Sceenshot of a satellite view from Google/Digital Globe of the destruction in Moore, Oklahoma after the May 20, 2013 tornado. Click image to have access to an interactive, zoomable version via NPR.
For all you Earth observation geeks out there, we have some good news — two Russian astronauts are going to install a camera on Friday (Dec. 27) that will beam live images of Earth back to your browser.
The UrtheCast camera is the headline task for Expedition 38 astronauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy to perform, on top of installing a foot restraint and doing some equipment swapouts. This spacewalk, by the way, is not related in any way to the two successful contingency ones earlier this week to replace a faulty pump on station.
The spacewalk is supposed to start at 8 a.m. EST (1 p.m. UTC) and will be carried live on NASA Television, which you can view in the media player above or at this alternate link. The spacewalk is scheduled for seven hours, but could be longer or shorter as events arise.
“Imagine you have a nearly live Google Earth, but it isn’t four-year-old data – you have data that is being refreshed all the time, with videos coming down over interesting areas where interesting events are going on, showing you what is changing, what is going on,” said George Tyc, the chief technology officer at UrtheCast, in an interview with Universe Today earlier this year.
“What we really hope to pull off is to change the paradigm, get the everyday person interacting and seeing the data coming down from space to see the Earth and how it is evolving over time in a way that isn’t available right now.”
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins during his first spacewalk on Dec. 21, 2013 during Expedition 38. He tweeted the next day: “Wow . . . can’t believe that is me yesterday. Wish I could find the words to describe the experience, truly amazing.” Credit: NASA
It’s been a busy week for spacewalkers on station as Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins successfully replaced a pump that shut down two weeks ago and crippled one of the station’s two cooling loops for regulating the temperature of systems on station. With that work completed Tuesday (Dec. 24), a NASA update today (Dec. 26) said systems are slowly coming back online.
“Early on Christmas Day, the heat exchangers for the Destiny laboratory, the Harmony and Tranquility nodes and the Japanese Kibo laboratory were reintegrated to enable experiments racks and other systems affected by the partial Cooling Loop A shutdown Dec. 11 to come back on line,” NASA stated.
“The Columbus laboratory heat exchanger will remain down until the European Space Agency, at its own request, conducts that module’s integration next week when personnel return from the holiday.”
Photomosaic shows new holes and tears in several of rover Curiosity’s six wheels caused by recent driving over sharp edged Martian rocks on the months long trek to Mount Sharp. Raw images taken by the MAHLI camera on Curiosity’s arm on Dec. 22, 2013 (Sol 490) were assembled to show some recent damage to several of its six wheels – most noticeably the two here in middle and front. Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS / Marco Di Lorenzo / Ken Kremer- kenkremer.com
See below complete 6 wheel mosaic and further wheel mosaics for comparison
Photomosaic shows new holes and tears in several of rover Curiosity’s six wheels caused by recent driving over sharp edged Martian rocks on the months long trek to Mount Sharp. Raw images taken by the MAHLI camera on Curiosity’s arm on Dec. 22, 2013 (Sol 490) were assembled to show some recent damage to several of its six wheels – most noticeably the two here in middle and front. Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS / Marco Di Lorenzo / Ken Kremer- kenkremer.com See below complete 6 wheel mosaic and further wheel mosaics for comparison [/caption]
Several of the NASA rovers six big aluminum wheels have suffered some significant sized rips, tears and holes up to several centimeters wide – in addition to numerous dents – as she has picked up the driving pace across the rugged, rock filled Martian terrain this past fall and put over 4.5 kilometers (3 mi.) on the odometer to date.
It’s rather easy to spot the wheel damage to the 1 ton behemoth by examining the mosaic imagery we have created – See above and below – from newly transmitted raw imagery and comparing that to older imagery taken at earlier points in the mission. Check our Sol 177 wheels mosaic below.
The latest imagery from Mars captured just prior to Christmas is delivering an undesired holiday present of sorts to team members that might well cause the scientists and engineers to alter Curiosity’s extraterrestrial road trip to traverse smoother terrain and thereby minimize future harm.
So the wheel damage is certainly manageable at this point but will require attention.
The team of Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer have assembled the new Mastcam and MAHLI raw images of the wheels captured on Sol 490 (Dec. 22) into fresh color mosaics – shown herein.
Photomosaic shows new holes and tears in several of rover Curiosity’s six wheels caused by recent driving over sharp edged Martian rocks on the months long trek to Mount Sharp. Raw images taken by the MAHLI camera on Curiosity’s arm on Dec. 22, 2013 (Sol 490) were assembled to show some recent damage to several of its six wheels – most noticeably the two at right in middle and front. Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS / Marco Di Lorenzo / Ken Kremer- kenkremer.com
See below more wheel mosaics for comparisonPhotomosaic from Sol 177 (Feb. 3, 2013) shows rover Curiosity’s six wheels relatively intact with far fewer holes and dents compared to Sol 490 mosaic taken on Dec 22. 2013. Rover is working in Yellowknife Bay here and had not yet begun long trek to Mount Sharp. Sol 177 raw images assembled to mosaic were taken by the MAHLI camera on Curiosity’s arm. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer- kenkremer.com
Indeed the rovers handlers have already directed the SUV sized Curiosity to snap close up images of the 20 inch diameter wheels with the high resolution color cameras located on the Mast as well as the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the rover’s maneuverable robotic arm.
“We want to take a full inventory of the condition of the wheels,” said Jim Erickson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, project manager for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Project, in a NASA statement.
Up close view of hole in one of rover Curiosity’s six wheels caused by recent driving over rough Martian rocks. Mosaic assembled from Mastcam raw images taken on Dec. 22, 2013 (Sol 490) Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Ken Kremer -kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
The rover team certainly expected some wear and tear to accumulate along the rock strewn path to the base of Mount Sharp – which reaches 5.5 km (3.4 mi) into the Martian sky.
But the volume of sharp edged rocks encountered in the momentous trek across the floor of Curiosity’s Gale Crater landing site apparently has picked up- as evidenced by the new pictures – and consequently caused more damage than the engineers anticipated.
“Dents and holes were anticipated, but the amount of wear appears to have accelerated in the past month or so,” Erickson noted.
“It appears to be correlated with driving over rougher terrain. The wheels can sustain significant damage without impairing the rover’s ability to drive. However, we would like to understand the impact that this terrain type has on the wheels, to help with planning future drives.”
The team is now inspecting the new imagery acquired of the wheels and will decide if a course alteration to Mount Sharp is in order.
The left front wheel may have suffered the most harm.
Up close view shows a tear in one of rover Curiosity’s six wheels caused by recent driving over rough Martian rocks. Mosaic assembled from Mastcam raw images taken on Dec. 22, 2013 (Sol 490) Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Ken Kremer -kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
“Routes to future destinations for the mission may be charted to lessen the amount of travel over such rough terrain, compared to smoother ground nearby,” says NASA.
Following a new, post Christmas drive today, Dec. 26, 2013 (Sol 494) Curiosity’s odometer stands at 4.6 kilometers.
Curiosity has already accomplished her primary goal of discovering a habitable zone on Mars that could support Martian microbes if they ever existed.
NASA’s rover Curiosity uncovered evidence that an ancient Martian lake had the right chemical ingredients that could have sustained microbial life forms for long periods of time – and that these habitable conditions persisted on the Red Planet until a more recent epoch than previously thought.
Right now the researchers are guiding Curiosity along a 10 km (6 mi) path to the lower reaches of Mount Sharp – which they hope to reach sometime in mid 2014.
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity took this self-portrait, composed of more than 50 images using its robotic arm-mounted MAHLI camera, on Feb. 3. The image shows Curiosity at the John Klein drill site. A drill hole is visible at bottom left. Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS / Marco Di Lorenzo / Ken Kremer- kenkremer.com
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Chang’e-3, LADEE, MAVEN, Mars rover and MOM news.
An early Draconid meteor caught by astrophotographer Cory Schmitz. (Used with permission?)
It’s here!
As 2013 draws to a close, we once again cast our thoughts to all things astronomical for the coming year. For the past five years, I’ve been constructing this list of all things astronomical for the coming year, lovingly distilling the events transpiring worldwide down to a 101 “best events of the year”. This is the first year this list has been featured on Universe Today, so we’ll lay out our ground rules and reasoning a bit as to selection criteria.
Events selected run the gamut from conjunctions and eclipses that are visible worldwide or over a good swath of the planet, to asteroid occultations of stars that are only visible along a thin path along the surface of the Earth. Geocentric conjunction times for occultations are quoted. Generally, only conjunctions involving bright stars, planets & the Moon are noted. The intent of this list is to bridge the gap between the often meager “10 Best Astronomy Events of 2014” listicles that make their rounds this time of year and the more tedious laundry lists of Moon phases and wide conjunctions.
As always, we look at the coming year with an eye out for the astronomically curious and the bizarre. Times are quoted in Universal Time (UT) using a 24-hour clock, which is identical to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and Zulu for those in the military.
Some caveats as to how selections were made:
-To make the cut, asteroid occultations must have a rank of 99 or greater, and occult a star brighter than +8th magnitude.
– We only selected major annual meteor showers with a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) projected to be 20 or greater.
– Only lunar occultations of planets and bright stars are listed.
– Solstice seasons where the International Space Station reaches full illumination are approximate; the ISS gets boosted periodically, and therefore it’s impossible to project its precise orbit months in advance.
– Comets come and go. The comets included on this list are some of the “best bets” that are forcasted to reach binocular visibility for 2014. A big bright one could come up and steal the show at any time!
This list was meant to “whet the appetite” for what’s coming to skies worldwide in 2014 with a succinct rapid fire listing by month. Where an online resource exists that expands on the event, we linked to ‘em. A full resource list, both paper and cyber, is given at the end of the post. Print these events, post it on your refrigerator and/or observatory wall, and expect us to feature many these fine events on Universe Today in the coming year!
Some notes on 2014:
2014 sees Mars reach opposition in early April, which is sure to be a highlight as we head towards an exceptionally close opposition in 2018.
The month of February is also missing a New Moon, which last occurred in 1995 and won’t happen again until 2033. February is the only calendar month which can be missing the same moon phase twice!
We’re also coming off a profoundly weak solar maximum in 2014, though as always, the Sun may have some surprises in store for solar observers and aurora watchers worldwide.
The motion of the Moon in 2014 is headed towards a “shallow” year in 2015 relative to the ecliptic; it will then begin to slowly open back up and ride high around 2025.
2014 also contains the minimum number of eclipses that can occur in one year, 2 solar and 2 lunar. And while there are no total solar eclipses in 2014, there are two fine total lunar eclipses, both visible from North America.
And here’s the month by month rundown:
The view looking west from the US east coast at 6 PM on January 1st from latitude 30 degrees north. (Created in Stellarium).
03- Quadrantid meteors peak with a ZHR=120 at ~05:00 UT, best seen from the Atlantic region. Favorable in 2014, with the Moon a 2 day old waxing crescent.
04- Earth reaches perihelion at 12:00 UT, 147.1 million kilometres from the Sun.
04- Mars passes 1.3’ from the +11.5th magnitude galaxy NGC 4684.
10- A Possible meteor shower due to dust from the Comet (formerly known as) ISON over the next few days?
11- Venus reaches inferior conjunction between the Sun and the Earth, shining at -4th magnitude. It may be just possible to spot it five degrees north of the solar limb from high northern latitudes.
13- Moon reaches its farthest northern declination for 2014 a 19.4 degrees.
16- The most distant Full Moon, and visually smallest Full Moon of 2014 occurs, with the Moon reaching Full within two hours of apogee. MiniMoon!
25- The Moon occults Saturn for the South Pacific at ~13:58 UT.
27- The Moon reaches its farthest southern declination for 2014, at -19.3 degrees.
30- ABlack Moon occurs, as reckoned as the second New Moon in a month with two.
31- Mercury reaches a favorable elongation, shining at magnitude -0.9, 18.4 degrees east of the Sun.
Venus occultation footprint for February 26th. (Created using Occult v4.1.0).
February
06- Twoshadows transit the cloud tops of Jupiter from 10:20 UT-12:44 UT, favoring western North America.
21- The Moon occults Saturn for the Indian Ocean at ~22:18 UT.
26- The 14% waning crescent Moon occults Venus for central Africa at ~5:23 UT.
March
07- Asteroid 9 Metis occults a +7.9 magnitude star for Europe ~3:14 UT.
10- The 70% illuminated waxing gibbous Moon occults the +3.6 magnitude star Lambda Geminorum for North America in the evening sky.
14- Mercury reaches greatest morning elongation at 27.5 degrees west of the Sun shining at magnitude +0.1. Mercury’s best morning apparition in 2014 for southern hemisphere observers.
16- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 22:20 to 00:35 UT, visible from Atlantic Canada after sunset.
20- The Northward Equinox occurs at 16:57 UT.
20- GEO satellite eclipse season occurs, as geostationary satellites enter Earth’s shadow near the equinox.
20- Regulus is occulted by asteroid 163 Erigone for the NE United States and Canada at ~6:07 UT, The brightest star occulted by an asteroid in 2014.
21- The Moon occults Saturn for the South Atlantic at ~3:18 UT.
24- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 2:08 to 2:28 UT, favoring eastern North America.
24- Asteroid172 Baucisoccults a +6.7 magnitude star for South America at ~9:27 UT.
22- Venus reaches greatest morning elongation, at 47 degrees west of the Sun.
28- Asteroid 51 Nemausa occults a +7.7 magnitude star for Africa at 20:02 UT.
30- A Black Moon occurs, as reckoned as the second New Moon in one month.
The viewing prospects for the April 15th Total Lunar Eclipse. (Credit: NASA/GSFC/Espenak/Meeus).
April
08- Mars reaches opposition for 2014, shining at magnitude -1.5.
12- A close conjunction of Venus and Neptune occurs, with the planets just 0.7 degrees apart at 2:00 UT.
15- A Total Lunar Eclipse occurs, visible from the Americas and centered on 7:47 UT.
17- The Moon occults Saturn for South America at ~7:19 UT.
29- An Annular Solar Eclipse visible from Australia and the southern Indian Ocean occurs, centered on 6:05 UT. This is a unique, non-central antumbral eclipse!
May
03- Asteroid 105 Artemis occults a +7.7 magnitude star for NW Brazil and Peru at ~9:17 UT.
04- Asteroid 34 Circe occults a +7.4 magnitude star for Peru and Ecuador at ~10:12 UT.
06- The closest lunar apogee of 2014 occurs at 404,318 km distant at 10:23 UT.
07- Eta Aquariid meteors peak, with a ZHR=55 at 4:00 UT. Best observed from the Atlantic Region. Favorable in 2014, with the 7-day old Moon at waxing gibbous.
07- Asteroid 206 Hersilia occults a +7.5 magnitude star for Australia and Indonesia at ~17:49 UT.
10- Saturn reaches opposition for 2014, shining at magnitude +0.1. Saturn’s rings are tipped open a maximum of 23 degrees to our line of sight on February 11th, and widening overall in 2014.
13- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 9:20-9:32 UT favoring NW North America.
14- The Moon occults Saturn for Australia and New Zealand at ~12:18 UT.
24- Ameteor shower outburst may be in the offing, courtesy of Comet 209P LINEAR. Will the “Camelopardalids” perform?
24- Asteroid 33 Polyhymnia occults a +5.5 magnitude star for South America at ~8:30 UT.
25- Mercury reaches maximum dusk elongation, 22.7 degrees east of the Sun. Mercury’s best evening apparition for 2014 for northern hemisphere viewers.
The triple shadow transit of June 3rd, as seen at 19:00 UT. (Created by the author using Starry Night).
June
3- A triple Jovian shadow transit occurs from 18:05-19:44 UT, favoring eastern Europe and Africa. This is the only triple shadow transit for 2014.
10- The Moon occults Saturn for the southern Indian Ocean at ~18:48 UT.
21- The Northward Solstice occurs at ~10:51 UT.
22- The International Space Station enters a period of full illumination near the June solstice, favoring multiple views for northern hemisphere viewers.
26- The Moon occults Mercury just 20 hours prior to New… a tough catch, but may visible from the SE US and Venezuela just before sunrise.
27- The June Boötid meteors peak, with a ZHR variable from 0-100 at ~15:00 UT, favoring the Central Pacific. Optimal in 2014, as the Moon is at New phase.
July
04- Earth reaches aphelion at 2:00 UT, at 152,098,232 kilometres from the Sun.
04- Pluto reaches opposition at 3:00 UT.
05– 1 Ceres passes just 10’ from 4 Vesta in the constellation Virgo.
06– The Moon occults Mars for South America at ~01:21 UT
08– The Moon occults Saturn for Argentina & Chile at ~2:25 UT.
12- Mercury reaches its maximum elongation of 20.9 degrees west of the Sun, shining at magnitude +0.4 in the dawn.
12– The first Full Proxigean “Super” Moon (1 of 3) for 2014 occurs at 11:27 UT. The Moon reaches Full 21 hours prior to perigee.
30– The Southern Delta Aquarids peak, with a ZHR=20. Time variable, favorable in 2014 with the waxing crescent Moon 4 days past New.
20– Asteroid 451 Patientia occults a +7.1 magnitude star for South Africa at ~17:15 UT.
28- The farthest lunar apogee of 2014 occurs, with the Moon 406,568 kilometres distant at 3:28 UT.
30– Asteroid 103 Hera occults a +6.1 magnitude star for west Africa and central South America at ~1:11 UT.
A tri-conjunction of the Moon, Venus & Jupiter on the morning of August 23rd- A “Skewed Smiley face” conjunction!” Credit: Stellarium).
August
02– A close conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter occurs, with the planets just 0.9 degrees apart at 19:00 UT. Visible in SOHO’s LASCO C3 camera.
10– The closest lunar perigee of 2014 occurs, with the Moon 356,896 kilometres distant at 17:44 UT.
10- The Closest Full Moon of the year & “Super” Moon (2 of 3) for 2014 occurs, with Full Moon occurring just 27 minutes after perigee.
13– The Perseid meteors peak, with a ZHR=100 at ~04:00 UT favoring The Atlantic region. Unfavorable in 2014, with the 17 day old Moon at waning gibbous.
18- A conjunction of Venus and Jupiter occurs 5:00 UT, the closest conjunction of two naked eye planets in 2014, with the two just 15’ apart.
29- Neptune reaches opposition at 14:00 UT, shining at +7.8 magnitude.
31– The Moon occults Saturn for Africa and the eastern US (in the daytime) at ~18:59.
September
05- Venus passes 0.7 degrees from the bright star Regulus.
09– The final Full “Super” Moon (3 of 3) for 2014 occurs at 1:39 UT, just 22 hours after perigee.
15– Comet C/2013 V5 Oukaimeden may reach +5.5th magnitude for southern hemisphere observers.
20– Mercury passes 0.5 degrees south of the bright star Spica at 21:00 UT.
21- Mercury reaches its greatest elongation of 26.4 degrees east of the Sun shining at magnitude +0.0 in the dawn sky. Mercury’s best sunset apparition for 2014 for southern hemisphere observers.
23- The Southward Equinox occurs at 2:29 UT.
23- GEO satellite eclipse season occurs, as geostationary satellites enter Earth’s shadow near the equinox.
28– The Moon occults Saturn for the northern Pacific at ~4:25 UT. The Moon also occults 1 Ceres and 4 Vesta on the same day!
The path of Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Springs versus the planet Mars through October, 2014. (Created by the author using Starry Night).
October
04- 1 Ceres passes just 30’ north of Saturn.
06- PossibleDraconid meteor shower, highly variable in terms of rates and timing, but unfavorable in 2014, with the Moon just two days from Full.
08- A Total Lunar Eclipse visible from the Pacific Rim region occurs, centered on 10:56 UT. The planet Uranus will also lie less than a degree away from the eclipsed Moon!
14- Comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS may reach +5th magnitude for southern hemisphere viewers.
13– The Moon reaches it shallowest northern declination for 2014 at +18.5 degrees.
19- Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring passes just 7’ from the planet Mars. Globular cluster NGC 6401 also lies nearby.
22– The Orionid meteor shower peaks at ~05:00 UT, with a predicted ZHR=25 favoring the Americas. Optimal in 2014, with the Moon at waning crescent.
22– The Moon occults Mercury for Australia just 24 hours prior to New as seen from Australia.
23- A Partial Solar Eclipse visible from western North America occurs centered on 21:46 UT.
25- The Moon occults Saturn for the northern Atlantic at ~15:43 UT.
25- The Moon reaches its shallowest southern point for 2014, at a declination of -18.6 degrees.
The partial solar eclipse of October 23rd, 2014. (Credit: NASA/GSFC/Fred Espenak).
November
01- Mercury reaches its greatest elongation 18.7 degrees west of the Sun, shining at magnitude -0.5. The best morning apparition of Mercury for 2014 as seen from the northern hemisphere.
18– Leonid meteors peak at 05:00 UT with a ZHR=20 favoring the Atlantic region. Optimal in 2014, with the 25 day old Moon at waning crescent phase.
20- Asteroid 3 Juno occults a +7.4 magnitude star for the US NE and eastern Canada.
27- The farthest lunar perigee of 2014 occurs with the Moon 369,824 km distant at 23:12 UT.
December
09- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 4:18 to 4:27 UT favoring eastern North America.
12- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 16:19 to 16:44 UT favoring NW North America.
13- The Geminid meteors peak with a ZHR=120 at ~01:00 UT, favoring the Middle East & Eastern Europe. Unfavorable in 2014, with the 20 day old Moon at waning gibbous.
18- Asteroid 702 Alauda occults a +6.2 magnitude star at 14:12 UT for eastern Australia.
21- The Southward Solstice occurs at 23:03 UT.
21- The International Space Station enters period of full illumination around the solstice, with multiple nightly views favoring the southern hemisphere.
21- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 14:17 to 15:55 UT, favoring the Far East and Australia.
Don’t see your favorite or most anticipated event of 2014 on the list? Drop us a line and let us know!
And finally, thanks to all of those too numerous to name who provided discussions/diatribes/input via Twitter/G+/message boards/etc to make this listing possible… let another exciting year of astronomy begin!
If you’ve got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. Just email an entry to [email protected], and the next host will link to it. It will help get awareness out there about your writing, help you meet others in the space community – and community is what blogging is all about. And if you really want to help out, sign up to be a host. Send an email to the above address.
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins holds a spare ammonia pump module during a spacewalk Dec. 24, 2013. Hopkins and fellow Expedition 38 Rick Mastracchio (top) performed two spacewalks to replace a pump blamed for crippling one of the International Space Station's two cooling loops Dec. 11. Credit: NASA TV (screenshot)
Toxic snowflakes in space were just one obstacle astronauts faced down today (Dec. 24) as they successfully replaced an ammonia pump that will, if all goes to plan, put the space station back in full service in a few hours.
“They’re just completely surrounding us now,” radioed NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio of the ammonia flakes as the astronauts clipped four fluid lines into place on to the spare pump. NASA said the ammonia was just residual fluid and not indicative of a leak. “Some little ones, some big ones,” he added.
Within a few minutes, however, the ammonia dissipated. Some flakes did strike the spacesuits of Mastracchio and fellow NASA spacewalker Mike Hopkins, causing NASA to do a modified decontamination procedure where the astronauts stayed in a vacuum for a few extra minutes inside the airlock. (The sun’s heat bakes off ammonia over time, and the crew was outside long enough for most ammonia to dissipate, NASA said.)
The spacewalk completed with no further drama at 7 hours and 30 minutes, earning high praise for the participating astronauts from Mission Control in Houston.
“It’s the best Christmas ever,” radioed CapCom and NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock from the ground as the spacewalkers entered the International Space Station’s Quest airlock at the end of the repair job. “We got it,” Mastracchio responded.
NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock (left) and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide served as CapComs during two tricky ammonia pump replacements in December 2013. Wheelock assisted Expedition 38 spacewalking astronauts Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio, while Hoshide helped Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata with robotic maneuvers. Credit: NASA TV (screenshot)
Preliminary tests show the spare pump is working perfectly. The pump is a welcome present for the six-person Expedition 38 crew, which saw a reduction in science and backup systems for two weeks after a valve in the last pump failed, causing one of the station’s two cooling loops to shut down automatically. The loops are needed to regulate the temperatures of electronics and systems on station.
The Expedition 38 crew was so quick with the repair that they finished the job in two spacewalks instead of the planned three. The astronauts fell behind the timeline today as they struggled with some of the fluid connections to the new pump, but the final steps — putting the electrical connections in place — took just minutes. The pump was brought from another location on station today, and installed into its permanent spot to help ammonia flow through the cooling system.
Anywhere between hundreds and thousands of people at NASA and international partners scrambled to put spacewalks together to fix the cooling problem after it happened. Wheelock, himself a veteran of a tricky ammonia pump repair in 2010, communicated with the spacewalkers. Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide filled the other CapCom slot, helping Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata who handled robotics in orbit.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata controlled Canadarm2 during two spacewalks to replace a faulty ammonia pump in December 2013. Credit: NASA TV (screenshot)
Mastracchio marked his eighth spacewalk with today’s repair while Hopkins, who rode Canadarm2 for the first time in a last-minute decision, was on his second. As with a spacewalk on Saturday (Dec. 21), the astronauts reported no helmet water leaks — comforting words for agency officials who put in new procedures and parts after an incident in July. (Mastracchio experienced a water problem during repressurization Saturday that was unrelated to the first incident, and wore a backup suit today to let the primary one dry out.)
Should the ammonia pump work as planned, this clears the way for the Russians to do a spacewalk Dec. 27 to install the Urthecast high-resolution camera that will beam live views of Earth, among other tasks. Expedition 38 has the day off tomorrow (Dec. 25), NASA TV added.
The only other Christmas Eve spacewalk in NASA history took place Dec. 24, 1999 during Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission STS-103. Another Christmas Eve milestone for NASA took place 45 years ago today, when the Apollo 8 crew made a now-famous broadcast while orbiting above the moon.
Annalee Newitz, Science editior, Science Fiction author and Editor-in-chief of IO9 is offering one, free, autographed copy of her book, ‘Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans will Survive a Mass Extinction.”
Now, I like post apocalyptic disaster porn as much as the next guy, but this book offers something that most of the other books, shows or movies do not to the hungry reader: hope. If human folly is one of the potential causes of the downfall of our civilization, then human ingenuity can be its saviour. This book describes both on planet, and off planet ideas that can make sure man (as a species, not a gender :)) lives to see another millennium.
About Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz is the founder and editor-in-chief of io9. Read more about her here.
Scatter, Adapt and Remember is available for purchase on Amazon.com.
Universe Today and Annalee Newitz are offering one free copy to win. In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Tuesday, December 31st, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.
Before there was life as we know it, there were molecules. And after many seemingly unlikely steps these molecules underwent a magnificent transition: they became complex systems with the capability to reproduce, pass along information and drive chemical reactions. But the host of steps leading up to this transition has remained one of science’s beloved mysteries.
New research suggests that the building blocks of life — prebiotic molecules — may form in the atmospheres of planets, where the dust provides a safe platform to form on and various reactions with the surrounding plasma provide enough energy necessary to create life.
“If the formation of life is like a jigsaw puzzle — a very big and complicated jigsaw puzzle — I like to imagine prebiotic molecules as some of the individual puzzle pieces,” said St. Andrews professor Dr. Craig Stark. “Putting the pieces together you form more complicated biological structures making a clearer, more recognizable picture. And when all the pieces are in place the resulting picture is life.”
We currently think prebiotic molecules form on the tiny ice grains in interstellar space. While this may seem to contradict the readily accepted belief that life in space is impossible, the surface of the grain actually provides a nice hospitable environment for life to form as it protects molecules from harmful space radiation.
“Molecules are formed on the dust surface from the adsorption of atoms and molecules from the surrounding gas,” Stark told Universe Today. “If the appropriate ingredients to make a particular molecular compound are available, and the conditions are right, you’re in business.”
By “conditions,” Stark is hinting at the second ingredient necessary: energy. The simple molecules that populate the galaxy are relatively stable; without an incredible amount of energy they won’t form new bonds. It has been thought that life could form in lightning strikes and volcanic eruptions for this very reason.
So Stark and his colleagues turned their eyes to the atmospheres of exoplanets, where dust is immersed in a plasma full of positive ions and negative electrons. Here the electrostatic interactions of dust particles with plasma may provide the high energy necessary to form prebiotic compounds.
In a plasma the dust grain will soak up the free electrons quickly, becoming negatively charged. This is because electrons are lighter, and therefore quicker, than positive ions. Once the dust grain is negatively charged it will attract a flux of positive ions, which will accelerate toward the dust particle and collide with more energy than they would in a neutral environment.
In order to test this, the authors studied an example atmosphere, which allowed them to examine the various processes that may turn the ionized gas into a plasma as well as determine if the plasma would lead to energetic enough reactions.
“As a proof of principle we looked at the sequence of chemical reactions that lead to the formation of the simplest amino acid glycine,” Stark said. Amino acids are great examples of prebiotic molecules because they are required for the formation of proteins, peptides and enzymes.
Their models showed that “the plasma ions can indeed be accelerated to sufficient energies that exceed the activation energies for the formation of formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide and ultimately the amino acid glycine,” Stark told Universe Today. “This may not have been possible if the plasma was absent.”
The authors demonstrated that with modest plasma temperatures, there is enough energy to form the prebiotic molecule glycine. Higher temperatures may also enable more complex reactions and therefore more intricate prebiotic molecules.
Stark and his colleagues demonstrated a viable pathway to the formation of a prebiotic molecule, and therefore life, in seemingly common conditions. While the origin of life may remain one of science’s beloved mysteries, we continue to gain a better understanding, one puzzle piece at a time.
The paper has been accepted for publication in the journal Astrobiology and is available for download here.
China’s 1st Moon rover ‘Yutu’ embarks on thrilling adventure marking humanity’s first lunar surface visit in nearly four decades. Yutu portrait taken by the Chang’e-3 lander. Credit: CNSA/CCTV
China’s 1st Moon rover ‘Yutu’ embarks on thrilling adventure marking humanity’s first lunar surface visit in nearly four decades. Yutu portrait taken by the Chang’e-3 lander. Credit: CNSA/CCTV
See below Yutu’s departing portrait of Chang’e-3 lander emblazoned with Chinese national flag Story updated[/caption]
China’s now famous ‘Yutu’ moon rover has set sail for what promises to be breathtaking new adventures on Earth’s nearest neighbor, after completing a final joint portrait session with the Chang’e-3 lander that safely deposited her on the lunar surface only a week ago.
Yutu’s upcoming journey marks humanity’s first lunar surface visit in nearly four decades since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 sample return vehicle visited. America’s last lunar landing mission with the Apollo 17 astronauts departed 41 years ago on Dec. 14, 1972.
The Chang’e-3 mothership and Yutu rover have resumed full operations after awakening from a sort of self induced slumber following commands from Mission Control back in Beijing.
The lander and rover finished up their 5th and final dual picture taking session – in living lunar color – on Sunday, Dec. 22, according to CCTV, China’s state run broadcast network.
“Ten pictures have been taken at five spots so far, and all of them are better than we expected,” said Wu Weiren, chief designer of the China Lunar Probe Program, to CCTV.
See the newly released portraits from photo session 5 – above and below.
The rover and lander have taken photos of each other for the fifth and final time. The back side of Chang’e 3 lander as seen by rover Yutu with Chinese national flag at left imaged for the first time. Credit: CNSA/CCTV
After arriving on the moon, Yutu and the lander took an initial pair of portraits of one another. Read my earlier report – here.
Yutu was then directed to travel in a semicircular path around the lander and to the south, making tracks several centimeters deep into the loose lunar regolith.
But within two days of the historic Dec. 14 touchdown, the two spacecraft took a four-day break that lasted from Dec. 16 to Dec. 20, during which China’s space engineers shut down their subsystems, according to China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND).
Portion of 1st panorama around Chang’e-3 landing site after China’s Yutu rover drove onto the Moon’s surface on Dec. 15, 2013. The images were taken by Chang’e-3 lander following Dec. 14 touchdown. Panoramic view was created from screen shots of a news video assembled into a mosaic. Credit: CNSA/CCTV/screenshot mosaics & processing by Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer See the complete panorama below
The vehicles took a ‘nap” to deal with direct solar radiation that significantly raised their temperatures. Yutu’s sunny side exceeded 100 degrees centigrade while the shaded side was simultaneously below zero, reported SASTIND.
“The break had been planned to last until Dec. 23, but the scientists decided to restart Yutu now for more research time, based on the recent observations and telemetry parameters,” said Pei Zhaoyu, spokesman for the Chinese lunar program, according to China’s Xinhua state news agency.
Both robots then snapped additional photos of one another during the traverse from each of five specific and preplanned locations.
See accompanying traverse map below – written in Chinese.
Path of Yutu rover from Dec. 14 landing to Dec. 21. Landscape textured with Chang’e 3 imagery from space and ground. Credit: CNSA/BACC
These images taken by Yutu were designed to show the 1200 kg Chang’e-3 lander from the front, side and back sides as it drove around the right side – for better illumination – at a distance of about 10 meters.
The final image of the Chang’e-3 lander taken by Yutu also captured China’s national flag emblazoned on the lander for the first time, since this was the first time it was in view of the rover’s camera eyes.
See the accompanying traverse graphic here – written in Chinese.
Yutu and the Chang’e 3 lander were scheduled to take photos of each other from locations outlined in this artists concept. Credit: China Space
Having fulfilled the last of their joint tasks, the two spacecraft can therefore each begin their own lunar exploration missions, working independently of one another exactly as planned from the outset of China’s inaugural moon landing feat.
Yutu will depart the Chang’e-3 landing zone forever and begin its own lunar trek that’s expected to last at least 3 months – and perhaps longer if it’s delicate electronic components survive the moon’s utterly harsh and unforgiving space environment.
“They will begin to conduct scientific explorations of the geography and geomorphology of the landing spot and nearby areas, and materials like minerals and elements there. We will also explore areas 30 meters and 100 meters beneath the lunar soil. The exploration will continue longer than we planned, because all the instruments and equipments are working very well,” noted Wu Weiren.
The robotic pair of spacecraft safely soft landed on the Moon on Dec. 14 at Mare Imbrium, nearby the Bay of Rainbows, or Sinus Iridum region.
Barely seven hours after the history making touchdown, ‘Yutu’ was painstakingly lowered from its perch atop the lander and then successfully drove all six wheels onto the moon’s surface on Dec. 15.
The Chang’e-3 mothership captured a panoramic view of the stark lunar terrain surrounding the spacecraft after ‘Yutu’ drove some 9 meters away from the lander.
See the eerie panoramic view of the landing site showing Yutu’s first moments on the alien lunar surface in my prior story – here.
See the dramatic video with an astronauts eye view of the lunar descent and touchdown in my prior story – here.
1st panorama around Chang’e-3 landing site after China’s Yutu rover drove onto the Moon’s surface on Dec. 15, 2013. The images were taken by Chang’e-3 lander following Dec. 14 touchdown. Panoramic view was created from screen shots of a news video assembled into a mosaic. Credit: CNSA/CCTV/screenshot mosaics & processing by Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer
The 120 kg Yutu rover is almost the size of a golf cart. It measures about 1.5 m x 1 m on its sides and stands about 1.5 m (nearly 5 feet) tall – virtually human height.
Yutu, which translates as ‘Jade Rabbit’ will use its suite of four science instruments to survey the moon’s geological structure and composition to locate the moon’s natural resources for use by potential future Chinese astronauts, perhaps a decade from now.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Chang’e-3, LADEE, MAVEN, MOM, Mars rover and more news.
Ken Kremer Landing site of Chinese lunar probe Chang’e-3 on Dec. 14, 2013. [/caption]
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins during his first spacewalk on Dec. 21, 2013 during Expedition 38. He tweeted the next day: "Wow . . . can't believe that is me yesterday. Wish I could find the words to describe the experience, truly amazing." Credit: NASA
Two astronauts are oh-so-close to fixing the International Space Station cooling system that shut down Dec. 11. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio will head “outside” on a spacewalk around 7:10 a.m. EST (12:10 p.m. UTC) to replace a faulty pump that led to the problem.
The spacewalkers were so quick on their first outing (on Saturday, Dec. 21) that they accomplished many of the tasks planned for their second spacewalk. They unhooked the first pump module and stowed it safely, then elected to wait until their second to retrieve the replacement pump, swap it in and turn it on.
Below the jump, here are some things to watch for — including why Hopkins is getting a ride on the Canadarm2 robotic arm this time instead of Mastracchio.
The suits. NASA has new safety procedures and measures in place to protect against helmet water leaks, and everything worked perfectly the first time. In an unrelated incident, while the astronauts were in the airlock, an inadvertent switch-throw introduced some water into Mastracchio’s sublimator. The suit is airing out and Mastracchio is wearing a backup suit. While sublimators need water to function, this water could have ended up in the wrong spot. If he had used the one with the water in it, it could have frozen during the second spacewalk and caused problems, Judd Frieling, the Expedition 38 lead flight director, explained on NASA TV Monday.
The background personnel. While it’s easy to shine the spotlight on the two guys outside, also remember that Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will be piloting the robotic arm under direction from CapCom and fellow Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide. Giving advice to the spacewalkers will be CapCom and NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, who did a similar repair on the International Space Station in 2010. As Wheelock told Universe Today, there are literally hundreds (likely, thousands) of people working the procedures to get this done.
The timeline. NASA really, really wants to wrap this repair up soon, and it’s not because of the holidays. Dec. 27 marks a planned spacewalk for the Russian side of the station that is totally unrelated to what is going on right now. The Americans are hoping they won’t disrupt the schedule so that the Russians can proceed with their experiment swapouts and foot restraint installation as originally planned.
Image above: Expedition 24 Flight Engineers Doug Wheelock (right) and Tracy Caldwell Dyson work to replace a failed ammonia pump module outside of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
The robotic arm. Hopkins is a much more junior spacewalker than the experienced Mastracchio, who has seven spacewalks underneath his belt before today. Hopkins, who is on his first spaceflight, is in a situation where he can expect more flights in the future. So any training he can get in orbit would be fantastic as he would be a stronger asset on future missions. So, Mastracchio was supposed to ride the Canadarm2 on the second spacewalk, but at that time NASA anticipated it would take three to do the repair. Since the crew finished the work so swiftly, it’s likely only two will be needed. As such, giving Hopkins the slot would be the best practice, NASA and the crew determined.
The future pump move. NASA decided not to move the faulty pump from its temporary stowage location until later. Due to thermal conditions on station, it can stay in its temporary spot until June. This saves the spacewalkers extra work now, but someone will need to head outside by summer to move it to a more permanent location.
