Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
Author: 
June 28th, 2023
Curiosity’s location as of Sol 3871. Distance driven to date: 18.78 miles/30.22 kilometers.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale crater is now performing Sol 3873 duties.
A recent drive by the robot was successful, reports Alex Innanen, Atmospheric Scientist at York University; Toronto, Ontario, Canada. “This put us in a perfect position for our split touch-and-go plan – lots to see, and no need to worry that we might be on unsteady footing, like we were on Friday.”
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3872, June 28, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Nearby targets
Two nearby targets are bedrock blocks: the nodular bedrock ‘Lousoi,’ which researchers will be investigating up close (the ‘touching’ in the touch-and-go) with the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), as well as the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) target, ‘Valvousi,’ which is on the face of another block.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3872, June 28, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Adjacent to Valvousi is a small trench, which Mastcam will take a look at. Mastcam and ChemCam will also be looking further afield,” Innanen notes. “Mastcam is taking a mosaic of the ridge to our south, and ChemCam is looking behind us towards the Gediz Vallis Ridge. After we finish up, we’re taking a late afternoon drive southeast along our alternate route.”
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3872, June 28, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Planned nap
After this busy sol, Sol 3871, Curiosity was slated to spend most of the second sol of the plan (Sol 3872) napping, but will wake up for a few observations around noon.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 3872, June 28, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
ChemCam will use AEGIS to autonomously look for a post-drive target. AEGIS stands for Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) – a software suite that permits the rover to autonomously detect and prioritize targets.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3871, June 27, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars scientists on the environment team also has normal atmospheric monitoring activities, including a suprahorizon cloud movie, a tau observation to monitor dust, and a 360 degree dust devil survey, Innanen concludes.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3871, June 27, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3871, June 27, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Posted in 
Image credit: NASA
There is a growing business in selling fake Moon dirt. It is labeled as “simulant,” customized concoctions of lunar topside that are celestial stand-ins for different areas on the Moon.
The airless body is pounded by solar wind, radiation and micrometeorites. The Moon is blanketed by grayish, sharp-edged particles and rocky debris termed the lunar regolith. At one-sixth the gravity of Earth, that world is a Disneyland of dust that can stick to space suits, gum up equipment and jam mechanical components.
Lunar simulant is used to test a rover at Michigan Tech’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab.
Image credit: Michigan Technological University
The knowhow to wrestle with the woes of operating on the Moon took center stage at the 23rd meeting of the Space Resources Roundtable, held in Golden, Colorado on June 6 through 9 at the Colorado School of Mines.
For more information, go to my new Multiverse Media SpaceRef story “Mimicking the Moon – Here’s the (Simulant) Dirt” – at:
https://spaceref.com/science-and-exploration/mimicking-the-moon-heres-the-simulant-dirt/
MOXIE unit being installed into the Perseverance rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
GOLDEN, Colorado – Breathe easy. There’s good news from Mars. The first experiment to suck in the planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-laden air has achieved a major milestone in transforming that native resource into oxygen.
The toaster-sized device, if built to a larger scale, can be used not just for astronaut expeditions to Mars for breathing, but also for rocket fuel.
Artist’s illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Tucked inside NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, the hardware is tagged MOXIE for Mars Oxygen In Situ Resource Utilization Experiment.
Master MOXIE technologist, MIT’s Michael Hecht.
Image credit: Barbara David
Researchers recently pushed MOXIE to a maximum production level – a factor of two higher than reached earlier.
For details on this milestone on Mars, go to my new Space.com story – “Mars rover Perseverance sets new record for making oxygen on Red Planet” – at:
https://www.space.com/mars-perseverance-rover-oxygen-experiment-moxie-record
Image credit: Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is GO for launch.
Departing Spaceport America in New Mexico, the target data for the Galactic 01 scientific research mission is June 29.
Image credit: Virgin Galactic
The three-person crew from the Italian Air Force and National Research Council of Italy will be onboard VSS Unity for a 90-minute suborbital flight, carrying out a series of in-cabin science experiments.
An astronaut instructor will also be onboard to assess the research flight experience during the mission.
Piloting the VSS Unity: Mike Masucci (Commander) and Nicola Pecile (Pilot).
Flying the drop plane, VMS Eve: Kelly Latimer (Commander) and Jameel Janjua (Pilot).
Tune in on June 29 at 11:00 am EDT for the livestreamed launch at:
Image credit: Mars Guy
Five days without downlink from Mars – What’s going on?
Video commentator, Mars Guy, notes that NASA’s Perseverance rover rolling about at Jezero Crater sends back a daily stream of images from its many cameras.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Mars Guy
Those images are quickly posted to a NASA public website.
But on June 16th, the stream dried up, fueling concerns with each passing day.
For a detailed video, go to:
Image credit: ISRO
India is readying its Chandrayaan-3 Moon lander, reportedly eyeing a launch in mid-July.
The lunar lander is equipped with scientific payloads and a small rover, geared to conduct studies of the lunar surface in the southern lunar hemisphere. This upcoming mission is similar to Chandrayaan-2 which failed in 2019 when the program’s Vikram lander crashed during an automated soft landing.
Image credit: ISRO
India’s launch vehicle, the Mark III (GSLV Mk III).
Credit: ISRO
ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization, is using the country’s GSLV Mark 3 heavy lift booster to lob Chandrayaan-3 moonward from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. Reports have liftoff slated in a July 12-19 time period.
Target: south polar region
The probe’s propulsion module will place the lander/rover into a circular polar lunar orbit and separate.
Following separation of the lander module, the propulsion module is to run a Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload, an experiment that will study the Earth from lunar orbit. Also, the propulsion module, by remaining in orbit around the Moon, will serve as a communications relay satellite.
The lander/rover combination is targeted for a soft touchdown at the south polar region of the Moon, reportedly near 69.37 S, 32.35 E.
Image credit: ISRO
Lander/rover payloads
According to the ISRO, the lander payloads are:
Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature;
Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring the seismicity around the landing site;
Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations.
A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.
Image credit: ISRO
Rover payloads are an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition of the lunar terrain in the vicinity of landing site.
The lander and rover are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days).
Signing the Artemis Accords
In a related development, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and Indian Space Research Organization, Space Counsellor, Krunal Joshi, signed on June 21 the Artemis Accords, which establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s Artemis program. India is the 27th signatory.
Ceremony with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Indian Ambassador Taranjit Sandhu, as India signs the Artemis Accords. U.S. Department of State, Deputy Assistant Secretary for India, Nancy Jackson, left, Space Counsellor, Krunal Joshi right, look on.
Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
According to the U.S. State Department, the Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, and are a set of non-legally binding principles to guide sustainable civil space exploration. These principles, which include transparency, peaceful purposes, registering of space objects and release of scientific data, help make the space environment safer and more predictable, and allow all nations – even those without space programs – to benefit from the scientific data obtained in space.
The Artemis Accords signatories are now: Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Curiosity’s location on Sol 3867. Distance driven to date: 18.73 miles/30.14 kilometers
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale crater is now performing Sol 3867 duties.
In a fresh plan, the robot completed a drive taking it near, or just past the border of a new quad, reports Scott VanBommel, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B image taken on Sol 3867, June 23, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“A quad, or quadrangle, is an area outlined where the rover may explore,” VanBommel explains. Several quads were outlined within Gale crater before Curiosity landed, each roughly 1.3 kilometers across.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 3867, June 23, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Each quad has a theme based on a significant geologic feature on Earth, and the quads themselves are named after small towns near those geologic features,” VanBommel adds. “The regions where the geologic features are found dictates the names given to targets and features explored by the rover in that quad. Many quads are never visited by the rover.”
Curiosity Mast Camera Right B Navigation image taken on Sol 3866, June 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Target names
A recent plan had Curiosity drive far enough to find itself in the “Kalavryta Quad,” named after a town in Greece.
“And with that, we had a fresh set of new names to choose from, including target names such as ‘Kastria Spring,’ ‘Feneos, ‘Niamata,’ and ‘Kerpini.’”
Curiosity Mast Camera Right image taken on Sol 3866, June 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
In a scripted two-sol plan (Sols 3866-3867) Curiosity started by completing Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and Mastcam activities, including analyses of Feneos.
A Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) passive analysis and environmental activities followed with the rover then brushing the Kastria Spring target before imaging with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and commencing a two-spot Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) analysis.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo produced on Sol 3866, June 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity also completed a MAHLI mosaic of the Feneos target.
Curiosity Mast Camera Right image taken on Sol 3866, June 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Before and after analysis
“The second sol of the plan focused on additional imaging activities, with Mastcam images of Niamata, Kerpini, and Kastria Spring, the latter of which included images before and after analysis by the ChemCam laser,” VanBommel adds.
Curiosity Mast Camera Right image taken on Sol 3866, June 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The rover then completed yet another drive (with a planned distance of ~40 m) and acquired the necessary post-drive imaging before the decisional Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) pass which is to relay the data necessary before the next tactical day kicks off, VanBommel concludes.
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
Image Credit: ISRO
The recent meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has produced a number of space-related initiatives.
In a White House statement, the two “set a course to reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation.”
Image credit: White House
To that end, India has inked the growing list of countries signing the U.S.-led Artemis Accords and NASA will provide advanced training to Indian astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, “with a goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024.”
Earlier, on June 21, the Republic of Ecuador became the 26th nation to sign the Artemis Accords.
As explained by the U.S. State Department, the Artemis Accords, which are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, “are a set of non-legally binding principles to guide sustainable civil space exploration. These principles, which include transparency, peaceful purposes, registering of space objects and release of scientific data, help make the space environment safer and more predictable, and allow all nations – even those without space programs – to benefit from the data obtained in space.”
