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Over billions of years, a relentless flow of particles from the Sun—the solar wind—has slowly stripped away the Martian atmosphere, causing surface water to evaporate. How did this happen?
NASA's new ESCAPADE mission aims to find out. Launching no earlier than Oct. 13, 2024, the Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission will be studying Mars' real-time response to the solar wind, helping us better understand Mars' climate history.
The mission is set to launch no earlier than late 2024 on Blue Origin's inaugural New Glenn rocket flight. It will take ESCAPADE about 11 months to arrive at Mars after leaving Earth’s orbit.
The ESCAPADE mission is managed by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, with key partners Rocket Lab, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Advanced Space LLC, and Blue Origin.
Chinese Scientists Uncover Method to Extract Abundant Water from Lunar Soil
In a great step forward for space research, Chinese scientists have unveiled pioneering methods to extract ample water from lunar soil following an analysis of samples retrieved by the country's Chang'e-5 mission, marking a major breakthrough. This could revolutionize future Moon missions and advance plans for a potential lunar station.
Researchers at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences have formulated an innovative approach that would be capable of yielding up to 76 kilograms of water from around one ton of lunar soil, setting the stage for the establishment of future lunar research stations.
Their remarkable achievement was unveiled in the prestigious internationally peer-reviewed academic journal Innovations on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024:
"Massive Water Production from Lunar Ilmenite through Reaction with Endogenous Hydrogen"
"As we heated the titanium iron ore in lunar soil, anticipating the release of helium, we were instead astonished by the bubbles filling the screen," said Chen Xiao, one of the researchers.
Delving deeper, researchers discovered that lunar soil minerals, enriched over billions of years by solar wind exposure, harbor substantial hydrogen reserves. When subjected to high temperatures, hydrogen interacts with iron oxides within the minerals, yielding elemental iron and copious amounts of water. The lunar soil liquefies at temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius, liberating water vapor produced during this transformative reaction.
Extensive analyses by the research team prove that this innovative water extraction method can generate approximately 51 to 76 milligrams of water from a single gram of lunar soil. By extrapolation, a ton of lunar soil can yield around 51 to 76 kilograms of water—equivalent to over 100 bottles of 500 milliliters each—capable of satisfying the daily hydration needs of 50 individuals.
While earlier investigations focused on identifying traces of water within lunar soil minerals, the scarcity of water content posed challenges for its extraction and application on the lunar surface. Consequently, experts say the exploration of novel lunar water resources and extraction methodologies will undoubtedly steer the course of future lunar exploration endeavors.
"This is a completely new method of water production. The naturally occurring water on the moon is typically between 0.0001 percent and 0.02 percent, making extraction incredibly difficult. Through this method, the water content we obtain can exceed 5 percent of the lunar soil weight, at least 250 times more than the natural water content. In the future, if we conduct research on the moon, we can utilize this method to meet the fundamental needs of human survival," said Wang Junqiang, another researcher at the Ningbo institute.
The work was completed thanks to the samples brought back by the Chang'e-5 probe, which returned to Earth in December 2020 after retrieving a total of 1,731 grams of primarily rocks and soil from the lunar surface.
This June, China's historic Chang'e-6 probe returned 1,935 grams of samples from the far side of the moon—a first for mankind—marking another milestone in the country's space exploration endeavors.
China has announced plans to realize a manned lunar landing by 2030 to carry out lunar scientific exploration and related technological experiments.
Utilizing in-situ resources on the Moon will lay a foundation for establishing a long-term lunar station. China aims to build the basic model of an international lunar research station by 2035.
Chang'e-5 Moon Landing Site: Mons Rümker, region of Oceanus Procellarum—a vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Moon.
The Chang'e-5 lunar sample return mission was the first of its kind since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. This successful mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV) Video News Agency
Even with the storm hundreds of miles offshore, Hurricane Ernesto was still being felt Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, along much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, with dangerous rip currents forcing public beaches to close during one of the final busy weekends of the summer season.
Hurricane specialist Philippe Papin from the National Hurricane Center said Ernesto was a “pretty large” hurricane with a “large footprint of seas and waves” affecting the central Florida Atlantic coastline all the way north to Long Island in New York, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 230 miles from the storm’s center.
Credits: NOAA, NASA, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
Crewmembers Train in Russia for International Space Station Mission | NASA
At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, the prime crew for the Soyuz MS-26 launch to the International Space Station, NASA’s Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, and their backups, NASA’s Jonny Kim, Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritskiy, conducted qualification training Aug. 20 and 21 for their upcoming trip to the orbital outpost. Pettit, Ovchinin and Vagner are scheduled to launch on Sept. 11, 2024, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a planned six-month mission to the complex.
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
A Milky Way 'Twin': Galaxy NGC 6744 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope
Behold NGC 6744, a spiral galaxy bearing similarities to our home galaxy, the Milky Way. This cosmic twin is captured here in stunning detail by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the U.S. National Science Foundation Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab in Chile.
Located around 30 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo, NGC 6744 exhibits a luminous core and spiral arms spanning 175,000 light-years across, a larger but similar anatomy to our Milky Way. Moreover, to the lower right of NGC 6744, at the end of the spiral arm, is a faint blob. This is its companion galaxy known as NGC 6744A. The companionship between these galaxies is analogous to that between the Milky Way and its dwarf companion the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Though it is impossible to get an external view of our galaxy, these similarities offer insight into how the Milky Way might look to a distant observer.
This is one of the deepest images of NGC 6744 ever taken, and keen observers can spy the faint extended arm on the left hand side of the galaxy—rarely visible in most images.
This image is part of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, an ambitious effort to construct the largest 3D map of the night sky with the U.S. Department of Energy-built DECam on the Blanco Telescope at NSF CTIO and other Programs of NSF NOIRLab.
The 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope was commissioned in 1974. It is a near twin of the Mayall 4-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. In 1995 it was dedicated and named in honor of Puerto Rican astronomer Víctor Manuel Blanco. It is also part of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), a visible and near-infrared survey that aims to probe the dynamics of the expansion of the Universe.
Europe's Jupiter Probe: Earth & Moon Flyby Views | ESA
Moon & Earth flyby: This image was taken by JUICE monitoring camera 1 (JMC1) just at 02:53 CEST on August 21, 2024, as JUICE was heading towards its closest approach to Earth.
Lunar flyby: This image was taken by JUICE monitoring camera 1 (JMC1) at 23:25 CEST on August 19, 2024, soon after JUICE made its closest approach to the Moon. This successful flyby of the Moon slightly redirected JUICE’s path through space to put it on course for a flyby of Earth on August 20, 2024.
The image shows some sign of real color differences in the large-scale features on the lunar surface.
Lunar flyby: This image was taken by JUICE monitoring camera 2 (JMC2) at 23:15 CEST on August 19, 2024, soon after JUICE made its closest approach to the Moon. This successful flyby of the Moon slightly redirected Juice’s path through space to put it on course for a flyby of Earth on August 20, 2024.
Earth flyby: This image was taken by JUICE monitoring camera 1 (JMC1) just at 00:09 CEST on August 21, 2024, as JUICE was heading towards its closest approach to Earth. This successful flyby of Earth redirected JUICE’s path through space to put it on course for a flyby of Venus in August 2025.
Earth flyby: This image was taken by JUICE monitoring camera 1 (JMC1) just at 23:48 CEST on August 20, 2024, as JUICE was heading towards its closest approach to Earth. This successful flyby of Earth redirected Juice’s path through space to put it on course for a flyby of Venus in August 2025.
This spacecraft ‘braking’ maneuver will take JUICE on a shortcut to Jupiter via Venus.
JUICE includes 10 dedicated scientific instruments, a radiation monitor (RADEM) and the Planetary Radio Interferometer & Doppler Experiment (PRIDE).
The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) returned to the Earth-Moon system on August 19–20, 2024, to complete the world's first Lunar-Earth gravity assist. Flight controllers will guide the spacecraft past the Moon and then Earth itself, ‘braking’ the spacecraft. This maneuver may seem counterintuitive but it will allow JUICE to take a shortcut via Venus on its way to Jupiter in August 2025.
JUICE has already traveled more than a billion km to the giant planet. However, it still has a long way to go although Jupiter is on average ‘just’ 800 million km away from Earth.
JUICE launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou in April 2023. It has an eight-year cruise with flybys of Earth and Venus to slingshot it to Jupiter. It will make 35 flybys of the three large moons while orbiting Jupiter, before changing orbits to Ganymede.
JUICE is a mission under European Space Agency leadership with contributions from NASA, JAXA and the Israel Space Agency. It is the first Large-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision program.
The JUICE monitoring cameras were designed to monitor the spacecraft’s various booms and antennas, especially during the challenging deployment period following launch.
They were not designed to carry out science or image the Moon and Earth. A scientific camera called JANUS is providing high-resolution imagery during the cruise phase flybys of Earth, Moon and Venus, and of Jupiter and its icy moons once in the Jupiter system in 2031.
JMC1 is located on the front of the spacecraft and looks diagonally up into a field of view that sees deployed antennas, and depending on their orientation, part of one of the solar arrays.
NASA's Space to Ground: The Scientist | Week of Aug. 23, 2024
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. A Russian cargo spacecraft arrived at the aft port of the orbiting laboratory’s Zvezda Service module at 1:53 a.m. EDT, Saturday, Aug. 17. It delivered about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station. The Roscosmos spacecraft will remain docked for approximately six months before departing for a re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.
Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)
NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
SpaceX Dragons for Polaris Dawn & NASA's Crew-9 | Kennedy Space Center
SpaceX Crew Dragon (modified) for Polaris Dawn Mission
SpaceX Crew Dragons for Polaris Dawn (left) and NASA's Crew-9 Missions
SpaceX Crew Dragons for Polaris Dawn (left) and NASA's Crew-9 Missions
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, August 27 at 3:38 a.m. ET for Falcon 9’s launch of Polaris Dawn to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There are two additional launch opportunities within the four-hour window at 5:23 a.m. ET and 7:09 a.m. ET. If needed, backup opportunities are available on Wednesday, August 28 at the same times.
The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew Crew-1 to and from the International Space Station, and Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit. This will be the fourth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission. It previously launched Crew-8 and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Polaris Dawn Mission Objectives
During their multi-day mission to orbit, Dragon and the crew will endeavor to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown since the Apollo program and participate in the first-ever extravehicular activity (EVA) by commercial astronauts wearing SpaceX-developed EVA suits. They will also conduct 36 research studies and experiments from 31 partners designed to advance both human health on Earth and during long-duration spaceflight, and test Starlink laser-based communications in space.
The third quarter moon rises just above Earth's blue horizon as the International Space Station orbited 258 miles above the Red Sea.
The Full Moon pictured above Earth's horizon as the International Space Station soared 262 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Africa northwest of Cape Town.
The Full Moon pictured above Earth's horizon as the International Space Station soared 262 miles above the Indian Ocean south of the African island nation of Madagascar.
The First Quarter Moon is pictured above Earth's horizon from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above the English Channel in between France and England.
A waning crescent moon hangs in the deep black of space as the International Space Station orbited 270 miles above the South Pacific Ocean.
A waxing gibbous moon rises over the Indian Ocean as the International Space Station orbited 266 miles above.
Artemis Logo
Artemis Logo Explanation
Learn about NASA's Artemis Moon Exploration Program:
Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)
NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Un invernadero en el espacio: 16 de agosto 2024
Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional.
Un algodón de azúcar cósmico visto desde Chile | Gemini Sur
Cosmoview Episodio 72: Gemini Sur, la mitad austral del Observatorio Internacional Gemini que opera NOIRLab de NSF y AURA, capturó las consecuencias de una colisión de galaxias espirales que tuvo lugar hace mil millones de años. En el corazón de esta caótica interacción, atrapados en medio del caos, hay un par de agujeros negros supermasivos, que corresponden a los más cercanos registrados desde la Tierra.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/National Science Foundation (NSF)/AURA
Image and Videos: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Pollard
Cosmic ‘Cotton Candy’: Galaxy NGC 7727 | Gemini South Telescope
Cosmoview Episode 72: Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, captured the billion-year-old aftermath of a double spiral galaxy collision. At the heart of this chaotic interaction, entwined and caught in the midst of the chaos, is a pair of supermassive black holes—the closest such pair ever recorded from Earth.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image and Videos: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Pollard
The Tangled Spiral Arms of Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727 | Gemini South Telescope
Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, captured the billion-year-old aftermath of a double spiral galaxy collision. At the heart of this chaotic interaction, entwined and caught in the midst of the chaos, is a pair of supermassive black holes—the closest such pair ever recorded from Earth.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA
Acknowledgment: PI: C. Onken (Australian National University)
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)
Polaris Dawn Crew Prepares for SpaceX Launch & First Commercial Spacewalk
The Polaris Program is a planned human spaceflight program organized by businessman and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman. Isaacman, who commanded the first all-civilian spaceflight— Inspiration4—in September 2021, purchased flights from SpaceX in order to create the Polaris Program.
The Polaris Dawn crew is preparing for the mission’s"first commercial spacewalk". This extravehicular activity (EVA) will be the final test for SpaceX’s newly-developed EVA spacesuit. Launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft is expected no earlier than Aug. 27, 2024.
This Dragon mission will fly higher than any mission to date, endeavoring to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown at approximately 700 kilometers above the Earth. Orbiting through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt, Polaris Dawn will conduct research with the aim of better understanding the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health.
"Completing the first commercial extravehicular activity in low-Earth orbit is an important first step towards a future where millions of humans are visiting, working, and living on the Moon, Mars, and other destinations in our solar system."
The goals of the spacesuit tests are:
1. Familiarization with how the spacesuit performs in a vacuum
2. Collection of spacesuit and biometric data to assess the overall system’s performance in a flight-like environment
3. Understanding of general impacts of pressure changes on their body during pressurized operations
4. Insight into thermal states expected throughout the spacewalk
5. An elevated metabolic period for the crew to simulate the expected workload during the spacewalk, as well as a reduced-activity period to understand the trend of body temperatures throughout the operation
Polaris Dawn’s spacewalk will be the first time that four astronauts will be concurrently exposed to the vacuum of space. During the approximately two-hour-long operation, Mission Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis will separately exit the Dragon spacecraft through its forward hatch. Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet and Mission Specialist & Medical Officer Anna Menon will remain seated, managing spacesuit umbilicals and monitoring telemetry on Dragon’s interior displays.
Perseid Meteors over China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
The Perseid meteor shower peaks in mid-August. It is considered the best meteor shower of the year. With swift and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long "wakes" of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth's atmosphere. The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers with about 50 to 100 meteors seen per hour. They occur with warm summer nighttime weather allowing sky watchers to view them comfortably.
Perseids are also known for their fireballs. Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak. This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material. Fireballs are also brighter, with apparent magnitudes greater than -3.
Note: The border of Inner Mongolia (population: 24 million) includes two-thirds of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia (population: 3.5 million).
This is part of the Scorpius constellation centered on star formation region NGC 6357, nicknamed The Lobster Nebula. It has star cluster Pismis 24 in its center. This image is a color composite taken by the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), the field of view is 3.8x3.3 degrees.
Image Credit: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble), the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator & Digitized Sky Survey 2
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