Profile: China’s Xuntian Space Telescope

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Image: Artist’s impression of the Xuntian Survey Space Telescope.

Next year China plans to launch the Xuntian (Chinese for “survey to heavens”) Survey Space Telescope that will orbit near China’s space station. Like the Hubble Space Telescope, it will be easier to service from this location. Unlike the Hubble, it will have a greater field of view – about 300-350 times greater. This field of view will allow the telescope to observe about 40 percent of the sky within its 10 year lifespan. If it last 30+ years like the Hubble, it will capture even more of the sky.

In terms of the space telescope’s planned mission, a Chinese news story stated:

It will observe well over one billion galaxies and measure their positions, shapes and brightness which may help explain how those galaxies evolve…

The telescope will also be able to help determine the upper limit of neutrino mass and shed light on the mysterious dark matter and dark energy. They’re believed to account for the majority of mass-energy content of the universe.

The versatile telescope can undertake many more intriguing studies such as drawing galactic dust map of the Milky Way, observing how super-massive blackholes are gobbling up surrounding materials, exploring exoplanets and discovering new peculiar celestial bodies.

The Xuntian should be launched later next year and be fully operational in 2024.

As long as scientists around the world can share in these observations, this type of space race benefits everyone. The more eyes on the sky, the better.

Searching for Water on a Planet Near You

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Image (Credit): Water levels in the Overton Arm, which is the northern portion of Lake Mead. (NASA)

While we get excited about NASA discoveries of water on exoplanets, NASA is also monitoring water levels here on Earth, and it is scary in some areas. The images above from NASA’s Near Earth Observatory show water loss in the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. The lake is currently filled at 27 percent of capacity, threatening the availability of drinking water, electricity from the Hoover dam, and recreational boating. You can read more about water projections in the region here.

Luckily, we have plenty of water covering the majority of our planet, so alien civilizations will still be able to pick up on water signatures as we do elsewhere. However, the loss of drinking water is something we need to resolve, be it overdrawing on such resources or pushing the climate into a direction that threatens this resource. If we hope to keep our civilization intact as we look to the stars, we need to make some changes as soon as possible. We want to travel to Mars, not mimic its dried-up river beds.

Space Quote: China is Not Seizing the Moon

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Image (Credit): China’s Yutu 2 rover explores the far side of the moon shortly after its Jan. 2, 2019, touchdown. (China National Space Administration)

“As two scholars who study space security and China’s space program, we believe that neither China nor any other nation is likely to take over the Moon in the near future. It is not only illegal, it is also technologically daunting – the costs of such an endeavor would be extremely high, while the potential payoffs would be uncertain.”

-Statement by Svetla Ben-Itzhak, Assistant Professor of Space and International Relations, Air University and R. Lincoln Hines, Assistant Professor, West Space Seminar, Air University in the Astronomy magazine article “Why China is unlikely to claim the Moon anytime soon.” It follows an earlier statement by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who said, “We must be very concerned that China is landing on the Moon and saying: ‘It’s ours now and you stay out.‘”

Pic of the Week: Orbital Sunrise

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Image (Credit): SpaceX Dragon capsule approaching the ISS. (NASA)

This week’s image is from the International Space Station (ISS) as it awaits incoming cargo from an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon capsule approaching the station on July 16th. NASA noted that what we are seeing is an orbital sunrise above the Pacific Ocean.

NASA also highlighted the various experiments aboard the Dragon that will be added to the station, including one on extraterrestrial concrete:

Biopolymer Research for In-Situ Capabilities looks at how microgravity affects the process of creating a concrete alternative made with an organic material and on-site materials, such as lunar or Martian dust, known as a biopolymer soil composite. Using resources available where construction takes place makes it possible to increase the amount of shielding.

A Day in Astronomy: First Men on the Moon

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Image (Credit): Neil Armstrong outside the Eagle lunar module on the surface of the Moon. (NASA)

On this day in 1969, two Apollo 11 crew members – commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin – became the first men to walk on the Moon. The two landed in NASA’s Eagle lunar module in the Sea of Tranquility and remained on the Moon’s surface for about 21 hours and 36 minutes collecting samples, placing scientific equipment, and photographing/filming the terrain.  The astronauts also spoke with President Nixon while on the Moon.

You can rewatch the ABC News video feed here showing Neil Armstrong as he steps on the surface of the Moon and famously states, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

You can read more about the Apollo 11 mission here.

Image (Credit): Apollo 11 mission patch. (NASA)