Image credit: Roscosmos/NASA
The Artemis Accords signatories are: Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Lunar research station
The U.S./Indian space cooperative initiatives signal a growing banding together of nations to explore space – outreach that is also underway in China.
A number of nations have also expressed interest to join China in establishing an international lunar research station (ILRS).
Russia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) have already signed agreements to participate in the China lunar effort.
International Lunar Research Station. Image credit: CNSA
The Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) recently explained that the Moon station will be “open to all interested national and international partners.”
Phased flight missions
Reportedly, negotiations are underway with more than ten countries and organizations to participate in a joint program for the exploration of the moon. Malaysia and Venezuela, for example, have responded positively to the invitation to join this project.
As outlined by China space officials, the ILRS project aims to build a permanent lunar base in the 2025-2030s with an initial series of phased flight missions through the end of this decade.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Regulatory framework
A regulatory framework is reportedly being created to ensure the construction and operation of the ILRS. It has been noted that those joining in the early stages of blueprinting the Moon research facility will receive better terms and more rights as founding members.
Experts within China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) have noted that China intends to complete the signing of agreements and memorandums of understanding with global space agencies and organizations this fall.
In doing so, the intent is to establish an international integrated base for scientific experiments built on surface of the Moon.
Wait a minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
Perhaps there’s a new sidebar to looking for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP)?
That topic keeps me up and night, armed with my telescopes, binoculars and other “all seeing” instruments.
UAP, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), crashed or still in the air flying saucers, alien visits…on and on!
This morning, in my daytime off-hours of sky patrolling, I’ve taken a read of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024.
Something caught my eye in the NDAA called “Moving Target Indicator Programs” of the Department of Defense.
I haven’t paid much attention to this topic, but maybe I should.
UAP have been reported by Navy pilots unlike anything they have ever witnessed.
Image credit: Enigma Labs/Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich
Working group grope
Words of tactical intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, along with tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination of data collected by moving target indicator systems – lots of lingo attached to whatever moving targets the Act is embracing.
The Act calls for the Secretary of Defense to establish a working group, to be known as the ‘‘Moving Target Indicator Working Group.” Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force members are to be assigned to the working group.
“Not less frequently than biannually, the working group shall provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the status of any moving target indicator programs being developed,” the Act notes.
Image credit: Statista
Bottom line
Being the obsessive “Googleier,” I revved up the search engine for Moving Target Indicator Programs – lots of chat about radar techniques to find moving objects, like an aircraft, and filter out unmoving ones.
There are also advocates calling for a space-based, ground moving target indicator capability.
Whatever all this adds up to, the need for day/night, all-weather detection and tracking of ground and maritime targets for the warfighter is one bottom line, maybe a bottomless pit of uses.
Image credit: C-SPAN/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Synchronize efforts
Back in July 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the establishment of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, longhand for AARO.
“The mission of the AARO will be to synchronize efforts across the Department of Defense, and with other U.S. federal departments and agencies, to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in, on or near military installations, operating areas, training areas, special use airspace and other areas of interest, and, as necessary, to mitigate any associated threats to safety of operations and national security. This includes anomalous, unidentified space, airborne, submerged and transmedium objects.”
Image credit: Yannick Peings, Marik von Rennenkampff/AIAA
One wonders whether there’s some prospect for synchronizing UAP study with the call for moving target indicator programs?
As George Harrison of the Fab Four wrote: “Something in the way she moves” most certainly not noting the wheels of government bureaucracy. But on the other hand, “You stick around now it may show…I don’t know, I don’t know.”
And if you have read this far…blame the coffee.
This morning I accidentally mixed Colombian and French Roast.
Image credit: Roscosmos
In the early “space race” days of the former Soviet Union and America there was an ongoing contest to claim space firsts.
One major milestone was achieved on June 13, 1963.
Sitting in her Vostok-6 spacecraft, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel into Earth orbit.
In just under three days, Tereshkova’s pioneering flight made 48 orbits of Earth. At journey’s end on June 19, she parachuted from the Vostok cabin, drifting slowly and safely down to terra firma from 20,000 feet altitude.
That landing process involved first riding an ejection seat from the descent vehicle, with the passenger departing that hardware and parachuting to Earth.
Image credit: Roscosmos/RSC Energia
Swamp survival
In a recent posting from Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, Tereshkova’s “chair” is the only surviving one from early cosmonaut flights. Other chairs shattered from the fall.
“That is why the seats of almost all the first astronauts have not been preserved. Except one,” notes the Roscosmos via a Telegram channel communiqué. “By a lucky chance, the chair of the world’s first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, fell not on a hard surface, but into a swamp, and therefore only partially collapsed.”
That very seat was recovered showing limited damage. It is now a unique exhibit item in the Russian museum of RSC Energia.
