Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Busy Spaceport: There are Now Five Spaceships Parked at the Space Station

Five spacecraft are parked at the International Space Station including the Soyuz TMA-14M and Dragon which docked this week. Credit: NASA

Mars isn’t the only place in the Solar System that was busy this week with arriving spacecraft. While NASA’s MAVEN and ISRO’s MOM arrived in orbit around the Red Planet, the International Space Station also welcomed two arriving spacecraft, bringing the total of docked ships at the ISS to five.

Screenshot from NASA TV of the Soyuz-TMA14M arriving with just one solar panel deployed.
Screenshot from NASA TV of the Soyuz-TMA14M arriving with just one solar panel deployed.

Last night, the Expedition 41/42 crew arrived — peeling in on one solar panel on their Soyuz TMA-14M — with the first female cosmonaut to be part of an ISS crew, Elena Serova along with her crewmates cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev, and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore. They took the Soyuz “fast track,” arriving at the station in just under six hours after launch. One of the craft’s solar panels jammed and couldn’t deploy, but the crew docked to Poisk docking compartment without indecent.

The arrival of Wilmore, Samokutyaev and Serova returns the station’s crew complement to six. Already on board are Commander Max Suraev of Roscosmos, Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency. They have been aboard the complex since May.

Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst will return home in November. At that time, Wilmore will become commander of the station for Expedition 42, and the remainder of the Expedition 42 crew will arrive in a new Soyuz.

Earlier this week, on September 23, the SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived with over 2.5 tons of science experiments and supplies for the crew.

Also docked to the space station is the Soyuz ship that will take Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst home, a Progress resupply ship and the European ATV-5 supply ship.

There are two more cargo missions targeted to launch to the space station before the end of the year. Orbital Sciences just announced October 20 as the next launch date for their Cygnus commercial space freighter. It will occupy the same Harmony node port as Dragon when it leaves in a few weeks. When Cygnus vacates the Harmony node port, SpaceX CRS-5 will replace it in December.

Posted on by Shannon Hall

Have Astronomers Seen a Forming Planet in Action?

Image at 7 mm wavelength of the dusty disk around the star HD 169142 obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 7 mm wavelength. The positions of the protoplanet candidates are marked with plus signs (+) (Osorio et al. 2014, ApJ, 791, L36). The insert in the upper right corner shows, at the same scale, the bright infrared source in the inner disk cavity, as observed with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at 3.8 micron wavelength (Reggiani et al. 2014, ApJ, 792, L23).

Huge disks of dust and gas encircle many young stars. Some contain circular gaps — likely the result of forming planets carving out cavities along their orbital paths — that make the disks look more like ripples in a pond than flat pancakes.

But astronomers know only a few examples, including the archetypal disk surrounding Beta Pictoris, of this transitional stage between the original disk and the young planetary system. And they have never spotted a forming planet.

Two independent research teams think they’ve observed precisely this around the star HD 169142, a young star with a disk that extends up to 250 astronomical units (AU), roughly six times greater than the average distance from the Sun to Pluto.

Mayra Osorio from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain and colleagues first explored HD 169142’s disk with the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico. The 27 radio dishes configured in a Y-shape allowed the team to detect centimeter-sized dust grains. Then combining their results with infrared data, which traces the presence of microscopic dust, the group was able to see two gaps in the disk.

One gap is located between 0.7 and 20 AU, and the second larger gap is located between 30 and 70 AU. In our Solar System the first would begin at the orbit of Venus and end at the orbit of Uranus, while the second would begin at the orbit of Neptune, pass Pluto’s orbit, and extend beyond.

“This structure already suggested that the disk was being modified by two planets or sub-stellar objects, but, additionally, the radio data reveal the existence of a clump of material within the external gap, located approximately at the distance of Neptune’s orbit, which points to the existence of a forming planet,” said Mayra Osorio in a news release.

Maddalena Reggiani from the Institute for Astronomy in Zurich and colleagues then tried to search for infrared sources in the gaps using the Very Large Telescope. They found a bright signal in the inner gap, which likely corresponds to a forming planet or a young brown dwarf, an object that isn’t massive enough to kick start nuclear fusion.

The team was unable to confirm an object in the second gap, likely due to technical limitations. Any object with a mass less than 18 times Jupiter’s mass will remain hidden in the data.

Future observations will shed more light on the exotic system, hopefully allowing astronomers to better understand how planets first form around young stars.

Both papers have been published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

What Is This Bizarre Ball That The Curiosity Rover Found On Mars?

A "ball" of material on Mars taken by the Curiosity rover on Sol 746. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

It seems too round to be true — the Curiosity rover has found a ball-shaped object among the craggy rocks in its picture. This image was taken on Sol 746 of the rover’s mission on Mars, which so far has extended over two Earth years.

No, it’s not the leftover of a Martian baseball game and nor is it aliens. In fact, according to Discovery News (who is quoting NASA) it’s a kind of rock that shows evidence of water in the ancient past.

Ian O’Neill writes:

According to MSL scientists based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., the ball isn’t as big as it looks — it’s approximately one centimeter wide. Their explanation is that it is most likely something known as a “concretion.” Other examples of concretions have been found on the Martian surface before — take, for example, the tiny haematite concretions, or “blueberries”, observed by Mars rover Opportunity in 2004 — and they were created during sedimentary rock formation when Mars was abundant in liquid water many millions of years ago.

Curiosity is now at the base of Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) — its main science goal — and scientists are hoping to find more signs of habitable environments as the rover slowly prepares for the climb up the slope. Mission managers will need to be careful as the rover has battered wheels from rougher terrain than expected.

The rover already has found other evidence of water in its landing site of Gale Crater, such as this ancient lakebed that could have supported life.

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

India’s Bargain Mars Spacecraft Cost Less Than Many Space Movies

Artist's impression of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). Credit: ISRO

India achieved a remarkable feat earlier this week — the nation became only one of a handful of countries to successfully send a probe to Mars. The $75 million mission has been hailed as an achievement by NASA and other space experts from around the world.

Just how remarkable is this bargain mission? As a tweet from travel writer Jon Tindale pointed out, MOM cost less than the 2000 Gary Sinise movie Mission To Mars. (Note that we came up with a different dollar figure below.)

Just for fun, we’ve compared MOM to several space movies below. All dollar figures are adjusted for inflation from budgets listed in the Internet Movie Database.

Avatar: $263 million ($237 million in 2009 dollars)

Wall-E: $199 million ($180 million in 2008 dollars)

The Fifth Element: $138 million ($93 million in 1997 dollars)

Mission to Mars: $124 million ($90 million in 2000 dollars)

Elysium: $117 million ($115 million in 2013 dollars)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: $115 million ($35 million in 1979 dollars)

Gravity: $102 million ($100 million in 2013 dollars)

Apollo 13: $101.5 million ($62 million in 1995 dollars)

Dune (1984): $92 million ($40 million in 1984 dollars)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: $76 million ($19.4 million in 1977 dollars)

2001: A Space Odyssey: $72 million ($10.5 million in 1968 dollars)

Mars Orbiter Mission: $70 million (2014 dollars)

The Right Stuff: $65 million ($27 million in 1983 dollars)

Serenity: $49 million ($40 million in 2005 dollars)

Star Wars (1977): $43 million ($11 million in 1977 dollars)

Outland: $42 million ($16 million in 1981 dollars)

Alien: $36 million ($11 million in 1979 dollars)

War of the Worlds (1953): $18 million ($2 million in 1953 dollars)

Silent Running: $6.2 million ($1.1 million in 1972 dollars)

Moon: $5.5 million ($5 million in 2009 dollars)

Apollo 18: $5.3 million ($5 million in 2011 dollars)

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Cute Video Shows The Many Ways The Planets And Moons Can Kill You

A still from the Cyanide & Happiness animation "Don't Go To Space." Credit: Cyanide & Happiness / YouTube

While we’re huge advocates here for space exploration, there certainly is an inherent danger to leaving the Earth. In a humorous way, this new video from the comic Cyanide & Happiness shows why you want to be cautious when exploring space.

As the video shows you, the Moon is airless (which is especially painful if you can’t afford an expensive spacesuit), Venus will boil you alive and Jupiter will crush you under the weight of many, many Earth equivalents.

So is it safe to stay on Earth itself? Watch the video for the answer. Overall, this animation goes to show you how important mission planning is when it comes to protecting astronauts and spacecraft during long journeys through the solar system.

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

Hubble Vision: Galaxy DDO 68 – Young Or Old?

Image credit: NASA & ESA

Only astronomers know for sure… Or do they? In this assembly of images taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, scientists have utilized both visible and infrared light to survey a most unusual galaxy. When looking for a newly formed galaxy in our “cosmic neighborhood”, they spied DDO 68 (a.k.a. UGC 5340). Normally to witness galactic evolution, we have to look over great distances to see back in time… but this particular collection of gas and stars seems to break the rules!

Researching galactic evolution isn’t a new concept. Over the last few decades astronomers have increased our understanding of how galaxies change with time. One of the most crucial players in this game has been the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Through its eyes, scientists can see over almost incomprehensible distances – studying light that has taken billions of years to reach us. We are essentially looking back in time.

While this is great news on its own, studying progressively younger galaxies can sometimes pose more questions than it answers. For example, all the newly created galaxies reside a huge distance from us and thereby appear small and faint when imaged. On the other side of the coin, galaxies which are close to us appear to be far more mature.

Loading player…

This video begins with a ground based view of the night sky, before zooming in on dwarf galaxy DDO 68 as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope sees it. This ragged collection of stars and gas clouds looks at first glance like a recently-formed galaxy in our own cosmic neighbourhood. But, is it really as young as it looks? Credit: NASA/ESA

DDO 68, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, would seem to be the best example of a nearby newly-formed galaxy. Just how nearby? Estimates place it at about 39 million light years distant. While this might seem like a very long way, it is still roughly 50 times closer than other galactic examples. Studying galaxies of different ages is important to our understanding of how the Universe works. Astronomers have discovered that young galaxies are quite different than those which have aged. In this case, DDO 68 gives off the appearance of being young. These findings come from examining its structure, appearance and composition. However, researchers question their findings. It is possible this galaxy may be considerably older than initial findings indicate.

“All of the available data are consistent with the fact that DDO 68 is a very rare candidate for young galaxies.” says S. A. Pustilnik (et al). “The bulk of its stars were formed during the recent (with the first encounter about 1 Gyr ago) merger of two very gas-rich disks.”

These common events – mergers and collisions – are part of galactic life and are generally responsible for older galaxies being more bulky. These “senior citizens” are normally laced with a wide variety of stellar types – young, old, large and small. The chemistry is also different, too. Very young galaxies are rich in hydrogen and helium, making them tantalizingly similar in composition to the primordial matter created by the Big Bang. Older galaxies have more experiences. Numerous stellar events have happened within them over their lifetimes, making them rich in heavy elements. This is what makes DDO 68 very exciting! It is the best local candidate found so far to be low in heavier elements.

“DDO 68 (UGC 5340) is the second most metal-poor star-forming galaxy,” explains Pustilnik. “Its peculiar optical morphology and its HI distribution and kinematics are indicative of a merger origin. We use the u, g, r, and i photometry based on the SDSS images of DDO 68 to estimate its stellar population ages.”

Step into the light? You bet. The Hubble observations were meant to examine the properties of this mysterious galaxy’s light – determine whether or not it contains any older stars. If they are discovered, which seems to be the case, this would disprove the theory that DDO 68 is singularly comprised of younger stars. If not, it will validate the unique nature of this nearby neighbor. While more computer modeling and studies are needed, we can still enjoy this incredible look at another cosmic enigma!

Original Story Source: A Galaxy Of Deception – Hubble/ESA

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Some Of Earth’s Water Could Be A Million Years Older Than The Solar System

A view of rivers in Montana, USA, from the ISS. Credit: ESA/Luca Parmitano.

A new model suggests that up to half of the water on Earth may be older than the Sun and the rest of the Solar System. The model indicates that much of our planet’s water originated in the molecular cloud that created our Solar System, rather than the disc of material that was orbiting the Sun 4.6 billion years ago.

“Chemistry tells us that Earth received a contribution of water from some source that was very cold – only tens of degrees above absolute zero, while the Sun being substantially hotter has erased this deuterium, or heavy water, fingerprint,” stated Ted Bergin, an astronomy professor at the University of Michigan who participated in the research.

“We let the chemistry evolve for a million years – the typical lifetime of a planet-forming disk – and we found that chemical processes in the disk were inefficient at making heavy water throughout the solar system. What this implies is if the planetary disk didn’t make the water, it inherited it. Consequently, some fraction of the water in our solar system predates the Sun.”

What this could mean is that water would be quite abundant in young solar systems since it doesn’t depend on the chemistry of the planetary disc, but what is in molecular clouds — making it easier, perhaps, for water to arise in planets.

The researchers’ work was published in Science.

Source: University of Michigan

Posted on by Ken Kremer

India’s MOM Captures First Image of the Red Planet

ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission captures its first image of Mars from a height of 7300 km. Credit: ISRO

India’s “history creating” maiden interplanetary voyager, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has captured her historic first image of the Red Planet.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), India’s space agency which designed and developed the orbiter released the image today, Sept 25, just a day after MOM successfully arrived at Mars on Sept. 23/24.

Read my complete MOM meets Mars arrival story – here.

The image was taken by the probe’s Mars Colour Camera (MCC), tri color imager, from a height of 7300 kilometers with a spatial resolution of 376 meters and shows a heavily cratered region on the Red Planet.

Following MOM’s successful orbital insertion maneuver, India joined an elite club of only three other entities who have launched probes that successfully investigated Mars – following the Soviet Union, the United States, and the European Space Agency (ESA).

MOM is now circling Mars in a highly elliptical orbit whose nearest point to Mars (periapsis) is at 421.7 km and farthest point (apoapsis) at 76,993.6 km. The inclination of orbit with respect to the equatorial plane of Mars is 150 degrees, as intended, ISRO reports.

By way of comparison, here’s the first image taken by MOM of the Blue Planet, her Home World.

First ever image of Earth Taken by Mars Color Camera aboard India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft while orbiting Earth and before the Trans Mars Insertion firing on Dec. 1, 2013. Image is focused on the Indian subcontinent. Credit: ISRO
First ever image of Earth Taken by Mars Color Camera aboard India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft while orbiting Earth and before the Trans Mars Insertion firing on Dec. 1, 2013. Image is focused on the Indian subcontinent. Credit: ISRO

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Multicolor Mars! Speedy NASA Spacecraft Takes Pictures Just Hours After Arrival

The first Mars observations from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft in three ultraviolet wavelength bands. From left to right, you can see wavelengths that focus on hydrogen, oxygen and reflected sunlight. A composite image is at far right. Credit: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics /University of Colorado and NASA

Sure is fun to see the Red Planet in different colors! This is what the gases around the Red Planet’s atmosphere look like from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which did its first observations on Monday (Sept. 22) — just eight hours after arriving in orbit.

The goal of the spacecraft is to better understand how quickly gases are fleeing the Martian atmosphere, and here you can definitely see a difference between hydrogen (at left) and oxygen (second-to-left). Figuring out how fast the atmosphere escapes could help scientists learn why water appeared to flow freely on the Red Planet’s surface in the distant past.

The hydrogen gas is much lighter and surrounds the planet in a bigger cloud that is so huge it extends beyond the boundaries of the picture at left. The oxygen, which is heavier, is less prone to drifting away and stays closer to the planet. (All images were obtained from an altitude of 22,680 miles or 36,500 kilometers.)

An artist concept of MAVEN in orbit around Mars. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center).
An artist concept of MAVEN in orbit around Mars. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center).

It is believed that the Sun’s radiation pushed hydrogen out of the Martian atmosphere in the planet’s past, thinning it over time. A thicker atmosphere would have allowed water to exist in gullies and perhaps even seas or oceans, but today the atmosphere is too thin for liquid water to survive in large quantities on the surface.

MAVEN is in a commissioning phase that will last until early November, although the spacecraft will take a time-out to do observations of Comet Siding Spring upon the object’s closest approach to the planet Oct. 19. So far, NASA does not believe the comet will pose a huge dust threat to the spacecraft, but MAVEN will be maneuvered to minimize exposure just in case.

Source: University of Colorado Boulder