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Sundays breathtaking return of the American astronauts aboard Elon Musks crewed Dragon space capsule was a moment of great national pride. While space enthusiasts and dreamers around the world applauded, however, there were people taking bows and credit that frankly should not have been. If our political leadership on both sides of the aisle could recognize the real lesson of this success, instead of gloating in their misdirected self-congratulations, they would seize this opportunity to take the next step and completely remake how NASA leads human spaceflight into the future. While NASA has begun slowly changing its mindset and indeed been working more with private companies, it has not, by a long shot, done enough to further our countrys position as a leader in the 2nd Space Race. There needs to be, in short, a revolution in NASA affairs.

Of the many challenges the previous administration inherited in 2009, one was a space policy long on vision but short on funding. A blue-ribbon panel was quickly commissioned with unprecedented budgetary rigor and led by the greatest technical space leaders of the time, including General Les Lyles, Dr. Wanda Austin, and the esteemed industrialist Norm Augustine. Their report to the President highlighted many recommendations, the most significant of which was that the flagship Constellation program, the delight of the previous administration, was entirely unaffordable.

Congress and much of NASA, the very institution that brought rocket science into our living rooms last century, had together become the face of an overwhelming adversity to change. One leader challenged this status quo and, backed by a handful of policy mavericks, decided to pursue a risky next step. Lori Garver, the deputy administrator of NASA at the time, persuaded enough of these naysayers to support her vision of a Commercial Crew Program, a controversial idea to harness the new space industry's spirit of adventure by redirecting some funding to restore government faith in Americas free market leadership instead of NASAs politburo. Garvers initiative and considerable fortitude set into motion an epic contest and on Sunday we witnessed the winner at the finish line.

SpaceXs has won the contest and by besting Boeing has affirmed the thesis that the time is right to toss out the old NASA model and pivot to a privatization of most of NASAs programs. Some of that is already underway, with the venerable Lockheed Martin in a close partnership with Jeff Bezos Blue Origin on their lunar lander project and Amazons ground stations. Whats now necessary is taking inventory of every program and project within NASA and rethinking how they should be restructured to encourage discovery and exploration while simultaneously promoting free market expansion into the cosmos.

To strengthen American leadership and freedom in space, government policymakers must advance our nation's superior space competency with private capital and competition to lead economically. This government led privatization should reward sustainable businesses and reject political backroom deal making. An economic sector of competitive, self-directed but lightly-regulated companies, independent of institutional inertia or political patronage.

The quintessential NASA program of this type needs little introduction but is indicative of many others less noticed. As part of the compromise to secure Congressional support for the Commercial Crew competition, NASA announced the Congressionally mandated old NASA style SLS program in 2011, boasting an ambition to build the largest rocket in history even bigger than the massive Saturn V. Though essentially just a recombining of legacy shuttle componentry, the program has been beset with cost overruns and program delays with no end in sight. While insiders have viewed the SLS project and many others like it as the bridge to nowhere, the corporatist and institutional inertia has been full-throated in its denunciation of SpaceX. Today, no one is sure whether SLS will ever deliver, but the program nonetheless gets plenty of political support to bring Soviet-style jobs back home.

Many ask what the real difference is between traditional space companies and these commercial or private, so-called next-generation companies. Both hire from the same universities, and quite often next generation founders spring from the traditional. They both perform on contracts with the government, though the next generation prefer competitive fixed price contracts to enable a more streamlined management structure. The principal difference is that the companies in the new economy are founded and self-directed with a purpose and vision of their own choosing, not ones directed by a government mission. Unlike the earlier generation of companies that were lured with cost plus contracts to leave commercial aviation or truck building to develop bombers and tanks, this new generation of companies exists for its own unique vision. They are also eager to leverage their founding vision and purpose to help solve national needs at competitive, fixed prices. These companies are less interested in management advice from Washington bureaucrats and more interested in competing to leverage their potential and deliver eye-watering capabilities, much like SpaceX just did.

Our traditional Cold War space industry isnt bad but, just as with any other wartime industry, it desperately needs to be transformed to be relevant for the 21st century. We have the best engineering talent in the world that is far superior to any other. Unfortunately, most of them are still working in a Soviet style industry that only grows when the government does. A pivot to further unleashing private industry and following its lead rather than directing it will elicit even more clear winners.And once it is done, there will be no turning back.

Last centurys political industrial complex was necessary to win the first space race but is now an obstacle to winning the second. The government must shift to supporting and leveraging commercial ambitions (just as NASA demonstrated with SpaceX and Lockheed is doing with Blue Origin) to achieve even greater technically ambitious dreams. NASA's new model must prioritize commercial growth to achieve these goals and not compete against it with programs like SLS, best tossed into the ash heap of history. It must be one that promotes free enterprise by leveraging entrepreneurial vision and private capital; that rewards well-led companies and not just the well postured; and that prevents politicians from choosing the winners and losers of the Final Frontier.

The U.S. commercial space industry has now shown that it can replace the space shuttle at a fraction of the cost. We must go the rest of the way, and NASA must be reborn for a new purpose and a new century's vision. By repurposing every mission in this fashion, the terrestrial free market economy will expand responsibly with even greater earth science knowledge and an interplanetary economy of unlimited growth will be unleashed, the ultimate dream since the first telescope pointed towards the heavens. Lori Garvers grand experiment is complete, and the results are in. Its time to go back to the drawing board to save billions, promote real commerce and unleash the Americas greatest asset: our spirit of adventure and the freedom to run, soar, and now orbit - as far as our hearts will take us.

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Back To The Drawing Board: Why SpaceX Success Demands NASA Revolution - Forbes

The glowing remains of a star, blowing off its outer layers at the end of its life, is officially called planetary nebula NGC 2392. But as a nickname, it has been called the "Eskimo Nebula."

NGC 4567 and NGC 4568, a pair of spiral galaxies found in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, have been called the "Siamese Twins Galaxy."

No more.

NASA announced Wednesday that it's reexamining the unofficial nicknames used to describe distant cosmic objects.

Related: Would humanity have been ready if Comet NEOWISE was hurtling toward Earth?

"As the scientific community works to identify and address systemic discrimination and inequality in all aspects of the field, it has become clear that certain cosmic nicknames are not only insensitive, but can be actively harmful," the news release said. "NASA is examining its use of unofficial terminology for cosmic objects as part of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Removing the "Eskimo Nebula" and "Siamese Twins Galaxy" nicknames is an initial step, and the agency said it will use only the official, International Astronomical Union designations in cases where nicknames are inappropriate.

"These nicknames and terms may have historical or culture connotations that are objectionable or unwelcoming, and NASA is strongly committed to addressing them," Stephen T. Shih, Associate Administrator for Diversity and Equal Opportunity, said in the news release. "Science depends on diverse contributions, and benefits everyone, so this means we must make it inclusive.

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NASA to remove offensive nicknames for planets, galaxies and nebulae - Houston Chronicle

You can breathe easy now: All is officially well with NASA's newly launched Mars rover Perseverance.

Perseverance went into a protective "safe mode" shortly after its liftoff yesterday (July 30) because part of the spacecraft got a bit colder than expected when it zoomed through Earth's shadow.

NASA officials stressed at the time that this development was not particularly concerning and that Perseverance, the centerpiece of the agency's $2.7 billion Mars 2020 mission, would likely bounce back quickly. That optimism was borne out: The rover has exited safe mode and resumed normal operations, mission team members announced today (July 31).

