First spacewalk for Samantha Cristoforetti

 

ESA - Minerva Mission patch.

July 20, 2022

On 21 July 2022, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will head outside the International Space Station on a spacewalk alongside cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev. It will be Samantha’s first spacewalk, and the first conducted by a European woman.

Cygnus Departure from Space Station

Both astronauts will be wearing Orlan spacesuits, with Oleg wearing red stripes and Samantha wearing blue stripes. Sergei Korsakov will provide support to the spacewalkers before they exit the Space Station through the space-facing Poisk module.

The spacewalk, also called an Extravehicular Activity or EVA, will see Samantha and Oleg working together on a number of tasks, including installing platforms and workstation adapter hardware mounted on the Nauka laboratory module.

Orlan spacesuits

The spacewalking duo will deploy ten nanosatellites designed to collect radio electronics data during the EVA, and put in place a telescopic boom in place from Zarya to Poisk to assist in future spacewalks.

Working on European Robotic Arm

This will be the third spacewalk to include tasks around getting the European Robotic Arm ready for its first operations on Nauka. The astronauts will move its external control panel, work on insulation and install a temporary adapter point for the robotic arm.

Samantha will spend some time making sure a window shield on the arm’s camera unit is clear enough to allow a laser light to guide the arm for grappling and moving around.

European Robotic Arm specs

Europe’s robotic arm brings new ways of operating automated machines to the orbital complex. It will be able to perform many tasks automatically or semi-automatically, can be directed either from inside or outside the Station, and it can be controlled directly or programmed in advance.

At ESA’s technical heart, ESTEC in the Netherlands, engineers will be following the spacewalk closely. A European team will be monitoring Samantha’s work on the robotic arm from its mission control.

Watch live

You can watch the spacewalk live via ESA Web TV. Coverage will begin at 15:30 CEST (14:30 BST) with the EVA itself scheduled to begin at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST). The spacewalk may last up to seven hours.

ESA Web TV: https://esawebtv.esa.int/2

Samantha is living and working aboard the Space Station on her second spaceflight mission, Minerva. Learn more about Samantha and the Minerva mission on the dedicated Minerva web page: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Minerva

Related link:

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/NASA.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

China developing means of saving Earth from asteroids

 

CNSA - China National Space Administration logo.

July 20, 2022

Currently, the only asteroid defense project to have truly gotten off the ground is the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission (mission in progress), an initiative developed by NASA and John Hopkins University.

An asteroid is seen near Earth in this artistic illustration. Image Credit: PIXABAY

China is planning a new initiative to combat the threat of a potential asteroid impact on Earth, Chinese Defense Minister Wu Yanhua said Sunday morning, according to TASS.

The plan is slated for technology testing to begin either at the end of China's 14th five-year plan (2021-2025) or within the following year, TASS reported, citing China Central Television.

The details of the project are not entirely clear at this time, though what is clear is that the China National Space Administration (CNSA) is working on a ground- and space-based early warning system that could observe incoming asteroids and sound the alarm if they could pose a risk of impacting the Earth. In addition, they also plan on developing a method to prevent these impacts from occurring, with the defense minister specifically being quoted as saying that they will "carry out a collision" to displace this incoming asteroid from its orbit.

A danger of astronomical proportions

Asteroid impacts are one of the worst possible natural disasters that could happen, as the sheer level of destruction they can cause exceeds that of any other. The possible damage an asteroid impact could cause varies based on a number of factors, especially size, with NASA considering asteroids 140 meters or greater in diameter a major concern should they hit the planet.

Image above: MASSIVE ASTEROIDS can veer uncomfortably close to Earth. But while some see them as harbingers of destruction, others see them as a mining alternative. Image Credit: PIXABAY.

According to research from the Davidson Institute of Science, the educational arm of Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, an asteroid over 140 meters in diameter would release an amount of energy at least a thousand times greater than that released by the first atomic bomb if it impacted Earth.

Something even larger – over 300 meters wide like the asteroid Apophis – could destroy an entire continent. An asteroid over a kilometer in width – like 138971 (2001 CB21), which flew past the Earth in early March – could trigger a worldwide cataclysm.

Even small asteroids have the potential to cause damage, however.

And there are many of them. Asteroids make up one of the most numerous types of objects in the solar system. Currently, over 1,113,000 asteroids are known to exist in the solar system, according to NASA, but those are just the ones definitively identified, with experts always finding more.

Asteroids — Can they be stopped?

A number of projects have been proposed to help humanity destroy an incoming asteroid – and despite what many science fiction movies would suggest, most scientists, barring some, suggest that nuclear bombs would be a bad idea.

Currently, the only project to have truly gotten off the ground thus far is the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission (mission in progress), an initiative developed by NASA and John Hopkins University.

The DART Mission seeks to launch a specially designed rocket to alter the path of an asteroid, effectively punching an asteroid with a rocket with enough speed to change its direction by a fraction of a percent. NASA has likened this to a "pillow fight in microgravity."

The technology involved includes the "kinetic impactor" technique, which should be able to change an asteroid's motion in space.

A spacecraft will crash straight into an asteroid at a speed of around 6.6 kilometers per second, which should force it to change the speed of its orbit.

Even if only by a fraction of a percent, it would be enough to be observed and measured by astronomers.

The mission was launched last November and is slated to crash into its target, the asteroid Dimorphous, in the fall of 2022.

Image above: NASA's DART Mission heads for an asteroid, from behind the NEXT–C ion engine (illustrative). Image Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL.

Is DART our only hope?

Despite it having the most hype around it and being the only major project to have gotten past the theory stage, other ideas have been proposed as well.

One proposal made by researchers at China's National Space Science Center in 2021 claimed that using 23 Long March 5 rockets, some of China's largest rockets, could possibly be effective at changing an asteroid's trajectory by a distance 1.4 times the Earth's radius.

"The proposal of keeping the upper stage of the launch rocket to a guiding spacecraft, making one large 'kinetic impactor' to deflect an asteroid, is a rather nice concept," Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons from the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast said of the idea at the time, according to Reuters.

"By increasing the mass hitting the asteroid, simple physics should ensure a much greater effect," Fitzsimmons said, although, he added, the actual operation of such a mission needs to be studied in greater detail.

Another idea proposed by the European company Airbus suggested essentially hijacking and repurposing TV satellites, using a special kinetic deflection module to steer and propel the satellite into an incoming asteroid – a suggestion far more ad hoc than the previous two, which would need more time to pull off.

Another proposal made by scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara suggested using what are called hypervelocity kinetic penetrators to "pulverize" the asteroid, essentially "slicing and dicing" them to avoid an impact. These work by sending the penetrators (some filled with explosives) into the core of the asteroid, fracturing it into many small fragments below 15 meters in diameter at maximum.

These fragments would then be spread out into a cloud of fragments and, if not blown completely off course, would then head into the Earth's atmosphere at speeds of around Mach 60.

But this is where the Earth's atmosphere kicks in, as entering the atmosphere at such a high speed causes it to experience severe levels of heat and pressure. These stresses would in turn cause the fragments to explode further, creating a sonic boom of sorts.

How viable any of these methods are remain purely theoretical, however, and it won't be until the DART Mission concludes that we will know if any of these theories hold water.

China's space ambitions

The announcement of China's planned asteroid defense project is in line with many of Beijing's noted ambitions regarding space.

China, which aims to become a space power by 2030, has already successfully launched probes to explore Mars and became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.

Currently, China is also setting up its own space station in orbit.

However, they have also been pushing for other potential benefits of space advancement, such as extracting energy and mining materials from space.

“Outer space holds virtually limitless amounts of energy and raw materials, from Helium-3 fuel on the Moon for clean fusion reactors to heavy metals and volatile gases from asteroids, which can be harvested for use on Earth and in space. China will almost certainly use any resources it is able to acquire to the detriment of its adversaries, competitors and bystanders alike,” former CIA space analyst Tim Chrisman said in November 2021.

Related articles:

What’s next for the China Space Station in 2022 and 2023
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/04/whats-next-for-china-space-station-in.html

NASA, SpaceX Launch DART: First Test Mission to Defend Planet Earth
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/11/nasa-spacex-launch-dart-first-test.html

China Space Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/china-space-station.html

Related links:

China National Space Administration (CNSA): http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART): https://www.nasa.gov/dartmission

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: TASS/Jerusalem Post/By Aaron REICH.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Astronauts Pursue New Research to Benefit Humans on Earth, Space

 

ISS - Expedition 67 Mission patch.

July 19, 2022

A variety of new space science is under way aboard the International Space Station following Saturday’s delivery aboard the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. The Expedition 67 crew members are helping researchers on the ground take advantage of weightlessness to reveal new phenomena potentially benefitting humans on Earth and in space.

Image above: Astronaut Bob Hines works out on the space station’s Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) that mimics lifting free weights on Earth. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA Flight Engineer Bob Hines kicked off a new experiment today that looks at how the human immune system adapts to microgravity. Hines set up the Life Science Glovebox inside the Kibo laboratory module then serviced tissue samples for the Immunosenescence investigation. Results may inform treatments for accelerated aging processes observed in space as well as normal aging conditions on Earth.

NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren spent his day working on a pair of different experiments and configuring science hardware. He first started exploring techniques to manufacture optical fibers in space. Afterward, Lindgren began demonstrating ways to improve water recycling farther away from Earth. The two-time station visitor also disconnected components on a thermal spacesuit experiment and transferred samples stowed in Dragon to science freezers in Kibo and the U.S. Destiny laboratory module.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA

Astronauts Jessica Watkins of NASA and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) studied how motion and distance perception is altered in microgravity. The duo worked in the Columbus laboratory module wearing virtual reality goggles and a neck brace while clicking on a trackball in response to visual and aural stimuli. Insights may lead to improved controls for space vehicles and more effective visual cues on Earth.

Related links:

Expedition 67: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition67/index.html

Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=973

Life Science Glovebox: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7676

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

Immunosenescence: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8343

Manufacture optical fibers: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8214

Water recycling: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8369

Thermal spacesuit experiment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7514

U.S. Destiny laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/us-destiny-laboratory

Motion and distance perception: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7484

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

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

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

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

JWST picture shows noticeable damage from micrometeoroid strike

 

NASA / ESA / CSA-ASC - James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) patch.

July 19, 2022

NASA is unsure how much of an effect space rocks will have on Webb's lifetime after the event 'exceeded prelaunch expectations of damage.'

A small space rock has proven to have a big effect on NASA's newly operational deep-space telescope.

Image above:  On the right, the state of the James Webb Space Telescope on June 21, 2022, after an unexpectedly large micrometeoroid strike and subsequent responses, compared to the expected state on the left. Image Credits: NASA/STScI.

A micrometeoroid struck the James Webb Space Telescope between May 22 and 24, impacting one of the observatory's 18 hexagonal golden mirrors. NASA had disclosed the micrometeoroid strike in June and noted that the debris was more sizeable than pre-launch modeling had accounted for. Now, scientists on the mission have shared an image that drives home the severity of the blow in a report (opens in new tab) released July 12 describing what scientists on the mission learned about using the observatory during its first six months in space.

Happily, in this case the overall effect on Webb was small. That said, the report outlines the investigation and modeling that engineers are undertaking to assess the long-term effects of micrometeroids on Webb.

Based on fuel usage, the telescope should last 20 years in space. But scientists aren't sure how much of an effect micrometeroid strikes will have upon its operations, the report authors stated.

Micrometeroids are a known danger of space operations, and facing them is by no means new to scientists; the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope are among long-running programs that are still operational despite occasional space rock strikes. However, Webb's orbit at Lagrange Point 2 about 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth may change the risk profile considerably.

Webb engineers first detected deformations on the primary mirror during the commissioning period during the alignment (or wavefront sensing) phase, which put the 18 segments of the hexagonal mirror into the best position to capture light.

These first six strikes met pre-launch expectations of rate as they came in at a rate of once per month, the report stated. Moreover, some of the resulting deformations are correctable through mirror realignments. But it's the magnitude of one of these six strikes that caused more concern, the paper noted, as it caused a significant blemish to a segment known as C3. The strike in late May "caused significant uncorrectable change in the overall figure of that segment," the report stated.

In this case, however, the overall impact to the mission is small "because only a small portion of the telescope area was affected." Seventeen mirror segments remain unblemished and engineers were able to realign Webb's segments to account for most of the damage.

Engineers are still modeling how frequently such events will occur. "It is not yet clear whether the May 2022 hit to segment C3 was a rare event," the team wrote. By "rare," they said it is possible that they happened to get a high-energy impact that should statistically happen only once every few years.

Alternatively, it may be that Webb is "more susceptible to damage by micrometeoroids than pre-launch modeling predicted," the team wrote. Modeling is ongoing to estimate the hazardous population of micrometeoroids and to figure out remedies, such as restricting pointing direction.

One remedy could be minimizing the amount of time Webb points directly into its orbital direction, "which statistically has higher micrometeoroid rates and energies," the team wrote.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Animation Credits: NASA/ESA

Main mirror performance is assessed by how much it deforms starlight, according to Astronomy magazine (opens in new tab), and measured using what scientists call wavefront error root mean square. When Webb's mission began, the affected C3 segment had a wavefront error of 56 nanometers rms (root mean square), which was in line with the 17 other mirror portions.

Post-impact, however, the error increased to 258 nm rms, but realignments to the mirror segments as a whole reduced the overall impact to just 59 nm rms. For the time being, the team wrote Webb's alignment is well within performance limits, as the realigned mirror segments are "about 5-10 nm rms above the previous best wavefront error rms values."

For now, engineers are keeping an eye on potential future dust-generating events such as in 2023 and 2024, when Webb is expected to fly through particles left behind by Halley's Comet, according to Nature (opens in new tab).

NASA's meteoroid environment office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is modeling the impact risk to Webb associated with Halley. NASA officials have also emphasized during recent media briefings that the micrometeroid issue has their full attention, Nature added.

Related articles:

Webb Images of Jupiter and More Now Available In Commissioning Data
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/07/webb-images-of-jupiter-and-more-now.html

First images from Webb telescope reveal unseen Universe
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/07/first-images-from-webb-telescope-reveal.html

Related link:

Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01877-8

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST):

ESA: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb

CSA-ASC: https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/jwst/

NASA: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Space.com/By Elizabeth Howell.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Roman Space Telescope

 

NASA - Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope logo.

July 19, 2022

NASA has awarded a NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract to Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, California, to provide launch service for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission. The Roman Space Telescope is the top-priority large space mission recommended by the 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.

Image above: A high-resolution illustration of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope against a starry background. Image Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

NLS II is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The total cost for NASA to launch the Roman telescope is approximately $255 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. The telescope’s mission currently is targeted to launch in October 2026, as specified in the contract, on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The telescope’s science program will include dedicated investigations to tackle outstanding questions in cosmology, including the effects of dark energy and dark matter, and exoplanet exploration. Roman also includes a substantial general investigator program to enable further studies of astrophysical phenomena to advance other science goals.

The telescope was previously known as the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST), but it was later renamed in honor of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman for her extraordinary work at NASA, which paved the way for large space telescopes.

NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the SpaceX launch service. The Roman Space Telescope project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

For more information about NASA programs and missions, visit: https://www.nasa.gov

Related links:

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: http://www.nasa.gov/roman

SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com/

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Gerelle Dodson/Joshua Finch/Kennedy Space Center/Patti Bielling.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Crew Unpacking New Science Experiments from Dragon

 

ISS - Expedition 67 Mission patch.

