The Ariane5 lifting off from Kourou in French Guiana. Image: ESA/Arianespace.
The Ariane 5 rocket is a workhorse for delivering satellites and other payloads into orbit, but fitting the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) inside one is pushing the boundaries of the Ariane 5’s capabilities, and advancing our design of space observatories at the same time.
The Ariane 5 is the most modern design in the ESA’s Ariane rocket series. It’s responsible for delivering things like Rosetta, the Herschel Space Observatory, and the Planck Observatory into space. The ESA is supplying an Ariane 5 to the JWST mission, and with the planned launch date for that mission less than three years away, it’s a good time to check in with the Ariane 5 and the JWST.
The Ariane 5 has a long track record of success, often carrying multiple satellites into orbit in a single launch. Here’s its most recent launch, on January 27th from the ESA’s spaceport in French Guiana. This is Ariane 5’s 70th successful launch in a row.
But launching satellites into orbit, though still an amazing achievement, is becoming old hat for rockets. 70 successful launches in a row tells us that. The Ariane 5 can even launch multiple satellites in one mission. But launching the James Webb will be Ariane’s biggest challenge.
The thing about satellites is, they’re actually getting smaller, in many cases. But the JWST is huge, at least in terms of dimensions. The mass of the JWST—6,500 kg (14,300 lb)—is just within the limits of the Ariane 5. The real trick was designing and building the JWST so that it could fit into the cylindrical space atop an Ariane 5, and then “unfold” into its final shape after separation from the rocket. This video shows how the JWST will deploy itself.
The JWST is like a big, weird looking beetle. Its gold-coated, segmented mirror system looks like multi-faceted insect eyes. Its tennis-court sized heat shield is like an insect’s shell. Or something. Cramming all those pieces, folded up, into the nose of the Ariane 5 rocket is a real challenge.
Because the JWST will live out its 10-year (hopefully) mission at L2, rather than in orbit around Earth, it requires this huge shield to protect itself from the sun. The instruments on the James Webb have to be kept cool in order to function properly. The only way to achieve this is to have its heat shield folded up inside the rocket for launch, then unfolded later. That’s a very tricky maneuver.
But there’s more.
The heart of the James Webb is its segmented mirror system. This group of 18 gold-coated, beryllium mirrors also has to be folded up to fit into the Ariane 5, and then unfolded once it’s separated from the rocket. This is a lot trickier than launching things like the Hubble, which was deployed from the space shuttle.
Something else makes all this folding and unfolding very tricky. The Hubble, which was James Webb’s predecessor, is in orbit around Earth. That means that astronauts on Shuttle missions have been able to repair and service the Hubble. But the James Webb will be way out there at L2, so it can’t be serviced in any way. We have one chance to get it right.
Right now, the James Webb is still under construction in the “Clean Room” at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre. A precision robotic arm system is carefully mounting Webb’s 18 mirrors.
A robotic arm positions one of James Webb’s 18 mirrors. Image: NASA/Chris Gunn
There’s still over two years until the October 2018 launch date, and there’s a lot of testing and assembly work going on until then. We’ll be paying close attention not only to see if the launch goes as planned, but also to see if the James Webb—the weird looking beetle—can successfully complete its metamorphosis.
The Crab Nebula (aka. Messier Object 1) is an example of a supernova explosion that emitted cosmic rays. Credit: NASA
In the 18th century, French astronomer Charles Messier kept noting the presence of fixed, diffuse objects in the night sky. Initially, he thought these were comets, which he was attempting to locate at the time. However, astronomers would later discover that these objects were in fact nebulae, galaxies and star clusters. Between the years of 1758 and 1782, Messier compiled a list of approximately 100 of these objects.
His intention was to ensure that other astronomers would not mistake these objects for comets. But in time, this list – known as the Messier Catalog – served a higher purpose. In addition to being a collection of some of the most beautiful objects in the night sky, the catalog was also an important milestone in the discovery and research of Deep Sky objects. The first item in the catalog is the famous Crab Nebula – hence its designation as Messier Object 1, or M1.
Description:
Messier 1 (aka. M1, NGC 1952, Sharpless 244, and the Crab Nebula) is a supernova remnant located in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, roughly 6500 ± 1600 light years from Earth. Like all supernova remnants, it is an expanding cloud of gas that was created during the explosion of a star. This material is spread over a volume approximately 13 ± 3 ly in diameter, and is still expanding at a velocity of about 1,500 km/s (930 mi/s).
Based on its current rate of expansion, it is assumed that the overall deceleration of the nebula’s expansion must has decreased since the initial supernova. Essentially, after the explosion occurred, the nebula’s pulsar would have began to emit radiation that fed the nebula’s magnetic field, thus expanding it and forcing it outward.
The supernova that produced the Crab Nebula was detected by naked-eye observers around the world in 1054 A.D. This composite image uses data from NASA’s Great Observatories, Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer.
In visible light, the Crab Nebula consists of an oval-shaped mass of filaments – whose spectral emission lines are split into both red and blue-shifted components – which surround a blue central region. The filament are leftover from the outer layers of the former star’s atmosphere, and consist primarily of hydrogen and helium, along with traces of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and heavier elements. The filaments’ temperatures are typically between 11,000 and 18,000 K.
The blue region, meanwhile, is the result of highly polarized synchrotron radiation, which is emitted by high-energy electrons in a strong magnetic field. The curved path of these electrons is due to the strong magnetic field produced by the neutron star at the center of the nebula (see below). One of the many components of the Crab Nebula is a helium-rich torus which is visible as an east-west band crossing the pulsar region.
The torus accounts for about 25% of the nebula’s visible ejecta and is believed to be made up of 95% helium. As yet, there has been no plausible explanation for the structure of the torus. And while it is very difficult to gauge the total mass of the nebula, official estimates place it at 4.6 ± 1.8 Solar masses – i.e 5.5664 to 12.7232 × 1030 kg.
Crab Pulsar:
At the center of the Crab Nebula are two faint stars, one of which is its progenitor (i.e the one that created it). It is because of this star that M1 is a strong source of radio waves, X-rays and Gamma-ray radiation. The remnant of supernova SN 1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054, this star was discovered in 1968 and has since been designated as a radio pulsar.
Observation sequences of M1, showing the expansion of shock waves emanating from the Pulsar interacting with the surrounding nebula. Charndra X-Rays (left), Hubble Visible light (right). (Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech)
Known as the Crab Pulsar (or NP0532), this rapidly rotating star is believed to be about 28–30 km (17–19 mi) in diameter and emits pulses of radiation – ranging from radio wave and X-ray – every 33 milliseconds. Like all isolated pulsars, its period is slowing very gradually, and the energy released as the pulsar slows down is enormous. The Crab Pulsar is also the source of the nebula’s synchrotron radiation, which has a total luminosity about 75,000 times greater than that of the Sun.
The pulsar’s extreme energy output also creates an unusually dynamic region at the center of the Crab Nebula. While most astronomical objects only show changes over timescales of many years, the inner parts of the Crab show changes over the course of only a few days. The most dynamic feature in the inner part of the nebula is the point where the pulsar’s equatorial wind slams into the bulk of the nebula, forming a shock front (see above image).
The Crab Pulsar is also surrounded by an expanding gas shell which encompasses its spectroscopic companion star, which in turn orbits the neutron star every 133 days. This pulsar was the first one which was also verified in the optical part of the spectrum.
History of Observation:
The very first recorded information on this supernova event reaches as far back as July 4, 1054 A.D. by Chinese astronomers who marked the presence of a “new star” visible in daylight for 23 days and 653 nights. The event may have also been recorded by the Anasazi, Navajo and Mimbres First Nations of North America in their artwork as well.
Charles Messier, French astronomer, at the age of 40, by Nicolas Ansiaume. Credit: Public Domain.
In more modern times, the nebula was cataloged as a discovery by British amateur astronomer John Bevis in 1731, and independently by Charles Messier on August 28th, 1758 while looking for the return of Comet Halley. Although Bevis had added it to his “Uranographia Britannica”, Messier recognized what he had located had no proper motion, and was therefore not a comet. However, Messier did credit Bevis’ discovery when he learned of it years later.
By September 12th, 1758, Messier hit upon the idea of compiling a catalog of objects that weren’t comets, in order to help other astronomers avoid similar mistakes. Considering M1’s position, only slightly more than a degree from the ecliptic plane, this was a very good idea. Especially since M1 was again confused with Halley’s Comet when it returned in 1835.
The name Crab Nebula was first suggested by William Parsons, the Third Earl of Rosse, who observed it while at Birr Castle in 1884. The name was apparently due to the drawing he made of it, which resembled a crab. When he observed it again in 1848 using a ]telescope with better resolution, he could not confirm the resemblance. But the name had become popular by this point and has stuck ever since.
Our eyes would never see the Crab Nebula as this Hubble image shows it. Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University)
All of the early observers – including Herschel, Bode, Messier and Lassell – apparently mistook the filamentary structures of the Nebula as an indication of stellar structure. As Messier himself described it:
“Nebula above the southern horn of Taurus, it doesn’t contain any star; it is a whitish light, elongated in the shape of a flame of a candle, discovered while observing the comet of 1758. See the chart of that comet, Mem. Acad. of the year 1759, page 188; observed by Dr. Bevis in about 1731. It is reported on the English Celestial Atlas.”
Sir Williams Herschel’s writing on the nebula appeared in the 74th volume of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, which was released in 1784. As he described it:
“To these may added the 1st [M1], 3d, 27, 33, 57, 79, 81, 82, 101 [of Messier’s catalog], which in my 7, 10, and 20-feet reflectors shewed a mottled kind of nebulosity, which I shall call resolvable; so that I expect my present telescope will, perhaps, render the stars visible of which I suppose them to be composed…”
Reproduction of the first depiction of the nebula by Lord Rosse (1844). Credit: messier.seds.org
But it was Parsons (aka. Lord Rosse) who first recognized M1 for what we know it as today. As he recorded when viewing it for the first time (in 1844):
“Fig. 81 is also a cluster; we perceive in this [36-inch telescope], however, a considerable change of appearance; it is no longer an oval resolvable [mottled] Nebula; we see resolvable filaments singularly disposed, springing principally from its southern extremity, and not, as is usual in clusters, irregularly in all directions. Probably greater power would bring out other filaments, and it would then assume the ordinary form of a cluster. It is stubbed with stars, mixed however with a nebulosity probably consisting of stars too minute to be recognized. It is an easy object, and I have shown it to many, and all have been at once struck with its remarkable aspect. Everything in the sketch can be seen under moderately favourable circumstances.”
Locating Messier 1:
The Crab Nebula is easily visible in the night sky near the Taurus constellation, whenever light pollution is not an issue. It can be located by identifying Zeta Tauri, a third magnitude star located east/northeast of Aldebaran. With dark sky conditions, it can be seen as a tiny, hazy patch with binoculars and small telescopes with low magnification. If sky conditions are bright, it may be harder to locate with modest equipment.
Messier Object 1 sits between the Taurus, Orion, and Auriga constellations. Credit: iau.org
With a little more magnification, it is seen as a nebulous oval patch, surrounded by haze. In telescopes starting with 4-inch aperture, some detail in its shape becomes apparent, with some suggestion of mottled or streak structure in the inner part of the nebula. To the amateur astronomer, M1 does indeed look similar to a faint comet without a tail.
As Messier 1 is situated only 1 1/2 degrees from the ecliptic, there are frequent conjunctions and occasional transits of planets, as well as occultations by the Moon. And for the sake of simplicity, here are the vital statistics on this Messier Object:
New Animation Takes a Colorful Flight Over Ceres
Simulated view of Dwarf planet Ceres using images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.
Wow. This video will knock your socks off … at least it did mine. This new flyover video of Ceres was created using enhanced images taken by the Dawn spacecraft’s framing camera. It was produced by the camera team at the German Aerospace Center, DLR, using images from Dawn’s high-altitude mapping orbit of 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) above Ceres’ surface. The video shows a stark and stunning world.
“The viewer can observe the sheer walls of the crater Occator, and also Dantu and Yalode, where the craters are a lot flatter,” said Ralf Jaumann, a Dawn mission scientist at DLR.
The enhanced color used here helps to highlight subtle differences in the appearance of surface materials. There’s additional info at the end of the video, but for a quick reference, area with shades of blue contain younger, fresher material such as flows, pits and cracks, while brown areas clays, which, enticingly, usually form in the presence of water.
I had the chance to visit with Marc Rayman, Dawn’s chief engineer and mission director at JPL earlier this month, when I interviewed him for a book I’m working on about robotic space exploration. One thing he really stressed is that Ceres is a big place, with diverse terrain and a variety of features. This video really brings that home.
“Ceres has a surface area of 2,770,000 square kilometers … It’s a big surface and we haven’t seen all of it,” Rayman said. “It will be great to see what the new detail shows from the low altitude orbit, because those pictures will be four times better resolution than pictures we were able to get at our previous orbit.”
Dawn is now in its final and lowest mapping orbit, at about 240 miles (385 kilometers) from the surface.
This animated flight over Ceres emphasizes the most prominent craters, such as Occator, Dantu, and the tall, conical mountain Ahuna Mons.
The bright features seen in Occator Crater have been determined to be salts, which are quite reflective and look bright to our eyes (sorry no alien city lights) and the team will be providing more details and images soon.
Occator Crater (57 miles, 92 kilometers) on Ceres, home of the brightest spots on the dwarf planet, in a simulated view using Dawn images. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.
SpaceX Dragon 2 crew vehicle, powered by eight SuperDraco engines, conducts propulsive hover test at the company’s rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX Dragon 2 crew vehicle, powered by eight SuperDraco engines, conducts propulsive hover test at the company’s rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Credit: SpaceX
On the road to restoring US Human spaceflight from US soil, SpaceX conducted a pair of key tests involving a propulsive hover test and parachute drop test for their Crew Dragon vehicle which is slated to begin human missions in 2017.
SpaceX released a short video showing the Dragon 2 vehicle executing a “picture-perfect propulsive hover test” on a test stand at the firms rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas.
The video published last week shows the Dragon 2 simultaneously firing all eight of its side mounted SuperDraco engines, during a five second test carried out on Nov. 22, 2015.
Using the SuperDragos will eventually enable pinpoint propulsive soft landings like a helicopter in place of parachute assisted landings in the ocean or on the ground.
The video clip seen below includes both full speed and slow motion versions of the test, showing the vehicle rising and descending slowly on the test stand.
Video caption: SpaceX Dragon 2 crew vehicle, powered by eight SuperDraco engines, conducts propulsive hover test firing at rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas.
The eight SuperDraco thrusters are mounted in sets 90 degrees apart around the perimeter of the vehicle in pairs called “jet packs.”
The SuperDracos generate a combined total of 33,000 lbs of thrust.
SpaceX is developing the Crew Dragon under the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) awarded by NASA to transport crews of four or more astronauts to the International Space Station.
“This test was the second of a two-part milestone under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program,” said SpaceX officials. “The first test—a short firing of the engines intended to verify a healthy propulsion system—was completed November 22, and the longer burn two-days later demonstrated vehicle control while hovering.”
The first unmanned and manned orbital test flights of the crew Dragon are expected sometime in 2017. A crew of two NASA astronauts should fly on the first crewed test before the end of 2017.
Parachute drop test for SpaceX crew Dragon involving four red-and-white parachutes unfurled from a mass simulator high above the desert near Coolidge, Arizona. Credit NASA/SpaceX
Initially, the Crew Dragon will land via parachutes in the ocean before advancing to use of pinpoint propulsive landing.
Thus SpaceX recently conducted a parachute drop test involving deployment of four red-and-white parachutes unfurling high above the desert near Coolidge, Arizona using a mass simulator in place of the capsule.
Video Caption: SpaceX performed a successful test of its parachute system for the Crew Dragon spacecraft near Coolidge, Arizona, as part of its final development and certification work with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Using a weight simulant in the place of a boilerplate spacecraft, four main parachutes were rigged to deploy just as they would when the Crew Dragon returns to Earth with astronauts aboard. Credit: NASA/SpaceX
“The mass simulator and parachutes were released thousands of feet above the ground from a C-130 cargo aircraft. This test evaluated the four main parachutes, but did not include the drogue chutes that a full landing system would utilize,” said NASA.
Since the CCP program finally received full funding from Congress in the recently passed Fiscal Year 2016 NASA budget, the program is currently on track to achieve the orbital test flight milestones.
Boeing and SpaceX were awarded contracts by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in September 2014 worth $6.8 Billion to complete the development and manufacture of the privately developed Starliner CST-100 and Crew Dragon astronaut transporters under the agency’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) program and NASA’s Launch America initiative.
The Crew Dragon will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The historic launch pad has been leased by SpaceX from NASA and is being refurbished for launches of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
SpaceX Crew Dragon will blast off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for missions to the International Space Station. Pad 39A is undergoing modifications by SpaceX to adapt it to the needs of the company’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which are slated to lift off from the historic pad in the near future. A horizontal integration facility (right) has been constructed near the perimeter of the pad where rockets will be processed for launch prior of rolling out to the top of the pad structure for liftoff. Credit: Ken Kremer/Kenkremer.com
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
I’ve always been amazed when watching the game of billiards. Some person, with great concentration and aim, uses a long wooden stick to strike one ball which then, by design, causes reactions to other balls. The balls travel along precisely predetermined paths! Now imagine doing this in 3-D. Sound impossible? Well, that’s what mission designers must do when preparing to send a probe to another orbiting body in our solar system. And their methodology is wonderfully presented in Robin Biesbroek’s book “Lunar and Interplanetary Trajectories”.
This book could be described as ‘precise.’ The author describes it as being written for a systems approach. He then goes on to proclaim that he presents and uses only one equation. This may be a good thing as the book has more than enough numerical data without adding the analytics. And the information flows along smoothly, as if presenting a case study so the reader won’t get overwhelmed.
First Biesbroek presents the significant parameters; the C3 launch energy and the co-ordinate system. Remember that I mentioned things were in three dimensions? Well, this book has us also realize that the co-ordinate system can come in many guises. As well, there’s lots of angular momentum with which to deal. To aid the reader, the author includes many, many charts, graphs and plots. The plots of trajectories from Earth to beyond are particularly revealing and indeed necessary at times to grasp the nuances of positive and negative notations and maximum energy usage. To entice the reader further, Biesbroek includes many resolved missions, such as New Horizons, Phobos Grunt and Cassini/Huygens. Last, with almost a teasing presence, the author adds to the end of each chapter a few scholarly exercises. But don’t worry, the solutions immediately follow!
Sounds intriguing doesn’t it? Well there’s more. Biesbroek utilizes his systems approach when looking at pros and cons for many situations. For example, he’s got the Low Earth Orbit mass delivery for the Falcon rocket as a condition. And he wants us to constrain the timing of our approach to Mars to minimize the chances of intersecting with a seasonal dust storm. Then there’s the challenge of visiting Jupiter without getting harmed by its magnetic field.
Further, and perhaps most insightful, is the expectation for any mission to be ten years or less. Apparently we may lose interest with anything that takes longer! But what if the designer gets it wrong? You’ll just have to read the book to see why just this happened with the Surveyor lander. Apparently the controllers got a bit of a surprise as the lander didn’t quite settle as expected. Nevertheless, with lots of errors of margin, the lander did survive and contribute to our knowledge base of space. As a reader will see, it’s quite an accomplishment to design and build something for launch from Earth many years beforehand.
Yes, this book presents what appears to be a carefully chosen mix of useful data and background information. Being that the author uses a systems design approach in the book, then there are limits to what the reader can use. Even with an appendix full of data tables, the reader may feel constrained by the finite options provided. That is, there are look-up tables throughout and it’s up to the reader to figure out the best way to use them. You may want to go into more depth, but I suspect it’d take a good deal more training before you could comfortably prepare your own Molniya orbits. Thus, know that there is a mix of information in this book and after reading it you won’t come out an expert in anything. But you will come out with a lot more knowledge on mission design and constraint parameters.
When sitting back in a chair and looking at fantastic colour images of the surface of Pluto it’s no surprise that it seems so easy and straightforward. Yet, as with almost anything that looks easy, there’s a huge amount of effort riding along in the background, supporting every moment. And it all starts with turning an idea into reality.
That’s where Robin Biesbroek’s book “Lunar and Interplanetary Trajectories” steps in. It will show you some of the tricks of the trade in optimizing missions, whether choosing the best launch system or balancing an orbit about a Lagrange point. Most people who appreciate the photos of distant worlds may appreciate the effort involved. Yet, for them, and for others who may think it`s quite simple, this book will have you appreciating all that’s involved with travelling in space.
The crew of Challenger, lost on January 28, 1986. Credit: NASA.
It was thirty years ago, January 28, 1986, that space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight, killing seven astronauts. This is a tough time of year in the history of human spaceflight, as 19 years on January 27, 1967 three astronauts died in a fire in the module of Apollo 1. Then on February 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.
Remembering these events brings home the fact that even today, spaceflight remains far from routine. But over the years, what else have we learned from these tragedies?
Christa McAuliffe. Credit: Challenger’s Lost Lessons
But Jerry was also featured in an article we did in 2008. A year earlier he came across a file of papers from 1985 that proposed how teacher Christa McAuliffe’s eight lessons would be performed on orbit as part of the Challenger mission. Woodfill worked to find old videos, photographs and other materials that had been tucked away in sadness and grief following the loss of Challenger and put together lesson plans and gave them to the Challenger Center. The lessons are available on the Center’s website.
Jerry and I discussed other “lessons” that may have been learned from the tragedies, and he had some interesting ideas about paradigm shifts that have occurred over the past 30-plus years. Here are a few “old” ideas that have changed or are in the process of changing:
Civilians, especially women should not be launched on risky missions to space
The 2013 astronaut candidate class. Front row, left to right: Jessica Meir, Christina Hammock, Andrew Morgan. Back row (left to right), Anne McClain, Nicole Mann, Tyler (Nick) Hague, Josh Cassada and Victor Glover. Credit: NASA
We’re certainly beyond the “women can’t do what men can” in our society (for the most part, anyway), and NASA’s last class of astronauts was 50% women (4 out of 8). It did take NASA until 1978 to hire the first female astronauts.
As far as civilians being part of space flight…. that’s the whole point the pioneers of spaceflight did what they did, to try and make flying to space as routine as flying in an airplane.
“While we’re not quite there yet,” said Woodfill, “the prospects for civilian space travel is altogether more plausible. “Now we have a maturing commercial space paradigm that wholly embraces the idea of everybody someday being eligible for a trip to space.”
Woodfill also mentioned that he used to hear that some people thought the idea that a Challenger-like mission should never be attempted again.
“That is refuted by the Challenger’s Lost Lessons project in 2008 and how much these recovered lessons mean to the families of the crew,” he said, “ and to the teachers that are now using these lessons in their classrooms.”
McAuliffe’s backup, Barbara Morgan completed her space shuttle flight in 2007 as a mission specialist, doing special education activities during the mission.
Nothing good can come of such a tragedy.
“An obvious challenge to such a posture was a redesigned, safer, more robust Solid Rocket Booster system,” Woodfill said. “In fact, it led to the work-horse SRBs adapted and upgraded for the Space Launch System (SLS) which will likely take us to Mars.”
The tragedies have provided lessons to be learned. “Go-fever” has been tempered with a more analytical view of each mission and the potential risks it entails. Crew safety at NASA has become top priority. All NASA workers are told to “speak up” if they see something that might compromise any mission.
Human spaceflight is too risky.
Dr. Robert H. Goddard (second from right) and his colleagues hold a liquid-propellant rocket in 1932 at their New Mexico workshop. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
This debate will likely continue, but ask anyone associated with spaceflight and they’ll tell you they know the risks and that it’s all worth it for what it means for humanity. You can read Neil de Grasse Tyson’s ideas about this here.
National Geographic is currently running a show they produced called “Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes,” that shows some old footage shot at NASA following the accident. Shown is then-Vice President George H.W. Bush and astronaut and Senator John Glenn who met with NASA’s space shuttle launch team at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Bush said he met with the families of the lost astronauts and relayed that they pleaded that the space shuttle program continue “forward full speed.”
Glenn said, in part, “We’ve had tremendous triumph. …. And with this program, we’ve succeeded. Really, if we’re honest about it, beyond our wildest dreams. I would have never thought we’d go this far without losing some people, at something where you’re going at 5 miles a second, with the heat of reentry and the complexity of a system where everything has to go right. Now, we have a tragedy that goes along with our triumphs. I guess that’s the story of mankind.”
As many have said, the future doesn’t belong to the faint of heart, and it is part of human nature to explore and push the boundaries. But there are always lessons to be learned and ideas to be challenged. That’s part of the story of humankind, too.
Astronomy and the other space sciences are the best branches of science for pure eye candy. Biology is great, but who wants to watch videos of a cell dividing? Over and over again. Not me, and not you either, I’ll bet.
This new video from Futurism.com shows our place in the Laniakea Supercluster. Superclusters are the largest-scale structures in the universe, and next to them, we are indeed puny creatures. Our Milky Way galaxy is but a tiny dot in an unremarkable corner of Laniakea.
Thanks to Futurism.com, Nature.com, and R. Brent Tully at the University of Hawaii, we can see better than ever how we Milky Way inhabitants fit into the larger structure of the Universe.
This video is actually a spiffy new edit of an older video, with explanatory voice-over. Check it out.
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket has successfully launched and landed a second time. Image: Blue Origin
On Friday, January 22nd, commercial space company Blue Origin successfully launched and landed its reusable rocket, New Shepard, at their launch facility in Texas. This is the second flight for New Shepard, showing that reusable rockets are on their way to becoming the launch system of choice. New Shepard launched, travelled to apogee at 101.7 kilometres, (63.19 miles) and then descended to land safely at their site in West Texas. This is the first successful reuse of a rocket in history.
Reusable rockets are an important development for space travel. Rockets are enormously expensive, and having to trash each rocket after a single use makes commercial space flight a real challenge. Blue Origin—and other companies like SpaceX—are blazing a trail to cheaper space flight with their reusable designs. This is great, not only for all the good sciencey reasons that we love so much, but because eventually civilian space enthusiasts may be able to travel past the Karman Line without having to sell all their possessions to do so. (Reserve your ticket here.) Continue reading “Blue Origin Reaches Another Milestone: Reusable Rocket Launches and Lands Safely”
Here’s an amazing photograph of the Milky Way by astrophotographer Matt Dieterich. He took the image a step further, however, and identified all the constellations you can see close to the Milky Way.
You’ll want to click this image and see a bigger version.
Full panoramic view of the constellations near the Milky Way by Matt Dieterich
Right down near the horizon is Sagittarius – it looks like a teapot, with the Milky Way rising like steam from its spout. Many of the brightest, most spectacular nebulae in the night sky are located around this constellation: the Lagoon Nebula, Trifid Nebula, and the Omega Nebula. The 4 million solar mass supermassive black hole located at the center of the Milky Way is located in this region too.
Further up the Milky Way you can see the three constellations that form the Summer Triangle: Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila.
And right on the left side of the photograph is Cassiopeia, with its familiar “W” shape.
In the lower-right of the image are a few constellations from the zodiac: Scorpio, Libra and Virgo. And if you look closely you can see Saturn making its way across the sky, in the plane of the ecliptic.
If you’re interested in learning about the night sky, I highly recommend you take your time and learn your constellations. These are your wayposts, navigational aides that help you find your way across the Universe, to the wonders right there in the sky above you.
Matt used a Nikon D750 camera with a 24mm f/1.4 lens. The whole image is made up of 20 separate exposures of 15 seconds each, stitched together to make this amazing mosaic. He captured this image from Glacier National Park in Northern Montana.
Here’s the original version, without the highlighted constellations. Once again, you’ll want to click to see the full resolution goodness.
Milky Way (without the constellations) by Matt Dieterich
A big thanks to Matt for contributing this picture to the Universe Today Flickr pool. If you’re an astrophotographer, you’ll be in good company, with thousands of other photographers who share their pictures. We’ve got more than 33,000 pictures there now.
