Hollywood has nothing on science when it comes to surprise plot twists and unexpected discoveries. A team of astronomers learned this lesson while seeking out the oldest stars in the universe. Their experiment not only succeeded in detecting the ancient stars, but it also turned up new clues about the most mysterious stuff in the universe: so-called dark matter. A Window Into the Early Universe The story begins with a look back in time. By nature, astronomers are always doing this, as the light we see from distant stars takes time to reach Earth. It can take light several years to reach us from the nearest stars beyond the sun and up to billions of years for stars in remote galaxies. A team of American astronomers set out to detect the oldest stars in the universe, more than 13 billion light years away, according to Sky & Telescope. Because the universe is expanding, light crossing this enormous distance is stretched out and reaches us as radio waves. Detecting the ancient stars' faint signal is tricky, because electronic detectors also produce radio waves, Sky & Telescope added. Where Did the Energy Go? To minimize background noise, astronomers set up shop in the remote Australian Outback with their instrument, the Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of reionization Signature (or EDGES), which resembles a metal table more than a telescope. The goal was not to take snapshots of individual stars, but rather to detect the stretched-out radio signal from groups of these ancient stars. In fact, the detective work involved finding telltale indications of missing light, which result from a process called absorption, according to Sky & Telescope. After years of effort, the astronomers succeeded in detecting the oldest stars in the universe. The results show that these early stars appeared when the universe was only around 180 million years old. But something also surprised the astronomers. The absorption was stronger than predicted, meaning that the ancient interstellar gas that the starlight passed through was colder than expected. Something had robbed the gas of some of its energy. But what? A Weighty Mystery Enter dark matter. As Nola Taylor Redd observed at Space.com, astronomers have known for decades that most of the matter — about 80 percent by mass — in the universe is not like the ordinary matter found here on Earth, other planets or even distant stars. We know that dark matter is out there, because we can weigh it by measuring the rotational speed of galaxies, which demonstrates that galaxies are much heavier than the combined mass of their stars and planets. Mass is actually the only thing about it that we can readily detect. Is Dark Matter the Answer? Discovery of the oldest stars has also given us some tantalizing hints about dark matter. As Sky & Telescope explained, if something unknown was draining energy from the gas surrounding those early stars, or cooling it down, as the EDGES findings suggest, dark matter is the likeliest candidate. This means that it can interact with ordinary matter and probably did so in the early days of the universe. As always on the frontiers of science, these findings are still tentative. On the path to understanding the universe, the one thing we can be sure of is that more plot twists are sure to come.

Oldest Stars in the Universe May Shed New Light on Dark Matter

A greenish glow from a remote galaxy is providing astronomers with a glimpse into star formation in the early days of the universe, hinting at new cosmic mysteries waiting to be explained. As Sky & Telescope reported, a team of astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, located in Chile, to detect oxygen gas in a galaxy nearly 13.3 billion light years away. Since looking across such cosmic distances is also looking back in time, the galaxy is being seen as it was about 550 million years after the Big Bang. A Light in the Dark The green glow indicates the presence of oxygen — making the ALMA observations the earliest point in time at which astronomers have detected individual elements — but it is more than that. While we often associate detecting oxygen with the search for life, oxygen is also important for another reason: It was created in stars, said Sky and Telescope. The early universe, according to Sky & Telescope, was "pristine;" it contained only hydrogen and helium, elements created in the Big Bang. Oxygen only appeared later, cooked up by nuclear reactions inside early stars. Some of these stars later blew up in supernova explosions that spread the oxygen out across space. When we detected oxygen in the early universe, the time period that NASA described as the dark ages of the universe had already ended. The first stars had formed, produced oxygen and released it into space by exploding. For this oxygen to be already present in sufficient quantities for ALMA to detect at a time 550 million years after the Big Bang, Sky & Telescope noted that the earliest star formation must have taken place even earlier, when the universe was only about 250 million years old.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content. Simulations, Complications and Cosmic Mysteries Every new discovery pulls on the threads of our understanding, opening up new mysteries. The team that detected oxygen with ALMA also examined the same galaxy, designated MACS1149-JD1, with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. And what they found was a discrepancy, said Sky and Telescope.  The stars that produce oxygen and later explode are massive and bright. Galaxies have a much larger number of fainter stars. The observations confirm this. But it turns out that, based on computer simulations, MACS1149-JD1 ought to have more bright stars than it does, according to Sky & Telescope. Contrary to our simulations, noted Sky & Telescope, star formation seems to have started out strong, then slowed down to a comparative trickle before picking up again.  One possibility, added Sky & Telescope, is that a supermassive black hole was disrupting star formation in the galaxy. This is not the only time, as we've reported, that black holes have figured in our understanding of the early universe. Likewise, we've noted that an ancient star formation is offering insight into one of the greatest of cosmic mysteries, dark matter. The early universe was filled with surprises. The more we discover, the more we find that calls for further exploration — an ongoing series of adventures that create their own sequels.

Cosmic Mysteries May Provide Insight Into Earliest Star Formations

In his book "A Brief History of Time," the late cosmologist Stephen Hawking included a now-famous bit of speculation about how a fictional astronaut would get decidedly longer and thinner when crossing a black hole's event horizon, from which nothing escapes. Steering clear of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way is one thing, but scientists now suggest it's surrounded by some 10,000 other black holes like a giant piece of Swiss cheese. Much more than simply helping us answer the question, "How many black holes are in the Milky Way?," the finding could be the first in a set of space discoveries centered on black hole swarms.   Black Hole Signatures   In a study published in Nature, a team led by Columbia University researchers reported discovering a dozen black holes surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. They were working on the premise of a decades-old theory that thousands of black holes — both isolated and ones paired with stars — should be grouped in a "density cusp" around supermassive black holes in the heart of big galaxies. Space.com noted that these black holes have masses that are millions or billions times that of our sun.   Many unsuccessful attempts to find these black holes sought signs of the bright, fleeting X-ray bursts that occur when black holes pair up with low-mass stars. The researchers, led by Columbia Astrophysics Lab co-director Chuck Hailey, used a different technique. They instead focused on searching for fainter but more consistent X-rays emitted after the stellar pairings, according to Science Daily.   Using archival data from a NASA telescope known as the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hailey and colleagues looked for these fainter X-ray signatures and found 12 within three light years of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, which is known as Sagittarius A*. Isolated black holes don't give off these telltale signs, but knowing what proportion of black holes pair with stars allowed the team to extrapolate how many there are in the region. They estimate 300 to 500 black holes paired with stars and roughly 10,000 isolated black holes around Sagittarius A*, said Science Daily.   Impact on Gravitational Waves   The discovery could have a significant impact on our understanding of the origins and dynamics of the galaxy, just as the detection of the most distant black hole ever recorded is shedding new light on the early stages of the cosmos. For instance, a multiplicity of black holes increases the chances of a collision, an event that can generate gravitational waves like the kind detected in 2016 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which confirmed a century-old prediction by Albert Einstein and helped us better answer the question of how many black holes are in the Milky Way.   "This finding confirms a major theory and the implications are many," Hailey told Columbia News. "It is going to significantly advance gravitational wave research because knowing the number of black holes in the center of a typical galaxy can help in better predicting how many gravitational wave events may be associated with them. All the information astrophysicists need is at the center of the galaxy."   Since the Milky Way's density cusp is relatively close to Earth compared to the centers of distant galaxies, the research may also deepen our understanding of how large black holes interact with smaller ones.    "'A discovery like this will always have consequences that we cannot presently predict,'" Jordi Miralda-Escudé©, an astrophysicist at the University of Barcelona, told Scientific American. "'If confirmed, the existence of these black holes suggests similar concentrations should exist in the centers of most galaxies throughout the universe.'"     

How Many Black Holes Are in the Milky Way?

In October of 2017, the first 3D printed bridge bore a group of hard-hat-wearing city officials on bicycles as they wobbled across a canal in the city of Gemert in the Netherlands. Officials and locals celebrated the opening of the 26-foot (8 meters) bridge that connects two roads over a small water-filled canal, said Phys.org. This structure represents a milestone for 3D printing of large-scale objects. Printing the bridge's 800 layers took about three months. The designers say the reinforced, pre-stressed concrete can handle loads equivalent to the weight of 40 trucks. In Amsterdam, Dutch startup MX3D is printing components for a stainless steel bridge to span a canal, according to Phys.org. Manufacturing Disruption 3D printing is coming into its own as a manufacturing process for large-scale objects. Also called additive manufacturing, 3D printing is based on building up layers of materials into three-dimensional objects. It works on the same principle as an inkjet printer, but instead of ink, the printer lays down layers of plastic, metals, ceramics and more, according to How Stuff Works. A 3D printed bridge is just the latest concept to come to life. Several 3D printed houses and offices have popped up around the world; the Washington Post has covered 3D printed houses in China, and Inhabitat has reported on a 3D printed office building in Dubai. San Francisco-based startup Apis Cor printed a concrete home in Russia within 24 hours. A large 3D printer laid down the 400-square-feet (about 37 square meters) house's walls and partitions, and workers finished the roof, wiring and insulation, according to Engadget.   

 Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  In Amsterdam, The Canal House is taking shape as part of a three-year research project. Designed to resemble a traditional canal house, the project is showcasing the advantages of 3D printing for large projects, including flexibility and customization, according to 3D Print Canal House.  This technology also holds incredible potential for the creation of small homes or shelters, quickly giving people a dry, safe place to stay in the wake of natural disasters, said 3DPrint.com. The automotive industry has welcomed 3D printing as well. In addition to rapid prototyping and other design uses, a printed car has taken to the highway. Start-up Local Motors printed a small two-seater to demonstrate the feasibility of printing large automotive structures. For the first prototypes, it took about 40 hours for the carbon-reinforced plastic body to take shape. If it were to get crunched in a fender bender, the owner could remove the drive train, seats and any undamaged parts and bolt them to a new body. The technology could make transportation more affordable in developing countries. And people could design their own one-off cars and have them printed to their specifications, according to Popular Mechanics. The Shape of Things to Come The tale of the first ratchet wrench NASA astronauts printed on the International Space Station could forecast the future of manufacturing. Not only was the ratchet printed in space, it was created from a computer file emailed from the ground. "This technology may change how NASA completes exploration missions and even the way science is conducted on the station," said NASA. Northrop Grumman is part of a group developing the Archinaut, a robotic assembly system supporting the Made In Space initiative that will manufacture parts to combine with prefabricated components on the space station. The goal will be to control the system from Earth, minimizing the need for astronauts to interact with it. A similar principle could be used to manufacture complex objects without the need for engineers or scientists on site. The 3D printer can manufacture components or sections of objects much larger than itself. The Axiom Space Station, which is the first privately owned space station, will be an orbital manufacturing hub that uses 3D printing, said 3DPrint.com. As 3D manufacturing matures, it's clear the technology could bring vital products to remote areas to decentralize and democratize the means of manufacturing.      

A 3D Printed Bridge Gives New Shape to Large-Scale Manufacturing

Last December, a team of astronomers discovered the most distant black hole in the universe, ULAS J1342+0928. The black hole is a star-swallowing behemoth that weighs in at some 800 million times the mass of the sun, located at the center of a dusty galaxy about 13.1 billion light-years from Earth. Looking at the distant cosmos is equivalent to looking back in time, so this black hole discovery also marks the oldest known black hole, noted Sky & Telescope, dating back to a mere 690 million years after the Big Bang. The black hole discovery promises to give us new answers about the early age of the universe. However, as is often the case in science, the answers come in the form of new questions. A Lantern Glimpsed Through Primordial Fog The earliest age of the universe was filled with light from the Big Bang. Within a few hundred thousand years, the universe expanded and cooled enough that the initial "hot soup" of ions and electrons combined to form ordinary hydrogen atoms, according to Space.com, and the universe became dark. The era that followed is known as the "dark ages" of the universe, which ended when the first stars were born. Bright, hot stars poured out ultraviolet light, reionizing the surrounding hydrogen gas. This period is called the epoch of reionization, and the effect was like morning sunlight burning through fog. The universe began to take the form we know — filled with stars, galaxies and eventually life. When Black Holes Illuminate Thanks to the new black hole discovery, we now know that stars weren't the only light sources burning through the fog. The age of the black hole found in December, per Space.com, puts it squarely in the midst of the epoch of reionization. Black holes, despite their name, can be prodigious sources of light. According to NASA, while no light can escape from the black hole itself, matter falling into the black hole can emit a high-energy light invisible to the human eye. A supermassive black hole like ULAS J1342+0928 can thus be observed as a quasar, one of the most luminous objects in the universe, according to an article in Nature. And it now seems that early quasars like this one may have been major contributors to the epoch of reionization. ULAS J1342+0928 also tells us something else — that a black hole equivalent to the mass of 800 million suns was able to form and light up at this very early date, only 690 million years after the Big Bang. A lot was going on back then, and we are only just beginning to understand it. The Future of Black Holes  As bright and massive as it is, ULAS J1342+0928 is probably not the oldest black hole. Astronomers are busy looking for more to fill in their understanding of why and how the epoch of reionization saw the universe turn bright. Researchers have enlisted a whole family of powerful telescopes for this task, as Space.com reports, including the Magellan Telescopes in Chile, the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona and the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. What these telescopes have in common is their sheer deep-sky penetrating power: they are ultimate "light buckets," able to capture and detect light even after a journey of more than 13 billion light-years. The epoch of reionization may have ended some 13 billion years ago, but we are still shining new light onto the formative age of the universe.

Black Hole Discovery Expands Understanding of Early Age of the Universe

The future of deep space exploration holds the promise of solving the many mysteries that lie beyond our solar system. But despite renewed interest in again visiting the moon and a fevered pitch to reach Mars, deeper adventures into the galaxy will depend on the realization of light-speed travel. To the disappointment of many, the chances of going that fast, as any scientist will attest, are currently as cold and dark as space. "Light-speed travel is out of the question," said Dan Batcheldor, a professor and the head of the Florida Institute of Technology's Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences department. "The only things that can travel at that clip are photons, packets of light. Anything that has mass, as it accelerates and once it gets to a very high speed — ten thousand kilometers per-second — has to leave behind Newtonian philosophies and that beautiful theory of general relativity that Albert Einstein put together." The paradox of human-led travel to deep space is that a journey using contemporary technology would last longer than the life of the travelers. That's why any conversation about deep-space travel inevitably circles back to the question of light speed, which offers two irrefutable answers. First, no man-made object can yet travel that fast. Second, scientists can't predict the precise biological dangers of moving that fast and far, effectively removing humans from the conversation, at least until a real-life equivalent of the fictional Millennium Falcon makes light-speed, deep-space travel as safe and fun as Han Solo and Chewbacca had it in "Star Wars." Not Quite Ready for Complete Light Speed "Cracking the speed of light means cracking the laws of physics," said Stephen Holler, an associate professor of physics at Fordham University. "Right now, we are limited by these laws, but there may be new physics out there that we have not yet discovered." Crossing vast interstellar distances would require a manipulation of space-time — folding space and jumping — rather than the easy-to-visualize method of accelerating from one point to another at a superluminal speed, he said. Holler added: "The distances are just so vast that even at ten times the speed of light, it would still take more than 10,000 years to go from one end of the Milky Way to the other, never mind intergalactic travel." Nevertheless, scientists and engineers persist — mostly in theory. As Holler notes, the many ideas behind interstellar travel are all theoretical. But they are still worth reviewing. One popular notion is using ramjet technology to "scoop up" hydrogen in space and use that as fuel, Holler said. Another concept has solar sail technology using radiation pressure from perhaps a powerful laser to push the spacecraft. "At best, these would get somewhere between 10 percent and 50 percent of the speed of light," he said. At that rate, it would take decades for a craft to reach another space system. According to University of Richmond physics professor Jack Singal, the fastest sustained long-term speeds of deep-space probes are those of Pioneer 11 (launched in 1973 and still traveling but no longer sending back information), Voyager 1 and 2, (both launched in 1977 and still collecting data) and New Horizons (launched in 2006 and the first probe to study Pluto, the planet that's no longer a planet). These probes are currently moving between 16,000 and 32,000 miles-per-hour away from the sun as they exit the solar system, he said. That, Singal added, is "less than 0.01 percent of the speed of light." (If you're reading this on Earth, the speed of light is 186,282 miles per second.) Perhaps future probes venturing into deep space won't be as large as the Voyager crafts or the Parker Solar Probe but will be something a scientist could accidentally step on. According to Batcheldor, of Florida Institute of Technology, scientists are looking at the possibility of using micro-satellites the size of a computer chip to conduct small-data collections of space. "It might be able to send back some details about another space system that we might not get with our own telescopes," he said. Yet, even a micro-satellite would travel at no more than a quarter of the speed of light, Batcheldor estimated. It would take decades to reach the next space system at that speed, he said. Overcoming Known and Unknown Hurdles Short of a scientific and technological miracle, it's clear humans can't and won't venture beyond Mars anytime soon, assuming space flights there are a lock. "Exploring any place beyond Mars wouldn't be possible," Batcheldor said. "The time scale says a trip from Earth to Jupiter and back would take the lifetime of a human," he said. "Of course, our imaginations and dreams of going beyond that will make us run wild. But it's not going to be possible unless we will be able to travel the speed of light — which we will not." Still, a scientist can dream, or at least theorize. For the sake of scientific conjecture, and maybe even fun, Singal posits that if humans could travel at light speed, instead of taking thousands of years to reach a nearby star, they instead would get there in just a dozen years. Yet, if that dream became reality, there still would be far too many unknowns, too many questions and concerns, about how an individual could adapt and even survive the inescapable elements of quantum physics, not to mention radiation and other dangers of space exploration. Time dilation, for one, would be an inescapable hurdle, Singal said. "Less time would be perceived as passing on the spaceship than on Earth," he said. "This opens up all sorts of possibilities for the survival of instruments or even biological beings during such a journey." Batcheldor agrees. Experiments on astronaut Scott Kelly showed that even spending one year in the low orbit of the International Space Station can affect human physiology, he said. "There were time-warping effects on that mission. We have no idea what would happen during extended space travel." Creating a Home Away From Home Despite the uncertainties, impracticalities and possible dangers, the academics interviewed for this article want scientists, engineers and society at large to stay open, even excited, about the future of deep space exploration. The professors are happy about the plans of NASA, other countries' space agencies and global private companies to not only again step foot on the moon but also explore it for clues about the formation of the solar system. Also, they're optimistic that the poles of the moon could be mined for water that could be used to make fuel for longer space missions. Even though light-speed travel seems like a remote possibility, the space community still needs to plan for the many practical needs of deep-space exploration, according to Ondrej Doule, the director of the Human Spaceflight Lab at Florida Institute of Technology, where he specializes in the architecture of space. His lab aims to convince space agencies and companies to consider the functions that will make space travel and the habitation of the moon and Mars amenable to human comfort. For instance, spacecraft and habitats should achieve artificial gravity so that travelers and settlers will feel the comforts of Earth and not experience the long-term effects of weightlessness, such as muscle and bone mass loss. And explorers will need sufficient and consistent protection from the radiation of space, he said. "If we are going to colonize different parts of the universe, we are going to need everything that's necessary to survive over the long term," Doule said. "This is the direction where we are heading. I don't think the Earth is our home planet. I think the universe is our home." Indeed, us earthlings have barely started to learn about our solar system, let alone our galaxy and the entire universe, lending weight to the notion that traveling at light speed will always be the primary key to deep-space exploration. "The universe is pretty big. Our galaxy is more than 100,000 light years across, and the distance to Andromeda, the nearest galaxy to our own, is some 2.5 million light years," said Fordham University's Holler. "At light speed, covering these vast distances would take an inordinate amount of time, far in excess of the human lifespan. Travel to Andromeda would require more time than Homo sapiens have walked the Earth."

Deep Space Exploration Isn't a Far-Fetched Possibility

Once upon a time, maps were full of blank space, vast regions that had never been explored — at least not by anyone mapmakers knew about. These unknown regions were an invitation to mapmakers' imagination. As one legendary mapmaker wrote, "Here be dragons." Explorers gradually filled in the map of the world, as our most recent robotic space explorers have filled in our maps of Pluto and the rings of Saturn. But out at the far frontiers of theoretical physics, we have found tantalizing hints of more unexplored regions than we could ever have imagined. Welcome to the multiverse theory. When Things Get Strange — and Stranger Thanks to the surprise Netflix hit "Stranger Things" — a TV show about a telepathic girl and her friends battling creatures from a parallel universe called the Upside Down — multiverse theory is gaining major traction in pop culture. But the ideas behind multiverse theory have been unfolding for decades, and along multiple threads. Some threads have developed from the sciences of astrophysics and cosmology, while other, even older, threads have emerged from science fiction and philosophical speculation. The term "multiverse" describes the multitude of possible universes. As often happens along the frontiers, there is some inconsistency in language. As Yasmin Tayag notes at Inverse, to cosmologists, multiverse describes the sum total of all possible universes, while in more popular language it has come to mean any universe we might encounter other than our own. By the middle of last century, astronomers determined that the universe is expanding. They soon discovered that this expansion was not a smooth process. Evidence pointed toward an early period of fantastically rapid expansion which astrophysicists dubbed inflation. The concept of inflation is now generally accepted by physicists, but inflation theory also has a host of subtle implications that are still being explored. If the expansion of the universe was almost unimaginably fast, the result might also be unimaginably vast — a scale of size that would make the mere billions of light-years we can observe look insignificant in comparison. Indeed, distance measurements such as light-years might not even be meaningful, since the inflating universe may have split into innumerable "bubbles" — each one a universe in its own right, with its own laws of physics and unfolding reality. (A key word is may: all of this remains under study by cosmologists, with much disagreement among them about the implications.) "Our universe is just one of these bubbles," Scientific American speculates. Beyond the Doors of Imagination The possibilities opened up by multiverse theory, of multiple and parallel universes, have long been a topic of speculation by philosophers. What is new is the potential for some sort of experimental confirmation or at least indirect evidence that they exist. And just as philosophers have long speculated about multiverse-like ideas, so have storytellers. One theme, familiar from the classic original Star Trek episode "Mirror Mirror," is a universe that is almost like our own, but with a literally cosmic twist — the crew of the USS Enterprise are bad guys in the mirror universe. Alternate history has become an entire popular genre with elements of multiverse theory. For example, the "Back to the Future" films played with the ways that different outcomes of past events could spin off universes in which the future of those events played out in different ways. (Fun fact — one of the films was only off by a single year in guessing when the Chicago Cubs would win a World Series.) Understandably, the pop culture version of the multiverse is not quite the same as the astrophysicists' version, and stories like "Stranger Things" and its earlier cousins freely intermix ideas that come out of physics with others that still belong to metaphysics. But if we here at Now. were to make a guess — and we will — whatever ultimately comes out of multiverse theory as it develops will probably be stranger and more wonderful than anything that our present-day imaginations can come up with. On the frontiers of science and technology, that is usually how it is.

Multiverse Theory Goes Far Beyond "Stranger Things"

The search for life beyond Earth is one that has fueled science and the imagination. Planet-hunting spacecraft, such as the Kepler Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope, have been able to identify thousands of new planets beyond our solar system, but only a few are within the habitable zone of the star they orbit. Finding alien life is not an easy task, but it is one researchers are well-equipped to pursue. The Search for Earth 2.0 An incredible discovery using the Spitzer Space Telescope made headlines and sparked the imagination of people around the world. A small dwarf star approximately 40 light years from Earth is host to not one, but seven planets. Even more fascinating in the search for potential alien life in the universe, all planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system could potentially support liquid water.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content. To date, the Kepler Mission, including the extended K2 mission, has identified 5,216 potential exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system, with 2,514 confirmed new planets. The search for planets outside our solar system started relatively recently with the first confirmed exoplanet being announced in 1995, but astronomers have made great strides since then in identifying potentially habitable planets. Of the thousands of confirmed exoplanets discovered by Kepler, only 21 exoplanets have the size and location to be considered potential candidates for Earth 2.0. Astronomers are trying to find habitable planets based on the ingredients needed for life on Earth. That means finding a rocky body located in the "Goldilocks zone" of its host star, where the temperature is just right for liquid water. Three of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets discovered by Spitzer are all located in the "Goldilocks zone." The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will be another powerful tool in the search for life.   In August 2016, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's telescope in Chile discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our nearest neighboring star after the Sun. Whereas Kepler's potentially habitable planets can be located hundreds of light-years from Earth, Proxima b is located approximately four light-years away. An actual spacecraft would take thousands of years to reach the exoplanet, but a miniature probe could take only 20 years to reach Proxima b. How to Find Life With space telescopes such as Kepler, astronomers use the transit method to identify potential planets. Astronomers are looking for small dips in brightness that are the result of a planet crossing in front of its host star. Another way to search is through the radial velocity method, which measures shifts in the observed light spectrum of a star caused by the gravitational tug of a planet. Even though the two methods are indirect observations, astronomers can gain plenty of insight into these exoplanets. The planet's size affects the dimming of its host star. The bigger the planet, the more light that's blocked by the exoplanet as it passes in front of its host. On Earth, oxygen and methane are strong indicators of life and the same applies for an exoplanet if we are looking for life similar to that found on our planet. The atmosphere of a planet acts like a prism, explains NASA. Chemicals and gases in the atmosphere absorb different wavelengths, which creates a pattern that astronomers can decipher. Based on the black bands in the light spectrum, we can determine if an exoplanet has oxygen, methane or even pollution. Without this vital research, the search for life would stall before it could even start. "If we can understand the properties of exoplanetary atmospheres from a theoretical perspective we can more effectively and efficiently develop the technology for actual missions," says Dr. Trisha Hinners, an astrophysicist conducting basic research on exoplanet atmospheres at Northrop Grumman. "We perform interdisciplinary research in astrophysics, astrochemistry and astrobiology built on a foundation of computational physics and data science. It takes a terrifically gifted team here on Earth to look for simple signs of life out in the cosmos." The search for life beyond Earth isn't limited to new planets. In fact, there may be life found much closer to home. Moons of Possibility Jupiter's moon Europa may contain a liquid water ocean underneath its thick ice shell. This ocean could have the right recipe for microbes or more complex life. Water vapor plumes shooting from Europa's surface were first detected in 2012 and again observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope could help confirm these plumes and an upcoming NASA mission to the moon could sample the water vapor to determine its chemical composition. Like Europa, Saturn's moon Enceladus is believed to have a subsurface ocean that could potentially harbor life. Enceladus's geysers have been observed by the Cassini spacecraft and could be sampled by a future mission. Astronomers could determine if there are any building blocks for life, such as amino acids, or if there's hydrothermal activity similar to that found on Earth. Of course, alien life does not have to abide by Earth's rules. So far, we're trying to find life based on terrestrial life, but other planets could harbor organisms that previously have only existed in the realms of science fiction.

Alien Life Could Be Found on New Planets

As children, we're taught to never stare at the sun, a lesson that ironically shrouds our solar system's brightest — and only — star in mystery.    Fortunately, we will soon learn more about the sun thanks to the Parker Solar Probe, a robotic spacecraft about the size of a car. The probe is bravely going where no other spacecraft (or human) has dared to go: 3.83 million miles away from the sun.   If that doesn't seem close enough, well, it isn't. But sun exploration isn't like climbing a mountain. Earth is roughly 91 million miles away from the sun. For obvious reasons, objects can't get too close to the hot sun. Inverse said that a spacecraft would probably melt within 1.3 million miles of the gaseous star.   So 3.83 million miles is a big deal. What's an even bigger deal is the promise of Parker Solar Probe's mission: new data on solar activity that could reshape how we view the sun, our solar system and solar forecasting.   The Sun Has Mysteries To Solve   Parker Solar Probe launched in August and has already delivered good news. In September, NASA reported it had received "first-light" data from each of the probe's four instrument suites. These weren't significant scientific findings but rather a test of how well the instruments will work in tandem once they get within range of the sun. The instruments will measure the sun's electric and magnetic fields, as well as charged particles, known as the solar wind, that are released from the sun's upper atmosphere, or hot corona. The instruments will also capture images of the environment around the probe.   The mission aims to shed light on the connection between our planet and the sun. The data could help us understand and potentially forecast space weather. Such knowledge could provide insight on why the unstable corona produces solar wind, flare and mass ejections. Millions of tons of highly magnetized material can erupt from the sun at speeds of several million miles an hour, which, as NASA points out, is a speed that would get you from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles in seconds. It would be beneficial to know more about the distant magnetic storms that could eventually affect satellite technologies outside of Earth.   NASA wants to know why the corona is much hotter than the visible surface of the sun, which is also known as the photosphere. It also wants to understand how solar wind accelerates. Answers about the sun could answer questions we have about Earth. These answers can only come by getting close (3.83 million miles close) to the sun.   Surviving and Studying in Space   Because it is within the relative ballpark of the sun, the solar-powered probe had to be a marvel of engineering. A 4.5-inch thick carbon-composite shield will protect it from the sun's heat. It also has "solar arrays that will retract and extend as the probe moves toward or away from the sun during several loops around the inner solar system," ensuring the panels stay at proper temperatures and power levels, according to NASA.   At its closest passes of the sun, the spacecraft has to survive solar intensity of about 475 times what spacecraft experience while orbiting earth. According to NASA, temperatures outside the probe will reach as high as 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.    Understanding Our Source of Light   The probe mission is named after Eugene Parker, a University of Chicago astronomy and astrophysics professor who laid down a foundation of understanding about how stars produce energy, what he called the solar wind. He was also the one who theorized that the sun's corona is hotter than its surface. The Parker Solar Probe's mission is the first one in NASA history to be named after a living individual.    The sun exploration mission will start in earnest this November, when the probe will first get within close enough range of the star. It will travel many orbits around the sun over a seven-year period, with its closest venture being when it's 3.83 million miles out. That is more than eight times closer than Mercury gets to the sun, and the closest we've been yet to learning about the star that provides us light and heat every day. 

Parker Solar Probe Will Stare at the Sun and Offer New Discoveries

It's been more than 45 years since the last U.S. astronaut left the moon. And while NASA is finally making plans to send humans back to the moon and eventually to Mars, the technology we'll use to get us there promises to be much different from the approaches we've used up until now. In-space manufacturing and assembly technology, for example, could help reduce the high costs and complexity associated with traditional launch systems, two factors that have hampered the quest for space colonization. "Manufacturing and assembling systems in space allows us to think about fundamentally new ways to design, launch, deploy and even repair space systems on orbit," says Howard Eller, an Advanced Missions Tech Fellow with Northrop Grumman. "Instead of producing a satellite on Earth and figuring out how to fold it up and launch it on top of a large rocket, we could produce large structural elements in space, launch payloads separately on smaller rockets, then integrate the payloads with the structure in space." Since much of the satellite's structure would be produced in space and thus not affected by the force of gravity, he adds, it could be designed with simpler, less costly, less rigid materials while not sacrificing its on-orbit performance. Another way to reduce launch costs would be to launch a satellite in discrete pieces packed compactly inside a rocket fairing, then use 3D printing processes and robots to perform final assembly on orbit. Tipping to the Future Both of these visions will require maturation of manufacturing and assembly systems for space environments. Through its "Tipping Point Technologies" program, NASA has selected nine companies, including Made in Space (MIS), Moffett Field, Calif., to mature technologies required to stimulate the commercial space industry and enable capabilities needed for future NASA missions. Northrop Grumman is a member of the MIS-led team, which is developing the Versatile In-Space Robotic Precision Manufacturing and Assembly System, aka Archinaut. The team is driving toward a ground demonstration of this robotic 3-D manufacturing system in a simulated space environment in summer 2018. The team hopes Archinaut will be selected by NASA for a future in-space flight demonstration. To date, MIS has demonstrated the ability to 3D print simple, one-material parts at its Additive Manufacturing Facility inside the International Space Station. The company is printing parts using a variety of materials including PEI/PC (polyetherimide/polycarbonate), a high performance polymer; ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic; and green polyethylene. Building Stuff Outside The long game, of course, is to produce complex, multi-material objects "outside," in the harsh environment of space. Initially, systems such as Archinaut will focus on manufacturing structures such as reflectors, antennae, trusses and booms — objects that can be extruded into objects of any desired length using 3D printing, then assembled and integrated by robots into large space structures. Eventually, this production process will include additional types of materials such as conductors (metals) and insulators, which would make it possible, for example, to produce structures with any required power circuitry integrated directly into the structure. For its part, Northrop Grumman is helping MIS develop space-compatible 3D printing materials that can perform well and withstand the extreme temperatures and radiation levels of space. "The end goal is to be able to fabricate parts with a polymer material that is light, strong, dense and stable under extreme temperature conditions," says Eric Fodran, a materials specialist with Northrop Grumman. "Most importantly, the material has to be conductive, to ensure that it won't build up static electricity that could discharge and damage satellite electronics." Resupply Redefined "In-space manufacturing could create a new 'on-demand' paradigm for repairing or providing new equipment for orbiting or deep space platforms," said Lauren Smith, a Northrop Grumman program manager for applied research. "Instead of bringing to space redundant spares of components or equipment that might be needed over time," she explains, "astronauts could simply 'order' new parts from Earth as needed. The appropriate print file would be 'beamed up' to a 3D printer in space, where astronauts could make the needed repairs." Raw materials will still have to be ferried to space using conventional launch systems. This approach promises to be less costly and logistically simpler, however, than producing structures on Earth and delivering them to space. In coming years, adds Smith, the aerospace industry will be debating how and under what circumstances this type of manufacturing would benefit space missions. "On-orbit, on-demand production of components is viewed as helpful," she says. "In-space printing of satellites and large structures, however, is a fundamentally new mission architecture; we need to understand how this approach is better, faster, or cheaper than what we're doing today." Recycle, Reuse, Reinvent Regardless of advances made in in-space manufacturing, there will likely remain categories of parts and equipment — processors, traveling wave tubes, high performance microelectronic chips — that are simply too hard to make in space. Those parts, payloads or processing modules will still have to be delivered to space by rockets, then plugged into their respective systems. According to Eller, one way to reduce launch costs over time and facilitate in-space production of more complex items would be to scavenge all of the required raw materials from the space environment itself. "There is a wealth of orbiting space junk — dead satellites — that we believe could be recycled and used as raw material for in-space manufacturing," he says. A recycling system he envisions would use robotic arms to capture and place dead satellites in a large crucible. The crucible, which would be made of a material with an extremely high melting temperature, would be heated by a large solar concentrator. "Satellites contain a variety of rare materials, each with its own unique melting temperature," explains Eller. "We could selectively melt and capture all of the material of type A, heat it more to melt and capture material of type B and so on." This recycling process would create ingots of raw material with varying degrees of purity, each stored in its own compartment. In theory, this material could be processed and made available for future operations. The Price of Progress Even if we could get to a point where a complete satellite system could be produced in space, said Eller, there could be subtle and unintended consequences. "When we produce satellites on Earth, we obtain parts from many suppliers, each of whom has perfected the recipe for making those part(s) with high reliability," he says. "When we manufacture in space, we might lose that collective wealth of engineering and manufacturing know-how. So we either have to replicate the original level of expertise — a big challenge — or we have to do without it." Either way, he believes, the future of in-space manufacturing and assembly systems is full of promise, excitement and yet-to-be-invented technologies. "It's hard to know which aspects of how we use space are going to change," says Eller. "There is a growing consensus that manufacturing in space is something that will make things completely different." Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

In-Space Manufacturing and Assembly: A Different Kind of Future

Have you ever wondered what causes the Northern Lights phenomenon? It's not magic; it's electrically charged particles and gaseous particles colliding in the air. What causes this collision? The answer can be found in space.   As human infrastructure expands into space, predicting the weather in that environment becomes just as important as it is on Earth. The U.S. military is steadily increasing its dependence on satellites for communication, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, so accurate space weather prediction technology is vital.   A Solar Storm Is Brewing   The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center monitors Earth's upper atmosphere for possible hazardous solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or large releases of matter and electromagnetic radiation.   These outbursts, known as a solar storm, are occasionally directed toward Earth, creating large disturbances in our magnetic field and upper atmosphere. Such events can have a major or even catastrophic impact on the performance and reliability of technological systems in space and on Earth, and can even endanger human health, according to NOAA.   How to Forecast   Accurate prediction is a challenge, which is why meteorologists seek to improve the ability to characterize the global climate and predict and track storms. To accomplish this, scientists gather data from remote sensing assets like unmanned aerial vehicles and geostationary satellites. Space weather forecasting helps meteorologists better understand how Earth's atmosphere responds to changes in the space environment and how satellites are impacted.   The History of Space Situational Awareness Tech In collaboration with the European Space Agency, NASA operates the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. SOHO's instruments monitor the sun, from its deep core to its outer corona. Continuously imaging the solar corona is critical to forecasting, as it provides advance warning of a solar storm.   In 2006, NASA launched the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory spacecraft. STEREO employs 3-D vision and advanced stereoscopic imaging to observe the sun and determine how quickly phenomena are moving.   NASA's Living With a Star program manages various space weather missions. In 2010, NASA launched the first LWS mission, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, to study the sun's magnetic field. In 2012, NASA launched the Van Allen Probes to monitor the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth. The more we understand about the belts, the easier it will be to predict future storms. Future LWS missions include the Space Environment Testbed, launched in 2019, with the goal of improving spacecraft hardware performance in the space radiation environment.   Parallel to NASA's efforts, the U.S. Air Force is improving its own forecasting abilities and its understanding of space weather's impact on its current and future fleet of spacecraft. The Air Force plans to install Energetic Charged Particle sensors on its next generation of spacecraft by 2023, according to Space News.   The Key Players   In addition to NASA, many organizations across the planet contribute to space weather situational awareness and knowledge database, according to NOAA. The European Space Agency's Space Situational Awareness program includes extensive space weather monitoring, for example.    The American Commercial Space Weather Association includes a growing number of commercial companies, such as Space Environment Technologies, the Carmel Research Center and many others, that are major providers of data products. The Air Force is actively working to expand its collaboration with these commercial and international partners.   Yes, There's an App for That . . .    For those who want to keep track of space weather themselves, a number of smartphone apps are available, such as the Space Weather App or <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/releases/2012/12-20.html" target="_blaNASA Space Weather.    

Space Weather Prediction: Weathering the Solar Storm

As humanity's presence in space continues to expand in the coming decades, the nature of space-based operations will become more extensive and complex. Recent advances in virtual reality (VR) systems and teleoperation technologies are exciting for the future of robotic space exploration. "The most recent footprints on the moon are 40 years old, and the next artificial mark on the lunar surface will probably be made by a robot's wheels rather than human soles," said Wired. As our involvement in space grows, there will be an increasing need for systems capable of performing a variety of operations, such as robotic space exploration, surveying, data gathering and much more. There is speculation about whether or not future space operations will involve direct human presence. "Humans can do great things while in space, but having the assistance of a robot can not only advance future exploration, it can also lead to great things back on Earth," said NASA. Remotely-located robots will operate semi-autonomously under human supervision, or be directly teleoperated. Space Jobs for Video Gamers Future space operations will demand more than standard two-dimensional computer displays and interfaces. Advances in VR systems and teleoperation technologies will improve the ability of humans to remotely control a variety of complex robotic operations in space. MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) recently presented a VR system allowing robot teleoperation using an Oculus Rift headset, which "embeds the user in a VR control room with multiple sensor displays, making it feel like they're inside the robot's head. By using hand controllers, users can match their movements to the robot's movements to complete various tasks," according to MIT News. "'A system like this could eventually help humans supervise robots from a distance,'" said Jeffrey Lipton, a CSAIL postdoctoral student. Unsurprisingly, those test users with video gaming experience were much more at ease using the system. It is imagined that gamifying future VR teleoperations will make them more accessible to and usable by future operators, said MIT News.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content. The Challenge of Proximity Consider the difficulty of conducting teleoperated robotic space exploration on a remote planet or moon. Depending on where you are in space, the vast distances involved can make real-time communications and control from Earth impossible. Real-time teleoperations are almost entirely limited by the speed of light and the communications latency resulting from large distances. Commands sent to a Mars rover can take as long as 21 minutes to arrive. As VR and teleoperation technologies continue to advance, NASA is exploring these limits to determine how far an operator can be from a robot and not be significantly impacted by latency. With advanced telepresence, robotic space exploration could be conducted effectively from a distance of many thousands of miles with high human operator cognition. For example, some lunar operations might be controlled by Earth-based users in real time, aided by sophisticated predictive algorithms and displays that will help the users to at least partially overcome the effects of this communications latency. Beyond the Moon What about robotic space exploration beyond the moon? NASA hopes to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, but first they must figure out how to safely transport humans to and from the Martian surface. However, some mission architectures are being explored that would bring humans into orbit around Mars without landing them on the surface, at least initially, and at far less cost. These human teleoperators could safely manage an army of surface robots from Mars' orbit in real time, to explore, survey and build the infrastructure for eventual human settlement. This mission architecture opens up some exciting possibilities. A similar approach could one day be used to explore the extremely inhospitable surface of Venus in real time from orbit, using specially hardened robots designed to operate in its harsh environment.

Robotic Space Exploration Enhanced by Virtual Reality

 Humans seem to love 3-D optical illusions. They're also becoming useful in a variety of sectors. The tech world got a big boost with the launch of Microsoft's HoloLens last December, which lets you interact with digital content, providing what's known as "mixed reality" experiences. While so-called "holograms" may be in vogue, the reality is that many technologies that use that term or the prefix "holo" are not actually using real holographic techniques, but rather, 3-D visualization tech. On the Job 3-D visualizations can make teleconferencing more engaging, but that's just the beginning of their potential uses in business. Los Angeles contracting company Martin Bros. has experimented with using 3-D visualizations, produced via the HoloLens, to enable a construction worker to frame out a bathroom, according to Engineering News-Record. The idea is that, instead of having to constantly refer to plans, the worker can keep the design constantly in his or her field of vision. Prsonas, a company that provides 3-D visualizations for self-service applications, suggests that virtual assistants could replace some human staffers by offering directions to bathrooms and amenities in hotels or stadiums.Consumer Products 3-D interfaces may seem more natural to the human brain — as well as contribute the cool factor to gadgets. As cars become more automated and fully featured, manufacturers have struggled to find ways to surface all the controls without confusing drivers and making the dashboard look like the cockpit of a jetliner. BMW recently demonstrated the concept of using reflective 3-D visualizations to allow drivers to operate controls with gestures in the air. The full-color display seems to hover in front of the dashboard near the steering wheel, according to Wired.Education Tech-minded educators think that 3-D visualizations in the classroom might help students keep engaged with the course material. Teachers already deliver lectures remotely via video conferencing. Making their images 3-D would enhance the illusion of being in a classroom with the teacher, according to EdTechReview. The ability to watch the instructor in 3-D could also make demonstrations more effective. ISTE.org adds that 3-D visualization technology could allow students to tour historical sites and have questions answered by a virtual guide, as well as to perform virtual experiments that might be too dangerous or costly to do for real.Medicine 3-D visualizations can enable doctors and surgeons to examine organs and practice procedures virtually, says Smithsonian. Three-dimensional images can be created from two-dimensional scans. The resulting 3-D visualizations can then be rotated and taken apart. One promising use would be to replace invasive colonoscopies with a digital version that takes advantage of CAT-scan imagery. Another example is to allow heart surgeons to become familiar with a patient's abnormal heart structure ahead of the complex surgery to repair it.Military 3-D visualizations can provide the same kind of enhanced information to military personnel, allowing them to better understand geospacial information and intelligence, according to Defense Review. One example is Northrop Grumman's TouchTable that lets users zoom in and out, draw on it, and pan using hand gestures. The TouchTable has been seen in CNN's "The Situation Room," hosted by Wolf Blitzer.  Enhanced learning and more effective medicine are important advances. But what we really want to know is, when will we be able to use the holodeck? While Microsoft's HoloLens demonstrations look pretty much like the holodeck minus the Star Trek uniforms, physicists at the University of Australia say they've invented a 3-D visualization generator that produces Star Trek-quality images. Phys.org reports that the new material is light enough to be used in astronomical missions, while it has new optical properties that go beyond natural materials. Beam us up!

