Archive for May, 2015
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May 6th, 2015
The uplift and downfall of Progress spacecraft.
Credit: Roscosmos
Round and round it goes…exactly when and where it will plummet to Earth is a guessing game.
On April 28, Russia’s uncrewed Progress M-27M supply ship streaked into orbit atop a Soyuz launcher, intended to dock with the International Space Station (ISS).
But shortly after liftoff, the vessel experienced technical difficulties. Subsequently, a Russian mission control team could not command the cargo vessel packed with nearly three tons of supplies.
Here’s the latest, with some surprises as reviewed in my new Space.com story.
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May 06, 2015 03:50pm ET
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Features called recurrent slope lineae (RSL) have been spotted on some Martian slopes in warmer months. Some scientists think RSL could be seasonal flows of salty water. Red arrows point out one 0.75-mile-long (1.2 kilometers) RSL in this image taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Orbiting spacecraft of Mars have imaged over the past several years dark, finger-like features – now called “recurring slope lineae” – or RSL for Martian short-hand.
These dark flows have been observed at low and middle latitudes on Mars.
RSL’s are a type of feature that creep down some Martian slopes in warmer months and then fade away in cooler months.
Scientists conjecture that RSL’s may be seasonal flows of salty water.
Indeed, new research reveals the prospect that NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity, may be within range of active slope processes that resemble RSL, possibly caused by liquid water.
Gale is an expansive crater that measures about 96 miles (154 kilometers) across. Hundreds of exposed rock layers within Gale Crater form Mount Sharp, a mound as tall as the Rockies.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/UA
But what caution should be taken in investigating an RSL feature – in terms of planetary protection of Mars? Are they the best place to search for extant (existing) Martian life?
High-resolution repeat imaging
In the journal Icarus, an article is to appear this July — but now available via Icarus in press — titled “Slope activity in Gale crater, Mars.”
The paper is authored by Colin Dundas, a planetary scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Science Center at Flagstaff, Arizona and Alfred McEwen, of the University of Arizona, principal investigator for the super-powerful High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter now circling the Red Planet.
“High-resolution repeat imaging of Aeolis Mons, the central mound in Gale crater, reveals active slope processes within tens of kilometers of the Curiosity rover,” they report. “At one location near the base of northeastern Aeolis Mons, dozens of transient narrow lineae were observed, resembling features (Recurring Slope Lineae) that are potentially due to liquid water. However, the lineae faded and have not recurred in subsequent Mars years.”
Potential special regions
Dundas and McEwen state they have not identified confirmed RSL at Gale crater. The researchers note that it has been recommended by astrobiology specialists that RSL “be treated as potential special regions for planetary protection.”
Furthermore, repeat images acquired from above as Curiosity wheels toward the base of Aeolis Mons could spot changes due to active slope processes, “which could enable the rover to examine recently exposed material,” Dundas and McEwen add.
“There is no strong evidence for RSL in Gale,” McEwen told Inside Outer Space.
However, let’s say that Curiosity — or a future lander/rover — does face an RSL situation. What should be done given planetary protection concerns?
It’s McEwen’s opinion to drive up to it and monitor an RSL from as close as possible, he said. The robot is armed with science gear to take a look, he said, particularly using the ChemCam instrument suite to provide remote compositional information using the first laser-induced breakdown spectrometer (LIBS) on a planetary mission.
RSL occur on greater than 25 degree slopes, McEwen advised, “so the rover isn’t going to contact an RSL.”
Greenhouse effect
“The planetary protection is a huge issue especially as we keep finding more and more RSL sites,” now up to 172, said David Stillman, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
This nearly global mosaic of observations made by the Mars Color Imager on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 18, 2012, shows a dust storm in Mars’ southern hemisphere. Small white arrows outline the area where dust from the storm is apparent in the atmosphere. From decades of observing Mars, scientists know there is a seasonal pattern to the largest Martian dust-storm events.
Locations of NASA’s Mars rovers Opportunity and Curiosity are labeled.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Stillman’s Mars research, for instance, has taken him to an RSL site in Valles Marineris, suggesting that it is recharged by an aquifer. The total amount of water liberated from the area equals 8 to 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools, he said, and the only way to annually recharge such a large volume of water is via an aquifer.
Stillman told Inside Outer Space that it is very interesting that the RSL-like features at Gale only occurred after the MY28 dust storm.
“While we didn’t even know what to look for in MY28 [Mars Year starting in mid-June and ending in early December 2007], we luckily imaged many RSL sites,” Stillman said. Nearly all of them, he said, had many more individual RSL and the RSL were much longer.
“We have a theory that the dust storm actually produced a slight greenhouse effect that increased subsurface warming,” Stillman concluded.
A video update on Stillman’s research is available here:
https://mediasite.jsg.utexas.edu/UTMediasite/Play/63825846207a41f8a92eb80bb5390a091d
For more information on the Dundas and McEwen Icarus paper, go to:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103515001372
This image was taken by Curiosity’s Navcam Left B on May 3, 2015 during Sol 974.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
According to Ken Herkenhoff of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Flagstaff, Arizona, NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars is now in a good position for contact science observations on an interesting outcrop of sedimentary rock.
On Sol 973, the rover is using several instruments to observe nearby targets “Albert” and “Charity,” and a distant target named “Empire.”
Also, the rover will use its Navcam will search for Martian clouds and dust devils.
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, on May 3, 2015, Sol 974 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity rover is “factory loaded” with the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the Martian surface.
The record of the planet’s climate and geology is essentially “written in the rocks and soil” — in their formation, structure, and chemical composition.
This image was taken by Curiosity’s ChemCam: Remote Micro-Imager on May 2, 2015 during Sol 973.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
The rover’s onboard laboratory is dutifully studying rocks, soils, and the local geologic setting in order to detect chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and is assessing what the Martian environment was like in the past.
On the funding chopping block, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/GSFC
A scientific and public campaign is underway to keep operating NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Opportunity Mars rover.
Both have been zeroed out in the President’s FY16 budget for NASA. This is despite LRO and Opportunity being highly ranked in a recent “Senior Review” of planetary missions.
LRO was launched in 2009; Opportunity has been on duty on Mars since its landing in early 2004.
Still beaming after all these years – NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover.
Credit: NASA/JPL
But there is an even deeper issue that is being expressed by the letter-writing campaign.
That is, the role of the independent review process within NASA’s budget decisions.
Furthermore, why have senior reviews in the first place, followed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) decisions to cut those missions anyway?
Recommendations rejected
“It is hoped that a strong show of support from the planetary — and specifically the lunar community — will demonstrate to our elected officials the backing these planetary missions have,” explains lunar researcher, Clive Neal of the Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
In a letter to the scientific community, requesting signatures of support, the communiqué explains that “we were greatly surprised” by the President’s FY 2016 budget request for NASA, which proposed to defund continued operations of both Opportunity and the LRO.
On-duty eye on the Moon: Four different images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter of a lunar crater (18 meter diameter) recently formed on the Moon; each scene is 560 meters wide. Being able to get observations before, during and after the impact is a valuable opportunity to better understand impact events.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
“This decision rejects the recommendations made by the planetary senior review process. These two missions were among the most highly ranked in the Report – only the Cassini mission at Saturn was judged as having a better science return,” the letter explains.
“We urge Congress to support the results of this independent review process and to augment NASA’s budget to continue operating its fleet of high-performing, scientifically valuable planetary spacecraft,” the letter concludes.
On-going research underway by NASA Opportunity rover, wheeling its way on the Red Planet in this Sol 4006 image.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Public outreach
Also engaged in activating a public response to these issues is The Planetary Society.
“Here at The Planetary Society, we’ve been gathering petitions from our members and the wider community for LRO/Opportunity since early March,” explains Casey Dreier, Director of Advocacy for the organization.
Dreier advised Inside Outer Space that the URL below is perfect for the public to get engaged about supporting these missions. It sends a message directly to representatives in Congress, he said, with a default letter (which can be modified) that contains a focus on the cancelled missions within the context of planetary exploration.
Letters will be sent to the congressional people that sit on the committees that oversee NASA’s budget.
NOTE: To have your voice heard on these issues, go to:
https://secure.planetary.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=183
Rock embedded into wheel of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity. The robot acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, on April 30, 2015, Sol 971.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has advanced through a sandy-floored valley, busily inspecting the lower slopes of a layered mountain, Mount Sharp.
The Mars machinery is busy investigating how the region’s ancient environment evolved from lakes and rivers to much drier conditions.
Sweeping view from Curiosity taken on April 23, 2015, Sol 964.
Credit NASAJPL-CaltechMSSS
New imagery shows the robot taking hits to its wheels, including a lodged rock in one wheel.
After landing on Mars Aug. 5, 2012 (California time), Curiosity spent much of its first 12 months on the Red Planet studying locations close to its landing site north of Mount Sharp.
Findings during that period and subsequent treks continue to gather evidence for ancient rivers and a lakebed environment that offer conditions favorable for microbial life – if Mars has ever hosted life.
Curiosity’s Front Hazcam: Left B image taken on April 30, Sol 971.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity’s ChemCam: Remote Micro-Imager taken on April 30, Sol 971.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Navcam: Left B image from NASA’s Mars rover April 30, on Sol 971.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
European Space Agency has been looking at what it takes to construct a moon outpost.
Credit: ESA/ Foster + Partners
A new story from me posted today on Space.com.
The in-coming leader of the European Space Agency is keen on establishing an international base on the moon – a next-step outpost beyond the International Space Station.
Next European Space Agency Director General, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, discusses farside moon station at the The Space Foundation’s recently held 31st National Space Symposium.
Credit: Tom Kimmell Photography
Johann-Dietrich Wörner expressed his lunar base views at The Space Foundation’s National Space Symposium, held here April 13-16 – a gathering of global, commercial, civil, military and newspace experts.
For the full story, go to:
Europe’s Next Space Chief Wants a Moon Colony on the Lunar Far Side
by Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
May 01, 2015 06:00am ET
http://www.space.com/29285-moon-base-european-space-agency.html
