Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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September 14th, 2017
Credit: National Institute for Public Policy
Foreign Space Capabilities: Implications for U.S. National Security is a new monograph authored by Steve Lambakis and available from the National Institute for Public Policy, dated September 2017.
The monograph explains: “U.S. defense leaders must strive to guarantee U.S. freedom of action and provide a strong deterrent to aggressive behavior in space that prevents efforts by other nations to control orbits. These are the core interests of the United States in space.”
Credit: National Institute for Public Policy
“However much U.S. leaders and many of the American people and U.S. allies would never want to fight a war that extends into space, the United States must be prepared to defend its operations in that domain and, if necessary, fight through the loss of access to space capabilities. Space is an obvious place for the adversary to look to upset the advantage currently carried by the United States. This is why the nation’s leaders must act to defend and deter in space.”
Chapters focus on Expanding Exploitation of Space; Foreign Space and Counter-Space Developments; Protecting and Exercising U.S. Space Power; Implications for U.S. Defense Policy; and concludes with recommendations.
This report is available at:
http://www.nipp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Foreign-Space-Capabilities-pub-2017.pdf
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Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 1814, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is currently in Sol 1816, scouting about on Vera Rubin Ridge.
Planning for the rover’s science duties “was a bit like reading a great mystery novel,” reports Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California. “There were several twists and turns along the way, but we eventually reached an exciting ending that will reveal ‘Whodunit?’…or more accurately, what geologic forces had done to shape this landscape billions of years ago.”
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B photo acquired on Sol 1815, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Raised broken rocks
A recent drive of the robot was successful, placed it in front of one of many meter-scale factures that criss-cross this area.
“These fractures are visible in high-resolution orbital images, and on the ground are surrounded by raised broken rocks that appear to be slightly more resistant to erosion than their surroundings,” Fraeman adds. “We are interested in understanding how these fractures formed, if they were conduits for ancient water, and why the rocks on their edges are raised.”
Curiosity Mastcam Left photo taken on Sol 1814, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Should I stay, should I go?
Curiosity researchers made a quick decision that rocks being observed were interesting enough to warrant staying for another couple of days to collect good contact science targets, rather than the single touch-and-go as had originally been planned, Fraeman notes.
The decision to stay had the geology theme group working to figure out what targets would be ideal for collecting Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) data.
Curiosity Mastcam Left photo acquired on Sol 1814, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“This entailed a lot of back and forth between the scientists and rover planners to understand which targets were reachable in the somewhat broken up workspace in front of us,” Fraeman points out, “and which were simply too far away or fragmented to access.”
Standoff images
After some work, team members found a great raised rock to examine with APXS and MAHLI, given the target name of “Schoppee.”
Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 1814, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
The plan called for taking 25 centimeter MAHLI standoff images of several other locations near the raised rim of the fracture to provide additional information about targets that can be studied in the weekend plan.
3D model
“Forgoing the drive also allowed us to have time for some morning remote sensing before the contact science,” Fraeman says. During that time, on tap are Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations of targets “Elwell,” “Bragdon,” and “Graffam,” as well as corresponding Mastcam documentation imaging.
Curiosity Rear Hazcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1815, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Additional remote sensing is also on the checklist, including a ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) Z-stack observation (used to make a 3D model) of fine laminations in the target “Phoney Island,” a corresponding Mastcam observation, and many environmental measurements in afternoon and early morning hours, Fraeman concludes.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
New roadmap
A new traverse map has been issued by JPL, showing the ground track of the robot since landing in August 2012.
The new map shows the route driven by Curiosity through the 1814 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars, as of September 13, 2017.
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 1812 to Sol 1814, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 30.77 feet (9.38 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 10.80 miles (17.38 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: POLITICO
We sit at a pivotal moment for John F. Kennedy’s legacy of space innovation.
Private enterprise is ramping up spaceflight efforts.
A new administration in Washington, D.C. is pondering a new vision for America’s space program.
Deep-dive conversation
This POLITICO event on September 12 convened experts for a deep-dive conversation to explore the possibilities and risks of what could be a historic transformation in space innovation and policy.
Is there a new vision for American space innovation that will capture the imagination of America -and what will it take to get there?
