Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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February 15th, 2017
This artist’s rendering depicts NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, with its robotic arm extended.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
MONROVIA, California – Now on the books is NASA’s Mars 2020 rover mission, arriving at a wheels-down spot on the Red Planet in 2021. On its to-do agenda is surveying a site likely to have been habitable and poke about for signs of past Martian life. And if that’s not enough, there’s more.
This robot is also to select and hoard the most compelling samples on site for later return to Earth, even testing out prototype hardware to shore up a future human expedition to Mars, perhaps in the 2030s.
Landing where?
Screaming in! Mars 2020 rover’s entry, descent and landing – microphones and cameras will capture the sounds and sights.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
As part of the mission process, a third confab of experts on where to land the rover took place here February 8-10. It was an international tribunal of some 250 scientists and engineers.
For an overview of what took place, take a look at my new Scientific American story at:
NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover: Stepping Stone to What?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasas-mars-2020-rover-stepping-stone-to-what/
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The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will hold a hearing titled NASA: Past, Present, and Future.
This hearing is set for Thursday, February 16th at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The purpose of the hearing is to review NASA’s past portfolio of missions, evaluate existing exploration programs, and provide a venue for consideration of potential bold and innovative missions going forward.
Off-world geologist, Apollo 17’s Jack Schmitt.
Credit: NASA
Witness List
Testifying is a panel of witnesses:
- Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut; former United States senator
- Thomas P. Stafford, Gemini VI, Gemini IX, Apollo 10, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronaut; chairman, NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee
- Ellen Stofan, former chief scientist, NASA
- Tom Young, past director, Goddard Spaceflight Center; past president/COO, Martin Marietta; past chairman, SAIC
Future of International Space Station – sure to be a hearing topic.
Credit: NASA
Live streaming
The hearing will be available on the committee’s website and via YouTube.
Go to:
Ireson Hill as imaged by Curiosity’s Navcam Left B om Sol 1608, February 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity rover is carrying out Sol 1609 duties on Mars, driving over 30 feet (9 meters) on Sol 1608.
That drive has placed the robot closer to Ireson Hill, making it possible to image dark blocks that have tumbled down from the top of the hill.
Dark blocks
“Two of these blocks are within reach of the arm, but both are challenging targets,” reports Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Even the name chosen for the dark block is difficult: “Passagassawakeag.”
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1608, February 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Herkenhoff adds that this block is pointier than scientists would like for contact science, and the other dark block, dubbed “Perry” is close enough to the rover that there is a risk of collision with the arm.
Arm action
Complicating the plan further, Herkenhoff points out, is that the best time to take Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images of these targets is late in the afternoon, when they won’t be shadowed by the arm.
However, the last chance to send data to Earth in time to make them available for planning is earlier in the afternoon, making it difficult to return all of the data needed to respond to a possible arm fault.
Safe distance
“Therefore, we decided to acquire a single MAHLI image of Passagassawakeag from a safe distance of 5 centimeters before the critical communications opportunity, and send it in case the full suite of MAHLI images of Perry planned later in the afternoon is not successful,” Herkenhoff says. Doing so, science teams would be better able to plan contact science on Perry in the near-term, if necessary.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1608, February 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
According to the Sol 1609 plan, it was to start with Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) and Right Mastcam observation of Passagassawakeag, a typical Murray bedrock exposure named “Spurwink,” and a more distant dark block called “Wassataquoik.”
Then the plan schedules Curiosity’s Right Mastcam to acquire a 3×1 mosaic of the Perry area, single images of rocks near the top of the hill named “Gonic,” “Kineo,” and “Edmunds,” followed by an 8×4-frame mosaic of the right side of the hill.
Complicated plan
Prior to the MAHLI imaging of Perry, a full suite of MAHLI images, plus extra stereo frames, is planned on Spurwink.
After all of the MAHLI activities have been completed, Herkenhoff says, the robot’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) is to be placed on Perry for a pair of short integrations, then placed on Spurwink for an overnight integration.
Concludes Herkenhoff: “Of course we are hoping that this complicated plan goes well!”
Tianzhou-1 supply ship is being readied for April launch.
Credit: CCTV-Plus
A key element of China’s human spaceflight program is being prepared for launch this April.
The country’s first cargo-carrying spacecraft – Tianzhou-1– has arrived at a launch site in Wenchang City of southern Hainan Province on Monday.
Shoot and ship
Tianzhou-1 can shoot and ship into Earth orbit upwards of six tons. This supply ship is integral to China’s future space station on the drawing boards for the 2020’s.
Once lofted by a Long March-7 booster from the Wenchang spaceport, the cargo ship will dock with the now-orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab and refuel that facility.
China’s cargo ship will dock with the now-orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab and refuel that facility.
Credit: CMSE
Payload ratio
In an interview on CCTV-Plus, Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of Tianzhou-1 at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said: “The carrying capacity of Tianzhou-1 is designed based on the scale of the space station, in the principle of achieving the highest carrying capacity with the lowest structural weight. There is an index for the spacecraft’s carrying capacity, which is called payload ratio,” Bai said. “The payload ratio of Tianzhou-1 can reach 0.48, which is a relatively high figure in the world.”
As noted by CCTV-Plus, payload ratio refers to the ratio of the cargo weight to the weight of the spacecraft. A high payload ratio means high carrying capacity of the spacecraft. The figure is higher than that of the existing spacecraft of Japan and some European countries.
Verifying technology
Tianzhou-1 spacecraft will latch up with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab. That lab late last year hosted two astronauts for China’s longest human spaceflight mission.
The supply craft will refuel the space lab, verifying the technology needed for on-orbit transfer of liquid propellant – one of the key technologies required in assembling and maintaining China’s future space station.
China’s 60-ton medium-size space station for the 2020’s is depicted in this artwork.
Credit: CNSA
Two-month process
Bai said that two days after the launch of Tianzhou-1, it will dock with the Tiangong-2 space lab.
“The whole process takes about two months. After the completion of the two-month docking, we will check the status of the equipment and refill the propellant,” Bai added.
For a look at Tianzhou-1 preparations, go to these CCTV-Plus video clips:
http://l3-pv.news.cctvplus.com/2017/0213/8043031_Preview_1486991619869.mp4
http://l3-pv.news.cctvplus.com/2017/0213/8043022_Preview_1486992765374.mp4
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1607, February 12, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is closing out Sol 1607 activities. The robot has wrapped up work on the first stop of a second phase look at the Bagnold Dunes.
The rover’s Mastcam produced images that were repeated throughout the day to look for changes in the dunes.
Sand formations
Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Remote Microscopic Imager (RMI) was focused on the target “Mapleton” and then Mastcam carried out a series of images of nearby sand formations.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1605, February 10, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Once that was taken care of, we decided to drive back toward Ireson Hill so that we can take a closer look at some of the geology there,” reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
That drive equaled roughly 180 feet (55 meters) followed by post-drive imaging.
Targets of interest
In the 1605 plan, the rovers ChemCam’s laser was slated to be back in action with an analysis of the target “Carys Mills”. Mastcam was scheduled to take a supporting image of the same target, as well as a small mosaic of the target “Calderwood”.
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, acquired this image on February 11, 2017, Sol 1606.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“We will then continue driving around the east side of Ireson hill toward our targets of interest, ending at a rock that may be part of the hill’s capping layer,” Anderson notes.
Curiosity rover’s location as of Sol 1605, February 10, 2017.
From Sol 1604 to Sol 1605, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 71.56 feet (21.81 meters). Since touching down in Bradbury Landing in August 2012, Curiosity has driven 9.64 miles (15.52 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/University of Arizona
Dates of planned rover activities are always subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Credit: NASA/JPL
MONROVIA, California – The 3rd landing site workshop for the 2020 Mars Rover mission was held here, bringing some 250 researchers together to mull over and whittle away at eight candidate landing sites.
Mars via Monrovia. International group mulls over prospective landing sites for Mars 2020 rover.
Credit: Leonard David
After nearly 3 days of deliberation – and much debate and discussion – a trio of landing sites for the future rover has apparently emerged: Jezero, NE Syrtis, and a hotly contested and invested candidate – the Columbia Hills/Gusev crater.
Yet another landing site workshop is on the books to further detail these candidate locales for the Mars 2020 rover.
This artist’s rendering depicts NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, with its robotic arm extended.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
Eventually, the final go-to spot for the 2020 Red Planet robot is to be made by NASA Headquarters.
Contentious chatter
Of the three sites, the most contentious chatter involved Columbia Hills/Gusev. It’s the site where the Spirit rover cruised about, later becoming stuck in sand and died there. In May 2011, NASA ended its shout outs to the mired in sand Mars machinery.
On Mars, “Home Plate” is a ancient and eroded volcanic ash deposit about 100 yards across that lies in Gusev Crater’s Columbia Hills. At some point in the past a hot spring was active here, producing silica outcrops that appear nearly identical to the features found at the El Tatio hot springs in Chile. The silica outcrops lie next to Home Plate’s right edge, near the Spirit rover (circled).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Proponents of this return mission want to investigate and sample siliceous deposits discovered by the Spirit rover on the east side of a featured dubbed “Home Plate” as well as candidate deposits not visited by Spirit to the west and south of Home Plate.
These deposits have been compared on the basis of their morphology and mineralogy to hot spring sinter deposits known to support microbial life on Earth, and have thus been called potential biosignatures.
That’s the Spirit
As discussed earlier on Inside Outer Space, go to these stories for more background on the Columbia Hills/Gusev site:
Did the Spirit Mars Rover Find a Biosignature of Past Life?
https://www.leonarddavid.com/did-the-spirit-mars-rover-find-a-biosignature-of-past-life/
Searching for Life on Mars: A Re-look at Spirit Rover Finding
https://www.leonarddavid.com/searching-for-life-on-mars-a-re-look-at-spirit-rover-finding/
Mastcam Left image from Curiosity rover taken on Sol 1604, February 9, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The Curiosity Mars rover’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) is expected to be back in operation shortly, after running a set of planned diagnostics.
Mastcam observations have been underway to look for any changes in the nearby sand.
Mastcam also has multispectral observations of targets “Matagamon,” “Scarboro,” and “Flume Ridge.” Mastcam is on tap too to create a mosaic of some interesting sand ripples.
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 1605, February 10, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Dust devil movie
In addition, Mastcam atmospheric observations and a Navcam dust devil movie is on the schedule, reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The robot’s assignments included use of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to take a look at “Matagamon,” “West Branch,” “Flume Ridge,” “Dry Wall” and “McKenny.”
Moving on
This action is to be followed by an engineering test with the rover’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and perform an overnight APXS measurement of the target “Flume Ridge.”
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo acquired on February 10, 2017, Sol 1605.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
If all goes according to plan, observations by Curiosity will move on to stop #2 of this second campaign to study Bagnold dunes, Anderson concludes.
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 1601, February 2, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The second half of the Curiosity Mars rover’s campaign to study the “Bagnold Dunes” is well underway.
Now in Sol 1603, the robot is conducting Mastcam mosaics of the dunes, which will be repeated several times to watch for changes, reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1601, February 6, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Return to active duty
Mastcam is also to do a couple of measurements to determine the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Navcam was to perform a dust devil monitoring observation.
Curiosity’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) was set to do an active laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) observation of the soil target “Mapleton” as the final step in the diagnostics that will allow it to return to active duty.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1603, February 8, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Having a field day
In addition to change detection, Anderson notes that the rover’s Mastcam has a stereo image of some bedforms at “Flume Ridge,” a 9×2 mosaic of the interesting nearby dune field, and a 3×2 observation in support of the campaign to watch for dust devils.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) image taken on February 7, 2017, Sol 1602.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is having a field day, observing the targets “Scarboro”, “McKenny”, “Matagamon”, “Flume Ridge”, “The Forks”, and “West Branch”.