3-D Visualizations: Cool New Tools

Neil Armstrong could never escape the spotlight that always followed the world's most famous astronaut. But behind the scenes, more than 400,000 government employees and private contractors toiled in anonymity on the Apollo 11 mission, helping to ensure NASA would win the space race with the Soviet Union. For years, engineers, scientists and even security guards worked feverishly around the clock to answer President John F. Kennedy's call to put the first man on the moon and return him safely to earth. For Gerard "Jerry" Elverum, work on the "moon shot" started in 1960, a year before the Apollo program formally began, with him designing the rocket engine that powered the descent of the lunar module (LM) used on all six moon landings. Meanwhile, Howard "Howie" Frauenberger alternated college studies with a Grumman Corporation internship that had him participating in three high-profile scientific tests on Apollo. Their ingenuity, scientific insight and diligence enabled Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to bounce around the moon's surface on July 20, 1969. Millions of people back on Earth watched in astonishment, while Elverum and Frauenberger observed history with a mix of confidence and the slightest of worries. Now, as the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing approaches, the retired engineers look back on their accomplishments with wonder and pride. "No matter what you were working on, there was this intense feeling that you have to get it right," Frauenberger recalled. Elverum remembers being driven by an expectation that individual efforts had to match the collective national drive to achieve the extraordinary. "We had a goal and knew we had to be committed to make it work," he said. Confidence in a Design In 1960, a year after Elverum joined Grumman legacy company Space Technology Laboratories (STL), he started creating one of the most critical mechanical components for a moon landing. The LM needed an engine powerful enough to separate from Apollo's command and service module (CSM) in lunar orbit but also nimble enough for a soft and precise touchdown on the moon's surface. Elverum knew he had the right stuff, but it took a bit of convincing. Grumman Corporation was charged with developing and building the LM, and Rocketdyne — then one of the biggest rocket engine companies — had secured the job to create the spacecraft's descent engine. But, as Elverum recalls, NASA was worried about Rocketdyne's design. Hearing this, he showed his design to NASA officials, who wondered aloud about the legitimacy of an engineer from a largely unknown company. But tests supported Elverum's belief that his rocket would consistently perform under all conditions. In 1963, NASA asked STL to build its engine as a backup to Rocketdyne's product; a year later, it realized Elverum was correct all along. Now 92 and living about 80 miles east of Los Angeles in Murrieta, California, Elverum still holds the patent on the concept of the lunar descent throttling engine. "The lunar module descent engine probably was the biggest challenge and the most outstanding technical development of Apollo," according to "Chariots for Apollo," a NASA history of the program. "It had a dynamically stable configuration, so if there was a major disruption, it would recover within 10 seconds and could take all types of glitches," Elverum said in a telephone interview. "I was convinced of that. And all through the time we were developing it, that had to be the most critical thing that NASA and Grumman would have to see. I had a lot of confidence in it." The throttling capabilities of the engine enabled Armstrong to safely guide the LM to a new landing spot when it overshot the planned touchdown area. "During those 12 minutes, it felt like I had the whole world on my shoulder," Elverum said. His engine performed capably not just on the Apollo 11 mission but on five others. On the Apollo 13 mission, when the engine intended to bring astronauts home was irreparably damaged in an explosion on the way to the moon, Elverum's engine ultimately brought them back to earth. For that and other career accomplishments, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1987. He retired three years later. A Dream Internship Frauenberger attended Pratt Institute, a university in his native Brooklyn, New York, because it offered a unique work-study program. Although it would take five years to earn an engineering degree, he gained work experience by interning for three full semesters at Grumman's campus in Bethpage, New York. It didn't take long during his first internship semester, in spring 1966, to be assigned to the LM project, as he helped vouchsafe the dependability of the craft's landing gear. "It better work, because if it doesn't work, you can't land," Frauenberger joked in a recent telephone interview from his home in Malverne, New York. Not long after, Frauenberger found himself in the cold-flow test facility, using inert gases in a methodical assessment of the functionality of ascent and descent vehicles that were ready to be shipped to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. "It was a test that had to keep going and going around the clock for about six or seven days for each module," he recalled. Two years later, with NASA pushing hard to land the first man on the moon, Frauenberger had one more Apollo assignment: help the thermodynamic engineering department conduct an analysis of the LM's cabin, simulating the conditions it would face on the moon. He ran a computer program that examined "how the temperature would vary from the landing to the take-off from the moon," he said. "It was for the sake of the astronauts and the electronic equipment." Several times throughout his internship, Apollo astronauts stopped by the Grumman facility to check on progress and inspire employees. Frauenberger has forgotten which astronauts visited because at the time he was unabashedly giddy about meeting his heroes. "You don't wash your hands for days. It was the closest thing to meeting God." Frauenberger graduated in the summer of 1969, just in time to witness the moon landing on television while at a friend's birthday party. Five decades later, he believes his work on Apollo was the pinnacle of his career. His colleagues might disagree. Grumman hired him after college, and he spent 47 years with the company, working on, among several projects, the development of the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and the MQ-4C Triton. Now retired, the 72-year-old holds the distinguished title of Grumman technical fellow. Frauenberger can't believe 50 years have passed since Armstrong stepped down from the ladder of Apollo 11 and left his first imprint on lunar soil. Those heady times still seem like they happened yesterday. "The whole world kind of stopped," he said. "It is one of the greatest events in history. It is certainly one of the greatest aerospace events."

Northrop Grumman Engineers Recall Their Work on Apollo 11 Mission

The essential ingredients of life as we know include water and carbon. These two substances make DNA, RNA, proteins, fats and sugars, which are part of every living thing. In searching for the possibility of life beyond our planet, scientists have found water elsewhere in our solar system and in other solar systems. The search for carbon has been more challenging, but recent advances in radio telescopes have allowed us to analyze the cloudy disks swirling around young stars to identify molecules that are present as new planets are being born. Key Molecules of Life In 2021, the complex carbon molecule methanol was discovered in a developing solar system 320 light-years away, as Nature Astronomy reports. This planet-forming disk around star HD10056 was analyzed by an international team led by Alice Booth of Leiden University (the Netherlands) using the ALMA observatory in Chile. Methanol (chemical formula CH3OH) — also known as wood alcohol — is considered a key molecule of life because it can be used to form more complex organic molecules. In space, the only efficient way to make methanol is for hydrogen atoms (H) to bond with carbon monoxide (CO) on cosmic dust at temperatures below 20 Kelvin (-423.67 Fahrenheit). Complex carbon molecules have been detected in young solar systems with cooler stars, as Space.com explains. According to Leiden University, the recent discovery around star HD10056 is especially exciting because it was detected in a part of the planet-forming disk that is "warm" at 30 Kelvin (-405.67 Fahrenheit). Methanol cannot form at this temperature, so the large amount detected must be leftover from an earlier cold phase. One possibility is that the methanol formed in a cold interstellar cloud containing just dust, gas and ice, and then survived the heat of that cloud collapsing into a planet-forming disc with a new star at its center. The abundant methanol detected around the young star HD10056 can be incorporated into planets, moons, asteroids and comets as they are being formed. The available evidence indicates that two giant planets are already present in this solar system. Furthermore, when complex molecules are exposed to ultraviolet radiation from a hot sun, chemical bonds will break and occasionally form more stable and more complex compounds. Therefore, many newly formed planets may start with the essential ingredients of life. Our Solar System Scientists are still working to understand how Earth acquired the key ingredients of life. As the Natural History Museum of London describes, our current understanding is as follows: Around 4.6 billion years ago, 99.9% of the material in a swirling cloud of gas, dust and ice coalesced to form our sun. The remaining debris orbited the sun in a flat disc shape and cooled to form solid material. In the high temperatures close to the sun, minerals and metals formed. Farther away, less volatile solids such as ice and ammonia formed. The tiny, dust-like particles bumped into each other, sticking together to form larger particles. They eventually formed planets that swept up the remaining dust and gas in their orbits. Near the hot sun, the rocky debris gave rise to the four terrestrial planets with metal cores: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Farther from the sun, the gas and ice giants formed Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The remaining bits of debris became asteroids (made mostly of metal and rock) and comets (made mostly of ice, dust and rock). Today, many asteroids reside in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and many comets reside in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. Special Delivery In the early days of the solar system, the new planets were constantly bombarded with asteroids and comets. As Smithsonian Magazine shares, it's believed that these impacts delivered carbon molecules and water from the outer solar system to Earth. These would become the building blocks for life on Earth. With hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe, and perhaps 100 billion stars per galaxy, it seems inevitable that there is life elsewhere in the universe. However, while it was once believed that the conditions for life were the result of an almost impossible series of events, new observations suggest that these conditions might be fairly common. Extraordinary new technologies are allowing us to peer into distant galaxies at all stages of development. Thus, the answer to whether there is life on other planets — and where that life might be — may soon come. Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Click here to search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation. 

Planet-Forming Disks Contain Key Ingredients for Life: Methanol

May 4th — also known as Star Wars Day — is just around the corner. It's a day for fans everywhere to make that "May the Fourth be with you" joke without shame. It also offers a great opportunity to break down some of the most interesting technologies from the Star Wars universe. With the franchise's newest iteration "Solo" headed to theaters on Memorial Day weekend, it's worth taking a look at the fictional universe's most popular ship and answering the question everyone eventually asks: Could the Millennium Falcon really fly? Faster Than Light? One of the fastest ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon flies at a faster-than-light drive, known in Star Wars as hyperdrive. As noted by Space.com, hyperdrives use "hypermatter particles," which let spacecraft enter an alternate dimension, known as hyperspace, and exceed the speed of light. Hyperdrive unfortunately doesn't exist yet. Current science hasn't found a solution to several critical problems. As you approach the speed of light, the amount of mass needed trends toward infinite, along with the amount of energy needed to move the Falcon. Ignition energy is also problematic. Space.com points out that starting the Millennium Falcon would require mass-energy on par "with the total mass-energy of the planet Jupiter." Potential solutions — such as the Alcubierre drive — postulate ways to "bend" space-time and effectively push ships faster than light. But they also come with their own issues. Blueshifting of microwave background photons could kill everyone onboard without some type of shielding in place, and crashing into an object like an asteroid or planet could put a quick end to any Kessel runs, according to Space.com. Air on the Side of Caution Even if we skip the idea of faster-than-light space flight, could the Millennium Falcon really fly in a planet's atmosphere? It happens regularly during the movies — from Han rescuing Luke at the bottom of Cloud City to Rey jump-starting the defunct Falcon on Jakku. Once it's up and running, the ship maneuvers nimbly through the skies, but is this really possible? One theory is that the Falcon's computers and engines are powerful enough to enable it to force its way through the atmosphere, even though it shouldn't really fly. Business Insider, however, said that the clunky shape of the ship makes it less than optimal for non-space travel. It would likely be outrun by current fighter jets and lose its iconic radar dish at high speeds.  There's also the wing problem. While not all aircraft have wings, they're the go-to answer if you're looking to generate lift. The Falcon's design — a large, clunky circle — doesn't offer much in the way of air efficiency or maneuverability. While advanced engines might let the Falcon stay airborne, real-life technology combined with efficient wing design makes current craft more than a match in-atmosphere. Not the Ship You're Looking For? The Falcon isn't real, but Mic notes you could build and maintain it (minus the laser cannons and hyperdrive) for $2.5 billion. Still, with Star Wars day on the horizon, it's worth thinking about. Here's the bottom line: In the cold vacuum of space, some type of light-bending hyperdrive might give Solo's spacecraft the Kessel Run advantage. As a typical aircraft, however, its maneuverability and speed are outpaced by emerging Earth technologies.

Star Wars Day Trivia: Could the Millennium Falcon Really Fly?

In 2020, we're still just getting to know the depths of our home planet. More than 80% of the bottom of the sea is still unmapped and unexplored, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "We've done a pretty good job mapping the surface of the earth and what's underground. But we have almost no information on what's really undersea," explains Dr. Dave Smallwood, program manager in Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems Sector. Smallwood has spent his entire career working below the surface of the ocean, and he sees great potential beneath the water. How much of the ocean floor has been discovered so far? By volume, 99% of the Earth's biosphere remains unknown, according to National Geographic's calculations and less than 5% of the seafloor has been surveyed according to NOAA. We actually know much more about the surface of Mars, with NASA reporting that nearly 99% of the planet's surface has been mapped. What's Under the Sea While you might be picturing smooth, sandy floors, The Atlantic points out that the seabed is actually "a jagged and dynamic landscape" with as much variation as we see on land. Under the depths of the ocean, there are mountains, canyons, hot springs, lakes and hillsides. It's not just an unknown landscape to explore for the sake of beauty — the deep sea floor contains many minerals that can be useful to us on land. In addition to minerals, we've found unusual animals at the bottom of the ocean. Smithsonian points out that even at 13,000 feet below the surface, where temperatures are near freezing and there's no sunlight, researchers have discovered living creatures such as fish, coral, crustaceans, jellyfish and worms. With odd looking features such as transparent skin, giant eyes and jagged open mouths, these deep sea creatures look like aliens because they have adapted to their environment. Even in the dark mesopelagic region of 650 to 3,200 feet deep, there are vast potential resources, with gems, metals, minerals, oil and an estimated 10 billion metric tons of marine life, including fish, shrimp and squid, according to the New York Times. Why We Study the Ocean Floor One of the biggest reasons to study the bottom of the ocean is fundamental science. There are several business cases for exploring the deepest parts of the sea, but if you don't have a fundamental understanding of the ocean floor, then you can't do any advanced work. Smallwood says, "The contents of the subsea environment at different depths, the physical landscape, what lives there and what doesn't live there, right, that's all a priori information for any group that wants to explore." Some of the most compelling financial reasons to explore the sea floor are the oil, gas and mineral resources, according to Nature. "Vast swaths of the open ocean sea floor in the Pacific don't really fall under anybody's expanded economic zone or continental claims," says Smallwood. He adds, "But there are potentially a lot of minerals down there at depths from 4,000 to 6,000 meters." That's why companies are putting large mining equipment under water to harvest raw materials such as rare-earth metals, which are often found in hard to reach places. There's also deep water archeology, where scientists study shipwrecks to find evidence of ancient seafaring civilizations. Another subsea industry is aquaculture, the breeding of fish and growing food to feed them, according to NOAA. In other words, it's farming in the middle of the ocean. Understanding how much of the ocean floor has been discovered is important for defense. For example, mapping the seafloor is key for naval mine avoidance. The US Navy has been operating beneath the waves in human occupied submarines for over 120 years. Challenges With Deep Sea Exploration Clearly, there are many reasons the ocean floor is worth exploring. So why is so much of it still unknown? There are several technical challenges that researchers face when visiting the ocean floor. First there is the fundamental limitation that humans can't breathe in water like fish. Even when equipped with SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) equipment to let them breathe, the pressure of the water (think back to diving in the deep end of the pool and feeling the pressure on your ears) changes the way your central nervous system handles gasses, according to Healthline. Below 100 feet deep, divers can experience nitrogen narcosis, a condition that makes them feel and appear uncomfortably drunk or dazed. Even if that wasn't an issue, if you were to go thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, the pressure is so extreme that it would crush you to death, explains Smallwood. Human-occupied submersibles represent one way to protect and enable humans exploring the deep ocean, but they are expensive and limited in numbers. That's why, much like with space exploration, most of the deep sea research is done by rovers, unmanned vehicles that explore inhospitable environments. The ocean's water itself creates problems because it corrodes the devices that are meant to explore it. Communication is difficult under water, simply due to the physics of the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio frequency (RF) waves attenuate rapidly under water, so our usual methods of transmitting data are useless. "You can use them, but what might get you tens of feet or a mile range up on the surface of the earth or in air might get two inches of transmission underwater," says Smallwood. Navigation is difficult under the ocean, where there is no GPS to guide the way and minimal known landmarks on the largely unmapped surface. There are alternative methods of navigating, such as inertial navigation, which navigates using the acceleration of your body (or the sensor, robot, or vehicle that is exploring) relative to the Earth. "It's an active area of research and development that pushes the bounds of what's possible," says Smallwood. Similarities With Space The bottom of the sea shares many similarities with space. They are both dark, harsh environments that are difficult and exciting to explore. In space, you have to contend with radiation, extreme temperatures and a lack of gravity. "Going undersea, you are facing incredibly crushing pressures and a corrosive environment that is trying to eat away at you the minute you touch the water," says Smallwood. Both space and the deep sea present engineering challenges, such as power constraints, life support needed for human exploration, and harsh environments that destroy people and equipment. But both environments are bursting with potential. Could the deep ocean be the next frontier? Smallwood says he considered either a career in space exploration or undersea exploration. He says, "I like the undersea option because it's much more accessible to me. Within an hour's drive, I could find somewhere on the water to test, explore, and learn."  

The Next Frontier: Exploring the Bottom of the Sea

For the sake of science, researchers blew up a lab. It was mainly an accident.  In September 2018, physicists at the University of Tokyo were trying to create insanely strong magnetic energy in an indoor environment. They expected an explosion. But they didn't know it would be so powerful that it would knock an iron door off its hinges.   Despite the damage, the experiment was a success. Through a method known as electromagnetic flux compression, the scientists managed to generate the longest-lasting and strongest controllable magnetic field in human history, according to AIP's Review of Scientific Instruments. Such fields are key to discovering new solid-state physics, which could lead to advanced semiconductor chips for computers. The results could also advance research on alternative energy sources, such as fusion power.   Magnetic Energy Is Invisible but Powerful   We can't see magnetic fields, but they're all around us. They radiate from refrigerator magnets, credit card machines, speakers, microphones, electric motors, generators, MRI machines and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Even Earth and other Earth-like planets have magnetic fields, which deflect charged particles in outer space that could destroy the planet's protective ozone layer, according to UC Berkeley. Stories of naturally magnetic stones date back to 23-79 AD in ancient Rome, and the Chinese developed the first maritime compasses about 4,500 years ago, said How Magnets Work. In 1925, British electrical engineer William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet. He coiled wires around a horseshoe-shaped piece of iron and then ran a current through the wires, noted ThoughtCo. Today, this technology is used in a variety of machines, including hard disk drives in computers, speakers, motors and generators.   Magnetic flux compression is a technique that uses massive amounts of energy to briefly squeeze a magnetic field, causing a spike in its strength, said Motherboard. Early demonstrations relied on TNT to generate the power needed to compress the magnetic field, but these experiments can only be conducted inside large bomb chambers or at facilities licensed as explosive-proving grounds, the Japanese scientists reported on AIP.   The University of Tokyo team took a different approach. They used more than 3 million amps of electric current, an amount of energy that makes a lightning bolt look like tiny spark. For comparison, lightning bolts have between 5,000 to 20,000 amps. The scientists injected the current into a machine that had been placed in an iron containment room. It was already producing magnetic energy roughly equivalent to the strength of the field created by an MRI machine. An electric current has its own magnetic field and, when it encountered the machine's magnetic field, the two fields repelled each other. The force compressed the machine's magnetic field, making it much more powerful than it was before, said AIP.   Scientists Got More Than They Bargained For   To understand just how powerful the explosion was, it's helpful to know that scientists measure magnetic energy in units called Teslas (T) — named after Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-American scientist who helped developed modern-day electric power systems. Before the Japanese experiment began, the magnetic field in the machine measured 3.2 T. The researchers estimated that after they injected the current and the field compressed, it would intensify to 700 T. They got 1,200 T.   "'With magnetic fields above 1,000 Teslas, you open up some interesting possibilities,'" the research team's lead, Shojiro Takeyama, said in a press statement. "'You can observe the motion of electrons outside the material environments they are normally within. So, we can study them in a whole new light and explore new kinds of electronic devices. This research could also be useful to those working on fusion power generation.'"   The intense magnetic energy lasted 100 microseconds, less time that it takes to blink your eye. But a similar process could create fusion power, Takeyama said in his statement. Fusion power is the ultimate in alternative energy sources. In the process, two light atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus. When they do, they release energy. The sun is a fusion generator. But replicating it is no easy task. One machine that shows promise uses a magnetic field to confine plasma, a cloud of charged particles, said IEEE Spectrum. "This requires a strong magnetic field in the order of thousands of Teslas for a duration of several microseconds. This is tantalizingly similar to what our device can produce," said Takeyama.   Takeyama and his team are looking forward to their next experiment. They have begun to rebuild the iron containment room, including the door and adjusting the system to pump in more energy. Instead of 3 million amps, they plan to crank up the dial to 5 million amps. And instead of generating 1,200 T, they're shooting for 1,500 T. If they blow up the lab again, they'll likely call it a win.             

Powerful Magnetic Energy Blows Up a Lab

Four billion miles from the sun, at the edge of the solar system, orbits an object — or pair of objects — that, according to Ars Technica, is known officially only as 2014 MU69. Until a couple of months ago, it was almost completely unknown, even to scientists. Now, it has become the latest of our new space discoveries and is far better known as Ultima Thule, the most distant object ever visited by a human spacecraft. NASA's New Horizons space probe flashed past these tiny distant joined worlds on New Year's Day at a speed of more than 32,000 miles per hour. At closest report, says Space.com, the spacecraft passed within 2,200 miles of Ultima Thule, snapping high-resolution imagery as it hurtled past. A "Snowman" in Space Images and other data from this fast close encounter are still coming in. Ultima Thule orbits some 4.1 billion miles from Earth, according to NASA, and Sky & Telescope reports that it will take years for New Horizons to send back all the data it gathered in those few short hours on New Year's Day. In fact, according to Sky & Telescope, so far less than 1% of the data has been sent back, but even that opening teaser is startling. Space.com has described Ultima Thule as resembling a snowman, a pair of roughly spherical mini-worlds stuck together. Sky & Telescope reports that these two halves are about nine and 12 miles in diameter and have been nicknamed Ultima and Thule. A Freeze-Dried Sample  Celestial objects orbiting each other so close that they touch are weird enough for science fiction, but this is not the first time that astronomers have seen such objects. It is, however, the first time they have seen them at the outer edge of the solar system, in a region beyond Pluto known as the Kuiper Belt. What really interests astronomers about the Kuiper Belt is not just odd combinations such as contact binaries, but its history — as in, it doesn't have much. This region of space has been relatively placid since the solar system formed some 4.5 billion years ago. Uneventful may sound boring, but it also means pristine: worldlets like Ultima Thule have orbited the sun all but undisturbed since they formed — and still retain signs of their formation processes that were long ago obliterated in the more turbulent region of space where Earth and the other major planets orbit. The latest images from New Horizons are giving us our first clear look at the subtle processes that shaped these worlds and left their marks for us to examine, 4 billion years later. More Beyond Four billion miles is a long way from home, and Ultima Thule is the farthest destination our deep space missions have yet directly reached. But new space discoveries and even planetary exploration are not confined to the solar system. The Transiting Extrasolar Survey Satellite, TESS, orbits Earth not much farther away than the moon — but its four precision cameras are finding planets orbiting stars dozens or hundreds of light-years away. And it is paving the way for the James Webb Space Telescope, which will take deep space exploration to a new level.

A Visit to Ultima Thule: Exploring the Kuiper Belt

The James Webb Space Telescope hasn't even launched yet, but it is already providing valuable scientific and economic benefits here on Earth. With its mission of offering unprecedented perspectives of our solar system and distant galaxies, the telescope is changing this world before it even leaves the ground. That's due in part to several inventions that were specifically developed for Webb and that have become valuable spin-off technologies in their own right. From wavefront sensing technology that could improve human eyesight to near-infrared sensors that enhance ground-based astronomical observations, these advancements illustrate how an atypical invention can have a purpose greater than initially believed.  The Challenges of Exploration Create Useful Technologies The James Webb Space Telescope — also known as the Webb telescope — could possibly explore alongside its predecessor, Hubble Space Telescope, into the next decade. NASA hopes Webb will discover the universe's first galaxies and potentially unveil a connection between the Big Bang and our galaxy. Scientists also hope the telescope can study gases about 39.6 light-years away from our sun to determine if other life forms exist beyond our world. Because of the inherent challenges and demands of space travel, as well as the complexities of observing distant stars and planetary systems primarily through dusty clouds, Webb is an intricate piece of machinery. The telescope will observe elements mostly in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, using sensitivity cameras and a mirror measuring 21.3 feet in diameter. Webb will "look back in time" by using infrared light to sort through dust clouds in order to show us the first starts and planetary systems that formed just after the Big Bang. It will also include a sunshield the size of a full-length tennis court. Together, the mirrors and spacecraft element are so large that they will have to fold in order to fit inside the nose of an Ariane 5 rocket during launch and deploy once in space. For Webb to perform its observations and thrive in the vastness of space, NASA and its contractors developed several advanced technologies that have further impacts to tasks, even outside of space exploration. With information provided by NASA, here are five of those multifaceted inventions:  Human Sight Benefits From Space Invention Improvements in wavefront technology let NASA accurately measure Webb's mirrors during manufacturing. Those advancements have since transferred to medicine, where the technology is measuring human eyes, diagnosing ocular diseases and potentially improving eye surgery. For example, doctors can now see more detailed information about the shape of an eye in seconds, rather than in hours. Webb Technology Helped Hubble Camera Repair Developed for Webb, a technology known as application-specific integrated units (ASICs) ended up helping Hubble. ASICs are integrated circuits that enable an entire circuit board's worth of electronics to be condensed into a tiny package. ASICs are programmable, which allowed NASA to fix Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, technology that has produced remarkable views of the universe. Sensors Are Guiding the Work of Other Missions Infrared sensors developed for Webb's instruments are now also the select technology for astronomical observations in space and on Earth. These sensors record the weak light from galaxies, stars and planets. Several NASA missions have relied on an early version of Webb's HAWAII-2RG 4 Megapixel array. Hubble, Deep and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, for example, have all benefited from these sensors. Meanwhile, the HAWAII-2RG is in use at dozens of ground-based observatories around the world. A "Cold" Invention Is a "Hot" Technology Rocket science is famously known as being exactingly difficult, but sometimes it's even harder than that. Webb engineers had a tough time finding a way to test the telescope's mirrors and composite structures at the cold temperatures found in space. It's not easy to generate -450 degrees Fahrenheit. But a technology company in Arizona found a way by designing several types of high-speed test devices that use pulsed lasers to "freeze out" the effects of vibration. That invention led to the creation of other applications for astronomy, aerospace and medicine. Steadying the Telescope in the Coldness of Space The backplane of Webb supports the mirrors of the telescope. It will carry not only the primary mirror and telescope optics but also the entire module of scientific instruments, more than two tons of hardware. Northrop Grumman designed advanced graphite composite materials that are connected to titanium and invar fittings and interfaces, which will steady the backplane at 1/10,000 the diameter of a human hair while in temperatures colder than -400 degrees Fahrenheit. Northrop Grumman's contribution will not only help the Webb telescope study the stars and galaxies but, like the other spin-off technologies designed for the mission, its product can also have real value on other space missions and endeavors on Earth.

Spin-Off Technologies From Webb Telescope Are Helping Other Ventures

Did you spend Asteroid Day this year (June 30) wondering about the formation of the asteroid belt? Or watching "Armageddon," wondering how realistic the scenes were of space rocks bouncing around on an asteroid surface? Even if you didn't, asteroids are difficult to avoid in the news. On June 27, the Japanese space agency JAXA reported that its probe arrived safely at asteroid 162173 Ryugu in the asteroid belt. JAXA plans to land the Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer, gather samples and return to Earth in December 2020.   So, apart from suspenseful script writing and potential doomsday scenarios, why is there so much interest in these space discoveries?   Where Is the Asteroid Belt?   The asteroid belt formed in the early days of our solar system and lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It's home to billions or possibly trillions of objects, some the size of boulders, others thousands of feet across or larger. Space.com describes them as mostly loose, irregular aggregations of rubble; only larger asteroids like Ceres, which is also classified as a dwarf planet, are close to being spherical.    What Caused the Formation of the Asteroid Belt?   According to Space.com, astronomers think asteroids are left over from the beginning of the solar system. Remnants of the protoplanetary disc of dust and rocks circling the sun after planetary formation gathered between Mars and Jupiter. Collisions brought some together and destroyed others, scattering the debris. Jupiter's massive gravity pull stopped larger planets from forming.   Supporting proof for this comes from other space discoveries; a dust belt circling young star Zeta Leporis as its new solar system develops suggests this is how our own asteroid belt formed, said Space.com.   Another theory proposes that asteroids are the result of planetary destruction, according to Space.com. NASA disagrees, pointing out that the combined weight of asteroids in the belt is much less than our own moon — not enough to form a whole planet.   A new theory suggests the asteroid belt's formation happened because of planets dumping debris into an empty gap. Phys.org reports that radial segregation of asteroid type points to them coming from the nearby planets. Researchers ran simulations to investigate their claim. They showed that the asteroid belt could indeed be a construction dump site, full of leftover planetary building materials.   Why Visit Space Rocks?   Without proof, it's difficult to support a theory. Hayabusa2 could help bring back materials and data to explore. The spacecraft will circle Ryugu, scanning the asteroid's surface with sensors to record surface temperature and mineral distribution. Hovering at medium altitude allows closer visualization, as shown in images from the expedition's Twitter feed.    A planned touchdown on Ryugu's surface this year then deploys surface landers and rovers to map, excavate and harvest samples from the asteroid. Hayabusa2 will blast off with the samples in December 2019 for the return trip back to Earth.   Asteroid Dust Holds the Secrets of the Solar System   Studying the composition of Ryugu samples could tell us not only how asteroids formed but also give clues as to how our solar system began. Composition similar to other planets, for example, could support the theory that planet debris formed the asteroid belt.   This research could also help resource development; asteroids are loaded with minerals and metals useful to us here on Earth. Currently, Asterank, a scientific and economic database of more than 600,000 asteroids, values Ryugu at $82.76 billion USD, with profits projected at around $30 billion. Confirming exact composition from samples would give a more exact valuation and help identify asteroids worth mining.    Rich in metals like platinum and palladium, asteroid mining could be the "gold rush" of the future.        

Visiting Space Rocks for Clues to the Formation of the Asteroid Belt

Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile have discovered a clump of six galaxies surrounding a supermassive black hole. The six galaxies are among the most distant ever observed. And, because looking across cosmic distances is also like looking back in time, these galaxies are also among the most ancient objects we know of. According to Science Daily, we are observing them at a time less than a billion years after the Big Bang, close to 13 billion years ago. All of which means that the black hole in their midst — estimated to have about a billion times the mass of the sun — is also close to 13 billion years old. Like a very delayed loop of crime scene surveillance video, the observations from the ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) reveal an ancient mystery while also pointing to a potential suspect. Black Holes, Massive and Supermassive The only property of black holes that we can directly determine is their mass, which we can calculate based on their gravitational effect on nearby objects. Ordinary, garden-variety black holes have masses ranging from about ten times heavier than the sun upward to a few hundred solar masses. These black holes are believed to be formed by the collapse of massive stars. But some, called supermassive black holes, are much heavier. According to Phys.org, the nearest supermassive black hole, at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, weighs in at some four million suns. By cosmic standards, this makes it a lightweight. The newly discovered supermassive black hole is too distant for its gravity to be measured directly, but researchers believe it is a good billion times more massive than the sun. Dining on Stars The central mystery here is how supermassive black holes get to be supermassive. Ordinary black holes are formed by the collapse of a single massive star, but the supermassive ones are thousands to millions of times more massive than any star ever observed or believed to be even theoretically possible. But the intense gravity of even an "ordinary" black hole can continue to capture matter from the space around it, allowing the black hole to fatten up. The more massive it gets, the more powerful its gravity becomes, and supermassive black holes have been seen dining on entire stars that got caught in their gravity. Astronomers recently captured views of one such stellar meal, as CBS News reports. The black hole shredded the star into thin streams of glowing matter and slurped them down — a process vividly described as "spaghettification." This process intensely heats the "spaghettified" stellar material as it falls toward the black hole. Hence, the seeming paradox that supermassive black holes can be among the brightest objects in the universe. At the Dawn of Time The supermassive black hole discovered by the ESO team underlines the mystery of how a black hole could find enough "food," whether as stars or in the form of gas and dust, to grow to supermassive size — especially in the early universe's timeline, when galaxies themselves were only just coalescing and there wouldn't have even been enough time yet for a leisurely meal. This is where the six galaxies seen clumped around the supermassive black hole provide crucial evidence from the scene of the crime (or at least of the meal). Astronomer Barbara Balmaverde, co-author of the discovery report, notes to Astronomy magazine that these six galaxies are among the faintest yet discovered. According to Balmaverde, this suggests that many other galaxies, too faint for existing telescopes to observe, also surround the black hole. "We believe we have just seen the tip of the iceberg, and that the few galaxies discovered so far around this supermassive black hole are only the brightest ones," she says. Enter Dark Matter This clumping of galaxies, so early in the history of the universe, suggests to cosmologists that dark matter provided the original source of gravitational attraction that compressed gas in the early universe sufficiently to trigger the formation of galaxies. Dark matter has nothing directly to do with black holes. The similar names testify to the fact that the universe is a weird place, filled with many things we can't directly see. In this case, dark matter may have provided a primordial "halo" that allowed stars and galaxies to coalesce, producing a black hole and the surrounding material it dined on to grow to supermassive status. The universe may be weird, but sometimes it turns out to fit together pretty neatly.

A Supermassive Black Hole Sheds Light on Early Universe

Scientific discoveries don't always require new technologies or costly equipment. Sometimes all that is needed is careful observers looking in the right place at the right time. That is how amateur astronomers and professionals recently teamed up to discover glowing "dunes" in the night sky — revealing new and different types of aurora borealis that previously lurked, visible but unnoticed, in the northern night sky. Northern Lights The aurora, often called the northern lights, is produced, explains Science Alert, when charged particles from the sun, trapped in Earth's magnetic field, pass through Earth's upper atmosphere. The particles knock electrons off of atoms in the atmosphere, ionizing them and thus triggering the eerie but lovely glow of an aurora. Because Earth's magnetic field is concentrated toward the magnetic poles, auroras are most often seen from high northern latitudes, in regions like Canada or Scandinavia. (They appear in the far southern sky as well, but few people live in places where southern-sky auroral displays can be seen.) Even in northern latitudes, the aurora can be elusive. Nights are cold, and because solar particles are correlated to the 11-year sunspot cycle, auroral displays are rare except during the most active phases of the cycle. When Professionals and Amateurs Team Up Minna Palmroth, a physicist at the University of Helsinki, was so drawn to the elusive beauty of the aurora that in 2018 she wrote a popular guidebook for Finnish aurora-watchers. In the process of compiling the book, which outlined the different types of aurora borealis, she got in touch with experienced amateur aurora-watchers. As Business Insider describes, these observers reported that they had seen some auroral displays that were not shown in the book, and did not quite match any of the known different types of aurora borealis. Palmroth's book project thus launched a new research project as well, with professionals and amateur observers working side by side. The most common type of auroral display resembles a glowing curtain in the night sky, with light seeming to stream down from a bright upper edge. The auroras that Palmroth's amateur colleagues were observing looked quite different, like frozen horizontal waves across the sky — hence the name dunes for this new (to us) type of aurora. This is not the first time in recent years that auroras have delivered surprises. In 2017, according to separate reports in Science Alert, observers in Canada noticed yet another unusual aurora-like display, which researchers dubbed Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, or STEVE for short. Scientists now believe that STEVE is not technically a true aurora, but a related phenomenon of the upper atmosphere. Surprises From the "Ignorosphere"  Compared to purely astronomical phenomena, from planets to supernovae, the aurora borealis and related sky displays are right in our backyard. The various different types of aurora borealis are observed at altitudes between 50 and 100 miles — just short of 65 miles, in the case of dunes. But as close as this is by astronomical standards, Earth's upper atmosphere is exceptionally difficult to explore and study. The altitudes at which auroras appear are too high for aircraft or even balloons to reach, but too low for orbiting satellites. This region is so hard to study, says Gizmodo, that scientists have dubbed it the "ignorosphere." Dunes and other different types of aurora borealis are not only beautiful, they also provide an opportunity for scientists to study this hard-to-reach region of the upper atmosphere. A Fascinating Bore Dune auroras, in particular, are now believed to result from a phenomenon called a mesopheric bore, named by analogy to the tidal bore produced by tides flowing up a river. In the case of a mesopheric bore, oxygen atoms pushed higher in the atmosphere give rise to the distinctive frozen-wave glow of a dune aurora. But most of all, both dune auroras and STEVE show that Earth's upper atmosphere still has plenty of surprises still waiting to be discovered. The "ignorosphere" is being ignored no longer. And exploring it doesn't require a spacecraft or even a telescope — just experienced eyes and a warm jacket for those cold northern nights.

Researchers Discover Different Types of Aurora Borealis

How ice-penetrating rockets and robotic submarines could help find life beyond Earth When it comes to exploring other worlds, we typically think of observation satellites taking pictures and scientific measurements from orbit or robotic rovers trekking along the red desert of Mars. But what about harpooning the icy shell of a moon, like Europa, with a rocket-propelled spear and searching for life beneath the surface with an autonomous robotic submarine? This is one of many alluring concepts that could be employed in man's undying quest to find life beyond our planet. Beyond Mars, Europa seems like our next closest hope for finding the past or present signature of biological life forms somewhere in our solar system. Europa's Ingredients for Life Scientists believe that Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, possesses the ingredients for life: water, chemistry and energy. Long-held predictions that Europa has an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust were confirmed in 2019 by scientific observation through the world's largest telescope, the Keck Observatory, in Hawaii. An international group of researchers spotted water vapor emitting from a geyser on the moon's surface, a phenomenon that explains Europa's unique surface "chaos" geology. This observation has heightened interest in the Galilean world, with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) both planning missions to Europa in the 2020s. NASA's Europa Clipper mission would be ready for launch in the 2023-25 timeframe, whereas ESA's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft is already taking shape with a planned launch in 2022. These two missions primarily focus on scientific observation but depending on the data they return, mankind might want to take a closer and more exploratory look. One option is to land a mobile probe on the surface like the Mars rovers. But another — perhaps more fruitful — endeavor is to go beneath the crust and swim around looking for life such as floating bacteria or more complex organisms, like the fish and crustaceans we find living deep within our own oceans. Breaking the Crust The first challenge is to find an opening in the crust through which to send a robot carrying various sensors, such as acoustics for detection, gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy for chemistry, cameras for observation and sonar for mapping. For this kind of mission in a far off world, there would be a lot of cross-pollination between the technologies developed by the civil space sector for interplanetary observation (i.e. launch vehicles, deep space communications, re-entry and landing, etc.) and the national security sector ( i.e. rocket motors, penetrators, communications, navigation, sensors, etc.). Over the past few decades, the U.S. military has ramped up the development of so-called hard-target munitions — or bunker busters — to destroy structures buried deep underground. Additionally, billions of dollars have been invested in exquisite sensors for land, air, sea and space platforms to get a better view of the battle space and detect hazards like roadside bombs. Together, these two technology sets could form the basis for an eventual Europa mission. To punch an opening in the surface, a large, high-kinetic energy penetrator could be propelled like a pile driver into an area of Europa where the ice is the thinnest to create a straight opening through which an autonomous robot could enter. In the military, aircraft drop guided earth penetrators from high altitudes to take out underground bunkers using the sheer kinetic force produced by gravity, often combined with depleted uranium, a high density element which generates large kinetic energy. However, because Europa is smaller and has far less gravitational pull than Earth, the spear would need to be very dense, and accelerated by a rocket booster. Using kinetic energy to punch a hole in a distant world might seem like an extraordinary measure, but this isn't a novel concept. In April 2019, Japan's Hayabusa-2 asteroid sample-return mission made history by firing a copper lug into the rocky surface of the asteroid Ryugu. The spacecraft essentially shot the asteroid using an instrument called the Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) to blast a crater and free up debris for collection. Not to be outdone, NASA plans to slam a spacecraft into the Didymos binary asteroid in an attempt to nudge it off course. This Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will prove whether it is possible to stop Armageddon by changing the trajectory of an asteroid before it potentially collides with Earth. Deep Dive into Europa's Waters Once the ice shell of Europa is breached, an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle could be lowered through the opening to start exploring the newly unlocked ocean. There are many similarities between this type of vehicle and the towed or free-swimming mine-hunters used by the U.S. maritime force to protect ships from undersea mines. Aerospace and defense companies such as Northrop Grumman are leaders in this field, with expertise in undersea minehunting and torpedo guidance, navigation, communications, sonar, infrared and other areas. There needs to be some way to beam data back to Earth for analysis. That information would be passed from the robotic explorer to a relay on the surface of Europa and then to an orbiter for deep-space communications back to Earth. Passing information from the explorer to the surface relay would be the greatest challenge, since the jagged ice would rip, crush or sever any trailing copper or optical fiber cables. This problem would be familiar to military forces operating in the Canadian North, Arctic or Antarctic. The autonomous undersea robot would instead need to communicate using low-bandwidth radio frequency, free-space optical or acoustic transmission. Each type of transmitter has its limitations, but some data is better than no data. The bit rate of the transmissions would range from low to very low depending on the thickness and opacity of the moon's icy crust. Onboard the explorer would be a navigation and guidance system as well as eyes in the form of electro-optical/infrared cameras for a near field of view. A sensitive microphone should also be onboard to detect the acoustic signals of geological movement and biological life in the deep ocean. A gas chromatograph and spectrometer is desirable for chemical analysis. In order to detect weak magnetic fields, a superconducting quantum interference device, or SQUID, which is a very sensitive magnetometer could be used to observe the magnetic environment. The primary instrument for mapping the hereto uncharted world is a miniature synthetic aperture sonar. The military uses sonar, a system for detecting objects under water and measuring depth by emitting sound pulses measuring their return, for submarine and torpedo navigation, mapping, and detecting undersea threats like anti-vessel mines. Ocean explorers have been using sonar since the 1980s to discover, map and photograph shipwrecks like the Titanic. Unlocking the mysteries of Europa would be a monumental scientific and technological achievement for mankind and many of the elements needed for success already exist. How you combine them and structure the mission makes the difference. Thanks to ambitious Clipper and JUICE projects being pursued by NASA and ESA, respectively, we Earthlings should soon know if the potential for life on Europa is great enough to merit such an ambitious undertaking. See how you can be at the forefront of cutting-edge research and development in space exploration or undersea minehunting at Northrop Grumman.

Harpoon Europa to Unlock Hidden Mysteries

Superpowered people. There's a collective human fascination about the possibility, from the scores of sci-fi-driven movies to the more rigorous scientific inquiry that aims to extend lifespans, cure diseases and enhance basic biological functions. When it comes to modern human evolution, have we reached the end of the line? Or could superpowered humans be our next iteration?
The Science of Modern Human Evolution
Humans with extraordinary powers already exist — depending on how you define "extraordinary" and how willing you are to suspend some disbelief. Some stories, like that of "Lightning Man" Roy Sullivan, don't require a great stretch of the imagination: Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times and survived. While it's not exactly riding the storm, it's certainly out of the ordinary. Or consider the tale of Vladimir Durov, an animal trainer who claimed a telepathic connection with his companions. According to ThoughtCo., Durov's "powers" were tested in several experiments and appeared to work as described.

Beyond the occurrence of natural "mutants," Futurism suggests the possibility that technology-driven transhumanism could be the next step in modern human evolution. There's some support for this idea; as noted by Science Focus, the Human Genome Project has identified all human genes, while the CRISPR/Cas system has the ability to slice existing DNA and insert new, modified strands. The missing ingredient? A mutant gene — one that could enable the more exciting powers of flight, telekinesis or lightning strikes. Still, we've laid the foundation, and the possibility of gene-based evolution now exists.
Potential Avenues
Because modern human evolution has no set form, multiple pathways offer their own unique benefits. Consider the work being done at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Researcher Peng Yin and his team have developed a method that allows prebuilt DNA sequences to grow and join autonomously. The potential result is programmable molecular devices that could be used in a variety of synthetic biology applications. Meanwhile, New Atlas notes that there's also research being conducted on synthetic insulin-secreting cells that could help solve the problem of diabetes. It's not hard to imagine this technology enhancing basic human functions such as response and recovery time, even as it reduces the impact of a disease.
Speaking of enhanced human functioning, there's also a case to be made for technology-based solutions like the Guardian XO, a human exoskeleton developed by tech firm Sarcos, which could be used to give workers and military personnel a kind of "super strength."

Making (Brain) Waves

Another option? Rewiring our brains to access more than the 10 percent we use to get by in everyday life. While the notion is typically misunderstood — the entire brain may be engaged in specific tasks but our consciousness and control are limited to around 10 percent — Forbes details a new study from the Kellogg School of Management that attempted to give humans more direct control over their brain processes. Led by Moran Cerf, a professor of neuroscience and former computer hacker, the study worked with patients whose brains were open for surgery and trained them to alter their perceptions — allowing them to see one image with their eyes and "see" another simultaneously in their mind.

The potential? Extending control from sensory input to more complex brain functions such as feelings, in turn giving people agency over their own emotions. As noted by the National Institute of Mental Health, major depression "is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States." Even with super-human healing, speed and strength, humans bogged down by depressive episodes wouldn't get much done. Could complete brain control be the next frontier of modern human evolution?
Pros and Khans
So what happens if we take control of human evolution through advanced biology, technology or a combination of both? The capability comes with significant benefits, including the elimination of widespread disease, increased longevity, enhanced performance and — potentially — the addition of more-than-human capabilities produced by specially crafted genes.

The downside? Watch the old "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed" or "The Wrath of Khan" featuring Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically enhanced "superman" who — along with his empowered brethren — rules as a tyrant over ordinary human beings. There's also the risk that a better ability to manipulate human biology could provide opportunities to develop dangerous or deadly pathogens, prompting the need for improved biodefense solutions to help identify biological threats before they decimate entire populations.

For the first time in history, the direction of human evolution can be guided instead of merely accepted. While you won't run into Green Lantern at the gas station or see Batman at the coffee shop anytime soon, modern human evolution comes with wide-open potential: Technologically driven, biologically inspired advancements could pave the way for an entirely new iteration of "average" human beings.

Modern Human Evolution: Are Superhumans the Next Iteration?

What if we could make a computer chip out of mushrooms? While it may not be the first question that springs to mind around electronic enhancement, it turns out that using fungi as a functional substrate for integrated circuits (ICs) is actually a great idea.
Let's shine some light on these dark-loving, spore-bearing, fruity fungus bodies and how they might inspire new technology development.
Waste Not, Want Not
Electronic devices are useful and ubiquitous, but they're not meant to last. According to the WEEE Forum, approximately 5.3 billion mobile phones were trashed or stashed away in 2022, never to be used again. This is despite the fact that they contain valuable mineral components, such as gold, silver and palladium and many of their plastic parts could take more than 1,000 years to fully decompose.
If that isn't bad enough, consider that some smartphones and electronic devices have actually been built with "planned obsolescence" in mind. Have you ever noticed that, after a few years, your phone doesn't hold a charge as well or seems to be slowing down? You might think you've just been too hard on it, but these failing functions could be a feature, not a bug, designed to convince you it's time for an upgrade.
With companies now facing global lawsuits over this practice, it's more than a simple conspiracy theory. Whatever the underlying reason, however, the outcome is the same: phones, smartwatches, tablets and countless other devices are failing more often than ever, leading to a significant spike in electronic waste. As a result, interest is growing in alternatives capable of breaking down more quickly. That's where mushrooms come in.
From Mushrooms to MycelioTronics
Mushroom skin may offer a biodegradable alternative to computer chip creation. Cleverly dubbed "MycelioTronics" by its creators, manufactured mushroom chips have the dual advantage of great electrical conduction and the ability to break down after use.
While there have been previous attempts to make the move from plastic to mushroom-based ICs, the results were what you probably imagined when you first thought about mushroom skin electronics: bulky and ineffective. Researchers from Johannes Kepler University, however, have taken a more minimal approach to mushroom manufacturing.
Their fungus of choice was Ganoderma lucidum, which is found in temperate climates on dead hardwood trees. To create the skin, the research team inoculated moist beech wood shavings with fungi spores and then covered the spores with a polyethylene separator grid and stored the grids at 25 °C. Once sufficient skin growth occurred, the separator was ripped off and the mushroom skin peeled back from the beech wood.
Next came the drying and compression phase, followed by the physical vapor deposition of thin gold and copper layers on the skin, which were then laser ablated to create circuit pathways. The research yielded three skin phases: young, medium and mature. All three phases were stable up to 250 °C, making them a good base for processes such as soldering.
They also performed well in terms of current densities and specific resistance. For example, News-Medical.Net notes that the young skin demonstrated current densities up to 333 A mm-2, while the medium skin achieved a specific resistance of 54.3 ± 19.8 ohm-cm, making it comparable to current Li-ion battery separators. All told, the team produced mycelium-based batteries, a humidity and proximity sensor and a Bluetooth communication module.
We Are the Champignons
What do these mushroom moves mean for new technology development and computer chip design? First is the ability of these fungi to fundamentally break down after use. Once surface-mounted components were removed using heat guns or solder irons, the champignon-based circuit boards could be tossed into a household compost bin. Even better, they lost 93% of their dry mass within 11 days, and the remainder was indistinguishable from standard soil.
According to Physics World, mushroom skin ICs were also able to withstand approximately 2,000 bending cycles before metal films began to crack and warp, meaning they could be shaped multiple times to suit new applications. In addition, MycelioTronics come with the massive benefit of mushroom abundance. As some of the most persistent plants on the planet, fungi are capable of growing just about anywhere with minimal maintenance, and there's no shortage of fungible options worldwide. This means the material is not only bio-friendly but easy to find, making it a win-win scenario for the environment.
The caveat? For now, mushroom-molded chips are in the minority. It's one thing to demonstrate this process as a proof-of-concept — it's another to scale substrate operations from lab-made to manufacturing line volumes.
Still, the shift from plastic products to mushroom modalities is a step forward all around. While fungi frameworks may not be in the next device you buy, expect a significant sprout-up from this sustainable tech in the near future.

Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Learn more about life at Northrop Grumman, and check out our career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.


Mushrooms May Lead to the Development of a Biodegradable Computer Chip

Some 65 million light-years from Earth lies a galaxy-sized mystery — one among many — that astronomers are working to solve. The galaxy, named NGC 1052-DF2, is about the same size as our own Milky Way, but it only has about 1/200th as many stars, said NASA. That, however, is not the real mystery. Other large, very faint galaxies have been discovered, known as ultra-low surface brightness galaxies, even though their lack of many stars makes them hard to detect. But NGC 1052-DF2 is also all but devoid of so-called dark matter. And since dark matter in space is believed to be a fundamental building block of all galaxies, the mystery lies in how this particular galaxy can exist at all. A Massive Mystery Dark matter is very peculiar stuff and one of our most remarkable space discoveries. We cannot see it or directly detect it with any instrument we have. It does not glow or reflect light from nearby stars or even block the light of stars behind it, according to NASA. So "dark matter" does not refer to how it appears in a telescope. Instead, as astrophysicist Alberto Conti of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems explained, "In astronomy, if we don't know what something is, we call it 'dark.'" If we don't know what it is, and can't even see it, how do we know it is there at all? The answer is gravity. We can measure the motion of stars and clusters in distant galaxies to determine their orbital speed, said NASA.  These calculations show that all known galaxies — except for NGC 1052-DF2 — are much more massive than their visible stars, gas and dust and other objects combined. In fact, most of the mass in the universe is in the form of dark matter, detectable only by its gravitational influence, NASA noted. The Glue That Holds the Universe Together Without all that otherwise undetectable dark matter, most galaxies would have long ago fallen apart as their stars hurtled off at high speeds into the intergalactic void. Worse than that, without the mass of dark matter to hold things together, galaxies and stars should never have formed in the first place, Conti explained.  All of which makes NGC 1052-DF2 a faint but enormous mystery. According to Science Daily, it has approximately 1/400th of the expected amount of dark matter. Dark matter is mysterious enough to begin with, but its absence is even more mysterious. Some astrophysicists, according to Conti, have proposed alternatives to dark matter in order to explain how galaxies hold together — and how they formed in the first place. One proposal, called modified gravity, suggests that gravity is stronger on enormous scales — such as galaxies — than on the ordinary scale of stars and planets. Surprisingly, the missing dark matter of NGC 1052-DF2 actually strengthens the argument for the presence of dark matter in space, Conti said. If Newton's laws of gravity work differently on the scale of galaxies, he explained, then "modified gravity" should also apply to NGC 1052-DF2, since it is as big as the Milky Way. But the slow orbital speeds of its stars are consistent with the standard theory of gravity. So, what happened to its dark matter? The Search for Subtle Oddities  To find out, astronomers are taking a closer look at NGC 1052-DF2, as well as looking at other exceptionally large and faint galaxies to see if they also show the telltale slow speeds that indicate missing dark matter. Is this galaxy a mere fluke, asked Conti, or the first example of a pattern? One oddity that researchers have noticed, said Sky & Telescope, is that NGC 1052-DF2 has unusually bright globular clusters. These are large groupings of up to hundreds of thousands of stars that formed together. Globular clusters are common in galaxies, and have a typical range of size and brightness. Unusually bright clusters may, suggested Conti, be a marker that this galaxy is younger than most — and perhaps formed under conditions that stripped away most of its dark matter. Classic mystery stories — including space discoveries — usually end with an explanation of how the clues come together to solve the mystery. But in the case of NGC 1052-DF2 and the missing dark matter in space, the detectives are still working on the case.

The Case of the Missing Dark Matter in Space

Last February, an Atlas booster rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral. Less than an hour after launch, the Centaur top stage released its payload on an orbit that will take it to the planet Venus.  But as Space News reports, the spacecraft is not intended to explore Venus. Instead, it will use the planet as a gravitational slingshot on its way to its real objective, a pair of destinations that no human has ever yet seen: the north and south polar regions of the sun.  The Solar Orbiter, a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), is only the second mission ever launched to explore the sun's upper latitudes and polar zone. But according to Space News, the only previous mission, the ESA/NASA Ulysses probe of the '90s, didn't carry a camera. Thus, the Solar Orbiter mission will provide us with our first actual images of the solar polar zone.  Exploring the Sun's Turbulent Poles  At first blush, the very idea of the sun having north and south poles sounds odd, almost contradictory. After all we think of Earth's polar zone as cold, something the sun emphatically is not. But every rotating object has an axis of rotation, accompanied by north and south poles, and the sun is no exception.  Because the sun produces its own heat, its poles are as hot as the rest of the solar surface, around 10,000 degrees F. But the sun's polar zones are interesting to scientists for other reasons, says Discover magazine. The sun's rotation produces a powerful magnetic field, aligned with the solar poles. And the sun's magnetic field is the driving force of solar eruptions, visible from Earth as sunspots, that can both endanger space travelers and disrupt radio communications here on Earth.  All of which means that direct observation of the sun's polar zones will not only be interesting and kind of awesome (though at 10,000 degrees, it won't exactly be cool), but could also provide insights into some of the most disruptive solar phenomena.  A Long Climb to the Good Seats  So if the Solar Orbiter mission is intended to study the sun, why is it heading for Venus? It's all about location, and good locations for looking down at the solar poles aren't easy to reach. Earth, along with Venus and most everything else in the solar system, orbits in nearly the same plane as the sun's equator.  Reaching good look-down positions "above" the sun's polar zone thus requires enormous energy — much more than any booster rocket can deliver. But NASA has gotten very good at devising bank-shot orbits that make the most of the gravitational slingshot effect.  According to Discover, the Solar Orbiter will make multiple passes by Venus over the next two years to pump itself into a high-inclination orbit, giving a good view of the solar poles. In addition, says Discover, its orbit will sometimes get closer to the sun than Mercury. The spacecraft thus carries a heat shield to protect itself from 1,000-degree temperatures during its closest approaches.  "Touching" the Sun   But the Solar Orbiter mission is only half of a spacecraft team that is gearing up for what one scientist quoted by Space News described as a "kind of a golden age for solar physics."  The other half of the team, NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission, launched in 2018, will carry a heavily shielded suite of instruments within 4 million miles of the solar surface, at a hurtling velocity of about 125 miles per second.  The Parker Solar Probe does not carry a camera, perhaps because direct sunlight at that distance would incinerate it before it could snap any pictures. But other instruments, protected behind a heat shield, will be able to measure conditions so close to the sun as to be inside the solar corona that we see during a solar eclipse.  With high angle shots and close-ups alike, the sun is sitting for its scientific portrait like never before. 

Solar Orbiter Mission Takes Aim at Sun's Polar Zone

Even the most carefully orchestrated lab experiments don't always go to plan. Sometimes, initial results are startling but are eventually debunked by further investigation — as Space reports, that's the likely fate of the "no-fuel" EmDrive that made headlines last year. In other cases, positive outcomes don't match original intentions. According to Science History, that's the story behind non-stick polymer Teflon: Researcher Roy Plunkett was trying to create a new, safer type of refrigerant when he accidentally produced the slippery cooking surface. Here's a look at some recent interesting science experiments worldwide — and the results the experimenters weren't expecting. The Mega Magnet Manifestation Last September, a team from the University of Tokyo set out to create a powerful magnetic field. Their goal was around 700 Teslas (T), generated by pumping 3 million amps into their experimental setup. Typical fridge magnets are approximately 0.01 T, so they built a special enclosure to handle the output. Their result? According to AIP, they managed 1,200 T, enough to destroy their protective enclosure and effectively blow up their lab.  Despite the destruction, this is a positive result: As noted by research lead Shojiro Takeyama, magnetic fields over 1,000 T allow improved observation of electrons. Short-term bursts of high-power magnetic fields are also critical components of many next-gen fusion reaction designs; Takeyama's team demonstrated that it's possible to achieve these values with a relatively simple setup (albeit one requiring a heavier door). Next up for the Tokyo crew? 1,500 T from 5 million amps — and likely a new lab space. The Warm Floor Worry Climate change concerns are quickly gaining international attention, prompting greater efforts to understand the effects of temperature on critical natural processes. As noted by Phys.org, that was the goal of ecology Ph.D student Stephanie Roe's forest-floor study: She set out to discover the impact of warmer temperatures on biomass breakdown in Puerto Rican forests. Her expectations? Increased temperatures would boost metabolism, in turn increasing the activity of microbes responsible for decomposition. Instead, she discovered that higher temperatures reduced moisture by 38 percent, more than offsetting any benefit from increased activity and slowing the decomposition process when compared to non-warm plots.  Roe's research is ongoing, but initial results shore up the notion that when it comes to scrapping lab experiments for real-world observations, what's expected isn't always the outcome. The Dark Matter Modification Search for "dark matter" and you'll have your hands full — scientists across the globe are ramping up efforts to find the "missing matter" in our universe. Some options, such as the popular weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) theory, have been effectively sidelined; according to Physics, direct experimentation has now ruled out the existence of WIMPs.  A new paper in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, however, proposes another explanation for dark matter: We might not need it. The theory suggests that an effect called Vainshtein Screening is at work, which posits that "each sufficiently dense, compact object in space generates an invisible sphere around it which determines how the laws of physics behave with growing distance." At short distances, say the size of our solar system, everything acts as expected. Outside the sphere, it's possible that massive objects exert enhanced gravitational pull — without the commensurate amount of matter required by typical Newtonian mechanics.  It's a sideways take on a high-profile mystery, but it does have some support, allowing researchers to more accurately explain stellar velocities than by using general relativity. Also important: It's falsifiable. Because the theory predicts that very compact galaxies will exhibit stronger light deflection than their not-so-compact counterparts, increasingly precise measurement of interstellar phenomena could provide significant confirmation — or render the theory moot. The Rogue Wave Recreation In 1995, a rogue wave struck the Draupner oil platform near the Norwegian coast. There was no warning: At 3 p.m., the 84-foot wave crashed into the platform, causing massive damage — and making history as the first credible observation of "freak waves" in the real world.  As Science Alert reports, teams from the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh combined existing theory data and a real-world test tank at the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility in the United Kingdom to create the perfect wave. Their findings? Using banks of smaller waves crossing at 120 degrees, it was possible to create a rogue wave that appeared without warning and was much higher than expected.  And while this certainly falls under the category of interesting science experiments, it wasn't an unexpected result. Instead, the unexpected came from an 1830 woodblock carving called "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," an image of a breaking wave that's now iconic both in Japan and across the world. It's also a match for the rogue wave results, suggesting that similar sightings of massive water walls aren't so uncommon as initially believed. Experimental Outcome Good science requires great experimental discipline. But sometimes interesting science experiments come with unexpected results — results that could shift the future of nuclear fusion, improve our understanding of climate change, alter our notion of classical physics or replicate physical phenomena that were once the stuff of legends.

Interesting Science Experiments and Unintended Consequences

 Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   While the world was enjoying the rare "super blood wolf moon" earlier this year, a few observant spectators noticed an odd flash of light on the moon's surface. Planetary scientists have now confirmed that this was a meteorite impact.   A Triple Treat This was the first known sighting of a meteorite impact on the moon during an eclipse, according to New Scientist. Three astronomical circumstances aligned to make it happen. First, the moon was full, and it was as close to Earth in orbit as it gets, which made it appear to be larger than usual: a supermoon. Secondly, the moon passed into Earth's shadow for a total lunar eclipse. Then, while the moon appeared dark reddish in the shadow, a space rock crashed into its surface and emitted a bright light as it exploded.   Amateur stargazers around the world were watching the super blood wolf moon by simply looking outside or livestreaming the event online. Some viewers noticed a small flash, and they debated on Reddit whether it had been a meteorite. Meanwhile, scientists in at the University of Huelva in Spain aimed eight telescopes on different parts of the moon to try to observe a meteorite impact during a lunar eclipse and catch it on film for the first time in history.   "I had a feeling, this time will be the time it will happen," Jose Maria Madiedo told New Scientist.   After the eclipse, University of Huelva's software automatically pinpointed a flash in imagery recorded by several of their telescopes and helped confirm that it was a meteorite crashing into the lunar surface. According to National Geographic, Madiedo and his team estimated that the meteoroid that people witnessed during the super blood wolf moon was about the size of a football and it left a crater 23 to 33 feet wide. (Wondering about the difference between a meteoroid and a meteorite? Check out this terminology primer from NASA.)   How Often Do Meteorites Come Into Contact With the Moon?   National Geographic reports that similar meteorites hit the moon on a weekly basis. When meteoroids head toward Earth, they usually burn up in our atmosphere. But there is no air on the moon. So, when space debris comes into contact with the moon, some of the energy goes into heat that makes a crater, while a fraction of the energy creates a flash of visible light.    The challenge is that normally the moon is brightly lit, so it's hard to observe the flash of a meteorite impact (you're looking for light against a big backdrop of light). An eclipse darkens the moon and makes it easier to catch one of the tiny flashes in action, which is how people were able to witness the meteorite impact during super blood wolf moon.   What the Moon's Craters Reveal   One of the moon's most famous characteristics — its cratered surface — provides visible evidence of meteorite impact over many years. Scientists study the moon's craters to learn about the frequency of meteoroids so that we can anticipate them on Earth and eventually so that NASA can make forecasts to help spacecraft avoid being hit by flying rocks.    The moon's craters can also help us understand Earth's history. We're celestial next-door neighbors, so the meteoroids that fly past the moon should also fly past Earth at the same rate. Interestingly, Earth's gravity pulls in more meteoroids, but we only know of 180 craters on Earth. The most likely explanation is that Earth's craters have been covered up by erosion, tectonics and volcanism. There are thousands of visible craters on the moon because it doesn't have any of these crater erasers, so it is easier to see where meteorites have smashed into the lunar surface.   ScienceNews reports that approximately 290 million years ago, Earth and the moon both saw a sharp increase in impacts. Scientists can estimate the age of a crater because young craters on the moon are surrounded by rocks, which are debris from the impact. The young rocks absorb heat from the sun during the moon's daytime and radiate it back out at night, which can be observed by NASA. Older craters are surrounded by rocks that have become dust over time, so they don't glow as brightly as young craters.   On average, 73,000 pounds of meteorites hit Earth every day, according to Space.com, but the exact lunar impact rate is still uncertain because scientists just haven't observed enough meteorites impacting the moon to make a proper estimate.  

Did You Catch the Meteorite Impact on the Super Blood Wolf Moon?

The actor Harrison Ford famously played both space smuggler Han Solo and earthbound archaeologist Indiana Jones. Aside from Ford's irascible charm, the characters had little in common. Surely, not even fiction would delve into space archaeology.   But truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, as is the case with the International Space Station Archaeological Project (ISSAP). ISSAP has embarked on a novel endeavor: the archaeological study of human culture in a space habitat.    The people behind ISSAP figure there's no better test tube than the 356-foot-wide, nearly one-million-pound International Space Station (ISS). For nearly 20 years, ISS has hosted more than 200 people from 18 countries, facilitated all sorts of scientific work and prepared humans and their technology for voyages beyond Earth. With such a central and exceptional role in space exploration and human relations, it made sense to treat the space station itself as a one-of-a-kind archaeological site.   Embarking on a New Kind of Archaeology   Archaeology usually digs into the secrets of Earth. Space research usually focuses on the mostly unexplored vastness of our universe.    Archaeologists Alice Gorman and Justin Walsh, who lead ISSAP, believe the space station offers untold stories about culture, society and material properties that deserve study following the principles of archaeology. For them, ISS is like a civilization within itself because its missions and crew members often change but still have to conform to a confined space that's ... in space. Just as the ruins of Egyptian, Mayan, Roman and other civilizations are worthy of close examination, so too is ISS.   ISS "serves as evidence for human adaptation to a completely new environment," Drs. Gorman and Walsh wrote on their website, ISS Archaeology. And, just as the striking beauty of Egypt's massive pyramids called for a closer look, Gorman and Walsh make the case that ISS "is arguably the most complex and expensive building project ever undertaken by humans."   In an interview with R&D, Walsh said she hopes NASA and other space agencies recognize the significance of including social science with space research. "'The whole reason to have the ISS is to help plan for long duration missions," she said. "NASA has done decades of physiological and psychological research on the impact and consequences of long duration space missions. But they have never done a study on the society or the culture that does form in a space craft."   A Picture Could be Worth a Thousand Meanings   Archaeologists usually handle, albeit delicately and precisely, the artifacts they uncover and discover on Earth. Walsh and Gorman, however, aren't suiting up for a trip to ISS, at least not yet. For now, their form of space archaeology means they have to take a novel approach to studying their subjects.   First, they'll be looking at a lot of pictures. As R&D reported, more than a million digital photographs have been taken inside and outside ISS since it launched in 1998. The metadata of the files show when and where the photos were taken, helping Walsh and Gorman see the subtext behind the captured moments. This could help peel back the layers of cultural experiences of space travelers, like the moment when Russian crew members posed with religious images on board. The spots where the Russians placed the images might reveal whether they were making certain cultural and religious statements.   The details of those and many other photographs offer a "'unique opportunity to study human adaptation to a unique, 'micro-society in a mini world' that is multi-ethnic, multi-gender and multi-lingual,'" Walsh told R&D.   Sorting Through Space Cargo for Clues   Walsh and Gorman will be able to observe materials from ISS, but not until those items are back on Earth. At least twice last year, they studied cargo that came back on capsules that were attached to ISS. They didn't specify what they studied, but the capsules can carry scientific samples like the products of tests on mice and astronauts, as well as crew members' personal items (including their dirty laundry). A closer look at these and other objects could speak to how people and these items react to microgravity.   Between the photos, cargo and other materials, Walsh and Gorman will be busy. But they hope their research will answer not just how people in space interact with one another and their surrounding environment but also whether they changed ISS to better suit their needs. In other words, does space shape people, or do they try to shape space? 

Space Archaeology Aims to Analyze Experiences of Astronauts on the ISS

Many of us may wonder about the extremes of our planet — what is the highest mountain, what are the coldest temperatures ever recorded, or what is the deepest point in the ocean? When it comes to that last point, oceanographers have long known that the deepest part of the world ocean occurs in the Mariana Trench, a deep valley in the ocean floor that lies about 124 miles east of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. And for many years, the consensus view among those scientists was that the maximum depth of the Trench — nearly seven miles, which is a mile deeper than Mt. Everest is tall — occurs at the southern end of the Trench in a depression known as the Challenger Deep. Unfortunately, scientists have not been able to agree on precisely how deep the Challenger Deep is, in spite of multiple measurements over the years by deep-diving submersibles, sonar bathymetry and remotely-operated underwater vehicles. But that all changed in December 2014 during the voyage of the Schmidt Ocean Institute's Research Vessel Falkor to the Mariana Trench. Exploring the Challenger Deep According to Oceanography magazine, the expedition planned to gather new data about the waters above the Challenger Deep using two autonomous, deep-diving instruments known as Deep Sound Mk II and Deep Sound Mk III. The instruments would help the scientists complete several tasks:   Create conductivity, temperature, and depth profiles of the water column.  Collect and create video recordings of hadal amphipods.  Record the ambient sounds of the ocean within the 5 Hz to 30 kHz band of frequencies.  The two instruments were designed to descend under gravity until a preprogrammed condition was met, such as a pre-set depth or an elapsed time, then drop an iron weight and ascend to the surface under their own buoyancy. Feeling the Pressure The two instruments were deployed on December 17, 2014. According to National Geographic, as they descended, David Barclay — a member of the expedition and an associate professor of oceanography at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia — was listening through headphones to an underwater microphone mounted on the ship's hull when he heard a faint pop, something he wasn't expecting. He later figured out that the pop resulted from the implosion of the 15-inch-wide spherical glass housing that encased the Mk III's electronics. The instrument, which was at a depth of more than 8,000 feet at the time, was a total loss, but serendipitously, the chain of events that ensued led to one of the most precise measurements to date of the Challenger Deep. Finding Success in Serendipity When the Mk III imploded, it created a very energetic shock wave that was recorded by the surviving Mk II instrument. The shock wave reflected multiple times between the ocean surface and the seafloor of the Challenger Deep. By noting the arrival times of these multi-path pulses and knowing the speed of sound in the water column at the time of the implosion, the Falkor scientists were able to calculate with great precision the depth of the Challenger Deep — an astounding 10,983 meters +/- 6 meters, or about 36,033 feet. SurferToday notes that prior to the Falkor expedition, oceanographers believed the Challenger Deep was between 35,755 and 35,853 feet deep. How Do Scientists Measure the Depth of the Ocean? According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, efforts to measure the deepest point in the ocean date back to 1872 to the voyage of the HMS Challenger, the world's first oceanographic expedition. Perhaps Challenger's most significant finding was the discovery of the Mariana Trench. But how do scientists measure the depth of the ocean without modern technology? As Oceanography magazine explains, back then, they used traditional depth-sounding methods — spooling out a rope marked in six-foot intervals until the weight at the end of the rope hit bottom. The Challenger's crew recorded a depth of 8,140 meters. Since then, the technology to measure ocean depth has evolved dramatically. One of the most common instruments used to measure ocean depth is called an echo sounder, which comprises a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter sends a sound pulse of about 12 kHz straight down into the water. The pulse reflects off the ocean floor and returns to the surface where the echo sounder's receiver detects it. Knowing the velocity of sound in that column of water and the time for the signal to make its round trip, scientists can calculate the depth of the ocean floor at that position. Measuring Uncertainty And therein lies the uncertainty in echo sounder measurements. "The speed of sound in the water column is not a constant value but actually varies with salinity, temperature and pressure," explains Barclay. "To calculate ocean depth, we need to know the speed of sound along the path of sound waves emitted by the echo sounder." He explains that, to overcome this problem, oceanographers typically create a sound speed profile of the water where they're operating. But even then, air in the water column can change the speed of sound in that water, which introduces depth measurement errors on the order of meters if not tens of meters. Today, organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) use multibeam echo sounders to map the ocean floor. In 1951, the HMS Challenger II used an echo sounder to record a depth of 10,863 meters in the part of that would later be known as the Mariana Trench. Going Deep With Submersibles Oceanographers also use instruments attached to submersible vehicles, both manned and remotely operated, to determine the deepest point in the ocean. In January 1960, oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lt. Done Walsh descended into the Challenger Deep in the bathyscaphe Trieste. The underwater vehicle's instruments recorded a depth of 10,916 meters. In 2012, filmmaker James Cameron made the second crewed dive to the bottom of Challenger Deep in his submersible DeepSea Challenger, which recorded a depth of 10,912 meters. As Barclay sees it, taking an instrument to the bottom of the Challenger Deep is probably still the best way to get the most accurate measurement. But even this "up-close and personal" approach is not without imprecision. "If your vehicle moves too quickly and stirs up the water too much as its instruments measure water density, that can throw your measurements off a bit, which again introduces uncertainty in your final measurements," he observes. The Bottom Line Barclay proposes that the real question is whether small uncertainties in determining the deepest point of the ocean really matter. He acknowledges what he calls an "ongoing contest among billionaires to find the deepest part of the Mariana Trench," but "from a U.S. Navy or NOAA standpoint, I think most of these tolerances are relatively acceptable." Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery in science, technology, and engineering.

How Do Scientists Measure the Deepest Point in the Ocean?

Some organizations have a history of being innovative; others do not. Younger organizations are more open to change and more likely to innovate as they are not constrained by long-standing and established practices. However, younger firms are at a disadvantage with respect to innovation compared to more established companies that have stronger relationships with customers, more manufacturing experience in reducing costs and more experienced employees with a larger knowledge base, all of which can improve the company's ability to generate innovation.[1] But many successful large firms can experience structural inertia (rigidity of organizations' practices and specifications) and become bureaucratic, which stifles their ability to innovate. Thus, the paradox for the modern industrial corporation is that, in order to grow, or even to survive, it is necessary to undertake technological change — change that is disruptive to its stable state. Innovative Attributes What are the characteristics of a highly innovative company? Flourishing innovation can be attributed to corporate structural arrangements[2][3][4] (for example, organizational adaptability, matrix organizations, job rotation programs and innovation banks) that enable an enterprise of effective social networks, such as integrated communication channels, communities of practice, internal expos and forums, employee culture publications and access to distinguished scientists. These types of organizations also tend to cultivate supporting cultural attributes for innovation — entrepreneurial values, calculated risk taking, tolerance of failure, collaboration and employee recognition and rewards — that facilitate working together to incorporate technical change for the corporation. Enabling the Innovation Process We can think of the innovation process as having three major phases: creativity, prototype design and testing, and diffusion to adopters. Previous case studies on advanced materials at Northrop Grumman provide strong evidence of the influences of organizational arrangements and an effective social enterprise in developing and advancing game-changing technologies throughout these phases.[5][6] In addition, champions (such as creative scientists, entrepreneurial project managers, executive sponsors and end-user adopters) will typically emerge throughout the three phases of the innovation process to promote and advance innovative technology. The Creative Phase: Several structural and social factors within organizations have a major influence in sparking the creativity of individual scientists. Organizational structures that provide interpersonal communication channels and a corporate climate marked by collaboration across levels promote creativity. Matrix organizations, in which mid-level employees report to both a project manager and a functional manager, force cross-area communication.[7] Organizations with internally recognized and accessible senior technical staff members, such as subject matter experts and fellows, will facilitate social networking and technical discussions that create new ideas and increase the innovation rate. This informal organization, not generally shown on org charts, consists of ad hoc problem-solving teams of employees from different functions who exchange information and provide support for innovation. Prototype Design and Testing Phase: Unlocking the value of creative ideas often requires a new design and testing a new prototype.[8] Typically, the program manager or the corporate "intrapreneur"[9] will assemble a working team and procure funds to convert the creative idea into working prototypes to verify its value. However, the intrapreneur's success in building the innovation tends to be as much a function of how well external relations are handled as of the technical feasibility of the idea itself. It's critically important to keep supporters up to date on the project and its success, protect the group from outside interference and handle any subtle threats or opposition that could jeopardize the project. Hence, in practice — contrary to popular narratives about innovation being the result of an extraordinary, heroic inventor — innovation is a social enterprise. There is no "I" in innovation.[10] The Diffusion Phase: The culmination of innovation is the transfer of a product value to the potential adopters who will exploit the innovation and incorporate it as an ongoing organization practice. This is the most critical phase of the innovation process. Studies have indicated that, again, social practices make the principal difference, even more than the technical value of the innovation.[11][12] Because of perceived risks or entrenched ideas and/or specifications, the innovation might be seen as controversial, and the target adopters might even refuse to use it.

The Sociology of Innovation at a Large Corporation

Do aliens exist? Fictional space aliens who have visited Earth range from the adorable (E.T. and his magical finger) to the threatening (the ruthless Martians of "The War of the Worlds") to the helpful (mighty Superman was from another planet, as we sometimes forget). Moreover, have aliens visited Earth? Whether extraterrestrial life has actually touched the soil of Earth — or floated above it, observing us all — has been a burning question for almost as long as humankind could look at the stars. The many claims of alien sightings, often buttressed by grainy photos of UFOs, and the many theories about outer space creatures already living among us could fill enough books to weigh down a spacecraft that's collecting samples of our planet. One thing is for certain: The public and private agencies that deal with all things space focus on finding life away from Earth. They are not researching, at least publicly, the scientific possibility of whether aliens have already been on our planet. For that matter, governments answer stories of UFO sightings on Earth by pointing to the weather or by saying the claim couldn't be corroborated. There are no official records of aliens visiting Earth. Have Aliens Visited Earth? Discussion about aliens on Earth can be, for the sake of argument, placed into two camps: claims and theories. Claims are those that appear on the covers of supermarket tabloids or occasionally make for a fun feature in a mainstream news publication. For instance, a New Hampshire couple that spoke of being captured by aliens on a late-summer evening in 1961 as they drove through the White Mountains is the first widely-publicized alien abduction claim, a tale that started a legion of others. Theories of alien visits can also spread like wildfire in the mainstream news if they are made by someone with authority. It happened only recently. Avi Loeb, the chair of Harvard University's astronomy department, didn't propose that aliens were even close to Earth. Rather, he and a colleague posited that Oumuamua, a cigar-shaped comet or object that whizzed by the sun in 2017, might have been a probe sent to the vicinity of Earth by an alien civilization. The theory, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, elicited some derision from scientists. The minor controversy led NASA physicist Silvano Colombano to say that scientists essentially rock the establishment when they theorize about extraterrestrial life. "General avoidance of the subject by the scientific community" creates a catch-22, Colombano told Quartz. He means that scientists might appear crazy for posing questions about aliens, but society will never know about alien life or any possible alien missions to Earth if no one in the scientific community examines the concept. Colombano himself got caught up in the debate last year, when Fox News reported he claimed aliens have indeed come to Earth, pointing to a document of his on the space agency's website. But Colombano was quick to correct the Fox News story, saying it was taken out of context and that he believes an alien visit is only theoretically possible. "My perspective was simply that reports of unidentified aerial phenomena should be the object of serious study, even if the chance of identification of some alien technology is very small," he told Live Science. The Search for Alien Life Looks Outward to Space The existence of alien life is indeed under serious study, but all eyes and ears on that front are pointed outward, beyond the terra firma of Earth. SETI — the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute — employs more than 130 scientists, educators and administrative staff in a quest to "explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence." SETI projects include using a telescope array to study red dwarf stars that show characteristics indicating the possibility of support for intelligent life. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is also examining newly-discovered exoplanets that are found in their star's habitable zone. And SETI is developing a system to search for laser flashes that extraterrestrial societies might use to signal their presence. SETI's work continues despite occasional hesitations. This year, a research group that included a NASA astrobiologist offered that while the "search for habitable environments and life beyond our solar system is a deeply compelling scientific goal," a large number of planets that were believed to possibly support life actually have unsuitable environments, shrinking the zone of areas where extraterrestrials could survive. So, do aliens exist? Many scientists believe that humans need to work even harder to determine whether there is extraterrestrial life out there, let alone whether or not aliens have visited Earth. As astronomer and SETI co-founder Jill Tarter once said, because of the vastness of space, our efforts have only amounted to the equivalent of scooping a single glass of water from the ocean.

Do Aliens Exist? Scientists Wonder If Extraterrestrial Life Has Visited Earth

An enormous comet is gliding through the outer reaches of the solar system, currently passing between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. We are accustomed to thinking of these distant worlds as orbiting in the outer reaches of the solar system. But from the perspective of the newly discovered Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein — the largest comet ever seen so far from the sun — the current stage of its journey, per Space.com, is more like a fast, scorching swing by the fire. This will culminate in 2031 with the comet's closest approach to the sun, passing just beyond the orbit of Saturn, according to Sci-news. And the sun is already warming it up, after millions of years of interstellar cold. Early measurements of its brightness indicated that the nucleus of Comet Bernadinelli-Bernstein (commonly called Comet B-B for short) might be about 60-125 miles in diameter — one of the largest solid comet nuclei ever observed. But, as ScienceAlert shares, further observations have indicated that B-B is an "active" comet. Already brightening, its solid surface is evaporating to form a coma and tail, which is unusual for a comet of any size so far from the sun. Its nucleus may thus be smaller than first estimated, but it's still a giant among comets. A Long, Long Journey And after its closest approach? Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein will continue in its orbit: a jaunt of four million years or more that will take it out to its native haunts in the true outer reaches of the solar system — more than 40,000 times Earth's distance from the sun or two thirds of a light year. This vast, distant region surrounding the familiar solar system is the domain of the Oort Cloud. It comprises billions of comets and fragments of early solar-system material that were caught up by early orbit changes of the planets and hurled out into this remote deep freeze. There, they remain all but untouched by time. Well, except for some that have been perturbed through the ages by passing stars or galactic tides and sent dropping back toward the inner solar system to become the comets that have been observed throughout history. An Emissary From Deep History If Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is an emissary from the early history of the solar system, its discovery also reflects the long history of astronomy and comets. Early astronomers were mainly concerned with the regularity of the heavens. They determined the length of the year, the complex cycles of the moon and visible planets, and they even learned to predict rare events such as a total eclipse of the sun. However, comets seemed to completely violate this regularity. Bright comets appeared on rare occasions unpredictably, moving and changing from night to night before finally fading away and disappearing. Early observers were not even sure whether they were celestial events or phenomena of the upper air. As History.com recounts, all that changed thanks to Edmund Halley. He shared how a number of bright comets that were observed over the centuries had timing and paths through the sky that neatly matched according to Newton's laws, showing them to be the same object — just like the one now called Halley's Comet. While astronomers now suspect that all comets originated in the Oort Cloud, so-called periodic comets — such as Halley's Comet — were deflected into shorter, closer orbits during an earlier pass. These periodic comets now come near the sun every few years, decades or centuries, instead of only after many thousands or even millions of years like visitors such as Comet B-B that have come directly from the Oort Cloud. Halley did not live to see his prediction proven, but the return of Halley's Comet in 1758 made comets the hottest topic in astronomy. This was a big change, not just in astronomy but in the popular culture. The people of ancient civilizations hadn't just been perplexed by comets; they had been terrified of them. As Nature reports, the possibility that a meteor strike — or comet impact — actually destroyed a Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley may explain the dire reputation of comets as portents of disaster. But since Halley's day, comets have mostly enjoyed a much better reputation as rare but sometimes spectacular sky shows. In popular culture, astronomers don't go hunting for obscure objects called TNOs or even spookier-sounding "dark matter." In movies like Roxanne and Local Hero, astronomers — both professional and amateur — are shown hunting for comets. Indeed, co-discoverer Gary Bernstein noted how happy his mother was about his discovery, perhaps because she could finally tell her friends something about her son's work that they'd instantly appreciate. What Is This Thing? But the co-discoverers of B-B, Bernardinelli and Bernstein, were not looking for comets. Pedro Bernardinelli was a grad student a week away from formally defending his PhD dissertation on TNOs — Trans-Neptunian Objects, the most familiar of these being Pluto — while Gary Bernstein was investigating the outer solar system for gravitational hints of dark matter. But then, their investigation turned up a surprise. Contrary to another popular image, neither Bernardinelli nor Bernstein were looking through a telescope. They were working with data collected several years earlier by an automated survey — their discovery sitting in the data, waiting for someone to notice. The data showed an object that was in roughly the right place to be a TNO — 29 Astronomical Units (AU), or 29 times Earth's distance from the sun, when the search criteria were for objects at least 30 AU from the sun. And it was impressively bright, enough to trigger detection by the search software even though it didn't quite match the search constraints. It looked like a bright but otherwise unremarkable TNO find, except for its orbit — which, according to the results, showed that it reached its maximum distance from the sun not at a typical 40 or 50 AU but at least 40,000 AU. That placed its origin far out into the Oort Cloud, fully a sixth as far away as Proxima Centauri, the nearest star beyond the sun. As Space.com reports, Bernardinelli recounted thinking, "This is weird — what is this thing?" Without intending to, Bernardinelli and Bernstein had discovered a comet — the largest comet ever seen coming directly from the Oort Cloud. Almost everything about Comet B-B is surprising, and the fact that it was discovered by professional astronomers is just one more surprise. Indeed, until the recent development of automated sky surveys, comet hunting and comet discoveries had become largely the domain of amateur astronomers. This is for a few reasons. The most important is what puzzled (and perhaps alarmed) ancient observers: the unpredictability of comet discoveries. A new comet can appear in any part of the sky — meaning that there is really no "efficient" way to search for one. You just have to spend a lot of time looking. Professional astronomers, who typically concentrate on specific research projects, rarely have that luxury. (Automated search telescopes have modified this limitation.) Moreover, most newly discovered comets never become spectacular sights in the night sky or even bright enough to see without a telescope. And most do not become targets of special scientific study, either. They are simply cataloged as one more data point in our knowledge of comets. But the thrill of discovery is enough to keep skilled amateurs on the hunt. Back in the 18th century, after Halley's successful prediction made comets a hot topic, the story was different. Professional astronomy as we know it today hardly existed. A handful of national observatories compiled navigational sky charts, but otherwise, nearly all astronomers were amateurs. From Comets to Galaxies — and Back? The stars and other distant celestial objects (what modern astronomers — professional and amateurs alike — call the deep sky) was regarded as little more than a distant backdrop: very useful for measurements, but not something we would ever be able to know much about. In the 1750s, according to Seasky.org, a French astronomer named Charles Messier became an enthusiastic comet hunter. To make the task easier, he compiled a list of common comet hunters' mistakes — objects in the sky that tricked comet hunters because they looked like comets through a telescope. He listed nearly a hundred such celestial objects, and later observers added a few more to his list. Messier's comet discoveries are long forgotten, but his "don't be fooled" list of star clusters, nebulae and galaxies remains one of the most familiar guides to the visible universe, familiar to amateur and professional astronomers alike. As for Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, it will probably not put on a spectacular show in Earth's sky, since it will never come anywhere near as close to the sun as dramatic comets do. It will probably only be visible in larger amateur telescopes. On the other hand, its early indications of large size and unusual brightness could mean more surprises in store. What is not in doubt is that its early discovery — nearly a decade before its closest approach to the sun — will give astronomers plenty of time to study it in the years before it once again recedes into the far depths of space. Anything they miss this time will just have to go on the bucket list for Comet B-B's next close pass by the sun, sometime after the year 4,000,000. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Giant Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein: What Comes Around Goes Around

Astronomy discoveries are not always made with telescopes or space probes. A dagger made of iron from the asteroid belt turned up in Egypt nearly a hundred years ago, though only in 2016 were scientists able to confirm its extraterrestrial origin. The iron dagger was found, according to History.com, next to the mummy of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen — better known today as King Tut. Along with another dagger made of gold, King Tut's meteorite dagger was carefully placed in the tomb for the young pharaoh's use in the afterlife, and buried with him around 1350 BCE. Iron From the Sky The date is significant, History.com explained, because the era around 1350 BCE was the height of the Bronze Age. Egyptian and Eastern Mediterranean technology of the day was capable of producing fine metalwork in bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), or gold. But the ability to produce high-quality artifacts from smelted iron did not appear until at least 1200 BCE, more than a century after Tutankhamen. What the ancient Egyptians did know how to do, however, was make fine objects — such as King Tut's meteorite dagger — from iron that already existed in high-purity form. And they knew that iron of this quality fell from the sky. Egyptian hieroglyphic writing even had a special symbol meaning "iron from heaven," reported Discover magazine. A Precious Metal in One of the Greatest Archeological Discoveries This pure meteoric iron was a rare and precious material, worth more than its weight in gold — making King Tut's meteorite dagger a fitting offering to place in the tomb of a pharaoh. As History.com explained, the meteoric origins of the dagger have been suspected since its discovery beside Tutankhamen's mummy in 1925. Until recently, however, there was no way to test the actual composition of the dagger without destroying it — not a practical research project, given the unique archeological, historical and aesthetic value of objects from Tutankhamen's tomb. Efforts to determine the dagger's composition in the 1970s and 1990s were inconclusive, even controversial. But more recently, a new technology called portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry was called upon to examine the ancient technology of King Tut's meteorite dagger. Technology, New and Ancient The spectrometry technology, according to History.com, allowed precise determination of the composition of the dagger without damaging or even touching the dagger itself. And tests showed the dagger to be composed of iron, nickel and cobalt, in proportions not found in Earth's iron ore deposits, but typical of meteorites that originated in the asteroid belt. In fact, the measurements of the King Tut meteorite dagger not only confirmed the extraterrestrial origin of its iron, but indicated that the precise composition of the dagger matches that of a meteorite found near the Egyptian seaport city of Marsa Matruh. The meteorite, now called Kharga, was found in 2000, and contains a mixture of iron with 10.8 percent nickel and 0.58 percent cobalt — the same composition as the dagger. None of the ten other meteorites found in or near Egypt matched that particular composition. Tutankhamen's tomb is not only one of the world's most famous archeological discoveries: It continues to be a source of astronomy discoveries, insights into ancient Egypt, and evidence of how iron technology gradually developed during the Bronze Age.

King Tut's Meteorite Dagger: It Came From Outer Space

"The Twilight Zone" reboot, helmed by Jordan Peele, present-day master of satirical, socially critical horror, has everyone abuzz. Even if you've never seen an episode of "The Twilight Zone" — the seminal science-fiction series created by Rod Serling that ran from 1959 to 1964 — you can probably hear its iconic, unsettling theme song in your head. You can probably picture Serling in his trademark suit, cigarette in hand. And you probably know that "the twilight zone" is shorthand for a situation where the line between fantasy and reality blurs and things start to seem ... not wrong, exactly, but not quite right either.  "The Twilight Zone" is widely hailed as one of the best sci-fi shows while also being years, if not decades, ahead of its time. Incorporating sci-fi elements and touching on themes of racism, nuclear destruction, space exploration and general societal anxiety, it seems just as relevant today as ever. Let's take a look back at some of the original episodes and consider how likely humanity is to make these particular stops in the Twilight Zone.  (This article contains *spoilers* for the original series.)  Stop the Earth, I Want to Get Off  Between environmental issues, political tensions and social problems, the impulse to leave Earth, find a new planet and start over is understandable. It was equally understandable in 1960, when "The Twilight Zone" episode "Third from the Sun" aired for the first time. The episode follows a man named William who knows nuclear annihilation is imminent. Desperate to save his family, he hatches a plan to steal an experimental spacecraft his company has been building and get off the planet. He enlists a friend to help, and both men eventually make it past security and onto the craft, families in tow. When William's daughter asks where they're going, he explains their destination is a world not unlike the one they're leaving, located third from the sun in its solar system â€¦ a place called Earth.  Today, when we think about setting up shop on other planets, we tend to look close to home — specifically, at Mars. NASA cautions, however, that colonizing Mars would be complicated. Even if humans managed to get there safely, Mars doesn't have an ozone layer, and we don't know how much ultraviolet radiation makes it to the planet's surface. Then there's the matter of building infrastructure. Rather than transporting the necessary materials to Mars from Earth, it's likely that 3D printing would play a major role in colonization. And, even if we resolved these issues, there's currently no legally binding way to buy land on Mars.  Still, it's compelling to consider. According to Megan Ray Nichols of Astronomy.com, figuring out how to thrive on Mars could make it "easier to expand out into the asteroid belt and beyond."  Is It Hot In Here, or Are We Getting Closer to the Sun?  When we consider ways the world could end, a top contender is the sun turning into a red giant. According to Scientific American, if this happened, it wouldn't be for billions of years. But what if a sun-related catastrophe caused the end of life as we know it much, much sooner? Say, in a matter of days?  That's the premise behind Twilight Zone episode "The Midnight Sun," which aired in November 1961. The Earth's orbit has been altered and, as a result, the planet is drawing ever closer to the sun. As the temperature rises, Norma and her landlady, Mrs. Bronson, watch their building's inhabitants leave for cooler climates. Eventually, just the two of them are left. Mrs. Bronson begins to show signs of emotional strain, begging Norma, an artist, to "paint something cool." She does, but when she shows it to Mrs. Bronson, the paint begins to melt, and Norma collapses. The scene shifts to show Norma sleeping on a couch as snow falls outside the window. Mrs. Bronson is talking to a doctor about how Norma's fever has finally broken. They then begin to discuss the news of the day: Earth's orbit has shifted and the planet is moving farther away from the sun, which will eventually lead to its destruction by freezing.  How likely is either of these scenarios to occur? According to Christopher Springob, a research assistant professor at the University of Western Australia, Earth is, in fact, moving very slowly away from the sun. However, the distance by which it's moving is tiny — roughly a micrometer, or one ten-thousandth of a centimeter, per year.  A Parallel Universe, Right in Your Own Bedroom  Perhaps one of the most influential episodes of the original "The Twilight Zone" series was "Little Girl Lost," in which six-year-old Tina somehow becomes trapped in another dimension. Her parents and dog can hear her calling for help, but they can't see her. Tina's father, Chris, calls his friend Bill, a physicist, for help. They look around the house and eventually find an opening to what Bill explains is a fourth dimension. (By now, the family dog has fallen into it as well.) Chris goes in after Tina and the dog, and Bill pulls them out through the opening and back into reality as we know it.  The concept of interdimensional travel has turned out to be a pop culture favorite. The Simpsons paid homage to "Little Girl Lost" in "Homer3," a segment of its 1995 Halloween episode. More recently, Netflix smash hit "Stranger Things" has revitalized interest in multiverse theory.  But is there really such a thing as a fourth dimension? (It's worth noting that, rightly or wrongly, time is often considered the fourth dimension of space.) According to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, string theory implies that there might actually be six additional spatial dimensions; however, they may be "curled up so tiny that we have never realized their existence." Smithsonian.com concurs, citing recent research showing that if other dimensions exist, they must be smaller than 16 nanometers. For reference, a nanometer is one billionth — that's billion with a "b" — of a meter, meaning you won't be falling into one of those dimensions anytime soon.  Although early reviews of "The Twilight Zone" reboot are mixed, there's no question that the legacy of the original, one of the best sci-fi shows of all time, has endured. To borrow Serling's words, as long as we can imagine the unimaginable, we'll continue to explore "the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition" â€¦ also known as the Twilight Zone. 

