The International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
VOYAGER 1 AND THE NEW FRONTIER
FROM: NASA
Data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft indicate that the venerable deep-space explorer has encountered a region in space where the intensity of charged particles from beyond our solar system has markedly increased. Voyager scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion – that humanity's first emissary to interstellar space is on the edge of our solar system.
"The laws of physics say that someday Voyager will become the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, but we still do not know exactly when that someday will be," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "The latest data indicate that we are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly. It is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system's frontier."
The data making the 16-hour-38 minute, 11.1-billion-mile (17.8-billion-kilometer), journey from Voyager 1 to antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network on Earth detail the number of charged particles measured by the two High Energy telescopes aboard the 34-year-old spacecraft. These energetic particles were generated when stars in our cosmic neighborhood went supernova.
"From January 2009 to January 2012, there had been a gradual increase of about 25 percent in the amount of galactic cosmic rays Voyager was encountering," said Stone. "More recently, we have seen very rapid escalation in that part of the energy spectrum. Beginning on May 7, the cosmic ray hits have increased five percent in a week and nine percent in a month."
This marked increase is one of a triad of data sets which need to make significant swings of the needle to indicate a new era in space exploration. The second important measure from the spacecraft's two telescopes is the intensity of energetic particles generated inside the heliosphere, the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself. While there has been a slow decline in the measurements of these energetic particles, they have not dropped off precipitously, which could be expected when Voyager breaks through the solar boundary.
The final data set that Voyager scientists believe will reveal a major change is the measurement in the direction of the magnetic field lines surrounding the spacecraft. While Voyager is still within the heliosphere, these field lines run east-west. When it passes into interstellar space, the team expects Voyager will find that the magnetic field lines orient in a more north-south direction. Such analysis will take weeks, and the Voyager team is currently crunching the numbers of its latest data set.
"When the Voyagers launched in 1977, the space age was all of 20 years old," said Stone. "Many of us on the team dreamed of reaching interstellar space, but we really had no way of knowing how long a journey it would be -- or if these two vehicles that we invested so much time and energy in would operate long enough to reach it.”
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 are in good health. Voyager 2 is more than 9.1 billion miles (14.7 billion kilometers) away from the sun. Both are operating as part of the Voyager Interstellar Mission, an extended mission to explore the solar system outside the neighborhood of the outer planets and beyond. NASA's Voyagers are the two most distant active representatives of humanity and its desire to explore.
The Voyager spacecraft were built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which continues to operate both. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012
NASA RELEASES WORKSHOP DATA AND FINDINGS ON ASTEROID 2011 AG5
FROM: NASA
WASHINGTON -- Researchers anticipate that asteroid 2011 AG5,
discovered in January 2011, will fly safely past and not impact Earth
in 2040.
Current findings and analysis data were reported at a May 29 workshop
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., attended by
scientists and engineers from around the world. Discussions focused
on observations of potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs).
Observations to date indicate there is a slight chance that AG5 could
impact Earth in 2040. Attendees expressed confidence that in the next
four years, analysis of space and ground-based observations will show
the likelihood of 2011 AG5 missing Earth to be greater than 99
percent.
Measuring approximately 460 feet (140 meters) in size, the space rock
was discovered by the NASA-supported Catalina Sky Survey operated by
the University of Arizona in Tucson. Several observatories monitored
2011 AG5 for nine months before it moved too far away and grew too
faint to see.
"While there is general consensus there is only a very small chance
that we could be dealing with a real impact scenario for this object,
we will still be watchful and ready to take further action if
additional observations indicate it is warranted," said Lindley
Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Object (NEO)
Observation Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Several years ago another asteroid, named Apophis, was thought to pose
a similar impact threat in 2036. Additional observations taken from
2005 through 2008 enabled NASA scientists to refine their
understanding of the asteroid's path, which showed a significantly
reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter.
"Any time we're able to observe an asteroid and obtain new location
data, we're able to refine our calculations of the asteroid's future
path," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's NEO Program Office at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "When few
observations exist, our initial orbit calculation will include a
wider swath to account for uncertainties. With more data points, the
knowledge of the potential positions of the asteroid improves and the
swath becomes smaller -- typically eliminating the risk of an
impact."
Observations of 2011 AG5 have been limited to date because of its
present location beyond the orbit of Mars and in the daytime sky on
the other side of the sun. In fall 2013, conditions will improve to
allow space- and ground-based telescopes to better track the
asteroid's path. At that time, 2011 AG5 will be 91 million miles (147
million kilometers) from Earth but favorably located for observations
in the late evening sky.
The level of hazard will gain even more clarity in 2023, when the
asteroid is approximately 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers)
from Earth. If 2011 AG5 passes through a 227-mile-wide
(365-kilometer) region in space called a keyhole in early February
2023, Earth's gravitational pull could influence the object's orbital
path just enough to bring it back for an impact on February 5, 2040.
If the asteroid misses the keyhole, an impact in 2040 will not occur.
"Given our current understanding of this asteroid's orbit, there is
only a very remote chance of this keyhole passage even occurring,"
said Johnson.
Although scientists widely expect it to be a safe flyby, they
acknowledge the slight chance that computed odds could rise as a
result of observations to be taken from 2013 to 2016. According to
the experts at the workshop, even if the odds do increase, there is
still ample time to plan and carry out at least one of several viable
missions to change the asteroid's course.
PHAs are a subset of the larger group of near-Earth asteroids. They
have the closest orbits to Earth's, coming within 5 million miles
(about 8 million kilometers). They are large enough to enter Earth's
atmosphere intact and cause damage on at least a local scale. Damage
from an asteroid the size of 2011 AG5 could cover a region at least a
hundred miles wide.
NASA established the NEO Program in 1998 to coordinate the agency's
efforts to detect, track and characterize Earth-approaching NEOs and
comets larger than 1 kilometer in size. The program now also searches
for NEOs as small as object 2011 AG5. NASA supports NEO observation,
tracking and analysis activities worldwide. Activities are
coordinated through the NEO Program Office at JPL.
Monday, June 18, 2012
FIRST FLIGHT INSTRUMENT DELIVERED FOR JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
FROM: NASA
WASHINGTON -- The first of four instruments to fly aboard NASA's James
Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has been delivered to NASA. The
Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) will allow scientists to study cold
and distant objects in greater detail than ever before.
MIRI arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.,
May 29. It has been undergoing inspection before being integrated
into Webb’s science instrument payload known as the Integrated
Science Instrument Module (ISIM).
Assembled at and shipped from the Science and Technology Facilities
Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom, MIRI
was developed by a consortium of 10 European institutions and NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., after having
been handed over to the European Space Agency.
MIRI will observe light with wavelengths in the mid-infrared range of
5 microns to 28 microns, which is a longer wavelength than human eyes
can detect. It is the only instrument of the four with this
particular ability to observe the physical processes occurring in the
cosmos.
"MIRI will enable Webb to distinguish the oldest galaxies from more
evolved objects that have undergone several cycles of star birth and
death," said Matt Greenhouse, ISIM project scientist at Goddard.
"MIRI also will provide a unique window into the birth places of
stars which are typically enshrouded by dust that shorter wavelength
light cannot penetrate."
MIRI's sensitive detectors will allow it to observe light, cool stars
in very distant galaxies; unveil newly forming stars within our Milky
Way; find signatures of the formation of planets around stars other
than our own; and take imagery and spectroscopy of planets, comets
and the outermost bits of debris in our solar system. MIRI's images
will enable scientists to study an object’s shape and structure.
The most powerful space telescope ever built, Webb is the successor to
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Webb’s four instruments will reveal
how the universe evolved from the Big Bang to the formation of our
solar system. Webb is a joint project of NASA, the European Space
Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
NASA ADMINISTRATOR BOLDEN VIEWS THE DRAGON CAPSULE
FROM: NASA
Bolden, Musk and the Dragon
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, congratulates SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk in front of the historic Dragon capsule that returned to Earth on May 31 following the first successful mission by a private company to carry supplies to the International Space Station.
Bolden and Musk also thanked the more than 150 SpaceX employees working at the McGregor facility for their role in the historic mission.
This image was taken on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at the SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden joined SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk at the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas, Wednesday to see the first commercial space capsule to complete a mission to the International Space Station.
WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden joined SpaceX CEO and
Chief Designer Elon Musk at the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility in
McGregor, Texas, Wednesday to see the first commercial space capsule
to complete a mission to the International Space Station.
Bolden and Musk also thanked the more than 150 SpaceX employees
working at the McGregor facility for their role in the historic
mission. SpaceX's Dragon capsule made history May 31 when it returned
to Earth after delivering supplies to the space station.
"The Dragon capsule is a tangible example of the new era of
exploration unfolding right now," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
said. "Commercial space is becoming a reality as SpaceX and our other
commercial partners look ahead to future missions to the space
station and other destinations. I congratulate Elon Musk and the
entire SpaceX team again for this historic milestone."
While on-site, Bolden had the opportunity to view some of the 1,367
pounds of cargo the spacecraft returned to Earth from the space
station. Dragon is the only spacecraft capable of returning a
significant quantity of science experiments and cargo from the
station. Experiments will be given back to researchers hoping to gain
new insights provided by the station's unique microgravity
environment. The cargo was transferred to NASA June 13 and will be
taken to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston for further
processing.
Dragon's journey to the station was SpaceX's second demonstration
mission under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
Program (COTS), which provides investments intended to lead to
regular resupply missions to the International Space Station and
stimulate the commercial space industry in the United States. The
mission began May 22 as the capsule launched from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After its
maneuverability and abort systems were tested, crew members of
Expedition 31 aboard the station grappled the capsule and berthed it
to the orbiting laboratory.
Dragon, its exterior scorched by the heat of re-entry, splashed down
in the Pacific Ocean May 31. SpaceX recovered the capsule immediately
and transported it to McGregor, where engineers unloaded cargo and
removed hazardous materials. Dragon will be shipped to SpaceX
Headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., later this year.
On Thursday, Bolden and Musk will be at SpaceX Headquarters and speak
with reporters at 9 a.m. PDT. They will see the Dragon spacecraft
that flew the first COTS demonstration mission in December 2010,
during which SpaceX became the first private company to recover a
spacecraft after it orbited Earth. They also will see a prototype
Dragon spacecraft being designed to carry astronauts to the space
station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
HEAVY ELEMENTS AND SMALL PLANETS
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- The formation of small worlds like Earth
previously was thought to occur mostly around stars rich in heavy
elements such as iron and silicon. However, new ground-based
observations, combined with data collected by NASA's Kepler space
telescope, shows small planets form around stars with a wide range of
heavy element content and suggests they may be widespread in our
galaxy.
A research team led by Lars A. Buchhave, an astrophysicist at the
Niels Bohr Institute and the Centre for Star and Planet Formation at
the University of Copenhagen, studied the elemental composition of
more than 150 stars harboring 226 planet candidates smaller than
Neptune.
"I wanted to investigate whether small planets needed a special
environment in order to form, like the giant gas planets, which we
know preferentially develop in environments with a high content of
heavy elements," said Buchhave. "This study shows that small planets
do not discriminate and form around stars with a wide range of heavy
metal content, including stars with only 25 percent of the sun's
metallicity."
Astronomers refer to all chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and
helium as metals. They define metallicity as the metal content of
heavier elements in a star. Stars with a higher fraction of heavy
elements than the sun are considered metal-rich. Stars with a lower
fraction of heavy elements are considered metal-poor.
Planets are created in disks of gas and dust around new stars. Planets
like Earth are composed almost entirely of elements such as iron,
oxygen, silicon and magnesium. The metallicity of a star mirrors the
metal content of the planet-forming disk. Astronomers have
hypothesized that large quantities of heavy elements in the disk
would lead to more efficient planet formation. It has long been noted
that giant planets with short orbital periods tend to be associated
with metal-rich stars.
Unlike gas giants, the occurrence of smaller planets is not strongly
dependent on the heavy element content of their host stars. Planets
up to four times the size of Earth can form around stars with a wide
range of heavy element content, including stars with a lower
metallicity than the sun. The findings are described in a new study
published in the journal Nature.
"Kepler has identified thousands of planet candidates, making it
possible to study big-picture questions like the one posed by Lars.
Does nature require special environments to form Earth-size planets?"
said Natalie Batalha, Kepler mission scientist at NASA's Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. "The data suggest that small
planets may form around stars with a wide range of metallicities --
that nature is opportunistic and prolific, finding pathways we might
otherwise have thought difficult."
The ground-based spectroscopic observations for this study were made
at the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands;
Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mt. Hopkins in Ariz.; McDonald
Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin; and W.M. Keck
Observatory atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
Launched in March 2009, Kepler searches for planets by continuously
monitoring more than 150,000 stars, looking for telltale dips in
their brightness caused by passing, or transiting, planets. At least
three transits are required to verify a signal as a planet. Follow-up
observations from ground-based telescopes are also needed to confirm
a candidate as a planet.
Ames manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations
and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., managed the Kepler mission development.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the
Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of
Colorado in Boulder.
The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives hosts and
distributes Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery
Mission and is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the
agency's headquarters in Washington.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
NUSTAR, GALACTIC EXPLORER
This photo shows the Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket with the NuSTAR spacecraft after attachment to the L-1011 carrier aircraft known as "Stargazer." Image credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB
Written on JUNE 10, 2012 AT 7:54 AM by JTOZER
NuStar Headed To The Stars
NASA‘s Nuclear Spectroscopic Teelscope Array, or NuSTAR, is now perched atop its Pegasus XL rocket, strapped to the plane that will carry the mission to an airborne launch. Launch is scheduled for June 13, no earlier than 8:30 a.m. PDT (11:30 a.m. EDT).
The plane — the L-1011 “Stargazer” aircraft — is now at Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California. It is scheduled to fly to Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean from June 5 to 6. About an hour before launch, the plane will lift off from the island, and drop NuSTAR and its rocket over the ocean. The rocket will then ignite, carrying NuSTAR to its final orbit around Earth’s equator.
NuSTAR will be the first space telescope to create sharp images of X-rays with high energies, similar to those used by doctors and dentists. It will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and extreme physics around collapsed stars.
NuSTAR is a Small Explorer mission led by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The spacecraft was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Va. Launch management and government oversight for the mission is the responsibility of NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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