Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the PRIMA space telescope. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
“With our Webb and Roman space telescopes, we set a cadence of launching premiere-class missions in both halves of the decade. We’re going to keep that up and kick off the next decade with PRIMA, as part of a pipeline that will consistently have missions of this caliber ready to go.”
–Statement by Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, regarding the planned $1.2 billion PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) space telescope. The plan is to launch the space telescope in 2033 to conduct a five-year mission. The main mission of the space telescope will pertain to exoplanet origins, galaxy growth and black hole evolution. It is encouraging to hear about NASA planning these future missions with all the talk of program cuts from the White House. It is probably presumed that the Congress will keep the funding coming.
An unpiloted Russian Progress cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station Saturday carrying supplies and equipment for the orbiting outpost. The Progress M-25 docked at the space-facing port of Russia’s Poisk module at 9:44 a.m. EDT (1344 UTC). It circled the station before making its final approach using the automated Kurs rendezvous system. Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina were standing by to take manual control of the approach using remote controls, but everything went smoothly as the craft closed in, 260 miles above the Black Sea. A series of hooks inside the docking mechanism were driven closed to complete the docking operation.
Astronomers have confirmed the youngest known planet yet, a world less than 1 million years old that is still surrounded by the gas and dust from which it formed. The planet, called Elias 2-24 b, was identified using observations preserved in NASA-funded archives. It is still orbiting within its young star’s dusty disk, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study planet formation while it is still happening.
French President Emmanuel Macron wants Europe to develop its own way of sending astronauts into space within a decade. Europe already builds rockets and satellites and sends astronauts to the International Space Station – but it still relies on American spacecraft to get them there. As the global space sector expands, the question is whether Europe should invest in closing that gap, and what it would take to do so.
Here are a few recent podcast episodes you may want to check out.
First, I recommend the Star Talk episode“Rogue Planets & Exomoons with David Kipping.” This episode brings together two great promoters of astronomy who discuss a variety of topics, including not only planets without solar systems and the moons of exoplanets, but also the habitable zone of galaxies, civilizational monuments, and the idea that the inhabitants of a super-Earth may be trapped on the surface of their planet. It is a worthwhile tour of the galaxy.
Next, Planetary Radio had a fun episode celebrating the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. It is titled “Star Trek at 60: What do we value the most?” and it includes an interview with Robert Picardo, who you know from two Star Trek series as the Emergency Medical Hologram, yet he is also on the Board of Directors at The Planetary Society and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He discusses his more than 30 years with the Star Trek family, and discusses how Star Trek fans have a unique connection to the founding of The Planetary Society.
We are on the cusp of a golden age of space travel in which, for the first time, it will be possible for large numbers of people to venture into space. Some intend to stay. But what happens—and will happen—to us in the extreme conditions of space? What should space tourists expect to happen to them during a journey to an orbiting space station, the Moon, or Mars? What would happen to children born on another planet? Would they evolve into a new species? In Becoming Martian, Scott Solomon explores the many ways in which humanity’s migration into space will change our bodies and our minds.
If you have a few minutes to listen in, you will not be disappointed.
Image (Credit): NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope aboard a SpaceX rocket transiting the sun during launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier today. (NASA/John Kraus)
The Roman Space Telescope will have a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble’s, which it can use to view billions of galaxies as well as answer questions about exoplanets, dark energy, dark matter, and more.
Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, stated:
Roman will be a discovery machine that will bring us closer than ever before to answering humanity’s most profound questions about our cosmic history…With its large field of view and fast survey speeds, Roman will usher us into a new era of discovery and make the invisible visible, setting the foundation for humanity’s search for life beyond our solar system.
Not a bad mission for a repurposed spy satellite donated to NASA back in 2012. I wonder if the National Reconnaissance Office has any other old satellites or spacecraft lying around that it might want to put to use discovering more about the universe.
It’s a promising way to turn swords into plowshares.
The Wisconsin Center for Origins Research (WiCOR) at the University of Wisconsin has two questions as part of its mission:
How do habitable planets form?
How does life emerge on habitable planets?
And now, the center has discovered its first exoplanet that brings up an unexpected question – Why is the newly discovered exoplanet GJ 523b a Mega-Earth rather than a gas giant like Saturn or Jupiter?
This new exoplanet, located about 87 light-years away, is 2.5 times the size of our Earth and 23 times its mass. To date, it was understood that something this large would become the core of a gas giant and not just a rocky planet like Earth. So what is the story here?
The results will appear shortly in a new paper, which will include some theories as to how this happened. You can read more about the discovery and at least one theory at the WiCOR site now.
