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Posted: 24 Feb 2015 02:42 PM PST
A sweeping view of the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover has been working for five months, surrounds the rover in Curiosity's latest self-portrait. The selfie scene is assembled from dozens of images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the rover's robotic arm. Pahrump Hills is an outcrop of the bedrock that forms the basal layer of Mount Sharp, at the center of Mars' Gale Crater. The mission has examined the outcrop with a campaign that included a "walkabout" survey and then increasingly detailed levels of inspection. The rover climbed from the outcrop's base to higher sections three times to create vertical profiles of the rock structures and chemistry, and to select the best targets for sample-collection drilling.
The component images for this self-portrait were taken in late January, while Curiosity was at a drilling site called "Mojave 2." At that site, the mission collected its second drilled sample of Pahrump Hills for laboratory analysis. The first sample was collected in September from a site called "Confidence Hills." Since leaving the Mojave site, Curiosity has driven to another location visible in the scene, where drilling at a site called "Telegraph Peak" is planned.
Curiosity took previous self-portraits with the MAHLI camera at three sites it explored before reaching the base of Mount Sharp.
"Compared with the earlier Curiosity selfies, we added extra frames for this one so we could see the rover in the context of the full Pahrump Hills campaign," said rover team member Kathryn Stack at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "From the Mojave site, we could include every stop we've made during the campaign."
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions.
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates MAHLI. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
Credit: NASA
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Posted: 24 Feb 2015 02:26 PM PST
ESA’s IXV spaceplane, launched on a Vega rocket on 11 February, is now on its way to Europe for detailed study in Italy. The mission of only 100 minutes was flawless and ended with a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, just west of the Galapagos islands. The Nos Aries recovery ship waited while divers in speedboats approached the floating craft and checked for residual propellant fumes. On the all-clear, the boat carefully manoeuvred closer and the recovery crane hoisted the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, IXV, to safety before the fuel tank was cleaned out for the journey home.
Nos Aries will arrive in Genoa in Italy towards the end of March. IXV, still packed inside its container, will then travel to Turin for inspection and further analysis.
IXV looks to be in great shape and shows only light scorching from the blazing plasma of reentry.
Launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, IXV separated from the rocket at an altitude of 340 km and continued up to 412 km before starting its descent back to Earth.
While reentering from this suborbital path, it recorded a vast amount of data from more than 300 advanced and conventional sensors studding the carbon-fibre panels of its underbody.
Inside the vehicle, compartments housed the avionics, parachute and actuators controlling the thrusters and flaps.
As it descended, the five-metre-long, two-tonne craft manoeuvred to decelerate from hypersonic to supersonic speed. The entry speed of 7.5 km/s at an altitude of 120 km mimicked the conditions experienced by a vehicle returning from low orbit.
IXV glided through the atmosphere before parachutes deployed to slow the descent further.
IXV’s fully controlled reentry from orbital velocity and altitude represents an important first for Europe. The information gathered from this mission will shape the design of future reusable reentry vehicles.
Credit: ESA
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Posted: 24 Feb 2015 02:05 PM PST
A groundbreaking ceremony for the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre took place today at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany. This event marked the beginning of the main construction phase of the facility. The ESO Supernova will be a magnificent showcase for astronomy for the public. It is made possible by a collaboration between the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) and ESO. The Klaus Tschira Stiftung (KTS), a German foundation that supports the natural sciences, mathematics and computer science, offered to fully fund the construction and ESO will run the facility. The striking building was designed by the architects Bernhardt + Partner.
This new facility will provide visitors with an immersive experience of astronomy and ESO’s scientific results, projects and technological breakthroughs. It will include a fulldome planetarium and more than 2000 square metres of permanent and temporary exhibitions. Further rooms housing conference facilities will also host a variety of lectures, workshops and conferences. All content will be provided in both English and German.
The groundbreaking event was opened by ESO’s Director General, Tim de Zeeuw. It was attended by representatives of HITS and KTS, invited representatives from the local authorities, members of the Garching Science Campus, a representative of the Technische Universität München, key people involved in the ESO Supernova project and members of the press. Speeches were given by the Klaus Tschira, Founder and Managing Director of the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the Mayor of Garching, Dietmar Gruchmann and the architect Manfred Bernhardt.
After the speeches, a short groundbreaking ceremony was held at the construction site of the building itself. The ESO Supernova will be finished in early 2017 and is scheduled to open to the public in the course of 2017.
The website for the new facility was also launched at the same time as the groundbreaking ceremony. It allows prospective visitors, journalists, teachers, partners and other planetariums to explore the planned activities of the ESO Supernova, including exhibition themes, educational activities, planetarium shows and guided tours. The web page also lists the opportunities available to become part of the ESO Supernova team either as a volunteer, intern or member of staff. For companies, institutes or individual donors who wish to support the ESO Supernova several types of partnership with corresponding levels of benefits are offered.
Credit: ESO
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Posted: 24 Feb 2015 01:37 PM PST
An unusual comet skimmed past the sun on Feb 18-21, 2015, as captured by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. This comet was interesting for two reasons. First it's what's called a non-group comet, meaning it's not part of any known family of comets. Most comets seen by SOHO belong to the Kreutz family – all of which broke off from a single giant comet many centuries ago. The second reason it's interesting is because the vast majority of comets that come close enough to the sun to be seen by SOHO do not survive the trip. Known as sungrazers, these comets usually evaporate in the intense sunlight. This comet made it to within 2.2 million miles of the sun's surface – but survived the trip intact.
"There's a half-decent chance that ground observers might be able to detect it in the coming weeks," said Karl Battams, a solar scientist at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. "But it's also possible that events during its trip around the sun will cause it to die fairly fast."
Since launching in 1995, SOHO has become the number one comet finder of all time -- this was comet discovery number 2,875. However, SOHO sees non-group comets like this only a few times a year.
Watch the video to see the comet fly around the sun. Toward the end of the video, as the comet begins to develop a tail, the sun releases an eruption of solar material, called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, to add something more to the scene.
Credit: NASA
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Posted: 24 Feb 2015 12:48 PM PST
Hungary signed the Accession Agreement to the ESA Convention on 24 February 2015. Upon ratification, Hungary will become the 22nd ESA Member State. The signing ceremony took place at the Palace of Arts in Budapest with the participation of Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General. For Hungary, the Agreement was signed by Ákos Kara, Minister of State for Infocommunication and Consumer Protection, Ministry of National Development, and in the presence of Fruzsina Tari, Head of the Hungarian Space Office, also from the Ministry of National Development.
Other government officials, ambassadors and representatives of several embassies of the ESA Member States and several representatives from Hungarian space sector attended the ceremony, including Előd Both, Chairman of United Nations Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the Hungarian Aerospace Technology Platform, the Hungarian Space Cluster, the Hungarian Association for Geoinformation and the Hungarian Astronautical Society.
Hungary has a long history of cooperation with ESA; it was the first central European state to sign a Cooperation Agreement with ESA in 1991. The country also became the first European Cooperating State (ECS), signing the ECS Agreement on 7 April 2003 in Budapest.
Hungary has an extended tradition in space activities and actively participated in the Interkosmos programme, sending into space the first Hungarian cosmonaut, Bertalan Farkas, on 26 May 1980. The country’s contribution to the Plan for European Cooperating States covers fields such as space science, Earth observation, life and material sciences and space technology.
Hungary has also taken part in several ESA educational activities, including ESA radar courses, student parabolic flight campaigns and the European Student Moon Orbiter project, for example. Hungary’s first satellite, MaSat-1, a cubesat-type satellite, developed and built by students at the Technical University of Budapest, was launched on the Vega rocket maiden flight in 2012.
