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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
May 28, 2024
Solar X Flare as Famous Active Region Returns
It's back. The famous active region on the Sun that created auroras visible around the Earth earlier this month has survived its rotation around the far side of the Sun – and returned. Yesterday, as it was beginning to reappear on the Earth-facing side, the region formerly labeled AR 3664 threw another major solar flare, again in the highest-energy X-class range. The featured video shows the emerging active region on the lower left, as it was captured by NASA's Earth-orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory yesterday in ultraviolet light. The video is a time-lapse of the entire Sun rotating over 24 hours. Watch the lower-left region carefully at about the 2-second mark to see the powerful flare burst out. The energetic particles from that flare and associated CME are not expected to directly impact the Earth and trigger impressive auroras, but scientists will keep a close watch on this unusually active region over the next two weeks, as it faces the Earth, to see what develops.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
NASA Langley researchers are heading to the Arctic. Here's why that matters.
MAY 27, 2024
NASA Langley researchers are heading to the Arctic Ocean to study the habitat's effect on climate worldwide.
The ARCSIX, or Arctic Radiation Cloud Aerosol Surface Interaction Experiment, airborne campaign will fly out of Pituffik Space Force Base in Greenland for seven weeks this summer to gather measurements of the sea ice, clouds, radiation and aerosols that are affecting the ice melt.
"The reason that we need this mission is because there are a lot of things that we don't know about how the Arctic climate system functions and operates," said Patrick Taylor, deputy mission science leader.
"There's a lot of uncertainty in our projections of how fast they warm. We know that it's going to warm fast, but it can go really fast.
"The idea of these observations is to understand how the sea ice is changing, so that we can use that data to improve our tests and hypotheses and improve our theories about how the sea ice is evolving.
We can then put those ideas and our knowledge to improve our forecast models."
Ice in the arctic has a pivotal role in cooling the Earth, and it's not every day that scientists are able to take detailed snapshots of the region.
Taylor and Ewan Crosbie, platform scientists, said it's pivotal to learn about the Earth's warming climate now, and the data could be used to form strategies on how to reduce the effects of climate change.
"Having boots on the ground (and) people out in this region of the Arctic only happens once or twice every five years," Taylor said. "It's not even that we get out there every year.
We get these very periodic snapshots of what's happening there. We're going to have an unprecedented kind of dataset of it with all the different instruments."
The mission is split into two. The group will go out to see how the ice is melting in late spring and early summer, and in July, a second part will collect data for the later parts of summer. Each flight will have two pilots, a flight scientist coordinating with researchers on the ground, a scientist for each of the three instruments collecting data and an extra seat for an additional scientist or operator.
The aircraft is equipped with three components. The first are dropsondes, designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude and measure characteristics such as temperature, humidity and winds.
Another is the AVIRIS, or Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer. AVIRIS is used as a very powerful camera, and will collect useful information about the sea ice clouds and aerosols.
The third is HALO, or High Altitude Lidar Observatory. It uses a very short pulse of light to collect images, but where the AVIRIS takes images of what's happening horizontally, HALO collects data on what's happening vertically.
"When the ice starts to melt, we get liquid forming on the surface. We can see what that looks like (with the instruments), even though you couldn't see with the naked eye," Crosbie said. "Also for clouds, an interesting science question that we'll go after is to try to understand the lifecycle of Arctic clouds.
"So understanding the distinction between clouds that contain predominantly liquid droplets versus ice particles is a critical piece to understanding the behavior of Arctic clouds, their lifecycle and the radiation impacts."
Crosbie said this could be one of the last times to observe "old ice," or ice that was able to survive the summer melt season and regrow during the polar night. He said the ice seen in the mission will be between 3–4 years old, and this could be one of the last chances to measure and collect data on it.
"We're really excited about the science," Taylor said. "We don't get a dataset like this in this region of the Arctic—or the Arctic at all—very often, so really, some things we think we'll learn will probably surprise us. There's probably some things we're not expecting will pop out of the data."
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-nasa-langley-arctic.html
SpaceX ESA Earthcare Mission
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, May 28 for Falcon 9’s launch of the ESA EarthCARE (Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 3:20 p.m. PT. If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on Wednesday, May 29 at the same time.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about 15 minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This will be the seventh flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, and two Starlink missions. After stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=earthcare
SpaceX Starlink Mission
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, May 28 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Launch is targeted for 10:24 am ET with opportunities available until 11:28 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 10th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER, USSF-124, and six Starlink missions. 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-6-60
US condemns failed North Korean rocket launch as breach of international security: report
May 28, 2024
United States officials condemned North Korea's latest attempt to put a reconnaissance satellite in orbit, according to a report.
North Korea attempted to send a spy satellite into space on Monday (May 27). However, the rocket carrying that satellite exploded, according to multiple media sources quoting the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency.
The country successfully placed its first reconnaissance satellite in orbit in November 2023, but two other more recent efforts besides Monday's also ended in failure.
The Guardian, quoting North Korean officials, suggested the rocket's failure was due to "the operational reliability of the newly developed liquid oxygen and oil engine."
The U.S. State Department said the launch breached edicts from the U.N. Security Council, according to a statement provided to The Korea Times.
"The United States condemns the (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) DPRK's May 27 launch, which incorporated technologies that are directly related to the DPRK's ballistic missile program and took place in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions," the statement read.
The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted nine sanctions against North Korea since 2006 because the country has been maturing its nuclear and missile program, according to the Arms Control Association.
United States officials have also condemned past North Korean launches, saying the nation's rocket program uses technologies that support its intercontinental ballistic missile program.
The latest launch took place at 10:44 p.m. local time (9:34 a.m. EDT or 1344 GMT) off the west coast of North Korea.
Rocket debris fell in the nearby sea about two minutes after launch, according to Reuters, quoting the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korea's launch happened hours after a three-way summit between China, South Korea and Japan that was meant to focus on trade and cultural exchanges between the countries, although another hot topic surrounded security concerns raised by the U.S., according to the New York Times.
Both Japan and South Korea have repeatedly asked North Korea not to conduct launches, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida repeated these pleas at the summit, Reuters reported.
Chinese premier Li Qiang, while not discussing the launch, asked for hostilities to be curtailed in the region.
Japan and South Korea are both allies of the United States and participants under the American led-Artemis Accords that, in part, aim to establish peaceful norms for space exploration.
North Korea, a communist state, has been cut off from the rest of the world for much of the last 80 years and its citizens lack basic services.
That said, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome spaceport last year during a five-hour summit; Russia is currently an International Space Station partner, but working on a new alliance with China following Russia's unsanctioned invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
China is forbidden from engaging in bilateral activities with NASA and the United States without express Congressional permission, under a 2011 decree known as the Wolf Amendment.
China has been highly active in space in recent years, including with the development of missions to the moon and Mars and construction of the Tiangong space station for astronauts.
https://www.space.com/north-korea-rocket-launch-may-28-security
Starmus 2024: Scientists and musicians unite in Bratislava to celebrate planet Earth
May 26, 2024
The Starmus International Festival is a one-stop shop for science enthusiasts around the world.
After a week of inspiring and thought-provoking lectures from a star-studded group of scientists and former astronauts coupled with performances by talented musicians, Starmus exceeded all expectations.
Starmus combines art, music, and science to elevate science communication and "engage humanity in the biggest questions of our time," as stated by the organizers.
This year's festival, themed "The future of our home planet," gathered more than 50 prominent experts in climate change, environmental science, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity in Bratislava, Slovakia, for an extensive multi-day event from May 12 to May 17, 2024.
The star-packed lineup included Nobel Prize winners Michel Mayor, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Kip Thorne, astronauts Charlie Duke, Chris Hadfield, Kathryn Thornton, Garrett Reisman and legendary primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall.
I was fortunate enough to head to Bratislava and experience the festival for the first time. It did not disappoint.
The festival began with an epic live performance from electronic music pioneer Jean Michel Jarre featuring legendary Queen guitarist Brian May.
You needed 360-degree vision to experience everything the concert had to offer fullyFrom futuristic laser light and drone shows to wild pyrotechnics and captivating visual graphics, all paired together with a legendary Jean Michel Jarre soundtrack.
The following day Jane Goodall inaugurated the festival with an emotional speech about our beautiful blue planet and the preciousness of life. She stressed the importance of hope while also calling for action to mitigate the irreversible damage we are causing.
Goodall was followed by world-renowned scientists, researchers and former astronauts, each bringing their unique views and insights on the little blue marble we call home.
I was deeply inspired by the world-renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle and her presentation on our vast oceans and the life dwelling in the deep.
Over her 50-year career, Earle has spent thousands of hours underwater and published over 100 scientific papers. Notably, she was the first woman to serve as chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Her dedication to the oceans and her ability to convey their marvels is truly commendable. Earle illustrated the wonders of the oceans and emphasized how much we still have to learn about some of the deepest parts of our own planet.
While previous incarnations of the festival focussed on looking out to the worlds beyond ours, this year's Starmus was unique in that its primary focus was planet Earth. But as Earle rightly pointed out "Earth is part of space, it just happens to be here."
On Day 3 of the festival, I was delighted to watch Earle receive the Stephen Hawking Medal of Science Communication alongside three other recipients, artist Laurie Anderson, Filmmaker Christopher Nolan and presenter and author Sir David Attenborough at an award ceremony that evening. The Stephen Hawking medal is awarded to individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to science communication across four categories: Music & Arts, Science Writing, Films & Entertainment, and Lifetime Achievement.
Hosted by comedian and writer Robin Ince, the Stephen Hawking Medal Ceremony also featured performances from Tony Hadley former lead singer of Spandau Ballet, keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman and astrophysicist and former Queen guitarist Brian May to name but a few.
The night was topped off by an energetic and entertaining set from the iconic punk-rock band The Offspring.
At the mid-way point of the Starmus Earth festival, an epic 'star party' was held within the towering ruins of Devin Castle. That night guests mingled amongst exquisite food, music and of course, telescopes!
From our nearest neighbor, the moon, to stunning nebulas and galaxies 11 million light-years away, we could explore the cosmos high on a hill in the beautiful Slovakian countryside.
My favorite observation target was M57, also known as the Ring Nebula. A colorful jewel in the night sky, the ring nebula dazzled with delicate blues, oranges and reds.
The focus of the second half of the week shifted more from environmental and Earth science to the future of AI and space exploration.
Former Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield presented an enlightening presentation on space junk and how we are trying to solve the debris problem, and was later followed by former NASA astronaut Garrett Wiseman who spoke about SpaceX and the strides it is taking in human spaceflight, with sights firmly set on the moon and then to Mars.
cont.
https://www.space.com/starmus-festival-2024-bratislava-slovakia-experience
Chinese firm files plans for 10,000-satellite constellation
May 27, 2024
HELSINKI — A Chinese firm linked to commercial rocket maker Landspace has filed a notification with the ITU for a constellation comprising 10,000 satellites.
Shanghai Lanjian Hongqing Technology Company, also known as Hongqing Technology, filed an Advance Publication Information (API) with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) May 24.
The filing outlines plans for a constellation named Honghu-3. It is to total 10,000 satellites across 160 orbital planes.
The API filing notifies the ITU and member states about its intention to launch a satellite network or system.
Others can then review the proposed satellite network to assess any potential interference with their existing or planned satellite systems.
The Honghu constellation plan appears to be the third 10,000-plus satellite megaconstellation planned by Chinese entities.
It follows the national Guowang plan and the Shanghai-backed G60 Starlink proposal, both of which have been approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
First batches of satellites for the pair are expected to launch in the coming months.
The development will likely renew concerns over crowding, collisions and debris in low Earth orbit.
Presently, SpaceX’s Starlink is the largest operational constellation with over 5,000 operational satellites and plans for up to 42,000 spacecraft in orbit.
Honghu constellation background
Hongqing Technology, founded in 2017, has Beijing-based Landspace holding a 48% stake. The Shanghai-based company was initially recognized for developing Hall thruster propulsion technology.
The company is building a satellite manufacturing facility in Wuxi City, Jiangsu province, close to Shanghai. The funding source for Hongqing Technology’s plans was unclear at time of publishing.
The company’s Jinwu-200 (JW-200) krypton propellant Hall effect thruster was tested on the Honghu-2 satellite launched by a Landspace Zhuque-2 rocket in December last year.
The satellite was developed jointly with small satellite maker Spacety.
Hongqing Technology is based in Shanghai’s Songjiang District and is involved in plans to develop satellite Internet in the area, where G60 Starlink is also located.
G60 Starlink has submitted separate filings for its constellation plans.
The developments are linked to Shanghai’s action plan to foster a commercial space ecosystem.
This is likewise part of China’s national strategy to build a world-leading satellite Internet system and comprehensive space power.
China has previously announced a national plan for a space-ground integrated information network, or SGIIN.
This seeks to create an integrated system which combines communications, remote sensing, navigation, weather and other satellite capabilities.
Landspace meanwhile is developing a stainless steel, reusable methane-liquid oxygen launcher named Zhuque-3. The 4.5-meter-diameter rocket is to be capable of carrying 21,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit when expendable. It is slated for a first launch in 2025. The company has already conducted first vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) hop tests.
Landspace, like fellow commercial Chinese rocket startups Space Pioneer, Galactic Energy, iSpace and others, plan to launch satellites for China’s planned megaconstellations.
China is currently building a commercial spaceport near Wenchang to help ease a bottleneck in access to launch pads.
This will be required to allow China to boost its launch rate to build its megaconstellations.
https://spacenews.com/chinese-firm-files-plans-for-10000-satellite-constellation/
Japan lawmakers to create group for government probes into UFOs
May 28, 2024
Japanese lawmakers met on Tuesday to create a nonpartisan group that will ask the government to establish an organization to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, also known as UFOs.
The lawmaker group will be chaired by Yasukazu Hamada, parliamentary affairs leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, also from the LDP, will serve as secretary-general.
The group will hold its founding general meeting on June 6 after Tuesday's preparatory meeting, which was held in parliament.
The U.S. government has created a specialized organization in the Defense Department to probe UAP.
The lawmaker group will urge the government to gather and analyze information on UAP and pursue cooperation with Washington by forming a counterpart organization.
In its founding statement, the group said that if UAP, which have been witnessed many times over Japanese territory, are cutting-edge secret weapons or unmanned spy drones from other countries, they would present a major security threat to Japan.
The group is asking parliament members of all parties to join it.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/05/28/japan/politics/japan-lawmakers-group-ufos/