Space exploration thread

[Mr. H.]

Who knew, Matthew?
Who knew...

 

[ScienceRocks]

China to Launch Next Manned Space Mission



China to Launch Next Manned Space Mission

China says it will launch its latest manned space mission later this year, as it moves forward with ambitious plans to build its own space station.

The official Xinhua news agency says the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, will be launched sometime between June and August.

The spacecraft will connect with an experimental space module known as Tiangong 1, which serves as a prototype for a full-fledged space station. The docking is considered an important initial step toward the building of a permanent space facility.

Three Chinese astronauts successfully linked up with the orbiting space module in June. China is only the third country to accomplish this.

China's space program has made major breakthroughs in a relatively short time, although it lags behind the U.S. and Russia in space technology and experience. In 2003, China sent its first astronaut into space. Five years later, it completed its first spacewalk.

 

[ScienceRocks]

How fast does a supermassive black hole spin? Groundbreaking measurement could help unlock the history of our galaxy
The supermassive black hole spinning at almost the speed of light - and it holds the galaxy's history | Mail Online

•Team say supermassive black hole at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is spinning so fast that its surface is traveling at nearly the speed of light
•Project is first time anyone has accurately measured the spin of a supermassive black hole

Astronomers have measured the rate of spin of a supermassive black hole for the first time.


The sphere more than 2 million miles across - eight times the distance from Earth to the Moon - is spinning so fast that its surface is traveling at nearly the speed of light.

'This is the first time anyone has accurately measured the spin of a supermassive black hole," said lead author Guido Risaliti of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and INAF - Arcetri Observatory.

The groundbreaking measurement was made using new data from the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray satellites.

Astronomers want to know the black hole's spin for several reasons.


The first is physical - only two numbers define a black hole: mass and spin.

By learning those two numbers, you learn everything there is to know about the black hole.

Most importantly, the black hole's spin gives clues to its past and by extension the evolution of its host galaxy.

'The black hole's spin is a memory, a record, of the past history of the galaxy as a whole,' said Risaliti.

Although the black hole in NGC 1365 is currently as massive as several million Suns, it wasn't born that big.


It grew over billions of years by accreting stars and gas, and by merging with other black holes, the researchers said.

 

[LAfrique]

All missions and latest advances in space exploration goes here.


NASA building a better solid rocket booster for space launch system rocket

October 3, 2012 by Bill Hubscher

ATK employees at the company's Promontory, Utah facility prepare a segment of a qualification motor for NASA's Space Launch System for transport. Credit: ATK (Phys.org)—The largest and most powerful solid rocket booster ever built for flight is being assembled for NASA's Space Launch System at ATK Space Systems in Brigham City, Utah, incorporating new cost-savings measures. The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads beyond low Earth orbit, and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration.

Although similar to the solid rocket boosters that helped power the space shuttle to orbit, the five-segment SLS boosters include several upgrades and improvements implemented by NASA and ATK engineers. In addition, the SLS boosters will be built more affordably and efficiently than shuttle boosters, incorporating new and innovative processes and technologies. "America's next steps in deep space exploration build on the lessons learned from our nation's rich human spaceflight history.

By using the best-of-the-best from shuttle and improving on previous investments, we will produce the needed solid booster for the first SLS flights," said Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. "We are encouraged by the progress being made at ATK. Their commitment to deliver a safe and high-quality rocket booster is vital as we build SLS to enable exploration to new frontiers in the solar system." New process improvements have been implemented throughout the manufacturing of Qualification Motor-1, the next full-scale test article for SLS booster. Four case segments have now been cast, and the motor will begin assembly in the test stand next month in preparation for a ground test in the spring of 2013.

The forward segment of the qualification motor for NASA'S Space Launch System is transported through manufacturing and assembly at ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah in preparation for a full-scale ground test there next spring. Credit: ATKImplementing new handling processes, ATK estimates the total assembly time for the SLS booster can be reduced by approximately 46 percent overall. In one area, ATK optimized inspection methods and replaced x-ray inspections with an ultrasonic examination of the booster's nozzle, allowing technicians to evaluate the hardware on the production floor.

In another, ATK reduced the number of moves from 47 to seven during one phase of booster assembly, reducing the chance of any damage in transit and greatly reducing the time it takes to complete that production process. "By improving upon proven Space Shuttle solid rocket motor hardware and operations, our shared goal is to deliver a safe, affordable and sustainable launch vehicle," said Alex Priskos, SLS booster manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "We are embracing innovation both technically and in our management processes as we design and build SLS. Through the use of new streamlined approaches and techniques we have been able to drive down costs and enhance the reliability of the hardware."

The booster team has successfully completed its Booster Requirements Review confirming the five-segment solid rocket motor had a well-understood set of requirements. The review, held at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, included independent consultants and determined the team is ready

Read more at: NASA building a better solid rocket booster for space launch system rocket

I thought NASA was practically out-of-business., and space exploration is now in the domain of private companies.

 

[ScienceRocks]

All missions and latest advances in space exploration goes here.


NASA building a better solid rocket booster for space launch system rocket

October 3, 2012 by Bill Hubscher

ATK employees at the company's Promontory, Utah facility prepare a segment of a qualification motor for NASA's Space Launch System for transport. Credit: ATK (Phys.org)—The largest and most powerful solid rocket booster ever built for flight is being assembled for NASA's Space Launch System at ATK Space Systems in Brigham City, Utah, incorporating new cost-savings measures. The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads beyond low Earth orbit, and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration.

Although similar to the solid rocket boosters that helped power the space shuttle to orbit, the five-segment SLS boosters include several upgrades and improvements implemented by NASA and ATK engineers. In addition, the SLS boosters will be built more affordably and efficiently than shuttle boosters, incorporating new and innovative processes and technologies. "America's next steps in deep space exploration build on the lessons learned from our nation's rich human spaceflight history.

By using the best-of-the-best from shuttle and improving on previous investments, we will produce the needed solid booster for the first SLS flights," said Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. "We are encouraged by the progress being made at ATK. Their commitment to deliver a safe and high-quality rocket booster is vital as we build SLS to enable exploration to new frontiers in the solar system." New process improvements have been implemented throughout the manufacturing of Qualification Motor-1, the next full-scale test article for SLS booster. Four case segments have now been cast, and the motor will begin assembly in the test stand next month in preparation for a ground test in the spring of 2013.

The forward segment of the qualification motor for NASA'S Space Launch System is transported through manufacturing and assembly at ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah in preparation for a full-scale ground test there next spring. Credit: ATKImplementing new handling processes, ATK estimates the total assembly time for the SLS booster can be reduced by approximately 46 percent overall. In one area, ATK optimized inspection methods and replaced x-ray inspections with an ultrasonic examination of the booster's nozzle, allowing technicians to evaluate the hardware on the production floor.

In another, ATK reduced the number of moves from 47 to seven during one phase of booster assembly, reducing the chance of any damage in transit and greatly reducing the time it takes to complete that production process. "By improving upon proven Space Shuttle solid rocket motor hardware and operations, our shared goal is to deliver a safe, affordable and sustainable launch vehicle," said Alex Priskos, SLS booster manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "We are embracing innovation both technically and in our management processes as we design and build SLS. Through the use of new streamlined approaches and techniques we have been able to drive down costs and enhance the reliability of the hardware."

The booster team has successfully completed its Booster Requirements Review confirming the five-segment solid rocket motor had a well-understood set of requirements. The review, held at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, included independent consultants and determined the team is ready

Read more at: NASA building a better solid rocket booster for space launch system rocket

I thought NASA was practically out-of-business., and space exploration is now in the domain of private companies.

I'm just pissed off that Obama killed moon to mars. Can you blame me?

 

[Politico]

Seeing as we could never get there and practically do anything yes. But it would have been fun.

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch provides a rare view of stage 1 and 2 rocket separation
By Sebastian Anthony on March 1, 2013 at 11:57 am
Comment
SpaceX Falcon 9 launch provides a rare view of stage 1 and 2 rocket separation | ExtremeTech

This morning, SpaceX successfully launched CRS-2 — the second commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Dragon capsule aboard the Falcon 9 rocket will dock with the ISS on Saturday morning, delivering 1,473 pounds (677kg) of cargo to the astronauts, and will return in a couple of weeks, filled to the brim with scientific experiments.

The launch itself went off almost without a hitch (more on that below), and was wholly unexceptional… except for one thing: Rocket Cam, which sits on the side of the Falcon 9 rocket, transmitted live video for the first nine minutes of the flight, capturing both the first and second stage separations. In previous Falcon launches, the video feed from the Rocket Cam usually dries up before main engine cutoff (MECO), which occurs just before the first stage separation. In this case, the video feed from Rocket Cam didn’t dry up until an altitude of around 200 kilometers (125mi), as the Dragon capsule drifted off into space in search of the ISS and the second stage began to fall back to Earth.

