Feed aggregator

The redness of asteroid 469219 Kamo‘oalewa marks it out as probably originating on the moon, and now we might know the exact impact crater it was launched from

6 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is shown in a clean room at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 8, 2022. DSOC’s gold-capped flight laser transceiver can be seen, near center, attached to the spacecraft. NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment also interfaced with the Psyche spacecraft’s communication system for the first time, transmitting engineering data to Earth.

Riding aboard NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, the agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration continues to break records. While the asteroid-bound spacecraft doesn’t rely on optical communications to send data, the new technology has proven that it’s up to the task. After interfacing with the Psyche’s radio frequency transmitter, the laser communications demo sent a copy of engineering data from over 140 million miles (226 million kilometers) away, 1½ times the distance between Earth and the Sun.

This achievement provides a glimpse into how spacecraft could use optical communications in the future, enabling higher-data-rate communications of complex scientific information as well as high-definition imagery and video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.

“We downlinked about 10 minutes of duplicated spacecraft data during a pass on April 8,” said Meera Srinivasan, the project’s operations lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Until then, we’d been sending test and diagnostic data in our downlinks from Psyche. This represents a significant milestone for the project by showing how optical communications can interface with a spacecraft’s radio frequency comms system.”

This visualization shows the Psyche spacecraft’s position on April 8 when the DSOC flight laser transceiver transmitted data at a rate of 25 Mbps over 140 million miles to a downlink station on Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech See an interactive version of Psyche in NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System

The laser communications technology in this demo is designed to transmit data from deep space at rates 10 to 100 times faster than the state-of-the-art radio frequency systems used by deep space missions today.

After launching on Oct. 13, 2023, the spacecraft remains healthy and stable as it journeys to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to visit the asteroid Psyche.

Surpassing Expectations

NASA’s optical communications demonstration has shown that it can transmit test data at a maximum rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps) from the flight laser transceiver’s near-infrared downlink laser — a bit rate comparable to broadband internet download speeds.

That was achieved on Dec. 11, 2023, when the experiment beamed a 15-second ultra-high-definition video to Earth from 19 million miles away (31 million kilometers, or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance). The video, along with other test data, including digital versions of Arizona State University’s Psyche Inspired artwork, had been loaded onto the flight laser transceiver before Psyche launched last year.

Now that the spacecraft is more than seven times farther away, the rate at which it can send and receive data is reduced, as expected. During the April 8 test, the spacecraft transmitted test data at a maximum rate of 25 Mbps, which far surpasses the project’s goal of proving at least 1 Mbps was possible at that distance.

The project team also commanded the transceiver to transmit Psyche-generated data optically. While Psyche was transmitting data over its radio frequency channel to NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), the optical communications system simultaneously transmitted a portion of the same data to the Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California — the tech demo’s primary downlink ground station.

“After receiving the data from the DSN and Palomar, we verified the optically downlinked data at JPL,” said Ken Andrews, project flight operations lead at JPL. “It was a small amount of data downlinked over a short time frame, but the fact we’re doing this now has surpassed all of our expectations.”

Fun With Lasers

After Psyche launched, the optical communications demo was initially used to downlink pre-loaded data, including the Taters the cat video. Since then, the project has proven that the transceiver can receive data from the high-power uplink laser at JPL’s Table Mountain facility, near Wrightwood, California. Data can even be sent to the transceiver and then downlinked back to Earth on the same night, as the project proved in a recent “turnaround experiment.”

This experiment relayed test data — as well as digital pet photographs — to Psyche and back again, a round trip of up to 280 million miles (450 million kilometers). It also downlinked large amounts of the tech demo’s own engineering data to study the characteristics of the optical communications link.

“We’ve learned a great deal about how far we can push the system when we do have clear skies, although storms have interrupted operations at both Table Mountain and Palomar on occasion,” said Ryan Rogalin, the project’s receiver electronics lead at JPL. (Whereas radio frequency communications can operate in most weather conditions, optical communications require relatively clear skies to transmit high-bandwidth data.)

JPL recently led an experiment to combine Palomar, the experimental radio frequency-optical antenna at the DSN’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in Barstow, California, and a detector at Table Mountain to receive the same signal in concert. “Arraying” multiple ground stations to mimic one large receiver can help boost the deep space signal. This strategy can also be useful if one ground station is forced offline due to weather conditions; other stations can still receive the signal.

