Copernical Team
Scientists suspect there's ice hiding on the moon, and a host of missions from the US and beyond are searching for it
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Building a space station on the moon might seem like something out of a science fiction movie, but each new lunar mission is bringing that idea closer to reality. Scientists are homing in on potential lunar ice reservoirs in permanently shadowed regions, or PSRs. These are key to setting up any sort of sustainable lunar infrastructure.
In late August 2023, India's Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface in the south polar region, which scientists suspect may harbor ice. This landing marked a significant milestone not only for India but for the scientific community at large.
How NASA's Roman Space Telescope will chronicle the active cosmos
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NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will pair space-based observations with a broad field of view to unveil the dynamic cosmos in ways that have never been possible before.
"Roman will work in tandem with NASA observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, which are designed to zoom in on rare transient objects once they've been identified, but seldom if ever discover them," said Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
"Roman's much larger field of view will reveal many such objects that were previously unknown. And since we've never had an observatory like this scanning the cosmos before, we could even find entirely new classes of objects and events."
The mission's High Latitude Time-Domain Survey is well-designed to discover a particular type of exploding star that astronomers can use to trace the evolution of the universe and probe possible explanations for its accelerated expansion.
Fall into an ice giant's atmosphere
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The unique atmospheric compositions of "ice giant" planets Uranus and Neptune were recreated to simulate a plunge deep within them, using suitably adapted European shocktubes and plasma facilities.
Taking place as part of an effort to simulate the flight of proposed atmospheric probes, the test campaign achieved an equivalent speed up to 19 km/s—although further work will be needed to reach the actual velocities that probes into these gas giants would attain.
Testing took place inside the hypersonic plasma T6 Stalker Tunnel at Oxford University in the U.K., along with the University of Stuttgart's High Enthalpy Flow Diagnostics Group's plasma wind tunnels in Germany, as shown in the video clip here.
Whether by impacts, landings or atmospheric probes, human-made spacecraft have touched all the planets of the solar system except two: the outer gas giants Uranus and Neptune.
Now both NASA and ESA are considering future missions to this intriguing pair, almost identical in size.
Rocket exhaust on the moon: NASA supercomputers reveal surface effects
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Through Artemis, NASA plans to explore more of the moon than ever before with human and robotic missions on the lunar surface. Because future landers will be larger and equipped with more powerful engines than the Apollo landers, mission risks associated with their operation during landing and liftoff is significantly greater. With the agency's goal to establish a sustained human presence on the moon, mission planners must understand how future landers interact with the lunar surface as they touch down in unexplored moonscapes.
Landing on the moon is tricky. When missions fly crew and payloads to the lunar surface, spacecraft control their descent by firing rocket engines to counteract the moon's gravitational pull. This happens in an extreme environment that's hard to replicate and test on Earth, namely, a combination of low gravity, no atmosphere, and the unique properties of lunar regolith—the layer of fine, loose dust and rock on the moon's surface.
Each time a spacecraft lands or lifts off, its engines blast supersonic plumes of hot gas toward the surface and the intense forces kick up dust and eject rocks or other debris at high speeds.
A novel system for slip prevention in unmanned rovers
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Given the hostile conditions of extraterrestrial environments, unmanned rovers play a critical role in the exploration of planets and moons. NASA's Mars and lunar exploration rovers have significantly contributed to our understanding of these extraterrestrial bodies. Planetary surfaces often present challenging landscapes with slopes, craters, and dunes.
Muninn mission name and patch explained
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Video:
00:01:25
ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt explains his mission name and patch.
Marcus’s first mission to space, Muninn, takes its name from Norse mythology and the two raven accomplices of the god Odin – Muninn and Huginn. Together, the two symbolise the human mind. Huginn is the name of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s Space Station mission.
According to the myth, the ravens serve as messengers and advisors to their god, sharing all they see and hear. Muninn comes from the Old Norse word munr, that can be translated as mind and passion. Huginn is the name of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s mission.
Training for space
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Video:
00:02:09
Overview of ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt’s training for his mission to space.
The Swedish astronaut will travel to the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) no earlier than January 2024. He will spend up to 14 days in orbit conducting microgravity research and educational activities.
Marcus Wandt started intensive training for his mission in June 2023. Lessons on payloads and simulators take place in training facilities and space centres around the world. Each of the partners is in charge of training astronauts on the elements that they contribute to the International Space Station.
Marcus’s training in Europe
Press conference with ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt
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Video:
00:39:52
Watch the replay of the press conference with ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt taking place at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne (Germany) as he prepares for his first mission to the International Space Station.
He was joined by another ESA astronaut, Matthias Maurer. Marcus’s mission, called Muninn, is supported by ESA and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA).
The mission will last up to 14 days, in which Marcus will take part in microgravity research and educational outreach activities. Marcus will be a mission specialist on Ax-3 and his launch is scheduled on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft no earlier
Italy's Mount Etna spews lava
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Image:
One of the world’s most active volcanoes, Mount Etna, erupted on Sunday – spewing lava and clouds of ash high over the Mediterranean island of Sicily. This image, captured on 13 November by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, has been processed using the mission’s shortwave-infrared bands Cosmic currents: Preserving water quality for astronauts during space exploration
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On Nov. 9, the SpaceX Falcon rocket streaked skyward from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The rocket is on a commercial resupply mission dubbed CRS-2 SpX-29. In addition to providing vital provisions for astronauts, SpX-29 carries a special biological sciences payload - a collaborative experiment developed by researchers at Arizona State Universi