Space News

nivek

As Above So Below
Secretive X-37b has spent 500 days in space

news-x-37b-runway-3.jpg


The latest mission of the mysterious space plane has so far lasted 500 days and nobody knows what it's up to. Resembling a miniature version of NASA's now-retired space shuttles, this pint-sized robotic space plane was passed over to the US Department of Defense back in 2004 and has since embarked on a series of secretive orbital missions, sometimes spending over a year at a time in space.

It last launched back on May 17th, 2020 and has remained in orbit ever since, most likely carrying out a variety of scientific and technological experiments, but also potentially conducting covert surveillance with an emphasis on the activities of countries such as China and Russia.

What we know about the specifics of this particular mission is limited to what can be discerned from the on-board experiments that it is carrying - some of which having been identified prior to launch.

These include PRAM (Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module) - an experiment from the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) that is designed to investigate the possibility of converting solar energy into radio frequency microwave energy.

It is also carrying the FalconSat-8 satellite - a small experimental platform developed by the US Air Force Academy and sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory - as well as two NASA experiments designed to study the effects of space on seed samples.

As usual, however, the X-37b's mission goals are classified, so as things stand we can only guess as to what else it might be doing up there or when it will eventually return to the Earth.

.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
.... and you know if we are actually seeing the secret stuff it's at the end of it's life cycle and probably already replaced. Hardware has utility and they get every last bit of it out of their systems so they'll keep using this a while yet I imagine. IOn the meantime they're probably fling Wonder Woman's invisible plane around.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
The tether incident is still a very unique situation I find fascinating...

...

 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Breaking: Evil Mirror Universe William Shatner Returns From Space

Breaking: Evil Mirror Universe William Shatner Returns From Space

October 13th, 2021 - BabylonBee.com
article-9694-1.jpg

On Wednesday, William Shatner, the beloved Boston Legal actor famous for portraying attorney Denny Crane, traveled to space.

Shatner was one of four people aboard Jeff Bezos’s cucumber-shaped Blue Origin rocket as it soared to the edge of the atmosphere, offering breathtaking views and a few minutes of weightlessness. The shaft of the eggplant-shaped craft then detached and passengers floated back to earth. The mission seemed to be a success, but concerned witnesses said something about Shatner seemed off.

"He seemed…evil," said another crew member. "And he had a black goatee that really added to his evil look."

After attempting to sabotage the next flight by removing the inertial dampeners and randomly attacking a civilian in a red shirt, Shatner declared that West Texas, where he landed, was “now part of the Terran Empire.” When Bezos attempted to congratulate him on his journey, Shatner cracked a bunch of bald jokes and mocked Bezos for being only the second richest person in the world.

Experts theorize that somewhere in the lower atmosphere, the mushroom-shaped vessel encountered a disruption in the space/time continuum, and the William Shatner from our reality was replaced by a sinister William Shatner from a parallel timeline. Worst of all, the mirror Shatner is almost indistinguishable from our William Shatner, save his striking goatee and big, thick, evil eyebrows.

Thankfully, the threat posed by evil William Shatner is predicted to be short-lived since, like the real William Shatner, he is 90 years old. Due to his age, he will probably return to the heavens soon, and this time not in a bratwurst-shaped spacecraft.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
NASA targeting February for launch of first moon rocket since Apollo mission
By Julia Musto, Fox News October 25, 2021 2:14pm Updated
nasa-moon-feb-05.jpg

A view of the Earth appears over the Lunar horizon as the Apollo 11 Command Module comes into view of the Moon. The Artemis I mission will launch the next generation of deep space operations.Getty Images

NASA is now targeting February 2022 for the launch of its powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Stacked with the agency’s Orion crew capsule, the SLS is 332 feet tall and currently sits at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SLS will launch the next generation of deep space operations, including Artemis missions, on and around the moon.

It was initially slated to take off in November but has run behind schedule.

NASA said in a Friday release that the integrated system is entering the final phase of preparations for an upcoming uncrewed flight test around the moon – including a series of integrated tests.

Its mission, known as Artemis I, will pave the way for a future flight test with crew and NASA aims to send the first woman and the first person of color on the moon in coming years.

“It’s hard to put into words what this milestone means, not only to us here at Exploration Ground Systems, but to all the incredibly talented people who have worked so hard to help us get to this point,” Mike Bolger, Exploration Ground Systems program manager, said in a statement “Our team has demonstrated tremendous dedication preparing for the launch of Artemis I. While there is still work to be done to get to launch, with continued integrated tests and Wet Dress Rehearsal, seeing the fully stacked SLS is certainly a reward for all of us.”

Testing includes interface verification testing, program-specific engineering testing, end-to-end communications testing, countdown sequencing testing and wet dress rehearsal testing.

According to Space.com, in a Friday media briefing, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development at NASA Headquarters Tom Whitmeyer told reporters that the stacked rocket and crew capsule will roll out to the Launch Pad 398 in late December for testing and west dress rehearsal testing in January before going back for more checkouts followed by another move onto the pad.

