Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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April 3rd, 2019
Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is ready to create an artificial crater on the surface of asteroid Ryugu.
On April 5 (JST), the Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) — a 4.4 pound (2 kilogram) copper lump called “Liner” will be dropped to the surface of the asteroid at a velocity of 2 km per second to make an artificial crater.
SCI pyrotechnics – A conical shape structure filled with explosives. The “Liner” will be ejected forward at a high speed by explosive power.
Credit: JAXA
The intent is to collect information about the interior of the asteroid by examining crater formation and the artificially generated crater.
Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST
Deployable camera
The SCI impact experiment will be observed by a Deployable CAMera 3-D at a distance of roughly one kilometer from the impact point, and the time evolution of the ejecta curtain will be observed by this camera to confirm the impact point on the asteroid’s surface.
Credit: JAXA
After SCI separation, an onboard timer triggers the explosion. Meanwhile, Hayabusa-2 is to maneuver away from the space rock, spending more than two weeks away from the asteroid, positioning itself at a safe distance to avoid ejecta floating around the asteroid.
Credit: JAXA
Subsurface sampling
According to Hayabusa2 officials, at a later date, touchdown at or around the generated crater will be attempted as will possible collection of the subsurface material.
However, if the condition of the surface of Ryugu is dangerous for touchdown, the touchdown will not be attempted.
To watch the fireworks, tune into the Hayabusa2 Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) control room via live broadcast:
JAXATV: http://fanfun.jaxa.jp/jaxatv/detail/14343.html
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv2ykuJDcBo
English: https://youtu.be/Lh4iFyMRWZg
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Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B photo taken on Sol 2365, April 2, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is wrapping up Sol 2365 tasks.
Ashley Stroupe, a mission operations engineer at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California reports that Curiosity is getting close to the area in which the robot will next drill.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 2365, April 2, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
But before heading off, scientists are taking a number of images using the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and Mastcam of the local features – including some close-by small sand ripples and pebbles in the rover’s workspace in order to help understand the relationship.
Also being performed is contact science with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on two small targets, Maud and Ardnamurchan; Maud will be partially “cleaned” by ChemCam so APXS might have a better view despite the target being too small to brush.
Curiosity Mastcam Left photo taken on Sol 2364, April 1, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Windy period
“We also continue our atmospheric studies, as we seem to be in a fairly windy period, including a dust devil movie and a tau measurement,” Stroupe adds.
“On the second sol of our plan, Curiosity will drive past a nearby patch of sand ripples,” Stroupe explains, where the robot will stop for mid-drive imaging.
Also planned is a drive of about 98 feet (30 meters) to a promising bedrock target on the other side of the sandy patch, Stroupe says.
Curiosity Mastcam Left photo taken on Sol 2364, April 1, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Mastcam Left photo taken on Sol 2364, April 1, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo acquired on Sol 2365, April 2, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 2365, April 2, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Featureless terrain
“Visual Odometry, to track our slip while driving, continues to be challenging due to the relatively featureless terrain, but the Rover Planners continue to improve their ability to find pointing that performs well,” Stroupe concludes. “At the end of this drive, we hope to start being able to select candidate drill targets and start developing our path forward toward drilling.”
ArcMap snapshot.
Credit: Giuranna, et al.
A life-indicating gas on Mars – methane – has been independently confirmed.
The research has been led by Marco Giuranna of the Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali in Rome, Italy.
The paper — Independent confirmation of a methane spike on Mars and a source region east of Gale Crater – has been published in Nature Geoscience.
Reports of methane detection in the Martian atmosphere have been intensely debated. The presence of methane could enhance habitability and may even be a signature of life. However, no detection has been confirmed with independent measurements.
ESA’s Mars Express in orbit around the Red Planet.
Credit: ESA/AOES Medialab
Firm detection
Giuranna and colleagues report a firm detection of 15.5 ± 2.5 ppb by volume of methane in the Martian atmosphere above Gale Crater on June 16, 2013, by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer onboard the European Space Agency’s Mars Express.
That detection came one day after an on-the-spot observation of a methane spike by NASA’s Curiosity rover.
NASA Curiosity rover on the Red Planet prowl since August 2012 and assessing the habitability of Mars.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Methane was not detected in other orbital passages. The detection uses improved observational geometry, as well as more sophisticated data treatment and analysis, and constitutes a contemporaneous, independent detection of methane,” they report.
Credit: Giuranna et al., Nature Geoscience, 2019
Potential source region
An independent geological analysis points to a potential source region east of Gale Crater. In that location, faults of Aeolis Mensae may extend into proposed shallow ice of the Medusae Fossae Formation and episodically release gas trapped below or within the ice.
“Our identification of a probable release location will provide focus for future investigations into the origin of methane on Mars,” the international research team concludes.
While methane could be an indicator of microbial life, abiotic (non-biological) processes cannot be ruled out, Giuranna notes.
Mars Express matches methane spike measured by Curiosity
Credit: ESA/Giuranna et al (2019)
The study — Independent confirmation of a methane spike on Mars and a source region east of Gale Crater — is reported in Nature Geoscience this week and can be found here:
Credit: JAXA
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is nearing its next duty: Creating an artificial crater on the surface of asteroid Ryugu.
On April 5, the Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) — a 4.4 pound (2 kilogram) copper lump called “Liner” will be dropped to the surface of the asteroid at a velocity of 2 km per second to make an artificial crater.
SCI pyrotechnics – A conical shape structure filled with explosives. The “Liner” will be ejected forward at a high speed by explosive power.
Credit: JAXA
The intent is to expose a fresh surface by the impactor. Asteroid material excavated from the crater will be observed by remote sensing instruments, and a subsurface fresh sample of the asteroid will be collected there.
Ejecta curtain
The SCI impact experiment will be observed by a Deployable CAMera 3-D at a distance of roughly one kilometer from the impact point, and the time evolution of the ejecta curtain will be observed by this camera to confirm the impact point on the asteroid’s surface.
Credit: JAXA
After SCI separation, an onboard timer triggers the explosion. Meanwhile, Hayabusa-2 is to maneuver away from the space rock, spending more than two weeks away from the asteroid, positioning itself at a safe distance to avoid ejecta floating around the asteroid.
Follow-on duty
According to Hayabusa2 officials, at a later date, touchdown of the spacecraft at or around the generated crater will be attempted, a follow-on duty to collect subsurface material.
However, if the condition of the surface of Ryugu is dangerous for touchdown, the touchdown will not be attempted.
The laser retro-reflector array itself before being installed on the Beresheet Moon lander.
Credit: SpaceIL/Courtesy Xiaoli Sun/GSFC
An Israeli spacecraft is headed for the Moon, slated to touch down in April within Mare Serenitatis on the northern hemisphere of the Moon. Onboard is an experiment — smaller than a computer mouse — that could enable spot-on touch downs of future robotic and human-carrying landers.
NASA experiment after installation (the array is mounted on the top of the spacecraft, lower left, at about 7 o’clock position).
Credit: SpaceIL/Courtesy Xiaoli Sun/GSFC
For more information, go to my new Space.com story at:
NASA’s Piggyback Experiment on Israeli Moon Lander Could Aid Future Lunar Touchdowns
By Leonard David
https://www.space.com/israel-moon-lander-nasa-instrument.html
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B photo taken on Sol 2363, March 31, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is just wrapping up Sol 2363 duties.
New imagery shows the robot making tracks and performing a variety of science tasks.
Laser shots across target. Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo acquired on Sol 2363, March 31, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 2362, March 30, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 2361, March 29, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 2361, March 29, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 2361, March 29, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Navcam Right B image acquired on Sol 2363, March 31, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Recurrent Slope Linae on the Palikir Crater walls on Mars.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
New research suggests deep groundwater on Mars could still be active and creating surface streams in some near-equatorial areas on the planet.
Once again, scientists point to the planet’s recurring slope linea – RSL for short – that are akin to dried, short streams of water that appear on some crater walls.
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE image of recurring slope lineae in Melas Chasma, Valles Marineris. Arrows point out tops and bottoms of a few lineae.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
The new work suggests that the source of RSL could be natural discharge along geological structures from briny aquifers within the Red Planet’s cryosphere.
University of Southern California (USC) research scientist, Essam Heggy and co-author Abotalib Z. Abotalib, a postdoctoral research associate at USC, studied the characteristics of the planet’s RSL. Their research findings are presented in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“We suggest that deep groundwater occasionally surfaces on Mars in present-day conditions,” the scientists note in their paper.
Alternative hypothesis
Previously, scientists put forward the idea that these features were affiliated with surface water flow or close subsurface water flow, said Heggy, who added that the new research suggests that may not be true.
“We propose an alternative hypothesis that they originate from a deep pressurized groundwater source which comes to the surface moving upward along ground cracks,” Heggy explains in a USC press statement.
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 (2 kilometers) RSL in this image taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Desert hydrology
Abotalib, the paper’s first author, noted that their research in desert hydrology helped lead to this conclusion.
“We have seen the same mechanisms in the North African Sahara and in the Arabian Peninsula, and it helped us explore the same mechanism on Mars,” Abotalib explains.
The two scientists concluded that fractures within some of Mars’ craters enabled water springs to rise up to the surface as a result of pressure deep below. These springs leaked onto the surface, generating the sharp and distinct linear features found on the walls of those craters.
Wanted: deep-probing
The new study suggests that the groundwater that is the source of these water flows could be at depths starting at 2, 460 feet (750 meters) deep.
Heggy adds that such depth requires consideration of more deep-probing techniques to look for the source of this groundwater versus looking for shallow sources of water.
The paper — A deep groundwater origin for recurring slope linea on Mars — is the first Mars paper by the newly created water research center at USC. The work is funded under the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program and is available here:
Image of China’s Yutu-2 lunar rover taken by Chang’e-4 lander.
Credit: CNSA/CLEP
According to the China National Space Administration, the country’s lunar rover — Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2 — has woken up from its third lunar night on the farside of the Moon and resumed its scientific exploration mission.
Making tracks. China’s Yutu-2 robot.
