Space Quote: Congressional Appeal for More NASA Funding

Posted on by onespaceman2000

“An improved appropriation for FY 2025 of $9 billion for SMD will give the agency the necessary resources to pursue Decadal priorities such as the Earth System Observatory, Geophysical Dynamics Constellation, Habitable Worlds Observatory, and Mars Sample Return, while maintaining our nation’s highly-skilled workforce and fleet of operating and developing spacecraft including the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, among others. These investments in our high-tech STEM workforce and university systems will provide positive value to every congressional district.”

-Statement in a May 1, 2024 letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies from 44 Members of Congress regarding increased funding to NASA related to its Science Mission Directorate (SMD). The letter notes that “…the FY 2025 President’s Budget Request of $7.6 billion for NASA Science represents a $1.1 billion decrease in purchasing power from its peak in FY 2020 and would be the smallest budget in eight years when adjusted for inflation.”

Space Stories: Protests to Save Chandra, Problems Retrieving Martian Sample, and TESS is Getting Testy

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: https://www.savechandra.org

Here are some recent stories related to NASA missions.

—PhysicsWorld: “US Astronomers Slam Cuts to the Chandra X-ray Observatory“

X-ray astronomers in the US have begun a campaign to save the Chandra X-ray Observatory from budget cuts that would effectively end the mission. They assert that the craft, which was launched in 1999, has plenty of life left in it. Cancelling support could, they say, damage scientific efforts to understand the universe and the careers of an emerging generation of X-ray astronomers.

—CNN: “NASA Rethinks Plan to Return Rare Mars Samples to Earth“

“Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken. The bottom line is, an $11 billion budget is too expensive, and a 2040 return date is too far away,” Nelson said. “Safely landing and collecting the samples, launching a rocket with the samples off another planet — which has never been done before — and safely transporting the samples more than 33 million miles (53 million kilometers) back to Earth is no small task. We need to look outside the box to find a way ahead that is both affordable and returns samples in a reasonable time frame.”

—NASA: “NASA’s TESS Temporarily Pauses Science Observations“

NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) entered into safe mode April 8, temporarily interrupting science observations. The team is investigating the root cause of the safe mode, which occurred during scheduled engineering activities. The satellite itself remains in good health. The team will continue investigating the issue and is in the process of returning TESS to science observations in the coming days.

Oops – Sorry About That, Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Illustration of how DART’s impact altered the orbit of Dimorphos about Didymos. (https://dart.jhuapl.edu/)

You may remember how NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was a great success in that it demonstrated that we can divert an asteroid, should it be necessary.

Well, that’s not the whole story. A new study has found that the redirected asteroid debris may threaten Mars in the future. How far into the future? In one case, it will be 6,000 years into the future, and the second about 15,000 years into the future.

It would be nice to think that we will have habitats if not cities on Mars at that point (and maybe even a Musk Mountain looming over one of the cities), so this could be relevant. So maybe today’s practice run will be tomorrow’s disaster. Then again, I am pretty sure that such a future society will also have the ability to deflect these asteroids, possible building on what we learned from DART.

All of this does make you think about other areas where our tampering may come back to bite us.

Pic of the Week: The Gediz Vallis Channel

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Panoramic shot of Mar’s Gediz Vallis channel taken by the Curiosity rover. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This week’s image comes from NASA’s Curiosity rover in the Gediz Vallis channel. It is a 360-degree panorama shot from back on February 3. The rover has diligently continued its exploration of the Martian surface since it first landed in 2012.

In terms of this latest rover location, NASA stated:

NASA’s Curiosity rover has begun exploring a new region of Mars, one that could reveal more about when liquid water disappeared once and for all from the Red Planet’s surface. Billions of years ago, Mars was much wetter and probably warmer than it is today. Curiosity is getting a new look into that more Earth-like past as it drives along and eventually crosses the Gediz Vallis channel, a winding, snake-like feature that – from space, at least – appears to have been carved by an ancient river.

That possibility has scientists intrigued. The rover team is searching for evidence that would confirm how the channel was carved into the underlying bedrock. The formation’s sides are steep enough that the team doesn’t think the channel was made by wind. However, debris flows (rapid, wet landslides) or a river carrying rocks and sediment could have had enough energy to chisel into the bedrock. After the channel formed, it was filled with boulders and other debris. Scientists are also eager to learn whether this material was transported by debris flows or dry avalanches.

Space Stories: Detailed Views of Mars, Plummeting ISS Space Junk, and Time Zones on the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Recent high-altitude view of Mars taken by Mars Express’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). ( ESA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Astrobiology: “Mars Express Celebrates 25,000 Orbits“

ESA’s Mars Express recently looped around Mars for the 25,000th time – and the orbiter has captured yet another spectacular view of the Red Planet to mark the occasion. The new high-altitude view was taken by Mars Express’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). It features many of Mars’s towering volcanoes and even includes a surprise appearance from the planet’s largest moon, Phobos.

—Daily Mail: “Piece of 5,800lb Battery Pallet Tossed from NASA’s ISS Crashes Through Florida Home – and Nearly Kills Homeowner’s Son“

A piece of metal came crashing through a home in Florida that is believed to be from a 5,800-pound battery pallet discarded by the International Space Station (ISS). Naples homeowner Alejandro Otero was on vacation when he received a call from his son, saying he heard a ‘tremendous sound’ and there were gaping holes in the ceiling and floor – while explaining whatever fell almost hit him. The two-pound, cylinder object has since been recovered by NASA to determine its origin and if found to be space junk, the agency could be liable for damages.

—Reuters: “White House Directs NASA to Create Time Standard for the Moon“

The White House on Tuesday directed NASA to establish a unified standard of time for the moon and other celestial bodies, as the United States aims to set international norms in space amid a growing lunar race among nations and private companies. The head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), according to a memo seen by Reuters, instructed the space agency to work with other parts of the U.S. government to devise a plan by the end of 2026 for setting what it called a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).