Space Stories: Mars Ascent Vehicle, Dark Matter Stars, and a New Russian Space Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Mars Ascent Vehicle. (NASA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NASA/JPJ.com : “NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle Continues Progress Toward Mars Sample Return“

NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) recently reached some major milestones in support of the Mars Sample Return program. The Mars Ascent Vehicle would be the first launch of a rocket from the surface of another planet. The team developing MAV conducted successful tests of the first and second stage solid rocket motors needed for the launch. Mars Sample Return will bring scientifically selected samples to Earth for study using the most sophisticated instrumentation around the world. This strategic partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) features the first mission to return samples from another planet. The samples currently being collected by NASA’s Perseverance Rover during its exploration of an ancient river delta have the potential to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life.

—ScienceNews : “The James Webb Telescope May Have Spotted Stars Powered by Dark Matter“

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted objects in the early universe that might be a new kind of star — one powered by dark matter. These “dark stars” are still hypothetical. Their identification in JWST images is far from certain. But if any of the three candidates — reported in the July 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — turn out to be this new type of star, they could offer a glimpse of star formation in the early universe, hint at the nature of dark matter and possibly explain the origins of supermassive black holes.

—CNN : “Russia Proposes Joint Research Module on Space Station for China, India, Brazil and South Africa“

The head of Russia’s space agency has extended an offer to Moscow’s partners in the BRICS group – Brazil, India, China and South Africa – to participate in the construction of a joint module for its planned orbital space station, state media reported Monday. Construction of the planned space station follows Moscow’s decision last year to end its decades-long partnership with NASA and withdraw from the aging International Space Station – one of the last remaining channels of cooperation between Russia and the United States.

Video: Flyby of Jupiter’s Moon Io

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): View of Jupiter’s moon Io. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS)

Last week, NASA released this video showing the Juno spacecraft’s view of Jupiter and its moon Io as it flew by on May 16, 2023. The clip includes music by Vangelis. It is short but stunning video.

Juno was launched back in 2011 and first started orbiting Jupiter in 2016. Sent to study Jupiter, the current flyby is part of the spacecraft’s extended mission.

Juno’s closest approach to Io will occur today, so you can expect more images shortly.

If you want to read more about Io and the mission, visit this NASA site.

Space Stories: More Moon Missions, a Two-Faced Star, and Missing Dark Matter

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): An artist’s rendering of NASA’s VIPER Moon rover. (NASA/Daniel Rutter)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Ars Technica : “NASA Starts Building Ice-hunting Moon Rover“

The search for ice at the Moon’s poles has loomed large in the field of lunar science since an instrument on an Indian satellite discovered water molecules inside shadowed crater floors more than a decade ago. NASA is now assembling a golf cart-size rover to drive into the dark polar craters to search for ice deposits that could be used by future astronauts to make their own rocket propellant and breathable air. “A large group of people have been working on this idea for 10-plus years,” said Anthony Colaprete, project scientist for NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission.

—Caltech: “Two-Faced Star Exposed“

In a first for white dwarfs, the burnt-out cores of dead stars, astronomers have discovered that at least one member of this cosmic family is two faced. One side of the white dwarf is composed of hydrogen, while the other is made up of helium. “The surface of the white dwarf completely changes from one side to the other,” says Ilaria Caiazzo, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech who leads a new study on the findings in the journal Nature. “When I show the observations to people, they are blown away.”

—Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias: “The Puzzle of the Galaxy with No Dark Matter“

A team of scientists, led by the researcher at the IAC and the University of La Laguna (ULL) Sebastién Comerón, has found that the galaxy NGC 1277 does not contain dark matter. This is the first time that a massive galaxy (it has a mass several times that of the Milky Way) has not shown evidence for this invisible component of the universe. “This result does not fit in with the currently accepted cosmological models, which include dark matter,” explains Comerón.

Russia is also Heading to the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Russia’s Luna-Glob-Lander. (https://www.russianspaceweb.com/)

As noted in an earlier post, India left for the moon’s south pole last week, but it won’t be alone for long. Russia is planning to launch its Luna-25 spacecraft, also called the Luna-Glob-Lander, next month. According to NASA, the mission has two primary scientific objectives at the Moon’s south pole:

  • to study composition of the polar regolith, and
  • to study the plasma and dust components of the lunar polar exosphere.

The last Luna mission was Luna-24 back in 1976 and involved the return of lunar samples to Earth.

The European Space Agency was planning to be part of this latest mission until the invasion of Ukraine, so Russia is on its own now.

I imagine simpler missions like this will be necessary if Russia plans to eventually build a moon base, though finding a partner may be tough. It is clear that the US and Russia are no longer in a neck-to-neck race back to the Moon. Only China seems to have the stamina to compete with NASA’s Artemis program, though the US is still in the lead for now.

The Luna-25 launch is planned for August 10 if all goes well.

Two Space Probes will be Mothballed

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Illustration of the asteroid Psyche. (NASA)

The delay in the launch of the Psyche spacecraft to visit the asteroid Psyche is having ripple effects on another NASA mission. The $50 million Janus mission with its two probes was supposed to accompany Psyche on the mission to observe two binary asteroid. However, too much time has passed for this separate mission be be accomplished due to the binary asteroids now being too distant from the main mission. Hence, the Janus probes will have to sit this one out. ARSTechnica has a full story on this development.

The good news is that the Psyche spacecraft should be launched this October. So not all is lost.

This will be a tough budget year under this Congress, so NASA will be lucky if it can keep most of its missions on track.