“Prior to rolling out to the pad for wet dress, teams will conduct the first of a two-part test of the flight termination system inside the VAB. Once the systems are verified, the 322-foot-tall rocket will roll back into the VAB for final inspections and checkouts, including the second part of the flight termination system test, ahead of returning to the pad for launch.,” NASA wrote, noting that Artemis I mission operations teams would continue to run additional launch simulations leading up to launch.

The agency said it would set a specific launch date following a successful wet dress rehearsal.

SLS is powered by a core stage with four RS-25 liquid propellant engines and twin five-segment solid rocket boosters that produce millions of pounds of thrust.

NASA already fired up the core stage and its engines twice this year to ensure that the rocket’s components were working – though the first hot fire test in January ended early due to a hydraulic system issue.

NASA eventually completed the engine test firing of its moon rocket in March.

The 1972 Apollo 17 mission was the last in which humans traveled to the moon.
 

wwkirk

Divine
NASA targeting February for launch of first moon rocket since Apollo mission
By Julia Musto, Fox News October 25, 2021 2:14pm Updated
nasa-moon-feb-05.jpg

A view of the Earth appears over the Lunar horizon as the Apollo 11 Command Module comes into view of the Moon. The Artemis I mission will launch the next generation of deep space operations.Getty Images

NASA is now targeting February 2022 for the launch of its powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Stacked with the agency’s Orion crew capsule, the SLS is 332 feet tall and currently sits at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SLS will launch the next generation of deep space operations, including Artemis missions, on and around the moon.

It was initially slated to take off in November but has run behind schedule.

NASA said in a Friday release that the integrated system is entering the final phase of preparations for an upcoming uncrewed flight test around the moon – including a series of integrated tests.

Its mission, known as Artemis I, will pave the way for a future flight test with crew and NASA aims to send the first woman and the first person of color on the moon in coming years.

“It’s hard to put into words what this milestone means, not only to us here at Exploration Ground Systems, but to all the incredibly talented people who have worked so hard to help us get to this point,” Mike Bolger, Exploration Ground Systems program manager, said in a statement “Our team has demonstrated tremendous dedication preparing for the launch of Artemis I. While there is still work to be done to get to launch, with continued integrated tests and Wet Dress Rehearsal, seeing the fully stacked SLS is certainly a reward for all of us.”

Testing includes interface verification testing, program-specific engineering testing, end-to-end communications testing, countdown sequencing testing and wet dress rehearsal testing.

According to Space.com, in a Friday media briefing, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development at NASA Headquarters Tom Whitmeyer told reporters that the stacked rocket and crew capsule will roll out to the Launch Pad 398 in late December for testing and west dress rehearsal testing in January before going back for more checkouts followed by another move onto the pad.

“Prior to rolling out to the pad for wet dress, teams will conduct the first of a two-part test of the flight termination system inside the VAB. Once the systems are verified, the 322-foot-tall rocket will roll back into the VAB for final inspections and checkouts, including the second part of the flight termination system test, ahead of returning to the pad for launch.,” NASA wrote, noting that Artemis I mission operations teams would continue to run additional launch simulations leading up to launch.

The agency said it would set a specific launch date following a successful wet dress rehearsal.

SLS is powered by a core stage with four RS-25 liquid propellant engines and twin five-segment solid rocket boosters that produce millions of pounds of thrust.

NASA already fired up the core stage and its engines twice this year to ensure that the rocket’s components were working – though the first hot fire test in January ended early due to a hydraulic system issue.

NASA eventually completed the engine test firing of its moon rocket in March.

The 1972 Apollo 17 mission was the last in which humans traveled to the moon.
I guess either the ETs on the Moon have given permission, or they vacated their base. :new_russian:
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Kate Mulgrew isn't ready for a Shatner-worthy trip to space

Kate Mulgrew isn’t ready for a William Shatner-worthy trip to space
By Eric Hegedus October 27, 2021 1:16pm

Kate Mulgrew is ready for liftoff — though maybe just the fake kind.

Mulgrew, who played Captain (and later Admiral) Kathryn Janeway in the 1995 to 2001 series “Star Trek: Voyager,” will reprise her resolute role — with a twist — in the new animated, kid-friendly show “Star Trek: Prodigy,” premiering Thursday, Oct. 28, on Paramount+.

But in light of the recent skyward sojourn by 90-year-old “Star Trek” icon William Shatner — who emerged “stiff and sore” following his historic Oct. 13 journey on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket — Mulgrew is content to keep her feet firmly planted on Earth.

Mulgrew, 66, told The Post that she encountered Shatner backstage at New York Comic Con earlier this month, right before his buzzy blastoff.

“I ran into him and said, ‘You old devil. What are you up to now?’ Why on Earth do you want to do this, Bill? Is your doctor saying that it’s OK to do this?’ ” Mulgrew recalled via phone from London, where she is filming Showtime’s upcoming alien visitor series “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”

“He said, ‘I’m absolutely terrified, but I feel that I’m up to it,’ ” she recalled of Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original “Trek” series and sequel films. “You know, there’s a lot to be said for his legacy, his relevance and his captaincy. God bless him for it. I admire him. I thought he showed real guts.”



Kate Mulgrew, who played Kathryn Janeway in “Star Trek: Voyager” (left), isn’t quite ready to take a trip on the Blue Origin rocket, as “Star Trek” icon William Shatner (right) did earlier this month.
Everett Collection; Paramount+; Get
The new show, “Prodigy,” has its own gutsy goal: to expand the universe to a younger fanbase with a message of trust, honor and friendship. It follows a group of lawless teens exiled on a far-flung alien mining colony who stumble on an abandoned Starfleet ship and plot an escape. Of course, none of the kids is actually capable of flying the vehicle — but they’re aided by the ship’s holographic training adviser, Mulgrew’s now-digital, interactive and even motherly Janeway.

“It was aglow with the possibility that it would finally be introduced to the one demographic that apparently had been overlooked in the history of ‘Star Trek,’ which was children, who would be hopefully wildly seduced by the animate idea of ‘Star Trek,’ ” she said of the project.



Kate Mulgrew is reprising her “Star Trek: Voyager” role of Captain Kathryn Janeway (left) in the Paramount+ animated series “Star Trek: Prodigy” (right).
Everett Collection; Nickelodeon/Paramount+

‘Terrified’ William Shatner meanders and rants at New York Comic Con

The new CGI series at times has a somewhat dark feel, at least in the hourlong premiere screened by The Post, but Mulgrew didn’t think it would scare off younger viewers, drawing a parallel to a piece of classic literature of the 1800s. She mentioned that, on the day of this interview, she went to London’s Charles Dickens Museum and marveled that the “high jinks of Oliver Twist” were also “very dark,” which she said actually drew kids in.

She expects the same for the new series.

“Children have an instinctive understanding of what is dangerous,” she said. “They have an instinctive longing to get through the danger, to prove their courage and to go towards the light.”

Potential new fans aside, while she’s in London she’ll also beam into next month’s Destination Star Trek convention, along with some of her former “Voyager” castmates. Also on hand will be a rabid fanbase of Trekkies with an “unflagging and almost fierce loyalty” to the franchise, said Mulgrew. She will additionally be among the numerous “Trek” stars interviewed for “The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek,” a behind-the-scenes docuseries about the original show’s anniversary that will premiere at 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 5, on the History channel.



Kate Mulgrew makes an appearance to promote “Star Trek: Prodigy” at New York Comic Con in early October.
Getty Images/Paramount+
The franchise’s five-decade reign has exploded in recent years with other CBS and Paramount “Trek” projects, including “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Star Trek: Picard,” the animated “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and the upcoming series “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”

“Their vast intelligence about science — I mean, it’s all rooted in science,” she said of “Trek” fans, an audience she embraces. “I’ve always enjoyed the conversation with this fanbase. I interned. I recognize its international scope. Without this fanbase, we don’t have the work — and without the work, there’s no ongoing ‘Star Trek.’ “



William Shatner, 90, ‘stiff and sore’ after historic Blue Origin space flight

Depending on one’s generational skew, Emmy nominee Mulgrew is often remembered for roles in everything from the Netflix dramedy “Orange Is the New Black” (which aired from 2013 to 2019) to the soap opera “Ryan’s Hope” (1975 to 1989). But it was her seven seasons as Captain (and later Admiral) Kathryn Janeway on “Voyager” that put her on the map. Plus, beyond her “Star Trek” voyages, Mulgrew’s acting résumé is peppered with projects with sci-fi leanings, including this year’s film “The Magnificent Meyersons,” the 2009 to 2014 Syfy series “Warehouse 13” and the 1990s animated show “Gargoyles.”

“Evidently, the oracles are saying that it would be so because everything in my life seems to be science-fiction related or associated,” she said, adding that she was “surprised and delighted” to be approached for the new cartoon. “I mean, I certainly never expected to play Captain Janeway in a ‘Star Trek’ series, let alone all of the other things that have followed. And now here we are with ‘Prodigy’ to sort of put the cherry on top of it all.”

Of course, “Voyager” isn’t the only “Trek” experience in Mulgrew’s past; she also briefly popped up in the 2002 “Star Trek: The Next Generation” sequel film “Star Trek: Nemesis,” starring Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. That raises the question of whether she might show up in a future season of Stewart’s “Next Generation” sequel series “Star Trek: Picard” — which includes Mulgrew’s former “Voyager” castmate Jeri Ryan, reprising her role as ex-Borg drone Seven of Nine. (Season 2 will premiere in February 2022.)



Kate Mulgrew’s holographic Kathryn Janeway (fourth from left) and the rest of the “Star Trek: Prodigy” crew.
Nickelodeon/Paramount+
While Mulgrew is mum on whether she has been contacted about making a cameo, she admitted she would be open to it if the story is “very compelling.”

Back in the real world, though, Mulgrew herself prefers to stay grounded, watching the stars from afar.

“I see the moon. I see the constellations. I understand the magnitude of it,” she said. “It’s like God — space is infinite. So I’m sort of actually comfortable being dazzled by that on a daily basis.”

