The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
06-12-2023
Strange phenomenon appears above thunderstorm at high altitude
Strange phenomenon appears above thunderstorm at high altitude
The existence of elusive electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere, known by intriguing names like red sprites, blue jets, pixies, and elves, has been a subject of debate for years.
Astronaut Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency (ESA) recently documented rare thunder phenomena as part of the Thor-Davis experiment during his Huginn mission at the International Space Station.
Among his remarkable captures was a red sprite, a type of Transient Luminous Event (TLE), occurring above thunderclouds at an altitude ranging from 40 to 80 kilometers. Scientists estimate the red sprite's dimensions to be approximately 14 by 26 kilometers.
In a previous instance in 2015, Mogensen also successfully recorded kilometer-wide blue flashes at an altitude of around 18 kilometers, including a pulsating blue jet reaching up to 40 kilometers.
This atmospheric phenomenon remains poorly understood, constituting a mysterious aspect of our atmosphere. Electrical storms extending into the stratosphere not only contribute to the fascination of these events but also bear implications for our understanding of how the atmosphere shields us from radiation.
Cloud turret
Lightning seen from Space Station
Red sprites and blue jets
What Is a Sprite? Earth's Super Rare Red Lightning Explained
De Hubble Space Telescope heeft een fantastische afbeelding vastgelegd van het dichtbevolkte bolvormige sterrencluster genaamd NGC 2210, gelegen in de Grote Magelhaense Wolk, een satellietstelsel dat om de Melkweg draait.
Deze clusters zijn stabiele, dichte groepen van miljoenen sterren, bestudeerd om oude stellaire populaties te onderzoeken. Onderzoek uit 2017 onthulde dat de NGC 2210 ongeveer 11,6 miljard jaar oud is, waarmee het de jongste in de steekproef is, terwijl anderen in de Grote Magelhaense Wolk nog ouder zijn, sommige zelfs meer dan 13 miljard jaar.
Deze ontdekking suggereert dat de oudste clusters in de Grote Magelhaense Wolk gelijktijdig zijn ontstaan met die in de Melkweg, ondanks dat de twee sterrenstelsels onafhankelijk van elkaar zijn ontwikkeld. Afgezien van hun wetenschappelijke waarde is de cluster visueel indrukwekkend, met een intense concentratie van sterren.
James Webb Spots Alien Face Sculpted into Constellation Pegasus, UFO Sighting News.
James Webb Spots Alien Face Sculpted into Constellation Pegasus, UFO Sighting News.
Location of discovery: Constellation Pegasus
Source: NASA
Now this is interesting, the James Webb Telescope discovered a face in constellation Pegasus this week. The face lower area looks like it's been pulled apart over the millions of years of it being there. It was created by a highly advanced alien civilization. At such a level that they can control and manipulate entire nebulas and even suns and planets, orbits, ect. This is the face of the species that created it. This is cold hard facts teaching us the reality around us.
An uncommon view of the Martian horizon was recently obtained with help from NASA’s Odyssey orbiter, in new images that captured the dusty skies of the Red Planet, as well as a glimpse at one of the most mysterious objects trapped in its orbit.
The new imagery was captured by the orbiter’s THEMIS camera, presenting a vantage from roughly the same altitude above Mars as the International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth.
The images were the result of months of planning by engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and its partners at Lockheed Martin Space, showcasing the infrared camera’s ability to detect everything from stony features on the Martian surface to ice and dust in its atmosphere, as well as the subtleties of the planet’s temperatures.
A Martian vista seen from 250 miles high, courtesy of the Odyssey orbiter’s THEMIS infrared camera (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU).
Normally, the THEMIS camera’s design has it pointing straight down, which means the entire spacecraft must be tilted to obtain the view of the Martian atmosphere that the new imagery reveals, a problematic angle for Odyssey since that also means its antenna is pointed away from Earth, which temporarily blocked radio communication.
However, while positioned to photograph the Martian atmosphere, Odyssey’s successful operation also managed to obtain images of one of the Red Planet’s great mysteries: its irregularly shaped moon, Phobos.
The largest of the Martian moons and with a shape that is often likened to a potato, Phobos boasts a massive crater on one end and orbits about 3,700 miles above the Martian surface. Given its close distance, it is the innermost of the Red Planet’s natural satellites, possessing the closest orbit of any known natural object to its nearest planetary body.
One in a series of images of the Martian moon Phobos recently captured by the THEMIS camera aboard NASA’s Odyssey orbiter
(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech).
Discovered in the summer of 1877 by the American astronomer Asaph Hall, Phobos and its sibling moon, Deimos, were named after the sons of the Greek god Ares, whose Roman counterpart is the planet’s namesake. According to Greek tradition, Phobos was the god of fear and panic, which is a surprisingly appropriate name given the speed at which Phobos races around the Red Planet: it completes each of its orbits in just 7 hours and 39 minutes.
ODD FEATURES AND UNKNOWN STRUCTURES WITHIN PHOBOS
Several questions remain about Phobos, which include its composition and internal structure, as well as its mysterious origin. The darkest moon ever discovered by astronomers, it has been theorized that Phobos’ dim coloration suggests a composition of dark rock and ice. This, along with its odd shape and the peculiarities of its orbit, hints that Phobos may have been an asteroid that became captured in orbit around Mars at some point in the distant past.
Phobos also possesses a series of unusual straight lines, which may suggest odd structural features beneath its surface or even that it is slowly being torn apart as its rapid orbit brings it nearer to the surface of Mars, where it may eventually collide with the Red Planet.
Detailed imagery of Phobos, depicting the Martian moon’s curious “tiger stripe” markings (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin).
Although the idea that Phobos is being gradually disassembled as Mars drags the curious moon toward its surface remains a possibility, radar detections made in 2022 by Europe’s Mars Express spacecraft suggest the presence of unknown structures within the object, which could also account for its unusual “tiger striped” appearance.
On September 22, 2022, Mars Express was able to use its Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) instrument to peer beyond the surface of Phobos, revealing the presence of the moon’s odd inner structures.
Following the odd detections, Andrea Cicchetti with the MARSIS team said they revealed “possible signs of previously unknown features below the moon’s surface.”
Data obtained by the MARSIS flyby in late 2022
(Credit: ESA).
“We are excited to see the role that MARSIS might play in finally solving the mystery surrounding Phobos’ origin,” Cicchetti said of the findings.
THE PHOBOS MONOLITH
On September 12, 1998, several of the highest-resolution images of Phobos that had ever been obtained at that time were captured by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft as it completed its fourth pass by the object and used its Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) to photograph the odd moon, revealing the most detailed view of the Martian moon’s features that had ever been available.
Peppered with boulders that were likely ejected from the impact that formed the moon’s massive Stickney crater, the high-resolution images of the surface of Phobos revealed a genuine curiosity: an unusually large feature that cast an elongated shadow, suggesting that the strange object was massive not only in diameter but also in height.
The curious “Phobos monolith”, captured in imagery obtained in 1998 by the Mars Global Surveyor’s Mars Orbital Camera
(Credit: NASA).
Popularly known as the Phobos monolith, the object is believed to be a very large and unusually shaped boulder, possessing an equally curious orientation: its height of close to 300 feet, based on the length of the shadow it casts, exceeds its estimated width of approximately 279 feet across.
The strange feature was discovered by amateur astronomer Efrain Palermo in the late 1990s while conducting detailed surveys of the Phobos imagery, with additional studies of its size and features later undertaken by imaging analyst Lan Fleming, who at the time worked at NASA Johnson Space Center. However, the monolith received renewed attention in 2009 after astronaut Buzz Aldrin made a series of cryptic references to the object during an appearance on C-SPAN.
“There’s a monolith there. A very unusual structure on this little potato-shaped object that goes around Mars once in seven hours,” Aldrin said excitedly.
“When people find out about that, they’re gonna say, ‘Who put that there! Who put that there?’”
“Well, the universe put that there,” Aldrin said, alluding to its likely natural origin. “If you choose, God put that there.”
The area around the so-called monolith has been discussed as a landing site for future robotic missions, such as the Phobos Reconnaissance and International Mars Exploration (PRIME) mission, a joint effort between Teledyne Optech and the Mars Institute proposed in 2007, which never garnered funding.
NEW IMAGERY AND NEW HORIZONS
Although the new images are the latest to capture Phobos in its racetrack orbit around Mars, this was not the first time NASA has used the Odyssey orbiter’s THEMIS camera to obtain imagery of the moon. In fact, the recent images mark the seventh time in more than two decades that such images have been obtained with the camera, which helps to provide information about changes in temperature that occur on what is arguably the most unusual moon in our solar system.
However, the newest set of images did manage to offer some unique new additions.
“We got a different angle and lighting conditions of Phobos than we’re used to,” said Dr. Jonathon Hill, a mission planner at Arizona State University’s Mars Space Flight Facility.
“That makes it a unique part of our Phobos dataset.”
Hill and his colleagues say the new imagery helps to offer insights into the moon, its structure, and composition and may eventually provide data points that could help to determine once and for all whether Phobos is an asteroid caught in orbit around the Red Planet, or possibly a massive chunk of the planet’s surface that became dislodged following an impact at some point in the past.
In the future, NASA also plans to participate in a joint effort with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Mars Moon eXplorer (MMX), which aims to retrieve samples from Phobos and Deimos. The new imagery could be helpful in planning for the retrieval mission, which could provide material from the surface of Phobos, which may assist scientists in unraveling some of the moon’s lingering mysteries.
The enigma surrounding Mexican alien mummies has taken a more intricate turn. On November 6, 2023, Mexican journalist Jaime Maussan gathered a group of doctors and scientists to present new data on the Peruvian mummies, which show potential signs of non-human life forms, while refraining from confirming that the remains were extraterrestrial. Now, new information has emerged, deepening the mystery of alien corpses.
Mr. Maussan initially showcased the Peruvian alien mummies during the historic UAP hearings held on September 12, 2023, in Mexico. The hearings were organized by the Commission of Science and Technology of the Chamber of Deputies and were attended by various UAP experts and whistleblowers, including former US Navy pilot Ryan Graves. Despite facing criticism regarding the alien bodies, Maussan persisted in his investigation, leveraging additional expertise to delve deeper into the matter.
The two tiny alien corpses that are at least 1,000 years old were displayed in windowed boxes for all to see. The small mummified specimen was retrieved from Cusco, Peru, in a layer of diatomaceous earth. “These aren’t beings that were found after a UFO wreckage,” Maussan said, “They were found in diatom mines and were later fossilized.” He later added: “Whether they are aliens or not, we don’t know, but they were intelligent, and they lived with us. They should rewrite history.… We are not alone in this vast universe; we should embrace this reality.”
Scientists who previously said the bodies were nothing more than the assembly of human and alien bones have changed their views when investigating the corpses. In this study, they found each of the corpses belonged to a single skeleton. According to Jose de Jesus Zalce Benitez, a director of the Scientific Institute for Health of the Mexican Navy, the studies showed that the alleged bodies belonged to a single skeleton and were not assembled.
A ufologist named Will Galison, a close friend of the archaeologist who initially analyzed the “alien mummies,” believes that the miniature corpses are not extraterrestrial but rather may have been made from animal remains, possibly for ritual purposes. He noted that the heads of the mummies bear a “remarkable similarity” to alpaca skulls. Despite the suggestion that they are not extraterrestrial, Galison does not consider them a hoax. Galison saw the mummies in Peru in 2017, well before Maussan’s presentation, and initially believed they might have been extraterrestrial remains.
On August 1, 2019, the San Luis Gonzaga National University of Ica, Peru, received four desiccated bodies exhibiting characteristics of both humans and reptilians. These specimens were transferred while safeguarding the confidentiality of the source of information, following the provisions outlined in the second article, subsection 18, of the Political Constitution of Peru. The purpose behind the delivery of these bodies was to ensure their custody and preservation and facilitate research aimed at elucidating the authenticity of these desiccated specimens.
Experts described the creatures as a ”new breed” of ”non-human creature” that had no lungs or ribs Image credit: REUTERS/Raquel Cunha)
One of the bodies, known as “Maria,” is approximately human-sized but displays distinct anatomical variations. It possesses an elongated skull and three fingers on both its hands and feet. Upon examination of the bones, a consistent structure was observed, devoid of any indications of finger damage.
The smaller bodies, measuring approximately 60 cm in length, display a morphological and anatomical structure markedly distinct from that of humans. Their skin exhibits morphological and histological characteristics reminiscent of reptiles, featuring three-digited hands and feet. Notably, they possess voluminous skulls, and their bone and joint system deviates significantly from human anatomy, showcasing unique and sui generis atypical features.
Importantly, it is worth noting the absence of rigid or metallic elements for union and support in the joints throughout the entire body. Given the extraordinary nature of these bodies and the pronounced anatomical and structural disparities, further comprehensive investigations are imperative for a deeper understanding of their essence.
In October 2023, Mr. Maussan and other experts claimed the specimens were tested and found to be “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.” He said, “None of the scientists say [the study results] prove that they are extraterrestrials, but I go further,” suggesting that they could be evidence of non-Earthly life forms.
New Update
In September 2023, Maussan revealed that DNA testing had been done on the mummies, and more than 30% of it is unknown. But it was not until a new DNA analysis was conducted on Peru’s non-human corpses, revealing that 30% of their genetic code belongs to an “unknown species,” as reported by the Daily Star.
While it remains unclear what the other 70% of the so-called aliens’ DNA matched up with, Maussan argued that the DNA analysis confirms the mummies are “definitely not human.” Additionally, one corpse was allegedly discovered to have what appeared to be eggs or ovaries inside, while another had implants of rare metals, such as Osmium.
Mr. Maussan said: “This is the first time extraterrestrial life has been presented in this manner. We have a clear example of non-human specimens unrelated to any known species on our planet. The public has the right to know about non-human technology and beings. This reality unites humanity rather than dividing us. We are not alone in this vast universe; we should embrace this truth…These specimens do not belong to our terrestrial evolution. They were not creatures discovered after a UFO crash. Instead, they were found in diatom mines and later transformed into fossilized mummies.”
Dr. Rubén García Linaje, an orthopedic surgeon mentioned that they were observing bones, and it appeared to be a skeleton. He pointed out that there were some unusual features, such as the circular shape of the ribs. He did not see a sternum, and the ribcage seemed to have limited expansion capabilities due to the shape of the ribs.
Daily Mail writes: The bodies underwent carbon dating by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which determined the bodies had three-fingered hands, no teeth, and were more than 1,000 years old, Maussan claimed.
“These specimens are not part of our terrestrial evolution […] These aren’t beings that were found after a UFO wreckage,” Maussan said to Congress in September. “They were found in diatom [algae] mines and were later fossilized.” He later added: “Whether they are aliens or not, we don’t know, but they were intelligent and they lived with us. They should rewrite history. We are not alone in this vast universe; we should embrace this reality.”
Celestino Adolfo Piotti, a doctor in medicine and surgery and the founder of a special branch of anthropology in Argentina, said he reached this conclusion by studying X-rays of the skulls of non-human beings. He compared them to his theory of evolution called the “guardian theory,” which disagrees with Charles Darwin’s theory.
[Translation] “The final numerical result that it gives me is that they are not individuals from the past or the present but rather from the future, so it means that these two beings, Mary and these two beings 60 centimeters high (those that Maussan presented). They should have existed in the future and not in the past a thousand years ago,” he said.
The researcher acknowledged that the scientific method cannot provide an answer to the conclusion he reached. However, he stated that non-human beings are “the link of our human species that goes from being returned towards a new species… The lower beings would be a complete evolution of a species that will come after us, in summary, they would be our descendants.”
Thierre Maurice Pierre, a researcher at the Inkari Institute in Cusco, Peru, stated that the analysis concluded that non-human beings date back thousands of years and that their DNA is not human. However, he clarified that this does not necessarily mean they belong to extraterrestrial beings.
“The laboratories concluded that these bodies were centuries, even millennia old. The DNA of these beings does not belong to the human species. For this reason, the laboratories will speak of at least two unknown species. I want to insist on this important point: none of the laboratories have mentioned extraterrestrials,” he said.
Anthropologist Roger Zúñiga Avilés of San Luis Gonzaga National University in Ica, Peru, said researchers had studied five similar specimens over four years. “There was absolutely no human intervention in the physical and biological formation of these beings,” he added, saying he did not know the origin of the beings.
Zúñiga presented a letter signed by 11 researchers from the university declaring the same. The letter made clear, however, that they were not implying the bodies were “extraterrestrial.” According to Reuters, “When asked about those studies, Zúñiga said the specimens were probably fake. The bodies that he and the other university researchers looked at, however, were real, he said.”
After thorough investigations, the research team has conclusively determined that the desiccated bodies under study are entirely authentic from a biological standpoint. There are no indications of tampering or artificial assembly. The scientific approach has been meticulous, and these results further affirm the authenticity of the bodies.
Mexican September UAP hearings came after the US Congress conducted its hearings, where corner US intelligence officer David Grusch testified that the US government has its possession of intact alien crafts and claimed that “non-human biologics” had been recovered from crashed vehicles of unknown origin. He further claimed the Pentagon was secretly reverse-engineering the recovered craft without oversight by Congress or the US public.
After Stalling Out for 40 Years, the Largest Iceberg in the World is on the Move
An animation from Copernicus Sentinel-1 images shows iceberg A23a’s movements from 2 November 2023, 14 November 2023 and 26 November 2023. Credit: ESA.
