Astronomy and space exploration

[eloic]

Europa Lander May Not Have to Dig Deep to Find Signs of Life
If signs of life exist on Jupiter's icy moon Europa, they might not be as hard to find as scientists had thought, a new study reports.

https://www.space.com/41239-jupiter-moon-europa-biosignatures-survive.html

 

[hoom]

Amazing improvement with the new optics system in the VLT:

https://www.space.com/41202-new-adaptive-optics-produces-stunning-views.html

This optics system neutralizes the interferences caused by the Earth's atmosphere, so to speak, so the images are comparable to those obtained from space, such as the ones from the Hubble.

I couldn't find a clear reference to whether that was with a single scope or using all 4 in interferometry mode?

If its a single scope then this means super amazing things for the 30m Telescope & ELT (probably also even if it was in interferometry mode)
Very excited to see what comes out when we have those 2 + James Webb Space Telescope all running

 

[nutball]

It's a single UT I believe (UT4, see https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1824/).

 

[Michellstar]

Apparently there´s water in Mars, again

"Mars Express detects water buried under the south pole of Mars"
https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/...liquid_water_hidden_under_planet_s_south_pole


Go send a frigging Human mission, shesshhhh

 

[eloic]

Go send a frigging Human mission, shesshhhh

That! Even though I treasure every single "little" mission to Mars, as I previously shared here I think these multiple present and near future missions are already redundant! I think all parties capable of putting up a mission to Mars (mainly NASA and European agencies) maybe should unite and think about a really big mission to Mars.

 

[cheapchips]

Neither NASA or ESA are capable of a manned mission to Mars in the next decade, even if they teamed up. SLS is too expensive. ESA don't even have a big enough rocket on the drawing board.

The only manned ticket to Mars before the 2030's will be if SpaceX manage to pull off the BFR.

 

[eloic]

The only manned ticket to Mars before the 2030's will be if SpaceX manage to pull off the BFR.

That's what I was thinking. So, they'd better prepare a mission for when that day arrives... but they're not doing it.

You know that mission preparation is long, from their proposal to every stage of approval, budget, testing, etc. They could be doing it now, but they are not, so when the time we have a powerful enough/suitable rocket to go to Mars arrives, they won't have a mission prepared and ready to be deployed.

Or maybe when they see that BFR (or other techs that may arise) is real and capable to do what SpaceX says it will do, they will hurry, prioritise and think of/do something quicker than what's normal.

 

[cheapchips]

Congress will be directing NASA's human flight funds to SLS/Orion/LOPG for the foreseeable future.

I'd have thought the first manned Mars BFS flight would be far too risky for NASA. They have to build a propellant plant and mine 100's tonnes of ice just to come home again. And spend longer out of Earth's gravity/rad protection than anyone in history.

 

[eloic]

Congress will be directing NASA's human flight funds to SLS/Orion/LOPG for the foreseeable future.

I'd have thought the first manned Mars BFS flight would be far too risky for NASA. They have to build a propellant plant and mine 100's tonnes of ice just to come home again. And spend longer out of Earth's gravity/rad protection than anyone in history.

And that's why they should be planning now all those things, not just how to get there, instead of just waiting and only putting an effort on sending more rovers/satellites until the moment when a proper transport to get there is ready.

 

[eloic]

Here Are The Finalists For NASA’s Mars Habitat Design Competition
Getting humans there is hard enough. But surviving there, especially over a prolonged period? That’s a whole other question. A structure on Mars would have to withstand intense solar radiation and massive daily temperature changes, and provide a pressurized environment inside for humans to inhabit over a prolonged period of time. Weight and space limits aboard the rockets that will get us there will make the design task even harder.
...
So NASA held a contest for the best 3D-printed habitat that might actually work on Mars. That was in 2014. The first two phases of the project required teams to submit renderings, and come up with material technologies. Now, four years after launching the contest, NASA has narrowed the finalists to just five brilliant designs. The fives teams, which hail from a handful of American universities and companies that specialize in architecture or construction, have now come up with an entire structure that takes advantage of autonomous 3D printing on the surface of another planet; they will also share a $100,000 prize. For the next phase, each team will have to create a third-scale model of their designs.

https://futurism.com/nasa-mars-habitat-design-competition/

How timely, bearing in mind the last posts in this thread!
---------------------------

The Massive Mars Dust Storm Is Starting to Die Down

https://www.space.com/41302-mars-dust-storm-dying-down.html

 

[eloic]

Ok, I just keep eating crow...

If We Ever Want to Walk on Mars, We'd Better Get Serious About Planetary Protection
Humans have big dreams of setting foot on another planet. But before we do, we'll need to figure out how to keep our germs to ourselves and how to protect ourselves from the life we may find there.

That's the mandate of planetary protection, and experts in the field are already developing guidelines for human missions that will visit potentially life-supporting locales, like Mars. One of those scientists is Julie Mitchell, the planetary protection officer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, who said now is the time to figure out those rules.

https://www.space.com/41345-planetary-protection-standards-for-human-spaceflight.html

It seems that they are indeed looking into all the things I mentioned a few days ago, when I was complaining about the lack of research regarding not just how to get to Mars, but also on the things we need to know and do once we get there (shelter, protocols, etc.).

 

[eloic]

Young star caught devouring its own planet for the very first time
Astronomers generally agree that planets form out of the massive disks of leftover debris that surround most newborn stars. As these disks of gas and dust orbit their stars, small clumps of material coalesce, ultimately growing larger and larger until they eventually reach planetary status. However, not all planets make it that far. Sometimes, two nascent planets catastrophically collide — and stars apparently do not mourn their dead.

http://astronomy.com/news/magazine/2018/08/young-star-caught-devouring-its-own-planet

We don't know that for sure, but it makes sense and it could be it.

 

[eloic]

20 Mice Are Going to Space To Help Us Figure out How to Survive on Mars
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MOUSEKIND. Friday morning, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It’s destination? The International Space Station (ISS). Though unmanned, the rocket is carrying some very important passengers: 20 laboratory mice.

https://futurism.com/astronaut-mice-iss-mars/

That was back in June.

 

[eloic]

TESS started doing science one week ago:

NASA's New Planet Hunter Begins Its Search for Alien Worlds

NASA's newest planet-hunting telescope is officially at work.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which is designed to hunt for alien worlds around stars not too far from the sun, began gathering science data Wednesday (July 25), members of the instrument team announced yesterday (July 27).

https://www.space.com/41306-tess-exoplanet-telescope-starts-science-observations.html

^_^

 

[eloic]

Astronomers blown away by historic stellar blast
Observations from the Gemini South and other telescopes in Chile played a critical role in understanding light echoes from a stellar eruption which occurred almost 200 years ago. Gemini spectroscopy shows that ejected material from the blast is the fastest ever seen from a star that remained intact.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180802130823.htm

It's the first time I hear about these "light echoes". Amazing.

 

[eloic]

Some SpaceX updates:

These 9 Astronauts Will Fly the 1st Flights on SpaceX and Boeing Spaceships

The first U.S. astronauts who will fly on American-made commercial spacecraft to and from the International Space Station wave after being announced on Aug. 3, 2018, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. From left to right: Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley, Nicole Aunapu Mann, Chris Ferguson, Eric Boe, Josh Cassada, and Suni Williams. The agency assigned the nine astronauts to crew the first flight tests and missions of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA
HOUSTON — Call them the Commercial Crew Nine. NASA has unveiled the first astronauts to fly on private spaceships built by SpaceX and Boeing, and, just like the original Mercury Seven, NASA's first astronauts announced in 1959, these 21st century space travelers have "the right stuff."

https://www.space.com/41371-spacex-boeing-crewed-test-flight-astronauts.html

SpaceX Re-Launches 'Block 5' Rocket for 1st Time, Nails Landing Again
SpaceX has checked off another reusability milestone, re-flying the latest version of its Falcon 9 rocket for the first time ever.

https://www.space.com/41395-spacex-launches-used-block-5-rocket-nails-landing.html
I would like to hear some news on the progress with the BFR, though.

SpaceX Hosting Hush-Hush Mars Workshop This Week
SpaceX is fleshing out its humans-to-Mars plans, with a little help from its friends.

The California-based company is hosting a Mars workshop at the University of Colorado Boulder today and tomorrow (Aug. 7 and Aug. 8), according to Ars Technica's Eric Berger.

The event is private, and attendees — nearly 60 scientists and engineers from a range of institutions, including some key figures in NASA's Mars exploration program — have been asked not to publicize it, according to Berger, who got hold of an invitation.

https://www.space.com/41404-spacex-secret-mars-landing-workshop.html

 

[cheapchips]

There should be a BFR update within a month or so.

I think it's probably a good idea to be secretive around their Mars conference. There's no way to brainstorm bad ideas in public with the spotlight that's on SX/Musk.

 

[eloic]

I think it's probably a good idea to be secretive around their Mars conference. There's no way to brainstorm bad ideas in public with the spotlight that's on SX/Musk.

Yeah, I think that's a good thing, too. I'm also happy that this project is active and being further researched and discussed.

--------------------------

Largest haul of extrasolar planets
Confirmation of exoplanets and planetary systems may shed light on our place in the cosmos
Forty-four planets in planetary systems beyond our own have been unveiled in one go, dwarfing the usual number of confirmations from extrasolar surveys, which is typically a dozen or less. The findings will improve our models of planetary systems and may help researchers investigate exoplanet atmospheres. Novel techniques developed to validate the find could hugely accelerate the confirmation of more extrasolar planet candidates.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180807095123.htm

NASA's New Planet-Hunting Telescope Catches a Comet and Other Celestial Sights
NASA's new planet-hunting telescope wasn't even formally on the job when it caught sight of a fascinating set of celestial happenings, which the agency has shared in a new video.

https://www.space.com/41392-tess-exoplanet-hunter-spots-comet.html

 

[eloic]

Ice confirmed at the moon's poles
Using data from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument, scientists have identified three specific signatures that definitively prove there is water ice at the surface of the Moon.

The image shows the distribution of surface ice at the Moon's south pole (left) and north pole (right), detected by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument. Blue represents the ice locations, plotted over an image of the lunar surface, where the gray scale corresponds to surface temperature (darker representing colder areas and lighter shades indicating warmer zones). The ice is concentrated at the darkest and coldest locations, in the shadows of craters. This is the first time scientists have directly observed definitive evidence of water ice on the Moon's surface.
Credit: NASA

In the darkest and coldest parts of its polar regions, a team of scientists has directly observed definitive evidence of water ice on the Moon's surface. These ice deposits are patchily distributed and could possibly be ancient. At the southern pole, most of the ice is concentrated at lunar craters, while the northern pole's ice is more widely, but sparsely spread.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180820203638.htm

I don't know why but I thought that was pretty much confirmed a long time ago.

-----------------------------------

Will we hear from Opportunity soon?
Recovery efforts for NASA’s 14-year-old rover continue as dust levels drop.

And after two months, the storm may now be lifting. Dust that was hoisted into the air, obscuring the Sun from view on the surface and the planet’s features from eager astronomers on Earth, is finally falling back to the ground and the sky is slowly lightening, albeit “in fits and starts,” according to the MER mission website.

What does this mean for the sleeping rover? The mission team, which has been eagerly pinging Opportunity using NASA’s Deep Space Network several times a week since it went to sleep, is now more hopeful than ever that they will soon hear back as the rover’s location clears enough to allow the solar panels to begin collecting power once more.

http://astronomy.com/news/2018/08/will-we-hear-from-opportunity-soon

 

[eloic]

We’ll Soon Have A Telescope That Will Show Us the Edge of the Universe
BIG DAY. We can now put a price tag on a view of the edge of the universe: $1 billion.

That’s what it’s going to cost to build the Giant Magellan Telescope, and we’re officially on our way to bringing the massive device to fruition.

https://futurism.com/giant-magellan-telescope-construction/

-------------------------------------

Will We Ever Stop Using Rockets to Get to Space?
On March 16, 1926 in Auburn, Massachusetts, American engineer Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket. The flight lasted a mere 2.5 seconds and ended anticlimactically 181 feet away in a snow-covered cabbage field, but it would prove to be one of the most significant flights in history.

Ninety-two years later, liquid-fueled rockets are the norm for spaceflight. Towering, explosive behemoths standing sixty times taller than Goddard's original rocket blast humans beyond the boundaries of Earth's atmosphere. Each launch is a true spectacle, offering testament again and again to humankind's collective potential to transcend barriers and reach new heights through brains and cooperation.

But will rockets remain our primary transportation to space into the far flung future? Or will they eventually be replaced by new methods and technologies?

https://www.space.com/41432-will-we-ever-stop-using-rockets-to-reach-space.html

My dream is that one day we'll have spaceships like the ones in No Man's Sky.