She did, however, see one touching scenario in which she might book a Shatner-worthy trip: at the request of a terminally ill person through an organization like the Make-A-Wish foundation.

“I think if one of those people were to express a wish to go to outer space with Captain Janeway, I would oblige — with humility and a certain grace. That would be my pleasure,” she said.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
They are always pushing it back, what a joke...They will never go back to the moon...

 

nivek

As Above So Below
 

nivek

As Above So Below
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
NASA launches 'Armageddon' spacecraft to crash into asteroid
NASA has launched the world’s first “full-scale mission” to test asteroid-deflecting technology in hopes of protecting Earth from potential “Armageddon.”

The space agency said in a statement the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) lifted off late Tuesday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vanderberg Space Force Base in California.

The mission of the $330 million project is to slam into a 530-foot asteroid, Dimorphos, at about 15,000 mph in late September 2022 to test a potential method of defense against potentially catastrophic asteroid or comet hazards.

The project is “something of a replay of Bruce Willis’ movie, ‘Armageddon,’ although that was totally fictional,” NASA’s administrator, Bill Nelson, told the New York Times.

In the 1998 Michael Bay film, Willis and Ben Affleck starred as oil drillers on a space mission to destroy a giant asteroid on a collision course with the earth.

Scientists estimate DART’s impact into Dimorphos — which orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos — will shorten its path around the bigger space rock by several minutes.



NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP
“Researchers will precisely measure that change using telescopes on Earth,” NASA’s statement continued. “Their results will validate and improve scientific computer models critical to predicting the effectiveness of the kinetic impact as a reliable method for asteroid deflection.”

Nelson said NASA was turning science fiction into “science fact” with the historic launch.

While there isn’t a currently known asteroid on an impact course toward Earth, NASA hopes to identify any possible impact years or decades in advance, according to Lindley Johnson, the agency’s planetary defense officer.



The mission is to slam into a 530-foot asteroid, Dimorphos, at about 15,000 mph to test a potential method of defense against asteroid hazards.
Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP
“DART is one aspect of NASA’s work to prepare Earth should we ever be faced with an asteroid hazard,” Lindley said.

NASA is also prepping its Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission, a space-based infrared telescope set for launch later this decade to identify potentially hazardous asteroids and comets within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit.

“Asteroid Dimorphos: we’re coming for you,” NASA tweeted, complete with a 30-second clip of liftoff.


DART is expected to reach the asteroid in late September 2022.
Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP
There are no known asteroid hazards to Earth for at least 100 years, but NASA is testing the “kinetic impactor technique” in case such a need arises.

“You can rest easy,” the agency tweeted. “We’re going to hit a small moonlet the size of a football stadium with a spacecraft the size of a vending machine. We hope to change its orbit a tiny bit, but it will stay in orbit around its parent asteroid, which is not a hazard to Earth.”

DART should reach Dimorphos sometime between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1, 2022, while about 6.8 million milles from Earth, NASA said.


NASA assures there are no known asteroid hazards to Earth for at least 100 years.
Mark J. Terrill/AP

Some 55 minutes after liftoff, the spacecraft separated itself from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to start orienting itself toward the sun, video shows.

“This isn’t going to destroy the asteroid,” said mission official Nancy Chabot of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which is overseeing DART. “It’s just going to give it a small nudge.”


 

wwkirk

Divine
NASA launches 'Armageddon' spacecraft to crash into asteroid
NASA has launched the world’s first “full-scale mission” to test asteroid-deflecting technology in hopes of protecting Earth from potential “Armageddon.”

The space agency said in a statement the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) lifted off late Tuesday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vanderberg Space Force Base in California.

The mission of the $330 million project is to slam into a 530-foot asteroid, Dimorphos, at about 15,000 mph in late September 2022 to test a potential method of defense against potentially catastrophic asteroid or comet hazards.

The project is “something of a replay of Bruce Willis’ movie, ‘Armageddon,’ although that was totally fictional,” NASA’s administrator, Bill Nelson, told the New York Times.

In the 1998 Michael Bay film, Willis and Ben Affleck starred as oil drillers on a space mission to destroy a giant asteroid on a collision course with the earth.

Scientists estimate DART’s impact into Dimorphos — which orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos — will shorten its path around the bigger space rock by several minutes.


NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP
“Researchers will precisely measure that change using telescopes on Earth,” NASA’s statement continued. “Their results will validate and improve scientific computer models critical to predicting the effectiveness of the kinetic impact as a reliable method for asteroid deflection.”

Nelson said NASA was turning science fiction into “science fact” with the historic launch.

While there isn’t a currently known asteroid on an impact course toward Earth, NASA hopes to identify any possible impact years or decades in advance, according to Lindley Johnson, the agency’s planetary defense officer.


The mission is to slam into a 530-foot asteroid, Dimorphos, at about 15,000 mph to test a potential method of defense against asteroid hazards.
Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP
“DART is one aspect of NASA’s work to prepare Earth should we ever be faced with an asteroid hazard,” Lindley said.

NASA is also prepping its Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission, a space-based infrared telescope set for launch later this decade to identify potentially hazardous asteroids and comets within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit.

“Asteroid Dimorphos: we’re coming for you,” NASA tweeted, complete with a 30-second clip of liftoff.


DART is expected to reach the asteroid in late September 2022.
Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP
There are no known asteroid hazards to Earth for at least 100 years, but NASA is testing the “kinetic impactor technique” in case such a need arises.

“You can rest easy,” the agency tweeted. “We’re going to hit a small moonlet the size of a football stadium with a spacecraft the size of a vending machine. We hope to change its orbit a tiny bit, but it will stay in orbit around its parent asteroid, which is not a hazard to Earth.”

DART should reach Dimorphos sometime between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1, 2022, while about 6.8 million milles from Earth, NASA said.


NASA assures there are no known asteroid hazards to Earth for at least 100 years.
Mark J. Terrill/AP
Some 55 minutes after liftoff, the spacecraft separated itself from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to start orienting itself toward the sun, video shows.

“This isn’t going to destroy the asteroid,” said mission official Nancy Chabot of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which is overseeing DART. “It’s just going to give it a small nudge.”
This could be a wonderful technological development. I've been concerned about the dangers of asteroid impacts since I first became aware of the possibility in the 90s. But I sure hope they don't screw up and deflect the damned thing in the wrong direction! :ohmy8:
 

coubob

Celestial
Record-breaking alien planet spotted circling massive, superhot star duo (photo)
aACCwNVbTGinb3r2UGjMDg-970-80.jpg.webp

Artist's illustration showing a close up of the newfound planet b Centauri b, which orbits a binary star system with mass at least six times that of the sun. This is the most massive and hottest planet-hosting star system found to date. The planet is 11 times more massive than Jupiter and orbits the two-star system at 100 times the distance Jupiter orbits the sun. (Image credit: ESO/L. Calçada)

A newfound alien world may force scientists to rethink some of their ideas about planet formation.

An exoplanet 11 times more massive than Jupiter resides in b Centauri, a young binary star system about 325 light-years from Earth, a new study reports.

The planet, known as b Centauri b, is among the heaviest ever found. And combined, the two stars in b Centauri are six to 10 times heftier than our sun, making the system by far the most massive in which a planet has been discovered to date. b Centauri is also the hottest known planet-hosting star system, researchers said.

"Finding a planet around b Centauri was very exciting, since it completely changes the picture about massive stars as planet hosts," study lead author Markus Janson, an astronomer at Stockholm University in Sweden, said in a statement.

The newfound planet bucked those odds.

Janson and his colleagues discovered b Centauri b using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument, which is installed on the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile.

SPHERE took a direct image of b Centauri b, a feat the instrument has pulled off with several other exoplanets. Analysis of the SPHERE observations allowed the researchers to characterize the planet, which has other extraordinary characteristics beyond its enormous size and the mass and heat of its parent stars. (The study team's research also revealed that ESO's 3.6-meter telescope in Chile managed to image the newfound planet more than 20 years ago, though nobody realized that at the time.)

For example, b Centauri b currently lies about 550 astronomical units (AU) from the star duo — about 14 times farther away than Pluto's average distance from the sun. (One AU is the average Earth-sun distance: about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers).

That's one of the widest planetary orbits known, said the authors of the study, which was published online Wednesday (Dec. 8) in the journal Nature. This immense distance may explain the planet's survival, keeping it at a relatively safe remove from the radiation blasting from the core of the b Centauri system.

b Centauri b's origin story is unclear at the moment. It may have formed relatively close to the binary star via "core accretion" — the most common planet-forming process, in which dust grains in a protoplanetary disk glom together to form rocky building blocks, whose mutual gravitational attraction eventually brings them together into planets. The young world could then have been booted to its present location by gravitational interactions, study team members said.

It's also possible that b Centauri b was born close to its current position, where core accretion is less viable, given the lower density of material out there. A far-flung formation, if it did indeed occur, may therefore have involved a different method known as "gravitational instability."

"This top-down model requires that the mass of the protoplanetary disk be so large that it causes part of the disk to collapse in on itself under the pull of its own gravity. When this happens, a small secondary body is created and starts to orbit the star," Kaitlin Kratter, of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, wrote in an accompanying "News and Views" piece in the same issue of Nature.

"The gravitational-instability mechanism also tends to create objects that are very large — so large, in fact, that they fail to become planets," added Kratter, who is not a member of the study team. "Compared with the stars it orbits, this planet is small, making gravitational instability less likely than core accretion. Perhaps it is just a planet similar to Jupiter, flung out to the far reaches of its stellar system through an interaction with the stars it orbits. A broad census of planets associated with large stars will help to clarify the exact mechanism of its formation."
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Parker Solar Probe makes historic pass through Sun's atmosphere

Parker Solar Probe makes historic pass through Sun's atmosphere

_112909951_jonathanamos.jpg
Jonathan Amos Science correspondent @BBCAmoson Twitter Published 10 hours ago
_102816214_observingsunposter-jhu-apl.jpg
IMAGE SOURCE,NASA-JHU-APL
Image caption,
Parker must always keep its heatshield pointed at the Sun, this artwork shows
The US space agency (Nasa) is calling it a historic moment - the first time a spacecraft has flown through the outer atmosphere of the Sun.

