New Images from esa Mars mission

Summary: Although the Schiaparelli lander was not as successful as hoped and plummeted into the surface of Mars rather than gently landing, the satellite it was released from is still working and returning new images of the surface of the planet. This Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is orbiting the planet and using it's impressive cameras to send us back images with a resolution of 2.8 metres per pixel. The camera's principal investigator, Nicolas Thomas, compared it to "flying over Bern at 15,000km/h and simultaneously getting sharp pictures of cars in Zurich."

Other sensors on board will also be investigating the atmospheric gases and looking for water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide among other chemical species. The goal is to detect possible signs of microbial life on the surface and detect the presence of hydrated minerals.

Source and images

Gaia and a new Age of Universe

Summary: The study of astronomy is an old one, but as headlines show, it is a constantly changing field. As our instruments change, we discover that the numbers we thought we knew need some readjustment. In this case, the Gaia space craft from the esa is forcing astronomers to look about the expansion rate of the universe. Again.

This is not the first time there have been some discrepancies in the estimate for the age of the universe. But Gaia is one of the most precise telescopes we have at the moment. Just recently it published precise coordinated for one billion stars. This is leaps ahead of the last survey of this type.

Gaia's estimate of the age of the universe is based upon Cepheid variable stars. These stars pulse with a very specific brightness and rate of pulsation. This makes it easier to tell how far away they are from us and to determine the age of the stars nearby. Gaia has precisely found 212 of these Cepheid stars and with these data, Professor Reiss's team calculates a Hubble constant of 73km/Mpc. This is about the same as they calculated with Hubble data. But it is not the same number found in most textbooks as the accepted value. And it is not due to outdated textbooks. It is because of the methods used to solve for the Hubble constant. The Planck mission gives a much lower value of 66.9km/Mpc.

Why is there such a discrepancy? We aren't entirely sure, but we can probably place a lot of the blame on dark matter. Hopefully as Gaia continues forward on it's mission, we will be able to narrow down the range of possible Hubble constants, and thus the age of the universe and no longer have a few hundred million year gap. Maybe we will even be able to place stricter bounds on what dark matter actually is and what effect it has on our universe.

Source

Also, the Ig Nobel prizes were awarded this week and they are, as always, amazing.

Rise and Shine, Philae

Summary: Remember when there was a huge celebration because as a human race, we landed a rover on a comet? It was thrilling at the time, but we lost contact with the rover after it bounced into the shade of a cliff. Now the comet has tilted to allow sunlight to reach Philae and the rover has reached out to Earth.

A few very short message was received but it gives scientists hope and affirms that the rover may be able to still carry out its mission. There is not much else known at this point but the comet will be shifting into a position with more sunlight so more can be understood about the condition of the rover.


BBC News

Rosetta's Comet is Slowing Down

Summary: Despite the rover not being turned on again, astronomers are still learning new things about the chosen comet. For instance, it's changing rotation speed. The comet takes approximately 12.4 hours to complete one rotation, only that rate seems to be slowing down by one second per day. It seems like a small change but that is big in astronomical terms. It is actually a faster rate of change than in September. Back then it was slowing down by 33 milliseconds per day. (And right there is a differential equation for those who are so inclined.)

Scientists know the reason for this. The comet 67P is becoming more active which means there are gas jets shooting out of the rock and serving as propulsion, much like a rocket, only in the opposite direction of rotation, thus slowing it down. The jets actually shoot out of the comet at 800 meters per second and extend a few kilometers off the surface.

Astronomers found this out thanks to Rosetta still being in orbit around the rock. In order to keep the satellite in the correct trajectory, the navigators were using a system of landmarks on the surface to keep track of position. Only the landmarks were coming into view at a different time than expected.

BBC News

To Boldly Go

Summary: The European Space Agency gave its final 'go' for the Rosetta satellite to release its robot to land on the surface of the comet. This is the first landing attempt on a comet so keep your fingers crossed. Already the mission has has some complications. This final 'go' was delayed because FIND REASON but the mission is going ahead. The team is putting its hopes in the screws, harpoons, and the potentially soft surface of the comet to keep PHILEA stable where it lands. Because of the signal delay, it's too late to do much else but hope.

Update: The rover has successfully landed!

Read more:
BBC News

You can also follow the mission on twitter @Philae2014

Scifi Short for a Comet

Summary: To promote the Rosetta mission, ESA has released a short scifi movie. It's about seven minutes; go and check it out.


Video
BBC News

All Eyes to the Skies

Summary: One really fascinating advantage of modern technology is that in a natural disaster, everyone takes out their cameras to document the event. Turns out scientists are not immune to this way of thinking. The Siding Spring Comet will be making a dramatic flyby of Mars and all cameras available will be watching.

This Oort Cloud object will be passing incredibly close to the planet; it will be just 139,000km above the surface. Okay, close in astronomer's terms. Because it will be so close, the rovers on the surface will be instructed to train their instruments upwards to study this comet. More importantly, the orbiters will also be watching. Only they must be extra careful. While not in danger of being smashed by the comet, the dust being shot off still poses a threat so they are going to be directed to the other side of the planet in order to avoid the tail.

I can't wait to see what new breakthroughs in comet research comes from this.



BBC News
SciShow Space
esa live Google hangout
NASA JPL

Rosetta updates

Summary: Rosetta is a esa spacecraft that is currently trailing behind a 10-ton comet. The spacecraft with later touchdown and begin studying the object in detail, but important parameters still need to be found out about the comet first. In order to determine a perfect landing spot, there are currently five remaining candidates, the exact center of mass needs to be determined. This means finding out information about the size and material makeup of the celestial body. So far most of the data has confirmed what the scientists already knew and hopefully should not delay the initial touchdown in November of this year.


BBC News

A few Updates regarding Mars and Space Travel

Martian Fashion:
Because eventually humans may colonize Mars (despite that one Doctor Who episode that clearly warned us against it), NASA has begun planning what its astronauts would need to wear. And they are trying to make it fashionable. Personally, they look like Cybermen from the '70s but I suppose as long as they keep our scientists safe, I'm okay with it.

BBC News


Curiosity:
The rover has begun drilling into the surface of Mars again. Just as a test right now,  but this does mean more data is on its way down to us.

BBC News


The Future of Space Travel:
The UK government has backed plans that would expand its space industry four-fold. This includes possible plans of a bigger space tourism industry. Already the ESA have had a major part to play in outer space exploration, but with more money being available, their part should expand and more can be accomplished. It seems to be good news for everyone.

BBC News

First Gaia Telescope Image

Summary: The telescope Gaia has released its first test image of a star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This is only a test image though, Gaia's real job is to track and characterize points of light moving across its big detector. These points of light could be anything from a star, an asteroid, or even flashes of light caused by explosions such as supernovae. The test image simply verified that all the electronics are working and communicating with each other properly.

Gaia will be making a 3D map of a small area of the sky over five years. Ideally, at the end of the mission, it will know the coordinates of the brightest stars to within an error of seven micro-arcseconds. This angle is the same angle as viewing a small coin like a euro on the surface of the moon from earth; incredibly small! Currently, the best precision is to within 1%, and as astronomers try to measure stars farther away, this error will become more noticeable. Gaia will double check our current methods of measurement and help limit the amount of error when measuring other stars. This means that our future measurements can be more accurate and we will be able to, hopefully, have a more accurate estimate of how fast our universe is expanding.


BBC News

Over 1,000 Exoplanets

Summary: The tally of exoplanets has soared to 1,010 listed in the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. Out of all these, 12 have the potential to be habitable. This listing, though, is a little less reliable because not all of these planet discoveries have been peer-reviewed. NASA only counts those that have been published in an academic journal and thus their tally is currently at 919. Not to mention there is not a solid definition of what a planet is so some could be artefacts or low-mass stars like other candidates before them.


BBC News

3D Printed Metal

Summary: I thought 3D printing with the plastic stuff was cool, but now the European Space Agency has plans to 3D print metal parts for spacecraft and even nuclear fusion projects. This is all being done by the Amaze project, a very fitting title I think. And this isn't a dream for the future, they have already been printing with this tungsten alloy. They have already printed metal jet engine parts and airplane wings 2m in size. How cool is that?! The part that makes this so successful, though, in addition to it being a good investment, is how little waste it has. Zero waste in fact. Because of the layering method of building rather than casting, Esa's Franco Ongara says, "To produce one kilo of metal, you use one kilo of metal - not 20 kilos." In addition, since you can print objects as a single piece, you have no need for welding and bolting which makes it heavier and weaker. Ultimately they aim to be able to print a satellite in one piece that would slash costs in half.


BBC News

The end of Herschel's telescope

Summary: ESA's Herschel telescope, best known for its stunning images of nebulae like the Pillars of Creation, is set to take its last images later this month. this is a planned shut down. Due to the scientific instruments to take its images, the telescope needed to be constantly cooled to almost absolute zero temperatures. However, there is only so much coolant that can be flown with a satellite. The liquid is due to run out this month as expected.
Scientists are rushing to try and fit in as many observations as they can before the telescope ceases to function and they send it into orbit around the sun.
The images will be archived somewhere that they can be easily accessed.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21668712

Grail shattered on moon

Summary: The GRAIL mission has officially ended as its two satellites, Ebb and Flow, has been commanded to crash into the surface of the moon. It was decided to direct a crash landing when the fuel ran out rather than wait for an eventual, unpredictable fall so as not to destroy any of the historic landing sites like the Apollo site. (Imagine if a satellite fell and knocked over the American flag!)
Most of the data from these two satellites has not been fully analysed yet, but scientists do know that the data from these two provide the most detailed map of the surface of the moon that we have to date. As usual, for for details, check out the original article.




BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20761903

Update to Future Space plans in Europe

Summary: Many new things were agreed on as the esa member states concluded their meeting, the biggest news being that not only would the UK supply the propulsion mechanism for NASA's Orion rocket, it would also contribute £2m to the project. The UK has typically stayed out of contributing funds, but as their economy seems to be looking up, they have decided to invest monetarily as well. Check out the article for other decisions that were agreed upon during this meeting.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20424858

Another chance for Mars

Summary: Europe and Russia are teaming up to explore the surface and the atmosphere of Mars with missions set for 2016 and 2018.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20407902

Space Internet!

Summary: Internet has become a crucial part of life, especially when it comes to communicating over extremely long distances. But our beloved Internet has been lacking in space. Don't fret though, you future astronauts! NASA and ESA have been working on creating an interplanetary net. While they probably aren't too concerned about whether you will be able to watch YouTube or not, it will allow them better control over their rovers.
The way it is now, each robot is controlled separately and if there is an error in sending data, it it lost forever. This new space Internet hopes to remedy that. It is in testing phase with astronauts on the ISS successfully controlling a robot in Germany. I honestly do not understand how it works but the BBC explains it well for anyone who knows computers well.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20270833

Telescope to probe dark universe

Summary: Europe is set to launch a telescope to investigate dark energy and dark matter in the year 2019. The US will have a very small role but some American scientists will be allowed access to the data. 

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18503703