InSight Captures Sunrise and Sunset on Mars

NASA - InSight Mission patch.

May 1, 2019

NASA's InSight lander captured a series of sunrise and sunset images.

Image above: NASA's InSight lander used its Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on the spacecraft's robotic arm to image this sunrise on Mars on April 24, 2019, the 145th Martian day (or sol) of the mission. This was taken around 5:30 a.m. Mars local time.Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Image above: NASA's InSight lander used the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on the end of its robotic arm to image this sunset on Mars. This color-corrected version more accurately shows the image as the human eye would see it. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

A camera on the spacecraft's robotic arm snapped the photos on April 24 and 25, the 145th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. In local Mars time, the shots were taken starting around 5:30 a.m. and then again starting around 6:30 p.m. As a bonus, a camera under the lander's deck also caught clouds drifting across the Martian sky at sunset.

These images are available as both "raw" and color-corrected versions. It's easier to see some details in the raw versions, but the latter more accurately show the images as the human eye would see them. Much farther from Mars than it is from Earth, the Sun appears only about two-thirds the size that it does when viewed from Earth.

Image above: NASA's InSight lander used the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on the end of its robotic arm to image this sunset on Mars on April 25, 2019, the 145th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This was taken around 6:30 p.m. Mars local time. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Image above: NASA's InSight lander used the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on the end of its robotic arm to image this sunset on Mars. This color-corrected version more accurately shows the image as the human eye would see it. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

This is actually the second time InSight has captured these daily events: The camera took practice shots on March 2 and 10. "It's been a tradition for Mars missions to capture sunrises and sunsets," said Justin Maki, InSight science team co-investigator and imaging lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "With many of our primary imaging tasks complete, we decided to capture the sunrise and sunset as seen from another world."

The first mission to send back such images was the Viking 1 lander, which captured a sunset on Aug. 21, 1976; Viking 2 captured a sunrise on June 14, 1978. Since then, both sunrises and sunsets have been recorded by the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers, among other missions.

Animation above: NASA's InSight used its Instrument Context Camera (ICC) beneath the lander's deck to image these drifting clouds at sunset. This series of images was taken on April 25, 2019, the 145th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, starting at around 6:30 p.m. Mars local time. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Animation above: NASA's InSight used its Instrument Context Camera (ICC) beneath the lander's deck to image these drifting clouds at sunset. This color-corrected version more accurately shows the image as the human eye would see it. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

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 links:

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

Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP³): https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/instruments/hp3/

For more about InSight, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/

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

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Staying Healthy Longer in Space

ISS - Biotechnology Facility patch.

May 1, 2019

Falling ill while traveling is an unfortunate yet common occurrence. Even a minor bug can ruin an entire trip. But for astronauts, getting sick on a long space voyage would have far more serious consequences than a little spoiled fun.

The Rodent Research 12 (RR-12) investigation joins a series of studies aboard the International Space Station with the common goal of keeping astronauts healthy in space.

Image above: Nina Nishiyama, Stephen Chapes, Trisha Rettig, and Claire Ward prepare preliminary work on the RR-12 investigation. Image Credit: Loma Linda University.

Research has shown that spaceflight causes significant changes in the human immune system. These changes seem to depend on the length of time spent in space, and more research is needed to confirm these findings and significance for long term health.

Scientists also want to know exactly how the immune system responds when exposed to a pathogen that can cause illness while in space. Mice have immune systems very similar to that of humans, so RR-12 is sending mice to the space station in an effort to answer that question.

“First, we are looking at the primary immune response, which will show how well the immune system produces antibodies the first time it sees an immune challenge,” said principal investigator Michael J. Pecaut at Loma Linda University in California. “Then, we look at how well the memory response works in space.” Pecaut leads the experiment with co-investigator Stephen K. Chapes at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

Animation above: NASA astronaut Anne McClain works on setting up a Habitat Unit in the Life Sciences Glovebox for the Rodent Research 12 investigation. Animation Credit: NASA.

Because infectious organisms are unwelcome on the space station, the researchers are using a vaccine that is similar to the one commonly used for tetanus to generate an antibody or immune response in the mice. The vaccine toxoid poses no risk to crew members because all have already received the same vaccine.

