Space Stories: Protests to Save Chandra, Problems Retrieving Martian Sample, and TESS is Getting Testy

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: https://www.savechandra.org

Here are some recent stories related to NASA missions.

—PhysicsWorld: “US Astronomers Slam Cuts to the Chandra X-ray Observatory“

X-ray astronomers in the US have begun a campaign to save the Chandra X-ray Observatory from budget cuts that would effectively end the mission. They assert that the craft, which was launched in 1999, has plenty of life left in it. Cancelling support could, they say, damage scientific efforts to understand the universe and the careers of an emerging generation of X-ray astronomers.

—CNN: “NASA Rethinks Plan to Return Rare Mars Samples to Earth“

“Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken. The bottom line is, an $11 billion budget is too expensive, and a 2040 return date is too far away,” Nelson said. “Safely landing and collecting the samples, launching a rocket with the samples off another planet — which has never been done before — and safely transporting the samples more than 33 million miles (53 million kilometers) back to Earth is no small task. We need to look outside the box to find a way ahead that is both affordable and returns samples in a reasonable time frame.”

—NASA: “NASA’s TESS Temporarily Pauses Science Observations“

NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) entered into safe mode April 8, temporarily interrupting science observations. The team is investigating the root cause of the safe mode, which occurred during scheduled engineering activities. The satellite itself remains in good health. The team will continue investigating the issue and is in the process of returning TESS to science observations in the coming days.

Movie/Book Review: Mickey 17

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: St. Martin’s Publishing Group

I recently read the book Mickey7 and thought to myself how it would make a great movie. I guess I was not alone since the movie was already in production.

It is the story of a crew member on a spacecraft who was literally dying to do his job. He performed the most dangerous tasks on the mission and when he died he would be reincarnated as the next version of himself. Hence, the term Mickey7 for the seventh iteration of his being.

So now it seems that Robert Pattinson wants to get in on the act, but this time as Mickey 17, who is therefore a little more experienced with death than the character in the book. The film cast also includes Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo.

Unfortunately, you will need to wait for the film, which was supposed to be released last month. The Hollywood strike caused it to move to January 2025, much like Dune: Part Two was bumped from has year to this year.

That’s okay. Now you have plenty of time to read the book. Here is the teaser:

Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living.

Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.

On a routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, his fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they face being recycled into protein to feed a hungry colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse, and the native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, which has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.

That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.

Free E-book From NASA on Dark Matter & Dark Energy

Posted on by onespaceman2000

NASA has released a free e-book titled Hubble Focus: The Dark Universe. You can download the book at the NASA site in one of two formats – PDF or EPUB. This is the fifth edition of this book.

You cannot argue with the price, while the content is an impressive story about how the Hubble Space Telescope has helped to study both dark matter and dark energy. In addition to the text and images, the book contains links to numerous videos that further illustrate the points in the book. It is a multimedia experience that can only enhance your understanding of the topic.

Hubble is just the beginning, as the James Webb Space Telescope and other instruments are coming online to assist with the research. The book notes:

Hubble continues to be a vital tool to address questions about the underlying workings of the universe . Scientists will pair its wide wavelength coverage with James Webb Space Telescope’s powerful vision, the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s panoramic view, and a fleet of additional space- and ground-based telescopes to explore the cosmos as never before . We have far more left to learn among the stars

Space Quote: Japanese Prime Minister Channels Star Trek

Posted on by onespaceman2000

“We are now standing at a turning point in history, embarking on a new frontier, and elevate this unshakable Japan-US relationship to even greater heights and hand it to the next generation. Finally, let me be conclude with a line from Star Trek, which you all know: To boldly go where no one has gone before.”

–Statement by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a White House state dinner on Wednesday. He was quoting part of the famous opening credits in the Star Trek television series:

These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!

Oops – Sorry About That, Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Illustration of how DART’s impact altered the orbit of Dimorphos about Didymos. (https://dart.jhuapl.edu/)

You may remember how NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was a great success in that it demonstrated that we can divert an asteroid, should it be necessary.

Well, that’s not the whole story. A new study has found that the redirected asteroid debris may threaten Mars in the future. How far into the future? In one case, it will be 6,000 years into the future, and the second about 15,000 years into the future.

It would be nice to think that we will have habitats if not cities on Mars at that point (and maybe even a Musk Mountain looming over one of the cities), so this could be relevant. So maybe today’s practice run will be tomorrow’s disaster. Then again, I am pretty sure that such a future society will also have the ability to deflect these asteroids, possible building on what we learned from DART.

All of this does make you think about other areas where our tampering may come back to bite us.