raising it to a higher orbit.

A billionaire who has booked SpaceX flights for himself has offered to sponsor and perform the necessary repairs. However, Crumpen expressed concerns about the risks involved and the need for further analysis.

The Hubble Telescope was launched into orbit in 1990, initially facing challenges due to a misaligned mirror. After a successful repair mission, Hubble resumed its observations of the cosmos in remarkable detail.

During a visit in 2009, astronauts installed six new gyroscopes on Hubble. Unfortunately, three of them have stopped functioning. These gyroscopes are crucial for maintaining the telescope’s stability and orientation.

Currently, only two gyroscopes are operational, one for pointing and the other as a backup.

The Webb Space Telescope, a more advanced successor to Hubble, is set to launch in 2021.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

NASA’s Ongoing Efforts to Save Voyager 1: A Closer Look

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Voyager 1 faced a critical issue when it was first discovered in November. NASA acknowledged that while the spacecraft was still in communication with Earth, the signals being received were indecipherable. This led to a concentrated effort over a month to identify and rectify the problem, saving the Voyager 1 mission.

Despite the challenges faced by the team, including the difficulty of troubleshooting a spacecraft over 15 billion miles away in interstellar space, there remained hope and determination to overcome the obstacles.

The main culprit was found to be a hardware failure in one of Voyager 1’s three computers, resulting in corrupted code that hindered the transmission of crucial updates and data. Unfortunately, the chip containing the problematic software was deemed irreparable.

However, a solution was devised by splitting and storing the code in different memory locations of the computer. This allowed for the affected sections to be reprogrammed, ensuring the continued functionality of the system.

Following meticulous verification and testing processes, Voyager 1 gradually resumed its normal operations, as confirmed by NASA’s recent update.

The Voyager missions, launched in 1977, have been instrumental in exploring the outer regions of our solar system. Voyager 1, now in interstellar space, continues to transmit valuable data and may well do so until the 2030s, serving as an enduring reminder of human exploration.

Both Voyager probes carry time capsules containing images and sounds representing Earth and its inhabitants, intended to be discovered by extraterrestrial beings in the distant future.

“Our silent ambassadors,” as Voyager 1 and 2 are affectionately known, will continue their journey for millennia, potentially reaching other stars and civilizations,” remarked Spilker.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

NASA’s revolutionary new mission using solar sails may pave the way for interstellar travel

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Humanity has always dreamed of traveling beyond our solar system to the stars, but the vastness of the universe has kept us grounded. Our closest star, Proxima Centauri, is a staggering 4.24 light years away, which is too far for us to wait patiently.

Recently, on April 23, NASA launched the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System from New Zealand, a system that uses lightweight sails to propel spacecraft instead of traditional rockets. This development has excited both experts and science fiction fans, as it opens up possibilities for long-distance space travel.

How solar sail works

Instead of using thrusters and fuel like traditional spacecraft, solar sail systems use reflective sails to absorb momentum from photons emitted by the sun. This technology enables spacecraft to gain acceleration without the limitations of fuel. In space, where there is no air resistance, a slight push from the sun is all that’s needed for propulsion.

Solar sails operate similar to sailing ships, utilizing the momentum of photons for movement. By harnessing the sun’s energy, spacecraft can travel far distances at manageable speeds.

How fast can an interstellar probe travel with a solar sail?

The speed of a solar sail system depends on factors like the size of the sail, spacecraft mass, and distance from the sun. With creative maneuvers like slingshot maneuvers and potential laser boosts, spacecraft using solar sails can achieve speeds close to 20% of the speed of light.

Future solar sail systems could reach speeds up to 20 percent of the speed of light. – Image credit: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart

Will humanity ever be able to sail to another planet?

Potentially, solar sail technology could pave the way for human interstellar travel in the future. However, there are challenges, such as sustaining long-term missions for generations and addressing relativistic effects caused by near-light speed travel.

What exactly is NASA's solar sail mission?

NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is a demonstration of solar sail technology that aims to test a new lightweight boom made of flexible materials. The mission involves a CubeSat deploying an 80 square meter sail in orbit to gather data for future solar sail missions.

About our experts

patrick johnson is an associate professor at Georgetown University with expertise in quantum mechanics. He authored the book “Star Wars Physics” and has contributed to scientific journals like Physical Review.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Close-Up View of Io’s Unique Features Captured by NASA’s Juno Mission

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In December 2023 and February 2024, NASA’s Juno spacecraft will fly extremely close to Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, coming within about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of the surface and obtaining the first close-up images of the moon’s northern latitudes. Planetary scientists have now turned images collected during the flight into animations that show two of Io’s most dramatic features: its mountains and a nearly glassy rock formed by cooling lava called Loki Patera. It emphasized the smooth lake.

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.

“There are only a few scattered volcanoes on the island of Io, and we captured some of them active,” said Juno principal investigator and Southwest Research Institute cosmologist. said Scott Bolton, director of science and engineering.

“We also obtained great close-ups and other data about a 200 km (127 mile) long lava lake called Loki Patera.”

“It shows in amazing detail how these crazy islands are embedded in the middle of a potential magma lake fringed with hot lava.”

“The specular reflections that our instruments record about the lake suggest that parts of Io’s surface are glass-smooth, reminiscent of the obsidian glass produced in volcanoes on Earth. “

Map generated using data collected by Juno microwave radiometer (MWR)’s instruments revealed that Io not only has a relatively smooth surface compared to Jupiter’s other Galilean moons, but also has poles that are colder than the mid-latitudes.

During Juno’s long-term mission, the spacecraft will fly closer to Jupiter’s north pole with each pass.

This change in direction allows the MWR instrument to improve the resolution of Jupiter’s polar cyclones.

This data allows us to compare multiple wavelengths at the poles and reveals that not all polar cyclones are created equal.

“Perhaps the most striking example of this difference is seen in the central cyclone at Jupiter’s north pole,” said Dr. Steve Levin, Juno project scientist and researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. states.

“Although clearly visible in both infrared and visible light images, the microwave signature is not as strong as other nearby storms.”

“This indicates that its subsurface structure must be very different from other cyclones.”

“As the MWR team continues to collect more and better microwave data in every orbit, we expect to develop more detailed 3D maps of these interesting polar storms.”

Source: www.sci.news

2024 Solar Eclipse Live: Watch NASA’s broadcast of the total eclipse – New Updates

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On April 8th, a total solar eclipse will occur in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. This type of solar eclipse only occurs when the sun and moon line up perfectly in the sky, causing the moon to cover the entire disk of the sun and cast a shadow on Earth. The path this shadow follows as it crosses the ground at speeds exceeding 2,400 kilometers per hour is called a total path, and during this eclipse, the shadow will cross from the west coast of Mexico, across 13 states of the United States, to Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, and beyond. At any given location, totality lasts from about 90 seconds to nearly 4.5 minutes.

During this period, the sky becomes dark as at dusk and the temperature drops by 10 degrees. Viewers will be able to remove their eclipse glasses, which are essential during the partial phase of the eclipse, and look directly at the Sun, which is covered by the Moon. At this range, the sun’s outermost layer, the corona, becomes visible. At other times, it may be too dark to see due to the glare of the sun. Total solar eclipses like this one are rare opportunities for researchers studying the sun and have led to major scientific advances over the years.

Solar eclipse in 2024

On April 8th, a total solar eclipse will pass over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Our special series covers everything you need to know, from how and when to see a solar eclipse to the strangest solar eclipse experience of all time.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Europa Clipper: NASA’s Mission to Jupiter’s Moons Explores Possibility of Extraterrestrial Life

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Artist’s impression of the European Clipper near its namesake moon

NASA

Instruments aboard a NASA spacecraft scheduled to launch to Europe later this year could directly detect cellular material ejected from Jupiter’s icy moons, increasing the chances of finding life.

Europa is of scientific interest because researchers believe there is a vast saltwater ocean beneath its thick icy shell. It is also surrounded by an orbiting blanket of ice grains and dust, believed to be the remains of material kicked up after the meteorite struck.

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft was launched in October and is scheduled to arrive at its destination in 2030, flying close to the moon but not landing on it. Ten experiments will be carried out aimed at studying Europa’s internal structure, including its ocean chemistry and potential habitability for extraterrestrial life.

One of these is the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA), a type of instrument known as a mass spectrometer. The mission will collect material ejected from the moon and reveal its chemical composition, including potential organic molecules and salts.

SUDA was not designed to look for signs of life in Europe, but now Frank Postberg and his colleagues at Germany’s Freie Universität Berlin, who are working on the device, have shown that it can detect fragments of cellular material, potentially providing evidence of modern life.

“If life on Europa follows the same principle of having membranes and DNA made from amino acids… [those chemicals] “It will be the deciding blow of my life,” he says.

“This is an interesting result because these ice grains hit the instruments in space at speeds of 4 to 6 kilometers per second,” say team members. Fabian Krenner at the University of Washington. “We showed that we can still identify cellular material.”

These extreme velocities cause particles to collide with SUDA with high kinetic energy, breaking large molecular structures into smaller component parts for analysis. To simulate this kinetic energy, the team shot water droplets with a laser. I put the following sample into water. Sphingopyxis alascensisa bacterium known to survive in frigid marine environments, making it a potential alternative to life on Europa.

When the laser hits the droplet, it breaks up into tiny droplets that hit the SUDA detector. The researchers discovered that they could distinguish between fragmented cellular material, including fatty acids and amino acids, which are abundant in cell membranes.

“We have now simulated the presence of cells inside a single ice grain without any pretreatment, which may be a valid case for what we see in Europe,” Klenner said. To tell. The next step, he says, is to repeat the experiment using different types of cell cultures.

Murti Gudipati He works on SUDA at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., but is not involved in the research. The results should reflect what could happen to the spacecraft, he said. Watch while on duty.

But the ability to clearly distinguish cellular material from other organic molecules and salts depends on the specific composition of the ice grains released from Europa, he says. If SUDA detects many other complex organic molecules and salts mixed in with the ice grains, it may be difficult for researchers to reliably detect cellular material, Gudipati says.

the current, NASA says When asked, “Europa Clipper is not a life-detecting mission. Its primary science goal is to determine whether there is a place beneath Europa’s surface where life could exist.” new scientist The agency was unable to respond prior to publication about whether the new research changes the mission’s goals.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

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

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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

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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

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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