Space Stories: The Fate of Juno, the End of a NASA Probe, and “Extragalactic Archeology”

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Image (Credit): Jupiter’s North Pole at minimum emission angle as captured by the Juno spacecraft. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Thomas Thomopoulos)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Ars Technica: “A Mission NASA Might Kill is Still Returning Fascinating Science from Jupiter“

Jupiter’s colossal storms generate lightning flashes at least 100 times more powerful than those on Earth, according to scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The findings were published March 20 in the journal AGU Advances. Researchers used data recorded by Juno in 2021 and 2022, after NASA granted an extension to the spacecraft’s operations upon completing a five-year science campaign at Jupiter. Juno remains in good health, but NASA officials have not said if they will approve another extension for the mission. The issue is money.

—Astronomy.com: “NASA’s Van Allen Probe A Burns Up Over the Pacific after 14 Years in Space“

NASA’s Van Allen Probe A re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday, March 11, at 6:37 a.m. EDT, marking the final chapter for a spacecraft that reshaped scientists’ understanding of the radiation environment around our planet. The U.S. Space Force confirmed the spacecraft came down over the eastern Pacific Ocean. NASA said most of the 1,300-pound (600 kilograms) probe burned up during reentry, though some pieces may have reached the surface. Its twin, Probe B, remains in orbit and is not expected to re-enter before 2030. The twin probes launched together on Aug. 30, 2012, on what was supposed to be a two-year mission. They operated for nearly seven years instead, circling Earth inside the Van Allen radiation belts — zones of high-energy charged particles held in place by the planet’s magnetic field. 

—Carnegie Science: ““Extragalactic Archeology” Reveals Nearby Galaxy’s Evolution“

A team of astronomers, including Carnegie Science’s Jeff Rich and other former Carnegie Observatories astronomers, have for the first time traced the history of a galaxy outside our own Milky way by studying chemical fingerprints in deep space, a new approach they are calling “extragalactic archeology.” Their findings are published in Nature Astronomy. “This is the first time that a chemical archaeology method has been used with such fine detail outside our own galaxy,” said lead author Lisa Kewley of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian.

Space Stories: Meteor Shakes Ohio, Executive Order Could Impact Pluto, and Musk May Muck Up Space Again

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Image (Credit): Dwarf planet Pluto. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Fox 8 News: “NASA Confirms Boom was 17,000-pound Meteor“

A loud “boom” was reported across Northeast Ohio just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday. People around Northeast Ohio flooded the FOX 8 newsroom with reports of what heard like a “large explosion” lasting several seconds and causing homes and businesses to “shake.” NASA has confirmed a 6-foot, 17,000-pound meteor traveled 44,000 miles per hour over northeast Ohio. It was 50 miles above Lake Erie when the first flash was detected.

—USA Today: “NASA’s Isaacman Latest to Endorse Trump Reclassifying Pluto as a Planet“

President Donald Trump campaigned on “America first,” but some of his supporters and appointees apparently want Pluto to once again be … ninth. The ninth planet in our solar system, that is. Ever since Pluto was infamously stripped of its planetary status two decades ago, debate has raged for years over the distant icy world – half the size of the United States – and just what sort of cosmic body it should be classified as. Now, Jared Isaacman, NASA’s new chief, has appeared to signal his support for Trump to designate Pluto as a planet once again through executive order.

—Newsweek: “New 1M‑Satellite Plans Could ‘Permanently Scar’ Night Sky, Astronomers Warn“

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) has issued a stark warning over proposals by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the California-based startup Reflect Orbital, saying the plans could cause lasting damage to ground‑based astronomy and dramatically alter the night sky for skywatchers. In comments submitted to U.S. regulators, the RAS said the scale and brightness of the proposed satellite constellations risk overwhelming astronomical observations from Earth. The society, alongside the European Southern Observatory (ESO), has formally opposed both projects in filings to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where the companies have sought approval.

Space Stories: DART Did Its Diversionary Duty, A New Moon Crater, and A New Private Space Telescope

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The collision of DART with Dimorphos, as captured by the Italian Space Agency’s LICIACube. The larger asteroid above is Didymos. (ASI/NASA)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Nautilus: “NASA’s DART Mission Offers Proof of Protection Against Asteroid Impacts“

In November 2021, NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) aimed at finding out whether or not we could redirect the trajectory of a near-Earth object simply by crashing into it…The mission was a success, making it the first time a human-made object has altered a celestial body’s path around the sun, but it would take more time to find out the magnitude of the success. Now, two years later, NASA scientists have calculated that DART’s collision with Dimorphos shortened the orbit of both asteroids by around 33 minutes.

—SciTechDaily: “The Moon Was Hit Again: NASA Scientists Discover a Newly Formed Crater“

Researchers working with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera found one such crater by comparing detailed photographs of the same lunar locations taken at different times. By examining images captured before December 2009 and others taken after December 2012, they were able to narrow down when the impact occurred, even though no one actually observed the collision. The crater measures 22 meters in diameter, comparable to a large house. What makes it particularly striking is not its size but its brightness. The collision ejected material tens of meters from the crater rim, creating distinctive rays that spread outward in a sunburst pattern. This bright, fresh material contrasts sharply with the surrounding darker regolith, making the crater stand out like a new freckle on familiar skin.

—Daily Galaxy: “In a First, Private Investors Will Fund a Telescope Bigger Than Hubble for $500 Million“

A new private space observatory, the Lazuli Space Telescope, is on track to surpass Hubble with its larger mirror and cutting-edge technology. Funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy, the project is already turning heads in the space community…At its core, Lazuli’s three-meter mirror will make it one of the largest space telescopes ever built, capable of observing both optical and infrared light.

Space Stories: Rubin Observatory Data Alerts, Upcoming Total Lunar Eclipse, and Exoplanet Astronomer Murdered

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Image (Credit): The Rubin Observatory. (Rubin Obs./NSF/AURA)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—GeekWire: “Rubin Observatory Sends Out Thousands of Data Alerts with an Assist from Seattle Astronomers“

An astronomical alert system developed at the University of Washington started off with a bang this week, sending out 800,000 notifications about moving asteroids, exploding stars and other celestial changes detected by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Tuesday night’s surge was just the first wave of alerts. Eventually, the Alert Production Pipeline is expected to produce up to 7 million alerts per night. Astronomers around the globe will use the system to sift through the torrent of data, zeroing in on events ranging from newly detected asteroids to supernovas, variable stars and active galactic nuclei.

—Sky&Telescope: “Get Ready for the March 3, 2026, Predawn Total Lunar Eclipse“

On Tuesday, March 3rd, the full Moon glides through the darkest portion of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, to create a dramatic total lunar eclipse. In the Western Hemisphere, the event occurs in the hours before dawn, while across Asia it happens during the evening. During the eclipse, Earth’s shadow is seen gradually edging across the face of the full Moon until the entire lunar disk glows deep orange or red. Then the sequence of events unfolds in reverse order, until the shadow leaves the lunar disk completely and the Moon returns to full brilliance.

—Futurism: “Astronomer Who Discovered Water on Distant Planet Murdered Outside Home“

A renowned Caltech astronomer who studied distant exoplanets was shot and killed outside his home in a rural area near Los Angeles, the LA Times reported…Among his most notable contributions to the field was leading research published in 2007 that, for the first time, captured enough light from distant exoplanets to identify the molecules in their atmospheres…and soon made the “monumental” discovery of detecting signs of water on another planet.

Space Stories: More Artemis II Delays, Starliner a Type A Mishap, and James Webb Space Telescope Studies Atmosphere of Uranus

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit; NASA

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—NPR: “NASA’s Artemis II Lunar Mission May Not Launch in March After All“

Just one day after NASA said it was eyeing a potential March 6 launch date for the Artemis II lunar mission, the space agency said Saturday that complications with the rocket could delay all launch attempts in March from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida...In a blog post, NASA said it is “taking steps to potentially roll back the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building,” after technicians observed an “interrupted flow of helium” to the rocket system. NASA says its teams are “actively reviewing data” and taking steps to “address the issue as soon as possible while engineers determine the best path forward.”

—Astronomy Magazine:“NASA Report Declares Starliner Incident a Type A Mishap“

On Thursday, NASA released sobering results from an independent investigation into the 2024 crewed Boeing Starliner test flight that left two astronauts stranded in space for months, placing blame not only on hardware failures, but the agency’s own leadership and culture. In a press conference, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency had now categorized the incident as a type A mishap — the same classification applied to the Columbia and Challenger shuttle disasters — something he believes should have happened from the start.

—European Space Agency: “Webb Maps Uranus’s Mysterious Upper Atmosphere“

For the first time, an international team of astronomers have mapped the vertical structure of Uranus’s upper atmosphere, uncovering how temperature and charged particles vary with height across the planet. Using NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRSpec instrument, the team observed Uranus for nearly a full rotation, detecting the faint glow from molecules high above the clouds. The results offer a new window into how ice-giant planets distribute energy in their upper layers.