Space news and Exploration II

Expandable space stations will be tested and proven in space within 12 months and then larger modules will increase space station size per cost by over ten times

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Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas, Nevada, has entered into a joint agreement with NASA to leverage the company’s B330 inflatable space habitat for use with NASA’s human space flight program. With the space agency eyeing deep space destinations – such as an asteroid and perhaps one day Mars – the systems could enable crews to travel deeper into...

Nextstep B330
Using a NextSTEP contract, Bigelow will work with NASA to investigate how the B330 platform might be used to support robust, safe, and affordable human spaceflight to the Moon and Mars.

The B330, unlike traditional space station habitats, is an inflatable design. The advantage is you gain more volume for a given mass. For example, the Destiny module on the International Space Station (ISS) is a 15-ton section with a volume of 3,743 cubic feet (106 cubic meters). The B330 has a mass of approximately 20 tons but has a gigantic 11,654 cubic feet (330 cubic meters) of interior volume.

The advantages of the inflatable habitat do not end there. The B330 has superior ballistics protection to the ISS, something to consider when dealing with potential micrometeorites. Any small object penetrating the outer Kevlar shell will break into many smaller pieces and become embedded in the flexible foam and Kevlar layers.

With 24 to 36 layers (depending on location) the B330 can be as hard as concrete when fully expanded. Additionally, the B330 has radiation shielding equivalent to the ISS to protect the crew from solar storms. The B330 is equipped with solar panels, thermal radiators, and large windows and is capable of supporting a crew of six.
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The future of space stations! Much more room, much earlier to get into space and much cheaper!
 
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Spitzer Parallax of OGLE-2015-BLG-0966: A Cold Neptune in the Galactic Disk
[1508.07027] Spitzer Parallax of OGLE-2015-BLG-0966: A Cold Neptune in the Galactic Disk

We report the detection of a Cold Neptune m_planet=21+/-2MEarth orbiting a 0.38MSol M dwarf lying 2.5-3.3 kpc toward the Galactic center as part of a campaign combining ground-based and Spitzer observations to measure the Galactic distribution of planets. This is the first time that the complex real-time protocols described by Yee et al. (2015), which aim to maximize planet sensitivity while maintaining sample integrity, have been carried out in practice. Multiple survey and follow-up teams successfully combined their efforts within the framework of these protocols to detect this planet. This is the second planet in the Spitzer Galactic distribution sample. Both are in the near-to-mid disk and clearly not in the Galactic bulge.
 
1 to 10 billion earthlike planets in the Milky Way Galaxy

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Researchers combine constraints on galaxy formation histories with planet formation models, yielding the Earth-like and giant planet formation histories of the Milky Way and the Universe as a whole. In the Hubble Volume (10^13 Mpc3 ), we expect there to be ∼ 10^20 Earth-like and ∼ 10^20 giant planets; our own galaxy is expected to host ∼...
 
Tiny Space Telescope to Aim at 'Super-Earth' Atmospheres http://oak.ctx.ly/r/3mopz




With a budget of just 50 million pounds ($79 million), the Twinkle satellite team plans to launch into low-Earth orbit in three to four years if it can get the funding. There, it will study the infrared (heat) signatures of at least 100 nearby worlds a few hundred light-years away. This will be possible even with a tiny mirror of 50 centimeters (20 inches) compared to a larger telescope like Hubble (2.4 meters/8 feet), the lead scientist told Discovery News.

"We have identified a niche of science that could be done very well even with a relatively more modest instrument," said Giovanna Tinetti, an astrophysicist at University College London. Because the planets will be hothouse worlds that are relatively close by Earth, their infrared signatures are so strong that astronomers can infer the presence of molecules, clouds, weather and climate even in a small telescope, she said.



NASA Mulling Life-Hunting Mission to #Saturn Moon Enceladus http://oak.ctx.ly/r/3mnfl


 
The transiting super-Earth sized planet 55 Cancri e has made the headlines frequently this year with the discovery of possible signs of volcanism as astronomers continue to refine the properties of this hot alien world. But in addition to 55 Cnc e, this system is known to host four other planets including 55 Cnc f which orbits just inside this system's habitable zone. With a mass about half that of Saturn, it is unlikely that 55 Cnc f is habitable, but it could possibly support habitable moons if they are large enough


Habitable Planet Reality Check 55 Cancri f | Drew Ex Machina
Scientific research, news and ponderings from the mind of Andrew LePage.
drewexmachina.com


In addition to finding extrasolar planets, NASA's Kepler mission is also capable of detecting the larger moons of these worlds. But while finding an "exomoon" is possible in theory, in practice such detections are proving to be quite difficult as the case with the Kepler 90g has demonstrated.


The Case for a Moon of Kepler 90g | Drew Ex Machina
Scientific research, news and ponderings from the mind of Andrew LePage.
drewexmachina.com
 
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http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Ne...edule_999.html
The first prototype of a new Russian manned spacecraft for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) and the Moon may be created ahead of schedule, president of Russian space manufacturer RSC Energia Vladimir Solntsev told RIA Novosti on Saturday. The International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2015 is currently underway in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow, and is due to finish on Sunday.

"We have agreed with the engineers... to reduce the time for construction and production of the first copy of this spaceship. Despite the fact that we have voiced and agreed on the first launch in 2021, we have set the task to build the prototype by 2019, and I think that we will succeed, " Solntsev told reporters at the MAKS
 
World's most powerful digital camera gets the go-ahead
By David Szondy - September 1, 2015 4 Pictures

A smartphone with a 16-megapixel camera may seem cutting edge, but it won't impress astronomers now that the US Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has given the green light to start construction of the world's largest digital camera. With a resolution of 3.2-gigapixels (enough to need 1,500 high-definition television screens to display one image), the new camera is at the heart of the 8.4-meter (27.5-ft) Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) now under construction atop Cerro Pachón in Chile.
 
First Falcon Heavy Launch Scheduled for Spring
by Jeff Foust — September 2, 2015
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An illustration of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Credit: SpaceX
PASADENA, Calif. — The long-delayed first flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle is now scheduled for April or May of 2016, a company official said Sept. 1.

Speaking at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Space 2015 conference here, Lee Rosen, vice president of mission and launch operations for SpaceX, said the company was also wrapping up work on the renovated launch pad that rocket will use.

“It’s going to be a great day when we launch that, some time in the late April-early May timeframe,” he said of the Falcon Heavy.

- See more at: First Falcon Heavy Launch Scheduled for Spring - SpaceNews.com
 
[1509.00723] Detecting ring systems around exoplanets using high resolution spectroscopy: the case of 51Pegb

Detecting ring systems around exoplanets using high resolution spectroscopy: the case of 51Pegb

In this paper we explore the possibility that the recently detected reflected light signal of 51\,Peg\,b could be caused by a ring system around the planet. We use a simple model to compare the observed signal with the expected signal from a short-period giant planet with rings. We also use simple dynamical arguments to understand the possible geometry of such a system. We provide evidence that, to a good approximation, the observations are compatible with the signal expected from a ringed planet, assuming that the rings are non-coplanar with the orbital plane. However, based on dynamical arguments, we also show that this configuration is unlikely. In the case of coplanar rings we then demonstrate that the incident flux on the ring surface is about 2\% the value received by the planet, a value that renders the ring explanation unlikely. The results suggest that the signal observed cannot in principle be explained by a planet+ring system. We discuss, however, the possibility of using reflected light spectra to detect and characterize the presence of rings around short-period planets. Finally, we show that ring systems could have already been detected by photometric transit campaigns, but their signal could have been easily misinterpreted by the expected light curve of an eclipsing binary.
 
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/09/...t-spring-2016/
After a three-year delay, SpaceX plans to fly its Falcon Heavy launch vehicle for the first time next spring, followed quickly by three additional flights of the 28-engine rocket by the end of 2016.

Lee Rosen, SpaceX’s vice president of mission and launch operations, laid out the ambitious schedule for the heavy-lift rocket during an appearance at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Space 2015 conference in Pasadena earlier this week.

The first flight in April or May will be a demonstration mission of the new launch vehicle, which features three modified Falcon 9 cores with 27 engines as its first stage. Falcon Heavy is designed to lift more 53 metric tons (58.4 tons) into low Earth orbit.
 
The Russians are planing to send a probe to the moon in 2016 in the Boguslavsky crater, near the Moon's South Pole. The last time they sent a probe to the moon was in 1976 - 40 years between the two probes.

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/...nding_999.html
"The main difference from Soviet missions, which brought back space material to Earth, is that research will be carried out directly on board the probe," explained Vladislav Tretyakov, a researcher in nuclear planetology at the Russian Space Research Institute [IKI].

"Secondly, we must ensure survival during lunar nights, which back then was only achieved only by our 'Lunokhod' rover."

"And of course, this is the first polar mission, insofar as all the previous missions, including ours and those from other nations, were [conducted] at equatorial latitudes."

Most of the instruments for the spacecraft, named 'Luna-Globe' are being made at the IKI; a life-sized model of the probe is currently being exhibited for visitors to the International Air Show in the Moscow suburb of Zhukovsky.
 
Chang'e 5 will be landing on the earth facing side of the moon and Chang'e 4 on the other side.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...le-return.html
It's not clear where on the Moon this is, or what the scale of the image is. Planetary cartographer extraordinaire Phil Stooke attempted to narrow it down from the lengths of the shadows in the craters: "The terminator was crossing the Mare Crisium area over the few days the images were taken. I had been expecting a landing in Oceanus Procellarum, but the sun would have been overhead there, and these images have shadows suggesting a lower sun elevation. Possibly a site in the eastern maria, but west of Crisium. Not much to go on yet."

When I first read this news I was terribly confused because I thought that I'd heard that they had planned a landing on the farside. But I was recalling the wrong mission. It's Chang'e 4 -- the backup module to Chang'e 3 -- that is planned for a future landing on the lunar farside. That launch is not planned until around 2020.
 
Flower Power: Giant 'Starshades' Prepped for Exoplanet Hunting
http://dlvr.it/C3Y9Tw


In an attempt to better characterize planets beyond the solar system, some scientists are turning to big, flower-shaped disks known as starshades.

Intended to be used in space in combination with a separately flying telescope, a starshade would block the light from a parent star, allowing dim exoplanets to be observed and studied. But before the first starshade can be sent to space, the technology must be tested on Earth — and that's not a trivial task.

"The unique architecture of the starshade — namely, the size and separation needed — make it difficult to test cheaply," Anthony Harness, a graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Space.com.
 
The Starliner is set for blast off! Boeing opens massive facility to build spacecraft that will see US return to manned spaceflight



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Starliner, formerly known CST-100, is expected to begin ferrying astronauts to the ISS within two years

It may also take paying customers to low-Earth orbit and the unique sensation of sustained weightlessness

Spacecraft is being built at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at a former space shuttle hangar



Read more: Boeing Starliner will see US return to manned spaceflight
 
First Pieces of NASA’s Orion for Next Mission Come Together at Michoud
09/08/2015 12:46 PM EDT
NASA is another small step closer to sending astronauts on a journey to Mars. On Saturday, engineers at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans welded together the first two segments of the Orion crew module that will fly atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on a mission beyond the far side of the moon.


RT @IFLScience This "Hedgehog" robot could hop and tumble over asteroids and comets. http://bit.ly/1UAvRAT


 
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