The feat was achieved by the Parker Solar Probe, which dipped, for just a short while, into a region around our star that scientists call the corona.

It occurred in April, but the analysis of data has only now confirmed it.

Parker had to withstand intense heat and radiation but gathered new insights on how the Sun works.

"Just as landing on the Moon allowed scientists to understand how it was formed, touching the Sun is a gigantic stride for humanity to help us uncover critical information about our closest star and its influence on the Solar System," said Nicola Fox, the director of Nasa's heliophysics science division.

The Parker Solar Probe is one of the most audacious missions ever mounted by the agency.


Launched three years ago, its goal is to make repeated, and ever closer, passes of the Sun.

The spacecraft moves at colossal speed, at over 500,000km/h (320,000mph). The strategy is to get in quick and get out quick, making measurements of the solar environment with a suite of instruments deployed from behind a thick heat shield.


_94726329_467350ae-4aa8-4b59-833c-87bc1b29edbc.jpg
IMAGE SOURCE,S R HABBAL AND M DRUCKMÜLLER
Image caption,
The diffuse corona is only visible to us on Earth during a total solar eclipse
On 28 April this year, Parker crossed what is termed the Alfvén critical boundary.

This is the outer edge of the corona. It is the point where solar material that is normally bound to the Sun by gravity and magnetic forces breaks free to stream out across space.

Parker encountered the boundary at about 13 million km (8 million miles) above the visible surface, or photosphere, of the Sun.

The probe's data suggests it actually passed above and below the boundary three separate times in the course of five hours, according to Stuart Bale from the University of California, Berkley.


"We saw the conditions change completely," he told reporters. "Inside the corona, the Sun's magnetic field grew much stronger, and it dominated the movement of the particles there. So the spacecraft was surrounded by material that was truly in contact with the Sun."

Researchers are fascinated by the corona because it's where some key processes take place that currently defy explanation.

One is what seems to be counter-intuitive superheating. The temperature of the Sun at its photosphere is roughly 6,000C but within the corona it can reach a staggering million degrees or more.

It's also within this region that the outward flow of charged particles - electrons, protons and heavy ions - suddenly gets accelerated into a supersonic wind. Again, the mechanism is a puzzle.

"The problem is that the fingerprints of the physical processes giving rise to the solar wind are erased by the journey the solar wind makes from the solar corona to Earth and beyond," explained Nour Raouafi from the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. "It's the reason we have Parker flying through this mysterious region to tell us what is going on there."

The Parker science team will gather much more data as the probe ventures ever deeper into the corona on future flybys of the Sun. It should eventually get to within 7 million km (4 million miles) of the photosphere in 2025.


Parker's insights, and those that come from other solar observatories, have direct relevance for everyone living on Earth.

The biggest outbursts from the Sun can rattle our planet's magnetic field. In the process, communications may be disrupted, satellites can be knocked offline, and power grids will be vulnerable to electrical surges.

Scientists try to forecast these "storms" and Parker promises new and valuable information to help them do that.

The latest results from the mission are being presented at the the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I believe the next probe they have designed will be big enough to fit a couple of humpback whales inside.

A probe in the Sun's face and a helicopter on Mars. Freakin' cool !
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Earth has an extra companion, a Trojan asteroid that will hang around for 4,000 years

Earth has an extra companion, a Trojan asteroid that will hang around for 4,000 years
By Chelsea Gohd published about 20 hours ago

This is the second Earth Trojan asteroid ever spotted and the largest of its kind ever seen.

In 2020, astronomers thought they'd found something incredible: the second so-called Earth Trojan asteroid ever seen. Now, a new team of researchers has confirmed that it's real.

Trojan asteroids are small space rocks that share their orbit with a planet, circling whatever host star that planet does in a stable orbit. While we have spotted Trojan asteroids around other planets in our solar system and others, until now only one of these objects, called 2010 TK7, has been confirmed to orbit along the same path as Earth. In a new study, researchers confirmed that an asteroid spotted in 2020, called 2020 XL5, is the second object of its kind, called an Earth Trojan asteroid. Think of it as an extra companion to Earth, albeit a very tiny one.

"The discovery of 2020 XL5 as an Earth Trojan, confirms that 2010 TK7 is not a rare exception and that there are probably more," study lead author Toni Santana-Ros, a researcher at the University of Alicante and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB) at the University of Barcelona (IEEC-UB), told Space.com. "This encourages us to keep enhancing our survey strategies to find, if exists, the first primordial Earth Trojan."

This visualization shows the Earth-sun Lagrange points. (Image credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva)

In December 2020, 2020 XL5 was spotted by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS 1 survey telescope in Hawaii and added to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center database. Amateur astronomer Tony Dunn went on to calculate the object's trajectory using NASA's publicly-available JPL-Horizon's software and found that it orbits L4, the fourth Earth-sun Lagrange point, a gravitationally balanced region around our planet and star. 2010 TK7, the first-confirmed Earth Trojan asteroid is also at L4.

