Elizabeth Howell, Author at Universe Today

February 4, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Super-Earths Could Be More ‘Superhabitable’ Than Planets Like Ours

Artists impression of a Super-Earth, a class of planet that has many times the mass of Earth, but less than a Uranus or Neptune-sized planet. Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

Alien planets that are slightly bigger than Earth could be more life-friendly than exoplanets closer to our own size, a new study implies. These so-called “super-Earths” that are about two to three times that of our own planet could be “superhabitable” — implying that our own planet is a rare bird indeed when it comes to being good for life.

Bigger rocky planets would have a host of advantages, argue McMaster University’s Rene Heller and Weber State University’s John Armstrong in a paper recently published in Astrobiology. Among them: These worlds would have tectonic activity that takes longer to happen, meaning that the conditions would be more stable for life. Also, a bigger mass implies it’s easier to hang on to a thick atmosphere and to have “enhanced magnetic shielding” to hold a planet’s own against solar flares.

“Our argumentation can be understood as a refutation of the Rare Earth hypothesis. Ward and Brownlee (2000) claimed that the emergence of life required an extremely unlikely interplay of conditions on Earth, and they concluded that complex life would be a very unlikely phenomenon in the Universe,” stated the authors in their paper “Superhabitable Worlds.”

Information about Alpha Centauri Bb. Information about Alpha Centauri Bb. Credit: Planetary Habitability Laboratory/University of Puerto Rico/Arecibo

“While we agree that the occurrence of another truly Earth-like planet is trivially impossible, we hold that this argument does not constrain the emergence of other inhabited planets. We argue here in the opposite direction and claim that Earth could turn out to be a marginally habitable world. In our view, a variety of processes exists that can make environmental conditions on a planet or moon more benign to life than is the case on Earth.”

As a start, the scientists suggest looking at the Alpha Centauri system, where researchers in 2012 discovered a planet close to Earth’s size that is likely not habitable because it orbits so close to its sun.

The star system, however, is about the right age and has low enough radiation to allow life to occur on a planet or moon that “evolved similarly as it did on Earth”, providing the planet or moon “had the chance to collect water from comets and planetesimals beyond the snowline.” Further, it’s just four light-years from Earth, making it a good target for telescopic observations.

February 4, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Volunteer Firefighter Readies To Face Space Station’s Biggest Nemesis

European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst (left, in mask) and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman during fire drill training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Credit: NASA

Facing a fire in space? It’s among the most catastrophic situations possible, according to NASA, so the agency spends a lot of time thinking of what to do. Here’s what you do with NASA training: Don a mask, grab an emergency book, and head quickly but calmly to the nearest control post to plot an attack.

This is presumably what is happening in the recent picture above, where Alexander Gerst (from the European Space Agency, on the left) and NASA’s Reid Wiseman are doing a fire drill on the ground.

Astronauts practice emergency procedures so often that their first instinct is to go to the procedures, Gerst said in a previous Universe Today interview. “They sink in and become a memorized response or a natural reaction,” he said in August. And in his case, Gerst has training from a previous career that would come in handy if a fire broke out on the International Space Station.

Gerst was a volunteer firefighter when he was attending school, and although Expedition 40/41 this year will be his first spaceflight, he’s well-used to extreme environments: he also has done science in Antarctica, where researchers are essentially responsible for themselves for months at a time.

NASA strives to make the fire training as real as possible to keep astronauts on their toes, including creative combinations of smoke machines. Gerst said the agency won’t go to extremes, however: “We don’t light our modules on fire,” he said.

Check out more about emergency training in this past Universe Today article, which also explains the difference between fighting a fire on the space station and dealing with one in a Soyuz spacecraft. Gerst and Reid (both rookie astronauts) and Russian astronaut Maxim Suraev (who was on Expeditions 21 and 22) are supposed to head into space in May.

February 4, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Supernova’s Galaxy Full Of Starbursts and ‘Superwind’

Starbursts in M82 as seen as radio frequencies from the by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. Credit: Josh Marvil (NM Tech/NRAO), Bill Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF), NASA

Radio light, radio bright: when you look at M82 in this frequency range, a whole lot of activity pops out. The “Cigar Galaxy” is just 12 million light-years away from Earth and these days, is best known for hosting a supernova or star explosion so bright that amateurs can spot it in a small telescope.

Take a big radio telescope and peer at the galaxy’s center, and a violent picture emerges. Bright star nurseries and supernova leftovers are visible in this image from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (the scientists can tell those apart using other data from the telescope.)

“The radio emission seen here is produced by ionized gas and by fast-moving electrons interacting with the interstellar magnetic field,” the National Radio Astronomy Observatory stated.

Most intriguing to scientists in this picture are the streamers of material in this area of M82, which is about 5,200 light-years across in the pictured central region. These previously undetected “wispy features” could be related to “superwind” coming from all this stellar activity, but scientists are still examining the link.

By the way, Supernova SN 2014J is not visible in this image because it is not active in radio waves. You can check out optical pictures of it, however, at this past Universe Today story.

Source: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

February 3, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Confused Mercury Crater Looks Icy, But May Be Evaporation Evidence

On Mercury, the crater Kertesz pops out in this image taken with NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. The white you see is shallow irregular depressions, or hollows. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

At first glance, you’d think that white stuff on the floor of Kertesz crater is ice, especially since that substance has been confirmed on its home planet — Mercury. This new shot of the 19-mile (31-kilometer) crater in the Caloris basin shows off irregular depressions, or hollows, that jump out in this color-enhanced picture taken by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. More close-up pictures from previous passes are below the jump.

“The bright material on the floor of Kertész crater is not the water ice recently confirmed to be in craters near Mercury’s poles, but it might well be behaving as ice would on another planet,” NASA wrote in 2012.

“Mercury’s daytime temperatures are so hot at most latitudes that rocks that would be stable at other places in the Solar System may essentially evaporate on Mercury. That is one theory for the formation of these bright, irregular features known as hollows seen here and in many other craters on Mercury.”

There’s still much to learn, so scientists are probably grateful that MESSENGER is still working beyond its design lifetime. It was originally supposed to conclude in 2011, but its mission was extended further to see the effects of the solar maximum on the solar system’s closest planet to the sun.

This photomosaic shows the Kertesz crater on Mercury on the planet's Caloris Basin, as seen by NASA's MESSENGER mission. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington — This photomosaic shows the Kertesz crater on Mercury on the planet’s Caloris Basin, as seen by NASA’s MESSENGER mission. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

A side view of Kertész crater on Mercury, as imaged by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington — A side view of Kertész crater on Mercury, as imaged by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

A 3-D view of Kertesz crater in Mercury's Caloris Basin. Mosaic from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington — A 3-D view of Kertesz crater in Mercury’s Caloris Basin. Mosaic from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

February 3, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Ghostly Moon Crowns Pictures Beamed To Earth In Astronaut’s Twitter Feed

A crescent moon hovers above Earth in this picture snapped by Expedition 38 astronaut Koichi Wakata in 2014. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter)

A crescent moon hovering above Earth’s delicate atmosphere. Green aurora flickering over Siberia. Space is a beautiful place, and we’re lucky right now to have an experienced photographer showing us the sights (or is that sites?) from the International Space Station.

In between preparing to be Japan’s first commander of the orbiting complex, JAXA Expedition 38 astronaut Koichi Wakata has tweeted at least one picture a day showing the view out the window and activities that he’s working on. It’s hard to pick favorites, but here are some of the best ones of the past week or so.

Expedition 38 JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata sports the Olympic rings in this photo taken aboard the International Space Station in 2014. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter)

"Great to work on Capillary Flow Experiment-2, a research on liquid’s “wetting” behavior," wrote JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata in January 2014. At the time, Wakata was on the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 38. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter) — “Great to work on Capillary Flow Experiment-2, a research on liquid’s “wetting” behavior,” wrote JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata in January 2014. At the time, Wakata was on the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 38. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter)

A night shot of Nagoya, Japan -- one of the country's largest cities -- by Expedition 38 JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata in 2014. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter) — A night shot of Nagoya, Japan — one of the country’s largest cities — by Expedition 38 JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata in 2014. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter)

The aurora or northern lights over Siberia. Photo taken by Expedition 38 JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata in 2014 from the International Space Station. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter)

"Patagonia glacier – amazing art of the nature," wrote JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata of this picture he snapped during Expedition 38 in 2014. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter) — “Patagonia glacier – amazing art of the nature,” wrote JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata of this picture he snapped during Expedition 38 in 2014. Credit: Koichi Wakata (Twitter)

February 1, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Columbia’s Demise 11 Years Ago Today Sparked Regular Shuttle Inspections In Space

A shower of foam debris after the impact on Columbia?s left wing. The event was not observed in real time. Credit: NASA

The Columbia’s shuttle fiery end came as the STS-107 astronauts’ families were waiting runway-side for everyone to come home. NASA’s oldest space shuttle broke up around 9 a.m. Eastern (2 p.m. UTC) on Feb. 1, 2003, scattering debris along east Texas and nearby areas. Its demise was captured on several amateur video cameras, many of which were rebroadcast on news networks.

