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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
November 19, 2024
Undulatus Clouds over Las Campanas Observatory
What's happening with these clouds? While it may seem that these long and thin clouds are pointing toward the top of a hill, and that maybe a world-famous observatory is located there, only part of that is true. In terms of clouds, the formation is a chance superposition of impressively periodic undulating air currents in Earth's lower atmosphere. Undulatus, a type of Asperitas cloud, form at the peaks where the air is cool enough to cause the condensation of opaque water droplets. The wide-angle nature of the panorama creates the illusion that the clouds converge over the hill. In terms of land, there really is a world-famous observatory at the top of that peak: the Carnegie Science's Las Campanas Observatory in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The two telescope domes visible are the 6.5-meter Magellan Telescopes. The featured coincidental vista was a surprise but was captured by the phone of a quick-thinking photographer in late September.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Curiosity Views the Yardang Unit
Nov. 18, 2024
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of a geological region called the Yardang Unit using its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on Nov. 2, 2024, the 4,352nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
This mosaic is made up of 18 images that were stitched together after being sent back to Earth.
The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth.
A yardang is an elongated ridge created by wind erosion. The Yardang Unit is a layer found at the uppermost reaches of the foothills at the base of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014.
The color, texture, and tilt of the layers in the Yardang Unit make it distinct from lower layers on the mountain.
Mount Sharp is an exciting place for scientists to study because it's made up of a number of layers, each representing a distinct era in the climate of ancient Mars.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26472-curiosity-views-the-yardang-unit/
NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Takes a Last Look at Mysterious Sulfur
Nov. 18, 2024
NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing for the next leg of its journey, a monthslong trek to a formation called the boxwork, a set of weblike patterns on Mars’ surface that stretches for miles.
It will soon leave behind Gediz Vallis channel, an area wrapped in mystery. How the channel formed so late during a transition to a drier climate is one big question for the science team.
Another mystery is the field of white sulfur stones the rover discovered over the summer.
Curiosity imaged the stones, along with features from inside the channel, in a 360-degree panorama before driving up to the western edge of the channel at the end of September.
The rover is searching for evidence that ancient Mars had the right ingredients to support microbial life, if any formed billions of years ago, when the Red Planet held lakes and rivers.
Located in the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain, Gediz Vallis channel may help tell a related story: what the area was like as water was disappearing on Mars.
Although older layers on the mountain had already formed in a dry climate, the channel suggests that water occasionally coursed through the area as the climate was changing.
Scientists are still piecing together the processes that formed various features within the channel, including the debris mound nicknamed “Pinnacle Ridge,” visible in the new 360-degree panorama.
It appears that rivers, wet debris flows, and dry avalanches all left their mark. The science team is now constructing a timeline of events from Curiosity’s observations.
The science team is also trying to answer some big questions about the sprawling field of sulfur stones. Images of the area from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) showed what looked like an unremarkable patch of light-colored terrain.
It turns out that the sulfur stones were too small for MRO’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) to see, and Curiosity’s team was intrigued to find them when the rover reached the patch.
They were even more surprised after Curiosity rolled over one of the stones, crushing it to reveal yellow crystals inside.
Science instruments on the rover confirmed the stone was pure sulfur — something no mission has seen before on Mars.
The team doesn’t have a ready explanation for why the sulfur formed there; on Earth, it’s associated with volcanoes and hot springs, and no evidence exists on Mount Sharp pointing to either of those causes.
“We looked at the sulfur field from every angle — from the top and the side — and looked for anything mixed with the sulfur that might give us clues as to how it formed.
We’ve gathered a ton of data, and now we have a fun puzzle to solve,” said Curiosity’s project scientist Ashwin Vasavada at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Curiosity, which has traveled about 20 miles (33 kilometers) since landing in 2012, is now driving along the western edge of Gediz Vallis channel, gathering a few more panoramas to document the region before making tracks to the boxwork.