"Preliminary results showed it was in a trojan orbit around our Lagrangian point L4," Dunn told Space.com. "Its orbit was quite uncertain at the time so I did a more careful analysis, simulating 100 clones with similar orbits. Every clone demonstrated trojan behavior as well."

But at the time, 2020 XL5's orbit around the sun wasn't fully understood, so it wasn't yet certain whether the object was just a nearby space rock crossing Earth's orbit or if it could be a real Earth Trojan asteroid.


To confirm whether or not it is an Earth Trojan asteroid, a team led by Santana-Ros observed the object with the SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research) Telescope in Chile along with the Lowell Discovery Telescope in Arizona and the European Space Agency's Optical Ground Station in Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

"These were very challenging observations, requiring the telescope to track correctly at its lowest elevation limit, as the object was very low on the western horizon at dawn," co-author Cesar Briceño, a researcher at the National Science Foundation's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), said in a statement.

Santana-Ros echoed how difficult it is to make these observations from Earth. It "is a pain for astronomers to point to the L4 and L5 points of the sun-Earth system while being on our planet! Any asteroid orbiting around these points will only be visible during a short time window close to twilight, at very low elevations above the horizon," Santana-Ros told Space.com.


This visualization shows the Earth Trojan asteroid 2020 XL5. (Image credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine)

To bolster their observations, the team also factored in archival data from SOAR to try and fully understand the object and its orbit. In total, the team was using about a decade's worth of observations and data, according to the statement from NOIRLab.

The team concluded that, as it was initially suspected, 2020 XL5 is an Earth Trojan asteroid. They also found that the object is also likely a C-type asteroid, the most common asteroid type in the solar system that is high in carbon and dark.

"SOAR’s data allowed us to make a first photometric analysis of the object, revealing that 2020 XL5 is likely a C-type asteroid," Santana-Ros said in the same statement. The study also revealed that this object is much larger than the first Earth Trojan asteroid found. 2020 XL5 measures about 0.73 miles (1.2 kilometers) across, almost three times longer than 2010 TK7 which stretches just about 0.25 miles (0.4 km) wide.

The team also found that 2020 XL5 won't be an Earth Trojan asteroid forever. While it will stay in its current position for about 4,000 years, it will eventually escape its gravity-bound location, according to the statement.

"We are fully sure that 2020 XL5 will remain librating around L4 for at least 3,500 more years," Santana-Ros told Space.com.

Briceño noted in the statement that this discovery could be followed by even more and that, potentially, the future could see humans stepping foot onto these types of asteroids.

"If we are able to discover more Earth Trojans, and if some of them can have orbits with lower inclinations, they might become cheaper to reach than our Moon," Briceño said. "So they might become ideal bases for an advanced exploration of the solar system, or they could even be a source of resources."

But whether or not we ever send humans to walk on them, NASA did launch the robotic Lucy asteroid mission in 2021 to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids and studying them can help us to better understand the universe at-large.

Trojan asteroids like XL5 "can provide us information about the formation of its host planet and, in turn, keys to better understand the evolution of the Solar System by adding constraints to its evolution models," Santana-Ros told Space.com. "We have studied the primordial Jupiter Trojans for several years and we will soon have the opportunity to investigate them with in situ observations taken by NASA's space mission Lucy."

These findings were described in a study published today (Feb. 1) in the journal Nature.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Lucy mission: NASA's journey to the Trojan asteroids

Lucy mission: NASA's journey to the Trojan asteroids


NASA's Lucy mission is seeking cosmic fossils that could unlock the secrets of the early solar system.
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The Lucy mission will study the Trojan asteroids in a bid to shed light on the formation of the solar system. (Image credit: Naeblys via Getty Images)

The Lucy mission is a NASA probe that will explore a set of asteroids near Jupiter known as the Trojans. These ancient space rocks hold important clues to the creation of our solar system and, potentially, the origin of life on Earth. The Lucy mission was launched at 5:34 a.m. EDT (09:34 GMT) on Oct. 16, 2021 from the Kennedy Space Center atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.

Lucy mission quick facts
– Launched: Oct.16, 2021 at 5:34 a.m. EDT (09:34 GMT)

– Launch site: Kennedy Space Center

–Rocket: United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket

– Target: The Trojan asteroids

– Estimated Cost: $981 million

– Arrival at first target: 2025

– Status: In progress

Psyche, Lucy was approved in January 2017 as part of NASA's Discovery program, which supports focused and relatively cheap planetary missions. A year after approval, the mission was officially given a schedule and a set of eight asteroid targets.

Lucy is named for a famous female Australopithecus afarensis fossil found in Ethiopia that, as a relative of modern humans, helped illuminate the evolution of our species. It is hoped that the spacecraft Lucy will similarly elucidate our solar system's earliest days.

Lucy mission targets: The Trojan asteroids


An artist's concept of NASA's Lucy mission, which will study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. (Image credit: NASA/Southwest Research Institute)


The probe's main objects of study are the Trojan asteroids. These objects are thought to be remnants from the primordial disk that formed the sun and planets, which were captured by Jupiter's gravity sometime near the beginning of the solar system.

Lucy will be the first mission to visit the Trojans, which are each named for famous figures from the Trojan war in Greek mythology.
According to NASA, the Trojans share Jupiter's orbit around the sun in two loose groups, with one set slightly ahead of the gas giant and another behind it. "The Trojans are stabilized by the sun and its largest planet in a gravitational balancing act," the agency wrote.

After being launched from Earth, the spacecraft will first make a quick flyby of a main belt asteroid in 2025. The small space rock is named 52246 Donaldjohanson after the paleontologist who discovered the fossil Lucy. Situated between Mars and Jupiter, the fly-by will serve primarily as a test for the spacecraft's instruments, according to the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), which helps oversee the craft.

If all goes according to plan, between 2027 and 2033, Lucy will then fly past six Trojan asteroids, including three different asteroid subclasses and two objects that rotate around each other. NASA has said that "no other space mission in history has been launched to as many different destinations in independent orbits around our sun."

The mission's targets include C-type, D-type, and P-type asteroids, each of which will help scientists better understand the solar system's genesis, according to SwRI.




Lucy mission orbital path among the Trojan asteroids that trail and lead Jupiter. (Image credit: Southwest Research Institute)

Lucy's instruments

Lucy spans more than 46 feet (14 meters) from tip to tip, larger than a 4-story building, though much of that width will be the enormous solar panels used to power the spacecraft, according to NASA. The spacecraft will carry an instrument that can measure the surface temperatures of its target asteroids, providing information about their composition, two high-resolution cameras, and a device that uses infrared light to inspect and identify ice, organic material, and different minerals in each asteroid.


L'Ralph


The 'Two in one' instrument contains Lucy's color camera (the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera, MVIC) and infrared imaging spectrometer which will be used to find out what the asteroids are made from using the Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA).


L'LORRI


The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager will capture high resolution black and white images of the target asteroids. According to NASA, It is affectionately referred to as Lucy's "eagle eyes" as it has the highest spatial resolution of all Lucy's cameras.


L'TES


The infrared Thermal Emission Spectrometer will remotely measure the surface temperature of the target asteroids.


High Gain Antenna


This large 2-meter-wide antenna will beam back close up images of the Trojan asteroids and the signal will also help scientists determine the mass of the asteroids by measuring changes in frequency caused by the Dopler effect.


Terminal Tracking Cameras (T2CAM)


These tracking cameras will not only keep track of the asteroids during Lucy’s encounters but also provide wide-field images of the targets to help scientists get a better idea of their shape.

Lucy solar array trouble



NASA’s Lucy mission launched at 5:34 a.m. EDT (09:34 GMT) on Oct. 16, 2021 from the Kennedy Space Center atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. (Image credit: NASA/Kevin O'Connell and Bob Lau)


Approximately one hour after launch, Lucy began to deploy the two large solar arrays as scheduled. However, early analysis suggested that only one of the two arrays, each more than 24 feet (7 meters) across, deployed and latched successfully. Mission specialists continue to troubleshoot the glitch that kept the other solar array from properly deploying.

According to a NASA statement published Nov. 5, the issue could have been caused by a lanyard that helps the array deploy. "Initial tests indicate that the lanyard that pulls out the solar array may not have completed the process successfully; however, it is still uncertain what caused this condition," NASA officials wrote in the statement. "The team is conducting more tests to determine if this is indeed the case, and what the root cause might be."

Except for the solar array, everything else on the Lucy spacecraft is in good working order. Engineers are still assessing whether the solar array glitch will force mission personnel to adapt any of its future plans.

What are C-type asteroids?

Lucy will fly by two C-type asteroids: the previously mentioned main asteroid belt object Donaldjohanson and a Trojan named Eurybates.


C-type asteroids are rich in carbon and are where most meteorites on Earth originated. The OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa 2 missions have previously collected samples from C-type asteroids to bring back to our planet for study.

What are D-type and P-type asteroids?

It will also inspect two D-type asteroids, which are named Leucus and Orus, and three P-type asteroids, one named Polymele and a binary asteroid pair orbiting one another called Patroclus and Menoetius.


D-type and P-type asteroids are much redder than C-type asteroids and are hypothesized to be rich in organic and volatile elements. No mission has ever flown past a D- or P-type asteroid before.


The asteroids are expected to provide a wealth of information, especially about the organic material that would have rained down on our planet in its earliest days and potentially helped trigger the creation of living organisms. Each target is also thought to contain water ice underneath its rocky surface.


The final encounter with Patroclus and Menoetius is considered particularly special because the pair spend most of their time orbiting high above the main ecliptic plane of the solar system and are therefore hard to reach. The elusive asteroid pair will be passing through a region that is accessible to Lucy in March of 2033, when the spacecraft is scheduled to reach them.
 
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