Pic of the Week: Another Lunar View of Earth

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Apollo 17’s flag on the lunar surface. (NASA)

NASA is sharing a 51-year old photo from Apollo 17 showing both the American flag placed on the lunar surface by the crew as well as their home planet. It is a great shot that gives us plenty to thing about as the U.S. plans a return to the moon (with at least one other national flag to be planted, as noted the other day by Vice President Harris).

Here is more on the image from NASA:

Fifty-one years ago, one of the Apollo 17 astronauts on the Moon took this close-up of the U.S. flag they deployed with the Earth visible in the distance.⁣
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The lunar module crew spent 75 hours on the lunar surface, deploying a U.S. flag early in EVA-1 — their mission’s first walk on the Moon. This particular flag had flown in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) in Houston during Apollo and was noticeably larger than the flags deployed on the previous missions.⁣
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You may notice the support rod in the top part of the flag. The support rod ensured that the flag was extended and visible in photographs, despite there being no wind on the lunar surface to make the flag wave.⁣
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Six U.S. flags in total were planted on the lunar surface, one during each Apollo mission. Experts believe it’s highly unlikely the Apollo flags could have endured the decades of exposure to vacuum, temperature swings from 242 °F (117 °C) during the day to -280 °F (-173 °C) during the night, micrometeorites, radiation, and ultraviolet light.⁣
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While the flags are likely no longer there, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery taken decades later showed that the flagpoles were still standing and casting shadows.⁣

Space Stories: An International Astronaut for Artemis, Martian Eruptions, and Surprisingly Young Stars in Our Galaxy

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Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Politico: “NASA’s Moon Landing Mission will Include a Non-American, Harris Says“

NASA is hoping to send a group of astronauts to the moon before the end of the decade, and at least one of them won’t be American. During a National Space Council meeting Wednesday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that an astronaut from another country will join the U.S. team…It’s a major diplomatic move for Washington as it attempts to build an international coalition in space to counter a similar initiative being pursued by China, which the U.S. believes is gearing up for future battles in orbit. Harris didn’t specify which nation will provide the astronaut.

—University of Arizona: “Recent Volcanism on Mars Reveals a Planet More Active Than Previously Thought“

A vast, flat, “featureless” plain on Mars surprised researchers by revealing a much more tumultuous geologic past than expected, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Arizona. Enormous amounts of lava have erupted from numerous fissures as recently as one million years ago, blanketing an area almost as large as Alaska and interacting with water in and under the surface, resulting in large flood events that carved out deep channels...Mars has long been thought to be a geologically “dead” planet where not much is happening. Recent discoveries have researchers questioning this notion,

—ScienceNews: “A Bar of Stars at the Center of the Milky Way Looks Surprisingly Young“

The biography of our home galaxy may be due for some revisions. That’s because a bar-shaped collection of stars at the center of the Milky Way appears to be much younger than expected. The bar is a prominent feature of our galaxy. It spans thousands of light-years and links the galaxy’s spiraling arms of stars, making them resemble streams of water coming from a spinning lawn sprinkler.

Starship Launch: A Few Legal Issues on the Ground

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Image (Credit): The Starship rocket at the SpaceX facility located at Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX)

SpaceX and NASA are trying to get ready for the third launch of the Starship, a key component of the Artemis program. Yet some parties here are Earth are still steamed about the April 2023 Starship launch that spread debris at the Texas rocket site.

A group of organizations – the Center for Biological Diversity, American Bird Conservancy, Surfrider Foundation, Save RGV and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas, Inc. – have filed additional legal claims against the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The group’s main concerns, outlined in a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity, are:

  • the agencies’ failure to fully analyze and mitigate environmental harms from the April 20 explosion of the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy rocket and launchpad at Boca Chica in south Texas;
  • the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to address the harm from the April 20 explosion and efforts to recover thousands of chunks of concrete and metal from sensitive tidal flat habitat; and
  • the Service further failed to address excessive noise and vibrations from the first launch, including reports that noise levels greatly exceeded what was expected.

Mary Angela Branch, board member at Save RGV, stated;

Approving a massive rocket test launch facility only steps from our state park and national wildlife refuge is unconscionable…This failed launch shows the extent of damage, not just to our wildlife and sensitive eco-system, but to our residential, recreational and tourist communities. The noise, debris, vibrations and explosion proved far too extreme to not be given full environmental assessment by the FAA and Fish and Wildlife Service. Failure to do so is pure negligence and exhibits a blatant disregard for our community life.

This may further slow down efforts to get the Starship testing back on track.

Many have already noted how dumb the first launch was with no provisions for the rocket exhaust. It set a bad precedent that will hang over the Starship launches as long as they continue in Texas.

A Day in Astronomy: Birth of Steven Spielberg

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Image (Credit): Scene from the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. (Universal Studios)

On this day in 1946, Steven Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. The American film director is best known for his many science fiction films, such as Jaws as well as the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park series. However, he has a special place in the hearts of space fans for his other films, including:

  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977);
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982); and
  • War of the Worlds (2005).

You may wonder what he plans to work on next. So does he. In a Deadline interview earlier this year, Mr. Spielberg stated this when asked about his next project:

It’s kind of a nice feeling. And it’s also a horrible feeling. It’s nice that I can actually have control of my life again and makes my own choices in my real life. But I need to work and I love to work and that’s the biggest question I’m going to have with the rest of the year trying to figure this out.

Let’s hope he considers something space-related again.

Gift Ideas: Astronomy Items that are Fun for the Whole Family

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Late for the Sky

If you are still looking around for holiday gifts, Popular Mechanics provided a nice gift guide for 2023. This includes the board game Space-opoly (above), the red Mars dust globe (below), and the Play Tent Galaxy Dome (also below).

Some other sources for helpful gift lists include:

Don’t worry. You still have time.

Credit: Humango Toys
Credit: Space World