The Earth and Moon, as seen from orbit over Mars, November 20th 2016
Two marbles sit on a midnight background, one a swirl of blue, white, brown and green, the other tinted in shades of grey. Together they are the Earth and her Moon as seen by the most powerful imagining system currently orbiting the planet Mars.
It is, in fact a composite image, although Earth and the Moon are the correct sizes and the correct position / distance relative to one another. The images were captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on November 26th, 2016.
The images were taken to calibrate HiRISE data, since the reflectance of the moon’s Earth-facing side is well-known. As such, this is not the first image of our home planet and its natural satellite captured from Martian orbit, but it is one of the most striking. Whilst a composite image, only the Moon’s brightness has been altered to enhance its visibility; were it to be shown at the same brightness scale as Earth, it would barely be visible. That it appears to be unnaturally close to Earth is in fact an illusion of perspective: at the time the pictures were taken, the Moon was on the far side of Earth relative to Mars, and about to pass behind it.
The image of Earth shows Australia prominent in the central area of the image, its shape just discernible in this high-resolution image, taken when Mars and the MRO were 205 million kilometres (147 million miles) from Earth.
For me, this is another picture demonstrating just how small, fragile and unique our home world actually is.
Falcon 9 Makes Triumphant Return to Flight
With Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) approval given, SpaceX, the private space company founded by Elon Musk, made a triumphant return to flight status with its Falcon 9 launch system on Saturday, January 14th.
January 14th, 2017: the SpaceX Falcon 9, carry 10 advanced Iridium NEXT communications satellites in its bulbous payload fairing, lifts-off from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX launches had been suspended in September 2016, after a Falcon 9 and its US $200 million payload were loss in an explosion during what should have been a routine test just two days ahead of the planned launch (see here for more). Towards the end of 2016, and following extensive joint investigations involving NASA and the US Air Force (The Falcon 9 was located at Launch Complex 40 at the Canaveral Air Force Station when the explosion occurred), SpaceX were confident they had traced the root cause for the loss to a failure of process, rather than a structural or other failure within the vehicle itself. However, they had to wait until the FAA had reviewed the investigation findings and approved the Falcon 9’s return to flight readiness before they could resume operations.
The January 14th launch came via the SpaceX West Coast facilities, again leased from the US Air Force, and saw a Falcon 9 booster lift-off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket was carrying the first ten out of at least 70 advanced Iridium NEXT mobile voice and data relay satellites SpaceX will launch over the coming months, as Iridium Communications place a “constellation” of 81 of the satellites in orbit around the Earth in a US $3 billion project.
All ten satellites were successfully lifted to orbit and deployed following a pitch-perfect launch, which had to take place at precisely 9:54:34 local time (17:54:34 UT) in order for all ten satellites to be correctly deployed to reach their assigned orbits. However, all eyes were on the Falcon 9’s first stage, which was set to make a return to Earth for an at-sea landing aboard one of the company’s two autonomous drone landing barges, Just Follow The Instructions.
Down and safe: the Falcon 9 first stage, seen via a camera aboard the autonomous drone barge Just Follow The Instructions, shortly after touch-down on January 14th, 2017. Credit: SpaceX
Operating the Falcon 9 on a basis of reusability is core to SpaceX’s future plans to reduce the overall cost of space launches. While the company has previously made six successful returns and landings with the Falcon 9 first stage, this being the first attempt since September 2016’s loss added further pressure on the attempt. but in the event, it went flawlessly.
After separation from the upper stage carrying the payload to orbit, the first stage of the Falcon 9 completed what are called “burn back” manoeuvres designed to drop it back into the denser atmosphere. Vanes on the rocket’s side were deployed to provide it with stability so that it dropped vertically back down to Earth, using its engines as a braking system and deploying landing legs shortly before touchdown – and the entire journey was captured on video, courtesy of camera built-into the rocket’s fuselage.
Artist’s concept of Cassini’s final orbits between the innermost rings and Saturn’s cloud tops (see below). Credit: NASA
As we enter a new year, I thought I’d take a quick dip into some of the astronomical and space events which will occur in 2017.
January / February
The Quantids Meteor Shower: reaching a peak on January 3rd / 4th, this should be visible for those in the northern hemisphere graced with clear night skies, as the Earth passes through the debris trail from asteroid 2003 EH1. Just look towards Ursa Major (The Plough / The Big Dipper) and you could see up to 100 “shooting stars” per hour as dust and minute debris from the comet’s tail burn up in the upper atmosphere.
SpaceX Return to Flight: while no date has been confirmed, it is expected this will take place in January / February 2017 – see my expanded report below.
Catch a Comet: February will see Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova pass the Earth on its way back out into space, having swung around the Sun in December. A short period comet, orbiting the Sun every 5.5 years, it should be visible just before dawn between the constellations Aquila and Hercules. On the morning of February 11th it will be at its closest to Earth – 12,320,000 km (7,700,000 mi), and should be visible to the naked eyes as a tiny fuzzy ball.
Southern Hemisphere Annular Eclipse: Africa and South America get to see an annular eclipse on February 26th. This is when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line with the Earth, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the dark disk of the Moon.
March / April
The Moon-Mars-Mercury Triangle: looking out toward the crescent moon just after dusk on March 29th should reveal the celestial triangle between the Moon, ruddy Mars (relatively high above the horizon) and tiny Mercury, much closer to the horizon. The latter will actually be at its most distant from the Sun at the time and at the highest above the horizon it ever gets, marking one of the rare occasions it can easily be seen as a naked eye object.
The Moon-Mars-Mercury “triangle”. Credit: Andrew Fazekas
Jupiter’s Bright Opposition: Jupiter and the Sun will be sitting almost exactly on opposite sides of the Earth relative to one another during March and April (opposition actually occurring on April 7th). This means that Jupiter will be one of the brightest objects in the night sky, and on April 10th will be a brilliant companion for the full Moon, appearing just above and to the right of the Moon’s limb.
Cassini’s Final Grand Tour: On April 22nd, NASA’s long running Cassini mission to Saturn will enter its final phase as the spaceraft bearing the mission’s name commences 22 final orbits which will see it passing between the planet and its rings to come within 1,630 km (1,013 mi) of Saturn’s cloud tops.
China’s Tianzhou 1 to Fly: while it has yet to be confirmed, April has been earmarked for the maiden flight of China’s automated resupply vehicle, Tianzhou 1, which should rendezvous with the Tiangong-2 orbital laboratory to deliver consumables, fuel and other supplies. The mission is key to China’s longer-term aim of establishing a crewed space station in orbit.
June
Saturn’s Opposition and Rings: Saturn will also be in opposition in June, revealing it as one of the brightest objects in the night sky, sitting within the in the constellation Ophiuchus. Saturn will be angled to show its northern hemisphere at this opposition, so the rings will inclined at an angle of 26° to our line of sight, which is almost the maximum inclination they can have, making them visible to even a modest telescope (30-cm / 6-in).
August / September
Perseids Sparkle: it’s the most prolific meteor shower in the year visible in the northern hemisphere, with 60-110 “shooting stars” visible per hour at peak times, with some visible for up to a second at a time. Peak activity will occur between the 9th and 14th August – just look towards the constellation Perseus. But you’ll have to be out really early to see them – around 2:00am local time where you are. They’re the result of the Earth passing through the debris trail left by 1992’s Comet Swift-Tuttle,
The Great American Eclipse: the United States gets the best of this year’s solar eclipses, with a total eclipse occurring on August 21st. Totality (the complete eclipsing of the Sun by the Moon) will be visible in a narrow band stretching across the continental United States – see the video from NASA, below. Check with NASA for the best observing times in your location.
Dragon V2’s fiery ascent: although the first crewed flight of the Dragon V2 capsule has been delayed until 2018, SpaceX are targeting August 2017 as the month for the first uncrewed flight of the system, an important step on the way toward full certification to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
Farewell to Cassini: it won’t be visible from Earth, but at 11:07 UT on September 15th, 2017, NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn will come to an end as the vehicle, which has been in space for 20 years, 13 of them in orbit around the planet, plunges into the upper reaches of Saturn’s atmosphere and burns up. It will be a fiery and sad end to a magnificent mission, and I hope to present a Cassini special in these pages later in the year.
Piers Sellers ( April 11th, 1955 – December 23rd, 2016): climatologist and astronaut. Credit: NASA
On Friday, December 23rd, news broke that astronaut Piers Sellers had passed away at the age of 61. His name might not be familiar to some, but British-born Sellers quietly achieved a lot both in orbit and here on the ground.
Born in 1955 in Crowborough, Sussex, Sellers held a bachelor’s degree ecological science and a doctorate in biometeorology. He was regarded as an expert on climate change, studying the relationship between the living world and the atmosphere for the better part of two decades starting in 1982, shortly after he and his wife (they later divorced) relocated from the UK to the United States. At that time he joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, working on climate change computer modelling. He then moved to leading the US team developing the multi-national Terra research satellite, regarded as the flagship Earth Observing System (EOS).
A qualified pilot, having trained as an RAF cadet while at college, he maintained his flight status throughout his first ten years in the United States, repeatedly applying for a position in the NASA Astronaut Corps. However, it wasn’t until 1991, when he gained US citizenship that he met all of the criteria to be considered for a place in the Corps, and he was selected for training in 1996.
After completing two years of training, Sellers was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch, followed by service in the Astronaut Office Space Station Branch, which saw him based in Moscow for periods of time, working with Russian colleges as a technical liaison for the development of computer software for the International Space Station (ISS).
Sellers on EVA during STS-121, his second flight into orbit, July 4th through 17th, 2006. Credit: NASA
In all, Sellers flew in space the times, starting with STS-112 (October 7th – 18th, 2002, Space Shuttle Atlantis), during which he logged a total of 19 hours and 41 minutes of extra vehicular activity (EVA) work, assembling elements of the ISS). In 2006, he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery for the Return To Flight Mission, STS-121, of July 4th through 17th. This mission marked the first flight of the shuttle fleet following the tragic loss of the Columbia and all seven crew on board, on February 1st, 2003. Sellers performed three further EVAs on that mission, testing the 50-foot robotic arm boom extension as a work platform.
His final flight in space came in 2010 with STS-132, when he once again flew aboard Atlantis in what was to have been its final mission (although it actually flew once more, in July 2011). The mission delivered Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module along with an Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD) to the ISS. In total, Sellers logged 35 days, 9 hours and 2 minutes in space, including more than 41 hours on six spacewalks.
In 2011, Sellers resigned from the Astronaut Corps to become Deputy Director of Goddard Space Flight Centre’s Sciences and Exploration Directorate, a position he still held at the time of his death, and later the Acting Director for Earth Sciences at Goddard. He was the author of 70 research papers, and in 2011 he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to science. In June 2016 he was bestowed the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, while shortly before his death it was announced he would receive e Gen. James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award, the highest award the Space Foundation can bestow.
Sellers (l) discusses the realities of climate change with Leonardo DiCaprio in the National Geographic documentary, Before The Flood. Credit: National Geographic
At the start of 2016, Sellers revealed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and chose to do so by way of an article written for The New York Times entitled Cancer and Climate Change. Commenting on his diagnosis in the piece, he wrote:
I’ve no complaints. I’m very grateful for the experiences I’ve had on this planet. As an astronaut I spacewalked 220 miles above the Earth. Floating alongside the International Space Station, I watched hurricanes cartwheel across oceans, the Amazon snake its way to the sea through a brilliant green carpet of forest, and gigantic night-time thunderstorms flash and flare for hundreds of miles along the Equator. From this God’s-eye-view, I saw how fragile and infinitely precious the Earth is. I’m hopeful for its future.
Despite his diagnosis, Sellers continued his work and research almost right up to his death. In October 2016, he appeared with Leonardo DiCaprio in National Geographic’s documentary Before the Flood. He described climate change plainly and simply:
Here are the facts: The climate is warming, We’ve measured it, from the beginning of the industrial revolution to now. It correlates so well with emissions and theory, we know within almost an absolute certainty that it’s us who are causing the warming and the CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions.
Commenting on Sellers’ passing, NASA Administrator Charles Bowden, himself a veteran of four flights into space, said:
Piers devoted his life to saving the planet. His legacy will be one not only of urgency that the climate is warming but also of hope that we can yet improve humanity’s stewardship of this planet.
Piers Sellers is survived by his ex-wife, his wife of 36 years, Amanda, their son Thomas and daughter Imogen and a grandson, Jack.
A mosaic of Mastcam images captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover on November 10th, 2016 (Sol 1,516), showing the lower slopes of “Mount Sharp”. Variations in the rocks colour hint at the diversity of their composition. The purple tone of the foreground rocks has been seen in other rocks where hematite has been detected. Winds and windblown sand help to keep rocks relatively free of dust which would otherwise obscure their colour differentiation. These images have been white balanced, so the scene appears as it would under typical Earth daylight conditions. Credit: NASA/JPL / MSSS
For more than a year now, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has been slowly climbing the lower slopes of “Mount Sharp” – more formally called Aeolis Mons, the 5 kilometre (3 mi) high layered deposit extending off of the central peak of Gale Crater. Whilst still on the lower slopes of the mound, the rover has already found minerals absent from lower levels within the crater, and these, together with the ample evidence for water once having existed in the crater, further point to Mars perhaps having once been habitable.
Details of the latest findings from Curiosity were presented at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), which commenced on Monday, December 12th, in San Francisco. Making the presentation were members of the current MSL science team and its former principal investigator, John Grotzinger, – the Fletcher Jones Professor of Geology at Caltech.
Mineral veins are an important way to study the movements of water within a location, as they are result of cracks in layered rock being filled with chemicals that are dissolved in water. This alters the chemistry and composition of rock formations, providing vital clues on the prevailing conditions around the time they were deposited.
An illustration shown Gale Crater today, with the crater rim (l) and the central impact peak (r), against which “Mount Sharp” rises, which Curiosity climbing its lower slope (obviously not to scale). Credit: NASA/JPL
In the case of the slopes most recently examined by Curiosity, the science team have found that hematite, clay minerals and boron are more abundant than has been found in the lower, older layers. These point to a complex environment where groundwater interactions led to clay-bearing sediments and diverse minerals being deposited over time, effectively creating a “chemical reactor” which, although no actual evidence for Martian microbes having existed within the minerals has been found, still creates an environment which may have been beneficial life.
“There is so much variability in the composition at different elevations, we’ve hit a jackpot,” Grotzinger said during the presentation. “A sedimentary basin such as this is a chemical reactor. Elements get rearranged. New minerals form and old ones dissolve. Electrons get redistributed. On Earth, these reactions support life.”
As Gale Crater might have looked billions of years ago, showing how the circulation of groundwater led to chemical changes and mineral deposits. Credit: NASA/JPL
The increasing presence of hematite found by the rover as it continues up “Mount Sharp” suggests both warmer conditions and more interaction with the atmosphere at higher levels. In addition, the increasing concentrations of hematite, relative to magnetite at lower levels further suggests that iron oxidisation increased over time, creating the “chemical reactor” Grotzinger referenced: the loss of electrons through the oxidisation process can provide the energy necessary for life to sustain itself.
Another ingredient increasing in recent measurements by Curiosity is the element boron, which the rover’s laser-shooting Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument has been detecting within calcium sulphate mineral veins. Boron is famously associated with arid sites where much water has evaporated away. However, the amounts found so far are so minor, they make it much harder to determine the environmental implications of their presence.
Currently the team is considering at least two possibilities. In the first, the evaporation of the lake thought to have once existed within Gale Crater formed a boron-containing deposit in an overlying layer, not yet reached by Curiosity, then water later re-dissolved the boron and carried it down through a fracture network into the layers the rover is currently investigating, where it accumulated along with fracture-filling vein minerals. In the second, changes in the chemistry of clay-bearing deposits, such as evidenced by the increased hematite, affected how groundwater picked up and dropped off boron within the local sediments.
Curiosity’s 4-year, 10 kilometre (6.2 mi) Trek from its landing site (the blue star), through the Yellowknife Ridge area, key to early findings by the rover, then down along the foothills of “Mount Sharp” to the climb up the mound’s lower slopes. The blue triangles denote way-points on the route, where science work was carried out. The images of Gale Crater and “Mount Sharp” are composed of high-resolution images obtained by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL / MSSS
An unusual shot of John Glenn as he examines a celestial training device in preparation for his Mercury-Atlas orbital launch in February 1962. Credit: NASA
On December 8th, 2016, John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, passed away at the age of 95.
A U.S. Marine Corps pilot who served in both World War II and the Korean War, Glenn was actually the third American to fly into space after Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom, who both flew in 1961. However, for his 1962 flight, Glenn completed three orbits of the Earth aboard his Friendship 7 capsule before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the third man to circle the Earth in space. His death means that all of the Mercury 7 – astronauts chosen to lead the fledging American space programme in 1959 – have now passed away.
Born in 1921 in Ohio, Glenn was commissioned in the US Marine Corps in 1943. After training, he served in the Pacific theatre of war, flying 59 fighter combat missions during World War II. In 1946, he returned to the far east, serving in Northern China and then Guam through until 1948, when he transferred to Texas as an instructor in advanced flight training. After further training, he served two tours of duty in the Korean War, flying a total of 149 combat missions. In 1954, he graduated from th U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, and in 1957 completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight, travelling from California to New York in 3 hours 23 minutes and 8.3 seconds.
Glenn preparing for his orbital flight, February, 1962. Credit: NASA
He became involved in the US space programme before he was selected as a part of NASA’s first astronaut intake. As a serving Marine Corps officer, he was part of NASA research on re-entry vehicle shapes and participated in the Mercury capsule design.
even so, his acceptance into the astronaut corps was not assured: he was almost turned down on the grounds of age – he was approaching 40, the upper age limit for candidates, and he lacked the required science-based degree at the time. However, he fought hard for selection, and was accepted into the Space Task Group in 1959, where, in addition to astronaut training, he was involved in helping with both the Mercury and early Apollo cockpit layout and control functions.
He quickly became the unofficial spokesperson for the Mercury 7, having an easy way with the press – but he wasn’t necessarily popular within the group, setting himself somewhat aside from the rest through study and hard work. This became apparent when the choice for the first man to fly into space came down to a vote among the Seven themselves. Glenn came in third behind Alan Shephard and Gus Grissom, both of whom did fly before him despite a lot of behind-the-scenes lobbying by Glenn himself to get assigned to the first sub-orbital flight. have himself put on the first flight.
However, all this passed into history on February 20th, 1962, when Glenn lifted off atop his Mercury-Atlas 6 rocket, flying his Friendship 7 capsule on a 5 hour, 3-orbit flight round the Earth. And I do mean “fly”: during the flight, he was supposed to briefly take control of the Mercury capsule and manually fly it for 30 minutes before handing control back to the flight systems. However a malfunction in the automatic control system during his first orbit mean he had to take over control of the vehicle for the two remaining orbits.
His problems were then further compounded by telemetry suggesting his capsule’s heat shield had come loose, forcing him to manually fly the vehicle and keep the disposal retro-rocket pack (normally jettisoned prior to re-entry into Earth’s denser atmosphere) in place in case the straps from it were the only things keeping his heat shield in position. At the time, the frictional heat caused the rocket pack to burn up, with large chunks of flaming debris from it passing his window, prompting him to think his vehicle was burning up. “Fortunately it was the rocket pack,” he later wryly told a reporter, “Or I wouldn’t be answering these questions!”
His successful splashdown in the Atlantic meant Glenn became the fifth man to fly in space, and the third to orbit the Earth, after Russians Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov. Any upset he may have felt at being passed over for the first Mercury flight was swept aside as Glenn found himself fêted by the press and politicians alike; he later called the flight the “greatest day of his life”.
Glenn, left, became close friends with John F. Kennedy (centre) and Robert Kennedy,entering US politics in 1964 at Robert Kennedy’s prompting. In this photograph, Glenn and Kennedy are seen with the second man to orbit the Earth, Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov, who circled the Earth 17 times in August 1961, and who to this day remains the youngest person to fly in space at the time of his flight; he was just 26 years old. Credit: NASA / Asif A. Siddiqi
In 1964, Glenn retired from NASA, still a commissioned officer in the US Marine Corps (from which he retired in 1965 with the rank of colonel). His interest turned to politics, having been solidly befriended by John and Robert the Kennedy – that latter of whom persuaded him to run for office. After two unsuccessful attempts, he was elected to the US Senate representing his home state of Ohio in 1974, and remained so through until 1999. In 1984 he sought nomination as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the US Presidential election that year, losing out to Walter Mondale – who in turn lost to Republican Ronald Reagan in the election.