After Stalling Out for 40 Years, the Largest Iceberg in the World is on the Move
In 1986, a gigantic iceberg separated from the Fichner-Ronne ice shelf in West Antarctica. It was so big that it became grounded, stuck to the seafloor, and remained in position for 40 years. Finally, it has now been pushed off the seafloor and has begun drifting in the Weddell Sea to a region in the South Atlantic called Iceberg Alley. Designated A23a, this monster berg measures 4000 sq km (1,500 square miles) and is about 400 meters (1,300 feet) thick – the world’s largest.
On the surface, A23a is about four times the size of New York City. But as is well known about icebergs, you must look below the surface, too. At 400 meters thick, the entire body of ice adds up to more than a trillion tons of frozen water.
ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite has been keeping an eye on the moving behemoth, which appears to be driven by winds and currents. Scientists estimate it is currently moving at a rate of about 4.8 km (3 miles) each day.
ESA said it is not unusual for icebergs to become grounded, but over time they shrink enough to unground and float.
Images from Copernicus Sentinel-1 to show how the A23a iceberg rotated and travelled between 2 November 2023 (blue) and 26 November 2023 (red). Credit: ESA
Now that this iceberg is on the loose, scientists can’t predict exactly where it will go next. However, like most icebergs from the Weddell sector, A23a is likely to end up in the South Atlantic on Iceberg Alley.
While A23a is huge, it’s not the biggest ever. It is only about one-third the size of the biggest iceberg in recorded history, B-15 which calved off of Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf in 2000. The B-15 iceberg covered more than 10,878 square km (4,200 square miles) when it broke away, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory. B-15 has since fractured into numerous smaller bergs, and most have melted away.
Another biggie was A-76 which came loose in 2021 and measured around 4,320 square km (1,670 square miles) in size. At 170 km (106 miles) in length and 25 km (15 miles) wide, the iceberg was slightly larger than the Spanish island of Majorca, and bigger than the state of Rhode Island in the US.
In 2005, astronomer Mike Brown and his colleagues Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz announced the discovery of a previously unknown planetoid in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune’s orbit. The team named this object Eris after the Greek personification of strife and discord, which was assigned by the IAU a year later. Along with Haumea and Makemake, which they similarly observed in 2004 and 2005 (respectively), this object led to the “Great Planet Debate,” which continues to this day. Meanwhile, astronomers have continued to study the Trans-Neptunian region to learn more about these objects.
While subsequent observations have allowed astronomers to get a better idea of Eris’ size and mass, there are many unresolved questions about the structure of this “dwarf planet” and how it compares to Pluto. In a recent study, Mike Brown and University of California Santa Cruz professor Francis Nimmo presented a series of models based on new mass estimates for Eris’ moon Dysnomia. According to their results, Eris is likely differentiated into a convecting icy shell and rocky core, which sets it apart from Pluto’s conductive shell.
Their paper, “The internal structure of Eris inferred from its spin and orbit evolution,” recently appeared in the journal Science Advances. The research began while Nimmo was visiting Professor Brown at Caltech and realized that some of his previously-unpublished data could help reveal information about the properties of Eris. At present, we know that Eris is about the same size and mass as Pluto and has a highly eccentric orbit around our Sun, ranging from 38.271 AU at perihelion to 97.457 AU at aphelion. This is almost twice as eccentric as Pluto’s orbit and roughly 50% farther from the Sun.
Comparison between the eight largest TNOs with Earth (all to scale). Credit: NASA/Lexicon
For several months, Brown and Nimmo worked on models of Eris that incorporated two key pieces of information. The first had to do with Eris’ only known satellite, Dysnomia, and how the two bodies always face the same way toward each other. “That happens because the big planet gets spun down by the tides that the little moon raises on it,” said Nimmo in a recent UCSC press release. “The bigger the moon is, the faster the planet spins down. And so as soon as you know that, then you can actually start to do real calculations.”
Astronomers can use the spin and orbital characteristics of planets and their moons to infer certain properties, like their internal structures. But until recently, scientists did not have estimates on Dysnomia’s size, mass, and density. Luckily, Brown and his colleague Bryan J. Butler – a researcher at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) – recently conducted observations of Dysnomia and Eris (and Orcus and its satellite Vanth) using the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA). Based on their findings, published in The Planetary Science Journal, Dysnomia has a diameter of about 615 km (382 mi) and Dysnomia and Eris have a mass ratio of 0.0085.
This upper mass limit provided the second crucial piece of information, which concerned Eris’ internal structure. The main result of Brown and Nimmo’s model (but did not expect) is that Eris is surprisingly dissipative, a concept in thermodynamics where a system operates out of equilibrium. From this, they determined that Eris has a rocky core surrounded by a layer of ice and a crust that is likely convecting. “The rock contains radioactive elements, and those produce heat,” Nimmo said. “And then that heat has to get out somehow. So as the heat escapes, it drives this slow churning in the ice.”
This sets it apart from Pluto, which has a conducting shell, as revealed by the New Horizon mission. Brown and Nimmo hope that more exact measurements of Dysnomia’s mass will be available in the near future, as well as additional data about the shape of Eris. Because of its distance, Eris appears as a single pixel of light, while Dysnomia is visible as a faint speck next to it (see below). Therefore, astronomers must monitor Eris as it passes in front of background stars to reconstruct its shape. This is similar to the Transit Method astronomers use to detect exoplanets and constrain their sizes.
Eris (center) and its moon of Dysnomia (left of center), taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/ESA/Mike Brown
As Nimmo summarized, these measurements will help he and Brown refine the models they created:
“If Dysnomia is smaller than that, then Eris is even more squishy. We make the point that Eris should be pretty smooth because if there’s any surface topography, the ice is going to flow, and that topography will go away. So it would be nice to get some measurements of what shape Eris is because if it’s very irregular, that would not agree with our model.”
“The star blinks out and then the star comes back, and that tells you how wide Eris is at that point. And if you do that with a whole bunch of stars, then you can actually reconstruct shape. I’m hoping people are actually doing it, I just don’t know whether they are.”
The Pentagonbranch tasked with protecting America from space-based threats, local and galactic, has detected thousands of UFOsin Earth's orbit, DailyMail.com can reveal.
US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that the sightings were so regular that they are 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission.
While many of the sightings will prove to be man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, US foreign adversaries continue to launch spy satellites, like North Korea's new Malligyong-1, and other covert orbital platforms.
One new concern, Space Force noted: the risk of threatening spacecraft hidden in the large unwatched area between Earth and the moon, dubbed 'cislunar' orbit.
In their new report, published this month, Space Force's leadership emphasized the importance of finding these grave 'threats' among mere 'hazards' like space junk.
But the military branch also went into considerable detail on a weirder, new category of potential 'hazards and threats' under scrutiny.
US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that 'abnormal observables' in space are a pervasive problem that is 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission
Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment.' Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of UFO 'unknowns' in Earth's orbit has skyrocketed by the thousands (above)
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Space Force's mandate 'to rapidly identify and respond to threats and hazards,' the strategy document noted, also includes, 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to STARCOM, Space Force's Space Training and Readiness Command which published the new document, for detailed clarification on its precise meaning by the terms 'abnormal observables' and 'patterns of life.'
In recent years, Pentagon officials tasked with investigating UFO cases, including the now famous 2004 Tic Tac incursions, have focused their attention on 'five observables' they say are unique features of serious unexplained phenomena.
'Unidentified aerial phenomena' or UAP that check off these 'observables' appear to display either one or all of the following: (1.) gravity-defying behavior, (2.) eerily low observability on radar or other sensors, (3.) sudden or instantaneous accelerations, (4.) hypersonic speeds without signatures like 'sonic booms,' and (5.) so-called 'trans-medium' travel between air, sea and outer space.
It's unclear from the Space Force STARCOM document, however, whether these five, established UFO techno-signatures overlap with their own 'abnormal observables.'
It's also unclear what 'patterns of life' have been detected from orbital unknowns.
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Space Force's strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines the military branch's mission to monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon
Across US military branches, the term 'patterns of life' has been used to reference the thermal heat signatures given off by living human targets, for everything from drone warfare to troop deployment surveillance.
The Pentagon's departing UFO investigation chief, physicist Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, also used the term to indicate UAP mysteries that would include extraterrestrial craft.
'We are executing a rigorous science and technology plan to ensure controlled calibration of sensors, patterns of life, and signature characterization development,' Kirkpatrick said last December.
'More data will help build a more complete picture and support the resolution of […] anomalous phenomena.'
Thermal signatures from the body heat of a living thing (whether terrestrial or E.T. in origin), may fall into this category, to judge from the passages of Space Force's new strategy document that focused on the infra-red capabilities of US military satellites.
'Optical and infrared sensors with relatively wide (one square degree or more) field-of-view,' Space Force's STARCOM advised, 'are also well suited for searching for unknown objects or objects with only a roughly known location.'
