Archive for April, 2023
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April 14th, 2023
I’m 50! Saturday Night Live’s Molly Shannon. Image credit: SNL
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has performed a Molly Shannon maneuver – “I’m 50!”
The craft made its 50th flight on April 13, soaring to its highest altitude to date.
Stats: Horizontal distance covered, roughly 1,056 feet (322 meters); Maximum altitude roughly 59 feet (18 meters) – the highest altitude reached to date; Hit a ground speed of roughly 10.3 miles per hour (4.60 meters per second); Duration of flight 145.7 seconds.
This image was acquired on April 13, 2023 (Sol 763 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 15:07:25. This was the date of Ingenuity’s 50th flight.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
White knuckle flights
After its milestone-making mission, the craft touched down near the half-mile-wide (800-meter-wide) “Belva Crater” on the Red Planet.
With Flight 50 under its rotors, the helicopter team plans to perform another repositioning flight before exploring the “Fall River Pass” region of Jezero Crater.
“We are not in Martian Kansas anymore,” said Josh Anderson, Ingenuity operations lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. “We’re flying over the dried-up remnants of an ancient river that is filled with sand dunes, boulders, and rocks, and surrounded by hills that could have us for lunch. And while we recently upgraded the navigation software onboard to help determine safe airfields, every flight is still a white-knuckler.”
Built with many off-the-shelf components, such as smartphone processors and cameras, Ingenuity is now 23 Earth months and 45 flights beyond its expected lifetime. The craft’s first flight took place on April 19, 2021.
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter flying through the Red Planet’s skies. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The rotorcraft has now flown for roughly 89.2 minutes in total and collectively more than 7.1 miles (11.6 kilometers) in distance.
Electronic earshot
According to JPL, beyond facing more challenging terrain, Ingenuity will also fly at a greater frequency in the coming days. That flight rate is due to the helicopter needing to remain within “electronic earshot” of the busily-working NASA Perseverance rover. With its auto-navigation capability, the Perseverance robot can wheel hundreds of meters each day.
Ingenuity helicopter is enabling looks at future aerial craft for Mars exploration.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development.
AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.
A range of less-expensive landers, rovers and aerial vehicles are foreseen to help advance a sustainable human presence on Mars.
Image credit: Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS)/Chuck Carter (Used with permission)
Posted in 
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Work is now underway to shape a new NASA Mars helicopter design. There are a lot of add-ons beyond the Ingenuity aerial vehicle that has been busily buzzing the distant and distinct planet.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Thanks to Ingenuity’s nearly 50 hops across the Jezero Crater landscape, much has been learned to soup-up a future rotorcraft for the Red Planet.
For more information, go to my new Space.com story – “NASA sets sights on a next-generation Mars helicopter to return Red Planet samples” at:
https://www.space.com/mars-sample-return-next-generation-helicopter
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3797, April 12, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale crater is now performing Sol 3798 tasks.
The terrain the rover drivers are now navigating is challenging – “slippery sand surrounding big, wheel-unfriendly rocks,” reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3797, April 12, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“These contrasting regimes contributed to us not-quite-arriving at our planned workspace with all six wheels confidently on known terrain,” Minitti adds. “Thus, we had to pivot from a combined contact and remote science day, to one with remote science and a drive.”
Interesting textures
Minitti points out that there are interesting textures in the workspace and the surrounding terrain motivated the science team to not want to stray too far from the robot’s current area.
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 3797, April 12, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
“So the rover drivers planned a short bump toward another intriguing rock that gives us a bit more confidence that we can arrive at it to enable arm work in the next plan,” Minitti explains.
With no arm work in the plan, geology and environmental planning groups ably filled up their pre-drive science time with Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam), Navcam, and Mastcam observations.
Curiosity Rear Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image taken on Sol 3797, April 12, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Dust devil survey
“Navcam will start things off with a dust devil survey. Mastcam planned a series of stereo images and mosaics at targets that all shared regularly-spaced, resistant features paralleling the layering of this area,” Minitti reports, “despite being geographically dispersed, their similarities earned them the same name, ‘Teotonio.’ Layering patterns on another target, ‘La Macarena’ (pause to sing it to yourself…), earned another Mastcam mosaic, as did one of the blocks in the area (‘La Vueltosa’) exhibiting a scalloped fracture pattern that we have not seen for quite awhile. This pattern is also present on the block we are bumping toward, ‘Regina.’”
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3797, April 12, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Mastcam images planned on Regina should be returned to Earth in time to help researchers carry out an analysis of the target.
Channel structure
ChemCam targeted yet another scalloped fracture block, “Chiles,” with its lone Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis in the plan. Farther afield, Mastcam will capture the west side of “Owenteik” butte, and ChemCam will collect a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaic of a hypothesized inverted channel structure on Gediz Vallis Ridge, Minitti notes.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B photo taken on Sol 3797, April 12, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
In parallel with all the pre-drive science and the drive, the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) passive will run for four hours, adding an active measurement post-drive, as well.
Post-drive, Navcam will acquire a cloud altitude observation, and the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) will provide a view of the ground beneath Curiosity’s left front wheel.
The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) and Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) will keep their regular watch on the weather and radiation conditions in Gale crater, Minitti concludes.
Image credit: ICON
The “Pancosmorio theory” describes the complexity of maintaining gravity and oxygen, obtaining water, developing agriculture and handling waste far from Earth.
Pancosmorio theory is a word coined to mean “all world limit” – and is detailed in “Pancosmorio (World Limit) Theory of the Sustainability of Human Migration and Settlement in Space,” published in March in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.
According to one of the paper’s authors, it would be unwise to spend billions of dollars to set up a space settlement only to see it fail, because even with all other the systems in place, you need gravity.
Image credit: ICON
One-G gravity
Humans and all Earth life have evolved within the context of 1G of gravity.
“Our bodies, our natural ecosystems, all the energy movement and the way we utilize energy is all fundamentally based upon 1G of gravity being present,” explains Cornell University’s Morgan Irons.
“There is just no other place in space where there is 1G of gravity; that just doesn’t exist anywhere else in our solar system. That’s one of the first problems we must solve.”
For more information, go to “Pancosmorio (world limit) theory of the sustainability of human migration and settlement in space” at:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2023.1081340/full
Also, go to Baine Friedlander in the Cornell Chronicle at:
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/04/humans-need-earth-ecosystem-deep-space-living
Image credit: SpaceX
At T-minus 00:00:00 “Excitement Guaranteed”
The first flight test of a fully integrated, fully reusable SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy rocket is close at hand.
This voyage is on tap to help “inform and improve” the probability of success in the future of this transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and to Mars and beyond.
“The first integrated flight test of Starship is trending towards the third week of April, pending regulatory approval,” explains SpaceX. A “soft landing” of the Starship is slated for the Pacific north of Hawai’i.
Numerous tests of the Super Heavy rocket have been carried out, including a full-duration 31 Raptor engine test – the largest number of simultaneous rocket engine ignitions in history.
Projected flight profile.
Image credit: SpaceX
Starbase facility
At the SpaceX Starbase facility on Boca Chica Beach in Texas, SpaceX has also built the world’s tallest rocket launch and unique “catch tower.”
At nearly 500 feet tall (146 meters), the launch and catch tower is designed to support vehicle integration, launch, and catch of the Super Heavy rocket booster.
Image credit: SpaceX
For the first flight test, the team will not attempt a vertical landing of Starship or a catch of the Super Heavy booster, adds SpaceX.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not made a license determination for the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy operation.
For more information, go to: https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/
Curiosity’s location as of Sol 3796. Distance Driven to that sol: 18.56 miles/29.87 kilometers.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3797 duties.
Scott VanBommel, a planetary scientist at Washington University, reports that the rover spent much of the last week completing a software upgrade while the science team met virtually to synthesize and discuss results.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image taken on Sol 3796, April 11, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“That upgrade has been completed successfully,” VanBommel adds, “and Curiosity was back to work characterizing a local canyon in an effort to study the composition and sedimentology of the geologic units above ‘Tapo Caparo.’”
Regular cadence
While continually on the lookout for its next drill location, VanBommel adds that Curiosity will maintain a regular cadence of chemical and textural analyses of rocks along its canyon-transecting traverse.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3796, April 11, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Chemical analysis and imaging efforts were central to tosol’s plan which focused on the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on a brushed rock face, “Tarilandia,” before the rover executed a planned drive of roughly 98 feet (30 meters).
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3796, April 11, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Strikingly round stone
“As APXS prefers colder temperatures and MAHLI benefits from midday illumination, a one-hour science block between these two arm activities rounded out the geologic science planned before the drive,” VanBommel notes.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3796, April 11, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 3796, April 11, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Laser hits, taken by Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI), acquired on Sol 3796, April 11, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
The science block included a Mastcam crater rim extinction image and an extension of the “Tutu Kampu” mosaic. Mastcam also documented the targets “Loulouie” and Tarilandia.
Lastly, the robot’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) imaged and conducted laser analyses on the target “Bem Querer,” a strikingly round stone, Towards the end of the drive, Curiosity was to acquire imaging that will support targeting in an upcoming one-sol plan, VanBommel concludes.
The Astronaut’s Guide to Leaving the Planet: Everything You Need to Know, from Training to Re-entry by Terry Virts; Workman Publishing Company (2023); 176 pages; Softcover: $14.99.
When it comes to tips on departing the Earth, consider getting advice from a person that has been up there. That’s the case with author Terry Virts, a two spaceflight veteran that chalked up over 7 months in Earth orbit, commanded the International Space Station, and also performed three spacewalks.
While the book is targeted for 10 years old and up, in the “kids” category – elder “mission controllers” with aspiring astronauts on their hands will find this volume enchanting, informative, and a superb read.
Its pages are filled with advice, tips and tricks for confronting space microgravity. Virts explains becoming an astronaut: “And it only happened because I didn’t listen to others who told me I could never be an astronaut,” he writes. “So no matter what your dream is in life, always remember – don’t tell yourself no!”
Sample pages
Divided into 10 sections — including “The Journey to Launch: Training,” “Don’t Look Down: Spacewalking – to “Re-entry” and “The Next Mission” – the book includes a helpful guide to astronaut lingo and is well indexed.
The volume is illustrated by the talented Andrés Lozano and is sprinkled by color images.
You’ll find an interesting read regarding a Virtz return-to-Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule. Also, there’s plenty of counsel on living, eating, sleeping, and yes, that ever-present question of how best to alleviate your toil without too much trouble.
Readers of all ages, young and youthful in spirit, will find The Astronaut’s Guide to Leaving the Planet: Everything You Need to Know, from Training to Re-entry offering valuable insights for off-world space travel.
For more information, go to: https://www.workman.com/products/the-astronauts-guide-to-leaving-the-planet/paperback
Also, go to the Terry Virts website at www.terryvirts.com
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
The number of artificial objects in space is growing rapidly, driven primarily by an increasing quantity of satellites in low Earth orbit.
Given that fact, a research paper points out that satellite technology can have a range of environmental impacts on Earth, not only from the effects of rocket launches and satellite de-orbiting on the atmosphere, but also biological impacts of a changing nighttime sky.
Earth clutter. This artist’s view shows the broad scope of space debris circling the planet, hundreds of miles above sea level, at the same height where low-Earth orbit satellites operate. The spatial density of debris objects increases at high latitudes. Note that the size of the debris elements in this image is greatly exaggerated compared to the size of Earth.
Credit: European Space Agency.)
“Given the acceleration in space-based activities, and particularly ongoing and predicted growth in the number of satellites in low Earth orbit, the impacts of artificial space objects on Earth systems need to be considered carefully,” states the research paper – “Environmental impacts of increasing numbers of artificial space objects” – published in the journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
The paper’s lead author is Kevin Gaston of the Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom.
SpaceX Starlink Satellites over Carson National Forest, New Mexico, photographed soon after launch.
Credit: Mike Lewinsky/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Sky brightness
Gaston and colleagues observe that artificial skyglow (artificial sky brightness) may be impacted by spacecraft and orbital clutter might influence nighttime skies. “Indeed, this has been estimated already to be as much as 10% above natural levels as a consequence of satellites and space debris,” the paper adds.
Due to the current inability to retrieve orbital objects, “the only possible mitigation for debris is to launch fewer, design satellites with longer operational lifetimes, and seek ways to extend the life of existing satellites, thereby reducing the quantity for eventual decommissioning and removal,” the paper advises.
Categories of satellites according to weight with examples of
satellites that fall into these categories, and equivalent examples from the
animal kingdom. Note that very small satellites in the femo and pico size range are not shown. Image credit: Gaston, et al./International Space Station NASA/Wikimedia Commons
Why not move large debris to higher graveyard orbits further away from Earth’s atmosphere, where they will remain for hundreds of years?
That is a current practice, the paper points out, “but this too – we argue – is unsustainable, as doing so will ultimately lead to further debris congestion and pollution of space.”
Wider societal, cultural, environmental impacts
In supporting information to their paper, Gaston and associates argue that the major problem with the present-day Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE) approach taken in the UK is that it fails to take into account the full life cycle of space activities. These considerations relate specifically to the immediate impacts of launch (e.g. rocket or airplane noise, point of launch emissions, air quality).
“There is no mention or consideration of what happens to the material propelled into orbit, nor the wider societal, cultural, or environmental impacts of those activities beyond the geographical boundaries of the launchpad itself,” the supporting document concludes.
To read the paper — “Environmental impacts of increasing numbers of artificial space objects“ – go to:
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2624
Image credit: CAS Space
Vertical landing tests of a launch vehicle at sea and on land are verifying key technologies needed for space returning boosters and hardware.
CAS Space is a Beijing-based rocket company owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Chinese group has conducted their tests in Haiyang, a county-level city in Yantai City, east China’s Shandong Province.
Turbojet engines
The work is targeted to future recovery of near-space scientific experiment platforms, orbital rocket and space travel vehicles, reports China Global Television Network (CGTN).
The test vehicle is propelled by two turbojet engines to over 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) before adjusting its position and starting a descent. Reverse thrusting reduces the vehicles thrust, enabling a soft landing within 33 feet (10 meters) of a target point.
The CAS Space said it also verified several high-precision guidance and control technologies for the vertical return of the launch vehicle.
Artistic depiction of NASA astronauts at the lunar south pole carrying out early work to establish an Artemis Base Camp.
Image credit: NASA
“Would you like to…carry moonbeams home in a jar…and be better off than you are?”
Those words come from the Oscar-winning 1944 film Going My Way – but could be linked to a 21st century Moon base.
A fresh idea that’s beaming with promise is Moonbeam-Beamed Lunar Power. Research into the concept has been backed by NASA’s Lunar Surface Technology Research Opportunities initiative, long-hand for the abbreviation: LuSTR.
LuSTR is a product of the Space Technology Research Grants Program, carried out under the space agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Image credit: Lubin, et al.
Project Moonbeam is the brainchild of Philip Lubin and colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The idea is to develop a directed energy system capable of flexible power distribution for difficult-to-reach and mobile applications on the Moon.
Extension cord
The project goal is to create a “photonic extension cord,” says Lubin and his fellow researchers. What that term means is beaming near-infrared directed energy laser light to distant assets, where it is converted into useful electricity by tuned high efficiency photovoltaics.
“The modular directed energy system enables a wide variety of lunar mission profiles due its scalability and efficiency, made possible by the Moore’s Law-like exponential growth in photonics,” according to Lubin.
Image credit: NASA
This technology ultimately enables electrification less than a mile (1 kilometer) away, offering tower-to-tower power at distances exceeding 62 miles (100 kilometers) and power levels exceeding 10 kilowatts.
Key elements
Project Moonbeam work entails development of a high-efficiency low mass laser and laser PV converter, including thermal management/storage, the design and construction of a high-fidelity laboratory demonstration system, including a beam director and a fine pointing system for target locking, capable of field use and extendable to flight, and power-up testing of equipment.
In addition, thermal batteries will be developed to store waste heat of energy not converted to electrical energy, allowing nearly 100% conversion efficiency at the receiver for electrical and thermal energy combined, according to project documentation.
For more information on LuSTR and its various research avenues, go to:
