Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.
Darth Vader, a major character from 'Star Wars', imagined as a Renaissance gentleman. Credit: Sacha Goldberger
You underestimate the power of Dark Side fashion. Imagine for a moment that Darth Vader was around during the same time as say, the ostentatious Louis XIV (the “Sun King” who had a fancy court at Versailles palace in France). If Vader was a high-society gentleman, or at least masking (ha!) as one, what could he have looked like?
Photographer Sacha Goldberger recently put several ‘Star Wars’ characters in this historic time period as part of an exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris. As this Facebook gallery shows, the results are amusing and potentially frightening (most prevalently with Chewbacca.)
Goldberger doesn’t stop with these characters, either. You’ll see others from the Batman franchise, Alice in Wonderland and even that famous caped hero, Superman. The credits just above the images hint that even more characters were on display in the gallery than what are available on the website.
It’s too bad this cosplay came just after Hallowe’en, as this presents some potentially awesome ideas for future costumes. For those who couldn’t make the fair where Goldberger exhibited, you can take a virtual tour here and also learn more about it on the official website.
Images from the Rosetta spacecraft show Philae drifting across the surface of its target comet during landing Nov. 12, 2014. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Wow! New images released from the Rosetta spacecraft orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko show the spacecraft coming in for its (first) landing on Wednesday (Nov. 12). “The mosaic comprises a series of images captured by Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera over a 30 minute period spanning the first touchdown,” wrote the European Space Agency in a blog post today (Monday).
This is just the latest in a series of images coming from the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft showing the Philae lander coming in for its rendezvous with 67P. A major next step for the mission will be figuring out where the lander actually came for a rest, but there’s plenty of data from both Rosetta and Philae to comb through for this information, ESA said.
What’s known for sure is Philae made three touchdowns on the comet — making history as humanity’s first soft-lander on such an object — stopping in a shady area that will make recharging its solar panels difficult. The spacecraft is in hibernation as of Friday (Nov. 14) and scientists are really, really hoping it’s able to charge up for another science session soon. Rosetta, meanwhile, is hard at work above and will continue to follow the comet in 2015.
In case you missed it, below are some of the pictures over the last few days that could be used to help pinpoint the landing location.
A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014, at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel CananiaOur last panorama from Philae? This image was taken with the CIVA camera; at center Philae has been added to show its orientation on the surface. Credit: ESAThe animated image below provides strong evidence that Philae touched down for the first time almost precisely where intended. The animation comprises images recorded by Rosetta’s navigation camera as the orbiter flew over the (intended) Philae landing site on November 12th. The dark area is probably dust raised by the craft on touchdown. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Artist's impression (not to scale) of the Rosetta orbiter deploying the Philae lander to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Credit: ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab.
What price do you put on scientific discovery? From the way Twitter lit up last week when the Philae spacecraft touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko — it was a top-trending topic for a while — it appears there’s a lot of discussion going on about the Rosetta mission and its value to humanity.
A recent infographic (which you can see below) points out that the Rosetta mission, which included the now-hibernating Philae lander, cost as much as about four Airbus 380 jetliners. Is US$1.75 billion (€1.4 billion) a bargain for letting us explore further into the universe, or could the money have been better-served elsewhere?
This is a question often brought up about the value of space exploration, or what is called “blue-sky” research in general. The first developers of lasers, for example, could not have predicted how consumers would use them millions of times over to watch DVDs and Blu-Rays. Or in a more practical use, how medical lasers are used today for surgeries.
An infographic of Rosetta spacecraft spending. Credit: Scienceogram.org (infographic), ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM (comet image), ESA (Rosetta graphic), ESA/Airbus (data), Scienceogram.org (other data).
“Like a lot of blue-skies science, it’s very hard to put a value on the mission,” wrote Scienceogram.org, the organization that produced the infographic. “First, there are the immediate spin-offs like engineering know-how; then, the knowledge accrued, which could inform our understanding of our cosmic origins, amongst other things; and finally, the inspirational value of this audacious feat in which we can all share, including the next generation of scientists.”
To put the value of the Rosetta mission in more everyday terms, Scienceogram points out that the comet landing cost (per European citizen and per year between 1996 and 2015) was less than half the ticket price for Interstellar. That said, it appears that figure does not take into account inflation, so the actual cost per year may be higher.
The Rosetta spacecraft is still working well and is expected to observe its target comet through 2015. The Philae lander did perform the incredible feat of landing on 67P on Wednesday, but it ended up in a shadowy spot that prevented it from gathering sunlight to stay awake. The lander is now in hibernation, perhaps permanently, but scientists have reams of data from the lander mission to pore over.
It’s been said that Rosetta, in following 67P as it gets closer to the Sun, will teach us more about cometary behavior and the origins of our Solar System. Is the mission and its social-media-sensation pictures worth the price? Let us know in the comments. More information on the infographic (and the spreadsheet of data) are available here.
A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014 at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel Canania
When the Philae lander arrived at its target comet last week, the little spacecraft landed three times in two hours before coming to a rest. While controllers could see this information from data coming in, they didn’t have any photographic proof — until now.
Here’s another cool thing about these images — some of the credit to Philae’s discovery comes through crowdsourcing! This is what the European Space Agency’s Rosetta blog said about who found this:
Credit for the first discovery goes to Gabriele Bellei, from the interplanetary division of Flight Dynamics, who spent hours searching the NAVCAM images for evidence of the landing.
Once the images were published, blog reader John Broughton posted a comment to report that he had spotted the lander in them (thank you, John). There was also quite some speculation by Rosetta blog readers in the comments section, wondering which features might be attributable to the lander. Martin Esser, Henning, and Kasuha in particular were among the first to make insightful observations on the topic, although many others have since joined in.
Last but not least, a careful independent review of the images was made by Mikel Catania from the earth observation division of Flight Dynamics, with the same conclusion. He also made the annotated animation shown here.
This goes to show you that while there is disappointment that Philae is in a long (perhaps permanent) sleep sooner than scientists hoped, data from the spacecraft will continue to be analyzed in the coming months and years. And don’t forget that the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft is in good health and will continue to return data on 67P as it draws closer to the Sun through 2015.
A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014 at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: SA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel Catania
NASA’s Orion Program manager Mark Geyer discusses Orion EFT-1 mission. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com
A ride into space, a high-speed re-entry and a safe parachute deployment. That’s what NASA is hoping for when the Orion vehicle soars into space for a planned flight test next month. Eventually, this spacecraft will carry humans on journeys around the solar system, if all goes to plan.
The dramatic video above shows some of the testing Orion has passed so far, culminating in an animation showing the plans for the flight test. For more details on what to expect, check out Universe Today’s Ken Kremer’s article from a few days ago. Below is a gallery of Orion images from over the past couple of years.
NASA’s completed Orion EFT 1 crew module loaded on wheeled transporter during move to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHFS) on Sept. 11, 2014 at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.comNASA Administrator Charles Bolden discusses NASA’s human spaceflight initiatives backdropped by the service module for the Orion crew capsule being assembled at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.comDive teams attach tow lines to Orion test capsule during Aug. 15 recovery test at Norfolk Naval Base, VA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.comOrion EFT-1 crew cabin and full scale mural showing Orion Crew Module atop Service Module inside the O & C Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
First photo released of Comet 67P/C-G taken by Philae during its descent. The view is just 1.8 miles above the comet. Credit: ESA
Update, 10 p.m. EST: Philae is now asleep, according to the European Space Agency, for what could prove to be a long nap (at the least). It’s in “idle mode” with depleted batteries, and little sunlight to gain energy. For more information, check out this ESA blog post.
There’s power problems looming for the Philae probe after it made not one, not two, but three landings on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko this Wednesday. The primary battery that the lander is using right now for its primary mission (a few days) is expected to run out in less than a day. As for surface comet observations for the next several months … that’s now in doubt.
Philae was supposed to touch down in a spot that provided seven hours of illumination per day on the comet (with a “day” there being 12.4 hours). But after doing a hop, skip and leap on the surface, the lander is now nestled in a spot that provides only 1.5 hours of sunlight daily to recharge the solar panels. “There is an impact on the energy budget to conduct science for a longer period of time,” the European Space Agency warned in a blog post.
Philae (and its parent craft Rosetta, which is in good health and will observe the comet from orbit through at least part of 2015) went sailing through space for more than a decade before Philae successfully touched down on the surface. After early telemetry came through showing harpoons had fired to secure the lander on 67P, more detailed information showed the harpoons had failed to fire. And this led to an incredible journey.
After touching down about where it was supposed to — controllers know this based on its descent camera and previous images from the Rosetta spacecraft — Philae then lifted off again and floated for nearly two hours. This is possible due to the extremely low gravity field on the comet, which had it drifting gently for one hour and 50 minutes.
First panorama sent by Philae from the surface of the comet. At upper right we see the reflection of the Sun and the top of the CONSERT instrument antenna. Credit: ESA
Philae travelled about one kilometer (0.62 miles) in this time before brushing the surface. Then it began another seven-minute journey before settling down in its current location. Exactly where is not known.
“Preliminary data from the CONSERT experiment suggest that Philae could have travelled closer to the large depression known as Site B, perhaps sitting on its rim. High-resolution orbiter images, some of which are still stored on Rosetta, have yet to confirm the location,” the European Space Agency wrote in a blog post.
“The lander remains unanchored to the surface at an as-yet undetermined orientation. The science instruments are running and are delivering images and data, helping the team to learn more about the final landing site.”
So far, the team knows that the area has dust and other stuff covering the surface, and a panoramic image released yesterday suggests that at least one of the lander’s three feet is “in open space.”
As of November 2014, these are all of the planetary, lunar and small body surfaces where humanity has either lived, visited, or sent probes to. Composition by Mike Malaska, updated by Michiel Straathof. Image credits: Comet 67P/C-G [Rosetta/Philae]: ESA / Rosetta / Philae / CIVA / Michiel Straathof. Asteroid Itokawa [Hayabusa]: ISAS / JAXA / Gordan Ugarkovic. Moon [Apollo 17]: NASA. Venus [Venera 14]: IKI / Don Mitchell / Ted Stryk / Mike Malaska. Mars [Mars Exploration Rover Spirit]: NASA / JPL / Cornell / Mike Malaska. Titan [Cassini-Huygens]: ESA / NASA / JPL / University of Arizona. Earth: Mike Malaska
Correction, 11:33 a.m. EST: The University of Central Florida’s Phil Metzger points out that the image composition leaves out Eros, which NEAR Shoemaker landed on in 2001. This article has been corrected to reflect that and to clarify that the surfaces pictured were from “soft” landings.
And now there are eight. With Philae’s incredible landing on a comet earlier this week, humans have now done soft landings on eight solar system bodies. And that’s just in the first 57 years of space exploration. How far do you think we’ll reach in the next six decades? Let us know in the comments … if you dare.
More seriously, this amazing composition comes courtesy of two people who generously compiled images from the following missions: Rosetta/Philae (European Space Agency), Hayabusa (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Apollo 17 (NASA), Venera 14 (Soviet Union), the Spirit rover (NASA) and Cassini-Huygens (NASA/ESA). Omitted is NEAR Shoemaker, which landed on Eros in 2001.
Before Philae touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Wednesday, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mike Malaska created a cool infographic of nearly every place we’ve lived or visited before then. This week, Michiel Straathof updated the infographic to include 67P (and generously gave us permission to use it.)
And remember that these are just the SURFACES of solar system bodies that we have visited. If you include all of the places that we have flown by or taken pictures from of a distance in space, the count numbers in the dozens — especially when considering prolific imagers such as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which flew by multiple planets and moons.
To check out a small sampling of pictures, visit this NASA website that shows some of the best shots we’ve taken in space.
Artist's conception of binary Earths. Credit: NASA
One big driver in the search for exoplanets is whether life can exist elsewhere in the Universe. In fact, a major goal of the Kepler space telescope is to discover an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of a star like our Sun.
But what about having two Earths orbiting close to each other for billions of years? Is this even possible? A new study suggests that yes, this could happen. Imagine the implications for planetary searches if a double Earth is possible.
With current technology it’s hard to spot an Earth-sized planet, let alone resolve two, but if such planets exist it presents interesting questions. Could they be habitable? How do they form? More study is needed.
The study says double Earths can happen if they form at least half a Sun-Earth distance from their star. In what scientists say is the first-ever study considering binary Earths they suggest a scenario where two rocky bodies get close to each other early in their Solar System’s formation. They don’t collide (such as what likely formed our Moon), but they’re close enough to be within three or so radii of each other.
Artist’s conception of two celestial bodies smacking into each other. Such a collision is believed to have formed Earth’s moon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“There is a good reason to believe terrestrial binary planetary systems may be possible,” read a press release from the California Institute of Technology. “In a grazing collision the angular momentum is too high to be contained within a single rotating body (it would fission) and if the bodies barely touch then they could retain their identity. However, it requires an encounter where the bodies are initially approaching each other at low enough velocity.”
Scientists simulated these planetary encounters using a simulation, dubbed Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics, which has been used in the past for scenarios such as the collision that created the Moon. The scenarios showed that a collision between two Earth-sized planets would only produce a Moon. However, if the bodies came close enough to produce tidal distortion on each other, the planets could form a binary system.
The research was presented at the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting of the American Astronomical Society this week by undergraduate Keegan Ryan, graduate student Miki Nakajima, and planetary science researcher David Stevenson, all of the California Institute of Technology. A press release did not disclose plans for publication, or if the research is peer-reviewed.
Observations of the IC 310 radio galaxy have revealed the first lightning flashes observed from a black hole, astronomers say. Credit: Valencian Universities Network for the Promotion of Research, Development and Innovation (RUVID)
We know black holes are dangerous to people and galactic objects alike due to their immense gravity. But it turns out the galaxies that host supermassive black holes also have stormy interiors, at least according to one new study.
Scientists have found gamma-ray euptions emerging from the center of the IC 310 radio galaxy in Perseus — the strongest such variations in brightness ever found, they say — which they are comparing to a lightning storm.
It’s common for changes in brightness to happen in these galaxies as falling matter plunges into the black hole. The radio galaxies also produce jets that shoot matter away from the center at close to the speed of light.
Artist rendering of a supermassive black hole. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
What baffles researchers for IC 310 is how quickly they saw brightness shifts– on the order of five minutes, which is odd considering that the black hole’s event horizon (the point where there’s no way you’ll get out of there) requires 25 minutes to go across. This means the lightning is likely coming from a region that is smaller than the event horizon itself.
“We believe that in the black hole’s polar regions there are huge electric fields, which are able to accelerate fundamental particles at relativist speeds,” stated study leader Eduardo Ros, a researcher from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and the Universitat de València.
“When they interact with others of lower energy, [they] are able to produce highly energized gamma rays,” he added. “We can imagine this process as a fierce electrical thunderstorm.”
Results of the study were published in the journal Science. Observatories participating included the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) at La Palma in the Canary Islands, and the European Very Large Baseline Interferometer Network.
Source: Valencian Universities Network for the Promotion of Research, Development and Innovation (RUVID)
Artist's impression of the New Horizons spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA
It’s not quite the cryogenic sleep featured in Interstellar, but all the same, NASA’s New Horizons probe has spent most of its long, long journey to Pluto in hibernation. So far it’s been asleep periodically for 1,873 days — two-thirds of its journey in space since 2006 — to save energy, money and the risk of instrument failure.
But it’s just about time for the probe to wake up. On Dec. 6, seven months before New Horizons encounters Pluto, the spacecraft will emerge from its last long nap to get ready for humanity’s first flight past the dwarf planet.
“New Horizons is healthy and cruising quietly through deep space – nearly three billion miles from home – but its rest is nearly over,” stated Alice Bowman, New Horizons mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in Maryland. “It’s time for New Horizons to wake up, get to work, and start making history.”
Artist’s conception of the Pluto system from the surface of one of its moons. Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)
Hibernation periods have lasted anywhere from 36 days to 202 days. Controllers usually rouse the spacecraft about twice a year to make sure all is well, and to do a little bit of science (such as taking distant pictures of Pluto of its moons). This means the next wakeup will be a new phase for the mission — a sustained effort instead of a burst of activity.
Confirmation of the wakeup should come six hours after it takes place, around 9:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. UTC). This will be after the light signal takes an incredible 4.5 hours to reach Earth from New Horizons. What’s next will be a very busy few days — checking out navigation, downloading new science data, then getting the spacecraft ready for Pluto’s big closeup July 2015.
“Tops on the mission’s science list are characterizing the global geology and topography of Pluto and its large moon Charon, mapping their surface compositions and temperatures, examining Pluto’s atmospheric composition and structure, studying Pluto’s smaller moons and searching for new moons and rings,” JHUAPL stated.
