Space Stories: Oxygen Issues on Europa, the Puzzling Expansion Rate of the Universe, and Mini Moon-Bound Rovers

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Europa as captured by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. (NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—The Columbian: “Europa Might Have Less Oxygen Than Expected“

New research suggests there’s less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa than thought — and that could affect what, if any, life might be lurking in the moon’s underground ocean. Even with little or no oxygen, microbes might still be bustling around in the ocean believed to exist miles beneath Europa’s frozen crust. As for what else, “who knows,” said NASA scientist Kevin Hand, who was not involved in the study published Monday in Nature Astronomy.

—Webbtelescope.org: “NASA’s Webb, Hubble Telescopes Affirm Universe’s Expansion Rate, Puzzle Persists“

The best measurements from Hubble show the universe is now expanding faster than predicted based on observations of how it looked shortly after the big bang. These observations were made by the Planck satellite mapping of the cosmic microwave background radiation – sort of a blueprint for how the universe would evolve structure after it cooled down from the big bang. The simple solution to the dilemma is to say that maybe Hubble observations are wrong due to some creeping inaccuracy in its deep-space yardstick. Then along came the James Webb Space Telescope to crosscheck Hubble’s results. Webb’s sharp infrared views of Cepheids agreed with Hubble data. Webb confirmed that the Hubble telescope’s keen eye was right all along.

—NASA JPL: “NASA’s Network of Small Moon-Bound Rovers Is Ready to Roll“

A trio of small rovers that will explore the Moon in sync with one another are rolling toward launch. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California recently finished assembling the robots, then subjected them to a punishing series of tests to ensure they’ll survive their jarring rocket ride into space and their travels in the unforgiving lunar environment. Part of a technology demonstration called CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration), each solar-powered rover is about the size of a carry-on suitcase.

An Interesting Message for Europa

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): One side of the panel attached to the Europa Clipper showing “water” ” in 103 languages (explained below). (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

In past NASA missions to the outer planets of our solar system, we attached messages for any distant civilization that might be out there. Both the Pioneer and Voyager missions contained such messages.

So what about NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s moon set to launch in October? It too will have some messages, but these appear to be for the inhabitants of the moon rather than some distant civilization.

A triangular 7″ x 11″ metal plate attached to the spacecraft destined for Europa will carry messages on both sides. The image above shows one of these sides containing features waveforms that are visual representations of the sound waves formed by the word “water” in 103 languages.

The other side of the plate (shown below) contains a variety of messages:

  • the Drake Equation, which estimate the possibility of finding advanced civilizations beyond Earth;
  • U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s handwritten “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa”;
  • a reference to the radio frequencies considered plausible for interstellar communication; and
  • a portrait Ron Greeley, whose early efforts laid the foundation for Europa Clipper.

The spacecraft will also carry a silicon microchip containing more than 2.6 million names that were submitted by the public as part of NASA’s “Message in a Bottle” campaign.

This is all interesting in itself, but not really a message to others. I expect it is not intended for anyone else but ourselves because the Europa Clipper is not expected to leave the solar system but instead crash into another of Jupiter’s moons – Ganymede.

Note: You may wonder about the message on the New Horizons spacecraft that is also travelling to the edges of our solar system. That message is somewhat controversial. I will let you read about that one in this Slate article, “Ashes and Small Change.”

Image (Credit): One side of the panel attached to the Europa Clipper showing a poem, portrait, and more (explained above). (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Space Stories: A Volcanic Moon, an Indian X-ray Launch, and New Chinese Communication Satellites

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): JunoCam image of Jupiter’s moon Io during its close encounter. The image was taken at an altitude of about 1,500 miles. (NASA JPL and Southwest Research Institute)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Forbes: “A NASA Spacecraft Just Had A Close Encounter With A Volcanic Moon—See The Stunning First Image“

NASA’s spacecraft Juno just had a super-close encounter with the most volcanic world in the solar system—but its stunning first image could be among its last after 56 orbits of Jupiter. On December 30, the bus-sized spacecraft—orbiting Jupiter since 2016—got very close to Io, the giant moon of Jupiter. It reached a mere 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the moon’s surface. However, the spacecraft’s camera has suffered radiation damage and may not last much longer.

—Fox51 News: “India Kicks Off 2024 with X-ray Astronomy Satellite Launch“

India began 2024 with the launch of an X-ray astronomy satellite aboard the sixtieth flight of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The PSLV C58 mission lifted off at 9:10 AM local time (03:40 UTC) on Monday, Jan. 1, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. XPoSat, or X-ray Polarimeter Satellite, carries a pair of instruments that will be used to study X-ray emissions from astronomical sources. After deploying XPoSat, PSLV C58’s upper stage has remained in orbit as the third flight of the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM-3), serving as a free-flying platform hosting a range of attached payloads.

—SpaceNews: “First Satellite for Chinese G60 Megaconstellation Rolls Off Assembly Line“

The first satellite for a second planned Chinese low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation has been produced in new facilities in Shanghai. A new generation flat-panel satellite rolled off the assembly at the G60 digital satellite production factory in Shanghai’s Songjiang District Tuesday, Dec. 27, according to Chinese press reports. The satellite is the first for the G60 Starlink low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation. An initial 108 satellites of a total of around 12,000 G60 Starlink satellites are to be launched across 2024.

Top Astronomy Stories in 2023

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Chart showing the planned travel of the JUICE spacecraft. (ESA, work performed by ATG under contract to ESA)

I wanted to start out the new year by first remembering all of the great missions from 2023. I also decided to group this work rather than focus on single missions.

Here is what I came up with:

NASA’s Moon Mission: We saw more progress towards the next steps in the Artemis program to put humans on the Moon, including NASA’s announcement of the four astronauts to lead the Artemis II mission, SpaceX’s tests of the Starship rocket, and the design of new spacesuits for the Artemis astronauts.

Other Attempts to Land on the Moon: We saw other nations also reaching for the Moon. While India had great success landing a rover on the lunar South Pole, both Russia and a commercial venture from Japan did not have similar luck. We also saw Japan trying it again late last year.

NASA Asteroid Missions: Asteroids were the big news this year, with Lucy encountering a surprise pair of asteroids, OSIRIS-REx bringing back a sample from the asteroid Bennu, and NASA launching the Psyche mission.

JWST Discoveries: This year we celebrated the anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which has been better than ever imaged. It is helping to change our understanding of the origin of the universe while poking and prodding at exoplanets to review their secrets.

ESA Missions: The European Space Agency (ESA) has also been very busy in 2023. For instance, the launch of the Euclid mission to study dark matter and dark energy, as well as the JUICE mission to study Jupiter and its moons, will assist with our understanding of the big picture as well as our own neighborhood.

That’s an impressive record, and I look forward to even more great news in 2024.

A Day in Astronomy: Pioneer 10 Approaches Jupiter

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Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. (Don Davis for NASA)

We may have missed the date of the story in this piece (the anniversary was November 6), but this is an opportunity to share another site that brings astronomical history to life. The American Astronomical Society, which brings together professional astronomers, astronomy educators, and amateur astronomers, has its own blog on astronomical anniversaries that I wanted to highlight. It is called This Month in Astronomical History.

The November article is about the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Pioneer 10 mission as it came in contact with Jupiter. The article notes that the spacecraft first started imaging Jupiter on November 6, 1973 when it was still 16 million miles away from the planet. Overall, it sent back about 500 images of Jupiter and its moons.

You can read the article itself for information on the success of the mission. The author also noted the fate of the spacecraft:

Originally slated for 21 months of operation — sufficient to complete the Jupiter observations — its official science mission was ended on 31 March 1997. Its last signal was sent on 23 January 2003; from a distance of about 12.2 billion km (7.6 billion miles) from home, Pioneer’s swansong took over 11 hours to reach us.

The spacecraft was still communicating with us about 50 years after its Jupiter mission. That is impressive.