The Earth and Space Station can be seen from the Soyuz TMA-16M’s point of view. The ‘parking spot’ move was necessary to make way for a new crew arriving the following week. Astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka were at the helm of the spacecraft during the flight on Aug. 28th, 2015.
Credit: ROSCOSMOS/NASA/mash mix: Space.com
A new view of the Prawn Nebula shows “cosmic recycling” at work: Glowing clusters of newborn stars illuminate surrounding gas, expelled from an earlier stellar generation, which will eventually form into even newer stars.
The 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Obsevatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile snapped a choice section of the reddish nebula studded by young blue stars in a newly released image. The nebula, also called Gum 56 and IC 4628, is hard to see with the naked eye although it’s around 250 light-years across — it is very faint, and mostly emits light at wavelengths not visible to humans.
That invisibility conceals a lot of action, as new stars form from the stellar nursery of the nebula’s gas and debris: “The material forming these new stars includes the remains of the most massive stars from an older generation that have already ended their lives and ejected their material in violent supernova explosions,” ESO officials said in a statement. “Thus the cycle of stellar life and death continues.” When the dust and gas grows dense enough, a portion will collapse down into the beginnings of a star. [Video: See How Cosmic Recycling Seeds the Prawn Nebula]
Large clouds of charged hydrogen gas provide the red glow to the nebula. As ultraviolet energy is emitted from the young stars, it hits the nearby hydrogen and excites it, prompting the release of light with hydrogen’s distinct reddish tinge.
The source of most of that radiation is a pair of rare, extremely bright blue giant stars (out of view in this photo). The huge, powerful stars have short life spans — only a million years or so before exploding into a supernova — and they generally appear in areas with rapid star growth.
Despite the rare stars, the area has not been carefully explored (besides in an extremely detailed 2013 image): “Given the two very unusual blue giants in this area and the prominence of the nebula at infrared and radio wavelengths, it is perhaps surprising that this region has been comparatively little studied as yet by professional astronomers,” ESO officials said in the statement.
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com
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| This artist’s concept shows Kepler-62f, an exoplanet in the habitable zone of its host star, which is located about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. Researchers think Kepler-62f may be a “water world.” Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech |
The bright glint of alien oceans may be visible from afar, allowing astronomers to flag potentially habitable exoplanets.
As Earth travels around the sun, it moves through phases much like the moon when seen from afar. The planet’s oceans reflect a great deal of light, especially during the crescent phase. The same principle should apply to exoplanets, researchers say.
“Seeing excessive brightness at the crescent phases could be a telltale signal of ocean planets,” Tyler Robinson, of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, said at the Astrobiology Science Conference in Chicago in June. [10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life]
Although a host of satellites monitor Earth, few eye the planet as a whole. As a result, many exoplanet scientists turn to models to understand how Earth might appear if it were a distant alien world. However, the accuracy of these models can be difficult to gauge without observations to verify them.
Scientists have made a few attempts to address this issue. In 1993, for example, Carl Sagan and other researchers used observations made by NASA’s Jupiter-studying Galileo spacecraft during a 1990 flyby of Earth to search for signs of life on our planet.
And in 2009, NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite(LCROSS) moon mission observed Earth at several phases, including near-full and crescent, in order to calibrate its instruments. Robinson and his colleagues analyzed these data, and found that the near-infrared and ultraviolet/visible light observations provided an approximation of how Earth might appear through extreme phases across various spectrums. Their study was published in 2014 in The Astrophysical Journal.
“LCROSS looked at Earth for calibration, but its measurements were good for science,” Robinson said.
The results showed that, although less of Earth’s surface was visible during its crescent phase, the brightness of the planet increased due to the light reflecting off its oceans. In visible light, the glint increased the planet’s brightness by as much as 40 percent; in the near-infrared, Earth shone nearly 80 percent more brightly, Robinson said.
Robinson was also a co-author on a different paper that examined similar, though less detailed, observations of Earth using NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft (which performed up-close examinations of two different comets, in 2005 and 2010).
The observations performed by LCROSS — the first high-spectral-resolution observations of Earth in its crescent phases — lined up well with predictions based on existing models, Robinson said.
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However, similar results gained from observations of an exoplanet would not automatically be signs of an ocean, he cautioned; clouds and ice could also affect the brightness of a planet. Follow-up studies of the exoplanet’s atmospherecould reveal more about the world’s potential habitability.
Still, an apparent glint from an exoplanet ocean would be an exciting find, Robinson said.
“We conclude that the detection of such a feature would be intriguing, and would certainly indicate that a more detailed observational follow-up of the planet was warranted,” he and his colleagues wrote in their 2014 LCROSS paper.
Follow Nola Taylor Redd on Twitter @NolaTRedd Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
The MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile was used to deliver a new stunning view of the nebula (also known as Gum 56). For over millions of years, stars have been born from the gas of the nebula and in turn they have re-seeded the area through the course of the their lives and deaths. (Full Story)
Credit: ESO/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)
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| An unmanned Atlas V rocket carrying the U.S. Navy’s Mobile User Objective System 4 satellite (MUOS-4) launches into space from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a pre-dawn liftoff on Sept. 2, 2015. Credit: United Launch Alliance |
The United States Navy launched an advanced new tactical communications satellite into orbit today (Sept. 2) to join a growing network designed to aid U.S. military forces stationed around the world.
An unmanned Atlas V rocket carrying the Navy’s fourth Mobile User Objective System satellite, or MUOS-4, lit up the pre-dawn sky in a dazzling display as it lifted off from a launchpad at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:18 a.m. EDT (1018 GMT). It will eventually assume a geosynchronous orbit above Earth. The mission, which was overseen by the U.S. launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) was originally scheduled for Aug. 31, but delayed due to bad weather.
The satellite is the fourth installment in the MUOS communications system, which is “designed to significantly improve ground communications for U.S. forces on the move,” according to a statement from Lockheed Martin, is building a total of five MUOS satellites for the U.S. military.
The first two MUOS satellites launched in 2012 and 2013. The third MUOS satellite launched in January and is still undergoing testing before it becomes fully operational.
“The MUOS works like a smartphone network in space, vastly improving secure satellite communications for mobile U.S. forces,” Navy Commander Paul Benishek said in a ULA webcast just after liftoff.
MUOS is particularly helpful for troops in remote locations, because these soldiers can transmit and receive high-quality communications when the satellites are beyond the line of sight. All U.S. military services will be able to use the MUOS system, the statement said.
“MUOS provides satellite communications in the narrowband spectrum,” Navy officials said in a statement. “Although narrowband communication is less than 2 percent of total Department of Defense [DoD] bandwidth, it represents more than 50 percent of all DoD satellite communication users. In addition to ad-hoc situations such as disaster response, narrowband represents the majority of communications for SEAL teams.”
This is the 56th launch of an Atlas V rocket by ULA since the rocket’s debut in 2002. It is the sixth launch of an Atlas V rocket in the 551 configuration, which refers to the size of the payload capsule (5.4 meters or 17.7 feet wide), the number of solid rocket boosters (five) and the number of engines (one).
The next MUOS satellite, MUOS-5, is expected to launch in 2016.
Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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On Sept. 1 (Tue.) and 2 (Wed.), the ion engine of the Hayabusa2 was additionally operated in order to increase the orbit control accuracy for the Earth swing-by. |
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JAXA is holding a naming proposal campaign to christen the asteroid “1999 JU3″,which the Hayabusa2 is scheduled to visit in June or July 2018. Why don’t you try to become a godparent of the asteroid? August 31, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. (Japan Standard Time). (Extended from 10:00) |
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The Hayabusa2 has been continuously operating its ion engine for the second time since June 2, and successfully completed its operations at 0:25 a.m. on June 7 (Japan Standard Time.) The second continuous operation lasted for 102 hours as scheduled. |
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The Hayabusa2 is stably flying in space. The new fiscal year has just started in Japan, and JAXA is taking a new step as we became a National Research and Development Agency from the previous independent administrative agency. The Hayabusa2 project is also taking a fresh step with a new team, including handing the baton over to a new project manager. All members of the project are engaged in the mission with a fresh mindset. Message from New Project Manager Yuichi TsudaThe Hayabusa2 is stably flying since its launch and smoothly continuing it interplanetary cruising. I can, therefore, take over the mission at the best condition from my predecessor, former Project Manager Hitoshi Kuninaka, who led the development of the project. With many operation experts joining the new team, we would like to successfully send the Hayabusa2 to the asteroid 1999JU3, and have it come home safely. Message from Former Project Manager Hitoshi KuninakaAs the development phase is over, Hayabusa2’s deep space exploration has started. Photo: left: New Project Manager Yuichi Tsuda, right: Former Project Manager Hitoshi Kuninaka |
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The Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2,” launched on Dec. 3, 2014, completed its initial functional confirmation period of about three months. The explorer was moving to the cruising phase on March 3 while heading to the asteroid “1999 JU3.” |
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The Hayabusa2, launched on Dec. 3, 2014 (JST), is now undergoing the initial functional confirmation. Basic operations and performance of onboard instruments and ground systems have been tested one by one as of the end of January.
The explorer is currently in good shape. *1 The autonomous operation is automatic control of an engine without instructions from the ground. |
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JAXA confirmed the completion of a sequence of the important operations for the “Hayabusa2” mission. With this confirmation, the critical operation phase* of the Hayabusa2 was completed. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all parties and personnel concerned for their support and cooperation with the Hayabusa2 launch and tracking control operations. Please send your support messages for the mission! (you can send a message from Hayabusa2 Project page or tweet with hashtag #hayabusa2). |
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H-IIA F26 with the Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” onboard launched at 1:22:04 p.m. on Dec 3, 2014 (JST) from the Tanegashima Space Center. |
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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and JAXA have decided to postpone the launch of “Hayabusa2” and piggyback payloads by the H-IIA F26 to 1:22:04 p.m. on Dec 3 (Wed. JST). The live launch report will begin at 12:25 p.m. on December 3 (Mon. , JST). The report will be broadcast through the Internet. We decided to postpone as a result of the go/no go decision meeting today which carefully checked the weather forecast and found that strong wind exceeding the weather restrictions was projected around the launch pad at the scheduled launch time on the previous schedule launch day of Dec. 1 (Mon.), 2014. |
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The launch of the Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” and three micro piggyback payloads by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 26 was rescheduled at 1:22:43 p.m. on December 1 (Mon. Japan Standard Time, JST) after carefully studying the weather conditions. |
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H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.26 with the Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” onboard has been rescheduled as clouds including a freezing layer that exceeds the restrictions for suitable weather are forecast to be generated at around the scheduled launch time on November 30 (Sun.), 2014 (Japan Standard Time.) |
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The new video clip titled “Ready to Face New Challenges -Hayabusa2- ” was uploaded to the YouTube. |
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JAXA will broadcast a live report of the Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2’s launch by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.26 (H-IIA F26) from the Tanegashima Space Center. The report will cover launch events from the liftoff to the payload separation from the launch vehicle. Program summaryThe broadcast program consists of two parts. The first half mainly focuses on launch events prior to and after liftoff. Then the latter half covers events before and after the Hayabusa2’s separation from the launch vehicle. *Please be aware that the time schedule of the program is subject to change due to progress of the launch operations. Program contentsPart I
*The scheduled launch time is 1:24 p.m. Part I broadcast day and time
* Images of piggyback payloads’ separation will NOT be broadcast. Part II broadcast day and time Internet live broadcastJAXA will distribute our live report through the following Internet channels. * The copyright of the live broadcast belongs to JAXA. We are welcoming support messages at the special site. Please send your messages for the mission, or tweet it. To tweet on Twitter, please attach the hashtag, #hayabusa2. |
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The launch date and time for the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 26 (H-IIA F26) with the Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” onboard was decided to be at 1:24:48 p.m. on November 30 (Sunday), 2014 (Japan Standard Time)*. The latest information about “Hayabusa2” and its launch preparation status will be updated on the “Hayabusa2” project page. |
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The Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” was shown to the media at Sagamihara Campus on August 31, 2014. The Hayabusa2 is the successor of the Hayabusa, which captured sample particles from an asteroid and returned to the Earth in 2010. By capitalizing on the experience of the Hayabusa, the Hayabusa2 aims at acquiring samples and bringing them back from the C-type asteroid “1999JU3” to elucidate the origin and evolution of the solar system and material for life. “I am bracing for the new voyage of the Hayabusa2.” said Project Manager Kuninaka. |
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Hayabusa2’s Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) underwent a test in October, 2013. Hayabusa2 SCI test [JAXA Digital Archives] |
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JAXA has been conducting a campaign to attach names and messages of Hayabusa2 mission supporters from all over the world to the space probe! We would love to share this superb moment and feeling of achievement with you through this campaign. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all of you who joined the campaign since it began on April 10 till today. Also we appreciate your cooperation for registering or sending your names and messages on time. Thank you very much. As we read the support messages for the Hayabusa2, we strongly felt that we would like to support this mission by being united with more of you. We are looking forward to hearing from more of you as an individual and/or as a community such as a family, a school or a company, and/or with your friends! With the Hayabusa2 |
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All processes of the Hayabusa2’s first integration test since January this year were completed on June 7. The test aimed at installing all onboard devices onto the satellite structure and confirming interfaces among them. During the mass property measurement, the last process of the integration test, the “Hayabusa2” exposed its full shape for the first time with all devices for the test installed. |
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JAXA is holding a campaign to record your names, messages and illustrations onboard the asteroid probe Hayabusa2. |
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On Dec. 26, the Hayabusa2 was revealed at the Sagamihara Campus. As its design was completed this spring, the Hayabusa2 will soon undergo the first integration test to confirm the interfaces among onboard devices as well as between the devices and the explorer’s bus after assembling them onto the bus. Also, the flight models of the Hayabusa2’s main body and solar array paddles have already been manufactured, thus those models will be verified through a vibration test. In addition, the exposed environment for the onboard devices will also be measured. JAXA is developing the Hayabusa2 to be ready for its launch in FY2014. |
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Technology image of the week: ESA’s head of telerobotics introducing the rover Andreas Mogensen will soon be operating from orbit
Earth Observation Research Center (EORC) of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released a new webpage “JAXA Himawari Monitor” showing the color images and the quicklook images of the geophysical data from the geostationary satellite of Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Himawari-8.
JAXA and JMA has exchanged the agreement on the distribution and the release of meteorological data and under this agreement, EORC has released the data from Himawari-8 to research communities and has been creating the geophysical data that are consistent with the JAXA’s earth observation satellites in order to release them widely to general public. Other than releasing the images in JAXA Himawari Monitor, EORC also stated to distribute via FTP the Himawari Standard Data and the geophysical data produced by JAXA.
The Himawari Standard Data includes the visible to infrared radiances (Band 1 to 16) for three regions of Full Disk (global), Japan Area and Target Area. The observation data can be achieved every 10 minutes for Full Disk and every 2.5 minutes for Japan Area and Target Area. Using the observation bands that enable the world’s first “color image” from geostationary satellite, one of the advanced aspects of Himawari-8, JAXA Himawari Monitor shows the visible RGB composite images (Figure 1).
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| Figure 1. An example of visible RGB image in JAXA Himawari Monitor |
In addition, for the Himawari geophysical data, JAXA produces the properties of atmospheric particles (called aerosols) such as desert dusts and PM2.5 and the sea surface temperature. Both applied the algorithm developed for the JAXA’s earth observation satellites, including the Global Change Observation Mission – Climate (GCOM-C) satellite, in order to produce, in the future, the dataset that are consistent between the satellites and can compensate each other’s observations.
The aerosol property product (Figure 2) is being produced every 10 minutes in the daytime with the spatial resolution of 5km. Current product is a beta version and will increase the quality through the ground validation.
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| Figure 2. An example the atmospheric particle property (aerosol optical depth) in JAXA Himawari Monitor |
There are two kinds of sea surface temperature products: an ordinary product and a nighttime product. The ordinary sea surface temperature product (Figure 3) is a dataset produced every 10 minutes, regardless of day or night, with the spatial resolution of 2km. In order to reduce the missing area by clouds, hourly averaged products are also created. The nighttime sea surface temperature uses Band 7 (3.9 µm wavelength) and, although it can only be retrieved at nighttime, its advantage is in its high accuracy. The dataset of nighttime sea surface temperature is hourly averaged product with the spatial resolution of 2km.
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| Figure 3. An example of sea surface temperature in JAXA Himawari Monitor |
| Satellite: | Himawari-8(JMA) |
| Sensor: | Advanced Himawari Imager:AHI(JMA) |
| Date: | 06:00UTC on Aug. 31, 2015(Fig.1 , Fig.3) 03:30UTC on Sep. 1, 2015(fig.2) |
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Watch the full replay of Soyuz TMA-18M launch to the International Space Station with ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov were launched into space this morning 2 September at 04:37:43 GMT (06:37:43 CEST) from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
Three new crewmembers launched toward the International Space Station early Wednesday morning, embarking on a mission that will boost the orbiting lab’s population to a level not seen in nearly two years.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency and Kazakhstan’s Aidyn Aimbetov blasted off atop a Soyuz rocket Wednesday (Sept. 2) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:37 a.m. EDT (0437 GMT). It was 10:37 a.m. local time in Baikonur at launch time. You can see a video of the flawless Soyuz launch here.
“We’re doing great,” Volkov radioed down to Mission Control in Russia after the successful liftoff. “Everything is in order on board.”
If all goes according to plan, the trio will reach the station on Friday morning (Sept. 4). The arrival will bring the number of crewmembers aboard the $100 billion orbiting complex to nine, a number last reached in November 2013, NASA officials said.
But the abnormally dense population won’t last long. Mogensen and Aimbetov will return to Earth on Sept. 12 along with cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who has been living on the International Space Station (ISS) since March.
After that departure, six crewmembers will remain — Volkov and fellow cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Mikhail Kornienko, Japanese spaceflyer Kimiya Yui and NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren.
Kelly and Kornienko are about halfway through the first-ever yearlong mission aboard the space station. Researchers are studying how they adapt physiologically and psychologically to long-duration spaceflight; the results should help pave the way for future human missions to Mars, NASA officials have said.
Kelly’s identical twin brother Mark, who is a former NASA astronaut, is participating in the experiment from the ground, serving as a control against which to compare the data gathered about Scott.
Most crewmembers spend 5 to 6 months aboard the orbiting lab. Mogensen and Aimbetov are flying their brief 10-day mission because Soyuz spacecraft are certified to stay in space for just six months. So Kelly and Kornienko cannot return to Earth in the Soyuz that brought them up; instead, they will come down in the vehicle that is carrying Mogensen, Aimbetov and Volkov to the station.
Aimbetov was a late addition to this “taxi flight.” His seat was supposed to be filled by English singer Sarah Brightman, who was reportedly set to pay about $50 milllion for her orbital experience. But Brightman backed out in May, citing “personal family reasons.”
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Sergey Volkov (Roscosmos), Andreas Mogensen (ESA) and Aidyn Aimbetov (Kazakh Space Agency) will join 6 others on the International Space Station (ISS) in two days after their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 2nd, 2015.
It will mark the first time since 2013 that the ISS will be inhabited by 9 people. Though it will be short lived as Mogensen and Aimbetov will join Commander Gennady Padalka on his return trip to Earth on September 11th.
Credit: NASA
Replay: ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov launched into space 2 September at 04:37 GMT (06:37 CEST) from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