In 1998, shortly before retiring from the Senate, Glenn returned to orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery during mission STS-95. He was 77 at the time, making him the oldest person to fly in space – a record he still holds.
The Mercury 7 – NASA’s first astronauts. Standing (l-r): Alan B. Shephard Jr. (1st US astronaut to fly in space); Walter B. Schirra Jr; John Glenn (first US astronaut to orbit the Earth). Seated (l-r): Virgil I Grissom (2nd US astronaut in space); M. Scott Carpenter; Donald Slayton and L. Gordon Cooper Jr. Credit: NASA
The NASA Eagleworks EmDrive prototype. Credit: NASA Eagleworks / NASA Spaceflight Forum
The radio frequency (RF) resonant cavity thruster, or EmDrive (pronounced “M-drive”) as it is more popularly known, has been a source of much controversy since the idea first came into the public eye around 16 years ago, and the debate has been heating up again over the last few months.
First proposed by British engineer Roger Shawyer in 1999, the EmDrive is supposed to be the world’s first working reactionless drive, a means of generating thrust without the use of any propellant. Over the years, it has undergone investigation and testing by a number of organisations and agencies before being quietly pushed aside, while some critics have been publicly scathing of the whole idea, labelling it the “impossible drive” as it violates the fundamental law of conservation of momentum (summed up in Newton’s third law, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”). Even so, research and testing has continued.
The EmDrive supposedly generates thrust by reflecting microwaves between opposite walls of a cone-shaped cavity. In principle, no microwaves or anything else leaves the device, and so it is considered reactionless – although Shawyer states that it isn’t, because the propulsive force is created by a “reaction between the end plates of the waveguide and the Electromagnetic wave propagated within it.”
The attraction of the drive is that were it to work, it could provide an almost endless supply of thrust for satellites and other spacecraft, opening the door to flights to Mars in just 70 days as opposed to the 180-234 days currently required using conventional means. The problem is no-one has actually got the idea to work. Researchers at the at the Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) in Xi’an, China, thought they had in 2012, but further testing in 2014 revealed the thrust apparently created by their EmDrive test rig was actually due to a faulty power connector causing false readings.
Now, however, it seems that a test rig operated by NASA’s Eagleworks Laboratory might actually have demonstrated that in principle an EmDrive could work. News on the testing has actually been leaking out of the laboratory for the past 2-3 months – and has rightfully been met with a healthy dose of scepticism. However, a paper from the team carrying out the research was submitted for peer-review through the Journal of Propulsion and Power, a publication maintained by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) – and is said to have passed muster.
NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, Texas, the home of the Eagleworks Laboratory. Credit: NASA / James Blair
So, does this mean the EmDrive works? Well – no. The peer-review process means that no discernible flaws have been found in the methodology and testing carried out by the Eagleworks team, meriting the idea worthy of further investigation and research. It doesn’t mean fault or error may not yet be found going forward.
One major means of testing the theory of the EmDrive would be to build a working unit and place it in space and see if it works. This is precisely what US engineer Guido Fetta hopes to do. He is planning to place a small version of his Q-Drive (derived from the EmDrive) in orbit for 6 months aboard a CubeSat (between 10×20×30 cm and 12×24×36 cm in size), and then try over six months to manoeuvre the CubeSat using the drive. He’s not alone; China similarly plans an on-orbit test of an EmDrive prototype, although no dates have been specified for them mission.
Did Spirit Find Signature of Past Martian Life?
NASA’s MER rover, Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B) arrived on Mars in January 2004, and Opportunity continues to explore the planet today. Credit: NASA / JPL
In January 2004, NASA landed two solar-powered rovers, Spirit and Opportunity on Mars. There primary mission was scheduled to last just 90 days – but Opportunity is still operating today, almost 13 years after it arrived on Mars. Sadly, Spirit was not so lucky; in May 2009, it became stuck in a “sand trap” and unable to free itself, eventually losing power as its solar panels could not be oriented towards the winter Sun on Mars, and falling silent in May 2010.
Nevertheless, Spirit gathered a huge amount of data and images, some of which is being re-examined by scientists Steven Ruff and Jack Farmer from Arizona State University as a result of their field expeditions to Chile – and they believe the rover may have come across evidence for past Martian life.
While examining images of a plateau of layered rocks dubbed “Home Plate”, examined by Spirit in 2006, Ruff and Farmer noticed the ground was covered in multiple nodular masses of opaline silica with digitate structures strikingly similar to structures they have encountered within active hot spring/geyser discharge channels at a site in northern Chile called El Tatio.
This is a region which, due a rare combination of high elevation, low precipitation rate, coupled with a high ultraviolet irradiance, is regarded as a potential analogue for past conditions on Mars. What’s more, as a volcanic are, it shares much in common with “Home Plate”, which is believed to be an explosive volcanic deposit created when hot basalt rock came into contact with liquid water. Part of the formation may actually be an extinct Martian fumarole.
An image of “Home Plate” showing a mass of opaline silica nodules, captured by NASA’s Spirit rover in 2006, and a photograph showing similar formations at El Tatio, Chile Credit: ASU/Ruff & Farmer
The opaline silica Ruff and Farmer found at El Tatio have been shown to be largely of biotic origin; that is, created by microbes. Could this be the same for those Spirit saw at “Home Plate” in 2006? Ruff and Farmer believe it might.
“Although fully abiotic (physical rather than biological) processes are not ruled out for the Martian silica structures, they satisfy an a priori definition of potential biosignatures,” the researchers state in a paper on their work. A biosignature is defined by NASA as “an object, substance and/or pattern that might have a biological origin and thus compels investigators to gather more data before reaching a conclusion as to the presence or absence of life.”
A closer view of the structures as images by Spirit in 2006, and a an image of the opaline silica at El Tatio taken at the same distance and resolution. Credit: ASU/Ruff & Farmer
Ruff and Farmer note that while they cannot prove nor disprove a biological origin for the structures imaged by Spirit at “Home Plate”, they should be regarded as a potential biosignature by NASA’s own definition of the term. They go on to state that the only way to be sure would be for a robust examination to be made of the “Home Plate” location, perhaps by NASA’s upcoming Mars 2020, were it to be sent to that region, or through the examination of another region of Mars which is identified as being geographically and geologically similar.
Virgin SpaceShipTwo Flies
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle, VSS Unity completed its first free flight test on Saturday, December 3rd, after a month’s delay due to a combination of high winds and an unspecified technical issue, which combined to leave the vehicle able to make just a single captive / carry flight with its carry / launch aircraft, WhiteKightTwo.
VSS Unity seen from a chase plane as it glides towards touch-down on Saturday, December 3rd, 2016. Credit: Virgin Galactic
The unpowered flight, took place over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California and was the first in a series of around 10 – the precise number will depend on how well the targets for each flight are met – such tests the vehicle will make before Virgin Galactic move to powered flight tests using their new rocket motor for the vehicle, which has so far only been tested on the ground.
“It’s a happy day to be here,” Virgin Galactic’s founder, Sir Richard Branson said just before WhiteKnightTwo lifted SpaceShipTwo aloft. “We’ve got an exciting year ahead, and this is just the start of it.”
VSS Unity comes to rest on the runway after a successful first flight test. Credit: Virgin Galactic
As TGO Flexes Its Muscles, More Ice Found on Mars
ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which arrived in orbit around Mars in October, has yet to reach its primary science orbit but it is already flexing its muscles.
On November 22nd, as TGO swept over Mars on one of its current 4.2 day elliptical orbits, a test was carried out on its ability to relay data from the Martian surface to Earth, acting as a go-between for both the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers. As well as carrying a suite of science instruments and camera systems, TGO also carries a communications relay package from NASA called Electra, which allows the spacecraft to successful receive and store communications from NASA’s surface vehicles and then relay them to Earth.
Currently, TGO’s orbit carries it from just 300km (200 mi) above the surface of Mars all the way out to 98,000 km (60,000 mi), limiting its effectiveness as a communications relay. However, this will be lowered and circularised in the coming months to just 400 km (250 mi) above the planet, at which point TGO will be perfectly positioned to carry out its primary science mission and act as a relay for current and future surface missions, including Europe’s own ExoMars rover.
The relay test came at a time when ESA were working on calibrating TGO’s instruments during the close flights over Mars in each of it current orbits around the planet. These calibration tests included initial use of the orbiter’s “eyes”, the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS), which yielded, in the mission team’s words, “spectacular” results.
CaSSIS is an impressive system, capable of capturing still images and video across a number of colour wavelengths, and in 3D if required. All of CaSSIS’s capabilities were exercised during the test as the orbiter passed over Hebes Chasma, an eight km (5 mi) deep trough just to the north of the mighty Valles Marineris. The images collected during the pass have a resolution of 2.8 metres per pixel. To put that in perspective, it’s the equivalent of flying over New York city at 15,000 km/h (9,375 mph) and simultaneously getting sharp pictures of cars in Philadelphia.
The stereo capabilities of CaSSIS will allow scientists to build topographical 3D images of the surface on Mars, such as this test model, built from images of the Noctis Labyrinthus at the north-eastern end of the Vallis Mariners. Credit: ESA / Roscosmos / CaSSIS / UniBE
Once TGO reaches its operational orbit towards the end of 2017, CaSSIS will be capable of acquiring 12-20 high-resolution stereo and colour images of selected targets per day.
Meanwhile, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (TGO) has located another gigantic water ice deposit lying just under the Martian surface. The ice, lying beneath the planet’s Utopia Planitia, was located using MRO’s ground-penetrating Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument.
Utopia Planitia: home of a massive water ice deposit the size of New Mexico, and sitting just below the surface of Mars – click for full size. Credit: NASA
Estimated to be bigger than the US state of New Mexico and containing more water than Lake Superior, it is the second massive ice deposit SHARAD has found in just over a year. The first exists as a deposition averaging 40 metres (604 ft) think, extending almost all the way from the planet’s mid latitudes up to north polar region and covers an area the size of Texas and California combined.
The ice under Utopia Planitia – the landing site for NASA’s Viking 2 mission of the 1970s – is between 80 to 170 metres (260 feet to 560 ft) in thickness, comprises around 85% water ice (the rest being dirt and other deposits), and – most crucially – lies between 1 and 10 metres (3 and 30 ft) beneath the surface, potentially making it an accessible resource for future human missions to Mars.
NASA Considering Foreshortening Orion Crewed Flight
NASA is considering a shorter mission for the first crewed flight of its Orion Multi-Purpose Crewed Vehicle.
Originally, the flight was to have comprised a “slow cruise” out to the Moon of between 3 and 6 days, followed by three days in lunar orbit before making a similar 3-6 day “slow cruise” back to Earth. However, under the new plans being considered, Orion and its crew would be placed in a high Earth orbit (HEO) with an apogee of 35,000km (21,875 mi), where it would remain for a day, before separating from the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) of its Space Launch System rocket and suing its Service Module motor to enter a trans-lunar injection orbit, for a single free-return flight around the Moon without ever going into orbit there.
Orion’s first mission may now only comprise a flight around the Moon, rather than orbiting it. Credit: Cosmic Pearl
“We’ve effectively designed this mission to be commensurate with the amount of risk we’re taking with crew on the vehicle for the first time,” Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations said when announcing the new plan. “We’ve tailored the mission to be appropriate with the risk we’re willing to take.”
Two particular risks worried mission planners: a failure with the Orion’s life support system in what would be its first space-based test with a crew aboard, or a failure with the Service Module’s engine which might leave them stranded in Lunar orbit. The redesigned mission means the life support system can be tested whilst in HEO, and the service module motor only needs to be fired once, when boosting Orion towards the Moon.
The revised Exploration Mission 2 flight plan (click to enlarge). Credit: NASA
The change in approach does not affect the Exploration Mission 1 flight, scheduled for 2018. That mission is expected to last around 25 days, with an uncrewed Orion vehicle placed in lunar orbit for several days before it returns to Earth. However, it does open the door to a more gradual approach to extending Orion’s capabilities, with NASA now planning one Exploration Mission a year being flown between 2023 and 2030.
Most of these flights will be cislunar operations, with EM-6 (2026) earmarked as the asteroid rendezvous mission originally scheduled to take place in 2023 as EM-3, but which has been pushed back as a result of delays in the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), its necessary precursor. EM-10 would mark the likely transition from cislunar missions to BEO (“Beyond Earth Orbit”) missions directed towards Mars, utilising Orion and expanded capabilities such as habitat modules and possible nuclear-powered propulsion units.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 