Make some room, human on the Moon.
If all goes according to plan, NASA astronauts will, in the not-so-distant future, live and work on a base on the Moon as part of the agency's Artemis program. After some brief stays on the lunar surface as part of initial missions that should start this decade, the next generation of explorers will eventually establish a long-term home on the Moon to conduct scientific research and create a stepping-stone to Mars.
To do so, they will need lunar architecture that can accommodate their work and personal needs while protecting them from Moon dust, extreme temperatures and the sun's radiation. Fortunately, engineers on Earth are designing it. The first crews on the moon will stay in a landing platform that's also a shuttle to a moon-orbiting space station, and a permanent base probably won't be constructed until years later. Still, that's just a blink of an eye when considering no one has walked on the Moon since Gene Cernan lifted his foot from the surface 50 years ago on the last Apollo mission.
"The Apollo era was filled with new technology," says Krystal Puga, an engineer and mission architect for Northrop Grumman's advanced concepts group. "This time, humans will stay longer and do much more. Artemis will push this next generation to innovate even further."
Artemis Will Further the Gains of Apollo
This push to further explore and settle on the Moon formally took shape in 2017 when the Artemis program began. (In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin of Apollo and a goddess of the moon.) Artemis centers on several large-scale components that will support various stages that will stretch into the 2030s and beyond.
Launching from Earth on top of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, the Orion capsule will push Artemis crews farther than any astronauts have traveled in space. In 2022, the first mission, Artemis I, completed an uncrewed 1.4-million-mile test lap around the Moon and splashed down back on Earth. That set the stage for Artemis II, a crewed flight in 2024 that will take four astronauts around and beyond the moon to test the Orion spacecraft's life-support systems and other capabilities.
Orion won't directly land on the Moon. It will dock with NASA's lunar Gateway and its Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module, humanity's first space station in lunar orbit to support NASA's deep space exploration plans. HALO will support operations around the moon and serve as a living space for astronauts on their way to and from the lunar surface.
The astronauts will reach the moon on the Human Landing System (HLS), a platform that will also carry rovers, scientific equipment and other payloads. The initial crews will live and sleep on HLS, getting out for scientific projects and other work, but eventually, NASA intends to build Artemis Base Camp. That's where Puga and her colleagues come in.
Designing a Human-Centered Structure
The work of Puga and her teammates is in the early design-and-test phase as they study different habitat concepts that could ultimately lead to the creation of objects large and small that would go into a lunar structure. "The exciting thing about working on cutting-edge technology is knowing that many of these details need to be figured out for the first time," Puga says.
That means understanding the functions and requirements of a home that would double as a workspace for as many as four astronauts at a time. To do this, her group and other teams conduct mock-ups that involve humans so bugs can be worked out early to see if any ideas can advance to further stages. Engineers call these approaches human-in-the-loop testing and human-centered design.
"We focus on human factors and crew system interfaces to make sure displays, handles, workloads and the mobility and comfort of astronauts are all being considered," Puga says. "We think about sleeping conditions, hygiene, food preparation and all that goes into living and working in the habitat. We basically do a day in the life of an astronaut and build from that perspective to ensure architecture is where it is needed."
Building a Shelter to Protect Against Extreme Weather
When the time comes to establish a base on the moon, it shouldn't require assembly, Puga explains. Just as the James Webb Space Telescope automatically unfolded in space, the placement of lunar architecture should be touchless.
"It's very difficult to assemble something like that in spacesuits," she says. "Running a torque wrench would be hard and time consuming and we want the astronauts to focus on science."
Structures on the moon would be made with NASA-approved materials — e.g., space-grade steel and aluminum — that stood the test of space's harsh environment during Apollo and other missions. Those conditions are top of mind for the advanced concept group.
Artemis Base Camp will need to offer shelter from extreme temperature swings (250 degrees Fahrenheit near the equator in the daytime; -208 degrees at night, when the moon's poles are even colder). Astronauts will also need protection from the sun's radiation. Gravity and long stretches of darkness are major considerations, as is lunar dust.
"Lunar dust sticks to everything," Puga says. "We're accounting for that and thinking about creating something like a mudroom inside the habitat. But it's not as simple as taking shoes off. You have to contain all that dust in one space so it doesn't gather in the galley or sleeping area, or other critical areas."
The technology that goes into the astronauts' home away from home can't be too far ahead or behind the curve; otherwise, it runs the risk of not being compatible with what arrives on later missions. Systems need to plug and play. Scientific payloads will change depending on missions, but the plugs will remain the same, Puga says. If an electronic device breaks down or if it makes sense to upgrade technology, things will be replaced. And software that controls interior power, lights and temperature should be updated just as it is on a spacecraft.
Making Lunar Dreams Come True
Puga hasn't been to the moon, but she got a taste of extreme temperatures, confined spaces, isolation and the blending of work and life in a lunar home when she spent three weeks at an arctic research site in Juneau, Alaska. It was a reminder that her career has been a dream come true and how her work will help the dreams of many others become reality.
"There are a lot of technical challenges to this," Puga notes. "Power and communications systems, unpressurized and pressurized rovers, and landing systems are just some of the technologies being developed to support the Artemis mission. But I'm very excited to work on the solutions that can get us there."
Are you interested in working on innovative solutions to make lunar dreams come true too? Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

Building a Base on the Moon, One Design at a Time

Key Takeaways  Parallel universes may exist in other dimensions, seperated from ours by distances smaller than atomic nuclei. These other dimensions may interact with our universe through gravity, but may not have the same laws of nature. Passing quickly through the event horizon of a black hole may offer a path to alternate dimensions.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 GoingOn 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 HoleUnderstanding 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.See how we're improving this universe with with brains, brawn, and beauty. 

Do Doors to Interdimensional Travel Exist?

Key Takeaways  Area 51 was originally used for building and testing U-2 planes, and is officially known as the Nevada Test and Training Range. In 2019, more than 1.5 million people signed up to "storm" Area 51, but just 200 showed up in person. Keeping the myth of Area 51 alive may help the government divert attention away from other top-secret national security projects.Area 51: The name and number are enough to set imaginations aflame. What is the government really up to in this Nevada desert military base that includes a restricted area spanning more than 90,000 acres?Here's a look at what's (probably) inside and what's (almost certainly) not.Area 51: A Quick HistoryIn April 1955, CIA officer Richard Bissell found an ideal spot for building and testing U-2 planes: the southern Nevada desert near Groom Lake. Along with his colleagues, Bissell asked the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to add this parcel of land to its real estate holdings and, by July 1955, aircraft development is in full swing. In 1958, this parcel of land was removed from public use and, in 1978, control of the installation was transferred to the Air Force.Officially, the facility's name is the Nevada Test and Training Range, which falls under the auspices of Nellis Air Force Base. It also went by several nicknames including "Paradise Ranch," "Watertown" and "Dreamland," which were used to make the area sound more attractive to potential base staff. The name Area 51, meanwhile, is rarely used by the government and likely comes from the area's original designation on AEC maps.Visiting the site and taking images are strictly controlled. Facility guards are authorized to use deadly force, and pictures such as those inadvertently taken by Skylab in 1974 were reviewed by the National Photographic Interpretation Center, then removed from Skylab's control and stored in a government vault. Combined with seemingly unexplained phenomena occurring in and around Area 51, public interest in the site has driven all manner of myths and legends.It's Probably Aliens!Combine government secrecy, deadly force and lights in the desert and what do you get? Aliens! This was the common interpretation of strange sightings in and around Area 51, despite the fact that the facility is a testing ground for cutting-edge aircraft — which might just look like nothing seen before.The notion of hidden, out-of-this-world happenings got a boost in 1989 when a man named Robert Lazar claimed that he worked on the base and saw both flying saucers and actual alien bodies. While Lazar was later outed as a fraud — he had never worked for the U.S. military or on the base — it was impossible for the public to ignore the draw of possible alien sightings. In 1994, theories about potential aliens gained even more ground when the Air Force admitted that wreckage from Roswell, New Mexico found in 1947 was not, in fact, weather balloons but part of a secret spy project code-named "Mogul." Understandably, people were skeptical.This skepticism came to a head in July 2019, when more than 1.5 million people signed up for an event called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," to "see them aliens," promising to meet in the desert and run into the site in September. Not surprisingly, the event was a colossal failure — just 200 people showed up. Two people were arrested and one person was briefly detained for almost crossing into a restricted area.The Truth Comes Out: What Is Inside Area 51?So what's really going on behind closed doors? What is inside Area 51? Are U.S. military experts reverse-engineering crashed spaceships and performing autopsies on deceased aliens? In a word, no.In 2013, the CIA released a declassified report about the site written in 1992, which acknowledges the existence of the facility and describes it as a U-2 testing site. It refers to unidentified flying objects (UFOs), but only to note that they were actually U-2 planes flying at 60,000 feet. The report also highlights the need for strict secrecy as a way to ward off Russian interference during the Cold War, rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead the American public. Still, there's some evidence to suggest there's more than meets the eye. For example, in 2017 the Pentagon confirmed the existence of a $22 million government program to collect and analyze data about "anomalous aerospace threats" — in other words, UFOs.A poll found that 54 percent of Americans believe the government knows something about UFOs that it's not sharing with the public. So, it's unlikely the fascination with aliens will ever disappear, but chances are that Area 51 isn't the hotbed of extraterrestrial activity that alien activists once believed. Interestingly enough, however, it may actually be in the best interests of the government to keep this mystery alive. By releasing some documentation but keeping other data classified, by not confirming or denying the existence of UFOs or aliens, it's possible to divert attention away from other top-secret national security projects and protect critical data.Not bad for a strip of desert in southeastern Nevada.Starshade could help us discover what else is out there. Learn more.

Area 51: Aliens, or Just a Simple Myth-Understanding?

Dark stars are thought to be some of the earliest stars in the universe, forming in the genesis of it all. That would be nearly 13 billion years ago, or about 80 to 100 million years after the Big Bang, when clouds of hydrogen and helium gas began to cool. Astrophysicists suspect that dark matter might have fueled these early stars. And now, with the new James Webb Space Telescope, scientists are looking back through time to find out more about dark stars and the unseen dark matter that makes up about 95% of all matter in the universe.
What Is a Dark Star?
Scientists believe that dark stars might be the oldest stars in the history of the universe and may represent the first phase of stellar evolution. These stars are giant, much larger than our sun or any of the other stars around today. A single dark star could be as much as 400 to 200,000 times wider than our sun and 500 to 1,000 times more massive. (If we had one of these stars instead of our sun, it would reach past the orbit of Saturn.)
Dark stars are puffy and cool. And surprisingly, they aren't actually dark; they just don't emit any visible light. That's because instead of nuclear fusion, which is the process that converts hydrogen into helium in the core of an ordinary star, dark stars are powered differently. Astronomers believe that dark matter heating is what powers them.
Imagine the universe about 200 million years after the Big Bang. That extremely early universe was different from today's. It was a lot smaller and denser, with all the material of the cosmos crammed into a tinier volume. The earliest universe was also a lot darker because stars and galaxies had not formed yet. But there was dark matter (whatever that is) as well as hydrogen and helium gases plus trace amounts of lithium that had been created by the Big Bang.
The stars in the early universe are believed to be very large compared to the sun and in their short lives started to produce the heavier elements. It is possible that some of these early stars are the so-called dark stars. With a little luck, Webb might collect some data indicating that they do exist.
Still, no dark star has ever been observed. And even though they'd be massive — and potentially spewing gamma rays, neutrinos and antimatter — so far, they've been too faint to be detected because they don't emit visible light.
Researchers' Theories About Dark Stars
Scientists believe that dark stars probably reside at the centers of galaxies where the density of dark matter is highest. They've calculated that about 26% of what makes up our universe is dark matter, 69% is dark energy and only about 5% of the universe is visible. Scientists also believe that dark energy causes the expanding universe to accelerate.
But remember, since dark matter doesn't emit light, researchers have been trying to measure it indirectly via its gravitational fingerprints, such as the way it bends light around massive galaxies. Scientists predict that there may be white dwarf and neutron stars fueled by dark matter at the centers of galaxies. And while these stars should be observable, they've remained mysterious because they have yet to be found.
Astronomers have used gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO to find signatures of colliding black holes and neutron stars, so there's potential to also use these types of instruments to detect the gravitational signatures of two dark stars colliding. Someday, infrared detectors on ground-based telescopes might even be able to find white dwarfs and neutron stars fueled by dark matter near the center of the Milky Way.
Seeing Through the Dark
It is possible that the Hubble Space Telescope may have already seen a dark star. Some researchers have speculated that they might have found one located in the most distant galaxy ever observed. But it's been too hard to uniquely identify dark stars with Hubble, which means that astronomers can't be sure.
Now, scientists are hoping that the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope might be sensitive enough to finally find some dark stars. Since dark stars are relatively cool, they'd likely radiate at longer wavelengths in the infrared spectrum. And Webb, which is the largest, most complex and most powerful space telescope ever built, has instruments specifically created to capture that sort of infrared light. Webb's NIRCam and MIRI cameras could be sensitive enough to detect the infrared light that a supermassive dark star would emit. What this means is that if dark stars exist, then Webb should be able to see them.
In fact, Webb has already detected young stars in stellar nurseries that have never been seen before, as well as previously invisible areas of star birth inside nebulas.
What If Dark Matter Is Some Sort of New Particle?
For astrophysicists, dark matter is an enduring, frustrating and confusing mystery. Most theories of the universe don't make sense without it, and the evidence for dark matter is everywhere. We understand it via its gravitational influence: the bending of light around massive structures, the rotation curves of galaxies, the entire structure of the universe plus the cosmic microwave background. But dark matter doesn't interact with light or with ordinary matter. So, does it do anything? Does it simply sit there gravitating?
For now, it's beyond the edge of our scientific knowledge.
But Webb, launched on Dec. 25, 2021, gives us hope. Webb's infrared cameras are sensitive enough to view objects that have been too distant or too faint for other telescopes, even the first galaxies. The telescope has been specifically designed to study the early universe and the formation of the first stars, which could alter our understanding of the entire universe.
Remember that scientists still don't know what the universe's first stars looked like and when exactly they formed. These are some of the questions Webb was designed to help answer. The next few years will surely be an exciting time for astronomers as Webb begins to uncover secrets of the distant universe and help scientists observe how the universe evolved.
And maybe, when the next generation asks, "What is a dark star?" — we'll have the full answer, with images to boot. But more likely, we'll just have more questions.
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.

The Mystery of Dark Stars

Scientists and curious people all over the planet have dreamt of interplanetary travel. Is this sci-fi trope finally within our grasp? NASA saw great success with its DAWN mission, which explored the giant asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The DAWN mission successfully hopped from one extraterrestrial destination to another, potentially laying the groundwork for exploring multiple planets in future missions. Success of DAWN NASA's robotic DAWN spacecraft, developed by Northrop Grumman, achieved several major milestones in its 11 years of spaceflight. According to NASA, DAWN was the first spacecraft to:   Orbit two planetary bodies  Orbit an object in the main asteroid belt  Visit a dwarf planet  It collected data and images about Vesta and Ceres, two bodies that scientists barely understood before the mission. "There was some expectation based on observations done by earth telescopes or Hubble, but we really didn't know what we would find at either of these places until we got there," says Joe Makowski, DAWN Operations Program Manager. The spacecraft launched in 2007 and made the slow but steady trek to the asteroid belt. It orbited Vesta from mid-2011 until 2012, then spent the next three years traveling to Ceres. It studied Ceres from 2015 through 2018, and though the mission has been completed, scientists are still making new discoveries from the 100,000 images that DAWN collected. By getting a closer look at bodies in the asteroid belt, scientists confirmed that asteroids, protoplanets and dwarf planets are much more than a bunch of giant space rocks. They are diverse astronomical bodies that hold evidence of how the early solar system was organized and evolved. The mission revealed that Vesta's surface contains a historical record of the many thousands of impacts it has seen since it formed, and that it has trace amounts of water, which was unexpected.  In August 2020, NBC News reported that the latest scientific analysis revealed that Ceres is more geologically active than scientists previously thought. DAWN revealed that it has surface features such as huge salt-domes, muddy 'ice-volcanos,' and potentially some liquid saltwater beneath the surface. This reinforced the idea that dwarf planets like Ceres could have previously hosted sub-surface oceans — and possibly still do — according to NASA. Ion Propulsion The key to visiting multiple places in the solar system in one mission is having an efficient propulsion system for the spacecraft. While many other spacecraft are powered by chemical propulsion, DAWN used solar electric propulsion — using solar power to drive its ion engines — provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dawn's solar electric propulsion was about ten times more efficient than chemical propulsion, requiring only a tenth of the propellant to go the same distance. So, does that mean that ion propulsion is the technical key to interplanetary travel? Perhaps. Ion propulsion worked especially well for a mission like DAWN that required orbiting two different bodies, because the bodies were close enough to the sun. It could have limitations in other scenarios. "Solar electric propulsion works well until you get somewhere around Jupiter and Saturn," Makowski explains. He adds, "Those planets are so far from the sun, where solar energy is so limited, that you need another electrical power source." Lessons for the Future of Space Travel Ion propulsion with new power sources may be the silver bullet for interplanetary space travel, with lessons from DAWN providing the foundation for future missions. "Another big challenge with planetary missions is fault management," says Makowski. This means making sure that if something goes wrong with the spacecraft's hardware, the software can detect the problem and make adjustments to correct these failures. This is critical for interplanetary travel where the spacecraft are too far from Earth for constant communication. As Makowski says, "If you're supposed to be thrusting and you're not, and you don't talk to Earth for five days, the spacecraft won't be in the place in the sky where you expect it to be." He explains that over the course of the 11-year mission, the fault management system helped the spacecraft safely recover from any issues that arose. During the handful of issues that happened during the mission, ground crews could adjust trajectories and get DAWN back on track with plenty of propellant to spare, aided by the ion propulsion system's efficiency. According to Makowski, the team that designed and built DAWN have already used variants of the electric propulsion and fault management systems for:   Communication satellites  A proposed mission to fly to a comet  The Cygnus cargo spacecraft that resupplies the International Space Station  The mission extension vehicle (MEV), a new vehicle that flies to orbiting satellites to refuel them.  Space exploration is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. Each mission builds on the last, allowing us to become more efficient in our exploration. As we learned from Dawn, harnessing lessons from today's missions, allows us to develop a greater understanding of our place in the history of the solar system. "An achievement like DAWN just opens us up to a universe of possibilities," says Makowski. "You can look back and say - we learned something from that project — more than we ever expected."

Interplanetary Travel Lessons From DAWN

Key Takeaways  Viruses need hosts for long-term survival. During space flight, humans can transmit viruses to fellow travellers. Immunosupression during prolonged space flight can reactivate dormant viral infection.Viruses are everywhere. Some don't infect humans, while some — such as the common cold — cause minor, irritating symptoms.Others are both contagious and potentially critical. Today, we're facing challenges with respiratory illnesses that spread rapidly and don't easily relent.What if we could get away from it all — far, far away — and slip the surly bonds of Earth to avoid the impact of on-planet pathogens? It's an interesting idea, but what's the prognosis: Can viruses survive in space?Inside/OutThere are actually two questions here: Can viruses survive inside the pressurized, low-gravity environment of the shuttles or stations — and can they survive in the cold and unforgiving darkness outside?The first answer is easy: Absolutely. Astronauts already infected when they blast off into space spread viruses to their fellow fliers, and viruses can easily jump from host to host in the earthlike environment of space shuttles or the International Space Station (ISS).When it comes to viruses outside these constructed confines, the answer gets more complicated. As noted by BBC Science Focus, viruses can't survive for long without viable host; most can live for hours in the air and days on indoor surfaces at room temperatures. And that's under ideal conditions. Even the toughest, nastiest pathogen would find it problematic to stay alive in the freezing dark of space.Viruses inside objects — such as asteroids — may fare better. While they still need hosts to survive long-term, research published in Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (available through NCBI) indicates that even when these space rocks rip through atmospheres and their outer crusts reach temperatures topping 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, microorganisms located deeper inside these objects could survive.Leaving Earth? Welcome to LockdownIllness in space is undeniably awful. Imagine feeling sick enough to vomit, and then realizing that lacking appreciable gravity, your sudden upchuck will cause the contents of your stomach to go everywhere — up, down, left, right and anywhere else it can reach. Yikes.What's more, there's no easy access to medical technology onboard orbiting vessels. While it's possible to virtually connect with earthbound doctors for medical advice, any serious infectious issues would spread at speed through a closed environment.As noted by Space, several astronauts on the Apollo 7, 8 and 9 missions were sick with colds. The virus quickly spread among the crew, depleted available medical supplies, and caused crew members to forgo wearing protective helmets when re-entering the atmosphere. It makes sense; the pressure pain caused by colds when landing in a plane is bad enough — imagine the change when dropping 62 miles to the Earth's surface at 17,500 miles per hour.To reduce the risk of illness in space, NASA has implemented a mandatory pre-flight quarantine that includes limited, monitored contact with other people. It's not perfect, but it's better than the alternative.Reactivation RisksViruses also pose a unique risk for space travelers: reactivation. As noted by NASA research published in Frontiers in Microbiology, both astronauts on shuttle missions and those on the ISS demonstrated latent herpes virus reactivation. While most of the shed viral DNA was asymptomatic, live and infectious virus shedding was also detected. According to Dr. Satish K. Mehta, one author of the study, spaceflight causes "a rise in the secretion of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which are known to change the immune system." As a result, immune cells become less effective during off-Earth missions, and this immunosuppression can persist for up to 60 days after astronauts return home.This makes the idea of escaping Earth to avoid problematic pathogens less-than-ideal: Even if you're not showing symptoms, existing viruses you've already endured could make a reappearance as your immune system struggles to adapt.Just Say NaNOThankfully, it's not all bad news. Recent advances in nanotechnology show promise to help mitigate the impact and control the spread of viruses. Work from the Potsdamn Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science shows that with the right approach, flexible nanotech compounds can help reduce the efficacy of infection by up to 90%.Further development of this technology could help boost disease defenses by bridging the gap between regular immune functioning and the stressed-out systems of astronauts rocketing their way into outer space.Spaced OutCan viruses survive in space? The prognosis: Yes and no.Outside the confines of the ISS or shuttle, even the most resilient respiratory illnesses will have a tough time, but inside pressurized metal transports there's a different story. Astronauts can easily bring colds or flu from home — and infect fellow crew mates — while seemingly long-dead diseases can reemerge as immune systems struggle with the stress of space-based living.Bottom line? Space is no virus vacation. While you're probably protected from alien pathogens, what you're already packing could make an outer space adventure very, very uncomfortable.Our pioneering spirit is backed by a legacy of expertise that began at the dawn of the space age. Learn more about Northrop Grumman programs for human space flight and logistics.

