TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
Oct 11, 2023
NGC 1097: Spiral Galaxy with Supernova
What's happening in the lower arm of this spiral galaxy? A supernova. Last month, supernova SN 2023rve was discovered with UAE's Al-Khatim Observatory and later found to be consistent with the death explosion of a massive star, possibly leaving behind a black hole. Spiral galaxy NGC 1097 is a relatively close 45 million light years away and visible with a small telescope toward the southern constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). The galaxy is notable not only for its picturesque spiral arms, but also for faint jets consistent with ancient star streams left over from a galactic collision possibly with the small galaxy seen between its arms on the lower left. The featured image highlights the new supernova by blinking between two exposures taken several months apart. Finding supernovas in nearby galaxies can be important in determining the scale and expansion rate of our entire universe a topic currently of unexpected tension and much debate.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
Revealing the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample
The first asteroid sample collected in space by a U.S. spacecraft and brought to Earth is unveiled to the world at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 8:00am.
The science team from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission will provide results from an initial analysis of the sample, which landed on Sunday, Sept. 24, in the Utah desert. News conference participants include:
• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
• Lori Glaze, NASA Planetary Directorate Science Division Director
• Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, University of Arizona, Tucson
• Francis McCubbin, OSIRIS-REx Head Astromaterials curator, NASA Johnson
• Daniel Glavin, OSIRIS-REx sample analysis lead, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt
Scientists worldwide will study the bits of asteroid to gather clues about the origin of the solar system and how life may have begun on Earth.
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFvIuSpACQA
More eyes in the sky: NRO building new satellites to deliver ‘10 times more signals and images’
OCT 10, 2023
The National Reconnaissance Office is on track to dramatically increase the number of spy satellites it relies upon to collect intelligence, the agency’s deputy director Maj. Gen. Christopher Povak said Oct. 10.
Speaking at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Povak offered further insight into the agency’s plan to grow its constellations of satellites for imaging, signals intelligence and reconnaissance.
The NRO, an intelligence and defense agency, builds and operates an unknown number of classified satellites that collect intelligence for U.S. policymakers, military commands and other organizations. The director of the NRO Christopher Scolese earlier this year revealed the agency set a goal to quadruple the number of satellites it operates over the next decade and move to a more “proliferated architecture” of different size satellites in more orbits.
Povak on Tuesday said these new satellites “will deliver over 10 times as many signals and images as we’re collecting today.”
“The proliferation and diversification of our architecture will provide increased coverage, greater capacity and resilience and more timely delivery of data,” he said. The diversity of assets will make it more difficult for adversaries to harm the U.S. intelligence infrastructure, Povak added.
'Responding to competitors'
The NRO is increasingly relying on commercial imaging satellites but is also building more of its own assets in space partly in response to the growing capabilities of rival nations, he said.
“Competitors across the globe are posing unprecedented challenges and eroding our technology advantage at a rapid pace,” Povak said.
“China in particular is closing a technology gap,” he added. “They’re investing significant money, manpower and resources to challenge America’s dominance in space, developing increasingly capable military space systems, a troubling array of sophisticated and lethal weapon systems, all enabled by space, and a growing arsenal of anti-satellite capabilities.”
China and Russia are developing ground and space-based weapons specifically designed to interfere with or destroy U.S. systems, he said. These weapons include ground-based missiles, electronic jammers and cyber attacks.
“We’re answering these challenges by advancing the capabilities we put in space and on the ground,” said Povak.
The new satellites the NRO expects to deploy over the next decade, he said, “will create more persistent coverage over any area of the Earth, provide faster revisit rates and increase the accuracy and fidelity of our data.”
“Our investments will increase the survivability and strength of our systems by shoring up single points of failure, addressing vulnerabilities on the ground, in the cyber domain and on orbit,” Povak said.
The NRO also is buying small satellites for experiments to “rapidly assess new technologies in the space environment and test new concepts of operations on orbit,” Povak said. “This ‘pathfinder’ strategy is already reducing our timelines for deploying future operational systems.”
‘Responsive space’
Povak said the NRO is watching U.S. Space Force efforts to speed up the timeline to launch space missions, under a program known as responsive space.
“Responsive space to us means that we want to be able to be prepared to launch a payload as soon as that payload is ready,” he said.
It also means having access to multiple launch providers and launch sites to deploy a diversity of spacecraft ranging from the traditional schoolbus-size satellites so smaller platforms built with commercial satellites buses “that we can integrate new payloads on.”
To be able to meet the goal of quadrupling the number of satellites, the NRO is shrinking the production cycle, said Povak. “Instead of taking six to eight years to create one specific satellite, we’re now producing multiple satellites every year.”
https://spacenews.com/more-eyes-in-the-sky-nro-building-new-satellites-to-deliver-10-times-more-signals-and-images/
NASA’s Webb Captures an Ethereal View of NGC 346
OCT 10, 2023
Filaments of dust and gas festoon this star-forming region in a new infrared image from MIRI.
One of the greatest strengths of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is its ability to give astronomers detailed views of areas where new stars are being born. The latest example, showcased here in a new image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), is NGC 346 – the brightest and largest star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud.
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, visible to the unaided eye in the southern constellation Tucana. This small companion galaxy is more primeval than the Milky Way in that it possesses fewer heavy elements, which are forged in stars through nuclear fusion and supernova explosions, compared to our own galaxy.
Since cosmic dust is formed from heavy elements like silicon and oxygen, scientists expected the SMC to lack significant amounts of dust. However the new MIRI image, as well as a previous image of NGC 346 from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera released in January, show ample dust within this region.
In this representative-color image, blue tendrils trace emission from material that includes dusty silicates and sooty chemical molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. More diffuse red emission shines from warm dust heated by the brightest and most massive stars in the heart of the region. An arc at the center left may be a reflection of light from the star near the arc’s center. (Similar, fainter arcs appear associated with stars at lower left and upper right.) Lastly, bright patches and filaments mark areas with abundant numbers of protostars. The research team looked for the reddest stars, and found 1,001 pinpoint sources of light, most of them young stars still embedded in their dusty cocoons.
By combining Webb data in both the near-infrared and mid-infrared, astronomers are able to take a fuller census of the stars and protostars within this dynamic region. The results have implications for our understanding of galaxies that existed billions of years ago, during an era in the universe known as “cosmic noon,” when star formation was at its peak and heavy element concentrations were lower, as seen in the SMC.The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory.
https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasas-webb-captures-an-ethereal-view-of-ngc-346/
RAIDER X: Delivering Mission-Critical Capabilities at the Front of the Fight
Oct 11, 2023
Nearly a decade ago, the U.S. Army retired its last helicopter designed specifically for the attack reconnaissance mission – the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior. Since then, a combination of AH-64 Apache helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have filled in, performing the attack reconnaissance mission the best they could.
But near-peer threats demand next-generation aircraft specially designed to stay ahead of the fight through continuous evolution. Unlike the Kiowa Warrior, the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), Army Aviation’s top modernization priority, is a Division, Corps and Joint Forces - level strategic asset operating deep in the battlespace. And, it’s the only reconnaissance platform that delivers deep reach providing a level of survivability never before obtained in Army Aviation.
Flying low and fast to stay hidden below the tree line, RAIDER X will deliver crucial intelligence and keep forces connected through a secure mesh network. Built to find, fix and finish anti-access / anti-denial (A2AD) and enemy forces, RAIDER X operates in contested environments at the front of the fight. It’s a sophisticated sensor, a central network hub and a powerful armed reconnaissance helicopter all in one.
https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/fara-raider-x.html?linkId=100000221844688
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQJLluEQ_mE