The Successful Launch of the NISAR Satellite

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Image (Credit): The NISAR satellite and its casing. (ISRO)

Earlier today the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite was successfully launched from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. ISRO stands for the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is India’s national space agency.

This first of its kind mission between NASA and India puts into orbit the NISAR satellite that can see the Earth in a new way, detecting the smallest of changes in the Earth’s surface from its 464 mile high orbit, including ground deformation, ice sheet movement, and vegetation dynamics. The addition list of satellite capabilities on the ISRO site include:

…sea ice classification, ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterization, changes in soil moisture, mapping & monitoring of surface water resources and disaster response.

NASA’s Earth Science division director, Karen St. Germain, stated:

Observations from NISAR will provide new knowledge and tangible benefits for communities both in the U.S. and around the world…This launch marks the beginning of a new way of seeing the surface of our planet so that we can understand and foresee natural disasters and other changes in our Earth system that affect lives and property.

This will be useful information given that we run the risk of reverse-terraforming our Earth.

Space Stories: 25 Years of Humans on the ISS, Life in Outer Space, and Astronomical Interference

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Image (Credit): NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins space-walking outside the International Space Station (ISS) on December 24, 2013. (NASA)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—NASA: “Celebrating 25 Years of Continuous Human Presence Aboard the International Space Station “

NASA and its partners have supported humans continuously living and working in space since November 2000. A truly global endeavor, the International Space Station has been visited by more than 280 people from 23 countries and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The unique microgravity laboratory has hosted more than 4,000 experiments from more than 5,000 researchers in more than 110 countries. The space station also is facilitating the growth of a commercial market in low Earth orbit for research, technology development, and crew and cargo transportation.

—Max Planck Institute: “The Evolution of Life May Have Its Origins in Outer Space“

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of astronomers led by Abubakar Fadul from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) has discovered complex organic molecules – including the first tentative detection of ethylene glycol and glycolonitrile – in the protoplanetary disc of the outbursting protostar V883 Orionis. These compounds are considered precursors to the building blocks of life. Comparing different cosmic environments reveals that the abundance and complexity of such molecules increase from star-forming regions to fully evolved planetary systems. This suggests that the seeds of life are assembled in space and widespread.

—Curtin University: “Interference to Astronomy the Unintended Consequence of Faster Internet“

Curtin University researchers have undertaken the world’s biggest survey of low frequency satellite radio emissions, finding Starlink satellites are significantly interfering with radio astronomy observations, potentially impacting discovery and research. Unintended signals from satellites – leaked from onboard electronics – can drown out the faint radio waves astronomers use to study the universe.

TRACER Starts Its Mission to Study the Upper Atmosphere

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A SpaceX rocket launching the TRACER mission earlier today. (SpaceX)

Earlier today, NASA’s Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACER) twin satellites were successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California.

The TRACER mission’s goal is to study magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth’s atmosphere. Magnetic reconnection is the interplay between solar winds and the Earth’s magnetic field.

The two satellites, each about the size of a washing machine, will be in orbit over both the North and South poles for the next 12 months taking measurements.

In this interview, David Miles, TRACERS Principal Investigator at the University of Iowa, answers a number of questions about the current mission, including:

  • Can you explain what space weather is?
  • Why was this mission designed to have two spacecraft instead of just one?
  • Why is understanding space weather important for protecting our astronauts as well as technology in space and on the ground?

You can learn even more about the mission from this NASA fact sheet.

It is encouraging to see scientific missions underway to better understand outside influences on our upper atmosphere. Let’s hope we can also maintain and expand on space missions that help us understand man-made influences on our atmosphere. Closing our eyes for political reasons is never a good idea.

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

Posted on by onespaceman2000
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.

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.