More About the Mission

Managed by JPL, this demonstration is the latest in a series of optical communication experiments funded by the Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) program under NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and the agency’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Development of the flight laser transceiver is supported by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, L3 Harris, CACI, First Mode, and Controlled Dynamics Inc., and Fibertek, Coherent, and Dotfast support the ground systems. Some of the technology was developed through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

Arizona State University leads the Psyche mission. JPL is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Psyche is the 14th mission selected as part of NASA’s Discovery Program under the Science Mission Directorate, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, managed the launch service. Maxar Technologies provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis from Palo Alto, California.

For more information about the laser communications demo, visit:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/dsoc

5 Things to Know About NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications NASA’s DSOC Streams First Video From Deep Space via Laser The NASA DSOC Cat Video Explained News Media Contacts

Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov

2024-049      

Share

Details Last Updated Apr 25, 2024 Related Terms

• Psyche Mission
• Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)
• Marshall Space Flight Center
• Space Communications & Navigation Program
• Space Technology Mission Directorate
• Tech Demo Missions
• Technology Demonstration Missions Program

Explore More 29 min read The Marshall Star for April 24, 2024 Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA’s Chandra Releases Doubleheader of Blockbuster Hits Article 2 days ago 7 min read Pushing the Limits of Sub-Kilowatt Electric Propulsion Technology to Enable Planetary Exploration and Commercial Mission Concepts

NASA has developed an advanced propulsion technology to facilitate future planetary exploration missions using small…

Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

After 64 years, the United Launch Alliance launched the final flight of its Delta IV Heavy rocket on April 9th, and stunning rocket cam footage captured the fiery finale.

Artists used paintbrushes and airbrushes to recreate the lunar surface on each of the four models comprising the LOLA simulator. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface.

NASA

An artist uses an airbrush to recreate the lunar surface on one of the four models comprising the LOLA, or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach, simulator in this November 12, 1964, photo. Project LOLA was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface.

In “Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo,” James Hansen wrote: “This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface; the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation–although great fun and quite aesthetic–was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled.”

Image Credit: NASA

Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams expect to face the unexpected in space with Boeing Starliner, but told reporters on April 25 that the team is ready for the unexpected.

Mice that had been genetically modified to lack the ability to smell could sniff out hidden cookies when sensory neurons from rats were grown in their brains

Mice that had been genetically modified to lack the ability to smell could sniff out hidden cookies when sensory neurons from rats were grown in their brains

NASA's Fermi Space Telescope has failed to see gamma rays from a nearby supernova that should be created when it generates the high-energy cosmic rays that bombard Earth in their trillions.

On April 10, 2024, Johnson Space Center celebrated the opening of the Four Nine Team conference center housed in building 419. The event marked the unveiling of a dynamic hub for Johnson employees, whether for team brainstorms, meetings with offsite companies, or remote work for those not typically onsite.  

During the open house, selected vendors showcased furniture that blended modern aesthetics with the building’s historical significance, highlighting NASA’s vision for the future of work. 

“The vendors really went above and beyond to bring our workplace to life,” said Leah Galindo, lead project manager of collaborative worksites at Johnson. “We are extremely grateful for their contributions and for creating a space that inspires people to come to work every day.” 

The design center features acoustic panels in rooms and hallways to minimize distractions and maintain privacy. The amenities include TVs, projectors, and 360-degree video conferencing devices, with most rooms equipped to support various meeting needs. Employees can also choose to store their personal belongings in a locker during lunch breaks or when visiting other buildings. 

David Brownhill, Johnson’s furniture group lead and NASA’s first official interior decorator, commented, “The redesigned space is a testament to the innovative spirit of NASA. The collaborative concept shows that the center has changed, and so has the way we work.” 

Scientists detected the first long-predicted gravitational wave in 2015, and since then, researchers have been hungering for better detectors. But the Earth is warm and seismically noisy, and that will always limit the effectiveness of Earth-based detectors.

Is the Moon the right place for a new gravitational wave observatory? It might be. Sending telescopes into space worked well, and mounting a GW observatory on the Moon might, too, though the proposal is obviously very complex.

