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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
July 2, 2024
NGC 602: Oyster Star Cluster
The clouds may look like an oyster, and the stars like pearls, but look beyond. Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies this 5 million year old star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by its birth shell of gas and dust, star cluster NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image, augmented in a rollover by images in the X-ray by the Chandra Observatory and in the infrared by Spitzer Telescope. Fantastic ridges and swept back gas strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the star cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the featured picture spans about 200 light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are also visible in this sharp view. The background galaxies are hundreds of millions of light-years or more beyond NGC 602.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
NASA's Webb Captures Celestial Fireworks Around Forming Star
July 02, 2024 10:00AM
The cosmos seems to come alive with a crackling explosion of pyrotechnics in this new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Taken with Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), this fiery hourglass marks the scene of a very young object in the process of becoming a star.
A central protostar grows in the neck of the hourglass, accumulating material from a thin protoplanetary disk, seen edge-on as a dark line.
The protostar, a relatively young object of about 100,000 years, is still surrounded by its parent molecular cloud, or large region of gas and dust.
Webb’s previous observation of L1527, with NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), allowed us to peer into this region and revealed this molecular cloud and protostar in opaque, vibrant colors.
Both NIRCam and MIRI show the effects of outflows, which are emitted in opposite directions along the protostar’s rotation axis as the object consumes gas and dust from the surrounding cloud.
These outflows take the form of bow shocks to the surrounding molecular cloud, which appear as filamentary structures throughout.
They are also responsible for carving the bright hourglass structure within the molecular cloud as they energize, or excite, the surrounding matter and cause the regions above and below it to glow.
This creates an effect reminiscent of fireworks brightening a cloudy night sky. Unlike NIRCam, however, which mostly shows the light that is reflected off dust, MIRI provides a look into how these outflows affect the region’s thickest dust and gases.
The areas colored here in blue, which encompass most of the hourglass, show mostly carbonaceous molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
The protostar itself and the dense blanket of dust and a mixture of gases that surround it are represented in red. (The sparkler-like red extensions are an artifact of the telescope’s optics).
In between, MIRI reveals a white region directly above and below the protostar, which doesn’t show as strongly in the NIRCam view.
This region is a mixture of hydrocarbons, ionized neon, and thick dust, which shows that the protostar propels this matter quite far away from it as it messily consumes material from its disk.
As the protostar continues to age and release energetic jets, it’ll consume, destroy, and push away much of this molecular cloud, and many of the structures we see here will begin to fade.
Eventually, once it finishes gathering mass, this impressive display will end, and the star itself will become more apparent, even to our visible-light telescopes.
The combination of analyses from both the near-infrared and mid-infrared views reveal the overall behavior of this system, including how the central protostar is affecting the surrounding region.
Other stars in Taurus, the star-forming region where L1527 resides, are forming just like this, which could lead to other molecular clouds being disrupted and either preventing new stars from forming or catalyzing their development.
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-125
Mission Success: HERA Crew Successfully Completes 45-Day Simulated Journey to Mars
JUL 02, 2024
Four dedicated explorers—Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara—just returned from a 45-day simulated journey to Mars, testing the boundaries of human endurance and teamwork within NASA’s HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Their groundbreaking work on HERA’s Campaign 7 Mission 2 contributes to NASA’s efforts to study how future astronauts may react to isolation and confinement during deep-space journeys.
Throughout their mission, the crew conducted operational tasks and participated in 18 human health studies.
These studies focused on behavioral health, team dynamics, and human-system interfaces, with seven being collaborative efforts with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the European Space Agency.
These experiments assessed the crew’s physiological, behavioral, and psychological responses in conditions designed to be similar to a mission to Mars.
As their mission concluded, the HERA crew watched real footage from the Artemis I mission to simulate their landing.
HERA operations lead Ted Babic rang the bell outside the habitat nine times to celebrate the crew’s egress—seven for the campaign and two for the mission—saying, “All in a safe passage to Mars and a safe return to Earth.
May this vessel be a safe home to future HERA crews.” Babic then presented the crew with their mission patch, which they placed on the door of the HERA habitat.
The crew expressed their gratitude to everyone involved in the mission, including NASA and MBRSC, the HERA mission control center, NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) team, Analog Mission Control, medical teams, and their family and friends.
Wijesekara shared, “This was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. I’d like to thank my crewmates for making this experience memorable and enjoyable.”
Four NASA personnel in black jumpsuits stand outside and smile with their arms outstretched. The background features a bright blue sky with scattered clouds and some buildings.
On June 21, three days before crew egress, about 200 people gathered at Space Center Houston’s theater for a live Q&A session where students had the opportunity to share their questions with crew members Al Romaithi and Wijesekara.
They discussed team dynamics, adapting to unexpected circumstances, and coping with isolation.
cont.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/mission-success-hera-crew-successfully-completes-45-day-simulated-journey-to-mars/
Firefly Alpha Rocket Set to Launch Eight CubeSats for NASA Today
July 2, 2024 08:00
Originally scheduled for Monday night, the launch faced a delay due to a ground equipment issue and is now rescheduled for no earlier than Tuesday, July 2, at 9:03 p.m. PDT from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The mission, named Noise of Summer, marks Firefly's fifth launch attempt with its Alpha rocket. The primary objective of this mission is to deploy eight CubeSats into a sun-synchronous Earth orbit.
These CubeSats are part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), a program designed to provide educational institutions and nonprofits a pathway to space.
Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract, which was awarded in December 2020.
When it launches, the two-stage, 29.48 meter (96.7-foot) tall Alpha rocket will send eight CubeSats from multiple universities and NASA centers to a sun-synchronous Earth orbit.
The mission countdown reached T-8 seconds when the first abort call came through, described as a “ground support issue.”
Launch teams recycled to T-19 minutes but eventually scrubbed the attempt due to a second abort call at T-10 minutes and 12 seconds.
Firefly stated on social media, "The team has identified the solution and is working quickly to meet our next launch window on July 2nd."
The eight CubeSats onboard are part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and include a variety of educational and technological experiments. The payloads include:
CatSat (University of Arizona) will demonstrate a deployable antenna for high-speed communications. This technology could significantly improve the capability of small satellites to communicate with ground stations.
KUbeSat-1 (University of Kansas) will study cosmic rays, aiming to understand the energy and species of primary cosmic rays striking Earth.
MESAT-1 (University of Maine) will analyze temperatures to predict algal blooms, using multispectral cameras to determine phytoplankton concentrations in bodies of water.
R5-S4 and R5-S2-2.0 (NASA Johnson Space Center) aim to improve CubeSat design and performance. These satellites will test new processes for faster and cheaper development of high-performance CubeSats. Sam Pedrotty, R5 project manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, explained, "In the near term, R5 hopes to demonstrate new processes that allow for faster and cheaper development of high-performance CubeSats. The cost and schedule improvements will allow R5 to provide higher-risk ride options to low-Technology Readiness Levels payloads so more can be demonstrated on-orbit."
Serenity (Teachers in Space) includes educational experiments accessible via ham radio, allowing anyone to collect data or pictures from the satellite.
SOC-i (University of Washington) will test attitude control technology, using a guidance and control system called SOAR to avoid pointing instruments directly at the Sun while maintaining power to solar panels.
TechEdSat-11 (NASA Ames Research Center) features several technological demonstrations, including an exo-brake for deorbiting, advanced communications, and radiation sensors.
https://dailygalaxy.com/2024/07/firefly-alpha-rocket-eight-cubesats-nasa/
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/neowise/nasas-neowise-infrared-heritage-will-live-on/
NASA’s NEOWISE Infrared Heritage Will Live On
JUL 01, 2024
After more than 14 successful years in space, NASA’s NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) mission will end on July 31.
But while the mission draws to a close, another is taking shape, harnessing experience gained from NEOWISE: NASA’s NEO Surveyor (Near Earth Object Surveyor), the first purpose-built infrared space telescope dedicated to hunting hazardous near-Earth objects.
Set for launch in late 2027, it’s a major step forward in the agency’s planetary defense strategy.
“After developing new techniques to find and characterize near-Earth objects hidden in vast quantities of its infrared survey data, NEOWISE has become key in helping us develop and operate NASA’s next-generation infrared space telescope.
It is a precursor mission,” said Amy Mainzer, principal investigator of NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“NEO Surveyor will seek out the most difficult-to-find asteroids and comets that could cause significant damage to Earth if we don’t find them first.”
NEOWISE’s end of mission is tied to the Sun. About every 11 years, our star experiences a cycle of increased activity that peaks during a period called solar maximum.
Explosive events, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, become more frequent and heat our planet’s atmosphere, causing it to expand.
Atmospheric gases, in turn, increase drag on satellites orbiting Earth, slowing them down.
With the Sun currently ramping up to predicted maximum levels of activity, and with no propulsion system for NEOWISE to keep itself in orbit, the spacecraft will soon drop too low to be usable.
The infrared telescope is going out of commission having exceeded scientific objectives for not one, but two missions, beginning as WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer).
Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, WISE launched in December 2009 with a six-month missionto scan the entire infrared sky.
By July 2010, WISE had achieved this with far greater sensitivity than previous surveys, and NASA extended the mission until 2011.
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During this phase, WISE studied distant galaxies, outgassing comets, exploding white dwarf stars, and brown dwarfs. It identified tens of millions of actively feeding supermassive black holes.
It also generated data on circumstellar disks — clouds of gas, dust, and rubble spinning around stars — that citizen scientists continue to mine through the Disk Detective project.
In addition, it excelled at finding main belt asteroids, as well as near-Earth objects, and discovered the first known Earth Trojan asteroid.
What’s more, the mission provided a census of dark, faint near-Earth objects that are difficult for ground-based telescopes to detect, revealing that these objects constitute a sizeable fraction of the near-Earth object population.
Invisible to the naked eye, infrared wavelengths are emitted by warm objects. To keep the heat generated by WISE itself from interfering with its infrared observations, the spacecraft relied on cryogenic coolant.
By the time the coolant had run out, WISE had mapped the sky twice, and NASA put the spacecraft into hibernation in February 2011.
Soon after, Mainzer and her team proposed a new mission for the spacecraft: to search for, track, and characterize near-Earth objects that generate a strong infrared signal from their heating by the Sun.
“Without coolant, we had to find a way to cool the spacecraft down enough to measure infrared signals from asteroids,” said Joseph Masiero, NEOWISE deputy principal investigator and a scientist at IPAC, a research organization at Caltech in Pasadena, California.
“By commanding the telescope to stare into deep space for several months, we determined it would radiate only enough heat to reach lower temperatures that would still allow us to acquire high-quality data.”
NASA reactivated the mission in 2013 under the Near-Earth Object Observations Program, a precursor to the agency’s current planetary defense program, with the new name NEOWISE.
By repeatedly observing the sky from low Earth orbit, NEOWISE has made 1.45 million infrared measurements of over 44,000 solar system objects to date.
That includes more than 3,000 NEOs, 215 of which the space telescope discovered. Twenty-five of those are comets, among them the famed comet NEOWISE that was visible in the night sky in the summer of 2020.
“The spacecraft has surpassed all expectations and provided vast amounts of data that the science community will use for decades to come,” said Joseph Hunt, NEOWISE project manager at JPL.
“Scientists and engineers who worked on WISE and through NEOWISE also have built a knowledge base that will help inform future infrared survey missions.”
The space telescope will continue its survey until July 31. Then, on Aug. 8, mission controllers at JPL will send a command that puts NEOWISE into hibernation for the last time.
Since its launch, NEOWISE’s orbit has been dropping closer to Earth. NEOWISE is expected to burn up in our planet’s atmosphere sometime between late 2024 and early 2025.
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NASA’s Upgraded Hyperwall Offers Improved Data Visualization
JUL 01, 2024
In May, the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility, located at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, celebrated the newest generation of its hyperwall system, a wall of LCD screens that display supercomputer-scale visualizations of the very large datasets produced by NASA supercomputers and instruments.
The upgrade is the fourth generation of hyperwall clusters at NAS. The LCD panels provide four times the resolution of the previous system, now spanning across a 300-square foot display with over a billion pixels.
The hyperwall is one of the largest and most powerful visualization systems in the world.
Systems like the NAS hyperwall can help researchers visualize their data at large scale, across different viewpoints or using different parameters for new ways of analysis.
The improved resolution of the new system will help researchers “zoom in” with greater detail.
The hyperwall is just one way researchers can utilize NASA’s high-end computing technology to better understand their data.
The NAS facility offers world-class supercomputing resources and services customized to meet the needs of about 1,500 users from NASA centers, academia and industry.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/nasas-upgraded-hyperwall-offers-improved-data-visualization/
SpaceX to launch Yahsat satellites
July 1, 2024
Emirati satellite operator Yahsat has selected SpaceX to launch a pair of geostationary communications satellites that are part of a $1.1 billion program.
Yahsat announced July 1 that it chose SpaceX to launch its Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellites in 2027 and 2028, respectively, on Falcon 9 rockets.
The companies did not disclose the value of the launch contract.
Yahsat finalized a contract to Airbus Defence and Space in June to build the two satellites after starting design work on the spacecraft a year earlier.
The spacecraft are using the Eurostar Neo bus and will provide broadband services for the Middle East, Europe and Asia, replacing Al Yah 1 and 2.
“Through the successful completion of the launch contracts with SpaceX and the recently announced design and manufacturing contract with Airbus, Yahsat is well placed to pursue the final contract with the UAE Government, the anchor customer of the Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 program, as part of its largest ever mandate received in its history from the UAE Government,” said Ali Al Hashemi, group chief executive officer of Yahsat, in a statement.
The government of the United Arab Emirates selected Yahsat for a $5.1 billion deal in September 2023 to provide broadband services until at least 2043 using the new satellites.
The agreement included a $1 billion advance payment in 2024 to fund the satellites, launch, ground infrastructure and insurance.
Yahsat did not disclose why it selected SpaceX or what other companies they considered for the satellites.
By 2027 several other vehicles that today are still in development or just entering service should be available, including Arianespace’s Ariane 6, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H3 and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur. However, those vehicles will also be working through backlogs of commercial and government contracts that may limit their ability to take on new business then.
The June contract for Al Yah 4 and 5 included two low Earth orbit satellites based on the Arrow bus by Airbus, which Al Hashemi said at the time would support Yahsat’s “future direction of providing multi-orbit satellite solutions to its customers.”
The company has not disclosed launch plans for those LEO satellites.
https://spacenews.com/spacex-to-launch-yahsat-satellites/