Sol 1602 duties also included repeating the Mastcam change detection observations, going all the way into the evening hours on Mars.
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1598 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (February 03, 2017). Total odometry for the mission at this point was 9.58 miles (15.42 kilometers). The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIV. OF ARIZONA
Still beaming after all these years – NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Being the veteran Mars explorer it is, the Opportunity rover is wheeling toward a milestone-making investigation – inspecting a Martian gully up-close.
Opportunity is less than a mile from the first Martian gully visited by a spacecraft from Earth. It will investigate the gully for evidence of water or dry sediment flow.
In research to be presented at the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in March, JPL Mars investigators, Tim Parker and Matt Golombek and colleagues detail what’s perplexing about Martian gullies and their debatable origin.
HiRISE map view of gully feature indicating source at Endeavour rim crest.
Credit: Parker, Golombek, et al.;Univ. of Arizona
Gully guessing
Do gullies indicate water flow? Debris flows? Brines?
If fluvial — produced by the action of a river or stream – do they derive from local springs, or small lakes or by precipitation?
Could they be formed by dry avalanches of fine, dry sediment that doesn’t require unusual, wet conditions?
Planetary soldier
Opportunity has been one busy planetary solider since it landed in Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004 – now over 12 years ago. A dozen Earth years after its air-bag-cushioned touch down on the Red Planet, the rover is enduring its seventh Martian winter.
The gully feature that the robot is headed for was first identified in high resolution imaging science experiment (HiRISE) photos, a super-zoom camera system aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It was spotted by HiRISE images taken of the west rim of Endeavour crater in 2009, prior to Opportunity’s arrival at Cape York.
Recent image from Opportunity’s Navigation Camera on Sol 4633. As of Sol 4630 (Jan. 31, 2017), the rover’s total odometry is 27.30 miles (43.94 kilometers).
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/CORNELL
The gully has multiple branches that merge and split and appears to cut across the crest of the rim of Endeavour crater, although a bright narrow ridge may be at the gully head. The HiRISE topography shows the gully is on a 17 degree slope.
Useful observations
According to the LPSC research paper led by Parker and Golombek, the fact that the source of the gully is at the crest of the crater rim “may indicate spillover from a small lake to the west of the rim, and rapid draining through the channel into the crater interior.”
Alternatively, they also note that the gully head may have progressively retreated upslope, cannibalizing its own source area. Or a steeper source area at the crater rim may have been eroded away by eolian – wind — abrasion.
Once on location, the Opportunity rover can make a number of useful observations – be it Navcam stereo panoramas and Pancam color stereo shots — to address the origin of the gully.
How far to go?
Just how far is the rover from the gully?
In an email response to Inside Outer Space from Ray Arvidson of Washington University in Saint Louis, deputy principal investigator of the rover mission, it’s roughly 2,296 feet (700 meters) “as the crow flies,” maybe roughly 328 feet (100 meters) more “as Opportunity winds its way south along the Meridiani plains,” Arvidson said.
“Hope to get there within a few months to be able to explore the gully before winter sets in and mobility becomes limited,” Arvidson said.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1601, February 6, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is in position to scan a next segment of the Bagnold Dunes.
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1601, February 6, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Last year, the robot made the first up-close study of active sand dunes anywhere other than Earth, at the Bagnold Dunes on the northwestern flank of Mars’ Mount Sharp.
As reported in 2016, some of the wind-sculpted sand ripples on Mars are a type not seen on Earth, and their relationship to the thin Martian atmosphere today provides new clues about the atmosphere’s history.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1601, February 6, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Now working in Sol 1601 and entering Sol 1602, the rover was in position to take a Mastcam 360-degree mosaic. This scenic site looks out over the dunes and captures features like “Ireson Hill.”
Curiosity Navcam Right B image of “Ireson Hill” taken on Sol 1601, February 6, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
