Space Stories: Oceans on Ariel, Dinosaur-Killer Asteroid from Beyond Jupiter, and the Launch of the Polaris Dawn Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Uranus and distant galaxies as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Forbes: “NASA’s Webb Telescope Finds Evidence For An Ocean World Around Uranus“

New observations by the James Webb Space Telescope suggest that an icy moon around Uranus may have an underground liquid ocean. Ariel is one of 27 moons around Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun and the third largest planet in the solar system. It’s one of four moons that scientists have long been interested in as part of a search for water across the solar system, the others being Umbriel, Titania and Oberon.

—Nature: “Dinosaur-killing Chicxulub Asteroid Formed in Solar System’s Outer Reaches“

The object that smashed into Earth and kick-started the extinction that wiped out almost all dinosaurs 66 million years ago was an asteroid that originally formed beyond the orbit of Jupiter, according to geochemical evidence from the impact site in Chicxulub, Mexico. The findings, published on 15 August in Science, suggest that the mass extinction was the result of a train of events that began during the birth of the Solar System. Scientists had long suspected that the Chicxulub impactor, as it is known, was an asteroid from the outer Solar System, and these observations bolster the case.

—Space Daily: “Polaris Dawn Mission Set for August 26 to Advance Commercial Space Exploration“

The Polaris Program, focused on testing and developing new spaceflight technology, is preparing to launch its first mission, Polaris Dawn, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on Monday, August 26, 2024. This mission marks a significant step forward in commercial space exploration. Key objectives include testing a next-generation spacesuit during the first commercial spacewalk, attempting to achieve the highest altitude for a human spaceflight since the Apollo missions, and evaluating a new communication system through Starlink.

One More Wrinkle Related to the Starliner Delay

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Credit: NASA

As if NASA needed another issue with the Boeing Starliner stranded at the International Space Station (ISS), the media (particularly the Indian media) is now reporting that one of the Starliner astronauts is having eyesight issues.

According to one media source, Astronaut Sunita Williams is experiencing eyesight problems that may be linked to her exposure to microgravity. The issue, called Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS), is not an uncommon symptom related to space flight. It can lead to blurred vision over time and worsens over time.

NASA has noted that:

Most astronauts’ eyes and brain structure change in space…Weightlessness causes blood and cerebrospinal fluid to shift toward the head. This fluid shift is believed to be the underlying cause of the eye and brain structural changes…The longer they are in space, the more they may be impacted. Many astronauts only experience effects in space, but some changes may be permanent in some astronauts.

This has only become an issue now that an 8-day tour has turned into a potential 8-month tour. This Gilligan’s Island tour needs to come to an end so that the ISS can return to regular operations.

Image (Credit): Scene from the television show Gilligan’s Island. (CBS Television Network)

Movie Quote: Not Such an Alien World

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Image (Credit): A scene from the movie Alien: Romulus. (20th Century Studios)

“The production design harkens back to both Scott and Cameron’s ALIEN movies. It’s a world we recognize so there’s not much new world-building except for the brief glance at an active mining colony. What’s different is the cinematography by Galo Olivares…ALIEN: ROMULUS works as a stand-alone movie, and is probably a better experience if you come in cold, without any knowledge of the franchise. ALIEN fans bring in too much baggage and rarely can we be satisfied.”

-Statement by movie critic Lupe R Haas in her recent review of the film Alien: Romulus.

Progress MS-28/89 Spacecraft Docks with the ISS

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Image (Credit): The Progress MS-28 cargo spacecraft approaches the ISS on Saturday, August 17, 2024. (NASA)

The Progress MS-28 (or Progress 89 per NASA) spacecraft successfully attached itself to the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday so that three tons of supplies could be unloaded.

As with previous resupply spacecraft, it will remain attached to the station for the next six months before being ejected back towards Earth where it will burn up in the atmosphere.

Study Findings: Feasibility of Keeping Mars Warm with Nanoparticles

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Image (Credit): Frost on Olympus Mons (,shaded in blue). (ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

Science Advances abstract of the study findings:

One-third of Mars’ surface has shallow-buried H2O, but it is currently too cold for use by life. Proposals to warm Mars using greenhouse gases require a large mass of ingredients that are rare on Mars’ surface. However, we show here that artificial aerosols made from materials that are readily available at Mars—for example, conductive nanorods that are ~9 micrometers long—could warm Mars >5 × 103 time smore effectively than the best gases. Such nanoparticles forward-scatter sunlight and efficiently block upwelling thermal infrared. Like the natural dust of Mars, they are swept high into Mars’ atmosphere, allowing delivery from the near-surface. For a 10-year particle lifetime, two climate models indicate that sustained release at 30 liters per second would globally warm Mars by ≳30 kelvin and start to melt the ice. Therefore, if nanoparticles can be made at scale on (or delivered to) Mars, then the barrier to warming of Mars appears to be less high than previously thought.

Citation: Ansari S, Kite ES, Ramirez R, Steele LJ, Mohseni H, Feasibility of keeping Mars warm with nanoparticles, Science Advances, (2024).
10.1126/sciadv.adn4650

Study-related stories:

Space.com

Universe Today

Northwestern University