Next Stop: "The Twilight Zone" Reboot

Scientists at Cornell University recently estimated that the largest sea on Saturn's moon Titan reaches a depth of at least 1,000 feet, according to the Cornell Chronicle — but don't pack your diving gear just yet. Not that humans will travel to the sixth planet in the solar system anytime soon, but whenever we do take the 886-million-mile journey to Saturn (give or take several million miles depending on planetary positioning), we'll find that Titan's idea of an ocean is nothing like the ones found on Earth. This deep sea is made up of liquid methane — not exactly an ideal setting for swimming, surfing or scuba diving. It is conducive to exploration, though. In 2026, NASA plans to send a drone named Dragonfly to Titan, as Space.com points out, and there's talk of a submarine exploring the underwater reaches of the ocean. Until then, what is already known about this big sea is helping scientists understand Titan's landscape. By learning about the ocean's depth and makeup, they're getting an idea of the moon's hydrological system and any possible connection to Earth. A Moon With Earthly Water With the recent assessment of Titan's biggest ocean, Kraken Mare, there's no doubt it indeed lives up to its monstrous name. But unlike the sea monsters of Norse fables, this sea is real and observable to spacecraft. It's nearly the size of all five Great Lakes combined, as the Cornell Chronicle notes. That's how we are aware of its size. NASA's Cassini probe observed Saturn and its moons for 13 years before exhausting its fuel supply in 2017 and taking a final plunge into the planet's atmosphere. During its 294 orbits of Saturn, it took more than 450,000 photographs, many of them breathtaking images of a world that is, as NASA puts it, "ruled by raging storms and delicate harmonies of gravity." Cassini revealed "astounding worlds where methane rivers run to a methane sea and where jets of ice and gas are blasting material into space from a liquid water ocean that might harbor the ingredients for life," they continue. Outside of satisfying curiosity about Saturn's many rings, Cassini also explored the planet's icy moons. Scientists have long thought the moons offered conditions suitable to life, and that's why a close study of Titan captures attention. Titan is described as Earth-like because it is the only moon in our solar system that has a dense atmosphere and clouds, and it is the only moon with liquids in the form of rivers, lakes and oceans on its surface. NASA points out that Titan, the largest of Saturn's 82 moons, has an atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen, just like Earth. However, Titan's surface pressure is 50% higher than our planet's. Its subsurface waters are of particular interest to scientists because they could contain forms of life with chemical compositions possibly unlike those found on Earth. No Ordinary Measuring Stick The search for life beyond Earth — a quest that drives NASA's Mars Exploration Program, as well as many other current and future space missions — is why the recent calculation about the depth of Titan's deepest ocean has significance. The more we learn about the building blocks of the planets and moons in our neighborhood, the more we understand how life on Earth came to be. Analyzing data gathered by a radar altimeter on Cassini as it flew 600 miles above Titan's surface in 2014, scientists and engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory were able to gauge the depth of Moray Sinus (an estuary at the north end of Kraken Mare) to be about 280 feet deep, the Cornell Chronicle reports. The estuary is shallower than the depths of the center of Kraken Mare, but the ocean itself was too deep for Cassini's radar to measure. So, the scientists and engineers devised a workaround. They discerned the depth of Kraken Mare by noting the radar's return time differences on the liquid surface and sea bottom, and they identified the sea's composition by the amount of radar energy absorbed during transit through the liquid. That's how they determined the depth of Kraken Mare to be at least 1,000 feet. "The depth and composition of each of Titan's seas had already been measured, except for Titan's largest sea, Kraken Mare — which not only has a great name, but also contains about 80% of the moon's surface liquids," Valerio Poggiali, a research associate at the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science (CCAPS), told the Cornell Chronicle. There's More Lake to Explore Scientists previously believed methane would dominate Kraken Mare because of its size and extension to the moon's lower latitudes. But the study of Cassini's data showed that the ocean's liquid methane composition is not much different from other northern seas on Titan. This finding excites scientists. As Poggiali told the Cornell Chronicle, Saturn's moon Titan represents a model environment of a possible atmosphere of early Earth. Knowing Kraken Mare has an abundance of liquid methane will only help to assess models of Titan's Earth-like hydrologic system, he said. As the New York Times observed, these findings represent more than complicated science. According to their reporting, Poggiali thinks of Titan partly as "a laboratory where, over millions of years, chemistry could have learned how to generate energy and store information." That has meaning for us Earthlings, and it's what makes the plan to send Dragonfly and a 20-foot-long submarine to closely examine Kraken Mare from below tantalizing. "These are processes that have happened on our planet too, but they left no traces," Poggiali told the Times. "As you probably see, we need to get back to Titan to better understand the mystery of life." Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

A Lake on Saturn's Moon Titan Is More Than a Sea Monster

 In a paper from California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the author laments the loss of connection between machine learning and solving real-world problems. The main question that seems to come up is: what good can machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) do? A lot, as it turns out. AI could play a big role in aiding and even solving the issues of world hunger and poverty in ways that are surprisingly simple, but increasingly necessary.   AI's Natural Abilities Used in New Ways    When you think of AI, it's possible that fixing world hunger isn't the first application that comes to mind. However, when broken down to their most basic components, world issues need more of one thing: data. The right kind of data can help identify issues that impoverished regions face, which, in turn, can lead to solutions. Information processing and solution finding are the backbone of AI, and enlisting its help can generate the data required by global initiatives to identify regions in the greatest need of aid.    Global programs like the United Nations and World Bank have launched initiatives to reduce world hunger and poverty that need the massive amounts of data and analytics that AI technology can mine and sift through. The UN is developing strategies at conferences like AI for Good Global Summit to figure out how AI can help them fulfill their Sustainable Development Goals, while the World Bank is taking a more direct approach. They've partnered with Orbital Insight, a geospatial analysis company, to determine whether satellite data can improve ways of tracking poverty and socioeconomic trends globally.  Capturing images of distressed areas via satellite, for example, provides markers that measure how a village is doing. A team of scientists from Stanford University's Department of Earth System Science created a poverty mapping technique that uses satellite images to capture and measure luminosity levels to determine what potentially impoverished areas look like during the day and night. The daytime images highlight the homes, roads, cars and other aspects of the village to provide a baseline of how many people live there and what resources are nearby. If the population is sparse or the area is rural, less light in nighttime satellite images would be expected. However, if a village is well populated but has less electricity than expected, that can be an indicator of poverty.    Gathering this type of data could make it possible to pinpoint the areas most affected by poverty. Providing that information to humanitarian groups, NGOs and even governments could better equip them to deal with a region's unique issues.   In Times of Crisis ...    As smartphones gain popularity in the developing world, the possibilities for AI to contribute to struggling communities grow. Researchers from the Data Science Institute and Department of Computing at Imperial College in London developed an algorithm that can look at mobile data from users in a region to predict the gender of the user. When a disaster hits, those traceable demographics could potentially help identify and track the most vulnerable users (such as women with young children) and get aid to them faster, even in remote or dangerous areas.    Another method of tracking crisis victims combines smartphones with our innate human need to socialize or let our friends and family know when something is going on. Crisis-mapping technology uses social media, email and texts to identify and map areas where a natural disaster or other humanitarian crisis is happening. An open source software program created by researchers from the Qatar Computing Research Institute called Artificial Intelligence for Disaster Response (AIDR) collects and classifies tweets posted during an event. Using a keyword and tag tracker, this software marries machine learning and the natural human impulse to share and connect during times of crisis to create virtual maps that can show events as they are happening.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   Despite all of the good that planning, gathering data, and developing programs may do, helping those in crisis does require some on the ground (or in the sky) legwork. Humanitarian aid is an important part of the mission that the Northrop Grumman autonomous aircraft system Global Hawk has taken on. In 2013, it was able to find a safe zone for humanitarian aid during Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines using data collected through detailed imagery. It was also able to determine safe roads and fields to guide rescue teams to displaced survivors to get them help. In addition to being an "eye in the sky" for rescue missions, Global Hawk also supported requests from international partners to surveil areas of Haiti after the earthquake in 2010 and the Fukushima disaster in 2011.   AI and Humanity Entering the Future, Hand-in-Hand    Next steps for injecting AI and machine learning into humanitarian aid vary from collecting and developing crops that can adapt to a changing climate to drones and smartphone accessories that can deliver medical attention to remote areas. These methods aren't tactics being saved for a far-off future; they can happen right now. Jack Hidary, a serial tech entrepreneur and Senior Advisor to XLabs, told the Telegraph that "In low-income areas, agriculture and healthcare are two critical ecosystems that we can apply AI to immediately."    While the debate rages on about artificial intelligence and how it will affect the workforce of those in developed nations, those in developing nations could benefit from the intervention of technology into their lives. Partnerships between world health organizations and AI-driven initiatives like Orbital Insight, AIDR and Global Hawk show that the efforts to combat world hunger are becoming more focused. As AI technology evolves, its role in providing solutions and data to help combat world problems will grow, providing us with an insight into our world and society that we may have never seen without it.

World Hunger and Disaster Relief Are the Next Targets for Artificial Intelligence

December 25th, 2021, marked a scientific milestone with the successful launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). On January 24th, 2022, it arrived at its orbital home: Lagrange point 2, better known as L2. Now, the Webb telescope's first science images have made their way back to Earth. To say scientists are stoked is an understatement. While everything has (thankfully) gone to plan, this was no easy undertaking. Here's what the Webb telescope has been up to over the past few months. December to January: 29 Days on the Edge After more than 20 years, the James Webb Space Telescope blasted off into orbit on an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency (ESA) facility at Kourou, French Guiana. But this was just the beginning. Once it slipped the surly bonds of Earth, the Webb had a tension-filled 29-day journey ahead to its L2 home. Many of the parts had to work in sequence and unison to ensure the craft arrived safely and was prepared for the next step of its mission. For example, 27 minutes after launch, the telescope was released from the Ariane 5 rocket. Within two minutes after separation, its solar array was released and deployed. And 12.5 hours after launch, the telescope executed the first of three mid-course correction (MCC) burns designed to nudge it into L2 orbit without overshooting the Lagrange point, since doing so would require it to turn around and expose critical mission equipment to the full force of the sun. On the third day, the craft deployed its forward and aft sunshield pallets. After six days, the James Webb Telescope sunshield began opening, and by day 10, sunshield deployment was complete. On January 8th, 2022, the telescope was fully deployed, and on January 24th, it completed its insertion burn for L2 orbit. January to February: Setting Up Shop Once at L2, it was time for the Webb to set up shop. This started with cooldown and calibration — making sure instruments cooled down to stable operating temperatures, ensuring that mirrors and other optics were correctly calibrated, and assessing the James Webb Telescope sunshield for any damage or distortion. Day 31 post-launch saw the start of the mirror alignment process, which is broken down into seven stages: segment image identification, segment alignment, image stacking, coarse phasing, fine phasing, telescope alignment over instrument fields of view, and iterative alignment for final correction. Worth noting: This Lagrange location isn't entirely stable. Along with cooling and calibration, the telescope must make regular course and attitude corrections to remain at L2. To break it down: L2's position "behind" the Earth offers the telescope an unfettered look into the darkness of space while allowing it to soak up solar rays for power. It leverages the balanced gravity of the Earth, sun and moon to stay in orbit with minimal effort. However, L2 is an unstable Lagrange point. This means that unlike its counterparts at L4 and L5, course corrections are required every 28 days to keep the telescope in orbit. February to April: The Webb Telescope's First Images Six weeks after the launch of Webb, scientists saw the first photons captured by the telescope and detected with the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). Two months post-launch, the segment alignment kicked off, followed by image stacking, phasing, and telescope alignment. Now, the James Webb Telescope is in its final cooling phase before step seven, iterative alignment, which should occur within the next month. But the Webb also took some time out to snap a few pictures and send them back to Earth. Specifically, the telescope pointed its main mirror at HD 84406 — which, according to a Space.com article, scientists describe as a "boring star" in our galaxy, and one that's 100 times fainter than what can be seen with the naked eye. However, both its location deep within the Milky Way and its lack of luminesce were ideal to see if Webb could live up to the hype. Spoiler alert: It did. The first engineering images from the Webb Telescope showed a bright, amber-colored star surrounded by fainter flecks and dots — each one representing a previously unseen galaxy. Also on the list for their moment in the spotlight in the first year of science are Trappist-1E, the Trojan Asteroids and the icy moons Enceladus, Europa and Titan. Scientists hope to see distant galaxies and newborn stars as well. Put simply? The James Webb Space Telescope has been keeping itself busy over the past few months — and it's just getting started. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

NASA's James Webb Telescope: First Images and Initial Operations

The first science results sent back by NASA's TESS observatory mission, more officially the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, are incredible. Right out of the gate, TESS discovered several exoplanets — extraterrestrial worlds orbiting stars light-years beyond the sun. The telescope also began detailed examination of hundreds of other stars that show possible hints of orbiting planets. Above and beyond its assigned tasks, TESS has caught the early turn-ons of dozens of supernovae, or exploding stars. These discoveries were possible because the design team solved technical challenges that didn't exist when planning for the mission a decade ago. What were those challenges, and how did they overcome them? Needed: A Placid Place in Space As TESS project manager Robert Lockwood recounted, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission was originally expected to do its work in what space mission planners call LEO, or low Earth orbit, where the Hubble Telescope orbits, along with a host of other research satellites and telescopes. LEO is the easiest corner of space for us to reach, and it lifts a satellite above Earth's hazy, damp, turbulent and light-polluted atmosphere. For most astronomical research, this is enough to make all the difference. But, according to Lockwood, during a 2010 conference, George Ricker, of MIT, principal investigator for the upcoming TESS mission, got some unwelcome news. LEO would not suffice for the extremely delicate measurements of starlight that TESS needed to detect the shadows of planets many light-years away. Spacecraft in low Earth orbit pass in and out of Earth's own shadow every 90 minutes or so, producing temperature changes that can distort precision instrument readings. To do its job, the TESS observatory needed to be in a really placid region of space, not constantly passing in and out of Earth's shadow. Searching for Stability Moving beyond LEO posed its own challenges, observed Lockwood. Spacecraft in high orbits tend to wander, as they are more exposed to the gravity of other planets, radiation forces and other phenomena that can gradually change orbits. If a spacecraft's limited supply of maneuvering propellant is regularly expended to adjust its orbit (what mission planners call "station-keeping"), the science mission is doomed when the supply runs out. TESS's project team found its solution in an orbit never previously used for a space mission, called a 2:1 lunar resonance orbit. This is an elongated orbit that goes around the Earth twice for each lunar orbit (thus, twice a month). It is a tricky orbit that took months for TESS to reach — but it is so placid and stable that no further station-keeping will be needed for the next hundred years, at minimum. The Art of Pinpoint Aiming Even this ultra-stable orbit is not enough to give TESS the pointing precision it needs, according to Lockwood. To keep its aim precise, TESS uses a set of "momentum wheels" to absorb any stray angular momentum. At occasional intervals, when the wheels have built up so much angular momentum that they have reached their maximum spin rate, a few grams of propellant must be burned by the attitude thrusters to "unload" the wheels and slow them down. How stable is stable? Lockwood explained that TESS can hold its aiming "drift" to no more than 0.02 arc seconds in an hour — one part in a million, or about the diameter of a quarter as seen from 160 miles away. Ricker's description of this aiming precision is short and to the point: "Exquisite." But in space, every new technology solution often means another technology challenge, and the TESS mission is no exception. The lunar 2:1 lunar resonance orbit keeps TESS out of Earth's troublesome shadow, but also means that TESS only dips relatively close to Earth for a few hours twice a month. The rest of the time it is roughly midway between Earth and the moon — a long way to send its results back to Earth-based scientists. Don't Forget to Call Home One solution would have been to send along a high-power radio transmitter, like the transmitters used on missions to the outer planets, Lockwood said. But those are heavy and expensive, so the TESS team came up with a better solution. TESS downloads its data to Earth via the same deep-space network used for interplanetary missions, but its transmissions use the ultra-short Ka ("kay-ay") radio band. This is capable of downloading 109 megabits of data per second, compared to 2-4 megabits per second for the more conventional S-band download technology. Thanks to the Ka-band downlink, TESS is able to send back two weeks' worth of data in a few hours, each time it whips past Earth. In fact, it is able to send back all the data its cameras capture, not just the specific data needed for the exoplanet-hunting mission. As Lockwood put it, "a lot of non-level one science is available" — which is why TESS can discover supernova explosions on the side, without interfering with its primary work.

The TESS Observatory Is Making History

 In September 2015, Siemens announced they were cutting their carbon emissions — which totaled 2.2 million metric tons per year — in half by 2020. They hope to be carbon neutral by 2030. But there's a big question you're probably asking: How will they reduce their carbon footprint that quickly? Siemens' Half Measure  Siemens' plan is far-reaching and sounds deceptively simple: They'll invest more than $100 million in building distributed energy systems at their 300-plus factories. They've already started transitioning their 100,000 company vehicles to low-emission models. They're also moving toward a cleaner power mix in their factories tapping mostly natural gas and wind power, which emit little to no carbon dioxide.  Our planet is facing a CO2 emissions problem: Rates of CO2 increased by 7.4 percent between 1990 and 2013, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, with no signs of slowing down. Traffic emissions and industry account for almost 60 percent of those extra CO2 fumes. That's why large companies like Siemens are chasing down these new carbon emissions goals, hoping to erase their large carbon footprint and aid in our planet's recovery. But there are additional benefits to chasing sustainability as well: creating more sustainable systems can reduce spending for large companies (at Siemens, for example, they say sustainability efforts could slash costs by $20 million per year). Some experts also note that increased sustainability efforts can improve recruiting, adding to employees' sense of contributing to a better world.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content. Ford's Efficient Engine  The Ford Motor Company is also in the carbon reduction game. The automotive industry produces approximately 14 percent of global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, so Ford has developed an EcoBoost engine which improves fuel efficiency in their vehicles by up to 20 percent. They've also invested $4.5 billion in electrified vehicles and plan to offer 13 new models by 2020 in the U.S. and Canada.  They have partnerships with clean energy companies, as well — they've even installed wind sail and solar PV systems at Ford Dealerships across the U.S. to power buildings and EV charging stations. Dell Shortens the Straw  Dell is reducing their carbon footprint, too: They've recently changed their packaging to wheat straw, which requires 40 percent less energy to produce and 90 percent less water. Dell has also invested heavily in big data and analytics to track and reduce the energy consumption in their facilities. Nestlé© Fueled by Caffeine  Nestlé© is an "older hand" in the charge to reduce carbon emissions — they've been working toward a smaller carbon footprint for years, and have been ranked highly on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index many times because of their extended sustainability efforts. By 2014, they'd phased out 92 percent of their industrial refrigerants, replacing them with environmentally friendly ingredients. In their Mexico-based factories, 85 percent of the electricity comes from wind farms. They also use spent coffee grounds as supplement fuel in 22 factories, among other initiatives. Coke's Big Rig Gig  Coca-Cola has similar goals: They hope to reduce their carbon footprint by 25 percent in 2020 by adjusting their packaging formats, delivery fleets, refrigeration equipment and ingredient sourcing. Coca-Cola's efforts kicked off after the company discovered that their global fleet of trucks emitted approximately 3.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2014. Now, the company plans to power their trucks with a mix of alternative fuels, including biodiesel, natural gas and electric power. Northrop Grumman's Green Game  Northrop Grumman also has high carbon reduction goals: By 2020, the company plans to reduce their GHG emissions by 30 percent. They plan to reduce potable water use by 20 percent from 2014 levels, and to achieve a 70 percent solid-waste diversion rate.  Sustainability remains one of the most important innovation spaces in large companies — without it, the communities that live around major industry headquarters may be adversely affected. Without working to reduce our carbon footprints, our planet might not be habitable for as long as we hope. That's why thinking broadly, investing in sustainable systems and programs, and teaching employees how to live more sustainably, is more than just important: It's the way of the future.

Shrinking the Carbon Footprint: 6 Companies Putting Their Foot Down

 In late 1919, a young American woman arrived in Paris, seeking opportunities she was not allowed to pursue at home. Her name was Bessie Coleman, and she wanted to learn how to fly. Her gender was a barrier to achieving her dreams, but not an absolute one. In the years after World War I, women were making a place for themselves in many new fields, and aviation was one of them. But Coleman was black and a woman during a time where the Jim Crow laws were in effect in the southern states, and no American flying school would allow her to enroll because of her race and gender. From Sharecropping to the Sky Born in 1892 to a family of Texas sharecroppers of mixed African-American and Native American background, Coleman showed an early determination, as she put it, to "amount to something." After eight years of one-room school and a semester at Langston University in Oklahoma, she joined her two brothers in Chicago in 1915 and found work as a hairdresser and manager of a chili parlor. Her brothers both served in World War I, and after they returned, one of them remarked to Bessie that French women could do something she would never be able to do: fly. But "never" was not a word in Bessie's vocabulary. She enrolled in French classes, and enlisted supporters in Chicago's small but growing African-American business community to raise the money she needed to go to France and take flying lessons. The art of flying instruction, like aviation itself, was still in its infancy and, as PBS reports, her flight-school experiences included seeing the fatal crash of another student. Though the crash was, in her own words, a "terrible shock," she kept at it, and in June 1921, she earned her pilot's license from the Fé©dé©ration Aé©ronautique Internationale. "Aviatrix" and Barnstormer Coleman came back to the United States in 1921 to find that she was now something of a celebrity. According to Heavy.com, the Air Service News hailed her, in the language of the time, as "a full-fledged aviatrix, the first of her race." But the only way for anyone to fly for a living in that era was as a barnstorming stunt pilot, and Coleman returned to Paris for further advanced training. A year later, in September of 1922, she made her first appearance at an airshow. She had a gift for showmanship along with her flying skills, and for the next four years she was a popular figure in the air-show circuit, known as Queen Bess. But she did not forget where she had come from, and refused to perform at segregated air shows. Everyone who attended, she insisted, had to come in through the same gates. Offered a part in a film, "Shadow and Sunshine," she turned it down because she felt that the role, which had the character dressed in rags at one point, perpetuated stereotypes about African-Americans. Sadly, like so many pilots of the barnstorming era, she died in an accident. On April 30, 1926, she went up to rehearse for an airshow. Her mechanic, William Wills, was at the controls, and Coleman left her seat belt unfastened because she would later be making a parachute jump. Something went wrong. The plane went out of control, and Bessie Coleman was thrown from the cockpit and killed. She was 34 years old. Wills was also killed when the plane crashed; examination of the wreckage indicated that a loose wrench got jammed in the controls. Some 15,000 people attended her funeral. More enduring tributes followed. The Bessie Coleman Aero Club, established in Los Angeles in 1929, fulfilled her dream of a flying school for African-Americans, and according to the National Aviation Hall of Fame, it played a large part in training the first generation of black pilots. For years, African-American pilots in Chicago made an annual fly-over of her grave, Many years later, in 1977, the Bessie Coleman Aviators Club was founded by a group of African-American woman pilots, and in 1995, the Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in her honor. Nearly a century later, her contributions to flight continue to be remembered.

Bessie Coleman and the Open Sky

Summer is coming, contrary to what you may have heard on a certain popular television show. The days are longer and the nights are milder. In most of the country, parka weather at night gives way to sweater weather or even short sleeves.  And those late summer evenings — along with cool, predawn summer mornings — are an invitation to visit the night sky. While it can be filled with surprises, the night sky is also home to regular, predictable astronomical events. To sky observers these events become like old friends, to be greeted anew each time they come around.  NASA provides a handy website that will generate a customized calendar of sky events, for the month or a whole year, with times adjusted to your time zone. Sky & Telescope and Sea and Sky also provide annotated night sky calendars for 2019, with helpful thumbnail descriptions of notable night sky events.  This summer kicks off with the most spectacular of all sky show events, a total solar eclipse — but alas, not for most of us. The total eclipse on July 2 will be visible only from Chile and Argentina and the southern Pacific Ocean, though much of South America will see a partial eclipse of the sun.  Saturn at Opposition (July 9)  On this night Saturn is lined up exactly on the opposite side of the sky from the sun (thus the name Opposition). It rises in the east at just about sunset and sets around dawn. And as Sea and Sky points out, this is also the point when Saturn is closest to Earth and at its brightest in our night sky.  While Opposition marks the moment of closest approach, Saturn will be particularly bright in the sky for weeks. A medium-sized telescope is needed to see the rings of Saturn, but you might glimpse its large moon Titan with a good pair of binoculars.  Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower (July 28)  Of all astronomical events, meteor showers are the closest to home: We spot meteors as they burn up in Earth's upper atmosphere less than 100 miles above the ground. At the same time, the Delta Aquarid meteor shower is made up of visitors from the outer solar system, specks of dust and gravel associated with comets Marsden and Kracht. (The meteors are unrelated to the star Delta Aquarii.)   The meteor shower takes place each year when Earth's orbit intersects the orbit of the comets. The shower is spread over several nights, but peaks on the night of the 28th (actually after midnight, on the early morning of the 29th). Best seen in dark skies; expect to see about 20 meteor flashes an hour.  Mercury at Elongation (August 9)  Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, which means that, as seen from Earth, it never strays very far from the sun in the sky, and is only visible during dawn or dusk. For this reason it is the most elusive of the bright planets, and even people familiar with the night sky may never have seen it.  Elongation marks the point in Mercury's orbit when it appears farthest from the sun in the sky, making it easiest to see. Look for it low in the eastern sky just before dawn on the early morning of the 9th. Mercury moves a lot from night to night, but you might also be able to catch a glimpse of it a couple of mornings just before or after Elongation.  Perseids Meteor Shower (August 12)  Unlike the fairly subtle Delta Aquarids, the Perseids are among the most dramatic meteor showers. They can be seen over a week or so, peaking on the night of the 12th. As Sea and Sky notes, the Perseid shower can produce about 60 meteors an hour — an average of one every minute or so — and is also known for bright meteors. A nearly full moon will tend to drown out the fainter meteors, but the bright ones should still put on a good show.  Neptune at Opposition (September 9)  On this night it is Neptune, the outermost major planet, that is just on the opposite side of the sky from the sun. But this is one sky show that you probably won't actually see, because Neptune is not visible to the naked eye.  It can be spotted with good binoculars — but you need to know exactly where to look. And because even most telescopes only show Neptune as a bluish speck of light, you need to know the stars around it in order to recognize it as a wandering interloper. Consider this an advanced sky observer's project!  And as you follow the calendar of astronomical events, don't forget the summer night sky show that happens on every clear night. In rural areas with dark skies, look toward the south to see the brightest part of the Milky Way — marking the center of our galaxy — spread across the southern constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius. If you haven't met our galaxy yet, let this be the summer that you make its acquaintance. 

Astronomical Events — Your Summer Night Sky Guide for 2019

On average, you can expect to see perhaps seven meteors per hour and considerably more during a meteor shower. What you're actually witnessing is the fiery descent of a small particle through the Earth's atmosphere. Most meteors simply burn up in the atmosphere, but some survive to strike the Earth as meteorites. By finding these space rocks and analyzing their composition, we've learned a great deal about the origins of the Earth, the evolution of the solar system and some interesting astronomy facts.  Asteroid vs Meteor: What's in a Name? The terms meteor, meteorite, meteoroid, micrometeoroid and asteroid all refer to space rocks in one form or another. What's the difference between them? Meteoroids and micrometeoroids refer to the vast number of relatively small rocks and particles in orbit around the sun. If a meteoroid encounters the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes, the visible trail we see in the sky is referred to as a meteor. They are sometimes called a falling star or shooting star, though they aren't stars at all. Sometimes a meteor survives its fiery descent and strikes the ground. Meteors that have hit Earth are referred to as meteorites. There are also fireballs and bolides, which refer to very bright meteors that often explode as they descend. Asteroid vs meteor. What's the difference? It's largely a matter of size but not all that well-defined. According to the American Meteor Society, the vast majority of meteoroids range in size from small pebbles down to a grain of sand. Micrometeoroids are dust-sized particles. The largest meteoroids are those space rocks up to one meter or perhaps several meters in size. Anything larger is generally considered an asteroid. Asteroids can be as large as hundreds of kilometers in diameter. The largest, such as Ceres at about 952 km (592 miles) in diameter, are considered dwarf planets. What Have We Learned? According to National Geographic, approximately 50 tons of space debris falls onto the Earth's surface every day. The vast majority of these particles are dust-sized micrometeorites. Occasionally, meteorites as large as boulders strike the Earth and a few impressive examples have survived the impact event and have been found intact. The largest of these is the Hoba meteorite in Namibia, discovered in 1920. This 54,000 kilogram-monster is too large to move. Other large meteorites are mostly destroyed on impact, leaving behind huge craters such as the Barringer Meteorite Crater near Winslow, Arizona. Here's a case where the distinction between asteroids and meteorites is somewhat blurred. The object that created the Barringer Meteorite Crater about 50,000 years ago was a nickel-iron meteorite about 50 meters across that massed about 270,000 metric tons. This huge rock is clearly large enough to be considered an asteroid but is still commonly referred to as a meteorite. Of course, there have been actual asteroid strikes in the distant past, such as the 10 kilometer asteroid that formed the Chicxulub Crater in Yucatan, Mexico. Chicxulub is one of the largest impact craters ever discovered on the Earth. That violent event is believed to have triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs and other animal and plant life some 65 million years ago. The Earth's Origins Most meteorites appear to come from large asteroids that broke up, or never completely formed, billions of years ago. Studying them helps scientists understand the processes taking place deep inside the Earth. Although the center of the Earth has never been directly seen or examined, meteorite studies have enabled us to determine that the Earth's core is composed mostly of nickel and iron metal. This is true for the other planets as well. When the Earth was in the process of being formed and still molten, the metals sank to the center while the lighter materials formed the mantle and rocky crust on the exterior. Evolution of the Solar System The scientific study of meteors that have hit Earth, or meteorites, is crucial to the understanding of the solar system's history and origin. Researchers have determined the age of certain ancient meteorite materials and have used that to establish the age of the solar system to be almost 4.6 billion years. The study of these primitive meteorites has yielded clues to the conditions present during planetary formation, as well as the composition and proportion of elements present in the entire solar system. This kind of information supports the process of mission planning for asteroid visits and will ultimately help identify the resources necessary to enable human spacefaring into the solar system. Astronomy Facts: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"? Meteorites are extremely rare and there are those dedicated to hunting for them. As you pursue your own adventures, you might come across an unusual rock. Did you actually find a meteorite or the much more common "meteorwrong"? Geoffrey Notkin, star of TV's Meteorite Men and National Space Society president certainly knows his meteor facts and offers an excellent Comprehensive Guide To Meteorite Identification to help you. Happy hunting! 

Wish Upon a Falling Star: Asteroid vs Meteor

A recent study about the beginnings of Earth gives us our own Big Bang theory.    Rice University scientists propose that a planetary collision might have led to the formation of Earth and its inhabitants. A planet the size of Mars smacked into a mostly rocky Earth 4.4 billion years ago, the scientists posit, leaving behind elements that not only shaped our world but also us. As a bonus gift, debris from the crash floated into space and created the moon.   Reaching their hypothesis through chemical experiments and computer modeling, the researchers add to the scientific theories behind creation, not to mention the larger philosophical conversation about the randomness of it all. If that planet had veered just a bit to the right of Earth and kept traveling, would we be here today?   Questions About How It All Began   The scientists' main theory is equally remarkable and revolutionary. In a nutshell, their research, which appeared in the January issue of ScienceAdvances, holds that Earth's status as the only known life-sustaining planet came about because another planet that carried carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and other elements just happened to be passing through our neighborhood and had an accident. Essentially, they're suggesting that if not for this collision, Earth might have remained an uninhabitable wasteland.   And it's not just the randomness of the planets colliding that's striking. It might be nothing short of miraculous that the traveling planet, essentially a meteorite, happened to carry what scientists call "volatile-rich" elements from a disk in space that holds planet building-block materials.   "This study suggests that a rocky, Earth-like planet gets more chances to acquire life-essential elements if it forms and grows from giant impacts with planets that have sampled different building blocks, perhaps from different parts of a protoplanetary disk," one of the research paper's co-authors, Rajdeep Dasgupta, told the Rice University news department.   Scientists had long suspected that Earth's volatile elements had arrived because of a collision with some sort of meteorite that served as a carrier of the building blocks, but they disagreed on how it happened. "Ours is the first scenario that can explain the timing and delivery in a way that is consistent with all of the geochemical evidence," Dasgupta said.   A Collision With Big Consequences   As the science writer Marc Kauffman neatly summarizes on his blog Many Worlds, some of the researchers' theories rest on their finding of a similarity between the nitrogen and hydrogen compositions seen in lunar gasses and in the bulk silicate portions of Earth. "Carbon, nitrogen and sulfur are deemed volatile elements because they have a relatively low boiling point and can easily fly off into space from planets and moons in their early growing stages," Kauffman wrote.   And that's what happened, the Rice scientists say, when the Mars-shaped planet met up with Earth. They reached this theory by simulating the high pressures and temperatures of the donor planet during its core formation, a step taken to see if its sulfur-rich core could possibly not include carbon and nitrogen. Not having those two elements in the core is an important aspect of the research. The simulations showed carbon and nitrogen were, in fact, on the planet's rocky surface, or were placed even higher, thus making it easier for them to mix with Earth during a collision.   The scientists then ran a computer simulation to discover how such a collision would transform Earth from a lifeless rocky planet to one that suddenly held the elements that create life. Reaching an answer required varying the many starting conditions after a collision, which meant the scientists had to run about 1 billion computer scenarios and compare them to the known conditions of today's solar system, according to the Rice University news story.   "What we found is that all the evidence — isotopic signatures, the carbon-nitrogen ratio and the overall amounts of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur in the bulk silicate Earth — are consistent with a moon-forming impact involving a volatile-bearing, Mars-sized planet with a sulfur-rich core," researcher Damanveer Grewal told Rice University news.   With that statement, Grewal not only explains how his team's research led to their theory about the formation of Earth but, as their research paper details, he also claims the debris from the planetary collision floated into space and eventually coalesced to form our moon.   New Thoughts on Life as We know It   As Kauffman points out in his blog post, the Rice University researchers don't dive deep into the reasons why water appeared on Earth, but they hold out the opinion that the gift-bearing planet probably delivered other volatiles.    The origin of water on this planet is worth researching another day. For now, the Rice University study is worthy of contemplation and a trigger for deeper thoughts about how we're on our planet today. 

A Planetary Collision Might Have Started Life on Earth

The International Space Station (ISS) is rounding the track toward its 20th year in orbit. On Nov. 20, 1998, according to the station chronology at CASIS, the first section of the ISS was launched into orbit by Zarya, a Russian Proton booster rocket. A year later, the first American-built section was carried up aboard a shuttle. And on Nov. 2, 2000, the station's first crew — an American and two Russians — reported aboard.  The Miracle of Routine Operation Notably, when Space Safety magazine listed major mishaps in the history of spaceflight, none of them involved the ISS. However, to call the history of the ISS a history of routine operation is a misnomer because nothing about space travel is routine, or will be for a long time to come. More than anything else, the station is a training mission for the long-duration spaceflights of the future, to Mars and beyond. According to NASA, the One-Year Mission accomplished by astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko on the ISS was twice as long as most U.S. missions. Missions to Mars are approximately 30 months long, said NASA, so the One-Year Mission is shedding "new insights into how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and stress of long duration spaceflight." The ISS has shown us that we can indeed build spacecraft capable of safely carrying humans on such long-duration missions. The history of the ISS has also shown us that, as NASA observed, we can do this collaboratively, through cooperation that has persisted for nearly two decades, even through the ups and down of earthly international relations. This is an equally breathtaking piece of good news because outer space is simply too big for any one country to explore. If we are going to do it — and we will! — we will be doing it together.   Spaceship and City This quiet and amazing double achievement did not happen by itself. It involved solving a lot of technical challenges. First of all, the ISS is big. It is a true spaceship, larger and heavier than any airliner. And it continues to grow, with new modules still being added. "The space station is approximately the size of a football field ... it is about four times as large as the Russian space station Mir and five times as large as the U.S. Skylab," said CASIS. At the same time, the central role of cooperation and collaboration makes the ISS in some ways the prototype of something even more futuristic: a city in space. The sections and modules that make up the ISS are at once self-contained, like buildings in a city, yet tied together by shared infrastructure facilities, such as the station's power-generating solar wings. This semi-decentralized approach created a host of engineering complications involving features as basic as the docking collars that connect station modules — and which needed to conform to both American and Russian specifications. At the same time, the reward is greater flexibility and survivability due to having essentially two independent life-support systems, each of which is capable of supporting the entire crew in a pinch. Similar engineering complications — and advantages — are reproduced in the provision for attaching European, Japanese and other modules. Each has its own role, while also adding to the overall capability of the station. Again, the result is suggestive not so much of our traditional notion of a spaceship as of a city in space, its three-dimensional streets filled with multiple languages and an endless variety of activities. Part interplanetary training mission, part prototype space city — the final remarkable thing about the history of the ISS is that these roles have taken form as the station itself did, over nearly two decades of operating experience in space. And where does the ISS go next? That part is up to you.

20-Year Mission — History of the ISS

Halley's Comet last appeared in 1986, and it won't return again until 2061. But according to Space.com, early in May, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower offered a Halley's Comet reminder — its celestial calling card, if you will. Messengers From the Dawn Although comets are usually invisible from Earth, something magical happens when they near the sun's surface. Comprised of mostly dust and ice, the nuclei of comets are described as sooty snowballs of primordial matter. But as a comet passes near the sun, it is surrounded by a temporary atmosphere of vapor and dust, highly reflective in the bright sunlight. For a few weeks or months, the comet may be one of the brightest objects in Earth's sky, Space.com explained. A Repeat Visitor Most bright comets are one-time visitors. They will not return for thousands or even millions of years. But occasionally a comet's orbit is deflected a second time, and, per Space.com, it becomes a "periodic" comet, making regular return visits to the inner solar system. During the 1600s, astronomer Edmund Halley studied observations of famous historical comets and realized that several of them were repeat visits by the same comet. Halley predicted that this comet would make its next pass in 1758. And it did, right on schedule. Halley did not live to see it, but we still call the comet by his name. Its next visit will not be for 43 years, but earlier this month, we got a preview — the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. A Twice-Yearly Show Earth's orbit intersects the track of Halley's orbit twice every year, in May and October. Space.com noted that the early May encounter causes the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, while October brings the Orionid shower. If you've never seen a meteor shower before, you may be surprised when you see colorful, bright streaks shoot across the night sky. When a comet's dust trail collides with the Earth's atmosphere, the dust particles disintegrate as they burn, which produces this colorful phenomenon, according to NASA. Meteor showers are named for stars, such as Eta Aquarii, or star groups, such as Orion, not because they have any direct connection to these stars but purely as visual guideposts. NASA reported that Eta Aquarii marks the radiant of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, or the portion of the sky that meteors in the shower seem to be hurling away from. This is purely a perspective effect: When we look toward Eta Aquarii we are looking back along the "flight path" of Halley's fragments as they hurl toward Earth. Preview of a Comet A meteor shower is usually not like a celestial fireworks show, though a few have been. This year's Eta Aquarid meteor shower was expected to produce about 10 meteors an hour for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Mark your calendar for October 21 and 22, predicted to be the peak days to observe the Orionid shower. To observe it, just find a spot where you have a good view, make yourself warm and comfortable in the predawn hours — and wait.

Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower: A Calling Card From Halley's Comet

In the annals of Northrop Grumman history, the all-star list of employees consists of scientists, engineers and other innovators. Also on that list is a more unlikely name: Norma Jean Dougherty (born Norma Jeane Mortenson), better known as Marilyn Monroe. Who Was Marilyn Monroe Before She Was "Marilyn"? In 1944, at 18 years old, Norma Jean Dougherty was the wife of a merchant marine living in Burbank, California. While her husband was overseas fighting in World War II, her mother-in-law arranged a job for Dougherty at Radioplane, a target drone manufacturer. Founded by actor, aviator and UAV enthusiast Reginald Denny, Radioplane was acquired by Northrop, later part of Northrop Grumman, in 1952. Before his acting career, Denny served as a gunner during World War I in the Royal Flying Corps. His love of aviation led him to create the drone-making operation, according to HistoryNet. Working 10-hour days for $20 a week, Dougherty's main job was to inspect and spray parachutes with fire retardant, as reported by The New York Times. At the same time, she assembled some of the 15,000 OQ-2 Radioplanes that were built during WWII and used in training exercises for American soldiers to practice shooting at moving targets. According to The New York Times, despite warnings from her family that the fumes from the fire retardant would ruin her health and damage her hair, Dougherty kept the job at Radioplane. The natural beauty and glamour that would one day make her famous benefited her during these early years: she won a $50 war bond at a picnic and was crowned the "queen" of the company, laying the groundwork for her career as Marilyn Monroe.  A Star Discovered in an Unlikely Place Norma Jean's transformation into Marilyn started with a series of photos by U.S. Army photographer David Conover. On assignment to take photos of women working on the war production assembly lines, Conover met Dougherty. While none of her photos were used for the effort, she quit her job in 1945 and began modeling for Conover, according to Illinois University. She quickly rose to stardom, going on to appear in classic hits like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Some Like it Hot." Where the discovery of Norma Jean was the precursor to the one-and-only Marilyn Monroe, the OQ-2 radioplane was the predecessor to modern drone warfare. Reginald Denny's company ceased operation after its acquisition by Northrop Aircraft, but the legacy of the OQ-2 lives on. Its inception led to drones that have been used for reconnaissance, search and rescue, and research. So, next time you ask yourself, "who was Marilyn Monroe?", remember Norma Jean Dougherty. The idea that a non-published photo of a fresh-faced brunette assembling one of the very first unmanned aerial vehicles would lead to the discovery of a future celebrity is almost unimaginable. Add on to the fact that her story is forever tied with that of the OQ-2 radioplane and Northrop Grumman history, and you've got yourself a quintessential Hollywood ending.

Marilyn Monroe Has a Place in Northrop Grumman History

The astronauts who brought back moon rocks half a century ago also revealed a lunar mystery that scientists have only recently begun to unravel. Unlike Earth, the moon today does not have a magnetic field, or magnetosphere, surrounding it. But when the rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts were analyzed, NASA notes that researchers were surprised to find residual traces of magnetism. The Earth's magnetic field, which makes a magnetic compass work and produces spectacular aurora displays in high-latitude northern and southern skies, is believed to be produced by heat convection deep in Earth's molten iron core. But the moon, with a much smaller core, was not thought to have produced enough convection to magnetize any of its surface rocks. According to Space.com, some scientists speculated that the intense heat of asteroid impacts that produced the lunar craters might have produced short-lived magnetic plasma, enough to magnetize rocks near the impact. New Discoveries From Ancient Rocks Over the last few years, improved technology has teased new secrets out of the Apollo-era moon rocks — and shed new light on the long-vanished but now-confirmed lunar magnetosphere. Not only did the moon once have a magnetosphere, but it may have played a significant role in protecting Earth's atmosphere. The atmospheres of the solar system's inner planets are subject to erosion from the powerful solar winds of fast-moving particles. These particles collide with atmospheric atoms, hitting them with such force that they can exceed the planet's escape velocity and go hurtling through interplanetary space. The dense atmosphere of Venus has resisted such erosion, but Mars lost most of its atmosphere — along with the seas it once had, as the water either froze in the thin cold air or evaporated. Earth's atmosphere and oceans have been protected by its magnetic field, which deflects the charged particles from the sun, keeping most of them from hitting and eroding the atmosphere. A Complex History of Lunar Magnetism Scientists now believe that, in the early days of the solar system, the lunar magnetosphere contributed to this protection. Indeed, according to NASA, from about 4.1 to 3.5 billion years ago, the Earth's and moon's magnetic fields were linked, providing a duo of magnetic fields protecting the Earth-moon system. What's most surprising is that, in that era, the lunar magnetosphere was actually more powerful than Earth's is today, as MIT News reports. The current strength of Earth's magnetosphere is about 50 microteslas, while the ancient lunar magnetosphere may have pegged the needle at up to 100 microteslas in strength. By 2.5 billion years ago, this powerful field had faded to no more than 10 microteslas. And by the time the youngest moon rocks were formed — by an asteroid impact about a billion years ago — the magnetic field had faded to no more than 0.1 microteslas or possibly to nothing. This gradual and uneven fade suggests that more than one mechanism contributed to the early lunar magnetosphere. In the early period, when the field was strongest, the moon orbited much closer to Earth and was subjected to powerful tidal forces that could have kept the lunar interior churned up enough to produce a strong magnetic field. As the moon's orbit crept outward, these tidal forces weakened, but lunar vulcanism persisted, showing that the moon's interior had not yet fully crystallized and was still fluid enough to produce a weak magnetic field. Finally, the moon froze solid, and its magnetic field faded, leaving only the traces in moon rocks that puzzled Apollo-era researchers. But the fact that Earth once had a magnetic moon has implication for the search for life on extrasolar planets. The atmospheres of these distant worlds may have been protected not only by their own magnetospheres but also by the fields of any large moons orbiting them. And, closer to home, we can also wonder what other surprises the moon has in store, waiting for us to discover when we return.

What Ever Happened to the Moon's Magnetosphere?

From school children to retired couples, everyday people around the world are participating in citizen science projects. Some help count migrating birds, monitor litter in their neighborhood, spot honeybees infected with a parasite or observe and report cloud cover. Now, two Norwegian women, Hilde Fé¥lun Stré¸m and Sunniva Sorby, are taking citizen science to new heights. The adventurers began a nine-month project called Hearts in the Ice in August 2019 to live on a remote island in the Arctic and collect a range of climate change research data. Since then, they've been observing wildlife, collecting water samples, photographing different types of clouds and daytime auroras, field-testing new technology and inspiring others to minimize their carbon footprint. Stré¸m and Sorby, who are the first women to overwinter in Svalbard without any men, say they draw inspiration from other female pioneers and hope their act will encourage others to take action against climate change. "It's overwhelming to be so vulnerable as we are, yet so meaningful to play a role in helping people around the world understand that mother nature needs us all right now," Sorby said in a January 2020 press statement via satellite phone from their small trapper cabin, named Bamsebu, which was built in 1930 and is about 86 miles south of Longyearbyen, the nearest town. From Phytoplankton to Polar Bears Stré¸m and Sorby are undertaking seven different citizen science projects, while also managing to survive a long, dark winter, isolation, occasional hurricane-force winds, temperatures of -22 degrees Fahrenheit and polar bear visits. In addition to conducting climate change research, Stré¸m and Sorby have been spending their free time picking up plastics that wash up on shore and photographing the wildlife, including Svalbard Reindeer, Arctic foxes, walruses, seals and whales, as well as thousands of migrating birds. There are also polar bears. About eight weeks into their expedition, they encountered two polar bears within a 12-hour period. "It was so sudden! I opened the door and 3 seconds later — there she was! My heart was racing! She glanced at me and then pushed off her hind legs and ran down the hill and south towards the fjord," Sorby wrote in a Hearts in the Ice blog post dated Nov. 13, 2019. The next day, while out for a walk, the women saw a large polar bear running off and found that it had killed a reindeer. Such behavior is not normal for polar bears, who almost exclusively hunt seals on sea ice. But with ice taking longer to freeze and melting sooner in the year, polar bears have to find other prey, the team wrote. "Reindeer is a great alternative, but the polar bears need to learn to hunt them. The polar bear we saw run away from its kill had clearly been lying in wait behind a knoll above where the reindeer was. She waited until it was close enough and then slid down the hill — we saw the skid marks," they write. Female Pioneers Stré¸m and Sorby are no strangers to extreme environments. Stré¸m, who was fascinated by stories of polar explorers as a child, moved to Svalbard more than 23 years ago. She has experience hunting, dog sledding, skiing, has lived for months at a time in remote huts and has had 200 polar bear encounters. Sorby is an experienced expeditioner, who has spent more than two decades working in Antarctica as a guide and historian. She has skied across the Greenland icecap, across King George Island and was among the first all-women team to ski across Antarctica to the South Pole in 1993. That expedition was led by Ann Bancroft, who was the first woman to cross Arctic ice to the North Pole, the first woman to reach the South Pole, and the leader of the first American women's east-west crossing of Greenland. Stré¸m and Sorby say they draw inspiration for their nine-month overwintering expedition from two women pioneers. The first is Hanna Resvoll-Holmsen, a Norwegian botanist born in 1873. She went on an expedition to Svalbard in 1907 led by the oceanographer Prince Albert, and the following year went again — this time alone — to take photographs. Her photos and botanical observations were published in scientific journals. She advocated strongly for the protection of Svalbard and the entire natural world. The second pioneer is the American nature writer, scientist and ecologist Rachel Carson, born in 1907, whose book "Silent Spring" confronted the issue of the destruction of nature and is credited with advancing the global environmental movement. "She remains an example of what one committed individual can do to change the direction of society. Never doubt the power of one!" say Stré¸m and Sorby. In March, as the end of their project came into view, Stré¸m and Sorby heard of the coronavirus pandemic overtaking the world. They wrote a post to the world offering encouragement and tips for living in isolation. They suggest staying connected, reaching out to people you care about and working to resolve differences. They suggest ways for solving problems that draw from patience, collaboration and adaptability, using all possible resources and reducing waste. They suggest self-care and creativity to infuse those around you with love. From the beginning Stré¸m and Sorby had a wish for what they might see when their time at Bamsebu came to a close. "We hope that every single person out there understands that they matter and can make an invaluable contribution. We hope individuals would step up to their own leadership abilities, discover a science project in nature they are passionately curious about and become a citizen scientist. Only then will we all embrace the planet!"

Extreme Citizen Science Underway in the Arctic

Generations of physicists have puzzled over the origins and very existence of heavy elements in the universe, and now they are turning toward the ocean floor. Many feel confident that lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium were created in the original Big Bang some 14 billion years ago, but other elements have proven more difficult to pinpoint. One theory for heavier elements, such as iron or gold, is that they were produced in massive stars, then spread about by powerful stellar winds as the stars aged.   But even these relatively steady processes cannot account for the heaviest elements, let alone even more massive or unstable atoms of radioactive elements such as plutonium.   New evidence from the ocean floor may finally explain the origin of the most massive elements. Or the evidence may end up showing that no single mechanism could produce all the heavy elements we see, indicating that multiple processes were needed to produce them.   What's most interesting of all, perhaps, is gaining new insight into what happens when scientists disagree.   When Supernovae Aren't Enough   The challenge of producing heavy elements is that, for atomic nuclei heavier than iron, the process of nuclear fusion that builds lighter elements has to work "uphill." Instead of releasing energy, as the fusion of light elements (such as hydrogen to helium) typically does, more energy must be pumped into the nucleus.   Building more massive elements thus requires two things not easy to come by at the same time: a lot of energy, plus a lot of neutrons. According to Quanta magazine, by the 1990s, astrophysicists were pretty confident that they had a culprit: supernova explosions. These are among the most violent events in the universe — explosions that tear apart massive stars.   These produce plenty of energy, and since some supernovae produce neutron stars, neutrons are also plentiful.   But there was one problem. As the astrophysicists ran more sophisticated mathematical models of supernova processes on more powerful computers, they ran into more and more trouble. The models did not produce enough gold and other massive elements to account for the quantity of these elements that we observe — here on earth or elsewhere in the universe.   Enter Neutron Stars   The challenge of explaining heavy elements has led some astrophysicists to look at variations of the stellar-explosions theme. For example, supernovae can produce neutron stars, and in some cases these neutron stars end up orbiting each other. These orbits gradually decay, culminating in a collision of neutron stars — which may be another possible mechanism for the "more explosive environment" needed for heavy-element production, as Livescience describes.   Neutron-star collisions are rare events — rare even compared with supernovae. If these collisions are the main source of heavy elements in the universe, their distribution should be clumpy. At Quanta, astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz compares the pattern with chocolate — specifically the chocolate in a chocolate chip cookie versus a smoother chocolate glaze. The "glaze" would be the result if most heavy elements were produced in ordinary supernovae, while neutron star events would likely create something more along the lines of chocolate chips.   So, is it chocolate chip or chocolate glaze? As Livescience reports, to determine the answer to this mystery of astrophysics, researchers have been looking in a not-so-obvious place: a mile below the Pacific Ocean, in sediments that formed so gradually that it took nearly half a million years to lay down one millimeter of crust.   Searching for Clues on the Ocean Floor   There, the research team went looking for traces of two rare, radioactive isotopes: plutonium-244 and a form of iron (iron-60). Because these isotopes are highly radioactive and prone to decay, atoms of either one left over from the initial formation of Earth have long since vanished. Any atoms we find must have reached Earth much later.   What the researchers found was evidence for at least two supernovae that blew up relatively near Earth in the last few million years — one close enough that it would have been as bright in the sky as the full moon, easily visible in broad daylight. And the timing for these explosions fits the decay rates for both iron-60 and plutonium-244.   So, does this settle the matter? Further investigation is underway, using a sediment sample ten times larger. But in the meanwhile, the answer depends somewhat on which scientists you ask. As Science Daily reports, another recent study suggests that yet another type of stellar explosion might be the key to heavy-element production.   Called a collapsar, this type of eruption is produced by the collapse of an aged star that then forms a black hole. Under the right circumstances, it may release enormous amounts of heavy elements.   Is it enough to explain what we see, and resolve the chocolate chip versus chocolate glaze debate? Not quite yet. Sooner or later, the astrophysicists will probable settle the question, and it will be neatly wrapped up and tied with a bow in physics textbooks.   But for now, researchers are still asking the questions and the science is still being done — the answers are still uncertain. Indeed, in a Smithsonian magazine article, nuclear physicist Anton Wallner explains that the "data actually suggests that it might be that both scenarios are necessary."   With careful observation, you can even detect the occasional particle of snark. In the Quanta article, physicist Selma de Mink says that if advocates of the neutron-star collision model "still have not found something, there will be a moment in which [they] should wonder, and get back to the board."   A useful reminder that astrophysics and indeed all scientific inquiry remains very much a work in progress.   Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team. 

Plutonium on the Ocean Floor Provides Clues to Stellar Explosions

Very close to home is an alien world home to creatures that have evolved in unique ways to survive. There's a whole ecosystem that thrives on methane, for example. This is the deep sea, where scientific and technological advancements have paved the way for incredible discoveries.The Alien World Called EarthIn December 2016, researchers exploring hydrothermal vents at a depth of nearly two miles announced the discovery of six new species of animals. These creatures were living in a vent field dubbed Longqi, or Dragon's Breath, about 1,200 miles southeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.These vents serve as the heart of a thriving ecosystem. Through a series of chemical reactions, hydrothermal vents become hot spring playgrounds for organisms. Microbes feed off the methane and minerals spewed forth from the vents to serve as the fuel for much larger organisms. While we live in a world of sunlight, these creatures live in darkness, freezing temperatures and intense water pressure.Most famous of these deep sea creatures are the nightmare-inspired anglerfish and the blobfish, with the latter earning popular recognition as the "world's ugliest fish." The female anglerfish has an extended dorsal spine that hangs over its mouth and resembles a fishing pole. At the end of the spine is a piece of flesh containing glowing bacteria that the anglerfish uses as bait for unsuspecting prey. The blobfish gets its reputation because it's adapted to an environment where the pressure is up to 120 times greater than what we're used to on the surface, according to Smithsonian Magazine.Much like how deep space exploration unlocks the mysteries of the universe from its origins to its expansion, so too does deep sea exploration for our planet. From the depths of the ocean comes a better understanding of the beginning of life on Earth, dynamic geological changes and the effects of climate change. But deep sea exploration ultimately requiresA Deeper UnderstandingDespite the numerous discoveries of unknown species, sea exploration is very much in its infancy. To date, we've explored under 5 percent of the ocean, according to the National Ocean Service. That means 95 percent of all the water that covers the Earth, not just the deep sea, has yet to be explored.Considering how much of the world is water, it's not surprising that the ocean helps regulate temperature, shapes the weather and serves as the lifeblood for countless people — in the form of fishing and transportation — around the world. The weather pattern known as El Nié±o, which affects the North American winter and global weather, is the result of warmer-than-usual temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. NASA deploys space-based technology such the Northrop Grumman built Aqua and autonomous systems such as NASA Global Hawk to better understand the earth's oceans, water cycles and storms. But deep sea exploration is just as important and can also lead to better earthquake and tsunami prediction models. Meteorologists use tsunami buoys to detect changes in sea levels that may be caused by underwater earthquakes.Advancements in medicine can also be driven by the discovery of new organisms in the depths of the ocean. Cancer researchers already use the zebrafish, a tropical freshwater fish, as a model for research leading to new insights on tumor development. Deep sea creatures live in some of the harshest environments on Earth and understanding how they survive could potentially lead to new drugs or treatments.Our bodies, while resilient, can only dive so deep without some help. Luckily, that's where unmanned underwater exploration has proven invaluable in our exploration of the unknown.Exploring the UnknownThe discovery of six new species mentioned earlier was the result of researchers using a remotely operated vehicle to explore hydrothermal vents in 2011. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses Deep Discoverer, affectionately known as D2, to explore the mysteries of the sea at depths of up to four miles. D2 is equipped with high-definition cameras to reveal the deep in amazing clarity. Everything D2 records is uploaded to the internet, which means citizen scientists and researchers can aid in the scientific process from anywhere in the world.Even though the vessel itself is unmanned, people are at the heart of underwater exploration. Teams of researchers and engineers have developed STEM skills throughout their education to advance the science and develop the technology to reveal the ocean's mysteries. Without talented people, unmanned undersea exploration would be a guessing game.

Deep Sea Offers a Gateway to Deeper Understanding of Life

For years, earthlings have wondered about the potential for life on Mars. Little did we know that clues about the Red Planet could actually be tied to what's here on our blue marble.  A recent discovery of organic matter on Mars led to the detection of a compound, thiophene, that is also native to Earth. Scientists have been studying the Martian compound to learn more about life there and to uncover any further connections with Earth.  It's just another breakthrough on a long list of space discoveries over the past half-century that give us a better understanding of our solar system, and how the 7.6 billion people of Earth fit in with the inestimable pieces of matter in the universe.  Clues That Offer Hints About Martian Life  While making observations on the surface of Mars in 2018, NASA's Curiosity rover found "tough" organic molecules in 3-billion-year-old mudstone — a fine-grained sedimentary rock — in the planet's Gale Crater. Mars' inhospitable surface couldn't sustain life today, but the data collected from the molecules showed that a water lake inside Gale Crater had the necessary ingredients for chemical building blocks and an energy source, enough to kick-start some form of life.  As NASA noted at the time of the rover's discovery, although organic molecules hold carbon and hydrogen — or oxygen, nitrogen and other elements — the molecules from the mudstone don't necessarily suggest there was ever life on the planet. Organic molecules can also be formed by non-biological processes, NASA added.  Still, a study of those observations back here on Earth has recently captured attention because of what's been found in the organic matter on Mars: the heterocyclic compound thiophene. (A heterocyclic compound has atoms of at least two different elements.) Astrobiologists Dirk Schulzeâ€‘Makuch of Washington State University and Jacob Heinz of Technische Université¤t in Berlin believe the presence of thiophenes could point to the presence of early life on Mars.  As they outlined this year in the peer-reviewed journal Astrobiology, Schulzeâ€‘Makuch and Heinz's study of the organic matter suggests that a biological process that probably involved bacteria might have played a hand in the compound's existence on Mars.  "We identified several biological pathways for thiophenes that seem more likely than chemical ones, but we still need proof," Schulzeâ€‘Makuch told the Insider of Washington State University. "If you find thiophenes on Earth, then you would think they are biological, but on Mars, of course, the bar to prove that has to be quite a bit higher."  Coal, crude oil and even white truffles that are found on Earth contain thiophenes. As the Insider notes, thiophene molecules hold four carbon atoms and a sulfur atom arranged in a ring. Although carbon and sulfur are bioâ€‘essential elements, Schulzeâ€‘Makuch and Heinz couldn't definitively rule out any nonâ€‘biological processes creating the compounds on Mars.  One such possibility is that a meteor crashing into Mars created a non-biological condition for the organic compound to develop. Another possibility is a process known as thermochemical sulfate reduction, in which a set of compounds is heated to 248 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.  Yet, the astrobiologists also don't preclude the idea that when Mars was warmer and wetter more than 3 billion years ago, the groundwork for a biological kind of sulfate reduction process could have formed thiophenes.  Opportunities for More Space Discoveries  Further studies of Mars will hopefully discover more elements of the planet that could reveal even more about what formed its landscape and what conditions unfolded to possibly create and sustain life there. And as the astrobiologists' study shows, there may be more connections between Earth and Mars. Still, scientists that they are, Schulzeâ€‘Makuch and Heinz urge holding back on speculation until Mars can be studied up close by humans.  "As Carl Sagan said 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,'" Schulzeâ€‘Makuch told the Insider. "I think the proof will really require that we actually send people there, and an astronaut looks through a microscope and sees a moving microbe." 

Organic Matter on Mars Could Point to Life Years Ago

  In recent years, the number of new planets known to exist beyond our solar system has increased dramatically. But the most tantalizing discoveries of all are those so-called exoplanets that can potentially support life as we know it. In February of 2017, NASA announced the first known planetary system containing seven Earth-sized planets orbiting around a single star. "This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA Science Mission Directorate associate administrator in Washington. Three of these new planets are orbiting well within the habitable region around the parent star. This is the so-called Goldilocks zone, which is the region around a star where the temperatures are reasonable for life and liquid water can exist on a planetary surface given sufficient atmospheric pressure. This seven-planet system is named TRAPPIST-1, after the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope, in Chile. The star itself is an ultracool dwarf star, about 10 times smaller and 2.5 times cooler than our sun. Astronomers used TRAPPIST to discover three new planets in this system and published their findings in 2016. NASA subsequently coordinated with other ground-based facilities and employed the Spitzer Space Telescope to confirm these findings. They discovered additional worlds in the process. Using the new data, the team precisely measured the sizes of the seven planets and developed preliminary mass and density estimates for most of them.What Are the TRAPPIST-1 Planets Like? The TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets are believed to be rocky worlds, similar in size and density to our solar system's inner terrestrial planets. On a galactic scale, the TRAPPIST-1 system is located right next door. It's only about 40 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. This is a compact planetary system compared to ours. The whole thing is much smaller in diameter than the orbit of Mercury. A year on the innermost planet in only 1.5 Earth days, while the outermost planet's year is only 18.8 days. Astronomers believe the planets are "tidally locked," meaning that one side of the planet always faces the star, while the other side is in perpetual night. While there is currently no way to determine what the surfaces and atmospheres of these worlds might actually look like, the exploration of our own solar system has shown that almost anything is possible. If you could travel to the TRAPPIST-1 system, the views would likely be spectacular. The planets are close together and would appear prominently in each other's skies and frequently transit the star. In some cases, they would appear much larger than the moon as seen from Earth. On any of the planets with an atmosphere, the star would remain fixed in the sky on the daylight side, and its dim reddish light would bathe the world in a kind of perpetual sunset.What Can We Expect in the Coming Years? As we continue to explore TRAPPIST-1 over the next decade, observations will focus on determining whether these planetary atmospheres contain any water. If they do in abundance, there's a good chance they also have liquid water on their surfaces. So far, liquid water has not (yet) been found on any new planet beyond the solar system and that would be a significant discovery and a critical factor in assessing potential habitability.How Can NASA Find Out? Astronomers will employ several methods to figure this out. Fortunately, the TRAPPIST-1 system is aligned with respect to Earth such that the planets can be seen to pass in front of the star, called transiting, and behind the star as they move in their orbits. Careful observations of these movements will be used in several ways. First, NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope is already at work making measurements of the star's minuscule changes in brightness when the planets transit. This is how the first three new planets were discovered. These observations will help refine the properties of the known planets and search for additional planets in the system. Astronomers will also measure the drop in brightness of the whole system when a planet passes behind the star. This negative measurement can be used to determine the relative brightness of each planet, which can help to ascertain what's in each of the atmospheres. Another critical observation will be analyzing the light that passes through the atmospheres of each new planet as they transit. The Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories will be used to examine the light and try to identify what compounds are in the atmospheres of each world. Scientists will be especially keen on finding gases such as oxygen, which could be an indicator of biological life.NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) These near-term observations will help astronomers plan for future studies using NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb Telescope is the most advanced and powerful space telescope ever built. Its giant mirror will provide seven times greater light gathering power compared with the Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb Telescope's primary mission is Infrared Astronomy. The spacecraft is carefully designed to provide an extremely cold environment for its infrared instruments, which are far more sensitive than anything previously available. When launched in 2018, the telescope will be positioned in a halo orbit about four times further from Earth than the moon, at a gravitationally stable location known as the second Lagrange point (L2). Forty light years away from TRAPPIST-1, NASA will be able to detect water, methane, oxygen, ozone and other atmospheric components, and will analyze planetary and surface pressures and temperatures. These are critical factors in assessing potential habitability. Dr. Alberto Conti, astrophysicist and innovation manager at Northrop Grumman, believes that the use of tools like the Webb Telescope will inevitably lead to the discovery of watery planets. And possibly, life.

New Planets Beyond the Solar System Potentially Habitable

Last year we looked at multiverse theory and the highly speculative — but very real — science behind what has become a pop culture phenomenon. It isn't just "Stranger Things" anymore. Interdimensional travel, and the portals that might allow it, are everywhere these days. So, how to open a portal to another dimension? When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Get Going On one level, it turns out to be easier than you might think. Simply open your browser and search for "interdimensional portals" or "multiverse portals," or whatever similar phrase comes to mind. The search results alone will take you to some seriously strange places. Instructions on how to make a multiverse portal are, sadly, a bit disappointing (they're for a computer game module). But interdimensional portals also turn out to be a subject of interest for many websites dealing with religion and mysticism. And, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper, London has gained a reputation as the Grand Central Station — or at least the Clapham Junction — of interdimensional travel. Portals are popping up all over town, and a mysterious blog is keeping tabs on them. Inevitably, too, as Vulture informs us, interdimensional travel in movies is getting bashed as the lazy screenwriter's way to avoid coming up with a fresh plot. The Science: Abstract  So what does the science say, and how does the science of interdimensional travel stack up to the Upside Down in "Stranger Things?" As cosmologist Lisa Randall told Smithsonian, parallel universes may in fact exist in other dimensions, separated from our own familiar surroundings by distances vastly smaller than the size of an atomic nucleus. But as Randall cautions, "It's not just a carbon copy of our universe, which a lot of people think of when they hear that phrase." The particular corners of the multiverse that Randall is exploring may interact with our own universe only through gravity. Such a universe probably does not have bad guy versions of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, but its existence, and "leakage" between universes, could help explain some basic facts about our own universe, such as why gravity is so much weaker than other basic forces of nature, like magnetism. Start With a Handy Black Hole Understanding gravity could be helpful in all sorts of ways, but what we really want is adventure portals that we can go through. And, says National Science Foundation physicist Gaurav Khanna at Futurism.com, "That fantasy may be closer to reality than previously imagined." Using black holes as the solution for how to open multiverse portals has been popular in science fiction for decades, but there was a complication. The intense gravity of a black hole, and resulting tidal forces at its event horizon, would squish people and spaceships into something far finer than jelly. But it turns out, says Khanna, that this is not always the case. If a black hole is large enough, and spinning rapidly, passing through the event horizon might hardly be noticeable. He compares it to passing your hand rapidly over a candle flame; you barely feel a moment's heat. This still leaves would-be interdimensional explorers with the challenge of finding a suitable black hole. Alas, they will probably need to go many light-years in order to reach it, far more difficult than, say, a trip to London. No one ever said that interdimensional travel would be easy. What is remarkable, though — in fact, what is astonishing — is that scientists, not just science fiction writers, are starting to think and talk about it, which is enough to start us thinking about travel plans.

Do Doors to Interdimensional Travel Exist?

The Milky Way is home to approximately 100 billion brown dwarfs, reports Sky & Telescope. Brown dwarfs are often wrongly called "failed stars," but they are neither a planet nor a star, raising the question: What is a brown dwarf? Defining Brown Dwarfs Brown dwarfs are a recent discovery; their existence was confirmed in 1995, according to NASA. They are neither planets nor stars but are often confused for both. Forbes helps differentiate among the three: "Bodies smaller than 10 Jupiter masses are planets, larger than 90 Jupiter masses are stars, and in between are brown dwarfs that share properties similar to both." Although they form like stars, brown dwarfs are less massive and aren't hot enough to sustain the hydrogen fusion reaction that allows stars to shine, according to NASA. Brown dwarfs are often mistaken for planets because of their sizes and similar atmospheres. As noted by Space.com, brown dwarfs and planets have atmospheres conducive to cloud formations as well as storms, and, similar to stars, brown dwarfs can host their own planets. Weighing in at about one-tenth the mass of the Sun, brown dwarfs can range from 13 to 90 times the mass of Jupiter. When we fully understand brown dwarfs, we will truly understand the possibilities for life in the universe. Hunting the Elusive Unlike stars, brown dwarfs cool and fade as they age, emitting infrared light invisible to the human eye. Earth's atmosphere absorbs water vapor emitted by brown dwarfs, which makes an infrared observation using ground-based telescopes both difficult and limited, like searching for candles in a floodlit fog. That's where NASA's James Webb Space Telescope comes in. Equipped with several infrared-detecting instruments, the telescope will allow several NASA research teams to investigate brown dwarfs. One team plans to investigate a nearby brown dwarf known as SIMP0136. Because of its low temperature, the outer layers of this brown dwarf are believed to resemble the atmosphere of a planet. And with no bright star nearby, researchers will be able to observe it without interference. Another team will investigate brown dwarfs in a star cluster and associated nebula known as NGC 1333, in the constellation Perseus. NGC 1333, known as a stellar nursery, harbors an unusually high number of brown dwarfs. Its newly formed brown dwarfs shine more brightly because they haven't had time to cool down, allowing astronomers to study brown dwarfs not much heavier than Jupiter. The findings will help us draw a more distinct line between brown dwarfs and giant planets. If these missions are successful, the James Webb Space Telescope could be used to search for future exoplanet observation, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Strange Universe So what is a brown dwarf? With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, we hope to find more answers to this question. It's one more example that our galaxy is more complex and varied than anyone imagined only a few decades ago. The universe is rich and strange, and it only grows even richer and stranger the more we explore it.

What Is a Brown Dwarf?

NASA mission planners are weighing the possibility of a new Jupiter mission to further explore the atmosphere of the solar system's largest planet, its moons, and the little-studied rings of Jupiter, as Space News reports. If the four-year mission is approved, no giant booster rocket will thunder up from Cape Canaveral or anywhere else on Earth. None will be needed. The probe that will carry out the mission, the Juno spacecraft, is already orbiting Jupiter and has been since 2016. But it will be assigned new tasks and new objectives. In effect, Juno will become a new exploratory mission: a spaceship with a second act and a second life. A Space Explorer Recycled Mission extensions are nothing new for NASA. From Mars rovers to outer-planet probes, many spacecraft have turned out to be more rugged and reliable than their designers dared hope for, allowing their missions to be extended for years or even decades. Sometimes, like the Mars rovers, they continued their original missions much longer than expected. Other times, like with outer planet fly-bys, they left their initial objectives billions of miles behind them but are still making measurements and reporting back to us from the fringes of interstellar space. However, the Juno spacecraft will take this mission extension capability to a new level, exploring Jupiter and its environs in ways not anticipated when it launched from Earth in 2015. Mysteries of Mighty Jove The original Juno mission, according to Astronomy magazine, was intended to study the origin and evolution of Jupiter, a world more massive than all other solar planets, moons, asteroids and comets combined. Juno's elongated orbit brings it within a thousand miles of Jupiter's cloud tops, per Astronomy, while allowing it to almost entirely avoid the planet's intense, spacecraft-frying radiation belt. The greatest-hits list from its original (and currently still-continuing) mission features spectacular, surreal close-ups of the Jovian atmosphere, including neatly arranged clusters of monster storms, each the size of the United States, grouped around Jupiter's north and south poles. Other instruments aboard the Juno spacecraft have allowed us to examine Jupiter's deep interior, finding hints that enormous protoplanetary collisions early in its history may have dramatically reshaped its interior structure. A Full System Explorer In a sense, the proposed extension of the Juno mission will be not Act II in the story of the Juno spacecraft, but Act III. The mission was already extended once, according to NASA. As Space News explains, possible problems with the spacecraft's main rocket engine forced cancellation of a planned shift to a closer, more frequent orbit. The change meant it took longer for Juno to complete its initial tasks, and the spacecraft checked out for a mission extension. But the new Juno extension will be a bigger deal — less an extension than an entirely new mission. Says mission principal investigator Scott Bolton, "It really becomes a full system explorer, not as focused as the prime mission was." Juno's orbit is gradually shifting and will continue to shift, and the new, extended mission will take full advantage of this shift. As it passes near Jupiter itself, Juno will be able to closely examine auroras in the Jovian upper atmosphere. But its shifting orbit will also allow close passes over three of Jupiter's four giant moons: Ganymede, Europa and Io. Another objective of the new Juno mission will be Jupiter's rings, which Bolton notes have received little study. That Jupiter — not just Saturn — had rings was one of the most startling discoveries made by the early Jupiter missions. But with so much else to explore, there has been little opportunity for follow-up. As Space.com notes, we now know that all four of the solar system's giant planets have rings. And astronomers have seen tantalizing hints that planets far beyond the solar system, exoplanets, may have vast ring systems even more spectacular than Saturn's. All of this makes Juno's extended Jupiter mission an excellent opportunity to learn more about Jupiter itself, its giant moons and its remarkable (if visually subdued) rings.

Juno Spacecraft May Extend Jupiter Mission

Scientists have received mysterious signals from space for the last decade. Are these perplexing signals really E.T. phoning home? Or a scrambled message from a galaxy far, far away? Dubbed "fast radio bursts," the origin of this phenomenon has remained a mystery — until now. What Are Fast Radio Bursts? The latest astronomy research has found the origin of a fast radio burst in a dwarf galaxy some 3 billion light-years away, according to Astronomy. The source of the radio waves, once thought to be extraterrestrial contact, was hard to pin down because the signals only lasted for a fraction of a second. Since FRBs were first discovered in 2007, astronomers have struggled to understand the science behind the phenomenon. Are FRBs a sign of alien life? Residual signals from a long-ago civilization traversing the vast blackness of space? Or perhaps signs of catastrophic cosmological upheaval? Finding Clues to Distant Mysteries The mystery began to unravel when an international group of researchers discovered FRB 121102. Unlike any of the previously discovered FRBs, this radio wave periodically repeated, which allowed scientists to home in on the source, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Thingiverse details how to print a 3-D copy of the radio burst that visually depicts the peaks and dips of the transmission. In 2012, Arecibo Observatory's radio telescope was the first to take note of FRB 121102. Then, using the Very Large Array — 27 movable radio dish antennas located in New Mexico — researchers captured a series of nine radio bursts over the next six months. The 8.19-meter Gemini North Telescope, located in Hawaii, confirmed the source of the radio bursts was a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light-years away, Popular Mechanics reported. Researchers presented their findings in Nature and at the 231st meeting of the American Astronomical Society, delivering an unprecedented level of detail on the elusive FRB, captured at the Arecibo Observatory.  The current theory is that the source of FRB 121102 is a young neutron star — the leftover of a giant star that exploded in a supernova. The neutron star could be engulfed in gas and debris from the supernova. Other dwarf galaxies similar to FRB 121102's have been found to be home to violent astronomical events, such as "'superluminous supernovae and long gamma-ray bursts,'" according to interviews with the research team published in Popular Mechanics. The FRB's don't appear to be pulsars, or rotating neutron stars that emit radio waves on a predictable interval. Searching for More Answers Future research will build on the fact that nearly all of the light from FRB 121102 is polarized (or oriented in the same direction), unlike most other objects that emit unpolarized light in random directions. Emitting polarized light requires the presence of a strong magnetic field, such those given off by massive black holes. Another source could be a magnetar, a type of neutron star formed when a large star consumes all its fuel and collapses in on itself, according to Space.com. Is it safe to rule out extraterrestrial contact? At this point, it is unclear if FRB 121102 is unique, or if there are other repeating radio sources to be discovered. Astronomy reports that 10,000 FRBs occur every day, so we may have an answer soon. 

Astronomers Closer to Solving the Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts

The two greatest achievements of modern physics — quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of general relativity — share one serious problem: They don't agree. As a result, physicists find themselves in the awkward position of seeking to explain the universe using two theories that are not quite able to explain or account for each other. In fact, these two theoretical frameworks differ not just in their abstruse mathematics, but in the basic ways in which they view the world. As Space.com puts it, general relativity treats the universe as fundamentally smooth and curved. What looks like sharp edges are simply zones of more rapid change, like musical notes recorded on tape or old-fashioned vinyl. In contrast, quantum mechanics treats the universe as essentially lumpy and sharp-edged, like a digital music recording. Even transitions that appear smooth, if closely examined, resolve into a series of tiny but abrupt changes. The Large and Small of It Most of the time, these very different approaches to nature do not get in each other's way. Einstein's relativity theory, in spite of its popular association with nuclear energy, is mainly used to explain how the universe works at large scale: the physics of baseballs, planets, galaxies. Quantum mechanics, in contrast, deals with the very small scale: atomic nuclei and smaller, down to the most fundamental building blocks of matter, quarks. The phenomenon we call gravity exemplifies the tremendous effects of scale. Observed on a large scale, gravity is the most powerful force in the universe. In fact, it shaped the universe, causing the expanding gas left over from the Big Bang to form into galaxies, and galaxies in turn to form stars. Gravity also causes some of those stars to collapse into black holes, isolated from the rest of the universe by gravitational fields so strong that not even light can escape. Yet gravity is also an astonishingly weak force, many orders of magnitude weaker than any of the other fundamental forces of nature, such as magnetism, that physicists have identified, according to PBS. Thus, a horseshoe magnet from a toy store can lift an iron nail, outpulling the entire gravitational force of the earth. How can something so weak be so strong? For physicists trying to make sense of it all, this paradox is not the only troublesome thing about gravity. The other fundamental forces of nature: electromagnetism, and two nuclear-scale forces known as the weak and strong nuclear forces, all could be shown to work correctly under both relativity theory and quantum mechanics. Misadventures in Renormalization When the mathematical technique called renormalization is used to demonstrate how this unity is applied to gravity, it doesn't work. In the quantum mechanics framework, gravity should be associated with theoretical particles called gravitons. But gravitons, by reshaping space, render renormalization calculations endlessly complicated, says Space.com. According to physicist Netta Engelhardt, quoted at Space.com, introducing gravitons into standard renormalization calculations "effectively means that you need an infinite number of experiments to determine anything. That's not a realistic theory." Wanted: A Theory of Quantum Gravity Physicists would like a more realistic theory — one that would allow useful experiments, so that they could test the theory to see if it actually works. They have not yet quite gotten there; the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy succinctly describes the current state of quantum gravity theory as "under construction." But in the meanwhile, a look at the construction site suggests that quantum gravity could have some mind-bending consequences. According to Live Science, applying quantum gravity effects to the behavior of spaceships flying through powerful gravity fields could reverse cause and effect — so that an event triggers an earlier event, which can in turn trigger the original event. If you can re-read that without your head exploding, you might have a big future in theoretical physics. And the weirdness keeps coming. According to one cutting edge theory, reports Science Alert, space-time does not exist on its own, but is the product of quantum forces shaking themselves out, like miso soup settling after it is poured into a bowl. At the frontier of modern physics, there are no textbook answers you can look up in the back of the book. Cutting-edge science is all about finding out what those answers might be.

When Quantum Mechanics and Relativity Collide

Thanks to generations of astronomers, now backed up by space exploration, the solar system has an ever-growing list of dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets, as well as smaller objects. But there are only eight major planets in our solar system. In order of distance from the sun, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. As Universe Today explained, these eight worlds are distinguished from all other objects orbiting the sun — including the (in)famous dwarf planet Pluto — by the way their massive gravitational fields "sweep out" the region of space around their orbits. Thus, apart from their own moon systems, they are all but devoid of near neighbors in space. The Wanderers We tend to imagine the planets as having been discovered by astronomers with telescopes, but this has only happened twice, with Uranus and Neptune. Of the other six, five of them — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — are among the brightest visible "stars" in the night sky. Early astronomers discovered that these five planets gradually drift across the night sky, shifting their position from night to night compared to neighboring stars. The University of Oregon noted that ancient reports of these planetary movements can be traced back at least 4,000 years. Another major planet is the one under our feet, Earth: We didn't have to discover it, either, though recognizing that it is a planet was an amazing achievement. Enter the Telescope Of the planets orbiting the sun, the seventh, Uranus, was, per Sky & Telescope, the first to be discovered by an astronomer with a telescope: William Herschel in 1779. It happens that Uranus is in fact visible to the naked eye, though just barely. Because of its faintness — and because no one was on the lookout for a faint outer planet — it eluded discovery though the centuries. Herschel wasn't looking for a planet, either, he was looking for double stars. Uranus had a slightly odd appearance though his telescope; it caught his attention and led to his unexpected discovery. Enter Sir Isaac Newton  Proof that Uranus was, indeed, one of the planets orbiting the sun was a triumph for Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation (though he had died long before Uranus was discovered). But there was more to come, and the human history of the solar system was poised to take a new turn, driven by mathematics. As astronomers tracked Uranus during the decades after its discovery, said Sky & Telescope, they found tiny discrepancies between its actual orbit and the orbit predicted by Newton's theory. These discrepancies were not random. They suggested to mathematicians that there must be another planet nearby, tugging on Uranus, which could account for its straying motion. As Space.com reported, two astronomers, Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams, both calculated a position for the eighth planet. In 1846, astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle examined the region of sky their calculations pointed to, and discovered Neptune. But there is a twist. As it turns out, none other than Galileo had previously seen Neptune. Galileo recorded it in his notebook while observing Jupiter and its moons, which he had recently discovered with his pioneering telescope, but it's believed he mistook the planet for a star. A Ninth Planet? In the decades after the discovery of Neptune, history seemed poised to repeat itself, said the American Astronomical Society. Measurements hinted that another planet was influencing Uranus' orbital motion, and astronomer Percival Lowell launched an effort to find what he dubbed Planet X. In 1930, this effort seemed successful when Clyde Tombaugh, working on Lowell's project, discovered a faint, distant object near the predicted location for Planet X. This object was named Pluto; it seemed much smaller than predicted, but was regarded as the ninth planet for decades. Lowell's Planet X predictions were eventually dismissed when more precise orbital data from the 1982 Voyager 2 space mission showed that Neptune was big enough to influence Uranus' orbit by itself. Only in the early 21st century did astronomers discover other similar-sized bodies, such as Eris, orbiting the sun far beyond Neptune. Thus, said Universe Today, Pluto is now classed as one of a growing list of dwarf planets, larger than asteroids but smaller than the major planets. Planets Beyond The possible existence of another major planet far beyond Neptune remains a matter of dispute. Some astronomers continue to examine the orbits of known outer-system objects, looking for hints of orbital perturbations by massive undiscovered objects. Others have turned to planetary exploration beyond the solar system, where the list of discovered planets now runs into the thousands. In contrast, says Robert Lockwood of the TESS mission operations team at Northrop Grumman, there are probably "only eight planets in our solar system. There are legions of other interesting objects in our solar system, asteroids, moons, comets, etc., but I don't know of anyone referring to them as planets." The history of the solar system has entered a new era with the discovery of more dwarf planets. Future deep space probes as well as orbiting observatories such as the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be central to our exploration of this vast region of space.  

Discovery of the Planets in Our Solar System

Mars is getting a lot of media coverage lately. From NASA's latest launch to talks of a Red Planet settlement, there's growing interest in space travel to Mars and what it could mean for humanity as a whole. Setting questions of logistics and legality aside, if we really could colonize Mars, what would a fun day out look like on the fourth rock from the sun? Here's a speculative sightseeing itinerary for your first Red Planet road trip. Laying the Groundwork If you're road tripping on the Red Planet, you can't just hop in a tour bus and hit the road. Lower Martian gravity — coming in at just 37% of Earth's pull — means uneven terrain and hilly regions would pose more of a problem than they would in familiar 1-g territory. Dust may also be a problem, assuming we haven't entirely terraformed Mars by the time of your excursion. Any sightseeing vehicle would need the ability to keep dust out and deal with any particulate matter that makes its way into critical components. Finally, you'll either need self-enclosed transport that provides breathable oxygen or a reliable spacesuit to keep yourself from suffocating in the planet's minimal atmosphere. And on Your Left... With these essentials squared away, the tour can get started. First stop: the landing site. This would almost certainly be the least exciting part of your tour. As Matt Golombek of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab puts it, any great landing site for space travel to Mars will be a "smooth, flat, boring place." It makes sense, since flat and wide-open landing zones make it easier to safely set down spacecraft and reduce the risk of something going wrong. Consider NASA's latest rover, Perseverance, which will touch down on Mars in February 2021. Its planned landing site is Jezero crater, which is just north of the equator and 28 miles in diameter. This area was likely once flooded with liquid water, and it may contain evidence of ancient organic matter. After a quick spin around the colony landing zone, it's time to hit the biggest tourist attractions on Mars, including:   Olympus Mons — "Big" is the operative word here. This shield volcano is the size of Arizona and three times taller than Mount Everest, coming in at 16 miles (25.75 km) high. Because the mountain has a side slope of just five degrees, hands-on tourist groups could climb to the summit and see the 53-mile wide depression caused by magma draining out of ancient rocky chambers.  Valles Marineris — Mars also boasts the biggest valley in our solar system, the valles marineris. It's four times the length of the Grand Canyon, and it was likely formed thanks to substantial volcanic activity in the Red Planet's Tharsis region.  Medusae Fossae — Wind-sculpted rocks in this region have given rise to speculation about ancient Martian aliens. While the more plausible explanation is volcanic eruptions followed by substantial weathering over time, this is still a can't-miss stop for any tour.  The North and South Poles — For more extreme Martian adventurers, polar trips could prove popular. Thanks to the planet's thin atmosphere, temperatures at the poles drop to a frigid minus 195 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, which is cold enough to condense airborne carbon dioxide into ice. In the summer, the planet's north pole gets warm enough to sublimate this CO, creating a more familiar water ice cap.  The Undiscovered Country All aboard for the magical mystery tour! While digital topographical mapping of Mars is complete, robotic rovers have only visited a small portion of the Red Planet's points of interest. One region that has yet to be explored fully is Cydonia, which contains "the Face on Mars." Pictures of this landform were originally captured on April 8th, 2001 by the Mars Global Surveyor, and sharp-eyed observers quickly noted its resemblance to a human face. While this structure is almost certainly of natural origin, exploration trips to Cydonia could be a big draw for Martian tourist companies. Another option is Martian cave diving. As Scientific American notes, surface imaging has identified more than 1,000 caves in the Tharsis Bulge region that may be good candidates for human colonies due to their width, depth and access to lava tube "skylights" — or they might contain evidence of unknown alien civilizations. Either way, this would be a memorable trip. No Refunds The notion of people going to Mars has long captured the imagination of governments and private businesses alike. Some ambitious entrepreneurs are even selling Mars "land deeds," which are great novelty gifts with zero legal value. However, it's worth noting that, for the first nouveau-Martians, the trip will almost certainly be one-way. Even if crews make it to the surface of Mars and set up colonies without any accidental loss of life, Mars landings aren't exactly known for their soft touch. Any spacecraft that lands on the planet would likely take substantial damage on impact and then be purposely cannibalized for parts to help build a new human future on the Red Planet. For the first people going to Mars, it seems there will be no refunds and no returns, but these Martian explorers could help lay the foundation for one of humanity's greatest achievements: a self-sustaining off-world habitat. And who knows — in fifty years you might be able to book a quick ride on the Earth-to-Mars express and reserve your spot in a rollicking Red Planet road trip.

Red Planet Road Trip: Space Travel to Mars Meets Speculative Sightseeing

On Nov. 26, 2018, NASA's InSight lander touched down on Mars, becoming the eighth space-exploring robot to visit the Red Planet. For adventurous humans inspired to eventually follow in the footsteps of this spacecraft, possibly terraforming Mars or owning land there may seem like the next best thing. A handful of companies, such as Buy Mars and Lunar Embassy, sell ads on Facebook and elsewhere claiming they "possess a legal trademark and copyright for the sale of extraterrestrial property" or are the "only recognized world authority" for the sale of lunar and planetary real estate. Deeds sell between $30 and $500. While it may be true that colonizing Mars is on the horizon, can anyone really own property on Mars?   How Valid Is a Mars Land Deed?   Like all real estate transactions, it comes down to the law. The foundational law for space was drafted 50 years ago, when space exploration was still in its infancy. In 1967, the United States, the then—Soviet Union and the United Kingdom wrote the "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies." Nicknamed the "Outer Space Treaty," the document established guidelines to ensure equal and peaceful access to space. More than 100 nations signed it. It accounts for real estate in space, among other things. Article II of the Outer Space Treaty states, "Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." In short, nobody can claim ownership of Mars or land on Mars, or do so with any other celestial body.   But the treaty was made to be modified as society advanced. In 2015, the United States Congress passed the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015, or SPACE Act, which allows U.S. citizens to "possess, own, transport, use and sell" materials extracted from celestial bodies, reported Nature. The new law accounts for the growing interest in mining asteroids, the moon or other celestial bodies for minerals or other resources. Private companies will be able to set up shop on Mars, mine it and lay claim to those resources, but won't be able to own the land.   For those who really want a Mars land deed with their name on it, there's nothing wrong with buying one. It's a novelty item that might make a nice gift for the person who has everything. But it's just for fun. The document won't be recognized by any government authority as legitimate or legally binding.   A Mars Colony Is Coming   Even as the Mars InSight lander begins to gather scientific data from the Red Planet to better inform the potential for human survival there, Earthlings are making plans to colonize Mars. In December 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Space Policy Directive-1, which refocused America's space program on human exploration. The plan involves returning humans to the moon, establishing a means for traveling to Mars by the 2030s and eventually expanding human presence across the solar system later in the century.    Getting beyond the moon will require advanced rocket propulsion to speed astronauts to their destination. Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems is building the boosters for NASA's Space Launch System rocket, designed to take humans beyond Earth orbit. In 2020, the rockets will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the lunar vicinity as part of Exploration Mission-1. The mission will be step one in a series of increasingly complex missions that will work like stepping stones to lead humans into deep space.   Others are shooting for Mars, too. Mars One, a venture launched by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, says they aim to have humans on Mars by 2031.    When Will Humans Begin Terraforming Mars?   A hundred years from now, humans may be thriving on Mars. But they'll likely be conducting their lives under the confines of a transparent dome akin to a large terrarium. Climate, temperature and atmosphere will be controlled, and humans will be able to grow plants for food. Terraforming Mars — that is, manipulating the atmosphere to create an Earth-like, habitable environment — is simply not possible using any of the technology available to humans, according to NASA. Scientists have proposed large-scale geo-engineering projects, such as releasing carbon dioxide trapped in the Martian soil to create a thicker atmosphere that warms the planet. But recent studies have shown that there isn't enough CO2 in the soil. The atmospheric pressure on Mars is also less than 1 percent of that on Earth. If, somehow, scientists could figure out how to warm the skies and get them to rain, the water would evaporate quickly.   For now, humans will have to be satisfied with standing on planet Earth and gazing up at the red dot in the sky. Over the ages, that dot has inspired humanity to imagine an existence beyond the heavens. The potential for extraterrestrial life, colonization and terraformation calls to civilization and soon, we will make our way into space. We've taken the first steps by sending machines ahead of us. In fact, Mars is the only planet in the solar system inhabited by robots. Perhaps, one day soon, we will join them.  

Can You Really Become a Mars Land Owner?

On Jan. 4, 2004, NASA's Spirit rover touched down on Mars. As noted by Business Insider, it wasn't long before Spirit was joined by its twin, Opportunity.    Both rovers were expected to last just 90 days in the punishing and dusty Martian landscape. Remarkably, Spirit continued operations until 2010, and the Opportunity rover remained online and active until June 2018, when a massive dust storm swept the craft into darkness. While NASA teams still hold out hope for the rover's rebirth, its epic 15-year mission may finally be over.   Back in action or down for the count, it's worth examining some of the most significant findings from Opportunity's extraordinary years of Mars exploration.    Team Effort   From their first moments on Mars, both rovers were busy. According to a Space Flight Insider editorial, one key discovery by Opportunity (and its twin) was the presence of Earth-like clouds; the rovers took photographs and sent them back home as proof. Opportunity also discovered the first meteorite on another planet, a basketball-sized piece of iron and nickel, and helped create a detailed temperature profile of Mars that showed evidence of rising warm air "thermals."   And just a few months after landing, the Opportunity rover discovered "blueberries" — tiny, round, iron-rich spheres scattered across the ground. While no perfect analogues for these objects exist on Earth, according to planetary scientist Briony Horgan of Purdue University (as quoted in a recent Space.com piece), "The fact that they're there tells us a lot of liquid water moved through these rocks over time."   Water, Water Everywhere   Opportunity's biggest contribution to Martian science — and human imagination — was evidence for the existence of neutral-pH water that could have supported ancient microbial life. As noted by NASA, Opportunity discovered water-friendly mineral hematite along with evidence that the ancient water was highly acidic.    In 2011, NASA reported that they found gypsum-veined rocks. The likely cause? Flowing water that ran through rock fractures to deposit the mineral. And in 2013, Opportunity discovered the most compelling signs of Mars' watery past: clay minerals formed in neutral-pH water. As noted by NASA, "This environment at Endeavor Crater once had the friendliest conditions for ancient microbial life." Not bad for a spacecraft that wasn't supposed to last more than three months.   Silence and the Storm   On June 10, 2018, Opportunity went silent as a massive dust storm swept over Mars' Perseverance Valley. Despite six months of silence, "Oppy's" team still holds out some hope as the dust dies down and winds pick up on the Red Planet, potentially clearing Opportunity's solar panels and bringing it back to life. According to Opportunity Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson in a recent Space.com article, the team "will continue to actively try and communicate with Opportunity at least through January," and is preparing a proposal that will refocus the rover's efforts if it does come back online.   Even if this is the end for Opportunity, Mars exploration continues. NASA reported that Curiosity is still operating after five years of service, and the Space Agency landed the newest Mars craft, InSight, on Nov. 26, 2018.   Unique Opportunity   The next step for space exploration? Sending astronauts to establish off-world settlements. Both the moon and Mars are potential candidates — the moon offers compelling arguments for distance, "good science" and commercialization. It's the safer, simpler choice, but somehow lacks the allure of Mars — Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and now InSight have sparked the twin flames of human imagination and ingenuity.    Perhaps Mars won't offer the first glimpse of extraterrestrial life; perhaps its secrets don't run so deep. But it's a mystery that can't be ignored, a frontier that drives innovation and speaks to boundless opportunity. 

The Extraordinary Life of NASA's Opportunity Rover

Our Legacy "Here Men From the Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind" — Apollo 11 Plaque On the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's "giant leap," we celebrate the work dedicated to achieving the impossible. NASA required craft capable of conquering Earth's orbit for liftoff. Northrop Grumman heritage companies created Pioneer, the first commercially built spacecraft. Once in orbit around our nearest neighbor, astronauts needed a ride to the surface. The Grumman Corporation designed, assembled, integrated and tested the Lunar Module (LM). Heritage companies TRW and Westinghouse developed the lunar excursion model descent engine (LEMDE) and the lightweight, low-power camera used to capture humanity's first steps on the moon, respectively. Your Future "Across the sea of space, the stars are other suns." — Carl Sagan Apollo 11 marked a new era in exploration. Today, Northrop Grumman is developing the future of space exploration technologies. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has already discovered new exoplanets and supernovae, while the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope will study every phase in the history of our universe — from the Big Bang to the formation of life-supporting solar systems. From the Sea of Tranquility to the origins of the universe, we're pushing the boundaries of space exploration. Discover your future with Northrop Grumman.

The Future of Space Exploration: 50 Years of Innovation, Inspiration and Achievement

The auto industry is developing alternatives (i.e. hybrid and electric) to the gasoline-powered engine. But pollution from aircraft is often overlooked. Solar flight could be one solution to this problem.Aircraft PollutionWhile cars and coal-fired power plants are worse for the environment, according to Yale Climate Connections, flying does significant harm. A 2010 study from the University of Cambridge and MIT estimated that the emissions from cruising aircraft alone were responsible for around 8,000 premature deaths each year. That estimate doesn't include deaths from the pollution caused when aircraft take off and land. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, airplanes may generate 43 gigatons of pollution by 2050 — nearly 5 percent of earth's remaining carbon budget.Tweaking MaterialsResearchers and industry are looking for ways to reduce planes' use of fuel, according to National Geographic, including more energy-efficient engines, more aerodynamic shapes and even a coating that would prevent bugs from sticking to the fuselage, thereby reducing drag. Simply being more operationally efficient could save a lot of fuel and reduce emissions, according to PBS.Instead of incremental measures, some innovators want to change the very nature of aircraft.One milestone in this search began back in 1982, when Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan started to develop an aircraft that could fly around the world without stopping or refueling. To do this, he needed to design the lightest, most efficient plane possible. The plane, christened Voyager, used an innovative construction method, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association: a sandwich of paper honeycomb and graphite fiber that was molded and oven-cured. The resulting craft weighed just 939 pounds, sans fuel.The Voyager, piloted by Burt's brother Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager, successfully completed its trans-global flight on December 23, 1986, after flying nonstop for nine days. Today, Scaled Composites is part of Northrop Grumman and continues to push the envelope of the possible through rapid prototyping using advanced materials.Solar FlightWhile measures to reduce fuel and emissions are necessary, some have a bigger dream: flying with clean, renewable energy from the sun.In 2004, Bertrand Picard, a Swiss psychiatrist who had previously company-piloted the first trans-global flight in a balloon, set out to prove the viability of solar energy by flying around the world in an aircraft powered only by the sun.Working with André© Borschberg, a Swiss entrepreneur and pilot, began work on a solar plane. In July 2005, their first plane, the Solar Impulse, completed a flight from Hawaii to Japan in five days. It was the longest solo solar flight in history.In 2016, Bertrand Piccard and Borschberg set out again. This time, they overcame the challenges and Picard completed the 40,000 kilometer flight, this time solo.On completing the flight, Picard told the Guardian, "I hope people will understand that it is not just a first in the history of aviation, but also a first in the history of energy."What's Next?Picard remains committed to furthering the development of solar-powered and clean-energy travel. In November 2016, his organization launched the World Alliance for Clean Technologies during the UN Climate Conference.Solar Flight is another company working on sun-powered aircraft. It's developing planes for high-altitude, long-distance flights and a six-seat transport craft. It successfully completed a multi-stop, trans-American journey in 1989 and has successfully flown a two-seater.Meanwhile, the sky isn't quite the limit. In December 2016, Raphaé«l Domjan, a self-described eco-adventurer, unveiled SolarStratos, which he hopes will be the first manned, solar-powered airplane to penetrate the stratosphere.All this innovation relies on industry to come up with lighter, stronger materials, more advanced sun-powered engines and more efficient solar cells. The goal of cleaner skies through solar flight could be within our reach.

Could Solar Flight Clean the Skies?

Let's be honest: It's not a great photo — taken by Explorer 6, the first satellite image of Earth was a blocky, blurry mess. But it was also a history-making achievement that helped fuel human imagination and kick off decades of outer space discovery.      Not Exactly Earth's Best Look      On Aug. 14, 1959, the sixth Explorer iteration captured the first satellite image of Earth. Snapped above a partly cloudy stretch of the central Pacific Ocean, it took 40 minutes for picture data to make the trip from the Explorer 6 to a receiving station in Hawaii. Compared to current photo-taking technology, the Explorer's black-and-white image is crude at best and bears little resemblance to later, higher-resolution photos taken both from orbit and the lunar surface.      Considering the conditions of capture, however, the photograph was a stunning achievement. Not only was the spacecraft more than 16,700 feet above Earth's surface and moving more than 20,000 miles per hour, it was also operating with just 63% power since only three of its solar cells were operating. Nonetheless, Explorer lived up to its namesake by giving humankind the first glimpse of Earth from orbit.      The Science of Solar Snaps      NASA's Explorer series of satellites came with a clear mission: "To provide frequent flight opportunities for scientific investigations from space." Achieving this goal meant designing and deploying spacecraft that were lightweight, relatively low-cost and focused on specific scientific observations.      Launched under U.S. Army auspices on Jan. 31, 1958, Explorer 1 ushered in a new era of space exploration. Control of the program was then transferred to NASA when the space agency opened its doors in October 1958 — and on Aug. 7, 1959, Explorer 6 blasted off into space.      Often known as "paddlewheel" satellites thanks to the shape and positioning of their four solar panels, Explorer-type craft were purpose-built for mission mandates, allowing NASA to substantially increase the pace of solar scientific discoveries. In the first decade of this program alone, the agency launched 35 Explorers to help expand the scope of human understanding.      Version 6 followed the typical production pattern: According to NASA, It was a small, spheroid-shaped satellite "designed to study trapped radiation of various energies, galactic cosmic rays, geomagnetism, radio propagation in the upper atmosphere, and the flux of micrometeorites." It also carried a scanning device designed for capturing pictures of Earth's cloud cover. Coming in at just over 142 pounds, the satellite was launched into a highly elliptical orbit. NASA engineers stabilized the craft's spin at 2.8 revolutions per second (rps) with a right ascension spin axis of 217 degrees and a declination of 23 degrees. Unfortunately, only three of the four solar panels fully extended, leaving Explorer 6 with just 63% power. This caused significant signal noise and gave NASA limited operational time before the craft went dark.      Oct. 6, 1959 marked the last spacecraft contact as power failed — but despite having less than two months operational time under its orbital belt, Explorer 6 managed to record 827 hours of analog data, 23 hours of digital data and make history with the first satellite image of Earth.      Fueling the Future of Extra-Earth Exploration      Along with snapping Earth's photo from a distance, Explorer 6 also conducted the first in-depth survey of the Van Allen radiation belt. However, this wouldn't have been possible without previous Explorer missions; Explorer 1 detected this radiation saturation 600 miles above Earth, prompting astrophysicist James Van Allen to posit the existence of trapped solar particles.      Subsequent Explorer missions helped solve more solar mysteries by confirming the presence of helium in the upper atmosphere, determining that the interplanetary magnetic field is primarily powered by the sun's magnetic field and demonstrating the existence of solar wind shock waves on Earth's magnetosphere.      The Explorer series also laid the groundwork for NASA's famous Apollo initiative. Not only were solar solutions and scientific instruments critical to help inform Apollo craft design, but the potential for cameras to capture Earth from space led to rapid advancement in picture-taking technologies. It's not a stretch to say that without the legacy and legwork of Explorer craft, Apollo 8's famous "Earthrise" image might not exist.      Teamwork Makes the Dream Work      Put simply? Taking on the task of space exploration at scale is a team effort. From the "failed" Pioneer 4 craft to Explorer, Voyager, Gemini and Apollo missions, each investigative iteration builds on its predecessors to fly further, dig deeper and expand the scope of space exploration.      Sure, the first satellite snap of Earth wasn't great, but it proved the point: Seeing is believing — and drives scientific achieving.    

Pics or It Didn't Happen: The History-Making Snap of Explorer 6

Last September, perennial fan favorite "Star Trek" returned to the small screen with its newest iteration, "Star Trek: Discovery." Set 10 years before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the show offers compelling characters, feisty Klingons and a host of new "Star Trek" technology for knowledgeable experts and avid Trekkies to dissect.  Critical to the plot are two tech conceits: The use of a fungi-fueled "spore drive," which lets the Discovery cross vast distances in mere seconds, and the certain knowledge that multiple universes exist. Is there a parallel universe out there? Can mushrooms help us travel at warp speed? Or is this all just techno-babble and fantasy? Let's dig in.   You're Such a Fungi   Here's the space-travel conceit in "Star Trek: Discovery": A vast "mycelial network" — infinite numbers of miniscule fungi — underpin the entire universe. Tapping this mushroom highway using lab-grown spores and a sentient navigator allows the Discovery to quickly jump anywhere in space. But is this just a sci-fi fantasy, or is it the real deal?  As noted by Inverse, the spore dive's co-creator on the show is Lt. Cmdr. Paul Stamets. His title is "astromycologist," science-speak for someone who studies fungi in space. He's also named after real-world fungi expert Paul Stamets, who has speculated about the possibility of terraforming space using fungi.    Mushroom for Improvement?   Spore drives aren't a bad idea. While Forbes noted that much of "Discovery's" science around the original spore drive navigator — a giant version of a water-dwelling, microscopic creature known as a tardigrade — is "science fantasy" more than fiction, its fungal science may be more accurate. As noted by mycologist Thomas Jenkins in Inverse, "'we only know of, and this is a generous estimate, about five percent of the fungal biodiversity that exists.'" And Earth fungi exposed to harsh, Martian-like conditions over long periods of time have shown remarkable resiliency, suggesting that mycelium could flourish even in outer space. According to Nature World News, recent research suggests that trees communicate using an underground mycelial network and use it to benefit the forest as a whole.   The result? Spore drives aren't entirely out of the question, since the universe offers potential building blocks for fungi fast lanes.   Mirror, Mirror   Parallel universes are a staple of "Star Trek." One of the most popular is the Mirror Universe: Instead of creating the freedom-loving Federation, the aggressive and xenophobic Terran Empire rose to power. In "Discovery," spore drive technology lets the ship cross into this universe. The crew discovers that its not-so-nice Mirror Universe counterparts are mining the mycelial network for power at such a fast rate that they'll eventually destroy it and kill everything in all universes.    Is There a Parallel Universe?   The notion of villainous Earth counterparts is terrifying, but only if multiverse theory actually has a solid foundation. The good (or not-so-good) news? Parallel might be possible. As noted by Futurism, the discovery of a "cold spot" in space — 1.8 billion light-years across and 0.00027 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the space around it — may be evidence of a collision between our universe and another, resulting in odd temperature variations and a comparative lack of matter. And according to BGR, efforts to quantify the conditions under which parallel universes could exist and what type of universes are possible formed the basis of Stephen Hawking's final paper, "A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation." While the cold spot and Hawking's attempt to leverage math as boundary conditions for the multiverse aren't proof, they're indications that the idea of parallel universes isn't just sci-fi fan service.   Trek Talk Verdict   Star Trek technology doesn't always translate to real life, but when it comes to spore drives and a parallel universe, "Discovery's" science sticks a solid landing for "maybe." Sure, spore drives aren't around the corner, but a real-life spark for the idea already exists here on Earth. And while it's unlikely we all have surly Terran counterparts contemplating our existence in a mirror dimension, researchers are now working on ways to mathematically map the potential multiverse. 

Is There a Parallel Universe? Star Trek Technology and the Science of Spore Drives

Is the mysterious, much-searched-for Planet 9 (also known as Planet X) really a black hole no larger than a grapefruit? Reports to that effect have caused a stir online, especially when they appear in highly regarded sources such as Science magazine.      And it's easy to understand why people would click that link. Planet Nine and Planet X have loomed bright in the popular imagination for more than a century, even as astronomers looked for it in vain. As for black holes, they are the most mysterious objects in the universe, so dense that not even light can escape from them.      The scientific search for a ninth planet — or, possibly, a black hole counterpart — remains inconclusive and uncertain. Even the boundary between speculation and discovery can be faint and hard to define, and the choices of what possibilities to explore can be as challenging as the exploration itself.      The Long Search for a Mystery Planet      The search for Planet 9 has gone on for a remarkably long time, with roots going back far into the 19th century. The first planet to be discovered with a telescope, Uranus, was found to have peculiarities in its orbit that hinted at another planet beyond it. Mathematicians proposed a location for this first hypothetical "Planet 8"; astronomers looked there and found Neptune, hypothetical no longer, according to Ars Technica. Neptune's orbit also seemed to have peculiarities, which lead to a search for Planet 9.      The planet searchers did discover Pluto. They soon realized that it was too small to distort the orbit of Neptune, but it was classed as Planet 9 for decades, until astronomers found other Pluto-sized bodies in the far outer solar system.      Inconclusive Arguments?      These distant objects also have orbital peculiarities. In particular, as Sky & Telescope notes, the "argument of perihelia" of their orbits — essentially, the orientation of their orbits relative to each other — are clustered around zero and 180 degrees.      This distribution is unlikely to be due to random chance: It strongly hints that some common gravitational influence has been acting on these orbits. This commonality is the basis for the modern search for the ninth planet.      So far, however, it has eluded discovery. Hence the suggestion that Planet 9 might not be a normal planet at all but a black hole. All known black holes were formed by collapsing stars or galactic-scale events; they are vastly more massive than any planet. But cosmological theory suggests that smaller black holes may have formed in the earliest stages of the universe.      Note that this does not add up to a discovery — only a possible discovery that, if it panned out, would explain outer-system orbits and their arguments of perihelia.      But astronomers are by no means convinced that a massive-but-undiscovered object is needed to explain the arguments of perihelia. An alternative possibility, reports The Conversation, is that both discovered and undiscovered outer-system bodies combine to form a disk, which exerts its own gravitational influence to produce the alignments of orbits that we observe.      In that case, there is no single, massive ninth planet to be found, nor a black hole of comparable mass. Multiple objects, from Pluto size on down, can produce the observed effects, and many of them are surely out there waiting to be discovered.      Planets Beyond      Meanwhile, far beyond the outer solar system, thousands of planets have already been discovered orbiting other stars. These extrasolar planets — or exoplanets — range in mass from larger than Jupiter to comparable to Earth, and some orbit their parent stars at distances where liquid water can exist, making them potential habitats for life.      So far, only a handful of exoplanets have actually been seen. Most are so dim and so close to vastly brighter stars that they can only be detected indirectly. Perhaps, then, it is not entirely surprising that, as Scientific American notes, the extrasolar planets community in particular takes a somewhat skeptical view of Planet 9 speculation.      According to Robert Lockwood of Northrop Grumman's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) team, our solar system most likely only has eight planets. And while there other sizable asteroids, moons and comets, none are classified as planets.      Perhaps there's also a mini black hole lurking in the far outer solar system. In the meantime, thousands of exoplanets wait to be explored.    

Planet 9, a Black Hole Mystery, and Planets Beyond

What happens when a star dies? Depends on the mass of the star. Consider the sun: In around 5 billion years, our star will run out of hydrogen and begin fusing helium, turning it into a red giant that engulfs the Earth. Once exhausted, it will fade into a white dwarf, according to Universe Today. But there are more exciting ways to go, according to Space.com: Some massive stars can go out with a bang as Type II supernovae, exploding and briefly outshining entire galaxies. "Zombie star" iPTF14hls decided to come back from the dead, confounding scientists with atypical supernova behavior. Is this zombie star really rising from a stellar grave?       Simple Supernova or Zombie Star?       Supernovae aren't complicated: Large stars — more massive than the sun — have enough mass and pressure to fuse carbon and heavier elements, causing their cores to rapidly become heavier and surpass the Chandrasekhar limit, which causes them to implode. This causes even greater core density and pressure and eventually the implosion "bounces" off the core, spraying stellar material (light and energy) into space, according to Space.com.       Space.com notes that, over the course of 100 days, supernovae follow a predictable brightness curve and then fade away to become superdense neutron stars or black holes. Unless, of course, we're talking about iPTF14hls. According to Astronomy Now, the supernova was first discovered in September 2014 and behaved like any run-of-the-mill dying star. But then it got weird: Months later, researchers noticed the star getting bright again — and it's done so five times over the last few years. Even stranger? Scientists found evidence of another supernova explosion at the same location back in 1954. Some experts suggest this could be evidence of "pulsational pair-instability supernova" theory, which suggests that massive stars could generate both matter and antimatter in their cores, in turn leading to a series of explosions before the final curtain call. The problem? Energy released by iPTF14hls is more than the theory predicts. As a result, there's no good explanation (yet) for this ever-exploding zombie.                Enable targeting cookies to view this content.       Myriad Mysteries       Exactly what happens when a star dies — and why it won't stay dead — aren't the only stellar mysteries under investigation. Scientists from MIT are struggling to understand the origins of a supermassive black hole at the center of a quasar formed around 690 million years after the Big Bang. With a mass more than 800 million times that of our sun, the black hole shouldn't exist given the conditions of the early universe, meaning there's more science needed to explain exactly what's causing the phenomenon.       Dark matter is also on the list of top-tier stellar mysteries, since there should be more of it than regular matter in the universe, yet scientists have never directly confirmed its existence. According to  NASA, new data suggests that dark matter might have two energy states separated by 3.5 kiloelectron volts (keV), accounting for consistent X-ray absorption near the center of black holes and consistent emission from hot gas at the edges; understanding energy states could help zero in on dark matter itself, or amount to another red herring.       Other mysteries, such as Jupiter's strange "switching" jet stream, may finally have a solid explanation. On Earth, the jet stream changes direction every 28 months as atmospheric waves produced by tropical storms rise from the troposphere. On Jupiter, the switch occurs every four years, but until recently, scientists had no idea why. According to Phys.org, new measurements from NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii, suggest that gravity waves produced by convection in the low atmosphere are acting to restore overall equilibrium and leading to the jet stream shift.       Space is full of mysteries that defy current understanding. New technologies, however, combined with the unquenchable need of humankind to know what's out there, are helping scientists discover supermassive objects, investigate the potential presence of aliens and keep a close eye on that one really weird zombie star.            

Zombie Star Diaries — The Life and "Death" of iPTF14hls

The weather outside might be frightful, but have you ever wondered about the weather in space? Since other planets have different atmospheres than Earth, weather conditions aren't necessarily the same on each planet. Solar System-Wide Weather System-wide weather exists in the form of solar storms; waves of electromagnetic particles blast off from the sun's surface as solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The effects range from widespread power outages to interference with the radiocommunications, as well as impressive light shows like the auroras or polar lights over the poles. NASA invests heavily in space weather technology like satellites and low Earth orbiting systems to monitor impact on our own climate. The agency is also keeping tabs on weather across our solar system and beyond, with findings that could be useful to life here on Earth. Windy Outlook on Mars Weather tech here on Earth helps predict extreme weather scenarios, like shifting polar vortex impact on cold weather outflow. It also helps outpace storms for proactive response to prevent damage. Our storms are localized to specific areas on Earth, but the entirety of Mars can be enveloped in a dust storm. On Jupiter, NASA has found cyclones that cover most of the planet. Storms also last a long time in space; the biggest storm on Jupiter — visible as the Great Red Spot to astronomers — has been active for hundreds of years. On Uranus, IFL Science describes how infrared telescopes track giant hurricanes across the planet. Martian winds form due to the difference in air temperatures between hot and cold surfaces; the planet's sandy surface gains and loses heat rapidly to drive air movement, but the atmosphere lacks moisture and is much thinner than Earth's. Although it's easier to whip up a planet-wide dust storm, wind speeds measured by the various Mars rovers are not as great as on Earth. Despite the lack of power, Space notes that Martian dust is electromagnetically charged; in addition to "sticky" particles obscuring solar panels powering planetary rovers, storms wreak havoc on sensitive electronics. Raining Diamonds on Saturn Conditions on other planets are not the same as on Earth. Planets such as Venus and Jupiter lack our atmosphere rich in nitrogen and oxygen, and there is no moisture to drive a lifegiving water cycle. It shouldn't be surprising that the weather in space also differs; something as simple as rain might not be the same wet stuff we're used to here on Earth. For example, according to a report in Nature, scientists believe it could be raining diamonds on Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Based on observations by interplanetary spacecraft like Cassini, researchers theorized that lightning could split carbon atoms from atmospheric methane, forming soot, which would then create diamond or graphite under combinations of high pressure, heat and then rapid cooling. Saturn's intense atmospheric pressure squeezes carbon into diamond or graphite projectiles that zip around like bullets in the wind. These extremes could also create diamond oceans on Neptune. This might also be happening outside our solar system. Gizmodo reports that it could be raining gemstones on exoplanet HAT-P-7b. The Kepler space telescope spotted changes in brightness that could signify rubies and sapphires squeezing from the corundum-containing clouds circling the far-off world. Acid Rain on Venus and Dry Ice Snow on Mars Pollution causes acid rain on Earth; on Venus, it happens naturally as sunlight splits sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere, according to research from the European Space Agency Venus Express probe. However, the Venusian atmosphere comprises a thick blanket of carbon dioxide that prevents heat from the sun escaping, so the acid rain drops evaporate long before they hit the planet's surface. Methane rains on Saturn's moon Titan, according to Astronomy. Over the polar regions on Mars, snow falls as dry ice or solid carbon dioxide since the atmosphere is largely devoid of water vapor. What We Can Learn From Weather in Space So why bother with weather forecasts on other planets? Is it worth knowing about the vertical double eye of the northern polar vortex on Venus? The answer is that this kind of data can help with life on Earth, especially in the face of climate change. Weather on Mars, for example could help scientists understand vulnerabilities in the water cycle here on Earth. Research has shown that Mars once held surface water. A report in Nature on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter describes how dust storms transport water vapor into the escape region of the upper atmosphere. Gathering planetary weather data for modeling could help the search for other worlds capable of sustaining life. A report from the NASA Goddard Space Institute mentioned in Science Alert proposes that Venus might have been habitable at one point. Virtual modeling suggests that although its current climate causes an intense greenhouse effect, the planet might have been habitable for around 3 billion years. This could re-direct searches for Earth-like exoplanets into regions around stars previously discounted. Farther from home, New Atlas reports on climate data modeling for the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system of Earth-like planets circling a red dwarf star. This kind of research can help space telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope pick out habitability signals across space and perhaps direct interplanetary travel in the future.

Raining Diamonds on Saturn, and Other Stories of Weather in Space

This July, much of the world will be treated to a total lunar eclipse — the second of 2018 — according to Sky & Telescope. North America will be left out of July's upcoming eclipse, but never fear: North America will have a ringside seat next January, per Space.com. Perhaps it's time to step back and answer a few questions like, what is a total lunar eclipse? How does it relate to a solar eclipse? What do you see, and are there precautions to take in order to watch it safely? Cast a Giant Shadow Eclipses, both lunar and solar, are all about shadows. Both the Earth and moon cast shadows that extend far into space, in a direction away from the sun. The sun causes shadows when its light is blocked but does not cast a shadow itself — it produces light rather than blocking it. We pass into Earth's shadow every evening at sunset, but we don't really see it as a shadow — we just see the sun go down, hidden by Earth. Most of the time, the long shadows cast into space are not noticeable, because they fall only on empty space. But the long shadows cast by the Earth and moon become view-worthy when the sun, Earth, and moon are perfectly lined up. (See the Sky & Telescope's handy diagram.) If the moon is directly between the Earth and the sun, the moon's shadow (usually) extends just far across space enough to completely block the view of the sun from a small area on Earth. The result of this sun-moon-Earth shadow play is a total solar eclipse, according to NASA. This is one of nature's most spectacular sky shows. For a few minutes the blazing disk of the sun is entirely blocked, covered over by the moon. Deep twilight falls in the middle of day, and some animals will be tricked into thinking it is evening, said TIME. What is a Total Lunar Eclipse? But what happens if the lineup is sun-Earth-moon? Instead of Earth passing through the moon's shadow, the moon passes through Earth's shadow. For viewers on Earth, the moon is not blocked from view — unless we are on Earth's day side at the time, in which case, the moon is below the horizon and we wouldn't see it anyway. If the eclipse is total, the moon is blocked from direct sunlight. What would otherwise be a bright full moon goes dark, for up to more than an hour, according to NASA. Ghost Moon, Blood Moon  But even in a total lunar eclipse, the moon does not go entirely dark. The reason is that Earth's atmosphere bends (or refracts) some of the sunlight passing through it, so that a little sunlight still reaches the moon even within Earth's shadow. Exactly how this sunlight reaches the moon depends on weather conditions on Earth at the time of the eclipse. Sometimes the moon will be so dim it will be barely visible, and sometimes the eclipsed moon will be easier to see, per Space.com. On a few occasions during a total lunar eclipse, the moon will appear deep red — the so-called blood moon — because red light is more easily refracted by Earth's atmosphere than other colors. This is the same effect that often makes sunsets appear red, Space.com noted. Some conditions on Earth, as described by Space.com, including a major volcanic eruption that throws vast amounts of dust into the upper atmosphere, are especially favorable to a blood moon during a total lunar eclipse. There is no way to know in advance what effects refraction will have on an upcoming eclipse. You'll just have to go outside and find out for yourself. One bit of good news is that it is perfectly safe to look directly at a total lunar eclipse, unlike a solar eclipse, which requires special precautions for safe viewing. Step outside and enjoy!

What Is a Total Lunar Eclipse?

Even a quick glance into the night sky should inspire wonder about how humans found a foothold to the universe by stepping on the moon for the first time.  While space exploration has proceeded in fits and starts since then, the discoveries of Apollo 11 continue to present a greater understanding of the moon and Earth. As the 50th anniversary of the first moon exploration nears, scientists continue unlocking clues about our place in the universe by further studying the lunar samples collected by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and the astronauts of five subsequent moon missions.  "I think people in general think, 'We've had the Apollo samples for a long time, so why are we still studying them?'" Ryan Zeigler, Apollo sample curator and manager of NASA's Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office, recently told Space.com. "There's real, new work that's being done on them that's not just repeating what was done decades ago."  Moon Discoveries Keep Providing Clues  It is lunar legend that on an otherwise by-the-book walk around the moon, the commander of Apollo 11 went a bit off script. After placing about 20 moon rocks into a collection box, Armstrong couldn't miss his ride; the lunar module that taxied him and Aldrin between the main spacecraft and the moon would soon leave. But believing his box didn't have enough samples, he decided to gather more soil, 5.9 kilos (13 pounds) worth.  Armstrong and the astronauts of other Apollo missions didn't realize it at the time, but some moon rocks wouldn't be studied until 2019. That's because NASA knew that the technology didn't exist during the Apollo program to properly study samples in a way that future scientific tools could. So, despite some remarkable research on lunar materials over the past 50 years, some of the 842 pounds of rock collected from the six moon missions have remained sealed, awaiting analysis.  Technology has indeed taken a giant leap since Armstrong jumped around on the moon. For one, NASA has a new X-ray CT scanner that identifies structures within objects, allowing scientists to see precisely where they should cut rocks to avoid destroying them. That should help scientists when they soon examine three samples for the first time: two vacuum-sealed cores and a long-frozen rock. Those studies can be performed just once — at the moment the samples are opened — so the scanner should provide guidance that wasn't available until now.  The results from the next experiment might prove as surprising as those from a 2014 study of lunar basaltic glasses brought back by the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions. That research showed that traces of water in the recovered moon rocks might share a common source with water on Earth.  Apollo Findings Provided Answers  Despite relative technological limitations, NASA nonetheless studied many of the lunar samples in earnest as soon as the Apollo missions returned home. In fact, just six months after the moon exploration by Apollo 11, so many observations had already been made about the soil of Earth's satellite that Science published a special issue four times the size of a regular edition to cover all of the findings.  The importance of what the moon's materials have revealed can't be overstated. Prior to Apollo 11, no one could speak with certainty about the moon's provenance. Was it hot or cold? Could it support life?  Now we know it is a terrestrial planet with interior zoning similar to Earth and that it was formed from rocky material that took shape through meteorite crashes, volcanic eruptions and widescale melting. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum neatly encapsulates those findings and many others, including that the moon has no life forms, that it has a radiation history that helps understand climate change on Earth, and that lunar samples offer time scales for the evolution of Mars, Mercury and Venus.  A New Perspective and New Aims  Although Apollo 11 captured hearts and headlines, the other missions earned acclaim for either setting the stage for the first moon walk or by following the lead of Armstrong and Aldrin and making more moon discoveries.  Yet, it is argued that it was a single color photograph — not a scientific sample — that changed humans' perceptions of their place in space. Taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, "Earthrise" shows our blue and white globe climbing above the moon's horizon. For the first time, Earthlings had an understanding of what our world looked like from space, giving many an appreciation of life, science and, for some, the need to better care for our only place to live.  Now, as NASA and other public and private space agencies aim to return to our lunar cousin — and potentially use it as a springboard to Mars and beyond — Apollo's many discoveries are a reminder that the human quest to learn more about the universe should never cease for the simple reason that we'll never know what we'll find. 

Apollo 11 Showed That Moon Exploration Is Just the Beginning

Rome rises again — literally. This trip into the engineering wonders of our world takes us almost 30 meters (nearly 100 feet) off the ground to analyze the Aqueduct of Segovia, one of the best-preserved Roman aqueducts. Nearly two millennia old, the structure may not match the pyramids for sheer longevity but remains an enduring symbol of Rome's commitment to building functional and almost frighteningly over-engineered edifices of efficiency.   Let's dive in and discover the why, what, where and how of this ancient Roman engineering feat.   Water, Water Everywhere   Roman aqueducts were designed to carry water from local springs or rivers to cities or towns. As noted by Interesting Engineering, during the early Roman imperial era, these aqueducts delivered water to more than a million people across the empire.   The Aqueduct of Segovia is a classic example of Roman water transport architecture, with parts of the original system still in use today. Located in Segovia, Spain, this system starts at the Frio River, approximately 15 kilometers (almost 10 miles) from the city itself, according to the World Monuments Fund. Partially buried underground and using the natural landscape to direct water flow, the aqueduct eventually reaches a 30-meter (nearly 100 feet) deep valley; to cross the span, Roman engineers built what is commonly referred to as the Aqueduct of Segovia — a two-tiered set of arches and channels with foundations 6 meters (about 20 feet) deep.   While the exact time of construction is unknown — some sources suggest 50 A.D., others push the data forward to 100 or 120 A.D. — any variance pales in comparison to overall longevity; few modern structures make it past the 100-year mark, let alone two millennia.   Duct and Cover   Likely built under the rule of either Emperor Domitian, Nerva or Trajan, the Segovia aqueduct was a critical infrastructure project. While the town itself was small and isolated, Ancient Origins notes that Segovia was located on the main road between two larger Roman settlements, making it an important stop for goods and travelers alike.   According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the aqueduct bridge was constructed using more than 24,000 granite blocks — also called ashlars — held together without mortar. Its highest point is almost 30 meters (nearly 100 feet) above ground, with a six meter (about 20 feet) deep foundation to support the nearly 20,000-ton span of arches. While most Roman aqueducts relied on a single tier of arches to reach the necessary height, the sharp drop-off into the valley just before Segovia itself required a second level to ensure water flow. The sheer scope of the bridge project helped cement its place in history and explains why many descriptions of the aqueduct focus on the span itself, which represents just 5% of the project's complete length.   Focusing on the bridge in isolation also ignores essential Roman innovation: desanding basins, known as "desarenadors," at multiple points along the aqueduct route. By slowing the flow of water through these basins, Roman engineers were able to leverage the process of decantation and remove the bulk of river sand from their water supply, improving both quality and safety. Building the aqueduct system likely took between two and five years, from initial planning stages that included water quality testing, slope analysis and evaluation of the physical condition of locals who regularly drank from the source. Slaves were the typical source of labor, and would have been required to both move heavy blocks by hand and dig massive trenches to support channels and foundations.   The original bridge work contained three niches with bronze plaques that listed builder names and construction dates. One included an image of Hercules — supposed founder of the city — but all have since been lost.   Liquid Longevity   Now a World Heritage Site, the Aqueduct of Segovia is both a tourist attraction and testament to Roman ingenuity. But the waterway hasn't always fared so well — while later projects used more resilient Roman cement, the granite blocks of Segovia began to erode over time. This was especially evident in the desanding chambers, which required regular cleanings to remove sand buildup and replace damaged stonework. After the fall of the Roman Empire, many fell into disrepair.   In 1072 A.D., an invasion by Yahya ibn Ismail Al-Mamun destroyed approximately 36 arches; some of the dislodged stones were then used to rebuild the castle of King Alfonso VI. In the late 15th century the damaged aqueduct sections were rebuilt, with further preservation efforts in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Between 1803 and 1806, all buildings adjacent to the bridge were demolished to make repairs easier and increase structural integrity.   While the Aqueduct of Segovia doesn't hold the title of Rome's biggest aqua architecture project — Pont du Gard gets the nod for highest bridge and Constantinople gets the most sophisticated system award — the waterway is nonetheless a feat of ancient Roman engineering that represents a high water mark in the empire's ability to streamline, strengthen and support critical infrastructure. 

Why Segovia Stands Out Among Roman Aqueducts as an Engineering Marvel

Over the past decade, we've seen every type of science fiction TV series hit the market, from adaptations of novels like "The Expanse" and "Altered Carbon" to original series like "Black Mirror." The opportunities to showcase science, as well as stretch the truth, are seemingly endless. Topics explored in some of the best sci-fi shows span all realms of science, but some shows are more realistic than others. Let's take a look at topics that get the most attention from the genre. Space Travel: Not Quite a Cruise Most modern depictions of space travel aren't realistic, according to Space.com. One show that accurately depicted the harsh reality of current space travel was SyFy's series, "The Expanse." Based on the sci-fi novel series of the same name by James S.A. Corey, the pen name for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, "The Expanse" has been a quiet darling in the science community because of its dedication to getting the physics of space travel as accurate as possible. While a classic science fiction TV series like "Star Trek" makes hurtling through the universe seem pleasant, "The Expanse" depicts it much more accurately. As Public Radio International noted, "Spaceships aren't sleek and responsive, and space isn't sexy — it's downright inhospitable." Naren Shankar, the show's executive producer, told PRI, "The issues of air and water and just protection from that environment are constantly an issue in the show." Body Swapping The Netflix series "Altered Carbon" has taken topics in biology and neuroscience to the outskirts of current possibilities, but it isn't that far off. "Altered Carbon" explores the world of body swapping, where one's consciousness can be uploaded into new bodies, called "sleeves." These sleeves go on living the life of the consciousness now inhabiting the body regardless of what they were in their old sleeves — a child could become a middle-aged woman, or a man could wake up centuries after his death in an entirely new body. But wouldn't human consciousness be too deep and profound to be boiled down to a few uploadable cells and neurons? Not necessarily. Anil Seth, a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience, explained to SyFyWire that consciousness is "any kind of subjective experience" and lives in a series of neurons that produce memories when activated. Transferring neurons to a new body could be as simple as mapping and recording them. Seth explained that, in the case of "Altered Carbon," the problem lies in the transferring. As SyFyWire puts it, "A person's sense of self is not just a set of memories but is tied to their physical body. So if human consciousness could be transferred then it would 'massively' alter their personal identity." Even transferring just the brain to a new body doesn't ensure that the consciousness will remain the same. Recreating Memories The same concept holds true for visual reconstruction. In season 4 of "Black Mirror," visual reconstruction, or the concept of gathering the memories of others for viewing, is explored. In the series, this method is used for tracking and surveillance, and to aid in criminal investigations. Constraint-free neural image reconstruction was recently tested by a Chinese research team. They "found that the reconstructed images resembled the natural stimuli, especially in position and shape. The experimental results suggest that hierarchical visual features can effectively express the visual perception process of [the] human brain." The science journal Nature also reported on a technique called multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA), which can decode the brain by uploading fMRI data to software that learns and assesses neural patterns that coincide with certain thoughts and experiences.  While some of the best sci-fi shows have taken more liberties than others, a few take their depictions of science very seriously and do their best to be as realistic as possible. Even if they aren't 100 percent accurate, promoting the sciences is important. More interest translates into a bigger and brighter future for the world of research. If you're interested in making scientific research your life's work, consider a career with Northrop Grumman.

The Reality of Science Fiction TV Series

More than fifty years ago, the dreams of stargazers and the grand ambitions of a nation were realized when NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong crunched his left foot on lunar soil and became the first human to walk on the moon. But before Armstrong could utter his famed phrase, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," and before the five subsequent missions to explore the moon would be possible, aerospace engineering had to move forward at a furious and daring pace in order to make the Apollo 11 mission possible. NASA had to make good on President John F. Kennedy's promise in 1961 to transport people to the moon, a challenge that intensified when the Soviet Union bested the U.S. in the race to put the first man, woman and dog in space. The Soviets couldn't win the moon, too. Battling the clock, NASA and its contractors had to create and improvise machinery and technology to withstand the harsh conditions of space and the unique challenge of landing on and relaunching from the moon. Images of Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin hopping around the lunar surface are just as remarkable now as they were on July 20, 1969. But for years, engineers back on Earth worked without fanfare to piece together the many components that would make the moon landing less of a miracle and more an achievement of science. Here are a few of their accomplishments. A Powerful Thrust Was Needed to Reach the Moon It can be argued that every mechanical component of Apollo 11 was an essential piece of the first mission to the moon. But without the thrust to push the spacecraft some 240,000 miles to the moon, and at least another 240,000 miles back home (distance depends on the moon's orbit around Earth), a lunar mission would have remained a distant dream. Thanks to a heavy lift vehicle rocket called Saturn V, Apollo 11 had the power to travel 953,054 round-trip miles in eight days. At 363 feet, Saturn V stood 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. At 6.2 million pounds, including a big belly of fuel, the rocket weighed as much as 400 elephants before liftoff. The thrust it generated at launch — 7.6 million pounds — created 85 times more power than the Hoover Dam. But three is the number that best illustrates the worth of Saturn V. Because most of the mission's fuel would be needed for Apollo's push out of Earth's orbit, the spacecraft didn't have to be heavy for the rest of the mission. NASA designed Saturn V to separate into three sections, each breaking off the main section as it expended its fuel. The first two stages fell into the ocean, but NASA isn't sure where the third one went: either it stayed in space or hit the moon. The remainder of Apollo was relatively nimble, consisting of the command and service module (CSM) where astronauts would pilot the craft, as well as sleep and eat, and the lunar module (LM) that touched down on the moon. With Saturn V serving as an ideal taxi to the moon, the five subsequent Apollo missions also relied on the three-stage propulsion system. It was used once more in 1973, carrying the Skylab space station into orbit. Apollo Had Small but Strong Computing Power Landing on the moon called for precision. Yet, NASA recognized it would be difficult from the mission control center to navigate Apollo onto the moving moon, so it got creative and designed two computerized guidance and navigation systems instead of one. According to a history of the space agency's computing systems, NASA installed separate computing systems on the CSM and LM. This had a twofold effect. If the command module system failed, Apollo astronauts could still find their way home because the on-board computer and its guidance system accepted data from the ground to aid with manual flight. If contact with mission control was lost, the system had autonomous return capability. Also, by having a separate computing system on the Apollo 11 lunar module, navigating a moon landing from the craft itself was more manageable than doing so from the CSM. It's long been noted that a single iPhone has more computing power than all that NASA had for each Apollo mission. But NASA's computers had a feature that no modern consumer electronic product can claim. The computing system couldn't — and didn't — crash. A Perfect Landing Set the Stage for More Exploration With the three-section Saturn V shedding weight, and with separate computing systems making navigation easier, the stage was set for an eagle to take flight. Named "Eagle" for the Apollo 11 mission, the LM was designed, developed and built by Grumman Corporation, as were those for the next five missions. The Apollo 11 lunar module featured an environmental control system that maintained the module interior temperature between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It also had a landing radar and computer system that measured the delay between the microwaves from the moon's surface so that it could calculate the distance for landing. As the U.S. and other countries once again aim to explore the moon, some of the technological feats of the Apollo missions can be applied decades later. At a recent Universities Space Research Association conference, one expert suggested building a rocket like Saturn V. More tellingly, National Space Council Executive Director Scott Pace intimated that the successful aerospace engineering of the Apollo race proved that the current five-year timeline for the next mission to the moon could provide a "clarifying nature" to the hard work involved. There is a lot to learn from what transpired on July 20, 1969. As millions watched on Earth, the Eagle landed four miles away from its predicted touchdown point but on a spot befitting the safe journey, the Sea of Tranquility. Years in the making, the U.S. had won the biggest prize of the space race, but Armstrong's reflection about a giant leap was a reminder that this accomplishment was for everyone. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Apollo 11 Demonstrated the Daring of Aerospace Engineering

As NASA ramps up preparations for Project Artemis to return astronauts to the moon, one of the many technical challenges it faces is providing an ultra-precise lunar map to use when astronauts are exploring the moon. Even small but unexpected surface obstructions could spell disaster for a landing spacecraft or a rover driving across the lunar surface. When Apollo astronauts went to the moon more than 50 years ago, their landing sites were carefully chosen for relative blandness. Bland was safer! But Artemis astronauts intend to visit the most interesting sites on the moon, not just bland ones. A Better Lunar Map Over the decades since Apollo, scientists have imaged the moon's surface features in enormous detail, so the Artemis lunar map team has far better information to work from than their predecessors had in the 1960s. As Space.com reports, the photographic imagery that is used to construct a lunar map has very high precision indeed, with one pixel covering less than one square meter of the surface. Thus, scientists can establish the latitude and longitude of a lunar feature to within a meter — accurate enough to support safe landing and driving on the lunar surface. But the laser altimetry that is used to establish the elevation of the lunar surface is far less precise, accurate only within about 100 meters. This is nowhere near good enough. There are existing methods for measuring shadows on the lunar surface to determine more precise elevation "fixes" for topographical mapping, but these are typically cumbersome. Not only are they computationally intensive, putting heavy demands on computers, they also require a great deal of estimating and fiddling that only highly trained people can do, but they must do so very carefully — and slowly. For the lunar map team, this was a severe bottleneck, but help was on the way. The Cliffs of Stevns Klint As the Artemis lunar map team wrestled with this challenge, a geophysics graduate student at the University of Copenhagen's Niels Bohr Institute also ran into a problem. Former grad student Iris Fernandes (per the University of Copenhagen, she has since earned her PhD) wanted to use photographic images of Stevns Klint — a dramatic and geologically important limestone cliff on an island in Denmark — to analyze surface patterns on the face of the cliff. Her problem, as Science Daily reports, was that the algorithm she was using to study the patterns was thrown off by complex interplay of sunlight and shading in the photographs. As Fernandes explains, "It created a bias in the model. We needed to find ways to remove the shades, in order to remove the bias." To mathematically cancel out the shading, Fernandes needed a test environment with varied rock forms, a lack of patterned colors, and where sunlight and shadow were the dominant features. Like many geophysicists, Fernandes was interested in the planets, and she was aware of a place that met her requirements well: the moon. Shades of Gray We may sing about the light of the silvery moon, but the lunar surface is almost entirely gray, with few small-scale patterns other than those produced by sunlight and shadow. This made it a perfect place for studying those shading patterns — and finding a way to cancel them out. As it happens, the human eye and the vision centers of the brain, shaped by millions of years of evolution, are extremely good at processing the shadings of light and shadow. As a result, even a good pair of binoculars can vividly display the shadows cast by lunar mountain ranges. Because this effect is most visible near the lunar terminator (the lines of dawn and dusk lie) where the sun is very low in the lunar sky and shadows correspondingly long, one effect is to make lunar mountains appear much more jagged in a telescope than they actually are. This capability of the human eye was crucial to the established methods for determining elevation from light and shadow. But the need for extensive human input and judgment was exactly what made these methods so cumbersome. Adding to the intrinsic complexity of these established methods was the wide range of variation in the quality of lunar imagery and laser altimetry data, which Fernandes had to deal with, similar to the Artemis lunar map team. Eyes on the Prize Faced with all this complexity, Fernandes and her PhD advisor, geophysicist Klaus Mosegaard, focused tightly on the underlying mathematics. They zeroed in on "inverse theory" — the mathematical process of getting from a result to the inputs that would produce that result — as well as the Sylvester Equation. As Fernandes explains in Science Daily, they set to work "basically, to see if this equation could solve the problem." "And it did," she adds. "You could say that we â€¦ found the mathematical key to a door that had remained closed for many years." The new mathematical method that Fernandes pioneered greatly reduces the amount of computation (and pre-computation "fiddling") required and takes out the guesswork. The variations in the quality of source data are automatically incorporated as inputs, producing not only a more precise output (such as a lunar map) but also one with a clearly specified precision level. Fernandes notes, "This method is fast, it is precise and it doesn't have to rely on any assumptions." Science: The Surprise Machine As Science Daily notes, scientific curiosity can lead you to surprising places. Fernandes and Mosegaard set out with the initial goal of canceling out the patterns of sunlight and shading on the cliffs of Stevns Klint, effectively eliminating light shading in order to reveal other patterns in the cliff rocks. They were not at all concerned with the challenges of elevation measurement and the limitations of laser altimetry, since the cliffs are right here on Planet Earth and can be surveyed as precisely as needed. For NASA, in contrast, the patterns of sunlight and shading on the moon's surface are the whole ballgame — the key to providing a topographical map with sufficient precision for human astronauts exploring the moon. And the same techniques can be applied to Mars, asteroids, outer-planet moons and other bodies with solid surfaces awaiting exploration. Meanwhile, Fernandes also sees other possible implications, such as using shading patterns to look for small, round stones on Mars as a sign that they might once have been exposed to water. Science as a human activity is, in no small part, the art of finding surprises and putting them to surprising use. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team. 

Creating a Precise Lunar Map: When Sciences Collide

Role models are powerful. As a young girl, one of my favorite television programs was "I Dream of Jeannie," a 1960s television show about a male astronaut who had a beautiful but impetuous female genie. I didn't want to be the genie; I wanted to be the astronaut and fly to the moon. But I had never seen a near-sighted African-American female astronaut. My dream was seemingly cut short before it even began. I eventually did make my way to NASA, and now I'm passionate about providing role models for girls in STEM. Women in STEM Fifty-seven years after real-life "Hidden Figures" Katherine Goble, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan helped pave the way for the United States to land safely on the moon, NASA announced the appointment of Holly Ridings as its first female flight director. Given the importance of this accomplishment for women in STEM, why did it take nearly six decades for a woman to make this achievement? As the former NASA Chief Information Officer, a mathematician and woman, I am passionate about doing everything that I can to help improve the representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The measures organizations like NASA have taken to close the gaps are necessary but insufficient if we as individuals do not do our part. First, we must examine our individual biases as barriers to gender inclusion. Next, regardless of our gender, we must serve as role models for girls and young women to encourage them to pursue STEM. Finally, we need to care and to understand that our society has a challenge to overcome and that we can contribute to the solution. STEM and Gender Bias Sydni was a young girl I was tutoring in 8th grade algebra. She was a good student who loved math and understood the course content well. However, when it came to assignments and tests, she lacked confidence. I worked closely with her, and over time, her confidence increased. Eventually she told me that her teacher had noticed that she was improving but had discouraged her from studying mathematics in college, telling her instead that she needed to study something like English. Sadly, she took his advice: Sydni did not pursue mathematics.  A recent study by Wang and Degol showed that the proportion of female STEM employees is much lower than the proportion of women scoring very high on the standardized tests used to source talented STEM professionals. Why would the teacher discourage Sydni if not for some unconscious bias that dictated that only boys study STEM? We must all, especially teachers, examine these biases that affect our interactions to ensure that we are encouraging, not discouraging, young girls, and not adversely affecting the STEM pipeline. Representation Matters In January 2018, Airbnb hired Kenneth Chenault as its first African-American board member. At that time, they also pledged to hire a woman as the next addition to its all-male board of directors. They lived up to that promise. In August of the same year, Ann Mather became their first female board member. Many successful female executives aspire for board memberships, but we see too few examples of those who have made that achievement. The actions of board chairmen like Airbnb's CEO Brian Chesky made a difference by providing this opportunity to Mather, making clear that representation matters. Diversity and inclusion provide societal benefits that should matter to us all. Corporations like Northrop Grumman, with programs like their Inclusive Leadership Conference, see the benefit of a commitment to diversity and inclusion. However, creating a leadership culture that executes upon this commitment is critical. Leaders in power need to see and believe that gender diversity makes a difference.  Jocelyn Bell Burnell was recently awarded a $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize for her work on discovering pulsars. She was overlooked for the Nobel Prize in 1974 even though her male counterparts were honored for the work she had done. Now, Bell Burnell is taking individual initiative and donating her money to help underrepresented groups enter the field of physics. Individual Efforts Make the Difference We can make a difference. Starting with continuous self-reflection on our own biases, we can be role models or give visibility to role models to provide encouragement for those young girls who wish to pursue careers in STEM. These steps require passion and commitment to overcome barriers. Robert F. Kennedy once said that not many of us "â€¦ will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events." Perhaps the gender gap seems daunting, but if we take these small steps, we can have an impact for women in STEM. 

Making a Difference for Girls

If you merely want to wipe out most life on a planet, you can hit it with an asteroid, as happened to Earth some 80 million years ago, putting an end to the dinosaurs (and most other species at that time). But if you want to really wreck a planet, wiping out all life, you need to hit it with something bigger, like another planet. And, paradoxically, a planet collision may also be just the thing to create life, which may have also happened to Earth, more than 4 billion years ago. The possibility of a planet collision was recognized generations ago. Though there was not yet any known evidence for such a crackup, the sheer idea was spectacular enough to enter popular culture, namely the 1951 film "When Worlds Collide," based on a 1932 science fiction novel of the same name. At the time, though, professional astronomers kept their distance from the subject of planet collision as direct evidence was lacking. A Lunar Mystery This began to change at the start of the Space Age, when the moon recieved new attention, including the mystery of its origin. As Astronomy describes, one theory, which has gained support to become the most likely explanation, is that the moon is the aftermath of a collision in the early days of the solar system between Gaia, or newborn Earth, and a roughly Mars-sized world that astronomers have named Theia. The Earth-Theia collision, it is theorized, was not quite a straight head-on crash. Instead, it was a glancing blow. The impact was enough to smash Theia into fragments that scattered across the solar system. Earth, much bigger than Theia, remained mostly intact — but a divot was knocked out of it, so to speak. Some of the fragments from the divot went into orbit around the Earth, where they eventually coalesced to become the moon. All of this is theory, albeit a robust theory. But as Science Alert reports, a few years ago astronomers discovered a star surrounded by an exceptionally dense cloud of dust. Such dust clouds are common around very young stars, and are believed to be the raw material of planets that have not yet formed. Mature stars, however, do not normally have such dense dust clouds around them. The most likely explanation is that we are watching the aftermath of an exoplanet collision. The dust we detect is the cosmic equivalent of glass and metal fragments skidding across freeway lanes after a high-speed impact. An Earth Collision With Planet X?  Planet collisions, it now appears, are not just theory anymore. And this raises the question of whether another such collision could possibly be in store for Earth. As Scientific American notes, mathematical models and exoplanet observations indicate that planetary systems can be chaotic, undergoing drastic changes of configuration that could include worlds in collision. The good news is that any collision between the known solar system planets cannot take place for a very long time to come. Planets are constantly perturbing one another's orbits, but the solar system planets are so widely spaced that putting them onto a collision course would be an extremely gradual process (at least in its early stages), taking millions of years. Some astronomers, according to Space.com, theorize that a large undiscovered planet, dubbed Planet X, may still lurk in the far outer reaches of the solar system. A potential Earth collision with Planet X, however, would also take a long time to develop, because Planet X — if it exists — is in a very distant and, thus, very slow orbit. But in 2017, NASA reported the discovery of an interstellar visitor passing through the solar system. This visitor was the size of a small asteroid, but there are also believed to be full-size "rogue" planets drifting around out there. If one is hurtling toward Earth, we might not discover it until it was only a few years — perhaps even months — from impact. This was precisely the scenario of the "When Worlds Collide" and also of the 2011 film "Melancholia." Is it a likely prospect? No. Earth has, after all, gone 4 1/2 billion years since its last planetary collision. But we can't entirely rule it out.

Planet Collision in Fact and Fiction

The year 1877 was a big year for Mars. Earth and Mars passed closer than usual in their orbits, making the red planet stand out as unusually large and bright for observers looking at it through telescopes. One of those observers was the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, who used the opportunity to map the surface of Mars. Straining at the eyepiece to make out features at the very edge of visibility, he made what might have been the greatest of all extraterrestrial discoveries — if it hadn't turned out to be a mistake. Schiaparelli sketched what appeared to be a network of lines connecting darker features on the planet's reddish surface. He described them as channels, or, in Italian, canali. Canal Builders of Mars In Italian, canali is used to describe both natural and artificial waterways. In English, we use two related but distinct words. So when Schiaparelli's report was translated, canali was translated not as channels, carved perhaps by natural forces, but as canals — hinting at the presence of canal builders. (The straight lines they formed on Schiaparelli's map were also suggestive of deliberate construction.) The impact was sensational. Imaginative writers had placed beings on other planets before, but only as a whimsical fantasy. Schiaparelli's canali were a scientific observation — at least they seemed to be — and implied not just life but intelligence and civilization. As Slate recounts, a whole theory of Martian civilization and history was worked out to explain the canals, as well as other features of Mars, notably seasonal color changes including waxing and waning ice caps. Mars, the theorists suggested, was an old and dying world of dwindling water and expanding deserts. Martians built the canals as irrigation works to sustain their crops and make the most of their precious and limited water. Only a mighty civilization could have undertaken such a vast project. There had been no extraterrestrials in the earliest science fiction, such as the works of Jules Verne. But now science fiction had aliens — and writers knew just what to do with them. Invaders from Mars In 1898, British author H. G. Wells wrote the most famous of all Mars stories, "War of the Worlds." Per Slate, his ancient Martians, with "intellects vast and ... unsympathetic," came up with a new solution to their water problem: conquer their water-rich neighbor, Earth. Martians weren't always scientific supervillains. As noted by Space.com, pulp writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of "Tarzan," wrote a series of books set on Mars — Barsoom, as the natives called it — in which the declining civilization of the canal builders is being overrun by local barbarian hordes, until earthman John Carter comes along to save the day. Later, science fiction writer Robert Heinlein featured wise, peaceful and mysterious Martians in several of his stories, including "Stranger in a Strange Land." These three themes — scientific supervillains, colorful barbarians and wise demigods — still account for the great majority of alien theories favored by Hollywood and pop culture. From Mars to the Stars Schiaparelli's canals turned out to be an optical illusion, says Slate. Mars has real channels, dry riverbeds, but they do not correspond to anything he showed on his map. Space missions showed that Mars is indeed a geologically dying world that has lost most of its water. But while it may still have life, it offers no hint whatsoever of an advanced civilization, living or dead. In fact, we haven't found any positive evidence of extraterrestrial discoveries, like ruins or signals, that people in the late 1800s thought they had discovered on Mars. What we have found is indirect evidence for the possibility of alien life, and therefore alien intelligence. NASA's TESS mission has confirmed that some planets orbiting other stars are close to Earth-sized and in orbits that allow them to retain liquid water. In fact, alien theories are now part of the toolbox of possible solutions that astronomers examine when seeking to explain unusual phenomena in the sky. Over the last few years, says Science Daily, peculiar flickering light changes drew attention to an otherwise ordinary-seeming star, officially designated KIC 8462852, but much better known as Tabby's Star, for lead investigator Tabetha Boyajian. The flickering pattern of light changes by Tabby's Star is so unusual that researchers examined the possibility that an alien megastructure surrounding the star might best explain what they observe. Alas, the alien theory did not fit the observations; the current best guess is that Tabby's Star is surrounded by clouds of dust. But the search continues for evidence that we are not alone in the universe — for hints that someone really is out there. And perhaps looking back at us.   

From Mars to Tabby's Star: Extraterrestrial Discoveries

Extinction is forever ... or is it? New advances in DNA technology and cell biology are enabling scientists to help species on the brink of extinction, and will soon allow recently extinct species to be brought back to life. How close are we to resurrecting extinct species? That all depends on the DNA. DNA Is the Key The process of bringing a species back to life is called de-extinction or resurrection biology. This cutting-edge research typically requires nearly complete DNA sequence information from the extinct species. With current technology, scientists can easily obtain this information from living organisms, frozen tissue samples and sometimes even preserved museum specimens. A bigger challenge is "ancient DNA" from archaeological sites, samples frozen in permafrost and even some fossils. Nonetheless, scientists have successfully sequenced DNA that is more than half a million years old, as explained in Nature Reviews. Even with new collection technologies, under the best possible conditions, the limit of DNA survival is perhaps 1 million years. The last of the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, so Jurassic Park likely won't become a reality anytime soon. The species seriously being considered for de-extinction include woolly mammoths (which went extinct 4,000 years ago), passenger pigeons (last seen around the year 1900), dodo birds, Carolina parakeets, saber-toothed tigers, gastric-brooding frogs, great auks, quaggas and giant tortoises. Why Attempt De-Extinction? As the journal Genes notes, a major goal of de-extinction is to bring back "keystone species" that played essential roles in shaping their ecosystems and allowed many other species to thrive. Woolly mammoths once roamed through what we know as Europe, across Asia and into North America, according to Revive & Restore. Mammoths knocked down trees, ate grass and spread seeds with their dung. When they disappeared, biodiversity declined as the lush mammoth steppe was replaced with coniferous taiga forests and mossy tundra, which is now thawing due to climate change and releasing carbon into the atmosphere. This is having a negative impact on the biodiversity that the mammoths unknowingly helped to cultivate. Passenger pigeons played a similarly important role in shaping the deciduous forests of eastern North America. By returning recently extinct animals to their natural habitats, scientists hope to repair some of the damage that humans have caused and restore entire ecosystems. Comparable efforts from recent times include the successful reintroduction of the California condor to the American west, wolves to Yellowstone National Park, black-footed ferrets to the US high plains, and beavers to much of Europe. How Does De-Extinction Work? If there are well-preserved cells with intact nuclei, an animal can be cloned. The cells can be grown in a Petri dish under conditions that cause them to behave like embryonic cells instead of mature cells. A cell's nucleus contains the genomic DNA, so an intact nucleus can be transferred into a donor egg that's had its nucleus removed. The egg can then be implanted into a surrogate mother and hopefully give rise to a healthy baby that can grow and reproduce naturally. The donor egg and surrogate mother would come from a closely related living species. The first mammal was cloned from a non-extinct female sheep in 1997 at the University of Edinburgh. Finding the right conditions for cell growth can be a challenge, but the FDA now considers cloning a standard technique for livestock production. The first extinct species to be cloned was the Pyrean ibex, according to National Geographic. Derived from a frozen skin sample, the cloned goat was born in 2003 and unfortunately died within a few minutes. Later that year, a healthy Javan banteng calf was cloned from a frozen skin sample, as reported by the Washington Post. While the banteng is endangered and not extinct, this success shows that de-extinction through cloning is absolutely possible. The frozen banteng cells were obtained from the Frozen Zoo, which was started in 1972 by the San Diego Zoo. The Frozen Zoo now contains cryopreserved oocytes, sperm, embryos and other cell types from nearly 1,000 endangered or extinct species. The Frozen Zoo is just one of many frozen cell repositories around the world. So, how close are we to resurrecting extinct species? Really, really close — for species that have frozen cells. What If There Isn't DNA to Work With? For woolly mammoths and passenger pigeons, there are no well-preserved cells with intact nuclei. However, scientists do have nearly complete DNA sequence information that was acquired by sequencing many small pieces of DNA. Woolly mammoth DNA is 99.4% identical to the DNA of the living Asian elephant, according to the Mammoth Genome Project. Passenger pigeon DNA is 97% identical to the DNA of the living band-tailed pigeon, according to News from Science. In cases where two species are closely related, many of the DNA sequence differences are inconsequential and don't affect the proteins produced. Accordingly, researchers aren't trying to produce an animal that's 100% mammoth; they're working to modify the DNA of Asian elephant cells to produce hybrid animals that have mammoth-like traits. These traits would include long shaggy fur, thick rolls of insulating body fat, and hemoglobin that can carry oxygen in sub-zero environments. However, the DNA differences that might contribute to mammoth-specific behaviors may be more difficult to identify. Major advances in gene editing technology, including the CRISPR-Cas9 system, are allowing scientists to make targeted changes to the DNA inside cells. Once a cell is successfully modified, the nucleus would need to be transferred to a donor egg and implanted into a surrogate mother to develop into a healthy baby. Elephants have a two-year gestation period and don't reach sexual maturity for 15 years. Pigeons hatch after 18 days and reach sexual maturity in seven months. With current technology and research, it could take 5-10 years to bring back a hybrid passenger pigeon, and at least 10 for a hybrid woolly mammoth. What About Endangered Species? Every day, an estimated 30 to 150 species disappear from the face of our planet. Many species on the brink of extinction could be helped by the same technologies being developed for de-extinction. Cloning can increase numbers, while gene editing technology can be used to reintroduce some of the genetic diversity that was present in museum specimens but lost when natural populations declined. De-extinction is another example of how technology — in this case biotechnology — is being used to restore nature and counteract some of the harmful effects of human activity. For these efforts to be successful, humans must also work to prevent and reverse the causes of extinction: habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, overharvesting and more. Are you interested in science and innovation? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

How Close Are We to Resurrecting Extinct Species?

Sometimes the simplest solutions offer the best outcomes — along with a little help from human ingenuity. This is the case for night sky radiant cooling (NSRC), a process that combines the temperature in space with the continual efforts of environmental systems to reach thermal equilibrium. In other words, objects hotter than their surroundings get colder until the system balances out. On clear nights, however, thermal emissions from objects can outpace nearby environments, resulting in lower-than-ambient temperatures. Bolstered by technology, this process may offer a way to help offset the environmental impacts of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that use massive amounts of energy and generate substantive amounts of heat. Here's how. It's Getting Hot in Here As global temperatures continue to reach new extremes — data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranked 2021 as the sixth-hottest year on record, while 2020 and 2019 both ranked in the top three — demand for cooling systems is on the rise. The need for heating solutions is also heating up; even as the rest of the world sweltered, Antarctica recorded its coldest temperatures since 1976. The problem? All this heating and cooling is actually making our problem worse. HVAC systems (along with lighting) now account for 28% of total greenhouse emissions on Earth, meaning that even as we try to control the temperature in our immediate vicinity, we're creating larger environmental issues that in turn drive a greater need for HVAC systems. It's a classically human problem: While technology affords us ways to circumvent natural processes and allow people to live in extremely warm or cold climates that would otherwise wipe us out, this same technology creates ripple effects in the world around us. According to NASA, these effects aren't limited to temperature changes. Many parts of the world have already seen average temperature increases of 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. If these changes reach 2 C, more than 60 million people across urban areas worldwide could be subject to severe drought, while other regions could see substantially increased flooding. A 1.5 C change also leads to a 50% reduction in geographic range for 6% of insects, 8% of plants and 4% of vertebrates surveyed. Even more worrisome? Current predictions put us on track for a 5 C increase by 2100. NSRC may offer a partial solution. Keeping It Cool The underlying concept of night sky cooling is simple: Use the temperature in space to reduce the temperature of objects on Earth. All you need is ground, sky and a clear night. Here's how it works: All objects slowly radiate heat. On a clear night, this radiation can travel up into the vast expanse of space and allow objects to significantly cool down, even dipping below the ambient air temperature. This sky-concept cooling has been used for centuries in places where even the night provides little solace against accumulated heat. People in North Africa, India and Iran leveraged earthen pits or plant-insulated ceramic trays to hold water overnight. Heat radiated upward to cool the water, while natural insulation kept the water from warming up again when it fell below the ambient outside temperature. The result? Ice, despite an air temperature well above freezing. While other heating and cooling solutions rely on energy-intensive technology to either remove or add heat for human comfort, NSRC uses existing system components to improve efficiency and reduce total energy expenditures. (Night) Sky's the Limit How cold is outer space? It depends on where you are. At the edge of Earth's atmosphere, the average temperature is a not-so-chilly 10 degrees Celsius. Move past the upper atmosphere and temperatures can fall to -100 C; keep going and you'll see the mercury drop to -270 C. So how cold is outer space? Cold enough. This falling temperature gradient, however, sets the stage for night sky cooling. On a clear night, there's nothing to stop heat energy from radiating all the way up into space instead of hanging around here on Earth. But how do we make the best use of NSRC? While turning water into ice overnight offers a historical glimpse of this cool concept in action, how can it be adapted in predominately urban settings to help offset energy costs? One approach from Aaswath Raman — a materials scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) — looks to expand the impact of night sky cooling by bringing it into the light of day. Along with his colleagues, Raman has created an incredibly thin reflective film that allows objects such as solar panels to radiate substantial amounts of heat while absorbing virtually none. The results speak for themselves: Equipped with this film, the temperature of objects fell by 10 C or more, even in the middle of hot, sunny days. Applied to other HVAC systems such as air conditioners and furnaces, this film could help minimize heat generation while simultaneously improving performance. Work is also underway to generate rather than radiate energy from night sky cooling. It all started as a proof-of-concept effort from researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. The team purchased $30 worth of materials at hardware and electronic supply stores to create an aluminum disk and painted it black on one side. The researchers placed the disk on a rooftop during winter with the black side facing the sky, and it began to radiate heat, which was then captured by a thermoelectric generator and converted into heat. Worth noting? It wasn't much energy — 25 milliwatts per square meter, or enough to power an LED bulb. With purpose-built technology, however, the team believes they could increase the energy efficiency to 0.5 watts per square meter, enough to power a room full of lights. Expand this to a whole rooftop full of radiating discs, combine it with solar power generated during the day and you've got a substantial renewable resource scenario. Like Night and Day Night sky cooling looks to flip the script on energy consumption and heat production. By using natural temperature differentials to radiate heat into space — and leverage that heat to generate renewable energy — there's an opportunity to both improve HVAC efficiency and get something usable in return. Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics, and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Click here to search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation.

Cold as Ice: Night Sky Cooling Taps the Temperature in Space

Imagine setting up a mining operation in outer space and drilling into an asteroid for precious metals. It may sound like something straight out of a science fiction movie like "Armageddon," but space mining is becoming a real industry that'll power both exploration of the solar system and industries here on Earth. Part of the lure is a potential mineral bonanza: UK-based startup Asteroid Mining Corporation estimated that some metallic asteroids could contain 10,000 tons of gold and 100,000 tons of platinum. Such mother lodes could address shortages of precious metals for IT and other industries on Earth, but they could also be used for space-based manufacturing, drastically reducing the construction cost of space stations. Deep Space Gold Rush In the U.S., larger companies are already competing to stake their claims amid the hundreds of thousands of asteroids in the solar system. Deep Space Industries, based in Silicon Valley, broke down the job of asteroid mining into four phases: prospecting, harvesting, processing and manufacturing. Proven know-how already exists to send spacecraft to acquire samples from asteroids — Japan's Hayabusa probe landed on asteroid 25143 Itokawa in 2005, retrieved granular samples and returned them to Earth five years later after a journey of some 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) noted. However, the cost remains astronomical. NASA explained that its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, launched in 2016, is to rendezvous with asteroid Bennu in 2018 in a sample-retrieval mission with a price tag of about $800 million, excluding the launch vehicle cost. Redmond, Washington-based Planetary Resources will send multiple spacecraft to asteroids to test samples for water, according to Wired, which it sees as both useful for human space colonies and as a material for rocket propellant. When the company began in 2009, people chuckled at the concept of space mining, but the startup has attracted funding from the likes of Google founder Larry Page and the government of Luxembourg. That funding was part of an investment aimed to launch the company's first commercial prospecting mission by 2020. "We're hardwired to think in terms of scarcity and competition," Planetary Resources CEO Chris Lewicki told Wired. "But in space, these limits don't apply. Exploiting them gives us the opportunity to think about how much more there is to develop and share. There are resources there beyond our comprehension." Space Mining 101 If you're contemplating a new degree, the academic sector is beginning to cultivate the human brainpower needed for deep space mining. In 2018, the renowned Colorado School of Mines will launch a graduate program in planetary resources, focusing on the feasibility of extracting minerals, metals, gases and water from heavenly bodies to power space exploration. The program is the first of its kind in the world. The idea is that space mining could make missions more independent and efficient while saving resources at home. The initial focus will be designing robots and automated processing facilities that can extract raw materials and prepare them to be used as engine fuel. "At some point, we will be able to refuel in space, so we can keep that spacecraft flying," Angel Abbud-Madrid, director of the Mines Center for Space Resources, told The Denver Post. "We can cut our dependency on Earth." There are numerous efforts underway to dramatically expand exploration and colonization of space in the 21st century, and celestial mining, in one form or another, will be a necessary step to reduce costs. Space mining should be a promising industry in the coming decades.

Minerals From Space Mining Could Power Exploration and Industry

 Since the 19th century, the term "gold rush" has reminded us of that uniquely human drive to seek out riches in desolate areas no matter the risk. Whether it was the intrepid forty-niners traveling west to scavenge California's Sacramento Valley or searching the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874, people have ventured far and wide to find treasures that exceed our wildest dreams. Now, asteroid mining is on track to be a potential treasure trove of resources for our generation. While the quest for gold has diminished since the 18th and 19th centuries, our desire to search far and wide for riches hasn't — we're just looking in a different direction. Riches and Resources Abound?  Asteroid mining has been on the minds of space exploration companies a lot lately, and for good reason. On top of boosting the economy of private space exploration and getting humans more engaged with their galactic surroundings, there may be actual treasures waiting to be found on asteroids: palladium and platinum. Some classes of asteroids are estimated to carry almost one ton of extractable platinum group metals, a quantity that alone could be worth upwards of $50 million. Finding these metals on Earth would require a dig of about 4,000 miles, so the benefits they could provide to our current and future status might be worth the trouble of mining in space.  Palladium is a key component of many pieces of machinery, used to make them run cleanly and more efficiently. The metal is used in catalytic converters, which convert about 90 percent of harmful automobile exhaust fumes into less noxious ones, as well as groundwater treatment and hydrogen purification. Palladium also works as a key part of fuel cells that react to hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. Aside from metal, there's also the potential to find carbonaceous chondrite asteroids. These C-type asteroids have been cited as the original source of water found on Earth. Water collected from asteroids can provide hydration to astronauts, oxygen for life support and hydrogen and oxygen-based fuel for rockets. Eyes on the Prize and in the Sky  Despite the potential reward, mining asteroids does pose some situational challenges, especially when it comes to deciding which ones are worth pursuing and which will be the space version of fool's gold. Gold rush miners didn't have experts to tell them when a potential dig would lead to a dud, but their asteroid-mining descendants do: astronomers. Martin Elvis, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian, says that tools like the Magellan 6.5-meter telescopes in Chile could be used to characterize which asteroids might be valuable in about one to two minutes. According to Elvis, 85 percent of the asteroids could be ruled out based on color, leaving only 15 percent as prospective mining areas for exploratory missions.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Planetary Resources, the private company backed by investors like Google's Larry Page and filmmaker James Cameron, plans to build a fleet of small, simple telescopes with the sole focus of hunting for asteroids. Lightweight, cost-effective telescopes and space crafts, similar to Northrop Grumman's line of Eagle Spacecraft products, are cheaper to make than larger government-funded ones, and can be launched in numbers, making it easier to replace a broken unit.  Once a prospective asteroid has been spotted, the plan is to launch tiny probe bots that can latch on to the asteroids using an anchor. Because smaller asteroids don't carry their own field of gravity, the best way to do this is through the deployment tiny drills that can secure themselves into the surface to dock the bot. When docked, the bot would analyze the rock for valuable metals and could potentially attach a tracker to the asteroid to find it again later if further testing is needed. At this point, harvesting becomes the most significant challenge to overcome.  Where collecting water vapors from a C-type asteroid is relatively simple, retrieving metals will prove to be more complicated. Harry McSween, geoscientist at the University of Tennessee and chair of the surface composition group for NASA's Dawn asteroid probe, worries that anchoring to these bodies would be difficult, as would trying to cut a piece off for processing. But John Lewis, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, thinks that if the asteroids are composed of enough metal, samples could be collected using a magnet.  While still riddled with uncertainty and roadblocks, the path to mining asteroids for riches and resources we need (or just want) is getting clearer. With the evolution of private space exploration, the partnerships between intrepid university researchers and unwavering human determination, the next discovery phase of unknown treasure is closer and more feasible than ever before.

Asteroid Mining and the Gold Rush of the 21st Century

Pluto is making headlines again. After its much-lamented demotion to "dwarf planet" status in 2006, new research housed on Science Direct suggests that historical use of the word "planet" — not International Astronomical Union (IAU) votes — should inform the designation of astronomical objects. There's passion and precedent on both sides of the debate, so let's dive in to this Pluto discovery debacle: Is historical precedent superseded by the IAU's 2006 decision? Or is Pluto a planet again?   Pluto Primer   As noted by Astronomy.com, Pluto was discovered on Feb. 18th, 1930, by Clyde W. Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory. Given its apparent size and distance from the sun — and the limitations of early 20th-century telescope technology — Pluto was hailed as the ninth planet. Designation aside, it's an interesting world; according to NASA, it's one-sixth the width of Earth, is 3.6 million miles away from the the sun and has five orbiting moons.   Changing the Game   In 2003, however, astronomers discovered an object larger than Pluto — named Eris — orbiting farther from the sun, said Cal Tech. Combined with data on other Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO), such as Sedna, the IAU created a committee to reevaluate how we define planets.   Historically, two criteria were used: Planets must orbit around the sun and have sufficient gravity to assume a nearly-round shape. The IAU decision added a third caveat, that planets must "clear the neighborhood around their orbit," meaning that they must be the only object of substantial size in their local region.   Pluto easily meets the first two criteria, but fails the third. The result? Pluto — along with Eris, Sedna and other large TNOs — were re-classified as "dwarf planets."   Making the Case: Pluto Is Number Nine   Much of the drive to reclaim Pluto's status stems from a sense of familiarity; we've always known Pluto as a planet, so why not reverse the decision to keep things simple?   "The Reclassification of Asteroids from Planets to Non-planets," published on Science Direct, examines the use of the word "planet" in scientific literature published since 1802. According to researcher and lead author of the study Philip Metzger, "We now have a list of well over 100 recent examples of planetary scientists using the word planet in a way that violates the IAU definition, but they are doing it because it's functionally useful."   For Metzger and other Pluto-as-a-planet supporters, planetary taxonomy and geophysical differences should determine celestial body status — not IAU voting. Their verdict? Pluto was, and is, planet number nine.   Rebuttal: Not so Fast, Dwarf Planet   As noted above, the discovery of new TNOs made it clear that Pluto wasn't the biggest, farthest object orbiting the sun. Evolving technology and detection methods revealed that Pluto is part of the Kuiper Belt, a ring of dwarf planets, ice balls and comets that number in the trillions and orbit beyond Neptune, said Popular Science. In fact, new research by Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin, who helped discover Eris and led the down-with-Pluto movement, suggests that another, super-massive "Planet Nine" may account for odd orbits of many TNOs and be the rightful successor to Pluto's planetary crown, according to Scientific American.   For dwarf-planet drivers, the demotion of Pluto isn't problematic. The world remains compelling, and concern around the third criteria set out by the IAU — how we can discover if extrasolar objects have "cleared their neighborhood" — has been addressed by recent scientific work. UCLA professor Jean-Luc Margot discovered that if you know the mass of an object, its orbital distance/period and the lifetime of its planetary system, it's possible to determine if the object meets IAU criteria with 99 percent accuracy.   Classifying the Cosmos   What's the big deal with the planet/dwarf planet debate? It starts with the Pluto discovery: Despite more recent data, it's hard to shake 75 years of Pluto-as-a-planet literature, research and mnemonic devices like "My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas."   The problem? New discoveries — such as the TRAPPIST-1 system, which boasts seven Earth-sized planets and three within the star's "habitable zone" — demand the most accurate information possible as humankind looks to touch the stars. While Pluto and similar worlds offer massive research potential, the IAU's decision helps narrow the definition of planet to one that more closely matches what we observe on Earth and could help inform the future of habitable planet exploration.   Is Pluto a Planet?   So what is Pluto's status? It depends on your perspective. New IAU criteria append the "dwarf" label and remove its planetary designation; historical use suggests that geophysical features may be the ideal differentiator between terms and evolving scientific consensus will determine the best nomenclature.   Planet or not, Pluto gets plenty of attention — hopefully leading to continuing debate that helps drive public curiosity about the structure, scale and scope of our solar system. 

Pluto Discovery Debacle: Is Pluto a Planet?

As NASA celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, the space agency is also busy preparing for the next epic mission. NASA is planning to send living organisms beyond low Earth orbit to learn about deep-space radiation. In the experiment, yeast cells will travel as part of Artemis 1, a long-term deep space mission targeted for mid-2020. The data collected on the mission will help scientists understand how radiation affects living organisms. The last time NASA studied living organisms in space was half a century ago, during Apollo 17. This mission will be longer and farther from Earth, which could help prepare humans for deep space travel. What We Know About Deep Space Radiation On Earth, NASA team members study space radiation at the Brookhaven Laboratory. The facility is equipped with an ion accelerator that blasts charged particles at test subjects to mimic space radiation. Brookhaven reports that the sun and other galactic sources emit ions that can cause changes in a cell's ability to repair and reproduce. In other words, space radiation can mutate cells. For humans, this could lead to health problems such as "cataracts, cancer, and damage to the central nervous system." Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere shield most of us from most of the radiation, but astronauts aren't so lucky. Even at the International Space Station, which is still protected by the Earth's magnetic field, six months in space is equal to around 30 times the radiation a human is exposed to in a year on Earth, notes Science Alert. Astronauts have already demonstrated the effects of space travel on the human body, but deep space will expose them to much more radiation than previous missions. Future Deep Space Discoveries To prepare for deep-space radiation, the ISS crew recently conducted an experiment where they edited a yeast genome in space, according to Science Alert. The yeast will be stored onboard a 30-pound spacecraft called BioSentinel, according to Space.com. BioSentinel is the only biological experiment that will fly on Artemis 1, says NASA. This is the first mission that will utilize NASA's space launch system (SLS). Northrop Grumman built the solid rocket boosters for SLS, which is designed to carry humans to the moon, and eventually Mars and deep space. The goal is to study how radiation impacts yeast, which is a hearty organism that should be able to withstand the long journey. NASA's scientists selected yeast for this experiment because its DNA damage-repair process is similar to how human DNA behaves. The results of the experiment will help us understand the effects of space radiation on living organisms, which will help NASA prepare for future long-term manned missions to deep space. The microorganism's growth and metabolic activity will be measured using a three-color LED detection system and a metabolic indicator dye, according to NASA. The data will be stored onboard the spacecraft and transmitted down to Earth for analysis. The last time NASA studied living organisms in space it was with Apollo 17, which lasted less than two weeks. This time we'll have a chance to learn about the long-term effects of radiation because the plan is to gather data for 9-12 months. Much still remains unknown about deep-space radiation, but the biological experiment will give us a glimpse into what people can expect on the way to future deep-space discoveries.

What Occurs When Living Organisms Encounter Deep Space Radiation?

 Since then-President Obama's announcement in early 2015, precision medicine has been an even bigger buzzword in medical research. It's one of those terms you hear frequently, but what exactly is it? And what makes it so important for future health care?  Precision or Personalized?  It's both, but definitely not average. The term replaces the older description, personalized medicine. Although they mean roughly the same thing, precision medicine is the preferred term for "developing treatment and preventive medicine for individuals based on genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors." In translation: instead of a one-size-fits-all approach for an average patient, the precision approach looks at individual variability when mapping out the treatment plan that has the best chance of success. Doctors base the drug choices on the individual patient's genetics. Precision for Cancer Treatment  So, apart from maximizing success, what makes precision medicine so important?  Consider cancer, one of the short-term goals outlined in Mr. Obama's 2015 initiative. Characterizing a patient's cancer helps clinicians design an effective treatment plan. Tissue profiling reveals cell markers that are useful when choosing chemotherapeutic drugs. For example, breast cancers that overexpress the HER2 receptor respond very well to trastuzumab (Herceptin) treatment, whereas those with abundant estrogen receptors respond better to hormone therapy. This kind of approach can also customize treatment for other conditions. Enter the Omics Gang  How do doctors know what works?  Omics is shorthand for a suite of biotechnologies devoted to uncovering the secrets of the genome (DNA), the proteome (proteins), the transcriptome (how genes translate into proteins) and more. Essentially, omics researchers study the basic machinery of the cell and how growth, aging, disease and nutrition affect it. These technologies underpin most research into precision medicine. By studying thousands of individuals, researchers build a picture of health, disease and risk.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Cataloging the genomic information from thousands of individuals in large population cohorts, and then matching it up with health, environmental and lifestyle records shows genes associated with specific diseases. In tumors, it shows how sensitive they are to chemotherapy. The Data Effect  Omics technology is advancing very rapidly and generating vast amounts of data. Sequencing a person's genome first took almost 10 years and $3 billion; current next generation sequencing (NGS) instruments will whiz through around 18,000 individuals or more in a year. Proteomics technology is catching up rapidly.  One genome generates around 780 MB of data out of around 30 terabytes of raw NGS data; typical proteome datasets run into many gigabytes in size. Studying thousands of individuals for population studies generates terabytes of data — approximately 40, according to one article. And that takes a lot of processing power to analyze for clinically relevant results — more than can be done manually, so biomathematicians develop algorithms and other software tools to tease the answers from the digital soup. Bioinformatics for storing and accessing electronic health records is vital for precision medicine research. Furthermore, IT systems such as the Northrop Grumman-supported MedDRA initiative encode health information consistently ensure that data banks can talk to each other, with advances in cybersecurity ensuring patient privacy despite the cross talk.  ... Is This Where the Robots Come In?  Yes. Just think of where all that data comes from.  Population studies are as big as they sound; the Million Veteran Program collects biosamples from U.S. veterans, around 400,000 so far. It aims to generate omics data that — in conjunction with information on health, lifestyle and environment — will translate into clinical practice. That's a lot of samples to handle, store and analyze.  Furthermore, microelectronics advances mean that omics instruments handle more samples at a faster rate. Next-generation sequencers such as the Illumina HiSeq and the Thermo Fisher Ion Torrent use chip-based and semiconductor technology to decode genomic materials. A simple flash of fluorescence or change in pH zaps DNA base pair information into a digital format much faster than old-school gel-based Sanger sequencing.  In order to exploit the speed of these tools, robotic handling manages everything from sample aliquots for biobank storage, to 384-well plate assay wrangling. Their speed and automation bring faster results with fewer errors.  Robotic or automated workflows are also important for nanotechnology and microfluidics where the miniaturization that reduces instrument footprint and sample volume also precludes manual input. Even though they will benefit from precision medicine, our clumsy fingers and thumbs are not as welcome in the lab as they once were.

Precision Medicine, Nanotechnology and the Rise of the Robot

Space exploration is not only about seeing the wonders of the universe. Perhaps most of all, it's a search for life, and an answer to the question of whether we're alone in the universe. The search for life beyond Earth continues within our solar system; the search also extends far beyond the solar system, where we aim to discover earthlike exoplanets. Water, Water Anywhere Water is the holy grail in the search for extraterrestrial life, says Northrop Grumman's Robert Lockwood, project manager for NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission. Liquid water is essential for terrestrial life; it's so friendly to complex organic chemistry that it's regarded as the most likely environment for life elsewhere in the universe. Within the solar system, we know that Mars once had seas and rivers, and liquid water still occasionally flows on its surface. Meanwhile, Jupiter's moon Europa has a smooth, icy surface, beneath which, scientists believe, lurks a hidden ocean deeper than any on Earth. Oceans Beyond the Sun The search for potential life beyond the solar system is in some ways simpler, but it's incredibly demanding due to the enormous distances involved. Currently, TESS's mission is examining candidate stars within about 300 light-years of Earth — close enough to allow for future follow-up examination of the exoplanets that TESS discovers. What are TESS and other extrasolar survey observations — both space-based and ground-based — looking for? In a nutshell, said EarthSky, they are looking for "Goldilocks" conditions, just right. That means planets that are roughly earth-sized, big enough to hold an atmosphere, but not so big as to be mostly gas or liquid, like Jupiter or even Neptune. Moreover, the planet must orbit in its parent star's habitable zone, hot enough that any oceans don't freeze solid, but not so hot that they boil away. Seeing Past the Shadows What makes the search so challenging, Lockwood noted, is that current instruments, even the most powerful, don't allow astronomers to actually see extrasolar planets. Instead, astronomers must currently suss out planets by observing indirect effects, like the planet's bulk blocking part of its parent star, slightly dimming the star's light — the technique used by the TESS mission. This will change next year, when NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch into orbit. The JWST, as it is known, will be able to take spectroscopic images (which separate light into its individual wavelengths, or spectrum) of the light from the star as it interacts with the planet's atmosphere. The wavelengths of light absorbed or emitted will allow investigators to search for telltale signs of water vapor in a planetary atmosphere. Teegarden's Star and Beyond One current list of prime candidate exoplanets, from the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, identifies 55 leading candidates. One candidate seems to be substantially smaller than Earth, while 20 others are closer to earth-sized. The remaining 34 are classed as "super-Earths" and "mini-Neptunes." NASA provided a handy graphic showing the estimated sizes of five of the most earthlike exoplanets. And ScienceAlert reported on the recent discovery of two prime candidates orbiting a dim red dwarf star called Teegarden's Star. They orbit their parent star every few days, much more frequently than Mercury orbits our Sun (once about every 80 days), but the star is so faint that both planets are in its habitable zone. And Teegarden's Star is a mere 12.2 light-years away. This is currently too far for crews to travel to with present-day technology, but spacecraft may be able to reach these worlds with more innovations in space travel. For example, if we learn to build space probes capable of approaching the speed of light, a mission to this pair of worlds will not take much longer than the interplanetary missions that NASA has already undertaken. JWST observations of planets around Teegarden's star will mark a giant step in the search for habitable planets beyond Earth.

The Hunt for Earthlike Exoplanets

When two black holes with a combined mass of more than 50 suns crash headlong into each other, you might expect it to shake things up — and you would be right. A black hole collision in a galaxy nearly 2 billion light-years away produced a cosmic jolt so powerful that it was detected in the summer of 2017 by three widely separated observatory instruments on Earth. Two of the instruments, as the National Science Foundation reports, belong to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, a project funded by the NSF. The two independent LIGO detectors are located in Louisiana and Washington state, while the third detector, called Virgo, is located in Italy. According to the NSF, the black hole collision, detected Aug. 14, 2017, is the first triple detection of gravitational waves — a key benchmark because three independent observations of an event allow much better pinpointing of the event's location in the universe. Things Predicted by Uncle Albert Black holes and gravitational waves combine two of the most astonishing predictions made by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. One of these predictions is black holes, objects so massive and so compact that not even light can escape their intense gravitational fields. The other prediction is that gravity, like other forms of energy, is propagated as waves, what the NSF describes as "ripples in space and time." Black holes are so called because they cannot be seen directly, since no light can escape them. They can be detected by their effects on nearby space, and have been found by those means for years, according to Space.com. Until a couple of years ago, gravitational waves had eluded scientists. The reason, paradoxically, is that gravity is the weakest force in the universe. As PBS notes, gravity is vastly weaker than other forces, such as magnetism — thus a small magnet can lift an iron weight against the gravitational pull of the entire Earth.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content. Shaking Up the Universe Gravitational waves are so weak that it took a hundred years for physicists and engineers to come up with instruments, such as LIGO and Virgo, that can detect them. Yet, they are so powerful that they can shake up the universe for billions of light-years in all directions. The black hole collision detected in 2017 originated with two black holes in orbit of one another. One black hole weighed about 25 times more than the sun; the other about 31 times more. They continued to orbit each other until they collided in an event that took place about 1.8 billion light-years away, resulting in a spinning black hole with a mass of about 53 times the sun, according to the NSF. That mass was converted into gravitational-wave energy — enough to jiggle our most sensitive instruments here on Earth, 1.8 billion light-years away. The LIGO and Virgo teams predict that, as they fine-tune their instruments, they will be able to detect gravitational wave signals weekly. And as with every new window into the universe, our wildest imagination will be nothing to the surprises we are sure to discover.

A Black Hole Collision Really Makes Waves

A lost galaxy has been uncovered in a new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. In truth, the galaxy was never really lost — but it was buried in stardust. "Astronomy is and always will be a technology-limited science," says Jonathan Arenberg, Chief Engineer for Space Science Missions at Northrop Grumman. Arenberg explains that the new image was created using a combination of several sensors — notably, infrared sensors that can see through the dust that likely clouded earlier views of the galaxy. German-British astronomer William Herschel observed the galaxy, dubbed NGC 4535, in 1785, according to Sci-News.com. The galaxy is located in the Virgo Cluster, and when it's viewed through a small ground-based telescope, it looks fuzzy because the light is dispersed through the dust. In the 1950s, amateur astronomer and poet Leland S. Copeland observed the galaxy and named it "the lost galaxy," likely due to its hazy appearance. Getting to Know NGC 4535 The lost galaxy is one of the largest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, which is located 50 million light-years from Earth. This distance across space-time means that, by the time we are able to observe it, we aren't seeing a current image. Rather, we're observing the galaxy's light as it was 50 million years ago. In the context of the history of the universe, this was just a few years after the dinosaurs died, Arenberg explains. "If somebody on that cluster could have seen Earth, they wouldn't have seen humans," he says. "That gives you an idea of how big and far apart things are." Atlas of the Universe points out that the Virgo Cluster has roughly 2,000 galaxies (many of which are dwarf galaxies) in a diameter of approximately 15 million light-years. In comparison, our Milky Way galaxy is in the Local Group, which contains 50 times the number of galaxies in a similar diameter. NGC 4535 is a barred spiral galaxy; it has a spiral structure that is similar to the Milky Way's but with a distinct bar throughout the center and arms stretching from the bar. Older Telescopes vs. Hubble Previous observations of the lost galaxy likely struggled to capture a clear picture because of several limitations with older telescopes, Arenberg says. First, ground-based telescopes have to look through Earth's atmosphere. Some larger ground-based observatories have additional sensors to make up for the atmospheric challenges, but Herschel and Copeland likely could only see visible light. Plus, Hubble is much bigger than the telescopes they would have used and can capture more light. Mostly, the difference is the technology. We can think of old telescopes as being like older cameras that use film. "They would have a thin film of photosensitive material such as silver salt, and when the light hit it, it would change the chemistry to create a negative," Arenberg says. Hubble, on the other hand, has a suite of charge-coupled devices (CCDs), which are like the array of sensors in a digital camera or smartphone. "As light falls on the sensor, it takes that light and turns it into a series of numbers that is a representation of an image," says Arenberg. The lost galaxy has a lot of dust, which is hard to see through because dust scatters light. The longer the wavelength, the less light scatters, so if the earlier astronomers were using a naked eye or film, the dust would have scattered the light from the galaxy, making it appear fuzzy or "lost." Hubble mostly observes visible light, but it also has some capability in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This allows astronomers to lay data from different wavelengths on top of each other to create a picture of the barred spiral galaxy. "Infrared essentially peels away the dust," he says. "And the Webb Telescope will do that in spades because it is designed to primarily work in the infrared range." A Note About Color The breathtaking image of NGC 4535 was created with scientific data and a bit of artistic license. Hubble doesn't actually take color photos, as NASA points out. Instead, it uses several different filters to observe objects in space and represents the intensity of light in different numbers. Humans can only see colors in visible light, which is a relatively tiny portion of the spectrum. Our eyes can't see light in X-rays or infrared, so astronomers choose colors that we can see to represent the images in ways that our eyes and brains can process and appreciate. For example, in the image of the lost galaxy, the yellower stars represent the older, cooler stars that are clustered at the center of the galaxy, as Live Science reports. Meanwhile, the bright blue stars represent the younger, hotter stars in the galaxy's arms. Future Observations and the Importance of Dust When Webb launches later in 2021, it will be approximately 100 times more powerful than Hubble, with an emphasis on using infrared sensors to observe early galaxies. "If Webb were to look at the same galaxy, we would have a crisper view of the stars and the arms of the galaxy," Arenberg says. "The dust halo that we see now would be diminished." While Webb is Hubble's successor, it isn't meant to be its replacement. Instead, both telescopes could be used in tandem, with Hubble focusing on the visible light and Webb focusing on infrared. "They are fundamentally different kinds of instruments, but operating together, they provide much more powerful insight than either one of them operating alone," Arenberg explains. Dust can get in the way and cloud our views of planets and stars in galaxies such as NGC 4535. But understanding the physics and science of space dust is crucial to our understanding of the universe, so we don't want to ignore it. The elements that make up our very existence come from dust moving in space, pushing around heavier elements. "The planet that we live on and the atoms that make up our bodies are manufactured as a result of the evolving universe, and they got to this planet — they got to our ancestors and into us because of dust transport," Arenberg explains. In order to make the best observations of objects in the universe, we need to use several different tools to view space. Ideally, we would look at the lost galaxy with every band of the electromagnetic spectrum — from high-energy, short-wavelength gamma rays to low-energy long-wavelength radio waves and everything in between. In order to observe and understand the universe and how it evolves, we need observations from every part of the spectrum. The recently released image of NGC 4535 emphasizes this point, demonstrating why we need so many different tools — Hubble, Webb and ground telescopes alike — to collect data from the universe at different wavelengths and energies. "There is not one perfect wavelength that will unlock the secrets of the universe," says Arenberg. Hubble's Eventual Descent More than three decades after it launched, the Hubble space telescope continues to provide valuable data for scientists to study and stunning images that inspire amateurs and experts alike. Eventually, NASA will need to retire Hubble and safely remove it from orbit. Arenberg explains that Hubble is located in a low Earth orbit, not entirely out of our atmosphere. "It bumps into the occasional molecule and suffers drag," he says. Plus, it is large enough that it probably wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere the way smaller objects do, and we wouldn't want it to fall without control. Someday, scientists will guide it to safely return home. Until then, we can look forward to continued observations, soon with the added boost of Webb's infrared eyes toward even more distant galaxies. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Uncovering a Lost Galaxy in the Virgo Cluster

Women in aerospace have been making important strides in the field ever since June 16, 1963, when Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova blasted into the blue beyond to become the first woman to travel in space. As the rocked launched, BBC notes that the 26-year-old shouted, "Hey, sky, take off your hat, I'm on my way!" Over three days, she completed 48 orbits of Earth aboard the Vostok 6, literally blazing a trail for female astronauts who followed. In the half century since, 58 other women in aerospace have demonstrated what Linda Cureton, the first African-American CIO of NASA, calls "leadership courage," the kind that helps someone overcome the fear embedded in being the first to do something remarkable: "The fear looks like voices in your head. It looks like the people saying you can't do it. It looks like a mountain too high to climb," said Cureton, who retired from NASA in 2013 and is now the founder and CEO of Muse Technologies. But it's also the fear that motivates, she said. "Courage takes that fear and turns it into preparations for success." In honor of International Women's Day, here are three courageous women who left indelible impressions on history — not just for women, but for everyone. First U.S. Woman in Space "'The moment of the launch, when the engines actually ignited and the solid rockets lit, everyone on the crew was, for a few seconds, overcome with what was about to happen to us,'" Sally Ride said in an interview for PBS. She was talking about the seconds before blasting into the cosmos aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. But another thing was happening on that 18th day of June 1983. Ride was making history as the first U.S. woman to travel into space. As a mission specialist for STS-7, NASA's seventh shuttle trip, Ride operated the shuttle's robotic arm to deploy and retrieve communication satellites. A little more than a year later, on Oct. 5, 1984, Ride went into space for a second mission, STS-41-G. Again, she used the spacecraft's robotic arm, this time to remove ice from the shuttle's exterior and to readjust a radar antenna. Though she had an advanced degree in astrophysics and was a trained astronaut, talking with the press proved to be a difficult challenge for Ride. Journalists asked Ride questions that focused more on her gender and less on her skills. "'Everybody wanted to know what kind of makeup I was taking up,'" Ride said in an interview for PBS. Years later, for a segment on NOVA, Ride said she felt that the extra attention she received made her all the more determined to do things right. Sadly, Sally Ride passed away at age 61 on July 23, 2012, from pancreatic cancer. When her obituary was published, stating that Ride was survived by Tam O'Shaughnessy, her "partner of 27 years," the world realized that Ride had achieved another first: the first gay woman in space. First African-American Woman in Space "'I was a young girl who used to stare up at the stars. I imagined myself going there,'" said Mae Carol Jemison in an interview for NOVA. On Sept. 12, 1992, Jemison fulfilled her wish. She flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-47, and in doing so became the first African-American woman in space. Her journey to space took an unconventional route. In 1981, Jemison obtained her M.D. degree from Cornell Medical College and began working as a general practitioner. Her passion for healthcare took her to many different countries, including Cuba, Kenya, Cambodia and Thailand, where she provided care to people without access to basic medical services. Jemison joined the Peace Corps, and from 1983 to 1985 she worked as a Peace Corps Medical Officer in Liberia and Sierra Leone. But she always had her eyes on the stars. After seeing Sally Ride go into space, Jemison said she felt that NASA had become open to accepting women into the space program. "'I picked up the phone. I called down to Johnson Space Center. I said, 'I would like an application to be an astronaut.' They didn't laugh,'" she said in the NOVA interview. On June 4, 1987, Jemison became the first African-American woman to be admitted into the NASA astronaut training program, earning the title of mission specialist. Onboard, she conducted scientific experiments related to bone cell research, weightlessness, fertility, motion sickness and others. "'Once I got into space, I was feeling very comfortable in the universe. I felt like I had a right to be anywhere in this universe, that I belonged here as much as any speck of stardust, any comet, any planet,'" said Jemison. Among many of her accomplishments, Jemison has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the National Medical Association Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the National Organization for Women's Intrepid Award. Today, she leads 100 Year Starship, a global nonprofit initiative to ensure that humans have the capacity to travel beyond our solar system within the next 100 years. "I did always want to be an astronaut just like her," Cureton says of Jemison. But when Cureton was a young girl, she didn't see any astronauts that looked like her. While at NASA, Cureton participated in many STEM events designed to encourage girls to pursue careers in science and technology. "I wanted the young girls to see somebody like them in places that they dreamed to go," she said. First Woman Space Shuttle Commander "'When I was very young and first started reading about astronauts, there were no women astronauts,'" Eileen Collins said in a NASA press statement. Collins helped change that, and, in the course of her career as an astronaut, she accomplished two aerospace firsts: She became the first female space shuttle pilot and the first female shuttle commander. From the time Collins was a little girl, she wanted to be a pilot. She said she was inspired by astronauts, including John Glenn and Alan Shepherd, who flew in Project Mercury — the U.S.'s first human spaceflight program, running from 1958 through 1963. Even though she had no female astronauts for role models, Collins followed her dream. After earning a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from Syracuse University in 1978, Collins enrolled in a pilot training course at Oklahoma's Vance Air Force Base. It was one of the first classes at the base to include women. She eventually became a test pilot and in 1990 was selected as a NASA astronaut, said Biography.com. As commander of STS-93, which launched on July 23, 1999, Collins led a four-day mission to deploy the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, an instrument designed to detect X-ray emission from hot regions of the universe. In 2005, Collins served as commander for a second shuttle mission, STS-114. Throughout her career, Collins received many awards, including an Air Force Commendation Medal and a NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. Collins was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and retired on May 1, 2006. Do these women inspire you to follow a career in aerospace? Check out our Careers Page to see how you can become the next trailblazer. 

Celebrating Women in Aerospace

Early Greek astronomers pictured the universe resembling an onion. At the center was Earth. Surrounding it, like onion layers, were successive layers of the universe, extending out past the planets to the outermost layer that contained the distant stars. Copernicus and Galileo helped to replace this early "geocentric" model of the universe with a better one in which planets orbited the sun — the heliocentric model. People today scoff at the old onion-layer universe, but this visualization has made a comeback when it comes to satellites and other space-bound tech. The types of orbits that our satellites are launched into form successive layers surrounding Earth. Layers of the Sky The number of possible types of orbits that spacecraft can be launched into is unlimited, since even tiny differences in speed, direction, and angle of launch will carry a spacecraft into different orbits. And all these possible orbits have distinct properties that determine what missions a spacecraft in that orbit can perform — and how difficult it is to launch a vehicle into that orbit. For example, most space launches are "eastbound" — they use the Earth's rotation to provide an extra little boost of speed on their way to orbit. But some satellites are launched on a nearly north-south trajectory, allowing them to pass over the polar regions and to survey different parts of the Earth on every orbit. But the most important distinction among types of orbits is how high (or distant) an orbit is, because this determines how fast the spacecraft must go to enter that orbit and, thus, how much rocket power it will need to get there. For this purpose, NASA classifies spacecraft and satellite orbits into three successive layers: low Earth orbit (often shortened to LEO), medium Earth orbit and high Earth orbit. Other international space agencies, such as the European Space Agency use this same simple terminology. Low Earth orbit, according to CSIS, includes orbits extending from just above the atmosphere, at an altitude of about 100 miles or 160 kilometers, out to about 2,000 kilometers. Satellites and spacecraft in LEO take about 90 minutes to two hours to make one full orbit. These orbits "only" call for reaching a speed of some 8 kilometers per second (around 5 miles a second, or 18,000 mph). Low Earth orbit offers several advantages for a spacecraft. If you want to look back at Earth, you have a closer view from low orbit. Earth's Van Allen belts also protect you here from deep-space radiation. In part, because of this protection factor, all human spaceflights since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s have stayed in low Earth orbit, and this is where the International Space Station orbits. But the biggest advantage of LEO is that it is easier to reach than other types of orbits. Thus, more than half of all active satellites are in low orbits. The View From on High At the other end of the range of orbit types is high Earth orbit— orbits at or beyond what NASA calls the "sweet spot" of 42,162 kilometers from the center of the Earth, or about 23,000 miles above ground level. At this level, as Space.com explains, a satellite orbiting directly above the equator is in a geosynchronous Earth orbit (often abbreviated to GEO). It takes a satellite in GEO about 24 hours to orbit the Earth once. Since this is the length of one day, a satellite in this orbit appears to hang in the sky directly above one spot on the equator. This is extremely convenient for some technologies, such as satellite dishes. They don't have to slew around to follow a satellite; they can just point to one spot in the sky where the satellite will always be. Orbits that are variations on the geosynchronous theme can also be very handy. If a satellite is placed in an inclined orbit at this same altitude, observers on the ground will see it drift north and south in the sky each day, following what looks like a figure-eight pattern, but it will never drift east or west far enough to drop below the horizon. GEO and its variations are so useful that high Earth orbit accounts for about a third of all satellites, and the great majority of satellites not in low Earth orbit. Some research satellites are in even more distant high Earth orbits, often to minimize interference from Earth-based sources of radio noise. Caught in the Middle? Between LEO and high Earth orbit (including GEO and its cousins) is the domain called medium Earth orbit. While these orbits are less frequently used than either low Earth orbits or high Earth orbits (which between them account for more than 90% of all satellites), these intermediate orbits are useful for some applications. For example, satellites in a circular orbit at 26,560 kilometers from the center of Earth have an orbital period of exactly 12 hours, making them easy to track and locate. Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, which are used to determine precise locations on Earth, use orbits of this type. Another medium orbit, called by the Russian name Molniya, is particularly well suited for communicating with locations at high latitudes on Earth, which GEO satellites above the equator may be unable to reach. Today these types of orbits are mainly of interest to specialists, while human spaceflight is — for now — confined to low Earth orbit, or suborbital missions that pop up briefly into space but never reach orbital speed. But in the decades to come, these onion-layer levels of orbits around Earth will become far more familiar — perhaps the equivalent of postal codes, identifying regions that people visit, or even their home addresses. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Types of Orbits: Our Onion-Layer Universe

When Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi sighted an unknown celestial object on the night of January 1, 1801, he first thought that he'd started out the new year by discovering a comet. That "comet" would later become known as the asteroid Ceres. As Piazzi continued his observations, he grew doubtful about his comet theory. According to NASA, Piazzi wrote that, "owing to its lack of nebulosity, and to its motion being so slow and rather uniform, I feel in the heart that it could be something better than a comet, perhaps." Moreover, the orbit fit neatly into the wide gap between Mars and Jupiter — a gap where astronomers already suspected another planet might lurk. Piazzi named Ceres after the ancient Roman goddess of agriculture, NASA also explains, and it was briefly hailed as the eighth planet of the solar system, even though it was much smaller and fainter than its celestial neighbors Mars and Jupiter. From Planet Ceres to Asteroid Ceres Over the next few years, though, astronomers discovered other bodies, smaller even than Ceres, with similar orbits between Mars and Jupiter. Along with Ceres, they came to be regarded as less than full-fledged planets, and as Space.com reports, all of them collectively were dubbed the asteroid belt. Pigeonholed as simply the largest asteroid, Ceres was somewhat ignored for the next 200 years. Meanwhile, history was repeating itself in the far outer solar system. Pluto, discovered beyond Neptune in 1930, was regarded as the ninth planet for decades, even though it was much smaller than any other planet or several large moons (including Earth's). But starting in the late 20th century astronomers discovered several other Pluto-sized objects in the far outer system. Finally, in 2006, astronomers defined a new class of astronomical body, dwarf planets, smaller than the major planets but larger than any mere asteroid. Pluto, demoted to a "dwarf planet," became a cause celebre for schoolkids (who had one less planet to memorize). Hardly anyone but astronomers noted that the object formerly known as the asteroid Ceres was then promoted to a dwarf planet at the same time. Getting Melty The distinction between dwarf planets and asteroids is all about geology and how they were formed. The formation process of any large astronomical body produces heat, as smaller particles or chunks bump together and coalesce. If the object grows large enough — about 600 miles across — this heat becomes so intense that it melts the interior. Denser materials sink to the core, while less dense materials float above them. Ceres is the one and only object in the asteroid belt that grew large enough to undergo this melting and layering process. Thus, it is the only asteroid to be reclassed as a dwarf planet. As Astronomy magazine notes, not long after this reclassification, NASA launched the Dawn space mission to explore the two largest members of the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres. Results from the mission confirmed that Ceres — but not smaller Vesta — underwent the melting and layering process that marks a dwarf planet. But the Dawn mission findings have done much more than that. The melting and layering of Ceres was expected. What no one expected, says Sky & Telescope, was that the reclassed dwarf planet would turn out to be an ocean world. The Briny Deep The most conspicuous surface feature on Ceres, imaged by the Dawn probe, is a crater 57 miles across named Occator (for a minor Roman harvest god who assisted Ceres). And one of the most distinct things about Occator, per Astronomy, is bright areas on its surface. These have been identified as salt beds. And like salt beds on Earth, they indicate the former presence of water, even if the water has long since evaporated. But in a new twist, according to Earthsky.org, closer examination has shown that Ceres is still geologically active, with "cryovolcanoes" that erupt with steam and liquid water instead of lava. The impact that formed the Occator crater took place about 20 million years ago, and by now, the heat from the impact should have dissipated enough for melted subsurface ice to freeze again. However, the presence of active cryovolcanoes suggests that cracks in Ceres' crust allow liquid brine (extremely salty water) to push up from the mantle layer below. Putting it another way, below its crust of dusty rubble, much of the interior of Ceres is a very salty sea. The high salt content of the brine pushes its freezing point far below zero degrees Centigrade, allowing it to remain liquid even at Ceres' large distance from the sun (nearly three times Earth's) with a frigid surface temperature of about -130 degrees F. As one researcher, Julie Castillo-Rogez, notes in a National Geographic article, Ceres' subsurface ocean is "definitely not for scuba diving — it's like a big swamp" full of very cold, salty mud. But while Ceres may never become a popular diving spot, the building blocks of life could have taken form in the environment of early Ceres. From comet to asteroid to potential abode of life, the solar system's innermost dwarf planet has undergone an extraordinary journey of discovery in the two centuries and two decades since Giuseppe Piazzi first spotted it.

Ceres: From Asteroid to Ocean World

Vodafone Germany and Nokia have teamed up to build an ultra-lightweight, space-worthy cellular network unit — a cellular tower to be placed on the moon. If all goes well, cell phone service will become available on the moon next year.    Why provide cell phone service on the moon? The last time anyone traveled to the moon was 1972, and at Northrop Grumman, we remember this well: Every human who went to the moon and back did so aboard parent company Grumman's Lunar Module. Cellular technology obviously didn't exist at that time, but today, it could solve some issues related to lunar missions.      Driving on the Moon   The lunar 4G network will be carried out next year aboard the spacecraft ALINA, which, according to Space.com, will become the first privately owned spacecraft to reach the moon. The name ALINA is short for Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module, and its payload will include not only the cellular network infrastructure, but also a pair of lunar rovers built by Audi. The four-wheel-drive rovers, designed using 3D printing, are built to handle difficult terrain and are equipped with solar panels.       Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   Established Technology, New Challenges   The ALINA mission was conceived and designed by a German-based organization, PTScientists. Rather than develop a special one-off communication system to link ALINA with its rovers, the team realized that it could reduce development costs by adapting established cell phone technology to provide a base station for communicating with and directing the rovers.   Of course, your cell phone is not rated to work in outer space, and most cellular towers are too heavy for a practical space mission. The ALINA mission, according to Space.com, will carry a space-rated version of Nokia's Ultra Compact Network — the lightest cellular station ever built, weighing in at 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, slightly heavier than a quart of milk.   One Small Step for Lunar Infrastructure   As reported by Jason Daley at Smithsonian magazine, the lunar rovers carried by the ALINA mission will use their cell phone links to send back images and data more efficiently than conventional "analog" radio links would allow.   The objective of this initial mission, per Smithsonian magazine, will be to study an earlier model of the lunar rover — the one carried by Apollo 17 in 1972. The astronauts abandoned the rover, along with the landing stage of the Grumman Lunar Module that carried them there. (The astronauts were carried safely back to lunar orbit by the module's ascent stage.)   But if all goes reasonably well, there will be further missions — and further need for cell phone service on the moon, including handling phone calls by future lunar astronauts.   

Coming Soon: Cell Phone Service on the Moon

The future of space travel might seem stalled at the moment, but Aldo Spadoni believes humankind won't remain earthbound for long. A longtime advanced projects manager for Northrop Grumman, Spadoni is now retired at 60 but still working as a technical consultant for his former employer and movies like "Iron Man." For him, it's not science fiction or even an untenable reality that the U.S. and other countries can again explore Earth's moon and one day finally reach Mars. With continued growth in private initiatives, cooperation between governments and — most importantly — innovative engineering, he thinks that the next 100 years look bright for space travel. "Planning for the next 100 years has nothing to do with prediction," Spadoni said. "We have to make sound plans. We have to think for the long term, and we have to keep the 'mission' focused." Private Space Initiatives Give Hope The general public might think that the pace of space exploration has slowed since NASA ended the Space Shuttle program in 2011, but several developments point to actual progress. First, the habitable International Space Station has hovered in low-Earth orbit for more than 7,000 days running, and astronauts from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and Russia continue to conduct groundbreaking research onboard. At the same time, private initiatives are all aiming to win the "Billionaire Space Race" by respectively trying to build spacecraft that will lead to sustainable and consistent trips to the moon, Mars and maybe beyond, said The New York Times. Those initiatives give Spadoni hope that in about 25 years, moon colonization will begin, and that within a century, Mars will start to be inhabited by Earthlings. Even though NASA hasn't had an extended period of triumph like the successive Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs that initiated the first human spaceflights and subsequent landings on the moon, the future of space travel is far from limited, he said. For one, billionaire ventures as well as other private efforts like Stratolaunch are reducing the potential cost of space launches and journeys, Spadoni said. The competition for profit in private industry can lead to innovative engineering at a lower cost than government projects, he said. Stratolaunch, for example, looks promising for its ability to launch satellite-carrying rockets at an altitude of 35,000 feet, he said. Because it is an airplane, Stratolaunch can take off from many locations and avoid costly weather-related delays. And NASA's plan to someday launch an outpost for astronauts near the moon, the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, shows Spadoni that government space programs still have a vital role in space exploration. If public and private work together, there should be a forward thrust in space travel not seen since the days of Apollo, he added. Overcoming Gravity and Radiation Even if private sector and government cooperation kick-starts a steady round of space missions, that still doesn't mean there won't be hurdles to overcome if the moon and Mars are to be explored and colonized in the next 100 years. First, Spadoni said, there are two unavoidable hurdles that will always make space travel expensive and physically challenging: radiation and gravity. Radiation poses a risk once space flights pass low-Earth orbit. "Radiation protection wouldn't be too hard [for those living] on the moon or Mars because we could bury habitats under several feet of rock or dirt," Spadoni said. But humans would have to first build those habitats and travel to the moon and Mars, which could take six to eight months and lengthen exposure to radiation. A spacecraft with an effective radiation shield that is also lightweight would be essential, and might not be expensive if private companies intend to profit from its development, he explained. Journeys to Mars and extended colonization both there and on the moon mean overcoming the problems of low gravity. It would be ideal to have space travelers experience gravity levels as close to Earth as possible, and that would mean the creation of artificial gravity through a spinning spacecraft or other mechanisms, Spadoni said. "That's hard to do," he added. "Also, how much artificial gravity is enough? Is one-sixth of Earth's gravity enough?" Cooperation for Exploration With an expanded roster of people and organizations wanting to explore space, ethical issues could arise. A private company could have nefarious reasons for going to space, including warfare or the strip-mining of planets' natural resources, Spadoni said. And he thinks it's not far-fetched to wonder if children who are born in a moon or Mars colony might not be accepted on Earth should they try to journey back. Basically, there's no road map for this next chapter in space exploration, but to prevent space from becoming a lawless place, "we need global cooperation," Spadoni said. Space travel could be a necessity if Earth succumbs to environmental degradation, disease or war, he added. That's why cooperation, economic incentive and engineering ingenuity are musts if future generations are to make homes away from Earth. 

The Future of Space Travel

More than 560 specially trained astronauts have flown into space since 1961. Before traveling, all were closely monitored and pushed to physical fitness by an elite crew of physicians trained in space medicine. But as billions of dollars pour into space tourism and other extraterrestrial endeavors, hundreds, if not thousands, of space travelers of various ages and physical conditions will enter the frontier above Earth's atmosphere. The strong gravitational forces of a rocket launch followed by microgravity, cosmic radiation, isolation and other environmental factors could give rise to new medical conditions or exacerbate existing ones. General physicians who have never treated an astronaut may suddenly find themselves with patients that have ventured into the cosmos. Not only will doctors need to adopt methods from the field of space medicine — but space medicine may also need to adapt its approach to accommodate less-than-perfect specimens of physical fitness. In a pioneering academic paper published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, Jan Stepanek, a physician at the Mayo Clinic, and two other space medicine experts jump-start the conversation around these notions. They summarize for practicing clinicians the expected challenges an average person may face during different kinds of spaceflight, from brief suborbital flights to long-duration missions. In doing so, the scientists shed light on medical issues that doctors who have never met an astronaut may soon face as space tourism takes off. Short-Duration Suborbital Journeys The most affordable journeys (a few hundred thousand dollars) will likely consist of quick rocket rides that last about 10 minutes, according to Ars Technica. Zooming higher than almost any civilian has ever traveled, but much lower than the orbital realm where satellites fly, passengers will certainly feel like astronauts. Stepanek and his colleagues say that tourists on these brief flights can expect to hear incredibly loud noises and feel anxiety, motion sickness, vibrations, the g-forces of launch and a brief period of weightlessness. How those conditions affect individuals will vary. But based on data collected from parabolic airplane flights that simulate microgravity and three studies conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration, travelers should do well. In the FAA study, most participants, who ranged in age from 19 to 89, were able to tolerate centrifugal forces similar to those in suborbital flight. Long-term medical challenges should be minimal, the scientists say. Rocket Rides Lasting Up to Two Days Some space tourism companies, including Space Adventures, are advertising slightly longer trips, such as a trip around the moon. Travelers embarking on these sojourns can expect to hear and feel some of the same things as those taking short-duration rides, Stepanek and his team note — with one exception: Tourists will be in microgravity longer and may feel some more intense discomfort as fluid in the body adjusts. They can expect to feel headaches, congestion and pain in the lower back as their spine elongates. Long-term medical challenges should be minimal, but doctors may want to pay special attention to issues related to a patient's heart, lungs and spine, reports Space.com. These are issues that Earthbound doctors wouldn't typically worry about first. Sojourns for Two Days to 12 Months As space becomes a destination, accommodations will follow. Several space tourism groups are touting multi-day and even multi-week trips to the International Space Station or the moon, according to Popular Science. After just two days in space, though, things start to become more challenging. Space medicine experts state that prolonged weightlessness can adversely affect the cardiovascular and nervous systems, causing problems such as an increase in resting heart rate and a decrease in physical capability. The longer a space tourist remains beyond the protective layer of Earth's atmosphere, the higher the risk of problems from radiation. Scientists studying astronauts that have spent time in space have seen alterations in the function of immune cells — called T-cells, changes in the skin's microbiome, and susceptibility to virulent bacteria, Stepanek and his colleagues write. Anyone with preexisting medical conditions or a compromised immune system should be wary of long-term spaceflights. How Medicine Can Adapt As tourists embark on the frontiers of space, Earthbound medicine will need to adapt. Most of the astronauts that have traveled into space have been physically fit, healthy men, which means that the medical data accounting for the effects of space on women or on people of varying ages is lacking. Collecting medical information as soon as possible could reduce uncertainty and help doctors better recognize and treat problems that may crop up. But who will do it? Currently, space tourism companies are not required by law to only accept passengers that meet certain health criteria. And it's unlikely that commercial spaceflight vehicles will carry medical resources or people with medical skills, the medical experts say. Even today, medical support onboard the International Space Station comes over the radio from medical teams on the ground. Should a future space tourism hotel require medical supplies or equipment, it would take days or weeks to transport them via resupply rockets. For space tourists that venture beyond Earth, scientists say that preparation and training will be key — especially for longer duration flights. They suggest a strong collaboration among future spaceflight participants, the clinicians who care for them, and the industry operators to ensure safety and the ability to respond to emergencies. Space is within our grasp. Moving toward it will transform medicine as much as space travel will transform humanity.

How Space Tourism Will Push Space Medicine to New Heights

Time travel happens every day in a round-about way. Pieces of the past fall to the Earth in the form of meteors. Comets deliver particles from the early solar system as they blaze by the sun. Our air and soil carry radioactive traces of atoms from before our planet existed. Though eons of history come at us from every direction, these days, we also go to it, seeking out the future. To pave the way for asteroid mining missions and more, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer — traveled for 755 days. Gaining speed as it slung around Earth before heading into deep space, O-REx, as it's called in some circles, sailed up to the carbon-rich asteroid Bennu in December 2018. Visiting the Bennu Asteroid Bennu is one of 1.09 million known asteroids. Asteroids, in the aggregate, are hypothesized to be pieces of the primordial solar system that missed being swept into larger structures, such as a planet, moon or ring system. Individually, they contain varying amounts of water, metals and organic materials: all of which are original to the spinning disk that gave rise to every body ever explored by spacecraft, and all of which would be critical to building a future space settlement. O-REx isn't the first robotic explorer to go in search of pristine samples from billions of years ago. Using aerogel wands to capture particles from the tail of Wild 2, the comet-chasing Stardust spacecraft mission brought back around a milligram of material. In February 2019, JAXA mission Hayabusa 2 fired an explosive charge at asteroid Ryugu. The resulting robot-made crater provided our first glimpse of freshly exposed asteroid material. Hayabusa 2 then dropped micro-rovers onto Ryugu's surface. In the low gravity, the three rovers that successfully landed hopped from place to place, taking photographs and temperature readings. At only 500 meters (1,640 feet) in diameter, Bennu is the smallest object that humankind has ever orbited. To boot, O-REx orbited just 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) over Bennu asteroid's surface — closer than any spacecraft has orbited any object in the history of space exploration to date. There was a method to this space-rock-buzzing madness. Though O-REx didn't bring rovers or bombs, it had a few tricks up its mechanical sleeve that required close proximity. Outfitting OSIRIS-REx In addition to three cameras and a laser altimeter for judging distance from the asteroid, O-REx had both an infrared and an X-ray scanner to measure material type and abundance. Close scans meant better readings. Better readings meant finding the best possible place to land. Wait, land? Yes, land! Dropping from touchdown distance to kissing distance was a requirement to put O-REx's robotic arm into action. The touch-and-go sample acquisition mechanism (TAGSAM) was designed to basically fist-bump Bennu, then pinch off a little piece of the 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid. TAGSAM then passed the prize to its partner in crime, the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC). If all goes well, the SRC will return the 60 grams (2 ounces) of ancient material to Earth using parachutes plus the same kind of heat used by the highly successful Stardust, the Mars Science Laboratory and Mars 2020 missions. Though the sample from OSIRIS-REx spacecraft could be measured in a few tablespoons (English or metric), analyzing it will help scientists understand the early solar system and the solar system to come. Depending upon what they contain — perhaps platinum for wires or water for plants — asteroids like Bennu could feed not only future space habitats but also the growing demand for materials that are rare on Earth or toxic to mine locally. Building Mars colonies and a better home world may mean cleaning some asteroids out of the solar system, or at least depositing them in the cosmic recycler. Answering Questions We Haven't Asked Yet Studying the sample O-REx returns from Bennu will also equip us to better handle the hazards in our corner of space. While humankind makes plans to pursue knowledge, resources and wealth among asteroids both near and far, an unknown number of asteroids are headed in our general direction. Every year, a few of them slip past Earth's planetary defense monitoring system — some because they are small, others because they are dark. Sometimes we see them coming from a distance, as we did with 2006 QV89, an asteroid half the size of a U.S. football field, which cruised smoothly into Earth's orbital path and out again in 2020. The question of what to do with one that won't leave so politely remains chillingly unanswered. But O-REx may bring us closer to that answer. In addition to flying low, analyzing composition and sampling, part of its mission is to study the Yarkovsky effect: how much an asteroid moves when it absorbs light from the sun, then radiates that energy back into space. The effect is named for the 18th-century Russian engineer. His observation was that, due to the sun's energy striking its surface, an asteroid's course should alter over time. How the Yarkovsky effect manifests with Bennu — which could weigh as little as a cow or as much as a car — may help to propel planetary protection to a whole new level. Well on its way to leveling up our space game, OSIRIS-REx headed home on May 26, 2021. The sample it carries, due to land sometime in September 2023, is destined for a bit of time traveling of its own. Astrobiologist Jason Dworkin from the Goddard Space Flight Center at NASA said 75% of the material returned by this mission will be "archived for future generations." Dworkin's colleague Dr. Scott Sandford told NASA that he thinks these samples "will be studied by people not yet born, using techniques not yet invented, to answer questions not yet asked." Much like the material brought back from the Moon and the asteroids found on ice sheets of Antarctica, the samples gathered by OSIRIS-REx will be teaching us about our place in the solar system for decades to come. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Picking Up the Pieces: O-REx Brings Back the Past to Build the Future

When art and technology come together, how do you react? Does it inspire, or do you find it controversial? Or maybe you're surprised, realizing that the combination challenges you as the viewer. Am I part of the art if the light installation reacts when I approach it? Can the stealthy curve of composites into a wing leading edge be aesthetic as well as functional?Disruptive Tech Innovates ArtWorking with new technology is disruptive for both the viewer and the artist. Just as non-traditional materials might be uncomfortable viewing for an audience more familiar with traditional paint and canvas, they also affect an artist's creative practice.For example, sculptor and installation artist Johannes Girardoni finds that he needs a more deliberate and critical approach when using new technology to explore the intersection between light and material. Forcing himself to consider the role and function of technology in an art piece avoids seduction by the "newness" of it all. Although the creative idea comes first, technology helps with its execution and allows him to ask new questions.Working first with beeswax and pigment before moving to resin as a material, Girardoni now incorporates sensors and light-emitting diodes within his work. These sensors pick up data from the surroundings of the installation, from viewer actions such as movement and its effect on light. Algorithms then analyze these data, transforming and re-presenting them back to the viewer as light and sound (spectro-sonic refrequencing). As Girardoni describes it, "The viewer is presented with a rearticulated version of themselves."Artists as InnovatorsUsing new materials to make art is nothing new. Artists have been innovating throughout history to explore perception, and how we view ourselves and the world around us. Whether grinding rocks into pigments or molding sticky mud into shapes, artists are early adopters, constantly exploring the potential for expression and interpretation of the world around them. It is not surprising that they find that plastics, nanomaterials and lasers communicate creatively just as well as (or perhaps better than) traditional media such as paint, clay and stone.When is a color not a color? Kate Nichols, current artist in residence at the Alivisatos Lab at UC Berkeley, explores nanomaterials to recreate the morpho butterfly's "absence of color" wing patterns. The brilliant blue in this species' wings comes not from actual pigments but from how they handle light. Wing scales interact with light waves, absorbing some wavelengths and reflecting back others, using diffraction and interference to boost signal strength back at the viewer. Your eye "sees" blue, but there is no blue pigment present; it's a trick of the light.Nichols, who suggests that artists were early materials scientists, notes that new technology in art is often not that new; silver mirroring, stained glass and ceramic lusters are skills from bygone eras that exploit nanomaterial science for aesthetic effect.Social CommentaryGirardoni also notes that questions of perception, on how we view the external environment and ourselves, can often be addressed with established basic technology; however, he also suggests that using new technology in art brings relevance in current context.In reference to the explosion of data and data-gathering taking place 24/7 in daily life, he points out that "as humans, we are no longer the only ones sensing," a concept that he explores in his current practice.In the large-scale immersive sculpture, Metaspace V2, an elliptical aluminum shell mirrors its environment via sensors before presenting it back to the viewer. Seated within its shell, the viewer "senses themselves seeing" — experiencing this personal data collection in real time through changes in light and sound. Furthermore, since the viewer is part of the installation, they also contribute through motion and other responses, influencing the re-presentation. A relationship thus develops between artwork and viewer, establishing a continual feedback loop or dialogue that Girardoni suggests mirrors our current daily life.We're constantly bombarded with an influx of data gathered from us and thus constantly influenced by it, affecting our behavior and interactions — "New tech affects everybody all the time — so [the] art is a conceptual reflection of our life."Although it's difficult to pin down an absolute definition and there are many different interpretations available, this one from Merriam Webster neatly encapsulates what art is and explains how new technology might advance it: "something that [...] expresses important ideas or feelings."Both art and technology innovate and disrupt; in combination as conversation starters, they are rarely dull.With thanks to Johannes Girardoni and his studio manager, Heidi Girardoni, for contributing to this article.

Art and Technology: When Worlds Collide

 Behind Jennifer Lewis's unassuming smile is a woman who's rocking the world of 3-D printing and material science. Lewis has opened up bold, new avenues for design engineers working as innovators in electronics and medical device development. Answering the question, "What would you do if you could 3-D print electronics?", Lewis's Voxel8 created a multimaterial 3-D printer capable of fabricating embedded electronics, sensors and antennas. Some hot prototypes coming out of the Voxel8 lab include a 3-D printed digital watch, a 3-D printed quadcopter, custom hearing aids and athletic shoes that improve energy absorption.3-D Everything The Harvard-lab start-up digitally prints electronics using its proprietary, highly conductive "silver ink" with a conductivity reportedly 5,000 times greater than that of the carbon-based inks used in additive manufacturing. 3-D printing of electrical, in-circuit test fixtures for PCBs and semi-conductors is certainly an electrifying development for industrial designers and engineers in consumer electronics, automotive and telecom industries. And Voxel8 can fabricate more than just parts. The company can digitally print the plastic body and metal circuitry of a UAV drone all at once! As with this printed drone, multimaterial digital manufacturing eliminates the need for flex circuits by routing traces out from PCB directly within structural parts. Watch Lewis explain how at Voxel8, "disruptive innovation is at the heart of what we do."Polymer Skaters Using carbon fiber in a skateboard is nothing new, but two brothers from Huntington Beach, California, have developed a skateboard with two layers of carbon fiber and their innovative Hybrid-Polymerâ„¢ tip-fill. The Hybrid-Polymerâ„¢ tip-fill is made of a proprietary blend of plastics with a high durometer that gives it incredible impact strength, wear resistance and impressive adhesion to the maple wood. Cofounders Mark and Greg Rosolowski's company — Lithe Skateboards — is still on its way up the half-pipe, but they have some backing through a recent Indiegogo campaign and they are poised to enter production mode. They have blended their engineering and craftsmen backgrounds to design the ultimate in durable decks that are virtually impossible to chip, they claim. Watch as they throw one of their Lithe boards off a roof. Mark, an engineer with experience in product design and manufacturing, worked with Greg — a passionate skateboarder and designer — to begin developing the board five years ago. The brothers claim their board is six times more durable than average maple board. Two layers of carbon fiber increase resilience and strength to protect against fraying while reducing weight and thickness of the deck.A Mobile Mind Nick Sampson helped build what some insiders call the "Tesla Killer," but don't say he works for an auto company; Sampson insists Faraday Future is all tech. Sampson describes the company he helped found as "a tech company reformatting the future of mobility." As SVP of R&D and Engineering, Sampson is not just the brain behind Faraday Future and its FF91 electric supercar — he's the voice. Watch his razzle-dazzle presentation at the recent 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) as he explains why "disruption is what this world needs." Sampson — who has also worked for Jaguar, Lotus and, yes, Tesla — told the CES audience that Faraday Future is "reformatting" the future of the auto industry and the future of mobility. That's because the company's first production offering is more about complete connectivity to the digital world (360-degree mapping technology) and ergonomics (a NASA-inspired zero-gravity driving seat) than it is to speed (although 0 to 60 mph in 2.39 seconds isn't too shabby). Billed as the world's fastest and most connected self-driving supercar, the FF91 is all about the cool factor. LED lights along the car will glow when recharging and pulse when driving in autonomous mode. Factor in its facial recognition technology, high-definition cameras, intuitive user system and ultrasonic sensors and radars throughout, and you might just have — as Nick Sampson says — a new future to mobility.From Human Dream to Humanoid Reality To be the brains and force behind the most sophisticated and successful humanoid artificial intelligence project in the world, you'd probably need advanced degrees in electronic engineering, computing and cognitive robotics. Check, check and check for Giorgio Metta — not to mention he can quote from Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot." From an avid science fiction reader as a child, to the director of the open-source iCub humanoid project at the Italian Institute of Technology in Italy, Metta has far-reaching experience under his belt. He has studied and taught at the University of Genoa, Italy, the University of Plymouth in the UK and the MIT AI-Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. iCub is a full humanoid with 53 degrees of freedom, an articulated upper body and dexterous hands. The size of a five-year-old, iCub can crawl on all fours, walk and sit up to manipulate objects. The humanoid is made up of 5,000 parts — the same as a small car — including human-like tactile sensors, custom electronics and hands with five fingers, 19 joints and nine degrees of freedom each. Watch iCub in action as he manipulates objects autonomously. So why is Metta spearheading the creation of an AI robot that looks human? He cites research that shows that people respond better to a human-shaped robot in a human environment. And that's the goal of this AI project — to bring robots into our daily working and living human environment. It's a possibility that's not too far off. Fast approaching are autonomous humanoid robots of moderate intelligence (some human programming needed). And soon approaching are fully intelligent robots that can adapt and learn from experience (no human tinkering needed). The immediate challenge with AI is that the intelligence is clearly inhuman. But as Metta sees it, soon AI — humanoid AI, to be exact — will have both artificial intelligence and human intelligence. The result will be an "improvement on human possibilities," Metta says in this YouTube video. Should we be scared? According to Metta, we should only be afraid of the misuse of supertechnologies like AI. "Be afraid of people, not the robots," Metta says in the video. Yikes! Sounds like Westworld might not always just be a good show on HBO.Cars Are People Too Roboticist Carol Reiley has repeatedly said that the self-driving car "will be the first social robot." That doesn't mean it will chit chat with you about politics on your drive into work — well, maybe someday — but it does mean autonomous cars are on their way to becoming human-like in their interactions with pedestrians and other drivers. Watch as Reiley explains how her Silicon Valley startup — Drive.ai — is using a deep-learning algorithm to bring human-centered AI to self-driving cars. Her team of AI researchers from Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Lab aren't building cars; they're building the AI software system that will give a self-driving car the ability to deal with unpredictable humans. Sensing a pedestrian trying to cross in front of your car, a display of text, lights, sounds or motion would let that pedestrian know when it's safe to pass. But you might want to give a friendly smile and a wave to the pedestrian too — because that's also the human thing to do.These star innovators shine through creative thinking and strategic pursuit of their passions — pursue yours at Northrop Grumman.

Innovators in the House: Watch 5 Tech Stars Light Up YouTube

 Today's technology companies offer many nontraditional incentives to attract, develop and retain the most talented employees. Flexible floor plans and fun company outings are becoming more common in the workplace, especially in startup environments. But large, well-established companies can offer a more dramatic job perk by providing opportunities for employees to work overseas.Why Employees Want to Work Overseas College students want to study abroad for many reasons: to see the world, experience a new culture, learn a new language and get a fresh start. Many adults have these same desires, but a foreign work assignment has the added benefits of a salary and invaluable professional development. When a local position feels too traditional but a job transfer seems too drastic, a rotational stay can be just right. By taking a foreign assignment, employees face exciting challenges that keep their jobs interesting and fulfilling. Or, to put it simply, they get paid to travel to exotic places. Living abroad can give employees a fresh perspective that is vital to personal growth and professional development. It is a chance to explore the world while learning new skills and gaining international business experience that will continue to be useful when they continue their careers upon returning to the United States. Northrop Grumman offers a two-year Global Engineer Rotation Program to select members of the aerospace division. One participant in this program, Kathryn Williams, says that working as the Australia aerospace program's technical lead for Aerospace Systems helped her think more broadly about both her personal life and her career. She is spending two years working with Australian government representatives toward a future acquisition of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial system. "As an engineer who mainly supported programs in the execution phase, working on a program that isn't yet on contract is a great growth experience," she says. "The whole perspective is different. Although the concept of promoting customer confidence through technical excellence — combined with strong relationship building — is the same."How Employers Benefit A change of scenery helps boost creativity and productivity, which helps individuals and organizations alike. Clearly, there are many reasons for employees to consider working overseas. Therefore, foreign exchange programs can help large technology companies recruit and retain top talent. Today's job seekers are looking for a dynamic workplace, and what could be more exciting than moving to a new country? The best employees can also be recruited by competitors or look for new opportunities if they don't feel challenged. An overseas assignment can help keep things interesting and avoid boredom. Tyler Tamashiro is a Northrop Grumman engineer working to expand the company's presence in Tokyo. The engineering rotation has given him the opportunity to be the primary technical contact to customers and industry partners in Japan. "As a conduit between Northrop Grumman and the customer, I work to gain a mutual understanding and resolution on a range of subjects," he explains. "Face-to-face interaction is particularly important in a country such as Japan, where there is a greater chance of details and subtleties being lost in translation." Overseas exchange programs like Northrop Grumman's engineering rotation can help a company expand in target markets and participate in a global economy. Sending employees to live abroad can help increase business opportunities overseas and unite global teams. While international business travel is good enough for many transactions, it doesn't allow company representatives to go deep enough to make big changes. By living abroad, employees can uncover a country's uniqueness and discover subtle cultural differences that could make or break a deal.