Viewed by MRO, the boxwork looks like spiderwebs stretching across the surface. It’s believed to have formed when minerals carried by Mount Sharp’s last pulses of water settled into fractures in surface rock and then hardened.
As portions of the rock eroded away, what remained were the minerals that had cemented themselves in the fractures, leaving the weblike boxwork.
On Earth, boxwork formations have been seen on cliffsides and in caves.
But Mount Sharp’s boxwork structures stand apart from those both because they formed as water was disappearing from Mars and because they’re so extensive, spanning an area of 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 kilometers).
“These ridges will include minerals that crystallized underground, where it would have been warmer, with salty liquid water flowing through,” said Kirsten Siebach of Rice University in Houston, a Curiosity scientist studying the region.
“Early Earth microbes could have survived in a similar environment. That makes this an exciting place to explore.”
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-curiosity-mars-rover-takes-a-last-look-at-mysterious-sulfur/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26410-curiositys-view-within-gediz-vallis-channel/
https://youtu.be/sbfODUMgfcw?si=vDm_i0ZGgfAfSBis
SpaceX Starship's Sixth Flight Test
November 19, 4:00pm CT
The sixth flight test of Starship is targeted to launch Tuesday, November 19. The 30-minute launch window will open at 4:00 p.m. CT.
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to check in here and stay tuned to our X account for updates.
Starship’s fifth flight test was a seminal moment in iterating towards a fully and rapidly reusable launch system.
On the first attempt, the Super Heavy booster successfully returned to the launch site and was caught by the chopstick arms of the launch and catch tower at Starbase.
Starship’s upper stage went on to demonstrate several improvements, resulting in a controlled entry and high accuracy splashdown at the targeted area in the Indian Ocean.
The next Starship flight test aims to expand the envelope on ship and booster capabilities and get closer to bringing reuse of the entire system online.
Objectives include the booster once again returning to the launch site for catch, reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space, and testing a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry and descent over the Indian Ocean.
The success of the first catch attempt demonstrated the design feasibility while providing valuable data to continue improving hardware and software performance.
Hardware upgrades for this flight add additional redundancy to booster propulsion systems, increase structural strength at key areas, and shorten the timeline to offload propellants from the booster following a successful catch.
Mission designers also updated software controls and commit criteria for the booster’s launch and return.
Analogous to the fifth flight test, distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director.
If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only take place if conditions are right.
The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone.
Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.
Starship’s upper stage will fly the same suborbital trajectory as the previous flight test, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean.
An additional objective for this flight will be attempting an in-space burn using a single Raptor engine, further demonstrating the capabilities required to conduct a ship deorbit burn prior to orbital missions.
Several thermal protection experiments and operational changes will test the limits of Starship’s capabilities and generate flight data to inform plans for ship catch and reuse.
The flight test will assess new secondary thermal protection materials and will have entire sections of heat shield tiles removed on either side of the ship in locations being studied for catch-enabling hardware on future vehicles.
The ship also will intentionally fly at a higher angle of attack in the final phase of descent, purposefully stressing the limits of flap control to gain data on future landing profiles.
Finally, adjusting the flight’s launch window to the late afternoon at Starbase will enable the ship to reenter over the Indian Ocean in daylight, providing better conditions for visual observations.
Future ships, starting with the vehicle planned for the seventh flight test, will fly with significant upgrades including redesigned forward flaps, larger propellant tanks, and the latest generation tiles and secondary thermal protection layers as we continue to iterate towards a fully reusable heat shield.
Learnings from this and subsequent flight tests will continue to make the entire Starship system more reliable as we close in on full and rapid reusability.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-6
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1857841326542434339
NASA Selects New Leader of Space Technology
November 18, 2024
Clayton P. Turner will serve as the associate administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Monday.
His appointment is effective immediately.
Turner has served as the acting associate administrator of STMD since July.
In this role, Turner will continue to oversee executive leadership, strategic planning, and overall management of all technology maturation and demonstration programs executed from the directorate enabling critical space focused technologies that deliver today and help create tomorrow.
“Under Turner’s skilled and steady hand, the Space Technology Mission Directorate will continue to do what it does best: help NASA push the boundaries of what’s possible and drive American leadership in space,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“I look forward to what STMD will achieve under Turner’s direction.”
As NASA embarks on the next era of space exploration, STMD leverages partnerships to advance technologies and test new capabilities helping the agency develop a sustainable presence on the Moon and beyond.
As associate administrator of STMD, Turner will plan, coordinate, and evaluate the mission directorate’s full range of programs and activities, including budget formulation and execution, as well as represent the programs to officials within and outside the agency.
Previously, Turner served as NASA Langley Research Center Director since September 2019 and has been with the agency for more than 30 years.
He has held several roles at NASA Langley, including engineering director, associate center director, and deputy center director.
Throughout his NASA career, he has worked on many projects for the agency, including: the Earth Science Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation Project; the materials technology development Gas Permeable Polymer Materials Project; the Space Shuttle Program’s Return to Flight work; the flight test of the Ares 1-X rocket; the flight test of the Orion Launch Abort System; and the entry, descent, and landing segment of the Mars Science Laboratory.
In recognition of his commitment to the agency and engineering, Turner has received many prestigious awards, such as the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal.
He is also an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a Board of Trustees member of his alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology.
NASA Glenn Research Center Deputy Director, Dawn Schaible, became acting Langley Center Director in July and will continue to serve in this role.
At NASA Langley, Schaible leads a skilled group of more than 3,000 civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers, and support staff, who work to advance aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, and develop technology for space exploration.
For more about Turner’s experience, visit his full biography online at:
https://go.nasa.gov/48UmkmS
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-new-leader-of-space-technology/
Hollywood Techniques Help NASA Visualize Supercomputing Data
Nov 18, 2024
Captivating images and videos can bring data to life. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) produces visualizations, animations, and images to help scientists tell stories of their research and make science more approachable and engaging.
Using the Discover supercomputer at the Center for Climate Simulation at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, visualizers use datasets generated by supercomputer models to create highly detailed, accurate, and stunning visualizations with Hollywood filmmaking tools like 3D modeling and animation.
Using supercomputing models, SVS visualizers created this data-driven animation of carbon dioxide emissions moving around the planet.
The visualization is driven by massive climate data sets and highly detailed emissions maps created by NASA researchers and external partners.
The resulting visualization shows the impact of power plants, fires, and cities, and how their emissions are spread across the planet by weather patterns and airflow.
“Both policymakers and scientists try to account for where carbon comes from and how that impacts the planet,” said NASA Goddard climate scientist Lesley Ott, whose research was used to generate the final visualization.
“You see here how everything is interconnected by the different weather patterns.”
By combining visual storytelling with supercomputing power, the SVS team continues their work to captivate and connect with audiences while educating them on NASA’s scientific research and efforts.
The NASA Center for Climate Simulation is part of the NASA High-End Computing Program, which also includes the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility at Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/hollywood-techniques-help-nasa-visualize-supercomputing-data/
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/
NASA Images Reveal Curious Colors in Antarctic Ice
Updated Nov 18, 2024 at 4:32 PM EST
In a display of nature's palette, NASA has released satellite imagery capturing colorful icebergs near the Amery Ice Shelf in east Antarctica.
The vibrant blues, greens and even yellowish tones in the icebergs stand out against the white expanse of snow and sea ice, offering a rare glimpse of the region's dynamic ice features.
The image, taken on October 26 by the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) aboard Landsat 9, reveals flipped icebergs exposing their snow-free undersides.
The colors result from the unique properties of glacial and marine ice.
Most icebergs appear white or bluish because of air bubbles in compressed glacial ice that scatter light.
However, in some regions of the Amery Ice Shelf, seawater freezes onto the ice shelf's underside hundreds of meters below the surface.
This bubble-free marine ice reflects the impurities in the seawater, leading to a range of hues.
"The clear marine ice can vary in color from deep blue, to green, to even brownish yellow, depending upon the concentration of constituents in the sea water," Collin Roesler, an oceanographer at Bowdoin College, said in a statement.
Roesler's 2019 research revealed that some icebergs near the Amery Ice Shelf take on a jade-green hue because of iron oxides in seawater that originate from rock dust on the mainland.
Roesler's study highlighted the ecological significance of these icebergs. The iron-rich icebergs, formed in specific conditions under the Amery Ice Shelf, act as carriers of essential nutrients.
As they drift and melt, they transport iron from the land to the sea.
These vibrant colors are visible only when icebergs overturn, a phenomenon triggered by melting or breaking that makes them unstable.
Helicopter surveys in the area have revealed a high proportion of overturned icebergs, making this region particularly notable for its colorful ice displays.
"Our analysis suggested that the Amery Ice Shelf is particularly suited to forming green icebergs because of the conditions that support the accumulation of freezing seawater onto the underside of the shelf," Roesler said.
The images captured from space also revealed another fascinating Antarctic feature—a large guano stain near Cape Darnley, evidence of an emperor penguin colony.
Jan Lieser, a meteorologist and sea ice scientist with the Antarctic Meteorological Service, noted the guano's visibility in satellite images, saying in a statement: "It's interesting that we can see their excrement from space."
The discovery aligns with past research in which scientists have used satellite imagery to locate remote penguin colonies by identifying guano stains.
https://www.newsweek.com/nasa-images-reveal-curious-colors-antarctic-ice-1987531
Asteroid worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 NASA is capturing would give everyone on Earth $1,246,105,919 each
11:36 19 Nov 2024 GMT
An asteroid worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 could turn every single one of us into billionaires. Hypothetically.
Last month, NASA sent a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to go and probe 16 Psyche, one of the largest discovered M-type asteroids.
The spacecraft will travel 2.2 billion miles (3.5 billion km) to its destination, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Most asteroids we know of are made up of rock and ice - but this one is pretty special.
16 Psyche is composed of metals which could greatly benefit our economy - hence its huge monetary value.
Its elements include platinum and palladium, which are essential to cars and electronics here on Earth.
There are nine metal-rich asteroids known to exist in our solar system, but 16 Psyche is the largest - which is why NASA is investigating it.
The US space agency estimates that this oddly shaped asteroid, which has a surface area of about 64,000 square miles (165,800 square kilometres), is made up of 30 to 60 percent metal.
It could also contain the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet which is one of the building blocks of our solar system.
And if, for some reason, 16 Psyche was brought back to Earth and broken down for our gain, we could all become billionaires.
Let's take a look at what would happen if the asteroid's materials really were worth $10 trillion dollars, and that wealth was divided between every single living person.
There are some 8.025 billion humans alive as of 2023.
So dividing $10 trillion by our population would give us each a total of $1,246,105,919.
While this sounds like an absolute dream, the scenario would pose some issues - namely that our economy would disintegrate.
And even with $1.25 billion to your name, you still wouldn't be anywhere near as well-off as the very richest of society.
Take Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, for example.
His net worth is actually worth 250 times more than the asteroid pay-out, at $313.9 billion.
However, NASA aren't going to 16 Psyche purely to harvest its precious metals, but to learn more about planetary cores and how planets form.
Plus, SpaceX's rocket isn't expected to reach its destination until July 2029, so we've got a while to wait yet.
NASA states on its Psyche mission webpage: “Psyche offers a unique window into the violent history of collisions and accretion that created terrestrial planets."
The investigation also aims to find out whether the asteroid really is the core of a planetesimal, a rock from the very early days of the solar system.
https://www.unilad.com/technology/space/nasa-psyche-16-asteroid-mission-money-503039-20241119
All I have are aardvark metrics atm