Saturn seen by the Cassini spacecraft in late 2012. If you look carefully, you can spot the shadow of Mimas in the image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
The mystery of Saturn’s bright, youthful appearance is a step closer to resolution. And it actually has to do with gas.
Layers of gas within the ringed giant trap heat emanating from the center, preventing the planet from cooling off as it was expected to do as it aged, according to a model developed by a European science team.
“Scientists have been wondering for years if Saturn was using an additional source of energy to look so bright, but instead our calculations show that Saturn appears young because it can’t cool down,” stated Gilles Chabrier, a physics and astronomy professor at the University of Exeter and part of the research team.
“Instead of heat being transported throughout the planet by large scale (convective) motions, as previously thought, it must be partly transferred by diffusion across different layers of gas inside Saturn. These separate layers effectively insulate the planet and prevent heat from radiating out efficiently. This keeps Saturn warm and bright.”
A raw image of Saturn taken May 4, 2013, as seen through the eyes of the Cassini probe. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
You can also see layered convection on Earth, pointed out scientists. In this instances, salty water stays underneath colder and less salty liquid. The salt trap stops water from moving between the layers, also stopping heat from transferring.
The findings were published in Nature Geoscience and included participation from the University of Exeter in England and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon in France.
The MAVEN missions ‘Going to Mars’ campaign invites the public to submit names and poems which will be included on a special DVD. The DVD will be adhered to the MAVEN spacecraft and launched to Mars on Nov. 18, 2013. Credit: NASA/GSFC
Do you want to go to Mars?
Well here’s your chance to get connected for a double barreled dose of Red Planet adventure courtesy of MAVEN – NASA’s next ‘Mission to Mars’ which is due to liftoff this November from the Florida Space Coast.
For a limited time only, NASA is offering the general public two cool ways to get involved and ‘Go to Mars’ aboard a DVD flying on the solar winged MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) orbiter.
You can send your name and a short poetic message to Mars via the ‘Going to Mars’ campaign being managed by the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP).
“Anybody on planet Earth is welcome to participate!” says NASA.
“The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a personal connection to space, space exploration, and science in general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission,” said Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach program at CU/LASP.
Signing up to send your name is easy. Simply click on the MAVEN mission website – here.
The MAVEN missions ‘Going to Mars’ campaign invites submissions from the public; artwork, messages, and names will be included on a special DVD. The DVD will be adhered to the MAVEN spacecraft and launched into orbit around Mars. (Courtesy Lockheed Martin)
Everyone who submits their name will be included on a DVD that will be attached to the winged orbiter. And you can print out a beautiful certificate of participation emblazoned with your name!
Over 1 million folks signed up to send their names to Mars with NASA’s Curiosity rover. So they are all riding along as Curiosity continues making ground breaking science discoveries and already found habitats that could support potential Martian microbes.
Writing the haiku poem will require thought, inspiration and creativity and involves a public contest – because only 3 poems will be selected and sent to Mars. The public will vote for the three winning entries.
Haiku’s are three line poems. The rules state that “the first and last lines must have exactly five syllables each and the middle line must have exactly seven syllables. All messages must be original and not plagiarized in any way.”
The complete contest rules are found at the mission website – here:
This is a simple way for kids and adults alike to participate in humanity’s exploration of the Red Planet. And it’s also a great STEM activity for educators and school kids of all ages before this year’s school season comes to a close.
“This new campaign is a great opportunity to reach the next generation of explorers and excite them about science, technology, engineering and math,” said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from CU/LASP. “I look forward to sharing our science with the worldwide community as MAVEN begins to piece together what happened to the Red Planet’s atmosphere.”
MAVEN is slated to blast off atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Florida on Nov. 18, 2013. It will join NASA’s armada of four robotic spacecraft when it arrives at Mars during 2014.
MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface.
But don’t dawdle- the deadline for submissions is July 1.
So, sign up to ‘Go to Mars’ – and do it NOW!
Juice up your inner poet and post your ‘Haiku’ here – if you dare
Glowing trails seen in the early morning sky over the Marshall Islands (NASA/Jon Grant)
Ball lightning? Spectral orbs? Swamp gas? Early this morning, May 7, these eerie glowing trails were seen in the sky above the Marshall Islands and were captured on camera by NASA photographer John Grant. Of course, if NASA’s involved there has to be a reasonable explanation, right?
