Space Stories: Eruptions on Mars, World’s Largest Radio-Astronomy Observatory, and Saudi Space Hotels

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Image of the planet Mars. (NASA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—University of Arizona: “Giant Mantle Plume Reveals Mars is More Active Than Previously Thought“

In a study published in Nature Astronomy, scientists from the University of Arizona challenge current views of Martian geodynamic evolution with a report on the discovery of an active mantle plume pushing the surface upward and causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The finding suggests that the planet’s deceptively quiet surface may hide a more tumultuous interior than previously thought…Mantle plumes are large blobs of warm and buoyant rock that rise from deep inside a planet and push through its intermediate layer – the mantle – to reach the base of its crust, causing earthquakes, faulting and volcanic eruptions. The island chain of Hawaii, for example, formed as the Pacific plate slowly drifted over a mantle plume.

—Nature.com: “‘Great Scientific Step Forward’: Construction of World’s Largest Radio Observatory is Finally Under Way“

After 30 years of planning and negotiations, construction begins this week on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world’s largest radio-astronomy observatory. The giant instrument — to be built across sprawling sites in Australia and Africa — will collect the radio signals emitted by celestial objects and will hopefully shed light on some of the most enigmatic problems in astronomy, such as the nature of dark matter and how galaxies form.

—UAE in Space: “Saudi Arabia in Talks over Plans for Next-Generation Space Stations“

Saudi Arabia is in talks with other nations over plans for the next generation of space stations, which could one day serve as floating hotels among the stars. Mohammed bin Saud Al Tamimi, governor of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, said he sees space commodities as a “huge opportunity”. He was speaking remotely on the first day of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate, a major conference that addressed the new geopolitics of space and emerging trends. Mr Al Tamimi said that the Kingdom would be announcing its national space strategy early next year.

Space Stories: Hungarians in Space, A Constantly Manned Chinese Space Station, and Lunar Water

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—SpaceNews.com: “Hungary to spend $100 million on private astronaut mission to ISS“

The Hungarian government plans to spend $100 million to send an astronaut to the International Space Station in two years through a deal with Axiom Space. In a presentation at the European Space Agency’s ministerial council meeting Nov. 22, Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian foreign minister, said the country was in the middle of a process to select an astronaut to fly on a month-long mission to the ISS in late 2024 or early 2025. Axiom Space announced in July it signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Hungary regarding that country’s Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) program, which would fly a Hungarian astronaut to space on a future Axiom Space mission. That announcement, though, provided few details about when that person would fly.

—Associated Press: “Chinese Spaceship with 3 Aboard Docks with Space Station“

Three Chinese astronauts docked early Wednesday with their country’s space station, where they will overlap for several days with the three-member crew already onboard and expand the facility to its maximum size. Docking with the Tiangong station came at 5:42 a.m. Wednesday, about 6 1/2 hours after the Shenzhou-15 spaceship blasted off atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center...The station’s third and final module docked earlier this month, one of the last steps in China’s effort to maintain a constant crewed presence in orbit.

—UniverseToday.com: “Tiny Cubesat Will Shine an Infrared ‘Flashlight’ Into the Moon’s Shadowed Craters, Searching for Water Ice“

A tiny spacecraft is ready to head out for a big job: shining a light on water ice at the Moon’s south pole. Lunar Flashlight is a cubesat about the size of a briefcase, set to launch on December 1 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, sharing a ride with the Hakuto-R Mission to the Moon. The tiny 14 kg (30 lb) spacecraft will use near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer to map the permanently shadowed regions near the Moon’s south pole, where there could be reservoirs of water ice.

Space Stories: Chinese Lunar Nuclear Station, Helium Exoplanets, and the UAE Lunar Rover

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of a lunar exploration base. (NASA/Dennis Davidson)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Republic World: “China Plans Development Of New Nuclear System To Power Its Bases On Moon By 2028“

China is developing a nuclear system that will be used to power its lunar station planned to be developed on the Moon’s South Pole. Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Chinese lunar exploration programme, told Chinese broadcaster CCTV that this new system will fulfill the ‘high-power energy demands’ of the station, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. Notably, the station is being developed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos and is expected to complete by 2028.

—University of Chicago: “Many Planets Could Have Atmospheres Rich in Helium, Study Finds“

For centuries, no one knew if we were alone in the universe—or if there were even other planets like ours. But thanks to new telescopes and methods in the past decades, we now know there are thousands and thousands of planets out there circling faraway stars, and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes—large and small, rocky and gaseous, cloudy or icy or wet. A study by scientists with the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland suggests another for the list: planets with helium atmospheres. Moreover, the discovery may suggest a new step in our understanding of planet evolution. Their simulations found that it’s likely that helium would build up in the atmospheres of certain types of exoplanets over time. If confirmed, this would explain a decades-long puzzle about the sizes of these exoplanets.

—Astronomy.com: “China and United Arab Emirates Plan Lunar Rover Mission“

The United Arab Emirates’ fledgling space program took another step forward last month, securing an agreement to collaborate on China’s planned Chang’e 7 lunar mission, set to land near the Moon’s south pole in 2026. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai will build a small robotic rover, which will hitch a ride on the Chang’e 7 lander, according to the agreement signed Sept. 16 between MBRSC and the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Space Stories: Early Galaxies, Early Life on Mars, and Gold-Rich Stars

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Image (Credit): Two of the farthest galaxies seen to date are captured in these Webb Space Telescope pictures of the outer regions of the giant galaxy cluster Abell 2744. The galaxies are not inside the cluster, but many billions of light-years farther behind it. The galaxy labeled (1) existed only 450 million years after the big bang. The galaxy labeled (2) existed 350 million years after the big bang. Both are seen really close in time to the big bang which occurred 13.8 billion years ago. These galaxies are tiny compared to our Milky Way, being just a few percent of its size, even the unexpectedly elongated galaxy labeled (1). (NASA, ESA, CSA, Tommaso Treu (UCLA), Zolt G. Levay (STScI))

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NASA: “NASA’s Webb Draws Back Curtain on Universe’s Early Galaxies“

With just four days of analysis, researchers found two exceptionally bright galaxies in the GLASS-JWST images. These galaxies existed approximately 450 and 350 million years after the big bang (with a redshift of approximately 10.5 and 12.5, respectively), though future spectroscopic measurements with Webb will help confirm…“These observations just make your head explode. This is a whole new chapter in astronomy. It’s like an archaeological dig, and suddenly you find a lost city or something you didn’t know about. It’s just staggering,” added Paola Santini, fourth author of the Castellano et al. GLASS-JWST paper.

—University of Copenhagen: “The First Life in Our Solar System May Have Been on Mars“

When Mars was a young planet, it was bombarded by ice asteroids delivering water and organic molecules necessary for life to emerge. According to the professor behind a new study, this means that the first life in our solar system may have been on Mars.

—National Astronomical Observatory of Japan: “Gold-rich Stars Came from Ancient Galaxies“

Recently, hundreds of gold-rich stars have been detected by state-of-the-art telescopes worldwide. New simulations of galaxy formation, with the highest resolution in both time and mass, show that these gold-rich stars formed in progenitor galaxies, small galaxies which merged to create the Milky Way…According to the research, most gold-rich stars formed over 10 billion years ago in small, building-block galaxies―known as progenitor galaxies. Some but not all progenitor galaxies experience a neutron star merger, where large amounts of heavy r-process elements are produced and released, enriching that particular small galaxy. The predicted abundance of gold-enriched stars in the final Milky-Way-sized galaxy matches what is actually observed.

Space Stories: Challenger Debris Located, Chinese Mars Engine, and Risky Trip to the Space Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Space shuttle Challenger landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Nov. 6, 1985. (NASA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NASA: “NASA Views Images, Confirms Discovery of Shuttle Challenger Artifact“

NASA leaders recently viewed footage of an underwater dive off the East coast of Florida, and they confirm it depicts an artifact from the space shuttle Challenger. The artifact was discovered by a TV documentary crew seeking the wreckage of a World War II-era aircraft. Divers noticed a large humanmade object covered partially by sand on the seafloor. The proximity to the Florida Space Coast, along with the item’s modern construction and presence of 8-inch square tiles, led the documentary team to contact NASA.

—Space.com: “China Just Test-fired the Engine for its Huge New Moon and Mars Rocket“

China has completed a first hot fire test of a fully-assembled powerful new engine that could power new launch vehicles and boost the country’s space capabilities. The full system test of the 500-ton-thrust, dual nozzle kerosene-liquid oxygen staged combustion cycle engine took place on Nov. 5, marking a milestone for the rocket engine. 

—Phys.org: “Cargo Ship Reaches Space Station Despite Jammed Solar Panel“

A Northrop Grumman capsule delivered several tons of supplies to the International Space Station on Wednesday despite a jammed solar panel. The shipment arrived two days after launching from Virginia. Only one of the cargo ship’s two round solar panels opened following liftoff. Flight controllers tried in vain to open the stuck panel, but managed to draw enough power for the flight with just one.