Live Updates: NASA's Mars rover Perseverance mission in real time

"With safe mode exit, the team is getting down to the business of interplanetary cruise," Mars 2020 deputy project manager Matt Wallace, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in an update today. "Next stop, Jezero Crater."

Perseverance will land inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero on Feb. 18, 2021. The crater harbored a lake and a river delta billions of years ago, and the car-sized rover will search the area for signs of ancient life and characterize its geology in detail.

Perseverance will also collect and cache several dozen samples on Mars, which a joint NASA/European Space Agency campaign will return to Earth, possibly as early as 2031.

Related: The Mars Perseverance rover mission in photos

Mars 2020 will also conduct several technology demonstrations. For example, one of Perseverance's instruments will generate oxygen from Mars' carbon dioxide-dominated atmosphere. The mission also features a small helicopter called Ingenuity, which will attempt to make the first-ever rotorcraft flights in the skies of another world.

Mars 2020 is one of three missions currently winging their way toward the Red Planet. The United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter and China's Tianwen-1 orbiter-lander-rover mission launched on July 19 and July 23, respectively. All of these craft are scheduled to arrive at Mars in February 2021.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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NASA's Mars rover Perseverance is fine and out of 'safe mode' - Space.com

Country music star Travis Tritt is not rotating around the Earth, but his music is getting some serious space spins ... because NASA astronauts made their own fun video to his hit song!!!

NASA commander Chris Cassidy is the astronaut in the center of this awesome homage to Travis' hit, "It's a Great Day To Be Alive."

Chris and the other folks onboard the International Space Station are doing alright 250 miles above Earth ... they got rice cooking in the microwave and some homemade soup ... so Chris says they're feeling pretty good and that's the truth.

As for the musical choice, Chris says NASA's Expedition 63 crew "is very much aware of the hard times which exist in the neighborhoods of the world rotating below," and he wants folks to remember ... "Cherish the people you love."

Chris ends with some words to live by, whether you're firmly planted on terra firma ... "Even amid the uncertainty and difficulties of battling through these challenging times, we encourage everyone to be the best 'crewmates' and take care of each other."

Thank you ,Chris ... and Travis.

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NASA Astronauts Shoot Music Video In Space, 'It's a Great Day To Be Alive' - TMZ

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on the passing of Mike Freilich, passionate explorer and former director of NASA's Earth Science Division:

"Our planet has lost a true champion with the passing of Mike Freilich. NASA sends our condolences to his loved ones, and the entire NASA Family shares their loss.

"As the head of NASA Earth Science, Mike was known for his diligence and an unwavering commitment to accuracy and making sure the science was strong. His oversize passion for all things related to expanding knowledge about the complex systems of our planet saw an incredible diversity of missions launch on his watch. Mike never avoided the tough decisions, but his deep expertise and innate love of science helped our agency to innovate and expand the ways it observes our home planet.

"Mike's excellence as a scientist is well known. His dedication to oceanography and helping train the next generation of scientific leaders was inspiring. He won numerous awards throughout his career, and it was NASA's honor to join our colleagues at the European Space Agency, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites,and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to name the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission for him. This satellite will gather critical information about the oceans for which Mike had such an abiding passion.

"Mike wept openly as he signed the launch vehicle for IceSat2, his last launch as Earth Science director. It was a testament to how much being able to work on missions that helped us to better understand our planet and improve life across it meant to him.

"At NASA, we pledge to carry on that work and build on the legacy that Mike has left us. His presence will continue to be felt across the agency and our planet, in space and in our hearts."

More information about Mike Freilich and the upcoming mission that bears his name is available at:

https://go.nasa.gov/2EV76nJ

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NASA Administrator Statement on the Passing of Mike Freilich - PRNewswire

Virgin Orbits first attempt at an orbital launch demo may not have gone entirely to plan (the LauncherOne rocket released as planned but its flight was cut short just after that), but it has booked a payload for its next try 11 science satellites selected by NASA and primarily designed and built by U.S. universities. Virgin says that it will fly this second launch demo, complete with its cargo, sometime before the end of the year.

After the first attempt was cut short prior to the planned conclusion of the rocket, which was aiming to accomplish a more sustained flight of the empty LauncherOne rocket, potentially even to orbital altitude, the Virgin Orbit team conducted a comprehensive investigation of the cause of the issue encountered. That investigation is now nearly complete, the company says, and in a blog post they note the cause of the mission-ending failure a broken high-pressure line that supplies LauncherOnes rocket engine with liquid oxygen, a required component for the combustion that drives thrust.

Virgin notes that it still has some work to do before the investigation is technically complete, but the small satellite space launch company says its confident it knows what technical fixes are needed to prevent the same thing from happening in the future, and its already in the process of implementing those.

NASA was one of Virgin Orbits first customers, and naturally after Launch Demo 1 didnt go quite to plan, Virgin told the agency theyd have to bump their upcoming payload launch down the line, since Demo 2 would need to be another test without risking any payloads on board to try to achieve the goals of the flubbed first flight. NASA, however, said theyd be comfortable flying payloads on the next attempt regardless.

That shows a tremendous amount of confidence in Virgin Orbit and their program. That end of year target launch time frame is also highly ambitious by any standards in the space launch industry, but the company says its still going to aim for that while at the same time focusing on making sure everything is up to standards in terms of technical details and issue resolution.

Virgin Orbit hopes to be offering regular operational launches of its system soon. The companys approach involves flying a rocket attached to a modified 747 carrier aircraft to an altitude around where large passenger jets fly, whereupon the rocket separates from the plane and ignites its own engine to carry small payloads the rest of the way to space.

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Virgin Orbit to fly 11 satellites for NASA on second orbital launch demo later this year - TechCrunch

On frosty Ellesmere Island, where Arctic Canada butts up against the northwestern edge of Greenland, two once-enormous ice caps have completely vanished, new NASA imagery shows.

It's no mystery where the caps, known as the St. Patrick Bay ice caps, went. Like many glacial features in the Arctic which is warming at roughly twice the rate of the rest of the world the caps were killed by climate change. Still, glaciologists who have studied these and other ice formations for decades are unnerved by just how quickly the caps disappeared from our warming planet.

"When I first visited those ice caps, they seemed like such a permanent fixture of the landscape," Mark Serreze, director of National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Colorado, said in a statement. "To watch them die in less than 40 years just blows me away."

Related: Pink 'watermelon snow threatens major Italian glacier

Ice caps are a type of glacier that cover less than 19,300 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) of land on Earth, according to the NSIDC. These frosty domes typically originate at high altitudes in polar regions and blanket everything beneath them in ice (unlike ice fields, which can be interrupted or diverted by mountain peaks). The loss of Earth's ice caps not only contributes to sea-level rise, but also decreases the amount of reflective white surfaces on the planet, leading to more heat absorption, the NSIDC wrote.

The St. Patrick Bay ice caps sat about 2,600 feet (800 meters) above Ellesmere Island's Hazen Plateau in Nunavut, Canada, where they existed for hundreds of years. Researchers aren't sure how large the caps were at their maximum extent, but when a team investigated in 1959 the caps covered about 3 square miles (7.5 square km) and 1.2 square miles (3 square km), respectively. (For comparison, the smaller one was about as big as Central Park in New York City.)

When researchers studied the caps again in 2017, the formations had shrunk to just 5% of their former sizes. Serreze, the lead author of the 2017 study, published in the journal The Cryosphere, predicted that the caps would vanish completely within five years.

Now here we are, two years ahead of schedule.

"We've long known that as climate change takes hold, the effects would be especially pronounced in the Arctic," Serreze said. "But the death of those two little caps that I once knew so well has made climate change very personal. All that's left are some photographs and a lot of memories."

The new satellite images, showing the Hazen Plateau's barren peaks, come from NASA's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), which imaged the island on July 14, 2020. Meanwhile, in nearby Greenland, ice loss has increased sixfold in the last 30 years. There's no question about it: Earth's climate is off the rails.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Two Canadian ice caps have completely vanished from the Arctic, NASA imagery shows - Live Science

A prolonged period of unusually warm weather and drought in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina has dropped the Paran River to its lowest water levels in decades. The parched river basin has hampered shipping and contributed to an increase in fire activity in the delta and floodplain.

On July 3, 2020, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this false-color image (bands 7-6-4) of the river near Rosario, a key port city in Argentina. The combination of shortwave infrared and visible light makes it easier to distinguish between land and water. Water appears dark blue or black. The second image shows the same area on July 1, 2019, a day when water levels were high across many of the deltas marshes, lagoons, islands, and meandering streams.

Data from the Argentine coast guard shows that, on July 3, 2020, river gauges near Rosario stood at 1 meter (39 inches)higher than in May 2020, when it dipped as low as 0.08 meters (3 inches). While this low water level was the worst in the past 49 years, much lower levels were frequent before the 1970s, explained Andrs Antico, a climatologist with Argentinas National Scientific and Technical Research Council who is working on a project to recover and preserve historical records for the Paran River. Thanks to dams constructed in the 1970s in the upper Paran in southern Brazil, water managers can usually prevent low water levels by releasing water from reservoirs during dry periods.

The drought has affected the region since early 2020, and low water levels have grounded several ships, and many vessels have had to reduce their cargo in order to navigate the river. With Rosario serving as the distribution hub for much of Argentinas soy and other farm exports, low water levels have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for the grain sector, according to news reports.

The low water levels on the Paran River have coincided with increased fire activity within the delta. Remote sensing scientists at the Universidad Nacional de San Martn have been tracking how many active fire detections the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensors have made in recent months, finding that MODIS had in 2020 detected more than 1,450 hotspots in the Paran River delta through July 22, more than any other year since 2008. The natural-color image above, acquired by MODIS, shows where the VIIRS sensor detected unusually warm temperatures associated with fires on July 14, 2020.

Low water levels mean there is more areamostly grassland and shrubsavailable to burn this year. According to Patricia Kandus of the Universidad Nacional de San Martn, many fires appeared to have been set intentionally, though dry conditions have also made it easier for fires to escape and burn uncontrolled. Fires have been historically used in this region to provide pasture, she said. They are also widely used in the islands to hunt wild animals, as well as to clear vegetation cover to carry out land reclamation and diking constructions for agriculture and tree planting projects.

While the Paran River Basin received some rain in June and July, river watchers do not expect the river to make a full recovery until sustained wet season rains arrive in October.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey, VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/Worldview and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, and MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Adam Voiland.

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The Parched Paran River - nasa.gov

ORLANDO, Fla., July 30 (UPI) -- NASA launched the most advanced Mars rover yet -- with technology and tools to find signs of life on the Red Planet -- on Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The spacecraft that carries the Perseverance rover, which also is ferrying the first helicopter designed to fly on another planet, separated from its rocket just under an hour after the launch at 7:50 a.m. EDT.

The Atlas V rocket launched with "2.3 million pounds of thrust to take aim at Mars" and headed toward Mars at over 25,000 miles per hour, according to NASA and launch company United Launch Alliance.

NASA's rover now joins the United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter and China's Tianwen-1 probe, which also includes a rover, on the trip to Mars this summer.

As with the other two missions, Thursday's launch begins a seven-month journey that will end at Mars in February. NASA predicts a Feb. 18 landing on Mars.

NASA officials said they had to adjust communication networks on Earth because the signal from the spacecraft was too strong at first, but otherwise the spacecraft's navigation system indicated it was on the right path.

Trajectory corrections

The agency has 15 days before it must make the first trajectory corrections, if needed, said Matt Wallace, NASA's deputy program manager for the mission.

Wallace noted that NASA overcame workplace restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic to make a deadline for launching this summer while Mars was close to the Earth's orbit.

"In dealing with pandemic, it really took the entire agency to step up and help us, and they didn't hesitate and they did it, and we really appreciate that," Wallace said.

The mission, like any trip to Mars, comes with a lot of risks, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a press conference in Florida on Wednesday.

"It's without question, a challenge. I mean we, there's no other way to put it, and it's not easy. ... That being said, we know how to land on Mars. We've done it eight times already," Bridenstine said.

This year's mission to Mars builds on the past discoveries made by rovers such as Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, which led NASA to conclude that conditions once existed to support life there.

"Mars 2020 is without question the most advanced mission to Mars, including the two other missions headed there this year from China and the United Arab Emirates," said Raymond Arvidson, professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Arvidson has been involved in every Mars mission since Viking 1 landed on the Red Planet in 1976.

Top-notch instruments

"The instruments on board are unmatched, and the planned return of Martian soil and rock samples is also historic," Arvidson said.

The mission's primary goal is to study rocks at or just below the surface for signs that life existed, or still exists, on Mars, and to understand its geology better.

The rover also will collect rock samples for return to Earth during a future mission, but NASA said that could take 10 years to accomplish.

NASA announced the Mars 2020 rover mission in 2012, at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion, but the budget has swelled to $2.46 billion. Work on components started in 2017, and construction of the rover started to stream over a live webcam in June 2019.

The Atlas rocket carrying the rover had four solid-rocket strap-on boosters in addition to the main, first-stage booster. That is the same configuration used to launch NASA's Curiosity rover to Mars in 2011.

Mars 2020 and the Perseverance rover are scheduled to land at the large Jezero Crater amid that planet's Northern Lowlands. Scientists believe that once was home to a river delta.

The rover will select targets for rock samples, drive and operate for at least one Mars year, which is about two Earth years.

Besides its science and imaging instruments, the Perseverance rover also carries the Ingenuity helicopter strapped to its underside. The aircraft is powered by lithium-ion batteries that can recharge via solar panels.

Ingenuity is made up of a box carrying cameras and instruments, four spindly landing legs and two counter-rotating rotors. The rover will film the helicopter as it flies.

NASA describes Ingenuity as primarily an experiment to prove it can fly an aircraft on another planet and record images.

Ingenuity is considered a demonstration of a new technology, and NASA believes it could help to identify interesting targets for future Mars exploration. The helicopter's first flight is scheduled for two months after the rover lands.

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NASA's most advanced rover heads to Mars - UPI News

Advanced spacesuit designer Amy Ross of NASAs Johnson Space Center stands with the Z-2, a prototype spacesuit. Credit: NASA

In a Q&A, spacesuit designer Amy Ross explains how five samples, including a piece of helmet visor, will be tested aboard the rover, which was launched on July 30.

NASA is preparing to send the first woman and next man to the Moon, part of a larger strategy to send the first astronauts to the surface of Mars. But before they get there, theyll be faced with a critical question: What should they wear on Mars, where the thin atmosphere allows more radiation from the Sun and cosmic rays to reach the ground?

Amy Ross is looking for answers. An advanced spacesuit designer at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, shes developing new suits for the Moon and Mars. So Ross is eagerly awaiting this summers launch of the Perseverance Mars rover, which will carry the first samples of spacesuit material ever sent to the Red Planet.

While the rover explores Jezero Crater, collecting rock and soil samples for future return to Earth, five small pieces of spacesuit material will be studied by an instrument aboard Perseverance called SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals). The materials, including a piece of helmet visor, are embedded alongside a fragment of a Martian meteorite in SHERLOCs calibration target. Thats what scientists use to make sure an instruments settings are correct, comparing readings on Mars to base-level readings they got on Earth.

Read on as Ross shares insights into the materials chosen and the differences between suits designed for the Moon and those for Mars. More information about SHERLOC and the rovers science can be found here.

This graphic shows an illustration of a prototype astronaut suit, left, along with suit samples included in the calibration target, lower right, belonging to the SHERLOC instrument aboard the Perseverance rover. Theyll be observed to see how they hold up in the intense radiation of the Martian surface. Credit: NASA

Why were these particular materials on SHERLOCs calibration target selected?

Ross: The materials were poking at the most are meant to be on the outer layer of a suit, since these will be exposed to the most radiation. Theres ortho-fabric, something we have a lot of experience using on the outside of spacesuits. Thats three materials in one: It includes Nomex, a flame-resistant material found in firefighter outfits; Gore-Tex, which is waterproof but breathable; and Kevlar, which has been used in bulletproof vests.

We are also testing a sample of Vectran on its own, which we currently use for the palms of spacesuit gloves. Its cut-resistant, which is useful on the International Space Station: Micrometeoroids strike handrails outside the station, creating pits with sharp edges that can cut gloves.

We included a sample of Teflon, which weve used in spacesuits for a long time as part of astronaut glove gauntlets and the backs of gloves. Just like a nonstick pan, its slippery, and its harder to catch and tear a fabric if its slick. We also included a sample of Teflon with a dust-resistant coating.

Finally, theres a piece of polycarbonate, which we use for helmet bubbles and visors because it helps reduce ultraviolet light. A nice thing about it is it doesnt shatter. If impacted, it bends rather than breaks and still has good optical properties.

How will SHERLOC check the samples?

Ross: On Mars, radiation will break down the chemical composition of the materials, weakening their tensile strength. We want to figure out how long these materials will last. Do we need to develop new materials, or will these hang in there?

SHERLOC can get the spectra, or composition, of rocks the missions scientists want to study. It can do the same thing for these spacesuit materials. Weve already tested them on Earth, bathing samples in radiation and then analyzing their spectra. The results of those tests, conducted in ultraviolet vacuum chambers at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, will be compared to what we see on Mars.

Will Martian dust be a challenge?

Ross: Sure, its an engineering challenge, but theres no reason we cant design things to operate in dust. Were already developing things like seals that keep dust out of our bearings. Spacesuits have bearings at the shoulders, wrists, hip, upper thighs, and ankles. They all give an astronaut mobility for walking, kneeling, and other movements youd need to get up close to rocks or maintain a habitat.

Remember, our suits inflate to over 4 pounds per square inch of pressure. Thats not a crazy amount of pressure, but its pretty stiff. When you put a human inside a balloon and ask them to move, theyll have trouble. Its as tight as the head of a drum. So we need to seal off the bearings so dust doesnt gunk them up.

We are looking for other ways to protect the suit from Martian dust over a long-duration mission. We know that a coated or film material will be better than a woven material that has space between the woven yarns. The two Teflon samples let us look at that as well as the performance of the dust-resistant coating.

How much would spacesuit design differ between the space station, the Moon, and Mars?

Ross: Spacesuit design depends on where youre going and what youre doing. The ISS suit is designed specifically for microgravity. If you go on a spacewalk, youre not really walking; you use your hands everywhere. Your lower torso is just used as a stable platform for your upper body. The suit is also exposed to two environmental sources of degradation: solar radiation and atomic oxygen. Atomic oxygen is different from the oxygen we breathe. Its very reactive and can degrade spacesuit materials.

The Moon doesnt have the atomic oxygen problem but is worse than Mars in terms of radiation. Youre pretty close to the Sun and have no atmosphere to scatter the ultraviolet radiation like you do on Mars. The Moon is a big testbed for the Artemis program. The environments of the Moon and Mars arent exactly the same, but the durability challenges materials exposed over long periods of time at low pressures in a dusty environment are similar.

On Mars, youre farther from the Sun, and you have at least a little atmosphere to scatter the UV. But thats when the duration of exposure starts to get you. You have to plan on being exposed on the surface most of the time. Mars spacesuits will be more like ones we use for the Moon and less like those for the ISS. Im trying to make the Moon suit as much like the Mars suit as possible.

More About the Mission

Perseverance is a robotic scientist that weighs just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). The rovers astrobiology mission will search for signs of past microbial life. It will characterize the planets climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. Perseverance launched on July 30, 2020 and will land at Mars Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021.

A division of Caltech, NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission for the agencys Science Mission Directorate. The mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASAs Artemis lunar exploration plans.

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NASAs Perseverance Rover Is Carrying First Spacesuit Materials to Mars Heres Why - SciTechDaily

The space agency's ASTHROS mission will depart from Antarctica in December 2023 and spend three weeks in the stratosphere, the section of the atmosphere where the ozone layer sits. Its components include a balloon the size of a football field and a specialized far-infrared telescope designed to pick up light the human eye can't detect.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will begin testing next month. While you wait for its launch, here's what you need to know about NASA's buoyant observatory.

NASA's betting on a balloon that, when inflated, will be 400 feet wide. Dangling below it, a gondola will cradle instruments like a special far-infrared telescope and cooling system that keep the far-infrared instruments at "absolute zero," or the coldest temperature matter can reach.

The telescope is named ASTHROS, an acronym for Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Submillimeter-wavelengths. Far-infrared wavelengths can't be seen with the human eye but can illuminate the density and speed of gas in parts of space where stars form.

"We will launch ASTHROS to the edge of space from the most remote and harsh part of our planet," said Jose Siles, an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the ASTHROS project manager. "If you stop to think about it, it's really challenging, which makes it so exciting at the same time."

Its mission

The tools dangling below the balloon will study star formation and a process called "stellar feedback."

When supernovas explode, they eject material back into space. These "violent outbursts" can either send material flying and stop stars from forming or cause material to accumulate and speed up the star formation process. Without stellar feedback, according to the Jet Propulsion Lab, all the interstellar dust and gas in the Milky Way Galaxy would've accumulated into stars.

"I think it's understood that stellar feedback is the main regulator of star formation throughout the universe's history," said Jorge Pineda, principal investigator of ASTHROS. "Computer simulations of galaxy evolution still can't quite replicate the reality that we see out in the cosmos. The nitrogen mapping that we'll do with ASTHROS has never been done before, and it will be exciting to see how that information helps make those models more accurate."

So to learn more about the process, ASTHROS will hit two targets in the Milky Way galaxy, both "star-forming regions" where the instrument will create what the lab says is the first 3D printed map of the gas in those regions. Those maps will inform computer simulations of the galaxy's evolution, the lab said.

Its other two targets are Messier 83, a galaxy about 15 million lightyears from Earth and one of the brightest galaxies, and TW Hydrae, a star with a protoplanetary disk, or a disc of dust and gas where planets may be forming.

When ASTHROS has completed two to three loops around the South Pole in three to four weeks, its operators on the ground will separate the gondola from the balloon. The gondola and instruments will parachute back down to Earth, where they can be reused for future missions.

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NASA will send a balloon the size of a football field to study how stars form - CNN

NASA is inviting additional teams to compete in theCube Quest Challenge. You can still participate in the in-space phase of the challenge and be eligible to win part of a $4.5 million prize purse.

The Cube Quest Challenge, NASAs first in-space competition, incentivizes teams to design, build and deliver small satellites capable of advanced operations near and beyond the Moon. To compete, new teams meeting theeligibility criteriamust obtain a ride to deep space for their CubeSats either through commercial launch opportunities or programs like NASAsCubeSat Launch Initiative.

We welcome new teams to join us in this challenge in pursuit of advancing space exploration, said Monsi Roman, program manager for NASAs Centennial Challenges. When we established the Cube Quest Challenge in 2015, commercial flight opportunities werent as available. Now that technology has advanced and commercial partners are flying payloads, it is a great time to make potential participants aware of the opportunity.

Fifteen university and private developer teams have already competed for prizes to showcase creative CubeSat technologies through ground-based tournaments, or phase one, of the Cube Quest Challenge, which was completed in 2017.

Three winnersreceived spots as secondary payloads on Artemis I, the first integrated test flight of NASAs Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft. These teams have been working on their CubeSats, readying them for launch. Once deployed from the rocket, the teams will begin phase two, the in-space competition.

In-Space Competition

All Cube Quest Challenge competitors, both new and current, will compete in one of two arenas. The Lunar Derby is where CubeSats are to maintain a verifiable lunar orbit. Theres also the Deep Space Derby, in which CubeSats reach approximately 1.8 million miles from Earth.

Once in orbit, the CubeSats must complete various tasks outlined in thecompetition rules documentto be eligible for prize money. To ensure data integrity, each satellite must transmit NASA-provided communications data to be eligible for prize money.

The Next Frontier

The Cube Quest Challenge opens the lunar and deep space environment, thanks to the mastery of several technologies, said Elizabeth Hyde, a mechanical engineer at NASAs Ames Research Center in Californias Silicon Valley and technical advisor for the challenge. The three technology areas we see as important for jumping from low-Earth orbit to deep space are communications, propulsion and radiation tolerance for CubeSats.

Initiatives such as the Cube Quest Challenge aim to make deep space exploration more accessible and open up commercial space opportunities beyond low-Earth orbit.

The next frontier is small satellites. Development efforts are aimed at pushing the boundaries of CubeSat exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, Hyde said.

The competition is a partCentennial Challenges, based at the NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Centennial Challenges is a part of the Prizes and Challenges program within NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate. The challenge is managed by NASAs Ames Research Center in Californias Silicon Valley.

To register to compete in the challenge, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/cubequest/howtoenter/

For more information of NASAs Cube Quest Challenge, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/cubequest/details

For more information about NASAs Prizes and Challenges, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/solve/index.html

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NASA Invites Competitors to Shoot for the Moon and Beyond - Theredstonerocket

Earths atmosphere blocks many forms of radiation and other electromagnetic waves from reaching the earths surface.

While the atmosphere is absolutely essential for life to exist on earth, its presence can impede on our scientific observation of the universe.

In response, scientists have turned to something called space balloons, which carry observation equipment and electronic payloads to complete an exploration mission.

Balloon-bound telescopes can overcome the atmospheric veil. With this instrument, scientists can effectively observe the universe without costly and time-consuming expeditions into space.

In fact, NASA's Scientific Balloon Program has been operating for 30 years and launches 10 to 15 missions a year from locations around the globe.

Balloon missions have both a lower cost and faster turnaround time compared to space missions. This adds the benefit of allowing more updated technology to be deployed and utilized in their missions.

According to NASA's JPL, apayload of a space balloon normally consists of its telescope, science instrument, and such subsystems as the cooling and electronic systems.

The electronic system is an integral part of these missions, generally in charge of managing all of the sensors and logging all of the data. Sensors can typically include GPS, altimeters, thermocouples, and inertial measurement units. Electronic systems also aid in the navigation, and safe return, of the space balloon.

Like many other space missions, space balloons have unobstructed access to the suns light. This makes electronic systems on these missions useful candidates for solar power, presenting many interesting design challenges and opportunities.

Its been well documented that the design of electronics for space (or high altitude) payloads offers unique challenges to engineers.

For starters, leaving the protective canopy of the earths atmosphere exposes the electronics to all sorts of ionizing radiation that doesnt exist on the terrestrial surface. As discussed in a previous AAC article, this has created the need for radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics for space missions.

Its also worth noting that far-infrared instruments need to be kept extremely cold, which requires the use of a liquid helium cooling system.

Space balloon missions require improved batteries to store electrical energy onboard. Long-duration balloon flights can experience 12 hours or more of darkness, and excess electrical power generated during the day from solar panels needs to be stored.

These unique demands call for means of more efficient energy generation, better energy storage, and novel low-power electronics.

Last week, NASA announced that work has begun on a new mission that will carry a cutting-edge 8.4-foot telescope high into the stratosphere on a balloon. This balloon, dubbed ASTHROS (astrophysics stratospheric telescope for high spectral resolution observations at submillimeter-wavelengths) will launch from Antarctica and spend about three weeks in the air.

The goal of this mission is to measure the motion and speed of gas around newly-formed stars. During the flight, the system will study four main targets, including two star-forming regions in the Milky Way.

The NASA press release explains,ASTHROS will make the first detailed 3D maps of the density, speed, and motion of gas in these regions to see how the newborn giants influence their placental material. By doing so, the team hopes to gain insight into how stellar feedback works and to provide new information to refine computer simulations of galaxy evolution.

The beauty of unique missions like these is that they push the current state of electronics to meet the demands of space exploration.

ASTHROS will allow scientists to deploy technology for space observations that have yet to be used.Through this mission, NASA hopes to gain a deeper insight into the formation of the galaxy and, if were lucky, bring some technological improvements to earth as well.

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Upcoming NASA Mission Will Send a Payload-Bearing Balloon into the Stratosphere - News - All About Circuits

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers blasted off for the red planet Thursday as part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of ancient life.

NASAs Perseverance rode a mighty Atlas V rocket into a clear morning sky in the worlds third and final Mars launch of the summer. China and the United Arab Emirates got a head start last week, but all three missions should reach their destination in February after a journey of seven months and 300 million miles (480 million kilometers).

The plutonium-powered, six-wheeled rover will drill down and collect tiny geological specimens that will be brought home in about 2031 in a sort of interplanetary relay race involving multiple spacecraft and countries. The overall cost: more than $8 billion.

NASAs science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, pronounced the launch the start of humanitys first round trip to another planet.

Oh, I loved it, punching a hole in the sky, right? Getting off the cosmic shore of our Earth, wading out there in the cosmic ocean, he said. Every time, it gets me.

In addition to potentially answering one of the most profound questions of science, religion and philosophy Is there or has there ever been life beyond Earth? the mission will yield lessons that could pave the way for the arrival of astronauts as early as the 2030s.

Theres a reason we call the robot Perseverance. Because going to Mars is hard, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said just before liftoff. In this case, its harder than ever before because were doing it in the midst of a pandemic.

Shortly after liftoff, Perseverance unexpectedly went into safe mode, a sort of protective hibernation, after a temperature reading triggered an alarm. But deputy project manager Matt Wallace later said that the spacecraft appeared to be in good shape, with its temperatures back within proper limits, and that NASA will probably switch it back to its normal cruise state within a day or so.

Everything is pointing toward a healthy spacecraft ready to go to Mars and do its mission, he said.

NASAs deep-space tracking stations also had some difficulty locking onto signals from Perseverance early in the flight but eventually established a solid communication link, Wallace said.

The U.S., the only country to safely put a spacecraft on Mars, is seeking its ninth successful landing on the planet, which has proved to be the Bermuda Triangle of space exploration, with more than half of the worlds missions there burning up, crashing or otherwise ending in failure.

China is sending both a rover an orbiter. The UAE, a newcomer to outer space, has an orbiter en route.

Its the biggest stampede to Mars in spacefaring history. The opportunity to fly between Earth and Mars comes around only once every 26 months when the planets are on the same side of the sun and about as close as they can get.

The launch went off on time at 7:50 a.m. despite a 4.2-magnitude earthquake 20 minutes before liftoff that shook NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is overseeing the rover.

Launch controllers at Cape Canaveral wore masks and sat spaced apart because of the coronavirus outbreak, which kept hundreds of scientists and other team members away from Perseverances liftoff.

That was overwhelming. Overall, just wow! said Alex Mather, the 13-year-old Virginia schoolboy who proposed the name Perseverance in a NASA competition and watched the launch in person with his parents.

About an hour into the flight, controllers applauded, pumped their fists, exchanged air hugs and pantomimed high-fives when the rocket left Earths orbit and began hurtling toward Mars.

We have left the building. We are on our way to Mars, Perseverances chief engineer, Adam Steltzner, said from JPL.

If all goes well, the rover will descend to the Martian surface on Feb. 18, 2021, in what NASA calls seven minutes of terror, during which the craft will go from 12,000 mph (19,300 kph) to a complete stop. It is carrying 25 cameras and a pair of microphones that will enable Earthlings to vicariously tag along.

Perseverance will aim for Jezero Crater, a treacherous, unexplored expanse of boulders, cliffs, dunes and possibly rocks bearing the chemical signature of microbes from what was a lake more than 3 billion years ago. The rover will store half-ounce (15-gram) rock samples in dozens of super-sterilized titanium tubes.

It also will release a mini helicopter that will attempt the first powered flight on another planet, and test out other technology to prepare the way for future astronauts. That includes equipment for extracting oxygen from Mars thin carbon-dioxide atmosphere.

The plan is for NASA and the European Space Agency to launch a dune buggy in 2026 to fetch the rock samples, plus a rocket ship that will put the specimens into orbit around Mars. Then another spacecraft will capture the orbiting samples and bring them home.

Samples taken straight from Mars, not drawn from meteorites discovered on Earth, have long been considered the Holy Grail of Mars science, according to NASAs now-retired Mars czar, Scott Hubbard.

To definitively answer the life-beyond-Earth question, the samples must be analyzed by the best electron microscopes and other instruments, far too big to fit on a spacecraft, he said.

Ive wanted to know if there was life elsewhere in the universe since I was 9 years old. That was more than 60 years ago, Hubbard said from his Northern California cabin. But just maybe, Ill live to see the fingerprints of life come back from Mars in one of those rock samples.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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'On our way to Mars': NASA rover will look for signs of life - Associated Press

The large white oval and jet stream in the northern latitudes of Jupiter, taken by NASA's Juno ... [+] spacecraft on perijove 28.

NASAs Juno spacecraft has sent back yet another batch of astonishing new images from Jupiterand some unique images of its moon Ganymede have also emerged.

These new images from its 28th flyby come as the solar-powered spacecraft celebrates four years in orbit around the gas giant planet, which has just come to opposition for us on Earth, along with fellow giant planet Saturn.

Jupiter as a crescent as Juno approached it at the weekend.

At Jupiter since July 5, 2016,Junohas been in an elliptical polar orbit that has it spend most of its time away from the planet.

Only every 53 days does it get close to Jupiter, but during its brief flyby it gets super-close to the planets cloud-tops to take some astonishing photos.

Each dip close to Jupiter is called aperijove, which is Greek for the extreme points in the orbit of one body around another.

Its in the few days after each perijove that Juno sends back its images via NASAs Deep Space Network.

However, NASA isnt actually responsible for most of the images we see coming from Juno at Jupiter; raw imagers from JunoCam are uploaded after each perijove and very soon freely available for citizen scientists to download and post-process into wonderful photos.

Detail on Jupiter from Juno's perijove 28 flyby on July 28, 2020.

Junos images have taught us so much about the dynamic nature of Jupiter's atmosphere in a level of detail that we haven't everseen before, especially when correlated with data from the infrared imager, magnetometer data, and with Earth-bound observations, said Kevin M. Gill, a software engineer at NASA-JPL, to me via email. Gill is one of the hardest working citizen scientists on the JunoCam. Most of the work is done when Im on lunch, abreak, or after hours, he said.

Jupiter as captured by Juno on July 28, 2020.

The public availability of Junos raw images have resulted in some incredible images including Jupiters racing stripes,its giant jet-stream,a classic Jupiter Marble portrait, anda churning Jupiter.

If you want to see more see Gills Twitter account and check-out the featured submissions page on the missions outreach website.

Jupiter's southern circumpolar cyclones, processed by citizen scientist Svetoslav Alexandrov.

Its unusual orbit enables it to take valuable scientific observations, though arguably its the wondrous images it sends back that have made it one of the most popular NASA missions yet.

The spacecrafts JunoCam shoots images as it spinsusing its basic two-megapixel, 58 field of view camera.

The first infrared images of Ganymede's northern frontier, taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft took on ... [+] Dec. 26, 2019.

Although Juno hasnt been able to study many of Jupiters 79 moons, NASA last week published images the probe managed to snap of its giant moon Ganymede. Bigger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede consists primarily of water ice and is the only moon in the solar system with its own magnetic field.

The imagestaken using Junos Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument on December 26, 2019, but only published noware the first infrared images of the moons north pole.

The north pole of Ganymede can be seen in center of this annotated image taken by the JIRAM infrared ... [+] imager aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft on Dec. 26, 2019. The thick line is 0-degrees longitude.

Junos JIRAM was designed to capture the infrared light emerging from deep inside Jupiter, probing its weather down to 30 to 45 miles (50 to 70 kilometers) below Jupiters cloud tops. However, the instrument can also be used to study the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Juno got to within 62,000 miles/100,000 kilometers of Ganymede and collected 300 infrared images of its surface.

Heres a wonderful time-lapse video from Gill that compiles images taken by JunoCam during Junes perijove 27 flyby of Jupiter:

The NASA spacecrafts scientific mission is to study Jupiters atmosphere and magnetosphere. It spends most of its time away from Jupiter taking measurements of the outer atmosphere and magnetosphere.

Juno is part of NASAs New Frontiers missions. It launched on August 5, 2011, on an Atlas V rocket, reached Jupiter in July 2016.

A fun, false-colorized Jupiter from a previous flyby, edited using Photoshop, created by citizen ... [+] scientists Gerald Eichstdt, Sen Doran and Rachel Tortorici.

Juno will complete its mission on July 30, 2021. While on its 35th and finalperijoveit will be purposely crashed into Jupiters atmosphere, where it will disintegrate.

However, Junos scientific discoveries will pave the way for the European Space Agencys JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, which from 2030 will spend over three years exploring Jupiters giant magnetosphere, turbulent atmosphere, and its moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

Another view of Jupiter from Juno, taken earlier this week.

So whats most exciting to Junos citizen scientists? In addition to the obvious current choice, NASAs Perseverance Rover, I'm very excited about the Europa Clipper mission and the Dragonfly mission to Titan, said Gill. Allwillbe returning spectacular and unprecedented imagery of their respective targets.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

The rest is here:

Jupiter And Its Giant Moon Dazzle In New Photos From NASAs Juno As It Marks 4 Years In Orbit - Forbes

The New York TimesJul 31, 2020 12:24:19 IST

When NASAs Perseverance rover arrives at Mars, mission managers will be watching, helpless to do anything. The $2.4 billion spacecraft will hit the top of the Martian atmosphere at more than 12,000 mph (19,312 kph) and then come to a complete stop seven minutes later.

That the one-ton (907 kg)rover will end up on Mars on the afternoon of 18 February is nearly certain (presuming it is able to launch before the middle of August, when the planet moves too far away from Earth). The spacecraft navigators will have put the robotic explorer on a collision course with the planet. The only question is whether Perseverance will be on the ground in one piece or smashed to bits.

NASA's Perseverance rover can be seen attached to a spin table during a test of its mass properties at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, the rover was rotated clockwise and counterclockwise to determine its center of gravity. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Spacecraft from Europe and the Soviet Union have made it all the way to the red planet, only to end up as expensive scorch marks on its dusty surface. But NASA has a good track record with Mars. It is the only space agency so far to pull off a successful mission on the surface of the red planet.

Perseverance is largely the same design as the Curiosity rover, which set down in 2012 and will have the same convoluted but now tried-and-true sky crane landing choreography.

When people look at it, it looks crazy, Adam Steltzner, a NASA engineer, said in a video that NASA produced leading up to Curiositys landing that described the components: heat shield, parachute, rocket engines and, finally, a hovering crane that lowered the rover to the surface.

Thats a very natural thing, Stelzner said. Sometimes when we look at it, it looks crazy. It is the result of reasoned, engineering thought. But it still looks crazy.

While everything worked, the engineers got a chance to take a look at what could be improved this time around.

We dont usually get a chance to kind of redo or fix the mistakes we made last time, Allen Chen, who leads the Perseverance entry, descent and landing team for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in an interview.

For example, Curiosity actually landed too slowly, hitting the ground at 1.4 mph instead of the 1.7 mph that had been expected. That, by itself, was not a problem. A softer landing is gentler on the spacecraft.

But the engineers wanted to understand what had happened in order to make sure that the next landing that of Perseverance did not come down faster than intended.

It turns out that their calculation of the gravity of Mars was slightly wrong. In areas of the planet that possess less mass like the 96-mile-wide crater that Curiosity landed in the pull of gravity is a bit weaker.

We didnt have sufficient fidelity in our gravity modelling to understand that the gravity there was actually different than elsewhere on the planet, Chen said. So that was one thing that we fixed.

Another component that was tweaked was the parachute that is unfurled when the spacecraft is hurtling down at supersonic speeds.

A parachute failure in a prototype test of a future Mars landing system led Chens team to make sure they had not just gotten lucky with Curiosity. That gave us pause, he said.

The engineers are now confident of Perseverances parachute after supersonic tests of a strengthened design.

One major addition to Perseverance is what NASA calls terrain-relative navigation. A camera on the spacecraft will take pictures of the landscape and match them with its stored maps. It would then steer to what looks like the safest landing spot it can. I dont need the whole place to be flat and boring, Chen said. I just need parts of it that I can reach to be flat and boring.

Without this system, there would be more than a 1-in-5 chance that Perseverance would end up somewhere unfortunate damaged by a boulder, tipped over on a steep slope or surrounded by sand traps. That would be an unacceptably high risk for such a high-profile, expensive mission.

If it works, the same technology will be used when NASA sends a mission to pick up the rock samples that Perseverance will be collecting, part of the so-called Mars sample return. That spacecraft will carry enough fuel that it is able not only to avoid obstacles but also to fly to a specific location, landing within tens of yards of the target.

Still, next Feb. 18, the control room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is expected to be full of nervous engineers watching the telemetry coming back from Perseverance. That data will take minutes to travel millions of miles far too far and too slow for anyone at NASA to make last-second corrections.

Mars is not for the faint of heart, Chen said.

Kenneth Changc.2020 The New York Times Company

Also Read:

NASAs fifth and finest Mars rover Perseverance lifts off successfully in spite of tremors, delays, COVID-19 lockdown

NASAs Perseverance rover on its way to become fifth rover on Mars its science objectives, instruments, the Ingenuity helicopter

NASA's Perseverance rover will bring Mars rocks to Earth: Our greatest interplanetary circus act

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.

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NASA's Perseverance rover: Getting to Mars is easy, its the stopping that can kill you - Firstpost

The planet: TYC 8998-760-1 c

The discovery: This hot, very large planet is the second to be directly imaged that is, pixels of light captured by telescope from the planet itself as it orbits a Sun-like star some 300 light-years away. An international team of scientists published its discovery of the star's first directly imaged companion in February 2020.

Key facts: These two planets TYC 8998-760-1 b and now, c are considered the first multi-planet system to be directly imaged around a Sun-like star. The star is a baby version of our Sun, only 17 million years old. The extreme youth of this system is a big part of why astronomers were able to capture direct images: The planets are so hot from their recent formation that they still glow brightly enough to be seen from our vantage point, even though they're hundreds of light-years away.

Details: Planets b and c are much farther away from their star than, say, Jupiter and Saturn are from the Sun. Planet b is 160 times the Earth-Sun distance, planet c is about 320 times. Just for comparison, Jupiter is 5 times the Earth-Sun distance, Saturn 10 times.

And these planets are bruisers. The inner planet, b, is about 14 times the mass, or heft, of Jupiter, c about 6 times. Planet b, in fact, might even be a brown dwarf, a kind of failed star considered neither a star nor a planet, but somewhere in between.

Fun facts: Thousands of planets around other stars exoplanets have been confirmed so far in our galaxy, which likely holds trillions. But the vast majority are found through indirect means measuring wobbles in the star's motion caused by the gravity of orbiting planets, or the tiny dip in starlight as a planet crosses its star's face. Only a few dozen of the exoplanets found so far have been directly imaged. And direct images of multi-planet systems are rarer still: only two others so far, both with stars very different from our Sun. The new system, with its Sun-like star, might have some characteristics in common with the very early history of our own solar system. It offers an exciting opportunity for scientists to learn more about the formation of such systems, including our own.

The discoverers: Both planets in this system were discovered by an international team of scientists led by Alexander J. Bohn of Leiden University in the Netherlands. They used the SPHERE instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory in Chile to observe the star and its planets in February 2020. The planet was entered into NASA's Exoplanet Archive on July 23.

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Discovery Alert: See the Image 2 Planets Orbit a Sun-like Star - NASA Exoplanet Exploration and Discovery

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will provide live coverage of activities leading up to, during, and following the return of the agency's SpaceX Demo-2 test flight with the agency's astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley from the International Space Station.

The duo arrived at the orbiting laboratory on May 31, following a successful launch on May 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 7:34 p.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 1, for undocking of the Dragon "Endeavour" spacecraft from the space station and 2:42 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, for splashdown,which will be the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station.

Coverage on NASA TV and the agency's website will begin at 9:10 a.m., Aug. 1, with a short farewell ceremony on station and resume at 5:15 p.m., with departure preparations through splashdown and recovery at one of seven targeted water landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

All media participation in news conferences and interviews will be remote; no media will be accommodated at any NASA site due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To participate in the briefings by phone or to request a remote interview with the crew members, reporters must contact the newsroom at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston at 281-483-5111 no later than two hours prior to each event.

NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Wednesday, July 29

A media phone bridge will be available for this event.

Friday, July 31

A media phone bridge will be available for this event.

Saturday, Aug. 1

Sunday, Aug. 2

A media phone bridge will be available for this event.

Tuesday, Aug. 4

A media phone bridge will be available for this event.

These activities are a part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which has been workingwith the U.S. aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Stationfor the first time since 2011. This is SpaceX's final test flight and is providing data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, splashdown and recovery operations.

The test flight also is helping NASA certify SpaceX's crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission, which would occur following NASA certification.

The goal of NASA's Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. This could allow for additional research time and increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity's testbed for exploration, including helping us prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

For more information about splashdown locations, weather criteria and recovery logistics, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasa-s-spacex-demo-2-return

For full mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

SOURCE NASA

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NASA to Provide Coverage of Astronauts' Return from Space Station on SpaceX Commercial Crew Test Flight - PRNewswire

The German icebreaker Polarstern lit up on every deck, acting as a beacon for researchers navigating the Arctic terrain. Credit: University of Maryland / Steven Fons

By Emily Fischer, Goddard Space Flight Center

In the early 1900s, Ernest Shackleton attempted to travel across Antarctica, but as they neared the continent his ship became stuck in an pack of sea ice and was slowly crushed before it reached the landmass. Over 100 years later and on the opposite side of the globe in the Arctic, researchers in the massive, double-hulled icebreaker, Polarstern, are also stuck in a pack of sea ice but this time on purpose. And this ship isnt sinking any time soon.

Polarstern is the operational center for the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, or MOSAiC. The first expedition of its kind, MOSAiC is an international mission exploring the Arctic climate system year-round, with more than 100 scientists and crew members from 20 nations living aboard the research vessel.

Intentionally trapping itself in the sea ice, Polarstern drifts with the floe, which is a large pack of floating sea ice. Researchers set up little cities on the ice where they take measurements using delicate instruments. While it appears that the sea ice they walk on to reach these camps is stationary, everything is actually slowly drifting as wind and ocean currents push the gigantic slabs of ice.

MOSAiC is a multidisciplinary expedition, as researchers from a variety of fields including marine biology, meteorology, and oceanography collaboratively study Arctic changes.

Its more of a process study, explained Steven Fons, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland and NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, who studied sea ice from March to May of this year. The idea, then, is once everybody collects this data, we can compile everything and learn about the sea ice in the ocean, and the atmosphere and the ecology.

Sea ice is an integral part of the Arctic climate system because it sits directly between the ocean and the atmosphere, moderating the exchange of heat and moisture. An important climate indicator, sea ice research identifies changes in other Arctic climate systems, including the ocean, atmosphere, ecology, and biogeochemical cycles. Basically, studying sea ice can give greater insight into how the entire Arctic is reacting to climate change.

For a small group of MOSAiC researchers, every Monday was a 14-hour workday spent at Dark Sites, named so because they are isolated from the bright lights of Polarstern. After traveling over a mile on snow machine, the team used hollow drills to remove cylindric cores from the sea ice floe. In the labs aboard Polarstern, these samples revealed the fascinating characteristics of sea ice.

As ice forms, it will eject the salt away as its freezing, said Fons. The longer it stays around, the more salt essentially drains out of it. Basically, high salt levels tell researchers that this particular ice formed in the most recent winter. This can reveal how the Arctic adjusts to higher temperatures, as the region is warming at a rate more than twice the global average.

In the Arctic, wind chill can reach frigid temperatures as low as minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Working in the cold without hand protection was impossible, so Fons wore thin gloves underneath his bulky mittens, which he removed when handling small objects. Even so, frequent warming breaks were necessary, which meant simple, one-minute tasks could take 10 times longer in Arctic conditions.

Some of the really cold days, you can only last 30 seconds at a time taking off your big mittens, he recounted. You just have to put five zip ties on this cable, perfect. It should take one minute to do, but it would take 20 minutes because you have to keep warming your hands and [the zip ties] keep breaking in the cold.

Native to Wisconsin, Fons is no stranger to subzero winters. Nonetheless, during this expedition he witnessed temperatures unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Icy winds bit into any exposed skin. His only relief: a thick, bushy beard and about ten layers of clothing.

In an ever-changing environment, researchers locations can be difficult to determine on the ice cover, which can literally shift beneath their feet. For MOSAiC, every measurement is paired with a GPS coordinate. However, the ice drifts, and so the latitude and longitude change every day. Instead, the immense icebreaker Polarstern is used as a point of reference, a sort of ground zero for field navigation.

Youre given a position away from the ship, so a certain distance of x and y, and that will theoretically never change, Fons explained. But even this system has its obstacles. If the ice broke up and the ship moves a little bit, then you can lose your x-y positions, so it didnt always work.

Helicopters and planes accompany Polarstern, getting a birds-eye view of the stark white landscape. Flying high above the floe, planes take airborne measurements in a similar way to Operation IceBridge. Fons does research using data from NASAs ICESat-2 the satellite that surveys glaciers and sea ice around the globe and he was lucky enough to validate some of the satellites measurements while researching with MOSAiC.

On the ship, since were constantly drifting with the ice, we dont exactly know where were going to be on any given day, he said. We got lucky that we happened to be drifting one day over a spot that ICESat-2 was going to fly over. We were able to jump on that opportunity and schedule a helicopter flight.

Seasonal changes near the poles are unlike anywhere else on Earth. Summer and winter are really the only seasons these regions experience, characterized by a dramatic transition between complete darkness during winter days to total sunlight during the summer. Ten days after reaching Polarstern, Fons witnessed his first Arctic sunrise. As summer came, the Sun sailed over the horizon for longer and longer each day until it refused to set, resulting in the phenomenon of the midnight sun.

Ice dynamics, or the movement of ice slabs in the floe that changes the terrain, were a trademark of Fons three months on Polarstern. Sometimes, the researchers would wake up to massive leads, or ice fractures, blocking their usual routes. Other days, research tents would be buried in ice piles from leads that closed to form towering ridges. Sea ice dynamics had a wide appeal for study among MOSAiC teams. Below the floe, marine biologists and ecologists studied microorganisms. Within the ice itself, sea ice researchers examined crystallization patterns.

With MOSAiC, what people are able to do is look at the ice at so many different scales and through many different lenses, Fons summarized.

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An Active Arctic: Where Sea Ice Meets the Midnight Sun NASA Earth Expeditions - NASA

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Spacecraft Launched by NASA, ESA Sends Back the Closest-ever Images of the Sun - WFSB