Quasi-satellite of the Earth - The asteroid Kamoalev

 

Moscow Planetarium logo.

May 8, 2021

A quasi-satellite or quasi-satellite is a space object, the period of revolution of which around the Sun corresponds to the period of revolution of the planet around the Sun, i.e. objects are in orbital resonance 1: 1. This circumstance allows him to stay near the planet for some time.

Sun (yellow), Mercury orbit (grey), Venus orbit (green), Earth orbit (blue), Mars orbit (red)

The Latin prefix quasi means "like", i.e. the object is not a full-fledged satellite of the planet, only temporary, since after a while it leaves its orbit. The Earth had several quasi-satellites. These are asteroids of various sizes - from tens of meters to several kilometers, which remained in the orbits of the quasi-satellite for tens and hundreds of years.

The last quasi-satellite of the Earth was discovered in 2016. This is the asteroid (469219) Kamoalev (previously 2016 HO3), which, according to scientists, began to orbit in the quasi-satellite orbit about 100 years ago. Since the asteroid is with the Earth in an orbital resonance of 1: 1, and the distance between the planet and the asteroid varies quite insignificantly, from the point of view of the terrestrial observer it seems that it revolves not around the Sun, but around the Earth.

In fact, of course, this is not the case. Part of the asteroid's orbit is inside the Earth's orbit, and part is outside, so it either overtakes it when it is inside the Earth's orbit, then lags behind when it is outside, thus creating for the terrestrial observer the illusion of revolution around our planet.

Artist's illustration of the asteroid Kamoalev

Kamoaleva is a very small asteroid with a diameter of approximately 40-100 meters, from the Apollo group. Since it was discovered with the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii, it was named in the Hawaiian word Kamoaleva, meaning "oscillating."

The asteroid Kamoalev, according to scientists, is the most stable example of a quasi-satellite of the Earth today. With a maximum distance from the Earth of 40 million km and a minimum distance of 14 million km, the asteroid will represent a quasi-satellite of the Earth for several more centuries, according to other sources - millennia.

Related article:

Asteroid Gaspra
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/asteroid-gaspra.html

Related links:

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/30987/

Moscow Planetarium: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/moskovskiy-planetariy/

Asteroid: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/asteroid/

Images, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Moscow Planetarium/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Привет, Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Was Life on Mars Extinguished Prematurely by a Huge Asteroid Impact?

 

Planet Mars animation.

May 8, 2021

Image above: We keep sending missions to Mars with the key objective to search for past or present life. But what if a huge impact early in the Red Planet’s history hindered any future possibility for life to thrive?

Recent studies into the Martian “crustal dichotomy” indicate the planet was struck by a very large object, possibly a massive asteroid. Now researchers believe that this same impact may have scrubbed any chance for life on Mars, effectively making the planet sterile. This asteroid may have penetrated the Martian crust so deep that it damaged the internal structure irreparably, preventing a strong magnetic field from enveloping the planet. The lack of a Mars magnetosphere thereby ended any chance for a nurturing atmosphere…

Mars looks odd. Early astronomers noticed it, and today’s observatories see it every time they look at the red globe. Mars has two faces. One face (the northern hemisphere) is composed of barren plains and smooth sand dunes; the other face (the southern hemisphere) is a chaotic, jagged terrain of mountains and valleys. It would appear the crustal dichotomy formed after a massive impact early in the development of Mars, leaving the planet geologically scarred for eternity. But say if this impact went beyond pure aesthetics? What if this planet-wide impact zone represents something a lot deeper?

Planet Mars

To understand what might have happened to Mars, we have to first look at the Earth. Our planet has a powerful magnetic field that is generated near the core. Molten iron convects, dragging free electrons with it, setting up a huge dynamo outputting the strong dipolar magnetic field. As the magnetic field threads through the planet, it projects from the surface and reaches thousands of miles into space, forming a vast bubble. This bubble is known as the magnetosphere, protecting us from the damaging solar wind and prevents our atmosphere from eroding into space. Life thrives on this blue planet because Earth has a powerful magnetic solar wind defence.

Video above: Mars 101 / Recent NASA exploratory expeditions revealed some of the red planet's biggest mysteries. This video explains what makes it so different from Earth and what would happen if humans lived there.

Although Mars is smaller than Earth, scientists have often been at a loss to explain why there is no Martian magnetosphere. But according to the growing armada of orbiting satellites, measurements suggest that Mars did have a global magnetic field in the past. It has been the general consensus for some time that Mars’ magnetic field disappeared when the smaller planet’s interior cooled quickly and lost its ability to keep its inner iron in a convective state. With no convection comes a loss of the dynamo effect and therefore the magnetic field (and any magnetosphere) is lost. This is often cited as the reason why Mars does not have a thick atmosphere; any atmospheric gases have been eroded into space by the solar wind.

