NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Aug 1, 2024

Comet Olbers over Kunetice Castle

A visitor to the inner solar system every 70 years or so Comet 13P/Olbers reached its most recent perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun, on June 30 2024. Now on a return voyage to the distant Oort cloud the Halley-type comet is recorded here sweeping through northern summer night skies over historic Kunetice Castle, Czech Republic. Along with a broad dust tail, and brighter coma, this comet's long ion tail buffeted by storms and winds from the Sun, is revealed in the composite of tracked exposures for comet and sky, and fixed exposures for foreground landscape recorded on July 28. The comet is about 16 light-minutes beyond the castle and seen against faint background stars below the northern constellation Ursa Major. The hilltop castle dates to the 15th century, while Heinrich Olbers discovered the comet in 1815. Captured here low in northwestern skies just after sunset Comet Olbers, for now, offers skywatchers on planet Earth rewarding telescopic and binocular views. Comet 13P/Olbers next perihelion passage will be in 2094.

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

Booz Allen deploys advanced language model in space

August 1, 2024

Booz Allen Hamilton deployed a generative AI large language model on the International Space Station using a Hewlett Packard Enterprise advanced edge computer designed for in-orbit experiments..

The generative AI large language model (LLM) has been in operation since mid-July as part of an experiment, Booz Allen announced Aug. 1.

A generative AI large language model is a sophisticated type of artificial intelligence designed to understand and generate human language.

The LLM at the space station is intended to help astronauts address queries and resolve issues.

“Right now, astronauts train for many hours to be able to conduct repairs of machinery and onboard systems.

However, having the ability to ask the instruction manuals questions and receive relevant and rapid responses could augment their efforts so they can fix problems at an accelerated pace,” said Dan Wald, principal AI solutions architect for space applications at Booz Allen.

The Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Spaceborne Computer-2, launched in February 2021, provides the infrastructure for advanced experiments, including AI and machine learning in space.

By processing data in orbit and sending only the insights back to Earth, it reduces data transmission times.

Spaceborne Computer-2 has completed multiple research experiments in fields such as DNA sequencing, image processing, natural disaster recovery, 3D printing and 5G technology.

“Generative AI in space is truly the new frontier,” said Chris Bogdan, executive vice president at Booz Allen and leader of the firm’s space business.

“Booz Allen is committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible with AI and other mission-critical technologies in space.”

https://spacenews.com/booz-allen-deploys-advanced-language-model-in-space/

Boeing takes additional $125 million loss on Starliner

August 1, 2024

Boeing took another loss on its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew program as the company works to prepare the spacecraft for its delayed return from the International Space Station.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission July 31 about the company’s second quarter financial results, Boeing said it was taking an additional $125 million charge on Starliner, citing delays in completing the ongoing Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission.

Boeing has taken about $1.6 billion in charges on Starliner throughout the program, mostly since a flawed initial uncrewed test flight in late 2019.

The company took a $288 million loss on Starliner in 2023, including $257 million in the second quarter of last year after the company delayed the CFT mission to 2024.

The company did not discuss Starliner during a July 31 earnings call but noted the losses were part of $1 billion in charges on fixed-price programs in its Defense and Space business unit recorded in the quarter that included work on the KC-46A tanker aircraft and VC-25B aircraft that will be the next Air Force One.

“Clearly, the results this quarter are disappointing,” said Dave Calhoun, the outgoing chief executive of Boeing, on the call, referring to the losses on those fixed-price contracts.

“We expected the fixed-price development programs to remain bumpy until we complete the development phase and transition to mature long-term franchise programs.”

That has made Boeing wary about taking on future fixed-price work in that business unit.

“Based on the lessons that we’ve learned in taking on these fixed-price development programs, we have maintained contracting discipline for all future opportunities,” he said.

Boeing has not ruled out additional losses on Starliner in the future, particularly as the first operational mission, Starliner-1, is delayed from February 2025 to no earlier than August 2025.

“Risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods,” the company stated in its SEC filing.

The latest loss comes as Boeing and NASA are working to wrap up the CFT mission some time in August.

On July 27, controllers fired 27 reaction control system (RCS) thrusters on the spacecraft while still docked to the ISS.

Officials said July 25 the tests were intended to confirm the performance of the thrusters after nearly two months in space, and after several RCS thrusters suffered degraded performance while the spacecraft approached the station for docking in June.

“Preliminary results show all the tested thrusters are back to preflight levels based on thrust and chamber pressure,” NASA said in a July 30 statement about the tests.

NASA and Boeing have not yet set a date for Starliner’s return. NASA noted in its statement that engineers were still reviewing data from ground tests of the RCS thrusters, after which NASA will hold an agency-level review and then select a date for Starliner to return to Earth.

Boeing, in its own July 31 statement, said that return preparations are underway, including holding an “integrated simulation” involving ground controllers as well as CFT astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The station’s robotic arm also inspected the exterior of Starliner, a common procedure for visiting vehicles before their departure. That work is intended to support “potential returns throughout August,” the company noted.

https://spacenews.com/boeing-takes-additional-125-million-loss-on-starliner/

NASA Astronaut Shares Photo From Space That "Cannot Be Taken Anymore"

August 1, 2024

Astronaut and keen astrophotographer Donald Pettit has shown off a stunning image he took from the International Space Station (ISS) that "cannot be taken anymore".

A question that comes up every now and then, is why stars are not visible in photographs taken from the ISS.

Though there are photos that display stars in the background, a lot of photos show nothing but darkness behind the Earth.

It is natural to assume that the stars should be more visible from space, without our atmosphere interfering with the light.

This is the case, and the distortion of our atmosphere is why we keep sending our telescopes into space.

But actually photographing stars, as anyone who has tried from Earth knows, requires you to lengthen your exposure time in order to get enough light.

During this time the camera must remain pointed precisely at the space object you are trying to capture.

This used to be possible onboard the ISS, as highlighted in a photograph taken by Pettit during a stay on the space station in 2003, containing green airglow from atomic oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere, and a whole host of stars.

"At this time Space Station’s orbital attitude was a solar inertial attitude (XPOP) that allowed the solar panels to point towards the sun without any tracking (solar tracking was not added to ISS until much later)," Pettit explained in an Instagram post.

"Essentially, the station itself was the tracking mechanism thus for a camera mounted to Space Station, a time exposure yielded stars as pinpoints."

Unfortunately for fans of seeing images of space taken from space, since 2006 the ISS has adjusted its angle, with one side remaining pointing towards Earth.

Pettit took the above photograph using a 30-second exposure, but now such an exposure would just give you stars as arcing trails.

Though the inclination of the ISS limits star images to less than half a second, Pettit plans to take a tracking device to compensate for the motion of the space station in an upcoming trip.

With more advanced cameras also available, we should hopefully get more star field images upon his return to the space station.

https://www.iflscience.com/nasa-astronaut-shares-photo-from-space-that-cannot-be-taken-anymore-75297