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#51
In the Media... / Swift enters safe mode over gy...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:56:28Swift enters safe mode over gyro issue while NASA preps patch to shake it off
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has dropped into safe mode after one of the spacecraft's three gyroscopes showed signs of degradation.
The fix will require a software update to permit the spacecraft to continue with its two remaining gyros.
The spacecraft, which was launched in 2004 for a planned two-year mission, is designed to study gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). It was originally called the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer but was later renamed for its Principal Investigator, Neil Gehrels.
As with several other NASA missions – for example, Chandra – Swift's future is uncertain. Although a 2022 Senior Review panel deemed Swift the top-ranked satellite among operating missions other than Hubble and Chandra, its extended mission operations only run through FY2025. NASA is due to conduct the next Senior Review in spring next year.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/19/swift_enters_safe_mode/
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has dropped into safe mode after one of the spacecraft's three gyroscopes showed signs of degradation.
The fix will require a software update to permit the spacecraft to continue with its two remaining gyros.
The spacecraft, which was launched in 2004 for a planned two-year mission, is designed to study gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). It was originally called the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer but was later renamed for its Principal Investigator, Neil Gehrels.
As with several other NASA missions – for example, Chandra – Swift's future is uncertain. Although a 2022 Senior Review panel deemed Swift the top-ranked satellite among operating missions other than Hubble and Chandra, its extended mission operations only run through FY2025. NASA is due to conduct the next Senior Review in spring next year.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/19/swift_enters_safe_mode/
#52
In the Media... / Intricate mission to de-ice a...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:54:39Intricate mission to de-ice a space telescope is go: Euclid's 'eye' is clear
Boffins at the European Space Agency (ESA) are very pleased with themselves following confirmation that the de-icing process they devised for Euclid's optics has "performed significantly better than hoped."
Launched in 2023, the optics of the Euclid spacecraft have suffered from an accumulation of water ice. While the thickness of the ice was measured in nanometers, scientists could detect its impact through the drop in light observed from distant galaxies.
Due to the finely calibrated instruments onboard, simply heating up the spacecraft to get rid of the ice wasn't an option. Instead, engineers devised an approach in which each mirror would be heated in turn, and observations would be made to see what, if any, impact was made on light coming into the spacecraft.
The team wasn't even sure which of the mirrors was causing the problem but reckoned there was a good chance it was the first mirror they planned to heat.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/26/euclid_space_telescope_deicing_declared/
Boffins at the European Space Agency (ESA) are very pleased with themselves following confirmation that the de-icing process they devised for Euclid's optics has "performed significantly better than hoped."
Launched in 2023, the optics of the Euclid spacecraft have suffered from an accumulation of water ice. While the thickness of the ice was measured in nanometers, scientists could detect its impact through the drop in light observed from distant galaxies.
Due to the finely calibrated instruments onboard, simply heating up the spacecraft to get rid of the ice wasn't an option. Instead, engineers devised an approach in which each mirror would be heated in turn, and observations would be made to see what, if any, impact was made on light coming into the spacecraft.
The team wasn't even sure which of the mirrors was causing the problem but reckoned there was a good chance it was the first mirror they planned to heat.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/26/euclid_space_telescope_deicing_declared/
#53
In the Media... / Euclid space telescope needs d...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:53:33Euclid space telescope needs de-icing
Less than 12 months into its six-year survey mission, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid telescope is experiencing optical issues that require European teams to devise a de-icing procedure.
ESA described the problem as common – water absorbed from the air during assembly is being released now that the spacecraft is in the vacuum of space.
The ice layers are currently only the width of a strand of DNA, but they are disrupting Euclid's observations, meaning teams need to come up with a new procedure to de-ice the optics.
So what to do? Typically, engineers would turn on the heaters and spend a few days increasing the spacecraft's temperature from approximately -140°C to -3°C. However, while this would clear the optics, there is also the risk that Euclid's optical alignment could be affected as the spacecraft cools back down.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/euclid_space_telescope_deicing/
Less than 12 months into its six-year survey mission, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid telescope is experiencing optical issues that require European teams to devise a de-icing procedure.
ESA described the problem as common – water absorbed from the air during assembly is being released now that the spacecraft is in the vacuum of space.
The ice layers are currently only the width of a strand of DNA, but they are disrupting Euclid's observations, meaning teams need to come up with a new procedure to de-ice the optics.
So what to do? Typically, engineers would turn on the heaters and spend a few days increasing the spacecraft's temperature from approximately -140°C to -3°C. However, while this would clear the optics, there is also the risk that Euclid's optical alignment could be affected as the spacecraft cools back down.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/euclid_space_telescope_deicing/
#54
In the Media... / Metal thought to be Internatio...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:52:08Metal thought to be International Space Station trash rips through Florida home
Metal thought to be International Space Station trash rips through Florida home
Nasa investigates cylindrical slab believed to be part of discarded battery pallet that tore through Naples house
Richard Luscombe in Miami
Tue 2 Apr 2024 17.13 CEST
Last modified on Wed 3 Apr 2024 03.30 CEST
Nasa is investigating after a sizable chunk of metal believed to be part of a discarded battery pallet from the International Space Station crashed through the roof and two stories of a house in Florida.
Engineers for the American outer space exploration agency are analyzing the cylindrical slab, which weighs about 2lb and tore through the home in Naples on the afternoon of 8 March.
"It was a tremendous sound. It almost hit my son. He was two rooms over and heard it all," the homeowner, Alejandro Otero, told WINK News. "Something ripped through the house and then made a big hole on the floor and on the ceiling."
Otero said he was away on vacation when the object struck.
More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/02/space-trash-florida-home
Metal thought to be International Space Station trash rips through Florida home
Nasa investigates cylindrical slab believed to be part of discarded battery pallet that tore through Naples house
Richard Luscombe in Miami
Tue 2 Apr 2024 17.13 CEST
Last modified on Wed 3 Apr 2024 03.30 CEST
Nasa is investigating after a sizable chunk of metal believed to be part of a discarded battery pallet from the International Space Station crashed through the roof and two stories of a house in Florida.
Engineers for the American outer space exploration agency are analyzing the cylindrical slab, which weighs about 2lb and tore through the home in Naples on the afternoon of 8 March.
"It was a tremendous sound. It almost hit my son. He was two rooms over and heard it all," the homeowner, Alejandro Otero, told WINK News. "Something ripped through the house and then made a big hole on the floor and on the ceiling."
Otero said he was away on vacation when the object struck.
More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/02/space-trash-florida-home
#55
In the Media... / Trash from the International S...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:50:49Trash from the International Space Station may have hit a house in Florida
A few weeks ago, something from the heavens came crashing through the roof of Alejandro Otero's home, and NASA is on the case.
In all likelihood, this nearly 2-pound object came from the International Space Station. Otero said it tore through the roof and both floors of his two-story house in Naples, Florida.
Otero wasn't home at the time, but his son was there. A Nest home security camera captured the sound of the crash at 2:34 pm local time (19:34 UTC) on March 8. That's an important piece of information because it is a close match for the time—2:29 pm EST (19:29 UTC)—that US Space Command recorded the reentry of a piece of space debris from the space station. At that time, the object was on a path over the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward southwest Florida.
This space junk consisted of depleted batteries from the ISS, attached to a cargo pallet that was originally supposed to come back to Earth in a controlled manner. But a series of delays meant this cargo pallet missed its ride back to Earth, so NASA jettisoned the batteries from the space station in 2021 to head for an unguided reentry.
Otero's likely encounter with space debris was first reported by WINK News, the CBS affiliate for southwest Florida. Since then, NASA has recovered the debris from the homeowner, according to Josh Finch, an agency spokesperson.
Engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center will analyze the object "as soon as possible to determine its origin," Finch told Ars. "More information will be available once the analysis is complete."
More: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/trash-from-the-international-space-station-may-have-hit-a-house-in-florida/
A few weeks ago, something from the heavens came crashing through the roof of Alejandro Otero's home, and NASA is on the case.
In all likelihood, this nearly 2-pound object came from the International Space Station. Otero said it tore through the roof and both floors of his two-story house in Naples, Florida.
Otero wasn't home at the time, but his son was there. A Nest home security camera captured the sound of the crash at 2:34 pm local time (19:34 UTC) on March 8. That's an important piece of information because it is a close match for the time—2:29 pm EST (19:29 UTC)—that US Space Command recorded the reentry of a piece of space debris from the space station. At that time, the object was on a path over the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward southwest Florida.
This space junk consisted of depleted batteries from the ISS, attached to a cargo pallet that was originally supposed to come back to Earth in a controlled manner. But a series of delays meant this cargo pallet missed its ride back to Earth, so NASA jettisoned the batteries from the space station in 2021 to head for an unguided reentry.
Otero's likely encounter with space debris was first reported by WINK News, the CBS affiliate for southwest Florida. Since then, NASA has recovered the debris from the homeowner, according to Josh Finch, an agency spokesperson.
Engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center will analyze the object "as soon as possible to determine its origin," Finch told Ars. "More information will be available once the analysis is complete."
More: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/trash-from-the-international-space-station-may-have-hit-a-house-in-florida/
#56
In the Media... / Boffins build world's largest ...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:34:15Boffins build world's largest astronomical digital camera to map the heavens
Construction of the LSST Camera, destined for the Vera C Rubin Observatory in Chile has been completed at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Silicon Valley.
Dubbed the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera, it's capable of taking photos with a resolution of 3,200 megapixels. It's five years late – and it's been almost 12 since the project was cleared – but at last the instrument is fully assembled.
"Its images are so detailed that it could resolve a golf ball from around 15 miles away, while covering a swath of the sky seven times wider than the full Moon," enthused deputy director of the Vera C Rubin observatory Aaron Roodman. "These images, with billions of stars and galaxies, will help unlock the secrets of the universe."
The LSST Camera will be mounted on the Simonyi Survey Telescope, located on top of Cerro Pachón – a mountain in the Andes that rises 9,800 feet (just under 3km) above sea level. Astronomers hope to get pictures of the southern hemisphere's sky in never-before-seen-quality using the giant hardware – once it's delivered.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/04/lsst_camera_chile/
Construction of the LSST Camera, destined for the Vera C Rubin Observatory in Chile has been completed at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Silicon Valley.
Dubbed the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera, it's capable of taking photos with a resolution of 3,200 megapixels. It's five years late – and it's been almost 12 since the project was cleared – but at last the instrument is fully assembled.
"Its images are so detailed that it could resolve a golf ball from around 15 miles away, while covering a swath of the sky seven times wider than the full Moon," enthused deputy director of the Vera C Rubin observatory Aaron Roodman. "These images, with billions of stars and galaxies, will help unlock the secrets of the universe."
The LSST Camera will be mounted on the Simonyi Survey Telescope, located on top of Cerro Pachón – a mountain in the Andes that rises 9,800 feet (just under 3km) above sea level. Astronomers hope to get pictures of the southern hemisphere's sky in never-before-seen-quality using the giant hardware – once it's delivered.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/04/lsst_camera_chile/
#57
Astrophotography / Re: Sun in WL - AR13615 from P...
Last post by Carole - Mar 26, 2024, 15:06:02Great Result Roberto
Carole
Carole
#58
Astrophotography / Re: Moon with Dwarf2
Last post by Dave A - Mar 26, 2024, 09:40:47Nice image Simon
#59
Astrophotography / Re: Sun in WL - AR13615 from P...
Last post by Dave A - Mar 26, 2024, 09:38:53Roberto
great detail in the image
great detail in the image
#60
Astrophotography / Sun in WL - AR13615 from Petts...
Last post by Roberto - Mar 25, 2024, 17:03:10Hello All
As per my message in WhatsApp, taken on Saturday morning:
https://www.astrobin.com/nwep18/B/
Best 125 out of 5000 video frames. Taken with 10" f/20 Maksutov and ASI174MM camera. This has been a very active sun spot. It produced the increased aurora activity over the weekend and now. It's a shame we have had such poor weather and seeing (and full Moon to boot).
Roberto
As per my message in WhatsApp, taken on Saturday morning:
https://www.astrobin.com/nwep18/B/
Best 125 out of 5000 video frames. Taken with 10" f/20 Maksutov and ASI174MM camera. This has been a very active sun spot. It produced the increased aurora activity over the weekend and now. It's a shame we have had such poor weather and seeing (and full Moon to boot).
Roberto