Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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June 28th, 2024
Meteoroid impact detected by NASA’s InSight lander on Mars. The image was taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
New research points to Mars being on the receiving end of basketball-size meteorites – on a near daily basis.
An international research group, co-lead by ETH Zurich and Imperial College London, have derived the first estimate of global meteorite impacts on Mars using seismic data.
According to the new work, between 280 to 360 meteorites strike the Red Planet each year. The result is the formation of impact craters greater than 26 feet (8 meters across.
“This rate was about five times higher than the number estimated from orbital imagery alone. Aligned with orbital imagery, our findings demonstrate that seismology is an excellent tool for measuring impact rates,” explains Géraldine Zenhäusern of ETH Zurich who co-led the study.
Recorded very high frequency (VF) events, sorted by distance, plotted from 120 seconds before to 1,100 seconds after the event.
Image credit: Géraldine Zenhäusern, et al.
Seismic “chirp”
Using data from the seismometer deployed during the now non-functioning NASA InSight lander on Mars, the research team found that 6 seismic events belong to a much larger group of marsquakes, so called very high frequency (VF) events.
Their research quest began in December 2021, a year before accumulated dust on the InSight’s solar panels put an end to its mission.
Co-lead of the research, Natalia Wójcicka of the Imperial College London adds: “We estimated crater diameters from the magnitude of all the VF-marsquakes and their distances, then used it to calculate how many craters formed around the InSight lander over the course of a year. We then extrapolated this data to estimate the number of impacts that happen annually on the whole surface of Mars.”
This image shows InSight’s domed Wind and Thermal Shield, which covers the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) seismometer.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
New data shows that a crater 26-feet (8-meters) in diameter is formed somewhere on the surface of Mars nearly every day. A crater 98-feet (30-meters) happens about once a month.
Safety of robotic, human explorers
The research team, in an ETH Zurich statements, explains that, since hypervelocity impacts cause blast zones that are easily 100 times larger in diameter than the crater, “knowing the exact number of impacts is important for the safety of robotic, but also future human missions to the Red Planet.”
As for follow-up work, Zenhäusern and Wójcicka, say the next steps in advancing this research involve the use of machine learning technologies to aid researchers in identifying further craters in satellite images and identifying seismic events in the data.
Artist’s concept depicts astronauts and human habitats on Mars. NASA’s Mars Perseverance robot carries an oxygen-generating unit, viewed as a precursor for technologies that could make Mars safer and easier to explore for humans.
Image credit: NASA
Key findings
In summary form, for the first time, researchers have used seismic data to estimate a global meteorite impact rate showing meteoroids the size of a basketball impact Mars on a near daily basis.
Impact-generated seismic signals show meteorite impacts to be five-times more abundant than previously thought.
Seismic data offers a new tool in addition to observational data for calculating meteorite impact rates and planning future Mars missions.
To access their research paper just out in Nature Astronomy – “An estimate of the impact rate on Mars from statistics of very-high-frequency marsquakes” – go to:
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Image credit: CGTN/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission to the Moon’s far side netted over 4.3 pounds (1,935.3 grams) of samples.
A ceremony was held on Friday by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to hand over the samples to the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) for storage, analysis and research.
Image credit: CGTN/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: CGTN/Inside Outer Space screengrab
In contrast, in December 2020, China’s earlier lunar sample mission – Chang’e-5 – snagged roughly 4 pounds (1,731 grams) of lunar collectibles.
The Chang’e-6 probe returner capsule touched down in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday, completing its 53-day Earth-to-Moon and return journey with a touchdown in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Chang’e-6 mission elements (including mini-rover back-up, flag on display)
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Go to video at: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3We3yVMyVMe7BqPq/
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
A container carrying China’s far side lunar samples has been extracted from the returner capsule of the Chang’e-6 lunar probe mission during a June 26 ceremony at the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing.
The Chang’e-6 probe returner touched down in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday, completing its 53-day Earth-to-Moon and return journey with a touchdown in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
On Wednesday morning, the Chang’e-6 return capsule arrived in Beijing for sample retrieval and payload removal.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Wait on the weight
The weight of the returned samples collected from the far side of the Moon by the Chang’e-6 mission will be made public on Friday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has stated.
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Hu Hao, the chief designer of the Chang’e-6 mission, stated at the press event that the lunar soil samples from the Moon’s near side are fine and loose, while the samples from the far side appear to be different, Hu said. “So, we have higher expectations for the new lunar samples and hope that scientists will make new discoveries.”
Bian Zhigang, deputy head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Chang’e era
According to Bian Zhigang, deputy head of the CNSA, Chinese and foreign scientists have published more than 1,900 papers using data from China’s lunar exploration.
Global studies of lunar samples have entered the “Chang’e Era,” said Bian at the media event.
“Chinese and foreign scientists have published more than 1,900 papers using data from China’s lunar programs,” Bian said. “From the Chang’e-5 lunar samples, Chinese scientists discovered the sixth new mineral on the Moon and named it Changesite-(Y).”
Bian said that “research has proven that magma activities still existed on the Moon 1.96 billion years ago, which extended the known geological life of the Moon by 1 billion years.”
Go to these new videos focused on the Chang’e-6 sample return at:
The sample container of lunar collectibles is shown being removed from the Chang’e-6 return capsule.
Image credit: Jin Liwang via SegerYU X posting.
China lunar scientists have begun their inspection of the country’s Chang’e-6 returner capsule and its cache of far side lunar samples.
Parachuting into the Siziwang Banner of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region shortly after 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the capsule’s touchdown concluded a 53-day journey from Earth, to the Moon, and back to Earth.
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Recovered by air and ground teams, the returner module was transported by road to Inner Mongolia’s Zhurihe Airport before it was airlifted to the Chinese capital Beijing.
Store and study
The returner was airlifted to Beijing for opening, and the lunar samples are being transferred to a team of scientists for subsequent storage, analysis and study, said the China National Space Agency (CNSA).
Technicians have taken out the samples and are slated to hand them over to what the CNSA tags as the “ground application system” led by a group of scientists who will store and study the samples.
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The Chang’e-6 Moon mission was a multi-tasking enterprise, making use of an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner that was launched on May 3.
Its lander-ascender combination touched down at the designated landing area in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the Moon’s far side on June 2, and completed sampling in two days.
Go to this video spotlighting the returner capsule’s landing at:
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s just landed specimens from the far side of the moon signals not only technological achievement and plows new territory for the country’s space exploration capacity, it is also sparking a chain-reaction in scientific, policy, and diplomatic circles within the U.S.
Wrapping up a 53-day undertaking from Earth departure on May 3 to back on terra firma, China’s Chang’e-6 return capsule stuffed with its “ground breaking” cache of lunar collectibles parachuted into a pre-selected site within Siziwang Banner in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
This prize celestial catch of the day are samples from the southern mare plain of the Apollo basin interior, in the northeast interior of the far side South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin.
Go to my new Scientific American story at:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-returns-first-ever-samples-from-the-moons-far-side/
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission has ended, successfully bringing to Earth its celestial bounty – the world’s first sample from the Moon’s far side — after a 53-day journey in space.
The Chang’e-6 probe was launched on May 3 with the return capsule of onboard lunar specimens parachuting into Siziwang Banner, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on June 25. The return capsule landed in a pre-selected spot at 2:07 p.m. (Beijing Time) on Tuesday.
Coming in hot! Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Chang’e-6 is one of the most complex and challenging missions in China’s space exploration efforts to date, reports China Central Television (CCTV), consisting of an orbiter, a returner, a lander and an ascender.
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Mission stages
Following its Earth departure, the mission underwent various stages: Earth-moon transfer, near-moon braking, lunar orbiting, separation of the lander-ascender combination, landing on the Moon within the South Pole-Aitken Basin, collected its cache of lunar specimens over a two day period, then rocketed its grab and stash bits and pieces off the surface into orbit around the Moon.
Chang’e-6 scooping operation on Moon’s far side.
Image credit: CNSA/CLEP
All the lunar collectibles were then transferred into the orbiter-returner craft that spent 13 days in lunar orbit, awaiting the right alignment of Moon and Earth for the return trek.
The ascender segment separated from the combination and later landed on the Moon under the guidance of the ground control team, noted CCTV, to avoid the discarded craft becoming a piece of space junk.
Lunar evolution
Following two moon-Earth transfer maneuvers and one orbital correction, the returner separated from the orbiter and delivered the samples to Earth. Post-landing, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) declared the mission a complete success.
Image taken by mini-rover of Change’-6 lander/ascender spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.
Image credit: CNSA
A key player in the Chang’e-6 mission was support provided by China’s Queqiao-2 relay satellite. The Queqiao-2 relay satellite was put into position shortly before the mission to aid communication with far side operations.
“The Chang’e-6 mission represents a significant milestone in the history of human lunar exploration, and it will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of lunar evolution,” said Yang Wei, a researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “New samples will inevitably lead to new discoveries.”
Chinese scientists anticipate the returned samples will include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rock and other material that scientists hope will answer questions about geographic differences between the Moon’s near and far sides.
Chang’e-6 lander/ascender image from the Moon’s far side.
Image credit: CNSA/CLEP
Beijing trajectory
Following the capsule’s touchdown, air and ground retrieving teams arrived at the landing site and carried out follow-up work, including returner checks, parachute-returner separation, and parachute retrieval. The team also put on a “coat” on the returner to prevent it from bumps and squeezing during its journey to Beijing. The capsule was then hoisted by crane for departure from the landing site.
Once the returner arrives in Beijing, the lunar samples are to be extracted from the returner for detailed analysis.
Less than four years ago, the Chang’e-5 mission brought to Earth 1.731 kilograms of lunar samples from the Moon’s near side. As of earlier this month, the Chang’e-5 lunar soil samples had been distributed to 114 scientific research teams, totaling 258 packs of samples that together weigh 77.7 grams.
Image credit: James Head
One step at a time
China is willing to continue to work with like-minded international partners to explore outer space, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday.
Mao Ning made the remarks during a press conference in Beijing as the return capsule landed in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s lunar exploration project,” Mao said. “From Chang’e-1 to Chang’e-6, China’s lunar exploration project has taken one step at a time and opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration.”
Mao added that China “is willing to continue to work with like-minded international partners to explore outer space, the common territory of mankind, to realize the common dream of people of all countries of reaching beyond the moon, and continue to strive for the peaceful use of outer space, a common cause of all mankind.”
Go to these videos that spotlight the landing and recovery of the Chang’e-6 return capsule at:
https://youtu.be/ky__Z0Z7oA0?si=dzso2xvyz6-J6NZ3
Release of returner capsule loaded with far side samples.
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Chang’e-6 mission is coming to full stop within a planned landing area at Siziwang Banner in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The multi-tasking Earth-to-Moon and return mission is hauling a stash of lunar samples collected in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin.
Parachuting to Earth, the Chang’e-6 capsule toting its lunar collection.
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
53-day journey
Chang’e-6 is a spacecraft comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner
Meanwhile, China recovery teams are gearing up for the parachuting capsule that signals the end of a 53-day journey that started with launch on May 3.
Recovery teams practice for the return of incoming Chang’e-6 lunar samples.
Image credit: GLOBALink
“In the vast grasslands of the Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia, northern China, anticipation permeates the air. The region is preparing for the historic return of the Chang’e-6 lunar probe,” notes a GLOBALink video at:
A cylindrical 220 pound (100 kilogram) launch package is shown after emerging from the end of a lunar electromagnetic launcher.
Image credit: General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems
In 1974, Princeton University professor and space visionary, the late Gerard O’Neill, proposed use of an electromagnetic rail gun to lob payloads from the moon.
“Mass drivers” based on a coil gun design were adapted to accelerate a non-magnetic object. One application for mass drivers was tossing into space lunar-derived materials for building space colonies, as well as solar power satellites.
O’Neill also worked at MIT on mass drivers, along with colleague Henry H. Kolm, and a group of farsighted student volunteers, to fabricate their first mass driver prototype. Backed by grants from the Space Studies Institute, later prototypes improved on the mass driver concept.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet flies over USS Gerald R. Ford.
Image credit: US Navy/Erik Hildebrandt
That was five decades ago.
Now catapult yourself to the then and now and ask this question: what’s the U.S. Navy’s Gerald R. Ford nuclear aircraft carrier got to do with the Moon?
To find out, go to my new Space.com story — Could we launch resources from the moon with electromagnetic railguns?” – at:
https://www.space.com/electromagnetic-launch-moon-mass-drive
Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques performs an ultrasound for Vascular Echo, one of three Canadian experiments in the Vascular series, which study the effects of weightlessness on astronauts’ blood vessels and hearts aboard the International Space Station.
Credits: Canadian Space Agency/NASA
Heart failure in space is the focus of new research that could influence the future of space tourists on their microgravity journeys.
This work involves a mathematical model of the heart and lung system to simulate how microgravity could affect an individual, particularly those not well-groomed for the experience.
Non-professional astronauts
The research paper – “Computational modeling of heart failure in microgravity transitions” – appears in the Frontiers in Physiology journal.
“The space tourism industry is growing due to advances in rocket technology. Privatized space travel exposes non-professional astronauts with health profiles comprising underlying conditions to microgravity,” the research paper points out, led by Stefan L. Wilson.
“Prior research has typically focused on the effects of microgravity on human physiology in healthy astronauts, and little is known how the effects of microgravity may play out in the pathophysiology of underlying medical conditions, such as heart failure,” the paper adds.
Schematic overview of the 21-compartment cardiovascular model. Reproduced from van Loon et al., 2022
Area of study
According to co-author, Lex van Loon, an assistant professor at the Australian National University and the University of Twente in the Netherlands, the unique cardiovascular challenges posed by space travel could significantly affect heart failure patients, making this an essential area of study.
“As commercial space travel becomes more accessible, individuals with various underlying health conditions—including heart failure—may soon be among those venturing beyond Earth’s atmosphere,” van Loon explains. “This raises critical questions about the impact of space travel on humans with potential underlying health problems,” he adds, with new findings “offering insights that could shape the future of space travel.”
Image credit: NASA
Notable effects
As has been noted since the dawn of human space travel, the human body undergoes significant changes when encountering microgravity.
“One of the most notable effects is the redistribution of bodily fluids, causing what is commonly known as ‘puffy face bird leg’ syndrome,” van Loon points out.
This fluid shift results in reduced venous pooling in the legs and increased venous pressure in the upper body.
On one hand, for healthy individuals, the cardiovascular system can adapt to these changes, “but for heart failure patients, the risks are substantially higher,” van Loon says.
Van Loon and fellow research colleagues observe that the demographic of commercial space travelers is shifting. Increasingly, there are older, wealthy individuals who may not be in optimal health.
The New Shepard NS-21 astronauts at apogee. Left to right: Victor Vescovo (upper left), Victor Correa Hespanha (lower left), Katya Echazarreta, Hamish Harding, Jaison Robinson, and Evan Dick. (June 4, 2022).
Image credit: Blue Origin
“Unlike professional astronauts, these space tourists typically do not undergo rigorous health screenings or physical training,” Van Loon explains. “This shift necessitates a broader consideration of health conditions, such as heart failure, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses, in space mission planning.”
Cardiac pathologies
As underscored in the research paper, this study focused on elucidating safety concerns during space tourism, specifically during entry into microgravity.
“However, longer-term space travel, such as journeys to Mars, is associated with cardiac atrophy, alterations in pulmonary volumes and perfusion, electrical abnormalities, and other cardiovascular and hemodynamic changes,” the paper observes. “Future research should explore the potential effects of extended space flight on individuals with cardiac pathologies.”
To read the full paper — “Computational modeling of heart failure in microgravity transitions” — in the Frontiers in Physiology journal, go to:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2024.1351985/full
Pioneering SpaceShipOne on display at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Credit: NASM/Eric Long
It was a one-of-a-kind memorable moment for a throng of well-wishers including this reporter, all in nose-up, sky squinting position at California’s Mojave Airport back on June 21, 2004.
Let loose from its White Knight mothership, the rocket engine propelling SpaceShipOne roared to life, skillfully controlled by test pilot Mike Melvill.
That pioneering flight lasted 24 minutes, gliding back to Mojave and sliding straight and true into the history books.
Burt Rutan, aerospace imagineer. Image credit: Scaled Composites
Now two decades later, Burt Rutan, chief designer of the craft that led his stellar Scaled Composites team, reflects on that epic day in an exclusive interview with Space.com.
“It should get a party every 10 years. And it certainly should get a big party on the 50th and the 100th anniversary,” Rutan says.
To access the story, go to my new Space.com reflection – “How SpaceShipOne’s historic launch 20 years ago paved the way for a new space tourism era” — at
https://www.space.com/spaceshipone-first-private-spaceflight-20-year-anniversary