For a larger image (and to see what really caused the trails) click below:
Credit: NASA/John Grant
Although it might look like cheesy special effects, these colorful clouds are actually visible trails that were left by two sounding rockets launched from Roi Namur in the Marshall Islands, at 3:39 a.m. EDT on May 7. The rockets were part of the NASA-funded EVEX experiment to study winds and electrical activity in the upper atmosphere.
The red cloud was formed by the release of lithium vapor and the white-and-blue tracer clouds were formed by the release of trimethyl aluminum (TMA). These clouds allowed scientists on the ground from various locations in the Marshall Islands to observe neutral winds in the ionosphere.
“Neutral winds are one of the hardest things to study,” said Doug Rowland, an EVEX team member at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “One can’t physically see the wind, and it is difficult to measure from the ground, so we use the TMA as a tracer.”
Launch of the second EVEX rocket on the morning of May 7. The plume from the first is visible on the left. (NASA/John Grant)
The EVEX (Equatorial Vortex Experiment) rockets were launched 90 seconds apart. By staggering the launches the two rockets were able to gather data simultaneously at two altitudes through the ionosphere.
Beginning about 60 miles (96 km) up, the ionosphere is a crucial layer of charged particles surrounding our planet. This layer serves as the medium through which high frequency radio waves – such as those sent down to the ground by satellites – travel. Governed by Earth’s magnetic field, high-altitude winds, and incoming material and energy from the sun, the ionosphere can be calm at certain times of day and at other times turbulent, disrupting satellite signals.
The EVEX experiment is designed to measure events in two separate regions of the ionosphere to see how they work together to drive it from placid and smooth to violently disturbed. Such information could ultimately lead to the ability to accurately forecast this important aspect of space weather.
We guarantee you’ll go out of your Vulcan mind watching this new car commercial starring Spock … and Spock.
The Audi ad shows Leonard Nimoy (Spock from Star Trek‘s original series) and Zachary Quinto (Spock from Star Trek: Into Darkness, which premieres May 17) looking for new challenges after Nimoy wins a chess match.
“You want to play a round of golf in the club and get some lunch? Whoever gets to the club last buys lunch,” Quinto says to his predecessor.
“Stand by to have your wallet emptied by a tractor beam,” responds Nimoy.
Buzz Aldrin, celebrated Apollo astronaut and an outspoken champion for the pursuit of space exploration, is on a mission. He has written a new book titled “Mission to Mars.” While the title focuses on Mars, the book covers much more. Buzz lays out his goals for the space program and how he believes we can get humans to Mars by the 2030s. He makes the case and argues passionately for pushing our boundaries of knowledge and exploration of our solar system and presents his “unified space vision.” He emphasizes space exploration should not be a competition, but with cooperation a stronger path to a sustainable future in space could be forged.
Want to win a copy of “Mission to Mars?” We have five copies to give away to our readers. However, this giveaway is limited to US residents only.
In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Monday, May 13, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing. Remember, US residents only for this giveaway.
We’re only going to use these email addresses for Universe Today giveaways/contests and announcements. We won’t be using them for any other purpose, and we definitely won’t be selling the addresses to anyone else. Once you’re on the giveaway notification list, you’ll be able to unsubscribe any time you like.
A few of the many trees felled by the 1908 Tunguska explosion, photographed in 1929 (Wikipedia Commons)
Last week, Russian researcher Andrei Zlobin announced that stony fragments collected from a riverbed in 1988 are “probably Tunguska meteorites,” and are likely the remains of whatever cosmic object — thought to be either a comet or an asteroid — entered Earth’s atmosphere over the boggy region of Siberia on June 30, 1908, detonating with an estimated force of 5 megatons and leveling over 800 square miles of forest.
So far, definitive pieces of the original object have yet to be found despite numerous expeditions to the remote impact site. In a paper submitted on April 29, Zlobin cites the melted appearance of several stones found at the bottom of the Khushmo River as a good argument to “confirm the discovery” of Tunguska meteorite fragments.
According to Natalya Artemyeva of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geosphere Dynamics Institute, however, Zlobin’s claim is “ridiculous.”
In an article published May 4 on RIA Novosti, Artemyeva stated “There are many meteorites on Earth. For 100 plus years since the fall of the Tunguska space body, the weight of meteoric dust and small meteorites that have fallen out in that region has exceeded the mass of Tunguska.”
