Space Stories: Watching a Newborn Planet, Investigating a Cosmic Fossil, and TRACERS to Study Magnetic Fields

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Credit: Image by Yol Gezer from Pixabay.

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—European Southern Observatory: “Astronomers Witness Newborn Planet Sculpting the Dust Around It“

Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), they observed a planetary disc with prominent spiral arms, finding clear signs of a planet nestled in its inner regions. This is the first time astronomers have detected a planet candidate embedded inside a disc spiral. “We will never witness the formation of Earth, but here, around a young star 440 light-years away, we may be watching a planet come into existence in real time,” says Francesco Maio, a doctoral researcher at the University of Florence, Italy, and lead author of this study, published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

—Space.com: “Astronomers Discover a Cosmic ‘Fossil’ at the Edge of Our Solar System. Is this Bad News for ‘Planet 9’?“

Astronomers have discovered a massive new solar system body located beyond the orbit of Pluto. The weird elongated orbit of the object suggests that if “Planet Nine” exists, it is much further from the sun than thought, or it has been ejected from our planetary system altogether. The strange orbit of the object, designated 2023 KQ14 and nicknamed “Ammonite,” classifies it as a “sednoid.” Sednoids are bodies beyond the orbit of the ice giant Neptune, known as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), characterized by a highly eccentric (non-circular) orbit and a distant closest approach to the sun or “perihelion.”

—Southwest Research Institute: “TRACERS Mission Prepares for Launch“

NASA’s Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission, a collaborative effort led by the University of Iowa (UI) with substantial contributions from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), has entered its final integration phase. NASA is set to launch TRACERS’ two satellites into low Earth orbit on July 22, 2025, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The TRACERS mission will explore the dynamic interactions between the Sun’s and Earth’s magnetic fields.

A Day in Astronomy: “The Eagle Has Landed”

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Image (Credit): Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s boot print on the surface of the Moon. (US National Archives)

On this day in 1969, the statement “The Eagle has landed” changed the history of mankind as humans arrived on the surface of the Moon.

Spoken by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the “Eagle” referred to the Lunar Module Eagle as it touched down on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility. Four hours later, and almost 110 hours after being launched from Earth, Armstrong stepped onto the Moon, stating “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The crew on Apollo 11 consisted of Neil Armstrong (Commander), Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. (Lunar Module Pilot), and Michael Collins (Command Module Pilot).

You can watch a video of the Apollo 11 landing here and read about the mission itself here.

Credit: NASA

Space Quote: The Terra-forming Will Continue, But Don’t Ask for Data

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.

“They simply don’t want the public to see the meticulously assembled and scientifically validated information about what climate change is already doing to our farms, forests, and fisheries, as well as to storms, floods, wildfires, and coast property — and about how all those damages will grow in the absence of concerted remedial action.”

–Statement by climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, regarding NASA’s removal of national climate assessments from its website. Of course, the daily news about floods and fires will continue to keep us aware of ongoing terra-forming here on planet Earth. You can also find information about the last National Climate Assessment at this USDA site, for now at least.

Space Stories: NASA Aircraft Assist with Texas Flood, Chinese Satellites Do Something New, and Venus May be Probed by the UK

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Photorama from Pixabay.

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—NASA “NASA Aircraft, Sensor Technology, Aid in Texas Flood Recovery Efforts“

In response to recent flooding near Kerrville, Texas, NASA deployed two aircraft to assist state and local authorities in ongoing recovery operations. The aircraft are part of the response from NASA’s Disasters Response Coordination System, which is activated to support emergency response for the flooding and is working closely with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the humanitarian groups Save the Children and GiveDirectly.

—Newsweek: “China Appears to Pull Off Satellite Feat That NASA Has Never Achieved“

Two remote-controlled Chinese satellites appear to have docked in high orbit to allow refueling and servicing for the first time. The achievement, which has yet to be matched by the U.S, involved autonomous spacecraft Shijian-21 and Shijian-25, completing the task in geostationary orbit earlier this month. Geostationary orbits occur at 22,236 miles above the surface, and are typically used for communications satellites so that they can move with the rotation of the Earth. However, the high orbit and need for satellites to maintain speeds with the Earth’s rotation makes docking extremely difficult.

—Royal Astronomical Society: “Life on Venus? UK Probe Could Reveal the Answer“

The answer to whether tiny bacterial lifeforms really do exist in the clouds of Venus could be revealed once-and-for-all by a UK-backed mission. Over the past five years researchers have detected the presence of two potential biomarkers – the gases phosphine and ammonia – which on Earth can only be produced by biological activity and industrial processes. Their existence in the Venusian clouds cannot easily be explained by known atmospheric or geological phenomena, so Cardiff University’s Professor Jane Greaves and her team are plotting a way to get to the bottom of it. Revealing a new mission concept at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, they plan to search and map phosphine, ammonia, and other gases rich in hydrogen that shouldn’t be on Venus.

The Next Mission for Starliner

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Image (Credit): The Starliner capsule outside the ISS in July 2024. (Boeing)

The good news is that Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft will be returning to the International Space Station (ISS). However, the not so good news is that NASA may not trust it enough to carry humans – what it was designed to do – so it will probably be carrying cargo on its next mission instead.

Overall, this is good news in that Boeing is not throwing in the towel. We need a backup to SpaceX’s Dragon, and Boeing’s spacecraft is the best bet at the moment.

The Starliner is designed to carry seven crew members or a mix of crew and cargo. That means it can carry quite a bit of cargo if that is all it is doing on its next trip.

NASA is still sorting things out, but this cargo mission, if it occurs, is expected to take place next year.