NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

September 15, 2024

Find the Man in the Moon

Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? This common question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia imagining familiar icons where they don't actually exist. The textured surface of Earth's full Moon is home to numerous identifications of iconic objects, not only in modern western culture but in world folklore throughout history. Examples, typically dependent on the Moon's perceived orientation, include the Woman in the Moon and the Rabbit in the Moon. One facial outline commonly identified as the Man in the Moon starts by imagining the two dark circular areas lunar maria here just above the Moon's center, to be the eyes. Surprisingly, there actually is a man in this Moon image a close look will reveal a real person with a telescope silhouetted against the Moon. This well-planned image was taken in 2016 in Cadalso de los Vidrios in Madrid, Spain.

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

Eiffel Tower-sized asteroid 2024 JV33 resembles a ’peanut’, rotates once every 7 hours

15 Sep 2024, 08:55 AM IST

Asteroid 2024 JV33 looked like a "peanut" – "with two rounded lobes, one lobe larger than the other", showed a series of images caputured by the Goldstone Solar System Radar near Barstow, California, on August 18, 2024.

Asteroid 2024 JV33 had safely passed Earth at a distance of 2.8M miles (4.6M km) in August. The near-Earth asteroid made its closest approach towards the Earth on August 19.

On the National Peanut Day, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released pictures and video of Asteroid 2024 JV33.

These images were captured when the asteroid was at a distance of about 12 times the distance between the Moon and Earth.

The asteroid was discovered by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Arizona, on May 4.

According to NASA, “…the near-Earth asteroid's shape resembles that of a peanut – with two rounded lobes, one lobe larger than the other.”

"Scientists used the radar images to determine that it is about 980 feet (300 meters) long and that its length is about double its width. Asteroid 2024 JV33 rotates once every seven hours," NASA said.

Besides, Asteroid 2024 JV33 has an elongated orbit similar to that of many comets "that are strongly influenced by the gravity of Jupiter".

"While no comet-like activity has been observed, the possibility remains that the asteroid may be an inactive cometary nucleus, NASA said.

Asteroid 2024 JV33 has been classified as potentially hazardous, but it does not pose a hazard to Earth for the foreseeable future.

https://www.livemint.com/science/news/kourtney-kardashian-s-weight-loss-supplement-to-cost-rs-6-000-is-it-effective-11726390136981.html

https://www.spacex.com/updates/

Starships Are Meant To Fly

September 10, 2024

SpaceX was founded in 2002 to expand access to outer space. Not just for government or traditional satellite operators, but for new participants around the globe.

Today, we’re flying at an unprecedented pace as the world’s most active launch services provider.

SpaceX is safely and reliably launching astronauts, satellites, and other payloads on missions benefiting life on Earth and preparing humanity for our ultimate goal: to explore other planets in our solar system and beyond.

Starship is paramount to making that sci-fi future, along with a growing number of U.S. national priorities, a reality.

It is the largest and most powerful space transportation system ever developed, and its fully and rapidly reusable design will exponentially increase humanity’s ability to access and utilize outer space.

Full reusability has been an elusive goal throughout the history of spaceflight, piling innumerable technical challenges on what is already the most difficult engineering pursuit in human existence. It is rocket science, on ludicrous mode.

Every flight of Starship has made tremendous progress and accomplished increasingly difficult test objectives, making the entire system more capable and more reliable.

Our approach of putting flight hardware in the flight environment as often as possible maximizes the pace at which we can learn recursively and operationalize the system.

This is the same approach that unlocked reuse on our Falcon fleet of rockets and made SpaceX the leading launch provider in the world today.

To do this and do it rapidly enough to meet commitments to national priorities like NASA’s Artemis program, Starships need to fly.

The more we fly safely, the faster we learn; the faster we learn, the sooner we realize full and rapid rocket reuse.

Unfortunately, we continue to be stuck in a reality where it takes longer to do the government paperwork to license a rocket launch than it does to design and build the actual hardware.

This should never happen and directly threatens America’s position as the leader in space.

FLIGHT 5

The Starship and Super Heavy vehicles for Flight 5 have been ready to launch since the first week of August.

The flight test will include our most ambitious objective yet: attempt to return the Super Heavy booster to the launch site and catch it in mid-air.

This will be a singularly novel operation in the history of rocketry. SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success.

Every test comes with risk, especially those seeking to do something for the first time.

SpaceX goes to the maximum extent possible on every flight to ensure that while we are accepting risk to our own hardware, we accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring public safety.

It's understandable that such a unique operation would require additional time to analyze from a licensing perspective.

Unfortunately, instead of focusing resources on critical safety analysis and collaborating on rational safeguards to protect both the public and the environment, the licensing process has been repeatedly derailed by issues ranging from the frivolous to the patently absurd.

At times, these roadblocks have been driven by false and misleading reporting, built on bad-faith hysterics from online detractors or special interest groups who have presented poorly constructed science as fact.

We recently received a launch license date estimate of late November from the FAA, the government agency responsible for licensing Starship flight tests.

This is a more than two-month delay to the previously communicated date of mid-September. This delay was not based on a new safety concern, but instead driven by superfluous environmental analysis.

The four open environmental issues are illustrative of the difficulties launch companies face in the current regulatory environment for launch and reentry licensing.

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STEEL AND WATER

Starship’s water-cooled steel flame deflector has been the target of false reporting, wrongly alleging that it pollutes the environment or has operated completely independent of regulation.

This narrative omits fundamental facts that have either been ignored or intentionally misinterpreted.

At no time did SpaceX operate the deflector without a permit. SpaceX was operating in good faith under a Multi-Sector General Permit to cover deluge operations under the supervision of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

SpaceX worked closely with TCEQ to incorporate numerous mitigation measures prior to its use, including the installation of retention basins, construction of protective curbing, plugging of outfalls during operations, and use of only potable (drinking) water that does not come into contact with any industrial processes.

A permit number was assigned and made active in July 2023.

TCEQ officials were physically present at the first testing of the deluge system and given the opportunity to observe operations around launch.

The water-cooled steel flame deflector does not spray pollutants into the surrounding environment.

Again, it uses literal drinking water. Outflow water has been sampled after every use of the system and consistently shows negligible traces of any contaminants, and specifically, that all levels have remained below standards for all state permits that would authorize discharge.

TCEQ, the FAA, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service evaluated the use of the system prior to its initial use, and during tests and launch, and determined it would not cause environmental harm.

When the EPA issued its Administrative Order in March 2024, it was done before seeking a basic understanding of the facts of the water-cooled steel flame deflector’s operation or acknowledgement that we were operating under the Texas Multi-Sector General Permit.

After meeting with the EPA—during which the EPA stated their intent was not to stop testing, preparation, or launch operations—it was decided that SpaceX should apply for an individual discharge permit.

Despite our previous permitting, which was done in coordination with TCEQ, and our operation having little to nothing in common with industrial waste discharges covered by individual permits, we applied for an individual permit in July 2024.

The subsequent fines levied on SpaceX by TCEQ and the EPA are entirely tied to disagreements over paperwork.

We chose to settle so that we can focus our energy on completing the missions and commitments that we have made to the U.S. government, commercial customers, and ourselves.

Paying fines is extremely disappointing when we fundamentally disagree with the allegations, and we are supported by the fact that EPA has agreed that nothing about the operation of our flame deflector will need to change. Only the name of the permit has changed.

GOOD STEWARD

No launch site operates in a vacuum. As we have built up capacity to launch and developed new sites across the country, we have always been committed to public safety and mitigating impacts to the environment.

At Starbase, we implement an extensive list of mitigations developed with federal and state agencies, many of which require year-round monitoring and frequent updates to regulators and consultation with independent biological experts.

The list of measures we take just for operations in Texas is over two hundred items long, including constant monitoring and sampling of the short and long-term health of local flora and fauna.

The narrative that we operate free of, or in defiance of, environmental regulation is demonstrably false.

Environmental regulations and mitigations serve a noble purpose, stemming from common-sense safeguards to enable progress while preventing undue impact to the environment.

However, with the licensing process being drawn out for Flight 5, we find ourselves delayed for unreasonable and exasperating reasons.

On Starship’s fourth flight, the top of the Super Heavy booster, commonly known as the hot-stage, was jettisoned to splash down on its own in the Gulf of Mexico.

The hot-stage plays an important part in protecting the booster during separation from Starship’s upper stage before detaching during the booster’s return flight.

This operation was analyzed thoroughly ahead of Starship’s fourth flight, specifically focused on any potential impact to protected marine species.

Given the distribution of marine animals in the specific landing area and comparatively small size of the hot-stage, the probability of a direct impact is essentially zero.

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This is something previously determined as standard practice by the FAA and the National Marine Fisheries Service for the launch industry at large, which disposes of rocket stages and other hardware in the ocean on every single launch, except of course, for our own Falcon rockets which land and are reused.

The only proposed modification for Starship’s fifth flight is a marginal change in the splashdown location of the hot-stage which produces no increase in likelihood for impacting marine life.

Despite this, the FAA leadership approved a 60-day consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Furthermore, the mechanics of these types of consultations outline that any new questions raised during that time can reset the 60-day counter, over and over again.

This single issue, which was already exhaustively analyzed, could indefinitely delay launch without addressing any plausible impact to the environment.

Another unique aspect to Starship’s fifth flight and a future return and catch of the Super Heavy booster will be the audible sonic booms in the area around the return location.

As we’ve previously noted, the general impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise.

The FAA, in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, evaluated sonic booms from the landing of the Super Heavy and found no significant impacts to the environment.

Although animals exposed to the sonic booms may be briefly startled, numerous prior studies have shown sonic booms of varying intensity have no detrimental effect on wildlife.

Despite this documented evidence, the FAA leadership approved an additional 60-day consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife as a slightly larger area could experience a sonic boom.

Lastly, the area around Starbase is well known as being host to various protected birds. SpaceX already has extensive mitigations in place and has been conducting biological monitoring for birds near Starbase for nearly 10 years.

The protocol for the monitoring was developed with U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, and is conducted by professional, qualified, independent biologists.

To date, the monitoring has not shown any population-level impacts to monitored bird populations, despite unsubstantiated claims to the contrary that the authors themselves later amended.

Even though Starship’s fifth flight will take place outside of nesting season, SpaceX is still implementing additional mitigations and monitoring to minimize impacts to wildlife, including infrared drone surveillance pre- and post-launch to track nesting presence.

We are also working with USFWS experts to assess deploying special protection measures prior to launches during bird nesting season.

SpaceX is committed to minimizing impact and enhancing the surrounding environment where possible. One of our proudest partnerships in South Texas is with Sea Turtle Inc, a local nonprofit dedicated to sea turtle conservation.

SpaceX assists with finding and transporting injured sea turtles to their facilities for treatment. SpaceX has also officially adopted Boca Chica Beach through the Texas General Lands Office Adopt a Beach Program, with the responsibility of picking up litter and promoting a litter-free environment.

SpaceX sponsors and participates in quarterly beach cleanups as well as quarterly State Highway 4 cleanups.

SpaceX has removed hundreds of pounds of trash from the beach and State Highway 4 over the last several years. SpaceX also fosters environmental education at the local level by hosting school tours as well as an Annual Environmental Education Day with Texas Parks and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Sea Turtle Inc.

TO FLY

Despite a small, but vocal, minority of detractors trying to game the regulatory system to obstruct and delay the development of Starship, SpaceX remains committed to the mission at hand.

Our thousands of employees work tirelessly because they believe that unlimited opportunities and tangible benefits for life on Earth are within reach if humanity can fundamentally advance its ability to access space.

This is why we’re committed to continually pushing the boundaries of spaceflight, with a relentless focus on safety and reliability.

Because life will be multiplanetary, and will be made possible by the farsighted strides we take today.

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