View of the planet Earth from space during a sunrise.
Credit: SWRI
Spotlight speakers
Featured speakers at this event:
- John Logsdon, Founding Director and Professor Emeritus, Space Policy Institute, The George Washington University
- Alex MacDonald, Senior Economic Advisor, NASA
- Teasel Muir-Harmony, Curator, Space History Department, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
- Bob Richards, Founder and CEO, Moon Express
- Secretary Heather Wilson, Principal Space Adviser, U.S. Department of Defense
- Eric Stallmer, President, Commercial Spaceflight Federation
- Jamie Morin, Vice President and Executive Director of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy, The Aerospace Corporation
To view this event, go to:
http://v.politico.com/1155968404/201709/2991/1155968404_5575016325001_5574949528001.mp4
A new map reveals quantities of water trapped in the lunar soil. The amounts increase toward the poles, suggesting that much of the water was implanted by the solar wind (yellow dots mark Apollo landing sites).
Credit: Milliken Lab/Brown University
Water as a resource in future lunar exploration has been deemed critical. Now there’s a map to help determine whether or not water could be worthwhile to extract, either as drinking water for astronauts or to produce fuel.
The study, published in Science Advances, builds on the initial discovery in 2009 of water and a related molecule — hydroxyl, which consists of one atom each of hydrogen and oxygen — in the lunar soil.
“The signature of water is present nearly everywhere on the lunar surface, not limited to the polar regions as previously reported,” said the study’s lead author, Shuai Li, who performed the work while a Ph.D. student at Brown University and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii.
Roadmap for resources
“This is a roadmap to where water exists on the surface of the Moon,” says Ralph Milliken, an associate professor at Brown and Li’s co-author.
The process of water formation in the lunar soil “is active and happening today,” Milliken adds. “This raises the possibility that water may re-accumulate after extraction, but we need to better understand the physics of why and how this happens to understand the timescale over which water may be renewed.”
Furthermore, the researchers note that they are only sensing the upper millimeter or so of soil, and they can’t say for sure what the water content is like underneath that. “The distribution of water with depth could make a big difference in terms of how much water is actually there,” Milliken says.
Credit: Milliken Lab/Brown University
Good starting point
Nevertheless, the researchers say the study provides a good starting point for thinking about how lunar water resources might be utilized in the future.
“It remains to be seen whether extraction could be feasible,” Milliken concludes. “But these results show us what the range of water availability across the surface is so we can start thinking about where we might want to go to get it and whether it makes economic sense to do so.”
The research was funded by the NASA Lunar Advanced Science and Exploration Research Program (NNX12AO63G).
For a copy of their research, “Water on the surface of the Moon as seen by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper: Distribution, abundance, and origins,” go to:
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1814, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just begun Sol 1815 science duties – and the scenery is outstanding.
Curiosity continues the ascent up Vera Rubin Ridge. The focus of a last weekend plan was on carefully documenting the changes in stratigraphy as the robot leaves the Murray bedrock.
For the robot, there is a bevy of interesting targets and contrasting colors, note rover science team members.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1814, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Stunning views
“As we’ve seen from the past several weeks and months of imaging, Curiosity’s approach to and ascent of the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR) has provided us with stunning views of the Mount Sharp terrain,” reports Rachel Kronyak, a planetary geologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. “Our parking spot after this weekend’s drive was no exception.”
Curiosity Rear Hazcam Right B photo acquired on Sol 1814, September 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity’s action plan is to continue its trek up the lower strata of the VRR and have no shortage of multi-colored bedrock targets to image and analyze.
Dark bedrock target
A two sol plan – Sol 1814, 1815 — scripted a touch-and-go Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) analysis, Kronyak adds, plus a full suite of Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photos of the dark bedrock target “Pumpkin Nob.”
“We’ll also perform a multispectral Mastcam observation on ‘Weymouth Point,’ a region of VRR terrain just ahead of Curiosity,” Kronyak notes. Following a drive by the rover, on tap is taking standard post-drive images and a Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) active observation.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1814, September 12, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars environment
On Sol 1815, scientists have put together a short mid-day science block, during which environmental researchers will conduct a suprahorizon movie, a dust devil survey and standard Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) observations.
