ScientistPankaj: After crashing on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter could live on as a weather station for 20 years

Thursday, December 12, 2024

After crashing on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter could live on as a weather station for 20 years

Ingenuity helicopter could live on as a Mars weather station | Space Quiz! How long does it take Jupiter to complete one orbit around the sun? | ORCs! Odd radio circle in 'completely unexpected discovery'

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December 12, 2024

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The Launchpad

Ingenuity helicopter could live on as a Mars weather station

(NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS)

After conducting the "first aircraft investigation on another world," Ingenuity's mission managers at JPL say the helicopter could have a second life on the Red Planet. "We are very proud to report that, even after the hard landing in flight, 72 avionics battery sensors have all been functional, and she still has one final gift for us, which is that she's now going to continue on as a weather station of sorts, recording telemetry, taking images every single sol and storing them on board," said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity's project manager at JPL, during the team's presentation at AGU.

Full Story: Space (12/11)

Space Quiz! How long does it take Jupiter to complete one orbit around the sun?

Learn the answer here!

ORCs! Odd radio circle in 'completely unexpected discovery'

(Ray Norris., et al/ arxiv (2024))

Astronomers have discovered another mysterious and massive circle of radio light in space. The strange and vast circle of light is an example of an ORC (Odd Radio Circle), the origins of which are currently unknown. ORCS, first discovered in 2019, are so vast they can be 10 times the width of the Milky Way, thus encompassing entire galaxies.

Full Story: Space (12/11)

Spaceflight

Japan's ispace plans to land mining missions on the moon

(ispace)

Space mining is inching closer to reality with the latest agreement between Japanese lunar exploration company ispace and lunar prospecting company Magna Petra. In a memo of understanding, ispace and Magna Petra have agreed to collaborate to utilize the moon's resources for economic benefits to life on Earth, the companies announced

Full Story: Space (12/11)

Science & Astronomy

Gas giants show changes over 10 years of Hubble images

(NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI))

For the past decade, NASA's Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy program (OPAL) has been obtaining detailed views of the long-term changes in the skies of the four closest giants to Earth: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, each home to a unique set of atmospheric variables. OPAL data has allowed astronomers to observe weather patterns and seasons of these outer planets to better understand their dynamics and changes over time.

Full Story: Space (12/12)

SpaceX

NASA's 3D-sky-mapping satellite set for February launch

(BAE Systems)

An ambitious NASA mission to map the sky in 3D using a space-based observatory now has a target launch date of late February 2025. NASA's compact car-sized observatory, called Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (or just SPHEREx for short), will map the millions of stars and galaxies visible from our planet in every direction, "like scanning the inside of a globe," according to an agency statement. The satellite will launch into a polar orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Full Story: Space (12/11)

Technology

NASA will fly F-15s through X-59's supersonic shock waves

(NASA/Steve Freeman)

NASA is planning to fly its F-15B jets through supersonic shock waves in order to help test its revolutionary X-59 jet. When aircraft break the sound barrier, they produce shock waves that reverberate through the surrounding air and produce the thunderous sonic booms typically associated with supersonic flight. The X-59, developed by Lockheed Martin and NASA, was designed with a radical new geometry that could help reduce these booms down to a much quieter "thump." NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center is planning to fly an F-15B research aircraft behind the X-59 during supersonic flight, carrying two specially designed probes that will collect "precise pressure data" about the X-59's shock waves.

Full Story: Space (12/11)