NASA Scientists Relate Urban Population to Air Pollution

NASA - EOS AURA Mission patch.

Aug. 19, 2013

Live in a large city like New York, London, Beijing or Mumbai, and you are likely exposed to more air pollution than people in smaller cities in surrounding areas. But exactly how a city's pollution relates to the size of its population has never been measured, until now.

Image above: Dense smog, comprised of various pollutants, settled over the North China Plain on Feb. 20, 2011. Scientists have calculated the relationship between pollution and urban population. Image Credit: NASA Goddard's MODIS Rapid Response Team.

Using satellite observations, NASA scientists directly measured air pollution's dependence on population in four of the planet's major air pollution regions: the United States, Europe, China and India.

The study shows that the pollution-population relationship varies by region. For example, a city of 1 million people in Europe experiences six times higher nitrogen dioxide pollution than an equally populated city of 1 million people in India, according to the research led by Lok Lamsal, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The variation is a reflection of regional differences such as industrial development, per capita emissions and geography. The study was published June 13 in Environmental Science & Technology.

Previously, researchers have measured the relationship between population and several urban characteristics, such as infrastructure, employment and innovation. "We show that the relationship is also applicable to pollution," Lamsal said. "Measurement of that relationship is potentially useful for developing future inventories and formulating air pollution control policies."

The researchers focused on nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, a common pollutant from the burning of fossil fuels. The gas is a precursor to the formation of near-ground ozone, which can cause respiratory problems and is a problem in many major metropolitan areas. NO2 is also unhealthy to breathe in high concentrations. One feature of the gas, however, is that it's a good proxy for urban air quality.

Graphic above: Scientists measured how the relationship between pollution and urban population varies by region. Image Credit: NASA Goddard / Kathryn Hansen.

Lok and colleagues studied data collected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite, which measures NO2 throughout the atmosphere in the afternoon around the world. Next they used an air quality computer model to derive from the satellite data the annual mean concentration of the gas near the ground in some of the Northern Hemisphere's major polluting regions, excluding hotspots such as power plants that could skew the urban relationship. By overlaying pollution concentration with population density data, the researchers could examine the relationship.

Results across the different regions showed divergent NO2 surface concentrations in urban areas of 1 million people: 0.98 parts per billion (U.S.), 1.33 ppb (Europe), 0.68 ppb (China) and 0.23 ppb (India). The same regions saw various degrees of pollution increases in cities with population of 10 million people: 2.55 ppb (U.S.), 3.86 ppb (Europe), 3.13 ppb (China) and 0.53 ppb (India).

The contribution to air pollution from surface-level NO2 in each region more than doubled when cities increased in population from 1 million to 10 million people, although in China the increase was much larger, by about a factor of five.

Artist's concept of the Aura spacecraft. Credit: NASA

Even though larger cities are typically more energy efficient with lower per-capita emissions, more people still translates to more pollution. But the study reveals some noteworthy regional differences.

"Energy usage patterns and per capita emissions differ greatly between India and Europe," Lamsal said. "Despite large populations, Indian cities seem cleaner in terms of NO2 pollution than the study's other regions." 

The researchers say that further investigation is needed in order to clarify the causes behind the regional differences.

For more information about NASA's Earth Science, visit: http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/

For more information about NASA's AURA mission, visit: http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Images (mentioned), Graphic (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA's Earth Science News Team /  Kathryn Hansen.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Spacewalkers Setting up Station for Future Lab

ISS - Expedition 36 Mission patch / ISS - International Space Station patch.

Aug. 16, 2013

Image above: Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin participates in a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA TV.

Clad in Russian Orlan spacesuits, Expedition 36 Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin opened the hatch to the Pirs docking compartment to begin their spacewalk at 10:39 a.m. EDT. The duo will spend about 6.5 hours rigging cables for the future arrival of a Russian laboratory module and installing an experiment panel.

Russian Cosmonaut Spacewalk Aug. 16, 2013 Part1

The cosmonauts will first set up a Strela cargo boom on the Poisk mini-research module so Misurkin can maneuver Yurchikhin with cables to the Zarya module near the Unity node. Yurchikhin will then begin rerouting a cable connector and installing cables on Zarya.

ROSCOSMOS Description of the elements and cables installation

While Yurchikhin is working on Zarya, Misurkin will be installing an experiment panel on Poisk. The experiment, named Vinoslivost, exposes materials to the space environment so scientists can study the changes in their properties. He will then install two connector patch panels and gap spanners on Poisk.

After completing the Poisk work Misurkin will join Yurchikhin and assist him with the Ethernet cable installation work on the Zarya cargo module. The duo will go back and forth between Zarya and Poisk routing and installing the cable at various points and securing the cable’s slack.

Image above: Fyodor Yurchikhin rides on the tip of a Russian crane, the Strela cargo boom, to his work site on the Zarya module to install and route ethernet and power cables. Image Credit: NASA TV.

Once the cable installation is complete the spacewalkers will translate to Pirs and conduct an inventory of their spacewalk tools. The duo will then reenter Pirs and close its hatch officially ending Russian EVA 34. If Yurchikhin and Misurkin are ahead of their timeline they may be able to reposition and stow the Strela cargo boom.

The cable work outside the station’s Russian segment prepares the orbital laboratory for the arrival of the “Nauka” Multipurpose Laboratory Module. The “Nauka” is planned for a launch atop a Russian Proton rocket to replace Pirs.

Image above: Fyodor Yurchikhin rides on the tip of a Russian crane, the Strela cargo boom, to his work site on the Zarya module to install and route ethernet and power cables. Image Credit: NASA TV.

For the duration of the spacewalk, station Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy will be isolated to the Poisk module and their Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft while Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will be free to move about the U.S. segment of the complex.

Russian Cosmonaut Spacewalk Aug. 16, 2013 Part2

The spacewalk is the 172nd in support of station assembly and maintenance, the seventh in Yurchikhin’s career and the second for Misurkin. The two will venture outside Pirs again on Aug. 22 to replace a laser communications experiment with a platform upon which a small optical telescope will be mounted during a future spacewalk.

Aug. 22 spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 7:40 a.m. EDT. NASA Television coverage will begin at 7 a.m.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about International Space station & Crews and Expedition, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Videos, Text, Credits: NASA / NASA TV / ROSCOSMOS.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

CERN - Magnet movers: Replacing the last LHC dipoles

CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research logo.

Aug. 16, 2013

 (Video: Noemi Caraban Gonzalez)

CERN engineers have been working through the night this week to move the final replacement dipole magnets into position on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Though there are several still to go, the teams expect to have completed the task by the end of this month.

Dipole magnets bend the paths of particles as they travel around the circular accelerator. Of the LHC's 1232 dipoles – each 15 metres long and weighing 35 tonnes – 15 are being replaced as part of the long shutdown of CERN's accelerator complex. These 15 magnets suffered wear and tear during the LHC's first 4-year run. Three quadrupole-magnet assemblies – which help to focus particles into a tight beam – have also been replaced.

Moving such heavy magnets requires specially adapted cranes and trailers both above and below ground.

There are several access points on the LHC. Some, such as the 100-metre vertical access shaft down to the ALICE experiment, are equipped with lifts to allow technical personnel and visitors down to the caverns. Other access points are equipped only with cranes for moving heavy equipment.

So to move the final magnets into place, engineering crews had to descend in lifts at the ALICE access point, then walk or cycle the 2 kilometres below ground to SMI2, a point on the LHC ring with a heavy crane and access shaft wide enough to lower dipoles.

CERN - LHC description cutaway. Image credit: CERN

Once the magnets are below ground, a specialized trailer carries them to where they are needed. Sensors fitted below the trailer enable it to automatically read and follow a white line in the centre of the tunnel floor. The trailer stops whenever there is a break in the white line. This security measure ensures that the replacement dipoles get to where they are needed in a safe and timely fashion.

Replacing magnets is not the only work for LHC engineers. Download a diagram of the main consolidation activities at the accelerator: http://cds.cern.ch/record/1516031?ln=en

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 20 Member States.

Related links:

Large Hadron Collider (LHC): http://home.web.cern.ch/about/accelerators/large-hadron-collider

CERN's accelerator complex: http://home.web.cern.ch/about/accelerators

Image (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credit: CERN /  Cian O'Luanaigh.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

In the Russian segment of the ISS completes the preparations for spacewalk

ROSCOSMOS - Team of Russian Cosmonauts patch / ISS - International Space Station patch.

15.08.2013

ISS - Russian segment description (The image does not match the current configuration)

On Wednesday, the Russian members of the crew of the International Space Station flight engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin spent the final training session before the spacewalk, during which definitively assessed the fit suits, attachments, and, of course, the performance itself space suits.

Spacesuit "Orlan-MK"

August 16 astronauts output will be from the docking module (DC1) "Pierce" space suits "Orlan-MK". At the allotted time, the program of work - more than six and a half hours, the Russian cosmonauts will have to perform a strip of sealing adapter (TA) to FGB MRM2 four power supply feeders for transmission to the power supply (SES) MLM AC power from the ISS, from FGB GA to MRM2 Ethernet cable for MLM and install the panel 2A (TBE "Endurance"). Upcoming - the second for Fedor and Alexander for the expedition.

Final testing of spacesuits

In the experiment, "Endurance" will establish the impact of space environment on deformation, strength and fatigue properties of materials samples exposed in the loaded and unloaded conditions.

But with such a reel with electrical cables astronauts have to work

Live broadcast of extravehicular activity will be carried out on the sites of the Mission Control Center and the Federal Space Agency and NASA TV.

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: http://www.federalspace.ru/main.php?id=2&nid=20273

The Aug. 16 spacewalk, NASA TV coverage will begin at 10 a.m. EDT.

NASA will broadcast live the spacewalk at the following link: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Images, Text, Credits: Press Service of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscomos PAO) / ROSCOSMOS / NASA / Translation: Orbiter.ch Aerospace.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Radar Images of Asteroid 2005 WK4

Asteroid Watch.

Aug. 15, 2013

Images above: Radar images of asteroid 2005 WK4 were obtained on Aug. 8, 2013. The asteroid is between 660 - 980 feet (200 - 300 meters) in diameter. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR.

A collage of radar images of near-Earth asteroid 2005 WK4 was generated by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., on Aug. 8, 2013.

The asteroid is between 660 and 980 feet (200 and 300 meters) in diameter; it has a rounded and slightly asymmetric shape. As it rotates, a number of features are evident that suggest the presence of some flat regions and a bulge near the equator.

The radar observations of 2005 WK4 were led by scientist Lance Benner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The data were obtained between 12:40 and 7:10 a.m. PDT (3:40 and 10:10 a.m. EDT).  At the time of the observations, the asteroid's distance was about 1.93 million miles (3.1 million kilometers) from Earth, which is 8.2 lunar distances away. The data were obtained over an interval of 6.5 hours as the asteroid completed about 2.4 rotations.  The resolution is 12 feet (3.75 meters) per pixel.

Radar is a powerful technique for studying an asteroid's size, shape, rotation state, surface features and surface roughness, and for improving the calculation of asteroid orbits. Radar measurements of asteroid distances and velocities often enable computation of asteroid orbits much further into the future than if radar observations weren't available.

Asteroid 2005 WK4 passes near the Earth. Image Credit: NASA

NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. In fact, the United States has the most robust and productive survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects. To date, U.S. assets have discovered more than 98 percent of the known near-Earth Objects.

In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it also partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers, and space science institutes across the country that are working to track and understand these objects better, often with grants, interagency transfers and other contracts from NASA.

In 2016, NASA will launch a robotic probe to one of the most potentially hazardous of the known near-Earth objects. The OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid (101955) Bennu will be a pathfinder for future spacecraft designed to perform reconnaissance on any newly discovered threatening objects. Aside from monitoring potential threats, the study of asteroids and comets enables a valuable opportunity to learn more about the origins of our solar system, the source of water on Earth, and even the origin of organic molecules that led to the development of life.

NASA recently announced development of a first-ever mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid for human exploration. Using game-changing technologies, this mission would mark an unprecedented technological achievement that raises the bar of what humans can do in space.

NASA's Near-Earth Object Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, manages and funds the search, study and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them close to Earth. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is available at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ , http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch and via Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/asteroidwatch .

More information about asteroid radar research is at: http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/ .

More information about the Deep Space Network is at: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA / JPL / DC Agle.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch

NASA Ends Attempts to Fully Recover Kepler Spacecraft, Potential New Missions Considered

NASA - Kepler Mission patch.

Aug. 15, 2013

Following months of analysis and testing, the Kepler Space Telescope team is ending its attempts to restore the spacecraft to full working order, and now is considering what new science research it can carry out in its current condition.

Two of Kepler's four gyroscope-like reaction wheels, which are used to precisely point the spacecraft, have failed. The first was lost in July 2012, and the second in May. Engineers' efforts to restore at least one of the wheels have been unsuccessful.

Kepler completed its prime mission in November 2012 and began its four-year extended mission at that time. However, the spacecraft needs three functioning wheels to continue its search for Earth-sized exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system, orbiting stars like our sun in what's known as the habitable zone -- the range of distances from a star where the surface temperature of a planet might be suitable for liquid water. As scientists analyze previously collected data, the Kepler team also is looking into whether the space telescope can conduct a different type of science program, potentially including an exoplanet search, using the remaining two good reaction wheels and thrusters.

"Kepler has made extraordinary discoveries in finding exoplanets including several super-Earths in the habitable zone," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Knowing that Kepler has successfully collected all the data from its prime mission, I am confident that more amazing discoveries are on the horizon."

On Aug. 8, engineers conducted a system-level performance test to evaluate Kepler's current capabilities. They determined wheel 2, which failed last year, can no longer provide the precision pointing necessary for science data collection. The spacecraft was returned to its point rest state, which is a stable configuration where Kepler uses thrusters to control its pointing with minimal fuel use.

Kepler Space Telescope

"At the beginning of our mission, no one knew if Earth-size planets were abundant in the galaxy. If they were rare, we might be alone," said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Now at the completion of Kepler observations, the data holds the answer to the question that inspired the mission: Are Earths in the habitable zone of stars like our sun common or rare?"

An engineering study will be conducted on the modifications required to manage science operations with the spacecraft using a combination of its remaining two good reaction wheels and thrusters for spacecraft attitude control.

Informed by contributions from the broader science community in response to the call for scientific white papers announced Aug. 2, the Kepler project team will perform a study to identify possible science opportunities for a two-wheel Kepler mission.

Depending on the outcome of these studies, which are expected to be completed later this year, NASA will assess the scientific priority of a two-wheel Kepler mission. Such an assessment may include prioritization relative to other NASA astrophysics missions competing for operational funding at the NASA Senior Review board early next year.

From the data collected in the first half of its mission, Kepler has confirmed 135 exoplanets and identified over 3,500 candidates. The team continues to analyze all four years of collected data, expecting hundreds, if not thousands, of new discoveries including the long-awaited Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars. Though the spacecraft will no longer operate with its unparalleled precision pointing, scientists expect Kepler’s most interesting discoveries are still to come.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for hosting the second Kepler Science Conference Nov. 4-8, at NASA's Ames Research Center. This will be an opportunity to share not only the investigations of the Kepler project team, but also those of the wider science community using publicly accessible data from Kepler. Registration is now open.

Ames is responsible for the Kepler mission concept, ground system development, mission operations, and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission development.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery Mission and was funded by the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

For more information about Kepler's upcoming science conference, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/13kz012

For more information about NASA's call for two-wheel science proposals, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/1a1UzaC

For more information about NASA's Kepler spacecraft, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

Image, Text, Credits: NASA / Ames Research Center / Michele Johnson.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA Rover Gets Movie as a Mars Moon Passes Another

NASA - Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) patch.

Aug. 15, 2013

 Two Moons Passing in the Martian Night

Video above: This sped-up movie from the Curiosity rover shows Phobos (the larger of Mars' two moons) passing in front of smaller Deimos. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ.

The larger of the two moons of Mars, Phobos, passes directly in front of the other, Deimos, in a new series of sky-watching images from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.

A video clip assembled from the images is at http://youtu.be/DaVSCmuOJwI .

Animation above: This movie clip shows the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passing in front of the smaller Martian moon, Deimos, as observed by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. The series of 41 images is shown at increased speed. The actual elapsed time is 55 seconds. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ.

Large craters on Phobos are clearly visible in these images from the surface of Mars. No previous images from missions on the surface caught one moon eclipsing the other.

The telephoto-lens camera of Curiosity's two-camera Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument recorded the images on Aug. 1.  Some of the full-resolution frames were not downlinked until more than a week later, in the data-transmission queue behind higher-priority images being used for planning the rover's drives.

Image above: This illustration provides a comparison for how big the moons of Mars appear to be, as seen from the surface of Mars, in relation to the size that Earth's moon appears to be when seen from the surface of Earth. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ.

These observations of Phobos and Deimos help researchers make knowledge of the moons' orbits even more precise.

"The ultimate goal is to improve orbit knowledge enough that we can improve the measurement of the tides Phobos raises on the Martian solid surface, giving knowledge of the Martian interior," said Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, College Station.  He is a co-investigator for use of Curiosity's Mastcam.  "We may also get data good enough to detect density variations within Phobos and to determine if Deimos' orbit is systematically changing."

The orbit of Phobos is very slowly getting closer to Mars. The orbit of Deimos may be slowly getting farther from the planet.

Lemmon and colleagues determined that the two moons would be visible crossing paths at a time shortly after Curiosity would be awake for transmitting data to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for relay to Earth. That made the moon observations feasible with minimal impact on the rover's energy budget.

Image above: This view of the two moons of Mars comes from a set of images taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity as the larger moon, Phobos, passed in front of the smaller one, Deimos, from Curiosity's perspective, on Aug. 1, 2013. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ.

Although Phobos has a diameter less than one percent the diameter of Earth's moon, Phobos also orbits much closer to Mars than our moon's distance from Earth. As seen from the surface of Mars, Phobos looks about half as wide as what Earth's moon looks like to viewers on Earth.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project is using Curiosity and the rover's 10 science instruments to investigate the environmental history within Gale Crater, a location where the project has found that conditions were long ago favorable for microbial life.

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates Curiosity's Mastcam.  JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington and built the Navigation Camera and the rover.

More information about the mission is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

You can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

For more information about the Multi-Mission Image Processing Laboratory, see: http://www-mipl.jpl.nasa.gov/mipex.html

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA / JPL / Guy Webster.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch