Great Image: Kissing Stars May End Badly

This is more of a "great artist image" of two kissing stars imagined from observations by the European Space Agency (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile. The expected outcome of this amazing duo is either one large star or one big black hole. 

ESA noted:

The double star system VFTS 352 is located about 160,000 light-years away in the Tarantula Nebula. This remarkable region is the most active nursery of new stars in the nearby Universe and new observations from ESO’s VLT have revealed that this pair of young stars is among the most extreme and strangest yet found...VFTS 352 is composed of two very hot, bright and massive stars that orbit each other in little more than a day. The centres of the stars are separated by just 12 million kilometres.  In fact, the stars are so close that their surfaces overlap and a bridge has formed between them. 

Space Exploration: Beyond the Horizon

The Planetary Society and Symphony of Science put together an inspiring video called Beyond the Horizon to highlight how we need to be bold in our dreams about our future in space.  The video contains comments from Bill Nye the Science Guy, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, science writer Emily Lakdawalla, and Dr. Carl Sagan.  As Dr. Sagan noted, "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."  Let's go find out.

Falcon 9 Returning in December

In December we should see SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket back on the launch pad blasting two commercial satellites into orbit. This will be about six months after the loss of the Falcon 9/Dragon mission to the International Space Station.

The two missions will allow SpaceX to test the rocket's second stage booster, which was determined to be the location of the June failure. The first commercial satellite launch will not even require the second stage to achieve orbit, so the system can be tested before being used for the next launch. Pretty smart.  

Universe Today has more on the upcoming missions.

KIC 8462852: Exocomet Fragments or Aliens?

The paper from the Royal Astronomical Society is pretty straightforward regarding  the fluctuating light around a distant exoplanet called KIC 8462852 as spotted by the Kepler Space Telescope:

Over the duration of the Kepler mission, KIC 8462852 was observed to undergo irregularly shaped, aperiodic dips in flux down to below the 20% level. The dipping activity can last for between 5 and 80 days. We characterize the object with high-resolution spectroscopy, spectral energy distribution fitting, and Fourier analyses of the Kepler light curve. We determine that KIC 8462852 is a main-sequence F3 V/IV star, with a rotation period ~0.88 d, that exhibits no significant IR excess. In this paper, we describe various scenarios to explain the mysterious events in the Kepler light curve, most of which have problems explaining the data in hand. By considering the observational constraints on dust clumps orbiting a normal main-sequence star, we conclude that the scenario most consistent with the data is the passage of a family of exocomet fragments, all of which are associated with a single previous breakup event. We discuss the necessity of future observations to help interpret the system.

However, some see an alien presence, as they did with "canals" on Mars and recent "lights" on Ceres. So we have speculation about an alien megastructure harnessing energy from the star. 

Ross Andersen in The Atlantic writes:

Jason Wright, an astronomer from Penn State University, is set to publish an alternative interpretation of the light pattern. SETI researchers have long suggested that we might be able to detect distant extraterrestrial civilizations, by looking for enormous technological artifacts orbiting other stars. Wright and his co-authors say the unusual star’s light pattern is consistent with a “swarm of megastructures,” perhaps stellar-light collectors, technology designed to catch energy from the star.

Sci fi aside, we need to remain open-minded yet careful if we are to search the galaxy and beyond to know it better. And if we presume we are not alone, then the myriad of ways in which alien life might exist will always be part of the mystery before us. Hence, I am skeptical about a new megastructure but interested in learning more about this anomaly. 

SmallSats: More Private Sector Investment

NASA’s Launch Services Program recently awarded what are called Venture Class Launch Services  contracts to three private companies to provide small satellites (SmallSats) in low-Earth orbit. These three companies are:

• Firefly Space Systems Inc. of Cedar Park, Texas, $5.5 million
• Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Los Angeles, $6.9 million
• Virgin Galactic LLC of Long Beach, California, $4.7 million

Since Virgin Galactic seems to be making slow progress in the space tourism industry this may be a new opening for the company. And expanding NASA's rocket suppliers is always a good move as it spreads the risk of the space program. 

Image Credit: Firefly Alpha Rocket from Firefly Space Systems

What Are the Russians Up To?

It is bad enough that Russian military is operating dangerously close to NATO airspace and neutral Scandinavian airports, and now operating erratically in Syria and crossing over into Turkish airspace, but this questionable behavior is happening in space as well.

Three Russian satellites appear to operate independently and outside routine orbits while one, called Luch, has been orbiting close to U.S. commercial Intelsat satellites and potential spying on their operations. 

Space News reported: 

Many in the space community believe the incident marks one of the first publicly documented times a commercial operator has been subject to this kind of approach by a foreign military satellite. The episode also raises questions about what kind of recourse commercial satellite companies have in these situations.

In addition to the Luch satellite, launched in September 2014, Russia launched Cosmos 2499 (pictured above) in May 2014 and Cosmos 2504 in March 2015. All three spacecraft have worried U.S. space and military officials who believe the Russians are testing anti-satellite technology. 

Of course, as I have noted before, the US Air Force is not helpless. The X37B unmanned space shuttle, which can stay in orbit for more than a year at a time, appears to be our not-so-secret weapon that can most likely capture and destroy worrisome satellites. Hence, we appear to be on the brink of a new war arena and, like Ukraine and Syria, Russia is spoiling for a fight.

Update: The Russians are now attempting to explain the mysterious Luch satellite, stating it is

...simply a relay satellite, sending signals from spacecraft to Earth, for example from the International Space Station — we have communications problems there — and from one satellite to another.

I am not convinced.

Blue Skies on Pluto

NASA provided more news last week about Pluto, the mysterious dwarf planet that is now starting to share its secrets. The latest discovery relates to water on the surface of Pluto as well as blue skies above this surface, as shown above. This news, plus previous reports of mountain ranges and open plains, is making the dwarf planet less strange and more amazing with each returning batch of data.

NASA reports:

Pluto’s haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn’s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles (called tholins) that grow as they settle toward the surface. This image was generated by software that combines information from blue, red and near-infrared images to replicate the color a human eye would perceive as closely as possible.

Image Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Mission to Mars in Three Steps

The image above from NASA shows the three stages of humans getting to Mars - Earth Reliant, Proving Ground, and Earth Independent, as described by NASA below:

The journey to Mars crosses three thresholds, each with increasing challenges as humans move farther from Earth. NASA is managing these challenges by developing and demonstrating capabilities in incremental steps:  

Earth Reliant exploration is focused on research aboard the International Space Station. From this world-class microgravity laboratory, we are testing technologies and advancing human health and performance research that will enable deep space, long duration missions. 

In the Proving Ground, NASA will learn to conduct complex operations in a deep space environment that allows crews to return to Earth in a matter of days. Primarily operating in cislunar space—the volume of space around the moon featuring multiple possible stable staging orbits for future deep space missions—NASA will advance and validate capabilities required for humans to live and work at distances much farther away from our home planet, such as at Mars.  

Earth Independent activities build on what we learn on the space station and in deep space to enable human missions to the Mars vicinity, possibly to low-Mars orbit or one of the Martian moons, and eventually the Martian surface. Future Mars missions will represent a collaborative effort between NASA and its partners—a global achievement that marks a transition in humanity’s expansion as we go to Mars to seek the potential for sustainable life beyond Earth.

It is a logical approach, and nice to contemplate, yet the one thing I do not see are the dates for human missions. That has always been the big question and it remains so.

Russian Space Exhibit in London

Your best chance to learn about Russia's space program may entail a trip to London. A special exhibit, Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age, can be found at London's Science Museum.  And fortunately you have until March 2016 to see it. 

Some of the items on display include: 

- Vostok 6: the capsule flown by Valentina Tereshkova, the first ever woman in space. 
- Voskhod 1: the capsule used on the first mission to carry more than one crew member. 
- LK-3 Lunar Lander: a single cosmonaut craft built to compete with Apollo.
- A collection of gadgets that cosmonauts – and pioneering space dogs – need to live in space, including a shower, toilet, medical instruments, and survival kits for crash landings.

Russia has made significant contributions to space travel and this special exhibit allows you to see the equipment and other items up close. 

In a review of the exhibit, London's The Guardian noted:

A key figure is Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a bearded provincial schoolteacher, almost completely deaf, who wielded a vast ear trumpet of his own design and manufacture and who from the late 1870s until his death in 1935 studied questions of weightlessness and space travel, and tried to communicate them through science fiction. The exhibition shows his notes and sketches for a 1930s film called Cosmic Voyage, on which he was a consultant. Their style has a schoolboy naivety, but they show insights into the ways and means of reaching space, including escape velocity, fuel, and the use of multi-stage rockets remarkably close to those that would eventually be employed.

The exhibit has received glowing reviews and provides the public with a better understanding of Russia's role getting us to where we are today in our quest to explore our solar system and more.  Since many will never travel to Russia, nor be able to see all of these items in one place again, this is a unique opportunity for space enthusiasts and others.

The Martian: Where Were the Russians?

If you have yet to see the new film The Martian you should ignore this post. But if you have seen the movie, maybe you too wondered about the Chinese assistance to NASA. Having the future Chinese assist with a rescue mission to Mars is not the issue. What I wonder is why the Russians were not consulted since they are far ahead of the Chinese today and would presumably be in the same position in the future.

And what about private ventures such as SpaceX and others? Are we to presume NASA was the only game in town? If so, this is a bleak view of the future.  I won't even mention Mars One (since maybe that mission was already dead on another side of the planet - or still in orbit).

Maybe the book explains these things, but I am hoping the future does not depend on only one or two government programs.

Dust Storms and The Martian

If you have yet to see the new film The Martian, you are in for a treat.  This amazingly beautiful and superbly acted film with stay with you for a long time, and hopefully it will increase the public awareness of the awesomeness as well as risks related to a Martian mission. The other words that come to mind after seeing the movie are duct tape, disco, and cooperation in space.  But you will know what I am talking about after you see it for yourself.

Of course, one of the stars in the film is the Martian weather, and the winds in particular.  In the movie, the winds proved destructive to the mission on Mars and continually rattled the equipment and housing modules.  NASA provided some insights on this in an article titled "The Fact and Fiction of Martian Dust Storms," noting:

“Once every three Mars years (about 5 ½ Earth years), on average, normal storms grow into planet-encircling dust storms, and we usually call those ‘global dust storms’ to distinguish them,” Smith said.

It is unlikely that even these dust storms could strand an astronaut on Mars, however. Even the wind in the largest dust storms likely could not tip or rip apart major mechanical equipment. The winds in the strongest Martian storms top out at about 60 miles per hour, less than half the speed of some hurricane-force winds on Earth.

Hence, the winds are not fun when trying to accomplish a task on the surface of Mars, yet they are not likely to destroy habitats or knock over a rocket.  This is not to pick on the film as much as to point out that we have a lot of things to worry about related to a Martian mission and fortunately this is not one of them.  That said, you should see the film and enjoy the show.

Image Credit:   This close-up image of a dust storm on Mars was acquired by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on November 7, 2007, around 3 p.m. local time on Mars. The full story from NASA is here.

Another Success ISS Mission

The supplies keep rolling in and things are returning to normal on the International Space Station (ISS).  Russia's Progress M-29M/61P supply ship docked with the ISS on Thursday, arriving a little over 6 hours after launch. While pressures increase on the ground between the U.S. and Russia, this time in Syria, it is good to see space cooperation is still strong. 

Image Credit:  Progress 61 from NASA TV

Saturn's Moon Enceladus

And now onto another moon - Saturn's moon Enceladus. Just as we wonder about Pluto's changing surface and Charon's canyons, this moon is believed to have seas below the surface that could harbor life. The image above from the Cassini spacecraft provides a full view of the beautiful surface of this distant moon. 

NASA has more to say on this:

Do some surface features on Enceladus roll like a conveyor belt? A leading interpretation of images taken of Saturn's most explosive moon indicate that they do. This form of asymmetric tectonic activity, very unusual on Earth, likely holds clues to the internal structure of Enceladus, which may contain subsurface seas where life might be able to develop.  Pictured above is a composite of 28 images taken by the robotic Cassini spacecraft in 2008 just after swooping by the ice-spewing orb. Inspection of these images show clear tectonic displacements where large portions of the surface all appear to move all in one direction. On the image right appears one of the most prominent tectonic divides: Labtayt Sulci, a canyon about one kilometer deep. The small magnitude of Enceladus' wobble as it orbits Saturn might indicate damping by a globally extending underground ocean layer.

One possible mission being considered by NASA is called Enceladus Life Finder (ELF), which would entail a spacecraft flying through the moon's plume of surface material and returning the sample to Earth for further study.  An intriguing idea that will tell us much more about what is happening on the moon. 

New Horizon Images of Charon

NASA's New Horizons continues to send one stunning shot after another.  The image above is from Pluto's moon Charon.  As with Mars, you can see a great canyon scarring the surface of the moon.  NASA notes:

High-resolution images of the Pluto-facing hemisphere of Charon, taken by New Horizons as the spacecraft sped through the Pluto system on July 14 and transmitted to Earth on Sept. 21, reveal details of a belt of fractures and canyons just north of the moon's equator. This great canyon system stretches more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across the entire face of Charon and likely around onto Charon's far side. Four times as long as the Grand Canyon, and twice as deep in places, these faults and canyons indicate a titanic geological upheaval in Charon's past.

NASA expected even higher resolution images to be transmitted shortly.  New Horizons will be transmitting these amazing images over the next year or so.  The gift that keeps giving.