Most of astronomy is about light. The better we can sense it, the more we learn about nature. That’s why telescopes like the Hubble and the JWST are in space. Earth’s atmosphere distorts telescope images and even blocks some light, like infrared. Space telescopes get around both of those problems and have revolutionized astronomy.

Gravitational waves aren’t light, but sensing them still requires extreme sensitivity. Just as Earth’s atmosphere can introduce ‘noise’ into telescope observations, so can Earth’s seismic activity cause problems for gravitational wave detectors. The Moon has a big advantage over our dynamic, ever-changing planet: it has far less seismic activity.

We’ve known since the Apollo days that the Moon has seismic activity. But unlike Earth, most of its activity is related to tidal forces and tiny meteorite strikes. Most of its seismic activity is also weaker and much deeper than Earth’s. That’s attracted the attention of researchers developing the Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna (LGWA).

The developers of the LGWA have written a new paper, “The Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna: Mission Studies and Science Case.” The lead author is Parameswaran Ajith, a physicist/astrophysicist from the International Centre for Theoretical Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India. Ajith is also a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

A gravitational wave observatory (GWO) on the Moon would cover a gap in frequency coverage.

“Given the size of the Moon and the expected noise produced by the lunar seismic background, the LGWA would be able to observe GWs from about 1 mHz to 1 Hz,” the authors write. “This would make the LGWA the missing link between space-borne detectors like LISA with peak sensitivities around a few millihertz and proposed future terrestrial detectors like Einstein Telescope or Cosmic Explorer.”

If built, the LGWA would consist of a planetary-scale array of detectors. The Moon’s unique conditions will enable the LGWA to open a larger window into gravitational wave science. The Moon has extremely low background seismic activity that the authors describe as ‘seismic silence.’ The lack of background noise will enable more sensitive detections.

The Moon also has extremely low temperatures inside its permanently shadowed regions (PSRs.) Detectors must be super-cooled, and the cold temperatures in the PSRs make that task easier. The LGWA would consist of four detectors in a PSR crater at one of the lunar poles.

This schematic shows one of the LGWA’s detectors on the floor of a lunar PSR. Image Credit: LGWA

The LGWA is an ambitious idea with a potentially game-changing scientific payoff. When combined with telescopes observing across the electromagnetic spectrum and with neutrino and cosmic ray detectors—called multi-messenger astronomy—it could advance our understanding of a whole host of cosmic events.

The LGWA will have some unique capabilities for detecting cosmic explosions. “Only LGWA can observe astrophysical events that involve WDs (white dwarfs) like tidal disruption events (TDEs) and SNe Ia,” the authors explain. They also point out that only the LGWA will be able to warn astronomers weeks or even months in advance of solar mass compact binaries, including neutron stars, merging.

The LGWA will also be able to detect lighter intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) binaries in the early Universe. IMBHs played a role in forming today’s supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the heart of galaxies like our own. Astrophysicists have a lot of unanswered questions around black holes and how they’ve evolved and the LGWA should help answer some of them.

Double White Dwarf (DWD) mergers outside our galaxy are another thing that the LGWA alone will be able to sense. They can be used to measure the Hubble Constant. Over the decades, scientists have gotten more refined measurements of the Hubble constant, but there are still discrepancies.

A graphical summary of the LGWA science case, including multi-messenger studies with electromagnetic observatories and multiband observations with space-borne and terrestrial GW detectors. Image Credit: Ajith et al. 2024/LGWA

The LGWA will also tell us more about the Moon. Its seismic observations will reveal the Moon’s internal structure in more detail than ever. There’s a lot scientists still don’t know about its formation, history, and evolution. The LGWA’s seismic observations will also illuminate the Moon’s geological processes.

The LGWA mission is still being developed. Before it can be implemented, scientists need to know more about where they plan to place it. That’s where the preliminary Soundcheck mission comes in.

In 2023, the ESA selected Soundcheck into its Reserve Pool of Science Activities for the Moon. Soundcheck will not only measure seismic surface displacement, magnetic fluctuations and temperature, it will also be a technology demonstration mission. “The Soundcheck technology validation focuses on deployment, inertial sensor mechanics and readout, thermal management and platform levelling,” the authors explain.

This schematic shows one of the Soundcheck seismic stations. Image Credit: LGWA

In astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and related scientific endeavours, it always seems like we’re on the precipice of new discoveries and a new understanding of the Universe and how we fit into it. The reason it always seems like that is because it’s true. Humans are getting better and better at it, and the advent and flourishing of GW science exemplifies that, even though we’re just getting started. Not even a decade has passed since scientists detected their first GW.

Where will things go from here?

“Despite this well-developed roadmap for GW science, it is important to realize that the exploration of our Universe through GWs is still in its infancy,” the authors write in their paper. “In addition to the
immense impact expected on astrophysics and cosmology, this field holds a high probability for unexpected and fundamental discoveries.”

The post Here’s Why We Should Put a Gravitational Wave Observatory on the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.

Some stars erupt with 'superflares' 10,000 times as powerful as solar flares from the sun. A team of "stellar detectives" are on the case and may now know why some stars are so violent.

There has never been a better time to be or become a birder

Image: First Ariane 6 booster gets lift to launch zone

The chase across the galaxy for the Progenitors MacGuffin continues, offering chances to insert stand-alone, episode-length adventures along the way.

Intensive breeding since the 19th century has created thousands of varieties of rose, but a reduction in genetic diversity could leave them vulnerable to diseases and climate change

Intensive breeding since the 19th century has created thousands of varieties of rose, but a reduction in genetic diversity could leave them vulnerable to diseases and climate change

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

A 12th grade artist with a passion for NASA and space took home the top prize for the 2024 NASA Student Art Contest, a nationwide competition hosted by NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Esther Lee, of Washington State, was selected as the grand prize winner for her submission “Beyond Imagination,” which depicts a young girl and her dog in a cardboard box exploring the universe. Lee said she was inspired by memories of her adventurous childhood.

“Beyond Imagination,” 2024 NASA Student Art Contest grand prize winnerNASA / Esther Lee

“The underlying inspiration from this piece actually originates from childhood memories. As a kid, I used to sit down in cardboard moving boxes and shuffle along the carpet or wood floors, pretending that I was a pirate or adventurer on a ship exploring the vast unknowns,” Lee said. “Ultimately, I wanted my piece to capture that same childlike innocence and joy from all those years ago.”

Lee’s piece stood out among a crowded and creative field. This year’s theme, “Connecting the Dots”, encouraged K-12 students to explore innovative ideas about the intersection of science, technology, and art.

“The milky ways party” by Ziyo Cui, 1st Place Kindergarten DivisionNASA / Ziyo Cui

Art contest coordinator, Kristina Cors, said this year’s contest, which brought in more than 2000 entries, was one of the best. “The art contest received a record number of entries this year and the quality of the art was absolutely incredible. From the impressive skills of our winners to the joyful imagination of our youngest entries, each piece represented an excitement for exploration and creativity,” remarked Cors.

“We’re going back” by Hannah Kim, 1st Place 8th Grade DivisionNASA/ Hannah Kim

Lee’s victory is a product of years of continued efforts and inspirations, as well as a personal interest in NASA’s missions and space science. “I’ve been drawing on and off since elementary school. As I had more time during the pandemic, I had the opportunity to explore digital art more seriously. NASA and space have always been a huge inspiration for me,” she said.

Esther Lee holding her grand prize-winning artwork, “Beyond Imagination”.NASA / Esther Lee

Using the software Procreate on her iPad, Esther took her interpretation of the prompt “Connect the Dots” skyward by imagining a connection between dreams and reality. She said “Beyond Imagination” emerged from a personal philosophy. “As a child, your dreams could take you far beyond your ordinary world. Equipped with just a cardboard box, paper hat, and plushies, you could travel all the way up to space and beyond. Your future is only restricted by your imagination.”

To view this year’s contest submissions, click here.

Share

Details Last Updated Apr 25, 2024 Related Terms

• Langley Research Center
• Learning Resources

Explore More 1 min read NASA Glenn Joins Big Hoopla STEM Challenge Article 2 days ago 1 min read NASA Mentors, Students Rock FIRST Buckeye Regional  Article 2 days ago 1 min read Cleveland School Students Learn About STEM Careers   Article 2 days ago

A Long March 2F rocket lifted off from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center today (April 25), carrying the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft and its three-person crew into orbit.

Neutron stars could act as gravitational traps for dark matter, forcing these mysterious particles to collide, annihilate and warm up otherwise cold dead stars.