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#21
In the Media... / Re: Chunks of deorbiting ESA s...
Last post by Dave A - Apr 04, 2024, 14:54:21As well as Nasa, wont ESA and Roscosmos be liable too
#22
In the Media... / Re: Boffins build world's larg...
Last post by Carole - Apr 04, 2024, 14:19:28Wow
#23
In the Media... / Re: Chunks of deorbiting ESA s...
Last post by Carole - Apr 04, 2024, 14:18:46Oh my goodness. Presume NASA will have to pay for the house repairs.
#24
In the Media... / Re: News of the Voyager missio...
Last post by Carole - Apr 04, 2024, 14:14:37Good news - glad they never gave up.
#25
In the Media... / NASA's FY2025 budget request m...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:59:26NASA's FY2025 budget request means tough times ahead for Chandra and Hubble
NASA has published its budget request for the fiscal year 2025, and it is not good news for the Hubble Space Telescope or the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The total budget request is unchanged from FY2023's Operating Plan, meaning that it had to make some tough decisions to accommodate increases elsewhere in the agency's remit. This means that should things go through as planned, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is in line for some cuts while Chandra's funding is set to dwindle to what NASA described as "minimal operations."
To put this in context, Chandra has enjoyed a prodigiously long mission, having managed more than 24 years of a planned five-year mission in orbit. It was deployed from Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999 and has been a boon to X-ray astronomers ever since.
Those days, however, seem to be coming to an end. Although the spacecraft continues to return useful science, ever-tightening purse strings dictate that NASA managers need to balance the cost of keeping Chandra running against future missions and other operational needs.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/nasas_fy2025_budget_request_means/
NASA has published its budget request for the fiscal year 2025, and it is not good news for the Hubble Space Telescope or the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The total budget request is unchanged from FY2023's Operating Plan, meaning that it had to make some tough decisions to accommodate increases elsewhere in the agency's remit. This means that should things go through as planned, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is in line for some cuts while Chandra's funding is set to dwindle to what NASA described as "minimal operations."
To put this in context, Chandra has enjoyed a prodigiously long mission, having managed more than 24 years of a planned five-year mission in orbit. It was deployed from Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999 and has been a boon to X-ray astronomers ever since.
Those days, however, seem to be coming to an end. Although the spacecraft continues to return useful science, ever-tightening purse strings dictate that NASA managers need to balance the cost of keeping Chandra running against future missions and other operational needs.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/nasas_fy2025_budget_request_means/
#26
In the Media... / Voyager 1 starts making sense ...
Last post by Rick - Apr 04, 2024, 11:57:46Voyager 1 starts making sense again after months of babble
Engineers are hopeful the veteran spacecraft Voyager 1 has turned a corner after spending the past three months spouting gibberish at controllers.
On March 1, the Voyager team sent a command, dubbed a "poke," to get the probe's Flight Data System (FDS) to try some other sequences in its software in the hope of circumventing whatever had become corrupted.
Readers of a certain vintage will doubtless have memories of poke sheets for various 1980s games. Not that this hack ever used a poke to get infinite lives in Jet Set Willy, of course.
While Voyager 1's lifespan is not infinite, it has endured far longer than anticipated and might be about to dodge yet another bullet. On March 3, the mission team saw something different in the stream of data returned from the spacecraft, which had been unreadable since December.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/14/voyager_1_not_dead/
Engineers are hopeful the veteran spacecraft Voyager 1 has turned a corner after spending the past three months spouting gibberish at controllers.
On March 1, the Voyager team sent a command, dubbed a "poke," to get the probe's Flight Data System (FDS) to try some other sequences in its software in the hope of circumventing whatever had become corrupted.
Readers of a certain vintage will doubtless have memories of poke sheets for various 1980s games. Not that this hack ever used a poke to get infinite lives in Jet Set Willy, of course.
While Voyager 1's lifespan is not infinite, it has endured far longer than anticipated and might be about to dodge yet another bullet. On March 3, the mission team saw something different in the stream of data returned from the spacecraft, which had been unreadable since December.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/14/voyager_1_not_dead/
#27
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/
#28
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/
#29
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/
#30
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