vendredi 24 mai 2019

Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration to join Pioneer-IODA project









ESA - European Space Agency patch.

24 May 2019

Space cameras to monitor the deployment of satellites and check the health of spacecraft will be developed under the Pioneer-IODA project by Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

The contract falls under ESA’s Pioneer-IODA Partnership Project, which helps companies to develop new technologies and demonstrate them in space—often a pre-requisite to their market acceptance. The initiative forms part of ESA’s programme of Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES).

Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration has 20 years’ experience of developing lightweight, low cost, low power consumption cameras, making them ideal for use on satellites.

 Cameras will be developed to track the condition of satellites

The company will now develop an imaging platform composed of several cameras and control electronics with advanced processing capabilities that can be configured for different applications, including the mapping and characterisation of space debris.

Stephane Beauvivre, chief executive of Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration, said: “We are delighted to join the ESA ARTES Pioneer Partnership Project and to promote innovation in New Space in partnership and collaboration with Airbus as the prime of Pioneer-IODA. This opportunity allows us to demonstrate in orbit a complete payload and to characterise its behaviour in real space conditions, as well as its performance with several use cases. We are grateful to the institutional partners to support this initiative, allowing us to bring our innovations to the market.”

The Pioneer-IODA project comprises a ground segment and a space segment based on a customized OneWeb platform (also called the ArrOW platform) with multi-mission payload hosting capabilities.

Claude Lorda, Airbus space project manager, said: “Following the success of the first six OneWeb satellites, we now see a much clearer path to further develop the potential of the ArrOW platform and its capabilities for hosting and demonstrating innovative technologies in orbit.”

Khalil Kably, ESA Pioneer Programme manager said: “The Pioneer Partnership Project is all about innovation validation in orbit, in the most cost-effective environment. We are delighted to support space champion partners who take up the challenge to achieve this, such as Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration.”

Related links:

Pioneer for in-orbit demonstration: https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/Pioneer_for_in-orbit_demonstration

Telecommunications & Integrated Applications: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications

About ARTES: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/ARTES/About_ARTES

Image, Text, Credit: European Space Agency (ESA).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Biology, Physics and Suit Checks Start Memorial Weekend











ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

May 24, 2019

The Expedition 59 crew is starting the Memorial Day weekend studying biology, physics and orbital manufacturing techniques. The space residents will also be busy on the U.S. holiday conducting more research and getting ready for the year’s fourth spacewalk at the International Space Station on Wednesday.

Astronaut David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) analyzed his own blood sample today testing the new Bio-Analyzer. The biomedical device from the CSA tests a variety of biomarkers to measure molecular signs of health on the station. He also worked on another biology platform that can produce gravity levels up to 2g for research on an array of materials and small organisms.


Image above: The aurora australis, also known as the “southern lights,” is pictured as the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above the Indian Ocean south of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Image Credit: NASA.

Japan’s Kibo laboratory module enables astronauts to place and retrieve space exposure experiments outside of the orbiting lab. Flight Engineer Nick Hague swapped some of those exposed samples today from a platform inside Kibo. The long-running materials exposure studies at the station help scientists understand how microgravity and radiation affect a variety of materials.

Christina Koch of NASA continued exploring the production of superior quality optical fibers inside the U.S. Destiny lab module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox. The variety of elements used in the manufacturing process are difficult to control on Earth with gravity bearing down on them. The space-created samples will be analyzed on the ground for their potential to improve a variety of applications such as medicine, navigation, communication and atmospheric monitoring.

 Flying over aurora aboard ISS. Animation Credits: NASA/JSC/Hirai Mamoru

At the end of the day, Flight Engineer Anne McClain checked out emergency space navigation techniques using a sextant. She peered at constellations from the cupola during an orbital night period while inspecting and calibrating the hand-held device.

Meanwhile, Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin continued setting up their spacesuits and tools today. Next week they will review procedures and timelines for their approximately six-hour spacewalk for external maintenance scheduled for around 11:45 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

NASA Television to Air Russian Spacewalk at International Space Station

Two veteran Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk Wednesday, May 29, to retrieve science experiments and conduct maintenance on the orbiting laboratory. Live coverage of the activity will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Expedition 59 Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin are scheduled to open the hatch to the Pirs docking compartment airlock at 11:44 a.m. EDT on May 29 for a spacewalk expected to last 6.5 hours. Live coverage of the spacewalk will begin at 11:15 a.m.


Image above: Russian spacewalkers Oleg Kononenko (suit with red stripes) and Sergey Prokopyev (suit with blue stripes) work outside the International Space Station, more than 250 miles above Earth to inspect the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, on Dec. 11, 2018. Image Credit: NASA.

Kononenko, who will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1), in the suit with blue stripes, and Ovchinin, who will be EV2, in the suit with red stripes, will install handrails on the Russian segment of the complex, retrieve science experiments from the Poisk module’s hull, and conduct maintenance work. The spacewalk will be the 217th in support of station assembly, maintenance and upgrades and the fourth outside the station this year.

This will be the fifth spacewalk in Kononenko’s career and the first for Ovchinin, who will become station commander next month. Kononenko is scheduled to return to Earth June 24, with crewmates Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, wrapping up a six-and-a-half-month mission living and working in space.

Related links:

Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html

Bio-Analyzer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/bioanalyzer-biomedical-analysis

Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory

Optical fibers: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7630

Microgravity Science Glovebox: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=341

Sextant: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7646

NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/live

Spacewalk: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/spacewalks/

Moon in 2024: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moon2mars/

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), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

SpaceX - STARLINK Mission Success













SpaceX - Falcon 9 / STARLINK Mission patch.

May 24, 2019

Lift-off

On Thursday, May 23 at 10:30 p.m. EDT SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. SpaceX’s Starlink is a next-generation satellite network capable of connecting the globe, especially reaching those who are not yet connected, with reliable and affordable broadband internet services.

