Space news and Exploration II

[ScienceRocks]

Astronomers observe first exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star in the visible light spectrum
By Anthony Wood
April 22, 2015
1 Comment

A team of ESO astronomers working from the La Silla Observatory, Chile, has detected the first direct reflection of light from an exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star. The exoplanet, 51 Pegasi b, is what is known as a hot Jupiter, a prevalent form of gas giant that sits much closer to its parent star than our own Jovian neighbor.

This particular gas giant is no stranger to fame, 25 years ago 51 Pegasi b made the (scientific) headlines for being the very first exoplanet to be discovered around a star sharing the same core characteristics as our own Sun.

Back then, and still now, the primary method of detecting an exoplanet was to observe distant stars for a prolonged period, and look for a dip in brightness as an orbiting planetary body made a transit across the disk of the distant light source. From this occultation, astronomers are able to discern many characteristics of an exoplanet, including its atmosphere, with varying degrees of certainty. This method is known as transmission spectroscopy. However, the established method has severe limitations, as it is unable to detect and characterize any planets whose orbits do not lie directly between their parent star and Earth.

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The recent observation was made using the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) instrument mounted on the ESO's 3.6 meter telescope. By using the spectrum of light thrown out from the parent star as a template, and looking for the same light signature reflecting off the atmosphere of the exoplanet as it made its orbit, the team was able to directly observe 51 Pegasi b.

The beauty of being able to directly image a planet is that you do not have to depend on the heavens quite literally aligning, allowing for more frequent and in depth analysis of distant planets that may otherwise have been undetectable.

“This type of detection technique is of great scientific importance, as it allows us to measure the planet’s real mass and orbital inclination, which is essential to more fully understand the system" states Jorge Martins of the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, and the Universidade do Porto, Portugal, and lead of the team which made the new observation. "It also allows us to estimate the planet’s reflectivity, or albedo, which can be used to infer the composition of both the planet’s surface and atmosphere."

However there are significant difficulties in employing the technique, at least on the observatories currently available. For one, the light cast out by the parent star is liable to drown out the relatively feeble reflection exhibited by an exoplanet, and the issue is compounded by the various noises and effects that work to distort detailed images of distant celestial objects.

However, the success of HARPS in directly observing 51 Pegasi b stands as testimony to the workability of the imaging technique, and it looks set to become even more effective.

The new method will benefit from the next generation of observatories that are currently under construction, such as the European Extremely Large Telescope, a 40 m (131 ft) class monster that will have the capacity to return images 16 times sharper than any taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. In the meantime, the team is anticipating first light from the ESPRESSO spectrograph mounted on ESO's imaginatively named Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Immobilized Yutu rover still providing valuable lunar data
16 hours ago by Christopher Packham report

Chang’e-3 landing site and the rover Yutu’s track. Crater A is blocky, indicating penetration through the regolith. Crater B is the largest one without blocks in the landing area. The APXS (LS1–LS2) and VNIS (CD5–CD8) analysis positions and …more

(Phys.org)—The Chinese Chang'e 3 mission to the moon successfully landed and deployed the Yutu rover in December 2013. Although the rover experienced operational difficulties after 14 days, it is still gathering and transmitting useful lunar data.

The lander and rover are located in the basin of the Mare Imbrium, the second-largest lunar mare after the Oceanus Procellarum. Recently, a collaborative of researchers from a number of Chinese science institutions published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzing data collected by the Chang'e 3 mission that reveals the volcanic history of the northeastern part of the Imbrium basin.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-immobilized-yutu-rover-valuable-lunar.html#jCp

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA forms unprecedented coalition to search for alien life on exoplanets

NASA forms unprecedented coalition to search for alien life on exoplanets ExtremeTech

One of the foremost exercises in astronomy today is the search for alien worlds — and, ultimately, the existence of life beyond planet Earth. To date, astronomers have found more than 1,800 exoplanets, using a variety of techniques over the past 20 years like the “transit method” and gravitational microlensing. The search also got a big boost back when the Kepler Space Telescope was launched. The data from Kepler alone has provided over 1,000 of those 1,800 confirmed exoplanets, with thousands of additional candidates waiting in the wings for further study.

Now, it turns out NASA’s going to turn this whole finding-exoplanets thing up another notch. The agency has announced it’s bringing together experts from a variety of scientific fields in a new coalition to search for alien life on planets outside our solar system. Dubbed NExSS, or the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science, the new group plans to study the various components that make up an exoplanet, along with how each one interacts with its neighboring planets and parent star.

“This interdisciplinary endeavor connects top research teams and provides a synthesized approach in the search for planets with the greatest potential for signs of life,” said Jim Green, NASA’s Director of Planetary Science, in a statement. “The hunt for exoplanets is not only a priority for astronomers, it’s of keen interest to planetary and climate scientists as well.”

 

[ScienceRocks]

Astronomers find runaway galaxies
We know of about two dozen runaway stars, and have even found one runaway star cluster escaping its galaxy forever. Now, astronomers have spotted 11 runaway galaxies that have been flung out of their homes ...

 

[ScienceRocks]

HD 100546 b, as well as additional parameters for 11 planets: 70 Vir b (new default), WASP-2 b, WASP-4b, WASP-5b, WASP-52 b, KELT-1 b, CoRoT-2 b, XO-2 b, TrES-1 b, HD 189733 b and GJ 436 b. See their Overview pages or go the Confirmed Planets interactive table.

2015 Exoplanet Archive News

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX is planning another CRS launch on the 27th of April. If it's not delayed, they will eclipse their own record for rapid launching. Their prior record is 14 days, this will compress it to 13.





http://www.nasaspace...cial-crew-test/

 

[ScienceRocks]

Mysterious X-37B Military Space Plane to Fly Again Next Month
Mysterious X-37B Military Space Plane to Fly Again Next Month

by Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | April 24, 2015 06:47pm ET

The United States Air Force's X-37B space plane will launch on its fourth mystery mission next month.

The unmanned X-37B space plane, which looks like a miniature version of NASA's now-retired space shuttle orbiter, is scheduled to blast off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on May 20.

Glad to see the airforce getting into space! They have far deeper pockets and China & Russia are real threats. Wish they'd install a laser on it so it can blow up some Chinese shit.

 

[ScienceRocks]

SABRE engine concept passes US Air Force feasibilty test
By David Szondy
April 26, 2015
8 Pictures

Reaction Engines' Skylon reusable spaceplane project has been given a boost, with analysis by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) confirming the feasibility of the SABRE engine cycle concept that lies at its heart.

The feasibility study conducted as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the AFRL’s Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ) looked at the thermodynamic cycle of the SABRE concept. That is, whether the engine is able to do what Reaction Engine claims it can do. According to AFRL, there's no theoretical problem with the concept if the engine is properly built and integrated.

The SABRE (Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) is a scramjet. That is, it reduces the propellant load because it acts as a jet while in the atmosphere and a rocket in space, so it doesn't have to carry as much oxygen to burn the liquid hydrogen fuel. It does so at velocities above Mach 5 (4,500 mph, 7,200 km/h) before flying into space, when it switches to rocket mode to achieve the even faster speeds needed to reach orbit.

Now this would be a awesome space plane as it would work like a plane then switch into a space vehicle.

 

[ScienceRocks]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/sp...nned-missions/

Two proposed missions would scour the moon’s upper crust for deposits of ice that may support moon bases.

We may soon be one sip of water closer to living on the moon, at least if NASA’s plans pan out. The space agency has announced their intention to send two new missions to the moon to analyze and mine pockets of frozen water. The projects, nicknamed Lunar Flashlight and Resource Prospector Mission (RPM), will launch in late 2017 and 2018, respectively.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Three Super-Earths Orbiting HD 7924
http://arxiv.org/abs/1504.06629

We report the discovery of two super-Earth mass planets orbiting the nearby K0.5 dwarf HD 7924 which was previously known to host one small planet. The new companions have masses of 7.9 and 6.4 M⊕, and orbital periods of 15.3 and 24.5 days. We perform a joint analysis of high-precision radial velocity data from Keck/HIRES and the new Automated Planet Finder Telescope (APF) to robustly detect three total planets in the system. We refine the ephemeris of the previously known planet using five years of new Keck data and high-cadence observations over the last 1.3 years with the APF. With this new ephemeris, we show that a previous transit search for the inner-most planet would have covered 70% of the predicted ingress or egress times. Photometric data collected over the last eight years using the Automated Photometric Telescope shows no evidence for transits of any of the planets, which would be detectable if the planets transit and their compositions are hydrogen-dominated. We detect a long-period signal that we interpret as the stellar magnetic activity cycle since it is strongly correlated with the Ca II H and K activity index. We also detect two additional short-period signals that we attribute to rotationally-modulated starspots and a one month alias. The high-cadence APF data help to distinguish between the true orbital periods and aliases caused by the window function of the Keck data. The planets orbiting HD 7924 are a local example of the compact, multi-planet systems that the Kepler Mission found in great abundance.

 

[ScienceRocks]

MESSENGER Executes Last Orbit-Correction Maneuver, Prepares for Impact

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_roo...tus+Reports%29

MESSENGER mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., conducted the last of six planned maneuvers on April 24 to raise the spacecraft's minimum altitude sufficiently to extend orbital operations and further delay the probe's inevitable impact onto Mercury's surface.

With the usable on-board fuel consumed, this maneuver expelled gaseous helium -- originally carried to pressurize the fuel, but re-purposed as a propellant. Without a means of boosting the spacecraft's altitude, the tug of the Sun's gravity will draw the craft in to impact the planet on April 30, at about 8,750 miles per hour (3.91 kilometers per second), creating a crater as wide as 52 feet (16 meters).

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hall ion thrusters to fly on X-37B spaceplane
By David Szondy
April 28, 2015
3 Pictures

The US Air Force's most public secret, the X-37B unmanned spaceplane, is now a little less top secret. The Air Force has revealed that when the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) 4 mission lifts off from Cape Canaveral AFB on May 20, it will be carrying a Hall thruster as part of an experiment to improve the design for use on Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications spacecraft.

 

[danielpalos]

Some on the left believe we should advance rail gun technology and miniaturization in order to launch probes to their destinations.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Some on the left believe we should advance rail gun technology and miniaturization in order to launch probes to their destinations.

I think we should advance it on war ships. Be they on the water or sea...I think we should look into SABRE engine concept passes US Air Force feasibilty test if Musk isn't successful. I want a element of control over my flight and riding in a rail gun shell doesn't give it to me!


Robotically discovering Earth's nearest neighbors
7 hours ago

Enlarge
Artist's impression of a view from the HD 7924 planetary system looking back toward our sun, which would be easily visible to the naked eye. Since HD 7924 is in our northern sky, an observer looking back at the sun would see objects like the …more

A team of astronomers using ground-based telescopes in Hawaii, California, and Arizona recently discovered a planetary system orbiting a nearby star that is only 54 light-years away. All three planets orbit their star at a distance closer than Mercury orbits the sun, completing their orbits in just 5, 15, and 24 days.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-robotically-earth-nearest-neighbors.html#jCp

 

[danielpalos]

With advances in technologies, we could launch hundreds of probes.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Early Results from VLT-SPHERE: Long-Slit Spectroscopy of 2MASS 0122-2439B, a Young Companion Near the Deuterium Burning Limit

We present 0.95-1.80 μm spectroscopy of the ∼12-27 MJup companion orbiting the faint (R∼13.6), young (∼120 Myr) M-dwarf 2MASS J01225093--2439505 ("2M0122--2439 B") at 1.5 arcsecond separation (50 AU). Our coronagraphic long-slit spectroscopy was obtained with the new high contrast imaging platform VLT-SPHERE during Science Verification. The unique long-slit capability of SPHERE enables spectral resolution an order of magnitude higher than other extreme AO exoplanet imaging instruments. With a low mass, cool temperature, and very red colors, 2M0122-2439 B occupies a particularly important region of the substellar color-magnitude diagram by bridging the warm directly imaged hot planets with late-M/early-L spectral types (e.g. β Pic b and ROXs 42Bb) and the cooler, dusty objects near the L/T transition (e.g. HR 8799bcde and 2MASS 1207b). We fit BT-Settl atmospheric models to our R≈350 spectrum and find Teff=1600±100 K and log(g)=4.5±0.5 dex. Visual analysis of our 2M0122-2439 B spectrum suggests a spectral type L3-L4, and we resolve shallow J-band alkali lines, confirming its low gravity and youth. Specifically, we use the Allers & Liu (2013) spectral indices to quantitatively measure the strength of the FeH, VO, KI, spectral features, as well as the overall H-band shape. Using these indices, along with the visual spectral type analysis, we classify 2M0122-2439 B as an intermediate gravity (INT-G) object with spectral type L3.7±1.0.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Even with their economic problems, Russia has not cut down their budget to explore Mars - more specifically their aim to bring back a sample of soil from there.1st from Phobos than later from Mars itself.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/expedition_m.html

Surprisingly, the Expedition-M project appeared to survive the budget cuts at the beginning of 2015, which claimed a number of high-cost and long-term projects.

In April 2015, the development of the spacecraft was included into the proposed draft of the 10-year Federal Space Program beginning in 2016. At the time, the launch of the Expedition-M spacecraft was scheduled on the Angara-5 rocket with the KVTK space tug in the first half of 2024 from Vostochny, replacing the Proton rocket in Baikonur.

However the mission was now re-purposed for returning samples from Phobos, instead of Mars. The technology could still pave the way to the Mars sample return in 2030s.

 

[mamooth]

Dyson sphere search comes up empty.

Alien Supercivilizations Absent from 100 000 Nearby Galaxies - Scientific American

If a very advanced civilization had enclosed many of the stars in their galaxy in Dyson spheres, the result would be visible here as an unusually high amount of infrared coming from that galaxy, in proportion to its visible light. Nothing like that was found.

While that does not mean there are no Dyson spheres, it does mean the speculation that Dyson spheres would be a standard feature of alien civilizations is wrong.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Evaluating NASA’s Futuristic EM Drive
Evaluating NASA s Futuristic EM Drive NASASpaceFlight.com
April 29, 2015 by José Rodal, Ph.D, Jeremiah Mullikin and Noel Munson - subedited by Chris Gebhardt

A group at NASA’s Johnson Space Center has successfully tested an electromagnetic (EM) propulsion drive in a vacuum – a major breakthrough for a multi-year international effort comprising several competing research teams. Thrust measurements of the EM Drive defy classical physics’ expectations that such a closed (microwave) cavity should be unusable for space propulsion because of the law of conservation of momentum.

EM Drive:

Last summer, NASA Eagleworks – an advanced propulsion research group led by Dr. Harold “Sonny” White at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) – made waves throughout the scientific and technical communities when the group presented their test results on July 28-30, 2014, at the 50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

Those results related to experimental testing of an EM Drive – a concept that originated around 2001 when a small UK company, Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd (SPR), under Roger J. Shawyer, started a Research and Development (R&D) program.

Who ever that says Nasa doesn't advance humanity and carry its worth isn't very intelligent. In fact, they should become Amish and stop voting.

 

[ScienceRocks]

ESA to collaborate with Japan in daring asteroid mission
By Anthony Wood
April 29, 2015
2 Pictures

ESA has announced its intent to aid the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA) with its ambitious Hayabusa-2 mission to retrieve material samples from an asteroid, and return said samples to Earth by the year 2020. Following a successful launch last December atop a H-IIA rocket, the probe will now benefit from 400 hours of tracking and telemetry from ESA's 35 m (115 ft) diameter dish at Malargüe, Argentina.

Japan and the ESA is going to do about what Obama wants to do...America should out do them with a base on the fucking moon by 2020!