One group of mice receives its first exposure to the vaccine after two weeks aboard the space station with researchers examining the number and type of antibodies produced as a result. This part of the study helps determine if the immune system can respond to a challenge it has never seen before while in space. The investigators expect to see fewer immune cells and different types of them than the vaccine typically triggers on the ground.

A second set of mice receives the vaccine on the ground so it can develop an antibody response and immunological memory before flying to the space station, just as a person would after receiving a vaccination. The mice receive a second vaccination two weeks into the flight. This allows researchers to test whether immunological memory is effective in space by comparing the responses in the two groups of mice.

Image above: NASA astronaut Anne McClain working with a Mouse Habitat Unit. McClain tweeted:“@ISS_Research is really phenomenal; every day we get to play a part in learning about our universe, our Earth, and the creatures that live on it. Getting to do science on the ceiling? Well, now that’s just cool!” Image Credit: NASA.

“If the diversity and number of immune cells that are produced changes in space, that affects the ability of astronauts to respond to some sort of immune challenge such as bacteria on the station,” Pecaut said.

The investigators plan to analyze the immune response of the mice in orbit so they can be sure the changes they see are caused by spaceflight and not by the experience of re-entry or return to Earth.

In addition to establishing a link between spaceflight and reduced immune system activation, the investigation could lead to measures that counteract the reduced activation to help protect crew members on long-duration missions.

The investigation also may advance research on antibody production and response to vaccines, helping to improve the effectiveness of vaccines and other therapies for treating diseases and cancers.

“Because NASA is so careful with its astronauts, very few people get sick during spaceflight and it’s not a major concern now,” Pecaut said. “But as we start sending astronauts on longer trips, or as opportunities for space commercialization or tourism ramp up, we need to know that the immune system is still effective. We want to be sure that astronauts can respond to an immune system challenge in space the same as on Earth.”

International Space Station (ISS), the space laboratory. Image Credit: NASA

After all, no one wants a trip to the Moon or Mars ruined by an illness.

This investigation, sponsored by NASA Space Life and Physical Science-Space Biology (NASA-SLPS-Space Biology), is the first time rodents have flown to the space station from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility aboard a Cygnus spacecraft. This mission tests a new late load capability, allowing time-sensitive experiments to be loaded into Cygnus just 24 hours before launch rather than the previous four-day requirement.

Stay tuned with up-to-date information on Northrop Grumman’s 11th Commercial Resupply Mission (CRS-11) launch here: https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/wmsc/#/home

Related links:

Rodent Research 12 (RR-12): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7868

NASA-SLPS-Space Biology: https://www.nasa.gov/spacebio

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/home

NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC): http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html

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

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

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/JSC/International Space Station Program Science Office/Melissa Gaskill.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Hera’s CubeSat to perform first radar probe of an asteroid

ESA - Hera Mission logo.

1 May 2019

Small enough to be an aircraft carry-on, the Juventas spacecraft nevertheless has big mission goals. Once in orbit around its target body, Juventas will unfurl an antenna larger than itself, to perform the very first subsurface radar survey of an asteroid.

ESA’s proposed Hera mission for planetary defence will explore the twin Didymos asteroids, but it will not go there alone: it will also serve as mothership for Europe’s first two ‘CubeSats’ to travel into deep space.

Juventas CubeSat

CubeSats are nanosatellite-class missions based on standardised 10-cm boxes, making maximum use of commercial off the shelf systems. Juventas will be a ‘6-unit’ CubeSat, selected to fly aboard Hera along with the similarly-sized APEX Asteroid Prospection Explorer, built by a Swedish-Finnish-German-Czech consortium.

Juventas – the Roman name for the daughter of Hera – is being developed for ESA by the GomSpace company and GMV in Romania, together with consortia of additional partners developing the spacecraft instruments.

“We’re packing a lot of complexity into the mission,” notes GomSpace systems engineer Hannah Goldberg. “One of the biggest misconceptions about CubeSats is that they are simple, but we have all the same systems as a standard-sized spacecraft.

Hera at Didymos

“Another reputation of CubeSats is that they don’t do that much, but we have multiple mission goals over the course of our month-long mission around the smaller Didymos asteroid. One of our CubeSat units is devoted to our low-frequency radar instrument, which will be a first in asteroid science.”

Juventas will deploy a metre and a half long radar antenna, which will unfurl like a tape measure, and was developed by Astronika in Poland. This instrument is based on the heritage of the CONSERT radar that flew on ESA’s Rosetta comet chaser, overseen by Alain Herique of the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG).

 The radar signals should reach one hundred metres down, giving insight into the asteroid’s internal structure. “Is it a rubble pile, or something more layered, or monolithic?” adds Hannah, who previously worked at asteroid mining company Planetary Resources before moving to GomSpace.

Juventas with radar deployed

“This is the sort of information that is going to be essential for future mining missions, to estimate where the resources are, how mixed up they are, and how much effort will be required to extract them.”

ESA radar specialist Christopher Buck has worked on the instrument design with IPAG: “Our radar instrument’s size and power is much lower than those of previous missions, so what we’re doing is using a pseudo-random code sequence in the signals –  think of it a poor man’s alternative. Navigation satellites use a comparable technique, allowing receivers to make up for their very low power.

“We send a series of signals possessing constantly shifting signal phase, then we gradually build up a picture by correlating the reflections of these signals, employing their phase shifts as our guide. One reason we are able to do this is that we will be orbiting around the asteroid relatively slowly, on the order of a few centimetres per second, giving us longer integration times compared to orbits around Earth or other planets.”

Rosetta's radar used to seek out Philae lander

The technology proved itself with the Rosetta, where the CONSERT radar peered deep inside comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and helped locate the Philae lander on the comet’s surface. Juventas uses a more compact ‘monostatic’ version of the design.

As Juventas orbits, the CubeSat will also be gathering data on the asteroid’s gravity field using both a dedicated 3-axis ‘gravimeter’ – first developed by the Royal Observatory of Belgium for Japan’s proposed Martian Moons eXploration mission – as well as its radio link back to Hera, measuring any Doppler shifting of communications signals caused by its proximity to the body.

“But the mission is being designed to operate with minimal contact with its mothership and the ground, operating autonomously for days at a time,” says Hannah.

“This is a big difference from Earth orbit, where communications are much simpler and more frequent. So we will fly in what is called a ‘self-stabilising terminator orbit’ around the asteroid, perpendicular to the Sun, requiring minimal station-keeping manoeuvring.”

Juventas orbit

The final phase of the mission will come with a precisely-controlled attempt to land on the asteroid.

“We’ll have gyroscopes and accelerometers aboard, so we will capture the force of our impact, and any follow-on bouncing, to gain insight into the asteroid’s surface properties – although we don’t know how well Juventas will continue to operate once it finally touches down. If we are able to successfully operate after the impact, we will continue to take local gravity field measurements from the asteroid surface.”

The Hera mission, including its two CubeSats, will be presented to ESA’s Space19+ meeting this November, where Europe’s space ministers will take a final decision on flying the mission.

Hera mission

Space Safety at ESA

Solar activity, asteroids and artificial space debris all pose threats to our planet and our use of space.

ESA's Space Safety activities aim to safeguard society and the critical satellites on which we depend, identifying and mitigating threats from space through projects such as the Flyeye telescopes, the Lagrange space weather mission and the Hera asteroid mission.

As asteroid experts meet for the international Planetary Defense Conference, ESA is focusing on the threat we face from space rocks. How likely is an asteroid impact? What is ESA doing to mitigate impact risks? Follow the hashtag #PlanetaryDefense to find out more.

Related article:

CubeSats joining Hera mission to asteroid system
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/01/cubesats-joining-hera-mission-to.html

Related links:

Astronika: https://www.astronika.pl/

CONSERT radar: https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/CONSERT2

Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG): https://ipag.osug.fr/

Royal Observatory of Belgium: https://www.astro.oma.be/en/

Martian Moons eXploration: http://mmx.isas.jaxa.jp/en/

ESA’s Space19: https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2019/01/What_is_Space19

ESA's Space Safety: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Safety

Planetary Defense Conference: http://pdc.iaaweb.org/

Rosetta: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta

GomSpace: http://gomspace.com/index.php?p=home

GMV: http://www.gmv.com/en

Hera Mission: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Hera

Images, Video, Text, Credits: ESA/GomSpace/ScienceOffice.org/Rosetta/Philae.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Swarm helps explain Earth’s magnetic jerks

ESA - SWARM Mission logo.

1 May 2019

Our protective magnetic field is always restless, but every now and then something weird happens – it jerks. Although scientists have known about these rapid shifts for some 40 years, the reason why they occur has remained a frustrating mystery, until now.

Since geomagnetic jerks were discovered in 1978 scientists have been trying to work out why the magnetic field suddenly and unexpectedly accelerates.

Looking back at measurement records from the worldwide network of ground-based magnetic observatories, they found that that these jerks, which appear as sharp V-shaped features in graphs of magnetic-field changes, date back as far as 1901, and that the phenomenon occurs about every three to 12 years. Also, they are not consistent across the globe. In 1949, for example, a jerk was measured in North America, but was not detected in Europe.

Simulation of the magnetic field in Earth’s core

Since they occur relatively randomly and the mechanism that drives them has been poorly understood, these jerks have frustrated attempts to forecast changes in the magnetic field, even for a few years ahead.

Forecasts are important because the magnetic field protects us from solar storms, which have the potential to disrupt power supplies, communication links and navigation systems, for example.

Bearing in mind that ground-based magnetic observatories are built on land, information about these jerks has been incomplete as the ocean, of course, covers 70% of Earth’s surface. But thanks to ESA’s trio of Swarm satellites, which measure variations in Earth’s magnetic field from space, scientists can now study the global structure of geomagnetic jerks.

Swarm

In a paper published recently in Nature Geoscience scientists from the Paris Institute of Earth Physics and the Technical University of Denmark describe how they created a computer model for geomagnetic jerks and they have offered an explanation as to why they happen.

Our magnetic field is generated mainly by the churning of fluid within Earth’s core. Researchers know of two types of movement that cause different variations in the magnetic field: those resulting from slow convection movement, which can be measured on the scale of a century, and those resulting from rapid hydromagnetic waves, which can be detected over a few years.

Tracking geomagnetic jerks

They suspected that the latter type play a role in the jerks, but the interaction of these fast waves with slow convection, along with their mechanism of propagation and amplification, had yet to be revealed.

Now, the researchers have been able to document the series of events that lead to jerks which, in the simulation, arise from hydromagnetic waves emitted within the core. As molten matter rises up to reach the outer surface of the Earth’s core, it produces powerful waves along the magnetic field lines near the core. The team explained that this results in sharp changes in the flow of liquid beneath the magnetic field.

The jerks originate in rising blobs of metal that form in the planet’s core 25 years before the corresponding jerk takes place. These current findings are part of a longer-term project in which scientists hope to predict the evolution of the geomagnetic field over the coming decades.

The force that protects our planet

Chris Finlay, from DTU Space, said, “Swarm has made a real contribution to our research, allowing us to make detailed comparisons, in both space and time, with physical theories on the origin of these magnetic jerks.

“While our findings make fascinating science, there are some real-world benefits of understanding how our magnetic field changes.

“Many modern electronic devices such as smart phones, rely on our knowledge of the magnetic field for orientation information. Being able to better forecast field changes will help with such systems.”

Related links:

Nature Geoscience: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0355-1

Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris IPGP: http://www.ipgp.fr/en

DTU Space: http://www.space.dtu.dk/english

French National Centre for Scientific Research CNRS: http://www.cnrs.fr/en

Swarm: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Swarm

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/Julien Aubert, IPGP/CNRS/CNRS Photothèque/DTU/ATG medialab.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA Investigation Uncovers Cause of Two Science Mission Launch Failures

NASA - Launch Services Program (LSP) logo.

April 30, 2019

Image above: On Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Sciences workers monitor NASA's Glory upper stack as a crane lifts it from a stationary rail for attachment to the Taurus XL rocket's Stage 0. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) investigators have determined the technical root cause for the Taurus XL launch failures of NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) and Glory missions in 2009 and 2011, respectively: faulty materials provided by aluminum manufacturer, Sapa Profiles, Inc. (SPI).

LSP’s technical investigation led to the involvement of NASA’s Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). DOJ’s efforts, recently made public, resulted in the resolution of criminal charges and alleged civil claims against SPI, and its agreement to pay $46 million to the U.S. government and other commercial customers. This relates to a 19-year scheme that included falsifying thousands of certifications for aluminum extrusions to hundreds of customers.

This is an artist’s concept of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory. Image credits: NASA/JPL

NASA’s updated public summary of the launch failures, which was published Tuesday, comes after a multiyear technical investigation by LSP and updates the previous public summaries on the Taurus XL launch failures for the OCO and Glory missions. Those public summaries concluded that the launch vehicle fairing — a clamshell structure that encapsulates the satellite as it travels through the atmosphere — failed to separate on command, but no technical root cause had been identified. From NASA’s investigation, it is now known that SPI altered test results and provided false certifications to Orbital Sciences Corporation, the manufacturer of the Taurus XL, regarding the aluminum extrusions used in the payload fairing rail frangible joint. A frangible joint is a structural separation system that is initiated using ordnance.

“NASA relies on the integrity of our industry throughout the supply chain. While we do perform our own testing, NASA is not able to retest every single component. That is why we require and pay for certain components to be tested and certified by the supplier,” said Jim Norman, NASA’s director for Launch Services at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “When testing results are altered and certifications are provided falsely, missions fail. In our case, the Taurus XLs that failed for the OCO and Glory missions resulted in the loss of more than $700 million, and years of people’s scientific work. It is critical that we are able to trust our industry to produce, test and certify materials in accordance with the standards we require. In this case, our trust was severely violated.”

 Artist concept of Glory satellite. Image Credit: NASA

To protect the government supply chain, NASA suspended SPI from government contracting and proposed SPI for government-wide debarment. The exclusion from government contracting has been in effect since Sept. 30, 2015. NASA also has proposed debarment for Hydro Extrusion Portland, Inc.,formerly known as SPI,and the company currently is excluded from contracting throughout the federal government.

“Due in large part to the hard work and dedication of many highly motivated people in the NASA Launch Services program, we are able to close out the cause of two extremely disappointing launch vehicle failures and protect the government aerospace supply chain,” said Amanda Mitskevich, LSP program manager at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in, Florida. “It has taken a long time to get here, involving years of investigation and testing, but as of today, it has been worth every minute, and I am extremely pleased with the entire team’s efforts.”

To learn more about NASA’s Launch Services Program, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/index.html

NASA Launch Services Program (LSP): https://elvperf.ksc.nasa.gov/Pages/Default.aspx

Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/oco/main/index.html

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) failure: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/oco/news/oco-20090717.html

Glory mission: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Glory/news/mishap-board-report.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Sean Potter/Gina Anderson.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Research Continues on Station as NASA, SpaceX Move Off May 1 Launch

ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

April 30, 2019

NASA has requested SpaceX move off from May 1 for the launch of the company’s 17th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station.

On April 29, the space station team identified an issue with one of the station’s Main Bus Switching Units that distributes power to two of the eight power channels on the station.  There are no immediate concerns for the crew or the station. Teams are working on a plan to robotically replace the failed unit and restore full power to the station system. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available. The earliest possible launch opportunity is no earlier than Friday, May 3.

Image above: The Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Bay and Houston, Texas, the home of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, are pictured from the International Space Station 256 miles above the Lone Star State. Image Credit: NASA.

Meanwhile, the Expedition 59 crew explored a wide variety of microgravity science today including human research, robotics and space manufacturing techniques.

Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques jotted down his impressions of space life in a private journal this morning for the Behavioral Core Measures study. Later he installed new incubator hardware inside the Space Automated Bioproduct Lab for the Kidney Cells experiment that seeks innovative treatments for humans on Earth and in space.

Image above: The International Space Station was pictured by an Expedition 56 crewmember aboard a departing Soyuz crew ship on Oct. 4, 2018. Image Credit: NASA.

Astrobee, a new free-flying robotic assistant, is being readied for testing today inside Japan’s Kibo lab module. NASA astronaut Anne McClain inspected and checked out the cube-shaped mini-robot’s components then activated the device to perform a flyaround. Astrobee could save the crew time performing routine maintenance duties and providing additional lab monitoring capabilities.

Engineers are also testing the feasibility of producing fiber optic cable in space. Microgravity reveals physical processes hidden by Earth’s gravity that may prove the superiority of space manufacturing. Flight Engineer Christina Koch contributed to that study today working on fiber samples in the Microgravity Science Glovebox that will be examined back on Earth for quality.

Related links:

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

SpaceX: http://www.nasa.gov/spacex

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

Behavioral Core Measures: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7537

Space Automated Bioproduct Lab: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1148

Fiber optic cable in space: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7630

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

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

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

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Scientists Planning Now for Asteroid Flyby a Decade Away

Asteroid Watch logo.

