Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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November 9th, 2018
ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 2225, November 9, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 2225 following a successful drilling in the “Highfield” target.
Reports Claire Newman, an atmospheric scientist at Aeolis Research in Pasadena, California: “Our eighteenth drill hole in the martian surface!”
“Not quite a ‘hole in one,’ as we tried to sample the same gray Jura rock type about 50 sols ago, but we finally have a sample of our highest value target on Vera Rubin Ridge,” Newman adds. “Rather than retreat to the club house for a well-earned celebration, however, Curiosity and the team stayed busy in Sol 2225, doing Mastcam and Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) imaging of the new drill hole and tailings.”
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left A image acquired on Sol 2224, November 8, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Weekend plan
A weekend plan calls for further imaging of the drill hole and use of ChemCam’s Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS). Samples are to be dropped off to the rover’s Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) for further analysis.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right A photo acquired on Sol 2225, November 9, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“In addition, there’s a packed program of environmental science over the next few sols, now that we’re back to full science operations,” Newman explains. “The global dust storm may have decayed, but we’re still interested in seeing whether the post-storm atmosphere differs compared to the same season in previous Mars years when no big storm occurred.”
Curiosity Navcam Right A photo acquired on Sol 2225, November 9, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Convective vortices
Newman points out that the robot is still in the middle of southern summer, which means lots of ‘dust devils’ (dust-filled convective vortices) and more dust than usual in the atmosphere.
“So in addition to our regular meteorological (REMS), radiation (RAD), and sub-surface (DAN) monitoring, we added atmospheric opacity measurements and a 360° dust devil survey,” Newman adds. “Over the weekend, alongside the drill sample analysis, there will be a bumper crop of atmospheric activities.”
Sky survey
Those activities include characterizing the amount and size distribution of dust and water ice aerosols at different times of sol, in and above the crater, by means of a Mastcam ‘sky survey’ and opacity measurements, a ChemCam ‘passive sky’ activity, and Navcam cloud movies. “We’ll also take a dust devil movie as well as two more dust devil surveys.” Newman says.
Martian wind
“And finally, over the next few sols we’ll be watching those drill tailings to see how quickly the martian wind moves them away and in what direction,” Newman says.
Curiosity Navcam Left A image acquired on Sol 2225, November 9, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Also to be taken by Curiosity are ‘change detection’ images of below the rover with the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI), and of nearby grains and ripples with Mastcam, “again to see what the wind is doing at this time of year in our current location on the slope of Aeolis Mons,” Newman concludes.
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Curiosity Front Hazcam Left A photo acquired on Sol 2223, November 7, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2224 tasks.
On Sol 2222, Curiosity drove over 30 feet (roughly 10 meters) towards the “Lake Orcadie” location.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left A image acquired on Sol 2224, November 8, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Reports Lauren Edgar, a planetary geologist at the USGS in Flagstaff, Arizona the hopes are that the robot will be able to drill the gray Jura member there.
A new plan is focused on characterizing the target “Highfield,” a bright patch of outcrop and included pre-planned activities as part of standard drill site characterization.
Drill target prep
First Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will carry out a short integration on the intended drill target, followed by two Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images.
Curiosity Mastcam Right photo taken on Sol 2223, November 7, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Then the plan calls for use of the Dust Removal Tool to brush the target, followed by Mastcam imaging and a full suite of MAHLI images.
“Then we’ll do a drill pre-load test, which means that we’ll put weight on the drill bit to make sure the surface can support it,” Edgar notes, “and if it makes marks on the surface this might give us an indication of how hard or soft the surface is.”
Optimistic on sampling
Overnight, Curiosity will acquire a longer APXS integration on “Highfield.”
“We were pretty tight on both power and data volume…so it was a bit of a challenge to prioritize everything, but we’re optimistic that this will be our chance to sample the gray Jura member,” Edgar adds. “I’m eagerly awaiting our downlink and hoping that we’ll be ‘go’ for a full drill hole here!”
Curiosity Navcam Right A photo acquired on Sol 2224, November 8, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 2222, November 6, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo acquired on Sol 2223, November 7, 2018. MAHLI is located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Credit: Project Ploughshares
The Space Security Index 2018 has been published by the Canadian peace-and-security think tank, Project Ploughshares.
Among key findings is noting the deteriorating security conditions in outer space in the absence of renewed governance efforts.
The just-issued report underscores:
Plans for mega-constellations of satellites that outpace sustainability rules;
A drive toward next-generation space exploration and resource extraction by private actors;
The emergence of dual-use technologies such as debris removal, satellite servicing, and maneuvering capabilities;
Continuing development and demonstration of anti-satellite capabilities;
U.S. plans for space-based ballistic missile interceptors that could mark the first deployment of space-based weapons.
Voluntary guidelines
Space Security Index 2018 also underscores the work of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) that reached consensus on 21 voluntary guidelines to enhance the long-term sustainability of space activities.
In a press statement, Project Ploughshares project manager Jessica West explains that the growing geostrategic tension and mistrust discourage the development of constraints on the use of force in outer space. This lack of regulation has serious repercussions.
Space access
West asserts that space security is global security. Every facet of well-being – military security, humanitarian security, socioeconomic security, and environmental security – depends on the ability to access and use services from outer space. Dangerous activities could pollute the outer-space environment beyond repair through the production of space debris, limiting or ending such services.
Space Security Index 2018 was produced by civil society and academic organizations under the leadership of Canadian nonprofit organization Project Ploughshares. Partners include The Simons Foundation Canada; the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec; the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University in Washington, DC; the Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics at the University of Adelaide Law School in Australia; and the School of Law at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China.
For a copy of the report, go to:
http://spacesecurityindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/C014894_space.security.2018-hires.pdf
Credit: Spaceflight
A red flag has been raised by a satellite and orbital debris analyst regarding the upcoming launch of SSO-A, currently scheduled for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on November 19.
The bragging rights about the SmallSat Express involve the largest rideshare mission from a U.S.-based launch vehicle – SpaceX Falcon 9 booster — with 25 percent of the customers launching for the first time.
Targeted for sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), the mission is dubbed SSO-A: SmallSat Express.
Mission management provider, Spaceflight, has contracted with more than 70 spacecraft from approximately 35 different organizations, all to be propelled skyward by a SpaceX Falcon 9. Spaceflight is a service offering of Spaceflight Industries, based in Seattle, Washington.
Perhaps in a bit of irony, the 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base is tasked with providing 24/7 support to the space sensor network, maintaining the space catalog and managing United States Strategic Command’s (USSTRATCOM) space situational awareness (SSA) sharing program to United States, foreign government, and commercial entities.
SHERPA platforms
“What they [Spaceflight] haven’t shared is how these 70+ satellites are going to be deployed,” says T.S. Kelso of CelesTrak, an analytical group that keeps an eye on Earth-orbiting objects. “I checked with one of the operators—trying to get a head start on how we’re going to ID all of these—and learned that the two SHERPA platforms are going to be released from the Falcon 9 with no attitude control or attitude determination.”
SHERPA is a free-flying secondary payload dispenser.
Credit: Spaceflight
Kelso’s bottom line: “I think this is not only irresponsible from a safety of flight perspective, but it jeopardizes the time and resources of many of the small operators who may never even hear from their satellites,” he told Inside Outer Space.
Space debris
Kelso says that his guess is that about a third of the satellites released will basically be space debris on release.
The SHERPA platforms will be in uncontrolled tumbles as they release these payloads. Since there will be no thrusting between deployments (with no attitude control), everything will likely be released into a big cloud. The only initial information satellite operators will have will be the post-deployment state vectors from SpaceX for the two SHERPA platforms, Kelso adds.
Credit: Spaceflight
Sorting out the mess
Cautions Kelso, there will be difficulties in sorting out this kind of mess.
“Having 70+ objects—many of which look the same to a radar—will result in observations being assigned to multiple tracks and causing bad orbits, which further compounds track association,” Kelso notes. “Until good tracks exist, it is impossible to ID the satellite…if you are a small operator and can’t find your satellite, you may be unable to do things required to keep that satellite healthy, like deploying arrays or controlling power usage.”
In a recently posted paper, “Challenges Identifying Newly Launched Objects” — Kelso outlines this issue:
https://celestrak.com/publications/IAC/2017/
Go to this video about Spaceflight’s SSO-A integrated payload stack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=9BEx1umVTTY
Taking the high road, aerial platforms could open up a new era of Venus exploration according to a new study.
Credit: Tibor Balint/JPL
Hellish and cloud-enveloped Venus is a world ready and waiting for renewed exploration.
A new Jet Propulsion Laboratory study released last month argues that the time is ripe to investigate Venus by high-tech aerial platforms.
These platforms can extensively probe the Venus atmosphere, its circulation, and also determine the chemical nature of the planet’s gaseous atmosphere and its clouds.
Google’s Loon program, an Earth network of long-lived balloons, is showcasing how similar technology might be applied to the next round of Venus investigation.
Credit: Loon LLC
Surprisingly, the back to Venus campaign has benefited by Google’s Loon program, an Earth network of long-lived balloons designed to deliver connectivity to people in Internet-deprived communities.
As seen in the ultraviolet, Venus image taken by NASA’s Pioneer-Venus Orbiter in 1979.
Credit: NASA
Take a look at my new Scientific American story:
Will NASA’s Next Mission to Venus Be a Balloon?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-nasas-next-mission-to-venus-be-a-blimp/
E.T. we’re home “porch light.”
Credit: MIT
There are those paranoid about letting any starfolk know we’re here, cringing on planet Earth.
But a new MIT study suggests that existing laser technology could be fashioned to attract alien astronomers – sort of an E.T. we’re home “porch light.”
The research stems from James Clark, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Clark’s advisor, Associate Professor Kerri Cahoy. The “feasibility study,” appears today in The Astrophysical Journal.
On the beam
The findings suggest that if a high-powered 1- to 2-megawatt laser were focused through a massive 30- to 45-meter telescope and aimed out into space, the combination would produce a beam of infrared radiation strong enough to stand out from the Sun’s energy.
The required laser power of 1 to 2 megawatts is equivalent to that of the U.S. Air Force’s Airborne Laser, a now-defunct megawatt laser that was meant to fly aboard a military jet for the purpose of shooting ballistic missiles out of the sky.
Credit: U.S. Air Force
Such a signal could be detectable by alien astronomers performing a cursory survey of our section of the Milky Way — especially if those astronomers live in nearby systems, such as around Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to Earth, or TRAPPIST-1, a star about 40 light-years away that hosts seven exoplanets, three of which are potentially habitable.
If the signal is spotted from either of these nearby systems, the study finds, the same megawatt laser could be used to send a brief message in the form of pulses similar to Morse code.
Detectable signal
“This would be a challenging project but not an impossible one,” Clark says in a MIT press statement.
“The kinds of lasers and telescopes that are being built today can produce a detectable signal, so that an astronomer could take one look at our star and immediately see something unusual about its spectrum,” Clark adds. “I don’t know if intelligent creatures around the Sun would be their first guess, but it would certainly attract further attention.”
Clarks says such a laser beacon could be installed on the far side of the Moon. “In general, this was a feasibility study. Whether or not this is a good idea, that’s a discussion for future work.”
Note: Story adapted from Jennifer Chu/MIT News Office release.
To access the paper — “Optical Detection of Lasers with Near-term Technology at Interstellar Distances” – by James R. Clark and Kerri Cahoy, go to:
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aae380/pdf
Credit: ESA/URBAN Consortium
The European Space Agency (ESA) is moving forward on its Moon base plans, recently funding the study “Conceiving a Lunar Base Using 3D Printing Technologies” to the URBAN consortium.
Credit: NASA/ESA/URBAN Consortium
This new ESA-led project investigated the ways that 3D printing could be used to create and run a habitat on the Moon. Everything from building materials to solar panels, equipment and tools to clothes, even nutrients and food ingredients can potentially be 3D printed.
URBAN is an eleven-month study conducted by four partners for ESA’s General Studies Program; it will finish this month, November 2018. The URBAN consortium is comprised of COMEX, LIQUIFER Systems Group and SONACA Space GmbH under the lead of OHB System AG.
Credit: ESA/URBAN Consortium
3-phase approach
This new work focused on the feasibility and implementation effort of using Additive Layer Manufacturing in the construction, operations and maintenance of a lunar base.
A thorough exploration of state-of-the-art 3D-printing processes and associated printing materials for each process is conducted, with a specialized interest in identifying materials that already exist on the Moon, or that can be recycled from the spacecraft arriving from Earth.
Credit: ESA/URBAN Consortium
The overall goal of the project is devising a plan for reducing the up-launch requirements for building and maintaining a growing lunar base.
Credit: ESA/URBAN Consortium
The outcome of the study is a searchable database – which provides a matrix for understanding the concurrences and potential overlaps in
the independent variables: (1) items required for 3-phase lunar base, (2) advanced manufacturing technologies, (3) materials.
Go to this informative video at:
Credit: Neil Armstrong Family Collection/Heritage Auctions
A space memorabilia auction featuring The Neil Armstrong Family Collection™ realized more than $7.4 million Saturday, Nov. 3, at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas.
Armstrong’s personally owned memorabilia – spanning a childhood letter to the Easter Bunny to the Apollo 11 ID Plate from the module he used to become the first person to walk on the Moon – sold for $5.2 million.
First of three auctions
The sale is the first of three auctions scheduled through 2019 of the legendary astronaut’s lifelong collection.
The Armstrong Family Collection™ is an extraordinary archive, chronicling the life and career of one of the most historic figures of the 20th century through the lens of the objects he loved, collected, and preserved for decades. Much of the Apollo 11 Mission Commander’s collection had never before been seen by the public or offered for sale.
Armstrong’s personal Spacecraft ID plate from Apollo 11’s Lunar Module Eagle, flown on the first manned lunar landing, July 16-24, 1969, sold for $468,500.
The Largest Size American Flag, measuring 17-3/4 inches by 11-1/2 inches, Armstrong kept as a treasured Apollo 11 souvenir, sold for $275,000.
Wright stuff
Two evocative relics commemorating mankind’s command of the air, a piece of the propeller and section of the wing fabric from Orville and Wilbur Wright’s invention of the first successful airplane, sold for $275,000 each. The relics from the Wright Brother’s historic flight were carried to the Moon just 66 years later when Armstrong’s made his footprint on the lunar surface.
Credit: Neil Armstrong Family Collection/Heritage Auctions
Armstrong’s light blue owned and worn Gemini flight suit, a rare, surviving memento of his legendary work on the Project Gemini program soared to $109,375, more than five times its $20,000 pre-auction estimate.
Authentication guaranty
To preserve and document the collection’s authenticity and provenance for generations to come, the Armstrong family and Heritage collaborated with Collectibles Authentication Guaranty (CAG) to accurately attribute and certify every item.
The unique Gemini 8 Flown 14 karat Gold Pin, Armstrong gave to his wife Janet, which he carried to space in a small Personal Preference Kit, sold for $17,500.
A Crayon Coloring of Flowers, from the first grade with a note from his mother, sold for $15,000.
Credit: Neil Armstrong Family Collection/Heritage Auctions
A lifelong supporter of the Boy Scouts, Armstrong’s Own Scouts Flat Field Hat sold for $12,000.
A Handwritten Letter to the Easter Bunny, possibly the earliest signed item ever offered from Neil Armstrong, sold for $4,000.
Heritage Auctions’ presentation of The Neil Armstrong Family Collection™ Part II is May 9-10, 2019, with a third and final sale set for November 2019.
For more information, go to:
https://historical.ha.com/c/auction-home.zx?saleNo=6206&type=surl-6206a
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left A image acquired on Sol 2219, November 3, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just begun Sol 2220 science operations.
Reports Kristen Bennett, a planetary geologist for the USGS in Flagstaff, Arizona, the robot has made a drive for the first time since Sol 2166.
“Our intrepid explorer is truly back at it after a few weeks off due to the anomaly. The short drive — also called a bump — placed us in a workspace a few meters away from our previous location where we had attempted to drill,” Bennett says.
Curiosity Rear Hazcam Left A photo taken on Sol 2219, November 3, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Weekend plan
“In this weekend’s three-sol plan there will be several diagnostic activities that will help us to understand the anomaly,” Bennett says, and in addition to the diagnostics, the weekend plan includes Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and Mastcam observations of “Dryden” and “Kirkness,” which are bedrock targets, and of “Housay,” which is a vein within the bedrock.
Also included in the extensive plan is a Mastcam observation of “Eynhallow” to document laminations within the bedrock, a Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) image, and a Navcam dust devil survey.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image acquired on Sol 2218, November 2, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Sky flats
There are ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) Zenith Sky Flats scheduled on the first sol of the plan.
“In this activity ChemCam will take images looking up at the sky,” Bennett says. “This activity needs to happen near sunset because ChemCam should not look directly at the sun. These sky flats help us determine whether there is any dust contamination on ChemCam’s optical window, which is important right now because Mars just experienced a global dust event.”
Curiosity Mastcam Right photo acquiredd on Sol 2218, November 2, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Another drive slated
On the second sol of the plan, Curiosity’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) observations of two targets are on tap: “Calgary” and “Findon.”
Calgary is typical gray bedrock, and this target will be brushed with the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) prior to the MAHLI and APXS measurements.
On the plan’s third sol, the robot will drive towards Lake Orcadie, Bennett notes, “and next week we plan to start our drill campaign in the gray colored rocks at that location!”
Dark inclusions
In another report, Sarah Lamm, a planetary geologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, notes “Grange 2218” was targeted for more measurements, “so we have more information on the dark inclusions.”
Those odd inclusions have drawn comment from some researchers, wondering if they offer some clues to astrobiology on the Red Planet.
Curioisty ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 2218, November 2, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
MAHLI image produced on Sol 2217, November 1, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Navcam Left A image taken on Sol 2218, November 2, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now wrapping up Sol 2218 tasks.
Curiosity Navcam Left A image taken on Sol 2218, November 2, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Sol 2217 marked a return to contact science activities after a Curiosity memory anomaly complicated rover activities back on Sol 2172.
Poised to measure
Reports Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, when the anomaly occurred, the robot’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) was poised to measure the composition of the freshly exposed “Inverness” bedrock surface.
This was to occur after an unsuccessful drill attempt on Sol 2170 to compare with the previously brushed surface and other fresh rock surfaces examined by APXS on the Vera Rubin Ridge.
Interesting target
A recently scripted plan is to recover this measurement, with accompanying Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) imaging, as well as to get chemical and textural data (with APXS and MAHLI) on another interesting target in the workspace, “Grange.”
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) image produced on Sol 2218, November 2, 2018. MAHLI is located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Thompson adds that “Grange appears to be an area of bright calcium sulfate (commonly observed as veins cross-cutting bedrock encountered throughout the mission), but with small, dark inclusions that might have an interesting composition.”
MAHLI image produced on Sol 2217, November 1, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Multispectral observations
Also planned is a Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) investigation of a bedrock target tagged “Clune” with accompanying Mastcam imaging, as well as Mastcam imaging of an interesting area of rougher textured rock “Ayr” and multispectral Mastcam observations of the “Inverness” area.
The plan is rounded out with some environmental monitoring activities including a passive measurement using the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) and use of the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS).
Curioisty ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 2218, November 2, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
New drive, drilling scheduled
“I am looking forward to getting the data down from these observations and comparing the chemistry and textures of these rocks with other rock targets encountered on the Vera Rubin Ridge,” Thompson explains. “The chemistry and textures can provide clues to the conditions the sediments were deposited in as well as subsequent events such as diagenesis (as the sediment is buried, compacted and cemented and turned into a rock), and later alteration.”
Looking ahead, Thompson points out that Curiosity is hoping to soon drive away from the current site towards an area, “Lake Orcadie,” “where we will attempt another drill into one of these interesting bright grey areas identified from orbit on the Vera Rubin Ridge.”
