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Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category

On February 14, 2015, the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) on the Rosetta spacecraft observed the surface of comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the Imhotep region with the Sun directly behind it from an altitude of six kilometers.The image resolution is 11 centimeters per pixel. The orbiter’s shadow is visible as a dark rectangular patch in the lower part of the image.
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Close-up images of comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko have been taken by the Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) on the Rosetta spacecraft during a recent overflight.

Rosetta is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission with contributions from its member states and NASA.

Recent images show the comet’s terrain – abruptly terraced steps separating flat ground from fissured areas.

Scientists have given this region, which is situated not far from the equator of the larger part of the comet nucleus, the name Imhotep.

Philae landing site, still unknown

According to the DLR, Imhotep is on the opposite side to Philae’s landing site, which means the scientists were denied the possibility of discovering the landing craft’s location during this overflight.

Rosetta’s Philae lander that touched down on the comet is funded by a consortium headed by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), CNES and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

This image was acquired by the Rosetta Lander Imaging System (ROLIS) on board the Philae Lander from a height of approximately 40 meters, before the first touchdown. The resolution is four centimeters per pixel.
Credit: SA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR

So far, only the Rosetta Lander Imaging System (ROLIS), installed on the bottom of the Philae lander, has been able to acquire higher resolution photographs of the comet’s surface as it descended towards 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.Scientists are currently analyzing photographs of the comet’s surface, which were taken immediately after landing using artificial light.

It is hoped that these images will provide definitive information on the celestial body’s fine structure. Preliminary results are expected in April 2015, according to the DLR.

Credit: Zero 2 Infinity

“We are about to…bloon” is part of a campaign request for dollars to help record the first-ever spherical video of an eclipse from the stratosphere.

On March 20th of this year there will be a total solar eclipse. A unique feature of this event is that the Moon’s shadow will sweep over the North Pole – something that occurs once every 500,000 years or so, according to organizers of the balloon project.

Credit: Zero 2 Infinity

“This is our last chance to capture the shadow of the Moon over the northern ice cap before it melts,” say the coordinators of the effort, Zero 2 Infinity based in Spain.

On the day of the eclipse, when the Moon will obscure the Sun, the stars and the planets will become visible and the shadow of the Moon will be seen going over the Earth. The intent of the project is to record this with a spherical camera that will cover a 360º angle.

The visibility of the eclipse, from the only populated areas on the ground, is from Svalbard and the Faroe Islands.

The visibility of the eclipse, from the only populated areas on the ground, Svalbard and the Faroe Islands.
Credit: Zero 2 Infinity

GoPro cameras

A zero-emissions stratospheric balloon will carry GoPro cameras mounted on a rig to record a 360 degree spherical video at an altitude where the view of the Earth and the Sun is very similar to what astronauts experience from the International Space Station.

Near-space camera system.
Credit: Zero 2 Infinity

On the ground participants will receive the video feed into tablet or smart phone and be able to feel as if those taking part were in space – looking out their “window” to see the whole world below.

Want to take part?

The organizers have launched an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign at:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bloon-360view-of-a-total-solar-eclipse-from-space

Also, check out this near-space eclipse project via Vimeo at:

https://vimeo.com/120465177

This near-infrared, color mosaic from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows the sun glinting off of Titan’s north polar seas. The view was acquired during Cassini’s August 21, 2014 flyby of Titan.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/University of Idaho

Saturn’s moon Titan may well be a site for life – but “not as we know it” say Cornell University researchers.

While liquid water is a requirement for life on Earth, other, much colder worlds, may harbor life beyond the bounds of water-based chemistry.

Cornell chemical engineers and astronomers offer a template for life that could thrive in a harsh, cold world – specifically Titan, the giant moon of Saturn. That world is awash with seas not of water, but of liquid methane.

Titan could harbor methane-based, oxygen-free cells that metabolize, reproduce and do everything life on Earth does.