April 30, 2019

On April 13, 2029, a speck of light will streak across the sky, getting brighter and faster. At one point it will travel more than the width of the full Moon within a minute and it will get as bright as the stars in the Little Dipper. But it won't be a satellite or an airplane - it will be a 1,100-foot-wide (340-meter-wide) near-Earth asteroid called 99942 Apophis that will cruise harmlessly by Earth, about 19,000 miles (31,000 kilometers) above the surface. That's within the distance that some of our spacecraft that orbit Earth.

Animation above: This animation shows the distance between the Apophis asteroid and Earth at the time of the asteroid's closest approach. The blue dots are the many man-made satellites that orbit our planet, and the pink represents the International Space Station. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The international asteroid research community couldn't be more excited.

This week at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in College Park, Maryland, scientists are gathering to discuss observation plans and science opportunities for the celestial event still a decade away. During a session on April 30, scientists will discuss everything from how to observe the event to hypothetical missions we could send out to the asteroid.

"The Apophis close approach in 2029 will be an incredible opportunity for science," said Marina Brozovi?, a radar scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who works on radar observations of near-Earth objects (NEOs). "We'll observe the asteroid with both optical and radar telescopes. With radar observations, we might be able to see surface details that are only a few meters in size."

It's rare for an asteroid of this size to pass by Earth so close. Although scientists have spotted small asteroids, on the order of 5-10 meters, flying by Earth at a similar distance, asteroids the size of Apophis are far fewer in number and so do not pass this close to Earth as often.

Image above: Nine new radar images of near-Earth asteroid 2007 PA8 were obtained between Oct. 31 and Nov. 13, 2012. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-CalTech.

The asteroid, looking like a moving star-like point of light, will first become visible to the naked eye in the night sky over the Southern Hemisphere, flying above Earth from the east coast to the west coast of Australia. It will be mid-morning on the East Coast of the United States when Apophis is above Australia. It will then cross the Indian Ocean, and by the afternoon in the eastern U.S. it will have crossed the equator, still moving west, above Africa. At closest approach, just before 6 p.m. EDT, Apophis will be over the Atlantic Ocean - and it will move so fast that it will cross the Atlantic in just an hour. By 7 p.m. EDT, the asteroid will have crossed over the United States.

A team of astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory discovered Apophis in June 2004. The astronomers were only able to detect the asteroid for two days before technical and weather issues prevented further observations. Luckily, another team rediscovered the asteroid at the Siding Spring Survey in Australia later that year. The observations caused quite a stir - initial orbital calculations revealed that the asteroid had a 2.7% chance of impacting Earth in 2029. Fortunately, additional observations completely ruled out that possibility.

Since its discovery, optical and radar telescopes have tracked Apophis as it continues on its orbit around the Sun, so we know its future trajectory quite well. Current calculations show that Apophis still has a small chance of impacting Earth, less than 1 in 100,000 many decades from now, but future measurements of its position can be expected to rule out any possible impacts.

The most important observations of Apophis will occur in 2029, when asteroid scientists around the world will have an opportunity to conduct a close-up study of the Apophis' size, shape, composition and possibly even its interior.

Near Earth Asteroids. Image Credit: ESA

At the conference, scientists will discuss questions like "How will Earth's gravity affect the asteroid as it passes by?," "Can we use Apophis' flyby to learn about an asteroid's interior?" and "Should we send a spacecraft mission to Apophis?"

"We already know that the close encounter with Earth will change Apophis' orbit, but our models also show the close approach could change the way this asteroid spins, and it is possible that there will be some surface changes, like small avalanches," said Davide Farnocchia, an astronomer at JPL's Center for Near Earth Objects Studies (CNEOS), who is co-chairing the April 30 session on Apophis with Brozovi?.

"Apophis is a representative of about 2,000 currently known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)," said Paul Chodas, director of CNEOS. "By observing Apophis during its 2029 flyby, we will gain important scientific knowledge that could one day be used for planetary defense."

Related article:

NASA Rules Out Earth Impact in 2036 for Asteroid Apophis
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2013/01/nasa-rules-out-earth-impact-in-2036-for.html

Related links:

2019 Planetary Defense Conference: http://pdc.iaaweb.org/

For more information about asteroids and near-Earth objects, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch Updates about near-Earth objects are also available by following AsteroidWatch on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/asteroidwatch .

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Dwayne Brown/JoAnna Wendel/JPL/DC Agle.

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