Astronomers find missing link for water in the Solar System

 

ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array logo.

March 9, 2023

Water in the planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis (artist’s impression)

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected gaseous water in the planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis. This water carries a chemical signature that explains the journey of water from star-forming gas clouds to planets, and supports the idea that water on Earth is even older than our Sun.

“We can now trace the origins of water in our Solar System to before the formation of the Sun,” says John J. Tobin, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USA and lead author of the study published today in Nature.

ALMA images of the planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis

This discovery was made by studying the composition of water in V883 Orionis, a planet-forming disc about 1300 light-years away from Earth. When a cloud of gas and dust collapses it forms a star at its centre. Around the star, material from the cloud also forms a disc. Over the course of a few million years, the matter in the disc clumps together to form comets, asteroids, and eventually planets. Tobin and his team used ALMA, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, to measure chemical signatures of the water and its path from the star-forming cloud to planets.

Water usually consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. Tobin’s team studied a slightly heavier version of water where one of the hydrogen atoms is replaced with deuterium — a heavy isotope of hydrogen. Because simple and heavy water form under different conditions, their ratio can be used to trace when and where the water was formed. For instance, this ratio in some Solar System comets has been shown to be similar to that in water on Earth, suggesting that comets might have delivered water to Earth.

The planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis (artist’s impression)

The journey of water from clouds to young stars, and then later from comets to planets has previously been observed, but until now the link between the young stars and comets was missing. “V883 Orionis is the missing link in this case,” says Tobin. “The composition of the water in the disc is very similar to that of comets in our own Solar System. This is confirmation of the idea that the water in planetary systems formed billions of years ago, before the Sun, in interstellar space, and has been inherited by both comets and Earth, relatively unchanged.”

But observing the water turned out to be tricky. “Most of the water in planet-forming discs is frozen out as ice, so it’s usually hidden from our view,'' says co-author Margot Leemker, a PhD student at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. Gaseous water can be detected thanks to the radiation emitted by molecules as they spin and vibrate, but this is more complicated when the water is frozen, where the motion of molecules is more constrained. Gaseous water can be found towards the centre of the discs, close to the star, where it’s warmer. However, these close-in regions are hidden by the dust disc itself, and are also too small to be imaged with our telescopes.

From gas clouds to discs to planetary systems (artist’s impression)

Fortunately, the V883 Orionis disc was shown in a recent study to be unusually hot. A dramatic outburst of energy from the star heats the disc, “up to a temperature where water is no longer in the form of ice, but gas, enabling us to detect it,” says Tobin.

The star V883 Orionis in the constellation of Orion

The team used ALMA, an array of radio telescopes in northern Chile, to observe the gaseous water in V883 Orionis. Thanks to its sensitivity and ability to discern small details they were able to both detect the water and determine its composition, as well as map its distribution within the disc. From the observations, they found this disc contains at least 1200 times the amount of water in all Earth’s oceans.

The Missing Link for Water in the Solar System (ESOcast 258 Light)

In the future, they hope to use ESO’s upcoming Extremely Large Telescope and its first-generation instrument METIS. This mid-infrared instrument will be able to resolve the gas-phase of water in these types of discs, strengthening the link of water’s path all the way from star-forming clouds to solar systems. ”This will give us a much more complete view of the ice and gas in planet-forming discs,” concludes Leemker.

Zooming on the protoplanetary disc around V883 Orionis

More information

This research was presented in a paper “Deuterium-enriched water ties planet-forming disks to comets and protostars” to appear in Nature (doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05676-z).

The team is composed of John J. Tobin (National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USA), Merel L. R. van’t Hoff (Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, USA), Margot Leemker (Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, the Netherlands [Leiden]) , Ewine F. van Dishoeck (Leiden), Teresa Paneque-Carreño (Leiden; European Southern Observatory, Germany), Kenji Furuya (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Japan), Daniel Harsono (Institute of Astronomy, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan), Magnus V. Persson (Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden), L. Ilsedore Cleeves (Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, USA), Patrick D. Sheehan (Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astronomy, Northwestern University, USA) and Lucas Cieza (Núcleo de Astronomía, Facultad de Ingeniería, Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile).

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration in astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 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’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.

Links:

Research paper: https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2302/eso2302a.pdf

Photos of ALMA: https://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/alma/

For journalists: subscribe to receive our releases under embargo in your language: https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/pressmedia/#epodpress_form

For scientists: got a story? Pitch your research: http://www.eso.org/sci/publications/announcements/sciann17463.html

Extremely Large Telescope (ELT): https://elt.eso.org/

Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA): https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/alma/

Images Credits: ESO/L. Calçada/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), J. Tobin, B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)/IAU and Sky & Telescope/Videos Credits: ESO, ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) and L. Calçada/ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)/M. Kornmesser. Music: Johan B. Monell/Text Credits: ESO/Juan Carlos Muñoz Mateos/Leiden Observatory/Margot Leemker/National Radio Astronomy Observatory/John J. Tobin.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Advanced Science Work Under Way Before Crew Departure

 

ISS - Expedition 68 Mission patch.

March 8, 2023

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA

The four new Expedition 68 crew members are getting used to life in space while four other crewmates are preparing to go home this month. Also, today’s research includes replacing fuel bottles in the Combustion Integrated Rack and collecting samples for the Food Physiology and Host Pathogen experiment.

Flight engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos removed the rack and replaced it with a new high-percentage oxygen bottle. The Combustion Integration Rack is used to perform combustion investigations in microgravity, and results could improve understanding of early fire growth behavior and help determine the best fire suppression techniques, improving crew safety in future space facilities.

Image above: Expedition 68 Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, both from NASA, work on life support maintenance inside the Destiny laboratory module. Image Credit: NASA.

Rubio also participated in the Food Physiology experiment. A variety of samples are collected and then placed in cold stowage to document the effect of dietary improvements on human physiology and the ability of those improvements to enhance adaptation to spaceflight.

Samples were also collected for the Host Pathogen experiment. This study identifies the spaceflight-induced changes in the human microbiome that causes a decrease in immune function and an increase in microbial virulence. Blood and saliva samples from crew members are collected before, during, and after spaceflight, to assess the clinical risks of infectious microbes and to develop countermeasures that restore immune function in astronauts.

The new Endeavour crew is continuing to adjust to life in orbit, while the Endurance Crew is preparing for its return to earth by cleaning, completing stowage and inventory tasks, and preparing personal items for return.

Image above: Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) is pictured inside the Kibo laboratory module during his first week aboard the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA and SpaceX continue to evaluate the weather for the return of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission from the International Space Station. Teams conducted a weather briefing overnight and decided to waive off the initial undocking opportunity for early Thursday, March 9, due to high winds at the splashdown sites. Teams currently target undocking for no earlier than Thursday evening, pending weather. The Crew-5 Dragon spacecraft remains healthy docked to the station and is configured for nominal return operations once weather conditions are favorable.

The space station is orbiting slightly higher today after the docked ISS Progress 83 cargo craft fired its engines for five minutes and 17 seconds this afternoon. The new orbital altitude readies the unoccupied Soyuz MS-22 crew ship for its upcoming departure following a coolant leak that was detected in December of last year.

Related article:

ISS orbit prepared for Soyuz MS-22 landing
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2023/03/iss-orbit-prepared-for-soyuz-ms-22.html

Related links:

Expedition 68: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition68/index.html

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

Food Physiology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870

Host Pathogen: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8505

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

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Chandra Helps Astronomers Discover a Surprisingly Lonely Galaxy

 

NASA - Chandra X-ray Observatory patch.

Mar 8, 2023

Image Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Torino/V. Missaglia et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI & International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Infrared: NASA/ESA/STScI; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF.

This image features a galaxy called 3C 297 that is lonelier than expected after it likely pulled in and absorbed its former companion galaxies, as described in our latest press release. The solo galaxy is located about 9.2 billion light-years from Earth and contains a quasar, a supermassive black hole pulling in gas at the center of the galaxy and driving powerful jets of matter seen in radio waves. This result made with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory may push the limits for how quickly astronomers expect galaxies to grow in the early universe.

In several regards, 3C 297 has the qualities of a galaxy cluster, a gigantic structure that contains hundreds or even thousands of individual galaxies. X-ray data from Chandra reveal large quantities of gas heated to millions of degrees — a signature feature of a galaxy cluster. Astronomers also found a jet from the quasar — seen by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array — that has been bent by interacting with its surroundings. Finally, Chandra data shows evidence that the other quasar jet has smashed into the gas around it, creating a “hotspot” of X-rays. These are typically characteristics of a galaxy cluster. Yet, data from the Gemini Observatory show there is only one galaxy in 3C 297. The nineteen galaxies that appear close to 3C 297 in a Gemini image are actually at much different distances.

Image Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Torino/V. Missaglia et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI & International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Infrared: NASA/ESA/STScI; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF.

In this new composite image, Chandra data is colored purple, VLA data is red and Gemini data is green. Visible light and infrared data from the Hubble Space Telescope (blue and orange respectively) have also been included. The lonely galaxy (3C 297) and the position of its supermassive black are identified in a labeled version of the image, along with the black hole’s jets, the X-ray hotspot and the hot gas. The field of view of this image is too small to show any of the 19 galaxies that are not at the same distance as 3C 297.

One proposal for what happened to the missing galaxies is that the gravitational pull of the largest galaxy, combined with the interactions between them, caused the companion galaxies to fall and be assimilated by the alpha. The team considers 3C 297 is most likely a “fossil group” instead of a galaxy cluster, a stage of galactic evolution where one galaxy is pulling in and merging with others. If that is the case, 3C 297 represents the most distant fossil group ever found.

The authors cannot rule out the presence of dwarf galaxies around 3C 297, but their presence would still not explain the lack of larger galaxies like the Milky Way. Nearby examples are M87 in the Virgo Cluster, which has had large galactic companions for billions of years. However, 3C 297 will spend billions of years essentially alone.

Chandra X-ray Observatory. Animation Credits: NASA/CXC

The new study was published in the January 2023 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Earlier Chandra observations lasting only three hours showed hints of the hot gas seen in the new study, as reported by co-author Chiara Stuardi in a paper published in the April 2018 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. Much deeper Chandra observations, however, were required to confirm it. The Chandra observations of 3C 297 were taken over a total time of 2.5 days in April and August of 2021 and 2022.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

Related links:

The Astrophysical Journal:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ac9f3e

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/aaafcf

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Lee Mohon/Chandra X-ray Center/Megan Watzke/Marshall Space Flight Center/Molly Porter.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

ISS orbit prepared for Soyuz MS-22 landing

 

ROSCOSMOS - Russian Vehicles patch.

March 8, 2023

Today, the orbit of the International Space Station has been adjusted to ensure the landing of the Soyuz MS-22 unmanned spacecraft.

The engines of the Progress MS-22 cargo ship docked to the Russian service module Zvezda were turned on at 22:47 Moscow time and worked for 318 seconds, generating an impulse of 0.6 m/s.

ISS reboost by Progress cargo spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA

As a result, according to preliminary data, the average altitude of the station's orbit increased by 1.1 km and amounted to 419.3 km.

During the entire flight time of the ISS, 335 corrections were made to its orbital altitude, including 184 with the help of Progress cargo spacecraft engines.

Landing of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft in unmanned mode is planned at the end of March 2023 southeast of the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan.

ISS reboost

The crew of the 68th long-range expedition is working on board the ISS, consisting of cosmonauts of the State Corporation Roscosmos Sergey Prokopiev, Dmitry Petelin, Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Steven Bowen and Woody Hoburg, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi.

Related links:

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/39023/

Progress MS-22: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/progress-ms-22/

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mks/

Image (mentioned), Video (ESA), Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Vela Pulsar Wind Nebula Takes Flight in New Image From NASA’s IXPE

 

NASA / ASI - Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) patch.

Mar 8, 2023

About 10,000 years ago, light from the explosion of a giant star in the constellation Vela arrived at Earth. This supernova left behind a dense object called a pulsar, which appears to brighten regularly as it spins, like a cosmic lighthouse. From the surface of this pulsar, winds of particles emerge that travel near the speed of light, creating a chaotic hodgepodge of charged particles and magnetic fields that crash into surrounding gas. This phenomenon is called a pulsar wind nebula.

Image above: This image shows the Vela pulsar wind nebula. Light blue represents X-ray polarization data from NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Pink and purple colors correspond to data from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray observatory, which has observed Vela several times previously. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope contributed the stars in the background. Click here to see an unlabeled image. Image Credits: X-ray: (IXPE) NASA/MSFC/Fei Xie & (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI Hubble/Chandra processing by Judy Schmidt; Hubble/Chandra/IXPE processing & compositing by NASA/CXC/SAO/Kimberly Arcand & Nancy Wolk.

In this new image, the hazy light blue halo corresponds to the first-ever X-ray polarization data for Vela, which comes from NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, or IXPE. A faint blue fuzzy line pointing to the upper right-hand corner corresponds to a jet of high-energy particles shooting out from the pulsar at about half the speed of light. The pink X-ray "arcs" are thought to mark the edges of donut-shaped regions where the pulsar wind shocks and accelerates high-energy particles. The pulsar itself is located at the white circle at the center of the image.

Pink and purple colors correspond to data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has observed Vela several times previously. The golden stars were captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Measuring polarization, which has to do with how electromagnetic waves are organized, gives scientists an unprecedented understanding of how a cosmic object like a pulsar accelerates particles to high speeds.

“With IXPE, we are using extreme objects like Vela as a laboratory to investigate some of the most pressing questions in astrophysics, such as how particles get catapulted to near the speed of light long after a star has exploded,” said Phil Kaaret, senior scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

In a recent study, scientists were surprised about the high degree of polarization they found in the X-rays at the Vela pulsar wind nebula. IXPE observations of this object were published in the journal Nature in December.

Image above: An image from NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observations of the Vela pulsar wind nebula. The colors represent different X-ray intensities, with the brightest regions in red and the faintest regions in blue. The black lines give the directions of the magnetic field based on the IXPE data and the silver lines give the directions of the magnetic field based on radio data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The grey contours show the X-ray intensities from Chandra data. The pulsar is located near the center of the brightest X-ray emission. Image Credits: Xie et al, 2022 (Nature).

“This is the highest degree of polarization measured in a celestial X-ray source to date,” said Fei Xie, lead author of the Nature study, professor at Guangxi University in Nanning, Guangxi, China, and formerly a postdoctoral researcher at Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics/Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (INAF/IAPS) in Rome.

High polarization means that the electromagnetic fields are well organized; they are lined up in specific directions, and depend on their position in the nebula. What’s more, the X-rays that IXPE detects come from high-energy electrons spiraling in the magnetic fields of the pulsar wind nebula, called “synchrotron emission.” Highly polarized X-rays means that these magnetic fields, too, must be well organized.  

In contrast to supernova remnants that have a shell of material around them, the high polarization of the X-rays “suggests that the electrons were not accelerated by the turbulent shocks that seem important in other X-ray sources,” said Roger W. Romani, a Stanford astrophysicist involved in the IXPE data analysis. Instead, there must be some other process involved, such as magnetic reconnection, which involves the breaking and joining of magnetic field lines. That is a way in which magnetic energy gets converted to particle energy.

IXPE data also suggest that the magnetic field is aligned as a smooth donut-shaped structure around the equator of the pulsar. This shape was in line with scientists’ expectations.

"This IXPE X-ray polarization measurement adds a missing piece of the Vela pulsar wind nebula puzzle," says Alessandro Di Marco, a researcher at INAF/IAPS in Rome who contributed to the data analysis. "By mapping with unprecedented resolution, IXPE unveils the magnetic field in the central region, showing agreement with results obtained from radio images of the outer nebula.”

The Vela pulsar, located about 1,000 light-years from Earth, is about 15 miles (25 kilometers) in diameter and rotates 11 times per second, faster than a helicopter rotor.  

About the IXPE mission

Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). Image Credit: NASA

Part of NASA’s Small Explorer mission series, IXPE launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in December 2021. It now orbits 370 miles, or roughly 595 kilometers, above Earth’s equator. The mission is a partnership between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, with partners and science collaborators in 13 countries. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations.

Related links:

IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer): https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe

Chandra X-Ray Observatory: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Beth Ridgeway/Elizabeth Landau.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

SOFIA Makes First Detection of Heavy Oxygen in Earth’s Upper Atmosphere

 

 

 

NASA / DLR - Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) patch.

March 8, 2023

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) made the first-ever measurement of heavy atomic oxygen in Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Heavy oxygen is so called because it has 10 neutrons, rather than the normal eight of “main” oxygen, the form we breathe. Heavy oxygen is seen as a signature of biological activity, common in the lower atmosphere. Both forms are byproducts of photosynthesis, but main oxygen is consumed by the respiration of living things more than its heavy counterpart, leaving a larger concentration of heavy oxygen behind.

Image above: This schematic shows the layers of Earth’s atmosphere, from the troposphere to the thermosphere. SOFIA observes from within the stratosphere and studied the ratio of main oxygen to heavy oxygen in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, up to an altitude of about 124 miles (200 kilometers.) Image Credits: NASA/SOFIA/L. Proudfit.

Little is known, however, about how this abundance of heavy oxygen permeates from the location of its creation near the ground into higher regions of the atmosphere. With its high spectral resolution, SOFIA’s GREAT instrument measured the ratio of main to heavy oxygen in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, making the first spectroscopic detection of heavy oxygen outside a laboratory.

“It’s tracing biological activity — that’s well-proven,” said Helmut Wiesemeyer, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “So far, the altitude to which this signature extends was thought to be 60 kilometers [around 37 miles] — so, barely the lower part of the mesosphere — and the question was, does it reach higher altitudes? And if it does, because there are no living organisms up there, the only way to reach higher altitudes would be an efficient vertical mixing.”

In other words, the only explanation for large concentrations of heavy oxygen in these regions is the upward and downward motion of air, which can have important implications for climate change.

Measuring heavy oxygen is complex because it looks so similar to main oxygen. From up in the stratosphere, SOFIA could separate the two against a lunar backdrop: the Moon’s brightness enabled the highest sensitivity to these hard-to-distinguish features.

This allowed the researchers to measure the main-to-heavy oxygen ratios up to 200 kilometers in the atmosphere. The results — published in Physical Review Research — ranged from a 382 to 468 factor difference in the two types of oxygen, similar to the ratio on the ground.

“There are processes that are altering these ratios. For Earth, this process is oxygenic life,” Wiesemeyer said — though there are other potential chemical explanations to be considered as well.

Wiesemeyer and his collaborators were very conservative in their uncertainty estimates, so they cannot completely attribute their heavy oxygen measurements to biology. Solar wind, for example, can also deliver heavy oxygen to Earth, but it is unlikely to make such a large contribution.

Image above: The SOFIA aircraft is a Boeing 747SP jetliner modified to carry a reflecting telescope. Engineering innovations enabled a large door in the fuselage to remain open while the aircraft was in flight, allowing the telescope to observe infrared light from the Moon, planets, stars, star-forming regions, and nearby galaxies. After a successful eight years of science, SOFIA completed its science program and ended operations Sept. 29, 2022. Image Credits: NASA/Jim Ross.

This pilot study measuring the balance between the two forms of oxygen proves a technique that atmospheric scientists could use to study vertical mixing.  The study’s findings can also help better define a biologically relevant boundary of Earth’s atmosphere.

More ambitiously, future instruments that may be sensitive to various oxygen signatures can potentially use similar techniques to measure oxygen ratios in exoplanets. A combination of high oxygen abundances with an understanding of the vertical mixing on these exoplanets could indicate biological activity — though the group warns such a study would require huge sensitivities that current technologies do not have.

“The idea is to first understand what happens in front of your own door before you go into deeper studies elsewhere,” Wiesemeyer said.

These observations are too low for even low-orbit satellites, but too sensitive to be done from the ground. Stratospheric balloon-based observations may be able to offer potential follow-up studies in the future.

SOFIA was a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR. DLR provided the telescope, scheduled aircraft maintenance, and other support for the mission. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley managed the SOFIA program, science, and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft was maintained and operated by NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703, in Palmdale, California. SOFIA achieved full operational capability in 2014 and concluded its final science flight on Sept. 29, 2022.

NASA & DLR Boeing 747/SP SOFIA Observatory repaint for FSX: https://simulators.jimdo.com/

Related links:

Physical Review Research: https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.013072

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Anashe Bandari/Alise Fisher.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Analysis Confirms Successful Artemis I Moon Mission, Reviews Continue

 

NASA - ARTEMIS 1 Mission patch.

Mar 8, 2023

NASA’s uncrewed Artemis I flight test proved the agency’s deep space rocket, spacecraft, and the ground systems needed for launch and recovery are ready to fly astronauts on missions to the Moon. Since the 2022 flight, engineers have extensively reviewed data to confirm initial observations from the successful mission of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on its 1.4 million-mile mission beyond the Moon.

Image above: On the 19th day of the Artemis I mission, Dec. 4, 2022, a camera mounted on the Orion spacecraft captured the Moon just in frame as Orion prepared for its return powered flyby on Dec. 5, when it passed approximately 79 miles above the lunar surface. Image Credit: NASA.

“We’re learning as much as we possibly can from Artemis I to ensure we fully understand every aspect of our systems and feed those lessons learned into how we plan for and fly crewed missions,” said Jim Free, NASA associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. “Safely flying crew is our top priority for Artemis II.”

Space Launch System

Both initial and more comprehensive analysis of the SLS rocket’s debut flight show the rocket flew as designed and with precision, with all of its systems meeting, and in many cases exceeding, performance expectations. Following a near-perfect trans-lunar injection burn, the rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion successfully separated, delivering Orion to its initial target orbit and then on a trajectory toward the Moon.

Exploration Ground Systems

Engineers with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program completed detailed assessments of the mobile launcher shortly after launch. Although the launcher sustained more damage than initially expected from the 8.8 million pounds of thrust generated at liftoff by the rocket, work already is underway to repair damaged components in tandem with planned upgrades in preparation for Artemis II, the first flight with astronauts that will send the crew.

Mobile launcher damage included corrosion to pneumatic, or air-filled, and cryogenic fueling lines, detached welds on tubing, approximately 60 broken panels and cabinets with instrumentation, and destruction to several elevators and blast shields, which are currently being repaired. Modifications to the mobile launcher to support future Artemis missions are underway and on track, including incorporating elements to support an emergency egress systems at the launch pad.

Orion Spacecraft

Teams also are extensively reviewing more than 155 gigabytes of Orion data to confirm the spacecraft’s successful performance during its journey nearly 270,000 miles beyond the Moon and farther than any spacecraft built for humans has flown.

Orion accomplished 161 test objectives to fully demonstrate every aspect of the spacecraft, including 20 objectives added mid-flight. Data shows the European-built service module generated 20% more power than initial expectations and consumed about 25% less power than predicted. All the spacecraft’s dynamic separation events, such as separation of the launch abort system during ascent and parachute deployment during landing -- which involved 375 pyrotechnic devices total -- were completed without issue. Splashdown, which was moved 300 miles south due to poor weather, occurred 2.4 miles from the target landing spot, well within requirements.

Upon return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, avionics components earmarked for reuse on Artemis II were removed and refurbished for integration, including phased array antennas, a vision processing unit, GPS receivers, and inertial measurement units. All Artemis I avionics components have been integrated into the Artemis II crew module.

NASA also is more closely examining data for two observations from the flight. Engineers noted variations across the appearance of Orion’s heat shield in which the ablative material that helps protect the capsule from the extreme heat of reentry wore away differently than predicted.

Image above: Technicians examine Orion's heat shield as part of post-flight analysis. Image Credit: NASA.

Post-flight inspection shows a significant amount of original Avcoat material remained on Orion. Thermal protection system experts have correlated the timing of descent through the atmosphere with data from hundreds of sensors as well as gathered imagery and video. Teams are assessing this set of data to understand the phenomenon.

Experts also continue to assess an issue seen during the flight where latching current limiters switched open without commanding several times throughout the mission. These switches, which are circuit breaker-like devices that are part of a power conditioning and distribution unit responsible for taking power generated by the solar arrays and preparing it for distribution to systems, help control power to components in the service module. Engineers are reviewing flight data to understand the source of the issue and plan to conduct testing in a flight-like configuration.

Progress Toward Artemis II

While work is underway to understand every issue, NASA is making progress assembling, testing, and processing the elements for Artemis II ahead of the late 2024 mission. The heat shield will be attached to the crew module in May, and the crew module and service module will then be connected ahead of integrated testing. The SLS solid rocket booster motor segments and core stage will be shipped to Kennedy later this year, after the engine section and RS-25 engines are connected to the rest of the already-complete stage. Teams expect to transport the mobile launcher to launch pad 39B this summer for testing, including evaluation of the emergency egress capability needed for Artemis II. The recovery team, along with personnel from the Department of Defense, recently completed rigorous testing of a new crew module test article in support of Artemis II efforts and will conduct open water recovery testing in the coming months to ensure the crew on board are quickly and safely removed from the spacecraft.

Related article:

Data from the First SLS Flight to Prepare NASA for Future Artemis Missions
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2023/01/data-from-first-sls-flight-to-prepare.html

Related links:

Artemis I: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Artemis II: http://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii

Space Launch System (SLS): https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

Orion Spacecraft: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html

Mobile launcher: https://www.nasa.gov/content/mobile-launcher

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Rachel Kraft.

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