Tag: nasa

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Detects Carbon Dioxide in Exoplanet Atmosphere

The James Webb Space Telescope has, for the first time, detected evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside the solar system. The evidence has been spotted on the exoplanet WASP-39 b, which was discovered in 2011. Located some 700 light-years from Earth, WASP-39 b is a hot gas giant planet that orbits a Sun-like star. According to NASA, the finding gives important insights into the formation and composition of the planet. In addition, it also suggests that the most powerful space telescope may be able to trace and measure carbon dioxide in thinner atmospheres of smaller rocky planets.

For the detection, the team of researchers used the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument of the Webb space telescope. They observed a small hill between 4.1 and 4.6 microns in the spectrum of the exoplanet’s atmosphere which, according to the team, was the first clear and detailed evidence indicating the presence of carbon dioxide.

“As soon as the data appeared on my screen, the whopping carbon dioxide feature grabbed me. It was a special moment, crossing an important threshold in exoplanet sciences,” said Zafar Rustamkulov, member of the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science team, which undertook this investigation.

Before this, no other observatory had measured subtle differences in brightness of many individual colours in the 3 to 5.5-micron range in an exoplanet transmission spectrum. This range in the spectrum is believed to be crucial for measuring the abundance of gases like methane, water, and carbon dioxide. These gases are thought to exist on many exoplanets of different types.

According to Natalie Batalha of the University of California, who led the team, the detection of a clear signal of carbon dioxide shines hope that atmospheres on smaller, terrestrial-sized planets will also be detected.

Gathering information on the atmospheric composition of planets is considered important as it holds clues to their origin and evolution. According to researchers, measuring the carbon dioxide feature in WASP-39 b would help determine the amount of solid and gaseous material that went into the formation of the planet.

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NASA Prepares Artemis I SLS-Orion Spacecraft Ahead of Planned August 29 Launch

NASA is preparing for Artemis I, the launch of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, along with the Orion spacecraft for astronauts, which is set to blast off on August 29. The US space agency is readying to test its flight system that is designed to send astronauts back to the Moon, decades after it completed its Apollo missions. NASA is preparing for the next generation of space travel. The agency’s SLS spacecraft is the latest vertical launch system developed by NASA.

Earlier this week, NASA completed a flight readiness review for the Artemis I launch, ahead of the scheduled test flight on August 29. The flight administrators met at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and confirmed that the mission was ready for launch. The SLS-Orion spacecraft is expected to blast off on Monday. 

Artemis I is just the beginning for NASA, and the agency’s test flight is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions. The uncrewed flight test will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, according to NASA as it plans to return humans to the Moon and explore more of the lunar surface.

Last week, NASA’s SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived on at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a 10-hour journey that began from NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building. 

According to NASA, the space agency’s engineers and technicians are currently working on configuring systems at the pad ahead of the launch. The SLS-Orion spacecraft is expected to launch on Monday at 8:33am EDT (6:03pm IST). 

Artemis I will stress test the SLS-Orion spacecraft’s systems as part of NASA’s plans to verify whether the system is ready to take astronauts to the moon, a goal the space agency is aiming to complete by 2025, ahead of its plans to send humans to other planets, including Mars. 

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NASA Releases Fresh Audio of the Eerie Sound of a Black Hole

American space agency NASA has released the sound of a black hole, which can be heard by human ears. This black hole sits 200 light years away in the Perseus galaxy cluster, according to a report in Mashable. Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so intense that not even light can escape. The audio of the black hole’s sound has been posted by NASA on its Twitter handle where it also explained how does sound travel in vacuum.

“The misconception that there is no sound in space originates because most space is a vacuum, providing no way for sound waves to travel. A galaxy cluster has so much gas that we’ve picked up actual sound. Here it’s amplified, and mixed with other data, to hear a black hole,” NASA said on its Twitter account dedicated to exoplanets.

 

 

The clip has sound resembling to rumbling and groaning, similar to soundtrack of a Stranger Things episode, but it’s actually pressure waves rippling through the hot gas. The eerie, scary and mysterious sound is often heard in sci-fi movies during space travels.

The sound has been created from the data captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the recording was originally released back in May this year.

Last month, astronomers spotted a dormant black hole in a galaxy adjacent to our Milky Way. They said it appears to have been born without the explosion of a dying star.

The scientists said that the great void discovered in the Tarantula Nebula region of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy differs from all other known black holes in that it is “X-ray quiet” – not emitting powerful X-ray radiation indicative of gobbling up nearby material with its strong gravitational pull – and that it was not born in a stellar blast called a supernova.

It is located about 160,000 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, (which is approximately 9.5 trillion km).



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NASA’s Mars InSight Lander Data Reveals Surprising Results About Possibility of Life on the Red Planet

A new study has curbed the chances of humans finding life on Mars. According to the study, conducted by the researchers at the University of California San Diego, Mars’ subsurface has little to no evidence of water. The surprising results were derived after studying the seismic data from NASA’s Mars InSight mission. The Mars InSight lander is located on Elysium Planitia, a flat smooth surface near the Martian equator. The InSight lander studies the subsurface of the red planet digging roughly 300 meters beneath the landing site.

The seismic data revealed that there is negligible evidence of water. “We find that Mars‘ crust is weak and porous. The sediments are not well-cemented. And there is no ice or not much ice filling the pore spaces,” said Vashan Wright, co-author of the study, in a statement.

Wright, however, stated that these findings do not eliminate the idea of ice existing or contributing to other minerals.

Researchers believe that water does not exist in the form of liquid but is part of the mineral structure. The study’s co-author, Michael Manga, from the University of California Berkeley, has explained that if water makes contact with rocks, it produces a brand-new set of minerals like clay.

Addressing the observation, Michael added, “There is some cement, but the rocks are not full of cement. The lack of cemented sediments points to an acute water scarcity 300 metres below the landing site of InSight’s probe spacecraft.”

The Mars InSight mission was initiated in 2018 with the aim to study Mars’ quakes. The instruments, on the lander, measure the vibrations on the surface of the red planet.

Wright and the team have studied these vibrations using rock physics computer modelling to deduce which type of minerals these vibrations travel through.

Different minerals would affect the seismic velocities in a certain way. Simulations that the rock model ran showed that the subsurface consisting mostly of uncemented minerals. Scientists believe that if life existed on Mars, it would be on the subsurface since it will have a protective layer to keep out radiation. Now, the researchers are looking forward to a sample-return mission that would make it easy for them to study the surface better.

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Elon Musk’s SpaceX in Talks With ESA to Allow Temporary Use of Its Launchers

The European Space Agency (ESA) has begun preliminary technical discussions with Elon Musk’s SpaceX that could lead to the temporary use of its launchers after the Ukraine conflict blocked Western access to Russia’s Soyuz rockets.

The private American competitor to Europe’s Arianespace has emerged as a key contender to plug a temporary gap alongside Japan and India, but final decisions depend on the still unresolved timetable for Europe’s delayed Ariane 6 rocket.

“I would say there are two and a half options that we’re discussing. One is SpaceX that is clear. Another one is possibly Japan,” ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher told Reuters.

“Japan is waiting for the inaugural flight of its next-generation rocket. Another option could be India,” he added in an interview.

“SpaceX I would say is the more operational of those and certainly one of the backup launches we are looking at.”

Aschbacher said talks remained at an exploratory phase and any backup solution would be temporary.

“We of course need to make sure that they are suitable. It’s not like jumping on a bus,” he said. For example, the interface between satellite and launcher must be suitable and the payload must not be compromised by unfamiliar types of launch vibration.

“We are looking into this technical compatibility but we have not asked for a commercial offer yet. We just want to make sure that it would be an option in order to make a decision on asking for a firm commercial offer,” Aschbacher said.

SpaceX did not reply to a request for comment.

The political fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already been a boon for SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which has swept up other customers severing ties with Moscow’s increasingly isolated space sector.

Satellite internet firm OneWeb, a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet venture, booked at least one Falcon 9 launch in March. It has also booked an Indian launch.

On Monday, Northrop Grumman booked three Falcon 9 missions to ferry NASA cargo to the International Space Station while it designs a new version of its Antares rocket, whose Russian-made engines were withdrawn by Moscow in response to sanctions.

Wake-up call

Europe has until now depended on the Italian Vega for small payloads, Russia’s Soyuz for medium ones and the Ariane 5 for heavy missions. Its next-generation Vega C staged a debut last month and the new Ariane 6 has been delayed until next year.

Aschbacher said a more precise Ariane 6 schedule would be clearer in October. Only then would ESA finalise a backup plan to be presented to ministers of the agency’s 22 nations in November.

“But yes, the likelihood of the need for backup launches is high,” he said. “The order of magnitude is certainly a good handful of launches that we would need interim solutions for.”

Aschbacher said the Ukraine conflict had demonstrated Europe’s decade-long cooperation strategy with Russia in gas supplies and other areas including space was no longer working.

“This was a wake-up call, that we have been too dependent on Russia. And this wake-up call, we have to hope that decision-makers realise it as much as I do, that we have to really strengthen our European capability and independence.”

However, he played down the prospect of Russia carrying out a pledge to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS).

Russia’s newly appointed space chief Yuri Borisov said in a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin last month that Russia would withdraw from the ISS “after 2024”.

But Borisov later clarified that Russia’s plans had not changed and Western officials said Russia’s space agency had not communicated any new pullout plans.

“The reality is that operationally, the work on the space station is proceeding, I would say almost nominally,” Aschbacher told Reuters. “We do depend on each other, like it or not, but we have little choice.”

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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SpaceX Launches South Korea’s First Lunar Orbiter Danuri on Falcon 9 Rocket

South Korea’s first lunar orbiter successfully launched on a year-long mission to observe the Moon, Seoul said Friday, with the payload including a new disruption-tolerant network for sending data from space.

Danuri — a portmanteau of the Korean words for “Moon” and “enjoy” — was on a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida by Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX. It aims to reach the Moon by mid-December.

“South Korea’s first lunar orbiter ‘Danuri’ left for space at 8:08am on August 5, 2022,” Seoul’s science ministry said in a tweet, sharing a video of the rocket blasting off trailing a huge column of smoke and flames.

“Danuri will be the first step towards the Moon and the farther universe,” it said, apparently referring to the country’s ambitious space programme, which includes plans for a Moon mission by 2030.

SpaceX tweeted that the launch had been a success.

“Deployment of KPLO confirmed,” it said, referring to Danuri using an acronym of its official name, the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter.

During its mission, Danuri will use six different instruments, including a highly sensitive camera provided by NASA, to conduct research, including investigating the lunar surface to identify potential landing sites.

One of the instruments will evaluate disruption-tolerant, network-based space communications, which, according to South Korea’s science ministry, is a world first.

BTS in space Danuri will also try to develop a wireless Internet environment to link satellites or exploration spacecraft, they added.

The lunar orbiter will stream K-pop sensation BTS’ song “Dynamite” to test this wireless network.

Another instrument, ShadowCam, will record images of the permanently shaded regions around the poles of the Moon where no sunlight can reach.

Scientists also hope that Danuri will find hidden sources of water and ice in areas of the Moon, including the permanently dark and cold regions near the poles.

“This is a very significant milestone in the history of Korean space exploration,” said Lee Sang-ryool, head of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, in a video shown before the launch.

“Danuri is just the beginning, and if we are more determined and committed to technology development for space travel, we will be able to reach Mars, asteroids, and so on in the near future.”

South Korean scientists say Danuri — which took seven years to build — will pave the way for the nation’s more ambitious goal of landing on the Moon by 2030.

“South Korea will become the seventh country in the world to have launched an unmanned probe to the Moon,” an official at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute told AFP.

“We hope to continue contributing to the global understanding of the Moon with what Danuri is set to find out.”

Lunar ambitions Danuri was launched by a private company — SpaceX — but South Korea recently became one of a handful of countries to successfully launch a one-tonne payload using their own rockets.

In June, the country’s homegrown three-stage rocket nicknamed Nuri — a decade in development at a cost of $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 11,864 crore) —launched successfully and put a satellite into orbit, on its second attempt after a failure last October.

That launch — coupled with Danuri’s launch Friday — helps bring South Korea ever closer to achieving its space ambitions.

In Asia, China, Japan and India all have advanced space programmes — and the South’s nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea has also demonstrated satellite launch capability.

Ballistic missiles and space rockets use similar technology and Pyongyang put a 300-kilogram (660-pound) satellite into orbit in 2012 in what Washington condemned as a disguised missile test.

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NASA’s James Webb Telescope Captures Colourful Cartwheel Galaxy: Details

The James Webb Space Telescope has peered through time and huge amounts of dust to capture a new image of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing the spinning ring of colour in unprecedented clarity, NASA and the European Space Agency said Tuesday. Located around 500 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Sculptor, the Cartwheel gained its shape during a spectacular head-on collision between two galaxies.

The impact sent two rings expanding from the galaxy’s centre, “like ripples in a pond after a stone is tossed into it”, NASA and the ESA said in a joint statement.

A smaller white ring remains closer to the galaxy’s centre, while the outer ring, with its spokes of colour, has been expanding into the universe for around 440 million years, the statement added.

As the outer ring expands it runs into gas, sparking the formation of new stars.

The Hubble telescope had previously captured images of the rare ring galaxy, which is believed to have been a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way before it was hit by a smaller intruder galaxy.

But the Webb telescope, which launched in December 2021 and revealed its first images to global fanfare last month, has a far greater reach.

Webb’s ability to detect infrared light allowed it to see through the “tremendous amount of hot dust” obscuring the view of the Cartwheel Galaxy, NASA and the ESA said.

This revealed new details about star formation in the galaxy, as well as the behaviour of the supermassive black hole at its heart, they said.

It was also able to detect regions rich in hydrocarbons and other chemicals, as well as dust that is similar to dust on Earth.

Behind the Cartwheel, two smaller galaxies shine brightly, while even more galaxies can be seen behind them.

The observations show that the Cartwheel Galaxy is still in “very transitory stage”, the space agencies said.

“While Webb gives us a snapshot of the current state of the Cartwheel, it also provides insight into what happened to this galaxy in the past and how it will evolve in the future.”

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NASA’s Juno Mission Captures Huge Storms on Jupiter’s Surface

The Juno Jupiter mission of US space agency NASA has completed its 43rd close flyby of the biggest planet of our solar system. And, in the process, it has delivered a phenomenal picture of the surface. The shot features fascinating vortices or hurricane-like spiral wind patterns forming near Jupiter’s north pole. The Juno mission flew past close to Jupiter on July 5 this year. It clicked the striking photo using its JunoCam instrument.

While the storms look enchanting in the picture, they can be quite powerful and massive with a height of 50 kilometres and spread hundreds of miles across the planet. They also hold vital information about Jupiter‘s atmosphere. Studying their formation can give scientists an insight into the fluid dynamics and cloud chemistry that create Jupiter’s other atmospheric features.

Check out the image below, posted by NASA on Twitter:

Scientists will be analysing the different shapes, colours, and sizes of the vortices seen on the planet. The difference in colour and shape is also seen in the cyclones that form on Earth. For instance, cyclones which spin counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anti-cyclones which behave the other way differ in colour and shape.

NASA has launched a citizen science project called Jovian Vortex Hunter which allows people to locate vortices in the picture and help the space agency categorise them.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft left for its five-year journey on August 5, 2011, and arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016. It took five years to reach the planet and entered the 53-day polar orbit stretching from above the planet’s cloud tops to the outer reaches of the Jovian magnetosphere.

Juno collected a trove of data during its initial 35 orbits and captured breathtaking views of Jupiter and its satellites. Now, Juno is on its extended mission and will continue to investigate Jupiter through September 2025 or until the end of its life.

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NASA’s James Webb Telescope Damaged After Being Hit By Space Rock: Report

The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope by NASA, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), has suffered massive damage from an asteroid strike in May. 

The telescope was built by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It is made up of precious technology and it carries one of the largest mirrors on a space telescope in order to observe phenomena and events in space previously inaccessible to the world. 

For the telescope to fulfil this ambition, it is required that the JWST remains operational for years to come. However, concerns are now being raised over the longevity of the project as it was revealed that an asteroid strike in May 2022 might have left the telescope in worse shape than previously understood. 

As per Forbes, a group of scientists outlined the performance of the space telescope. They reported problems that “cannot be corrected”. Writing about the projected lifetime of the Webb telescope, the researchers said, “At present, the largest source of uncertainty is long-term effects of micrometeoroid impacts that slowly degrade the primary mirror.”

Also Read | NASA’s Perseverance Rover Spots Hair Ball-Like Object On Mars

The scientists informed that since the launch, the Webb telescope has been struck by six micrometeorites. While five of the meteorites did a negligible amount of damage, a sixth caused some damage to the JWST. 

Providing more information regarding the asteroid strike, the researchers said, “The micrometeoroid which hit segment C3 in the period 22—24 May 2022 UT caused a significant uncorrectable change in the overall figure of that segment. However, the effect was small at the full telescope level because only a small portion of the telescope area was affected.” 

Notably, as the damage has taken place on one of the panels, it will not impact the Webb telescope’s image-taking abilities at all. However, as per the outlet, the engineers who designed Webb know that its mirrors and sun-shield will unavoidably slowly degrade from micrometeoroid impacts. 

Also Read | NASA, SpaceX Send Climate Research Experiments to ISS Aboard Resupply Mission

Moreover, scientists also expect Webb’s detectors to be gradually damaged by charged particles. They believe that its sun-shield and innovative five-layer insulation will degrade from space weathering. Since its mirror is exposed to space, the researchers also said that micrometeoroid strikes are difficult for Webb to avoid.

The $9.7 billion space telescope was launched on Christmas Day in 2021. Earlier this month, NASA revealed the first of many images that it captured of deep space.

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NASA, SpaceX Send Climate Research Experiments to ISS Aboard Resupply Mission

A SpaceX resupply spacecraft has left for the International Space Station (ISS) carrying science experiments that will help carry out climate science research in space. Launched on the Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Cargo Dragon spacecraft is transporting 5,800 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies, and other cargo. This is SpaceX’s 25th commercial resupply services mission to the ISS for NASA.

The SpaceX spacecraft is loaded with a number of experiments with one being the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Investigation (EMIT). It is an instrument developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA and is equipped with the space agency’s imaging spectroscopy technology. It will help study the mineral composition of dust in Earth‘s arid regions.

The mineral dust, once blown into the air, can reach the farthest corners of Earth and affect the climate, vegetation, weather, and more. EMIT will gather images for a year and create maps of the mineral composition of the regions that produce dust on Earth. While dust particles that carry dark minerals can warm up a region by absorbing sunlight, light-coloured mineral dust can lower the temperature in an area.

In addition, blowing dust also has an impact on the air quality and surface conditions like the rate of melting of snow, and the health of phytoplankton in the ocean. The mapping by EMIT will help researchers gain a better understanding of the effects of mineral dust on the human populations today and in the future as well.

Researchers will also conduct an Immunosenescence investigation aboard the International Space Station to study the effects of microgravity on the immune system. It is believed that microgravity results in changes in the human immune cells. Researchers will use tissue chips to examine how microgravity impacts the immune response during flight and if they recover after the flight.

The other experiment, Dynamics of Microbiomes in Space, will study the effects of microgravity on metabolic interactions. It will also observe the Earth’s climate and weather systems. The spacecraft is also carrying the Genes in Space-9 experiment which could help in providing portable, simple, and low-cost tools for medical diagnostics.

The Biopolymer Research for In-Situ Capabilities experiment, meanwhile, will probe how microgravity can affect the process of creating concrete alternatives using organic materials or on-site materials.

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