Space News and Discussions

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Advanced solar sail mission prepares to catch the wind in the void of space
By David Szondy
April 12, 2024
https://newatlas.com/space/advanced-sol ... dy-launch/

NASA is gearing up to launch an advanced solar sail spacecraft later this month. Using a new boom made of lightweight polymer composites, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is scheduled to lift off on April 24.

Solar sails are one of those technologies that are almost charming based on their basic principle. We often talk about this or that concept in terms of metaphors or analogies, but solar sails don't need that. That's because they aren't just similar to earthbound sailboats – they operate on exactly the same principle.

The differences are the obvious ones. Sailboats travel on water and are pushed along by the wind. Solar sails travel in a vacuum pushed by the solar winds from the Sun – a plasma flow of mainly protons and electrons that are constantly emitted from the Sun at differing speeds and densities. In that practical sense, it can be harnessed in exactly the same ways our atmospheric winds can; like a sailboat, a solar sail can run before the solar wind, tack, heave to, and carry out pretty much any other maneuver.

[Time_Traveller]

Astroscale’s ADRAS-J mission enters next phase

April 12, 2024



COLORADO SPRINGS — Astroscale is moving into the next phase of an inspection mission as its spacecraft approaches a derelict upper stage in low Earth orbit.

Astroscale announced April 11 that its Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft, launched Feb. 18, had moved to within several hundred kilometers of an upper stage from an H-2A launch in 2009 left in low Earth orbit and was now relying on its own sensors to continue its approach.

The mission milestone was a switch from absolute navigation, where the spacecraft was maneuvered by ground controllers based on knowledge of its position as well as that of the upper stage, to “Angles-Only Navigation,” where ADRAS-J detected the upper stage using onboard cameras and calculated its relative position.

The milestone is a major step in testing rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) that is a major purpose of the mission. “The big issue here is we’ve completed the rendezvous phase,” said Chris Blackerby, chief operating officer of Astroscale, in an interview during the 39th Space Symposium. “What we’re moving into now is starting the proximity operations phase.”

ADRAS-J will continue its approach to the upper stage using relative navigation, with plans to come within dozens of meters of the stage. That approach will be incremental, he said, measuring its rotation rate and looking for any signs of degradation of the stage. ADRAS-J will use its thrusters to match the rotation of the stage and approach one end of the stage. Astroscale expects to complete the mission by the end of May.

https://spacenews.com/astroscales-adras ... ext-phase/

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[firestar464]

Astrophysicists solve mystery of heart-shaped feature on the surface of Pluto

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-astrophys ... rface.html

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[Time_Traveller]

There Could Still Be A Ninth Planet In Our Solar System – Here’s Why
by Hector Socas-Navarro and Ignacio Trujillo Cabrera
June 16, 2023

Introduction:

(IFL Science) We all used to think there were nine planets. But in 2006 the Solar System was left with only eight planets, when Pluto was no longer classified as such. Is it still possible there is a planet out there beyond Neptune – possibly way beyond it?

In the last 20 years, we have made significant strides in exploring the outer solar system.

We are talking about what is known as Trans-Neptunian Space, the eternal night beyond the realm of the giant planets. And in this exploration we have come across a surprising population of inhabitants, the so-called Extreme Trans-Neptunian Objects, whose peculiar characteristics have given rise to intense debate in the scientific community.

Some researchers see in this population the manifestation of an invisible presence, a new planet not yet discovered in the dark and cold confines of our solar system. Others, however, think that there is no such planet and that these Extreme Trans-Neptunian peculiarities are due to the incompleteness of our limited observations, so-called “observational biases”.

A hypothetical huge and distant world

This hypothetical planet is provisionally known as Planet 9. Planet 9 is thought to not be a small object like Pluto or like many other Trans-Neptunian Objects that have been discovered in recent years. Detailed simulations have been created to theorise about the characteristics that the body might have in order to produce the effects observed, and the conclusion is that it must be a very large planet, consisting of between 4 and 8 times the mass of the Earth.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/there-could ... hy-69408

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Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system

1 day ago

Scientists say they have found new evidence that there is a hidden planet in our solar system.

For years, some astronomers have been suggesting that unusual behaviour on the edge of our solar system is best explained by another, undiscovered planet. That helps explain the orbits of objects that lie at the very far reaches of our solar system, more than 250 times away from the Sun than we are.

Now Konstantin Bogytin, an astronomer who helped popularise the theory, says that he and his team have found yet more evidence that suggests that planet exists. The new work represents “the strongest statistical evidence yet that Planet 9 is really out there”, he said.

In the new work, scientists looked at a set of trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs, which is the technical term for those objects that sit out at the edge of the solar system, beyond Neptune

The new work looked at those objects that have their movement made unstable because they interact with the orbit of Neptune. That instability meant they were harder to understand, so typically astronomers looking at a possible Planet Nine have avoided using them in their analysis.

https://www.independent.co.uk/space/pla ... ments-area

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Exodus Propulsion Technologies Claims Huge Space Propulsion Breakthrough
April 20, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/04/e ... rough.html
Dr. Charles Buhler and Exodus Technologies claims that systems with electrostatic pressure differences or electrostatic divergent fields gives systems with a center of mass with non-zero force component (aka generate movement). Buhler is NASA’s subject matter expert on electrostatics. They want to move to demo the system in orbit. These kinds of claims are controversial but the work seems to be thorough. It will only cost about $500k to $1M to create a rideshare mission into orbit to test the system. The mass of an early orbital system would greatly exceed the active materials of the propulsion, which would reduce performance. High performance space propulsion would need to increase the active materials as a percentage of the mass of the craft.