Can Viruses Survive in Space? The Pathogen Particle Prognosis

Imagine it's the year 2034, and you're boarding a lunar railroad that will carry you from your research base to your living quarters after studying the lunar landscape. This isn't as far-fetched as you might think. NASA's Artemis program, for example, currently includes plans to establish a human presence on and around the moon, an outpost at the moon's south pole and expeditions across the lunar surface.In fact, a moon economy with sustained human settlements, held together by a network of robots and automated trains for transportation on the moon, is solidly in the works.Planning a Lunar RailwayThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been developing a model for NASA, international governments and commercial industries to rapidly scale up both lunar exploration and commerce. The agency has been conducting a 10-Year Lunar Architecture Capability Study (LunA-10) with the goal of making progress in the development of future lunar habitats.Scientists and engineers across the space community have teamed up during this seven-month-long study, combining their knowledge and skills to develop a future civil lunar framework with sturdy and reliable infrastructure for activities on the moon. Fast Company and others report that, as part of the LunA-10 Capability Study, DARPA selected Northrop Grumman to develop the concept of a moon-based railroad network."For a mission to the moon today," says Northrop Grumman Program Manager Steven Floyd, "you must bring everything to the moon yourself — your mining experiment, your power and your communications equipment."Once permanent lunar bases are established, surface transportation will be necessary to expand human activities.Northrop Grumman Principal Investigator Spencer Levin, who came up with the idea for better transportation on the moon, says, "A lunar railway would provide mobility to many missions."Connecting Valuable Locations on the MoonEngineers at Northrop Grumman started by thinking innovatively about the feasibility of using a lunar railroad for transportation on the moon and identified several important uses. The lunar railroad could provide access to remote areas of the moon, such as permanently shadowed regions in the south pole region that may contain valuable deposits of water ice and hydrocarbons. Other local resources, such as mined regolith, could be used for construction instead of hauling the needed supplies all the way from Earth.The study also looked at the types of metallic materials that could be extracted to produce the rail network. In an ideal situation, the lunar railroad would be constructed from indigenous lunar materials by tele-operated robots. "We're studying how to make the trains and the rail network with as much material sourced from the moon as possible," says Floyd.The payloads, then, would need to be transported around the lunar base — for example, to and from living quarters to landing zones and other outposts. NASA or a private company could also use the moon as a launch point to Mars, so a lunar station would act as a depot, like the Wild West, where cities grew around train stations.Advantages of Rail Transportation on the MoonAnother advantage of the lunar railroad is that railway carts move large quantities of materials significantly faster than traditional lunar rovers. "The rail network would move about the speed of a golf cart," says Floyd. Each train car is shaped like a large version of a mine cart and could haul enough material to fill a full-sized truck bed. Depending on demand, a single train could connect hundreds of cars.Industrial-grade construction rovers with autonomous robotics would be the primary means of laying the track. Like bulldozers on Earth, these rovers would prepare the area and then place the materials. As the railroad grows outward from the lunar base, it would provide transportation for its growth and other construction projects, such as the lunar electric power grid, solar arrays and telecommunications networks. Eventually, the lunar rail system would be expanded to all geographic areas of interest.In addition, LunA-10 investigated which type of propulsion mechanism made the most sense: batteries and electric motors versus electrification, which is currently used for light rail transit on Earth.The Moon Meets Lunar TourismThe study also looked at what could be monetizable. "There could be a market for people willing to pay for a tour around the moon," says Floyd. "A tourist might want to see different sights on the moon, and a rail network would facilitate those types of opportunities."To an astronaut on the moon, riding the lunar railway might seem like an attraction at an amusement park, except that, instead of an artificial set, it's actually the surface of the moon."If someone wanted to send me to the moon and bring me back, I would 100% do that," says Levin, noting that the moon is still a wild, uncharted place."Part of the mission of Northrop Grumman is to have a vision for what the future could be," says Floyd. "We can do that because we understand how to operate complex vehicles in the harsh environment of the lunar surface."Even if you don't get a seat on the lunar train, it's still possible that someone might send you a postcard from the moon someday... as long as the next plan is for a lunar post office.Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

Building a Lunar Railroad in Space

Key Takeaways  NASA martian rover missions have found opals on ancient lake beds. Opals, which form in the presence of silica and water, have been found in fracture halos widespread across the Mars survey areas. Abundance could indicate stores of water on Mars.For more than a decade, NASA's Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars, analyzing the surface of Gale Crater, where a lake once existed in the early days of Mars. Recent study of both new and old Curiosity images has revealed signs that, long after the lake itself dried up, enough underground water remained in the former lakebed to form the semiprecious gemstone opalAn opal gemstone found on Mars evokes classic science fiction images of grizzled Martian prospectors searching for mother lodes and fending off claim jumpers. While people may one day wear jewelry from Mars, the current excitement isn't about bling; as Space.com reports, it could be a sign of a substance on Mars that's even more precious than opal gemstones: water.The first hints of opal gemstones on Mars, according to Metal Tech News, were detected as early as 2008 by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, but these early detections from space gave no hints of the concentration level of "opal-like minerals" that might be found on Mars.Observing a Network of Fracture HalosThe Curiosity rover has provided much closer views of a type of feature called a fracture halo: an area of lighter-colored material surrounding fractures in a rock surface. The lighter coloring of the halo is the sheen of opal, essentially the same sheen that makes opal a semiprecious stone.As fracture halos continued to turn up in the images sent back from Curiosity, it became clear to mission scientists that not only was gemstone discovered on Mars, but these fractures were also widespread on the planet. A search back through the archive of images already taken by Curiosity showed even more.Says researcher Travis Gabriel, per Interesting Engineering, "Our new analysis of archival data showed striking similarity between all of the fracture halos we've observed much later in the mission. Seeing that these fracture networks were so widespread and likely chock-full of opal was incredible."Seeing Through Rock With NeutronsWhile most of Curiosity's instruments, like its cameras, were intended for investigation of the immediate surface, it carries one instrument that could be used to "see" down into the subsurface fractures that the halos surround. This instrument, called Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), measures the speed of neutrons that are kicked off the surface of Mars by high-energy cosmic rays from space. The DAN readings, according to Live Science, have shown that some of the neutrons detected have been slowed down by interacting with hydrogen atoms — a telltale sign of the presence of water.Opal gemstones are formed by a solution of silica and water; on Earth, this formation process can take place in hot springs or on the seabed. Today, the open surface of Mars, which is nearly unprotected by its thin atmosphere, is fiercely hostile to life, bombarded by the same radiation that kicks loose the neutrons detected by DAN. This has been the case throughout the "modern" era of Mars, which extends back some 2.9 billion years. But even a slight distance underground — for example, in a rock fracture — conditions would have been far more benign. If enough water remained in the fractures to form opals, even millions of years after the lake above had evaporated, life may also have persisted there.The Implications of Finding Water on MarsOpal gemstones, and the water that helped to form them, have breathtaking implications for the ongoing search for life on Mars. Some of the effects will be almost immediate. Even as Curiosity continues exploring Gale Crater, another NASA Mars rover, Perseverance, is currently exploring another crater that was an ancient lakebed: Jezero Crater. Its mission is now being adjusted to look for signs of fracture halos and opals in Jezero Crater.Looking forward, the widespread presence of opal found on Mars could provide a boon for future missions, in addition to being a research objective. The reason is that, in spite of being a gemstone, opal is technically not quite a "mineral." It does not have a rigid crystal structure, and with proper processing, some of the water in it can be recovered. According to EarthSky, researchers estimate that a single square meter of fracture halo material, down to a depth of one foot, could contain a gallon and a half of recoverable water.The polar regions of Mars were already known to be rich in water ice, while Gale Crater is near the Martian equator. If recoverable subsurface water is widely available in equatorial regions of Mars, it could be a boon for astronauts during future long-term missions to Mars. This, in turn, could bring us another step closer to wearing bling from Mars.Learn how Northrop Grumman innovation is driving space exploration and discovery.

Opal Gemstone Found on Mars: Another Sign of Martian Water

Our closest neighbor in space, the Moon, is slowly drifting away from us. Researchers have calculated that the Moon's recession runs at around 1.5 inches (almost 4 centimeters) per year. Even though it's slow, this drift does impact life on our planet.
Over the centuries, we've built up an impressive array of knowledge about our satellite, but how many of us have wondered what would happen if the moon drifted away from Earth? Though it's unlikely to affect us in our lifetime, there are some major changes to expect with the Moon's departure.
Lunar Recession History
The Moon was born out of a massive collision of rocky material hurtling into our planet. The Atlantic describes that, when molten debris spun and formed into our satellite, the Moon's orbit was about 10 times closer, and a day on Earth ran at around four hours. It was also pulling away much faster — at around 8 inches (around 20 centimeters) per year.
From the time it formed to the present day, the Moon has been moving away from Earth. Astronomers suspected this but were able to confirm and measure the rate by bouncing lasers off mirrors installed on the Moon's surface during the lunar expeditions of the 1960s and 1970s.
The Conversation notes that the current rate is around 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) per year. From this rate, scientists initially calculated back to an initial impact date of around 1.5 billion years ago; however, other evidence showed that the Moon is much older with a creation date of around 4.5 billion years ago.
Rather than give in to "alternative" creation theories, the researchers turned to sedimentary rock analysis, which suggested variation in recession rates over the years. For example, around 2.46 billion years ago, the distance between Earth and Moon was 60,000 kilometers less than it is today, which shortened the day to only 17 hours instead of 24 hours.
Why Is the Distance Between the Earth and Moon Increasing?
Before asking what would happen if the moon drifted away from Earth, we first need to understand why this drift is happening. All bodies in space exert a force on each other, and the magnitude depends on a number of factors, including distance and size or mass. Closer objects exert more gravitational pull, and that increases if they are larger. Earth exerts a gravitational pull on the Moon, and vice versa.
The force that the Moon exerts on Earth shows up as our tides, with the oceans ebbing and flowing roughly twice each day. The gravitational pull of the Moon makes our oceans bulge outward along the direction of the pull; however, NASA notes that this pull is out of sync, since it takes some time to move water around. The tidal movements also slow Earth's rotational spin due to friction. This, in turn, impacts the speed at which the Moon orbits, letting it drift off into space.
What Are the Implications of This Drifting?
So, what would happen if the distance between the Earth and Moon increased? Most of this question can be answered by looking at what influence the Moon exerts on Earth, and as the Royal Museums Greenwich describes, it's mostly to do with the sea, as this is where lunar gravity has the most effect.
Interestingly, if the Moon was closer, its gravity would start tugging at Earth's crust. At even half the distance, Live Science describes that, not only would tides be eight times higher and slow down Earth's spin, but there'd also be more seismic activity and volcanic eruptions.
Increasing distance would also cause extinctions and climate upheaval. A more distant Moon would mean smaller tides, which would affect coastal ecosystems and ocean currents. Loss of coastal ecosystems and habitats for many species would seriously affect animals on land and sea that rely on them as part of the food chain.
Ocean currents drive and stabilize the weather, so we could expect more extremes of temperature and global climate disruption. The Moon's gravitational pull also helps stabilize Earth's tilt toward and away from the Sun, which causes the different seasons in each hemisphere. Less stability might completely abolish the seasons or perhaps lead to more extremes.
Being further away would mean less impact on Earth's rotation, with longer days and nights. There would also be less moonlight, as the Moon would seem smaller in the night sky. Predators that hunt at night wouldn't be able to locate prey so easily.
And with a "smaller" Moon in the sky, we'd lose an astronomical highlight — in 600 million years, the Moon will be too far away to completely block the Sun in a total eclipse.
Sweet Dreams, Moon
Another reason for the Moon's drift is tidal locking. On Earth, we only see one side of the Moon, but this wasn't always the case. Early on in its development, the Moon had its own rotational spin. However, since Earth was also exerting a gravitational pull and distorting its shape, energy dissipated and slowed the Moon's rotation down. Eventually, one lunar rotation took the same length of time to orbit the Earth, and the Moon became tidally locked with only one face presented to the planet. This energy dissipation also contributes to lunar drift.
As the two drift further apart, Earth will become tidally locked and have its own dark side compared to the Moon. In about 50 billion years, not only will the Moon be further away, but only one half of our planet will be able to see it each night. While that's quite a bit away, it's just one more reason to appreciate the Moon in the night sky while we can still see it.
Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

What Would Happen If the Moon Drifted Away From Earth?

The planet Neptune is far, far away — more than 2.7 billion miles from Earth to be exact. It’s the outermost planet of our solar system, orbiting in one of the dimmest and most remote areas. As such, images of Neptune are difficult to come by, but thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), we’ve been able to take a closer look at the planet.
What Does Neptune Look Like?
Webb is currently helping us get a better view of Neptune. Typically, Webb looks into deep space to search for dark stars and supernovas. In September 2021, astronomers pointed Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) at Neptune, where it captured the clearest view of the planet’s rings since 1989 when Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe the distant planet. Webb’s cameras also clearly showed Neptune’s fainter dust bands for the first time.
The planet Neptune is characterized as an ice giant due to the chemical makeup of its interior. Compared with gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, which are predominantly hydrogen and helium, Neptune is richer in heavier elements and molecules, such as water, ammonia and methane. The icy planet’s atmosphere is made of hydrogen, helium and methane. It’s this methane gas that gives the ice giant its signature blue color in images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope’s visible wavelengths cameras.
However, Webb’s NIRCam uses the near-infrared range of the electromagentic spectrum. As a result, Neptune does not appear blue in these images. In fact, Neptune’s methane gas strongly absorbs red and infrared light, so the planet looks dark at these wavelengths, except where high-altitude clouds are present. Neptune’s methane-ice clouds, which appear as bright streaks and spots reflecting sunlight, are the most prominent aspect of Webb’s images of the planet.
Because Webb creates such stable and precise images, it’s also been able to detect crisp, clear views of several of Neptune’s bright, narrow rings. Some of these rings have never been seen at all, let alone with this amount of clarity. In addition to the new, clear views of Neptune’s rings, Webb has also detected the planet’s fainter dust bands. These dust bands show up as fuzzy particles in between the brighter, ice-dominated rings.
There’s Still Much More to Learn
While looking closely to answer the question, “What does Neptune look like?” astronomers found a thin line of brightness that circles the ice giant’s equator. Neptune has the highest measured wind speeds in the entire solar system, with average wind speeds of 700 miles per hour near the equator. Astronomers believe these glowing bands could be clouds and storms in Neptune’s atmosphere — in other words, visual evidence of the planet’s powerful winds, churning storms and turbulent weather.
The storm clouds are most likely produced when warmer gas flows toward Neptune’s midlatitudes as part of the planet’s global atmospheric circulation. When the gases in Neptune’s atmosphere descend and warm at the equator, they glow at infrared wavelengths more than the surrounding, cooler gases, which means they show up on Webb’s cameras as bright bands.
Images of Neptune, including its rings, dust bands, high-altitude clouds and weather, aren’t all that’s been captured. Webb also caught images of seven of Neptune’s 14 known moons: Galatea, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Proteus, Larissa and Triton. Triton is Neptune’s largest moon. It’s covered in a frozen sheen of condensed nitrogen and reflects most of the sunlight that hits it, which means it looks like a bright point of light in some images. Triton orbits Neptune in a backward orbit, leading astronomers to speculate that this moon was originally a Kuiper belt object that was gravitationally captured by Neptune. Additional Webb studies of both Triton and Neptune are planned in 2023.
Neptune is tilted at a 28-degree angle along its axis, so it experiences four seasons, just like Earth. But one Neptunian year, or the time it takes for Neptune to orbit the sun, is equivalent to 164 Earth years, so each season on Neptune lasts 40 years. Astronomers plan to use Webb to continue studying Neptune, and by comparing these recent images with future ones, they hope to learn more about Neptune’s seasonal effects and dynamic atmosphere.
Astronomers also plan to use Webb to conduct more planetary research within our solar system and beyond for as long as possible, so stay tuned. There’s always more to learn!
 
Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics, and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Learn more about life at Northrop Grumman, or search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation.

What We’ve Learned From Webb’s New Images of Neptune

Key Takeaways  "Shadow biospheres" may have existed in the past or still exist on Earth and contain life we can't easily detect. Life in these biospheres may be use arsenic instead of phosphorous to generate energy. It's possible that extrasolar life may be silicon rather than carbon-based.Where is everybody? In a universe of at least 100 billion galaxies, why hasn't anyone stopped by?The answer depends on who you ask. Some favor the notion of time and distance — extraterrestrial life may not know we're out here, or may be similarly limited to their local solar system by the finite speed of light. Others make more dire predictions for the fate of advanced life in the universe: Catastrophic events such as war, disease or stellar bad luck that effectively eliminate evolving life once it reaches a certain threshold.But what if the truth lies closer to home? What if invisible aliens exist among us, already here but unseen by human eyes? Astrobiologist Samantha Rolfe of the University of Hertfordshire took this idea and ran with it, exploring the possibility of a "shadow biosphere" capable of supporting alien life on Earth — just not life as we know it.What We Do in the ShadowsPhosphorus represents a key biochemical building block for RNA and DNA formation in earthbound life. All organisms — plant and animal — require a source of phosphorous to survive, despite its relative scarcity. As noted by Matthew Pasek of the University of South Florida, "phosphorous is the least abundant element cosmically relative to its presence in biology."The shadow biosphere theory postulates that other forms of life may exist alongside known organisms but operate in ways we don't recognize as life. Consider the Mono Lake microorganisms, which use arsenic rather than phosphorus to generate essential energy — while their arsenic adaptation stems from very specific environmental conditions, it's also possible that larger-scale shadow biospheres have existed throughout Earth's history. According to Astrobiology Magazine, Earth could have had several "cradles of life" over its 4 billion year history; some may have collapsed as environmental conditions changed while others might have been overrun by our phosphorus-loving progenitors.It's also possible that meteorite impacts — or covert alien landings — introduced life into our ecosystem that required a novel energy source, and shadow biospheres have been humming along undetected and undisturbed for centuries or even millennia.What does this mean for our theory of invisible aliens? The good news is that a proof-of-concept shadow biosphere already exists in arsenic-using organisms. The bad news? While shadow-biological microbes might be alien to us they're probably not from a galaxy far, far away.The Uncanny (Silicon) ValleyWhile energy creation is one way to approach the search for life, it's also worth taking a look at our biggest chemical contributor: carbon. All life on Earth is carbon-based, since carbon makes it easy to create the strong double and triple bonds needed for cell walls, and is also soluble in water — another essential life-encouraging compound — when converted to carbon dioxide.But what if carbon isn't all it's cracked up to be? Rolfe considers the possibility of an alternative biochemistry based on silicon. As she points out, silicon is widely available on Earth's surface and — just like carbon — has four electrons to create bonds with other atoms. There are challenges: Silicon is heavier, has a tough time creating strong bonds and isn't water-soluble. Still, scientists have demonstrated that it's possible to create bacterial proteins that bond with silicon, effectively creating tiny, silicon-based life.The chances of silicon-based visitors, however, remains slim here on Earth. Still, there's speculation that intrasolar moons or exosolar planets could have a chemical makeup that favors silicon life over its carbon companion. Here, climbing out of the terrestrial-focused valley of common life classification means thinking outside the biological box to prioritize the collective action of potential aliens rather than their chemical composition.Interstellar Rest StopWhat if our invisible aliens aren't living among us in shadow biospheres or using different building blocks? What if they've already visited — and aren't coming back? What if they're not aliens at all?As noted by Business Insider, it's possible that interstellar travelers visited Earth billions of years ago when their own star system was closer to ours. Maybe they watched the first organic molecules form, or walked among the dinosaurs. Perhaps they accidentally nudged an asteroid toward Earth on their way out of town? Other experts like Harvard's Avi Loeb wonder if strange interstellar objects like 'Oumuaumua — the first known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, detected in late 2017 — were of alien origin and sent to Earth deliberately.Go deeper into we're-not-alone-out-here speculation and you'll find theories like the one from Michael Masters of Montana Technological University in Butte. He notes that while the collective evidence for unidentified flying objects (UFOs) continues to grow, details on actual extraterrestrials are almost entirely absent. He posits that the seeming existence of advanced technology without alien operators could suggest a future in which humanity discovers time travel, humans regularly visit the past and occasionally make the mistake of letting their advanced craft get noticed. Since they're physically and visually human, any crash-landings or future-people infiltrations would go unnoticed. In effect, they're temporal visitors; aliens by eons rather than elements.We Are Not AloneAre we the only house in the galactic neighborhood? Maybe not. Although shadow biospheres and invisible aliens aren't the probable solutions to our carbon-based isolation, they're critical steps in changing the way we view life, the universe and everything. Broader perspectives and bigger thoughts make it more likely that we'll recognize the telltale signs of life — even if it's not what we're expecting.Is an alien invasion imminent? Find out what the UAPS report has to say about extraterrestrial ingress.

Hiding in Plain Sight? The Argument for Invisible Aliens

Key Takeaways Mars deeds are not recognized by any government authority as legitimate. They're great as a gift, not as an investment. While personal property isn't for sale on Mars, the plan is to put people on the Red Planet by 2030. Large-scale Martian terraforming is unlikely with current technologies, but terrarium-like habitats are possible for future colonists.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 ComingEven 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.The first step to Mars? Getting back to the moon — and it all starts with the Artemis program. Learn more.

Can You Really Become a Mars Land Owner?

Key Takeaways

    The Aqua satellite will go dark in 2026.
    Aqua is part of the Earth Observing System, which includes Terra, Aqua and Aura.
    Losing Aqua's weather and water cycle data could negatively impact nationwide security.

Launched in May 2002, NASA's Aqua satellite is nearing its end-of-life. According to the official Aqua Project page, the craft is now in free-drift mode, having used the last of its fuel in 2021. While four out of its six instruments continue transmitting data, and NASA expects the satellite to keep transmitting into Fall 2026, the following year will see Aqua exit Earth's orbit and leave gaps in the agency's Earth Observing System (EOS).
Here's what Aqua's absence could mean for nationwide security.
Earth, Air, Water: The Satellite Trifecta
Aqua is part of the larger EOS, which includes two other satellites: Terra and Aura.
Terra is responsible for mapping Earth's surface and taking measurements of the planet's radiation balance, including the amount of solar radiation received and reflected. Aura takes on the task of measuring trace gasses in the atmosphere to better understand global climate change. Aqua is in charge of water system mapping and monitors for significant weather events. Terra launched first in 1999, followed by Aqua in 2002 and Aura in 2004.
Aqua was the first satellite launched in a group known as the Afternoon Constellation, or A-Train, all of which share the same orbit track. Aura followed, then PARASOL in 2004, CloudSat and CALIPSO in 2006, GCOM-W1 in 2012 and OCO-2 in 2014.
Navigating Knowledge Gaps
What happens when Aqua goes dark? All data transmission stops.
For the moment, Aqua is still collecting and sending data from four of its six instruments:

    Atmospheric Infrared Sounder
    Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit
    Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System
    Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

Aqua already houses two instruments are no longer functioning. In February 2003, the Humidity Sounder for Brazil unexpectedly failed and could not be repaired. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS, meanwhile, suffered a malfunction in 2011 and stopped transmitting high-quality data. It was later restarted and briefly transmitted lower-quality data until it was permanently powered down in 2016.
In 2026, however, Aqua will reach a point where its solar panel no longer generates enough power to keep the remaining instruments operational. At that time, all instruments will shut off and the satellite will slowly drift out of Earth's orbit.
Thanks for the Memories
When the Aqua satellite launched in 2002, it had a projected lifespan of six years. Instead, it significantly outlasted predictions and delivered 20 years' worth of high-quality climate data. As noted by The New York Times, once Aqua goes dark, we'll lose important insight into the stratosphere.
For the United States, the loss of Aqua means the loss of critical climate data that can predict the timing and severity of storms. This data is critical to help national security agencies plan missions and identify potential challenges.
Information about climate change is also vital for long-term security planning. For example, as Arctic ice sheets melt and sea lanes become more accessible, the volume of seafaring traffic — both benign and potentially problematic — will increase significantly. The absence of Aqua's data makes it more difficult to keep track of this evolving Arctic environment.
The shutdown of Aqua may pose nationwide security challenges without replacement data avialable. The solution is increasing deployment of high-performance satellites by both government agencies and private industries can help close knowledge gaps and keep front-line personnel informed about the potential for severe weather events, bringing the capabilties of Aqua to a new generation.
Discover how Northrop Grumman is keeping the world connected with advanced communications satellites. 

What Happens When NASA's Aqua Satellite Goes Dark?