 

[ScienceRocks]

New Evidence Found for Europa's Vast Ocean --Increases Potential for Life

New Evidence Found for Europa's Vast Ocean --Increases Potential for Life

March 5, 2013

Based on new evidence from Jupiter's moon Europa, astronomers hypothesize that chloride salts bubble up from the icy moon's global liquid ocean and reach the frozen surface. Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Brown—known as the Pluto killer for discovering a Kuiper-belt object that led to the demotion of Pluto from planetary status—and Kevin Hand from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have found the strongest evidence yet that salty water from the vast liquid ocean beneath Europa's frozen exterior actually makes its way to the surface.




Hand emphasizes that, from an astrobiology standpoint, Europa is considered a premier target in the search for life beyond Earth; a NASA-funded study team led by JPL and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have been working with the scientific community to identify options to explore Europa further. "If we've learned anything about life on Earth, it's that where there's liquid water, there's generally life," Hand says. "And of course our ocean is a nice salty ocean. Perhaps Europa's salty ocean is also a wonderful place for life."



"We now have evidence that Europa's ocean is not isolated—that the ocean and the surface talk to each other and exchange chemicals," says Brown, the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor and professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech. "That means that energy might be going into the ocean, which is important in terms of the possibilities for life there. It also means that if you'd like to know what's in the ocean, you can just go to the surface and scrape some off."



The finding, based on some of the first data of its kind since NASA's Galileo mission (1989) to study Jupiter and its moons, suggests that there is a chemical exchange between the ocean and surface, making the ocean a richer chemical environment, and implies that learning more about the ocean could be as simple as analyzing the moon's surface. "The surface ice is providing us a window into that potentially habitable ocean below," says Hand, deputy chief scientist for solar system exploration at JPL.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Japan quake 'heard at edge of space'


BBC News - Japan quake 'heard at edge of space'

10 March 2013

The great Tohoku earthquake in Japan two years ago was so big its effects were even felt at the edge of space.
Scientists say the Magnitude 9.0 tremor on 11 March 2011 sent a ripple of sound through the atmosphere that was picked up by the Goce satellite.

Its super-sensitive instrumentation was able to detect the disturbance as it passed through the thin wisps of air still present 255km above the Earth.

The observation is reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

It has long been recognised that major quakes will generate very low-frequency acoustic waves, or infrasound - a type of deep rumble at frequencies below those discernible to the human ear. But no spacecraft in orbit has had the capability to record them, until now.

"We've looked for this signal before with other satellites and haven't seen it, and I think that's because you need an incredibly fine instrument," said Dr Rune Floberghagen from the European Space Agency (Esa).

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX reusable rocket reaches 300 feet

In December, SpaceX's Grasshopper performed a test launch in which it hovered 131ft (40m) above the ground before landing back down. It has now conducted another successful test, reaching 300ft (91m). In the near future, it is hoped that this rocket could drastically cut the cost of space travel. Fuel and oxygen is only 0.3% of the cost of a rocket, and this rocket would be fully reusable – landing safely anywhere on Earth like a helicopter, without needing to be replaced.

SpaceX reusable rocket reaches 300 feet

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFAfF1aTjNI&feature=player_embedded]SpaceX Grasshopper Hoverslam | Ring of Fire | Flight 4 HD - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ScienceRocks]

Curiosity Rover discovers conditions suited for ancient life on Mars
CNet ^ | 12 March 2013 | Charles Cooper

Curiosity Rover discovers conditions suited for ancient life on Mars | Cutting Edge - CNET News

NASA is reporting that an analysis of a rock powder sample collected by the Curiosity rover suggests that ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.

The sample contained traces of sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon -- key chemical ingredients for life.

For astronomers, the news constitutes the latest clue in their pursuit of a scientific holy grail: Answering the big question about whether life ever existed on the Red Planet. Their challenge until now has been to confirm whether the Martian atmosphere could have supported a habitable environment. The preliminary evidence now suggests the answer is yes...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Earth-Sized Planets in Habitable Zones Are More Common Than Previously Thought

Earth-sized planets in habitable zones are more common than previously thought

Mar. 12, 2013 — The number of potentially habitable planets is greater than previously thought, according to a new analysis by a Penn State researcher, and some of those planets are likely lurking around nearby stars

 

[ScienceRocks]

Extremely rare triple quasar found
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 14, 2013

Extremely rare triple quasar found
An infrared image of the triple quasar system QQQ J1519+0627, made using the 3.5-m aperture telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory. The three quasars are labelled A, B and C. Credit: Emanuele Paolo Farina.

For only the second time in history, a team of scientists--including Carnegie's Michele Fumagalli--have discovered an extremely rare triple quasar system. Their work is published by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. It is available online

 

[ScienceRocks]

Europe, Russia in tie-up on Mars missions
By AFP | AFP – 10 hours ago.. .
.

Europe, Russia in tie-up on Mars missions - Yahoo! News UK

The European Space Agency (ESA) said it signed a deal on Thursday with its Russian counterpart to launch two unmanned missions to Mars, a quest that was rocked by a US pullout last year.

Called ExoMars, the scheme entails sending an orbital probe to the Red Planet in January 2016 to look for atmospheric traces of methane gas, a pointer to the existence of microbial life.

It will also send down a small stationary lander to test key technologies for the second mission -- the launch of a six-wheeled rover in 2018.

 

[whitehall]

There is no "space exploration". NASA has turned into a hollow shell and is concentrating it's limited energies into the junk science of global warming. Mars is the only real "exploration" target but the risky expensive potential mission will accomplish nothing but bragging rights. The planet is an empty iron based hulk. Face facts trekkies, as long as the laws of physics are still in effect humans can forget space exploration.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Very flat earth kind of mindset you have.
-"tens/hundreds" of Trillions of dollars in rare mentals in the asteroids
-europa has more water then earth

100 billion stars with likely as many planets.

O'yes you say that earth is all humanity has. What's the purpose of humanity if not to advance and expand?

Note: Titan is damn interesting too.

 

[Votto]

I just hope that we don't find other life out there unless they want to pay into Obamacare and get subpar treatment with a retirement system that could not even feed a mouse.

If that were not bad enough, the illegals would come to colonize their worlds. Next thing you know Mexico will have a space program.

 

[ScienceRocks]

World's largest radio telescope is operational after 30 years

After 30 years of planning and 10 years of construction, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) has become fully operational in northern Chile.

The $1.5bn project was inaugurated at an official ceremony attended by 500 people including the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera. This event marked the completion of all major systems of the giant telescope and its formal transition from a construction site to a fully-fledged observatory. ALMA is a partnership between Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. It was originally conceived as three separate projects in Europe, the USA and Japan in the 1980s, but merged to one in the 1990s. Construction started in 2003.

"One of our many natural resources is Chile's spectacular night sky," said Piñera. "I believe that science has been a vital contributor to the development of Chile in recent years. I am very proud of our international collaborations in astronomy, of which ALMA is the latest, and biggest outcome."

World's largest radio telescope is operational after 30 years

 

[ScienceRocks]

U.S. restarts plutonium production for space probes

The Department of Energy has produced its first batch of non-weapons grade plutonium, used to power space probes, since a nuclear reactor shutdown 25 years ago, NASA officials said on Monday.

In partnership with NASA, the Department of Energy irradiated the radioactive metal neptunium-237 with neutrons at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee for about a month and successfully produced a small amount plutonium.

NASA is looking for the department to produce about 3.3 to 4.4 pounds (1.5 to 2 kg) of plutonium-238 per year.

Newly made plutonium has the added benefit of reviving older plutonium that has decayed past the point of being viable for deep space probes.

"The new material when we add with our old plutonium, which is more than 20 years old in some cases, really allows us to get the appropriate energy density out," Green said.



NASA also has been working on a more energy efficient generator, called the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator, which can produce four times more electrical power per kilogram of plutonium-238.



Green said two such flight-ready generators are on schedule for completion in 2016. Neither has yet been assigned for a specific mission.

Voyager 1 has entered a new region of space, sudden changes in cosmic rays indicate

 

[ScienceRocks]

Ice blades threaten Europa landing

Jupiter's icy moon Europa is a prime target for future space missions as it harbours a buried ocean that could have the right conditions for life.

But attempts to land may face a major hazard: jagged "blades" of ice up to 10m long.

A major US conference has heard the moon may have ideal conditions for icy spikes called "penitentes" to form.

Scientists would like to send a lander down to sample surface regions where water wells up through the icy crust.

These areas could allow a robotic probe to sample a proxy for ocean water that lies several kilometres deep.

Details of the penitentes theory were announced as scientists outlined another proposal to explore the jovian moon with robotic spacecraft.

BBC News - Ice blades threaten Europa landing