Stones found by Andrei Zlobin in the Khushmo River (A. Zlobin)
An estimated 100 tons of space debris enters Earth’s atmosphere on a daily basis.
Although Zlobin admits in his submitted paper that “strict confirmation of discovered melted stones as Tunguska meteorites is possible only after attentive chemical analysis of substance,” it seems that he is making rather bold claims based on appearance alone — especially considering the enigmatic and iconic nature of this particular impact event.
“It’s ridiculous,” Artemyeva said. “You can’t say by the appearance of a stone that it’s a meteorite. I don’t think there is ground for scientific discussion here.”
And, according to Artemyeva, even if the stones are found to be actual meteorites, connecting them to the 1908 event will still be a challenge.
Zlobin’s samples, which were in storage until 2008, are still awaiting full chemical analysis.
Read more on RIA Novosti here and on the MIT Technology Review here.
Moonwalker and space visionary, Buzz Aldrin. Credit: National Geographic.
Buzz Aldrin, celebrated Apollo astronaut and an outspoken champion for the pursuit of space exploration has written a new book titled “Mission to Mars.” While the title focuses on Mars, the book covers much more. Aldrin says that while Mars is the destination, getting there is a journey that includes taking advantage of the efforts from commercial space companies, embracing space tourism, working towards planetary defense, developing technology, promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, and working together with international partners. What Aldrin calls his “unified vision” could provide a timeline of crewed missions to Mars is between 2035-2040.
“His point is trying to unify all of this,” said noted journalist and long-time Space.com writer Leonard David in an email to Universe Today. David is a co-author with Aldrin on this new book. “I hope the book is a good platform for moving the space exploration agenda forward.”
“Mission to Mars” is written from Aldrin’s perspective, and Aldrin and David spend little time looking back at the past achievements of Gemini and Apollo, and instead look forward of how the next steps in space exploration should be taken.
Universe Today had the chance to talk with Buzz Aldrin about his book and his plan. Following is part 1 of our interview:
Universe Today: Mr. Aldrin, it is an honor to talk with you – and congratulations on publishing another book. We really enjoyed getting the chance to read it and get your perspective on the future of space exploration.
Buzz Aldrin: Thank you very much. As far as the title, I really wanted to change the title to add an “s” to mission, as after thinking about it, it is the same title as Mike Collins’ book he wrote after we came back from the Moon, and it’s also the title of a not-so-successful movie! In this book, we also talk about much more than just one mission to Mars. We want many missions there, with a future-focused space exploration program.
Universe Today: Ever since you walked on the Moon, I think that Mars has been the ultimate destination that we’ve all dreamed about, and back in 1969, I think many people thought that by 2013, we certainly would have humans on Mars by this time. What do you think has been the biggest reason or roadblock that we’ve yet to achieve that goal?
Buzz Aldrin: There are probably a number of reasons. With Apollo, once having achieved the goal in a relatively intense parade of achievements, leading up to the crescendo of landing on the Moon six out of seven times, then it all ended. The events in the future are going to require much longer commitments to a pathway and a unified vision of what we should be doing and where we should go in space. I have always felt Mars should be the next destination following our landings on the Moon, but a unified vision is what we need to be able to increase the probability of being successful.
We are in a world that focuses on short term returns, and the politics these days is controlled by the desire to have an extraordinary portion of influence and control over the direction of the space program. That is probably one of the most important reasons for my embarking on a creating a foundation for the evolution of space policy, using what we’ve learned from the past to redirect some of our policies in the future for two things: the expansion of humans outward into the solar system and specifically for the US, global leadership in space as long as possible.
UT: You’ve long proposed the cycling system of having spacecraft almost on a railroad or bus lines of going regularly back and forth to Mars. Can you explain for our readers why this is the most efficient way of getting supplies and people to Mars?
Buzz Aldrin: When a spacecraft departs Earth, the main portion of it is rarely ever re-used. This one spacecraft contributes its one mission, as we did with the Apollo spacecraft. Now, if we can depart a spacecraft from the Earth that can carry some of the mass, in particular the radiation protection and other supplies for a brief 5-6 month trajectory of swinging past Mars, we can reduce costs.
Years ago I devised a method with cycling orbits of spacecraft on continuous trajectories between the Earth and Mars – a spacecraft going to Mars and then returning back to Earth at just the right time, angle and velocity to be able to repeat the process 26 months later when Earth, again, is in a favorable position. By using interplanetary cyclers, I feel, and other space experts agree with me, this is the most economical transportation system concept between the Earth and Mars.
When I first discovered this, it was studied and understood by the 1986 Paine Commission, a group who looked at pioneering space, led by the administrator of NASA who had directed us in our lunar landings, Tom Paine. This was, I think, one of the best and most complete studies ever really done.
Timetable of events proposed by Buzz Aldrin’s Unified Space Vision. Via BuzzAldrin.com
But since this Commission’s reference to cycling spacecraft, NASA officials and space companies have paid little attention to the advantages of cycling orbits — with the exception of the University of Purdue, which works with engineers at JPL and Caltech — and together with my pioneering ideas, we have discovered that if there are two cycling spacecraft, it gives us a bigger advantage and reduction in the fuel needed. In each cycle, the Cycler’s trajectory swings it by the Earth, and a smaller Earth-departing interceptor spacecraft ferries crew and cargo up to dock with the Cycler spacecraft, and likewise at Mars to reach the surface. So we’ve improved the cycling orbit potential. We now need to test the long-duration equipment that will be needed. Ultimately, this Cycler system of transportation offers a way to make travel to Mars sustainable for the long-term.
For the spacecraft, what I’ve done is taken my concept, which is based on some of NASA’s work of an interplanetary vehicle and put of them together side by side for redundancy, and perhaps adding a few other necessary elements, to become the Cycling spaceship. I also propose building a permanent base on the surface of Mars by actually landing on the moon of Mars Phobos, and building it tele-robotically from there, with various objects such as inflatable habitats, to be assembled into a Mars base. These missions should be international in nature.
All of this is very complex and we need to learn how to build up to it. But one of the most attractive ways would be, before finalizing the Mars base, we could execute an international lunar base. This could be based upon US leadership of what could be an international lunar development authority — much like Intelsat was developed for international satellite communications in geosynchronous orbit. We also have the International Space Station to do some of the initial testing of equipment, such as long duration life support systems.
Not only does NASA need this long-duration life support but also the recently announced Inspiration Mars Mission, which would send a married couple in January 2018 on a flyby of Mars. This would do much to stimulate the planning and testing of the progressive development of the interplanetary space capabilities.
Before we execute an international partner mission back to the Moon, we can test that assembly process on the Big Island of Hawaii where people have been working to select a site similar to where we might have a lunar base built and there we could practice building a base tele-robotically. Once on the Moon, we could develop lunar infrastructure, and allow for robotic mining that could be done for commercial development.
We’ll need cooperative activities between the government, NASA, other government agencies and the commercial companies executing their activities designed to evolve into profit-making businesses.
UT: You mention in your book that a space race with China would be counterproductive. Do you think there’s a way to work with them and have it be productive and beneficial beyond space exploration?
Buzz Aldrin: Right now, unfortunately, Congress forbids NASA personnel to even talk with China. The great opportunity of bringing China into the ISS, is that we could still do this during the lifetime of the space station. China is developing its own its space station, but there doesn’t seem to be an openness between our two countries to work on the big picture of space exploration. Everyone is out for their own return. But there could be a wonderful opportunity here for the US to exercise global leadership in space activities.
Tomorrow: Part 2 of our interview with Buzz Aldrin, where he discusses his thoughts on NASA’s asteroid-lassoing plans, space elevators, and future commercial mission.
Artist's concept of a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
It’s a simple menu, but smoking hot. The black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is sucking in ultra-hot molecular gas, as seen through the eyes of the Herschel space telescope.
“The biggest surprise was quite how hot the molecular gas in the innermost central region of the galaxy gets. At least some of it is around 1000ºC [1832º F], much hotter than typical interstellar clouds, which are usually only a few tens of degrees above the –273ºC [-460ºF] of absolute zero,” stated the European Space Agency.
Herschel, which is out of coolant and winding down its scientific operations, will continue producing results in the next few years as scientists crunch the results. The telescope has found a bunch of basic molecules in the Milky Way that include water vapour and carbon monoxide, and has been engaged in looking to learn more about the gas that surrounds the massive black hole at our galaxy’s center.
In a region called Sagittarius* (Sgr A*), this huge black hole — four million times the mass of the sun — is thankfully a safe distance from Earth. It’s 26,000 light years away from the solar system.
At left, ionized gas in the galaxy as seen in radio wavelengths; at right, the spectrum at the center seen by Herschel. Credit: Radio-wavelength image: National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Very Large Array (courtesy of C. Lang); spectrum: ESA/Herschel/PACS & SPIRE/J.R. Goicoechea et al. (2013).
Trouble is, there’s a heckuva lot of dust blocking our view to the center of the galaxy. Herschel got around that problem by taking pictures in the far-infrared, seeking heat signatures that can bely intense activity in and around the black hole.
“Herschel has resolved the far-infrared emission within just 1 light-year of the black hole, making it possible for the first time at these wavelengths to separate emission due to the central cavity from that of the surrounding dense molecular disc,” stated Javier Goicoechea of the Centro de Astrobiología, Spain, lead author of a paper reporting the results.
The science team supposes that there are strong shocks within the gas (which is magnetized) that help turn up the heat. The shocks could occur when gas clouds butt up against each other, or material shoots out Fast and Furious-style between stars and protostars (young stars.)
“The observations are also consistent with streamers of hot gas speeding towards Sgr A*, falling towards the very center of the galaxy,” stated Goicoechea. “Our galaxy’s black hole may be cooking its dinner right in front of Herschel’s eyes.”
A GROVER prototype during testing in January 2013. Credit: Gabriel Trisca, Boise State University
How fast is Greenland’s ice sheet melting in response to climate change, and how is it recovering? A new NASA rover with the friendly name of GROVER (Greeland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research) is going to try to figure that out.
GROVER will rove across a small area of the massive ice sheet at a location called Summit Camp, which is a National Science Foundation outpost. On board it has ground-penetrating radar that is intended to figure out how the snow builds up in layers through time.
“Robots like GROVER will give us a new tool for glaciology studies,” stated Lora Koenig, a glaciologist at Goddard and science advisor on the project.
A prototype of GROVER during testing in January 2012. The rover does not have its solar panels attached here. The laptop was used as part of that specific test only. Credit: Gabriel Trisca, Boise State University
The student-designed project came to be during development phases in 2010 and 2011, principally at Boise State University in Idaho. At six feet tall, it’s way more massive than its Sesame Street namesake: it tips the scale at 800 pounds, including solar panels, and has two snowmobile tracks built in to move around.
“GROVER is just like a spacecraft but it has to operate on the ground,” stated Michael Comberiate, a retired NASA engineer and manager of Goddard’s Engineering Boot Camp.
“It has to survive unattended for months in a hostile environment, with just a few commands to interrogate it and find out its status and give it some directions for how to accommodate situations it finds itself in.”
Studies began on May 3 and will continue through June 8.
ESA’s Vega launcher on the launchpad at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA.
The second flight of ESA’s newest launch vehicle has successfully sent three different satellites to space. Launching at 02:06 GMT on 7 May from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, the Vega rocket carried two Earth observation satellites — ESA’s Proba-V, Vietnam’s VNREDSat-1A — and Estonia’s first satellite, the ESTCube-1 technology demonstrator were released into different orbits. The complex mission required five upper-stage boosts, with the flight lasting about twice as long as its first launch, in February 2012.
ESA officials said the success demonstrates the Vega rocket’s versatility.
Watch the launch video below.
“It is another great day for ESA, for its Member States and for Europe,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA. “Thanks to decisions taken by Member States, ESA and European industry are demonstrating once again their capabilities of innovation. Among the Member States, special mention goes to Italy which has led the Vega Programme, Belgium which has led the Proba projects at ESA, and France which has led the development and maintenance of the European spaceport here in Kourou. We are also proud to have made possible the launch of the first satellite from Estonia.”
The three solid-propellant stages performed flawlessly and after two burns of the liquid-propellant upper stage, the Proba?V was released into a circular orbit at an altitude of 820 km, over the western coast of Australia, some 55 minutes into flight.
After releasing Proba-V, the upper stage performed a third burn and the top half of the egg-shaped Vega Secondary Payload Adapter was ejected. After a fourth burn to circularize the orbit at an altitude of 704 km, VNREDSat-1A was released 1 hour 57 minutes into flight. ESTCube?1 was ejected from its dispenser three minutes later.
The fifth and last burn put the spent upper stage on a trajectory that ensures a safe reentry that complies with new debris mitigation regulations.
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