According to NASA, there are more than 500,000 pieces of debris, or "space junk" the size of a marble or larger, orbiting the Earth. At least 20,000 of those objects are larger than a softball. All of the objects, which travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, pose potential dangers to satellites orbiting the Earth, both now and in the future. Orbital debris (NASA Image) One way to potentially reduce these hazards, and the costs and risks of launching new satellites, would be to build and launch an on-orbit recycling system. Notionally, the system would have the ability to vaporize small existing space debris; recycle and recover manufacturing materials from existing satellites; and even perform in-space manufacturing of structural elements for new satellites. "Think of this space recycler as an on-orbit refinery, powered by that amazing source of energy in space called the sun," said Howard Eller, Advanced Missions Tech Fellow, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. Bringing the Sun into Focus In its basic form, the recycler would include a large parabolic reflector, perhaps 50 to 100 feet in diameter; a spherical crucible made of material with an extremely high melting point; a set of compartments in which different types of salvaged materials could be stored; and several robotic arms for capturing "dead" satellites or other space debris.  Space Junk Recycler (Northrop Grumman Artist Concept) The recycler's reflector would concentrate solar energy into a small spherical space, creating an intense source of heat. The heat could be used either to simply vaporize existing small debris, or to heat larger pieces of space debris in the recycler's crucible. The crucible could be rotated through the thermal flux like a rotisserie grill to heat the debris to a desired and uniform temperature. Using this approach, explains Eller, "we could selectively melt and capture material of type A, heat the crucible more to melt and capture material of type B and so on." Materials melted and captured at each stage of the recycling process could be stored in separate compartments in the form of ingots, or perhaps piped in real time to another part of the recycler as source material for in-space 3-D printing manufacturing operations. Any unneeded leftovers from the recycling process could be compressed into small pieces and vaporized by the solar concentrator. There could also be self-sustaining aspect to this recycler, adds Eller. "If the mirrored surface of the solar concentrator became contaminated, the recycler could vaporize a piece of scrap aluminum in such a way that material is deposited as a new thin and highly reflective layer on the mirror, effectively recoating it," he said. Scavenging the Graveyard An ideal source of dead satellites for the recycler would be so-called "graveyard" orbits several hundred kilometers above geosynchronous (22,500 miles) altitude. Satellites are typically "safed" (batteries drained, propellant tanks emptied) and placed in a graveyard orbit at the end of their operational lives to reduce the chance of colliding with an operational spacecraft.  Space recycler captures "dead" satellite (Northrop Grumman artist concept) According to Eller, a recycler could either be placed in a relatively fixed location in orbit where dead satellites could be brought for recycling, or the entire facility could maneuver from satellite to satellite in a graveyard orbit. In theory, an in-space 3-D manufacturing facility could be attached to the other end of the recycler. As old satellites are ingested (think PacMan) and converted to raw materials, new satellite structures would be produced and pushed out the other end for in-space assembly.  Smarter, Lighter, Cheaper The ability to perform on-orbit recycling and manufacturing could also enable a new generation of simpler, lighter and potentially more capable satellite systems. Free from the impact of gravitational forces during launch, satellites could be assembled in space using simpler designs and materials with far less mass and structural strength. As a result, they might look very different from traditional spacecraft buses, which are essentially boxes with one or more solar array appendages. "If we built a satellite in space, it could be a single panel of any desired length," explains Eller. "One side could be an array of RF [radio frequency] elements and electronics, like a single large circuit board. You could produce additional panels to serve as solar arrays, or perhaps attach solar cells to the back of the original panel." After building this "panelsat" in orbit, you could plug in a module launched from Earth containing all of the electronic or spacecraft bus components that are currently too difficult to produce in space. Working the Vision In the end, admits Eller, space recycling is a vision that should be driven by economics. It makes perfect sense to recycle existing satellites because they are made of the materials most often needed to make new satellites. "But right now there is no financial incentive to get rid of space debris," he says. "That's why we should develop this or similar concepts as a nation. If we can figure out a way to convert dead satellites from a waste product into an economic benefit, recycling in space will happen." # # # If you'd like to explore a career helping Northrop Grumman unravel the mysteries and technical challenges of space exploration, please contact us at www.careers.northropgrumman.com.

How to Recycle Space Debris and Reduce Launch Costs

Scientists are developing technology to make sustainable space travel possible. As NASA prepares for long term space missions to the moon, Mars and beyond, many challenges remain. The future of space travel requires solutions for long-duration missions with limited resources. They will need access to fuel and the essential elements that sustain life. Scientists recently demonstrated a possible solution by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen in zero gravity using a semiconductor material and light. Challenges for Sustainable Space Travel It's already difficult for astronauts to live at the International Space Station (ISS) and that's a well-established station located nearby in low earth orbit. Longer missions will be even trickier. According to NASA, the ISS uses a system that recycles approximately 90% of the water and 42% of the oxygen in the spacecraft. The system purifies the crew's waste — including urine and sweat — and turns it into potable water for the crew to drink. Still, cargo spacecraft regularly visit the space station to supplement essential supplies and replace some of the system's components. How will future astronauts get the elements they need to survive on long-term space missions? What will fuel their spaceships and the electronic gadgets they'll need onboard? Fuel Cell Space Vehicles The Conversation reports that an international team of researchers demonstrated that it is possible to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water using a semiconductor material and sunlight (or light from any star) in zero gravity. These findings, which are published in Nature Communications, are a step toward long-term space travel with storable, renewable energy. While water may be a relatively heavy supply for space travel, it's a reasonable option because it provides a two-for-one, with hydrogen for fuel and oxygen for astronauts to breathe. Plus, it can be recycled, making sustainable space travel possible. As a bonus, launching a space vehicle loaded with water is safer than the potentially explosive alternative of rocket fuel and oxygen. If this idea is going to be realistic, scientists need to develop a method for splitting water apart and putting it back together again. They're working on how to create water from oxygen and hydrogen, plus the opposite. The Process In space, we don't have the luxury of plants releasing oxygen, but we can mimic photosynthesis. According to the Conversation, water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen via electrolysis, where scientists run an electric current through a water sample that contains a soluble electrolyte. A new version is even better for space travel because it uses lightweight equipment and sunlight (or starlight). While solar power is useful on earth, it's even more abundant in space, where light isn't filtered through an atmosphere. In this alternative method, photo catalysts absorb photons into a semiconductor material in the water. The researchers explain in Nature, "The photoelectrochemical cell consists of an integrated catalyst-functionalized semiconductor system that generates hydrogen." As a bonus that will be especially useful with limited resources in space, the process can be reversed. How to Create Water From Oxygen and Hydrogen The hydrogen and oxygen can be recombined, according to the Conversation, "using a fuel cell returning the solar energy taken in by the photocatalysis." This energy can be used to power electronics, and it produces water that can be reused. Drop Tower Testing To test their system, the researchers dropped their experiment down a 120-meter tower. As the object accelerated toward Earth, the "drop tower" simulates microgravity by creating an opposite effect to the G forces that astronauts experience during lift-off. The Bubble Problem While the researchers did successfully split water into hydrogen and oxygen in this microgravity environment, a big challenge popped up: bubbles. When the water is split to create gas, bubbles form. On Earth, gravity causes the bubbles to float to the surface, but in zero gravity the bubble lurks near the catalyst, blocking the next potential bubble, and therefore obstructing overall gas production. They attempted to fix the bubble problem by creating pyramid-shaped zones on the catalyst so that the bubble could easily move from the pointed tip and float away. But even though this forced the bubbles away from the catalyst, without gravity, they remain in the liquid and create a pesky foam that blocks the catalyst and electrodes, making the whole system inefficient. Despite these remaining challenges, the new water-splitting method proves that there's great potential for sustainable space travel in the future. Advanced technology and creative scientific processes can make the most of limited resources, on Earth and in space.

Recycling in Zero Gravity for Sustainable Space Travel

Key Takeaways  Time as the fourth dimension leads neatly into Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity to explain how time relates to space. A fifth dimension helps tie together gravity and electromagnetism. Scientists posit that ten dimensions exist, plus string theory, to explain the physics of the universe.We have known about the ordinary three dimensions of space — length, width and height (or to the mathematically minded, x, y, z) for ages. At least, suggests the University of Cambridge, since the days of the pyramids — the ancient Egyptians could not have designed them without an understanding of three-dimensional shapes.A few thousand years after the pyramids, Albert Einstein demonstrated that time is the fourth dimension, which only goes in one direction. No doubling back for a redo. But what is the fifth dimension that we keep hearing about?Dimensions GaloreBefore we get lost in a multidimensional freeway interchange, Sciencing gives us a little road map into this whole dimension business. The first three were taken for granted. Hardly anyone but pure mathematicians thought much about additional dimensions until Einstein came along. He showed that treating time as a fourth dimension was the key to understanding why the speed of light is the same for every observer, no matter how fast you are going.The result was Einstein's theory of special relativity. And Einstein's success at explaining the relationship between time and space, electricity and magnetism, also triggered a dimension chase in the theoretical physics community. Gravity still had to be brought into the fold, along with the strong and weak nuclear forces.Two theorists, Theodor Kaluza from Germany and Oskar Klein from Sweden, independently proposed mathematical theories in which a fifth dimension would elegantly tie together electromagnetism and gravity. And today, string theory, a prominent school of thought in physics, argues that 10 dimensions are needed to pull everything together.Pill Bugs But if all these dimensions really exist, where are they? Oskar Klein had an explanation. As Sciencing colorfully puts it, he "came up with the idea that the fifth dimension is invisible to the human eye, as it is minuscule and curls up on itself like a pill bug rolls up under threat."Out on the frontiers of science, however, where scientists actually do their work, science does not speak with one voice. Scientists disagree with each other all the time. When Gizmodo asked physicists about their opinions on the fifth dimension, their answers varied widely. And that is before we even get to mathematical theories about the sixth, seventh, or eighth dimensions, on up to (depending on who you ask) 10 dimensions, or perhaps even an infinite number of them.Doors to Imagination — and BeyondAt least the physicists more or less agree on what they disagree about. But in pop culture, the subject of "what is the fifth dimension?" has gained additional dimensions beyond just theoretical physics. When we speak of doors to interdimensional travel, in London or elsewhere, the worlds these doors are envisioned as opening onto seem only loosely related to the formal, mathematical dimensions that the physicists and mathematicians play with.On the frontier, not only do scientists often disagree; the lines between science, imagination and metaphor can all get slightly blurred. A little bit of ambiguity that helps keep all of us on our toes.Discover more beyond our own planet.

What Is the Fifth Dimension?

Key Takeaways Saturn's rings were first seen by Galileo over 400 years ago. There are more than 30 major and minor icy rings, each made up of particles that could be debris from comets, asteroids or moons. The rings are slowly disappearing due to the sun's radiation and the planet's gravity.Other than Earth, Saturn might be the most easily recognizable planet in our solar system. Its rings have mesmerized since Galileo observed them more than 400 years ago. Whether through a high-powered telescope or a small photograph, Saturn offers a striking reminder of how nature works in different ways. No other planet we know displays such prominent rings.But what nature gives it can also take away. Saturn's rings are disappearing. This won't happen in our lifetime - scientists estimate the rings could vanish in fewer than 100 million years. The particles that make up the icy rings are losing a battle with the sun's radiation and the gravity of Saturn. Even though we won't be here to see the full demise of the rings, the thought of losing a landmark visual that makes the vast unknowns of space seem somewhat familiar is difficult to accept.From Galileo to Cassini: Saturn's Rings Are RevealedOn its own, Saturn would make an impression. It's the second-largest planet in the solar system, after Jupiter. That size makes it the farthest planet from Earth that can still be seen with the naked eye. To get a true sense of its enormity, consider some big, colorful facts offered by Space.com: Saturn's volume is greater than that of 760 Earths combined, and it's 95 times the size of Earth's mass. The uniform bands of yellow and gold that give the planet a distinguished appearance are products of forceful upper-atmosphere winds (reaching as fast as 1,100 MPH) that combine with the heat of Saturn's interior.But clearly it's Saturn's rings that have most impressed many long-distance observers on Earth, a list that starts with Galileo. He first saw the rings through a telescope in 1610, but as the European Space Agency recounts, the famed Italian astronomer wasn't sure what they were. Galileo thought they could have been ears because they were on each side of the planet. It took a stronger telescope for Dutch astronomer Christaan Huygens to theorize in 1655 that Saturn was surrounded by a solid ring.Superior telescopes allowed scientists to see that Saturn has seven distinctive rings, which collectively stretch across thousands of miles and vary in matter and vibrancy. Many of them are comprised of billions of ice and rock particles that can be as small as a grain of sugar or as large as a house. The seven rings were each assigned a letter of our alphabet for identification, but the space probe Cassini has since revealed a more elaborate system of large and small rings that number more than 30.The particles could be debris left over from comets, asteroids or moons that shattered from the force of the planet's gravitational pull, according to LiveScience. But most astronomers aren't entirely sure how or even when the rings formed, leading to polite arguments among scientists. One such back-and-forth centers on whether the dust of space that collects on the rings could actually confirm their age, as Quanta notes. This debate stemmed from scientists proposing in 2019 that the rings are probably 10 million to 100 million years old and not, as first believed, as old as the Solar System.But the rings offer more than the wonders of sight. They also deliver answers through sound. One of the many discoveries recorded by Cassini is that the "C" ring of Saturn plays music of sorts. Convulsions in the planet's gravity field make particles "prance" in the manner of waves, which can then be recorded like notes on sheet music and reveal characteristics of Saturn's inner core, according to the New York Times. Those and many other discoveries, however, now seem somewhat fleeting after a recent estimate accelerated the end date of Saturn's rings.Will Saturn Lose Its Rings?Unfortunately, not only does it seem certain that Saturn's rings are disappearing, but it might happen sooner than we once anticipated.The space probes Voyager 1 and 2 separately circled Saturn in the early 1980s and discovered what astronomers call "ring rain." The planet's magnetic field is pulling down the icy particles of the rings, dumping enough "rain" of watery elements into Saturn's upper atmosphere to fill an Olympic-sized pool every half-hour, according to NASA. If this continues at the projected rate, eventually the voluminous materials that make up the rings won't be so ample."Those particles are slowly jostling and bumping into each other," Linda Spilker, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, recently told The Atlantic. "There's wakes created by tiny moons."As Spilker notes, when Cassini flew between Saturn and its rings, NASA was able to accurately measure the amount of ring material flowing into the planet, more so than it initially could from Voyager's observations. Whereas Voyager led astronomers to believe the rings could survive for about 300 million years, enhanced transmissions from Cassini's closer look at Saturn took roughly 200 million years off the rings' shelf life.That estimate could change. Saturn has a 29.4-year orbit that varies the rings' exposure to the sun and alters how ultraviolet light makes them respond to the planet's magnetic field. These variations could alter the quantity of ring rain and possibly hasten or slow the demise of the rings.There is a bright side to the push and pull of Saturn's gravitational field. As Spilker told The Atlantic, the probable way that the rings formed suggests that new ones could emerge — albeit, probably at least 100 million years from now."Maybe through some process — another moon is broken apart, a comet comes in too close — and you start it all over again. Maybe this isn't the last we'll see of rings around Saturn."Northrop Grumman's mission expertise in space runs deep; learn how we're defining possible, offering solutions that solve our customers' toughest problems. 

Saturn's Rings Are Disappearing

An announcement by NASA in January 2023 introduced exoplanet discovery TOI 700 e to the world and brought the astronomical term "habitable zone" back to the daily news. But what is it, and why should we care? And what makes TOI 700 e an exciting find?
Searching the Galactic Habitable Zone
Knowing that there's another potential home for us out there in the universe is a comforting thought. As a species, we're also prone to wonder if we're alone in the universe. Is there other intelligent life out there like us?
Searching habitable zones for Earth-like planets is a mix of curiosity and self-preservation. The first home-away-from-home planet outside our solar system was discovered in 1992, followed in 2017 by the discovery of seven planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, which is named after the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope in Chile that first viewed them.
What is a Habitable Zone?
But what is a habitable zone exactly? The definition of "Earth-like" helps define what makes a zone beyond our solar system habitable. These exoplanets are defined as capable of supporting life, so therefore, they must possess liquid water on their surface and have oxygen in the atmosphere.
Water is definitely the holy grail in the hunt for exoplanets. Criteria for remote life detection also include carbon dioxide and, as described by a research article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, biomarker gases (such as methane) that living organisms might produce.
With the definition "capable of supporting life" comes a strict set of conditions that must be met on the exoplanet surface. Including gases and liquid water, the planet must also be the right temperature, avoiding extremes that are too hot or too cold. This translates into the planet being neither too close nor too far from its star.
In other words, the orbit must be in a sweet spot, also known as a Goldilocks zone, for life to (theoretically) flourish. For example, The Planetary Society notes that only three of the seven TRAPPIST-1 planets lie in the system's galactic habitable zone.
From Earth to Exoplanets
The most recently discovered exoplanet, TOI 700 e, is an Earth-like rocky planet orbiting star TOI 700. It was found a few years after TOI 700 d, which was spotted in 2020 in the same system by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). TESS surveys stars looking for changes in their brightness that signal when a planet passes or transits in front of them. Since they take up more space and block more light, larger planets are easier to spot. From this data, astronomers can calculate a planet's size and orbit around its star and glean more details of what the planet probably looks like.
The reason TOI 700 e is causing excitement is that, along with TOI 700 d, it makes TOI 700 one of only a few systems containing a cluster of habitable-zone planets. This might be due to the nature of the star at the center — it's classified as an M dwarf star, which makes it cooler and smaller than the sun in our solar system. According to NASA, these red dwarfs tend to yield better results, since most of the exoplanets similar in size to Earth have been found orbiting them. Compared to our sun, M dwarfs are much more common, being cooler and less luminous, and so, the habitable zone tends to be closer to the star.
The type of star can also influence whether or not life might flourish on a nearby planet. Space notes that red dwarf stars can be very volatile and send potentially sterilizing bursts of energy at planets within their habitable zones. TOI 700 is described as a "quiet star," meaning its Goldilocks zone might be just right for life to take hold and flourish on one of its planets.
Writing in The Conversation, the team that discovered the TOI 700 system notes that, since this star is relatively close to Earth, it gives a great opportunity to study how Earth-like planets evolve and support life. As exoplanet research evolves, this could help the search for life elsewhere.
Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

What Is a Habitable Zone, and Why Does It Matter?

Researchers have discovered a solar radio burst with a signal pattern comparable to the Sun's heartbeat. What does cardiology have to do with astronomy? The familiar lub-dub sound of a heart is a rhythmic pattern caused by electrical signals stimulating the heart muscle to contract. Similarly, the radio bursts feature a signal pattern reminiscent of a heartbeat.
An Electromagnetic Discovery
The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is a range of wavelengths of EM radiation covering a wide spectrum from short gamma- and X-rays to longer waves, such as infrared, radio and microwaves. The human eye can only see a small portion of the spectrum (visible light), but scientific instruments, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, can capture invisible radiation that astronomers use to understand the universe.
An international team of researchers from institutions in China, Germany, the United Kingdom and New Jersey detected the solar radio burst by studying microwave imaging observations from a telescope in California called the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array. They reported their findings in Nature Communications.
The study describes a solar radio burst, an intense burst of radio waves from the Sun. These bursts can feature signals with repeating patterns, and the signal pattern comes from within a solar flare more than 5,000 kilometers (~3,107 miles) above the Sun's surface.
What Is a Solar Flare?
Solar flares are a type of powerful explosion from the surface of the Sun. According to Live Science, solar flares are intense bursts of EM radiation generated in the layers of sparse, hot gas that comprise the Sun's atmosphere.
The researchers have labeled this particular solar flare as a C5.9 class, which is a medium-sized explosion on the immense scale of the universe. For context, the most powerful solar flares are equivalent to the energy of a billion hydrogen bombs, which is enough energy to power the world for 20,000 years, according to NASA.
What Causes Solar Flares?
The big yellow ball in the sky is a mixture of hydrogen and helium held together by the force of gravity. But there is another fundamental force at work: electromagnetism, which involves the interaction of electric currents and magnetic fields. This force causes matter to behave in certain ways, and when it comes to the Sun, magnetic energy sometimes builds up in the atmosphere and is suddenly released as a solar flare.
Most of the energy released by solar flares is in the ultraviolet and X-ray part of the EM spectrum at shorter wavelengths and higher energies than visible light. These events are not unusual. The Sun's magnetic field drives a solar cycle, which is a period of solar activity that lasts approximately 11 years, according to Space.com.
How Solar Flares Affect Earth
The recent discovery of "the Sun's heartbeat" can help astronomers understand more about electromagnetism and how it affects activity in the universe and space weather in general.
"The discovery is unexpected," said Sijie Yu, the study's corresponding author and astronomer affiliated with the New Jersey Institute of Technology Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research. "This beating pattern is important for understanding how energy is released and is dissipated in the Sun's atmosphere during these incredibly powerful explosions on the Sun. However, the origin of these repetitive patterns, also called quasi-periodic pulsations, has long been a mystery and a source of debate among solar physicists."
Fortunately, Earth's atmosphere protects our bodies from solar flares and similar solar activity. However, these events can affect technology on Earth because they can inhibit radio communications and GPS navigation. They can reach Earth in just about eight minutes — the amount of time it takes light to travel from the Sun to our planet — so the more we understand about solar flares, the better we can prepare.
As NASA and other space agencies prepare to send crews into space, a deeper understanding of solar activity will be crucial for safety as astronauts travel without the atmosphere's protection.
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The Sun&#8217;s Heartbeat: A Solar Radio Burst

Key Takeaways  Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, and is found mostly stuck to stardust. On Earth, breathable oxygen forms around 20% of the atmosphere, and it's gravity that keeps it from floating off into space. At altitude, Earth's oxygen is hoovered up by the vacuum of space.In space, no one can hear you scream, and as every grade school student knows, it's because there's no air to carry sound waves. Since around 350 BC, we've suspected — and more recently confirmed — that space is a vacuum. But what happens to oxygen in space?Although NASA and other space agencies were well-prepared with spacesuits before sending astronauts into space, determining what happens to oxygen in space has been less clear. However, the study of the atmosphere — or, more correctly, the lack of atmosphere — in space has recently shown that molecular oxygen does exist there, but only in two locations so far.Clearly, despite it being the third most abundant element in the universe, breathable oxygen is in extremely short supply once you leave our planet. But are the implications of this? And what can we learn from this fact?Early Study of the Atmosphere Predicted the Void of SpaceWhat happens to oxygen in space could not be confirmed by direct observation at first, as crewed spaceflight did not happen until the latter half of the 20th century. Instead, the lack of oxygen in space was initially predicted by deduction, observation and a lot of climbing.Our planet is surrounded by a shell of atmosphere. Layers of air comprising nitrogen, carbon dioxide and other gases, such as oxygen, support life on the planet. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) describes how early scientists measured the change in the atmosphere as you get farther from Earth's surface.In 1648, two scientists, Blaise Pascal and his brother-in-law Florin Perier, carried a one-meter glass column of mercury to the top of a mountain. This early Torricelli barometer showed them that air pressure decreased with altitude. In 1787, further research carried out by another researcher who risked altitude sickness on Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain, showed that, along with the drop in air pressure, temperature also decreased.These findings suggested that our atmosphere was breaking free of gravity and vanishing into a vacuum of space, which was further confirmed with daring balloon flights higher and higher into the atmosphere. Risking death, early scientists demonstrated not only that air pressure was lower at higher altitudes but also that oxygen levels four miles up into the atmosphere were so reduced that they were almost incompatible with life.Further study of the atmosphere at greater elevation, carried out with uncrewed weather balloons, confirmed that there's less oxygen in the upper layers of our atmosphere and the air pressure is lower there.Where Does Oxygen Come From?Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, so in theory, space should be full of it. However, the space between the planets, stars and other celestial bodies is only thinly populated with dust, gas and radiation. Despite decades of astronomy, molecular oxygen (the stuff you can breathe, comprising two atoms, O2, joined together) is almost nonexistent. As Science.org notes, in space, hydrogen molecules, H2, outnumber O2 by a million to one.On Earth, O2 is abundant. It's formed by plants, algae and phytoplankton during photosynthesis as they take in CO2 and convert it into energy. Breathable oxygen forms around 20% of the atmosphere, and gravity keeps it closely bound to the planet, but in the upper layers, the pull isn't so strong, and the vacuum of space hoovers it up. Oxygen floating off into space at altitude is why most mountaineers need to carry reserves with them to summit Everest.Oxygen does exist in space, though the Goddard Space Flight Center notes that it wasn't formed during the Big Bang. Instead, it arrived due to nuclear fusion reactions in the newly formed stars. As the stars consumed hydrogen and helium, they created carbon and oxygen. At the end of a star's life, these elements — the building blocks of carbon-based life — are hurled into space.So, yes, we do come from stardust, but it's also stardust that's hoarding the oxygen molecules out in space.What Happens to Oxygen in Space?Oxygen was discovered in the 1770s, but astronomers have only recently discovered where to find it in space. And the reason for it being so elusive is stardust.NASA reported in 2015 that infrared detectors at the European Space Agency's Herschel Observatory found molecular oxygen in only two places in the universe: the Orion Nebula and the Rho Ophiuchi cloud. The reason for this scarcity could be that oxygen is much stickier than it was once thought to be.A recent study that simulated space dust cloud conditions here on Earth found that the binding energy for elemental oxygen is around twice as strong as expected. In the clouds of stardust, this strong attachment means that the oxygen atoms themselves are not free to combine and form breathable O2. When they're tightly bound to the grains of space dust, they join with hydrogen instead to form H2O, or water, which then freezes.Although individual oxygen atoms are common around the stars that create them, stardust quickly gathers them up and doesn't easily let go. When you look up at the stars at night, remember this fact, and it may give you some comfort knowing a little more about how our universe works and what happens to oxygen way up there.Discover how depth and breadth of mission experience in developing leading-edge space technologies plays a vital role in the quest to answer compelling questions about the origins of our universe.

What Happens to Oxygen in Space?

As rising global temperatures melt polar ice and open new sea routes, the Arctic is more physically accessible than ever before. But delivering a reliable communications capability to the High North, as the Northern polar region is called, has remained elusive — until now.
On Aug. 11, 2024, the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) — a combined effort between Space Norway, the U.S. Space Force and Northrop Grumman — launched. Its payloads, hosted on Northrop Grumman's GEOStar-3 satellite bus, will establish full broadband coverage above 65°N for commercial and military end users.
But this first-of-its-kind achievement required scientists and engineers to look outside their orbit, literally.
Tapping In
As the name implies, GEOStar-3 satellites — like most communications satellites — have traditionally flown in geostationary orbit (GEO), explained Carlos Niederstrasser, mission architect, Northrop Grumman. Spacecraft in GEO fly 36,786 kilometers in altitude above the equator and move at the same speed as the Earth rotates, completing a full orbit every 24 hours.
However, due to Earth's curvature, GEO satellites cannot provide coverage to the poles from their vantage point. It's the satellite equivalent of something being just outside your line of sight.
To address this challenge, the Northrop Grumman and Space Norway teams turned to a rarely-used type of highly elliptical orbit (HEO) called a Three Apogee (TAP) orbit. Instead of a circular path around the equator — like GEO — a TAP orbit is elongated into an ellipse and tilted relative to the globe, giving satellites in TAP orbit visibility to the High North during a large percentage of the orbit.
"What results is that one side of the orbit is pretty close to the Earth, and the other side is pretty far away," said Carlos.
Seeing Double
Due to Earth's gravitational pull, a spacecraft in a TAP orbit travels slowly along its path when it is furthest away from the Earth (known as apogee), then moves more quickly through the portion of its orbit that's closest to the Earth (known as perigee). For ASBM, the orbit's apogee is at a high northern latitude, which means that the satellite moves slowly over the Arctic for 10 hours of its 16-hour orbit and, and during that time, can provide coverage to the High North.
"The satellite appears to hang right in the same place in the sky," said Carlos. "It gives you something that almost behaves like a GEO but has the benefit of being very well-visible from all of the Arctic region."
But to achieve continuous communications coverage, one satellite wouldn't cut it, according to Richard Macheske, chief engineer, ASBM, Northrop Grumman.
The solution? A two-satellite constellation.
The ASBM satellites are twins — each GEOStar-3 satellite hosts Northrop Grumman-built payloads for the Norwegian Armed Forces, Viasat and the U.S. Space Force — and travel on opposite sides of the TAP orbit. This mirrored approach ensures that one of the two satellites is always on deck to deliver assured communications in the High North.

From GEO to HEO
Flying the GEOStar-3 in HEO may seem counterintuitive. But, according to Richard, the GEOStar-3 is more than up to the task of flying in different orbits.
"Overall, GEOStar-3 is perfectly suited for this and many other orbits, even though it's called a GEOStar," said Richard. "It should operate more or less like a GEO, which was the whole intent: doing the minimum amount of changes to work in this different orbit."
The ASBM satellites leveraged Northrop Grumman-produced solar arrays, propellant tanks, heat pipe panels and satellite bus structures with very few modifications. Tweaks for operating in HEO included structural changes to account for different radiation levels, changes to the attitude control system, solar array system and star tracker as well as adaptations for surface charging. The satellite's command and control system is also operated differently, explained Carlos, because — unlike in GEO — ground stations do not have constant contact with HEO satellites.
In addition to its communication mission, ASBM offers a unique opportunity to study the nuances of HEO. The mission includes a radiation monitor, owned by the European Commission, and designed and built by a Norwegian company called IDEAS. This monitor which will collect radiation data providing engineers and scientists with insights into this little-flown orbit, charting the course for future missions in the Northern polar region.
Learn more about Northrop Grumman connecting the Arctic with Cutting-Edge Satellite Communications 

To Reach the Arctic, Scientists Look Outside Their Orbit

Key Takeaways  Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet after the discovery of Eris in 2003. Some Pluto proponents argue that the term "planet" is frequently misused and Pluto should get its status back. Other scientists argue that Pluto is simply one of many objects in the Kuiper belt and shouldn't get special treatment.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 PrimerAs 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 GameIn 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 NineMuch 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 PlanetAs 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 CosmosWhat'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.From next-generation telescopes to rocket boosters and moon missions, Northrop Grumman goes all-in on space exploration. See how. 

Pluto Discovery Debacle: Is Pluto a Planet?

It's one thing to get carsick. It's a whole other thing to get sick in space.
While carsickness eventually subsides, some astronauts have faced poor health long after they've completed a mission. It's an unfortunate conclusion to an undoubtedly exhilarating experience — but scientists are furthering their understanding of how weak gravity can affect the immune system in space with the aim of keeping astronauts healthy. They're also trying to protect astronauts from space radiation.
Their findings will be critical as NASA launches its grand plan to create a base on the moon and explore Mars, testing astronauts' physical endurance as they spend more time in space than ever before.
Biology Goes Up Against the Harshness of Space
What happens if you get sick in space? Astronauts can, indeed, get sick in space, and because they're traveling in a sealed environment, illness could rapidly spread and jeopardize a mission. With this concern in mind, NASA typically quarantines astronauts for a week before a launch, and as seen on the International Space Station (ISS), at least two crew members are medically trained, according to WIRED.
But NASA is particularly focused on long-term health conditions that astronauts contend with once they return home. Astronauts have experienced rashes, heart arrhythmia, ear conditions, dehydration, low blood pressure and loss of bone calcium.
NASA's Human Research Program studies the risks to the human body in space. For instance, as NASA enters the beginning stages of its Artemis program, it's working to improve how it shields and monitors radiation that's more intense and varied than on Earth.
Then, there's gravity. It causes bones to lose as much as 1.5% of mineral density each month in space, and it affects the flow of bodily fluids, which can lead to eye and kidney problems. To that end, during and after a mission, NASA tests an astronaut's balance and fine motor skills and monitors the distribution of fluids in the body.
To get an even truer sense of how gravity affects astronauts, NASA conducted a landmark experiment on two of them: identical twins Scott and Mark Kelly. Mark stayed on Earth while Scott spent nearly a year on ISS. As soon as Scott reached space, more than 1,000 of his genes changed, signaling the activation of DNA repair and immune system regulation, as Space.com reported. His immune system, a study co-author said, was basically on "high alert."
Learning How Immunity Works in Space
Two recent studies furthered the "Twins Study" by looking more closely at what happens to the immune system in space. In 2021, Stanford University and University of California, San Francisco, researchers found that the weakening of an astronaut's immune system during space flight seems to be partly caused by the abnormal activation of immune cells called T regulator cells (Tregs).
In the gravity of Earth, Tregs are typically triggered to slow immune responses when infection no longer threatens the body. But in microgravity conditions, changes in Tregs make them go to work before the immune system is challenged. When the researchers stimulated an immune response in human immune cells from blood samples in microgravity, they found that Tregs helped suppress the immune response that was triggered.
A University of Ottawa study also connected gravity to changes in the immune system, but instead of simulating microgravity, these researchers examined blood samples of ISS astronauts taken before, during and after their missions. They found that space slows the activity of genes in leukocytes — white blood cells that are crucial to the immune system.
An astronaut's blood shifts from their legs to their torsos and heads once in space, forcing the body to reduce fluid by as much as 15%. This causes immune cells to cram into a smaller amount of blood. The researchers believe gene activity eliminates the extra cells, which changes how the immune system responds to pathogens. "It's as if the body is telling (the cells), 'Don't defend, put your guards down,'" the lead researcher told NPR.
Science Needs to Protect Astronauts
Determining how astronauts can be protected from radiation will also be key to lengthy space missions.
The University of British Columbia, for example, will study yeast samples that flew onboard Artemis I on its unmanned flight around the moon. The researchers will look at genetic changes in the yeast cells to determine the influence of radiation and possibly use the information to develop drugs or treatments that can help astronauts tolerate radiation shocks and reduce adverse health effects, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
For years just a dream, deep space exploration is finally set to happen. But for those dreams to be fully realized, future studies will need to continue to examine what happens to the immune system in space and why to help protect the health of astronauts on their historic journeys.
Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Explore what life is like at Northrop Grumman and take a look at open positions.

What Happens to Your Immune System in Space? 

Key Takeaways  The last magnetic pole reversal occurred 780,000 years ago, and another flip should happen soon. A reversal could destroy wireless devices and electric grids. As the poles shift, Earth's magnetic field is weakening, which could increase our exposure to radiation from space.Geomagnetic pole reversal effects are natural and spectacular, but they could also destroy the world as we know it.While that may sound dramatic, renowned science journalist Alanna Mitchell's book "The Spinning Magnet" revealed that the next time Earth's magnetic field flips, it could seriously damage the electric infrastructure that defines our modern civilization.What is an Electromagnetic Field?While magnetism is fascinating, it has also been historically misunderstood. According to Physics.org, Earth's magnetic field exists because the planet's solid iron core is surrounded by liquid metal.According to NASA, the flow of liquid iron in Earth's core creates electric currents that generate the magnetic field. This electromagnetic field provides an invisible shield that blocks solar and cosmic rays.Flip-flopping PolesEarth's magnetic poles have reversed many times in the past, but scientists can't predict when the next reversal will occur. In other words, a magnetic field flip is coming, we just don't know when.To find evidence of the magnetic past, scientists examine ancient rocks. Certain minerals in lava flows are sensitive to Earth's magnetic field as the lava cools; scientists analyze the rock samples to uncover a record of Earth's magnetic field, according to National Geographic.Scientific American noted that in the past 200 million years, reversals have taken place approximately every half-million years. The last reversal happened around 780,000 years ago, so we're due for a flip.Potential Magnetic Pole Reversal Effects on HumansWhat are the potential outcomes of swapped North and South Poles? Compass needles would be wrong, and animals that use Earth's magnetic field for navigation — such as birds, salmon, sea turtles, whales and butterflies — could get temporarily disoriented, according to National Geographic.Mitchell warns that a reversal could destroy anything electronic, including home appliances, satellites, wireless devices and the electric grids that make all these items work.In an essay on Undark.org, Mitchell wrote, "We have blithely built our civilization's critical infrastructure during a time when the planet's magnetic field was relatively strong, not accounting for the field's bent for anarchy."What about magnetic pole reversal effects on humans?With a weak electromagnetic field, radiation from space could possibly make some regions of Earth uninhabitable and cause entire species to go extinct. But first, according to Mitchell, we would have problems with sensitive orbiting satellites, which control electric grids and could cause "a domino run of blackouts that could last for decades."What Does the Future Hold?The good news is that we have plenty of time to prepare. The bad news? The magnetic field is much weaker, as low as a tenth of its normal strength, according to Futurism. A gradual change could mean that we'll have years without the invisible protective shield between Earth and space.It's not all doom and gloom, though. We don't know whether this will occur in our lifetime. Even if it does, the flip could take hundreds of years, and geomagnetic pole reversal effects would be mostly gradual.Whether it's closer to home or beyond the solar system, Northrop Grumman is on the cutting edge of space exploration. Read more about what we're up to.

Will Geomagnetic Pole Reversal Effects Cause a Worldwide Blackout?

The night sky is never just black, thanks to the stars and the moon. On cloudy nights, the clouds can reflect enough of the moon's light to illuminate basic tasks, like walking through a field. At northern and southern latitudes, there may be dazzling auroras as charged particles from the sun collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere to create flashes of green, yellow, blue or red light. Auroras are also known to occur in the thin Mars atmosphere, as explained by NASA.
 
 
 
Scientists have now detected a different green light around Mars called nightglow, as reported in a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The study used data collected by the European Space Agency's (ESA's) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). While auroras are constantly changing, nightglow is more stable — creating a dome of green light that's consistently present over the Martian pole when experiencing winter. Under clear skies, the nightglow could be as bright as moonlit clouds on Earth, providing enough light for rovers to navigate or astronauts to see at night.
 
 
 
What Causes Nightglow?
 
 
 
As noted in Nature Astronomy, the energy for nightglow comes from the sun's ultraviolet light, which heats the Mars atmosphere on the dayside. This causes carbon dioxide molecules to split into their constituent atoms. When these atoms are transported to the nightside by wind, they lose energy and combine to form molecules again. As part of this process, two oxygen atoms can combine to form dioxide, which releases energy in the form of green light. This process occurs 40 to 60 km (~25 to 37 miles) above the surface, producing an emerald green night light over the winter hemisphere of the red planet.
 
 
 
Nightglow also occurs on other planets, with different molecules in the atmosphere producing different colors. According to the ESA, the nightglow on Venus is infrared. Earth also has nightglow, although it is not visible from the planet's surface. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have taken spectacular photos of Earth's horizon with layers of green, orange or red nightglow, some of which are available to view through the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA.
 
 
 
The effect is more broadly called airglow, which can occur during the day as dayglow or at night as nightglow. In the early 1980s, ultraviolet airglow was detected over Mars by NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft, as a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research showed. In 2012, infrared airglow over Mars was detected by the ESA's Mars Express orbiter. In 2020, green dayglow over Mars was also detected by the ESA's ExoMars TGO, according to a study published in Nature Astronomy. While this dayglow was in the visible spectrum for humans, special equipment was needed to detect the signal in daylight. The most recent discovery of green nightglow over Mars opens up additional research opportunities.
 
 
 
Illuminating Scientific Discovery
 
 
 
The green light around Mars isn't just a cool phenomenon — the light can provide insight into the processes that occur in the Martian atmosphere. For example, it can provide information about the composition, dynamics and oxygen density of a region of the atmosphere that's otherwise difficult to measure. The data can also reveal how sunlight and solar wind (charged particles from the sun) deposit energy into the atmosphere. The intensity of the Martian nightglow means that these measurements can be obtained with relatively simple, lower-cost instrumentation. A future Mars mission could carry a camera specifically for this purpose.
 
 
 
This information will be useful when planning future missions to Mars. For example, atmospheric density affects the drag experienced by orbiting satellites and the parachutes used to deliver payloads to the surface. Atmospheric changes also occur before dust storms, as study author M.R. Patel explained to BBC News in 2020. Therefore, measuring the green airglow could help guide the entry, descent and landing of future Mars probes.
 
 
 
Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Green Light Around Mars Will Illuminate Space Exploration

When the time comes to send interstellar probes to Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars, a prime target of investigation will be planet water cycles — described by the U.S. Geological Survey as the endless sequence of water vapor in the atmosphere condensing as rainfall, then flowing to the sea where it evaporates back into the atmosphere.We're a few tech revolutions away from developing the tools to observe other planets' water cycles, but when that time comes, we will already have experience observing Earth's water cycle thanks to the Aqua satellite, a NASA satellite built and still managed today by Northrop Grumman. For more than 20 years, it's been orbiting Earth, giving us a view from space of the water cycle in action, as well as demonstrating the application of Earth observation satellites.The Cycle of LifeNature has many flow cycles of sequential phase changes, but hardly any are so richly evocative as the phases of the water cycle: rainfall (and snowfall), flowing streams and rivers, the expanse of lakes and seas and a sky of billowing clouds. These powerful images are no accident, because life on Earth follows the water cycle and is deeply dependent on it.The water cycle is a prime driver of Earth's active climate, transferring heat from the relatively sunbaked tropics to the relatively sun-starved polar latitudes. The ocean-atmosphere system somewhat resembles a steam engine. Seawater evaporates from the tropical seas, absorbing enormous heat in the process. Winds then carry some of that water vapor to higher latitudes, where it condenses out and falls as rain or snow, releasing heat in the process. (A snowstorm hardly seems "warm," but it may be many degrees milder than a dry Arctic wind.)In short, the water cycle is deeply implicated in both the causes and effects of global change, not only in climate but in ocean temperature and currents and, over time, even in geology, as flowing water cuts canyons through one region while depositing sediment in another.Aqua has been used to study Earth's water cycle in detail. For example, the satellite's data was used to detect and measure the extent and magnitude of dust deposition in the oceans globally. Dust deposited in the ocean provides vital nutrients for phytoplankton, but estimating dust-mediated effects on surface ocean ecosystems has been difficult. Aqua's ability to capture ocean color has been key to measuring dust deposition and has shown that climate-driven changes will alter the importance of this nutrient source.When exoplanet researchers speak of the search for Earth-like planets, the term is more or less a shorthand for a planet with surface conditions that would allow the water cycle to operate.An Extended Ride on the A-Train"Aqua" is the Latin word for water, and the Aqua satellite was launched on May 4, 2002, carrying six instruments designed to investigate Earth's water cycle. For this reason, it was launched into a sun-synchronous polar orbit, timed so that, on each orbit, it crosses the equator northbound at about 1:30 p.m. (local time for the slice of Earth it is passing over).In the years that followed, according to NASA, the Aqua satellite was joined by another, Aura, in nearly the same orbit, and then by several others. Because of their shared timing, they came to be called the Afternoon Constellation. Then, because they all passed overhead one after another along the same orbital "track," they were dubbed the A-Train, after the famed New York subway line.The Aqua satellite's designed mission endurance was to be six years. A quick glance at the calendar thus confirms that Aqua is now in its fifteenth year of bonus time. Four of its six instruments are still in service: observing water vapor in infrared and microwave frequencies, cloud brightness observations and an imaging spectrometer.However, Aqua, Aura and Terra (another Earth-observing satellite) are no longer part of the A-Train orbit. Now, they are below the previous A-Train orbit in preparation for decommissioning in the next few years.Aqua's Mission in Observing EarthThe overall mission of the Aqua satellite is to gather a wealth of data to enrich our understanding of Earth's water cycle. In the course of its operation over the years, it has shared in many dramatic "Earth moments" in the application of Earth observation satellites.For example, in 2017, when Hurricane Harvey pelted the Houston region with torrential rainfall, NASA relied on Aqua satellite data to aid emergency preparations at its own space flight center. More recently, Aqua data was used to identify the burn area of a major California wildfire in 2020, while in the summer of 2021, observations from Aqua helped scientists track the development of the "heat dome" that brought roasting heat to the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon, hit 116 degrees Fahrenheit — breaking all previous record-high temperatures in the area).As NASA scientists develop plans for the next generation of technology for investigating Earth's and potentially other planets' water cycles, Aqua will continue to be a source of supplemental information until it is fully decommissioned. It's certainly made its mark on history by recording many Earth moments over its long career.Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Explore what life's like at Northrop Grumman and take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman.

Observing "Earth Moments" with the Aqua Satellite

As rising global temperatures melt polar ice and open new sea routes, the Arctic is more physically accessible than ever before. But delivering a reliable communications capability to the High North, as the Northern polar region is called, has remained elusive — until now.
On Aug. 11, 2024, the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) — a combined effort between Space Norway, the U.S. Space Force and Northrop Grumman — launched. Its payloads, hosted on Northrop Grumman's GEOStar-3 satellite bus, will establish full broadband coverage above 65°N for commercial and military end users.
But this first-of-its-kind achievement required scientists and engineers to look outside their orbit, literally.
Tapping In
As the name implies, GEOStar-3 satellites — like most communications satellites — have traditionally flown in geostationary orbit (GEO), explained Carlos Niederstrasser, mission architect, Northrop Grumman. Spacecraft in GEO fly 36,786 kilometers in altitude above the equator and move at the same speed as the Earth rotates, completing a full orbit every 24 hours.
However, due to Earth's curvature, GEO satellites cannot provide coverage to the poles from their vantage point. It's the satellite equivalent of something being just outside your line of sight.
To address this challenge, the Northrop Grumman and Space Norway teams turned to a rarely-used type of highly elliptical orbit (HEO) called a Three Apogee (TAP) orbit. Instead of a circular path around the equator — like GEO — a TAP orbit is elongated into an ellipse and tilted relative to the globe, giving satellites in TAP orbit visibility to the High North during a large percentage of the orbit.
"What results is that one side of the orbit is pretty close to the Earth, and the other side is pretty far away," said Carlos.
Seeing Double
Due to Earth's gravitational pull, a spacecraft in a TAP orbit travels slowly along its path when it is furthest away from the Earth (known as apogee), then moves more quickly through the portion of its orbit that's closest to the Earth (known as perigee). For ASBM, the orbit's apogee is at a high northern latitude, which means that the satellite moves slowly over the Arctic for 10 hours of its 16-hour orbit and, and during that time, can provide coverage to the High North.
"The satellite appears to hang right in the same place in the sky," said Carlos. "It gives you something that almost behaves like a GEO but has the benefit of being very well-visible from all of the Arctic region."
But to achieve continuous communications coverage, one satellite wouldn't cut it, according to Richard Macheske, chief engineer, ASBM, Northrop Grumman.
The solution? A two-satellite constellation.
The ASBM satellites are twins — each GEOStar-3 satellite hosts Northrop Grumman-built payloads for the Norwegian Armed Forces, Viasat and the U.S. Space Force — and travel on opposite sides of the TAP orbit. This mirrored approach ensures that one of the two satellites is always on deck to deliver assured communications in the High North.

From GEO to HEO
Flying the GEOStar-3 in HEO may seem counterintuitive. But, according to Richard, the GEOStar-3 is more than up to the task of flying in different orbits.
"Overall, GEOStar-3 is perfectly suited for this and many other orbits, even though it's called a GEOStar," said Richard. "It should operate more or less like a GEO, which was the whole intent: doing the minimum amount of changes to work in this different orbit."
The ASBM satellites leveraged Northrop Grumman-produced solar arrays, propellant tanks, heat pipe panels and satellite bus structures with very few modifications. Tweaks for operating in HEO included structural changes to account for different radiation levels, changes to the attitude control system, solar array system and star tracker as well as adaptations for surface charging. The satellite's command and control system is also operated differently, explained Carlos, because — unlike in GEO — ground stations do not have constant contact with HEO satellites.
In addition to its communication mission, ASBM offers a unique opportunity to study the nuances of HEO. The mission includes a radiation monitor, owned by the European Commission, and designed and built by a Norwegian company called IDEAS. This monitor which will collect radiation data providing engineers and scientists with insights into this little-flown orbit, charting the course for future missions in the Northern polar region.
Learn more about Northrop Grumman connecting the Arctic with Cutting-Edge Satellite Communications. 

Key Takeaways Water, rare elements and metals exist on the moon. Resource extraction from the moon could drive technology on Earth as well as for space travel. Ethical concerns on colonizing the moon for mining include peace, worker health and safety, and citizenship for babies born on the satellite.Fifty years ago, geopolitical chest-puffing spurned a competition between the United States and Russia to see who would land on the moon first. Today, a new race has commenced — this one driven primarily by the economics of moon mining. Water, rare elements and metals exist on the moon, according to NASA, and governmental and private space entities are betting on the potential profit of these space resources. They could be harvested for use on Earth, or they could help to build and power lunar habitats that could serve as way stations to nearby asteroids, as well as Mars and beyond. How companies might undertake such a venture and return high-value materials to Earth remains to be seen. But entrepreneurs from private and public agencies are making the case that moon mining could preserve our planet's own resources and create new opportunities for exploring the solar system.Moon Metals and MoreBlack and white images from the first moon landing in 1969 show a cratered, seemingly barren landscape. But NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2009, has revealed a surface rich in solar resources. Using several instruments to study the moon's surface — including ones that measure elevation, collect ultraviolet and visible light images, detect hydrogen and measure surface and subsurface temperatures and frost — the orbiter gathered data revealing the prevalence of important elements, minerals and water.It should come as no surprise that common minerals, including basalt, iron, quartz and silicon, have been detected on the moon, according to NASA. The more common resources could be turned into buildings, windows, stoneware, solar panels and more, reports Popular Science.Other scarce materials have also been discovered. Precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium are highly conductive and could be used in electronics. In 2011, scientists reported that they had discovered titanium ore, 10 times richer than that found on Earth, says NASA. When mixed with aluminum or iron, titanium makes an alloy that is lightweight, corrosion-resistant, incredibly strong and resistant to extreme temperatures. It could be used to build a variety of items, such as engines, medical implants and structural frames.There are 17 rare metals that are scant to find on earth but may be found on the moon. These moon metals include scandium, ytttrium and others, which could be used in vehicle engines, to make glass or ceramics, electronic devices, radar systems, superconductors and more. Even rarer is helium-3, a gas that could be used as a clean and powerful fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. And then there's water. Thought to be trapped in lunar ice hidden deep in the shadow of polar craters, water could be turned into oxygen and rocket fuel.Robots, 3-D Printers and Optical MiningEarth's only natural satellite contains a wealth of possibilities. Getting there is another matter. According to IEEE Spectrum, new technology around rockets, reusable stages and crew capsules will need major funding. So, too, will lunar cargo landers that can pick up resources on the moon and return them to Earth. NASA has issued contracts for these machines to the companies Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines. Eventually, building on the moon will require a range of technology that can construct everything from habitats to communications.Planning is underway. For the first time, the U.S. Geological Survey started seriously evaluating space resources for future mining. Last year, they began attending the Space Resources Roundtable held at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. There, they helped assess the location and value of minerals, energy and water on the moon, Mars and asteroids, reports Space.com.Private companies have also begun drawing up blueprints to start mining space resources, according to Yahoo Finance. Moon Express, for instance, received a license from the Federal Aviation Administration in 2017 to land on the moon and set up a commercial space station. It's now developing a family of scalable robotic explorers that could deliver scientific and commercial payloads to the moon or be chartered for expeditions to other worlds. Meanwhile, Planetary Resources, which is focused on asteroids, has planned data-gathering satellite missions to visit multiple near-Earth asteroids and assess their mineral and water content. Space.com notes that, in 2016, the company partnered with 3D Systems to demonstrate that metal extracted from a meteorite — the same material that would presumably be found on asteroids — could be 3D-printed into useful objects. Habitats could also be printed.In the meantime, NASA is investing billions of dollars in developing technology around space mining. This past May, the agency announced the winner of its 3D-printed Mars Habitat Challenge, showing it was possible to turn resources on the moon or Mars into shelters. In June, NASA announced it was moving forward with two mission concepts designed to explore lunar craters and mining asteroids. The first, called Skylight, proposes technologies to rapidly survey and model lunar craters. The second, called Mini Bee, aims to demonstrate a technique known as optical mining, which uses concentrated sunlight to forces gases out of asteroids and use them as rocket propellant.Benefits to All HumanityAlthough technology is a major aspect of exploring and mining space resources, some experts have raised concerns about the ethical consequences of such an undertaking. An April 2019 study published in the journal Acta Astronautica makes the case that the world should limit space development to one-eighth of the solar system and leave the rest "wild." Although that fraction may sound small, the scientists say that one-eighth of the iron in the asteroid belt is "more than a million times greater than all of the Earth's currently estimated iron ore reserves, and it may well suffice for centuries."Another group, called the Moon Village, launched in 2017 to establish an international consortium. Comprised of private industry members, government representatives and members of the public, the group seeks to ensure that the moon is developed in a sustainable, open and peaceful way. It was started by Giuseppe Reibaldi, who spent 35 years at the European Space Agency, and is run by many experts from the space community, including John Mankins, former Chief Technologist for Human Exploration and Development of Space at NASA, Jan Kolar, founder and director of the Czech Space Office, and Tai Sik Lee, a professor at Hanyang University and founder and CEO of the International Space Exploration Research Institute.In an opinion piece in The Conversation, bioethicist Evie Kendal raises questions around the exploration and settlement of the moon. They center on issues such as using the moon as a base for planetary defense, health and safety issues around tourism, conducting medical research there, worker safety, regulations around extracting resources and citizenship questions about babies born on the moon.Earth's rocky satellite has always served to inspire humanity. Its very existence has instilled a sense of discovery and desire to journey into worlds unknown. As the population grows on our home planet, it will be important to preserve its resources by seeking out alternate sources. But many technological and ethical issues must still be answered before humanity begins a serious effort to explore the moon and beyond. Establishing the groundwork for peaceful development now could go a long way toward bringing nations together under one, unified plan that benefits all humankind.Explore Northrop Grumman's innovation and solutions for crew safety aboard the manned Artemis II lunar expedition.

Why on Earth Should We Be Mining the Moon?

With the weather on Earth getting more extreme by the day, you might think you have enough to worry about. But did you know there are storms in space, too?
A solar storm is an eruption of mass and energy that occurs at the surface of the sun. These solar storms can go on for as little as a few minutes or as long as several hours. They can even impact Earth in a significant way, but that begs the question: Could a solar storm hit Earth? Let's take a look at space weather and how it can affect us.
What Are Solar Storms?
With our naked eyes, the sun can appear static, placid and constant. But in reality, our sun is an enormous thermonuclear reactor, which fuses hydrogen atoms into helium and produces million-degree temperatures and intense magnetic fields. The outer layer of the sun is like a pot of boiling water, with bubbles of hot, electrified gas — electrons and protons in a fourth state of matter known as plasma — that circulate up from the interior and burst out into space.
Scientists believe that high-energy charged particles are released from the sun by solar flares that pour out from the surface of the sun and by shocks that form at the front of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). This means our sun bathes the earth as well as the rest of our solar system with electrically charged particles and magnetic fields. These solar bursts are a form of space weather.
A solar burst of magnetic energy can include solar flares, high-speed solar winds, solar energetic particles and CMEs. A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. A CME cloud can also erupt from the sun in any direction, but a CME will only impact Earth when it occurs on the side of the sun that faces us. In other words, for a solar storm to hit Earth and cause an impact, the CME cloud would need to be aimed at us.
When a CME cloud plows through the solar wind, high-velocity solar energetic particles can be produced, and because they are charged, they must follow the magnetic field lines that pervade the space between the sun and the earth. Therefore, only the charged particles that follow magnetic field lines that intersect with Earth will result in impacts.
How Space Weather Impacts Earth
When the charged particles from a solar storm follow the magnetic field lines all the way to Earth, they collide with Earth's magnetic field and trapped radiation belts, which can cause an aurora. An aurora forms when magnetic particles in the solar wind interact with Earth's magnetosphere.
These same particles can also produce their own magnetic fields, which can modify our magnetic field. The amount of the sun's geomagnetic activity varies over 11-year cycles, which means there are times when solar activity and solar storms are more frequent. We know this because people have been observing auroras and drawing pictures of them for thousands of years.
But are auroras dangerous? Modern society depends on technologies that are indeed susceptible to the extremes of space weather. Strong electrical currents driven along Earth's surface during aurora events can affect compass readings and contribute to the corrosion of oil and gas pipelines. A particularly strong solar storm could have serious effects, such as electrical surges that knock out the power grid, which can lead to brownouts and blackouts, or disrupt cell phone service.
Changes in the ionosphere during geomagnetic storms can also interfere with high-frequency radio communications and Global Positioning System navigation. The effect of these geomagnetic storms can linger in Earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere for days or even weeks.
As society's reliance on technological systems grows, so does our vulnerability to solar storms. The ultimate goal in studying space weather is to gain the ability to foretell events and conditions on the sun that could produce harmful societal and economic effects with sufficient accuracy and far enough in advance to allow preventive or mitigating actions to be taken.
So, could a solar storm hit Earth? In short, yes — these storms can affect us, but it's not quite as intense as you might imagine.
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Could a Solar Storm Hit Earth?

The earth beneath our feet consists of a rocky crust, a semi-solid mantle and an iron core that's believed to be as hot as the surface of the sun. The outer core is liquid, but the immense pressure at the center of Earth causes the inner core to be compressed into a solid ball of metal. Earth's inner core spins, rotating in the same direction as the surface. However, the inner core can rotate independently of the surface because it is suspended in the liquid outer core.
Until recently, the inner core was believed to be spinning slightly faster than the surface of the earth. However, a study published in Nature Geoscience found evidence that the inner core has recently slowed its rotation — matching the spin of Earth's surface — and may soon be rotating even more slowly. Is this a sign of the end of days? Not quite.
 
 
 
The study found evidence that Earth's inner core has slowed down before, back in the 1960s, and then sped up again. Researchers believe the inner core's rotational speed oscillates a bit like a pendulum, slowing down and speeding up over a 70-year cycle. Thus, the speed of the inner core matches the spin of Earth's surface every 35 years or so, with the next occurrence expected to take place in the mid-2040s.
 
 
 
However, this interpretation of the data is controversial, largely because so little is known about the center of Earth. Let's dig into what we do know.
 
 
 
Studying Earth's Inner Core
 
 
 
The inner core sits about 3,200 miles (~5,100 kilometers) below Earth's surface and is roughly the size of the dwarf planet Pluto. The inner core composition is mostly iron with some nickel, and the temperature is about 9,392 °F (5,200 °C), according to Space.com.
 
 
 
Given these facts about the inner core, studying it takes some ingenuity and patience since it cannot be directly observed. The most useful information has come from earthquakes and even nuclear explosions, which send seismic waves in all directions through the earth, including through the center of it.
This seismic activity is constantly monitored by seismometers located around the world. Some types of seismic waves can travel through solids but not liquids, and seismic waves travel at different speeds depending on the density and temperature of the rock. Therefore, they are used like an X-ray to learn about the inner core composition.
Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann used this technique to discover the very existence of Earth's inner core, publishing her work in 1936.
 
 
 
Rotation of the Inner Core
 
 
 
In 1996, two researchers at Columbia University in New York found that the time it took for seismic waves to travel through Earth's center had changed over the course of three decades, as reported in Nature. To explain this result, they proposed that the inner core was spinning slightly faster than Earth's surface. Therefore, seismic waves that had originated from the same location — but years apart — were traveling through slightly different sections of the inner core.
 
 
 
One of these researchers used the same technique to examine seismic data from the 1990s and 2000s, again finding that the time it took for the seismic waves to travel through the inner core changed over time. When they looked at similar seismic data from 2009 to 2021, they were surprised to find very little change in the timing of seismic waves, suggesting that the inner core was rotating at the same speed as the surface of Earth.
 
 
 
By looking at earlier records of seismic activity, they found the same pattern of very little difference in the 1960s and 1970s. This led them to conclude that the rotation of the inner core regularly speeds up and slows down over the course of about 70 years, matching the speed of Earth roughly every 35 years.
 
 
 
These findings were published on January 23, 2023, and immediately misinterpreted by many in the popular press. Headlines declared that Earth's inner core had stopped spinning and would soon be reversing direction. The authors issued a correction on January 31 to clarify that Earth's core was still spinning in the same direction but more slowly.
 
 
 
Effects on Surface Dwellers
 
 
 
Slight changes in the rotation of the inner core have almost no effect on daily life. The researchers did report that their proposed 70-year oscillation coincides with minute changes to the length of days and Earth's magnetic field.
 
 
 
The length of a day is known to increase by milliseconds over centuries because of friction caused by the moon's tidal forces. When these predictable fluctuations are removed, there are still minuscule changes to the length of days that appear to track with the predicted 70-year oscillations in the inner core's rotation.
 
 
 
These oscillations might also affect and be affected by the electromagnetic forces produced by the molten outer core. The heat energy released by the inner core is believed to cause the outer iron core to move. This movement generates electrical currents that produce a magnetic field that surrounds the planet. This magnetic field protects living things from damaging cosmic radiation and is essential for life as we know it. One hypothesis is that the electromagnetic forces produced by the outer core also influence the spin of the inner core.
 
 
 
There's Still Much to Learn
 
 
 
Not enough is known about the center of Earth to draw any solid conclusions. Just a year earlier, a publication in Science Advances proposed a 6-year oscillation for the core's rate of rotation. Others argue that changes to the surface of the inner core over time are a more plausible explanation for the seismic data.
As one of the scientists who proposed the 6-year oscillation told the New York Times, ""No matter which model you like, there's some data that disagrees with it."" But even so, the pieces will eventually come together into one clear picture as research continues, and one day, we may fully understand everything about Earth and its inner workings.
 
 
 
 
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Earth&#8217;s Inner Core Has Slowed Its Spin — Should We Be Worried?

A star more than two billion light years away exploded in such colossal fashion that its gamma rays reached Earth. While civilization's search for renewable energy focuses on the resources of Earth, the star's explosive gift could open interest in what's possible outside of our planet. Can energy be harvested from a star?Scientists have explored the possibility. While the chances of it happening are slim, some scientists propose several ways star energy could be used on Earth. It's a big "if," but in science, an "if" sometimes leads to a "can."An Interstellar Light Show Worth CatchingFor seven minutes on an October day in 2022, high-energy photons beamed onto Earth like a movie theater projector splaying images on a screen. The photons had traveled 1.9 billion light years. It was an old-school gamma ray burst that was 70 times brighter than the previous interstellar light show, according to Science.org.For that much energy to stretch across billions of light years, the gamma ray burst had to have been among the biggest explosions since the Big Bang. (Gamma ray bursts usually release as much energy as the sun eventually will in its 10-billion-year lifetime.)The gamma rays — which could have been created by a massive star collapsing into a black hole — did more than plop ionized atoms onto Earth's ionosphere. They turned a spotlight on the possibility of harnessing star energy.Stellar Lifting Energy from All Over SpaceWe wouldn't have to travel too far to find a star with energy. Our sun is right around the corner when you consider the distances of other stars. The sun's abundance of hydrogen fuel could conceivably be put to use by the act of "stellar lifting."Phys.org proposed a few ways to lift the hydrogen. Lasers could heat the sun's surface and increase solar winds that carry energy to Earth. Or, powerful magnetic fields could carry plasma away from the sun's poles into space. Once captured, the hydrogen could be placed in fusion reactors positioned in space, generating energy that would presumably be carried to Earth.If those ideas seem all but impossible, here's another possible scenario: Feed the sun's energy to a black hole and extract its angular momentum. As Phys.org notes, "a highly advanced civilization could siphon material directly from a star and send it onto the ergosphere of a rapidly spinning pet black hole." Of course, as physicist Roger Penrose pointed out, you can retrieve only about 29% of the energy in a black hole — and the black hole eventually stops spinning.Looking to Dyson Spheres and Tabby's Star for HelpStellar stealing isn't a new concept. In 1960, astronomer and physicist Freeman Dyson dreamed of "space collectors" that could catch energy. He contended that extraterrestrial civilizations had probably built these structures, which have since been called Dyson spheres, according to Space.com.In a paper published in Science, Dyson imagined a power-collection structure the size of a solar system. As EarthSky describes, he said it would be a necessary function for advanced civilizations across the universe. Finding evidence of these structures, he said, could then point us to the discovery of intelligent life.Some astronomers wondered if a star that was formally discovered in 2017 could have been a Dyson sphere. Named Tabby's Star after its discoverer, Tabetha Boyajian, the star's light abruptly dimmed and was considered weird enough to spark thoughts of Dyson's theory, though that notion fell out of favor.Can Energy Be Harvested from a Star?Maybe someday we will be able to extract energy from a star, but seeing that we're only just now about to explore the moon again and missions to Mars are still a ways off in the future, any efforts to draw energy from space will probably have to be done on Earth.For MIT engineers, that means a new kind of solar power, a system that would grab our bright star's heat and produce clean hydrogen fuel. According to MIT News, the system would be a big leap over current solar thermochemical hydrogen systems that are only able to use about 7% of sunlight to split water and generate hydrogen. The MIT design could harness up to 40% of the sun's heat for hydrogen, increasing efficiency and driving down costs.Although the MIT project isn't exactly grabbing the mega energy of gamma rays that come from stars two billion light years away, it's still progress. It's the type of advancement that Freeman Dyson wouldn't have to travel far to see.Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

Can Energy Be Harvested from a Star?

Key Takeaways Robotic assistants are revolutionizing remote surgery in space. SpaceMIRA utilizes high-definition cameras. Remote surgery is necessary with the rise of space tourism.Two hundred and twenty miles above Earth, the surgeons were cutting. Through layers of tightly stretched rubber bands mimicking human tissue, their sharpened shears sliced. Meanwhile, tiny grabbers mounted on the arm of their robotic assistant held the bands in place.What made this precision surgery more challenging and exciting than the usual practice procedure is that the doctors weren't in the house. This remote operation was performed in a box the size of a microwave mounted to a wall in the International Space Station (ISS). The team of six surgeons operating spaceMIRA — a miniaturized in-vivo robotic assistant — were visible only through a screen.Making the Cut: The Future of Surgical OperationsNASA has been looking into how to perform robotic surgery in space for a long time. The first remote-guided operation event finally took place in orbit on Feb 10, 2024, a few weeks after spaceMIRA arrived at the ISS onboard a Northrop Grumman cargo ship. Like virtual precision procedures on Earth, the challenges and benefits of practicing medicine via a robotic assistant were immediately apparent.On the upside, the images hovering before MIRA's remote operators stationed in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Houston, Texas, were huge. SpaceMIRA's high-definition cameras made the gator clips and rubber bands wielded by the robotic assistant appear orders of magnitude larger than life.Less ideal was the time lag. When surgeons on Earth use precision surgery devices, like the DaVinci, the robotic digits move nearly as quickly as their own. By contrast, because of the time it takes for spaceMIRA to receive its directives from Earth, MIRA moves an average of 0.85 seconds after the surgeons on Earth.Against the OddsIn the case of a medical emergency, a slightly slower surgery is strongly preferable to no surgery at all. Though there's yet to be a medical emergency on the ISS requiring surgery, it's not a matter of if such an emergency will take place but when.According to the University of California San Francisco, in terms of events per person per year, the risks of a surgical emergency happening in microgravity may be higher than they are on Earth. As of today, less than 600 people have ever been to the altitude of the ISS. Yet, there have been two suspected cases of appendicitis, according to the British Journal of Surgery. One of these cases, a cosmonaut, was returned to Earth for treatment in 1982 — the only option unless a surgeon is onboard with all the tools and time they need to conduct an operation.More than 40 years later, the risk of loss of crew life due to acute appendicitis or cholecystitis — an infection of the gallbladder — raises enough concern that conversations about removing these organs before spaceflight are ongoing, as noted by npj Microgravity. After all, on a trip to Mars, there's no fast way home. Even the moon might be too far to evacuate a space explorer with a kidney stone they can't pass on their own.With the rapid rise of space tourism, more humans with more medical conditions than ever before will be pushing further into the cosmos. Even if there were a doctor onboard, given the mass and volume limitations during space missions, would they have the necessary tools on hand to make the tiniest cut possible before the blood started to float away from the wound? If the mission had a robotic surgical suite packed away in the corner, the onboard doctor could deploy it as needed to maximize precision and vision in the cramped confines of the ship.In the absence of a crew doctor, a device like spaceMIRA might stand in for the ship's surgeon, extending the reach of the nearest medical provider to the moon, Mars and beyond.Almost Within Reach: Virtual Precision ProceduresPrecision surgery via robotic assistant systems was invented to help medical practitioners make the smallest and best cuts possible in the least amount of time. Teleoperation devices, like spaceMIRA, have been doing just that on Earth whether or not the surgeon was in the room: Years before its debut in microgravity, MIRA was used to remove part of a patient's large intestine remotely. Students at the University of Nebraska are training on it now.Mastering surgery in space would not only vastly increase a space mission's medical capability — how well a medical need within the mission matches the resources available — but also solve a critical and ongoing problem faced by the people of Earth every day: The countries with the fastest-growing populations have less than 1 surgeon per 100,000 people, as reported in The Lancet Global Health. Virtual precision procedures conducted via robotic assistant are the future of surgical operations wherever the need for surgeons is unmet. A teleoperation device like MIRA delivered to developing countries, remote regions and low-resource healthcare facilities would effectively bring world-class surgeons into the room without the aid of transportation of any kind.With spaceMIRA, the ultimate robotic assistant and teleoperation device, the doctor doesn't need to be in the house to perform precision surgery in space — or anywhere.Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

The Doctor Is in Outer Space: How a Robotic Assistant Is Revolutionizing Remote Surgery

Even as most of modern communication on Earth is moving toward 5G and broadband internet, space communications remain stuck in the 1990s. Satellites, probes and crafts, such as the International Space Station, rely on radio waves. And though radio waves share the electromagnetic spectrum with the same frequencies that make up 5G, they have limited capacity and diffuse over large distances. There is limited radio spectrum, and the signals can be received by unwanted listeners. Radio is also slow. It takes about 2.5 seconds to send data to the Moon and back to Earth, several minutes from Mars and likely hours from the outer solar system, as Space Flight Insider notes. If humans are to usher in a new era of exploration to the Moon and Mars, beefing up space communication technology on satellites and spacecraft will be essential. Lasers are the solution. These beams of invisible infrared light are more robust than radio waves and maintain signal strength over vast distances. The wavelengths are also 10,000 times shorter than radio waves, which means laser pulses can pump out more information per second. That could make data transfer rates 10 to 100 times faster, as FiveThirtyEight reports. A handful of national agencies, including NASA, the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), are all embarking on projects to put laser communication systems into orbit. The technology will improve data-transfer rates and lay the foundation for future missions to the Moon and beyond. Mona Lisa on the Moon Ever since the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, was launched into space 61 years ago, radio waves have been the go-to means of communication. But in 2013, NASA scientist Xiaoli Sun and his team used a laser to beam a digital image into space. They sent Leonardo da Vinci's iconic painting, Mona Lisa, to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which circles the Moon. To do it, they first divided the image into a grid that was 152 pixels side by 200 pixels tall. Each pixel was converted into a shade of gray that was represented by a number between zero and 4,095. One by one, the pixels were transmitted to the LRO with a laser pulse sent in one of 4,096 possible time slots. An instrument on the orbiter pieced together the image based on the arrival times of the laser pulses from Earth. Although the data rate was only 300 bits, or 0.0003 megabits, per second, the experiment set the stage for the agency's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), which will use lasers to beam data to and from a satellite. Technologies currently in development will be tested on two upcoming NASA missions. The first is called ILLUMA-T, which stands for the Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal. Scheduled for 2021, ILLUMA-T will be a fully operational end-to-end laser communications system that will be tested onboard the International Space Station. Another mission, called Optical to Orion (O2O), will use an optical modem to send high-definition video from NASA's first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, scheduled for 2023, as Space Flight Insider reports. In tandem, NASA scientists will also be developing a suite of laser-based instruments called the Deep Space Optical Communications package. These instruments are planned for the upcoming Psyche mission, a low-cost probe that will launch by 2023 and travel to the asteroid known as 16 Psyche, found between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft will analyze the rock body using an onboard imager, magnetometer and gamma-ray spectrometer, and it will transmit the data back to Earth using a laser-based communication system. In a NASA press statement, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the principal investigator for the Psyche mission, said "the technology is mind-blowing and it brings out all my inner geek. Who doesn't want to communicate using lasers, and multiply the amount of data we can send back and forth?" Space Data Highway Although NASA was the first to beam a digital image into space, the ESA was the first to establish an optical link in space. In 2001, the satellite Artemis used a laser signal to connect with the Earth observation craft, SPOT 4. The agency soon began setting two-way distance records for laser communication and, by 2008, had transmitted image data 28,000 miles between two satellites at a speed of 600 megabits per second, according to the ESA. These early milestones paved the way for the European Data Relay System (EDRS), a laser communication infrastructure designed to deliver high bandwidth capability for Earth observation satellites as well as other spacecraft, such as the International Space Station. Dubbed the "Space Data Highway," this infrastructure is the world's first optical network in the sky based on laser technology. It's made of two geostationary spacecrafts — with a third on the way — that orbit Earth at an altitude of about 22,000 miles. Their orbits match the orbit of the Earth, so they're always fixed over the same location down below. That location has a network of ground stations that can transmit data at a rate of 1.8 Gbit/s — about three times faster than a radio connection, according to Wired. The high-speed, high-capacity links are designed to serve spacecraft. Satellites that monitor Earth, for instance, orbit the planet lower than those in geostationary orbit and are never over the same location for very long. They typically relay the data they've collected when they're in a direct line of sight with a ground antenna, which occurs about once every 100 minutes. "That can be a problem when you need information immediately, for example, when trying to provide aid during flooding or wild fires, or help ships navigating through ice sheets," Michael Witting, EDRS project manager said in an ESA press briefing. If these crafts transmit their data to the EDRS, the information can be sent immediately to researchers on Earth. Since the ESA's relay system entered service in 2016, it has achieved more than 20,000 laser connections and downloaded more than 1 petabyte of data. The EDRS will soon start transmitting data from the International Space Station, and it's available to be used by crewed missions to the Moon and beyond. Tune in Tokyo Compact discs seem as old school today as land lines and CRT televisions. But the laser technology inside hasn't died. It's going to space. Sony, which released the world's first CD player in 1982, has partnered with JAXA to establish a long-distance laser communication system in space. The system will eventually support real-time communication between satellites, as well as between them and ground stations. JAXA's and Sony's interest lies in supporting future constellations of satellites that will beam broadband internet from Earth's orbit to the ground. Unimpeded by terrestrial obstacles, such as mountains or oceans, these orbiting spacecraft will be able to send internet everywhere. "Specifically, it can be used as a means of communication between the Earth and the International Space Station, the Moon, and Mars. There is a wide range of potential applications, such as communication with the Moon rovers," Koichi Wakata, a JAXA vice president, said in a press statement. As a first step toward creating the system, the partners sent a microwave-sized package in September 2019 to the International Space Station. Called SOLISS, for Small Optical Link for International Space Station, the device not only has optical communication capabilities but a 360-degree spherical camera to observe the laser tests, too. Any photos taken can be sent to the ground using SOLISS's laser communication. JAXA and Sony should be releasing news of their demonstration in early 2020. Putting lasers into orbit will increase the amount and speed of data that can be sent between satellites, as well as between them and the Earth. Although the technology is just beginning to emerge as a potential rival to radio waves, it could be years before it's making its mark. But traveling vast distances along trajectories as straight as an arrow, lasers could one day deliver high-definition video from the Moon, Mars and planets as far away as Jupiter and Saturn. 

Future Satellites and Spaceships Will Communicate with Lasers

Aerospace medicine combines two challenging and important disciplines. This field of study has existed for a century, but it is especially exciting now that commercial space travel and deep space missions are both in the works. What is this unique career? An Overview of Aerospace Medicine Aerospace physicians support the health of people who fly for a living — pilots, aircrews and astronauts, all of whom face unique occupational hazards. These doctors often have military backgrounds, as they need to have training and experience in both medicine and aviation. Here on Earth, doctors often take care of sick or injured patients in normal environments, but in space medicine, the situation is quite the opposite. A big part of this field revolves around preventative medicine, with doctors making sure that their patients are in top health so that they can handle the abnormal environment of flights, especially if their patients are going to space. Much like sports trainers, these doctors make sure that astronauts are physically prepared to perform at the highest levels. According to the Aerospace Medicine Association, aviation medicine was originally driven by the high losses of life due to physically unfit pilots during World War I. Later, the field evolved beyond aviation medicine to include aerospace medicine once crewed space flight began. Today, aerospace physicians, such as flight surgeons, provide medical support for astronauts during training and missions. They also play a role in selecting astronauts for flying on missions, according to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). If astronauts have health issues in space, it is a dangerous and expensive problem to solve. The CSA explains that flight surgeons help during:   Pre-flight, by ensuring that the crew is healthy and prepared to use medical equipment or necessary countermeasures to reduce the negative effects spaceflight can have on their health.  In-flight by maintaining the health of the astronauts and providing 24-hour support at the Mission Control Center.  Post-flight by examining returning astronauts at the landing site and overseeing their rehabilitation as they reacclimate to Earth.  Effects of Space on the Body Space agencies have studied the short- and long-term effects of space environments on the human body. Civilians get a small peek into the effects of flight when they experience conditions such as altitude sickness or the feeling of your ears "popping" during a flight. In space, there's much more to contend with, as leaving the comfortable bubble of our atmosphere creates a range of hazards for humans. NASA describes five categories of stress related to space travel:   Gravity fields. The weightlessness of space affects spatial orientation, head-eye and hand-eye coordination, balance and locomotion. Plus, without gravity, your bones lose minerals, with density dropping at over 1% per month. To counteract this, astronauts must devote two-and-a-half hours each day to exercising in space.  Isolation and confinement. The psychological effects of living at the International Space Station (ISS) or in a space vehicle are just as important as the physical issues. Being confined to a small space over long periods of time can cause behavioral issues among the group, as well as declines in mood and morale, trouble sleeping and boredom.  Hostile/closed environments. It's not healthy to live in a bubble. Microorganisms such as bacteria transfer easily, your immune system is altered, and stress hormones are elevated.  Space radiation. At the International Space Station, astronauts are exposed to ten times the radiation that we experience at home. This poses an increased cancer risk and possible damage to the central nervous system, which can cause problems with cognitive function, motor function and behavioral changes. Space can also cause radiation sickness and degenerative tissue diseases, such as cataracts and cardiac issues.  Distance from Earth. If an astronaut is sick or injured, they can't exactly call 911 for an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital. The simple fact that they are far away from Earth is a health risk. This is a concern on the ISS, but it will be even more critical for future missions to the Moon and Mars. While today's space travelers can at least use telemedicine to speak to doctors from millions of miles away, there will be communication delays.  Space Medicine Career Outlook This highly specialized career helps to support the future of space travel and is crucial to the aerospace industry. The Emergency Medicine Residents' Association suggests that there is a greater need for highly trained aerospace medicine physicians because of the recent focus on an accelerated lunar program and the emerging commercial space flight industry. This medical specialty isn't just about space, either. Many space physicians also study the physiology of microgravity on the human body and how it can help to fight conditions here on Earth, such as NASA's study of astronaut twins Scott and Mark Kelly. Aerospace medicine helps humans push the bounds of what is possible, as we continue to explore the unknown.

The Next Frontier: Aerospace Medicine

Astronomers will soon use the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) to look farther into space than even the Hubble Space Telescope has been able to. They've already gathered an incredible amount of data and breathtaking images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Despite these gains, so much about space is still unknown. One of the fundamental facts that still hasn't been answered is what the most distant galaxies in the universe are like. The Webb telescope will extend Hubble's capabilities and help astronomers catch a glimpse of the most distant galaxies in the universe. Historical Misunderstandings Throughout history, philosophers and scientists have grappled with deep questions about humanity's relationship to space. Back in Aristotle's day, people thought Earth was the center of everything, and that everything else revolved around it. This misconception was eventually dispelled by Copernicus and Galileo (and many others in between), when Galileo pointed a telescope at the stars and used evidence to prove that the universe doesn't revolve around Earth. Centuries later, astronomers debated the size of the Milky Way. The BBC reports that in a 1920 debate between astronomers, estimates ranged from 30,000 to 300,000 light-years in diameter. It turns out that those estimates were either three times too small or three times too big. Today, astronomers measure the Milky Way to be 100,000-150,000 light-years across. In the 1920s American astronomer Edwin Hubble was the first astronomer to determine that other galaxies existed beyond the Milky Way. Until then, most astronomers thought the fuzzy patches they saw through their telescopes were nebulous gas clouds within the Milky Way. Hubble's discovery expanded our modern understanding of space. During this time period, scientists also believed that space was static, according to NBC News. And yet when Albert Einstein developed his theory of relativity, it predicted a universe that must either expand or contract. To fix the disagreement, Einstein hedged his theory with a "cosmological constant" to produce a static universe. Then, astronomers like Vesto Slipher and Edwin Hubble measured the motions of galaxies for the first time and found that most appeared to be speeding away from us. In other words, the universe is expanding. Measuring the Observable Universe The universe is larger than we can possibly comprehend, and it is still expanding. Now, a century after Hubble's discovery, his namesake telescope continues to reveal galaxies that are billions of light-years away. Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, we now know that there are 100 to 200 billion galaxies, according to Space.com. When the Webb Telescope launches, it will reveal even more information about the farthest galaxies. When we talk about the distance of anything in space, we're also talking about time. Looking at the night sky is like time traveling. The shiny things that we perceive as stars are actually like snapshots of what those stars looked like in the past, according to LiveScience. Stars and other objects in space are so far away that their light can take thousands or even millions of years to reach Earth. The farthest objects are so far away from us that their light still hasn't reached Earth. What Is a Light-Year?      Enable targeting cookies to view this content. A light-year is the distance light travels in one Earth year. According to NASA, one light-year is equal to 6 trillion miles, or 9 trillion kilometers. Astronomer Dr. Katie Mack explains that everything you look at is in the past. The farther away in space, the longer that light has been traveling. Even if you hold up your hand in front of your face, you're actually seeing your hand as it was a nanosecond ago, because that's how long it takes light to travel the distance between your hand and your eyes. It takes approximately eight minutes for light to travel from our sun to us, and several years for light to travel from our next-door neighbor Alpha Centauri. Astronomers can use the world's most powerful telescopes to see galaxies that are more than 13 billion light-years away. Scientists know that the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old, according to LiveScience. So, is it 13.8 billion light-years wide? No; it's more complicated than that. That pesky expansion that Hubble observed means that while the farthest light traveled to us, outer space continued to expand. When accounting for the expansion, scientists estimate that the edge of the observable universe is now 46.5 billion light-years away. But what about the galaxies that we can't see? LiveScience reports that astronomers have used models to estimate that the universe could be at least 250 times the size of the 46.5 billion light-years we can actually see. Webb Will See Farther The edge of space — if there is such a thing — will always be beyond our grasp. As Hubble noted, space is expanding. As a result, the farthest galaxies are moving away from us faster than the speed of light, so we can't "see" them, no matter how awesome modern telescopes may be. The Webb telescope will peer into our universe's history by observing the most distant stars and galaxies. The telescope is 100 times more powerful than Hubble. While its predecessor orbits Earth at an altitude of approximately 570 kilometers, Webb will sit deeper in space, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. From that vantage point, the largest telescope ever launched into space will observe infrared light. It will use a suite of scientific instruments to capture faint objects that could be more than 13 billion light-years away, including young galaxies that were born just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang occurred.                   

NASA's Webb Telescope Will Look Farther into Space

Valentine's Day 2046 may be a memorable occasion — beyond roses and chocolates, it could feature a 50-meter-wide asteroid trying to make a move on Earth. Thankfully, the odds are in our favor.
 
When Is an Asteroid Next Predicted to Hit the Earth?
 
According to NASA, asteroid 2023 DW will make its approach on February 14, 2046. Current predictions put its closest distance to Earth at 4,730,285 kilometers. Considering that the moon orbits about 360,000 km away, this should give us plenty of room to spare.
 
Still, the announcement of this close call sparked some concern about a potential collision. Given that the asteroid is 49.13 meters in diameter and currently moving at 21.78 km/s relative to the sun, this worry isn't entirely misplaced: If 2023 DW comes into contact with Earth, it could level a small city.
 
By putting this in perspective, however, it's possible to get a better sense of the risk. First, it's worth noting that asteroids are continually hitting Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. The vast majority are so small they burn up on impact. Large asteroids may leave behind bright trails as they disintegrate, but very few actually reach the surface. For example, in 2013, an asteroid the size of a small building hit the atmosphere above Chelyabinsk, Russia. While it broke up 20 kilometers above the ground, smaller pieces of it did reach the ground as meteorites.
 
If you're looking for a bigger bang, you need to go back about 35 million years, according to Live Science. That's when an asteroid slammed into what's now Chesapeake Bay, giving the bay its curved western shoreline.
 
So, when is an asteroid next predicted to hit the earth, and should we be worried? To sum it up, asteroid hits are common. Larger strikes are rare. Big strikes are once-in-35-million-year events.
 
Course Correction: How to Navigate a NEO
 
Asteroid 2023 DW is known as a near-Earth object (NEO) because it's less than 150 meters wide and will pass relatively close to Earth. Objects bigger than 150 meters that cross Earth's path are known as potentially hazardous objects (PHOs).
 
While there's no way for 2023 DW to get bigger before it comes back around toward Earth, there is a possibility it could change course. This is because no object in the solar system has a perfectly circular orbit. Instead, planets and asteroids alike take elliptical paths around the sun. This deviation from circular is known as eccentricity. A perfectly circular orbit would have an eccentricity of 0 — the higher the number, the more elliptical an object's orbit.
 
According to NASA data, 2023 DW has an orbital eccentricity of 0.396. Compare this to the moon, which has an eccentricity of 0.055, or Earth's, which is just 0.017, and it's clear that the orbit of this NEO is substantially more elliptical than its planetary counterparts. This means that, at certain points in its orbit, it will be much closer (or farther away) from the sun, the planets and other asteroids. It's during these close approaches that the asteroid could see speed or course changes, which would require NASA to update its likely path.
 
That said, NASA isn't waiting for these changes to happen — the organization is continually tracking multiple asteroid orbits to determine their potential risk. One of the most important factors in orbit accuracy is time. More time observing means more accurate measurements, and since DW 2023 is more than 20 years away from its closest approach, there's plenty of time for tracking.
 
Why We Won't End Up Like the Dinosaurs
 
Warnings of a possible, if improbable, asteroid impact raise a familiar question: What about the dinosaurs? Despite our ability to see asteroids coming, could we end up on the receiving end of an extinction event? In a word, no.
 
First, consider the size of the asteroid that created the Chicxulub Crater more than 66 million years ago. Estimates put it at around 180 kilometers across, which is orders of magnitude larger than 2023 DW. In addition, current modeling suggests this asteroid will miss Earth completely. Even if its trajectory changes, scientists will have plenty of warning.
 
Of course, that leads to another question: What happens if it's heading straight for us? The good news is that NASA has several strategies to keep these cosmic intruders at bay. One option is to fly a spaceship alongside the asteroid and use the gravitational pull of the ship to nudge the asteroid slightly off course. Given the massive distances involved, even a small change could mean a complete miss. It may also be possible to launch nuclear explosives onto an asteroid and then detonate them, resulting in a course change. Unsurprisingly, NASA recommends doing this at the farthest distance possible.
 
While both options remain untested, the space agency recently conducted a real-world experiment with its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). DART used what's known as kinematic impact, which is a fancy way of saying NASA slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid at high speed. The asteroid they chose was Dimorphos, which is 160 meters in diameter and orbits another asteroid, Didymos. Both orbit the sun every 2.1 years but are not threats to Earth.
NASA scientists hoped the collision would shorten Dimorphos's orbit by 10 minutes, but DART outperformed expectations, reducing the rock's orbital time by 32 minutes. This is good news for DW 2023 — not only is it more than 23 years away, it's also less than one-third the size of the successful DART case.
 
The takeaway here is simple: Go ahead with your Valentine's Day 2046 plans. Asteroid DW 2023 has a 99.82% chance of passing harmlessly by our planet. In the very unlikely event that it does decide to make a move on Earth, we've got ships, nukes and DARTs we can toss its way to send it packing.
 
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Asteroid 2023 DW: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Close Call

Astronomers have found 208 stars scattered across the outermost reaches of the Milky Way galaxy. The most distant of them, which is more than a million light-years away from Earth, exists at the very edge of the galaxy, nearly half the distance to the Milky Way's largest cosmic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.
Could this lead to future advancements in our knowledge of space? Let's find out by digging deeper into this exciting discovery.
Discoveries at the Edge of the Milky Way
As Space.com reports, this new trove of stellar discoveries shares two striking and distinctive features. One is that the discovery piggybacks on research that targeted galaxies lying far beyond the edge of the Milky Way: the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, which are many millions of light-years away, centered on the enormous galaxy M87.
This project is known as the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS), according to Sci.News, and uses the powerful Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), located on Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii. The NGVS was not looking for stars in our own galaxy — or even at the edge of the galaxy — but the powerful telescope detected them in the line of sight to the Virgo Cluster.
Stars at the distant edge of the galaxy are visible only as points of light even in the most powerful telescope, but the second notable characteristic of the 208 stars, known as RR Lyrae variables, is that they regularly change in brightness, following a distinctive pattern. When graphed, the pattern looks like an EKG of the human heartbeat. Raja GuhaThakurta, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and doctoral advisor to Ph.D. student Yuting Feng, who led the research, describes these stars as ""the heartbeats of the galaxy.""
Measuring the Luminosity of Distant Stars
While the EKG-like rhythm of pulsating RR Lyrae variables is striking, what really catches astronomers' attention is that, per ScienceDaily, these stars serve as ""standard candles."" RR Lyrae stars all have nearly the same pulsation rhythm and — most important of all — the same range of actual brightness.
This means that once you've observed an RR Lyrae variable carefully enough to make out its heartbeat rhythm, you can figure out how bright it really is. This is what astronomers call its luminosity. Then, by simply comparing its luminosity to how bright it looks through the CFHT, Feng and his research team could get a precise readout of how far away it is.
All 208 newly discovered RR Lyrae variables are a long way off. They range in distance from 65,000 light-years to 1.05 million light-years away. The most distant of these stars is nearly half the distance of the Andromeda Galaxy, which is about 2.5 million light-years away.
""We were able to use these variable stars as reliable tracers to pin down the distances,"" says Feng, as quoted by Gizmodo. ""Our observations confirm the theoretical estimates of the size of the halo, so that's an important result.""
Doctoral advisor GuhaThakurta adds, ""Our galaxy and Andromeda are both so big, there's hardly any space between the two galaxies.""
Tracing a Dim, Massive Vastness
When we think about galaxies, we naturally think mainly of their bright regions, especially the dramatic and colorful spiral arms that we see in images of Andromeda and other external galaxies. We can't directly observe the spiral pattern of our own galaxy, but our from-the-inside-looking-out view of its spiral arms gives us the visible Milky Way in the night sky.
Like other big spiral galaxies, our galaxy has a complex structure that not only includes a bright core (centered on a supermassive black hole) and disk with spiral arms but also extends far beyond into much dimmer inner and outer halo regions. The outer halo is exceedingly dim, and its stars are thinly scattered across an enormous volume of space, yet it contains most of the mass of our galaxy. Nearly all of this mass is in the form of dark matter, which is invisible to any instrument we have but detectable because its enormous mass holds together everything else we can see.
The outer halo of our galaxy and its counterparts in other galaxies are key to tracing and understanding the structure of the universe as a whole. This gives those 208 newly found RR Lyrae variables a unique significance as markers of an otherwise-hidden cosmic structure.
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At the Edge of the Galaxy, Astronomers Have Found &#8220;Standard Candles&#8221;

Images from the most powerful space telescope are here, and it’s almost as if astronomers have wiped the smudges off their glasses, revealing a clearer view of the early universe.
 
Scientists noticed something new when comparing images from the Hubble Space Telescope with new images from the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). An ancient galaxy called MACS0647-JD might actually be two merging galaxies. The researchers are still early in their discovery process, and NASA points out that their research has not been peer-reviewed yet. Still, their findings offer an exciting peek at the potential discoveries the Webb could reveal about the universe’s origins.
 
“We’re actively discussing whether these are two galaxies or two clumps of stars within a galaxy,” says Dan Coe, an astronomer of AURA/Space Telescope Science Institute for the European Space Agency and Johns Hopkins University. “We don’t know, but these are the questions that Webb is designed to help us answer.”
 
Examining an Ancient Galaxy
 
Coe and his colleagues discovered the galaxy — or potentially merging galaxies — MACS0647-JD about a decade ago with Webb’s predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. But Hubble was designed to primarily observe shorter ultraviolet and visible wavelengths, while Webb is optimized for infrared light. Plus, the Webbis larger and located deeper in space so it can study the earliest and most distant galaxies.
 
“With Hubble, [MACS0647-JD] was just this pale, red dot,” Coe explains. “We could tell it was really small, just a tiny galaxy in the first 400 million years of the universe.”
 
Now, the distant galaxy appears to be two distinct objects: one blue and the other red. Researcher Tiger Yu-Yang Hsiao of Johns Hopkins University says, “The blue gas and the red gas have different characteristics. The blue one actually has very young star formation and almost no dust, but the small, red object has more dust inside and is older. And their stellar masses are also probably different.”
 
Gravitational Lensing
 
Part of the reason both Hubble and Webb have been able to observe a galaxy so far, far away is a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. According to the Center for Astrophysics, Einstein’s theory of general relativity explains that “gravity bends the path of light, much as it affects the path of massive objects.” The gravity of a very massive object, such as the galaxy cluster MACS0647, can be so intense that it can warp the fabric of space-time. As a result, astronomers can observe the light distortion, and the warped space acts like a magnifying glass.
 
Imagine you want to see one tiny stitch on a quilt that’s stretched overhead. When the quilt is taut, it would be difficult to identify the stitch among the others. However, if someone dropped something heavy, like a bowling ball, onto the quilt right over the stitch, the fabric would bend, and you could get a better look at the particular stitch. (See this Webb video for a more detailed explanation of gravitational lensing.)
 
Future James Webb Telescope Discoveries
 
The news about MACS0647-JD is fascinating because it demonstrates just how much we still don’t know about the early universe.
 
Rebecca Larson of the University of Texas at Austin told NASA, “I think my favorite part is, for so many new Webb image [sic] we get, if you look in the background, there are all these little dots — and those are all galaxies! Every single one of them.” She added, “It’s amazing the amount of information that we’re getting that we just weren’t able to see before. And this is not a deep field. This is not a long exposure. We haven’t even really tried to use this telescope to look at one spot for a long time. This is just the beginning.”
 
Stay tuned for more Webb discoveries in the months and years ahead as we get a better, clearer look at space and the many things in our universe waiting to be found and examined. The road ahead is promising indeed.
 
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Webb Reveals Sharper Images of a Galaxy — or Two Merging Galaxies?

Radiation is one of the greatest threats to spacecraft — scorching circuits, eating electronics and wreaking havoc on delicate components. In addition to radiation, spacecraft must also contend with other space challenges — like orbital debris, micrometeoroids and the extreme forces of launch — and crucial military space systems must further be prepared to operate under humanmade challenges, in addition to environmental ones. So, how do satellites survive in space?Spacecraft must endure all these conditions and still operate flawlessly. That's where radiation and survivability engineers come in. Their critical job is to design and test spacecraft to ensure they can survive space's harsh environment.Northrop Grumman has been a leader in radiation and survivability engineering since the earliest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program efforts in 1963. Today, the company's radiation testing (RTO) lab — which evaluates materials and products for exposure to various forms of radiation — has supported the James Webb Space Telescope, Next-Generation Polar, SDA Tranche programs, Sentinel ICBM and more. Northrop Grumman has also tested sea systems, ground systems, communication systems and airborne platforms, such as the B-21.Read on for five ways scientists and engineers prepare spacecraft for survival.1. The Big PictureRadiation and survivability engineering is rooted in electrical engineering and physics. However, because every component of a spacecraft is exposed to radiation, it's really an all-hands-on-deck exercise in systems engineering."It's not just space, it's not just electronics — it's a lot more variety," said Northrop Grumman Radiation Test Engineer Taylor Fry.2. Designing for PerformanceThe first step in preparing a spacecraft for space is defining the radiation effects requirements. All spacecraft have specific radiation and survivability needs, depending on their mission."You have to calculate how intense the radiation might be," said Jonny Avila, a Northrop Grumman radiation engineering manager. "That can depend on orbit, altitude and inclination. Then we can start with requirements with how to survive the environment."3. The Right StuffAs the design becomes reality, the spacecraft is tested every step of the way."You perform testing as circuits and enclosures are being designed to figure out if your devices are good for the mission," Jonny said.Radiation effects engineers work closely with electrical engineers, mechanical design engineers, and parts, materials and process engineers to analyze the spacecraft's materials and electronic components. This analysis ensures the spacecraft can withstand ionizing radiation, micrometeoroids, orbital debris, UV exposure and even atomic oxygen. If needed, engineers adjust the design, adding shielding or reorienting components to better protect them from radiation.4. Achieving No-FailSome programs — such as some military space systems — have heightened requirements and must be able to operate through manmade threats, too. Radiation effects engineers analyze the spacecraft's cabling, connectors and boxes to confirm they could handle the electrical current from an electromagnetic pulse, and leverage Northrop Grumman's RTO lab to test how the spacecraft's electronic components respond to increasing radiation levels. Some electronic components must also be tested to ensure they could work through a catastrophic event like a nuclear detonation, keeping the spacecraft online and performing its mission even in the direst circumstances.5. Meeting the NeedToday, the demand for radiation and survivability services is increasing. The commercial space industry is flourishing, the transition to next-generation military satellite communication systems is underway, human spaceflight is entering its next chapter and, through the CHIPS and Science Act, we are onshoring electronic technologies and foundry capabilities. All these technologies and products will need to be verified and validated against radiation requirements to accomplish their missions."As technology advances and access to space gets cheaper, more and more companies want to put things in space that are novel, and they will need testing," said Taylor. "As the threat increases, critical space systems will need not only to survive in space but also operate through anything."Learn more about our radiation and survivability engineering services.

How Do Satellites Survive in Space?

On June 25, 2023, a door at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, was closed and secured behind four volunteer researchers, sealing them into a 1,700-square-foot environment. Their task for the next 378 days: to get as close to exploring Mars as possible without actually making the trip to Mars.This simulated mission to Mars is the first of three year-long NASA exercises which, as NASA explains, will study the human dimension of Mars exploration. The program is called the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA).CHAPEA deputy project manager Raina MacLeod says the goal of this simulated Mars mission is to look at "how the crew performance and health changes based on realistic Mars restrictions and lifestyle of the crew members."Routine EmergenciesSpace exploration is an inherently dramatic activity, and as NASA understands very well, the universe provides plenty of drama to keep space explorers on their toes. The task of mission planners is to anticipate drama and minimize it as far as possible, because in exploration, drama can be deadly. Thus, NASA puts great effort into practicing whatever can be practiced, so that — as far as possible — even emergencies become routine.There's much about Mars that we can only learn by going there. But we don't need to go to Mars to study the challenges of working and living for a long time in cramped quarters.According to NASA, that's the task of the Mars simulator in which mission commander Kelly Haston, a research scientist, along with structural engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency medical specialist Nathan Jones and microbiologist Anca Selariu will be living until July 2024.Known as Mars Dune Alpha, the Mars simulator is located inside a hanger at the Johnson Space Center. It contains living quarters, working spaces and laboratories for the crew. In addition, it includes a "sandbox" for simulating Mars-like conditions on Earth, allowing the virtual explorers to practice Mars walks and research activities on the Martian surface.Building on ExperienceThe design of Mars Dune Alpha has already been influenced by prior space experience. According to CHAPEA investigator Scott M. Smith, as reported by CNN, "the separation of the living area with the work area was very intentional," based on the experience reported by crews aboard the International Space Station. "When you're living in the office, literally having the ability to physically separate was important."The activities performed by the researchers in Mars Dune Alpha will range from basic routines, such as personal hygiene and cooking, to suiting up (in pairs, like the "buddy system" for divers) for outside excursions onto the simulated Martian surface of the sandbox. Tasks will include recognizing, handling and describing simulated Mars rocks, while the combination of a treadmill and virtual reality headsets will simulate traverses across Martian surface distances much larger than the actual confines of the sandbox.The Mars Dune Alpha team will also experience environmental stressors, NASA noted, that could be expected during a mission to Mars, such as equipment failures, while communications with Ground Control will be purposely delayed to represent the time it takes for radio signals to pass between Earth and Mars.Printing a Mars BasePer NASA, the design and construction of Mars Dune Alpha have also pioneered technologies we'll need to live on and explore Mars.The entire facility was built by 3D printing technology, utilizing a material dubbed "lavacrete" to replicate the characteristics of Martian surface material, or regolith. And controlling a robot-supported building process is one of the basic tasks the CHAPEA research team will practice, as the first tasks of future Mars exploration missions may include building habitats for their prolonged stay.We're not at that point yet, but tucked away in a hanger in Texas, Mars Dune Alpha and its crew of volunteer scientists are a reminder that the age of Mars exploration has already begun.Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

A New Type of Mission to Mars: Simulating a Year on the Red Planet

A significant part of the Perseverance rover's mission is to search for signs of ancient life on Mars. Since February 2021, the rover has been exploring the remnants of an ancient river delta inside the Jezero Crater. And recently, NASA announced the rover had discovered diverse organic matter on Mars.
The Perseverance rover is an unmanned vehicle whose mission is to survey the red planet, characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration and be the first to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life.
The mission scientists chose the Jezero Crater because it is the site of an ancient lake basin that they suspected had a high potential for past habitability. They also knew that the crater floor possessed clays and other minerals that can preserve organic materials.
Organic Matter on Mars
According to Space.com, organic compounds are molecules composed of carbon and often include other elements, such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. These organic carbon-based molecules are considered to be the building blocks of life.
Scientists had previously detected several types of organic molecules of Martian origin that were blasted off Mars thousands or even millions of years ago and then made their way to the surface of Earth as meteorites. But the Perseverance rover has been looking for this type of organic material on Mars itself. Since early July 2022, the Perseverance rover has been collecting rock samples from the ancient river delta formation. Each of the samples was drilled out of rocks that show this part of Mars likely could have supported Earth-like organisms in the ancient past and might still preserve signs of such microbial life.
Scientists examined the rock samples using one of the Perseverance rover's instruments called the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC). SHERLOC utilizes a technique that looks at the chemical makeup of rocks by analyzing how they scatter light. The instrument directs an ultraviolet laser at its target, which then allows scientists to classify organics and minerals present in a rock based on the distinctive spectral "fingerprint" of different molecules. Salty water, for example, can result in the formation of different minerals than fresh water.
The Building Blocks of Life on the Martian Surface
Out of 10 sites within the crater that the rover explored, all 10 came back with signs of organic molecules. These organic compounds mostly appeared connected to minerals linked to water. This type of organic matter on Mars points to the possibility that the building blocks of life could have been present on the surface of the red planet for a long time.
Additionally, researchers discovered evidence of many different classes of organic molecules. This suggests that the organic molecules might have originated from several minerals and mechanisms of formation.
Organic matter can be produced by geological processes as well as biological ones, so scientists have posited a few explanations for the existence of organic matter on Mars. One possibility is that the materials could have formed when water and dust interacted or were dropped onto the planet by dust or meteors. But the study's authors wouldn't rule out the possibility that the organic matter on Mars may be biotic, which means it came about due to the existence of life on the surface of Mars.
Even if the materials are not biological in origin, though, research into them could be crucial in the search for alien life. The organic matter on Mars can tell us more about the existence of carbon sources, and this could change our understanding of the red planet and the search for life in the universe.
This part of the Perseverance rover's mission represents the first step of the Mars Sample Return campaign, a joint effort by NASA and the European Space Agency that seeks to bring scientifically selected samples back from Mars to be studied on Earth to confirm the presence of organics. Subsequent missions would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis with lab equipment far more complex than could be sent to the red planet.
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The Perseverance Rover Has Discovered Organic Matter on Mars 

Key Takeaways  Different atmospheres mean that weather conditions aren't necessarily the same on each planet. Lack of water and presence of other gases in the atmosphere influences the type of rain that forms. Gathering planetary weather data for modeling could help the search for other worlds capable of sustaining life and also give insight into climate change here on Earth.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 WeatherSystem-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 MarsWeather 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 SaturnConditions 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 MarsPollution 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 SpaceSo 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.Space technology gives us an eye on distant planets. Learn how the James Webb space telescope gives us a view of our universe.

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

Key Takeaways  The Monocerotid meteor shower is also called the "Unicorn" shower, both because the Monoceros constellation forms a unicorn(ish) shape and because the event itself is elusive. Unlike the Perseids, we don't know which comet is responsible for this meteor shower. Researchers speculated that 2019 would be a banner year for this shower, but it did not appear.Late last year, an unusual news story flashed through the media sky like a shooting star, come and gone in the blink of an eye. As EarthSky reported, a rare unicorn meteor shower, the alpha Monocerotid meteor shower, was predicted for the night of Nov. 21, 2019.As it turned out, while observers reported the occasional stray meteor that night, none saw the dazzling burst of meteors that they were hoping to see. But the true mystery of the alpha Monocerotids remains, along with the likelihood that on some upcoming November night this celestial "unicorn" will indeed put on a spectacular sky show.What Goes Around Comes AroundThe central puzzle of the alpha Monocerotid meteor shower is that while it's almost certainly produced by a comet, we don't know which one. The meteor showers that periodically put on nighttime shows are usually associated with periodic comets. These are comets that make regular visits to Earth's neighborhood every few years or decades.According to Sky & Telescope, summer's rich and bright Perseid meteor shower, an annual favorite, is linked to Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Another annual meteor shower, the Eta Aquariids, has a far more famous source: Halley's Comet.The meteors that light up the sky during a meteor shower originate as dusty or gravel-like fragments of the parent comet. They break loose as the comet passes near the sun, vaporizing the icy materials that hold the comet together. This process creates the spectacular tails that some comets grow as they pass through the inner solar system — and it leaves bits of comet spread out all along the parent comet's orbit.When Earth passes near the comet's orbit, some of the comet fragments hurtle into Earth's atmosphere and burn up, producing a meteor shower.A Long Time ComingWhat sets the alpha Monocerotids apart from other annual meteor showers is that its parent comet remains undetected and unknown. It is believed to be a "long-period" comet, one that hasn't made more than one complete orbit in the last 200 years. Indeed, for all we know, the parent comet of the alpha Monocerotids could take a million years between return visits to the inner solar system.This uncertainty about the alpha Monocerotids extends to how bright (or not) its annual visits will be. If we knew its parent body's exact orbit we would be able to reliably predict how bright it will be from year to year. But uncertainty about its orbit means that while we can count on it to show up each year in late November, we can't be sure how many meteor showers will appear in a given year.We know that the unicorn meteor shower has sometimes put on impressive shows, most recently, says Live Science, in 1985 and 1995. Some researchers thought that signs pointed to 2019 as another spectacular year, but that time it fooled us.Elusive UnicornOne final surprise from the unicorn meteor shower is its name. The unicorn in the name is not the celestial equivalent of a black swan, a reference to the meteor shower being unusual or mysterious. Instead, as with other meteor showers, the name refers to the region in the sky — the radiant — where the meteors seem to be coming from, due to perspective effects.In the case of the unicorn meteor shower this region is the far-northern constellation Monoceros, the celestial Unicorn. A final little mystery here is that most people aren't even aware that there is a unicorn constellation in the night sky. As Constellation Guide explains, in spite of its prominent location in the northern sky, near the Big and Little Dippers, Monoceros has few bright stars, and forms no easily recognized figure.Somehow it seems appropriate that this elusive unicorn of a constellation should be linked to the most unusual and little-understood of annual meteor showers.As the Unicorn meteor shower makes clear, we still don't know what's out there. At Northrop Grumman, we're doing everything we can to learn more. Read more about what we're currently doing in space. 

The Elusive Unicorn Meteor Shower

People living across the U.S. got to see the wonder of a rare natural phenomenon in October 2023. Without leaving the backyard, residents of Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas were able to watch a ring of fire eclipse as it tracked across the continent.Although not a total solar eclipse, daylight dims, shadows blur and temperatures drop as the moon tracks across the face of our closest star. From Earth, the sun appears to black out as it is gradually covered. At its maximum coverage, all that's left is a circle of light around the outside of the shadow covering the sun. This is what gives the eclipse its name, as it looks like the sun has been replaced by a ring of fire in the sky.If you missed this amazing sight, check out the recording of the live stream from the Exploratorium, where you can watch the moon outlined in the disc of the sun.What Is the Ring of Fire Eclipse?Also known as an annular solar eclipse, the ring of fire happens when the moon gets in the way of us viewing the sun from Earth. At just the right point in its orbit, the moon appears to track across the face of the sun, obscuring its brightness. When the moon is close to Earth, its relative size is enough to completely block the sun. This is what happens during a total eclipse, and the sky goes dark.However, the orbit of the moon around Earth is irregular, and at certain times of the year, our satellite is farther away from the planet. When its orbit crosses the sun's path in our sky, it still blocks light but only partially; it isn't big enough to completely block our view. As the moon centers itself on the sun's disc, it leaves a margin around the edges. This is what causes the ring of fire eclipse.It's this margin that shows that the surface of the moon isn't smooth. Forbes describes how the moon's valleys and peaks create Baily's Beads, where the sunlight squeezes through the gaps. The European Southern Observatory describes these as bright spots in the ring of fire, first recognized by British astronomer Francis Baily in the early 1800s.Normally, gazing at the sun is not advised unless you're wearing protective glasses that block out the intensity of the light. This is also true with an annular eclipse. It's only during the totality of a full eclipse, when all sunlight is blocked by the moon, that it's possible to take off the viewing goggles.When and Where You Can See the Next Solar EclipseAlthough they are a rare natural phenomenon, eclipses happen each year, with the best location for viewing varying according to the uneven elliptical orbit of the moon. Space.com notes that the next total eclipse takes place on April 8, 2024, and people in parts of North and Central America will experience the darkness of totality. Locations across the Pacific and South America can expect an annular eclipse on October 2, 2024.And if you're wondering about a lunar eclipse, where the shadow of Earth falls on the moon and obscures it, there will be a penumbral eclipse over much of North America in early spring 2024. For all things eclipse, check out Time and Date for a useful eclipse tracker, so you can plan holiday travels to catch these celestial events.Will the Ring of Fire Eclipse Disappear?Solar eclipses are a fact of life for us on Earth, right? Yes, but not forever. One of the key ingredients of a solar eclipse — the moon — is slowly drifting away from Earth. As it drifts farther away, the ability of it to completely block the sun will diminish.As a result, estimated in around 600 million years, we may not get the totality of a total eclipse. Furthermore, our annular eclipses will change, too — the ring of fire eclipse will be more fire and less eclipse, so we should appreciate its spectacular appearance while it's still around.Interested in all things space? Us, too! Learn more about our life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

Solar Splendor with the Ring of Fire Eclipse

Just like the ever-expanding universe, women in space are stretching boundaries. They are making scientific discoveries and inspiring future generations to explore the unknown. Let's take a closer look at some of NASA's most famous female astronauts and their achievements.1. Sally RideA physicist, educator and, famously, the first American woman in space, Sally Ride is an icon. In June 1983, she rode the Challenger shuttle for Mission STS-7. She worked on a robotic arm that delivered satellites to space. Back on Earth, Ride pursued efforts to include more girls in math and science and ushered in the next generation of women in space.2. Kathryn SullivanKathryn Sullivan completed the first spacewalk by an American woman in 1984. Nearly 40 years ago, the Challenger carried Sullivan, an Earth scientist, into space for NASA's STS-41G mission. With Sally Ride as her crewmate, the duo made history, as it was the first time a space crew included two women.3. Mae JemisonMae Jemison was the first African American woman in space. In 1992, she rode Endeavor for the STS-47 mission Spacelab-J, a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan. The eight-day flight involved microgravity investigations in materials and life sciences.In the years since, she has taught at universities, continued a medical career and advocated for diversity and inclusion in STEM fields. Jemison recently told CBS News, "We need to take advantage of the full range of talent."4. Shannon LucidShannon Lucid was the first American woman to live in space and complete a long-duration mission. She was also the first woman to receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. In March 1996, she rode the shuttle Atlantis to the Russian Space Station Mir, joining the mission STS-76. Her four-and-a-half-month stay on the space station initiated a continuous U.S. presence in space for the next two years.She later returned to the space station and contributed to life sciences and microgravity research. She participated in five orbiter missions, spent more than 223 days in flight and spent more than three decades at NASA.5. Eileen CollinsEileen Collins is famous for setting many records during her illustrious career. In 1995, she was the first woman pilot of a space shuttle mission (STS-63). Two years later, she was the first woman shuttle pilot to dock with a space station (STS-84 at Mir).Collins was also the first female shuttle commander in 1999, as part of the STS-93 mission. She commanded a historic shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 2005 — the STS-114 mission was the first Return to Flight mission after the tragic loss of Columbia in 2003.6. Peggy WhitsonPeggy Whitson has spent more time in space than any other American or any other woman, according to Space.com. She was the first woman to command the space station twice and the first woman and non-military head of NASA's astronaut office. Even after she retired from NASA in 2018, Whitson continued to break barriers as she became the first woman to command a private space mission (Axiom Space).7. Ellen OchoaEllen Ochoa became the first Hispanic woman in space in 1993. She was a mission specialist aboard the STS-56 flight of Discovery, a nine-day mission that collected data about how the sun's energy affects the ozone layer.Her career included four missions, during which she served as flight engineer, robotic arm operator and the lead for science experiments. Ochoa spent nearly 1,000 hours in space, and her accomplishments continue on the ground. She was the first Latina to hold the prestigious position of director of the Johnson Space Center.8. Christina KochChristina Koch completed the longest single mission by a woman. On the 59th expedition to the International Space Station, Koch was in space for 328 days, starting in 2019 and ending in 2020. Koch and the Expedition-59 crew observed bioengineered devices, tested free-flying robotic assistants and set up external science facilities.9. Jessica MeirJessica Meir is a biologist who studies animals in extreme environments ranging from the ocean to outer space. In 2020, Meir and Koch completed the first all-female spacewalk. Her time on the International Space Station represents the most prolonged continuous female presence aboard the space station. NASA reports that she has spent 205 days in space, 3,280 orbits of Earth and a trip of 86.9 million miles.All these famous female astronauts contributed to scientific discoveries and fundamental exploration. They were the first women in space but certainly not the last. Their legacies continue to inspire future space explorers. And NASA aims to land the first woman and person of color on the moon on the upcoming Artemis missions.Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

9 Notable Women in Space

If you were an astronaut living on the International Space Station (ISS) or traveling far into space for months or years, you'd need fresh food. You'd need to grow crops. You'd need agriculture in space.
But can plants grow in space? How difficult is it to create a sustainable food source up there? Let's explore how far space-based farming has come and what the future of food in space might look like.
Space-Based Farming Is Complicated
One of the biggest challenges of agriculture in space is finding water and nutrients on other planets or transporting them in a spacecraft or space station. On a planet like Mars, for example, locating water or nutrients so plants can grow in space might be near impossible, and hauling a shipment of water or nutrients to the ISS is expensive. Launching a single pound of cargo into space costs about $10,000, and 1 gallon of water is about 8.33 pounds — so it'd be a pretty hefty price to send enough H2O for crops into space.
The astronauts who live on the ISS receive regular shipments of food that sometimes include fresh fruits and vegetables, but they usually have to add water to dehydrated food. For a multi-year journey to another planet, there wouldn't be any resupply shipments. Over time, prepackaged freeze-dried meals would get old and seem less tasty, and the vitamins in them would likely break down.
This poses major problems for astronaut health, which explains why it's mandatory to figure out not only how can plants grow in space but also how to send autonomous food-growing systems to places like Mars so they'll be there and ready to go when people arrive.
Another big challenge that humans growing crops off-world must face is finding a decent place to farm the plants. Rocky places, like the moon and Mars, don't have soil. The ground there is regolith — loose, gravelly material that doesn't have organic materials in it like the soil on Earth does.
Engineers Have Found Creative Ways to Farm in Space
Nevertheless, NASA has been growing plants in space without soil or water since 1997. On the Mir space station, astronauts raised adzuki beans, a high-protein food crop. They started the beans from both cuttings and seeds and suspended them in midair in a growing chamber. Astronauts aboard the space shuttle and the ISS performed experiments using the principles of aeroponics to find a solution: Can plants grow in space using an air and mist environment?
They discovered that they could successfully grow food without any soil and with only small amounts of water. In the aeroponic systems, the roots of the plants developed in an enclosed environment and were misted with a nutrient-rich spray. Using the aeroponic systems reduced water use by 98%, fertilizer use by 60% and pesticide use by 100%.
Another benefit of these crops is that they can be planted and harvested year-round without interruption. Aeroponically grown plants also take up more minerals and vitamins than regular soil-based plants, which means they're healthier and potentially more nutritious. And remember: Nutrition is crucial for crews who need to grow their own food during long-term missions in deep space.
Getting Hungry?
At this point, you're probably wondering what types of plants could be grown off-world. In the 1950s and 1960s, early research into space agriculture focused mostly on algae, which admittedly doesn't sound very tasty. But by the 1980s, crop lists included wheat, soybeans, potatoes, rice, sweet potatoes, lettuce and peanuts.
More recently, engineers have focused their efforts on designing a ""salad machine"" system that could provide fresh food to astronauts on space stations and even on long-duration transits to Mars.
Introducing the Space Salad
Astronauts have had considerable success with growing and eating vegetables on the ISS, starting with red romaine lettuce. The current garden on the space station is called Veggie, short for Vegetable Production System. It's a simple, low-power system that grows fresh and nutritious pick-and-eat salad crops.
Veggie is about the size of a carry-on suitcase and can hold six plants. Each plant grows in a ""pillow"" filled with a clay-based growth media and fertilizer that helps distribute water, nutrients and air in a healthy balance around the roots. Without the pillows, the roots would either drown in water or be engulfed by air because of the way fluids in space tend to form bubbles.
Astronauts have been using Veggie to grow three types of lettuce, Chinese cabbage, mizuna mustard, red Russian kale and zinnia flowers. The Veggie team also developed a produce-sanitizing citric acid-based wipe to clean the leafy greens since there isn't a way to cook them in space yet. Astronauts aren't able to sprinkle salt and pepper on their veggies because it would float away and could clog air vents or contaminate equipment, so they use liquid seasoning on their food instead.
Since green plants reflect green light and absorb red and blue wavelengths, light emitting diodes (LEDs) above the plants glow magenta and produce the spectrum of light most suited to the plants' growth. Crew members tend to the plants by opening wicks to help seedlings emerge, providing water, thinning the seedlings and monitoring health and progress, which includes taking photos to send to the ground team. Half of the crop is frozen and returned to Earth for analysis, and the other half is weighed and eaten by the crew.
Peas and Quiet
Crew members on the ISS also assess how much they enjoy interacting with the Veggie system and how it affects their mood. It turns out that eating the same food over and over gets boring. So boring, in fact, that NASA has been studying food acceptability and menu fatigue, which looks at whether or not crew members like a food enough to actually eat it. Food acceptability affects caloric intake and nutrition.
Researchers discovered, however, that taking care of plants in space enhanced the astronauts' happiness and well-being. This finding correlates with a number of scientific studies on the effects of gardening, sometimes called horticultural therapy. The studies have linked gardening with a wide range of health outcomes, including reductions in depression, anxiety and body mass index as well as increases in life satisfaction, quality of life and sense of community. Results of another study showed that gardening increased life satisfaction, vigor, psychological well-being and cognitive function. Apparently, gardening is fun and relaxing no matter where you do it.
Astronauts also found that growing fresh flowers in space created a beautiful atmosphere and allowed them to enjoy a piece of home. Flowers were especially popular with astronaut Scott Kelly, who photographed a bouquet floating in the cupola against the backdrop of Earth.
The Future of Agriculture in Space
If we want to expand our ability to explore places farther from Earth than the ISS, then figuring out space agriculture is necessary. Travelers who venture far into space could be gone for months or years without resupply shipments, and multivitamins alone will not be enough to keep astronauts healthy as they explore deep space. NASA engineers have been partnering with leading agri-biology companies to understand more about the types of plants that can be grown off-world.
One new concept developed by the teams at NASA is the next-generation inflatable growing chamber called the Flex Aeroponic System. It's lightweight and flexible and can be packed up and stored during transportation. Once the garden is opened up on another planet, seeds can be placed on specially designed mesh holders inside the chamber.
Researchers found that plants exposed to the effects of microgravity could produce greater yields than in field settings here on Earth — as much as 1,000 bunches of lettuce, herbs and vegetables in less than 25 days. This type of high-performance rapid crop production of pesticide-free herbs, grains, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and other vegetables has great potential for integration into future moon and Mars missions.
This could ultimately lead to new strategies for growing and maintaining healthy food plants on long-term space flights and for future bases on other planets and moons. Space agriculture even has the potential for helping us learn more about how to best grow food here on Earth.

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

Agriculture in Space: Growing Plants on Spacecraft

For about the last 4.5 billion years, Earth has had a moon. Since that far-off time, the moon has done anything but grow closer to Earth — the moon has actually been slowly drifting away. Today, our largest natural satellite is about 37,282 miles (~60,000 kilometers) farther away than when it was just 2.46 billion years ago.
 
But if the moon is farther away than ever before, why does it seem like supermoons have begun popping up all over the place lately? And what is a supermoon exactly? Let's explore these questions and the differences in the supermoon vs. regular moon debate — which mostly come down to distance, timing and our love of giving natural phenomena fun names.
 
Constant as the Moon
 
Romantic notions aside, our moon should get more credit for being consistent. After all, it is tidally locked, meaning that it rotates around its own axis at roughly the same rate that it revolves around Earth. In addition to always showing us the same face, the moon is technically always half-illuminated. As the earth moves in its own orbital plane, we see different parts of the moon lit up: a sliver here and a half-moon there. Ultimately, it's our motion and our Earth-centric perspective that make the phases of the moon.
 
Where the moon is arguably a little less than constant is in its own orbit. Like all orbiting bodies, the moon's path through space is not quite perfectly round. At apogee, its furthest point from Earth, the moon is about 251,000 miles (~405,500 km) away, according to NASA. At perigee, the closest pass in its elliptical orbit, the moon is about 226,000 miles (~363,300 km) from Earth.
 
That variation in distance over a 27.3 days revolution is minor on the scale of space phenomenon. However, the variation in brightness between a full moon that occurs a quarter-million miles away and one that occurs when the moon is nearly at perigee makes a big difference.
 
What Is a Supermoon?
 
The technical definition of a supermoon is a full moon that occurs within 90% of perigee. It also involves a trick or two of the light. Because the moon itself is rotating, and therefore slightly in shadow at one edge, even when it is full, we never quite see the whole 50% that's always facing us. When it's at apogee, we have a "micromoon" phenomenon, where the full moon appears 30% dimmer to us compared to when it's at perigee.
 
This "micromoon" moniker puts the "supermoon" phenomenon into perspective. Near perigee, a fully lit full moon appears from Earth not only to be significantly brighter but also significantly bigger. Though these are very small distances on the cosmic scale — about 25,000 miles difference — supermoons do appear to be 17% bigger in the sky.
 
By this definition, and due to this brightening effect, citizens of Earth have earned four supermoons to view in 2023. The full moon in July, both full moons in August and the full moon in September all come within 90% of perigee.
 
Level Up: Supermoon vs. Regular Moon
 
Humans have taken note of bigger and brighter supermoons since before we understood orbital mechanics and albedo, the reflectivity of materials like the dust that coats the moon and makes it bright. Ancient people named the full moons and supermoons after other natural phenomena. Cultures the world over gave the first full moon of every month at least one name.
 
For example, the Abenaki, a North American Native American tribe in Maine, called October's moon the "leaf falling moon" and November's moon the "freezing river maker moon." The Tlingit of the Pacific Northwest called December's moon "shanáx dis" — which translates to "unborn seals are getting hair."
 
Some of the moon names recorded in the Farmers' Almanac are "Wolf Moon" for January, "Snow Moon" for February and "Worm Moon" for March, which represent when the worms awaken and rise out of the ground. South of the equator, the themes behind moon-month names are inverted: In the Southern Hemisphere, the Cold Moon occurs in June, during their winter.
 
Many Names, One Face
 
The many given names for the full moon combined with the increased brightness of a supermoon can create a truly dramatic effect. For example, a supermoon occurring in January could be called a "Super Wolf Moon." If that moon were to go into eclipse, it would be a "Super Blood Wolf Moon, matching that bigger-appearing body with a distinctly blood-red tinge. Supermoons can also become "sturgeon" and "green corn" moons depending on the cultural name of the month in which they occur.
Most of these grand titles are somewhat easier to say than the scientific term for the phenomenon in play: perigee syzygy, which signifies when the earth, sun and moon are more or less in alignment. Whenever they occur, supermoons mark a regular event in our dynamic with the two celestial bodies that make our planet not only livable but also a great spot to observe local astronomical phenomena. Thanks to perigee syzygy, Earth will have been treated to four supermoons in 2023 and will have two more in 2024. We should enjoy it while it lasts.
As the moon continues to drift away over millions of years, micromoons will become increasingly more common. To humans living on Earth in the far future, a supermoon will resemble the humble brightness of the regular full moon that marks our skies most of the year and goes unmarked except by those who take a moment or two to look up and appreciate it.
 
Interested in all things in outer space? We are, too. Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.
 

Supermoon Madness: What Is a Supermoon, and Why Are There So Many Now?

Key Takeaways  Blue moons and blood moons are uncommon celestial events. Blue moons don't actually turn blue, whereas blood moons turn red due to the scattering of light during an eclipse. Both are associated with myths, legends and superstitions.On Jan. 31st, 2018, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occured in tandem. The result of these celestial events colliding was a fairly rare occurance: an extra full moon in the month coinciding with a lunar ecplise, which as been nicknamed the blood moon for its often deep red coloring. The eclipse two years ago, visible over North America, was the first total eclipse of a blue moon in the region in 150 years, according to EarthSky.org. Blue moons and blood moons each have their own unique influences in culture, especially blood moons. But what are they? Are blue moons really that rare? Does a blood moon signal apocalyptic events for the poor humans here on earth and should people take care venturing out at night in a world lit crimson by the bleeding moon above? What are some popular blood moon superstitions? Let's find out.Blue BloodsUnderstanding what made the 2018 event so unique requires getting a handle on basic moon movement relative to the Earth and sun. First up? Blue moons. As noted by Space, a blue moon is "the appearance of an additional full moon within a given period." Historically, the blue moon referred to the rather infrequent occurrence of a third full moon in a season with four full moons, but the modern definition refers to a second full moon in one calendar month, said Space. This helps explain the phrase "once in a blue moon" to mean a rare occurrence.It is worth noting that the moon rarely turns blue during a blue moon. According to NASA, "Most Blue Moons look pale gray and white, indistinguishable from any other Moon you've ever seen." The next blue moon is scheduled to appear on Halloween, October 31. 2020.A blood moon, meanwhile, is simply the result of a total lunar eclipse, which puts the moon entirely in Earth's umbra — the darkest part of its shadow. Although no sunlight can directly reach the moon during a total eclipse, light still passes around the edges of the Earth's atmosphere and is subject to what HyperPhysics explains is Rayleigh scattering; since blue light scatters more than red light, the moon takes on a reddish cast. The term "blood moon" may also refer to a sequence of four total lunar eclipses that happen within two years, known as a lunar tetrad, said NASA. The last tetrad occurred through 2014-2015 and the next won't happen until 2032-2033.Moon MadnessWhile a blue moon and a blood moon occuring at the same time is rare, blood moons themselves are more common. In fact, a lot of mythology has developed around them. Allen Kerkeslager, associate professor of theology and religious studies at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, told Live Science that when blood moons occur, it's hard for us to overcome the "evolutionary tendency to try to explain this as the result of some kind of intentional action by some personal agent."Popular blood moon superstitions include: The Blood Moon Prophecy — In 2014, Live Science reports that several evangelical Christian ministers forwarded the idea of a "blood moon prophecy," predicting that the 2014-2015 tetrad would incite a "world-shaking" event. It didn't pan out. "Crazy" Behavior — As noted by Seeker, the full moon has long been associated with "crazy" behavior. Doctors and police officers often have anecdotal stories about working shifts during a full moon. Supposedly the blood moon enhances these effects, but there's no evidence to back up either claim. Starting Anew — According to Refinery 29, those of Wiccan faith consider any blood moon which occurs in October to be "a compelling time to build, to begin, to create" and also a good time to shed old habits. This is also called a "harvest moon" which isn't a true lunar eclipse but shifts red because of changing seasons. Mythology — Cultures from all over the world have different explanations for lunar eclipses, according to National Geographic. "Marauding demons, murderous pets, and ravenous jaguars are just some of the culprits that cultures around the world have blamed for the moon's disappearance during lunar eclipses."So what is a blood moon? It is a total lunar eclipse often colored red thanks to light scattering through atmospheric dust, but it's also the subject of stories, speculation and superstitions — take your pick.Fly me to the moon; learn how research and engineering is prioritizing safety for the next manned lunar expeditions. 

What Is a Blood Moon? Superstitions, Stories and Science

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

Key Takeaways  Titan's largest ocean, the Kraken Mare, is approximately 1,000 feet deep. Saturn's largest moon is the only one in our solar system with a dense atmosphere, clouds and liquid oceans. In 2026, NASA is sending the Dragonfly drone to more fully explore Titan.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 WaterWith 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 StickThe 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 ExploreScientists 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."Exploration doesn't come easily. See how we're tackling the toughest problems in space. 

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

Key Takeaways  It may be possible to "bend" spacetime to achieve faster-than-light speeds. Humans have never been to light speed; some scientists are concerned that gravity or radiation would kill any crew. Designed to reach Mars, the Orion spacecraft will take humans to our fastest recorded speed.There's something in human DNA that makes us itch to explore. Having explored the farthest reaches of our home planet and our closest neighbors, we naturally set our sights on the cosmos. But to go farther, we might have to travel somewhere around the speed of light (186,282 miles per second). Is this even possible?The biggest issue? Other stars are far. Really, really far. Alpha Centauri, one of our closest galactic neighbors, is still 4.35 light-years away. If Voyager 1, a spacecraft launched in 1977 and now thought to have been the first to ever leave the solar system, were headed to Alpha Centauri, the trip would take more than 70,000 years.How Do We Get There?It's more likely that unmanned spacecraft can travel anywhere near light speed before humans do. Scientists have been looking into this for decades — research efforts like Project Orion, in the 1950s and 1960s, Project Daedalus from the 1970s, and Project Longshot from the 1980s relied on nuclear fission or fusion to propel the hypothetical spacecraft. They were all too expensive to get far past the planning stage, and lots of people had concerns about sending a nuclear warhead into space. Other researchers have suggested using energy from the sun or high-intensity lasers to power interstellar ships.Some scientists have suggested toying with the laws of physics with strategies once relegated to the realm of science fiction. One such technique is a warp drive. Einstein's Theory of Relativity suggests it might be possible to bend spacetime so that it compresses in front of a spacecraft and expands behind it. "Perhaps a Star Trek experience within our lifetime is not such a remote possibility," Harold "Sonny" White, the Advanced Propulsion Theme Lead for the NASA Engineering Directorate, told Gizmodo in 2012. And though it's physically impossible to travel faster than light speed, a technique like this one could make it seem possible — in fact, 10 times the speed of light by White's estimation, allowing a spacecraft to reach Alpha Centauri in just two weeks. NASA has built a prototype for such a ship, but it's not clear yet just how feasible it would be. Other researchers have looked at the possibility of wormholes, holes in the fabric of spacetime that would provide links or shortcuts for interstellar travelers to reach disparate parts of the universe. Though wormholes have been theorized, none has ever been discovered. Scientists think this might be because they might blip in and out of existence thanks to a quirk of quantum physics, or they might be too small. One researcher quoted in a 2014 article is skeptical that traveling via wormhole will ever be possible. Biology ProblemsEven if we could create a ship that could travel closer to the speed of light or tinker with the laws of physics, it would still take a really long time leaving the solar system to reach a potentially habitable exoplanet, such as those in the TRAPPIST-1 system, which is 40 light years away. Researchers have proposed putting humans in a state of suspended animation, sending frozen embryos into space, or sending a type of self-sustaining interstellar ark in which the descendants of the original colonizers are the ones that eventually arrive in another solar system (called a "generation ship"). None of these are feasible yet with today's technology, but suspended animation at least is an active area of research.Scientists also aren't sure that humans could survive traveling faster than the speed of light. While some claim that humans at warp speed wouldn't feel the acceleration according to one 2013 article from Popular Science, others say traveling at warp speed would feel like being hit with a beam from the Large Hadron Collider, or that the sheer amount of radiation would kill any humans on board. Humans entering a wormhole might meet a similar fate — the gravity involved might rip us apart.Challenge AcceptedLast year, famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking and investor Yuri Milner launched a contest called Breakthrough Starshot. The goal is to create a prototype for a tiny spaceship of Hawking's design that could reach Alpha Centauri in 20 years. The prize is $100 million.Separately, NASA will soon test its Orion Spacecraft. Granted, the goal of this mission is to put humans on Mars — a much more attainable goal given that we've already sent robots there. But the tests will cause humans to travel faster than ever before.It's hard to know when humans may end up leaving the solar system to explore. If Hawking and Milner get their way, we could send sophisticated robots to Alpha Centauri within a generation. To get humans there will likely take a bit longer. But we've overcome technological hurdles to speed before. It was once thought impossible to travel faster than the speed of sound, but now it's done regularly. We are good at pushing the limits; if we have our sights set on something, we won't stop until we achieve it.Fast isn't just for space — hypersonics could see warfighters exceeding five times the speed of sound. Learn more. 

Is Traveling at the Speed of Light Possible to Explore the Cosmos?

Key Takeaways  The search for Planet X began in 1930 after the discovery of Pluto. The discovery of object 2015 TG387 showed an alignment in the orbits of mini-worlds at the edge of the solar system. This alignment may be caused by a disc of smaller objects, a gas giant like Neptune or a rocky "super Earth."Dimly lit by a far distant sun, a planet much larger than Earth may orbit in the vast outer reaches of the solar system, eluding our telescopes for more than 400 years. But its presence may leave telltale traces. And as new and more powerful probes join our space exploration armada, even the immensity of space may no longer afford Planet X a hiding place.So, where is Planet X? The evidence remains circumstantial. The outer reaches of the solar system are a frontier that we are only just beginning to explore.We can, however, confidently pass on one piece of good news from Space.com: Planet X, if it exists, has nothing to do with the so-called Nibiru cataclysm, a long-running tabloid media story about a giant planet on a supposed collision course with Earth.The Killer Planet Nibiru's origin came from a 1976 book of amateur speculation about ancient Sumerian astronomy. A few years later, a self-described mystic claimed that this planet — which Sumerian astronomy experts never heard of — was headed for a collision with Earth. That was enough to launch a hundred tabloid stories about the Nibiru cataclysm. But if Nibiru existed, says Space.com, it should be easily visible in a small telescope, yet no astronomer has seen any hint of it.Where Is Planet X? The Long Search for a Distant WorldThe search for a Planet X is not new. Space.com reports that the hunt for a giant outer planet goes back more than 100 years. In 1930, the search led to the discovery of Pluto, which turned out to be much too small to cause the gravitational effects then attributed to Planet X.The search for new giant outer planets went on the back burner for a few decades. Meanwhile, new discoveries showed that the space beyond Neptune was far from empty. Pluto turned out to be simply one of the largest and closest members of the Kuiper belt, a host of objects ranging from dwarf planets downward.New discoveries continue to push outward the limits of the solar system. Last year, Carnegie Science reported the discovery of an object, designated 2015 TG387, on an elongated orbit that extends out to approximately 0.03 light-years from the sun.But 2015 TG387 doesn't just push the frontier outward. Its orbit — along with the orbits of other newly discovered mini-worlds at the edge of the solar system — shows some distinctive and curious patterns. Their orbits, as Sky & Telescope reports, are similarly aligned in space, with "argument of perihelion" close to either zero or 180 degrees.Circumstantial EvidenceThis sort of alignment does not happen by accident. It suggests that some force is tugging on all of these distant objects. The only real question, according to CNET, is what the force is — whether it is best explained by a single giant planet, or may point instead to the influence of a disk formed by many smaller bodies orbiting the sun.Getting back to the real outer solar system, even if the culprit is a single giant planet, says Sky & Telescope, there are differing theories about how large and massive the planet may be, and how far it orbits from the sun. One view argues for a Neptune-sized planet, about 10 times Earth's mass, orbiting up to 100 billion kilometers from the sun.A competing model suggests that the evidence points to a somewhat smaller world, about five times Earth's mass, orbiting "only" a few hundred times farther out than Earth. In this case, as CNET notes, the planet is probably a massive rocky planet, a "super earth," rather than a gas giant like Neptune — a world unlike any of the known solar planets.The only sure way to settle these arguments once and for all is to go out and discover Planet X. Or else explore the outer solar system so thoroughly as to rule it out.New Starshade technology may help scientists find habitable planets far beyond our solar system by suppressing the light factor of their stars. Learn more.

Where Is Planet X?

Is the internet apocalypse upon us? Probably not. Despite recent, sensational stories claiming that increased solar activity will take out the internet, bring down our power grids and damage all electronic devices, the reality doesn't match the hype.According to Space.com, it's true that the sun is rapidly approaching its "solar maximum" — a period of increased activity that occurs on an 11-year cycle — but it's unlikely that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) will destroy life as we know it. This isn't to say there's no risk, since solar flares can cause electronic disruptions. Instead, it's better to take apocalyptic reports with a grain of salt and look for the truth behind the talk.The Risk of an Internet ApocalypseSolar storms are real, and CMEs are common. Dire warnings about a looming super-storm event, however, are mere speculation. While the sun is predicted to reach maximum solar activity in 2024 or 2025, more activity doesn't mean an internet apocalypse.Instead, the term was lifted from a 2021 study published in SIGCOMM '21: Proceedings of the 2021 ACM SIGCOMM 2021 Conference titled, "Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse." In the study, author Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi suggests that if a major solar storm leading to a significant solar flare occurred and the resulting CME reached Earth, it could cause widespread internet disruption. Jyothi didn't say this was going to happen — she simply stated the possibility.Her study offered the jumping-off ground for speculative theorists to claim that NASA was preparing for an inevitable storm of epic proportions. The theory combined equal parts fact and fiction to create something that sounds plausible but isn't backed up by facts. Still, it spread like wildfire online.Fakers misused an actual NASA article from 2023 that focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and respond to solar storms as a way to prove their argument. (It's solid science — given the variable nature of magnetic fields both on the sun and on Earth, solar storm predictions are challenging. Using AI could help improve both their speed and accuracy, giving agencies on Earth up to 30 minutes of warning before storms hit.) Add in the 2018 deployment of the Parker Solar Probe, which is on a mission to gather as much data from the sun as possible, and internet sleuths had all they needed to create a semi-convincing theory.Spoiler alert: It's not true.Incoming! When Mass Ejections Meet Earth's AtmosphereSolar activity waxes and wanes across an 11-year cycle.As we near the peak of the current cycle, worries about solar storms naturally increase. These worries aren't entirely unfounded. As noted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, these storms occur when the sun experiences a large-scale magnetic eruption. These eruptions may cause a CME and, in turn, a solar flare, which accelerates charged solar particles, such as protons, to significant fractions of the speed of light. If these particles strike Earth, their extra energy makes them powerful enough to penetrate our planet's magnetosphere.Solar flares are ranked on a four-class scale, according to NASA: B, C, M and X. Each tier represents flares that are 10 times the power of the one before it. This means that a C-class flare is 10 times more powerful than a B-class flare. An M-class is 100 times more powerful, and an X-class is 1,000 times more energetic.It's also worth noting that although X is the highest tier it has no upper limit. For example, the highest M-class flare is M9. After that, it becomes an X1. In 2003, a flare estimated at X45 was recorded, but this is speculation since the equipment cut out at X17.When it comes to X-class flares, is a global internet blackout possible? Absolutely. Will it mean the destruction of all electronic devices you hold dear? Nope. While Scientific American notes that direct impacts from highly charged solar particles could fry your phone or damage your desktop, heliophysicist Erika Palmerio says "The probabilities are very low. It's definitely not something on the order of 'all the mobile phones in this entire country are fried.' That's not going to happen."Considering the Carrington EventThe possibility of a global internet apocalypse is low, but it's not zero.Consider the Carrington Event. In September 1859, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington was watching sunspots. Suddenly, he was blinded by a flash of white light that lasted almost five minutes. The flash was a CME, which had traveled 90 million miles in 17.6 hours to reach Earth. And reach Earth it did. Telegraph systems refused to work, both the Southern and Northern lights were visible far outside their regular ranges and, in some cases, telegraph operators found they could unplug their systems but still send messages thanks to what's known as the "auroral current."Using the X-flare scale, the Carrington Event comes in at around X40, while most flares during the solar maximum rank between X1 and X2. To put that in perspective, the energy delivered during the 1859 event may have been upward of 10 billion megatons of TNT.Is the Sun Friend or Foe?On the balance of things, the sun is mostly friend. Occasionally, however, the sun can be a bit of a bully. This could be the case if we experience another Carrington-level event. Flares in the X30 to X40 range can carry particles to Earth in hours and could cause serious issues with electronic equipment. Specifically, these solar flares can cause damage to unprotected cables and power lines. The longer the line or cable, the greater the risk.While this could make a global internet blackout possible, Palmerio puts worries about an internet apocalypse in a nutshell: "We have to monitor, and we have to be prepared. But we do not have to lose sleep over this."Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.