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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
July 13, 2024
In 1990, cruising four billion miles from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back to make this first ever Solar System family portrait. The complete portrait is a 60 frame mosaic made from a vantage point 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane. In it, Voyager's wide-angle camera frames sweep through the inner Solar System at the left, linking up with ice giant Neptune, the Solar System's outermost planet, at the far right. Positions for Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are indicated by letters, while the Sun is the bright spot near the center of the circle of frames. The inset frames for each of the planets are from Voyager's narrow-field camera. Unseen in the portrait are Mercury, too close to the Sun to be detected, and Mars, unfortunately hidden by sunlight scattered in the camera's optical system. Closer to the Sun than Neptune at the time, small, faint Pluto's position was not covered. In 2024 Voyager 1, NASA’s longest-running and most-distant spacecraft, is some 15 billion miles away, operating in interstellar space.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
Two Years Since Webb’s First Images: Celebrating with the Penguin and the Egg
JUL 12, 2024
To celebrate the second science anniversary of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the team has released a near- and mid-infrared image on July 12, 2024, of two interacting galaxies: The Penguin and the Egg.
Webb specializes in capturing infrared light – which is beyond what our own eyes can see – allowing us to view and study these two galaxies, collectively known as Arp 142.
Their ongoing interaction was set in motion between 25 and 75 million years ago, when the Penguin (individually cataloged as NGC 2936) and the Egg (NGC 2937) completed their first pass. They will go on to shimmy and sway, completing several additional loops before merging into a single galaxy hundreds of millions of years from now.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/two-years-since-webbs-first-images-celebrating-with-the-penguin-and-the-egg/
Morningbird Space Corporation releases NASA-backed 3D printer
July 12, 2024
Morningbird Space Corporation, a space technology company, has released its first electronic 3D printer – the Electronic Alchemy eforge series 3.1 – capable of printing functional electronic devices.
The development and commercialization of this novel AM technology was backed by a series of STTR and SBIR contracts with NASA and a research partnership with Alabama A&M University’s AAMU-RISE Foundation.
This advancement enables the on-demand printing of electronics by use of multi-tool, multi-material 3D printing, in a fusion deposition modeling (FDM) machine.
This capability holds promise across various industries – from aerospace to biomedical technology, to dental and medical devices, to rapid prototyping, and more.
Morningbird Space Corporation’s eforge 3D printer operates on cutting-edge principles that utilize its proprietary printing process, material filaments, and slicing process (US patent #11,299,642).
Morningbird is also credited with 3D printing the world’s first diode and transistor on an FDM machine.
“The Electronic Alchemy eforge series 3.1 represents dedication by our team to make science fiction science reality,” said Dr. Chance M. Glenn, Founder of Morningbird Space and co-inventor of the eforge.
“NASA’s support through SBIR/STTR contracts represents the United States’ commitment to innovation and commercialization at its finest. The launch of our electronic 3D printer is a clear representation of this.”
Applications include:
Education: enables hands-on STEM learning, prototyping, and sharing of electronic devices among K12 – Higher Education institutions, students, and Maker Spaces. Students can design and fabricate functional prototypes like sensors, actuators, and circuitry.
Dental and medical devices: offers the potential to create custom electronic devices such as smart dental appliances or wearable medical sensors tailored to individual patient needs.
Manufacturing: facilitates rapid prototyping and production of complex electronic components and devices.
Military defense: supports the creation of lightweight, integrated electronic systems for military applications, including sensors, communication devices, and unmanned vehicles.
Aerospace: enables the fabrication of lightweight, durable electronic components for spacecraft and satellites – contributing to advancements in space exploration, propulsion, tourism, satellite, and spacecraft technology.
Consumer electronics: allows for the customization and production of smart devices, wearable technology, and IoT (Internet of Things) devices with embedded electronics.
Morningbird Space Corporation’s support from NASA underscores the reliability and advanced nature of this technology – promising significant advancements across multiple sectors.
The printer is available for pre-order.
https://www.voxelmatters.com/morningbird-space-corporation-releases-nasa-backed-3d-printer/
Hubble Measures the Distance to a Supernova
JUL 12, 2024
Measuring the distance to truly remote objects like galaxies, quasars, and galaxy clusters is a crucial task in astrophysics, particularly when it comes to studying the early universe, but it’s a difficult one to complete.
We can only measure the distances to a few nearby objects like the Sun, planets, and some nearby stars directly.
Beyond that, astronomers need to use various indirect methods; one of the most important examines Type Ia supernovae, and this is where the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope excels.
NGC 3810, the galaxy featured in this image, was the host of a Type Ia supernova in 2022. In early 2023, Hubble focused on this and a number of other galaxies to closely examine recent Type Ia supernovae.
Type Ia supernovae are the result of a white dwarf exploding, and their peak brightness is very consistent.
This attribute allows astronomers to use Type Ia supernovae to measure distances: we know how bright a Type Ia supernova should be, so we can tell how far away it must be by how dim it appears.
One snag with this method is intergalactic dust. Because intergalactic dust blocks some of the supernova’s light, astronomers need to determine how much light the dust reduces to accurately measure the supernova’s brightness and calculate its distance.
Hubble’s unique capabilities offer them a clever way of doing this.
Astronomers use Hubble to take images of the same Type Ia supernovae in ultraviolet light, which the dust almost completely blocks out, and in infrared light, which passes through dust nearly unaffected.
By carefully noting how much light comes through at each wavelength, astronomers can determine how much dust lies between Hubble and the supernova, letting them confidently calibrate the relationship between a supernova’s brightness and its distance. Hubble’s unique capability to observe in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths of light in great detail with the same instrument makes it the perfect tool for these types of observations.
Indeed, some of the data used to make this beautiful image of NGC 3810 focused on its 2022 supernova. You can see it as a point of light just below the galactic nucleus in the annotated image below.
There are many ways to measure cosmic distances, but Type Ia supernovae are one of the most useful and accurate tools because they are so bright.
Astronomers must use other methods as well, either as an independent check against other distance measurements, or to measure at much closer or farther distances.
One such method, that also works for galaxies, is comparing their rotation speed to their brightness; based on that method, NGC 3810 is about 50 million light-years from Earth.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-measures-the-distance-to-a-supernova/
NASA calculates just how much faster time flies on the moon
Jul 11, 2024 08:24 PM EST
With all eyes on upcoming crewed missions to the moon for the first time in decades, NASA engineers are finally getting around to figuring out how much faster time moves up there.
If that sounds strange, it’s because it is, but that doesn’t make it any less real. According to general relativity, the passage of time can be different within two different gravitational contexts.
Specifically, the more powerful the gravity, the slower time moves, and vice versa.
That means that the relatively wide difference in mass between the Earth and its natural satellite does mean that time moves slower here on Earth.
Before now, we’ve never really needed to actually calculate that time difference, but with more crewed missions and the prospect of permanent settlement on the lunar surface, all sorts of communication and navigation systems going between the two will need to be synchronized to account for this difference.
Back in April, the US Office of Science and Technology Policy set a 2026 deadline for establishing a Lunar Coordinated Time (LTC), similar to how we measure Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) here on Earth.
Now, a new paper posted to the pre-print Arxiv server, a team from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech worked out the math to establish a more precise measure of how much faster time is moving on the moon relative to Earth.
Their result, that time on the moon moves 0.0000575 seconds (57.50 microseconds) faster, is a key step toward establishing a standardized LTC that engineers and other researchers can use to coordinate activity on the moon.
How the difference was calculated
One of the keys to calculating the difference in time between the Earth and moon is to also take the differences in time between the Earth, moon, and the solar system’s barycenter—the gravitational center around which the entire solar system orbits (including the sun).
By establishing a synchronized frame of reference between the Earth and the barycenter, the research team then performed a number of mathematical transforms to refine the time difference between the Earth and the moon beyond what had already by estimated to come to our most precise result yet.
With this new figure established, future lunar missions will hopefully go much more smoothly than they otherwise would, ensuring the safety of everyone involved.
https://interestingengineering.com/space/nasa-calculates-just-how-much-faster-time-flies-on-the-moon
https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.16147
FAA investigating SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket failure
July 12, 2024
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring an investigation into the recent anomaly suffered by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The issue occurred on Thursday night (July 11), during the launch of 20 Starlink internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The Falcon 9's upper-stage engine failed to complete its second burn as planned, and the spacecraft were deployed into a lower-than-intended orbit as a result, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX is looking into the nature and cause of the anomaly, under the supervision of the FAA.
"The FAA will be involved in every step of the investigation process and must approve SpaceX's final report, including any corrective actions," FAA officials wrote in an anomaly update.
"A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," the agency added.
"In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements."
SpaceX said via X early this morning (July 12) that it had made contact with five of the 20 Starlink satellites and was trying to get them to raise their orbits using their onboard ion thrusters.
"Unlike a 'Star Trek' episode, this will probably not work, but it's worth a shot.
The satellite thrusters need to raise orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down or they burn up," company founder and CEO Elon Musk wrote on X in response to the SpaceX post.
Falcon 9 anomalies are incredibly rare.
The workhorse rocket has launched more than 350 times since its debut in June 2010, and it has experienced just one catastrophic in-flight failure — an explosion in June 2015 that resulted in the loss of a robotic Dragon cargo capsule headed for the International Space Station (ISS).
(Thursday night's incident, though a failure, was not catastrophic, at least not in the same way; the satellites were deployed, and some of them might still make it to their intended orbit.)
The Falcon 9 is human-rated and has flown astronauts on 13 separate occasions.
The rocket has two crewed launches coming up relatively soon — the private Polaris Dawn effort to low Earth orbit on July 31 and the Crew-9 mission to the ISS for NASA sometime next month.
Those target dates could slip as a result of Thursday night's anomaly, but the wait likely won't be too long, said billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who funded and will command Polaris Dawn and did the same for the pioneering Inspiration4 mission back in 2021.
"SpaceX has an incredible track record with Falcon 9. I can say from personal experience they are very transparent when issues arise.
I have no doubt they will arrive at a cause quickly and ensure the most cost-effective and reliable launch vehicle keeps delivering payload to orbit.
As for Polaris Dawn, we will fly whenever SpaceX is ready and with complete confidence in the rocket, spaceship and operations," Isaacman said in an X post today.
https://www.space.com/faa-investigation-spacex-falcon-9-failure-starlink-launch
https://www.space.com/last-starfighter-40th-anniversary
'The Last Starfighter' at 40: Director Nick Castle on making his sci-fi fantasy classic (exclusive)
July 13, 2024
"Greetings Starfighter, you have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada. Get ready! Prepare for blast off!"
The summer of 1984 was a banner year for Hollywood, with a bounty of A-list releases that included such iconic titles as "Ghostbusters," "Gremlins," "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock," "Conan the Destroyer," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "The Karate Kid," "Purple Rain," "Red Dawn," "The Company of Wolves." "The Neverending Story," and "Revenge of the Nerds."
Added to that esteemed list was a little film called "The Last Starfighter," which was launched by Universal Pictures on July 13,1984.
Directed by Nick Castle, the filmmaker who was the first to don the modified Shatner mask to play "The Shape" in John Carpenter's "Halloween," this uplifting sci-fi fantasy feature was a moderate success, pulling in $29 million off of a $15 million budget.
It faced fierce box office competition and didn't exactly set the planet on fire in terms of performance, but it's fondly remembered by millions who recall its purity, spirit, and heart.
"I'd done my first movie called "Tag: The Assassination Game" and my manager came across this project at Lorimar," Castle tells Space.com. "I read the script and thought it needed a lot of work but it had a good premise.
I talked to Gary Adelson, the producer on the show, and very quickly we got involved. Then Jonathan came out from New York and we started figuring out how to navigate this project.
"When you have that premise of a boy who goes into space and becomes a hero, you run into Spielberg and Lucas almost at every turn.
Lorimar had already brought in Digital Productions to do the new visual effects and Gary was excited they were giving it to him at a certain cost that made it affordable to go ahead and make the movie."
Based on a screenplay by Jonathan Betuel, "The Last Starfighter" is the inspiring tale of a small town kid named Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) living at the Starlite Starbrite Trailer Court who dreams of leaving his dull life and making his mark in the world.
A record-breaking wiz at the park's "Starfighter" arcade game, little does Alex know that this innocent digital amusement is really a recruiting tool for a slick interstellar huckster name Centauri (Robert Preston) who arrives in a Star Car to offer him a chance to help the Rylans defeat the evil Ko-Dan fleet in some remote solar system.
Alex reluctantly leaves his sweetheart Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) behind to embark on a voyage to the planet Rylos where he's briefed on the losing battle.
Once enlisted in the Rylan space corp, Alex is paired up with a reptilian alien navigator named Grig (Dan O’Herlihy) after all the other recruited pilots are killed to help helm an advanced space fighter called a Gunstar, the same craft featured in the "Starfighter" game back home.
When all hope seems lost, Alex and Grig unleash the ship's dizzying Death Blossom weapon to vanquish the Ko-Dan armada and return to Earth triumphant to whisk Maggie off into the stars as the trailer court's neon sign blinks farewell.
"One of my early ideas was to set it in a trailer park, to isolate the main character to make his life more difficult than if he was in the suburbs.
There was a kind of Capraesque feel to what I was thinking about and I drew on those old '40s films with endearing characters going through a trial. We got lucky with the cast.
The chemistry of the whole thing wound up making sense, with two handsome leads without being over the top. And talk about being a trooper, Dan had to be in that alien mask that was stuck to him with some kind of glue.
I remember him talking about manipulating the mask in front of a mirror so he could see how much character he could give it."
Its CGI effects might seem primitive by today’s standards but only 1982's "Tron" had utilized anywhere near this amount of pixilated magic.
"The Last Starfighter" was a pioneering step in the advancement of integrated computer graphics, accomplished by a small crew at Digital Productions using a Cray X-MP supercomputer.
Backed by the expertise of distinguished production designer Ron Cobb ("Alien," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Aliens") a gorgeous orchestral score by composer Craig Safan and deft direction from Nick Castle, it has become a true cult classic, especially after last year's beautiful 4K UHD remaster from Arrow Video.
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"A lot of the design of the picture is from Ron Cobb," Castle explains regarding the revolutionary digital effects. "A great production designer, a great artist and a great human being.
We lost him two young and he was a dear friend of mine. Ron was like a second director on this picture. He was the one who knew science fiction. Essentially this was a big gamble on the studio's part.
"This hadn’t been done to this extent at all. There'd been some practice work done to make something look like a digital ship. But to maneuver it and to do it within scenes, it was all research and development as we were making the movie. It took almost another year after we’d finished principal photography to do it. I was there pretty much every day, signing off on shots and working with Ron and the visual effects team. Everything was being invented for digital moviemaking at that place at that time. It was interesting and always fraught with danger."
The legendary Robert Preston of "The Music Man" fame delivers a pitch-perfect performance as Centauri. This was Preston’s last film appearance as he passed away just three years after the theatrical release.
"You'd expect someone like that would be fun to work," says Castle. "He's an old pro and he enjoys being in front of the camera and has this certain knack. The idea for him came from Jonathan, the writer. He came up to me when we were casting and said, "Nick, listen to this … The Music Man in outer space." That’s one of the great ideas of all times. We'd already written him as a huckster and it all worked out perfect. Robert was a delight, and it was a lot of fun."
Many fans of the the nostalgic film always point out the breathtaking music that elevates every scene in this sparkling Hollywood gem.
"I think it's a wonderful score and certainly one of Craig’s best," Castle adds. "It really holds up against all the other space opera stuff that's been put out before and since.
It’s just a wonderful, catchy theme and Craig knew how to play a theme both as adventure and love story and as wistful and not make it repetitive.
Over the years he's done orchestral suites of 'The Last Starfighter' music in different countries and people love it. I think he really did a great job."
It might seem out of style in this jaded divisive world, but the film is a effervescent tonic for the soul and a refreshing leap back to an optimistic age of moviemaking that we could all use more of.
Don't let today's concentration on dystopian gloom deter you. It's perfectly acceptable to indulge in a little old-fashioned Hollywood fun and "The Last Starfighter" still shines brightly on its 40th anniversary.
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