In the next four months, some 20,000 volunteers fanned out across the southwest United States to find pieces of the shuttle, coming up with 85,000 pieces (38% of the shuttle) as well as human remains. Meanwhile, investigators quickly zeroed in on a piece of foam that fell off of Columbia’s external tank and struck the wing. A seven-month inquiry known as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board eventually yielded that as the ultimate cause of the shuttle’s demise, although there were other factors as well.

The disaster killed seven people: Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon (who was Israel’s first astronaut.) At a time when most shuttles were focused on building the International Space Station, this crew’s mandate was different: to spend 24 hours a day doing research experiments. Some of the work was recoverable from the crew’s 16 days in space.

Columbia’s demise brought about several design changes in the external tank as NASA zeroed in on “the foam problem.” NASA put in a new procedure in orbit for astronauts to scan the shuttle’s belly for broken tiles using the robotic Canadarm and video cameras; shuttles also flew to the International Space Station in such a way so that astronauts on station could take pictures of the bottom.

Return-to-flight mission STS-114 in July-August 2005 yielded more foam loss than expected. Then NASA found something. For a long time, workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility were blamed for improper foam installation after partial tests on external tanks, but an X-ray analysis on an entire tank (done for reasons that are explained in this blog post from then-shuttle manager Wayne Hale) revealed it was actually due to “thermal cycles associated with filling the tank.”

“Discovery flew on July 4, 2006; no significant foam loss occurred. I consider that to be the real return to flight for the space shuttle,” he wrote. “So were we stupid? Yes. Can you learn from our mistake? I hope so.”

The Columbia crew. From the left: Mission Specialist David Brown, Commander Rick Husband, Mission Specialists Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla and Michael Anderson, Pilot William McCool and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon. Credit: NASA.

January 31, 2014April 26, 2016 by Elizabeth Howell

Young Planets Migrated In Double-Star Systems, Model Shows

Artist's conception of Kepler 34b, which orbits two stars. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)

Binary star systems are downright dangerous due to their complex gravitational interactions that can easily grind a planet to pieces. So how is it that we have found a few planets in these Tattooine-like environments?

Research led by the University of Bristol show that most planets formed far away from their central stars and then migrated in at some point in their history, according to research collected concerning Kepler-34b and other exoplanets.

The scientists did “computer simulations of the early stages of planet formation around the binary stars using a sophisticated model that calculates the effect of gravity and physical collisions on and between one million planetary building blocks,” stated the university.

“They found that the majority of these planets must have formed much further away from the central binary stars and then migrated to their current location.”

You can read more about the research in Astrophysical Journal Letters. It was led by Bristol graduate student Stefan Lines with participation from advanced research fellow and computational astrophysicst Zoe Lienhardt, among other collaborators.

January 31, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Foom! Flaming Rocket Sled Tests Parachute For Mars Spacecraft

The "rocket sled" that is a part of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator Project testing methods to slow spacecraft before they land. Credit: NASA

Watch the video above to the two-minute mark (and beyond) and we guarantee a brilliant start to your Friday. “Enter Sandman” indeed, Metallica. Look past the flames and thrust, however, and you will see a parachute test in action that could help spacecraft land safely on Mars one day.

This is an undated “rocket sled” test of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator, a technology aiming to be a more advanced way to bring spacecraft to Mars besides the 1970s-era Viking parachutes that were used as late as the Curiosity mission.

And supersonic flight tests of this technology will take place this year and next, according to NASA. The technology could be used on spacecraft as early as 2018, the agency added.

“NASA seeks to use atmospheric drag as a solution, saving rocket engines and fuel for final maneuvers and landing procedures,” the agency states on the project’s web page. “The heavier planetary landers of tomorrow, however, will require much larger drag devices than any now in use to slow them down — and those next-generation drag devices will need to be deployed at higher supersonic speeds to safely land vehicle, crew and cargo.”

“One of the tests on my LDSD project, which combines the Navy version of a Blackhawk helicopter, a giant 110 foot parachute, 3000 pounds of rope, a very big pulley, four rockets, and a railroad track in the desert. The test successfully uncovered a design flaw in the parachute before we flew one like it on a much more expensive test — which is exactly what this test was for,” wrote collaborator Mark Adler (a fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who was a mission manager for the Spirit rover) on Google Plus.

As part of this project, NASA is testing three devices. The first is a huge parachute (30.5 meters, or 100 feet) that will deploy when the spacecraft is at about 1.5 to 2 times the speed of sound to slow it down.

NASA's Curiosity rover heads for a successful landing Aug. 6 under its parachute. Picture snapped by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona — NASA’s Curiosity rover heads for a successful landing Aug. 6 under its parachute. Picture snapped by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

At faster speeds, NASA also plans inflatable aerodynamic decelerators, which it describes as “very large, durable, balloon-like pressure vessels.” These devices are being tested in two versions: six-meter and eight-meter (19.7 feet and 26.2 feet). They are designed to balloon around the spacecraft to slow it down from 3.5 times the speed of sound to at least twice the speed of sound, if not lower.

“All three devices will be the largest of their kind ever flown at speeds several times greater than the speed of sound,” NASA stated.

The project is a NASA technology demonstration mission led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This test and similar ones were conducted at the conducted at the U.S. Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, Calif. More videos and information are available at LDSD’s webpage.

Huge hat-tip to @marsroverdriver for highlighting this on his Twitter account yesterday (Thursday).

January 30, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Earth’s Water Story Gets A Plot Twist From Space Rock Search

Artist's conception of asteroids and a gas giant planet. Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

We at Universe Today have snow on our minds these days with all this Polar Vortex talk. From out the window, the snowflakes all look the same, but peer at flakes under a microscope and you can see all these different designs pop up. Turns out that our asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is also much more diverse than previously believed, all because astronomers took the time to do a detailed survey.

Here’s the interesting thing: the diversity, the team says, implies that Earth-like planets would be hard to find, which could be a blow for astronomers seeking an Earth 2.0 somewhere out in the universe if other research agrees.

To jump back a couple of steps, there’s a debate about how water arose on Earth. One theory is that back billions of years ago when the solar system was settling into its current state — a time when planetesimals were crashing into each other constantly and the larger planets possibly migrated between different orbits — comets and asteroids bearing water crashed into a proto-Earth.

Artist's conception of asteroids or comets bearing water to a proto-Earth. Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics — Artist’s conception of asteroids or comets bearing water to a proto-Earth. Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

“If true, the stirring provided by migrating planets may have been essential to bringing those asteroids,” the astronomers stated in a press release. “This raises the question of whether an Earth-like exoplanet would also require a rain of asteroids to bring water and make it habitable. If so, then Earth-like worlds might be rarer than we thought.”

To take this example further, the researchers found that the asteroid belt comes from a mix of locations around the solar system. Well, a model the astronomers cite shows that Jupiter once migrated much closer to the sun, basically at the same distance as where Mars is now.

When Jupiter migrated, it disturbed everything in its wake and possibly removed as much as 99.9 per cent of the original asteroid population. And other planet migrations in general threw in rocks from everywhere into the asteroid belt. This means the origin of water in the belt could be more complicated than previously believed.

You can read more details of the survey in the journal Nature. Data was gathered from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the research was led by Francesca DeMeo, a Hubble postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Source: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

January 30, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

‘Stupid Astronaut Tricks’ Spread The Joy of Space To New Astronaut Class

NASA astronaut candidate Christina Hammock starts a fire successfully during wilderness survival training near Rangeley, Maine in August 2013. Credit: NASA/Lauren Harnett

You sure couldn’t hide those grins on television from the Astronaut Candidate Class of 2013 when the call came from the International Space Station.

NASA’s latest recruits were at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. at an event today (Thursday) for students. Amid the many youngster questions to Expedition 38 astronauts Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio, astronaut candidate Jessica Meir managed one of her own: was the wait worth it?

Hovering in front of the camera, four-time flyer Mastracchio vigorously shook his hand “no” to laughter from the audience. Hopkins answered her more seriously: “It is definitely worth it. It is the most amazing experience I think you can ever have. Floating is just truly incredible; it just never gets old.”

Minutes later, Hopkins demonstrated a “stupid astronaut trick”: doing Road Runner-style sprinting in place in mid-air. The laughing crew signed off — “So they’re floating off now?” asked event moderator and veteran astronaut Leland Melvin — and the new class had the chance to answer questions of their own.

While the class expressed effusive delight at being astronauts — they were hired last year, so the feeling is quite new to them — Meir said that there was some sadness at leaving the careers they had before. As a recent article in Air&Space Smithsonian pointed out, this class will have several years to wait for a seat into space because there aren’t robust shuttle crews of seven people going up several times a year any more. The Soyuz only carries three people at a time, and there are fewer missions that last for a longer time.

There also is some ambiguity about where the astronauts will go. The International Space Station has been extended until at least 2024, but astronaut candidate Anne McClain added today that an asteroid or Mars are other things being considered for their class. “This class is such an exciting time to be at NASA,” she said.

Other questions asked of the class at the event include who is going to go in space first, and from a wee future astronaut, which planet they’d prefer to go to. You can watch the whole broadcast on the link above.