samedi 9 juin 2018

Icy Dunes on Pluto Reveal a Diverse and Dynamic Dwarf Planet












NASA - New Horizons Mission logo.

June 9, 2018


Newly discovered dunes on Pluto tell us the dwarf planet’s geology and atmosphere is far more dynamic than previously expected, with the winds of its thin and multi-layer atmosphere helping shape the landscape. Found near the mountains that encircle Pluto’s Sputnik Planitia plain, these formations appear to be quite young in geological terms, on the scale of decades or centuries old.

NASA New Horizon’s scientists found these evenly spaced ridges on Pluto’s surface using imagery from the 2015 flyby. The ridges appear to have formed out of particles of methane ice as small as grains of sand, arranged into dunes by wind from the nearby mountains.

Wind can create dunes through a process known as eolian transport, where winds move sediment by skipping, bouncing, rolling and sliding particles across the ground. However, the winds on Pluto aren’t strong enough on their own to loft these grains off the ground. But the process of sublimation – where ice turns straight into gas, without going through the liquid phase – also lifts particles and could dislodge the sediment carried by winds to form these methane rich dunes.

“The interesting, repeating patterns we see covering this part of Sputnik Planitia certainly resemble dunes,” said Jeffery Moore, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, and author on a June 1st paper that appeared in Science. “But they might also be sublimation erosion patterns, or due to a combination of particle movement and sublimation erosion.”

New Horizons Pluto & Charon flyby

The existence of young dune formations on Pluto tells us that all these complex systems are at play in this dynamic dwarf planet. The New Horizons data is showing a geologically vibrant surface, sparking continuous discussion among the scientific community.

“More research will help us pin down their origin,” said Jeff. “Whatever they are, it’s clear Pluto is one of the most amazing and complex objects in our solar system.”

NASA New Horizon: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html

Ames Research Center: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/index.html

Image, Animation, Credits: NASA/Abigail Tabor/JPL-Caltech/Author: Frank Tavares.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

vendredi 8 juin 2018

Expedition 56 Greets Three New Crew Members












ISS - Expedition 56 Mission patch.

June 8, 2018

Three new Expedition 56 crew members were welcomed aboard the International Space Station today. Hatches between the space station and Soyuz opened at 11:17 a.m. EDT, marking the arrival of Expedition 56 Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), and cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos.


Image above: The newly-expanded Expedition 56 crew gathers in the Zvezda service module for a crew greeting ceremony with family, friends and mission officials in Moscow. In the front row from left are new Flight Engineers Sergey Prokopyev, Alexander Gerst and Serena Auñón-Chancellor. In the back row are Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev, Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold. Image Credit: NASA TV.

The Soyuz MS-09 carrying the trio launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:12 a.m. Wednesday, June 6. They joined Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineers Ricky Arnold of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos aboard the orbiting laboratory.


Image above: Flying over Kazakhstan, seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27'620 Km/h, altitude: 406,13 Km, image captured by Roland Berga (on Earth in Switzerland) from International Space Station (ISS) using ISS-HD Live application with EarthCam's from ISS on June 8, 2018 at 14:27 UTC. Image Credits: Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

The crew members are also being greeted by family and friends who watched the docking and hatch opening from the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow.

Related links:

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Images a Galaxy with Threads of Blue












NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

June 8, 2018


A ripple of bright blue gas threads through this galaxy like a misshapen lake system. The foreground of this image is littered with nearby stars with their gleaming diffraction spikes. A keen eye can also spot a few other galaxies that, while masquerading as stars at first glance, reveal their true nature on closer inspection.

The central galaxy streaked with color, IC 4870, was discovered by DeLisle Stewart in 1900 and is located approximately 28 million light-years away. It contains an active galactic nucleus: an extremely luminous central region so alight with radiation that it can outshine the rest of the galaxy put together. Active galaxies emit radiation across the complete electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays, produced by the action of a central supermassive black hole that is devouring material getting too close to it. IC 4870 is also a Seyfert galaxy, a particular kind of active galaxy with characteristic emission lines.

IC 4870 has been imaged by Hubble for several studies of nearby active galaxies. By using Hubble to explore the small-scale structures of active nuclei in nearby galaxies, astronomers can observe the traces of collisions and mergers, central galactic bars, nuclear starbursts, jets or outflows, and other interactions between a galactic nucleus and its surrounding environment. Images such as this can help astronomers understand more about the true nature of the galaxies we see throughout the cosmos.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Image, Animation, Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA/Text: European Space Agency/NASA/ Karl Hille.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Contact and Capture: Three Crew Members Arrive at Station












ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz MS-09 Mission patch.

June 8, 2018

The Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked to the Rassvet module of the International Space Station at 9:01 a.m. EDT while both spacecraft were flying over eastern China.

Soyuz MS-09 docking

Following their two-day trip, astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, astronaut Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), and cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos docked to the space station. Their arrival restores the station’s crew complement to six as they wait to join Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineers Ricky Arnold of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos aboard the orbiting laboratory.


Image above: The Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft is pictured moments after docking to the space station’s Rassvet module. Image Credit: NASA.

The hatches between the two spacecraft will open following standard pressurization and leak checks. Watch the hatch opening and welcome ceremony on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Related links:

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/SciNews.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

jeudi 7 juin 2018

Warm Water Creeps into Otherwise-Calm Central Pacific












JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory logo.

June 7, 2018

After a mild La Niña late last year, temperatures, convection and rainfall rates in the equatorial Pacific Ocean returned to normal by early April of this year. An April 9 image of sea level height from the U.S./European Jason-3 satellite mission showed most of the ocean at neutral heights. But by the beginning of May, high sea levels began to build up in the Central Pacific. In the tropics, high sea levels are usually caused by a layer of warm water at or below the surface.


Image above: Left, in April, the Jason-3 satellite shows most of the Pacific Ocean at neutral heights (green). In May, a Kelvin wave (red) appears on the equator. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

This patch of high sea level is slowly traveling eastward through the tropical Pacific Ocean along the equator. Known as a downwelling Kelvin wave, this type of signal is often a precursor to an El Niño event.

The Kelvin wave formed after a few short periods when winds changed from the prevailing easterlies to westerly -- known as westerly wind bursts -- in the far western Pacific in early 2018. In addition, there has been a general weakening of the easterly winds along the equator since January. Both of these wind conditions combine to create the Kelvin wave, which moves east along the equator and results in the spreading of warm water layers that are normally confined to the western Pacific Ocean eastward into the central Pacific. The red pattern visible at the equator on May 9 is the result of this downwelling Kelvin wave.

During a large El Niño, like the 2015-16 event, a huge area where sea levels are more than a foot (30 centimeters) higher than normal is visible in Jason-3 images. The high sea level is caused by a thick layer of warm water in the upper several hundred feet of the ocean. Such large El Niño events affect weather and climate across the globe, particularly in the western United States. In California, El Niños usually mean above-average winter rainfall, while Oregon and Washington typically see drier-than-normal winters.

El Niños happen when a series of Kelvin waves like this one spread warm water from west to east along the equator, causing high sea levels in the Central Pacific and sometimes as far east as the coastlines of Central and South America. The warm water is currently confined to the subsurface, with no warming at the ocean surface -- a first indicator of an upcoming El Niño event. But forecasters at agencies like NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) will be watching closely for more Kelvin waves like this one as summer approaches.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the Jason-3 mission for NASA. NOAA operates Jason-3 in partnership with NASA, the French space agency (CNES), and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

Related links:

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL): https://www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/home/index.html

Earth: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/index.html

Water: https://www.nasa.gov/subject/3135/water

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL/Alan Buis/NASA's Earth Science News Team, written by Carol Rasmussen.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Chandra Scouts Nearest Star System for Possible Hazards












NASA - Chandra X-ray Observatory patch.

June 7, 2018

In humanity’s search for life outside our Solar System, one of the best places scientists have considered is Alpha Centauri, a system containing the three nearest stars beyond our Sun.

A new study that has involved monitoring of Alpha Centauri for more than a decade by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory provides encouraging news about one key aspect of planetary habitability. It indicates that any planets orbiting the two brightest stars in the Alpha Cen system are likely not being pummeled by large amounts of X-ray radiation from their host stars.  X-rays and related Space Weather effects are bad for unprotected life, directly through high radiation doses and indirectly through stripping away planetary atmospheres (a fate thought to have been suffered by Mars in our own Solar System).


Image above: A new study involving long-term monitoring of Alpha Centauri by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory indicates that any planets orbiting the two brightest stars are likely not being pummeled by large amounts of X-ray radiation from their host stars. This is important for the viability of life in the nearest star system outside the Solar System. Chandra data from May 2nd, 2017 are seen in the pull-out, which is shown in context of a visible-light image taken from the ground of the Alpha Centauri system and its surroundings. Alpha Centauri is a triple star system located just over four light years, or about 25 trillion miles, from Earth. While this is a large distance in terrestrial terms, it is three times closer than the next nearest Sun-like star. Image Credits: Optical: Zdenek Bardon; X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Colorado/T. Ayres et al.

Alpha Centauri is a triple star system located just over four light years, or about 25 trillion miles, from Earth. While this is a large distance in terrestrial terms, it is much closer than the next nearest Sun-like stars.

“Because it is relatively close, the Alpha Centauri system is seen by many as the best candidate to explore for signs of life,” said Tom Ayres of the University of Colorado  Boulder. “The question is, will we find planets in an environment conducive to life as we know it?”

The stars in the Alpha Centauri system include a pair called “A” and “B,” (AB for short) which orbit relatively close to each other. Alpha Cen A is a near twin of our Sun in almost every way, including age, while Alpha Cen B is somewhat smaller and dimmer but still quite similar to the Sun. The third member, Alpha Cen C (also known as Proxima), is a much smaller red dwarf star that travels around the AB pair in a much larger orbit that takes it more than 10 thousand times farther from the AB pair than the Earth-Sun distance. Proxima currently holds the title of the nearest star to Earth, although AB is a very close second.

The Chandra data reveal that the prospects for life in terms of current X-ray bombardment are actually better around Alpha Cen A than for the Sun, and Alpha Cen B fares only slightly worse. Proxima, on the other hand, is a type of active red dwarf star known to frequently send out dangerous flares of X-ray radiation, and is likely hostile to life.

“This is very good news for Alpha Cen AB in terms of the ability of possible life on any of their planets to survive radiation bouts from the stars,” said Ayres. “Chandra shows us that life should have a fighting chance on planets around either of these stars.”

While one remarkable Earth-size planet has been discovered around Proxima, astronomers continue to search, without success, for exoplanets around Alpha Cen A and B. Planet-hunting around these stars has proved more difficult recently due to the orbit of the pair, which has drawn the two bright stars close together on the sky over the past decade.

To help determine whether Alpha Cen’s stars are hospitable to life, astronomers have run a long-term campaign in which Chandra has observed the system’s two main stars about every six months since 2005. Chandra is the only X-ray observatory capable of resolving AB during its current close orbital approach, to determine which star is doing what.

Chandra X-ray Observatory. Animation Credits: NASA/CXC

These long-term measurements have captured the complete ups and downs of the X-ray activity of AB, analogous to the Sun’s 11-year sunspot cycle. They show that any planets in the habitable zone for A would receive a lower dose of X-rays, on average, than similar planets around the Sun. For companion B the X-ray dose for habitable zone planets is higher than for the Sun, but only by a factor of about five.

In comparison planets in the habitable zone around Proxima receive an average dose of X-rays about 500 times larger than the Earth, and 50,000 times larger during a big flare.

Besides illuminating the possible habitability of Alpha Cen’s planets, Chandra’s X-ray history of AB plays into theoretical explorations of our own Sun’s cyclical X-ray activity. Understanding this is a key to cosmic hazards such as Space Weather, which can impact the technology-laden civilization right here on our home world.

Tom Ayres presented these results at the 232rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Denver, Colorado, and some of these results were published in January 2018 in the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/aaa88f

Read More from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2018/alphacen/

For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Lee Mohon/Marshall Space Flight Center/Molly Porter/Chandra X-ray Center/Megan Watzke.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Station Waits for Friday Crew Arrival Ahead of June 14 Spacewalk












ISS - Expedition 56 Mission patch.

June 7, 2018

Two astronauts and a cosmonaut are racing toward the International Space Station today inside the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft. The new Expedition 56-57 trio comprising Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Alexander Gerst are due to arrive Friday at 9:07 a.m. EDT when they dock to the Rassvet module.

NASA TV will begin its live coverage of the rendezvous and docking of the new crew at 8:15 a.m. NASA TV will then be back on the air at 10:30 a.m. when the new crew opens the hatches at 11:05 a.m. and enters their new home in space where they will live for the next six months.

Waiting to greet their new crewmates are station Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineers Ricky Arnold and Oleg Artemyev who have been onboard the orbital laboratory since March. All six Expedition 56 crew members will gather in the Zvezda service module for a welcoming ceremony with family and mission officials back on Moscow. Next the crewmates will begin familiarizing themselves with station systems and safety procedures.


Image above: Flying over South Pacific Ocean, seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27'580 Km/h, altitude: 414,58 Km, image captured by Roland Berga (on Earth in Switzerland) from International Space Station (ISS) using ISS-HD Live application with EarthCam's from ISS on June 7, 2018 at 20:52 UTC. Image Credits: Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

In the meantime, Feustel and Arnold are moving ahead with preparations for next week’s spacewalk to outfit the station’s Harmony module with new enhanced high definition television cameras and wireless communications gear. The duo organized spacewalking tools and gear, recharged spacesuit and camera batteries and reviewed procedures for the 6.5-hour excursion planned for June 14. The new cameras will improve the view of approaching commercial crew vehicles for dockings in the future. The new wireless equipment will enable data transmission from payloads mounted on the outside of the Columbus and Kibo modules.

Related links:

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars










NASA - Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) patch.

June 7, 2018

NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet. While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet’s surface and subsurface.

The new findings – “tough” organic molecules in three-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface, as well as seasonal variations in the levels of methane in the atmosphere – appear in the June 8 edition of the journal Science.

Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life.


Image above: This low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the site from which it reached down to drill into a rock target called "Buckskin" on lower Mount Sharp. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

“With these new findings, Mars is telling us to stay the course and keep searching for evidence of life,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, in Washington. “I’m confident that our ongoing and planned missions will unlock even more breathtaking discoveries on the Red Planet.”

“Curiosity has not determined the source of the organic molecules,” said Jen Eigenbrode of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is lead author of one of the two new Science papers. “Whether it holds a record of ancient life, was food for life, or has existed in the absence of life, organic matter in Martian materials holds chemical clues to planetary conditions and processes.”


Image above: NASA's Curiosity rover has discovered ancient organic molecules on Mars, embedded within sedimentary rocks that are billions of years old. Image Credits: NASA/GSFC.

Although the surface of Mars is inhospitable today, there is clear evidence that in the distant past, the Martian climate allowed liquid water – an essential ingredient for life as we know it – to pool at the surface. Data from Curiosity reveal that billions of years ago, a water lake inside Gale Crater held all the ingredients necessary for life, including chemical building blocks and energy sources.

“The Martian surface is exposed to radiation from space. Both radiation and harsh chemicals break down organic matter,” said Eigenbrode. “Finding ancient organic molecules in the top five centimeters of rock that was deposited when Mars may have been habitable, bodes well for us to learn the story of organic molecules on Mars with future missions that will drill deeper.”

Seasonal Methane Releases

In the second paper, scientists describe the discovery of seasonal variations in methane in the Martian atmosphere over the course of nearly three Mars years, which is almost six Earth years. This variation was detected by Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.

Water-rock chemistry might have generated the methane, but scientists cannot rule out the possibility of biological origins. Methane previously had been detected in Mars' atmosphere in large, unpredictable plumes. This new result shows that low levels of methane within Gale Crater repeatedly peak in warm, summer months and drop in the winter every year.


Image above: NASA's Curiosity rover used an instrument called SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) to detect seasonal changes in atmospheric methane in Gale Crater. The methane signal has been observed for nearly three Martian years (nearly six Earth years), peaking each summer. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

"This is the first time we've seen something repeatable in the methane story, so it offers us a handle in understanding it," said Chris Webster of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, lead author of the second paper. "This is all possible because of Curiosity's longevity. The long duration has allowed us to see the patterns in this seasonal 'breathing.'"

Finding Organic Molecules

To identify organic material in the Martian soil, Curiosity drilled into sedimentary rocks known as mudstone from four areas in Gale Crater. This mudstone gradually formed billions of years ago from silt that accumulated at the bottom of the ancient lake. The rock samples were analyzed by SAM, which uses an oven to heat the samples (in excess of 900 degrees Fahrenheit, or 500 degrees Celsius) to release organic molecules from the powdered rock.

SAM measured small organic molecules that came off the mudstone sample – fragments of larger organic molecules that don’t vaporize easily. Some of these fragments contain sulfur, which could have helped preserve them in the same way sulfur is used to make car tires more durable, according to Eigenbrode.

The results also indicate organic carbon concentrations on the order of 10 parts per million or more. This is close to the amount observed in Martian meteorites and about 100 times greater than prior detections of organic carbon on Mars’ surface. Some of the molecules identified include thiophenes, benzene, toluene, and small carbon chains, such as propane or butene.

In 2013, SAM detected some organic molecules containing chlorine in rocks at the deepest point in the crater. This new discovery builds on the inventory of molecules detected in the ancient lake sediments on Mars and helps explains why they were preserved.

Curiosity at Martian Scenic Overlook

Video above: Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada gives a descriptive tour of the Mars rover's view in Gale Crater. Video Credits: NASA/JPL.

Finding methane in the atmosphere and ancient carbon preserved on the surface gives scientists confidence that NASA's Mars 2020 rover and ESA’s (European Space Agency's) ExoMars rover will find even more organics, both on the surface and in the shallow subsurface.

These results also inform scientists’ decisions as they work to find answers to questions concerning the possibility of life on Mars.

“Are there signs of life on Mars?” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, at NASA Headquarters. “We don’t know, but these results tell us we are on the right track.”

This work was funded by NASA's Mars Exploration Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. Goddard provided the SAM instrument. JPL built the rover and manages the project for SMD.

Related links:

Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

Mars 2020 rover: https://www.nasa.gov/mars2020

ESA & Roscosmos ExoMars: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars

For video and images of the findings, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mediaresources

Information on NASA’s Mars activities is available online at: https://www.nasa.gov/mars

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Dwayne Brown/JoAnna Wendel/Sean Potter/JPL/Andrew Good/Goddard Space Flight Center/Bill Steigerwald/Nancy Jones.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA Re-plans Juno's Jupiter Mission












NASA - JUNO Mission logo.

June 7, 2018

NASA has approved an update to Juno's science operations until July 2021. This provides for an additional 41 months in orbit around Jupiter and will enable Juno to achieve its primary science objectives.Juno is in 53-day orbits rather than 14-day orbits as initially planned because of a concern about valves on the spacecraft's fuel system. This longer orbit means that it will take more time to collect the needed science data.

An independent panel of experts confirmed in April that Juno is on track to achieve its science objectives and is already returning spectacular results.The Juno spacecraft and all instruments are healthy and operating nominally.

NASA has now funded Juno through FY 2022. The end of prime operations is now expected in July 2021, with data analysis and mission close-out activities continuing into 2022.


Animation above: During its continued mission, NASA's Juno spacecraft will maintain its 53-day polar orbit around Jupiter. At its closest, Juno passes within 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) of Jupiter's cloud tops once during each 53-day orbit. At the high end of each orbit, Juno is about 5 million miles (8-million kilometers) from the planet - which is just beyond the orbit of the Jovian moon Themisto. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

"With these funds, not only can the Juno team continue to answer long-standing questions about Jupiter that first fueled this exciting mission, but they'll also investigate new scientific puzzles motivated by their discoveries thus far," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "With every additional orbit, both scientists and citizen scientists will help unveil new surprises about this distant world."

"This is great news for planetary exploration as well as for the Juno team," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno, from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "These updated plans for Juno will allow it to complete its primary science goals. As a bonus, the larger orbits allow us to further explore the far reaches of the Jovian magnetosphere -- the region of space dominated by Jupiter's magnetic field -- including the far magnetotail, the southern magnetosphere, and the magnetospheric boundary region called the magnetopause. We have also found Jupiter's radiation environment in this orbit to be less extreme than expected, which has been beneficial to not only our spacecraft, but our instruments and the continued quality of science data collected."

Juno will make its 13th science flyby over Jupiter's mysterious cloud tops on July 16.

Juno orbiting Jupiter. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Italian Space Agency (ASI), contributed two instruments, a Ka-band frequency translator (KaT) and the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM). Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, built the spacecraft.

More information about Juno is available at:

https://www.nasa.gov/juno

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu

More information on Jupiter is at:

https://www.nasa.gov/jupiter

The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:

https://www.facebook.com/NASAJuno

https://www.twitter.com/NASAJuno

Animation (mentioned), Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/JoAnna Wendel/JPL/DC Agle/Southwest Research Institute/Deb Schmid.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

mercredi 6 juin 2018

As Solar Wind Blows, Our Heliosphere Balloons












NASA - IBEX Mission patch.

June 6, 2018

What happens when the solar wind suddenly starts to blow significantly harder? According to two recent studies, the boundaries of our entire solar system balloon outward — and an analysis of particles rebounding off of its edges will reveal its new shape.

Interstellar Boundary Explorer or IBEX spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA

In late 2014, NASA spacecraft detected a substantial change in the solar wind. For the first time in nearly a decade, the solar wind pressure — a combined measure of its speed and density — had increased by approximately 50 percent and remained that way for several years thereafter. Two years later, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft detected the first sign of the aftermath. Solar wind particles from the 2014 pressure increase had reached the edge of the heliosphere, neutralized themselves, and shot all the way back to Earth. And they had a story to tell.

In two recent articles, scientists used IBEX data along with sophisticated numerical models to understand what these rebounding atoms can tell us about the evolving shape and structure of our heliosphere, the giant bubble carved out by the solar wind.

“The results show that the 2014 solar wind pressure increase has already propagated from the Sun to the outer heliosphere, morphing and expanding our heliosphere’s boundaries in their closest direction,” said David McComas, the principal investigator for the IBEX mission at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. “IBEX data pouring in over the next few years will let us chart the expansion and evolving structure of the other portions of the heliosphere’s outer boundaries.”

From the Sun to the edge of the solar system — and back

At the crux of the story are energetic neutral atoms – high-energy particles produced at the very edge of our solar system.

As the solar wind flows out from the Sun at supersonic speeds, it blows up a bubble known as the heliosphere. The heliosphere encases all the planets in our solar system and much of the space beyond them, separating the domain of our Sun from that of interstellar space.

But the solar wind’s journey from the Sun is not a smooth ride. On its way to the very edge of our heliosphere, known as the heliopause, the solar wind passes through distinct layers. The first of these is known as the termination shock.


Image above: An illustration depicting the layers of the heliosphere. Image Credits: NASA/IBEX/Adler Planetarium.

Before passing the termination shock, the solar wind expands rapidly, largely unimpeded by outside material.

“But at the termination shock, roughly 9.3 billion miles away from us in every direction, the solar wind slows down abruptly. Beyond this point it continues to move outwards, but it is much hotter,” said Eric Zirnstein, lead author of one of the papers at Princeton.

Once beyond the termination shock, solar wind particles enter a special limbo zone known as the heliosheath. While the termination shock is essentially spherical, the edges of the heliosphere are thought to describe more of an arc around the Sun as it moves through space — closer to the Sun toward the front, and extending long behind it, not unlike a comet with a tail. Along these boundaries, solar wind particles mix with particles from interstellar space. Collisions are inevitable: the hot, electrically-charged solar wind particles bang into the slower, colder neutral atoms from interstellar space, stealing an electron and becoming neutral themselves.

“From there they go travelling ballistically through space, and some make it all the way back to Earth,” Zirnstein said. “These are the energetic neutral atoms that IBEX observes.”

IBEX: Exploring The Edge Of Our Solar System

Video above: This video explains how a solar wind particle becomes an energetic neutral atom detected by IBEX. Video Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

In late 2016, when IBEX’s energetic neutral atom imager began to pick up an unusually strong signal, Professor McComas and his team set out to investigate its cause. Their findings are reported in an article published on March 20, 2018, in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The energetic neutral atoms were coming from about 30 degrees south of the interstellar upwind direction, where the heliosheath was known to be closest to Earth.

To quantify its connection to the 2014 solar wind pressure increase, McComas and his team turned to numerical simulations, working out how such a pressure increase could affect the energetic neutral atoms that IBEX observes.

 “These types of simulations involve a model for the physics, which then gets turned into equations, which are in turn solved on a supercomputer,” said Jacob Heerikhuisen, a coauthor on both papers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Using computer models, the team simulated an entire heliosphere, jolted it with a solar wind pressure increase, and let it run the numbers. The simulation completed a story only hinted at by the data.

According to the simulation, once the solar wind hits the termination shock it creates a pressure wave. That pressure wave continues on to the edge of the heliosphere and partially rebounds backwards, forcing particles to collide within the (now much denser) heliosheath environment that it just passed through. That’s where the energetic neutral atoms that IBEX observed were born.

The simulations provided a compelling case: IBEX was indeed observing the results of the 2014 solar wind pressure increase, more than two years later.

But the simulation didn’t stop there. It also revealed that the 2014 solar wind pressure increase would, over time, continue to blow up the heliosphere even further. Three years after the solar wind pressure increase — by the time the article was published — the termination shock, the inner bubble within the heliosphere, should expand by seven astronomical units, or seven times the distance from Earth to the Sun. The heliopause, the outer bubble, should expand by two astronomical units, with an additional two the following year.

In short, by cranking up the pressure of the solar wind, our heliosphere today is bigger than it was just a few years ago.

The heliosphere’s new shape

McComas and colleagues studied the very first signs of the 2014 solar wind pressure increase. But watching the data over the coming years may tell us even more — this time about the evolving shape of our heliosphere.

“There have been many studies, some from quite a while ago, predicting what the heliosphere shape should look like,” Zirnstein, the lead author of the paper, reports. “But it’s still very much up for debate in the modelling community. We’re hoping that the 2014 solar wind pressure increase could help with that.”

Using the same data and simulations used in the previous paper, Zirnstein and colleagues ran the clock forward, modeling the heliosphere eight years after the 2014 solar wind pressure increase. The results describe not only the past, but also model the future. The paper was published on May 30, 2018, in The Astrophysical Journal.

“What we think we should see in the near future is a ring, expanding across the sky, marking the change in energetic neutral atom flux over time,” said Zirnstein. “This ring expands away from the point of initial contact in the outer heliosphere, towards the directions of the heliotail.”


Image above: After an initial spike, energetic neutral atoms should rain back down on IBEX, forming a ring that expands across the sky over time. Image Credits: Eric Zirnstein.

Although the initial signal detected by IBEX in 2016 was a solid circle, it won’t stay that way. As the 2014 solar wind reaches points of the heliopause further and further away, they take longer to bounce back, like an echo off of a far-away wall. The heliosphere’s rounded shape causes this echo to reflect back in the form of a ring.

But the key finding came from watching the ring as it expands.

In their simulation, Zirnstein and colleagues found that the precise rate at which the ring expands depended in part on the distances between the various layers of the heliosphere: the termination shock, the heliopause, and the part of the heliosheath where the energetic neutrals were produced.  Zirnstein realized he had found a new way to measure the size and shape of the heliosphere.

“We could estimate the distances to the different boundaries of the heliosphere just by looking at this ring changing over time in the sky,” said Zirnstein.

Zirnstein and colleagues used their simulated heliosphere to run a test study. By measuring the rate of expansion of the ring (and plugging it into the right equations), they could accurately reproduce the distances to key structures within their simulated heliosphere.  Since they knew what those distances were in their simulation, they could check their work — validating that the technique got the right answers and should be accurate when applied to the real heliosphere.

Deformities in the ring — deviations from a perfect circle — could also reveal asymmetries in the heliosphere’s overall shape. “It depends on how symmetric or asymmetric the heliosphere is,” Zirnstein added. “If the heliosphere was an ideal ‘comet shape,’ the ring should expand symmetrically over time. But in reality that’s probably not going to happen — we’ll have to wait and see what IBEX tell us.”

Zirnstein expressed excitement about the possibility of learning the true shape of the heliosphere.

“Over the next few years with more IBEX data, my hope is that we can build a 3D picture of the shape of the heliosphere,” said Zirnstein.

The results of these two studies have important practical implications. “Connecting changes in the Sun with energetic neutral atom observations will help us understand long term changes in the hazardous conditions for space radiation environment — a sort of space climate as opposed to space weather,” McComas said. “As the solar wind blows more and less hard, and our solar bubble expands and contracts, which directly affects the amount of cosmic rays that can enter the heliosphere, potentially endangering astronauts on long duration spaceflights.”

But the results also underscore the incredible power of our closest star. Changes on the Sun, including the solar wind, have significant consequences extending billions of miles into space where, to date, only the two Voyager spacecraft have ever ventured. With techniques like energetic neutral atom imaging, we cannot just picture, but precisely measure these far-off portions of the heliosphere — our home in the galaxy.

Related:

Astrophysical Journal Letters: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aab611/meta

Learn more about the IBEX mission: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Rob Garner/Goddard Space Flight Center, by Miles Hatfield.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Juno Solves 39-Year Old Mystery of Jupiter Lightning












NASA - JUNO Mission logo.

June 6, 2018


Image above: This artist’s concept of lightning distribution in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere incorporates a JunoCam image with artistic embellishments. Data from NASA’s Juno mission indicates that most of the lightning activity on Jupiter is near its poles. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/JunoCam.

Ever since NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft flew past Jupiter in March, 1979, scientists have wondered about the origin of Jupiter’s lightning. That encounter confirmed the existence of Jovian lightning, which had been theorized for centuries. But when the venerable explorer hurtled by, the data showed that the lightning-associated radio signals didn’t match the details of the radio signals produced by lightning here at Earth.

In a new paper published in Nature today, scientists from NASA’s Juno mission describe the ways in which lightning on Jupiter is actually analogous to Earth’s lightning. Although, in some ways, the two types of lightning are polar opposites.

“No matter what planet you’re on, lightning bolts act like radio transmitters -- sending out radio waves when they flash across a sky,” said Shannon Brown of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a Juno scientist and lead author of the paper. “But until Juno, all the lightning signals recorded by spacecraft [Voyagers 1 and 2, Galileo, Cassini] were limited to either visual detections or from the kilohertz range of the radio spectrum, despite a search for signals in the megahertz range. Many theories were offered up to explain it, but no one theory could ever get traction as the answer.”

Enter Juno, which has been orbiting Jupiter since July 4, 2016. Among its suite of highly sensitive instruments is the Microwave Radiometer Instrument (MWR), which records emissions from the gas giant across a wide spectrum of frequencies. 

“In the data from our first eight flybys, Juno’s MWR detected 377 lightning discharges,” said Brown. “They were recorded in the megahertz as well as gigahertz range, which is what you can find with terrestrial lightning emissions. We think the reason we are the only ones who can see it is because Juno is flying closer to the lighting than ever before, and we are searching at a radio frequency that passes easily through Jupiter’s ionosphere.”

While the revelation showed how Jupiter lightning is similar to Earth’s, the new paper also notes that where these lightning bolts flash on each planet is actually quite different.

“Jupiter lightning distribution is inside out relative to Earth,” said Brown. “There is a lot of activity near Jupiter’s poles but none near the equator. You can ask anybody who lives in the tropics -- this doesn’t hold true for our planet.”

Why do lightning bolts congregate near the equator on Earth and near the poles on Jupiter? Follow the heat.

Earth’s derives the vast majority of its heat externally from solar radiation, courtesy of our Sun. Because our equator bears the brunt of this sunshine, warm moist air rises (through convection) more freely there, which fuels towering thunderstorms that produce lightning.

Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter

Jupiter’s orbit is five times farther from the Sun than Earth’s orbit, which means that the giant planet receives 25 times less sunlight than Earth. But even though Jupiter’s atmosphere derives the majority of its heat from within the planet itself, this doesn’t render the Sun’s rays irrelevant. They do provide some warmth, heating up Jupiter’s equator more than the poles -- just as they heat up Earth. Scientists believe that this heating at Jupiter’s equator is just enough to create stability in the upper atmosphere, inhibiting the rise of warm air from within. The poles, which do not have this upper-level warmth and therefore no atmospheric stability, allow warm gases from Jupiter’s interior to rise, driving convection and therefore creating the ingredients for lightning.

“These findings could help to improve our understanding of the composition, circulation and energy flows on Jupiter,” said Brown. But another question looms, she said. “Even though we see lightning near both poles, why is it mostly recorded at Jupiter’s north pole?”

In a second Juno lightning paper published today in Nature Astronomy, Ivana Kolmašová of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, and colleagues, present the largest database of lightning-generated low-frequency radio emissions around Jupiter (whistlers) to date. The data set of more than 1,600 signals, collected by Juno’s Waves instrument, is almost 10 times the number recorded by Voyager 1. Juno detected peak rates of four lightning strikes per second (similar to the rates observed in thunderstorms on Earth) which is six times higher than the peak values detected by Voyager 1.

“These discoveries could only happen with Juno,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio. “Our unique orbit allows our spacecraft to fly closer to Jupiter than any other spacecraft in history, so the signal strength of what the planet is radiating out is a thousand times stronger. Also, our microwave and plasma wave instruments are state-of-the-art, allowing us to pick out even weak lightning signals from the cacophony of radio emissions from Jupiter. “

NASA's Juno spacecraft will make its 13th science flyby over Jupiter's mysterious cloud tops on July 16.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Microwave Radiometer instrument (MWR) was built by JPL. The Juno Waves instrument was provided by the University of Iowa. Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, built the spacecraft.

More information on Juno can be found at:

https://www.nasa.gov/juno

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu

More information about Jupiter can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/jupiter

The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:

https://www.facebook.com/NASAJuno

https://www.twitter.com/NASAJuno

Image (mentioned), Animation, Text, Credits: NASA/JoAnna Wendel/Tony Greicius/JPL/DC Agle/Southwest Research Institute/Deb Schmid/University of Iowa/Richard Lewis.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Astronauts Safely in Orbit Following Launch to International Space Station












ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz MS-09 Mission patch.

June 6, 2018


Image above: The Soyuz MS-09 rocket is launched with Expedition 56 Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, flight engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and flight engineer Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Prokopyev, Auñón-Chancellor, and Gerst will spend the next six months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Image Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky.

Three crew members are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:12 a.m. EDT Wednesday (5:12 p.m. Baikonur time).


Image above: The Soyuz MS-09 rocket heads to space with three Expedition 56-57 crew members after launching on time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Image Credits: Roscosmos/NASA.

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), and Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos is scheduled to dock to the space station’s Rassvet module at 9:07 a.m. Friday, June 8. Coverage of docking will begin at 8:15 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website, followed at 10:30 a.m. by coverage of the opening of hatches between the spacecraft and station.

Soyuz MS-09 launch

The arrival of Auñón-Chancellor, Gerst and Prokopyev will restore the station to six crew members. They will join Expedition 56 commander Drew Feustel and flight engineers Ricky Arnold of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos. The crew will spend more than five months conducting about 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

Feustel, Arnold and Artemyev are scheduled to remain aboard the station until October, while Auñón-Chancellor, Gerst and Prokopyev are slated to return to Earth in December.


Animation above: Animated GIF of the Soyuz MS-09 rocket launching with Expedition 56 Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, flight engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and flight engineer Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Animation Credit: NASA.

This crew continues the long-term increase in crew size on the U.S. segment from three to four, allowing NASA to maximize time dedicated to research on the space station. Highlights of upcoming investigations include a new facility to study ultra-cold quantum gases, the first commercial European facility to conduct microgravity research, and a system that uses surface forces to accomplish liquid-liquid separation.

For more than 17 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, more than 230 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,400 research investigations from researchers in more than 103 countries.

Related links:

Ultra-cold quantum gases: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7396

Commercial European facility: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Research/Ice_Cubes_cool_new_commercial_opportunity_on_the_International_Space_Station

Liquid-liquid separation: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7696

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Stephanie Schierholz/Katherine Brown/JSC/Gary Jordan/NASA TV/SciNews.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

mardi 5 juin 2018

Patches of Snow on the Red Planet












NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) logo.

June 5, 2018


In early Martian summer, at the time NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this image, the dunes are almost free of their seasonal ice cover. Only pockets of ice protected in the shade most of the day remain. The North Pole of Mars is surrounded by a vast sea of sand dunes. In this dune field, the dunes are covered by a seasonal cap of dry ice in the winter.

Peeling Back Layers of a Martian Polar Ice Cap (Artist Concept)

Video above: This artist's animation illustrates how NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter used radar to map the insides of the north polar ice cap on Mars. Video credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Rome/SwRI.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO),: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main/index.html

Image, Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Yvette Smith/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

CASC - Long March 3A launches Fengyun-2H meteorological satellite












CASC - China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation logo.

June 5, 2018


Image above: A Long March 3A lifts off June 6 from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre with Fengyun-2H weather satellite. Image Credit: CASC.

China on Tuesday launched the Fengyun-2H weather satellite, successfully inserting the near 1.4-metric-ton spacecraft into a geostationary-transfer orbit.

Fengyun-2H launched by Long March-3A rocket

The Long March 3A launch vehicle lifted off from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 09:07 a.m. Eastern, in accordance with airspace closure notices published days in advance.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced success of the launch just under an hour after liftoff.

Fengyun-2H satellite. Image Credit: CASC

Fengyun-2H is the eighth and final of the Fengyun-2 series of spin-stabilized weather satellites for geostationary orbit, development of which began in the 1980s under CASC.

The satellite is equipped with a Stretched Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (S-VISSR) for multi-purpose weather satellite imagery, a Space Environment Monitor (SEM), a Solar X-ray Monitor (SXM) and Data Collection Service (DCS).

Fengyun-2H is designed with a lifetime of at least four years and will be positioned at 79 degrees East, after on-orbit testing at 86.5 degrees East. It will be operated by the National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC) of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

For more information about China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC): http://english.spacechina.com/n16421/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: CASC/Spacenews.com/Andrew Jones.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Rocket Ready to Blast Off New Crew Wednesday Morning












ISS - Expedition 56 Mission patch.

June 5, 2018

The Soyuz rocket that will launch three new Expedition 56-57 crew members to the International Space Station stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Alexander Gerst are in quarantine today preparing to blast off Wednesday at 7:12 a.m. EDT on a two-day trip to the station. Live NASA TV coverage begins at 6:15 a.m.


Image above: The Soyuz MS-09 rocket is pictured standing at its launch pad on a clear blue day at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Image Credit: NASA.

The trio representing Roscosmos, NASA and the European Space Agency will orbit Earth for two days before arriving at the station’s Rassvet module Friday at 9:07 a.m. The crew will enter its new home after the hatches open around 11:30 a.m. to begin a six-month mission aboard the orbital laboratory. NASA TV will begin its live docking coverage Friday starting at 8:15 a.m.

Three veteran station residents will greet the newcomers Wednesday when Expedition 56 grows to its full complement of six team members. Station Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineers Ricky Arnold and Oleg Artemyev have been living in space since March 21 and will help familiarize their new crewmates with station systems and safety procedures.


Image above: In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 56 crew members Serena Aunon-Chancellor of NASA (left), Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (center) and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (right) pose for pictures in front of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft May 20 as part of their first fit check dress rehearsal activities. They will launch June 6 on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft from Baikonur for a six-month mission on the International Space Station. Image Credits: NASA/Victor Zelentsov.

Meanwhile, the three orbiting Expedition 56 crewmates managed to work on scientific gear and prepare for next week’s spacewalk. Feustel cleaned samples cartridges inside the Electro-Static Levitation Furnace as Arnold readied the Plant Habitat-01 for upcoming botany research. The duo also assembled and tested spacewalking gear ahead of a June 14 spacewalk to install wireless communications gear on the Harmony module.

Related links:

Expedition 56-57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/future.html

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Electro-Static Levitation Furnace: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1536

Plant Habitat-01: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=2036

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Roscosmos: https://www.energia.ru/english/index.html

NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/

European Space Agency (ESA): https://www.esa.int/ESA

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

SpaceX - SES-12 Mission Success












SpaceX - Falcon 9 / SES-12 Mission patch.

June 5, 2018


Image above: After the rocket’s nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 40.

SpaceX successfully launched the SES-12 satellite to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) on Monday, June 4, 2018 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Liftoff occurred at 12:45 a.m. EDT. The SES-12 satellite was deployed about 32 minutes after liftoff.

Falcon 9’s first stage for the SES-12 mission previously supported the OTV-5 mission from Launch Complex 39A in September 2017. SpaceX did not attempt to recover Falcon 9’s first stage after launch.

SES-12 Mission

SES 12 weighs 11,867 pounds (5,383 kilograms) with its supply of xenon propellant for the electric thrusters, while a satellite with similar capability would weigh up to 10 metric tons if it carried the customary hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants used by conventional spacecraft.

SES 12 satellite

The weight savings allowed SES to fit SES 12 on a smaller, less expensive rocket, and permitted engineers to combine two communications missions into one spacecraft. SES 12 will provide direct-to-home television broadcasts, video and data relay services, and broadband connectivity across the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific, and Australia during its 15-year mission.


Image above: The SES 12 satellite separates from the Falcon 9 rocket in a geostationary transfer orbit with a perigee of 182 miles (294 kilometers) and a targeted apogee of around 36,357 miles (58,511 kilometers), with an apogee range plus or minus approximately 300 miles (500 kilometers).

SES 12 will use its plasma jets to climb into a circular geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator after deployment from the Falcon 9 rocket in an elliptical transfer orbit.

For more information about SES, visit: https://www.ses.com/

For more information about SpaceX, visit: http://www.spacex.com/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: SpaceX/Airbus/Spaceflight Now.com/Stephen Clark.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

lundi 4 juin 2018

Mighty Odysseus












NASA - Cassini Mission to Saturn patch.

June 4, 2018


The most visually striking feature on Saturn’s icy moon Tethys is Odysseus crater. An enormous impact created the crater, which is about 280 miles (450 kilometers) across, with its ring of steep cliffs and the mountains that rise at its center. Odysseus is on the leading hemisphere of Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across). In this image, north on Tethys is up.

This view is a composite of several images taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 17, 2015, at a distance of about 28,000 miles (44,500 kilometers) from Tethys.

The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017.

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and https://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.

Image, Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch