NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Feb 17, 2024

Meteor over the Bay of Naples

A cosmic dust grain plowing through the upper atmosphere much faster than a falling leaf created this brilliant meteor streak. In a serendipitous moment, the sublime night sky view was captured from the resort island of Capri, in the Bay of Naples, on the evening of February 8. Looking across the bay, the camera faces northeast toward the lights of Naples and surrounding cities. Pointing toward the horizon, the meteor streak by chance ends above the silhouette of Mount Vesuvius. One of planet Earth's most famous volcanos, an eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii in 79 AD.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?

NASA has more than twice the asteroid Bennu samples it could have hoped for from OSIRIS-REx probe

Feb 17, 2024

We now know exactly how much material OSIRIS-REx captured from its target asteroid Bennu — and, it's a lot.

In addition to the 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) of sample already collected from the outside of the canister, NASA has finally managed to fully open OSIRIS-REx's sample container to find another 1.81 ounces (51.2 grams) of asteroid Bennu within. In all, the probe collected more than twice what scientists had hoped for.

OSIRIS-REx completed its asteroid sample return mission when the probe parachuted a tightly-sealed container back to Earth on Sep. 24 before embarking on a secondary mission dubbed OSIRIS-APEX, named for its next space rock target, the asteroid Apophis.

With this container came the first pieces of an asteroid NASA has ever captured and returned for further study. The mission launched in 2016, and the safe recovery of the capsule last year was the ceremonious end to an epic seven-year journey through space. However, once NASA technicians got a hold of the sample container, they stumbled upon some complications — it was too difficult to open.

OSIRIS-REx's original mission goal was to collect up to 2.12 ounces (60 grams) of material, which was actually met with even just bits of Bennu spotted across the container's exterior. However, the team knew there had to be much more inside.

So, in order to access the entirety of the Bennu sample, NASA teams started designing a new tool to open the sealed container.

To talk specifics, the container was actually secured inside a larger enclosure, built for protection during the probe's arduous journey. As OSIRIS-REx collected its asteroid samples in space, a portion of the material wound up inside this protective enclosure but outside the designated sample container, gifting scientists some of the Bennu sample before the main canister was unlocked.

Far exceeding their expectations, mission operators managed to collect 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) before ever opening the inaccessible part of the OSIRIS-REx return capsule. Still, scientists and space enthusiasts everywhere remained waiting to see what OSIRIS-REx's grand sample total would be. And now, the new tool having been derived, scientists have access to all of the probe's asteroid sample, and the results are in.

Combined with the samples already collected, OSIRIS-REx returned a total of 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from asteroid Bennu — that's more than double the mission's goal and the largest asteroid sample ever collected, according to a recent NASA release. For comparison, the Japanese Aerospace Agency's Hayabusa2 mission only brought back about 0.18 ounces (5 grams) of material from its asteroid target, Ryugu, in Dec. 2020.

Examination of the samples has already begun, and scientists are finding "a whole realm of material" previously inaccessible using samples collected from meteorites, according to Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx. Bennu is believed to be a remnant of the early solar system, and scientists think studying these samples could help unravel some mysteries of early planetary development.

About a quarter of the Bennu sample will remain with researchers on the OSIRIS-REx research team. NASA also plans to preserve at least 70 percent of the sample for study by scientists worldwide, as well as for future generations of researchers.

https://www.space.com/nasa-osiris-rex-asteroid-sample-total-weight

Martians Wanted: NASA Opens Call for Simulated Yearlong Mars Mission

FEB 16, 2024

NASA is seeking applicants to participate in its next simulated one-year Mars surface mission to help inform the agency’s plans for human exploration of the Red Planet. The second of three planned ground-based missions called CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) is scheduled to kick off in spring 2025.

Each CHAPEA mission involves a four-person volunteer crew living and working inside a 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The habitat, called the Mars Dune Alpha, simulates the challenges of a mission on Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, and other environmental stressors. Crew tasks include simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, exercise, and crop growth.

NASA is looking for healthy, motivated U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are non-smokers, 30-55 years old, and proficient in English for effective communication between crewmates and mission control. Applicants should have a strong desire for unique, rewarding adventures and interest in contributing to NASA’s work to prepare for the first human journey to Mars.

The deadline for applicants is Tuesday, April 2.

Crew selection will follow additional standard NASA criteria for astronaut candidate applicants. A master’s degree in a STEM field such as engineering, mathematics, or biological, physical or computer science from an accredited institution with at least two years of professional STEM experience or a minimum of one thousand hours piloting an aircraft is required. Candidates who have completed two years of work toward a doctoral program in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, completed a medical degree, or a test pilot program will also be considered. With four years of professional experience, applicants who have completed military officer training or a bachelor of science degree in a STEM field may be considered.

Compensation for participating in the mission is available. More information will be provided during the candidate screening process.

As NASA works to establish a long-term presence for scientific discovery and exploration on the Moon through the Artemis campaign, CHAPEA missions provide important scientific data to validate systems and develop solutions for future missions to the Red Planet. With the first CHAPEA crew more than halfway through their yearlong mission, NASA is using research gained through the simulated missions to help inform crew health and performance support during Mars expeditions.

Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/martians-wanted-nasa-opens-call-for-simulated-yearlong-mars-mission/

NASA Experiment With Fire in Space Ends When Entire Spacecraft Burns Up

Feb 16, 2024

NASA has officially bid adieu to its Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment (Saffire), fittingly having the last one burn up in the Earth's atmosphere following six successful missions involving controlled fires in orbit.

The agency's sixth and final experiment dubbed Saffire-VI traveled to the International Space Station in August, safely tucked inside an uncrewed Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft.

Last month, the capsule burned up while reentering the atmosphere, putting an end to a series of experiments that have provided invaluable insights into how fire behaves in space and how to enhance the safety of future space exploration missions.

The first Saffire mission took place in 2016, with scientists lighting a sample of a cotton-fiberglass blend inside a roughly three-by-four-foot enclosure, dwarfing the previously largest fire experiment in space, which was roughly the size of an index card, per NASA.

The mission, as well as the five subsequent experiments, were designed to probe important questions when it comes to crew safety.

"How big a fire does it take for things to get bad for a crew?" said Saffire principal investigator David Urban in a NASA statement. "This kind of work is done for every other inhabited structure here on Earth — buildings, planes, trains, automobiles, mines, submarines, ships — but we hadn’t done this research for spacecraft until Saffire."

For Saffire-VI, scientists cranked up the concentration of oxygen and lowered the pressure compared to previous experiments.

In other words, NASA really let it rip for its grand finale.

Over 19 different runs, scientists ignited a roaring flame on a number of materials, including plexiglass, cotton, a flame-resistant fiber called Nomex, and other fabrics, specially designed to resist fire.

Thanks to cameras inside the container, scientists watched as the flames roared, gathering crucial data in the process.

"You’ve got a heat release rate and a rate of release of combustion products," said project manager Gary Ruff in the statement. "You can take those as model input and predict what will happen in a vehicle."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, fire in space habitats is really bad news. In 1997, the six crew members on board Russia's Mir space station were shocked to discover a fire that ignited in an oxygen-generating system. The flame burned bright for several minutes, filling the station with smoke.

Fortunately, crew members acted quickly enough and managed to extinguish the flames.

We've come a long way since then, in large part thanks to NASA's Saffire experiments.

In September, two fearless astronauts on board China's Tiangong space station even lit a candle with a match during a live broadcast, a symbolic vote of confidence in our ability to control fire and create safe environments in space.

https://futurism.com/nasa-fire-experiment-ends

Japan's new H3 rocket reaches orbit for 1st time

Feb 16, 2024

The second time was the charm for Japan's new H3 rocket.

The H3 reached orbit and successfully deployed a satellite this evening (Feb. 16), rebounding from a failure on its debut flight last year and getting back on track to becoming Japan's workhorse rocket of the future.

"I was so moved!" a commentator said during a webcast of today's launch provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). "The story of H3 will begin from today." (The original comments were in Japanese; JAXA provided an English translation in real time.)

JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been developing the H3 for the past decade. The expendable, medium-lift rocket will take the reins from the nation's venerable H-2A, which has been flying since 2001 and is set to retire later this year.

The two-stage H3 stands either 187 feet or 207 feet (57 or 63 meters) tall, depending on the choice of payload fairing. The first stage is powered by either two or three liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen LE-9 engines, which were newly developed for the H3. The upper stage features a single LE-5B-3, an advanced variant of the upper-stage engine on Japan's H-1 and H-2 vehicles.

The H3 can be outfitted with two or four solid rocket boosters to increase its thrust. In its burliest configuration, the new rocket can haul more than 7.2 tons (6.5 metric tons) of payload to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), according to its JAXA spec sheet. The H-2A, by comparison, can deliver about 4.4 tons (4 metric tons) to GTO. The H3 will also be significantly cheaper to build and operate than its predecessor, according to JAXA officials.

The H3's debut was originally targeted for 2020, but the timeline slipped substantially, partly due to difficulties in the development of the LE-9. The new rocket finally launched for the first time on March 6, 2023, on a mission that aimed to send the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-3 (ALOS-3), also known as DAICHI-3, to orbit.

Things did not go well that day, however. The H3's second-stage engine failed to ignite due to an electrical issue, and the satellite was lost.

It took nearly a year for the H3 to get off the ground again. The rocket lifted off from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center today at 7:22 p.m. EST (0022 GMT and 9:22 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Feb. 17).

H3 carried two small Earth-observation satellites, called CE-SAT-IE and TIRSAT, on its mission today. The main payload, however, was a 5,900-pound (2,600 kilograms) mass simulator, which stood in for a big-ticket spacecraft.

"The primary purpose of this mission is to evaluate the performance of the H3 rocket and its payload deployment mechanism," EverydayAstronaut.com wrote in a mission description.

The early stages of the launch went entirely according to plan; the H3 notched all of its required milestones on time — most notably, considering what happened last March, the ignition of its upper-stage engine a little more than five minutes after liftoff.

The upper stage reached orbit, then deployed CE-SAT-IE about 17 minutes after liftoff — again, right on schedule. The success elicited applause and high-fives from team members in mission control.

TIRSAT and the payload simulator will be deployed later in the flight, but we'll have to wait to hear how those events went; JAXA ended the webcast shortly after CE-SAT-IE's separation. The agency will hold a press conference later to discuss the flight, commentators said during today's launch.

Their enthusiasm, and that of the folks in mission control, suggests that JAXA will regard today's mission as a success no matter what happens with those other two payloads. The H3 has successfully deployed a satellite, after all, so it has earned its wings.

https://www.space.com/japan-h3-rocket-reaches-orbit-first-time

India launches INSAT-3DS meteorological satellite with GSLV rocket

February 17, 2024

India successfully launched a new generation meteorological satellite early Saturday.

The 51.7-meter-long, three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) lifted off at 7:05 a.m. Eastern Feb. 17 (1205 UTC; 5:35 p.m. local) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The INSAT-3DS meteorological satellite separated from the launcher around 19 minutes later. The satellite entered geosynchronous transfer orbit and subsequent orbit-raising maneuvers will take the satellites to 74 degrees East in the geostationary belt, 35,786 kilometers above the equator.

“I’m very happy to announce the successful accomplishment of the mission GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS,” said S Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in remarks after the launch. “The spacecraft has been injected into a very good orbit.”

“Let me congratulate the teams who built the payloads, the satellite and also the launch vehicle for this acceleration this year,” S Somanath added.

Tomy Joseph, mission director, said that the GSLV rocket, dubbed “Naughty Boy” in reference to six of 15 of its previous launches ending in failure or partial failure, has now become “a very obedient and disciplined boy.”

INSAT-3DS is the sixth in the INSAT series and had a mass at liftoff of 2,274 kilograms. INSAT-3DS carries four payloads: a six-channel multispectral imager, a 19 channel sounder payload, Data Relay Transponder (DRT) and Satellite Aided Search & Rescue transponder (SAS&R). The mission is funded by India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). The satellite is expected to operate until at least 2030.

Mission objectives encompass monitoring Earth’s surface and oceans across meteorological spectral channels, providing vertical atmospheric profiles of meteorological parameters, collecting and disseminating data from Data Collection Platforms (DCPs), and offering Satellite Aided Search and Rescue services, according to ISRO.

These goals aim to enhance understanding of environmental dynamics, improve weather forecasting, ensure efficient data usage, and support emergency response efforts through advanced satellite technology.

The launch of INSAT-3DS was India’s second of 2024, following the launch of the XPoSat X-ray astronomy satellite Jan. 1 (UTC).

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) announced earlier that month that the country is aiming to conduct 30 launches across a 15-month period. India’s busiest year for launch so far was eight launches conducted across 2023.

Among the key tasks of the year will be a series of test flights for its Gaganyaan human spaceflight program. ISRO launched an uncrewed capsule on a suborbital flight to test its launch abort system in October last year.

The agency will also launch the European Space Agency’s Proba 3 dual coronagraph and occulter technology demonstration spacecraft late in the year.

ISRO announced Feb. 16 that its Cartosat-2 high-resolution imaging satellite had reentered Earth’s atmosphere Feb. 14. ISRO said it had lowered the satellite’s orbit from 635 km to 380 km by early 2020 to underscore the agency’s commitment to sustainable space exploration.

https://spacenews.com/india-launches-insat-3ds-meteorological-satellite-with-gslv-rocket/

Viasat completes first broadband upgrade on military sealift fleet

February 16, 2024

Viasat announced it completed the first satellite broadband upgrade on board a Military Sealift Command ship, and expects to update 105 vessels over the next year. The work is part of a $578 million contract that Inmarsat won in 2022 before it was acquired by rival satellite operator Viasat.

The U.S. Navy’s sealift organization, responsible for providing ocean transportation to the Department of Defense, operates a fleet of approximately 125 civilian-crewed ships that replenish Navy vessels at sea, transporting military equipment and personnel, and strategically positioning cargo around the world.

Viasat is revamping the ships’ satellite network from Ku-band to the company’s Global Xpress Ka-band and the ELERA L-band systems.

Steve Gizinski, managing director of Viasat Government Services, said the company is providing a fully managed service to the Military Sealift Command. It relies on Ka band as the principal broadband connection, backed up by L band service in areas where Ka band signals might not be available.

Gizinski previously ran Inmarsat Government Services, which is now Viasat Government Services, based in Reston, Virginia.

The Military Sealift Command needs reliable coverage and high data rates for ships around the world, he said. “In places where perhaps in the past they did not have Ku-band coverage, they were forced to be on L-band. Now, no matter where they go, they have Ka-band access,” Gizinski told SpaceNews.

The upgraded broadband requires two terminals, a Ka-band that Viasat is acquiring from Cobham, and an L-band terminal built internally by Viasat.

The MSC contract, worth $578 million over 10 years, was awarded in 2022 to Inmarsat Government to upgrade broadband on ships, maintain and operate the command’s communications infrastructure, teleports and terrestrial services.

https://spacenews.com/viasat-completes-first-broadband-upgrade-on-military-sealift-fleet/

Lockheed Martin ramping up small satellite production

February 16, 2024

Lockheed Martin is experiencing a growth spurt in an unexpected corner of its business: small satellites. While traditionally known for its expertise in GPS and giant geostationary (GEO) satellites, the company has quietly built a backlog of 100 smallsats on order from Department of Defense and intelligence customers.

“This is probably a different picture than many of you may have in our minds” about what the company does, Johnathon Caldwell, head of Lockheed Martin’s military space business, told a military conference Feb. 14.

Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Warfare Conference in Aurora, Colorado, Caldwell said a greater focus on small satellites began with the company’s pursuit of Space Development Agency contracts. SDA is building a proliferated mesh network of satellites in low Earth orbit for the Defense Department, and unlike traditional cost-plus defense programs, the agency demands fixed-price bids from satellite manufacturers.

Lockheed Martin last year opened a new smallsat assembly facility near Denver, Colorado, with capacity to manufacture 180 spacecraft per year. Most of Lockheed’s smallsats are made with buses from Terran Orbital.

Caldwell said the smallsat business has to operate with the mentality of a startup. Taking advantage of the new production line, the company is funding its own space missions to demonstrate technologies that it believes the government will want to buy.

In 2022 it launched a satellite-servicing demonstration mission and most recently in December an antenna experiment that ended up in the wrong orbit.

The next experiment, called Pony Express 2, is scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s upcoming Transporter 10 smallsat rideshare. Two Terran Orbital Renegade-class cubesats will attempt to form a Ka-band mesh network in space.

“They will demonstrate a handful of interesting new technologies that we’ve been investing in through our venture fund,” said Caldwell.

These include open standards mesh networking and autonomous tasking of satellites. He said the company will allow military units to use the satellites in wargames and exercises.

https://spacenews.com/lockheed-martin-ramping-up-small-satellite-production/

Post-SCIF Burlison says Intel Chair overreacting but agrees on declassification

FEB 14, 2024

Who?

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO)

Ask a Pol asks:

What do you make of House Intel Chair Mike Turner’s warning?

Key Burlison:

“Well, I went to the SCIF and got a briefing on it. I’m concerned, but the only thing I can say is the level of my concern — is what I was told — so I will put it this way: I left, when I was in there and signing the what would happen to you if you [disclosed], you know, the punishment, the penalties… signing that, I came to the conclusion, I'm more afraid of this than I am of what I read about.”

Caught our ear:

“We did have Lue Elizondo today… He was in town for the Conservative Opportunity Society breakfast with [Rep.] Ralph Norman (R-SC)…It was really good,” Burlison exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “Those guys, from what they presented — of course, this is not in a secure setting, they're not under oath — but what they presented is very similar to what David Grusch was presenting.”

BONUS INTRIGUE:

“I'm working on it. Right now, I've got something up my sleeve. I don't want to talk. I’ll keep you informed, because I got a big thing that I'm gonna announce.”

https://www.askapol.com/p/post-scif-burlison-says-intel-chair