Graduate student James Stevenson, astronomer Jonathan Lunine and chemical engineer Paulette Clancy, with a Cassini image of Titan in the foreground of Saturn, and an azotosome, the theorized cell membrane on Titan.
Credit: Jason Koski/University Photography

That prospect is detailed in the Feb. 27 issue of Science Advances, led by chemical molecular dynamics expert Paulette Clancy, the Samuel W. and Diane M. Bodman Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, with first author James Stevenson, a graduate student in chemical engineering.

The paper’s co-author is Jonathan Lunine, the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Astronomy.

Promising compound

According to a Cornell press statement: “On Earth, life is based on the phospholipid bilayer membrane, the strong, permeable, water-based vesicle that houses the organic matter of every cell. A vesicle made from such a membrane is called a liposome. Thus, many astronomers seek extraterrestrial life in what’s called the circumstellar habitable zone, the narrow band around the sun in which liquid water can exist. But what if cells weren’t based on water, but on methane, which has a much lower freezing point?”

Candidate compounds from methane for self-assembly into membrane-like structures were theorized. The most promising compound they found is an acrylonitrile azotosome.

An inhabitant of Titan? A representation of a 9-nanometer azotosome, about the size of a virus, with a piece of the membrane cut away to show the hollow interior.
Credit: James Stevenson

Proof of concept

Their theorized cell membrane is composed of small organic nitrogen compounds and capable of functioning in liquid methane temperatures of 292 degrees below zero.

The azotosome is made from nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen molecules known to exist in the cryogenic seas of Titan, but shows the same stability and flexibility that Earth’s analogous liposome does.

While this initial proof of concept is stirring the creative juices, the next step is to try and demonstrate how these cells would behave in the methane environment – what might be the analogue to reproduction and metabolism in oxygen-free, methane-based cells.

Co-author of the work, Lunine says he looks forward to the long-term prospect of testing these ideas on Titan itself, by “someday sending a probe to float on the seas of this amazing moon and directly sampling the organics.”

Left to right: Mike Massimino, Walt Cunningham, Senator Ted Cruz, and Buzz Aldrin.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is the new chairman of the Senate Space, Science, and Competitiveness subcommittee.

Cruz hosted last week astronauts and space experts to address the committee and discuss the need to renew our space exploration programs.

“Space exploration has produced greater knowledge of the universe beyond and greater security of our interests at home, and I am committed to refocusing NASA on its core mission to do just that,” the lawmaker noted on his Senate website.

“America has always led the way on innovation and security, and we must reclaim that leadership,” Cruz said.

Critical time

Last Tuesday, Senator Cruz hosted a hearing with former astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Walt Cunningham, and Mike Massimino, and space experts John Elbon, Scott Pace, and Eric Stallmer.

“Just over a half century ago, President John F. Kennedy laid down a marker in my home city of Houston, Texas and made the commitment that like the great pioneers that came before us that we too would set sail on a new sea and send man to the moon. We embarked upon that endeavor as a nation because the opening vistas of space promised high costs and hardships, as well as high reward. Today we find ourselves at a similar crossroad. 2015 is just as critical of a time for our national and commercial space programs as was the case in 1962,” Sen. Cruz said.

To view the opening statement of Senator Cruz, go to:

http://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=video&id=2202

Pioneering SpaceShipOne on display at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Credit: NASM/Eric Long

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

NASA Probe Bound for Pluto Carries Piece of Pioneering SpaceShipOne
by Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
February 27, 2015 07:00am ET

Go to:

http://www.space.com/28679-new-horizons-pluto-spaceshipone.html

Engineers installed part of SpaceShipOne just before closing out spacecraft panels for the flight of the New Horizons probe to distant Pluto.
Credit: APL

Artist’s concept of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it passes Pluto and Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, in July 2015.
Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI/Steve Gribben

Frank Drake with cosmic equation to gauge the presence of intelligent life in the cosmos. The Drake Equation identifies specific factors believed to play a role in the development of civilizations in our galaxy.
Credit: SETI Institute

Here’s a new story of mine up on SPACE.com today:

The Father of SETI: Q&A with Astronomer Frank Drake

by Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist

February 26, 2015 01:50pm ET

Go to:

http://www.space.com/28665-seti-astronomer-frank-drake-interview.html

Frank Drake, center, with his colleagues, Optical SETI (OSETI) Principal Investigator Shelley Wright and Rem Stone with the 40-inch Nickel telescope at Lick Observatory in California. Outfitted with the OSETI instrument, the silver rectangular instrument package protrudes from the bottom of the telescope, plus computers, etc.
Credit: Laurie Hatch Photography, used with permission

This self-portrait of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the ‘Mojave’ site, where its drill collected the mission’s second taste of Mount Sharp. The scene combines dozens of images taken during January 2015 by the MAHLI camera at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has drilled into a rock target called “Telegraph Peak.” The hole has a diameter slightly smaller than a U.S. dime.

This new hole is the third drilling site in outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp – an outcrop the mission has been investigating for five months.

By inspecting layers of this mountain, scientists expect the data to reveal records of how ancient wet environments on Mars evolved into drier environments.

Curiosity’s Mastcam: Right image taken by Curiosity on Sol 908 (2015-02-25).
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The sample-collection drilling at Telegraph Peak was the first in Curiosity’s 30 months on Mars to be conducted without a preliminary “mini drill” test of the rock’s suitability for drilling. The rover used a low-percussion-level drilling technique.

The rock-powder sample from Telegraph Peak goes to the rover’s internal Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument for identification of minerals. After that analysis, the team may also choose to deliver sample material to Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite of laboratory instruments, according to a statement from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, took this image on February 25, 2015, Sol 908.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The rover’s next major move is to wheel through a narrow valley called “Artist’s Drive,” which will lead the robot along a strategically planned route higher on the basal layer of Mount Sharp.

Credit: Ted Cruz Twitter

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, convened a hearing on Tuesday, February 24, 2015.

The hearing was entitled “U.S. Human Exploration Goals and Commercial Space Competitiveness.”

Former NASA astronauts included Walt Cunningham, Buzz Aldrin, Mike Massimino, and leaders in the commercial space industry testified.

The hearing was called to provide the Space, Science, and Competitiveness Subcommittee and the American people “a great opportunity to reflect on the past, analyze the present, and examine the future of space travel in the United States,” said Cruz in calling the hearing.

Credit: Ted Cruz Twitter

“We will look to ensure that NASA and commercial space have clear and consistent mission objectives and can continue to work alongside our international partners, but not be dependent on them. America should once again lead the way for the world in space exploration,” Cruz said in a pre-hearing statement.

The hearing examined the United States’ goals in human space exploration, including the role of the commercial space industry and its contributions to U.S. global competitiveness.

Among other issues, the hearing was called to discuss the importance of a sound exploration strategy that involves NASA, partnerships with international allies, and innovation and competitiveness in the U.S. commercial space sector.

Exploration and commercial space witnesses took part in Senate Hearing.
Credit: Ted Cruz Twitter

The hearing examined whether updates are needed to the Commercial Space Launch Act.

Check out this C-Span video link of the hearing at:

http://www.c-span.org/video/?324519-1/hearing-future-us-space-exploration

To read the prepared testimony of each witness, go to these links:

Witness Panel 1

1)

Col. Walt Cunningham (USMC, Ret.)

Former Astronaut and Apollo 7 Pilot

http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=fcb15c53-c53c-4c08-bbe0-cd7b67f5c5ee

2)

Col. Buzz Aldrin (USAF, Ret.)

Former NASA Astronaut and Apollo 11 Pilot

http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=5dd98aa0-32bb-4762-a978-c17cebfd82bb

3)

Mr. Michael Massimino

Former NASA Astronaut and Mission Specialist for Space Shuttle Program

http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=0ca0f7ef-4da7-4f24-b67d-bf0881e70e6a

Witness Panel 2

4)

Mr. John Elbon

Vice President and General Manager

Boeing Space Exploration

http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=b7db287a-6c45-4b62-a3e4-106e918af072

5)

Dr. Scott Pace

Director, Space Policy Institute

Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=8e97c713-8642-4e75-b999-48ee31751b51

6)

Mr. Eric Stallmer

President

Commercial Spaceflight Federation

http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=215804c5-33c3-4c29-9eed-638eff02f8ef