However, Lt. General DeAnna Burt, the deputy chief devoted to Space Force's cyber and nuclear operations, among others, have also used 'patterns of life' to reference detectable, routine activity by any and all technological platforms in space.
Last May, Lt. Gen. Burt dropped the term of art while criticizing China for its opaque and noncooperative space program activities.
'We've said what our capabilities are,' Lt. Gen. Burt told SpaceNews. 'If you are honest and say what things are and have patterns of life that indicate they are what they are, then it's an everyday operation,' Burt said.
Whatever Space Force's intent, the branch issued its new publication in mid-November to announce, in part, its plan to identify and track UFOs in orbit around Earth — a high priority initiative the branch calls 'Space Domain Awareness' (SDA).
The strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines Space Force's mission to successfully monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon.
STARCOM drafted the document as part of its mission to educate and train US Space Force personnel, officially dubbed 'guardians.'
Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of orbital knowns and UFO 'unknowns' shadowing the Earth has skyrocketed by the thousands.
Space Force, citing NASA data, published a chart revealing that there are now over 25,000 objects total in orbit, although most were determined to be 'rocket bodies,' 'spacecraft,' 'mission-related debris' or other known man-made objects.
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Much of the clutter orbiting Earth is man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, but Space Force's document detailed a weirder, new category: 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin'
Over 60 percent of the US Space Force budget, or about $19.2 billion worth, has earmarked for research, development, testing and evaluation - creating the tools and techniques for the new and growing problem of defending US interests from foreign military activity in space
According to the Air Force Research Lab, its new security and monitoring probe, the Oracle spacecraft (above) 'aims to launch in 2026 to an area of gravitational stability between the Earth and the Moon to test techniques to monitor space traffic that travels through that region'
Space Force leadership said it hopes to positively identify any and all UFOs to determine if they should be recovered or if they pose a clear and present danger to the United States.
Or, in military's own unique jargon, Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment,' the new document states.
But that will cost money, alongside Space Force's other duties providing satellite and other space-based support for American troops on the ground worldwide.
Universe Todayrecently examined the potential for sending humans to the planet Venus despite its extremely harsh surface conditions. But while a human mission to the clouds of Venuscould be feasible given the environmental conditions are much more Earth-like, a human mission to the second planet from the Sun could be (at minimum) decades away. With NASA sending humans back to the Moon in the next few years, and hopefully to Mars, what if we could send humans to another planetary body worth exploring, though it could have its own harsh environmental conditions, as well? What about Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa? It has a massive interior liquid ocean that could harbor life, and NASA is currently scheduled to launch itsEuropa Clipper spacecraft to this small moon in October 2024, arriving at Jupiter in April 2030. Therefore, given the exploration potential, should we send humans to Europa?
“Honestly, while I find Europa fascinating, sending humans there is a terrible idea,” Dr. Alyssa Rhoden, who is a Principal Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, tells Universe Today. “The radiation environment can kill off a robotic lander in a few hours to days – with shielding! – so anything… fleshy… is going to have a very rough time.”
As previously discussed, Venus has searing surface temperatures and crushing pressures, making a human surface mission next to impossible. However, you can escape this harsh environment by traveling a few tens of kilometers higher. In contrast, Europa’s surface is constantly bombarded with intense radiation from Jupiter’s massive magnetic field, but you can’t escape it by slightly increasing your altitude. This is why every spacecraft that has explored Jupiter and its large moons, including NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper spacecraft, has required intense shielding to prevent the electronics from burning up.
Dr. Francis Nimmo, who is a Professor in the Earth & Planetary Sciences Department at UC Santa Cruz, echoes Dr. Rhoden’s sentiments, telling Universe Today, “The biggest problem with sending humans to Europa is the radiation environment – it is extremely hostile. Even radiation-hardened spacecraft electronics have to be shielded inside a thick metal box in order to survive the Europa environment, so humans would be very unlikely to survive there for long enough to do anything useful.”
While NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will be exploring Europa, its orbital flight plan calls for the spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and not Europa to protect the spacecraft’s hardware and electronics from Jupiter’s intense radiation belts. Through this, Europa Clipper is slated to perform 50 flybys of Europa, coming as close as 25 kilometers (16 miles) of the icy moon’s surface. But, like Venus, could human exploration be conducted in orbit around Europa, despite the harsh radiation?
“An orbital colony would fare better, if it could be positioned to avoid too much radiation, but it would still be a major logistical challenge,” Dr. Rhoden tells Universe Today. “An orbiting colony of astronauts could provide (limited) ground support for ice shelling drilling projects and other short-term research excursions. And at least water retrieval would be easier! Overall, sending humans to Europa sounds exciting, but we have a long way to go before it’s feasible and likely to provide more benefit than orbiting spacecraft, landers/rovers, or autonomous drills.”
But even if an orbiting colony could work, what about resupplies for food and water (if the latter can’t be excavated from Europa)? With present propulsion technology, it takes spacecraft years to reach Jupiter from Earth while requiring multiple gravity assists just to slingshot their way to the outer Solar System. In contrast, future astronauts on the Moon would only have to wait a few days for a resupply mission. For Mars, astronauts might only have to wait six months if the positions of Earth and Mars were just right. All things considered, if a colony on Europa runs out of supplies, they might be doomed.
“Obviously, a colony on Europa would require just as much external support for food and breathable air as other targets like the Moon or Mars,” Dr. Rhoden tells Universe Today. “But on Europa, those externally supplied resources would be a decade away, and the external environment would be savagely attacking anything you put on the surface.”
Will we ever send humans to Europa? Will it be a surface or orbital mission, and what can we learn from doing it? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
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This animation shows NASA’s Europa Clipper during a flyby of Jupiter's moon Europa.
US Military Confirms UFO Sightings in Outer Space, Official Reports Reveal!
US Military Confirms UFO Sightings in Outer Space, Official Reports Reveal!
In the vast expanse above us, a silent drama unfolds. The United States Space Force (USSF), the newest branch of the US Armed Forces, is grappling with an unprecedented challenge — the detection of thousands of unidentified flying objects(UFOs) orbiting our planet. This celestial mystery, once the domain of science fiction, is now a stark reality that poses complex questions for our guardians of the galaxy.
Established in 2019 under the Trump administration, the USSF was tasked with a mission of cosmic proportions: to safeguard America from space-based threats. But as the USSF stares into the abyss of space, the abyss stares back with a puzzle woven in a tapestry of unknowns. These UFOs, or ‘abnormal observables’ as they are termed, are cluttering the Earth’s orbit, making the crucial job of threat identification a Herculean task.
The nature of these ‘abnormal observables’ is as varied as it is perplexing. While some could be dismissed as mundane space debris or meteoroids, others exhibit behaviors that defy conventional understanding. We’re talking about objects that challenge gravity, vanish from radars, accelerate suddenly, and achieve hypersonic speeds without the acoustic signatures like sonic booms. They also demonstrate ‘trans-medium’ travel capabilities, seamlessly transitioning between air, sea, and space — a feature that leaves even seasoned scientists in awe.
This cosmic conundrum isn’t just about identifying what is floating above us; it’s about understanding potential threats. Among these unidentified objects could be covert spy satellites launched by foreign adversaries, such as North Korea’s Malligyong-1. The USSF is also wary of the largely unmonitored ‘cislunar’ orbit — the space between the Earth and the moon, which could harbor unseen dangers.
The challenges are as vast as space itself. As of now, NASA‘s data indicates over 25,000 objects in orbit, a mix of man-made and natural entities. Distinguishing friend from foe, debris from danger, in this crowded orbital dance is no small feat. It’s a task that demands cutting-edge technology, sharp analytical minds, and a significant financial commitment. The USSF’s budget reflects this, with a substantial part dedicated to research, development, testing, and evaluation.
VIDEO:
NASA’s Spectacular CGI Journey Through Tracked Objects in Earth’s Orbit
Looking ahead, the USSF’s plans are as ambitious as they are necessary. The Oracle spacecraft, set to launch in 2026, aims to monitor the cislunar region. It’s a mission that symbolizes the USSF’s proactive approach to these unidentified phenomena — a step towards illuminating the shadows in our celestial neighborhood.
In this new age of space exploration and defense, the USSF’s journey is emblematic of humanity’s eternal quest to understand the unknown. As we gaze upwards, the mysteries of the universe continue to unfold, reminding us that we are but a small part of a vast, intricate cosmic ballet. The USSF’s endeavor is not just a mission of defense; it is a journey into the heart of this grand mystery, a testament to our unyielding spirit of exploration and discovery.
Grote zonnestorm op komst: vannacht kans op noorderlicht boven België en storingen voor gps- en communicatiesystemen
Grote zonnestorm op komst: vannacht kans op noorderlicht boven België en storingen voor gps- en communicatiesystemen
Artikel van Wim De Maeseneer
Wie het noorderlicht wil zien, moet normaal gezien naar het hoge noorden trekken. Maar uitzonderlijk kan het ook in Nederland en zelfs België zichtbaar zijn. Dat was begin deze maand al eens het geval. Maar ook komende nacht en vrijdagnacht is er opnieuw een kans.
Ruimteweerdiensten melden dat er een sterke geomagnetische storm zal woeden. Een plasmawolk van geladen deeltjes van de zon. Die zal naar verwachting deze nacht of morgenvroeg de aarde bereiken.
"Op een schaal van 0 tot 9 verwachten we een zonnestorm van maximaal 8", zegt ruimteweervrouw Petra Vanlommel van het Solar Terrestrial Centre of Excellence in Ukkel.
"Als we effectief 8 halen, dan betekent dat dat de wolk aan geladen deeltjes sterk genoeg is om noorderlicht te veroorzaken dat tot boven België te zien is. Misschien niet met het blote oog, maar zeker met een fototoestel.”
Al zijn de weersvoorspellingen voorlopig niet al te gunstig. "Het wolkendek trekt in de loop van de nacht dicht, al kunnen er lokaal wel opklaringen zijn", zegt weerman Bram Verbruggen. "Ook morgen verwachten we maar weinig opklaringen."
De zonnestorm is het gevolg van drie verschillende uitbarstingen op de zon de voorbije dagen. "Maandag zijn twee plasmawolken uitgestoten die sindsdien op weg zijn naar de aarde. Dinsdag was er nog een derde uitbarsting."
"Die derde plasmawolk gaat de twee andere inhalen en ze als het ware opeten. We noemen dat een kannibaal-plasmawolk. Het is die grote wolk die nu op ons afkomt."
"Er was trouwens nog een vrij grote zonnevlam dinsdag, waarbij ook een zonnewolk werd uitgestoten. Die wolk zal ons morgenavond bereiken. We weten momenteel nog niet hoe hevig die impact zal zijn, maar die kan de storm die woedt versterken en langer laten duren."
Welke gevolgen kunnen we verwachten?
Hoe de plasmawolk er precies uitziet, weten ruimteweerdiensten maar één uur voor de wolk "botst" met de aarde. Dan pas weten we hoe zwaar de zonnestorm zal zijn en welke impact hij zal hebben. Zeker is in elk geval dat onze dampkring zal worden verstoord.
Als de ionosfeer, het bovenste deel van de dampkring, wordt verstoord, kan dat problemen geven voor satellieten, bij radiocommunicatie over lange afstand en voor navigatiesystemen.
"Iemand die met zijn auto onderweg is en de gps gebruikt, gaat daar niets van merken. Het maakt niet echt uit of het huis waar je naartoe gaat, één meter meer naar links of rechts staat. Voor vliegtuigen bijvoorbeeld wel."
Het Solar Terrestrial Centre of Excellence stuurt bij zonnestormen daarom waarschuwingen uit naar de civiele luchtvaart over de hele wereld. "Ik ben vrijdagnacht van wacht en ik hou mijn hart vast. Waarschijnlijk zal ik de hele nacht moeten opblijven om het ruimteweer in de gaten te houden."
Waarom zo veel zonnestormen?
Het stormseizoen op de zon is duidelijk volop aan de gang. De zon is namelijk niet altijd even actief. Gemiddeld om de 11 jaar piekt haar activiteit, en zijn er veel meer stormen en uitbarstingen op de zon.
"Je kan het vergelijken met de seizoenen op aarde, alleen zijn er op de zon maar 2 seizoenen en die duren elk 5,5 jaar", zegt Vanlommel. "Maar net zoals op aarde is de ene zomer de andere niet. En is het de ene zomer al wat warmer dan de andere."
Op dit moment zijn we duidelijk op weg naar een zogenoemd zonnemaximum. Wetenschappers voorspellen dat de piek in 2024 of 2025 zal zijn. Maar volgens sommige onderzoekers zijn er aanwijzingen dat de zon actiever is dan verwacht en dat we sneller de piek gaan bereiken.
Herbruikbare raketten van SpaceX veroorzaken nieuw soort
Herbruikbare raketten van SpaceX veroorzaken nieuw soort "noorderlicht" (en dat baart astronomen zorgen)
Artikel van Wim De Maeseneer
Een felrode, bolvormige gloed aan de nachthemel, die wel 10 minuten lang zichtbaar is met het blote oog. Het fenomeen kreeg de naam "SpaceX auroras", verwijzend naar het ruimtevaartbedrijf van Elon Musk. Want het zijn vooral die raketten die het lichtverschijnsel tegenwoordig veel vaker en beter zichtbaar maken.
Wetenschappers weten al langer dat raketten tijdelijk gaten kunnen veroorzaken in de ionosfeer, de bovenste laag van onze dampkring, op 60 tot 1.000 kilometer hoogte. Die verstoring van de ionosfeer kan een rode gloed geven, vergelijkbaar met wat er gebeurt tijdens het noorderlicht.
Sterrenkundigen van het McDonald Observatorium in Texas hebben nu ontdekt dat hetzelfde gebeurt met de raketten van SpaceX die na de lancering terugkeren naar de aarde. Met dat verschil dat de rode gloed bolvormig is en veel helderder.
"Dat komt omdat de onderste rakettrap, de booster, 90 minuten na de lancering de motoren moet ontsteken om terug te keren", zegt astrofysicus Jeff Baumgarder van de universiteit van Boston, aan spaceweather.com.
"Daarbij komt zo'n 180 liter waterdamp en koolstofdioxide vrij. Dat alles gebeurt op zo'n 300 kilometer hoogte, dicht bij het bovenste deel van de ionosfeer. En dat veroorzaakt een aanzienlijk gat (in de ionosfeer)."
Booster van een Falcon 9-raket van SpaceX landt weer op aarde (21/5/2023)
"We hebben het de eerste keer gespot in februari dit jaar en zien het sindsdien zo'n 2 tot 5 keer per maand", zegt astronoom Stephen Hummel van het McDonald Observatorium in Texas.
Bezorgdheid
Omdat SpaceX bijna elke week wel een raket lanceert, zijn Hummel en andere sterrenkundigen bezorgd. Ze vrezen dat de "SpaceX auroras" hun astronomische waarnemingen te veel zullen verstoren.
Maar er is ook ongerustheid over mogelijke storingen van het gps-signaal en de radiocommunicatie. Net zoals zonnestormen kunnen raketten de ionosfeer zodanig verstoren dat communicatie over lange afstanden, of met satellieten bijvoorbeeld, moeilijk of niet mogelijk wordt.
Na 10 tot 20 minuten sluit zo'n gat in de ionosfeer wel vanzelf weer. Verder zou het lichtverschijnsel geen enkele impact hebben op het leven op aarde.
Bij ons zal de rode gloed trouwens nooit zichtbaar zijn. De gaten vormen zich typisch boven het zuiden van de Verenigde Staten, in de buurt van het Kennedy Space Center in Florida, waar de meeste raketten van SpaceX worden gelanceerd.
There are Myterious Polygons Beneath the Surface of Mars
China’s Zhurong rover was equipped with a ground-penetrating radar system, allowing it to peer beneath Mars’s surface. Researchers have announced new results from the scans of Zhurong’s landing site in Utopia Planitia, saying they identified irregular polygonal wedges located at a depth of about 35 meters all along the robot’s journey. The objects measure from centimeters to tens of meters across. The scientists believe the buried polygons resulted from freeze-thaw cycles on Mars billions of years ago, but they could also be volcanic, from cooling lava flows.
A wireless camera took this ‘group photo’ of China’s Tianwen-1 lander and rover on Mars’ surface. Credit: Chinese Space Agency
The Zhurong rover landed on Mars on May 15, 2021, making China the second country ever to successfully land a rover on Mars. The cute rover, named after a Chinese god of fire, explored its landing site, sent back pictures — including a selfie with its lander, taken by a remote camera – studied the topography of Mars, and conducted measurements with its ground penetrating radar (GPR) instrument. Zhurong had a primary mission lifetime of three Earth months but it operated successfully for just over one Earth year before entering a planned hibernation. However, the rover has not been heard from since May of 2022.
Researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences who worked with Zhurong’s data said the GPR provides an important complement to orbital radar explorations from missions such as ESA’s Mars Express and China’s own Tianwen-1 orbiter. They said in-situ GPR surveying can provide critical local details of shallow structures and composition within approximately 100-meter depths along the rover’s traverse.
a, Topographic map of Utopia Planitia, showing the landing sites of the Zhurong rover, the Viking 2 lander and the Perseverance rover. The ?4?km elevation contour is shown. Four local regions (c–f) with polygonal terrain are marked with white squares. b, The Zhurong rover traverse from Sol 11 through Sol 113 (HiRISE image: ESP_073225_2055). Green segments denote the wedges of buried polygons recognized from Fig. 2 (P1–P16). Purple segments denote the interiors of the polygons. c–f, Four representative HiRISE images of polygons in Utopia Planitia whose locations are marked in a: PSP_002202_2250 (c), PSP_006962_2215 (d), PSP_002162_2260 (e) and PSP_003177_2275 (f). Note the range of spatial scales for the sizes of the polygons. The average diameters of polygons shown in c–f are calculated in Extended Data Fig. 6. Credit for HiRISE images: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.
Utopia Planitia is a large plain within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars (also in the Solar System) with an estimated diameter of 3,300 km. In total, the rover traveled 1,921 meters during its lifetime.
The researchers, led by Lei Zhang, wrote in their paper published in Nature, that the rover’s radar detected sixteen polygonal wedges within about 1.2?kilometers distance, which suggests a wide distribution of similar terrain under Utopia Planitia. These detected features probably formed 3.7 – 2.9 billion years ago during the Late Hesperian–Early Amazonian epochs on Mars, “possibly with the cessation of an ancient wet environment. The palaeo-polygonal terrain, either with or without being eroded, was subsequently buried” by later geological processes.
Schematic model of the polygonal terrain formation process at the Zhurong landing site. a, The origination of thermal contraction cracking on the surface. b, The formation of cracks infilled by water ice or soil material, causing three types of polygonal terrain (ice-wedge, composite-wedge and sand-wedge polygons). c, The stabilization of the surface polygonal terrain in the Late Hesperian–Early Amazonian, possibly with the cessation of an ancient wet environment. d, The palaeo-polygonal terrain, either with or without being eroded, was subsequently buried by deposition of the covering materials in the Amazonian. The Mars surface image was acquired by the Navigation and Terrain Camera (NaTeCam). Credit: Zhang et al.
The buried polygonal terrain requires a cold environment, the researchers wrote, that might be related to water/ice freeze–thaw processes in southern Utopia Planitia on early Mars.
“The possible presence of water and ice required for the freeze–thaw process in the wedges may have come from cryogenic suction-induced moisture migration from an underground aquifer on Mars, snowfall from the air or vapor diffusion for pore ice deposition,” the paper explains.
While the new paper indicates that the most likely possible formation mechanisms would be soil contraction from wet sediments that dried, producing mud-cracks, however, contraction from cooling lava could have also produced thermal contraction cracking.
Either way, they note that a huge change in Mars’ climate was responsible for the polygon’s formation.
“The subsurface structure with the covering materials overlying the buried palaeo-polygonal terrain suggests that there was a notable palaeoclimatic transformation some time thereafter,” the researchers said.
During a recent lecture at the University of Michigan that I gave, I was asked why the arrow of cosmic time is characterized by a transition from simplicity to complexity.
I explained that the universe started simply in the form of a nearly uniform soup of elementary particles. As the Universe expanded and cooled, the denser-than-average regions reversed their expansion and collapsed by their self-gravity to make galaxies in which gas fragmented into stars, dust, and planets. The chemistry of life in liquid water on the surface of our planet, the Earth, gave rise to the most complex systems we know.
But it is possible that even more complex entities that represent our future, such as sentient systems with artificial intelligence, were already manufactured on exo-planets. Most stars formed billions of years before the Sun, and their technological clock was initiated long before ours. If their advanced technological descendants arrived in the vicinity of our planet, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory cameras or the Galileo Project could capture them on video soon.
In short, complexity arrived late in cosmic history because the Universe started simple. However, we should not assume that this progression will continue into the future.
Consider the Earth as an example. If our civilization will not be wise enough to preserve itself against existential risks such as a colossal pandemic, global nuclear war, or climate change, then Earth may return to a simpler state without the complexity associated with human technologies. In fact, this ultimate fate may not even be in our hands. Irrespective of how much we engage in preserving our habitat, we may not be able to counteract the astronomical catastrophe of the Sun boiling off all oceans on Earth within a billion years. Subsequently, the Earth’s surface will be sterilized without the complex chemistry of life as we know it. In addition, all the meticulously designed constructions in our cities will be wiped out like an ant nest after heavy rain.
The return to simplicity would extend beyond Earth to the Universe at large. Observations show that cosmic expansion had been speeding up over the past five billion years. Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity allows for an accelerating Universe if the mass density of the vacuum is bigger than half that of matter, which naturally occurs at late cosmic time as matter gets diluted by the cosmic expansion, but the vacuum remains constant. An unchanging vacuum, which constitutes the so-called “cosmological constant,” naturally produces repulsive gravity that would push galaxies away from each other at an ever-increasing speed. If the cosmic mass budget is indeed dominated by a vacuum mass density that will remain constant as the Universe ages by another factor of ten, then all galaxies outside our immediate vicinity will be pushed out of our horizon by the accelerated expansion of space.
In a paper published two decades ago, titled “The Long-Term Future of Extragalactic Astronomy,” I showed that, in fact, all galaxies beyond a redshift of z=1.8 are already outside our horizon right now. The light we will ever receive from them was emitted long ago and does not represent their current state. Any signals sent from now out of those galaxies will be lost in space and never reach us. We will never be able to have a conversation with any sentient beings in the farthest galaxies at z>10 that were imaged recently by the Webb telescope and presented by NASA to President Biden at a White House celebration on July 11, 2022,
Within a finite time, the accelerated expansion of space moves any distant galaxy away from us at a speed that exceeds the speed of light. Even light, representing the fastest speed by which material particles can propagate, is ultimately unable to bridge the inflating gap between distant galaxies and us by the accelerated cosmic expansion.
The situation is similar to observing a friend cross the event horizon of a black hole. From a distance, we would see the image of our adventurous friend heading towards the black hole, getting fainter, and eventually freezing at some final snapshot, as that friend appears to be hovering just above the horizon. The frozen image will be the snapshot of the instant when the friend crossed the horizon. Beyond that point in time, no information can be retrieved about the whereabouts of the friend. Similarly, the image of each distant galaxy will eventually freeze at some finite time in its own frame, and we can collect a limited amount of information from it. In particular, we will never be able to study the evolution of a distant galaxy beyond some finite age in its own frame of reference. The more distant a galaxy is, the earlier its image will freeze, and the less information will be available to us about the way it ages.
Of course, bound systems which are held together by a force stronger than the repulsive force of the cosmological constant, do not participate in the cosmic expansion. This includes electrons bound to atoms by the electromagnetic force, planets bound to stars, as well as galaxies bound together by a stronger gravitational pull than the cosmic repulsion. Which galaxies will remain bound to the Milky Way and not fly away? In a paper I wrote with my former postdoc, Ken Nagamine, we simulated the future evolution of all distant galaxies on a computer. Our simulation indicated that all galaxies outside the local group of galaxies, namely beyond 3 million light years, are not bound to the Milky Way and will be pushed out of our view by cosmic expansion.
As a result, the future of the Universe outside our own galaxy will be the simplest imaginable and consist only of the vacuum. We better enjoy the present-day complexity available for us to see through our telescopes before it will all go away.
Just like any aspect of our life, cosmic complexity is transient and precious and should not be taken for granted. We are all too familiar with the similarities between the state of an infant and that of the elderly. In private life as well as in the cosmos, the arrow of time starts from simplicity, goes through complexity and returns to simplicity.
“From [dust] you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust, you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University’s – Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011-2020). He chairs the advisory board for the Breakthrough Starshot project, and is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors onScience and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial:The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021.
A long-duration aerial mission soon to be carried out by NASA over Antarctica will launch stadium-sized craft in support of a series of record-breaking science missions, the agency announced this week.
The Antarctic Long Duration Balloon (LDB) Campaign, which includes a trio of scientific balloon flights equipped to study a range of different phenomena, will launch at the beginning of December, according to a press release NASA issued on Monday.
The mission will employ a series of massive zero-pressure balloons, which the American space agency says will support five missions in total.
Equipped with open ducts through which gas can escape, thereby eliminating the buildup of pressure within, zero-pressure balloons expand as they accumulate heat from the rising Sun as they are being carried aloft. Conversely, as the Sun sets, heat is lost, which results in a loss of gas, which causes zero-pressure balloons to have a shorter flight duration than other inflatable systems.
However, long-duration missions can be achieved during the polar summer, a period during which the balloons remain in constant sunlight for extended periods.
One of the missions aims to break a previous long-duration balloon flight record of just over 55 days. The balloons will launch from NASA’s facility for balloon launches located close to McMurdo Station, the largest community on Earth’s southernmost continent located on the southern edge of Ross Island, Antarctica.
McMurdo Station
(Credit: Air National Guard)
Andrew Hamilton, acting chief of NASA’s Balloon Program Office (BPO), said the annual launch will carry NASA’s stadium-sized balloons to altitudes where stratospheric wind conditions will “provide a unique and valuable opportunity to fly missions in a near-space environment for days or weeks at a time.”
A primary component of the 2023 launch is NASA’s GUSTO mission, or Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory, which the agency says will conduct measurements of emissions from cosmic material located between stars known as the interstellar medium.
The space agency says the data GUSTO collects during its time in flight above Antarctica will provide scientists with valuable information about the life cycle of interstellar gas that populates the Milky Way. Other phenomena GUSTO will observe over the course of its mission include star formation and destruction, as well as how gases flow near the center of our galaxy.
GUSTO will be armed with a telescope equipped to detect oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen emission lines.
“This unique combination of data will provide the spectral and spatial resolution information needed for Walker and his team to untangle the complexities of the interstellar medium,” read a portion of a NASA mission brief detailing the mission, “and map out large sections of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and the nearby galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud.”
While GUSTO is the premier science mission that will be undertaken during this year’s flight, several additional science objectives will be carried out during NASA’s annual Antarctic LDB campaign, including the Anti-Electron Sub-Orbital Payload (AESOP-Lite) mission, which will study cosmic ray electrons and positrons.
A NASA balloon is prepared near the agency’s launch site near McMurdo station (Credit: NASA)
Additionally, an engineering test flight called the Long durAtion evalUation solaR hand LAunch (LAURA) mission will employ solar panels to help extend the use and duration of the hand launch platform used at NASA’s Antarctic facility for long-duration flights. The experiment will help remedy problems that arise from hand-launched balloons, the flight time of which is impacted significantly by the power systems contained in their payloads, which are used to power the scientific instruments they carry.
Among the hand-launched missions conducted in December will also be NASA’s Anihala (Antarctic Infrasound Hand Launch) mission, which will be a component of the payload equipped with AESOP-Lite that will measure the subtleties of background sound in Earth’s stratosphere. The experiment will offer a unique opportunity to make such observations over a region of the planet where sound produced by human civilization is minimal.
“The annual Antarctic long-duration balloon campaign is the program’s flagship event for long-duration missions,” Hamilton said in a statement.
“The BPO team is excited to provide support to all our missions this year,” he added.
Mars Odyssey Beams Back Magnificent Images of Martian Horizon
Mars Odyssey Beams Back Magnificent Images of Martian Horizon
In an operation that took mission scientists three months to plan, NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter captured a series of panoramic images that showcases the curving Martian landscape below gauzy layers of clouds and dust.
This image of the Martian horizon was captured by the THEMIS camera on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter.
Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU.
“If there were astronauts in orbit over Mars, this is the perspective they would have,” said Mars Odyssey project scientist Jonathon Hill, of Arizona State University.
“No Mars spacecraft has ever had this kind of view before.”
“The reason why the view is so uncommon is because of the challenges involved in creating it.”
They were taken from an altitude of about 400 km (250 miles) — the same altitude at which the space station flies above Earth.
The sensitivity of the THEMIS instrument to warmth enables it to map ice, rock, sand, and dust, along with temperature changes, on the planet’s surface.
It can also measure how much water ice or dust is in the atmosphere, but only in a narrow column directly below the spacecraft.
That’s because THEMIS is fixed in place on the orbiter; it usually points straight down.
The Mars Odyssey scientists wanted a more expansive view of the atmosphere.
Seeing where those layers of water-ice clouds and dust are in relation to each other helps them improve models of Mars’ atmosphere.
“I think of it as viewing a cross-section, a slice through the atmosphere,” said Mars Odyssey project scientist Jeffrey Plaut, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“There’s a lot of detail you can’t see from above, which is how THEMIS normally makes these measurements.”
Because THEMIS can’t pivot, adjusting the angle of the camera requires adjusting the position of the whole spacecraft.
In this case, the team needed to rotate the orbiter almost 90 degrees while making sure the Sun would still shine on the spacecraft’s solar panels but not on sensitive equipment that could overheat.
The easiest orientation turned out to be one where the orbiter’s antenna pointed away from Earth.
That meant the team was out of communication with Odyssey for several hours until the operation was complete.
To make the most of their effort, the researchers also captured imagery of the Martian moon Phobos.
This marks the seventh time in 22 years that the orbiter has pointed THEMIS at the moon in order to measure temperature variations across its surface.
“We got a different angle and lighting conditions of Phobos than we’re used to. That makes it a unique part of our Phobos dataset,” Dr. Hill said.
“The new imagery provides insight into the composition and physical properties of the moon.”
As events in our world transpire, humans perceive their occurrence as a linear progression for which we have invented concepts of past, present, and future, which summarizes one of the most mysterious concepts in all of physics: time.
We tend to take for granted the idea that time is a common part of our everyday lives. We can tell the time of day, for instance, or we can make time for having a coffee with a friend. Yet, despite our familiarity with it, we still have a hard time explaining what, precisely, time really is.
In his landmark book A Brief History of Time, the late physicist Stephen Hawking asked a fundamental question about human perception of what we call time: how come we can remember the past but not the future? In other words, what gives rise to our perception of a linear progression of time that only goes in one direction?
The notion that there exists a sort of “arrow of time,” as Hawking called it, actually had three components. The first is what Hawking called psychological time, which has to do with human perception of time, and our ability to perceive the present, and recall the past. The second is entropic time, which deals with the universal tendency for states in nature to trend toward disorder (think of an egg falling to the floor, which can very easily break open, but which you or I would have a hard time reassembling). The third component involves cosmological time, which deals with the expansion of the universe in its current inflationary state, which some models hold will reverse again once into a deflationary state, in which events in time as we perceive it might even appear to occur in reverse order.
Now, a new study by a team of physicists could shed new light on the lingering mystery of the arrow of time in a paper which looks at the various ways that cells and particles could be the source for various phenomena that gives rise to the human concept of time.
Relying primarily on Hawking’s notion of entropic time and the trend toward disordered states in systems in nature, the study, conducted by researchers at the CUNY Graduate Center Initiative for the Theoretical Sciences (ITS), examined the ways that the arrow of time arises from microscopic processes occurring on the microscopic scale.
Christopher Lynn, a postdoctoral fellow in the ITS program and lead author of the paper, says that he and his team began with a pair of fundamental questions: would the strength of the arrow of time be measurable within any given system, and would they be able to detect its point of origin on the micro-scale, “where cells and neurons interact, to the whole system?”
According to Lynn, this is precisely what his team succeeded in doing by first examining how the arrow of time could be “decomposed” through a unique process of breaking down observations into various separate portions of a system and studying the interactions that occurred between them.
According to the ITS research team, they were able to observe various separate pieces of the arrow of time within a single moment, which comprised portions that worked either individually, in pairs or triplets, or in far more complex ways with multiple sets of interactions.
In their experimental study, the researchers observed the function of neurons within the retina of a salamander’s eye. Specifically, they referenced earlier studies that looked at what the neuron response was to various kinds of movies that ranged from single objects moving across a screen to complex scenes in nature.
Based on such observations, the team found that the arrow of time seemed to arise from relatively simple interactions occurring between pairs of neurons rather than complex systems involving larger numbers of them. Most intriguing to the researchers had been that their observations appeared to show that the arrow of time was most significant in response to the random motion of objects in nature.
Lynn and his team believe that the significance of this observation points to new questions about the ways that our individual internal perception of the passage of time correlates with events in the world around us, an element that could be of great interest to neuroscience.
Lynn says such observations could also “lead to answers about whether the arrow of time functions differently in brains that are neuroatypical.”
David Schwab, professor of Physics and Biology at the ITS Graduate Center and principal investigator of the study, says that Lynn and his team’s research into the “decomposition of local irreversibility—also known as the arrow of time—is an elegant, general framework that may provide a novel perspective for exploring many high-dimensional, nonequilibrium systems.”
“Our findings provide the first step toward understanding how the arrow of time that we experience in daily life emerges from these more microscopic details,” Lynn said in a statement.
De NASA heeft de indrukwekkende donkere nevel, officieel gecatalogiseerd als SH2-63 en LBN 86, in de ‘Astronomieafbeelding van de Dag‘ in de schijnwerpers gezet
Deze nevel, bijgenaamd de Pijlstaartrognevel vanwege zijn kenmerkende vorm, bestaat uit gas en stof in lichte bruine tinten.
De afbeelding, benadrukt door NASA, is vastgelegd door Vikas Chander, gedurende 20 uur belichting onder de donkere luchten van Chili.
NASA Uses Two Worlds to Test Future Mars Helicopter Designs
NASA Uses Two Worlds to Test Future Mars Helicopter Designs
This video combines two perspectives of the 59th flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Video on the left was captured by the Mastcam-Z on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover; the black-and-white video on the right was taken by Ingenuity’s downward-pointing Navcam. The flight occurred Sept 16. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Engineers will go beyond the ends of the Earth to find more performance for future Mars helicopters.
For the first time in history, two planets have been home to testing future aircraft designs. On this world, a new rotor that could be used with next-generation Mars helicopters was recently tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, spinning at near-supersonic speeds (0.95 Mach). Meanwhile, the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has achieved new altitude and airspeed records on the Red Planet in the name of experimental flight testing.
“Our next-generation Mars helicopter testing has literally had the best of both worlds,” said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity’s project manager and manager for the Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters. “Here on Earth, you have all the instrumentation and hands-on immediacy you could hope for while testing new aircraft components. On Mars, you have the real off-world conditions you could never truly re-create here on Earth.” That includes a whisper-thin atmosphere and significantly less gravity than on Earth.
The next-generation carbon fiber rotor blades being tested on Earth are almost 4 inches (more than 10 centimeters) longer than Ingenuity’s, with greater strength and a different design. NASA thinks these blades could enable bigger, more capable Mars helicopters. The challenge is, as the blade tips approach supersonic speeds, vibration-causing turbulence can quickly get out of hand.
To find a space big enough to create a Martian atmosphere on Earth, engineers looked to JPL’s 25-foot wide, 85-foot-tall (8-meter-by-26-meter) space simulator – a place where Surveyor, Voyager, and Cassini got their first taste of space-like environments. For three weeks in September, a team monitored sensors, meters, and cameras as the blades endured run after run at ever-higher speeds and greater pitch angles.
A dual rotor system for the next generation of Mars helicopters is tested in the 25-Foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Sept.15. Longer and stronger than those used on the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the carbon-fiber blades reached near-supersonic speeds during testing. NASA/JPL-Caltech
“We spun our blades up to 3,500 rpm, which is 750 revolutions per minute faster than the Ingenuity blades have gone,” said Tyler Del Sesto, Sample Recovery Helicopter deputy test conductor at JPL. “These more efficient blades are now more than a hypothetical exercise. They are ready to fly.”
At around the same time, and about 100 million miles (161 million kilometers) away, Ingenuity was being commanded to try things the Mars Helicopter team never imagined they would get to do.
Fourth Rock Flight Testing
Ingenuity was originally slated to fly no more than five times. With its first flight entering the mission logbook more than two-and-a-half years ago, the helicopter has exceeded its planned 30-day mission by 32 times and has flown 66 times. Every time Ingenuity goes airborne, it covers new ground, offering a perspective no previous planetary mission could achieve. But lately, Team Ingenuity has been taking their solar-powered rotorcraft out for a spin like never before.
“Over the past nine months, we have doubled our max airspeed and altitude, increased our rate of vertical and horizontal acceleration, and even learned to land slower,” said Travis Brown, Ingenuity’s chief engineer at JPL. “The envelope expansion provides invaluable data that can be used by mission designers for future Mars helicopters.”
Limited by available energy and motor-temperature considerations, Ingenuity flights usually last around two to three minutes. Although the helicopter can cover more ground in a single flight by flying faster, flying too fast can confuse the onboard navigation system. The system uses a camera that recognizes rocks and other surface features as they move through its field of view. If those features whiz by too fast, the system can lose its way.
So, to achieve a higher maximum ground speed, the team sends commands for Ingenuity to fly at higher altitudes (instructions are sent to the helicopter before each flight), which keeps features in view longer. Flight 61 established a new altitude record of 78.7 feet (24 meters) as it checked out Martian wind patterns. With Flight 62 Ingenuity set a speed record of 22.3 mph (10 meters per second) – and scouted a location for the Perseverance rover’s science team.
The team has also been experimenting with Ingenuity’s landing speed. The helicopter was designed to contact the surface at a relatively brisk 2.2 mph (1 mps) so its onboard sensors could easily confirm touchdown and shut down the rotors before it could bounce back into the air. A helicopter that lands more slowly could be designed with lighter landing gear. So, on Flights 57, 58, and 59 they gave it a whirl, demonstrating Ingenuity could land at speeds 25% slower than the helicopter was originally designed to land at.
All this Martian Chuck Yeager-ing is not over. In December, after solar conjunction, Ingenuity is expected to perform two high-speed flights during which it will execute a special set of pitch-and-roll angles designed to measure its performance.
“The data will be extremely useful in fine-tuning our aero-mechanical models of how rotorcraft behave on Mars,” said Brown. “On Earth, such testing is usually performed in the first few flights. But that’s not where we’re flying. You have to be a little more careful when you’re operating that far away from the nearest repair shop, because you don’t get any do-overs.”
More About Ingenuity
Ingenuity began its life at Mars as a technology demonstration. It first flew on April 19, 2021, hovering 10 feet (3 meters) for 30 seconds. Four more flights in as many weeks added 499 seconds and saw the helicopter flying horizontally over the surface for 1,171 feet (357 meters). After proving flight was possible on Mars, Ingenuity entered an operations demonstration phase in May 2021 to show how aerial scouting could benefit future exploration of Mars and other worlds.
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.
At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
News Media Contacts
DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-9011 agle@jpl.nasa.gov
NASA Tests its Next-Generation Mars Helicopter Blades
Artist illustration of three solar-powered Mars helicopters from NASA: Ingenuity (upper right), along with the proposed design for Sample Recovery Helicopter to be use on the future NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return Mission (foreground) and a concept for a future Science Helicopter (upper center). (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
NASA Tests its Next-Generation Mars Helicopter Blades
While NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter continues to break records for both airspeed and altitude while it explores Jezero Crater on the Red Planet, NASA engineers back on Earth are hard at work testing carbon fiber blades for next-generation Mars helicopters that could exceed the performance of Ingenuity on future missions to Mars, specifically with the planned Mars Sample Return mission that NASA hopes to accomplish sometime in the 2030s.
“Our next-generation Mars helicopter testing has literally had the best of both worlds,” Teddy Tzanetos, who is the project manager for Ingenuity and manager for the Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters, said in an official NASA statement. “Here on Earth, you have all the instrumentation and hands-on immediacy you could hope for while testing new aircraft components. On Mars, you have the real off-world conditions you could never truly re-create here on Earth.”
These off-world conditions on Mars include surface atmospheric pressure and surface gravity that is less than one percent and one-third of Earth’s surface, respectively. It is because of this significantly reduced surface pressure that Ingenuity’s rotations per minute (rpm) are between 2,400 to 2,900 rpm to achieve flight on the Red Planet. This is significantly higher than on Earth, as helicopters typically only need 500 to 600 rpm to achieve flight.
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter incorporates four carbon fiber blades organized into two counter-rotating rotors, meaning that rotate opposite to each other, spanning 1.2-meters (4-feet) across with the aforementioned rotating speed of between 2,400 to 2,900 rpm (rotations per minute). Additionally, Ingenuity also weighs in at approximately 1.8 kilograms (4 pounds) on Earth, but with Mars having approximately one-third the gravity Ingenuity weighs only 0.68 kilograms (1.5 pounds) on the surface of the Red Planet.
April 2021 video discussing the design and development of Ingenuity.
For the next-generation Mars helicopters, NASA engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena are constructing blades that are slightly more than 10 centimeters (4 inches) longer than Ingenuity’s blades, along with exhibiting a separate design and increased strength, as well.
“We spun our blades up to 3,500 rpm, which is 750 revolutions per minute faster than the Ingenuity blades have gone,” Tyler Del Sesto, who is the Sample Recovery Helicopter deputy test conductor at JPL, said in an official NASA statement. “These more efficient blades are now more than a hypothetical exercise. They are ready to fly.”
One goal of these next-generation Mars helicopters could be on the joint NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return mission slated to occur sometime in the 2030s. This mission will encompass three parts: sample collection, sample retrieval, and a return mission. It is the sample retrieval mission that will involve the most equipment, including two Ingenuity-class helicopters tasked with collecting samples with a robotic arm that are currently being placed on the surface of Mars in Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance rover.
These sample retrieval helicopters will vary in design from Ingenuity in that they are planned to have a set of four wheels used to drive to the sample upon landing a few meters from them. Upon retrieval, the helicopters will fly to the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL), which will then load the samples into the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which will launch the samples to low Martian orbit where they will return to Earth for analysis. Currently, Perseverance has collected a total of 23 samples with the goal of collecting 38 samples in the end.
Artist illustration of the various components that will comprise the Mars Sample Return mission, which is slated for the 2030s. These components include NASA’s Perseverance rover (lower left, and currently on Mars), Sample Retrieval Lander (far right), two Ingenuity-class helicopters, Mars Ascent Vehicle, and the Earth Return Orbiter. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
As noted, Ingenuity continues to break records for both altitude and speed as it has completed a total of 66 flights as of this writing, which far exceeds the original plan of five flights over the course of a 30-day mission that began on April 19, 2021. Thus far, Ingenuity has achieved a maximum horizontal distance of 704 meters (2,309.71 feet), which it achieved on its 25th flight on April 3, 2022, and a maximum altitude of 24 meters (78.7 feet), which it achieved on its 61st flight on October 5, 2023.
How will these next-generation Mars helicopters help improve the science and engineering performed on the Red Planet in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
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