However, there may be a better explanation as to why Mars lost its magnetism. “The evidence suggests that a giant impact early in the planet’s history could have disrupted the molten core, changing the circulation and affecting the magnetic field,” said Sabine Stanley, assistant professor of physics at the University of Toronto, one of the scientists involved in this research. “We know Mars had a magnetic field which disappeared about 4 billion years ago and that this happened around the same time that the crustal dichotomy appeared, which is a possible link to an asteroid impact.”

Internal Models of Mars - Data by SEIS / Mars InSight

During Mars’ evolution before 4 billion years ago, things may have looked a lot more promising. With a strong magnetic field, Mars had a thick atmosphere, protected from the ravages of the solar wind within its own magnetosphere. But, in an instant, a huge asteroid impact could have changed the course of Martian history forever.

“Mars once had a much thicker atmosphere along with standing water and a magnetic field, so it would have been a very different place to the dry barren planet we see today.” – Monica Grady, professor of planetary and space sciences at the Open University.

Losing its magnetic field after the deep asteroid impact catastrophically damaged the internal workings of the planet, Mars quickly shed its atmosphere, thereby blocking its ability to sustain life in the 4 billion years since. What a sad story...

Impacted by an massive iron asteroid like 16 Psyche?

The red surface of Mars composed of iron oxide is probably the consequence of an impact of an iron asteroid or an direct impact of a huge asteroid which on its impact created a over pressure of the core of Mars and gave rise to the volcanoes which lie in it other side, these "spat out" some of the molten metal from the core mixing with the asteroid which fell as dust all over the planet's surface. 

Artist's view of Olympus Mons eruption

Volcanoes on Mars

Valles Marineris could be the result of the over pressure of the core of Mars, causing a large crack (Valles Marineris) in its surface. 

Valles Marineris (Click on the image for enlarge)

What also explains the gigantic size of volcanoes on Mars, like Olympus Mons is that there is no plate tectonics like on Earth, on Mars.

 No plate tectonics like on Earth, on Mars

Two Faces of Mars Explained

Mars has two faces. No, not those kind of faces, but the notable differences between the northern and southern hemisphere. Mars has lowlands in the north and highlands in the south. This disparity has long puzzled planetary scientists, but most concurred that early in Mars history, impacts shaped the planet’s two-faced landscape. But many disagreed whether several small impacts or one big one were responsible for sculpting Mars surface. Now scientists at the California Institute of Technology have shown through computer modeling that the Mars dichotomy, as the divided terrain has been termed, can indeed be explained by one giant impact early in the planet’s history.

“The dichotomy is arguably the oldest feature on Mars,” said Oded Aharonson from Caltech. Scientists believe the differences in hemispheric features arose more than four billion years ago.

Previously, scientists discounted the idea that a single, giant impactor created the lower elevations and thinner crust of Mars’s northern region, says Margarita Marinova, a graduate student at Caltech, and one of the lead authors of the study.

For one thing, Marinova explained, it was thought that a single impact would leave a circular footprint, but the outline of the northern lowlands region is elliptical. There is also a distinct lack of a crater rim: topography increases smoothly from the lowlands to the highlands without a lip of concentrated material in between, as is the case in small craters. Finally, it was believed that a giant impactor would obliterate the record of its own occurrence by melting a large fraction of the planet and forming a magma ocean.

“We set out to show that it’s possible to make a big hole without melting the majority of the surface of Mars,” Aharonson says. The team modeled a range of projectile parameters that could yield a cavity the size and ellipticity of the Mars lowlands without melting the whole planet or making a crater rim.

The team ran over 500 computer simulations combining various energies, velocities, and impact angles. Finally, they were able to narrow in on a “sweet spot”–a range of single-impact parameters that would make exactly the type of crater found on Mars. Their dedicated supercomputer allowed them to run simulations not run in the past. “The ability to search for parameters that allow an impact compatible with observations is enabled by the dedicated machine at Caltech,” Aharonson said.

The favored simulation conditions outlined by the sweet spot suggest an impact energy of around 1029 joules, which is equivalent to 100 billion gigatons of TNT. The impactor would have hit Mars at an angle between 30 and 60 degrees while traveling at 6 to 10 kilometers per second. By combining these factors, Marinova calculated that the projectile was roughly 1,600 to 2,700 kilometers across.

Rare metals on Mars and Earth implicate colossal impacts

Estimates of the energy of the Mars impact place it squarely between the impact that is thought to have led to the extinction of dinosaurs on Earth 65 million years ago and the one believed to have extruded our planet’s moon four billion years ago.

Marinova said the timing of formation of our moon and the Mars dichotomy is not coincidental. “This size range of impacts only occurred early in solar system history,” she says. The results of this study are also applicable to understanding large impact events on other heavenly bodies, like the Aitken Basin on the moon and the Caloris Basin on Mercury.

This report, published in the June 26 issue of Nature, goes along with two other papers on the Mars dichotomy. One published by Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna and Maria Zuber of MIT and Bruce Banerdt of JPL examine the gravitational and topographic signature of the dichotomy with information from the Mars orbiters. Another accompanying report, from a group at UC Santa Cruz led by Francis Nimmo, explores the expected consequences of mega-impacts.

Related links:

The case for life on Mars | International Journal of Astrobiology:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/abs/case-for-life-on-mars/CB153AA2DEDFB4EA31B6E8F4C7AC4E58

Life on Mars? | Science | Smithsonian Magazine:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/life-on-mars-78138144/

(PDF) Magnetism, Iron Minerals, and Life on Mars
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6978389_Magnetism_Iron_Minerals_and_Life_on_Mars

Signs of Past Life on Mars?
https://mars.nasa.gov/MPF/martianchronicle/martianchron7/signs.html

2 The Present State of Knowledge About Mars and Possible Life
https://www.nap.edu/read/11937/chapter/4

Images, Animations, Video, Original News Source & Data: Times Online (UK)/EurekAlert/National Geographic/NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

New data on the de-orbit of the 2nd stage of the Long March 5B rocket

 

ROSCOSMOS logo.

May 7, 2021

State Corporation Roscosmos continues to monitor the uncontrolled de-orbiting of the second stage of the Chinese heavy launch vehicle Long March 5B, which launched on April 29, 2021 from the Wenchang cosmodrome and launched the Tianhe (Milky Way) base module of the future space station.

This stage has no means of active de-orbit maneuver and carries out an uncontrolled descent. The main information and analytical center of the Automated System for Warning of Dangerous Situations in Near-Earth Space TsNIIMash (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) organized the collection and processing of information coming through the stage of the Long March 5B launch vehicle.

According to preliminary information, part of the stage structures will cease to exist in the dense layers of the atmosphere, however, individual non-combustible structural elements can reach the earth's surface.

The object is steadily losing its orbit height. So, for the next day of observation of the stage of the launch vehicle, its apogee decreased by another 18 km and is 267 km, and the perigee - by 3 km to 156 km. According to calculations, as of May 7, 2021, the object can enter the Earth's atmosphere at night Moscow time on May 9 over the Pacific Ocean.

In the presence of conditions of optical visibility, observations of the stage of the Long March 5B launch vehicle are carried out by optoelectronic monitoring means of the APSS OKP.

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/31007/

Related articles:

Chinese rocket falling - "extremely low" risk on Earth
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/chinese-rocket-falling-extremely-low.html

CASC - Long March-5B Y2 launches the Tianhe Core Module
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/casc-long-march-5b-y2-launches-tianhe.html

Images, Animation, Graphic, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/TsNIIMash/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Crew Ends Week on Human Research and Space Physics

 

ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.

May 7, 2021

The work week is wrapping up with biology and physics aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 65 residents also maintained the upkeep of plumbing, computer, and power systems.

NASA and its international partners take advantage of the weightless environment of the orbiting lab to gain new insights unattainable due to Earth’s gravity. They use the knowledge from the long-term microgravity research to improve conditions for humans on and off the planet.

Image above: Russia’s ISS Progress 75 resupply ship is pictured with a Full Moon above the Earth’s horizon after undocking from the station. Image Credit: NASA.

A new study recently delivered to the station aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour is exploring how the immune system adapts to microgravity. NASA Flight Engineer Megan McArthur set up hardware and samples for the Celestial Immunity investigation inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox today. Results may provide new vaccines and medicines for diseases on Earth and increase the potential for commercialization of space.

McArthur also joined fellow NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei logging their meals on a computer to help researchers understand the nutritional requirements for astronauts. Vande Hei spent most of Friday on maintenance replacing life support system components and swapping fuel tanks in the Combustion Integrated Rack.

Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) partnered with Vande Hei for some of the life support work on Friday. Pesquet also transferred the AstroPi science computer to the Columbus laboratory module after joining NASA Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough for orbital plumbing work in the Tranquility module. Additionally, Kimbrough spent a few hours installing power equipment and routing cables inside Tranquility before collecting and stowing his urine samples for later analysis.

Image above: The International Space Station photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking on Oct. 4, 2018. NASA astronauts Andrew Feustel and Ricky Arnold and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev executed a fly around of the orbiting laboratory to take pictures of the station before returning home after spending 197 days in space. Image Credits: NASA/Roscosmos.

Station Commander Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency started Friday in the Kibo laboratory module retrieving sample cartridges from the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace. The three-time space traveler finally wrapped up the workday turning off the Astrobee robotic free-flyers and consolidating crew provisions.

Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, also a three-time space visitor, worked on Russian communications gear and power tools before exchanging samples for a semiconductor crystal study. Roscosmos Flight Engineer and first-time space flyer Pyotr Dubrov spent the day on plumbing and ventilation tasks in the station’s Russian segment.

Related links:

Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html

Celestial Immunity: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7818

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

Nutritional requirements for astronauts: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/search.html?#q=food+intake&i=65&p=&c=&g=&s=

Combustion Integrated Rack: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=317

AstroPi: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html

Columbus laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/europe-columbus-laboratory

Tranquility module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/tranquility/

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

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

Astrobee: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7841

Semiconductor crystal study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=308

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

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

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Catherine Williams.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Gazes at a Cluster Full of Cosmic Clues

 

NASA & ESA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

May 7, 2021

This detailed image features Abell 3827, a galaxy cluster that offers a wealth of exciting possibilities for study. Hubble observed it in order to study dark matter, which is one of the greatest puzzles cosmologists face today. The science team used Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 to complete their observations. The two cameras have different specifications and can observe different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, so using them both allowed the astronomers to collect more complete information. Hubble also observed Abell 3827 previously because of the interesting gravitational lens at its core.

Looking at this cluster of hundreds of galaxies, it is amazing to recall that less than 100 years ago, many astronomers thought the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the universe. Although astronomers debated the existence of other galaxies, it took Edwin Hubble’s observations of the Great Andromeda Nebula to confirm that it was in fact far too distant to be part of the Milky Way. The Great Andromeda Nebula became the Andromeda Galaxy, and astronomers recognized that our universe was much, much bigger than humanity had envisioned. We can only imagine how Edwin Hubble – after whom the Hubble Space Telescope is named – would have felt if he’d seen this spectacular image of Abell 3827.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Text Credits: European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA/Lynn Jenner/Image, Animation Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Massey.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s Perseverance Captures Video, Audio of Fourth Ingenuity Flight

 

NASA - Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover logo.

May 7, 2021

Sounds of the Mars Helicopter’s whirring rotors add another new dimension to the historic project.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Hears Ingenuity Mars Helicopter in Flight

Video above: On April 30, 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover made history as the first spacecraft to record sounds from another spacecraft on another planet. During Ingenuity’s fourth flight, a microphone included with the SuperCam instrument aboard Perseverance captured the humming sound of the blades and the din of wind. Video Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/LANL/CNES/CNRS/ISAE-SUPAERO.

For the first time, a spacecraft on another planet has recorded the sounds of a separate spacecraft. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used one of its two microphones to listen as the Ingenuity helicopter flew for the fourth time on April 30, 2021. A new video combines footage of the solar-powered helicopter taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z imager with audio from a microphone belonging to the rover’s SuperCam laser instrument.

The laser zaps rocks from a distance, studying their vapor with a spectrometer to reveal their chemical composition. The instrument’s microphone records the sounds of those laser strikes, which provide information on the physical properties of the targets, such as their relative hardness. The microphone can also record ambient noise, like the Martian wind.

With Perseverance parked 262 feet (80 meters) from the helicopter’s takeoff and landing spot, the rover mission wasn’t sure if the microphone would pick up any sound of the flight. Even during flight, when the helicopter’s blades spin at 2,537 rpm, the sound is greatly muffled by the thin Martian atmosphere. It is further obscured by Martian wind gusts during the initial moments of the flight. Listen closely, though, and the helicopter’s hum can be heard faintly above the sound of those winds.

“This is a very good surprise,” said David Mimoun, a professor of planetary science at Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) in Toulouse, France, and science lead for the SuperCam Mars microphone. “We had carried out tests and simulations that told us the microphone would barely pick up the sounds of the helicopter, as the Mars atmosphere damps the sound propagation strongly. We have been lucky to register the helicopter at such a distance. This recording will be a gold mine for our understanding of the Martian atmosphere.”

Image above: For the first time, a spacecraft on another planet has recorded the sounds of a separate spacecraft. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its SuperCam microphone to listen to the Ingenuity helicopter on April 30, 2021, as it flew on Mars for the fourth time. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Scientists made the audio, which is recorded in mono, easier to hear by isolating the 84 hertz helicopter blade sound, reducing the frequencies below 80 hertz and above 90 hertz, and increasing the volume of the remaining signal. Some frequencies were clipped to bring out the helicopter’s hum, which is loudest when the helicopter passes through the field of view of the camera.

“This is an example of how the different payload instrument suites complement each other, resulting in information synergy,” said Soren Madsen, Perseverance payload development manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. JPL built Perseverance as well as Ingenuity and operates both of them. “In this particular case, the microphone and video let us observe the helicopter as if we are there, and additional information, such as the Doppler shift, confirms details of the flight path.”

Perseverance Rover Watch Ingenuity Mars Helicopter in Flight. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

SuperCam is led by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the instrument’s body unit was developed. That part of the instrument includes several spectrometers, control electronics, and software. The mast unit, including the microphone, was developed and built by several laboratories of the CNRS (French research center), ISAE-Supaéro, and French universities under the contracting authority of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (the French space agency). Calibration targets on the rover deck are provided by Spain’s University of Valladolid.

Arizona State University leads operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. The Mastcam-Z team includes dozens of scientists, engineers, operations specialists, managers, and students from a variety of institutions.

More About Ingenuity

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science, Aeronautics Research, and Space Technology mission directorates. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.

For more information about Ingenuity:

https://go.nasa.gov/ingenuity-press-kit and https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter

More About Perseverance

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and https://nasa.gov/perseverance

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/Karen Fox/Alana Johnson/JPL/Andrew Good.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of May 3, 2021

 

ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.

May 7, 2021

Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted research during the week of May 3 that included studies of how space affects the human immune system and solidification of alloys in microgravity. The crew also worked on a computing competition for European students.

Image above: This image taken from the space station shows the visible plasma trail as SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience reenters Earth's atmosphere. A few minutes later, astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida. Image Credit: NASA.

The space station has been continuously inhabited by humans for 20 years, supporting many scientific breakthroughs. The orbiting lab provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space, experience that supports Artemis, NASA’s program to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars.

Here are details on some of the microgravity investigations currently taking place:

Examining immune response

Image above: NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei performs operations for Celestial Immunity, an investigation that evaluates the effects of gravity on the human immune response. Image Credit: NASA.

Celestial Immunity evaluates the effects of gravity on functional immune response using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). It builds on earlier space station studies that evaluated the function of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, extending the observation period from hours to days and expanding the analysis to an array of activated immune pathways. Celestial Immunity also examines the role of age in regulating immune pathways by evaluating cells from both elderly and younger adult donors. On Earth, gravity, convection, and buoyancy interfere with cell behavior in laboratory-based studies, but microgravity eliminates these factors. Results could support development of new vaccines and drugs to prevent and treat existing and emerging human diseases. During the week, crew members performed preparation and initiated the investigation’s three-week run.

Bonding with brazing

SUBSA-BRAINS examines the mechanisms behind solidification of brazing alloys in microgravity. Brazing is a method used to bond similar materials, such as an aluminum alloy and aluminum, or dissimilar ones, such as an aluminum alloy and ceramics, at temperatures above 450°C. It could provide a tool for constructing human space habitats and manufactured systems and for repairing space vehicles and habitats damaged by micrometeoroids or space debris. The flow of the brazing liquid is controlled by gravity on Earth, but further analysis is needed to determine how the process behaves in microgravity. The crew set up hardware and conducted operations for the investigation during the week.

Computer competition for students in Europe

Image above: These two AstroPi computers on the space station are part of an ESA competition to encourage and strengthen the teaching of computing and coding and motivate students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Image Credit: NASA.

For AstroPi, two augmented Raspberry Pi computers flew to the space station as part of ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Tim Peake’s mission in 2015 and 2016. The computers are equipped with hardware that measures the space station environment, detects how the station moves through space, and picks up the Earth’s magnetic field. One of the computers carries an infrared camera and the other a standard visible spectrum camera. ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet currently is coordinating an education program for schools across Europe to compete on a number of thematic software and hardware challenges using the computers. These challenges address diverse needs in the space industry such as survival in the space environment, measurement and calibration, hardware re-configurability, and image processing. The project encourages and strengthens the teaching of computing and coding and motivates students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- Transparent Alloys, a set of five ESA experiments, seeks to improve the understanding of melting-solidification processes in plastics. These studies add to basic knowledge for solidification dynamics and microstructure formation.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8504

- For Story Time from Space, crew members read children's books and complete simple science experiments, helping to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1152

- The ESA GRASP investigation examines how the central nervous system integrates information from the senses to coordinate hand movement and visual input, in part to determine whether gravity is a frame of reference for control of this movement.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2038

- Antimicrobial Coatings tests a coating to control microbial growth on several different materials that represent high-touch surfaces. Some microbes change characteristics in microgravity, potentially creating new risks to crew health and spacecraft.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8352

- Myotones, an investigation from ESA, observes the biochemical properties of muscles during long-term spaceflight using specific biomarkers.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7573

- Standard Measures collects a set of core measurements from astronauts before, during, and after long-duration missions to create a data repository to monitor and interpret how humans adapt to living in space.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7711

- Food Physiology examines the effects of an enhanced spaceflight diet on immune function, the gut microbiome, and nutritional status indicators, with the aim of documenting how dietary improvements may enhance adaptation to spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870

- ISS Ham Radio provides students, teachers, parents, and others the opportunity to communicate with astronauts using HAM radio units. Before a scheduled call, students learn about the station, radio waves, and other topics, and prepare a list of questions on topics they have researched.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=337

Space to Ground: Astro Beekeeping: 05/07/2021

Related links:

Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html

Celestial Immunity: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7818

SUBSA-BRAINS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8295

AstroPi: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7534

ISS National Lab: https://www.issnationallab.org/

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

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

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

Images (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Ana Guzman/John Love, ISS Research Planning Integration Scientist Expedition 65.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Brief Background to Selenopolitics (Industrial Colonization of the Moon). Part 17.5

 

Industrial Colonization of the Moon.

May 7, 2021

Preamble

Here the seventeen (17.5) article of a series of articles by Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich, expert in chronology and calendar systems, as well as space biology and medicine, Parliamentarian of Asgardia (AMP) the first space Nation.

Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich

Brief Background to Selenopolitics (Industrial Colonization of the Moon)

In 10 years, - in 2030, - the first stationary homeostatic arks with centrifuges on a magnetic levitation "Maglev" will most likely become the basis of the first long-term living station on the Moon.

Stationary GCs will be fully commensurate with mobile GCs in outer space, they will complement each other. Options for their protection from radiation are also undergoing their historical evolution. Stationary GCs will serve as drivers and multipliers of the total international industrialization of space [TMIK], will become points of growth for the world economy and national economy.

On stationary GCs, in particular those built on the Moon, huge mobile GCs will be produced - planets and starships, which will provide civilization with progressive development in time and space within the framework of the Sixth OEF (socio-economic formation). This will make it possible to completely get rid of unemployment. The entire population will need to be prepared from birth for the rules of future permanent life in outer space.

"Moonlight Speech" by President John F. Kennedy. Houston, TX, September 12, 1962

Wernher von Braun was the man who gave the idea to US President J. Kennedy for the first American flight to the moon.

Since 1960, von Braun has been a member of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and director of the NASA Space Flight Center. Head of development of Saturn series launch vehicles and Apollo series spacecraft.

The flight of Yuri Gagarin pushed John F. Kennedy to a keynote speech in which he stated that for the prestige of the nation it was necessary to ensure the landing of an American astronaut on the moon before 1970.

"Moonlight Speech" by President John F. Kennedy. Houston, TX, September 12, 1962

“Space exploration is just beginning, but many new companies are already working in this area, which means tens of thousands of new jobs have appeared. Space exploration is, among other things, new investments and the demand for skilled labor.

Our era is unique. Most of the world's scientists live and create right now. The number of scientific workers in America is growing three times faster than the general population of the United States, doubling every 12 years. Despite all this and the inexhaustible scientific potential of America, a huge number of questions remain unanswered, although thousands of great minds are beating over them.

The history of our country consists of victories: America was among the flagships of the industrial revolution, leaders in the field of inventions and innovations, we were the first to put nuclear energy in the service of man. And today our duty is to get ahead in the exploration of the Universe.

We accept this challenge, we participate in this race - and we will emerge victorious. All eyes are now directed to space, to the Moon, to the planets around us. And we want the flag of the United States to fly there, a symbol of freedom and peace ...

Thus, both Houston and Texas will receive a powerful impetus for further development. The historic outpost of American civilization will become a link between the Earth and the Universe. The Manned Space Flight Center will transform Houston into a hub for the scientific and engineering community.

Over the next five years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to double the number of scientists and engineers employed in this area, increase costs to $ 60 million a year, invest about $ 200 million in industrial and laboratory equipment, and spend more $ 1 billion for new space programs that will be directly linked to this Mission Center.

As you can see, significant financial costs will be required from us. The budget for the space research program has tripled this year compared to last and exceeds all expenditures in this area over the past eight years.

Space exploration will cost us $ 5400 million a year. This is a fantastic amount. However, we spend more on cigarettes and cigars. In the near future, we will see an additional increase in the cost of this program, from 40 to more than 50 cents for each citizen of the United States.

We are aware of the scale of the costs and are ready to take this step, which is dictated solely by our faith and our outlook on the future, because so far the prospects for space exploration are unclear.

But, my dear fellow citizens, just imagine that we will send to the moon, located 240 thousand miles from the control center in Houston, a rocket about three hundred feet long (like this field!) With a body made of unique metal alloys, some of which have not yet exists in nature, capable of withstanding incredible temperatures and loads, working more accurately than all clocks in the world, and carrying the equipment necessary for flight control, research, communications, power and life of astronauts.

This rocket will make an incredible journey, reach a planet that has never been stepped by a human foot, and then return safe and sound to Earth, enter the atmosphere at a speed of more than 25,000 miles per hour, warming to temperatures only half that of the Sun...

If our plan works, we will emerge as absolute winners. Agree, it's worth it!

Werner von Braun was appointed by US President John F. Kennedy to lead the entire US lunar program.

Von Braun and President John F. Kennedy. May 19, 1963

Space industrialization of the XXI century. USA - first on the moon. Apollo program

Structurally, the command compartment is made in the form of two shells. Inner shell made of aluminum honeycomb profiled panels with a thickness of 20 to 38 mm, welded structure - a pressurized cockpit with a free volume of 6.1 m2;

outer casing of profiled honeycomb panels with a thickness of 15 to 63 mm, welded from sheet stainless steel with a thickness of 0.2 to 1.0 mm.

The outer shell, which forms a thermal barrier that protects the pressurized cabin of the crew, consists of three parts: the front screen, the screen of the pressurized cabin and the rear screen, which are attached to the pressurized cabin with I-beam power elements made of fiberglass, insulating the pressurized cabin from thermal conductivity and temperature stresses. Additional thermal insulation is provided by a layer of fiberglass between the shells.

Thus, the Apollo command compartment had an excellent protective composition of steel and aluminum with a total thickness of the outer and inner shells up to 10 cm, both from the radiation effects of space and from both radiation belts of the Earth (Van Allen belt).

(Design and characteristics of Saturn V Apollo.http://www.plam.ru/tehnauka/pilotiruemye_polety_na_lunu/p4.php#metkadoc2)

Command (silver cone) and service compartments of Apollo in lunar orbit (1969)

Image above: Lunar landing sites for the Luna (Red, USSR), Surveyor (Yellow, USA) and Apollo (Green, USA) programs.

In the 21st century, the role of the engine of industrial development has shifted from aviation to space rocket technologies and the conquest of outer space by civilization.

Wernher von Braun next to his brainchild - the space carrier Saturn-5

The exodus of mankind into space has become the main target of civilization on Earth in the 21st century. The first and most important stage of this Exodus is the conquest and full development of the Moon by mankind as a kind of key springboard into the Universe.

Rocektdyne F-1 engine from the first stage of Saturn-5

In 1969-72, 12 people visited the moon. They landed on our satellite six times during missions:

     Apollo 11, July 1969
     Apollo 12, November 1969
     Apollo 14, February 1971
     Apollo 15, July-August 1971
     Apollo 16, April 1972
     Apollo 17, December 1972

Image above: They were on the Moon: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin , Michael Collins - Apollo 11; Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon, Alan Bean - Apollo 12; Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, Edgar Mitchel - Apollo 14; David Scott, Alfred Worden, James Irwin - Apollo 15; Thomas Mattingly, John Young, Charles Duke, Jr. - Apollo 16; Harrison Schmitt, Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans - Apollo 17. Note: the names do not necessarily follow the order of the photos. And if the Apollo 13 crew is not mentioned, it is because they did not go on the Moon (mission failure).

Image above: Apollo landing sites on the Moon in 1969-1972

https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5df69d913d008800af421c07/fotosemka-mest-posadok-lunnyh-missii-196972-godov-i-ne-tolko-5ff6e2f3f906b168727f5061?&disable_feed_under_article=false

View of the Earth from the lunar landing site

https://zen.yandex.ru/media/wanderlust2020/byli-amerikancy-na-lune-ili-net-i-pri-chem-zdes-kitai-razbiraemsia-602d51e525981e1b682eb1ef?&disable_feed_under_article=false

Apollo 11 team. Left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin. First on the moon. (1969)

 

Astronauts in the Apollo cockpit are preparing for flight

 

Image above: Launch of Apollo 11 to the Moon by Saturn 5 rocket, July 16, 1969. Chief Designer - Wernher von Braun.

 

Image above: Neil Armstrong (right next to President Obama) and fellow flight colleagues Michael Collins (center) and Buzz Aldrin (left) at a reception in the White House Oval Office on the 40th anniversary of the flight to the moon (2009).

"Apollo 11" (English Apollo 11) - American manned spacecraft of the Apollo series, during the flight of which on July 16-24, 1969, the inhabitants of the Earth for the first time in history landed on the surface of another celestial body - the Moon.

(January 28, 2017 at 15:30 "Americans were on the moon: criticism of lunar conspiracy theories." https://habr.com/ru/post/401135/)

Image above: USA flag on the moon. July 20, 1969 Moon, in the southwestern region of the Sea of Tranquility, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted a lunar module for the first time in history.

The first landing of humans on the moon

On July 20, 1969 at 20:17:39 UTC, Crew Commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the spacecraft's lunar module in the southwestern region of the Sea of ​​Tranquility.

Landing area. The first man's exit to the lunar surface

They stayed on the lunar surface for 21 hours 36 minutes and 21 seconds. All this time, command module pilot Michael Collins was waiting for them in circumlunar orbit. Astronauts made one exit to the lunar surface, which lasted 2 hours 31 minutes 40 seconds. The first person to set foot on the moon was Neil Armstrong. This happened on July 21 at 02:56:15 UTC. Aldrin joined him 15 minutes later.

The astronauts planted a US flag at the landing site, placed a set of scientific instruments and collected 21.55 kg of lunar soil samples, which were delivered to Earth.

Post-flight quarantine

After the flight, the crew members and lunar rock samples went through strict quarantine, which did not reveal any lunar microorganisms.

Image above: The trajectory of Apollo 11 return to Earth (blue curve with red dots) through the electron radiation belt as calculated by Robert A. Braeunig.

The successful completion of the Apollo 11 flight program signified the achievement of the national goal set by US President John F. Kennedy in May 1961 - to land on the moon by the end of the decade, and marked the victory of the United States in the lunar race with the USSR.

https://oko-planet.su/phenomen/phenomennews/517958-amerikancy-ne-byli-na-lune-razbor-doz-radiacii-poluchennyh-astronavtami-programmy-appolon-pri-preodolenii-radiacionnogo-poyasa-zemli.html

Image above: Catherine Johnson is a famous mathematician and "human-computer" who completely calculated the famous flights of the missions of the "Mercury" and "Apollo 11" series. It was her research that laid the foundation for the American Space Shuttle program.

Margaret Hamilton handwritten navigation software for the Apollo Project in 1969

Margaret Hamilton and the handwritten navigation software she and her team at MIT created for the Apollo project in 1969.

Coming soon: THREE HISTORICAL STAGES OF COSMONAUTICS DEVELOPMENT. Part 17.6

Related articles:

Exodus of civilization into space - Creation of the first ever mobile homeostatic ark (HA) in the USA. Part 16
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_5.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Apocalypse; View from the UK. Part 15
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_3.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Comparison of plans of NASA and Roscosmos. Part 14
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space.html

The ideology of space expansion - The question of pregnancy and childbirth in zero gravity. Part 17.4
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-ideology-of-space-expansion.html

Colonization of the Moon - The source of the power, wealth and power of civilization in the Universe. Part 17.3
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/colonization-of-moon-source-of-power.html

Space manned industrialization of the XXI century - the golden age of civilization. Part 17.2
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/space-manned-industrialization-of-xxi.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Humanity's strategy to create stationary and mobile Homeostatic arks. Part 17.1
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_21.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Tsiolkovsky Galactic State. Part 9
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_19.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Symbol of the End of the XXI century. Part 8
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_16.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Stopping the process of increasing value added. Part 7
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_14.html

Exodus of civilization into space - The sixth socio-economic formation of civilization. Part 6
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space-sixth.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Space man. Part 5
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space-space.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Biological End of the World. Part 4
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_7.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Geochronological Ice Ages, periods, eras. Part 3
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_5.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Astrophysical End of the World. Part 2
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space.html

The ideology of space expansion - Space calendar. Part 1
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-ideology-of-space-expansion-space.html

Related links:

About Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich: https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5fbb90753e3ad265054f930a/ob-avtore-kanala-5fbd2bf80b4af80149fb12c2

Original article in Russian on Zen.Yandex:
https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5fbb90753e3ad265054f930a/ishod-civilizacii-v-kosmos-chast-17-strategiia-selenopolitiki-ili-sozdaniia-stacionarnyh-i-mobilnyh-gomeostaticheskih-kovchegov-606467c1fa23f523d376a218

Asgardia website: https://asgardia.space/

Author: Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich / Zen.Yandex. Editor / Translation: Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch