NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 8, 2024

Visualization: A Black Hole Accretion Disk

What would it look like to circle a black hole? If the black hole was surrounded by a swirling disk of glowing and accreting gas, then the great gravity of the black hole would deflect light emitted by the disk to make it look very unusual. The featured animated video gives a visualization. The video starts with you, the observer, looking toward the black hole from just above the plane of the accretion disk. Surrounding the central black hole is a thin circular image of the orbiting disk that marks the position of the photon sphere inside of which lies the black hole's event horizon. Toward the left, parts of the large main image of the disk appear brighter as they move toward you. As the video continues, you loop over the black hole, soon looking down from the top, then passing through the disk plane on the far side, then returning to your original vantage point. The accretion disk does some interesting image inversions but never appears flat. Visualizations such as this are particularly relevant today as black holes are being imaged in unprecedented detail by the Event Horizon Telescope.

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

New Proposals to Help NASA Advance Knowledge of Our Changing Climate

MAY 07, 2024

NASA has selected four proposals for concept studies of missions to help us better understand Earth science key focus areas for the benefit of all including greenhouse gases, the ozone layer, ocean surface currents, and changes in ice and glaciers around the world.

These four investigations are part of the agency’s new Earth System Explorers Program – which conducts principal investigator-led space science missions as recommended by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2017 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space. The program is designed to enable high-quality Earth system science investigations to focus on previously identified key targets. For this set of missions, NASA is prioritizing greenhouse gases as one of its target observables.

“The proposals represent another example of NASA’s holistic approach to studying our home planet,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “As we continue to confront our changing climate, and its impacts on humans and our environment, the need for data and scientific research could not be greater. These proposals will help us better prepare for the challenges we face today, and tomorrow.”

As the first step of a two-step selection process, each of these proposals will receive $5 million to conduct a one-year mission concept study. After the study period, NASA will choose two proposals to go forward to launch with readiness dates expected in 2030 and 2032. The total mission cost cap is $310 million for each chosen investigation, excluding the rocket and access to space, which will be provided by NASA.

Most of what we know about our changing planet is rooted in more than 60 years of NASA’s Earth observations. NASA currently has more than two dozen Earth-observing satellites and instruments in orbit. The missions ultimately selected from this set of proposals will make their own unique contributions to this great Earth observatory – which works together to provide layers of complementary information on Earth’s oceans, land, ice, and atmosphere.

The four proposals selected for concept studies are:

The Stratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-Resolved Light Explorer (STRIVE)

This mission would provide daily, near-global, high-resolution measurements of temperature, a variety of atmospheric elements, and aerosol properties from the upper troposphere to the mesosphere – at a much higher spatial density than any previous mission. It would also measure vertical profiles of ozone and trace gasses needed to monitor and understand the recovery of the ozone layer – another identified NASA Earth sciences target. The proposal is led by Lyatt Jaegle at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The Ocean Dynamics and Surface Exchange with the Atmosphere (ODYSEA)

This satellite would simultaneously measure ocean surface currents and winds to improve our understanding of air-sea interactions and surface current processes that impact weather, climate, marine ecosystems, and human wellbeing. It aims to provide updated ocean wind data in less than three hours and ocean current data in less than six hours. The proposal is led by Sarah Gille at the University of California in San Diego.

Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE)

This mission would observe the three-dimensional structure of terrestrial ecosystems and the surface topography of glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice as they are changing in response to climate and human activity. The mission would provide a continuation of such measurements that are currently measured from space by ICESat-2 and GEDI (Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation). The proposal is led by Helen Amanda Fricker at the University of California in San Diego.

The Carbon Investigation (Carbon-I)

This investigation would enable simultaneous, multi-species measurements of critical greenhouse gases and potential quantification of ethane – which could help study processes that drive natural and anthropogenic emissions. The mission would provide unprecedented spatial resolution and global coverage that would help us better understand the carbon cycle and the global methane budget. The proposal is led by Christian Frankenberg at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/new-proposals-to-help-nasa-advance-knowledge-of-our-changing-climate/

Private lunar lander to carry 'memory disk' of 275 human languages to the moon in 2024

May 8, 2024

Many of us remember building time capsules to preserve memories from our lives on the ground. Now, on a bigger scale, humanity's languages and culture will get their own safeguards on a mission to the moon.

ispace, a Japanese lunar exploration company that's working to put more human presence in space, has teamed up with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to take an important part of our humanity and preserve it on the moon during its upcoming Hakuto-R Mission 2, which will send a robotic lander to the lunar surface.

The mission will be to deliver to the lunar surface a "memory disk" developed by UNESCO containing 275 languages and other cultural artifacts. This would be an effort to keep a piece of our humanity alive in case there's ever a future threat to humankind's existence on Earth.

The languages will be part of the UNESCO Constitution's Preamble that shares the "importance of preserving world unity, linguistic diversity, and cultures." ispace will put the memory disk aboard its Resilience lunar lander, part of its Hakuto-R Mission 2, and send it to the moon sometime late in 2024, if current timelines hold.

"Maintaining linguistic diversity and preserving culture are significant aspects of UNESCO's mandate. We are very honored to announce that ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 2 will contribute to realize UNESCO's lunar mission to benefit the world," Julien Lamamy, CEO of ispace-Europe, said in a statement.

"We continue to progress on Hakuto-R Mission 2, with the recent lander and rover development achievements that put us on a timeline for a winter 2024 launch carrying UNESCO's payload," Lamamy continuted.

ispace's first lunar lander, Hakuto-R, launched on the company's Mission 1 in December 2022. When the lander attempted its historic landing attempt on April 25, 2023, its onboard computer calculated an incorrect altitude measurement that caused the spacecraft to crash.

The company's second mission, Hakuto-R Mission 2, is scheduled to launch sometime in winter 2024 and will include a micro moon rover.

ispace is already developing its Mission 3, which is scheduled for launch in 2026 and will include NASA-built scientific payloads to be included as part of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS). That mission will send the company's Apex 1.0 lunar lander to the moon, a larger spacecraft with a projected payload capacity of 1,100 pounds (500 kg).

https://www.space.com/moon-lander-ispace-hakuto-r-memory-disk-human-languages-unesco

>>20837506

Sun explodes in a flurry of powerful solar flares from hyperactive sunspots (video)

May 8, 2024

The most active sunspot of Solar Cycle 25, AR3663, has done it again! Launching yet another X-class solar flare as it approaches the sun's western limb. And it's not alone; its sunspot 'cousin' AR3664 also unleashed an X-flare and several M-class solar flares. The pair of sunspots don't look like stopping anytime soon.

The two most recent solar flares erupted from AR3663 and AR3664, respectively. The first occurred at 9:42 p.m. EDT on May 7 (0142 GMT on May 8) and the second just a few hours later at 1:08 a.m. EDT (0508 GMT) this morning (May 8) according to spaceweatherlive.com.

It's hard to keep up with these hyperactive sunspots. Since May 3, AR3663 has spawned five X-class solar flares and over 20 M-flares, far more than any other sunspot in the past seven years according to spaceweather.com.

Meanwhile, AR3664 has more than doubled in size in just 48 hours, becoming one of the largest sunspots seen this solar cycle.

Massive sunspot region 3664 grows and becomes more complex over past two days in this footage courtesy of https://t.co/LZr8ncHIgv See our follow-up post about what this means for solar flare probabilities over the next few days and visit https://t.co/9n7phHb5ok for the latest! pic.twitter.com/lcW621YqX1May 7, 2024

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued an increased solar flare risk warning due to the continued growth of sunspot AR6634, which has advanced in both size and complexity.

"Region 3664 has grown considerably and has become much more magnetically complex," NOAA's SWPC reports. "This has led to increased solar flare probabilities over the next several days."

While AR3663 will be disappearing behind the sun's western limb by the end of the week, developing behemoth sunspot AR3664 poses a greater threat for X-flares as it becomes more magnetically complex, according to Spaceweather.com.

"Among the sunspot's dark cores, magnetic poles of opposite polarity are bumping together in explosive proximity," Spaceweather.com reports.

And it looks like it's living up to its reputation as an emerging X-flare player, with the recent X-flare eruption this morning.

"Sunspot region AR3664 has been strangely silent from a flare point of view although it is an angry looking region." Solar Physicist Keith Strong posted on X. "Just a couple of hours ago it awoke, producing an X1 flare, the second of the day. It is a sprawling sunspot group in the SW".

TWO REGIONS PRODUCING X FLARES - PART 2: Sunspot region AR3664 has been strangely silent from a flare point of view although it is an angry looking region. Just a couple of hours ago it awoke, producing an X1 flare, the second of the day. It is a sprawling sunspot group in the SW pic.twitter.com/AQ7beSLCGRMay 8, 2024

According to space weather and aurora website SolarHam's post on X. The recent X-flare from AR3664 was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME), a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field from the sun, which is predicted to pass Earth within the next 48 to 72 hours. Even a glancing blow from this CME could trigger a geomagnetic storm so aurora watchers be on the lookout!

Geomagnetic storms, also known as solar storms, are disturbances to Earth's magnetic field caused by CMEs. When energized particles from the sun slam into Earth's atmosphere, our planet's magnetic field funnels them toward the poles. The supercharging of molecules in Earth's atmosphere triggers the colorful spectacles, which usually remain limited to areas at high latitudes for the aurora borealis (northern lights) and low latitudes for the aurora australis (southern lights).

Scientists are keeping a watchful eye on both of these hyperactive sunspots as their flaring activity doesn't look like slowing down anytime soon. At the time of writing, AR3664 released another powerful M-class solar flare measuring M.69 during the peak at 08:04 a.m. EDT (1204 GMT). It's a hard job keeping track of all these powerful solar flares! The sun has definitely woken up as we approach solar maximum, the most active period during the sun's approximately 11-year solar cycle.

https://www.space.com/solar-flare-eruptions-hyperactive-sunspot-may-2024-x-flares-video

SpaceX Starlink Launches

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, May 8 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 2:10 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 2:42 p.m. ET. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Thursday, May 9 starting at 10:16 a.m. ET.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the third flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-8 and a Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-6-56

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, May 8 for a Falcon 9 launch of 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:48 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 10:30 p.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Thursday, May 9 starting at 7:48 p.m. PT.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the fourth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched USSF-62, and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-8-2

Report recommends major expansion of Florida seaport to support space industry

May 7, 2024

A new study recommends investing more than $2 billion in a major expansion of a port adjacent to Cape Canaveral to meet the growing needs of launch companies there.

The study, released May 2 by Space Florida, found that current facilities at Port Canaveral are insufficient to serve SpaceX and other companies that will use the port, just south of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, for recovering launch vehicles and spacecraft, calling for both near-term and long-term expansion of port facilities.

SpaceX currently uses the port for its droneships and other vessels used to recovering boosters, payload fairings and Dragon spacecraft, while United Launch Alliance uses the port for delivering launch vehicles manufactured at its Alabama factory. Other launch companies, like Blue Origin and Relativity Space, are expected to set up operations at the port in the next few years as they introduce their own reusable launch vehicles that will land on ships.

Those companies have to compete with other users of Port Canaveral. The port has become a major hub for cruise ships, while the U.S. Navy uses part of the port for submarines.

“While Port Canaveral supports the commercial space industry, existing infrastructure does not have capacity to meet the demands of the expected exponential growth in the space transportation industry,” the report concluded, calling it “a pivotal growth constraint.”

The projections for exponential growth came from estimates provided by launch companies. Those projections in the report went from 197 “recovery/launch operations” involving ships in 2028 to 1,252 in 2073. The report assumed each of those operations would involve four vessels, from droneships to tugboats.

The report recommended both near-term and long-term upgrades to Port Canaveral. In the near term, defined as the next 5 to 10 years, it called for improving part of the port called the Middle Turning Basin, dredging it and building a new wharf to accommodate additional vessels. That would cost an estimated $220 million.

The long-term proposal foresees a major expansion of that basin to the north, running parallel to the Banana River, adding a large amount of additional wharf space for support vessels. That expansion, which includes rerouting roads and other infrastructure, would cost $1.9 billion over 10 to 50 years.

Financing that development, the report concluded, would require some degree of government funding in the form of transportation grants. Without such grants, the fees charged to ships would dramatically increase to cover costs.

“In response to market demands from the commercial space and maritime sectors and our U.S. military partners, Space Florida spearheaded this study to create a unified path that accounts for the aspirations and missions of both space and port operations,” Rob Long, president and chief executive of Space Florida, said in a statement.

Canaveral Port Authority, which operates the port, was also involved in the study and backed its conclusions. “We look forward to continued collaboration with federal and state partners to realize solutions to ensure the industry’s continued success,” John Murray, chief executive of the authority, said in a statement.

Space Florida said in a statement it plans to look for “strategic federal funding opportunities” to support port expansion, while also working to secure support from other port stakeholders. It added that it plans another study to see how other seaports in the state can support the space industry.

https://spacenews.com/report-recommends-major-expansion-of-florida-seaport-to-support-space-industry/

>>20837199

chekt

ESA and Luxembourg Extend Space Resources Collaboration

05/07/2024

Today, ESA and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg signed an extension of their memorandum of cooperation concerning the field of space resources for another five years, underscoring both parties’ commitment to advancing sustainable and peaceful exploration beyond Earth.

Key areas of convergence include developing the space resources sector to facilitate sustainable space exploration, while fostering the creation of new markets and business opportunities as well as using the technological innovations from this field to improve life on Earth.

The extension has been signed in the context of a visit of ESA’s Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC) in Noordwijk by the Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles. ESTEC is the European Space Agency’s technical center. It is ESA’s largest center where around 2,500 technicians, engineers and researchers, including Luxembourgish experts, work on space technology development and spacecraft design.

The center also includes extensive facilities for prelaunch testing of space crafts, which the Minister has been able to discover during the visit. The Juventas nano satellite – partly developed in Luxembourg by Gomspace is currently in testing phase to be part of the HERA mission programmed for October 2024. HERA’s main objective is to help validate the kinetic impact method for deflecting a possible asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. Juventas is equipped with a radar instrument for measuring the internal structure of the asteroid.

The delegation had the chance to discover the Luxembourgish spacecraft during the visit, which also included a bilateral meeting with ESA Director General, Josef Achbacher, and an informal gathering with the Luxembourgish staff working in the ESA center.

“Our collaboration with ESA is very successful, and I welcome the fruitful exchange here at ESTEC. ESA is a key technical partner for Luxembourg and the projects we are running together do not only make sense for the space industry, but have real impact on the national economy and on the day to day life of people Hera is a very good practical example of a contribution from a Luxembourgish private company to an ESA mission,” says Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism.

“Luxembourg’s investment in space is really impressive, the country is a world leader in the field of space resources and I am delighted we could sign this MoC today. ESA and Luxembourg collaborate very well. I hope to see this collaboration going further, project wise but also by being able to welcome more Luxembourgish talents as part of our staff in the future,” says ESA General Director, Josef Achbacher.

ESRIC, a continuation of the SpaceResources.lu initiative, or how to collaborate with impact

Following the memorandum signed in 2019, an implementation agreement between ESA, the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) was signed, concerning cooperation activities at the European Space Resources Innovation Center (ESRIC).

The center comes as a strategic project continuing the SpaceResources initiative launched in 2016 by the Government. The domain of Space Resources, which has been one of the flagships of Luxembourg in its national strategy, gained a lot of visibility on the international stage, and around 12 companies are active in this field in Luxembourg in 2024.

ESRIC is positioning itself as Europe’s center of excellence for science, technology and business related to space resources, providing access to experts and specialized research facilities procured by ESA. space Although resources can refer to any resources potentially useful for space exploration, such as water or minerals, ESRIC is focused on advancing knowledge and technologies for extracting oxygen from lunar regolith, for example with its ALCHEMIST in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) demonstrator, the first research facility delivered to the center in 2023. Other facilities studying oxygen extraction are set to be delivered to ESRIC in the next years.

ESRIC’s Start up Support Program (SSP) is the only one focusing exclusively on space resources. It aims at developing early-stage ventures and start-ups designing novel technologies for space resources applications along the space resources value chain. 3 companies have already been selected to join the program, and a 4th one should be selected this summer.

https://www.geospatialworld.net/news/esa-and-luxembourg-space-collaboration/