Chinese cargo spacecraft completes automated fast-docking with space lab.
Credit: CCTV
China’s intent to put in place a permanent space station in the 2020’s was bolstered late Tuesday by an automated fast-docking between the Tianzhou-1 cargo ship and the uncrewed Tiangong-2 space lab.
According to China’s Xinhua news agency, this third docking between the two craft took six and a half hours. Two previous dockings took about two days.
The Tianzhou-1 supply ship was lofted on April 20 of this year. It performed the first and second docking with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab on April 22 and June 19, respectively.
China’s cargo ship right approaches Tiangong-2 space lab in artist’s view.
Credit: CMSE
Refueling ahead
The cargo spacecraft will conduct the third refueling of the space lab before nose-diving to Earth.
Tiangong-2 has been orbiting Earth since launch on September 15, 2016.
As Xinhua explains, China is the third country, after Russia and the United States, to master refueling techniques in space, “which is crucial in the building of a permanent space station.”
Credit: CCTV
Visitation rights at Mars Society’s Desert Research Station in Utah.
Credit: IKEA
The world’s largest furniture retailer, IKEA, has turned its eyes to the skies and is delving into “space pod” furnishings – such as creature comforts within a Mars habitat.
IKEA specialists spent three days at the Utah-situated Mars Desert Research Station, a program created and managed by The Mars Society. The IKEA idea is to explore how spaceship thinking can be applied to tiny apartments in mega cities around the world.
Creative Leader at IKEA, Michael Nikolic, heading into the Desert Research Station habitat.
Credit: IKEA
Boundaries and restraints
Marcus Engman, Design Manager at IKEA Range and Supply, explains: “Small space living is a fact in space and we want to learn from that as this is a reality to more and more people. We are curious to see what makes a space travel homey, what boundaries and restraints you need to work with and bring that knowledge into our product development…to use space knowledge for a better everyday life on Earth.”
According to IKEA, for the first time in history, more people live in cities than in the countryside. Another data point comes from the United Nations that says this number will be 70 percent in 2050.
Therefore, urban challenges such as small living spaces will lead to changes in the home, IKEA’s website explains. “Already today downsizing and micro living is a reality in big cities. Hence, more people are and will be in need of new solutions for their homes.”
Architect and expert in spaceport planning, Constance Adams.
Credit: IKEA
Life on Earth
In human space travel, small spaces are at the max by necessity.
IKEA saw the space connection as a way to learn what scientists and engineers are considering for spaceflight to Mars, and apply the lessons learned to products and methods for everyday life at home, here on Earth.
Credit: IKEA
“When you design for life in a space craft or planetary surface habitat on Mars, you need to be creative yet precise, find ways to repurpose things and think carefully about sustainability aspects,” says Michael Nikolic, creative leader at IKEA Range and Supply. “With urbanization and environmental challenges on Earth, we need to do the same.”
Sketching out the future.
Credit: IKEA
Curious collection
IKEA designers are now sketching out how best to solve the interior of the Mars habitat, drawing upon their expertise and visiting the Mars Desert Research Station to make an extraterrestrial home feel like home to people, even if it is on the Red Planet.
The organization says they’ll be unveiling their “curious collection on Space” in 2019.
BTW: Interesting factoid: IKEA is derived from founder’s initials and hometown – Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd.
Check out this IKEA furniture for space video at:
https://twitter.com/TheTylt/status/875427735946113024
Also, go to IKEA’s informative website on the Mars habitat research and other efforts at:
Credit: ESA/NASA
China’s blossoming robotic moon exploration agenda appears to be in a state of flux. Due to a July launch failure of the country’s most powerful rocket on its second flight, the Long March 5, a readjustment of China’s lunar program is seemingly underway.
Apollo 15 image captures landing locale of China’s Chang’e-5 Moon lander – the Mons Rümker region in the northern part of Oceanus Procellarum.
Credit: NASA
Rumors
There are consistent and bubbling rumors from inside and outside China that a Chang’e-5 sample return moon mission is now on months, perhaps years of hold. Instead, next up would be a planned lunar lander and rover to plop down on the lunar farside in 2018. That spacecraft would be hurled moonward on a different booster, not a Long March-5. All this would be prelude to China’s already stated intent to dispatch moon missions to lunar polar sites.
China’s Chang’e 3 lander.
Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Center for Moon and Deepspace Exploration
Scientific bonanza
The apparently delayed Chang’e-5 moon sampling task is surely a tougher-to-do enterprise – but primed to offer a big and globally recognized scientific bonanza.
Go to my new Scientific American story for details:
China’s Delayed Moon Mission Sparks Debate over Lunar Samples
The Chang’e 5 spacecraft could return invaluable new moon rocks to Earth, but who will get to study them?
Curosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1811, September 9, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity rover has just entered Sol 1812 operations on Mars.
The robot is exploring part of Vera Rubin Ridge.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 181, September 9, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Images taken by the rover show more rock and less soil. Some of the pebbles are relatively well rounded. The rock face up ahead is smooth and will mean easier driving.
Here are several new images indicating Curiosity is busily at work with its robotic arm outstretched. The rover’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) instrument fires a laser and analyzes the elemental composition of vaporized materials.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo taken on Sol 1811, September 9, 2017. MAHLI is located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo acquired on Sol 1810, September 8, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Planetary prowler – the NASA Mars 2020 rover – scouring the Red Planet to select samples for eventual return to Earth.
Credit: NASA/JPL
A battleground of debate is brewing regarding the search for life on Mars.
The crux of the discussion is whether or not planetary protection rules are stifling our exploratory space missions.
Special regions
Last month, in the August 11 issue of Science, staff writer Paul Voosen wrote about the fear of microbial taint that curbs Mars explorers.
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
In summary, the Science story explains: “In the coming years, NASA’s Curiosity rover will pass rocks on Mars that, seen from orbit, seem to host mysteriously intermittent dark streaks – perhaps marking seasonal water seeps that could host martian life. But NASA’s planetary protection office, charged with keeping earthly microbes from colonizing other bodies, has said it may nix a visit. It fears that Curiosity could contaminate this so-called special region because the rover was not fully sterilized before launch.”
Primed for a shakeup
The Science article summary explains that “many planetary scientists, however, believe that now is the time to loosen restrictions on visiting these areas, before human exploration contaminates the planet. And, after years of stasis, the planetary protection office seems primed for a shakeup, thanks to an internal move and potential change in leadership, along with outside review of its policies by independent scientists.”
Mars expedition probes the promise that Mars was home address for past, and possibly life today.
Credit: NASA
Humans on Mars: trouble ahead
Kicking up Mars dust on the topic is a forum article that has just been published in the journal Astrobiology. Lead author is Alberto G. Fairén, a visiting scientist at Cornell University.
Co-authors of the article are Victor Parro of the Centro de Astrobiologı´a (CSIC-INTA), Madrid, Spain; Dirk Schulze-Makuch of the Center of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany; and Lyle Whyte of the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Que´bec, Canada.
Titled “Searching for Life on Mars Before It Is Too Late” makes the case that planetary protection policies as we conceive them today “will no longer be valid as human arrival will inevitably increase the introduction of terrestrial and organic contaminants and that could jeopardize the identification of indigenous Mars life.”
Advocated in the article is need for a reassessment over the relationships between robotic searches, paying increased attention to proactive astrobiological investigation and sampling of areas more likely to host indigenous life, and fundamentally doing this in advance of crewed missions to Mars.
NASA’s Curiosity rover is now exploring Gale Crater/Mt. Sharp area since August 2012.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Wanted: twofold change of strategy
The forum article adds that “if we, the Mars community, are truly committed to determine whether life ever existed or still exists on Mars, we propose here a twofold change of strategy.”
- First – allow immediate access to the Special Regions for vehicles with the cleanliness level of Curiosity, Mars2020, or Europe’s ExoMars.
- Second – existing laboratory robotic technology must be made flight ready in the search for biochemical evidence of life, and in particular, the development of robotic nucleic acid sequencing instrumentations for future in situ detection and/or sample return.
This forum article is sure to ripple through the astrobiology community, the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) engaged in setting guidelines for planetary protection, as well as officials in planetary protection in the U.S. and in other countries.
To read this open access article in Astrobiology, Volume 17, Number 10, 2017, go to:
