NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

August 20, 2024

Supermoon Beyond the Temple of Poseidon

A supermoon occurred yesterday. And tonight's moon should also look impressive. Supermoons appear slightly larger and brighter than most full moons because they reach their full phase when slightly nearer to the Earth – closer than 90 percent of all full moons. This supermoon was also a blue moon given the definition that it is the third of four full moons occurring during a single season. Blue moons are not usually blue, and a different definition holds that a blue moon is the second full moon that occurs during a single month. The featured image captured the blue supermoon right near its peak size yesterday as it was rising beyond the Temple of Poseidon in Greece. This supermoon is particularly unusual in that it is the first of four successive supermoons, the next three occurring in September, October, and November.

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

NextSTEP R: Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies

Aug 19, 2024

Solicitation Overview

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intends to release a solicitation under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (Next STEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to seek industry-led concept definition and maturation studies that address lunar surface logistics and uncrewed surface mobility capabilities.

NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture defines the elements needed for long-term, human-led scientific discovery in deep space.

NASA’s architecture approach distills agency-developed objectives into operational capabilities and elements that support science and exploration goals.

Working with experts across the agency, industry, academia, and the international community, NASA continuously evolves that blueprint for crewed exploration, setting humanity on a path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA has identified two gaps in its lunar architecture: an integrated surface logistics architecture and uncrewed surface mobility systems for lunar surface assets.

The objective of these studies is to seek proposals from industry for the conduct of studies specifically focused on the envisioned logistics and mobility capabilities as stated in NASA’s 2024 Architecture Concept Review White Papers (Lunar Surface Cargo, Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs) and 2023 Architecture Concept Review White Paper (Lunar Logistics Drivers and Needs).

The Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) Strategy and Architecture Office (SAO) Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies BAA (NextSTEP-2 Appendix R) is structured to meet the following goals:

• Identify innovative strategies and concepts for logistics and mobility solutions. This could include a variety of topics, including but not limited to:

• synergies between logistics- and mobility-specific capabilities.

• identification of logistics- and mobility-specific needs that may be beyond current and/or planned commercial capabilities.

• innovative ideas for partnership business models, including intellectual property, asset ownership, and timing of asset delivery, and/or services to the government.

• the use of advanced robotic and/or autonomous capabilities.

• Evaluate and understand driving technology maturity, cost, and schedule drivers for meeting reference technical requirements, and/or drivers for validating a concept of operations.

• Obtain data that supports NASA’s ability to define, derive, and validate logistics and mobility requirements. Said data could inform a baseline mission concept that identifies options for and approaches to meeting logistics- and mobility-specific capabilities.

• This data could also contribute to the verification/validation of logistics and mobility approaches that could support NASA’s lunar architecture.

To support lunar surface operations, NASA is seeking state-of-the-art industry studies that provide an approach for technology investigation/maturation and concept development for the following:

Logistics carriers – Logistics carriers of various sizes, volumes, and configurations and the environmental control of the cargo compartment.

Logistics Handling and Offloading – Handling and offloading unpressurized cargo, carriers, fluids, and gases.

Logistics Transfer – The transfer of cargo from the lunar surface to a pressurized volume,

Staging, Storage and Tracking – Managing surface logistics inventory prior to, during, and after delivery to the final point of use.

Trash Management – Trash management that contributes to mission sustainability and maximizes crew efficiency,

Surface Cargo Transportation and Mobility Systems – The movement of cargo containers on the lunar surface after delivery by a lander.

Integrated Strategy – An approach for an integrated assessment of the lunar surface logistics strategy and the transportation of the logistics to the pressurized habitation elements.

This can also include the incorporation of the launch vehicle and cargo lander as part of the transportation.

The resulting studies will ensure advancement of NASA’s development of lunar surface logistics and mobility technologies, capabilities, and concepts.

https://www.nasa.gov/general/nextstep-r-lunar-logistics-and-mobility-studies/

Hubble Spots Billowing Bubbles of Stellar Floss

Aug 19, 2024

A bubbling region of stars both old and new lies some 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Dorado.

This complex cluster of emission nebulae is known as N11, and was discovered by American astronomer and NASA astronaut Karl Gordon Henize in 1956.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope brings a new image of the cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a nearby dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way.

About 1,000 light-years across, N11’s sprawling filaments weave stellar matter in and out of each other like sparkling candy floss.

These cotton-spun clouds of gas are ionized by a burgeoning host of young and massive stars, giving the complex a cherry-pink appearance.

Throughout N11, colossal cavities burst from the fog.

These bubbles formed as a result of the vigorous emergence and death of stars contained in the nebulae.

Their stellar winds and supernovae carved the surrounding area into shells of gas and dust.

N11’s stellar activity caught the attention of many astronomers, as it is one of the largest and most energetic regions in the LMC.

To investigate the distribution of stars in N11, scientists used Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, taking advantage of its sensitivity and excellent wide-field resolution.

The cluster houses a wide array of stars for Hubble to examine, including one area that has stopped forming stars, and another that continues to form them.

Hubble’s unique capabilities allowed astronomers to comprehensively study the diversity of stars in the N11 complex, and map the differences between each region.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-spots-billowing-bubbles-of-stellar-floss/

NASA Awards $1.25 Million to Three Teams at Deep Space Food Finale

August 19, 2024

NASA has awarded a total of $1.25 million to three U.S. teams in the third and final round of the agency’s Deep Space Food Challenge.

The teams delivered novel food production technologies that could provide long-duration human space exploration missions with safe, nutritious, and tasty food.

The competitors’ technologies address NASA’s need for sustainable food systems for long-duration habitation in space, including future Artemis missions and eventual journeys to Mars.

Advanced food systems also could benefit life on Earth and inspire food production in parts of the world that are prone to natural disasters, food insecurity, and extreme environments.

“The Deep Space Food Challenge could serve as the framework for providing astronauts with healthy and delicious food using sustainable mechanisms,” said Angela Herblet, challenge manager for the Deep Space Food Challenge at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

“The challenge has brought together innovative and driven individuals from around the world who are passionate about creating new solutions that support our agency’s future Moon to Mars missions.”

Since the challenge’s launch in 2021, more than 300 teams from 32 countries have participated by submitting innovative food system designs.

The competition, conceived and managed by NASA Centennial Challenges at NASA Marshall, is a first-of-its-kind coordinated effort between NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), which ran its own challenge in parallel.

Four American teams competed in Phase 3, which began in September 2023.

The Methuselah Foundation partnered with Ohio State University to facilitate the final phase of the challenge, which included a two-month testing and demonstration period held on the university’s campus in Columbus, Ohio.

Each U.S. team in Phase 3 was awarded $50,000 and took their technology to Columbus for testing.

Throughout this phase, the teams constructed full-scale food production systems that were required to pass developmental milestones like safety, sensory testing, palatability, and harvesting volumes.

Each team worked with four “Simunauts,” a crew of Ohio State students who managed the testing and demonstrations for Phase 3 over the eight-week period.

The data gathered from testing was delivered to a judging panel to determine the winner.

The challenge concluded at the Deep Space Food Symposium, a two-day networking and learning summit at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on Aug. 15 and 16.

Throughout the event, attendees met the Phase 3 finalists, witnessed demonstrations of the food production technologies, and attended panels featuring experts from NASA, government, industry, and academia.

The winners of the challenge were announced at an awards ceremony at the end of the symposium.

The U.S. winner and recipient of the $750,000 grand prize is Interstellar Lab of Merritt Island, Florida.

Led by Barbara Belvisi, the small business combines several autonomous phytotrons and environment-controlled greenhouses to support a growth system involving a self-sustaining food production mechanism that generates fresh vegetables, microgreens, and insects necessary for micronutrients.

Two runners-up each earned $250,000 for their food systems’ successes: Nolux of Riverside, California, and SATED of Boulder, Colorado.

Nolux, a university team led by Robert Jinkerson, constructed an artificial photosynthetic system that can create plant and fungal-based foods without the operation of biological photosynthesis.

Standing for Safe Appliance, Tidy, Efficient & Delicious, SATED is a one-man team of Jim Sears, who developed a variety of customizable food, from pizza to peach cobbler.

The product is fire-safe and was developed by long-shelf-life and in-situ grown ingredients.

NASA also selected and recognized one international team as a Phase 3 winner: Solar Foods of Lappeenranta, Finland, developed a food production system through gas fermentation that relies on single-cell protein production.

In April 2024, CSA and Impact Canada awarded the grand prize winner of its parallel challenge to Ecoation, a Vancouver-based small business specializing in greenhouses.

“Congratulations to the winners and all the finalist teams for their many years dedicated to innovating solutions for the Deep Space Food Challenge,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive for NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“These food production technologies could change the future of food accessibility on other worlds and our home planet.”

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-1-25-million-to-three-teams-at-deep-space-food-finale/

Europe's JUICE Jupiter probe zooms by the moon in historic flyby

August 19, 2024

Europe's JUICE Jupiter probe swung by the moon for a "gravity assist" on Monday (Aug. 19), and it snapped some photos to commemorate the historic encounter.

JUICE (short for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) came within a mere 465 miles (750 kilometers) of the lunar surface on Monday evening, on the first leg of an unprecedented gravity-assist doubleheader.

The second leg comes on Tuesday evening, when the probe flies by Earth.

JUICE chronicled Monday's lunar encounter with some imagery, which it captured using its two onboard monitoring cameras (which were designed to confirm the deployment of the probe's solar arrays and scientific instruments).

And the European Space Agency (ESA) shared these photos with the world as they came down to Earth, raw and unprocessed, via a live webcast that included commentary from some JUICE team members.

JUICE launched in April 2023, on a mission to study Jupiter and three of its four big Galilean moons — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

All three are thought to possess oceans of liquid water beneath their icy shells, and Europa's is likely in contact with a rocky seafloor, making possible a variety of intriguing chemical reactions. (The seas of Ganymede and Callisto may be sandwiched between layers of ice.)

This week's moon and Earth flybys are historic; no other mission has ever performed a double gravity assist, according to ESA.

The two maneuvers will set the probe on course for a similar encounter with Venus in August 2025, which will slingshot JUICE out toward the giant planet.

"Actually, this flyby is a braking maneuver, so we do not accelerate JUICE, in the sense of gaining speed relative to the sun," Ignacio Tanco, JUICE spacecraft operations manager, said during ESA's lunar flyby webcast.

"What we found is that by following this sequence of first Earth and then Venus, we manage to save about half a year of cruise time and arrive to Jupiter around July 2031," Tanco added.

"This sort of counterintuitive approach of braking first, in fact, results ultimately in the shortest possible cruise phase."

To achieve the same change in velocity achieved by this week's two flybys via engine burns, the JUICE team would've had to use pretty much all the propellant in the probe's tanks, Tanco said.

JUICE team members say the assist worked perfectly. "It was a flawless maneuver! No fine-tuning or correction is needed before tonight's Earth flyby," ESA Operations posted to X on Aug. 20.

During its Earth flyby on Tuesday, JUICE will come within a mere 4,250 miles (6,840 km) of Earth. If all goes according to plan, closest approach will occur at 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT) over the North Pacific Ocean.

Amateur astronomers could theoretically see the probe through a telescope during the encounter, JUICE team members said — provided they're in Alaska or some other spot in or around the North Pacific.

There won't be another flyby-photo webcast during Tuesday's flyby, however.

ESA's Pacific region telemetry-receiving stations are all in the Southern Hemisphere, so the JUICE team won't be able to communicate with the probe during the encounter, team members said on Monday.

https://www.space.com/juice-jupiter-probe-esa-moon-flyby

Supermoon Blue Moon 2024: Top photos from around the world

August 20, 2024

August's Supermoon Blue Moon 2024 put on an epic show worldwide and we've rounded up some of the best photos to prove it.

The Supermoon Blue Moon occurred at 2:26 p.m. EDT (1826 GMT) on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, when the moon was 100% fully illuminated.

Moonrise times are dependent on your viewing location.

August's full moon was a seasonal Blue Moon meaning it's the third full moon in a season that has four full moons.

The term supermoon refers to a full moon that occurs when the moon is within 90% of its closest approach to Earth during its orbit, according to NASA.

August's full moon will be followed by three more supermoons on Sept. 17, Oct. 17 and Nov. 15.

Here we take a look at some of the top Supermoon Blue Moon photos from around the world. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

cont.

https://www.space.com/supermoon-blue-moon-2024-photos

>>21447819

She is wearing a cowboy hat

https://polarisprogram.com/polaris-dawn-a-groundbreaking-commercial-spaceflight-mission-to-launch-on-august-26-2024/

Polaris Dawn, a Groundbreaking Commercial Spaceflight Mission, to Launch on August 26, 2024

August 19, 2024

The Polaris Program, a test and developmental program of new spaceflight technology, will usher in a new era of commercial space exploration when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launches the program’s first mission, Polaris Dawn, on Monday, August 26, 2024. This milestone mission will include testing a next-generation spacesuit during the first commercial spacewalk; endeavoring to achieve the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program; and testing a new communication system using Starlink.

There will be a special on-orbit reading of a children’s book, Kisses from Space, written by a crewmember; and much more.

The four crewmembers will also use their approximately five days on-orbit to conduct nearly 40 critical health research experiments, all while raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

“After more than two years of training, we are excited to embark on this mission,” said Jared Isaacman, commander of the Polaris Dawn mission.

“We are incredibly thankful for this opportunity and to the thousands of SpaceX engineers who have contributed to this endeavor. We hope the results from our mission will accelerate SpaceX’s vision to make life multiplanetary and support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its efforts to improve global survival rates for childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Throughout our mission, we will aim to inspire humankind to look up and imagine what we can achieve here on Earth and in the worlds beyond our own.”

The Polaris Dawn crew includes:

Jared Isaacman, Mission Commander, is founder and CEO of Shift4, and also served as Mission Commander of Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian mission to space in 2021 that helped raise over $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

An accomplished aviator and adventurer from Pennsylvania, Isaacman is rated to fly commercial and military aircraft and holds several world air records, including two Speed-Around-The-World flights;

Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Mission Pilot, is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and his 20 years in the service included Commander of the 64th Aggressor Squadron, USAF Thunderbird #4 Demonstration Pilot, Operational Test & Evaluation Pilot, and Flight Examiner.

Poteet previously served as mission director for Inspiration4.

A runner and triathlete, New Hampshire native, Poteet has completed 15 Ironman Triathlons since 2000, including four Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii;

Sarah Gillis, Mission Specialist, is a Colorado native who is a Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX, where she is responsible for overseeing the company’s astronaut training program.

A classically trained violinist, Gillis began as an intern for SpaceX in 2015, and worked on human-in-the-loop testing of the Dragon spacecraft. Her mentor, former NASA astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, first encouraged her to study aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Inspired by her experience as a musician, Gillis has developed a curriculum, A Musician’s Guide to Reaching for the Stars, in collaboration with El Sistema USA, that encourages students to reach for their dreams and discover the connections between music, creativity and exploration; and

Anna Menon, Mission Specialist and Medical Officer, is a Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX, where she manages the development of crew operations and serves in Mission Control as both a Mission Director and Crew Communicator.

Menon resides in Houston and is married to newly minted NASA astronaut Anil Menon.

She has written a children’s book, Kisses from Space, which was inspired by her experience preparing for the Polaris Dawn mission and her desire to share her spaceflight experience with her two young children.

She will read it from space during the mission and proceeds from her sales of the book will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

Kisses from Space is now available in bookstores nationwide and wherever books are available online.

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>>21447910

The Polaris Dawn crew will leverage Falcon 9’s and Dragon’s maximum performance to endeavor to reach several milestones for commercial spaceflight, including:

Flying higher than any previous Dragon mission to date and reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown while moving through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt at an orbital altitude of 190 x 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from Earth’s surface – or more than three times higher than the International Space Station.

This will be the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission in more than a half-century since the Apollo program;

Attempting the first-ever commercial spacewalk. This will take place at an elliptical orbit of 190 x 700 kilometers (435 miles) above Earth in newly developed SpaceX EVA spacesuits.

During the spacewalk, the crew will conduct a series of tests that will provide necessary data that will allow SpaceX teams to produce and scale for future long-duration missions.

The crew worked with SpaceX engineers throughout suit development, testing various iterations for mobility and performance (along with mobility aids and systems procedures), and conducted operations inside vacuum chambers to validate pre-breathe protocols and the readiness of the EVA suit;

Testing laser-based satellite communication using optical links between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites, revolutionizing the speed and quality of space communications;

Conducting nearly 40 experiments for critical scientific research designed to advance our knowledge of human health both on Earth and during future long-duration space flights.

The Polaris Dawn crew is in the final stages after more than two years of essential training activities preparing them for the landmark mission.

This training has included centrifuge operations, hundreds of hours of Dragon simulations, skydiving, survival training, high performance aircraft piloting, Zero-G flight training and altitude training, as well as classroom academics and medical testing.

Additionally, and especially important for Polaris Dawn, the crew received extensive EVA training, both underwater and suspended operations, as well as the associated medical training.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® is the official charitable partner of Polaris Dawn and fundraising for St. Jude will be integrated into various aspects of the mission.

DORITOS®, a PepsiCo Foods brand, is making a significant donation to St. Jude and will join this historic mission.

IWC Schaffhausen will also support the mission through its specially designed and donated Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” watch, which will be worn on the flight before being auctioned to benefit St. Jude.

Additional details will be revealed leading up to, during, and after the mission via the Polaris Dawn website and social media channels, including other first-of-their-kind events to be held and shared while in orbit.

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