Spacesuits, Human Research, Robotics Training Ahead of Cargo Missions

ISS - Expedition 61 Mission patch.

October 29, 2019

The six-member Expedition 61 crew juggled spacesuit maintenance and human research activities aboard the International Space Station today. The orbital residents are also getting ready to send off and receive resupply ships.

Two U.S. spacesuits are being serviced ahead of a series of spacewalks planned to repair a cosmic particle detector, also known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). Commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan are tentatively scheduled to venture outside the station in November and upgrade the AMS thermal control system.

Image above: NASA astronaut Jessica Meir works to swap out a failed computer hard drive that supports experiments inside the Combustion Integrated Rack aboard the International Space Station’s U.S. Destiny laboratory module. Image Credit: NASA.

Parmitano also tested a device that measures an astronaut’s mass using Newton’s Second Law of Motion. The device applies a known force to an attached astronaut and the resulting acceleration is used to accurately calculate an astronaut’s mass.

NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Meir and Christina Koch shared maintenance duties on a human organ printer, the BioFabrication Facility. Scientists are testing the 3D biological printing facility for its ability to print more cohesive organ structures in microgravity than on Earth.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Koch and Meir will also be on Canadarm2 robotics duty on Friday and Monday to support a pair of cargo missions. Koch, with Meir backing her up, will command the robotic release of Japan’s HTV-8 resupply ship Friday at 1:20 p.m. EDT. The HTV-8 is wrapping up a 34-day mission attached to the Harmony module.

They will switch roles on Monday when Meir takes charge of the Canadarm2 robotic arm and captures Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft at 4:10 a.m. EST. Koch will back her up in the cupola while Morgan monitors the Cygnus’ approach and rendezvous. Cygnus will launch Saturday at 9:59 a.m. atop the Antares rocket from Virginia.

Related links:

Expedition 61: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition61/index.html

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/alpha-magnetic-spectrometer.html

Newton’s Second Law of Motion: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=630

BioFabrication Facility: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7599

Canadarm2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-servicing-system.html

Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony

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

Jupiter's Cloud Tops: From High to Low

NASA - JUNO Mission logo.

Oct. 29, 2019

This view from NASA's Juno spacecraft captures colorful, intricate patterns in a jet stream region of Jupiter's northern hemisphere known as "Jet N3."

Jupiter's cloud tops do not form a simple, flat surface. Data from Juno helped scientists discover that the swirling bands in the atmosphere extend deep into the planet, to a depth of about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers). At center right, a patch of bright, high-altitude "pop-up" clouds rises above the surrounding atmosphere.

Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter

Citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt created this enhanced-color image using data from the spacecraft's JunoCam imager. The original image was taken on May 29, 2019, at 1:01 a.m. PDT (4:01 a.m. EDT) as the Juno spacecraft performed its 20th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was about 6,000 miles (9,700 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds, at a latitude of 39 degrees north.

Juno: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html

Image, Animation, Credit:NASA/Yvette Smith/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Crew Gearing Up for U.S. and Japanese Cargo Ship Activities

ISS - Expedition 61 Mission patch.

October 28, 2019

A Japanese cargo vehicle will be departing the International Space Station and a U.S. vehicle beginning its trip there this Saturday. The Expedition 61 crew is getting ready for both missions while staying busy with space research and lab maintenance.

Japan’s HTV-8 resupply ship, also known as Kounotori, will depart the orbiting lab at the end of the week and complete a 34-day cargo mission attached to the Harmony module. NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan are loading the craft today with trash and obsolete gear. Meir will back up fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch on Friday when she releases HTV-8 from the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 1:20 p.m. EDT.

Image Credits: NASA astronaut Christina Koch performs science operations in the Microgravity Science Glovebox for the Ring Sheared Drop human health and advanced materials investigation. Image Credit: NASA.

The duo is also on robotics training today preparing for the 12th Cygnus resupply mission from Northrop Grumman. Meir, with Koch as her backup, will command the Canadarm2 to grapple Cygnus when it arrives Monday Nov. 2, at 4:10 a.m. The Cygnus cargo craft, named SS Alan Bean for the Apollo and Skylab astronaut, launches Saturday from Virginia at 9:59 a.m. NASA TV will broadcast the spaceship launch and arrival activities to the station live.

Morgan started his workday setting up a laptop computer for science operations in the Japanese Kibo laboratory module’s Cell Biology Experiment Facility. After some life support maintenance, he moved on to botany research before finally moving a science freezer from one research rack to another.

Image above: The H-II Transfer Vehicle-8 (HTV-8) from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is pictured Sept. 29, 2019, attached to the International Space Station's Harmony module as the orbiting complex flies 258 miles above Sudan. Image Credit: NASA.

Commander Luca Parmitano spent a few moments Monday afternoon checking samples for the Ring Sheared Drop human health and advanced materials investigation. The ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut also joined Morgan during the morning and reviewed spacewalk repair procedures for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Skripochka started the morning photographing Russian spacewalk hardware. The duo then split up as Skvortsov tested spacecraft simulation software while Skripochka inspected Russian segment surfaces for moisture and corrosion.

Related links:

Expedition 61: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition61/index.html

HTV-8 resupply ship: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/kounotori-htv-launches-arrivals-and-departures

Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony

Canadarm2 robotic arm: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-servicing-system.html

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Botany research: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7895

Science freezer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1092

Ring Sheared Drop: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7383

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/alpha-magnetic-spectrometer.html

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

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

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

ESO Telescope Reveals What Could be the Smallest Dwarf Planet Yet in the Solar System

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

28 October 2019

SPHERE image of Hygiea

Astronomers using ESO’s SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed that the asteroid Hygiea could be classified as a dwarf planet. The object is the fourth largest in the asteroid belt after Ceres, Vesta and Pallas. For the first time, astronomers have observed Hygiea in sufficiently high resolution to study its surface and determine its shape and size. They found that Hygiea is spherical, potentially taking the crown from Ceres as the smallest dwarf planet in the Solar System.

As an object in the main asteroid belt, Hygiea satisfies right away three of the four requirements to be classified as a dwarf planet: it orbits around the Sun, it is not a moon and, unlike a planet, it has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. The final requirement is that it has enough mass for its own gravity to pull it into a roughly spherical shape. This is what VLT observations have now revealed about Hygiea.

SPHERE images of Hygiea, Vesta and Ceres

“Thanks to the unique capability of the SPHERE instrument on the VLT, which is one of the most powerful imaging systems in the world, we could resolve Hygiea’s shape, which turns out to be nearly spherical,” says lead researcher Pierre Vernazza from the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille in France. “Thanks to these images, Hygiea may be reclassified as a dwarf planet, so far the smallest in the Solar System.”

The team also used the SPHERE observations to constrain Hygiea’s size, putting its diameter at just over 430 km. Pluto, the most famous of dwarf planets, has a diameter close to 2400 km, while Ceres is close to 950 km in size.

Surprisingly, the observations also revealed that Hygiea lacks the very large impact crater that scientists expected to see on its surface, the team report in the study published today in Nature Astronomy. Hygiea is the main member of one of the largest asteroid families, with close to 7000 members that all originated from the same parent body. Astronomers expected the event that led to the formation of this numerous family to have left a large, deep mark on Hygiea.

Location of Hygiea in the Solar System

“This result came as a real surprise as we were expecting the presence of a large impact basin, as is the case on Vesta,” says Vernazza. Although the astronomers observed Hygiea’s surface with a 95% coverage, they could only identify two unambiguous craters. “Neither of these two craters could have been caused by the impact that originated the Hygiea family of asteroids whose volume is comparable to that of a 100 km-sized object. They are too small,” explains study co-author Miroslav Brož of the Astronomical Institute of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

The team decided to investigate further. Using numerical simulations, they deduced that Hygiea’s spherical shape and large family of asteroids are likely the result of a major head-on collision with a large projectile of diameter between 75 and 150 km. Their simulations show this violent impact, thought to have occurred about 2 billion years ago, completely shattered the parent body. Once the left-over pieces reassembled, they gave Hygiea its round shape and thousands of companion asteroids. “Such a collision between two large bodies in the asteroid belt is unique in the last 3–4 billion years,” says Pavel Ševeček, a PhD student at the Astronomical Institute of Charles University who also participated in the study.

Impact simulation explaining the origin of Hygiea’s round shape

Studying asteroids in detail has been possible thanks not only to advances in numerical computation, but also to more powerful telescopes. “Thanks to the VLT and the new generation adaptive-optics instrument SPHERE, we are now imaging main belt asteroids with unprecedented resolution, closing the gap between Earth-based and interplanetary mission observations,” Vernazza concludes.

More information:

This research was presented in a paper to appear in Nature Astronomy on 28 October.

The team is composed of P. Vernazza (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France), L. Jorda (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France), P. Ševeček (Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic), M. Brož (Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic), M. Viikinkoski (Mathematics and Statistics, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland), J. Hanuš (Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic), B. Carry (Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France), A. Drouard (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France), M. Ferrais (Space Sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research Institute, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium), M. Marsset (Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA), F. Marchis (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France, and SETI Institute, Carl Sagan Center, Mountain View, USA), M. Birlan (Observatoire de Paris, Paris, France), E. Podlewska-Gaca (Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, and Institute of Physics, University of Szczecin, Poland), E. Jehin (Space Sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research Institute, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium), P. Bartczak (Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland), G. Dudzinski (Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland), J. Berthier (Observatoire de Paris, Paris, France), J. Castillo-Rogez (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA), F. Cipriani (European Space Agency, ESTEC – Scientific Support Office, The Netherlands), F. Colas (Observatoire de Paris, Paris, France), F. DeMeo (Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA), C. Dumas (TMT Observatory, Pasadena, USA), J. Durech (Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic), R. Fetick (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France and ONERA, The French Aerospace Lab, Chatillon Cedex, France), T. Fusco (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France and and ONERA, The French Aerospace Lab, Chatillon Cedex, France), J. Grice (Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France and Open University, School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK), M. Kaasalainen (Mathematics and Statistics, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland), A. Kryszczynska (Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland), P. Lamy (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France), H. Le Coroller (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France), A. Marciniak (Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland), T. Michalowski (Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland), P. Michel (Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France), N. Rambaux (Observatoire de Paris, Paris, France), T. Santana-Ros (Departamento de Fı́sica, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain), P. Tanga (Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France), F. Vachier (Observatoire de Paris, Paris, France), A. Vigan (Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France), O. Witasse (European Space Agency, ESTEC – Scientific Support Office, The Netherlands), B. Yang (European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile), M. Gillon (Space Sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research Institute, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium), Z. Benkhaldoun (Oukaimeden Observatory, High Energy Physics and Astrophysics Laboratory, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco), R. Szakats (Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary), R. Hirsch (Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland), R. Duffard (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Glorieta de la Astronomía S/N, Granada, Spain), A. Chapman (Buenos Aires, Argentina), J. L. Maestre (Observatorio de Albox, Almeria, Spain).

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It has 16 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.

Links:

ESOcast 211 Light: ESO Telescope Reveals What Could be the Smallest Dwarf Planet in the Solar System: https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1918a/

Research paper: https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1918/eso1918a.pdf

Supplementary material: https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1918/eso1918b.pdf

New SPHERE view of VESTA: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1826a/

VLT’s SPHERE spies rocky worlds: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1749a/

SPHERE maps the surface of Ceres: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1536a/

Photos of the VLT: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/paranal/

SPHERE: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/sphere/

ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT): https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/

Images, Text, Credits: ESO/Bárbara Ferreira/Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille/Pierre Vernazza/Charles University/Pavel Ševeček/Miroslav Brož/ESO/P. Vernazza et al./MISTRAL algorithm (ONERA/CNRS)/Videos: ESO/spaceengine.org/P. Ševeček/Charles University.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Captures Cosmic Face

ESA - Hubble Space Telescope logo.

28 October 2019

Arp-Madore 2026-424

In celebration of Halloween, this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures two galaxies of equal size in a collision that appears to resemble a ghostly face. This observation was made on 19 June 2019 in visible light by the telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Although galaxy collisions are common — especially in the early universe — most are not head-on impacts like the collision that likely created this Arp-Madore system 704 million light-years from Earth. This violent encounter gives the system an arresting ring structure, but only for a short amount of time. The crash has pulled and stretched the galaxies’ discs of gas, dust, and stars outward, forming the ring of intense star formation that shapes the “nose” and “face” features of the system.

Wide-field view of Arp-Madore 2026-424 (ground-based view)

Ring galaxies are rare, and only a few hundred of them reside in our larger cosmic neighbourhood. The galaxies have to collide at just the right orientation so that they interact to create the ring, and before long they will have merged completely, hiding their messy past.

The side-by-side juxtaposition of the two central bulges of stars from the galaxies that we see here is also unusual. Since the bulges that form the “eyes” appear to be the same size, we can be sure that the two galaxies involved in the crash were of equal size. This is different from the more common collisions in which small galaxies are gobbled up by their larger neighbours.

Zooming in on Arp-Madore 2026-424

This galaxy system is catalogued as Arp-Madore 2026-424 (AM 2026-424) in the Arp-Madore “Catalogue of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations”. Astronomer Halton Arp published his compendium of 338 unusual-looking interacting galaxies in 1966. He later partnered with astronomer Barry Madore to extend the search for unique galactic encounters in the southern sky. Several thousand galaxies are listed in this 1987 survey.

Pan of Arp-Madore 2026-424

Hubble observed this unique system as part of a “snapshot” programme that takes advantage of occasional gaps in the telescope’s observing schedule to squeeze in additional pictures. Astronomers plan to use this innovative Hubble programme to take a close look at many other unusual interacting galaxies. The goal is to compile a robust sample of nearby interacting galaxies, which could offer insights into how galaxies grew over time through galactic mergers. By analysing these detailed Hubble observations, astronomers will be able to decide which systems are prime targets for follow-up observations by the upcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2021.

More information:

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

Links:

Images of Hubble: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/category/spacecraft/

HubbleSite Release: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2019/news-2019-51

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/Hubble/Bethany Downer/University of Washington/Ben Williams/Julianne Dalcanton/NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams, and M. Durbin (University of Washington)/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin/Videos: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams, and M. Durbin (University of Washington)/Music: Astral Electronic - Solar Wind.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Stars Pollute, but Galaxies Recycle

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center logo.

Oct. 28, 2019

Galaxies were once thought of as lonely islands in the universe: clumps of matter floating through otherwise empty space. We now know they are surrounded by a much larger, yet nearly invisible cloud of dust and gas. Astronomers call it the circumgalactic medium, or CGM. The CGM acts as a giant recycling plant, absorbing matter ejected by the galaxy and later pushing it right back in.

NASA’s Far-ultraviolet Off Rowland-circle Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy, or FORTIS, mission will study this recycling process to help settle several unsolved mysteries. Launching on a sounding rocket from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, FORTIS will observe a nearby galaxy to measure the gases its stars and supernova pump into the surrounding CGM. These observations will shed light on how material circulates in and out of galaxies, fueling star formation and galactic evolution. FORTIS’s launch window opens on Oct. 27.

A case of missing matter

Astronomers who study the life cycle of galaxies have struggled with two major mysteries.

First, to build new stars, galaxies need fuel — gases like hydrogen, helium, and sometimes heavier elements. But many galaxies continue making stars long after astronomers predict their fuel should have been exhausted. Where was the extra gas coming from?

Second, the byproducts of existing stars seemed to be missing. “As stars age, they pollute their surroundings,” said Stephan McCandliss, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and principal investigator for FORTIS. “They take in material around them and blow it right out.”

But scientists found that star-filled galaxies weren’t as polluted with metals — the heavy elements forged as stars burn — as they should have been. Metal-enriched gas was both entering and exiting galaxies, but no one knew how.

The galactical recycling center

Astronomers knew about the existence of CGMs, but most were too dim and spread out to be studied in detail. Then, in 2009, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph was added to the Hubble Space Telescope. The study of the CGM was now open for business.

Two years after the addition, a survey of the CGMs of 42 galaxies revealed they were full of gaseous metals. It was the stock of metals, missing from the galaxy, that astronomers had been looking for.

These metal-enriched gases weren’t just sitting there, either. Instead, the CGM passes them back and forth with the galaxy as part of a continuous recycling process.

“The CGM is critically important to understanding galaxy evolution, since it is the repository for much of the star formation fuel,” said Scott Porter, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Gravity, pulling gases from the CGM towards the galactic center, injects galaxies with fresh fuel for making stars. At the same time, stellar winds and supernova shoot metals back into the CGM, replenishing the supply.

Animation of a gigantic star exploding in a “core collapse” supernova. Supernovae are one way that galaxies eject metal-enriched gases into the circumgalactic medium. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

How stars and supernovae pollute

The FORTIS mission will quantify how much gas gets pumped into the CGM as part of this recycling process. Specifically, the telescope measures the winds of stars and supernovae to find out how much gas is blown into the CGM — and how much flies right past it.

“If gas is ejected at a very high speed, it’ll escape the galaxy completely,” McCandliss said. Precious metals may be shot through the CGM all the way to intergalactic space, dropping out of the recycling process. “But if they’re ejected at a low speed they’ll circulate around and help enrich the galaxy.”

To this end, FORTIS will fly high on a sounding rocket, a suborbital space vehicle that launches into space for a 15-minute roundtrip before landing back on Earth. FORTIS will aim its instruments at the Triangulum galaxy, also known as M33, 2.7 million light-years away. Triangulum is bright, with many recently formed stars boasting strong stellar winds.

Image above: The Triangulum galaxy, also known as Messier 33 or M33, as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. Image Credits: NASA, ESA, and M. Durbin, J. Dalcanton, and B. F. Williams (University of Washington).

After about a minute observing M33, FORTIS will focus on its brightest clusters of stars and supernovae to measure the speed and composition of their winds. “This will all give us an idea of how that material is circulating and just how much of it is being moved,” McCandliss said.

New tech, new science

Like many sounding rocket missions, FORTIS will pursue these science questions while testing new tools. For this flight, FORTIS is using a next-generation microshutter array that builds on a design used for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The updated instrument will allow FORTIS to measure up to 40 separate targets at a time, in wavelengths of far-ultraviolet light beyond what earlier versions could resolve.

“It’s new science enabled by new technologies,” said McCandliss. “We want to train our workforce into bigger and better missions.”

The FORTIS mission will launch from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on a Black Brant IX sounding rocket. The trajectory peaks at an altitude of approximately 155 miles before falling back to Earth for recovery. The team expects six minutes of observing time, with a total flight time of approximately 15 minutes. The launch window opens on Oct. 27 at 10:30 p.m. MDT.

Related links:

Cosmic Origins Spectrograph: https://www.nasa.gov/content/hubble-space-telescope-cosmic-origins-spectrograph

FORTIS, next-generation microshutter array: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-to-demonstrate-new-star-watching-technology-with-thousands-of-tiny-shutters/

Galaxies: https://www.nasa.gov/subject/6894/galaxies

Supernova: https://www.nasa.gov/subject/7226/supernova

Stars: https://www.nasa.gov/subject/6892/stars

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, by Miles Hatfield.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Mars InSight's Mole Has Partially Backed Out of Its Hole

NASA - InSight Mission patch.

Oct. 28, 2019

Animation above: In this image from Oct. 26, 2019 — the 325th Martian day, or sol, of the mission — InSight's heat probe, or "mole," is seen after backing about halfway out of the hole it had burrowed. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

After making progress over the past several weeks digging into the surface of Mars, InSight's mole has backed about halfway out of its hole this past weekend. Preliminary assessments point to unusual soil conditions on the Red Planet. The international mission team is developing the next steps to get it buried again.

A scoop on the end of the arm has been used in recent weeks to "pin" the mole against the wall of its hole, providing friction it needs to dig. The next step is determining how safe it is to move InSight's robotic arm away from the mole to better assess the situation. The team continues to look at the data and will formulate a plan in the next few days.

Meantime, the lander's seismometer — the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, or, SEIS — continues to collect data on marsquakes in order to provide a better understanding of the Mars interior and why Earth and the Red Planet are so different today after sharing similarities billions of years ago. The French space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and its partners provided the SEIS instrument to NASA.

NASA's InSight spacecraft has used its robotic arm to help its heat probe, known as "the mole," dig nearly 2 centimeters (3/4 of an inch) over the past week. While modest, the movement is significant: Designed to dig as much as 16 feet (5 meters) underground to gauge the heat escaping from the planet's interior, the mole has only managed to partially bury itself since it started hammering in February 2019.

The recent movement is the result of a new strategy, arrived at after extensive testing on Earth, which found that unexpectedly strong soil is holding up the mole's progress. The mole needs friction from surrounding soil in order to move: Without it, recoil from its self-hammering action will cause it to simply bounce in place. Pressing the scoop on InSight's robotic arm against the mole, a new technique called "pinning," appears to provide the probe with the friction it needs to continue digging.

Since Oct. 8, 2019, the mole has hammered 220 times over three separate occasions. Images sent down from the spacecraft's cameras have shown the mole gradually progressing into the ground. It will take more time — and hammering — for the team to see how far the mole can go.

Animation above: This GIF shows NASA InSight's heat probe, or "mole," digging about a centimeter (half an inch) below the surface last week. Using a technique called "pinning," InSight recently pressed the scoop on its robotic arm against the self-hammering mole in order to help it dig. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The mole is part of an instrument called the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, or HP3, which was provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

"Seeing the mole's progress seems to indicate that there's no rock blocking our path," said HP3 Principal Investigator Tilman Spohn of DLR. "That's great news! We're rooting for our mole to keep going."

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, leads the InSight mission. JPL has tested the robotic arm's movement using full-scale replicas of InSight and the mole. Engineers continue to test what would happen if the mole were to sink beneath the reach of the robotic arm. If it stops making progress, they might scrape soil on top of the mole, adding mass to resist the mole's recoil.

If no other options exist, they would consider pressing the scoop down directly on the top of the mole while trying to avoid the sensitive tether there; the tether provides power to and relays data from the instrument.

Mars InSight. Image Credits: NASA/JPL

"The mole still has a way to go, but we're all thrilled to see it digging again," said Troy Hudson of JPL, an engineer and scientist who has led the mole recovery effort. "When we first encountered this problem, it was crushing. But I thought, 'Maybe there's a chance; let's keep pressing on.' And right now, I'm feeling giddy."

About InSight

JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.

A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.

Related articles:

Mars InSight's 'Mole' Is Moving Again
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/10/mars-insights-mole-is-moving-again.html

NASA's Push to Save the Mars InSight Lander's Heat Probe
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/10/nasas-push-to-save-mars-insight-landers.html

More about InSight:

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/

https://www.nasa.gov/insight/

Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS): https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/instruments/seis/

Animations (mentioned), Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/Alana Johnson/JPL/Andrew Good.

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