Falcon 9’s first stage for this mission previously supported the Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission in September 2018 and the Iridium-8 mission in January 2019. Following stage separation, SpaceX landed Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX’s first Starlink mission

Approximately one hour and two minutes after liftoff, the Starlink satellites were deployed at an altitude of 440km. They then used onboard propulsion to reach an operational altitude of 550km.

The 60 small satellites, each with a flat-panel design and built by an in-house SpaceX team, will be joined by hundreds more Starlink craft over the next year to fill out the network’s preliminary constellation. Eventually, SpaceX says thousands of Starlink satellites may be launched to provide high-speed Internet services to consumers around the world.


Image above: Artist’s concept of a Starlink satellite with its solar array wing unfurled. Image Credit: SpaceX.

Each satellite carries a krypton ion propulsion system and Ku-band antennas to continue in-orbit demonstrations of SpaceX’s planned broadband network, which may eventually number up to 12,000 small relay stations in low Earth orbit.

Future Starlink satellites will carry Ka-band and V-band radio transmission hardware, along with laser inter-satellite links to allow signals to bounce between spacecraft in orbit, rather than going through a ground station.

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

Images, Video, Text, Credits: SpaceX/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

jeudi 23 mai 2019

ATLAS surveys new supersymmetry territory













CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research logo.

23 May, 2019

New studies from the ATLAS collaboration search for hypothetical “supersymmetric” particles around uncharted corners 

The ATLAS detector (Image: CERN)

Experiments have confirmed the Standard Model of particle physics time and again. But the model is incomplete. Among other features, it cannot explain dark matter, or the small mass of the Higgs boson or why the forces acting between particles do not unify at high energies. Give each particle a “superpartner”, however, and these three problems could disappear. If such superpartners, which are predicted by an extension of the Standard Model called supersymmetry, exist and are not too weighty, then they could turn up in data from proton collisions collected by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

At the Large Hadron Collider Physics (LHCP) conference, taking place this week in Puebla, Mexico, the ATLAS collaboration reported new searches for three such superpartners around uncharted regions of particle masses.

The Standard Model classifies particles as either fermions or bosons depending on a property known as spin, which can be thought of as the rotation of a system around its axis. The fermions, which make up matter, all have half of a unit of spin. The bosons, which carry forces, have 0, 1 or 2 units of spin.

Supersymmetry predicts that each fermion or boson in the Standard Model has a superpartner with a spin that differs by half of a unit. That is, bosons are accompanied by superpartner fermions and vice versa. So, for example, an electron has a superpartner called selectron and a Higgs boson has a superpartner called a Higgsino; superpartners of bosons get the suffix “ino” and those of fermions get the prefix “s”.

In its latest supersymmetry studies, the ATLAS collaboration has sifted through the entire proton–proton collision data collected by the experiment during the LHC’s second run, which took place between 2015 and 2018, to look for signs of staus and higgsinos; staus are the superpartners of heavier versions of the electron called taus. Such superpartners are expected to be produced in very little amounts at the LHC and to be unstable, so the ATLAS team searched for them by tracking particles into which they can transform, or “decay”.

In the search for staus, ATLAS looked for pairs of staus each decaying into a tau and a hypothetical “lightest supersymmetric particle”, which would be invisible and a possible candidate for dark matter. Each tau further decays into composite particles called hadrons and an invisible neutrino. The invisible particles are detected by identifying missing momentum in the collisions: if the combined momentum of the particles that are produced in a proton–proton collision does not match the momentum of the two protons in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the proton beams, it is deduced that an invisible particle carried away the missing momentum.

Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Animation Credit: CERN

The collaboration explored an unprecedented range of possible masses for the stau, but did not see any signs of this superpartner in the data. However, it was able to place the tightest limits yet on the stau mass.

Meanwhile, the higgsinos search focused on higgsinos transforming into pairs of electrons or muons with very low momenta; like the taus, muons are also heavier versions of the electron. Such low-momenta particles are very hard to catch, but the collaboration was able to expand this search to the lowest-yet measured muon momenta for ATLAS. Just like for the staus search, this search did not reveal any signs of higgsinos, but the results led to stronger limits on their mass than those previously obtained by ATLAS and by the LHC’s predecessor the Large Electron–Positron collider.

For more information about these studies and the mass limits obtained, see the ATLAS website: https://atlas.cern/updates/physics-briefing/searching-electroweak-susy

Note:

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.

The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.

Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 23 Member States.

Related links:

Standard Model: https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model

Dark matter: https://home.cern/science/physics/dark-matter

Higgs boson: https://home.cern/science/physics/higgs-boson

Supersymmetry: https://home.cern/science/physics/supersymmetry

Large Hadron Collider (LHC): https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider

Large Hadron Collider Physics (LHCP): https://indico.cern.ch/event/687651/

Large Electron–Positron collider: https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-electron-positron-collider

For more information about European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Visit: https://home.cern/

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: CERN/Ana Lopes.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

DNA, Physics and Robotics Pack Station Research Schedule Today











ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

May 23, 2019

The Expedition 59 astronauts focused on DNA editing, high-end physics and free-flying robotics aboard the International Space Station today. Two cosmonauts are also ramping up their preparations for next week’s spacewalk.

A docked Russian cargo craft fired its thrusters for 20 minutes today increasing the station’s altitude by about 2.5 miles. The orbital reboost places the station in the correct trajectory for the undocking and landing of three Expedition 59 crewmembers June 24.


Image above: NASA astronaut Nick Hague of Expedition 59 sequences DNA samples for a study exploring how increased exposure to space radiation impacts crew health. Image Credit: NASA.

The wide range of advanced space research taking place every day on the orbiting lab benefits humans on Earth and in space. Scientists use the results to treat terrestrial ailments and the negative impacts of microgravity more effectively. Engineers also take the data to improve industrial and commercial processes and design safer, more advanced spacecraft and habitats as NASA prepares to go to the Moon in 2024.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague is researching how space radiation damages DNA today using the CRISPR genome-editing tool. The Genes in Space-6 study also uses DNA extraction and sequencing tools to observe how the damaged DNA repairs itself in space. Results may advance the development of treatments for radiation exposure hazards in harsh environments.

Space manufacturing eliminates the detrimental effect of Earth’s gravity and may provide superior results than on the ground. Flight Engineer Christina Koch of NASA set up hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox to explore the production of high-quality optical fibers on the station. The study seeks to create a high commercial value product benefitting both Earth and space industries.

International Space Station (ISS). Image Credit: NASA

The Astrobee robotic assistant is being checked out today by Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques. He set up the cube-shaped robotic free flyer to map the inside the of Kibo laboratory module and spun it rapidly afterward calibrating its navigation camera. Astrobee is being tested for its ability to perform routine maintenance duties and provide additional lab monitoring capabilities.

Two cosmonauts are ensuring their physical readiness and outfitting a pair of Russian Orlan spacesuits ahead of a May 29 spacewalk. Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin each spent over an hour on an exercise bike today measuring their cardiovascular response. Flight surgeons want to make sure the spacewalkers are able to endure the several hours of intense physical exertion. The duo also installed lights and other components onto the spacesuits.

Related links:

Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html

Advanced space research: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

Space radiation damages DNA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/studying-dna-breaks-in-space

Genes in Space-6: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7893

Microgravity Science Glovebox: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=341

High-quality optical fibers: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7630

Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory

Moon in 2024: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moon2mars/

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

NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Lunar Gateway Power, Propulsion












NASA logo.

May 23, 2019


Image above: The power and propulsion element provides a communications relay capability for NASA's Gateway, enabling it to serve as a mobile command and service module for human and robotic expeditions to the lunar surface. Image Credit: NASA.

In one of the first steps of the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration plans, NASA announced on Thursday the selection of Maxar Technologies, formerly SSL, in Westminster, Colorado, to develop and demonstrate power, propulsion and communications capabilities for NASA’s lunar Gateway.

“The power and propulsion element is the foundation of Gateway and a fine example of how partnerships with U.S. companies can help expedite NASA’s return to the Moon with the first woman and next man by 2024,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “It will be the key component upon which we will build our lunar Gateway outpost, the cornerstone of NASA’s sustainable and reusable Artemis exploration architecture on and around the Moon.”

The power and propulsion element is a high-power, 50-kilowatt solar electric propulsion spacecraft – three times more powerful than current capabilities. As a mobile command and service module, the Gateway provides a communications relay for human and robotic expeditions to the lunar surface, starting at the Moon’s South Pole.


Image above: The power and propulsion element of NASA's Gateway is a high-power, 50-kilowatt solar electric propulsion spacecraft – three times more powerful than current capabilities. Image Credit: NASA.

This firm-fixed price award includes an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity portion and carries a maximum total value of $375 million. The contract begins with a 12-month base period of performance and is followed by a 26-month option, a 14-month option and two 12-month options.

Spacecraft design will be completed during the base period, after which the exercise of options will provide for the development, launch, and in-space flight demonstration. The flight demonstration will last as long as one year, during which the spacecraft will be fully owned and operated by Maxar. Following a successful demonstration, NASA will have the option to acquire the spacecraft for use as the first element of the Gateway. NASA is targeting launch of the power and propulsion element on a commercial rocket in late 2022.

“We’re excited to demonstrate our newest technology on the power and propulsion element. Solar electric propulsion is extremely efficient, making it perfect for the Gateway,” said Mike Barrett, power and propulsion element project manager at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. “This system requires much less propellant than traditional chemical systems, which will allow the Gateway to move more mass around the Moon, like a human landing system and large modules for living and working in orbit.”

Charged with returning to the Moon within five years, NASA’s lunar exploration plans are based on a two-phase approach: the first is focused on speed – landing on the Moon by 2024 – while the second will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028. We then will use what we learn on the Moon to prepare to send astronauts to Mars.

For more information about NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration plans, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars/lunar-outpost

NASA’s lunar exploration plans: https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/04/sending-american-astronauts-to-moon-in.html

Moon to Mars: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars/

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Karen Northon/Bettina Inclán/Gina Anderson/Glenn Research Center/Jimi Russell.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Clocks, gravity, and the limits of relativity












ESA - Columbus Space Lab patch.

23 May 2019

The International Space Station will host the most precise clocks ever to leave Earth. Accurate to a second in 300 million years the clocks will push the measurement of time to test the limits of the theory of relativity and our understanding of gravity.

Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicted that gravity and speed influences time, the faster you travel the more time slows down, but also the more gravity pulling on you the more time slows down.

European space laboratory Columbus where ACES will be installed

On 29 May 1919 Einstein’s theory was first put to the test when Arthur Eddington observed light “bending” around the Sun during a solar eclipse. Forty years later, the Pound-Rebka experiment first measured the redshift effect induced by gravity in a laboratory – but a century later scientists are still searching for the limits of the theory.

“The theory of relativity describes our Universe on the large scale, but on the border with the infinitesimally small scale the theory does not jibe and it remains inconsistent with quantum mechanics,” explains Luigi Cacciapuoti, ESA’s Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) project scientist. “Today’s attempts at unifying general relativity and quantum mechanics predict violations of the Einstein’s equivalence principle.”

Negative photo of the 1919 solar eclipse

Einstein’s principle details how gravity interferes with time and space. One of its most interesting manifestations is time dilation due to gravity. This effect has been proven by comparing clocks at different altitudes such as on mountains, in valleys and in space. Clocks at higher altitude show time passes faster with respect to a clock on the Earth surface as there is less gravity from Earth the farther you are from our planet.

Flying at 400 km altitude on the Space Station, the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space will make more precise measurements than ever before.

Internet of clocks

ACES will create an “internet of clocks”, connecting the most accurate atomic timepieces the world over and compare their timekeeping with the ones on humankind’s weightless laboratory as it flies overhead.

Comparing time down to a stability of hundreds femtoseconds – one millionth of a billionth of a second – requires techniques that push the limits of current technology. ACES has two ways for the clocks to transmit their data, a microwave link and an optical link. Both connections exchange two-way timing signals between the ground stations and the space terminal, when the timing signal heads upwards to the Space Station and when it returns down to Earth.

ACES clock

The unprecedented accuracy this setup offers brings some nice bonuses to the ACES experiment. Clocks on the ground will be compared among themselves providing local measurements of geopotential differences, helping scientists to study our planet and its gravity.

The frequencies of the laser and microwave links will help understand how light and radio waves propagate through the troposphere and ionosphere thus providing information on climate. Finally, the internet of clocks will allow scientists to distribute time and to synchronise their clocks worldwide for large-scale Earth-based experiments and for other applications that require precise timing.

Columbus module with ACES

“The next generation of atomic clocks and the link techniques that we are developing could one-day be used to observe gravitational waves themselves as ESA’s proposed LISA mission,” adds Luigi, “but right now ACES will help us test as best we can Einstein’s theory of general relativity, searching for tiny violations that, if found, might open a window to a new theory of physics that must come.”

The clocks have been tested and integrated on the ACES payload and the microwave link for ACES is undergoing tests before final integration with the full experiment. ACES will be ready for launch to the Space Station by 2020.

Related links:

European space laboratory Columbus: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Columbus

Pound-Rebka experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound%E2%80%93Rebka_experiment

International Space Station Benefits for Humanity: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station_Benefits_for_Humanity

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/D. Ducros/NASA/Royal Astronomical Society/CNES.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

A unique experiment to explore black holes













ESA - LISA Mission patch.

23 May 2019

What happens when two supermassive black holes collide? Combining the observing power of two future ESA missions, Athena and LISA, would allow us to study these cosmic clashes and their mysterious aftermath for the first time.

Black holes after a merger

Supermassive black holes, with masses ranging from millions to billions of Suns, sit at the core of most massive galaxies across the Universe. We don’t know exactly how these huge, enormously dense objects took shape, nor what triggers a fraction of them to start devouring the surrounding matter at extremely intense rates, radiating copiously across the electromagnetic spectrum and turning their host galaxies into ‘active galactic nuclei’.

Tackling these open questions in modern astrophysics is among the main goals of two future missions in ESA’s space science programme: Athena, the Advanced Telescope for High-ENergy Astrophysics, and LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Currently in the study phase, both missions are scheduled for launch in the early 2030s.

Merging black holes

“Athena and LISA are both outstanding missions set to make breakthroughs in many areas of astrophysics,” says Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science.

“But there is one extremely exciting experiment that we could only perform if both missions are operational at the same time for at least a few years: bringing sound to the ‘cosmic movies’ by observing the merger of supermassive black holes both in X-rays and gravitational waves.

“With this unique opportunity to perform unprecedented observations of one of the most fascinating phenomena in the cosmos, the synergy between Athena and LISA would greatly increase the scientific return from both missions, ensuring European leadership in a key, novel area of research.”

Athena will be the largest X-ray observatory ever built, investigating some of the hottest and most energetic phenomena in the cosmos with unprecedented accuracy and depth.

It is designed to answer two fundamental questions: how supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies form and evolve, and how ‘ordinary’ matter assembles, along with the invisible dark matter, to form the wispy ‘cosmic web’ that pervades the Universe.

“Athena is going to measure several hundreds of thousands of black holes, from relatively nearby to far away, observing the X-ray emission from the million-degree-hot matter in their surroundings,” says Matteo Guainazzi, Athena study scientist at ESA.

“We are in particular interested in the most distant black holes, those that formed in the first few hundred million years of the Universe’s history, and we hope we’ll be able to finally understand how they formed.”

Meanwhile, LISA will be the first space-borne observatory of gravitational waves – fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime produced by the acceleration of cosmic objects with very strong gravity fields, like pairs of merging black holes.

Gravitational-wave astronomy, inaugurated only a few years ago, is currently limited to the high-frequency waves that can be probed by ground-based experiments like LIGO and Virgo. These experiments are sensitive to the mergers of relatively small black holes – a few times to a few tens of times more massive than the Sun. LISA will expand these studies by detecting low-frequency gravitational waves, such as the ones released when two supermassive black holes collide during a merger of galaxies.

Two merging supermassive black holes

“LISA will be the first mission of its kind, looking primarily for gravitational waves coming from supermassive black holes smashing into one another,” explains Paul McNamara, LISA study scientist at ESA.

“This is one of the most energetic phenomena we know of, releasing more energy than all the quiescent Universe does at any time. If two supermassive black holes merge anywhere in the cosmos, LISA will see it.”

The first few gravitational wave events detected by LIGO and Virgo between 2015 and 2017 all originated from pairs of stellar-mass black holes, which are known to not radiate any light upon coalescence. Then, in August 2017, gravitational waves coming from a different source – the merger of two neutron stars – were discovered.

This time, the gravitational waves were accompanied by radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, readily observed with a multitude of telescopes on Earth and in space. By combining information from the various types of observations in an approach known as multi-messenger astronomy, scientists could delve into the details of this never-before-observed phenomenon.

With Athena and LISA together, we would be able to apply multi-messenger astronomy to supermassive black holes for the first time. Simulations predict that their mergers, unlike those of their stellar-mass counterparts, emit both gravitational waves and radiation – the latter originating in the hot, interstellar gas of the two colliding galaxies stirred by the black holes pair when they fall towards one another.

The merger of supermassive black holes

LISA will detect the gravitational waves emitted by the spiralling black holes about a month before their final coalescence, when they are still separated by a distance equivalent to several times their radii. Scientists expect that a fraction of the mergers found by LISA, especially those within distances of a few billion light years from us, will give rise to an X-ray signal that can be eventually seen by Athena.

“When LISA first detects a signal, we won’t know yet where exactly it’s coming from, because LISA is an all-sky sensor, so it works more like a microphone than a telescope,” explains Paul.

“However, as the black holes inspiral towards each other, the amplitude of their gravitational wave signal increases. This, coupled with the motion of the satellites along their orbits, will allow LISA to gradually improve the localisation of the source in the sky, up until the time when the black holes finally merge.”

A few days before the final phase of the merger, the gravitational wave data will constrain the position of the source to a patch on the sky measuring about 10 square degrees – roughly 50 times the area of the full Moon. This is still pretty large, but would allow Athena to start scanning the sky to search for an X-ray signal from this titanic clash. Simulations indicate that the two spiralling black holes modulate the motion of the surrounding gas, so it is likely that the X-ray signature will have a  frequency commensurate to that of the gravitational wave signal.

Then, just a few hours before the final coalescence of the black holes, LISA can provide a much more precise indication in the sky, roughly the size of the field of view of Athena’s Wide Field Imager (WFI), so the X-ray observatory can directly point towards the source.

“Catching the X-ray signal before the black holes become one will be very challenging, but we are pretty confident that we can make a detection during and after the merger,” explains Matteo.

“We could see the emergence of a new X-ray source, and perhaps witness the birth of an active galactic nucleus, with jets of high-energy particles being launched at close to the speed of light above and beyond the newly formed black hole.”

Negative photo of the 1919 solar eclipse

We have never observed merging supermassive black holes – we do not yet have the facilities for such observations. First, we need LISA to detect the gravitational waves and tell us where to look in the sky; then we need Athena to observe it with high precision in X-rays to see how the mighty collision affects the gas surrounding the black holes. We can use theory and simulations to predict what might happen, but we need to combine these two great missions to find out.

One hundred years ago this month, on 29 May 1919, observations of the positions of stars during a total eclipse of the Sun provided the first empirical evidence of the gravitational bending of light predicted a few years earlier by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

This historic eclipse inaugurated a century of gravity experiments on Earth and in space, setting the stage for inspiring missions like Athena and LISA, and more exciting discoveries.

Notes for editors:

Athena was selected as the second large (L2) mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme in 2014, and LISA as the third large (L3) mission in 2017. The additional science that could be performed with both missions operating jointly is described in a 2019 white paper by the Athena-LISA synergy working group.

Athena is an ESA-led mission with important contributions from NASA and JAXA. The WFI instrument is provided by an international consortium led by the Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, involving several ESA Member States and the US. Under the management of CNES, the X-IFU instrument is provided by an international consortium led by France, The Netherlands, and Italy, furthermore involving several ESA Member States, Japan and the US.

LISA is an ESA-led mission with important contributions from NASA. The LISA Consortium, led by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Germany, involves several ESA Member States and the US.

Note:

On Earth, we deal with gravity every day. We feel it, we fight it, and – more importantly – we investigate it. Space agencies such as ESA routinely launch spacecraft against our planet’s gravity, and sometimes these spacecraft borrow the gravity of Earth or other planets to reach interesting places in the Solar System. We study the gravity field of Earth from orbit, and fly experiments on parabolic flights, sounding rockets and the International Space Station to examine a variety of systems under different gravitational conditions. On the grandest scales, our space science missions explore how gravity affects planets, stars and galaxies across the cosmos and probe how matter behaves in the strong gravitational field created by some of the Universe’s most extreme objects like black holes. Join the conversation online this week following the hashtag #GravityRules

Related links:

Athena: http://sci.esa.int/athena/

LISA: http://sci.esa.int/lisa/

Athena-LISA paper: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/documents/678316/1700384/Athena_LISA_Whitepaper_Iss1.0.pdf

Images, Animation, Text, Credits: ESA/Markus Bauer/Paul McNamara/Matteo Guainazzi.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

mercredi 22 mai 2019

Midweek Immunology Research and Spacewalk Preps for Lab Residents











ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

May 22, 2019

Immunology research has been keeping the Expedition 59 astronauts busy since the SpaceX Dragon space freighter delivered new science gear in early May. Two cosmonauts are also one week away from starting the fourth spacewalk this year at the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain was back inside Japan’s Kibo laboratory module today observing how the immune systems of mice, which are similar to humans, respond to the lack of gravity. She teamed up with Flight Engineers Christina Koch and David Saint-Jacques for the on-orbit research to help doctors improve astronauts’ immunity in space. The potential for advanced vaccines and therapies may also benefit Earthlings as well as future astronauts exploring the Moon and beyond.


Image above: This oblique nighttime view of Western Europe and the well-lit coasts (from left) of Spain, France and Italy was taken from the International Space Station as it orbited 256 miles above the Mediterranean Sea. Image Credit: NASA.

A variety of other space biology and human research took place today as Flight Engineer Nick Hague collected and stowed his blood and urine samples for later scientific analysis. He also worked on the Biolab hardware before stowing the Biomolecule Sequencer that sequences DNA aboard the space station. The advanced science gear is part of the Genes In Space-6 experiment researching how space radiation impacts DNA and the cell repair mechanism.

Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin were back on spacesuit duty today. The Roscosmos cosmonauts transferred their Orlan spacesuits to the Pirs airlock and installed portable repressurization tanks in the Russian lab module. Next week they will review procedures and timelines for their approximately six-hour spacewalk for external maintenance scheduled for Wednesday, May 29.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

A docked Russian Progress cargo craft will fire its engines for 20 minutes raising the station’s orbit on Thursday. The reboost will place the orbiting complex in the correct trajectory for the undocking and landing of three Expedition 59 crewmembers June 24.

Related links:

Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html

SpaceX Dragon: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory

Biomolecule Sequencer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1917

Biolab hardware: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=66

Genes In Space-6: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7893

Pirs airlock: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs-docking-compartment

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA Invites Public to Help Asteroid Mission Choose Sample Site












NASA - OSIRIS-REx Mission patch.

May 22, 2019

Citizen scientists assemble! NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu needs extra pairs of eyes to help choose its sample collection site on the asteroid – and to look for anything else that might be scientifically interesting.


Image above: This image shows a view of asteroid Bennu’s surface in a region near the equator. It was taken by the PolyCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on March 21 from a distance of 2.2 miles (3.5 km). The field of view is 158.5 ft (48.3 m). For scale, the light-colored rock in the upper left corner of the image is 24 ft (7.4 m) wide. Image Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has been at Bennu since Dec. 3, 2018, mapping the asteroid in detail, while the mission team searches for a sample collection site that is safe, conducive to sample collection and worthy of closer study. One of the biggest challenges of this effort, which the team discovered after arriving at the asteroid five months ago, is that Bennu has an extremely rocky surface and each boulder presents a danger to the spacecraft’s safety. To expedite the sample selection process, the team is asking citizen scientist volunteers to develop a hazard map by counting boulders.

“For the safety of the spacecraft, the mission team needs a comprehensive catalog of all the boulders near the potential sample collection sites, and I invite members of the public to assist the OSIRIS-REx mission team in accomplishing this essential task,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

For this effort, NASA is partnering with CosmoQuest, a project run out of the Planetary Science Institute that supports citizen science initiatives. Volunteers will perform the same tasks that planetary scientists do – measuring Bennu’s boulders and mapping its rocks and craters – through the use of a simple web interface. They will also mark other scientifically interesting features on the asteroid for further investigation.

The boulder mapping work involves a high degree of precision, but it is not difficult. The CosmoQuest mapping app requires a computer with a larger screen and a mouse or trackpad capable of making precise marks. To help volunteers get started, the CosmoQuest team provides an interactive tutorial, as well as additional user assistance through a Discord community and livestreaming sessions on Twitch.

“We are very pleased and excited to make OSIRIS-REx images available for this important citizen science endeavor,” said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. “Bennu has surprised us with an abundance of boulders. We ask for citizen scientists’ help to evaluate this rugged terrain so that we can keep our spacecraft safe during sample collection operations.”


Image above: This image shows the wide variety of boulder shapes, sizes and compositions found on asteroid Bennu. It was taken by the PolyCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on March 28 from a distance of 2.1 miles (3.4 km). The field of view is 162.7 ft (49.6 m). For scale, the large, light-colored boulder at the top of the image is 15.7 ft (4.8 m) tall. Image Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona.

Sample return isn’t new for NASA – this year, the agency is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo missions to the Moon, which allowed astronauts to bring back 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of rocks and lunar soil. Those samples helped scientists discover that the Moon has water locked in its rocks and even permanently frozen in craters. These findings and others inspired the agency to create the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon by 2024 and start preparing for human exploration on Mars.

“The OSIRIS-REx mission will continue the Apollo legacy by giving scientists precious samples of an asteroid,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These samples will help scientists discover the secrets of planetary formation and the origins of our planet Earth.”

The Bennu mapping campaign continues through July 10, when the mission begins the sample site selection process. Once primary and secondary sites are selected, the spacecraft will begin closer reconnaissance to map the two sites to sub-centimeter resolution. The mission’s Touch-and-Go (TAG) sampling maneuver is scheduled for July 2020, and the spacecraft will return to Earth with its cargo in September 2023.

OSIRIS-REx sample operation. Image Credit: NASA

Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

To volunteer as a Bennu mapper, visit: http://bennu.cosmoquest.org/

OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/osiris-rex/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tricia Talbert.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Of Strawberry Jelly and Earthquakes: Space Station Investigation Studies Colloids in Microgravity













ISS - International Space Station logo.

May 22, 2019

If you think your strawberry jelly is unrelated to earthquakes, think again.

A new International Space Station investigation, Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-10 (ACE-T-10), is using temperature changes to better understand how colloids – or ‘disordered solids’ – age or fail. Understanding this stress relaxation in disordered solids may provide hints about seismic events on earth. This experiment could also benefit the future exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond by providing insight into material failure.

Colloids are materials where nanoparticles or small droplets of one material are dispersed in a fluid. These soft materials are common in daily life; examples are whipped cream, jelly, fabric softener, milk and muddy water.


Image above: NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold performs maintenance on the Advanced Colloids Experiment Module located inside the Light Microscopy Module. Image Credit: NASA.

ACE-T-10 studies colloids in which the attraction between nanoparticles gets stronger with increased temperature. While at room temperature, the colloid behaves as a liquid. When the suspension is heated to above approximately 40°C, the particles rapidly stick to each other, forming a rigid network that can sustain its own weight – a process called gelation.

This is similar to what happens in the tempering of glass. However, fast gelation produces stresses in the material that progressively relax through a cascade of restructuring events akin to ‘micro-quakes.’ The aftershocks eventually induce larger restructuring events involving the entire gel. These dramatic upheavals of the gel structure can be predicted, at least statistically, because they are heralded by an observable ‘jittery’ stage. ACE-T-10 confocal microscopy images enabled by the space station may allow scientists to highlight the rupture of these microscopic gel strands that is anticipated to lie beneath these curious tremors.


Image above: The Light Microscopy Module (LMM) enables novel research of microscopic phenomena in microgravity, with the capability of remotely acquiring and downloading digital images and videos across many levels of magnification in 3D using confocal microscopy. Image Credit: NASA.

“Temperature plays a dual role in this,” said Primary Investigator Roberto Piazza. “It is the factor that changes the interactions between the particles, making them stick together; at the same time, it is the driving force that promotes the gel’s spontaneous restructuring. On Earth, however, gravity acts as an additional stress on the material that can influence the way the gel restructures. Experiments in microgravity are mandatory to quantify whether gravity (gel weight) plays a relevant role or not.”

The space station’s laboratory provides other benefits as well. “The space station’s Light Microscopy Module (LMM) in the Fluids Integrated Rack allows scientists to control the temperature of the system and provides a 3D structure of the material,” said Stefano Buzzaccaro, co-investigator for ACE-T-10. “In collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), we are developing a light scattering setup that, in combination with the confocal LMM, gives us everything we need to try to understand the problem of gelation.”


Image above: A colloidal gel coarsens when its temperature is increased. Image Credits: Stefano Buzzaccaro, Soft Matter Lab at Politecnico di Milano.

Similar to colloids, the Earth’s crust also releases stress through earthquakes. ACE-T-10 could provide insight into the events that anticipate these quakes, allowing scientists to provide better forecasts of when they might happen.

It can also contribute to predictions related to product shelf life and the failure of structural materials in roads and bridges.

“This is especially important when you are on Mars and you have to construct materials using Martian crust,” said Buzzaccaro. “You can find a method to monitor the damage of the material you use and forecast its failure.”

Food for thought when you make your next colloid and peanut butter sandwich.

Related links:

Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-10 (ACE-T-10): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7881

Light Microscopy Module (LMM): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=531

Fluids Integrated Rack: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=351

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

European Space Agency (ESA): http://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/Michael Johnson/JSC/International Space Station Program Science Office/Andrea Dunn.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

ISRO - PSLV-C46 Mission Success













ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation logo.

May 22, 2019

PSLV-C46 lift-off

India’s PSLV-C46 successfully launched RISAT-2B satellite from of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.

PSLV-CA launches RISAT-2B

PSLV-C46 lifted-off at 05:30 Hrs (IST) on May 22, 2019 from the First Launch Pad of SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. PSLV-C46 was the 72nd launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. In this mission, the 'Core-Alone' configuration of PSLV was flown (without the use of solid strap-on motors).

About 15 minutes and 30 seconds after lift-off, RISAT-2B was injected into an orbit of 555 km at an inclination of 37 degree to the equator.

RISAT-2B

RISAT-2B with a lift-off mass of 615 kg, is a radar imaging earth observation satellite. The satellite is intended to provide services to Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management domains.

For more information about Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO): https://www.isro.gov.in/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: ISRO/Günter Space Page/SciNews.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

mardi 21 mai 2019

Lock the Planck: the kilogram has a new definition













CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research logo.

21 May, 2019

Since yesterday, all SI base units will be defined based on natural constants, with the kilogram the last to join the ranks 


Image above: The Kibble balance built by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology to measure the Planck constant with ultra-high precision (Image: METAS).

Until yesterday, a kilogram was defined as the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK), a platinum–iridium cylinder located in Paris, France. While all the other base units of the International System of Units (SI) had been redefined over the years based on fundamental constants of nature or atomic properties, the kilogram had remained since the late 19th century the only one to rely on a human-made artefact.

This changes yesterday, and metrologists – those who study measurement – are excited. On the occasion of World Metrology Day, which commemorates the signing of the Metre Convention back in 1875, the kilogram has been given a new definition. From now on, it will be defined based on the most precise measurement ever made of the Planck constant, which can be expressed in terms of the SI units kilogram, metre and second. Since the latter two units are already defined by constants of nature, the value of a kilogram can be obtained without relying on comparing it with a physical reference block.

But measuring the Planck constant to a suitably high precision of ten parts per billion required decades of work by international teams across continents, and CERN played a small part in the endeavour.

In 1975, British physicist Bryan Kibble proposed a device, then known as a watt balance and now called the Kibble balance in his honour, which would allow the Planck constant to be measured precisely based on the IPK. Once the precision was achieved, the Planck constant’s value could be fixed and the definitions inverted, removing the kilogram’s dependence on the IPK. Several Kibble balances around the world were constructed to compare measurements, including one in Switzerland. METAS, the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology, has been working on their Kibble balance project for almost two decades, the activity being led by Ali Eichenberger and Henri Baumann. Knowing CERN’s expertise in magnet systems, Eichenberger and Baumann reached out to the Laboratory to help prepare the required magnets.

“I am extremely proud to have participated in this adventure,” says Davide Tommasini from CERN’s Magnets, Superconductors and Cryostats group, who was directly involved in the project. “I do not know if the redefinition of the kilogram has a direct impact on the experiments at CERN, but the past teaches us that there are many new advancements which, at their initial moment, may not appear in their whole potential.”

In 2018, the Kibble balance in Canada measured the Planck constant with necessary ultrahigh precision, allowing a combination of measurements from around the world to help fix its value. But does it affect the value of the kilogram itself? Not really. “The Plank constant has been fixed at 6.626070150 × 10−34 kg⋅m2/s using the IPK as standard,” explains Eichenberger. “So from today, one kilogram will stay the same. If the IPK drifts further with time then its value will change, but any mass calibration will have an uncertainty of the order of 20 parts per billion.”

So while it is a momentous occasion worthy of celebration, you won’t have to recalibrate your bathroom scales just yet.

Note:

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.

The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.

Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 23 Member States.

Related links:

International System of Units (SI): https://www.bipm.org/en/measurement-units/

CERN’s Magnets, Superconductors and Cryostats group: http://te-dep.web.cern.ch/content/magnets-superconductors-and-cryostats-msc

For more information about European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Visit: https://home.cern/

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: CERN/Achintya Rao.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Today’s DNA, Immunity, Time Studies Boost Health in Space and on Earth











ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

May 21, 2019

The Expedition 59 crew is spending all day Tuesday exploring how astronauts adjust with Earth’s gravity no longer bearing down on them. Spacewalk preparations and lab maintenance are also ongoing aboard the International Space Station.

Station crewmembers and future astronauts going to the Moon in 2024 have to adjust to the lack of a sunrise/sunset cycle humans experience everyday on Earth. As a result, time perception is impacted and may affect sleep and work patterns. Astronauts Anne McClain, Nick Hague and David Saint-Jacques started the day on a study, going on since July 2017, exploring subjective changes in time that can alter physical and cognitive performance.


Image above: The full moon is pictured from the International Space Station as the orbiting complex orbited 263 miles above the South Atlantic Ocean. Image Credit: NASA.

Hague later sequenced DNA samples for a study exploring how increased exposure to space radiation impacts crew health. He used the Biomolecule Sequencer for the investigation to demonstrate DNA sequencing in space. The Genes In Space-6 experiment is researching how space radiation damages DNA and how the cell repair mechanism works in microgravity.

Immune system studies continued full speed ahead today to test the hypothesis the immune response decreases in space. Astronaut Christina Koch teamed up with McClain and Saint-Jacques throughout the day observing mice for the study. Observations may help scientists develop advanced vaccines and therapies benefiting both astronauts and Earthlings.

From Day Into Night on the International Space Station

Image above: NASA astronaut Christina Hammock Koch posted this image of Earth taken from aboard the International Space Station. She said: "A couple times a year, theInternational Space Stationorbit happens to align over the day/night shadow line on Earth. We are continuously in sunlight, never passing into Earth’s shadow from the Sun, and the Earth below us is always in dawn or dusk. Beautiful time to cloud watch. #nofilter". Image Credit: NASA.

Commander Oleg Kononenko continues to set up a pair of Russian Orlan spacesuits and outfit the Pirs airlock as the May 29 spacewalk approaches. Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin worked on space cardiology research before switching to space plumbing and pumping urine into the Progress 71 cargo craft.

Related links:

Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html

Time perception: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7504

Biomolecule Sequencer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1917

Genes In Space-6: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7893

Immune system studies: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7868

Space cardiology research: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/11.html

Pirs airlock: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs-docking-compartment

Moon in 2024: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moon2mars/

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

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of May 13, 2019











ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

May 21, 2019

The members of Expedition 59 continued work on dozens of science experiments aboard the International Space Station. Many of these experiments contribute knowledge and technology needed for sustained presence on the moon as well as future longer-term space exploration, as outlined in NASA’s Moon to Mars program.

Here are details on some of the scientific investigations conducted in the orbiting lab the week of May 13:

Protecting kidney health


Image above: NASA astronaut Christina Koch conducts research inside the Life Sciences Glovebox for the Kidney Cells investigation, which seeks better treatments for kidney-related diseases on Earth and on future long-duration space missions. Image Credit: NASA.

Serious medical conditions caused by poor kidney health, including protein in the urine (proteinuria), osteoporosis, and kidney stones, occur more often and more quickly in space. This represents a threat to astronaut health on future missions deeper into space. Kidney Cells examines how microgravity and other factors of space travel affect kidney health. Knowledge gained can contribute to better treatments to protect the health of astronauts on longer duration missions to the moon and Mars and for kidney-related conditions on Earth as well. The crew performed Kidney Cell fixation inside the Life Science Glovebox (LSG) and prepared the hardware for return.

The challenges of gardening in space

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

On future long-duration space missions and to maintain a sustained presence on the moon, crew members need to grow their own food. Understanding how plants respond to microgravity and demonstrating reliable vegetable production on orbit are important steps toward that goal. The crew took photos of the Veggie PONDS modules in order to examine water distribution in the units and determine why the plants do not appear to be growing as expected. The investigation uses a newly developed passive nutrient delivery system and the Veggie plant growth facility to cultivate lettuce and greens on the space station for on-orbit consumption and analysis on Earth.

Overcoming oxidative stress


Image above: Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques installs experiment containers for the Nano Antioxidants investigation, which researches innovative approaches to counteract the negative effects of long-term microgravity exposure on the musculoskeletal system. Image Credit: NASA.

The crew completed an automated run with twelve experiment containers for Nano Antioxidants. This investigation studies innovative approaches to counteract the negative effects of long-term space travel on the musculoskeletal system. This research has numerous potential applications on Earth as well, including new therapies for the elderly and people with muscle atrophy disorders and other diseases involving oxidative stress.

Examining pathogen adaptation to microgravity


Image above: NASA astronaut Nick Hague conducts operations in the Microgravity Sciences Glovebox for the Micro-14 investigation. This study evaluates changes in the yeast Candida albicans in microgravity and characterizes its virulence factors. A better understanding of microbial adaption to environmental stresses contributes to maintenance of crew member health during long-duration spaceflight. Image Credit: NASA.

Micro-14 extends previous studies on the yeast Candida albicans, seeking to define mechanisms behind its cellular adaptation to spaceflight. This investigation evaluates changes at the physiological, cellular, and molecular level and characterizes virulence factors of the yeast. A better understanding of microbial adaption to environmental stresses contributes to maintenance of crew member health during long-duration spaceflight. On Earth, C. albicans can cause severe, life-threatening illness in people with compromised immune systems. The crew used the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) to inoculate the investigation culture bag with the yeast.

Space to Ground: Watching the Earth Breathe: 05/17/2019

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- Rodent Research-12 (RR-12) examines the effects of spaceflight on the function of antibody production and immune memory using a mouse model: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7868

- Food Acceptability examines changes in the appeal of food aboard the space station during long-duration missions. “Menu fatigue” from repeatedly consuming the limited foods available in a closed system may contribute to the loss of body mass often experienced by crew members, potentially affecting astronaut health, especially as mission length increases.: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

- Circadian Rhythms investigates the role of the biological clock and how it changes during long-duration spaceflight in order to help address the effects of spaceflight, including reduced physical activity and microgravity, and protect crew performance and health on future longer missions: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=869

- Genes in Space-6 evaluates the process of DNA repair in space by inducing DNA damage in cells and assessing mutation and repair at the molecular level using the miniPCR and the Biomolecule Sequencer tools aboard the ISS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7893

- MicroAlgae studies the effects of microgravity on Haematococcus pluvialis, a tiny freshwater algae capable of producing astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant that could be useful as a food supplement on long space missions: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7689

- MVP Cell-01 studies a disease called Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis, in which a traumatic joint injury may lead to arthritis after loss of cartilage and bone: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7663

Related links:

Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html

Kidney Cells: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7819

Veggie PONDS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7581

Nano Antioxidants: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7744

Micro-14: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7642

Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=341

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

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 (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Jorge Sotomayor, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 59/60.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch