Space Stories: Swift Recovery, Saudi Space Sight-seeing Plans, and Ukrainian Reprisals in Russia

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist rendering of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in orbit with parts of spacecraft highlighted. (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab)

Here are some recent space-related stories.

—Science Alert: “Heads Up: NASA to Launch ‘Daring’ Telescope Rescue Mission This Week“

NASA will soon attempt something it’s never done before: Save a space telescope from falling back to Earth using a servicing robot. It sounds like something right out of a sci-fi film, but NASA is hoping it might be enough to keep its sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in action a little longer. According to the US space agency, the mission could launch as soon as this Tuesday 30 June, 6:17 am EDT (10:17 UTC), and we’ll be keeping you updated on the progress. If this mission works, the much-beloved Hubble Space Telescope is one of the next targets to have its life extended.

—The National News: “Stellar Places to Watch the Night Sky Across the Arab World“

Saudi Arabia has announced plans for AlUla Manara, a major astronomical observatory and research centre in the kingdom’s north-west…AlUla Manara is planned to include large telescopes, observation platforms, exhibitions, interactive experiences, a planetarium, a restaurant and a visitor and research centre. The project is intended to support scientific research as well as public astronomy experiences. No opening date has been announced.

—MSN: “Ukraine Strikes Russian Space Hub as Nuclear Orbit Fears Grow“

Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed its forces struck the Vladimir Space Communications Center near Gus-Khrustalny on 22 June, destroying the main 25‑metre parabolic antenna, damaging satellite modem halls, multiplexers, and cooling systems. Additional damage to the Main Hardware and Software Complex and a key technical building severely degraded Russia’s satellite operations…The Vladimir facility plays a central role in Russia’s satellite communications, and its loss comes amid accusations that Moscow has manoeuvred satellites near European systems used by Ukraine, causing GPS disruption across Europe, Greenland, and Canada.

Note: Here is the podcast version of this post.

Space Stories: New Lunar Lander on Display, Caltech Approves a Radio Telescope, and Missing Galactic Dark Matter

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Astrobotic Technology’s Griffin-1 lunar lander. (Astrobotic Technology)

Here are some recent space-related stories.

—Satnews: “Pittsburgh’s Moonshot: Astrobotic Unveils Griffin-1 Lander Ahead of Historic NASA ‘Moon Base II’ Mission“

Emerging as a powerful symbol of regional industrial pride and the rapid privatization of deep-space logistics, Astrobotic Technology has officially unveiled its massive Griffin-1 lunar lander. The vehicle, which has been formally designated by NASA as the primary infrastructure vehicle for the Moon Base II task order under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, represents a critical stepping stone toward establishing a permanent, self-sustaining human presence on the lunar surface. Unlike smaller, first-generation commercial scouts, the Griffin platform is an “infrastructure-class” logistics vehicle engineered to transport heavy industrial cargo. Boasting a massive 625 to 650-kilogram payload capacity, the stout aluminum isogrid lander is designed to ferry bulky machinery, scientific sensor arrays, and alternative energy installations directly to the rugged, hazardous terrain of the lunar south pole.

—Newser: “Giant Nevada Project Could Transform Astronomy“

Caltech has approved the final design for the Deep Synoptic Array, a $200 million radio telescope project that will blanket a chunk of desert with 1,650 dishes over roughly 120 square miles—an array designed to scan the sky about 100 times faster than any existing telescope. Backed in part by Schmidt Sciences, the philanthropic effort of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy, the project is slated to be finished by 2029 and will be powered by a supercomputer that turns torrents of radio signals into sharp images on the fly.

—W.M. Keck Observatory: “Astronomers Discover Third Galaxy Without Dark Matter“

Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, have discovered the third known galaxy apparently lacking dark matter, part of a strange linear structure that may have formed during a violent collision between galaxies. The discovery strengthens evidence for a rare and previously unseen process in which ordinary matter becomes separated from dark matter, offering astronomers a powerful new way to study one of the universe’s greatest mysteries.

Note: Here is the podcast version of this post.

The Next Space Race May Blind Astronomers and the Rest of Us

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Pixabay

While most of the attention regarding the space race with China revolves around the Moon at the moment, another space race is brewing that will become a big problem for astronomers if the race is successful. This second race is one to place data centers into orbit.

Over the years, astronomers have been expressing concerns about the impact that thousands of satellites on ground-based telescope. However, that is nothing compared to the number of data center satellites being planned for the future. SpaceX has already requested permission from the Federal Communications Commission for at least one million data center satellites. And other US companies such as Google with its Project Suncatcher, as well as the Chinese with similar investments, have their own plans to toss data centers into orbit.

We are fast-tracking ourselves towards the world of Disney’s WALL-E where we have polluted the night sky beyond recognition. Is this really necessary? Do we have other options?

Fortunately, we do, including Google’s planned data center in Texas, which will power itself from renewable energy. Another example is China’s efforts to put data centers in the ocean. Like the night sky, the ocean is a big place with a lot of possibilities if done right.

AI has already brought up enough concerns pertaining to childhood health, jobs for new graduates, and even a real armed Skynet determining its own targets. Do we really need to also surround the planet with more than a million satellites feeding into this questionable new world?

It may be time to take some of these decisions away from the stock market and ponder them for a few a little longer. Even Elon Musk was expressing such concerns in 2023. He signed a letter from the Future of Humanity Institute that stated:

Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders.

That was a smart idea then, and it makes even more sense today before we go crazy spending billions, if not trillions, or dollars on a new space race that re-energizes a questionable technology while blotting out the night sky for those who are willing to look outside of our planetary bubble to learn from the universe.

It was B. F. Skinner who said:

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.

Pic of the Week: The Crystal Ball Nebula

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): An image of NGC 1514, also called the Crystal Ball Nebula, as captured by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. (International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)

This week’s image is from the Gemini North telescope located on the summit of Maunakea in Hawaii. NGC 1514, or the Crystal Ball Nebula, is about 1,500 light-years away. It was first discovered in 1790 by German–British astronomer William Herschel, who classified it as a planetary nebula.

Here is a little more about the nebula from NOIRLab:

Planetary nebulae form when a low- or intermediate-mass star ejects its outer layers near the end of its life, forming a somewhat spherical cloud of gas. They typically have smoother, spherical shapes, making the Crystal Ball Nebula unique for its bumpy shells of gas. As the central star casts away this gas, its inner core is exposed. Radiation from the core energizes the gas, giving it a scorching temperature and chromatic glow…While it may appear in this image as if there is a single shining light source at the heart of the Crystal Ball Nebula, as Herschel saw, it actually contains two stars. These two stars orbit each other with a period of around nine years — the longest known for any binary pair within a planetary nebula. Scientists believe that one of these stars, which was once several times more massive than our Sun, released its outer layers while in the throes of death. As the progenitor star and its binary companion orbit each other, they mold the expanding shell of gas with their strong, asymmetrical winds, forming the lumpy layers we see today.

Space Stories: Earth Similar to Vesta, Comet 3I/ATLAS is from a Strange Cold Place, and a US/China Telescope Battle in South America

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Dawn spacecraft image of Vesta. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA)

Here are some recent space-related stories.

—BBC Sky at Night: “We Were Truly Astonished” – Astronomers Say Earth Formed from the Same Material as Mars“

Planetary scientists say they’ve taken a step closer to solving the mystery of where the material that formed Earth comes from. While Earth resides in the inner Solar System with Mercury, Venus and Mars, it’s been proposed that up to 40% of the material that formed our planet came from the outer reaches, beyond the orbit of Jupiter. But a new study looking at the chemistry of meteorites has found that Earth is likely made entirely from the inner Solar System. In particular, Earth’s make-up is strikingly similar to that of Mars and Vesta, one of the biggest objects in the asteroid belt.

—SciTechDaily: “Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Came From a Place Nothing Like Our Solar System“

A comet from beyond our solar system is giving astronomers a rare look at how alien planetary systems may form under conditions very different from those that shaped our own cosmic neighborhood. The object, called 3I/ATLAS, was discovered less than a year ago as it traveled through our solar system. Although scientists still do not know exactly where it originated, new research led by the University of Michigan suggests the comet formed in an extremely cold region of space…“Our new observations show that the conditions that led to the formation of our solar system are much different from how planetary systems evolved in different parts of our galaxy,” said Luis Salazar Manzano, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the U-M Department of Astronomy.

—New York Times: “U.S.-China Rivalry Reaches South American Skies“

In the foothills of the Argentine Andes, the enormous Chinese radio telescope sits in one of the world’s premier stargazing locations, surrounded by vast, undulating mountain ranges and beneath skies untouched by light pollution. It is also on the opposite side of the planet from Beijing, offering China a window on the half of the heavens it would not otherwise see. But the Chinese telescope at the site, the Cesco observatory in San Juan Province, picks up no signals. After the U.S. government repeatedly pressed them on the issue, the Argentine authorities stopped the project’s completion. Lacking key parts, the telescope now sits dismembered, its gigantic antenna pointing blindly at the sky.