Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category

A new story from me up on SPACE.com regarding spacecraft that impact the Moon’s Far Side:

‘Graveyard’ on the Moon’s Far Side Welcomes NASA Spacecraft

http://www.space.com/25613-moon-far-side-nasa-spacecraft-crash.html

Prominent astronauts are taking part in a B612 Foundation event today at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Wash. They are spotlighting data showing the surprising frequency at which the Earth is hit by asteroids.

The findings are based on newly released information from the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, which operates a network of sensors that monitors Earth around the clock listening for the infrasound signature of nuclear detonations.

Between 2000 and 2013, this network detected 26 explosions on Earth ranging in energy from 1 to 600 kilotons — all caused not by nuclear explosions, but rather by asteroid impacts.

While most of these asteroids exploded too high in the atmosphere to do serious damage on the ground, the evidence is important in estimating the frequency of a potential “city-killer-size” asteroid. 

Blind luck

“While most large asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire country or continent have been detected, less than 10,000 of the more than a million dangerous asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire major metropolitan area have been found by all existing space or terrestrially-operated observatories,” observes Ed Lu, former U.S. shuttle astronaut and co-founder and CEO of the B612 Foundation.

“Because we don’t know where or when the next major impact will occur, the only thing preventing a catastrophe from a ‘city-killer’ sized asteroid has been blind luck,” Lu noted in a press statement.

The Earth is continuously colliding with fragments of asteroids, the largest in recent times exploding over Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908 with an energy impact of 5-15 megatons.

Recent events

More recently, is the air bursting event over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013. Asteroid impacts greater than 20 kilotons occurred in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 2009, in the Southern Ocean in 2004, and in the Mediterranean Sea in 2002.

Important to note  about these recent events is that none of these asteroids were detected or tracked in advance by any existing space-based or terrestrial observatory.

The B612 Foundation aims to change that by building the Sentinel Space Telescope Mission, an early warning infrared space telescope for tracking asteroids that would provide many years to deflect an asteroid when it is still millions of miles away.

Privately funded

The B612 Sentinel Mission will be the world’s first privately funded deep space mission that will create the first comprehensive dynamic map of our inner solar system, identifying the current and future locations and trajectories of Earth crossing asteroids.

Sentinel will detect and track more than 200,000 asteroids in just the first year of operation, after a planned launch in 2018.

Joining Lu today to discuss the evidence for 26 atomic bomb scale asteroid impacts since 2000 is former NASA astronaut Tom Jones, President of the Association of Space Explorers and Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders.

Note: Video visualization of these findings, showing the impact size range and location of all 26 explosions can be viewed at:

https://b612foundation.org/portfolio/impact-video

A listing of all locations and size of impacts with additional FAQs can be found at:

 https://b612foundation.org/impact-video-faq

A new story from me posted at SPACE.com:

US Air Force’s Secretive X-37B Space Plane Nears Day 500 in Orbit
By Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
April 21, 2014 01:21pm ET

http://www.space.com/25573-secretive-x37b-military-space-plane-500days.html

China’s “Yutu” moon rover remains in critical condition, according to a recent report in South China Morning Post.

According to the news outlet, there are “last-ditch efforts” to rescue the ailing lunar rover.

Chinese engineers now say a blockage in the rover’s power circuitry is at fault for issues encountered and specialists are looking to bypass the problem. The trouble has meant that the rover’s main driving mechanism cannot be powered up. Yutu – or “Jade Rabbit” — is currently incapable of activating its wheels or solar panels.

Jade Rabbit has been parked on the moon’s surface for more than two months after wheeling across the lunar surface.

The lunar rover’s power supply system was designed and built by the Shanghai Institute of Space Power Sources under the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

Despite the robot’s inability to move, scientific gear on the rover, such as cameras, and a ground-penetrating radar are apparently still working, reportedly relaying data back to Earth control.

China’s Chang’e 3 robotic moon lander touched down on December 14, 2013. The one-ton lander later let loose Jade Rabbit that successfully traversed the site, but broke down on January 25.

The hunt for the impact site of NASA’s LADEE mooncraft will be fortified by the high-powered camera system onboard the space agency’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

There is a speculated locale for the spacecraft’s smashing finale – crater Sundman V.

The good news – if indeed LADEE’s final resting spot is in that area – pre-impact imagery of Sundman V is available. Contrasting old and new LRO camera imagery should enable a focus on the crash site.

Word is that LRO won’t be able to train its sharpshooting camera system on the area for several weeks. Moreover, it is not clear if LADEE struck Sundman V on the east side or west side of the crater.

A new NEO story from me – posted today on SPACE.com.

Red Tape Hinders Study of Asteroid Impacts on Earth
By Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
April 20, 2014 08:00am ET

 http://www.space.com/25559-asteroid-monitoring-nasa-military-red-tape.html

NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) moon orbiter may have indeed struck the rim of the far side crater, Sundmam V.

That’s the preliminary word from NASA Ames Research Center scientists that developed and operated LADEE.

However, the final resting spot for LADEE remains speculative. Specialists in orbit determination are now busy sifting through the last tracking data to refine the possible resting place for the purposely destroyed LADEE.

Likely to be the final nail in the coffin is NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and its super-powerful Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). The hope is that LROC will spot the LADEE impact site.

The American public expects that the coming half-century will be a period of weighty scientific change, as inventions that were once confined to the realm of science fiction come into common usage.

The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center in partnership with Smithsonian magazine, asking Americans about a wide range of potential scientific developments: from near-term advances like robotics and bioengineering, to more “futuristic” possibilities like teleportation or space colonization.

According to Aaron Smith, Senior Researcher at the Pew Research Center, compared with custom organs and computer produced art, the public has less confidence that the two common science fiction tropes of teleportation and colonization of other planets will come to pass.

Space colonies

Here are a few space-related items, among a wide range of observations noted in the survey:

— Two in five Americans (39%) think that teleportation will be possible within the next 50 years, while slightly fewer — 33% — expect to live in a world in which humans have long-term colonies on other planets.

— Young adults are especially likely to view space colonization as a long-term eventuality: 43% of 18-29 year olds see this happening in the next half-century, compared with about a quarter of those over age 50.

— On the other hand, high-income Americans are pessimistic about the prospects of space colonization: just 20% of those with an annual household income of $75,000 or more think this is a realistic prediction.

Getting from place to place

Those surveyed were asked to describe in their own words the futuristic inventions they themselves would like to own.

The public offered three common themes: 1) travel improvements like flying cars and bikes, or even personal spacecrafts; 2) time travel; and 3) health improvements that extend human longevity or cure major diseases.

Based on their responses, many Americans are looking forward to a future in which getting from place to place is easier, more comfortable, or more adventuresome than it is today.

— A total of 19% of Americans would like to own a travel-related invention of some kind, including: a flying car or flying bike (6%),

— Personal spacecraft (4%),

— Self-driving car (3%),

— Teleportation device (3%),

— Jet pack (1%),

— Hover car or hover board (1%).

Survey details

The survey was conducted February 13-18, 2014 by landline and cell phones among 1,001 adults.

The survey examined a number of potential future developments in the field of science and technology…some just over the horizon, others more speculative in nature.

For more information, go to Pew Research Center, April, 2014, “U.S. Views of Technology and the Future” available at:

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/04/17/us-views-of-technology-and-the-future/

 

 

A new story from me up today on SPACE.com:

NASA Moon Probe Will Bite the Lunar Dust Soon: What It Taught Us
By Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist
April 17, 2014 07:00am ET

http://www.space.com/25529-nasa-moon-dust-probe-death-science.html

Vegetables for a Red Planet?

That is the prognosis of a study by plant ecologist Wieger Wamelink of Wageningen UR – a university and research center in The Netherlands that focuses specifically on the theme “healthy food and living environment.”

The soil on Mars may be suitable for cultivating food crops, Wamelink reports, and he is convinced that a complete food cultivation system for Mars is achievable within a decade.

In a unique pilot experiment, the plant ecologist tested the growth of 14 plant varieties on artificial Mars soil over 50 days. Making use of NASA-composed soil based on the volcanic soil of Hawaii, to his surprise, the plants grew well. Some even blossomed.

“I had expected the germination process to work, but I thought the plants would die due to a lack of nutrients,” Wamelink explains. The soil analysis showed that Mars soil contains more nutrients than expected. In addition to phosphorus and iron oxides, the scientist found nitrogen, an essential plant nutrient.

Controlled cultivation

Leo Marcelis of Wageningen University is an advisor to the ‘Mars One’ project and one of Wamelink’s colleagues. He is looking into cultivation systems that should make growing vegetables on Mars possible.

“As it is impossible to take everything from Earth, we will need to produce food if we want to go into space. This requires knowledge on cultivation systems that function well in Mars conditions,” says Marcelis in a university press statement.

On Mars, plants would be cultivated in enclosed plant growth facilities – possibly equipped with LED lamps. But which color is best for plant growth and where would the electricity come from?

“In addition to controlled cultivation systems, complete recycling will also be essential on Mars,” Marcelis adds.

Research into the cultivation of plants in difficult conditions is not only relevant to future inhabitants of Mars, but also to those who wish to remain on our blue planet Earth.

Mars-Earth connection

Wamelink said that Mars soil consists of volcanic rock. “If we learn to bring it into cultivation, we can use the knowledge to cultivate crops on difficult soils here on Earth.”

Insights into a more effective recycling of water, gas and nutrients and the closing of cycles are also possible. The development of high-tech automated and optimized cultivation systems, sensors that continuously monitor the needs of plants, and plant cultivation in low light conditions are also an important spin-off of the project.

Wamelink said that knowledge of complete controllable cultivation systems, plant varieties related to soils, food security, and entomology for bee pollination are research areas in which the university is already engaged.

“So if we are asked to develop cultivation systems for Mars, we can make a flying start,” Wamelink said.