Television: Moonhaven is Coming in July

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Source): Moonhaven’s Garden of Eden on the Moon. (AMC+)

While NASA is working on the first permanent base on the Moon, the AMC+ television series set 100 years in the future already has a Garden of Eden on the lunar surface. Here is the general story from AMC+ on the new series Moonhaven, which premieres on July 7th:

Moonhaven focuses on Bella Sway (Emma McDonald), a lunar cargo pilot and smuggler 100 years in the future who finds herself accused of a crime and marooned on Moonhaven, a utopian community set on a 500 square mile Garden of Eden built on the Moon to find solutions to the problems that will soon end civilization on Mother Earth. A skeptic in Paradise, Bella is sucked into a conspiracy to gain control of the artificial intelligence responsible for Moonhaven’s miracles and teams with a local detective to stop the forces that want to destroy Earth’s last hope before they are destroyed themselves.

Yes, the Earth is a toxic waste (again) and it is easier to build a future on the dead Moon than get our act together here on Earth. But even that is too easy, because the Moon colony appears to be a cult. Could it be a SpaceX colony based on the principles of Musk. I hope NASA did not pay for that.

I do not have any high hopes, but that may be it for this summer outside of Star Wars and Star Trek series. I may just go back and rewatch The Expanse this summer.

New Double Crater on the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Double crater from a rocket body that impacted the Moon on March 4, 2022, near Hertzsprung crater. (NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)

Remember all of the chatter earlier this year about whether a SpaceX or Chinese rocket booster was about read to hit the Moon? Well, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently located the crater created by this object – a strange double crater. NASA reported it found an eastern crater (18-meter diameter, about 19.5 yards) superimposed on a western crater (16-meter diameter, about 17.5 yards).

While NASA has not seen double craters when other booster rockets hit the Moon’s surface (yes, it does happen occasionally), it tried to explain this one:

The double crater was unexpected and may indicate that the rocket body had large masses at each end. Typically a spent rocket has mass concentrated at the motor end; the rest of the rocket stage mainly consists of an empty fuel tank. Since the origin of the rocket body remains uncertain, the double nature of the crater may indicate its identity.

Now we just need to go back to Space X and the Chinese and ask a few more questions about the rocket booster in question. It is still doubtful we have an Elon Musk crater on the Moon. Time will tell.

Artemis Rocket Launch Planned for August

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. (NASA)

NASA said it is ready for a real test of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule after multiple dry-runs. Of course, the tests were not perfect, but NASA said it is ready for the next phase. The latest test was on June 20th. Following that, Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for common exploration systems at NASA Headquarters, stated:

During the wet dress rehearsal activities, we have incrementally added to our knowledge about how the rocket and the ground systems work together, and our teams have become proficient in launch procedures across multiple sites. We have completed the rehearsal phase, and everything we’ve learned will help improve our ability to lift off during the target launch window…The team is now ready to take the next step and prepare for launch.

The uncrewed launch itself could be as early as late August. Under this phase of the project, called Artemis 1, the rocket, capsule, and ground control will get a rigorous test. As NASA explains:

During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a four to six-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

NASA has come a long way to get this this step. The various problems along the way is why you have such tests. And now the first phase is about ready. Fingers crossed…

Image (Credit): Artemis 1 mission map. (NASA)

Fire Damages Kitt Peak National Observatory Buildings

Posted on by onespaceman2000
 Image (Credit): View from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope showing the Contreras Fire burning near the summit of Kitt Peak on Thursday 16 June 2022. (KPNO / NOIRLab / NSF / Aura)

Earlier this month, a lightening strike led to a fire in Baboquivari Mountains in southern Arizona, home of the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO). According to news reports, the telescopes themselves are fine, but four “non-scientific” buildings were lost in the fire. Pro-active fire crews were able to prevent greater damage in the area.

This is the latest summary from the blog of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) NSF’sNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab):

Update 21 June pm: 

Today the area affected by the Contreras fire increased by 4,401 acres to a total of 24,761 acres. Containment increased to 50% according to the Eastern Area Incident Management Team.

The Team reports that fire around the eastern flank of the summit of Kitt Peak National Observatory is now controlled and they expect to have the northern flank controlled today. The fight is not over for our Tohono O’odham neighbors and we are keeping these communities in our thoughts...

According to the NOIRLab site, the site hosts the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope on behalf of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey, the WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope, and the facilities of consortia that operate between them more than a dozen optical telescopes and two radio telescopes. Since the start of COVID, the KPNO has been closed to visitors, so the threat to people in the area reduced.

While the mountains of Arizona offer plenty of benefits for observatories, seasonal fires are also part of the deal. Luckily, the fire crews were there in time to keep Mother Nature in check.

Image (Credit): The Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, AZ, (NSF telescopes from left to right) showing the WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope, the Visitor Center Levine 0.4-meter Telescope, 0.9-meter, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, and KPNO 2.1-meter Telescope.  (NOIRLab)

Pic of the Week: Dwarf Starburst Galaxy Henize 2-10

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Dwarf starburst galaxy Henize 2-10. (NASA, ESA, Zachary Schutte (XGI), Amy Reines (XGI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI))

This week’s photo is from the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the Dwarf starburst galaxy Henize 2-10, which lies 34 million light years away. NASA notes that “The bright region at the center, surrounded by pink clouds and dark dust lanes, indicates the location of the galaxy’s massive black hole and active stellar nurseries.”

The image below better illustrates the link between the massive black hole and the related star formation. NASA explains:

A pullout of the central region of dwarf starburst galaxy Henize 2-10 traces an outflow, or bridge of hot gas 230 light-years long, connecting the galaxy’s massive black hole and a star-forming region. Hubble data on the velocity of the outflow from the black hole, as well as the age of the young stars, indicates a causal relationship between the two. A few million years ago, the outflow of hot gas slammed into the dense cloud of a stellar nursery and spread out, like water from a hose impacting a mound of dirt. Now clusters of young stars are aligned perpendicular to the outflow, revealing the path of its spread.

Image (Credit): Dwarf starburst galaxy Henize 2-10 with a pullout showing the black hole and related star formation. (NASA, ESA, Zachary Schutte (XGI), Amy Reines (XGI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI))