Space News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Chang'E-5 samples reveal how young volcanism occurred on the moon
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-change-sa ... anism.html
by Chinese Academy of Sciences

A new study led by Prof. Chen Yi from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) provides an answer to the question of how young volcanism occurred on the moon.

The researchers found that mantle melting-point depression due to the presence of fusible, easily melted components could generate young lunar volcanism.

Their findings were published in Science Advances on Oct. 21.

Lunar samples returned by the Apollo and Luna missions are all older than about 3 billion years, leading scientists to suppose that the moon has been geologically dead since then. However, the new lunar samples returned by China's Chang'E-5 mission in 2021 revealed surprisingly young volcanic activity only 2 billion years old.

For the small rocky moon, the heat fueling volcanic activity should have been lost long before these eruptions 2 billion years ago.

[weatheriscool]

International Space Station swerves to avoid Russian space debris, NASA says

By Jackie Wattles and Katie Hunt, CNN
Published 7:00 AM EDT, Tue October 25, 2022

CNN — The International Space Station fired its thrusters to maneuver out of the way of a piece of oncoming Russian space junk, NASA said late Monday. ... The space agency said in a news release that the ISS conducted a five minute, five second burn to avoid a fragment of Russia’s Cosmos 1408 satellite, which the country destroyed in a weapons test in November last year.

Officials at NASA have previously warned about the risks of the proliferation of debris in space, caused by a dramatic increase in the number of satellites in orbit and several instances of governments intentionally destroying satellites and creating new plumes of junk.

The space station conducted a “Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver,” or PDAM, to give the ISS “an extra measure of distance away from the predicted track of a fragment of Russian Cosmos 1408 debris,” the space agency said.

“The thruster firing occurred at 8:25 p.m. EDT and the maneuver had no impact on station operations. Without the maneuver, it was predicted that the fragment could have passed within about three miles from the station.”

{snip}

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/world/is ... index.html

[caltrek]

Tree Rings Chronicle a Mysterious Cosmic Storm That Strikes Every Thousand Years
by Michele Starr
October 26, 2022

Introduction:

(Science Alert) The history of Earth's bombardment with cosmic radiation is written in the trees.

Specifically, when radiation slams into Earth's atmosphere, it can alter any nitrogen atoms it slams into to produce a form of carbon, which is in turn absorbed by plants. Linking spikes in this carbon isotope with the growth rings in trees can give us a reliable record of radiation storms going back thousands of years.

This record shows us that the most colossal of these events, known as Miyake events (after the scientist who discovered them), occur around once every thousand years. However, we don't know what causes them – and new research suggests that our leading theory, involving giant solar flares, could be off the table.

Without an easy way to predict these potentially devastating events, we're left with a serious problem.

"We need to know more, because if one of these happened today, it would destroy technology including satellites, internet cables, long-distance power lines and transformers," says astrophysicist Benjamin Pope of the University of Queensland in Australia.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/tree-ring ... d-years

[weatheriscool]

NASA's Lunar Flashlight ready to search for the Moon's water ice
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-nasa-luna ... -moon.html
by Ian J. O'Neill, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

It's known that water ice exists below the lunar regolith (broken rock and dust), but scientists don't yet understand whether surface ice frost covers the floors inside these cold craters. To find out, NASA is sending Lunar Flashlight, a small satellite (or SmallSat) no larger than a briefcase. Swooping low over the lunar South Pole, it will use lasers to shed light on these dark craters—much like a prospector looking for hidden treasure by shining a flashlight into a cave. The mission will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid-November.

"This launch will put the satellite on a trajectory that will take about three months to reach its science orbit," said John Baker, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "Then Lunar Flashlight will try to find water ice on the surface of the Moon in places that nobody else has been able to look."

Fuel-efficient orbits

After launch, mission navigators will guide the spacecraft way past the Moon. It will then be slowly pulled back by gravity from Earth and the Sun before it settles into a wide, looping, science-gathering orbit. This near-rectilinear halo orbit will take it 42,000 miles (70,000 kilometers) from the Moon at its most distant point and, at its closest approach, the satellite will graze the surface of the Moon, coming within 9 miles (15 kilometers) above the lunar South Pole.

SmallSats carry a limited amount of propellent, so fuel-intensive orbits aren't possible. A near-rectilinear halo orbit requires far less fuel than traditional orbits, and Lunar Flashlight will be only the second NASA mission to use this type of trajectory. The first is NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission, which will arrive at its orbit on Nov. 13, making its closest pass over the Moon's North Pole.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Artemis I mission takes flight in historic leap forward for NASA's moon program
Source: CNN

The historic Artemis I mission took flight in the early hours of Wednesday morning after months of anticipation. The milestone event kicked off a journey that will send an uncrewed spacecraft around the moon, paving the way for NASA to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.

The towering, 322-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket lit its engines at 1:47 a.m. ET. It emitted up to 9 million pounds (4.1 million kilograms) of thrust to haul itself off the launchpad in Florida and into the air, streaking vibrantly across the night sky.

Atop the rocket is the Orion spacecraft, a gumdrop-shaped capsule that broke away from the rocket after reaching space. Orion is designed to carry humans, but its passengers for this test mission are of the inanimate variety, including some mannequins collecting vital data to help future live crews.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/world/ar ... index.html

[weatheriscool]

Massive volcanism may have altered ancient Venus' climate, NASA study finds
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-massive-v ... imate.html
by Nick Oakes, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Volcanic activity lasting hundreds to thousands of centuries and erupting massive amounts of material may have helped transform Venus from a temperate and wet world to the acidic hothouse it is today, a NASA paper suggests.

The paper also discusses these "large igneous provinces" in Earth's history which caused several mass extinctions on our own planet millions of years ago.

"By understanding the record of large igneous provinces on Earth and Venus, we can determine if these events may have caused Venus' present condition," said Dr. Michael J. Way, of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. Way is lead author on the paper, published April 22 in The Planetary Science Journal.

Large igneous provinces are the products of periods of large-scale volcanism lasting tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. They can deposit more than 100,000 cubic miles of volcanic rock onto the surface. At the upper end, this could be enough molten rock to bury the entire state of Texas half a mile deep.

[weatheriscool]

The tilt in our stars: The shape of the Milky Way's halo of stars is realized
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-tilt-star ... -halo.html
by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

A new study has revealed the true shape of the diffuse cloud of stars surrounding the disk of our galaxy. For decades, astronomers have thought that this cloud of stars—called the stellar halo—was largely spherical, like a beach ball. Now a new model based on modern observations shows the stellar halo is oblong and tilted, much like a football that has just been kicked.

The findings—published this month The Astronomical Journal — offer insights into a host of astrophysical subject areas. The results, for example, shed light on the history of our galaxy and galactic evolution, while also offering clues in the ongoing hunt for the mysterious substance known as dark matter.

"The shape of the stellar halo is a very fundamental parameter that we've just measured to greater accuracy than was possible before," says study lead author Jiwon "Jesse" Han, a Ph.D. student at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. "There are a lot of important implications of the stellar halo not being spherical but instead shaped like a football, rugby ball, or zeppelin—take your pick!"

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

Safety in Space: Synthetic Hibernation Could Provide Protection from Cosmic Radiation
November 17, 2022

Introduction:

(Eurasia Review) It is still a glimpse into the future: Astronauts could be put into artificial hibernation and in this state be better protected from cosmic radiation. At present, there are already promising approaches to follow up such considerations. An international research team led by the Biophysics Department of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum in Darmstadt now has found decisive indications of the possible benefits of artificial hibernation for radiation resistance. The research partners from Germany, Japan, Italy, the UK and the USA have recently published their results in Scientific Reports, a journal of the Nature Publishing Group.

Scientists call the state, which hibernating animals enter, torpor. In this state, life-supporting functions of an organism are reduced: Body temperature is lowered, metabolism is reduced and body functions such as heart rate and respiration rate or oxygen uptake are significantly slowed down. At the molecular level, gene activity and protein biosynthesis are also reduced to a slower pace. In the study now published on synthetic torpor (i.e. a kind of artificially produced hibernation) and protection from ionizing radiation, the scientists demonstrated biological effects suggesting that synthetic torpor increases resistance to radiation. A proof that can be very useful in the long term for astronauts.

Space radiation is acknowledged as one of the main health risks for human space exploration. Harmful effects of space radiation are a major challenge, especially for future long-term missions. The majority of radiation dose absorbed by crews in manned interplanetary missions is produced by galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), high-energy charged particles, including densely ionizing heavy ions, produced in distant galaxies. The energy of these particles is so high that shielding of the spacecraft cannot stop them and lead to exposure rates over 200 times higher than the radiation background on Earth over a very long period. For these reasons, radiation countermeasures for future missions are being investigated.

“The connections between torpor and radioresistance represent a highly innovative research approach. Our results indicate that synthetic torpor is a promising tool to enhance radioprotection in living organism during long-term space missions. It could thus be an effective strategy to protect humans as they explore the solar system”, summarizes Professor Marco Durante, Head of the GSI Biophysics Division.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/17112022 ... adiation/

[wjfox]

Australia's first rocket planned for 2023

26th November 2022

A company called Gilmour Space is developing a new rocket, Eris, which could become the first Australian-made spacecraft to reach orbit.

[...]

To date, only a handful of countries have developed an independent launch capability. If all goes according to plan, Gilmour Space could enable Australia to become the 12th member of the club able to put its own rockets into space.

Read more: https://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/202 ... h-2023.htm

[weatheriscool]

SpaceX fires up 11 engines as it prepares massive rocket for orbital test
Nothing blew up, which is always a win.

Eric Berger - 11/29/2022, 2:24 PM
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/11 ... y-booster/

On Tuesday, SpaceX test-fired its Super Heavy rocket for about 12 seconds, making it the longest-duration firing of the massive booster so far. The test, which ignited 11 of the 33 Raptor rocket engines, came as SpaceX continues working toward an orbital launch attempt of this Super Heavy first stage and its Starship upper stage.

Earlier this month, SpaceX fired 14 Raptor engines on this booster for a few seconds, so Tuesday's test did not set a new record regarding the number of engines tested. However, this "long duration" firing is the longest period of time that so many Raptor engines have been fired at once.

So what happens now? The path to orbit for SpaceX and its Starship launch system is unclear. Previously, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the next step was to fire a subset of Super Heavy's engines for about 20 seconds to test autogenous pressurization. This method of pressurizing fuel tanks uses gases generated on board the rocket rather than a separately loaded inert gas such as helium.

[weatheriscool]

3 Chinese astronauts return to Earth after 6-month mission
Source: AP

BEIJING (AP) — Three Chinese astronauts landed in a northern desert on Sunday after six months working to complete construction of the Tiangong station, a symbol of the country’s ambitious space program, state TV reported.

A capsule carrying commander Chen Dong and astronauts Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe touched down at a landing site in the Gobi Desert in northern China at approximately 8:10 p.m. (1210 GMT), China Central Television reported.

Prior to departure, they overlapped for almost five days with three colleagues who arrived Wednesday on the Shenzhou-15 mission for their own six-month stay, marking the first time China had six astronauts in space at the same time. The station’s third and final module docked with the station this month.

The astronauts were carried out of the capsule by medical workers about 40 minutes after touchdown. They were all smiles, and appeared to be in good condition, waving happily at workers at the landing site.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/astronomy-sp ... a7617e6322

[caltrek]

’Great Scientific Step Forward’: Construction of World’s Largest Radio Observatory is Finally Under Way
by Sarah Wild
December 4, 2022

Introduction:

(Nature) After 30 years of planning and negotiations, construction begins this week on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world’s largest radio-astronomy observatory. The giant instrument — to be built across sprawling sites in Australia and Africa — will collect the radio signals emitted by celestial objects and will hopefully shed light on some of the most enigmatic problems in astronomy, such as the nature of dark matter and how galaxies form.

On Monday, astronomers and local communities will travel to the remote sites in South Africa’s Northern Cape and Western Australia to celebrate the milestone with officials from the SKA Observatory (SKAO), the intergovernmental organization in charge of the telescopes.

“We’re basically setting the foundation of this instrument for the next 50 years,” says Lindsay Magnus, the director of the telescope being built in South Africa, who is based in Cape Town, South Africa. “That’s the exciting part — this is a long-term legacy.”

Years in the making

In 2012, it was decided that what had initially been conceived as a single giant telescope would consist of two instruments, one in South Africa and one in Australia. The large distances between antennas, and their sheer number, mean that the telescopes — called SKA-Mid and SKA-Low respectively — will pick up radio signals with unprecedented sensitivity. SKA-Low will detect frequencies between 50 megahertz and 350 megahertz and SKA-Mid will pick up frequencies between 350 megahertz and 15.4 gigahertz. Both are interferometers, in which many dish-shaped antennas together act as a single telescope.

The SKA will be built in stages, and the €1.3-billion (US$1.4-billion) first phase is expected to be completed in 2028. Another €700 million has been earmarked for operation costs for the telescopes over the next decade. The ultimate goal is to have thousands of dishes in South Africa and African partner countries, and one million antennas in Australia, with a total collecting area of one square kilometre. Phase one is about one-tenth of the total planned project.

Read more here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04254-7

[weatheriscool]

NASA's Artemis I returns from the moon with hopes to get astronauts back there soon
Source: NPR

NASA's new multibillion-dollar spacecraft successfully returned from the moon Sunday, taking the agency one step closer to getting U.S. astronauts back on the moon by 2025.

The Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California at 9:40 a.m. PT, marking a successful phase one of NASA's Artemis program. Artemis 1 traveled 1.4 million miles, circling the moon, and returned within 25 and a half days, a feat no other human-rated spacecraft has achieved.

Robert D. Cabana, NASA's associate administrator, said aside from a few minor glitches along the way, the spacecraft performed "flawlessly."

The capsule performed a "skip entry" descent where it dipped in and out of the atmosphere to slow down the vehicle before re-entry. This type of descent will provide data for splashdown sites for future crewed missions, NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said on NASA's live stream on Sunday.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/11/11419469 ... on-mission

[wjfox]

[raklian]

Geologically active thanks to the tidal forces from Jupiter as well as the other moons!

[caltrek]

It is a source of great amusement to me how much more alive (geologically speaking) is our solar system than was originally suspected. Not to imply that I personally knew that would be the case. I didn't.

[jamestiago]

Mustafar???

[weatheriscool]

South Korean spacecraft enters lunar orbit with deceleration maneuver
by Park Si-soo — December 19, 2022
https://spacenews.com/south-korean-spac ... -maneuver/

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s first robotic lunar orbiter, Danuri, entered the lunar orbit after conducting its first lunar orbit insertion maneuver Dec. 16.

The orbiter is circling the moon in an elliptic orbit every 12.3 hours, with a perigee of 109 kilometers and an apogee of 8,920 kilometers, said the science ministry in a Dec. 19 statement.

The first maneuver, done with the firing of thrusters for thirteen minutes from 12:45 p.m. Eastern, “reduced the speed of Danuri from about 8,000 kilometers per hour to 7,500 kilometers per hour,” the ministry said in the statement. “It was confirmed that Danuri had been trapped in lunar gravity in a stable manner, which means it has become a genuine lunar orbiter.”