Dr. Charles Buhler discusses an experimental propulsion results based on asymmetrical electrostatic pressure, in a device described in International Patent# WO2020159603A2. The device is described as a system and method for generating a force from a voltage difference applied across at least one electrically conductive surface. The applied voltage difference creates an electric field resulting in an electrostatic pressure force acting on at least one surface of an object. Asymmetries in the resulting electrostatic pressure force vectors result in a net resulting electrostatic pressure force acting on the object. The magnitude of the net resulting electrostatic pressure force is a function of the geometry of the electrically conductive surfaces, the applied voltage, and the dielectric constant of any material present in the gap between electrodes.

[firestar464]

Study Identifies Mutated Drug-Resistant Bacteria Infesting ISS

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ ... r-AA1nrys0

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Voyager 1 is sending data back to Earth for the first time in 5 months

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/technolo ... r-AA1ntFQp

[Time_Traveller]

Pluto's heart-shaped scar may offer clues to the frozen world's history

published 3 hours ago

When NASA’s New Horizons mission flew past Pluto in 2015, it gave humanity our first glimpse of a colossal depression on the isolated world. It's named Sputnik Planitia. Comparable in size to the country of Mexico and dominating one of Pluto’s hemispheres, Sputnik Planitia is likely the result of an impact — but few impact craters come in Sputnik Planitia's unique pear-like shape.

How Sputnik Planitia formed remains unknown, but researchers have now painted a possible picture of its origins. It's possible, they say, that a body about the size of Switzerland crashed into Pluto long ago, at a shallow angle. If true, this picture would also hint at what Pluto's interior may look like under its cryogenic surface.

"Most thought Sputnik Planitia was of impact origin, but nobody had been able to explain its distinctive pear shape," Harry Ballantyne, an astronomer at the University of Bern in Switzerland, told Space.com.

Sputnik Planitia's shape and colossal size — roughly 2,000 kilometers long (1,243 miles long) and 1,600 kilometers wide (994 miles wide) — are not the only reasons planetary scientists have looked at it with curiosity. Whatever created this formation managed to carve out a dent as deep as s 4 kilometers (2.5 miles); and at the bottom of the chasm appears to be a frozen expanse of nitrogen ice. Gravity ought to have slowly rotated Pluto such that the dent and its missing mass ended up at one of Pluto's poles — but, oddly enough, Sputnik Planitia remains around the equator.

One popular theory suggested that Sputnik Planitia was actually a hint of a global ocean buried under Pluto's surface. After a massive impact, liquid water from the ocean might have risen to fill the gap, which would have then been iced over with a nitrogen coating — explaining why Sputnik Planitia stayed on the equator. Still, some scientists remained unconvinced.

https://www.space.com/pluto-heart-shape ... ozen-world

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Shit

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[Time_Traveller]

Scientists unravel mysteries of gamma-ray bursts — the universe's most powerful explosions

published 15 minutes ago



Scientists may be a step closer to discovering how gamma-ray bursts come to be some of the most powerful explosions in the known universe.

For context, a single gamma-ray burst, or GRB, can produce more energy in seconds than the sun will radiate in billions of years. Because of this power, scientists theorize that GRBs are created by some of the universe's most violent events. This includes things like supernova explosions that mark the deaths of massive stars and the collision and merger of two neutron stars, which are "dead" stars composed of the densest matter we know of, as well as outbursts from baby black holes.

Yet, aspects of these blasts remain shrouded in mystery, including the exact mechanism that launches a GRB and what exactly causes a "long" GRB that lasts more than 2 seconds versus a "short" GRB that lasts for less time.

One team of scientists from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, for instance, has been studying the light omissions of GRBs and how they change over time to better model these eruptions and finally crack their secrets.

"Despite being studied for over fifty years, the mechanisms by which GRBs produce light are still unknown, a great mystery of modern astrophysics," team leader Jon Hakkila, a scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, said in a statement. "Understanding GRBs helps us understand some of the most rapid and powerful light-producing mechanisms that Nature employs.

https://www.space.com/gamma-ray-burst-m ... explosions

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China Launches Chang’e-6 Mission to Far Side of the Moon
The mission will return the first samples from this region to Earth.
By Ryan Whitwam May 3, 2024
https://www.extremetech.com/science/chi ... f-the-moon

While most of the US was sound asleep on Friday morning, China conducted an important launch from its Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. The Chang’e-6 lunar lander was hoisted into space by a towering Long March-5 rocket en route to the far side of the Moon. If everything goes as planned, this mission will be the first to return a sample from this barely explored region of Earth's satellite.

The far side of the Moon is sometimes called the "dark side," but that's because we know so little about it, not because it's dark. The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, so we always see the same side when we look up, with its familiar craters and expanses of cooled lava like Oceanus Procellarum. Returning a sample of dust and rock from the far side could help scientists unravel some vexing mysteries about how the Moon formed and what humans can expect when proposed long-term research outposts are constructed. In particular, China hopes its lunar landers will pave the way for its International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), reports Reuters.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) expects Chang’e-6 to touch down on the far side of the Moon's Aitken Basin in early June. This region is near the south pole, which is of interest to scientists as it has large deposits of water ice inside permanently shadowed craters. Samples from this region could also help us understand how early impact events shaped the Moon and why the far side looks so different compared to the Earth-facing side.

[firestar464]

Starliner delayed again to May 17 at 6:16 PM

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat ... 596684007/