July 18, 2022

New science experiments continue to be unpacked from inside the newly-arrived SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. The seven Expedition 67 crew members also ensured the International Space Station continues orbiting Earth in tip-top shape.

Image above: The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship carrying over 5,800 pounds of cargo approaches the space station above the south Atlantic Ocean on July 16, 2022. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines spent Monday unloading some of the more than 5,800 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies delivered on Saturday inside the Dragon cargo craft. The duo transferred time-critical research samples into the orbital lab to begin exploring a variety of space phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth. Some of the new experiment include a human immune system study, a protein production investigation, and a cancer treatment experiment.

NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren assisted Watkins and Hines today moving science freezers inside Dragon to access cargo pallets. Lindgren also tended to radishes and mizuna greens growing using hydroponic and aeroponic methods for the XROOTS space botany study. ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tested computer connections inside the European Physiology Module that supports neuroscientific, cardiovascular, and physiological studies inside the Columbus laboratory module.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA

The station’s three cosmonauts focused mainly on life support maintenance duties. Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev serviced Russian ventilation systems replacing vents and filters. Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov worked on orbital plumbing duties inside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

Related links:

Expedition 67: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition67/index.html

Human immune system study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8343

Protein production investigation: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8703

Cancer treatment experiment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8616

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

XROOTS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8088

European Physiology Module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=328

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

Nauka multipurpose laboratory module: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/nauka/

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

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

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Heatwaves and Fires Scorch Europe, Africa, and Asia

 

NASA - Suomi NPP Mission patch.

July 18, 2022

In June and July 2022, heatwaves struck Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, as temperatures climbed above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in places and broke many long-standing records.

July 13, 2022

The map above shows the surface air temperatures across most of the Eastern Hemisphere on July 13, 2022. It was produced by combining observations with a version of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) global model, which uses mathematical equations to represent physical processes in the atmosphere.

“While there is a clear pattern of an ‘atmospheric wave’ with alternating warm (redder) and cool (bluer) values in different locations, this large area of extreme (and record breaking) heat is another clear indicator that emissions of greenhouse gases by human activity are causing weather extremes that impact our living conditions,” said Steven Pawson, chief of the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

In Western Europe, which was already experiencing severe drought, the heatwave fueled fires that raged across Portugal, Spain, and parts of France. In Portugal, temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 13 in the town of Leiria, where more than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) had burned. More than half of the country was on red alert as firefighters battled 14 active fires.

July 12, 2022

The above image shows the locations of fire detections in Portugal and Spain as observed by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite on July 12, 2022. The prominent fire detections west of Madrid include the town of Las Hurdes where more than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) have burned.

In Italy, the record heat contributed to the July 3 collapse of a portion of the Marmolada Glacier in the Dolomites. The avalanche of snow, ice, and rock killed 11 hikers.

In the U.K., the Met Office issued extreme heat or amber warnings as temperatures were expected to continue to climb, possibly breaking all-time highs.

In North Africa, Tunisia has endured a heatwave and fires that have damaged the country's grain crop. On July 13 in the capital city of Tunis, the temperature reached 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking a 40-year record.

In Iran, temperatures remained high in July after reaching a scorching 52 degrees Celsius (126 degrees Fahrenheit) in late June.

Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. Image Credits: NASA/NOAA

In China, the summer has brought three heatwaves that have buckled roads, melted tar, and popped off roof tiles. The Shanghai Xujiahui Observatory, where records have been kept since 1873, recorded its highest temperature ever: 40.9 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 13, 2022. High humidity and dewpoints, along with warm overnight temperatures, created potentially deadly conditions.

“Such extreme heat has direct impacts on human health, as well as having other consequences, including these fires that are occurring now in Europe and Africa, and which have been rampant over the past few years in North America,” Pawson said.

Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP): https://eospso.nasa.gov/missions/suomi-national-polar-orbiting-partnership

Credits: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using GEOS-5 data from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA GSFC and VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Story by Sara E. Pratt. Image of the satellite mentioned (Artist's view).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch