Space Stories: Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is Back, Reclaiming More Water on the ISS, and Directly Imaging an Exoplanet

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NASA: “NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Phones Home“

The 52nd flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is now in the official mission logbook as a success. The flight took place back on April 26, but mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California lost contact with the helicopter as it descended toward the surface for landing. The Ingenuity team expected the communications dropout because a hill stood between the helicopter’s landing location and the Perseverance rover’s position, blocking communication between the two. 

—Phys.org: “NASA Achieves Water Recovery Milestone on International Space Station“

Astronauts on interplanetary missions will be a bit less thirsty after a new NASA system succeeded at reclaiming 98% of waste water aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by converting things like urine into a drinkable state. Future crewed deep space missions that will last months or even years will be very different from any that have come before. Until now, astronauts have either carried their own supplies along or relied on regular visits from cargo ships. As to waste products, these were simply disposed of in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, deep space missions don’t have that luxury.

—SCI.News: “Astronomers Directly Image Jupiter-Like Exoplanet around Nearby Young Star“

AF Leporis is a bright F8V star located about 87.5 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Lepus. Also known as AF Lep, HD 35850, HIP 25486 and HR 1817, the star has an age of 24 million years and a mass of 1.2 solar masses. The star hosts a young exoplanet, AF Leporis b (AF Lep b), which is located about 8 times the Earth-Sun distance and is among the first ever discovered using a technique called astrometry. This method measures the subtle movements of a host star over many years to help astronomers determine whether hard-to-see orbiting companions, including planets, are gravitationally tugging at it.

Space Stories: Mapping with Pulsars, Rocky Exoplanets, and Words from the Pope

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Vela pulsar, a neutron star that was formed when a massive star collapsed. (X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Toronto/M.Durant et al; Optical: DSS/Davide De Martin)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Universe Today: “Pulsars Could Help Map the Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way“

Last year, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)—an international consortium of astronomers and observatories—announced they had taken the first images of Sag A*, which came just two years after the release of the first-ever images of an SMBH (M87). In 2014, the European members of the EHT launched another initiative known as BlackHoleCam to gain a better understanding of SMBHs using a combination of radio imaging, pulsar observations, astrometry, and GR. In a recent paper, the BHC initiative described how they tested GR by observing pulsars orbiting Sgr A*.

—Max Planck Institute for Astronomy: “Searching for an Atmosphere on the Rocky Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c“

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, an MPIA-led group of astronomers searched for an atmosphere on rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c. Although the planet is nearly identical in size and temperature to Venus, its atmosphere has turned out to be very different. By analysing the heat emitted from the planet, they conclude it may only have a tenuous atmosphere with minimal carbon dioxide. However, this measurement is also consistent with a barren rocky planet without any significant atmosphere. This work contributes to our understanding of how the atmospheres of rocky planets orbiting low-mass stars can withstand their strong stellar winds and intense UV radiation.

—Catholic News Service: “Pope Francis to Young Astronomers: Keep Love and Wonder Alive“

Pope Francis sent a letter to young astronomy scholars Tuesday encouraging them to maintain their “sense of wonder” and surprise throughout their research. While praising the “great discoveries” of astronomy, he urged the researchers never to lose sight of other important realities such as love and friendship.

Podcast: Should We Be Talking to the Stars (or Exoplanets, to be More Precise)?

Posted on by onespaceman2000

I recommend you tune into another episode from The Planetary Society’s podcast Planetary Radio. In the episode, Space Policy Edition: The Policy Implications of Active SETI, we hear a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of an active SETI program, and whether we can even cease outreach to the neighboring systems given what has already been transmitted and the nature of our world today.

The guest on the episode is Jacob Haqq Misra, Senior Research Investigator at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. He is the author of a new book, Sovereign Mars: Transforming Our Values Through Space Settlement, though his main points related to our SETI program.

For instance, whether or not people support an active or passive SETI program often depends on whether we believe in benevolent or destructive aliens. Of course, the matter is unknowable until it happens, yet fraught with fears based on what we know about ourselves and our own exploration.

The discussion also discussed the presentation of SETI in films, such as Contact, as well as the definition of intelligence itself, be it whales (remember Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home?) or even ChatGPT. And we are already past the point of turning off our “active outreach” given that interested aliens are probably looking for both bio-signatures and techno-signatures, which we are creating without any thought. Astronomers are currently searching for such signatures among the exoplanets, so it would make sense the same type of search is being focused on our solar system.

Plenty of food for thought. Enjoy the show.

Credit: University Press of Kansas

Space Stories: Habitable Zone Planets, Satellite Interference, and Extraterrestrial Communication

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Milky Way Galaxy. (NASA JPL)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—ScienceDaily: “One-third of Galaxy’s Most Common Planets Could be in Habitable Zone“

In a new analysis based on the latest telescope data, University of Florida astronomers have discovered that two-thirds of the planets around these ubiquitous small stars could be roasted by these tidal extremes, sterilizing them. But that leaves one-third of the planets — hundreds of millions across the galaxy — that could be in a goldilocks orbit close enough, and gentle enough, to hold onto liquid water and possibly harbor life.

—Space Telescope Science Institute: “Astronomers are Reducing Satellite Interference in Hubble Images“

When the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990, there were about 470 artificial satellites orbiting Earth. By 2000, that number doubled. But by 2023, the rising number has grown almost exponentially to nearly 8,000 satellites. For Hubble this means that satellites photobomb about 10% of its exposures on celestial targets…Astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland have developed tools for cleaning up this clutter. Hubble observations consist of more than just one exposure. And so, artifacts can be identified and subtracted between exposures because they are not in the same place on a detector.

—BGR: “Aliens Might be Trying to Contact Us from Within the Milky Way, Study Claims“

A new study seems to think alien signals could be emitting from the heart of the Milky Way, attempting to make contact with humankind. The study focuses on the use of data from a groundbreaking mission known as the Breakthrough Listen Investigation for Periodic Spectral Signals (BLIPSS), which looks for repeating patterns that could be key to unlocking connections with extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy.

Podcast/Book Review: Jesuits Find an Exoplanet to Explore

Posted on by onespaceman2000

If you are looking for a new podcast as well as a new book, the two come together via the podcast Alienating the Audience. Comedian Andrew Heaton and his buddies have plenty of fun poking various science fiction topics, including Star Wars and Star Trek.

One of the recent episodes discussed a new book, The Sparrow, by author Mary Doria Russell. The story is about a group of Jesuits exploring a new planet with all of the mayhem that follows.

Here is a quick summary from the book itself:

A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end.

You can listen for yourself to this episode here at Jesuits in Space. But be careful, because there are a number of spoilers. You can always start with the book first, which is part of a series.

Credit: Ballantine Books