Following the conclusion of the ratification process by the Hungarian Government and once the ratification instrument is deposited with the Government of France, Hungary will become officially the 22nd ESA Member State.
Credit: ESA
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Posted: 24 Feb 2015 12:20 PM PST
HAKUTO, the only Japanese team competing for the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, has announced a contract with fellow competitor, Astrobotic, based in Pittsburgh, Pa., to carry a pair of rovers to the moon. Astrobotic plans to launch its Google Lunar XPRIZE mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., during the second half of 2016. HAKUTO’s twin rovers, Moonraker and Tetris, will piggyback on Astrobotic's Griffin lander to reach the lunar surface. Upon touchdown, the rovers will be released simultaneously with Astrobotic’s Andy rover, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, travel 500 meters on the moon’s surface and send high-definition images and video back to Earth, all in pursuit of the $20M Google Lunar XPRIZE Grand Prize.
Last month, both teams were awarded Google Lunar XPRIZE Milestone Prizes: HAKUTO won $500,000 for technological advancements in the Mobility category, while Astrobotic, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, won a total of $1.75M for innovations in all three focus areas—Landing, Mobility and Imaging. Throughout the judging process, all three rovers, Moonraker, Tetris and Andy, demonstrated the ability to move 500 meters across the lunar surface and withstand the high radiation environment and extreme temperatures on the moon.
This partnership between the teams demonstrates a new phase of collaboration within the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition. Both sides will benefit with HAKUTO obtaining a ride to the moon and Astrobotic securing an important customer for its long-term lunar delivery service venture. This joint contribution would be reflected in a share of the prize purse.
The target area for this landing will be the Lacus Mortis region, located in the northeastern part of the moon. Images from spacecraft orbiting the moon suggest that Lacus Mortis holds a pit or a skylight, and could potentially be an entrance to a lunar cave. These caves are thought to be lava tubes and could prove scientifically important in explaining the moon's volcanic past. Longer-term, they have potential to house habitats that would protect humans from the hostile lunar environment.
Google Lunar XPRIZE and Astrobotic representatives joined HAKUTO today at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo to announce the partnership and report on the recent Google Lunar XPRIZE Milestone Prize awards.
"I am very excited to announce this rideshare contract with Astrobotic," said Takeshi Hakamada, HAKUTO team leader and CEO of ispace. "This is the next major step for HAKUTO towards our lunar mission after we won the Mobility Milestone Prize. This contract enables HAKUTO to actually send our rover to the moon, which is important because HAKUTO is only concentrating on rover development. Astrobotic Technology is developing a lander that has the capability to open up a new era of lunar transportation services, and I have no doubt that they will be the first team to land on the moon."
“Astrobotic is thrilled to welcome HAKUTO aboard our first mission,” said John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic Technology Inc. “We envision a ‘NASCAR on the Moon’ scenario, where competing teams land together, and countries can cheer on their team to the finish line. HAKUTO is the first team signed to fulfill our dream of the first race beyond Earth’s orbit.”
"We are delighted that two of our teams have engaged in this partnership for their Google Lunar XPRIZE missions," said Andrew Barton, director of technical operations, Google Lunar XPRIZE. "Stimulating new business ecosystems is one of the core goals of any XPRIZE competition, and this joint venture is an excellent example of how humanity's commercial and economic interests will expand into space in the coming years. This announcement builds on the progress seen during the recent Google Lunar XPRIZE Milestone Prize awards, and we look forward to the teams furthering this momentum with the news of a confirmed launch contract.”
This past December, the deadline for the Google Lunar XPRIZE was officially extended until December 31, 2016. This partnership between HAKUTO and Astrobotic is a positive step towards fulfilling the criteria required for all teams to move forward in the competition, which includes at least one team providing documentation of a scheduled launch by December 31, 2015.
Credit: lunar.xprize.org
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2015년 2월 25일 수요일
Astro Watch
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