Credit: CNSA/CLEP
The rover woke itself up at 8:28 p.m. on Friday and re-established communications with the Queqiao relay satellite.
Lunar work days
As of March 13, the rover had completed three lunar days of work, traveling 535 feet (163 meters) before switching to sleep mode.
China’s Chang’e-4 mission landed on January 3 within Von Kármán crater, located in the southern hemisphere on the farside of the Moon.
Sustaining scientific mission
The nearly 300-pound (135-kilogram) Jade Rabbit-2 is the first ever rover to drive on the lunar farside, and is the lightest rover ever sent to the moon.
According to Chinese space engineers, the rover has surpassed its expected design life.
Rover technicians are working to ensure that the machinery will be able to continue its lunar exploration mission and sustain collection of scientific data.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image acquired on Sol 2361, March 28, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just begun Sol 2362 duties.
“We are continuing to find interesting new things in Glen Torridon,” reports Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California.
Fraeman points to new imagery on target “Stonebriggs.”
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) acquired on Sol 2356, March 24, 2019. MAHLI is located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“We’ve seen round and smooth clasts before,” Fraeman adds, “but this area really stands out in how densely the clasts are packed together. Were these pebbles rounded by water during transport over a long distance? Or are they wind polished concretions similar to what we saw back on sol 1806…or something completely different? There is a lot to talk about within the science team!”
Recently, Curiosity’s workspace looked more typical of what scientists have been seeing over the last few weeks.
Curiosity MAHLI image acquired on Sol 2361, March 28, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
On the move
A new plan called for the rover to continue driving towards an area researchers hope to drill.
Before that drive, the scheduled called for Curiosity on sol 2361 to collect Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) data on a target named “Ardmillan,” followed by Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations of Ardmillan, “Uyea,” “Torry,” and “Eorsa.”
Image taken during Phobos transit of Sun as seen by Curiosity Mastcam Right on Sol 2359, March 27, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Nearby outcrops
Fraeman points out: “We will also image nearby outcrops with apparent sedimentary structures named ‘Scolty Hill,’ ‘Midlothian,’ and ‘Dunans,’ as well as some sandy features named ‘Glamis.’”
“Finally, we take a full filter Mastcam observation of the nearby dark rock, ‘Eorsa,’ that we almost drove to last sol,” Fraeman concludes. On sol 2362, the plan calls for taking a video of Phobos transiting the sun and a few ChemCam Autonomous Exploration for Gathering of Increased Science (AEGIS) software observations.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Traverse map
Meanwhile, a Curiosity traverse map through Sol 2359 shows the route driven by the wheeled robot through the 2359 Martian day, or sol, Mars (March 27, 2019).
This map through the 2359 Martian day, or sol, shows the rover’s mission on Mars as of March 27, 2019.
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (~0.62 mile).
From Sol 2357 to Sol 2359, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 90.63 feet (27.63 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 12.66 miles (20.38 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Curiosity Navcam Left B photo taken on Sol 2361, March 29, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Team SEArch+/Apis Cor won first place in the Phase 3: Level 4 software modeling stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The unique shape of their habitat allows for continuous reinforcement of the structure. Light enters through trough-shaped ports on the sides and top.
Credits: Team SEArch+/Apis Cor
Credits: Mars Incubator
Living styles on Mars!
SEArch+/Apis Cor of New York won first place in Phase 3: Level 4 in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. This team focuses on regolith construction to provide radiation shielding and physical protection.
The competition for this stage challenged teams to use modeling software to create a full-scale habitat design. This level built upon an earlier stage that required 60 percent design completion; for this round, submissions were 100 percent complete.
Credit: Team Zopherus
Architectural layout
Entries were scored on architectural layout, programming, efficient use of interior space, and the 3D-printing scalability and constructability of the habitat. Teams also prepared short videos providing insight into their design as well as miniature 3D-printed models that came apart to showcase the interior design. Points were also awarded for aesthetic representation and realism.
NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge aims to further the progression of sustainable shelters that will someday occupy the Moon, Mars or beyond by pushing citizen inventors to develop new technologies capable of additively manufacturing a habitat using indigenous resources with, or without, recyclable materials.
Partnerships
The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge is managed through a partnership with NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program and Bradley University.
Bradley has partnered with sponsors Caterpillar, Bechtel and Brick & Mortar Ventures to administer the competition. NASA’s Centennial Challenges program is part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Credit: Mars Incubator
Winners all
SEArch+/Apis Cor of New York won first place in Phase 3: Level 4 in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. This team focuses on regolith construction to provide radiation shielding and physical protection.
Go to video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4pxp5AGeNE&feature=youtu.be
Team Zopherus from Rogers, Arkansas won second place in the Phase 3: Level 4 software modeling stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The team’s design would be constructed by an autonomous roving printer that prints a structure and then moves on to the next site.
Go to video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TLnCOCVicE&feature=youtu.be
The virtual design from team Mars Incubator of New Haven, Connecticut won third place in the Phase 3: Level 4 software modeling stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The team is a collection of engineers and artists.
Go to video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHxO-zmqdLM&feature=youtu.be
For information about the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, visit:
