What happens when three black holes share the same region of space, all orbiting one another? As Science News reports, it remains a mystery. Their orbits may be so unpredictable that even if their motions were measured to the maximum precision theoretically possible, their orbital paths would still elude us. Computer simulation of a black hole's orbit may thus demonstrate some fundamental characteristics of time. And, according to astrophysicist Nathan Leigh, the results show that "Quantum mechanics imprints into the universe chaos at a fundamental level." No Harmony of the Spheres The very idea of science is rooted in our experience that the world around us can be fairly predictable. If you drop an apple, it will probably fall straight down, not sideways or up. On the big scale of astronomical events, this predictability or regularity of nature is particularly strong, like the sun rising in the east every morning. The first great triumph of science was the ability to construct an accurate calendar and predict events such as a solar eclipse. These accomplishments were based on the regularity of celestial orbits. Today, this same predictability of orbits allows NASA to send spacecraft to the outer planets and measure the orbits of exoplanets many light-years away. If a black hole's orbit is not predictable, even in theory, that shakes things up. Running the Time Tape Backwards Orbital simulations and similar scientific models, explains Interesting Engineering, are based on a principle known as time symmetry. That is, if you simulate an orbit, then run the simulation backwards, it will work just as well. The simulated object will be orbiting in the opposite direction, but it won't fly off into the void in an unexpected way. The real universe, as Interesting Engineering notes, isn't quite so neat. If you drop a cup, it will shatter and won't piece itself back together. Astronomers and mathematicians have long known that orbits involving three objects can't be calculated with the precision attainable for two objects orbiting each other. This is commonly known as the three-body problem. The normal solution for this problem is to simulate the orbit step by step, as precisely as the available programming and computing power allow. Researchers have found that these simulated orbits can't always be run in reverse — that attempts to do so do not always end by reproducing the initial start conditions, as they should, according to the principle of time symmetry. What they didn't know was whether these failures were due to the nature of the universe, or only to the technical limitations of a particular simulation, such as how many decimal places it could calculate. Black Holes, Gravity and Quantum Mechanics  Now a team led by astronomer Tjarda Boekholt has built a simulation model so precise that the precision limit of the simulation is set not by the available computing power, but by the structure of the universe itself. It's specifically set by a distance known as the Planck length, which according to the theory of quantum mechanics is the shortest length that can be measured in the universe, according to Science Alert. (How long is the Planck length? About 0.000000000000000000000000000000000016 meters. Aren't you glad you asked?) The researchers tested their model by simulating the process of predicting the behavior of a black hole, or in fact three black holes. Why black holes? Because their gravitational fields, which are so intense that not even light can escape, magnify quantum effects — usually noticeable only on the subatomic scale — to the point where they can have large-scale effects. What the simulation research team found was that, even with Planck-length precision, their model couldn't play back about 5% of simulation runs in reverse to return to the model's initial conditions. These runs break time symmetry because predicting the behavior of a black hole in these runs turns out to be impossible. What's more, there is no way to know in advance which 5% of runs will break time symmetry, which means that time symmetry cannot ever be entirely counted on. A Touch of Chaos Physicists and mathematicians use the term chaos for systems in which tiny changes in initial conditions can produce dramatic changes in the final outcome. The study results, says Science News, confirm that orbital systems involving three black holes are fundamentally chaotic, and can never be reliably predicted over long periods of time. Says Science Alert, quoting team member Portegies Zwart, "Not being able to turn back time is no longer just a statistical argument ... It is already hidden in the basic laws of nature." By odd coincidence, reports Universe Today, astronomers recently discovered three supermassive black holes orbiting each other in a galaxy a billion light-years away. But they cannot provide a direct test of orbital chaos, because as Science News notes, we can't measure actual black holes with the accuracy needed to model their orbits to Planck-length precision. We can also be glad, perhaps, that the black holes' chaotic orbits are a billion light-years from Earth.

From a Black Hole's Orbit, Chaos Erupts

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

A Black Hole Collision Really Makes Waves

Future moon missions are at risk because of lunar soil. It seems harmless, but moon dust can actually damage scientific equipment and be harmful to human health: It is like a sticky powder made from shards of glass.   Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon 50 years ago, and his footprints in lunar soil will be there for million of years, according to NASA. There is no wind to blow the footprints away. When they returned to Earth, astronauts from the Apollo missions said that moon dust was sticky, abrasive and stinky.    The next astronauts who walk on the moon will have to contend with plenty of obstacles: the perils of space travel, exposure to high levels of radiation, and a lack of air, gravity, food and water. But dust is surprisingly high on the list of problems that need to be addressed for a successful visit to the moon.   Strange Properties of Moon Dust   The lunar surface is covered in regolith, a layer of powdery dust and broken rock, according to Britannica. Earth's soil is a mix of minerals, organic materials, air and water. It's a lovely layer of dirt where plants and animals thrive. The moon's soil, on the other hand, is mostly made up of silicate minerals.   Clingy   According to Popular Mechanics, the moon's lack of atmosphere makes it susceptible to solar wind. Unlike the breeze we experience at home — there's no air on the moon, after all — solar wind is a stream of charged particles from the upper layers of the sun. When these ions hit the moon, they make the soil electrostatically charged. Just like when clothing or hair has static cling on Earth, lunar soil clings to space suits.   Abrasive   The moon is frequently hit with meteorites, and with no atmosphere to soften the blow, their impact is more dramatic than here on Earth. Discover Magazine explains that billions of years of meteorite activity has kicked up lots of jagged dust. Grains of lunar dust are as small as the finest grains of sand— just 0.07 millimeters in diameter, on average. But grains of moon dust remain rough for a very long time because of a lack of erosion, so the dust is abrasive.   Dirty Problems on the Moon   Lunar soil causes a range of problems for astronauts and equipment. It can damage machines and scientific instruments. Discover Magazine points out that the first instrument placed on the moon, a seismometer on the Apollo 11 mission, quickly failed because dust caused it to overheat. More recently, China's Yutu rover died in 2014, and moon dust was the likely culprit of the vehicle's failure.   According to Wired, the "dusty dozen" Apollo astronauts tried to get rid of the pesky moon dust to keep the lunar module clean. After moon walks, they stomped their boots, brushed the dust off with bristle brushes and attempted to remove it with a vacuum cleaner. They wrapped garbage bags around their legs to try to contain the dust. On the Apollo 12 mission, astronaut Pete Conrad even stripped naked and stuffed his space suit into a pouch to keep the dust contained.   On the moon, dust is much more than a housekeeping chore. It is a dangerous feature of the landscape. In our brief visits during the Apollo era, it scratched astronauts' visors and weakened the seals on their pressure suits.   A Health Hazard for Astronauts   Astronauts who have been to the moon say it smelled like gunpowder or some kind of combustion. In addition to damaging their spacesuits, the dust made their eyes water and throats sore, according to The New York Times. Lunar soil could be toxic to humans. Apollo 17's Harrison Schmitt — the last person to set foot on the moon — described experiencing symptoms similar to hay fever after his moon walk. While it was only a mild allergic reaction, he was only there for 22 hours. Now NASA is preparing for much longer visits, which would expose astronauts and their gear to the abrasive dust for much longer.   A 2018 study suggests that prolonged exposure to lunar dust could put astronauts at risk for developing serious illnesses. The experiment published in GeoHealth by Stony Brook University exposed human lung cells and mouse brain cells to simulated lunar soil. They found that when inhaled, the dust damaged the cells at a DNA level. The researchers warn that prolonged exposure to lunar dust could impair airway and lung function, and lead to bronchitis, inflammation in the lungs and increased cancer risk.   Solutions for Dealing With the Dust   The success of future moon missions will depend, in part, on finding solutions for dealing with the moon's soil. According to Discover Magazine, researchers have proposed a special vacuum that uses magnets to catch the dust particles.   There aren't many solutions yet, but Popular Science reports that nine different institutions are now studying moon rock samples to learn about the moon's geology and chemistry. The samples have been sealed and stored for 50 years, and they are now being released for analysis with the latest technologies. Observations made on those samples will help guide future plans for visiting the moon. 

Lunar Soil Is a Dangerous Nuisance for Astronauts

Is anyone out there? It's a question that's captured human interest since we first took to the stars — are we alone in the universe, or are there other intelligent lifeforms gazing up at the sky and wondering the same thing? Instead of waiting around for aliens to get in touch, stellar scientists decided to make the first move with the Arecibo Message — a brief, focused effort at interstellar communication aimed at the M13 globular star cluster just over 20,000 light-years from Earth. While we haven't heard back yet, the message remains a pivotal moment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and has helped to inform the future of human space exploration. The Universal Translator On November 16th, 1974, Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory turned its transmitter to the sky and beamed the most powerful and deliberate interstellar communication ever created into space. It took less than three minutes to complete the broadcast, which contained 1679 bits arranged into 73 lines with 23 characters per line. The 305-meter antenna produced transmission power equal to a 20 trillion watt multidirectional broadcast, but instead of sending information randomly out into the cold darkness of our universe, the team picked the globular star cluster M13 some 20,000 light-years away. Of course, it's not enough to just send a message; the Arecibo team also needed to craft a communication that civilizations with comparable technological capabilities of 1970s-era Earth could not only receive but understand. They settled on a pictorial postal package that contained crude images of the Arecibo telescope itself, our solar system, a stick-figure human and the familiar DNA helix. In addition, the total number of message bits, lines and bits per line were all purposely made prime numbers to help reduce the risk that receiving researchers would dismiss the signal as mere cosmic noise. Express Delivery With the capacity to send such a powerful message, why did scientists pick M13, also known as the Great Cluster in the constellation Hercules, instead of a system closer to home? Both physical constraints and communicative potential played a role; not only would the constellation be located directly above the observatory at the time of the broadcast, but the cluster also contained at least 300,000 stars and potentially as many exoplanets, making it an ideal target. As Nadia Drake — daughter of Frank Drake, who composed the Arecibo message — notes in a National Geographic article, the "heart" of M13 would also fit perfectly within the narrow beam produced by the transmitter, and even after the 20,000 year travel time, the cluster will remain firmly within the scope of the message's delivery radius. Cutting Through the Noise While there's some concern that potential extraterrestrial recipients might discover our message, track it back to Earth and arrive with less-than-noble intentions, the bigger worry is that we won't hear anything at all — that we're actually alone in the universe or that our message is simply missing the mark. Of course, there was never a realistic chance that the Arecibo Message was going to return a reply in our immediate future. Even if aliens at the other end of the line detected the transmission, decoded the details and had a way to circumvent light speed to send a reply, it would still take at least 20,000 for this digital delivery to happen. Even worse? As the New York Times notes, more than 250 aluminum panels were damaged when a support cable fell and tore a 100-foot long gash in the Arecibo antenna dish. While there are plans to repair the dish, both total costs and timelines are uncertain. According to Smithsonian Magazine, there might be a better option: building a SETI observatory on the moon. Not only would this take the burden off Arecibo as the sender and receiver of extra-solar contacts, it could also solve the bigger problem of radio noise. And, as the Smithsonian notes, not only does our atmosphere block a significant amount of the radio spectrum (great for life on Earth but not optimal for interstellar communication), but the rapid uptake of radio-based devices also makes an already loud receiving room that much louder. What happens if aliens intercept our message in-transit or discover one of the Voyager probes, then send a reply or reach out on their own — and we miss the message? The moon offers a calm and quiet alternative. As astronomer Phillipe Zarka notes, "The far side of the moon during the lunar night is the most radio-quiet place in our local universe," making it the ideal location for an orbiting SETI station and, eventually, a ground-based lunar observatory capable of listening intently for any universal replies. Can You Hear Us Now? The Arecibo Message represents humanity's first foray into deliberate delivery of interstellar communication. While it's unlikely that we'll hear back anytime soon, the medium — not the message — is what really matters when it comes to making first contact. From increasing investment in ground-based telescopes to the potential for lunar observatories, the more planetary packages we dispatch, the better our chances of finding new interstellar neighbors.

Ready, SETI, Go! Analyzing the Arecibo Message

Like so many scientific endeavors, the Pioneer 4 spacecraft wasn't perfect. When it launched in 1959, it didn't get close enough to the mysterious lunar surface to study the moon. Nevertheless, it still accelerated science and achieved several important milestones in space exploration.  What Was the Pioneer 4 Spacecraft? This unmanned spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral in 1959 to photograph the moon during a close flyby. It was a spin-stabilized vehicle. It had a mechanical despinning mechanism that included weights attached to long wires wrapped around the base of the cone, according to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum where Pioneer 4 now resides. After the vehicle was on its trajectory, the weights were released to unwind and slow the rate of spin down.  It was a cone-shaped probe that was only 13 pounds and 20 inches (51 cm) high, according to NASA. The probe was made of fiberglass and coated with gold to make it conductive, and was painted with white stripes to help it maintain the proper temperature. A ring of mercury batteries at the base of the cone provided power, and the tip of the cone was a small probe, which, combined with the rest of the cone, acted as an antenna.  The probe was equipped with Geiger counters, which are instruments that measure radiation. A photoelectric sensor poked out of the center of the ring. The sensor had two photocells that were meant to be triggered by moonlight when the probe got close enough to the moon. The Pioneer 4 spacecraft went down in history as being the first American lunar probe to escape Earth's gravity and the first American probe to orbit around the sun. It got close to the moon, passing 37,300 miles by the moon's surface, according to NASA. Unfortunately, this wasn't close enough — it would need to be 20,000 miles from the moon to trigger the photocell or to measure the moon's radiation.  A Path to the Moon Landing  The mission didn't get close enough to capture images or data about the moon itself, but it did bring back excellent data that helped scientists understand the nature of space. It was the first American lunar probe to break out of Earth's gravity, which was a necessary step toward landing on the moon a decade later.  It was also a valuable exercise in how to track objects in space. Its radio transmitted data for 82 hours and 655,000 miles of travel, according to NASA. This was the farthest distance that anyone had ever tracked a human-made object at the time.  Pioneer 4 sent back excellent radiation data about the Van Allen Belts, which Space.com explains are rings of magnetically trapped, highly energetic charged particles that surround Earth. The data from this mission helped scientists understand the inner and outer structures and varying intensities of different areas of Van Allen Belts. This knowledge was critical in early space missions and it's even more important now that we have space vehicles loaded with high-tech, sensitive gear.  "Our current technology is ever more susceptible to these accelerated particles because even a single hit from a particle can upset our ever smaller instruments and electronics," said David Sibeck, Van Allen Probes mission scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "As technology advances, it's actually becoming even more pressing to understand and predict our space environment."  Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  

Pioneer 4 Spacecraft Was a Successful Failure

About five thousand light years from Earth, in the direction of the southern-sky constellation Centaurus, lies the coldest place in the universe — or at least the coldest natural object astronomers have yet detected. It's called the Boomerang Nebula on account of its appearance in telescope images (and because the astronomers who found it were Australian). Space.com reports that the object is believed to be the shroud of a dying red giant star that will in due course be "reborn" as a tiny but very hot white dwarf star. But for a brief cosmic moment, we're seeing it in a transitional phase when the shroud, formed from the dying star's outer layers, has become extremely cold. The Low End of the Thermometer How cold is the Boomerang Nebula? We can't (yet!) send a thermometer to take its temperature, but we can measure its radiation spectrum, a reliable guide to temperature. And according to Science Alert, it is cold: a frosty -458.5 degrees F, or -272.5 degrees C, less than half a degree (Centigrade or Kelvin) above absolute zero, the theoretical temperature of matter with no heat content whatsoever. In fairness, asking what is the coldest place in the universe is a bit of a trick question because the coldest places we know of are in laboratories right here on Earth. As Astronomy magazine wryly noted in 2015, one could even give the address (a lab at Harvard), but some other lab may might be the current record holder. Earthly labs use deliberate refrigeration technology to achieve such low temperatures, but how did the Boomerang Nebula get so cold? The minimum temperature of the universe as a whole is set by the so-called cosmic microwave background (CMB), left over from the Big Bang more than 13 billion years ago. The CMB temperature comes out to -270.4 C, more than two degrees Centigrade warmer than the Boomerang Nebula. In fact, per Science Alert, astronomers only realized how cold the Boomerang was when they discovered that it was absorbing CMB radiation that passed through it. That could only happen if the nebula was colder than the CMB temperature. In effect, the Boomerang Nebula is a naturally occurring laboratory-grade refrigerator. Shroud of a Dying Star Apart from the puzzle of it being the coldest place in the universe, the Boomerang Nebula is a familiar type of object called a protoplanetary nebula. In spite of the name, it has nothing to do with protoplanets, or planets of any sort. Rather, it is an initial stage in the formation of a planetary nebula, so named because it looks like a cluster of distant planets when viewed through a small telescope. These objects are formed when a sunlike star reaches the final stages of its life cycle. As its nuclear fuel runs low, internal processes cause the star to expand into a red giant. Then, as the internal nuclear furnace runs out, the star's core collapses while its already-distended outer layers are puffed away into space. The core finally becomes a white dwarf, a "dead" (but still very hot) stellar cinder. Ultraviolet light from the white dwarf causes the surrounding shroud to fluoresce and become visible as a planetary nebula. The nebula expands and ultimately fades away, leaving just the slowly cooling white dwarf. The Boomerang is still early in the process of forming a planetary nebula, hence the term "protoplanetary," but how did it become the coldest place in the universe? A Hidden Binary The likely answer, says Space.com, was first proposed by astronomer Raghvendra Sahai, who wrote in a 1990 scientific paper that the expansion of a red giant's outer layers into a protoplanetary nebula could act as a natural refrigerator. Just as compressing a gas heats it up, reducing its pressure by allowing it to expand cools it down. Astronomy magazine notes you can see this process at home: Spraying from a can of whipped cream or tire-inflating gas causes the container to feel cooler. Ordinarily the gentle expansion of a protoplanetary nebula would not produce the very low temperature of the Boomerang, but measurements show that the Boomerang is expanding much faster than usual. The likely culprit is now believed to be a companion star to the dying red giant that formed the Boomerang. As it swelled into a red giant, says Science Alert, it actually absorbed the companion stars, but the companion's orbital motion tore the red giant's outer layers away, hurling them off into space at nearly 100 miles per second, ten times the usual expansion rate. According to Universe Today, the result is that we are watching the Boomerang in the brief cosmic moment of maximum cooling. According to astronomer Lars-é…ke Nyman, co-author of the paper describing the process, "We see this remarkable object at a very special, very short-lived period of its life. It's possible these super cosmic freezers are quite common in the universe, but they can only maintain such extreme temperatures for a relatively short time." 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.

The Coldest Place in the Universe — And How It Got So Cold

On March 14th, 2018, the world lost one its most innovative and forward-thinking minds: Dr. Stephen Hawking. The famed physicist was known for his ability to translate complex theoretical concepts into layman's terms, as well as for his perseverance in the face of degenerative amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Here's a look at the Stephen Hawking legacy: His work on understanding the beginnings of the universe, the behavior of black holes and what might exist beyond infinity. Origin Story Like most stories in modern physics, this one starts with Einstein. Specifically, Hawking studied Einstein's notion of singularities. General relativity suggests the existence of these singularities — also known as black holes — occur when massive objects, such as stars, collapse under their own weight and curve spacetime so severely that even light can't escape, according to the BBC. In 1939, Robert Oppenheimer wrote a paper describing these singularities, but his ideas were disregarded because most physicists found them at odds with classical notions of universal laws. In 1959, Hawking entered the picture, coauthoring a paper with Roger Penrose on the black hole theory that not only bolstered the evidence for singularities but also argued that the much-debated Big Bang theory of the universe was correct: Our universe began as a kind of black hole in reverse, starting from an immeasurably small singularity and exploding outward. The paper gained critical acclaim, lent credence to the Big Bang theory and furthered Hawking's exploration of the black hole theory, said the BBC. Back to Black Hawking's greatest contributions to physics vary depending on who you ask. Query an average person on the street and chances are they know exactly who you're talking about — the scientist in the wheelchair who wrote "that book." That book is "A Brief History of Time," published in 1988 and immensely popular among anyone curious about the beginnings of the universe and the potential for universal laws. According to the International Business Times, despite its status as a best-seller, readers only finish approximately 7 percent of the book. Among the scientific community, meanwhile, understanding the Stephen Hawking legacy starts with two words: Hawking radiation. As noted by Vox, Hawking's work on black holes confirmed that nothing — not even light — could escape being pulled into the gravity vortex. But he also realized that just like everything else in the universe, black holes must also increase in entropy over time. Entropy implies temperature, which means black holes had to be "losing" something that would generate heat. By combining the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, Hawking proposed that particle and antiparticle pairs pop up continually in black holes, canceling one another out and splitting apart while also detracting from the black hole's mass, according to Vox. While Hawking radiation has not yet been detected, the general scientific community has accepted this theory. Stephen Hawking's Legacy In addition to his brilliant theories, Hawking leaves behind new questions for the next generation of scientists. As noted by Gizmodo, Hawking's most recent paper,"A Smooth Exit From Inflation," states that while the expansion rate of our universe suggests the existence of a "multiverse" where other universes and alternate physical laws are possible, the possibilities aren't infinite. Instead, they're governed by mathematical laws and could potentially be detected in the background radiation of our universe. Not surprisingly, both of these theories have drawn praise, criticism and even more questions. That's the true Stephen Hawking legacy: The intersection of science-for-the-people and revolutionary theory to provoke discussion of — as one of Hawking's favorite authors succinctly put it — "life, the universe and everything."

The Stephen Hawking Legacy: From Black Holes to the Big Bang

 Black holes remain a contentious issue among stellar scientists. While their existence is all but confirmed, debate continues about exact mechanisms of operation, size and impact on general relativity. However, we are close to having some answers. As noted by National Geographic in 2017, a global team of researchers completed the first ever "photo shoot" of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). These pictures are close to being developed by the MIT Haystack Observatory and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Mother Nature Network said.  Then there will finally be hard evidence — one way or another — of the existence or absence of mega-sized black holes.  The Theory  According to general relativity, massive objects curve or "warp" space—time and create gravity. Conceptually, the easiest visual is stretching out a blanket and then dropping a ball in the middle — the heavier the ball, the bigger its depression.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Smaller objects will naturally fall "down" toward the ball, but if they're moving at high speed — like planets orbiting the sun — they roll around the massive center. Einstein's theory also predicts that the closer objects get to massive objects, the more gravity affects their orbit. As noted by New Scientist, this is evident in Mercury's orbit, which is odd enough that scientists once argued for the existence of another planet inside its orbit to explain the disturbance.  General relativity also predicts the existence of black holes at the center of galaxies that are orbited by all mass in that galaxy. And while repeated testing has yielded results consistent with black hole formation and existence, researchers have never been able to directly observe a black hole. If the EHT worked as intended, a close-up may soon be available. [skyword_iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/e-P5IFTqB98" height="315" width="560" ]  Current Observations  There's a sizable amount of research that suggests that black holes are out in the cosmos warping space-time and consuming all matter that comes their way. In January 2017, for example, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detected gravitational wave distortions that indicated a black hole—to—black hole binary collision. In 2015, LIGO spotted these black holes on a collision course; the current measurement lines up with predictions about their impending crash.  Or consider the work of Aurelien Hees of the University of California. In the 1990s, Hees and other scientists began tracking the orbits of stars close to Sagittarius A* — S0-2 and S0-38 take 16 and 19 years, respectively, to complete full revolutions. Now Hees and his team have tracked their entire orbits and found that general relativity accurately describes their path and movement. Next year, S0-2's elliptical orbit will take it just 111 AUs from the black hole, for an even better chance to view potential deviations. So far, however, relativity and the four fundamental forces hold up, with no sign of the mysterious "fifth force" posited by some experts.  Teams at the University of Texas and Harvard University, meanwhile, tackled another question: What happens when a black hole "eats" stars that stray too close? The accepted theory is that they're trapped by the event horizon — the point past which even light cannot escape — and then simply "vanish." But other theories postulate the existence of a hard surface, something stars would crash into once they're trapped in the gravity well. Researchers determined what would happen if the hard surface theory were true — the star's gas would envelop the black hole and create a glow. Researchers then sought evidence of these so-called "transients" using current data on star masses. The result? No transients and further affirmation of Einstein's theory.  Smile!  All this goes to show why the work of the EHT is so critical. Using five telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, Mexico, the South Pole and Spain — combined with the acuity-enhancing Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers may finally have taken the first picture of black-hole event horizons. It was a grueling process, since the telescopes needed clear weather at all locations simultaneously to gather solid data. While there's no guarantee that the end result will be usable, and even if the images aren't ideal, astronomer Heino Falcke said they "will turn black holes from some mythical object to something concrete we can study."  Let's just hope we caught Sagittarius A*'s good side.   

Physics Photo Op: Black Hole Images May Soon Be Available

Sixty years ago NASA opened its doors. In just over a decade, the agency put a man on the moon and permanently expanded human perception. But in 2011, NASA's space shuttle program ended and astronauts began hitching rides on Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS. In 2014, the Obama administration put any plans for a new moon mission on hold indefinitely. Space Policy Directive-1, however, has now driven NASA to embrace commercial space flight as a way to manage routine operations in low-earth orbit, while the agency develops plans for both manned moon landings and trips to Mars. With private companies ready for blast off in 2019 and looking to pave the way for large-scale commercial tourism, the future of space travel may be much closer than it appears. Slip the Surly Bonds of Earth As noted by NPR, the first commercial space flights carrying four NASA astronauts will launch in 2019. The upcoming flights are a test-run of sorts: If everything goes well, further missions will be scheduled to deliver and retrieve ISS crews, shuttle supplies and support other NASA low-earth initiatives. They're not without challenges: Astronauts used to taking the helm and making critical decisions will instead be along for the ride unless something goes wrong. In Air & Space, astronaut Bob Behnken described the shift to automation as "'transitioning to allow humans to do things they're good at, like recognizing when something's not quite right. What we're not good at is monitoring one parameter for hours and hours to make sure it's perfect.'" Getting it Right "Space taxi" manufacturers also have to pass rigorous NASA tests to ensure their craft are up to the challenge. For example, issues with fuel pressure and cracked engine turbines prompted redesigns of the Falcon 9 rocket — NASA wants at least seven successful launches before signing off, along with five successful fueling runs designed to be carried out when crews are on board. Boeing, meanwhile, must address concerns about a crew abort system that Air & Space noted could "tumble dangerously," along with contact potential between the craft's heat shield and parachute system. Bottom line? If commercial companies can't produce craft with odds of a fatal incident less than one in 270, NASA won't green-light new space taxis. Costs of Doing Business Beyond a better way to reach the ISS than buying seats on a Soyuz, what's the advantage of commercial space flight for NASA? According to Bloomberg, one major benefit is the cost savings yielded by the ability to re-use rockets by landing them upright rather than having them burn up on re-entry. The use of private companies also helps NASA leverage what amounts to a cloud model of space travel: The agency doesn't pay for the hardware or maintenance, just the use of resources. But when the future of space flight is driven by commercial interests, new costs must also be considered. As EnGadget points out, current NASA space crews are effectively elite athletes. Commercial space flight solutions will need to account for a wide variety of medical needs without sacrificing too much power, space and material consumption. The Coming Age of Commercial Space Flight So what happens if the 2019 flights are successful? Large aerospace companies and other smaller ventures will start ramping up private tourism opportunities and commercial offerings. According to Forbes Technology Council, increasing competition in this market will drive lower prices, while the advent of space mineral exploration will drive a kind of "goldrush" of companies looking to stake their claim. Back to Basics For NASA, commercial trips let them focus on the future of space flight from their perspective: getting to the moon and beyond. The agency has plans to build a lunar-orbiting station — the Gateway — by 2023, and land astronauts on the moon shortly after. The Insight Lander touched down on Mars Nov. 26, and in July 2020, NASA will launch its next Mars rover, laying the foundation for manned missions by the mid-2030s. Final Frontier Space continues to fascinate and excite humankind. But the costs of space exploration are incredibly high, making it difficult for NASA to secure funding as budget restraint dominates government discussions. As noted by Time, however, the benefits are also substantial; exploration "is in effect a cultural conversation on the nature and meaning of human life." Leveraging commercial space flight to defray routine costs, NASA has the chance to redefine the future of space travel and take first steps into the next phase of human space exploration. Northrop Grumman and NASA are leaders in space discovery. To learn more about our partnership and Northrop Grumman job openings, take a look at our careers page.

Commercial Space Flight, Private Taxis and the Future of Space Travel

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

Planet 9, a Black Hole Mystery, and Planets Beyond

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

Solar Orbiter Mission Takes Aim at Sun's Polar Zone

Solar flares are energetic explosions of radiation released from the surface of the sun. Coronal mass ejections — solar explosions that release extremely hot streams of plasma into space — can cause solar flares to reach the Earth's surface. Although rare, some of the most serious solar flare effects include damaging magnetic storms on Earth; in the past, they have triggered regional blackouts. There are telltale signs of an impending solar explosion, but scientists have recently discovered a new way of predicting coronal mass ejections. The answer lies in the sun. What Happens When a Solar Flare Erupts? Scientists already know that some eruptive solar flares have warning signs. Often, they are preceded by arches of plasma — magnetic flux ropes — that visibly rise from the surface of the sun, according to Space.com. However, scientists have made a new discovery, recently published in Nature, about how solar flares occur and erupt. After careful research and observation, a team of scientists located the presence of what they call "magnetic cages," which might explain why some eruptive solar flares reach Earth and others do not. According to the study, magnetic cages are structures made of magnetic field lines that rise from the sun's surface. Before a dangerous flare, a magnetic flux rope grows under a solar arcade. If the rope develops a kink and becomes unstable, a burst of energy might blast through the cage, leading to coronal mass ejections that have the potential to reach Earth. If the cage is more substantial, however, NASA explained that the flare may not be able to blast through. "Our results show that the role of the cage, and thus of the environment, crucially affects the class of eruption ... that can be produced in an active region," the study authors wrote in Nature. What Are Solar Flare Effects? The Earth rarely experiences solar flare effects, yet they can have dramatic effects when they occur. In 1859, a plume of magnetized plasma shot 93 million miles from the sun to the Earth in less than a day. Known as the Carrington Event, it is the largest geomagnetic storm in history, according to Motherboard. Based on information from FEMA, Motherboard speculates that if a storm of that magnitude hit the Earth today, GPS signals, telecommunications and electricity would be in serious danger. On March 10, 1989, astronomers witnessed a powerful solar explosion on the surface of the sun that created a blackout in all of Quebec. This explosion released a billion-ton cloud of gas; NASA noted that this would be like the energy of thousands of nuclear bombs exploding at the same time. Companies like Northrop Grumman have joined forces with the Space Weather and Analysis Forecast System to monitor space weather's effect on military operations. Can We Prepare for Solar Flares? Scientists cannot stop these coronal mass ejections from happening. However, if scientists learn to predict coronal mass ejections, humans can take preventative measures here on Earth. "Shedding light on the origin and evolution of solar flares could help scientists forecast how powerful these explosions occur, which could help experts prevent widespread havoc on earth," according to Space.com. Survivalist websites, like Ready.gov, recommend taking precautions against solar flares just as you would for any other natural disaster: learn to purify water, and keep an emergency kit on hand with flashlights, medical supplies and non-perishable foods.   

A Rare Type of Solar Flare May Have Potentially Devastating Effects

Over the past few years astronomers have been observing — and seeking to explain — brief, powerful pulses of radio noise emanating from distant regions of the cosmos. The pulses, known as Fast Radio Bursts or FRBs, are so sudden and brief (in the millisecond range) that they vanish almost at the moment we detect them, making them hard to study. Recently, though, a team of astronomers caught an FRB in a repeat performance. This allowed them to pinpoint its location, which in turn could link FRBs to some of the most spectacular events in the universe: superluminous supernovae. When Stars Blow Up Supernovae are exploding stars, and a typical supernova may outshine all the rest of the stars in a moderate-sized galaxy for a few weeks. In recent decades, though, astronomers came to realize that some supernova explosions, called superluminous supernovae, are up to a hundred times brighter, briefly outshining all the stars in a large galaxy. One such superluminous supernova, called PTF10hgi, is believed to have triggered the repeat FRB. "It was so bright that if it had taken place in the Andromeda Galaxy [a mere 2 million light-years away] it would have been visible to the naked eye," notes Scientific American. It caused no stir at the time (7.5 years ago, according to Sky & Telescope) only because it blew up in a much more distant galaxy, a billion and a half light-years away. What we see as a supernova is actually a collapsing star; the expanding fireball we observe is roughly equivalent to the cloud of dust rising from a demolished building. The interior of the star may collapse entirely, forming a black hole, or it may form a neutron star, a stellar cinder a few miles across but roughly as massive as the sun. Spinning Up an FRB In some cases, the newly formed neutron star may be spinning so fast — thousands of rotations per second — that its magnetic field transfers the spinning star's enormous torque to the surrounding nebula formed by the star's former outer layers. Such a rapidly spinning neutron star is called a magnetar because it produces immensely powerful magnetic fields in space. And, says Sky & Telescope, the magnetic transfer of energy from the magnetar to its surrounding nebula can further heat and brighten the nebula — enough to turn an ordinary supernova into a superluminous supernova. Most of this energy transfer happens in the first weeks after the explosion, but the rotating magnetic fields in space continue to pump energy into the nebula. Calculations show that this energy transfer would be just the thing to produce FRB pulses, even decades after the initial explosion. These calculations also indicate that the magnetar's energy should keep the nebula explosion glowing, resulting in a persistent radio signal as well as the FRB bursts. The Power of Prediction All of these indicators came together for a research team including Harvard astronomer Tarraneh Eftekhari, lead author of their findings report. The repeat FRB, known as FRB 121102, took place 3 billion light-years away in a distinctive type of galaxy, one with low metallicity and a high rate of star formation — a pattern associated with superluminous supernovae. And while the superluminous supernova PTF10hgi was in a different galaxy only half as far away, examination with the Very Large Array radio telescope showed that it is surrounded by a persistent radio source. A similar persistent source coincides with the location of the repeat FRB. All of this is circumstantial evidence. But as AAS Nova reports, the research team has one more powerful weapon at its disposal. The researchers were able to predict, based on their detailed observations, how FRB 121102 should behave over the next few years. This will allow what AAS Nova describes as a robust test of the magnetar theory of FRBs. Meanwhile, a recently discovered second repeating FRB may add further insights to our understanding of the links between superluminous supernovae and FRBs.  The jury is still out on our understanding of FRBs and superluminous supernovae — but the evidence is starting to pile up as new investigative tools are becoming available.

Distant Superluminous Supernovae Light Up the Radio Sky

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

Astronomers Closer to Solving the Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts

What does ordinary table salt have to do with Jupiter's moon Europa and the destination of NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission? As often happens in space science, the answer to this question is straightforward, but the implications are breathtaking. The detection of sodium chloride on the surface of Europa lends support to the theory that Europa not only has an underground ocean, but that this ocean contains the building blocks of life, and perhaps its own ecosystem of living organisms. All of which means that the Europa Clipper mission just might provide the first direct evidence that perhaps we are not alone. Misbehavior of the Gods First, a little background. As Space.com recounts, the four large moons of Jupiter, including Europa, were discovered by Galileo using his homemade telescope in January 1610. They are still collectively called the Galilean moons, but he simply numbered them. As Business Insider tells us, it fell to another astronomer to give them individual names. That astronomer, Simon Marius chose to name them for four of the Roman mythological god Jupiter's many romantic conquests. In order of distance from Jupiter, they are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. And as Business Insider also wryly notes, NASA is not above a little scientific mythology of its own. Another mission currently investigating Jupiter and its moon system is named Juno, after Jupiter's mythological (and very jealous) wife. Science Fiction Lends a Hand, and So Does NASA By the early 20th century, a new scientific mythology took form: science fiction. The moon and Mars usually played the starring role in early science fiction, but as Popular Science details, the four big moons of Jupiter, including Europa, got their share of attention. That is about where things stood until the 1970s, when space missions provided our first close-up views of these distant worlds — and spectacular views they were. As Space.com describes, each of the four big moons turns out to have very different surface features: from Io, the most volcanically active object in the solar system, to Callisto, the most heavily cratered. Jupiter's moon Europa does not have volcanoes and practically no craters. In fact, scientists determined that the surface of Europa cannot be more than about 160 million years old (even though Europa itself is nearly as old as the solar system, about 4.5 billion years). Some force, it seems, is continually "repaving" the surface of Europa. Not only is the surface being continually renewed; it is also almost completely flat. The most conspicuous surface features are linear markings, like scratches or cracks. A Hidden Ocean â€¦ One type of force, gravitational tides, turns out to account for both Io's volcanoes and Europa's flat, cracked surface. Tidal forces generated by Jupiter itself and the other moons subject all of the moons to flexing, which, over millions of years, heats them up internally. Thus, the inner moons, especially — Io and Europa — are much warmer internally than you would expect of worlds so far from the sun. When they formed, much of their material was water ice. The interior of Io is so hot that the ice long ago vaporized and escaped into space. Europa, not so close to Jupiter, only got hot enough to melt the ice. Per Geology.com, the result was and is a layer of liquid water believed to be as much as 60 miles deep — several times deeper than the deepest spot in Earth's oceans. A thin layer of ice, only a few miles thick at most, covers this ocean, which contains more water than all of Earth's oceans combined. â€¦ Of Salt Water All of which brings us back to that recent detection of sodium chloride (or in layman's terms, table salt) on Europa. Liquid water anywhere always gets the attention of researchers, because it seems to be an ideal environment for life. But water by itself is not enough: For life, you also need its building blocks and nutrients, most of which are to be found in rocks. If Europa's underground ocean is salt water, reports Phys.org, it must be in contact with rock, and surely contains many other dissolved substances, making the prospects for life that much stronger. And for a final touch, says Scientific American, these results indicate that liquid water must sometimes reach very close to the surface, or even break through before freezing, which could make detecting life on Jupiter's moon Europa that much easier. 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.

Jupiter's Moon Europa: A Moon With an Ocean — and Possibly Life

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

Harpoon Europa to Unlock Hidden Mysteries

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

On February 11, 2016, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory — LIGO — announced the detection of gravitational waves for the first time. It ended a 50-year search for direct confirmation of the elusive gravitational waves, first predicted by Albert Einstein.The observatory is sometimes described as two observatories, because its key instrument, a laser interferometer, has two sections. One is located in Livingstone, Louisiana, the other in Hanford, Washington. Working together, they form a single precision instrument a couple of thousand miles across.If success in detecting gravitational waves marked the end of one era, it signaled the beginning of another: the exploration of the universe using new instruments of fantastic, nearly unimaginable precision, of which LIGO is only a beginning.Elusive GravitySir Isaac Newton identified gravity as a basic property of nature and described its characteristics, but he did not explain how it worked. Albert Einstein proposed in 1916 that gravity was not a mysterious "force" but rather a bending of space itself in the presence of a heavy mass. He also showed that the massive accelerating objects — such as orbiting black holes — would distort the fabric of space, sending gravitational waves outwards in all directions like ripples expanding on a pond.Strong indirect evidence supported Einstein's theory of gravity, but actually detecting gravitational waves was difficult — so difficult that while active efforts to detect them began in the 1960s, no one succeeded until LIGO did a year ago.The LIGO instrument consists essentially of two vacuum pipes, each two and a half miles long, containing lasers that can measure each pipe's length with extreme precision. Extreme as in measuring a change equal to 1/5000 the size of a proton. Neil DeGrasse Tyson describes this as "the most precise measurement ever made, by far."This unfathomable precision allowed researchers to detect the subtle jostling of the pipes by a powerful gravitational disturbance: the collision of two black holes, each many times more massive than the Sun, in a distant galaxy.David Yeaton-Massey, an experimental physicist doing basic research at Northrop Grumman, had the opportunity to work on LIGO while completing his PhD at Caltech."Being part of a team dedicated to listening to what the universe is whispering to us was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The concept is relatively simple, much like electromagnetic radiation is produced when you shake an electron, gravitational radiation (a little ripple in spacetime) is produced when you shake matter. Despite the simplicity the analogy offers, it took a pair of massive, distant black holes colliding close enough to earth (140 billion light years) for us to see the event. The scale and scope of what the LIGO community accomplished cannot be underestimated."A Quiet Place in the SkyWhile scientists were already confident that Einstein was right, LIGO's success opens the way to a new branch of astronomy, exploring the universe by measuring gravitational waves and mapping their patterns.This will require even more precision than LIGO achieved, and by far the best place to make such measurements is in outer space. A space mission called LISA Pathfinder has already been launched — not to detect gravitational waves itself but to test the technology needed for a future mission.A deep space gravitational wave observatory remains years down the road, but 2018 should see the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). A successor to the famed Hubble Space Telescope, it will take precision astronomy in space to a new level. Unlike Hubble, the JWST will primarily observe the universe in infrared light, blocked from ground-based observatories by Earth's atmosphere.And instead of orbiting a few hundred miles above Earth, JWST, for which Northrop Grumman is the main industrial partner, will float in space in a position about a million miles from Earth (technically, in the second Sun—Earth Lagrange point). The distant location will help shield the JWST from Earth's own heat radiation, which otherwise would wreak havoc on infrared sensors that must operate at very low temperature.The JWST will not observe gravitational waves, but its infrared telescope will be able to look farther into deep space — and further back into the early history of the universe — than any existing telescope. The science is astounding: JWST will help us see the first stars and galaxies, better understand how galaxies form over billions of years and, finally, help identify earth-like planets that potentally support life. Whether earth-based or space-based, a new era of amazingly engineered machines will unlock mysteries that we can only guess at today.Learn more about how you can play an active role in Northrop Grumman-affiliated projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

Making Waves: LIGO Celebrates an Anniversary of Proving Einstein's Theory

Commercial space travel may no longer be a shot in the dark thanks to rapid advancements in aerospace technology and a shift in how space technology is funded. Space programs have historically been limited by government budget constraints, but during the last two decades, a few adventurous billionaires began investing in space technology. Private space travel is an emerging industry that's changing the way we view the universe. Why it Makes Sense Now Public funding for space programs isn't guaranteed — each country's current administration must determine how to manage priorities within a budget. Commercializing space travel invites competition, which brings not only new opportunities for funding, but also a new enthusiasm from the private sector that could spark innovation. When private companies get paid to bring things or people into space, some of the burdens are shifted away from government space programs, such as NASA. Commercial space travel is possible as a result of recent advancements in propulsion methods, robotics and communication, plus new solutions such as autonomous rocket-tracking technology, as described by MIT Technology Review. Traditionally, astronauts have undergone extensive training to prepare physically and mentally for the challenges of space travel, but today's spacecraft are automated, so anyone who is healthy and wealthy can travel beyond our planet. Not only have robotic spacecrafts improved, but so have the communication methods. With low latency live video feeds, an amateur space traveler can get help from experts back on Earth. Types of Commercial Space Travel If you have enough money to travel anywhere, there's not a more far-flung and unique destination than space. Space tourism began in 2001, when American Dennis Tito paid $20 million to become the first space tourist, traveling on a Russian rocket to visit the International Space Station (ISS). Billionaire tech entrepreneurs are responding to the siren song of space travel, as some companies have laid out big plans for bringing people to visit lower Earth orbit and eventually to live on Mars or other planets. Contracted government work is another way commercial space companies can make money. NASA's shuttle program was retired in 2011, and now private companies are paid to bring cargo and people to space. With commercial rockets launching satellites into orbit and delivering supplies to the ISS, traditional space programs have more capacity to focus on developing spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions. There are economic benefits, too; according to NASA, more than 1,000 suppliers are working across the U.S. on commercial crew spacecraft systems. Additionally, private companies need commercial services — especially delivering satellites to space. Satellites are used for navigation, aerial photography and mapping, television, communication and internet. Infinity and Beyond For many space experts, the next big goal is visiting and perhaps colonizing Mars. Projects such as Bill Nye's LightSail aim to find ways to travel long distances without traditional rocket fuel, which is heavy, expensive and finite. Stratolaunch, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is pioneering a new way to lift heavy objects into space with minimal fuel by launching rockets off a gigantic airplane, according to Engadget. Other projects are exploring ideas such as reusable rockets, propellant depots and asteroid mining, which could make deep space reachable and profitable. With more companies getting involved in space exploration travel, the places we've only dreamed of visiting may eventually be common destinations.

The Future of Commercial Space Travel

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

Creating a Precise Lunar Map: When Sciences Collide

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

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

"Negative energy" sounds like something that Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock would have used to get out of a jam in the original Star Trek series. And appropriately enough, as Science Alert reports, using negative energy to draw energy from black holes was first proposed by physicist Roger Penrose in 1969, back when classic Trek was still airing new episodes. Penrose's work earned him a belated Nobel Prize just last year. And in an interesting bit of synchronicity, new studies suggest that negative energy could not only be the ultimate power supply but also a way to look for alien life and seek out new civilizations. Kirk and Spock would surely have approved. Tapping Into the Ergosphere Black holes, in spite of their name, can be some of the brightest objects in the universe. The reason is that a black hole's intense gravity field pulls down any matter it captures. The captured material is accelerated to nearly the speed of light, releasing enormous energy when infalling streams collide. But this process is only a starting point for drawing energy from black holes. New research published in the scientific journal Physical Review D indicates that rotational energy already captured by the black hole can be extracted by tapping into a region called the ergosphere. As Universe Today reports, the ergosphere is located just barely above the event horizon that cuts the black hole off from the outside universe. The black hole's rotating magnetic field produces a breaking and reconnection of magnetic lines of force, and the extreme conditions within the ergosphere ramp up the resulting magnetic particle collisions to maximum intensity. Delivering 150% Under the right conditions, such collisions can cause one particle — or an entire particle stream — to fall through the event horizon, acquiring negative energy. The other particle (or stream) picks up a corresponding amount of positive energy and shoots out the ergosphere, carrying more energy than it started with. This doesn't quite count as magical free energy from black holes, because the particles that fall through the event horizon cause the black hole's rotation to slow down. But in the meantime, there's plenty of stored-up energy from black holes that a sufficiently advanced civilization could draw on. And because of this stored energy, a black hole power extraction system could potentially run at 150% efficiency, according to Universe Today — an efficiency rating we associate with athletes, perhaps, but not actual power generators. The Sound of Magic What's more, in yet another bit of intriguing synchronicity that so often pops up in science, Science Alert reports that a separate research project gave experimenters a foretaste — or at least a fore-listen — of what more than 100% efficiency sounds like. We do not yet have anything close to the technology needed to tap energy from a black hole. We don't even have the tech to simulate the black hole with a fast-spinning metal cylinder, as one physicist proposed in 1971. But a research team in Scotland realized that the Penrose Effect could be demonstrated using sound waves, which are easier to work with because they travel a million times slower than light waves. By spinning a disk faster than sound, speakers mounted on the disk could be made to put out sound at negative frequencies — not quite as weird as negative energy, but still pretty weird. And when the experiment was run, the sound that came out of the speakers was 30% louder than the power that fed into them could have produced, according to Science Alert. Sound energy was being drawn from the rotating disk by a process analogous to drawing energy from black holes. To Seek Out New Civilizations Energy from black holes is pretty awesome, but where does alien life fit in? According to Live Science, while we don't yet have the ability to plug our power cables into a black hole, advanced civilizations out there may be able to do exactly that. And if someone is doing it, we do have the technology needed to detect it. "Since fast magnetic reconnection in the ergosphere should occur intermittently in the scenario proposed here, the associated emission within a few gravitational radii from the black hole is expected to display a bursty nature," the report abstract in Physical Review D states. This doesn't necessarily mean that any "bursty" emission from a spinning black hole must be a sign of alien life. But it does give us a guide as to where and how to look for potential signs of power production by advanced alien civilizations. So, stay tuned! 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.

Could Alien Life Draw Energy from Black Holes?

Ellen Ochoa is an inventor, a NASA leader and a classical flutist. But she's best known as a boundary breaker: She was the first Hispanic woman in space, and the first Hispanic person to lead the Johnson Space Center, NASA's hub for human spaceflight activity. Preparing to Launch Born and raised in California, Ochoa was a talented flutist who thought about pursuing a music degree when she was in high school. But her friends from her calculus class were all going into science and engineering fields, and that helped nudge her toward physics, according to the American Physical Society. She earned a bachelor's degree in physics from San Diego State University, then she earned a master's degree and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University. She developed a keen interest in optics, the behavior and characteristics of light. As a research engineer, first at Sandia National Laboratories and then at NASA's Ames Research Center, she helped develop optical systems for information processing. During her research days, NASA says, she wrote several technical papers and co-invented three patents: one for an optical inspection system, one for an optical object recognition method, and one for a method for noise removal in images. A Career in Orbit Ochoa joined NASA in 1988 and was selected as an astronaut in 1990. She became the first Hispanic woman in space in 1993 when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery. She brought her flute along and played it in space. (She was the first person to play a musical instrument in low-Earth orbit, too.) Ochoa flew into space three more times: Her first two missions studied the Earth's atmosphere and ozone depletion; on her third and fourth missions, she helped build the International Space Station. Across her four spaceflights, Ochoa logged more than 1,000 hours in space. "I felt like I was contributing to something larger than myself, that benefits people on Earth, and I was willing to take the risk," she told the Harvard Gazette. After her astronaut career ended, she went to work for the Johnson Space Center, first as a deputy director and then as the center's 11th director. She was the first Hispanic person and the second woman to hold the position. During her tenure as director, from 2013 to 2018, she oversaw crucial research and exploration projects, such as the first Orion flight test and the selection of four astronauts for Commercial Crew training. What Ochoa Means to Women of Color in STEM "I know that role models make a difference, and I take seriously that part of my career and life," Ochoa told the National Women's History Museum. "For young Hispanic women, there are few well-known women in STEM fields so it's even more important to let them know about the interesting and rewarding careers that they can pursue." Ellen Ochoa is a pioneer for women of color in STEM. Though there are more women in STEM than ever, they're still underrepresented in physics and engineering — women of color especially so. Ochoa didn't have many role models when she entered NASA's program out of graduate school, but she's helped open the door for more diverse candidates in the program.

Ellen Ochoa: The First Hispanic Woman in Space

Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are one of the most exciting unsolved mysteries in astronomy today. FRBs are incredibly powerful flares of short-wavelength radio waves from space. Each one is the result of an event that lasted just a few milliseconds but produced as much as 500 million times the energy our sun does over a comparable amount of time. Fast Radio Burst (FRB) Basics Radio waves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum — which includes infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays and gamma rays — and, therefore, travel through space at the speed of light. The first FRB was discovered in 2007 by an astronomer at West Virginia University who was looking through old data from a radio telescope in Australia. The millisecond-long blip seemed to originate from outside the universe. Dozens more FRBs were later found, but most were one-off events that were detected once and never repeated. This made FRBs impossible to predict, difficult to observe and extremely challenging to trace to a specific source. Without more information, researchers could only speculate about the astronomical events that might trigger such intense radio bursts. A Repeating FRB One FRB (named FRB 121102) was identified as repeating in 2016. Researchers pointed a large radio telescope to the location of a previously observed FRB and found that the signal repeated every few weeks or so, as explained by the SETI Institute. This repetition helped scientists trace the source of the FRB to a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light-years away. The massive distance traveled by this FRB indicated that it was the result of an incredibly energetic event. Furthermore, the fact that FRBs last only a few milliseconds means that the objects producing them can't be much bigger than 200 miles across, which is the distance that radio waves can travel in that time. Therefore, the source of FRBs must be extremely dense, compact objects that are considerably smaller than an ordinary star. Possibilities included supernovas, colliding black holes and magnetars, which are collapsed stellar corpses that possess the strongest magnetic fields in the universe. More (Digital) Eyes on the Sky Before 2017, astronomers had detected a total of approximately 140 fast radio bursts. That number quickly increased when the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope became operational. As explained in Nature, CHIME is a giant telescope with no moving parts that scans the sky as Earth rotates. Digital image processing allows it to "look" in thousands of different directions at the same time. Between 2018 and 2019, CHIME detected 535 FRBs. Analysis revealed that the FRBs originated from across the universe and fell into two distinct categories. The majority of the 535 bursts were one-off events, while 61 were "repeaters" that came from 18 different sources. The repeaters typically lasted at least three times longer and emitted a much narrower band of radio frequencies. These findings suggest that FRBs are the result of at least two distinct astrophysical phenomena. The one-off FRBs are likely the result of cataclysmic events, such as the collision of two neutron stars or magnetic storms in young magnetars. The repeaters require more complex explanations, none of which have been verified. Most of the repeaters are unpredictable, but two are known to have a regular cycle. The first repeater ever identified (FRB 121102) is now known to follow a cycle of 90 days of FRB activity followed by 67 days of silence. This repeater is incredibly active; ScienceAlert reported that 122 bursts were detected in a one-hour period. The second repeater with a regular cycle is named FRB 20180916B, which repeats every 16.35 days. An FRB From Within the Milky Way In April 2020, astronomers detected an FRB that came from our own galaxy. As explained in Astronomy, the magnetar SGR 1935+2154 started emitting X-rays from its location near the center of our galaxy some 30,000 light-years away. Eager to catch the show, astronomers focused their telescopes and were able to catch X-rays, gamma rays and a fast radio burst that was named FRB 200428. The FRB lasted just 1.5 milliseconds, was the closest FRB ever detected and was 3,000 times brighter than any previously observed magnetar radio signal. While magnetars had been a favored contender to explain FRBs, this was the first evidence that they can actually produce radio waves powerful enough to account for the signals. This Milky Way magnetar did not release as much energy as would be required for the FRBs from millions or billions of light-years away, so it's possible that FRBs detected from outside our galaxy come from younger, more active magnetars. FRBs From the Spiral Arms of Galaxies In May 2021, astronomers used the excellent resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope to trace the source of five FRBs to the spiral arms of five distant galaxies, as reported by NASA. These galaxies are located 400 million to 9 billion light-years away and are described as "[mostly] massive, relatively young and still forming stars." This is consistent with the idea that FRBs originate from young magnetar outbursts. But just when it seemed that the mystery of fast radio bursts was mostly solved, the universe had another surprise in store. An FRB From an Old Neighborhood In 2021, National Geographic described how a repeating FRB (named FRB 20200120E) was traced to a globular cluster, which is one of the most ancient objects in the observable universe. Globular clusters are dense collections of very old stars and don't seem to contain the kinds of stars that can collapse into magnetars. This discovery has forced astronomers to explain how a population of old, quiet stars can generate such powerful blasts. Possible explanations include other types of stellar corpses, but there's currently no supporting evidence for that theory. This FRB example highlights how powerful radio waves from space might come from a variety of different sources. Identifying these sources will take powerful equipment, ingenious software and creative minds. 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.

Radio Bursts Hint at Powerful Blasts From Billions of Light-Years Away

In 2018, as catastrophic wildfires raged across California and other Western states, hard-pressed firefighters got a hand from an unexpected source. According to SpaceNews, satellites designed to provide warning of ballistic missile attacks were pressed into service to provide infrared imagery of the wildfires — remote sensing data that gave fire agencies a detailed, big-picture view of the blaze to guide them in deploying firefighters, water-bombing aircraft and other assets. The assistance also highlighted an unexpected challenge. The computer software that handled the satellites and their warning data was proprietary, and the Pentagon and the contractors who developed the software had to work on the fly to convert the data into a form civilian fire agencies could read and interpret. Tripping the Light Fantastic The episode highlighted two things: the capability of space-based sensors in guiding the response to a real-world emergency, and the complex challenges that arise from technology that has both defense and civilian applications. NASA defines remote sensing as simply "the acquiring of information from a distance." For space sensors looking down at Earth, the distance ranges from a few hundred miles for satellites in low orbit to upward of 23,000 miles for satellites in geosynchronous orbits. The information acquired at this distance is derived primarily from electromagnetic radiation — using visible light and its cousins at different wavelengths, such as infrared and radio waves. Photographs of Earth and its landscapes (and seascapes) from space are the most familiar of these. Anyone who has looked for their house on a satellite map, such as Google Maps, has experienced a taste of this technology. In overall impact, these satellite map images can range from gorgeous to terrifying — sometimes both at once — and they also contain a vast wealth of detailed data. Remote sensors tuned to other wavelengths can provide a further wealth of detail that can either be converted to visible imagery for viewing or processed and analyzed by specialized tools. The More You Know, the More You Need to Learn The range and variety of these sensing tools and the tasks for which they can be applied are so wide, they almost defy any quick summary — as a glance at the NASA and Frontiers in Remote Sensing discussion of this technology makes clear. Infrared observations of land and ocean surface not only provide direct temperature data but also a wealth of information on everything from crop health to ocean currents. Mining can be guided by hints of rare minerals in surface imagery. Frontiers notes that space imagery has even aided investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing "datasets that utilize diverse targeted visualization to classify human environments," which could then be mapped onto social, economic and other data sources to provide insights into how the virus attacks communities. Sixty years of technology progress in space-based sensing from the first satellite imagery has paradoxically made the challenges of space sensing greater. The reason, per Frontiers, is that while technology progress can "improve the information content of the observations, the data is never fully sufficient to uniquely characterize all of the geophysical parameters of interest; the list of desired observables grows continuously with the advancement of science." Really, this is the whole history of scientific observation in a nutshell: The more we can see, the more we discover new things that we should be looking for. In the case of space sensing, improved sensors allow us — and challenge us — to observe finer details, both in terms of size (finer image resolution) and detection of subtle details. To gain the full value of this wealth of data, it must be cataloged and cross-correlated, so people who use the information can find it when they need it. Piercing the Veil of Secrecy As our overall capabilities have grown, so have our defense-related capabilities — from the ability to find and identify a previously secret airfield to the ability to pinpoint a single armored vehicle, even when backed into underbrush in an attempt at concealment. The overall effect of this capability has been positive. As the Defense Department notes, satellite observations "have reduced the ability of all countries to perform sensitive military activities undetected." This is particularly significant in relation to closed societies: It has become vastly harder for anyone to build a secret base or conceal their military operations from the world. At the same time, as the challenge of providing defense-satellite data to firefighters showed, the civilian-military overlap in sensing capabilities and requirements adds a further layer of complication to the overall problem of providing access to sensor information. Of course, using and managing this fast-growing branch of our knowledge and capabilities is still a work in progress. Though we're only at the beginning of grasping the full potential of remote sensing — and overcoming the challenges posed in balancing defense with other responsibilities — the future looks bright. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Remote Sensing: The Close-Up View From Space

From the beginning of humanity, people have wondered: What's out there? It began as stargazing but eventually gave way to science, with human curiosity driving the discovery of new and more innovative ways to slip the surly bonds of Earth. While rocket launch technology is now developing at a breakneck pace, it's worth taking a look back at the evolution of space exploration — where did we start? Where have we been? And where are we going next? Eyes to the Skies With rapid advances in rocketry largely coming over the last century, it's easy to suggest technology as the driving factor: Without the right materials and equipment, surely rocket launches were out of reach. Not quite. Historical records show burgeoning interest in rocket precursors, such as steam-powered devices, around 400 B.C., and it's generally agreed that Chinese innovators developed the first real rockets in the first century A.D. Much like modern fireworks, these small rockets were often used in local and religious festivals, and so-called "Chinese fire arrows" were also used against Mongol invaders. Further refinement over the next millennium led to more extensive use of rockets in warfare. For example, the Congreve rocket used in the late 1700s was a stick-guided rocket capable of carrying incendiary or antipersonnel munitions up to two miles. By 1844, spin stabilization techniques, which made rockets spin like a bullet using angled jet vents, were implemented for greater accuracy. Making It Work In 1898, Russian schoolteacher Konstantin Tsiolkovsky suggested that rockets might be capable of space travel if they could achieve great enough range and speed. His solution was liquid propellant. That way, rockets would only be limited by the velocity of escaping gases. To underpin this idea, he developed the Rocket Equation:  The equation applies to any device with the characteristics of a rocket — that is, it can apply acceleration to itself using thrust generated by expelling its mass at high velocity. For his substantive contributions to the field, Tsiolkovsky is often called the father of modern astronautics. Next came work from Robert H. Goddard and Hermann Oberth. Oberth helped develop Germany's suite of advanced V-2 rockets that could achieve massive thrust over short distances by burning one ton of alcohol and oxygen every seven seconds, while Goddard developed plans for both two-stage and three-stage rockets along with gyroscope flight instruments and parachute-equipped cargo containers. He was the first to launch a rocket powered by liquid and gasoline. Up, Up and Away! It all came together on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union successfully launched the first rocket into space. The R-7 ICBM rocket carried Sputnik, humanity's first satellite, into orbit. Being about the size of a beach ball, Sputnik only transmitted a signal for just over two weeks and burned up in the atmosphere on January 4, 1958 after its orbit decayed. By January 31, 1958 the United States launched a rocket of its own, Explorer I, and in October 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officially launched. The Race to Space These ongoing efforts also launched the space race. Both Russia and the United States threw everything they had into creating better, faster and safer rockets that were capable of sustained space travel. The US began with the Mercury program. The Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle used a combination of liquid oxygen and alcohol to produce 78,000 pounds of thrust — enough to send astronaut Alan Shepard into space. The Mercury-Atlas launch vehicle, meanwhile, lifted John Glenn into orbit with 365,000 pounds of thrust. The Gemini program came next and saw the world's first spacewalk and in-orbit rendezvous. Getting there required the Gemini-Titan II launch vehicle, which boasted an impressive 430,000 pounds of thrust. This paved the way for the iconic Apollo program and moon landing, but getting from Earth to its small, rocky companion was no easy task. To accomplish this goal, the Saturn V rocket weighed more than 6.1 million pounds at launch and generated 7.5 million pounds of thrust — more than 17 times the thrust of the Gemini-Titan II. The familiar space shuttle, meanwhile, which was used to carry crews into space from 1981 to 2011, clocked in at 7.8 million pounds of thrust. Passengers Come on Board The rockets themselves weren't the only things getting upgrades. What began as unmanned space flights eventually led to rocket launches that included primate passengers as human analogues to assess the impact of spaceflight on circulatory, nervous and skeletal systems. First was Albert the rhesus monkey in 1948, followed by his successor Albert II in 1949 and then Albert III through VI in quick succession. Sadly, all died either in space or shortly after their return. In 1959, the United States successfully recovered Able the rhesus monkey and Baker the squirrel monkey alive after their flight and did the same with a chimpanzee named Ham in 1961. This paved the way for Alan Shepard's historic flight into space on May 5, 1961, followed by John Glenn's orbit of Earth in February 1962. In 1963, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space aboard the Vostok 6, and in 1983, mission specialist Sally Ride became the first American female astronaut in space on the seventh space shuttle mission. All Systems Go What's next for rockets? First up is even more power. With NASA looking to send astronauts back to the moon and eventually to Mars, a new space shuttle launch system (SLS) was required. While it bears some visual similarity to the retired space shuttle, it's taller and heavier, and it will generate up to 8.8 million pounds of thrust — 15% more than its Saturn V counterpart. There's also a push to make rockets reusable. Historically, the first stages of multi-stage rockets were unrecoverable after being jettisoned when they ran out of fuel. Now, companies are working on reusable stage one and two boosters that can return to Earth intact and upright. Not only could this reduce the total amount of rocket launch waste being created, but it's much more cost- and time-efficient to refuel and reuse these boosters than it is to build new ones from scratch. This is rocket science — two millennia worth. While launch efforts are finally hitting their stride as technology and innovation collide, they're built on a platform of human curiosity that's always been determined to discover what lies beyond. 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.

Rocket Launch Rundown: Exploring Two Millennia of Space Travel

There were 144 orbital rocket launch attempts in 2021, which is a record — and the numbers are just going to keep going up from here. Everyone seems to want to go to space. Demand is higher than ever. That's why the industry is taking note of the environmental impacts of rocket fuel — and looking for more sustainable fuels and alternatives.Biofuels are of huge interest to the rocketry industry because they're more sustainable and less harmful to the environment than current options. One promising option from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab promises more energy density than any current fuel option available — without the toxic byproducts of petroleum. How would this biofuel work, and what are the downsides and challenges? Here's what we know.
Bacteria as Sustainable Biofuel
This new fuel, called POP-FAME (polycyclopropanated fatty acid methyl ester), is based on the antifungal bacteria Streptomyces. Project leader Jay Keasling specifically focused in on this molecule because of its shape, but Streptomyces has proven difficult to grow in a lab. However, because it had been genetically mapped, the team attempted to recreate the bacteria's shape without copying the more troublesome parts of the structure — which would make it easy to replicate. They succeeded, and POP-FAME is the result.The key to this new potential biofuel is in its shape: It has three carbon rings in the shape of a triangle. Typical fuels also have carbon chains — but they aren't subject to the same stress that a sharper 60-degree angle creates. Energy is created when these bonds are broken, and these bonds under duress (at a sharper angle) produce a lot more energy when broken than typical fuels do. What's more, because of its shape, it can be packed even tighter than regular petroleum, which further increases its energy potential.The potential energy output of POP-FAME is enormous. According to the Science News release, it will be "more than 50 megajoules per liter after chemical processing." In comparison, a popular kerosene-based rocket fuel has around 35. Basically, this means that it has the potential to be more energy efficient at a lower consumption rate — and because it's biofuel, it will produce fewer toxic byproducts.
How Could Biofuels Change the Aerospace Industry?
The force of Earth's gravity is significant; as a result, it takes a lot of fuel to propel a rocket out of Earth's atmosphere. When there were just a few rocket launches a year, no one paid much attention to environmental costs. But now that rocket launches are happening more regularly, experts are taking notice.While it's too early to say that this biofuel would have no effect on climate change or be completely neutral (even simple, seemingly harmless byproducts such as water can have an effect on climate change, after all), it will likely produce lower toxicity than current options.Additionally, it's important to take note of energy efficiency and costs. Inexpensive, sustainable fuels would bring the costs of reaching orbit down, which would encourage more launches. That, in turn, might spur a new era of space exploration and travel. What's more, sustainable biofuel that's easy to produce could make Mars trips feasible — once astronauts arrive, they could simply grow the fuel needed to get them back home.
What Are the Next Steps?
It's important to note that POP-FAME is still in the very early stages. The team hasn't even done field tests yet, so all of this is still theoretical. Still, POP-FAME has performed excellently in simulations. These tests have shown that the molecule is safe and stable at room temperature. In contrast, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, two popular rocket fuels, must be kept at -297 degrees Fahrenheit and -423 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.Now the challenge is to produce enough of the biofuel for testing, which could take a while. Additionally, scientists want to test out different applications of biofuels for jet fuel and other possible uses. In other words, it will be a long time before this biofuel is ready for any practical uses — but it's incredibly promising for right now.Are you interested in science and innovation? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Biofuels Could Be a More Environmentally Friendly Rocket Fuel

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

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

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

Planet-Forming Disks Contain Key Ingredients for Life: Methanol

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

Black Hole Discovery Expands Understanding of Early Age of the Universe

Only one person can say they've both visited space and the deepest part of the ocean. In 1984, astronaut Kathy Sullivan was the first American woman to spacewalk. That experience wasn't even the peak of her career — it was only the beginning of it. She continued to become a leader in space and ocean exploration.  In June 2020, she became the first woman to travel to Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean.   Foundation for Exploration  Kathryn Sullivan grew up during the space race and was fascinated by the people who explored the unknown.  "I was always following the early astronauts, Jacques Cousteau and the early aquanauts. They were inquisitive people," Sullivan told CNN Travel. "They were clever people that could figure out how to go make things happen."  Despite her curiosity for understanding how things work, and the fact that her father was an aerospace engineer, Sullivan never dreamed she would become an astronaut. She had many interests and a knack for learning languages. When she started college at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she intended to study Russian. Then she took an oceanography course to fulfill a science requirement for her degree. She loved the class so much that she pivoted to oceanography.  Next, she studied marine geology at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. While there, she mapped a portion of the sea floor and assisted with field research on the volcanic processes that make the ocean crust. Later, in an oral history interview for Johnson Space Center, she explained that her goal as a student was to eventually get into a research submarine and explore the bottom of the sea.  "That's what I was heading toward and aiming everything toward until NASA came along," she said.  New Frontiers in Space  While she worked toward her Ph.D., her brother, an avid pilot, encouraged her to apply to NASA. It was 1976, and the space administration started to recruit women and minorities. She was focused on oceanography and didn't expect to be selected, although she saw the parallels between the mission specialist role and oceanographic expeditions.  She joined NASA in 1978 as part of the first cohort of astronauts to include women, according to the New York Times. This launched a 15-year career in space. In 1984, she became the first American woman to walk in space when she floated outside the Challenger space shuttle to repair a part. Her career continued with a second historic mission in 1990. She was part of the Discovery space shuttle crew that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope in space for 30 years. (Soon to be succeeded by the James Webb Space Telescope.) She rounded out her time at NASA on the Space Shuttle Atlantis mission in 1992. In total, she logged 532 hours in space.  The Deepest Part of the Ocean  From the unique vantage point of space, she was more motivated than ever to understand and improve life on Earth, she explained in a lecture captured by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. After NASA, she returned to her original passion for oceanography. Just like the astronauts and aquanauts who she observed as a child, Sullivan felt called to explore the most desolate and unknown regions of the world.  According to Business Insider, after NASA, Sullivan served as chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed her to the National Science Board. Later, President Obama appointed her to serve as NOAA's deputy administrator in 2011, and she became administrator in 2014.  In June 2020, having already achieved numerous accomplishments, she broke another barrier for women in STEM. At age 68, Sullivan traveled to the deepest point in the ocean, a location so remote and dangerous that only seven other people have been there.  Business Insider reports that astronaut Kathy Sullivan joined millionaire adventurer Victor Vescovo in a submarine to explore Challenger Deep, the lowest point in the Mariana Trench. Located 200 miles from Guam and seven miles below the ocean's surface, she traveled to a point that is so deep it could fit Mount Everest inside, with a mile to spare. Just like her space travels, it was a risky but rewarding mission.   She leaves a lasting legacy for women in space and other scientific fields. Not only can you be the "first" to do something, but you can also be a whole person with diverse interests and skills that evolve with age. Sullivan proves that women can explore the depths of Earth and beyond. 

Astronaut Kathy Sullivan Reaches the Deepest Point in the Ocean

 The earth's oceans cover 70 percent of the planet's surface, so it's no surprise they end up a receptacle for all kinds of things that move on the soil. Controversy — for example, the oceans' status as a temperature sink — has made research into ocean currents and temperature a primary battleground for debate over climate change.Drifters In the effort to better understand seawater temperatures and the movement of ocean currents, the oceans have also become home to some 3,000 floating measurement devices, called "drifters." These myriad devices, designed by different researchers with differing objectives, all conform to one standard: the Argo standard. Even as Argo expands ever further into the ocean depths, new systems are coming into place, along with new controversies. The Argo system itself helped fuel a significant climate science controversy over the past two decades: the so-called global warming "hiatus," in which the rise of ocean temperatures appeared to slow dramatically. It was, University of California, Berkeley researchers now say, the result of moving from inferior shipboard measurement systems, to autonomous systems like the so-called drifters, which measure the water's temperature before it has been heated by proximity to a ship's engine.Cables In 2016, researchers brought online the most ambitious effort yet to track and understand ocean water temperatures and the patterns to its currents: The U.S. Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), spanning the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans, joined to three similar Canadian facilities in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Its centerpiece is a Pacific research installation called the "Cabled Array," a 900-km-long cable connecting a base in Oregon with seven submarine nodes. The Cabled Array's equipment measures seismological activity, ocean currents and chemistry, especially around hydrothermal vents, where superheated, mineral-laden water emerges from the sea floor. These vents support very unusual forms of life, which are not found in any other habitat, and their data is part of the fire hose of information the OOI will funnel to researchers. That's proven controversial, and not just because of the debate over climate change research. OOI's seven observatories cost $385 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars to make, and the data they produce will be shared openly with researchers from around the world. That's made adoption by the scientific community tricky, as some worry they'll work on a discovery, only to find themselves beaten to the punch by a competing research team. One proposed lure to researchers was to put equipment on Axial Seamount, an undersea volcano about 480 km west of Oregon that is poised to erupt. It's a rare opportunity to view an underwater eruption live. "There is nothing like a firework display to attract a crowd," as the Economist noted dryly in 2015. OOI's live data streams came online last June, and extensions are already underway, connecting the network of tethered and floating measurement devices to new nodes in the Gulf of Alaska and on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf. Even as that's happening, new methods of tracking the movement and temperature of ocean waters are emerging high above the surface of the water. Robert Tyler and Terence Sabaka outlined a project to the American Geophysical Union's meeting in December 2016, in San Francisco: follow the minute changes in the Earth's magnetic field generated by the movement of ocean water.Satellites NASA's Aqua, designed and built by Northrop Grumman, is a satellite that tracks ocean currents and temperature from high up above. Recently, Aqua captured images of a phytoplankton bloom that made Jersey Shore waters temporarily look like the Caribbean. Another satellite-based effort is measuring the movement of ocean surface currents using satellite images of the sun's glittering reflection on the water. That could prove more accurate and useful for mariners and maritime construction companies that rely on wave predictions to work safely — but also add another valuable real-time stream of information into climate researchers' efforts to understand the oceans.Drones Other researchers are doing the same thing using drones, taking instruments typically found aboard research vessels, aircraft and marine robots, and redesigning them to fit a drone's limited payload. Oceanographer Christopher Zappa is one of them: His fleet of research drones flies low over Arctic ice, ranging wide to measure sea ice topography and movement. Drones are a lot cheaper to operate than research vessels or massive cabled-together systems, but as the latest wave of controversy crashes over climate research, it remains to be seen if they'll be able to rise above the stormy seas.

New Tech Rises Above Ocean Currents and Controversy

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

20-Year Mission — History of the ISS

In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving is commonly referred to as Black Friday — so called because the money shoppers spend tips retailers from "the red" into "the black," according to Oxford. On this day, millions of crazed shoppers pack tightly into stores, trying to amass bargains. On Nov. 24, 2014, NASA decided to give the day another meaning: Black Hole Friday. On this day each year, NASA features gorgeous illustrations and details about one of the most cosmically cool space discoveries in the known universe. As a follow-up to Black Hole Friday, these facts about black holes are sure to take your mind off the holiday madness.   Black Holes May Connect to Other Universes   Black holes are celestial objects with gravity so immense no object can escape. It's been said that to fall into a black hole is to never return. But according to an announcement in 2016 from the famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, falling into a black hole may not be all that bad. In a research paper he published with other colleagues, Hawking asserted that a black hole could be a tunnel between two universes, said Independent.   The Milky Way May Have Thousands of Them   In 1974, scientists discovered a huge, highly energetic structure at the center of the Milky Way that was emitting radio waves. It was a black hole. They named it Sagittarius A* (pronounced "Sagittarius A-star"), according to the Cornell University Library. For years, people thought Sagittarius A* was the only black hole at the center of our galaxy. But in May 2018, scientists analyzing data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory — a satellite designed to detect X-ray emissions from exploded stars, clusters of galaxies and black holes — announced that they found evidence for the existence of thousands of black holes at the center of the Milky Way. More work is needed to confirm this, but one thing is for sure: Sagittarius A* is not alone.   There Are Four Categories   Not all black holes are created equal. Scientists tend to classify black holes into four categories: micro, stellar, intermediate and supermassive, said Earth Eclipse. Although they vary in size, they are all very dense. Miniature black holes, which are still theoretical, may be as small as an atom but have the mass of a mountain. Stellar black holes, the most common in the universe, have the mass of 10 to 20 of our suns. Intermediate black holes are about the size of Earth and have the mass equivalent to something between 100 and a million suns. Supermassive black holes, which likely exist at the center of most galaxies, are "millions, if not billions, of times as massive as the Sun," said NASA.   Black Holes Have a Big Appetite   One of the most fascinating space discoveries about black holes is that they are voracious eaters. Their incredible mass and intense gravity draw nearby cosmic gases and structures toward them, sparing nothing. In September 2018, scientists reported that they had calculated the speed at which one black hole, located billions of miles from Earth, was eating a glob of material about the size of our planet; it came out to one-third the speed of light, according to Science Trends.   An Image Capture May Be Available Soon   Thanks to a variety of astronomical satellites and instruments launched into space, scientists have created wonderful images of our solar system's planets, distant stars, galaxies and other objects from this home we call our universe. But one character is missing: Sagittarius A*, the largest black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Enter the Event Horizon Telescope, a planetary array of multiple earthbound telescopes and instruments working together to directly image Sagittarius A* to gather more facts about black holes. The telescope is named after a feature on a black hole known as the event horizon, a boundary around the edge of a black hole beyond which no light or other radiation can escape. The team hopes to have the first image soon.       

5 Uncommon Facts About Black Holes

NASA is officially in the search for UFOs. In June, the government organization announced that it would provide scientific context to the Pentagon's ongoing UFO investigations.It's a controversial field, to say the least. Last year, the Director of National Intelligence issued a UFO report on 140+ unexplained object sightings. But NASA is clear that they do not believe these UFOs are of alien origin, so why are they launching this investigation? Here's the deal behind what's happening.NASA Hasn't Always Thought Fondly of Searching for UFOsNASA has a long history with UFOs. The term dates back to the 1950s — even the very first astronauts reported seeing unidentified objects during their flights. Apollo 16 astronauts captured a UFO in footage, and it remained a decades-long mystery. But in 2004, NASA determined that the object in question was actually a floodlight attached to the spacecraft.One of NASA's core missions is to explore the unknown, and the agency has sent out multiple spacecraft to explicitly search for signs of present and past alien life. The Voyager spacecraft even harbored messages for alien civilizations. But NASA has always declined to engage with the conversation around UFOs.Now, that's changed. NASA is assembling a team to study "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAPs) headed by David Spergel, a respected astrophysicist. They'll be building on the work of other governmental agencies, such as the Pentagon, but NASA is working on this project independently.Other Agencies Have Already Begun Studying UFOsNASA certainly isn't the first official organization to commission a study on UFOs. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, located within the Pentagon, released a UFO report in 2021. That report makes clear that 143 of 144 UAP sightings are unexplained. This report was followed by a congressional hearing on UFOs in May 2022.But the study of UFOs within the U.S. government goes back much further than this. While NASA is only entering the fray now, Project Blue Book was a secret investigation by the U.S. Air Force into UAPs that took place from 1947 to 1969 (that supposedly included information on the Roswell incident of 1947). The report was later declassified, and of a total of 12,618 UAP sightings during the investigation period, 701 still do not have explanations.Research on UAPs, especially within the military, continues to the present day. In 2020, the Department of Defense established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), which is located within the Department of the Navy. The chief interest of UAPTF is cataloging unidentified objects and determining whether they might pose a threat to national security. This has been the primary driver of virtually all search for UFOs within the US government — until now.NASA Brings a Scientific Perspective to the Search for UFOsNASA has made one thing clear: The organization does not believe that UAPs are of extraterrestrial origin. But that doesn't mean that they aren't worth studying, which is why the agency is building this team. The aim here is to gather as much data as possible on these phenomena in order to improve UAP observations going forward."Given the paucity of observations, our first task is simply to gather the most robust set of data that we can," said David Spergel, the committee president, in a NASA release. "We will be identifying what data — from civilians, government, non-profits, companies — exists, what else we should try to collect, and how to best analyze it."The results of this study will be available to the general public, unlike the Pentagon's research. Anyone will be able to see what NASA finds in its search for UFOs.Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

NASA Is Joining the Search for UFOs - But Not Because They Believe Aliens are the Cause

A planet is nearly disappearing before our eyes. Its atmosphere is so hot from its nearby sun that it is gradually being blown off into the depths of space. And the evaporating exoplanet, which NASA identified as GJ 3470b, is not alone in facing a catastrophic future. Another slowly disappearing planet, GJ 436b, is also losing its atmosphere to space, though at a more gradual rate. Yet another world is facing an even more spectacular and catastrophic fate. The evaporating exoplanets may leave behind rocky cinders of themselves, still orbiting their parent stars. But WASP-12b, according to Sky &Telescope, appears doomed to total disintegration when it spirals into its parent star in a cosmically brief 3 million years. Two planets have already disappeared: The University of California at Santa Cruz reported that a double star system called BD +20 307, located some 300 light-years from Earth, contains large quantities of heated dust — the likely result of a recent collision of exoplanets. Planets, Planets, Everywhere One disappearing planet might be a cosmic fluke. Nearly half a dozen disappearing planets suggests a trend — perhaps an alarming one. The good news is that these results are a sign that there are a lot of planets out there. Northrop Grumman's Robert Lockwood, project manager of TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite said, "The single most important thing to understand about exoplanets is that they are everywhere. The number and variety of planets is far beyond anything we expected to see." The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia expanded upon this: there are 4,150 confirmed planets beyond our solar system, orbiting in 3,083 planetary systems, 675 of which are known to have more than one planet. With so many planets being observed, it is still amazing — but not surprising — that some are headed for a spectacular end. Shadow Dances Perhaps the only thing more remarkable than discovering so many planets is that we have done it without ever actually seeing them. (Sometimes, in astronomy, discovery is all about the things you can't see.) As Lockwood explains, at our current level of technology, astronomers rely on indirect effects to detect planets beyond the solar system. The most common detection method, used by TESS, detects the slight dimming of distant stars as their planets pass in front of them. This is a bit like detecting a runner at night by noting the lights that momentarily blink out. Other detection methods are even more oblique. Finding Doomed Worlds Our methods of identifying doomed planets — or their aftermath — are equally oblique. As Sky & Telescope reported, the death spiral of WASP 12b was detected by timing its successive orbits. Its orbital period is gradually getting shorter. While still under investigation, the pattern strongly suggests orbital decay due to tidal forces. In the cases of the evaporating planets, said Futurity.org, astronomers began by noticing an odd and suspicious pattern. Our current methods of detecting planets work best for planets orbiting close to their parent stars, so we have detected a large number of "hot" planets. But both giant "hot Jupiters" and small "hot Earths" seem to be more common than intermediate sized "hot Neptunes." Since large planets are believed to be composed of mostly gaseous or volatile materials, while small ones are rocky (and therefore much more heat-resistant), one prevailing theory is that hot planets, close to their parent stars, are subject to losing their atmospheres. The idea is that Jupiter-sized hot giants are big enough to retain their atmospheres for billions of years, but smaller, Neptune-sized worlds may have their atmospheres largely eroded. And measurements show excess amounts of gas surrounding stars with "hot" exoplanets — confirming that the star is eroding away at the planet's atmosphere, making it a disappearing planet. Similar traces of stellar litter, for example, according to Science Alert, excess dust around BD +20 307 provided the telltale sign that something produced an enormous amount of dust in the recent past, an exoplanet collision being the most likely culprit. Starting next year, when NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is launched into orbit and begins observations, exoplanet investigators will be able to observe exoplanets more directly — including those planets disappearing before our eyes.

The Case of the Disappearing Planet

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

Rocketing to 300 km above sea level is a pretty great way to get noticed — but for Dr. Sally Ride, having the spotlight was never the goal. Even while actively making history as an astronaut and scientist, Ride continually eschewed efforts angling to praise her above others. In doing so, she redirected the spotlight to something she believed was far more deserving of everyone's attention: gender equity in the sciences. "Just One of the Guys" From the time her star rose as the first American woman in space to her retirement from NASA in 1987, Ride insisted on being treated as "just one of the guys," The Guardian reports. As many astronauts do, within a few years of joining the astronaut core, Dr. Ride became an expert in new areas, including flying jets, parachuting and, in her case, a new field: engineering for the shuttle's robotic arm. This last skill led shuttle commander Bob Crippen to choose Ride to join the June 1983 shuttle launch, according to UC San Diego. To Ride, it didn't make a difference that she had specialized to earn her place, or that she was one of only five women singled out from an applicant pool of 8,000 — or even that she was going to attempt the first deployment and retrieval of a satellite using the robotic arm pallet. On the eve of her much-anticipated 1983 flight on the Challenger Shuttle, she insisted that there was "nothing different" about her flight. Reimagining Leadership In an age when a woman with a PhD in physics was one in a million, Dr. Ride maintained that what she had done and what she was about to do was business as usual. Her insistence that no crew member should be treated differently from any other was publicly perceptible, according to the Guardian. On the occasion of her historic flight into orbit on the Space Shuttle, Ride declined the flowers that were offered to only her rather than to the entire crew of the Challenger. Dr. Ride's second flight was remarkable as well — not only for having the largest shuttle crew that had ever flown (seven members strong) but also for featuring the first female shuttle commander, Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan, whose spacewalk was also a first by a female-identifying person. Ride's third flight was unfortunately marked by tragedy. As the Guardian notes, when the Challenger exploded shortly after launch in January 1986, Dr. Ride's astronaut role was reassigned. She became a presidential commission investigator into the accident that killed her colleagues, classmates and friends. Dr. Ride took this opportunity to highlight what she felt was important in her August 1987 report to the NASA administration. "Leadership cannot simply be proclaimed — it must be earned," she wrote. Ride then retired from NASA and did just that: earned her way into the leadership of the next generation of space explorers. Spreading a Passion for STEM Dr. Ride spent the next 25 years bringing space down to Earth. To help make space a key topic in science education, Ride authored seven space science books geared toward school-aged children. To help rectify the gender gap in STEM fields, she started Sally Ride Science. To this day, students entering third through 12th grade can enroll in STEM workshops through the Sally Ride Science Junior Academy. Dr. Ride made it possible for children to control satellites. Borrowing the idea from JPL's KidSat, which had flown on shuttle missions, Ride directed the installation of EarthKAM aboard the International Space Station, NASA notes. EarthKAM continues to take and transmit student-requested images. Similarly, GRAIL MoonKAM allows middle-school students to request that specific photographs of the Moon's surface be taken by the lunar-orbiting GRAIL satellites "Ebb" and "Flow."  In addition to providing numerous educational resources, Sally Ride Science (SRS) hosts leadership events for female-identifying people to share ideas and create opportunities. The annual meeting is organized by Ride's longtime partner, Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy. Leaving Her Mark Since her passing in 2012, Dr. Ride's image has been shared in special ways to commemorate her achievements. Not only has her visage graced a postage stamp, but soon, it will also appear on a special edition of the U.S. quarter, according to SRS. Signs of Dr. Ride's legacy are also apparent in modern social movements that promote authenticity, equality and rights of personhood. The LGBTQ community has a hero in Dr. Ride, whose partner carries on her work. As Dr. O'Shaughnessy explains in a Space.com article, Dr. Ride was someone who lived a life consistent with her personal and professional values, leaving behind a legacy of being openly available as a means to promote inclusivity in the space community. Dr. Sally K. Ride was so much more than the first American woman in space. At 32, she was the youngest American ever to travel to space. Even so, she exuded the genuine humility of someone more interested in what we as a species can do. In keeping with views about leadership and empowering potential, Dr. Ride made space accessible — literally, in the case of Ride EarthKAM and GRAIL MoonKAM — to children all over the world. Through teaching, advocacy and her work as an astronaut, Dr. Ride raised the bar and shattered the glass ceiling while lowering barriers to entry for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She created the space in which greatness for people of every gender and orientation becomes more achievable. She reminds us that brilliance is a universal trait — one that she mirrored back to a world full of people she believed to be equally capable, equally important and equally poised to rise to great heights. 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.

Ride of a Lifetime: Sally Ride's Adventure Into Space, Science and Advocacy

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

Astronauts not only have the privilege of exploring space, but they look cool doing it. Anyone who has dreamed of leaving Earth has visualized slipping on an astronaut's standard gear of pure white spacesuit, reflective helmet and black boots. But space travel is about more than looking good. It's also about surviving against all odds and successfully completing the mission. That's why astronaut gear is designed to be practical and tough, giving space travelers comfort and a sense of security. It's also why aerospace textiles in general are durable and flexible. These materials shape essential components that can't wither when exposed to the extreme conditions of space travel. They're the backbone of everything from spacesuits and inflatable habitats to antennas and rovers. Just as aerospace technologies constantly evolve, materials for space also keep taking new forms so that astronauts can achieve their goals with ease and confidence. Designing for Comfort and Safety NASA fully recognized the dangers of space travel in 1967 when the three-member crew of Apollo 1 — the first piloted mission of the Apollo program — died in a fire during a launch pad test. The tragedy led to many significant changes to NASA spacecraft and the attire of astronauts, including the introduction of PBI textiles. Non-flammable and stable at high temperatures, PBI found its way into astronaut flight suits, webbing, tethers and other space gear. Success in the stars led earth-bound agencies such as fire departments and the U.S. military to use PBI in gear. Decades later, fire safety is still paramount. With the interior atmosphere of the International Space Station (ISS) closely mirroring Earth, the fibers of astronaut clothing have to char during a fire, instead of melting and dripping into human skin. But NASA also had a problem with cotton — the material most used for astronaut clothing in the past. Cotton lint interfered with the onboard air filters of the ISS, so yarns made of multifilament fibers are now preferred. As NASA itself highlights, textiles are the oldest engineering material and are a source of unique properties that are conducive to space travel: light in weight, flexible and a high strength-to-weight ratio. The best features of textiles can also mesh to create composite structures. NASA, for instance, has a patent on carbon fiber reinforced phenolic composites that offer optimal thermal protection from the high heat of re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Textiles make missions easier inside and outside the spacecraft. For extravehicular activity — "EVA" in NASA parlance — textiles are behind thermal insulation blankets, inflatable structures and tools such as restraints and tethers. Inside the ship, textiles make up bag and storage containers, a sleep station's cushion and cover, a harness for an exercise treadmill and, of course, clothing. Space Is a Booming Textile Market With several government agencies and private companies racing to again explore the moon, visit Mars for the first time and travel farther into deep space, the market for aerospace textiles is larger than ever, leading to more experiments and more creations. For example, space industry customers of Composite Fabrics of America (CFA) have increased orders for the company's carbon fiber textiles. "Carbon fiber is very strong and durable. It starts as a textile, but when it's encapsulated in a resin and cured, it holds a shape, yet it is very lightweight. That makes it an excellent solution for aerospace use," CFA's executive director of sales told the non-profit Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). Because missions vary, Clark Co., a developer of space suits since NASA's Gemini program, takes different approaches to the design of materials for space. To keep costs low, it takes advantage of CAD modeling and uses prototyping before manufacturing. "Inside the suit, you are essentially in your own personal spacecraft," a company design manager explained to IFAI. "It needs to be airtight yet selectively permeable to allow water vapor to escapeâ€¦We use low-elongation fabrics that will hold their shape while allowing people to move. You have to design the suit from the inside and understand what the user is feeling. If the suit isn't optimally sized or is designed improperly, it can be pretty painful when it is pressurized." Mars Needs Origami and Metals Because of the flexibility, durability and adaptability of textiles, all sorts of applications are possible in space. And as seen with Clark Co., it helps that modern technology allows textile designers to be creative before spending large sums of money on manufacturing. For instance, a collaboration between research organizations and a textile studio — known as MoonMars — is integrating origami structures and digital weaving to create inflatable human habitats and research stations on the moon and Mars. "Origami structures made of textiles can be unfolded into a myriad of different shapes," the head of MoonMars said. "They are lightweight. They can be easily deployed and re-used in different configurations and sizes for flexible spatial usage." NASA, meanwhile, invented technology that uses 3D weaving techniques to create textiles that have a specific use in space, increasing the chances the materials will thrive because they are specific to a mission. But a focus on specificity hasn't stopped NASA from thinking outside the box. A NASA systems engineer whose mother was a fashion designer is creating woven metal fabrics to potentially be used for large antennas, meteorite shields and other uses in space. Think about it, the catwalk is influencing a spacewalk.

Space Travel Calls for Flexible and Protective Aerospace Textiles

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 James Webb Space Telescope (often referred to as Webb) is the world's largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever built. And guess what? It detected what is believed to be a new supernova about 3 to 4 billion light-years away during its first week of operation.
This is a big deal because Webb wasn't specifically designed to search for new supernovae — and they are really hard to detect. But the telescope looked in the exact right direction at precisely the right time. Let's break down the discovery by starting with the basics.
What Is a Supernova?
The "super" half of the name is obvious — it is really big and impressive — and the nova half means "new." From our perspective on Earth, a new supernova looks like a sudden, short-lived brightening so intense that it looks like a new star being created.
But the supernova doesn't happen during the birth of a star. No, just the opposite. A supernova represents a star's self-detonation near the end of its evolution. It can be either the final moments of a massive star's life as it runs out of fuel — the explosion of a dying star — or the result of a star accumulating matter from a nearby neighbor until a runaway nuclear reaction ignites.
A supernova occurs when a massive star explodes and collapses into either a neutron star or a black hole. As the star runs out of fuel, the pressure drops and gravity causes the star to collapse inward. The outer layers then rebound during the collapse and explode violently. This explosion releases huge amounts of debris and particles.
Supernovae are one of the brightest events in the entire cosmos. At its peak brightness, a supernova can be as luminous as an entire galaxy. But new supernovae are relatively rare events, occurring on average about once every 50 years in the Milky Way.
How Do Astronomers Find Supernovae?
Normally, astronomers find new supernovae by using a telescope that makes surveys by searching large swaths of sky. But people have been finding them since at least 185 A.D., the oldest appearance of a supernova recorded by mankind.
In the year 1054, before telescopes, Chinese astronomers recorded a supernova in the Crab Nebula that was so bright they could even see it in the daytime. Scientists are still studying it today. Another supernova, Kepler's Supernova, was discovered in 1604. Kepler's Supernova is the most recent supernova to be discovered in our Milky Way galaxy, and it was observed with the naked eye.
Since the development of the telescope in 1608, the field of supernova discovery has expanded. In 1933, a team from Caltech used a 45-cm telescope at Palomar Observatory to discover 12 new supernovae within three years. They did this by comparing new photographic plates to reference images of extragalactic regions.
Using the comparison technique, the Earth-based telescopes that usually look for supernovae take images of the same wide areas of the sky every few nights. Data-processing software compares every new image with previous images of the same area, looking for anything that might have changed. By the 1960s, astronomers began using computer-controlled searches to discover even more supernovae, and by the 1990s, several automated programs searched the skies for supernovae. Even amateur astronomers have used the comparison technique to discover new supernovae.
In more recent years, supernovae have been detected by looking for neutrino emissions, and the remnants of supernovae could be found by looking for gamma rays from the decay of titanium-44. On May 21, 2008, astronomers were able to catch a supernova on camera for the first time just as it was exploding. They were looking at a galaxy 88 million light-years from Earth when they noticed a burst of X-rays by chance.
A variety of telescopes were aimed in that direction just in time to capture it.
Webb's Infrared Camera
The Webb telescope was built to look very closely into deep, small areas of the universe to find details from an area as small as a grain of sand — not to scan the skies for new supernovae. Astronomers planned to use Webb to look at light from the earliest stars and galaxies that formed in the universe in the short hundred million years after the Big Bang. That's why finding a supernova right away was such a surprise. Astronomers were extraordinarily lucky to happen upon a supernova at the perfect moment in time as it exploded.
Webb's primary imager uses a Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) that was designed to focus with unprecedented resolution on the near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelength range of 0.6 to 5 microns, which is outside the visible range. These wavelengths are important for peering through gas and dust to see distant objects that would otherwise be hidden.
Unlike the short, tight wavelengths of visible light, longer wavelengths of infrared light penetrate the dense molecular clouds of dust that block most of the visible light. Because of this, the dust is transparent in these infrared wavelengths, meaning stars and planets going through the process of formation will come into clear view with Webb.
The Latest Find
Just a few days after the start of its science operations, Webb's NIRCam instrument spotted an unexpected bright object, which dimmed over a five-day period. This is classic supernova behavior and suggests that it could have been a supernova caught by sheer luck. The object was discovered in a galaxy that's between 3 and 4 billion light-years away from Earth, which means that astronomers are seeing an explosion that happened over 3 billion years ago.
The Webb team used software to compare the new observations with images of the same galaxy taken from the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011 to show that this bright object was indeed new. Scientists are careful and want to be extra sure before they confirm that what Webb saw really was a supernova, so they'll continue to collect time series data.
What Else Can the James Webb Space Telescope Do?
Since astronomers were able to detect such a special event in the first week of operations, does this mean Webb could spot supernovae regularly? Each of Webb's deep field images includes hundreds of galaxies representing hundreds of opportunities to spot a supernova. Additionally, Webb's deep view could make the aftermath of a supernova easier to track. Astronomers could watch how light from the supernova dims over time or measure its spectra to reveal what chemical elements made up the parent star that exploded.
Webb was designed to see the earliest galaxies that formed in the universe in the first 100 million years after the Big Bang. Just imagine what scientists could learn if Webb was able to capture the death throes of one of the universe's first generations of giant stars. Those early stars — made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium — would have been massive, about 200 to 300 times the mass of our sun. They would have burned hot and fast and exploded into enormous supernova.
As Webb continues its investigations of the early universe, it's sure to rewrite all the textbooks and fundamentally change our understanding of the universe.
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.

Surprise! The James Webb Space Telescope Detects a New Supernova

Following the recent landing of NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover, one group of engineers reflected on how their innovative work with deployables led to the discovery of water on Mars.
In 2000, a small team of engineers and technicians at Astro Aerospace in Carpinteria, California (now owned by Northrop Grumman) were presented with a particularly vexing challenge: to develop a 40-meter long antenna powerful enough to survey beneath the surface of Mars, and able to fit on the Mars Express, a space exploration mission proposed by the European Space Agency (ESA).
At the time, the team had little idea that their innovative antenna would eventually support the discovery of liquid water on Mars.
Pioneering a New Concept
The team had the opportunity to be creative in coming up with a design for the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) antenna.
"It was a very 'soft' program," said Geoff Marks, who was lead technologist for MARSIS. "Our customer provided with the required thickness and length of the radar antenna, then asked to come up with an idea for how to fit it in the spacecraft, then deploy it in space."
The antenna had to be built for a low frequency radar, so it had to be very long once fully deployed in orbit. But it needed to stow to about 1.5 meters in length while in transit and be able to fit on the side of a spacecraft the size of a subcompact car.
Fortunately, the team had some tricks in their deployables toolbox. Since 1958, their company, Astro Aerospace, had been pioneering the technology of space-deployable structures — devices that can be dramatically reconfigured once in space.
For the MARSIS mission, the team designed a lightweight deployable dipole antenna: two 20-meter booms or poles, which would collect information by sending radar pulses to Mars' surface and receive pulses in return. A third, shorter boom would eliminate interference between real signals and possible scatter, like a really large set of rabbit ears for your television set.
The most innovative aspect of the design was a new concept imagined by Marks, called foldable-flattenable-tube (FFT) booms, which enabled the antennas to stow. FFT booms could support the full length of the antenna's electrical elements and, like the cardboard tubing inside paper towel rolls, were long, light, thin-walled and — with some tricky engineering — able to fold.
Taking MARSIS from Concept to Reality
In just a few short years, the first-of-its-kind deployable antenna was developed by Astro Aerospace's group of passionate problem solvers with backgrounds spanning from bicycle mechanics to doctorates in physics.
"The technicians and the engineers both brought different sides of the equation to execute the hardware," said Michael Beers, who was the structural engineer for MARSIS. "You need a diversity of skills and backgrounds to bring a product from concept to execution."
The team took advantage of computer simulation tools to successfully test components of MARSIS, an important step since Earth's gravity makes it physically difficult to test fully constructed deployable space hardware, according to Bob Chang, senior principal representative in business development.
"On Earth, the antenna doesn't pop straight out like it does in space, so these mock demonstrations are key to building our confidence in the success of the mission," said Bob.
A Cool and Wild Ride
In 2004, a year after arriving at Mars, the MARSIS antenna was deployed — and the MARSIS team had redeployed to new projects, from addressing challenges in satellite-based telecommunications to working on products studying the effects of climate change.
Still, Marks said it wasn't difficult to keep up with the Mars Express, as its findings were published in numerous scientific journals — including the exciting discovery of a subglacial lake of liquid saltwater trapped under Mars' southern ice cap. One of the antenna's most groundbreaking findings, this upended the previous belief that water only existed on Mars in solid or gas form. Later research found three additional bodies of water.
"We knew MARSIS was for deep surface penetration, but didn't know what we'd find with it," Marks said. "It's pretty cool and a wild ride that MARSIS found liquid water on Mars, which may pave the way for human exploration or even lead to the discovery of life on the red planet."
Today, NASA's quest to explore the mysteries of Mars continues with the Perseverance Rover, which landed on Mars on Feb. 18. For one Mars year — about 687 Earth days — the Rover will collect information to further our understanding of Mars.
While new discoveries on Mars are often several years — or, in the case of the MARSIS antenna, over a decade — in the making, that never deters forward-looking engineers and scientists. After all, each team builds on the hard work of their predecessors, confident that their work today will pave the way for those who follow.
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 Art of the Deployable: Reflecting on the Innovative Antenna Which Led to the Discovery of Water on Mars

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

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

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

Not so long ago, pursuing hygiene to preserve health was a revolutionary idea. In the late 1800's, public health hero Florence Nightingale observed that under difficult circumstances, hard-working people sometimes "lose the feeling of what it is to be clean." To prevent and cure illness, she helped her patients maintain personal and environmental sanitation. Nowadays, we continue to strive to maintain hygiene for the sake of health and several other reasons — both here on Earth, and in space.  But keeping clean enough to stay healthy is often easier said than done. Hygiene in space, where water never falls from the sky or flows into the palm of your hand, is especially challenging. At the same time, it is critical to both astronaut and mission health. On the International Space Station (ISS), 2-3 hours of daily exercise is mandatory, and like Earth-based exercise, it can generate a lot of sweat. A single skin infection can stop a spacewalk, delaying repairs and costing millions, so practicing good hygiene is a must to protect the crew. However, soap bubbles made in microgravity can sail merrily away, affixing themselves to instrument panels, sensitive electronics and other random surfaces, causing their own problems. In a place where right-side-up is relative, and even the smallest health issue can jeopardize a mission, what is the right way to keep clean? And can any of the solutions scientists developed help us here on Earth? Spacebound Hand Hygiene The right hygiene in space stuff turns out to be a bit like camping, a bit like being on a submarine and a lot like throwing your used clothes and dirty dishes out the window. For the moment, let's focus on the camping part. During long treks, hygiene consists largely of hand-washing, dish-cleaning and removing visible dirt and sweat with wet rags. Hand-washing is especially important on the trail. Hikers may not have packed along their colds and flus, but they surely brought their GI tracts. And wherever your guts go, so do billions of bacteria capable of causing disease in the person who brought them — as well as fellow campers. Poor hand hygiene has been shown to be responsible for half or more of illnesses among long-distance hikers on the trail. To prevent similar outbreaks on the ISS, astronauts grab a pouch of "No-Rinse Body Bath." Basically, it's powdered soap, waiting to be reconstituted. Add a bit of hot and cold water from the taps in the walls, shake to mix, then squeeze yourself one ball of ready-to-use soap. Grab it before it can land on the power converters, rub it over your hands, and dry on a nearby towel. (You did bring your towel, right?) How Do Astronauts Shower in Space? No-Rinse Body Bath can be employed to clean the whole body, though space programs have tried other full-body hygiene solutions. In the 1970s, the Skylab space station featured a shower that accordioned open, brought in water at one end with hoses and drew it out the other with a vacuum system. For this to work, the user had to strap their feet to one end. While the idea of strapping in for a shower after a 3-hour daily workout may sound appealing, there's just one problem: Water is sticky. On Earth, water routinely sticks to our foreheads, faces and armpits. We casually wipe it away or let it drip to the floor. In microgravity, wiping water off your nose with your hand means that you now have water on your hand. It will stay there to some significant degree until you wipe it on something else. That is, assuming that you can wipe it off. Globs of water have been known to collect in front of the eyes, noses and mouths of astronauts performing spacewalks, cutting off their ability to see, speak and breathe. Thus, a shower — or in the case of Skylab, a shower curtain — full of water can quickly become a microgravity clean-up disaster. Wiping every last bit of water off your body and the curtain before it migrates into someone's career-making laser experiment renders the prospect of a head-to-toe free-floating shower slightly less appealing. For that reason, as well as the simplicity and effectiveness of it, sponge-baths with No-Rinse or special wipes are the favored solution. These types of baths have been used by travelers for years and continue to be used by maritime travelers in ports with little access to freshwater, including submarines, where space is at such a premium that people of all genders use the same bathing area. Like submarines, space in space is at a premium. The resulting lack of privacy increases the desire to bathe quickly, quietly, in a spare moment in an unused sleeping area, rather than setting up a folding shower where your crewmates might come cruising by. Hair Care in Free Fall While astronauts can clean their bodies using the No-Rinse method, hair requires a bit of extra care. Modern space-based hair hygiene is less about showering and rinsing and more about squirting and rubbing. Rinseless shampoo, similar to what is used to wash the hair of hospital patients laying in their beds, helps to save water, time and damage to the vehicle. Trimming hair and beards without hurling razor cuttings into eyes and the air ducts means using suction: employing a vacuum while in a vacuum for the sake of health, hygiene and, yes, style. As international icons whose images circulate world-wide, astronauts need to maintain appearances. So, even though launching 1 kilogram into orbit can cost between $1,500-$35,000, we keep them clean — for their health and humanity's pride in maintaining a fleet of well-cared-for humans in space. Strap In Showering when you are accelerating toward the center of the Earth at the same rate as the water is a categorically different experience. How people experience space is starting to change. It has already changed. "How do astronauts shower in space?" is a question we are continuing to ask as we look forward to more and more citizen-astronaut crews, space tourists and orbiting hotels full of people who likely want to enjoy their once-in-a-lifetime vacations in olfactory peace. What hasn't changed is the need to maintain hygiene to maintain human health. Right now, on Earth, lack of consistent access to clean water results in more suffering and death than wars, insects and famine combined. The art and science of water conservation and water recycling that ISS crews have mastered over the last generation could save, without exaggeration, tens of millions of lives every year. While today's astronauts hurl used clothes and contaminated food wrappers toward the Earth to be burned on atmospheric re-entry, that, too, is changing. Tide is developing cleaning solutions for the ISS that needs little, if any, water. In a world and on a station where clean water, clean air, clean food and clean people are at a premium, developing and testing the long-term technology to limit water use to two gallons of water per day while maintaining health and happiness is revolutionary. While here on Earth we've mastered the basics of hygiene and may take it for granted, astronauts have to keep it constantly in mind. Practicing good hygiene in space is a necessary step for protecting the whole mission. 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.

Heavenly Hygiene: How Do Astronauts Shower In Space?

Since the year 2000, not all living humans have resided on Earth — the International Space Station, or ISS, has been continually occupied since then. At any given time, there are six to seven crew members aboard the ISS.   Supporting astronauts in orbit can be a real challenge, especially when it comes to space medicine. It's not like there's a hospital in orbit, and there certainly aren't doctors on every mission. What happens when an astronaut finds themselves getting sick in space? How does NASA manage the medical care of its astronauts?   How Are Astronauts Trained for Space-Based Medicine?   For the most part, NASA uses telemedicine to handle an astronaut's health and sickness. But astronauts also have to do their part. Before launch, as a routine part of training, astronauts learn about all the medical devices aboard the ISS. Because there's neither room nor bandwidth to keep a medical doctor in space at all times, crews will have a designated medical officer. That person undergoes 40 hours of paramedic-level training to ensure they're ready to deal with any emergencies that may come up.   Extended exposure to microgravity can have serious health consequences, especially once astronauts return to Earth. Alongside their mission training, astronauts undergo demanding physical training to ensure their bodies can endure the harsh conditions they'll face. In essence, they need to be built up enough to have room to deteriorate during long duration missions. Astronauts also perform rigorous fitness routines during their missions, spending around two hours a day exercising so they're healthy enough to handle anything that may come their way. By focusing on preventative care, NASA avoids many medical emergencies in space that could occur.   How Does NASA Monitor Astronauts' Health?   NASA keeps close track on astronauts' health on the ground, thanks to the flight surgeon. This specialist in aerospace medicine is assigned to each crew while they're still on the ground. They oversee their exercise regimen and medical training, and build trust with the astronauts that's crucial to managing their health when they're finally in flight.   Dealing with getting sick in space requires open, honest communication between the astronauts and flight surgeon. Each week, the astronauts have a private medical conference with the flight surgeon. This information is held in confidence unless it's something that could affect the mission. NASA also collects biometric data, results of ultrasounds and more to gain a full understanding of an astronaut's health during a mission.   Have There Ever Been Medical Emergencies in Space?   Of course, all of the preventative care in the world can't prevent every single medical emergency. Thankfully, there have been few true medical emergencies in space so far. But they have occurred on occasion.   A recent scare involved an astronaut who found a blood clot in their neck — called deep vein thrombosis. The identity of the astronaut and when, precisely, the incident occurred haven't been released to maintain medical privacy, but we do know they were two months into a six-month mission when it happened.   The clot was identified thanks to the routine ultrasounds the crew give each other to monitor health. There were no external symptoms. NASA had no procedure at the time for treating a blood clot in space.   A 2020 article in The New England Journal of Medicine dives into the issue. NASA brought in a blood clot expert to talk through options for treatment. The doctor prescribed a blood thinner, but there was a limited amount available on the ISS. They worked with the astronauts to determine how to ration the drug until more could be sent on a resupply mission. It worked — the astronaut didn't require any further treatment for the clot once they returned to Earth.   Astronaut healthcare is a huge concern, and will become even more important as missions get longer and further away from Earth. That's probably why one of the most recent astronaut candidates, Anil Menon, is a former NASA flight surgeon — having a doctor on a mission to Mars to care for the crew seems like a smart idea.   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. 

How Do Astronauts Handle Medical Emergencies in Space?

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

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

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

Asteroid Mining and the Gold Rush of the 21st Century

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

Minerals From Space Mining Could Power Exploration and Industry

The South Pacific is home to new islands that seemingly appear out of nothing. Volcanoes erupt below the ocean's surface, spewing hot lava that eventually cools down and hardens, becoming an island. As volcanic activity creates new land formations across the globe, scientists study these brand-new islands to learn how our planet was formed, as well as other planets and moons in the solar system. Land Appearing Out of Nowhere Most of the South Pacific's volcanic landforms wash away in a couple months, but a new island that formed in 2015 in the island nation of Tonga is lasting long enough for scientists to investigate. According to Space.com, the island, unofficially called Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, formed when an undersea volcano erupted in December 2014 through January 2015. Scientists kept an eye on the island before it even formed and used satellite imagery to watch it slowly rise out of the ocean. The newborn island comprises dramatic cliffs, a crater lake and new plant life. The land provides a peek into our planet's past, demonstrating in real time what it's like when new land develops. NASA scientists suggest that the island could be our best replica of ancient Mars. Jim Garvin, chief scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center explained, "We have an eruption on Earth with an accelerated erosion because it's in a marine environment, but on Mars, that environment may have been very ephemeral. By looking at these things in more detail, we can start to put time constraints on â€¦ the persistence of water, [which] is a holy grail on Mars." According to the National Park Service (NPS), the HawaiÊ»i Volcanoes National Park displays the results of at least 70 million years of volcanism, migration and evolution, and active volcanoes are still adding to the island of HawaiÊ»i. These changes can cause drama on Earth, where we're used to divvying up land. When volcanic eruptions create new land, who owns it? Vice reports Hawai'i is continuously expanding, with lava flows not only covering existing land but also spilling into the ocean creating new masses called lava extensions. This ever-changing landscape has caused disputes over ownership, but new land belongs to the state. How Scientists Study Volcanic Landforms Iceland's volcanoes hold hints about the chemical reactions that occur when lava interacts with ice, as scientists suspect it does on Jupiter's moon Europa. In an attempt to determine how planets and moons evolved, planetary scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center are studying the lava fields of Iceland's glacier-covered volcanoes, according to Phys.org. They're measuring temperatures, drilling through ice and using a technique called Raman spectroscopy to analyze the chemistry of the ice. The information they gather will help them understand Earth and beyond. There are volcanoes throughout the solar system. For example, the moon's dark patches indicate inactive volcanoes, and there are remnants of volcanoes on Mercury, Venus and Mars. "You can use Earth science to study volcanoes on this planet and then apply that knowledge to the Moon, Mars and other bodies," Patrick L. Whelley, a Goddard planetary geologist told Phys.org. "Plus, we don't have the luxury of watching volcanic eruptions up close anywhere besides Earth." Iceland is a good substitute for Mars because they are both covered in a volcanic rock called basalt. According to Phys.org, Iceland grew from continual volcanic eruptions in the last 15 to 20 million years. Geological Discoveries Beyond Earth Today's geological discoveries hint at our solar system's geological past. By figuring out the best techniques for analyzing volcanic landforms in the South Pacific islands and Iceland, scientists are also helping to develop methods that could be deployed on future space missions to dig into the origins of planets and moons throughout our solar system.

Volcanic Landforms Reveal Clues About Planetary Origins

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

Celebrating Women in Aerospace

In the direction of the springtime constellation Boé¶tes lies what may be the largest structural feature in the universe: an arc of galaxies extending some 3.3 billion light years. The possible structure, now simply called the Great Arc, is more than nine billion light years distant — millions of times farther than the visible stars of Boé¶tes, such as the bright red giant Arcturus. Astronomers are not yet sure whether the Great Arc is a true physical structure or a mere visual coincidence. But if it is real, the Great Arc is not simply colossal; it also poses a challenge to the Cosmological Principle, a basic conception of the universe that dates back to Albert Einstein. "Oh, Look at This" The (possible!) discovery of this vast and problematic assemblage of galaxies grew out of an ongoing project to map the distant regions of the universe. According to Science News, the mapping project uses light from thousands of very remote quasars — bright, compact galactic cores so far away that they appear in the telescope as starlike points of light. As the light from these quasars passes through space on its way to Earth, some of that light is absorbed by atoms in intermediate galaxies. Thus, we can determine their presence and composition even without directly imaging them. As British PhD candidate Alexia Lopez examined the data from the survey, she began to find hints of a pattern. As Livescience recounts, Lopez described it as "sort of a hint of a big arc." She showed the findings to her doctoral advisor. "Oh, look at this," she exclaimed. Her advisor, Roger Clowes, suggested running some statistical tests to determine whether the Great Arc is a true physical structure or a mere visual coincidence. Such visual effects are common, such as the constellation Boé¶tes itself, made up of unrelated stars that merely happen to form a distinctive pattern as seen from Earth. The statistical tests came back showing only a 0.0003 chance of the Great Arc being a mere coincidence. Too Big to Fit? If the Great Arc is real, it poses a major challenge to Einstein's Cosmological Principle, which has been a key concept in cosmology for a hundred years. In a nutshell, the Cosmological Principle holds that the universe, when examined on the largest scale, looks more or less the same no matter what direction you look in. Per Sci-News, the principle holds that the largest true structures in the universe should be no more than about 1.2 billion light years across — little more than a third the size of the Great Arc. Albert Einstein first introduced the Cosmological Principle in order to simplify mathematical calculations, but it has done so well at explaining the universe we observe that astronomers would be very reluctant to abandon it. In the interview with Livescience, cosmologist Daniel Pomaré¨de, co-discoverer of another anomalously large cosmic structure — the South Pole Wall, spoke of the key role the Cosmological Principle plays in our understanding of the universe. "It would be very bold to say that it will be replaced by something else," he said. According to Sci-News, astrophysicist Subir Sarkar noted that "our eye has a tendency to pick up patterns," wryly adding that some people have claimed to see Stephen Hawking's initials in the cosmic background radiation, the oldest light in the universe. Lopez agreed that the Great Arc poses a challenge. But evidence continues to grow for the existence of oversized cosmic structures such as the South Pole Wall and the Great Arc. In a Futurism article, Lopez also noted that if confirmed, her finding "would overturn cosmology as we know it." She added that "our standard model, not to put it too heavily, kind of falls through." And there — pending further research — the matter stands. A powerful theory, and a growing hint of contradicting facts: business as usual on the frontiers of cosmology. 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. 

An Arc of Galaxies Three Billion Light-Years Long May Challenge Cosmology

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?

It can be hard to imagine what happens to common molecules under the extreme conditions on other planets. For example, Earthlings know water as an essential ingredient for life that exists as a solid, liquid and gas. However, scientists examining how water behaves under different conditions have identified about 20 different types of ice. The most recent addition to this list is "superionic ice," which is thought to be the main form of ice on water-rich planets like Uranus and Neptune. A Solid and a Liquid Superionic ice is unique because the oxygen atoms lock into place like a solid, but the hydrogen atoms give up their electrons to become positively charged ions that flow through the oxygen lattice like a fluid. Because the water molecules break apart — unlike other known types of ice — some scientists consider it a new state of matter rather than a new phase of water. The existence of superionic ice was first proposed in 1988 based on theoretical calculations, as reported in Physical Review Letters. The highly unusual structure suggested that it could conduct electricity like a metal, with the swimming hydrogen ions playing the role usually assumed by electrons. The fluidity of the hydrogen ions would also allow this ice to absorb a lot of heat before melting. Therefore, it would remain a solid at temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun, which exist at the core of large planets.  Experimental Confirmation In 2019, scientists were finally able to create the extreme temperatures and pressures required to produce this type of ice in a laboratory and published the results in Nature. The technique involved blasting a water droplet with a high-pressure shock wave, raising the pressure to 100-400 gigapascals and the temperature to 2,000-3,000 Kelvin. For comparison, the center of the Earth has a pressure of 360 gigapascals, and the surface of the Sun has a temperature of 5,778 Kelvin. Superionic ice formed under these experimental conditions but only lasted for about 20 nanoseconds (20 billionths of a second). That was enough time to use X-ray diffraction to confirm the predicted structure of the oxygen lattice, and a few additional features. In November 2021, a different research group developed a more reliable method for producing this new form of ice, as Nature Physics reports. They squeezed a water droplet between two diamonds and then blasted it with powerful lasers to achieve temperatures and pressures similar to what exists at the center of the Earth. This method produced ice that lasted for microseconds (millionths of a second) instead of just nanoseconds (billionths of a second), allowing it to be studied in more detail. The most surprising finding was that superionic ice formed at much lower pressures than originally expected (20 gigapascals versus 50 gigapascals). Using these methods, scientists have also confirmed that superionic ice is stable up to 5,000 Kelvin, conducts electricity, is extremely dense, is dark because the swimming hydrogen ions block light from passing through, and returns to being liquid water when conditions are reversed. Additional experiments will test viscosity, chemical stability and how the ice behaves when it's mixed with salt and other molecules like methane and ammonia, which are known to exist on water-rich planets. Explaining the Mysteries of Uranus and Neptune This newly discovered ice forms under conditions similar to those found at the center of Neptune and Uranus, which are chemically very similar planets. These ice giants are now thought to have gaseous, mixed-chemical outer shells, a liquid layer of ionized water below and a solid layer of superionic ice comprising the bulk of their interiors and rocky centers. If this is true, superionic ice might be the most common form of water in our solar system. This planetary structure could explain the unusual features of the magnetic fields that surround Uranus and Neptune. The other planets in our solar system with strong magnetic fields have clearly defined north and south poles, like Earth. According to Quanta magazine, these strongly defined north and south poles are due to interior regions of conductive fluids that rise and swirl as the planet rotates. The magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune have more than two poles, and they don't align well with the planets' rotation. One possible explanation is that these planets might have large solid cores surrounded by a thin liquid layer responsible for generating these odd magnetic fields. However, the idea of a large solid core didn't seem realistic because of the huge amounts of water on these planets. Now, the characterization of superionic ice makes this a real possibility, as it can get extremely hot but remain a solid. Discovering this new material sheds light on just how much there is still to discover in space and here at home. 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.

Superionic Ice May Be the Most Common Form of Water in the Solar System

In space, no one can hear you sleep — but it's possible that alarms could one day wake astronauts on alien worlds hundreds or thousands of light years away. This is the promise and potential of suspended animation, sometimes called human hibernation or "cryosleep." While it's still (mostly) the stuff of science fiction, new advancements in snooze-related science could turn this into a tired-and-true method for space exploration.   So settle in, grab a pillow, and let's get started.   Getting Up to Speed   The best thing about the universe? It's huge. There's always something new to discover, from cotton candy planets to six-star solar systems and supermassive black holes.   The worst thing? It's massive. Consider the star nearest to us, Proxima Centauri. While it's just around the corner in galactic terms — a mere 4.25 light years away — do the math and you'll discover it's more than 40 trillion kilometers from Earth. According to NASA, the Voyager 1 spacecraft, now traveling at 17.3 km/s, would take more than 73,000 years to reach the Proxima Centauri system. At the speed of light, the journey would still take almost four and a half years.   For astronauts, this is daunting. A review in the Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin notes that, even with faster propulsion systems, there are a host of problematic physical and psychosocial effects associated with long-term space exploration that could negatively impact mission outcomes. But what if there was another way?   Suspended animation could be an alternative to traditional travel. Controlled reduction of humans' overall body temperature could effectively send space travelers into a state of hibernation, allowing for significantly reduced consumption of resources while simultaneously avoiding some of the negative effects of long-term cohabitation in cramped crew quarters.   The Science of Sleep   Both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have begun preliminary research into cryosleep solutions. But how exactly would this suspended snooze-fest work?   It all starts with torpor, a hypermetabolic state already seen in animals such as hummingbirds that significantly reduces their body temperature and, in turn, the amount of energy required to keep their bodies alive. While torpor bears similarities to true hibernation, including lowered body temperatures and slowed processes, torpor cycles typically require daily food foraging. Meanwhile, hibernation relies on increased resource consumption prior to deep sleep but is associated with much longer periods of reduced activity. Successful snooze-based solutions for astronauts are about splitting the difference.   "If we were able to reduce an astronaut's basic metabolic rate by 75% — similar to what we can observe in nature with large hibernating animals such as certain bears — we could end up with substantial mass and cost savings, making long-duration exploration missions more feasible," notes Dr. Jennifer Ngo-Anh, a research team leader for the ESA study. If humans could be put into a state of controlled torpor that reduced consumption needs without requiring the massive pre-feed to sustain hibernation, it could be our ticket to the stars.   The good news? This idea isn't just science fiction. Controlled hibernation has been used to help improve recovery after serious events, such as gunshot wounds, and reduce the risk of brain damage during surgery. In practice, this requires the slow decrease of internal body temperature. "Slow" is the operative word here. If cooling happens quickly, the human body registers the change as hypothermia and fights hard to get back to a baseline temperature states. Shivering is one of the most common methods to help achieve this equilibrium but causes skin and nerve damage — not exactly ideal for explorers. Controlled cooling that uses tools such as ice packs, IV solutions and water pads can to help encourage a more sustainable state of suspended animation.   Cold Comfort   The not-so-good news? Best efforts have managed to keep bodies cold for just three days before baseline instincts take over. This isn't enough for intrepid explorers; to make long-term space travel possible, astronauts would require low-temperature torpor that lasts for months or years without damaging their bodies.   This raises another critical point: getting old. While the term "suspended animation" sounds like a moment frozen in time, it can't avoid the aging process. This means that a suspended animation adventure to Proxima Centauri is probably out of the question at current speeds — while the 73,000 year-old crew would still be cold on arrival, it would have nothing to do with technology or torpor. They'd simply be long dead of old age.   There is a theoretical workaround here, but it's not ideal. It's called vitrification, and it requires the removal of all bodily fluids, which are replaced by antifreeze. Bodies are then frozen solid and thawed out upon arrival, with the antifreeze drained and replaced by blood and other necessary liquids. This would effectively stop the process of aging — and since antifreeze doesn't crystallize like common bodily fluids, astronauts could be reanimated without damage.   The downside? Death is required to start the process, and if something goes wrong during the wake-up cycle, the ship effectively becomes a cryo-coffin. So far, vitrification remains an operational outlier. While it's often touted as a way to live forever by pseudo-scientific cryostasis companies, they only have half the process down. They can kill you and fill your body with antifreeze, but the technology required for effective unfreezing doesn't exist, meaning you could be waiting a while (or forever) for your wake-up call.   Spaced Out   The biggest "waste" of space on exploratory craft? Crew quarters. From beds to toilets to food storage and enrichment activities, more astronaut accommodations mean more weight for the spacecraft and more time spent getting the ship up to speed.   According to New Atlas, new research around magnetic thrust drives offers some promise of a faster future, but the type of rocket technologies slated for use in upcoming missions depend on small, sustained thrust over time that eventually gets explorers where they're going. By putting crew members into a state of hibernation and reducing the footprint needed for quarters, it's possible to solve two exploratory problems with one cold stone. Lower weight means faster travel, and the crew (hopefully) won't be stir-crazy by the time they arrive.   This prospective change in capacity planning also has several knock-on effects for crew safety, specifically when it comes to interstellar radiation. One of the biggest challenges with galaxy-wide travel? No sun. Once astronauts are out beyond the heliosphere and into the true darkness of space, they lose any protective benefits conferred by our sun and are fully exposed to high-energy radiation. While material shielding on spacecraft can help to reduce the radioactive effects, long-term exposure is cumulative — which means the more time it takes for explorers to reach their destination, the greater the chance they'll be permanently harmed.   However, with collective cryosleep, the radiation risk could be more effectively managed. As an article in Life Sciences in Space Research suggests, hibernation states offer greater protection against damaging radiation. Also, by putting the crew in more tightly packed "pods" instead of typical crew quarters, it's possible to surround astronauts with naturally protective barriers — such as water containers, per the ESA — that could help to limit overall radiation exposure.   Wake Me Up (Before You Go-Go)   Crews in cryosleep also face the critical challenge of waking up. If ships reach the red planet, Proxima Centauri or other systems deeper into the galaxy but the crew can't get of bed, we've got a problem.   Even with better torpor-including technology, it may not be possible (or advisable) to keep crews in suspended animation for the entire trip. Instead, it's more likely that astronauts will need to be woken on regular schedules to ensure they're still healthy and address any issues that emerge on the spacecraft itself. If there's one thing that space faring films have taught humans as a species, it's that something inevitably goes wrong with the ship when humans are in cryosleep. Maybe it's an asteroid. Maybe it's a sudden systems failure. Or maybe it's a sneaky alien invasion. No matter the issue, no one wants to get stuck drifting millions of kilometers off course after a century or so in hibernation.   Trial Run   While we probably won't be jetting off to the Centauri systems anytime soon, ongoing advancements in suspended animation and spacecraft propulsion could possibly lead to a torpor trial run to a local destination, such as Mars or Jupiter's moon Europa. With trips measured in high months or low years rather than decades or centuries, handling potential problems becomes challenging rather than impossible.   As space agencies around the world gear up for the next phase of interstellar exploration, suspended animation might just be the wake-up call we need. 

Nap Quest: How Suspended Animation Could Fuel Space Exploration

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

Hollywood loves adventure, and most of all it loves a spectacle. So it is no surprise that space travel reached the big screen years before any actual rockets reached outer space. And for nearly as long as sci-fi films have been showing outer space, people have been arguing about realism — or lack of realism — in space travel movies. Countdown to Thrills An early win for realism in cinematic space travel, as Atlas Obscura recounts, was the 1929 Fritz Lang film "Frau im Mond," or "Woman in the Moon." The moon rocket in the film had multiple stages, each one dropping away in turn after providing its share of the enormous speed needed to reach the moon — just as the Saturn V did, three decades later. It also helped that rocketry pioneer Hermann Oberth served as technical advisor. "Frau im Mond" did not just predict realistic space travel — it even helped create it. To build up drama for the rocket launch, Lang introduced the countdown, counting backwards to the moment of launch. Real-life space launches have used countdowns ever since. Realism vs the Frontier Over the years, realism in sci-fi films has struggled against multiple challenges. When you are aiming for spectacle, budgets are always a concern. And on the frontiers of science and technology, even scientists can't be quite sure what is realistic versus what isn't. In the film "Interstellar," explorers reach a planet orbiting just above a black hole, a celestial object so massive that even light cannot escape it. Phil Plait of the highly regarded Bad Astronomy blog at Slate took the filmmakers to task for an impossible scenario. He had to graciously retract this particular criticism because, as it turns out, a spinning black hole would indeed allow for a nearby planet. On the speculative frontier, it seems, realism is a moving target. Hanging on for Dear Life Even more fundamentally, space travel movies (except documentaries) are first and foremost about telling a story, and doing so in a vivid and convincing way. Space scenes don't really need to be accurate, because space travel experts make up only a tiny fraction of the audience. But they need to look convincing. The storytelling challenges this can pose are reflected in "Gravity," a movie that received generally high marks for realism. The story involves an accidental space collision and its aftermath, set in Earth orbit and in the near future. Unlike in "Interstellar," the science and technology in "Gravity" are not highly speculative. Still, as the Washington Post reported, "Gravity" gets space travel both right and wrong. One challenge is the sheer speed of space travel: a speeding bullet is slow by space standards. A collision between spacecraft in different orbits would happen so fast that if you blinked, you would miss it — literally — which is far too fast for proper dramatic effect. Other scenes in the film bend the rules, so to speak. In principle, you could indeed use a space suit backpack rocket to go from one orbit to another; in practice, however, this would require more propellant than the backpacks are built to carry. Likewise, using a fire extinguisher as an impromptu rocket is possible in principle. But the balancing act that would be necessary to avoid going into a useless spinning spiral would be nearly impossible to carry off. Finally — and just as with "Interstellar" — even experts disagree about the climactic scene in "Gravity." When George Clooney lets go of Sandra Bullock and falls to his death, is the scene correct about what would happen in orbit, or does it cheat by playing off of our earthly expectations about people holding on while suspended over a void? It can be argued both ways, as the Washington Post made clear. As space travel becomes a more familiar part of life, the standards of realism in movies and television will shift. (The rocket in "Frau im Mond" does not look especially realistic after nearly 60 years of real space rockets, but it was awesome in 1929.) But the challenge of trying to get it right — while, even more importantly, making it feel right — will continue to test the imagination and ingenuity of film and TV producers.

Do Space Travel Movies Ever Get it Right?

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?

About 320 light-years from Earth — in the sprawling water snake constellation of Hydra — lies a star that foreshadows how our sun will die. W Hydrae — once the near-twin of the sun — is a giant red star on the way to its deathbed. How does this correlate to the future of the sun? To understand, you need to know something about the structure of a red giant star and a discovery made by Chalmers University of Technology.    The Art and Science of Fine Focus    W Hydrae shares the same mass as the sun, but it is larger in diameter than the Earth's orbit around the sun, according to Space.com. Because the stars are so far away, their apparent size is extremely small — even though they themselves are enormously large. No ordinary telescope can resolve such a tiny image, which is why the imaging team from Chalmers University of Technology used the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes located in South America.    W Hydrae is one of the very few stars that astronomers have been able to observe as an actual image, not simply a tiny bright speck, according to Space.com. Using ALMA, the researchers could map the image of W Hydrae with sufficient precision to build a high-resolution image — and what the image revealed surprised them.    A Star's Turbulent Death Throes    Cornell University reports that as the supply of hydrogen fuel in a star runs low — instead of simply sputtering out — the star flares up, burning the last of its fuel more rapidly, thus becoming brighter. According to Space.com, a dying star also swells out physically, expanding into a red giant star. Its surface area becomes so extensive that the surface cools down even though it is radiating more energy, which is why Chalmer's research team was surprised by the image of W Hydrae.    The image revealed an enormous "hot spot" in the outer layers of W Hydrae, glowing at a higher temperature than theory predicted, according to Chalmers University of Technology. Powerful shock waves resounding through the stellar atmosphere may be the cause, said Space.com.    In the final stage of its life cycle, a red giant star's core "continues to collapse in on itself. Smaller stars such as the sun end their lives as compact white dwarfs. The material of larger, more massive stars fall inward until the star eventually becomes a supernova, blowing off gas and dust in a dramatic fiery death," said Space.com.     Enable targeting cookies to view this content.    How Our Sun Will Die    When the sun swells up to W Hydrae's dimensions — as it will in about 5 billion years — it will swallow up the Earth and gradually vaporize it. Mars will most likely become the innermost remaining planet. There is a glimmer of hope for humanity, however. "The changing sun may provide hope to other planets ... when stars morph into red giants, they change the habitable zones of their system. The habitable zone is the region where liquid water can exist, considered by most scientists to be the area ripe for life to evolve," according to Space.com.    In observing W Hydrae, we are looking at the distant future of our sun. But this does not mean that our future is to be incinerated by a dying star, because we have 5 billion years to look for alternative options. And at Northrop Grumman, we think it is never too soon to start looking.   

Red Giant Star — Image of a Dying Sun

Whether it's photos from a bygone era or descriptions of a faraway land, people are fascinated by distant times and places. Astronomers are no different, always trying to peer into the far reaches of the distant past.
This is exactly what researchers from the Indian Institute of Science and McGill University have done — they recently used a radio signal from space to gain new knowledge about a star-forming galaxy that's nearly 9 billion light years away, as reported in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. To put that in perspective, the Big Bang occurred about 13.7 billion years ago, and our solar system formed a mere 4.5 billion years ago.
 
The previous record for this type of radio signal from space was "just" 5 billion light years away, as described in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and was achieved by using a state-of-the-art telescope for a long period of time. In contrast, the method used for the new record is compatible with a modest amount of time on less sophisticated telescopes, which makes additional discoveries more likely. The secret is one weird trick that Einstein described back in 1916 involving radio signals emitted by hydrogen and the use of a nearby galaxy to magnify the signal.
 
Hydrogen and the 21-Centimeter Line
 
About 400,000 years after the Big Bang, protons and electrons bonded to neutrons to form neutral hydrogen, which would eventually give rise to the first stars and galaxies. The energy from ultraviolet light emitted by newly formed stars can strip the electrons from neutral hydrogen, creating ionized hydrogen. When ionized hydrogen returns to its neutral state, it emits a radio wave with a characteristic wavelength of 21 centimeters, according to Big Think. Astronomers call this the "21-centimeter line," or the "hydrogen line," and use it to learn about early stars and the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time.
 
Unfortunately, radio waves have long wavelengths and low intensity, so the 21-centimeter line is often drowned out before it can travel through the vast distances of space. Thus, most of the hydrogen radio signals that have been successfully detected come from nearby — like from within the Milky Way Galaxy, which is 100,000 light years across, and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, which is about 2.5 million years away.
 
Einstein's Weird Trick
 
To amplify these radio waves, the record-breaking research made use of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Einstein postulated that the curving of spacetime causes light to bend as it passes by objects of enormous mass, such as a black hole or a galaxy. The greater the mass, the more extreme the curvature.
When light traveling through the universe encounters a massive object, each ray takes a different path and bends around it. This can make a single object appear at multiple points in the sky — which is evidence that this "gravitational lensing" has occurred — and can magnify the signal so it can be more easily detected by telescopes on Earth. Radio waves, such as the 21-centimeter line, are a form of light and can therefore be magnified by gravitational lensing.
 
The aforementioned researchers started with nearby galaxies that could serve as a strong lens for satellites located on Earth. Then, they looked for signals that were being magnified. The best result came from a gigantic galaxy that was relatively close to Earth at 1.7 billion light years away. It was magnifying the signal from a galaxy behind it (named SDSSJ0826+5630) by a factor of 30.
 
Determining Distance Traveled
 
When a wave of light travels across the ever-expanding universe, its wavelength becomes longer and its frequency is reduced. This is called "redshift." The higher the redshift, the farther a wave has been traveling.
In the study, the nearby galaxy that provided gravitational lensing had a redshift of 0.13. The previous record holder that was 4.1 billion light years away had a redshift of 0.376. In the most recent finding, the 21-centimeter line had a redshift of 1.3, which corresponds to a travel time of nearly 9 billion years. The wavelength of the 21-centimeter line had more than doubled to 48 centimeters.
 
The magnified 21-centimeter line allowed astronomers to calculate how mass was distributed in this distant galaxy from nearly 9 billion years ago. Compared to the stars visible from Earth, this galaxy had a much larger percentage of mass floating around compared to mass in the stars. The significance of this finding is not immediately clear, but the clever technique of gravitational lensing will allow astronomers to gather more information from the early days of the universe. This will help us understand the evolution of stars and galaxies and how the early universe led to the cosmos that currently surround us.
 
 
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.
 
 

Tuning in to a Radio Signal From Space That&#8217;s 9 Billion Years Old

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.
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.

The Sun&#8217;s Heartbeat: A Solar Radio Burst

 According to Space.com, last Wednesday morning, April 26, 2017, for the first time, a human-built spaceship flew through the space between Saturn's atmosphere and the innermost rings and lived to tell the tale. But really there are two tales to tell about the Cassini spacecraft and its encounter. One is about the rings of Saturn. Of all the virtual tourist spots in the solar system — and there are many, only a handful of which we have yet visited — none is more beautiful or unearthly, yet more familiar. Saturn with its rings is, after all, the popular culture image of a planet. The other tale is about the long, long journey that brought Cassini to its encounters with the rings, the culmination of a voyage of exploration that began in another century.  One Ring to Rule Them All Galileo, the first observer to study the night sky through a telescope, saw that there was something odd about Saturn. To him and other early observers, it looked as though it had handles on each side. Not until decades later did astronomer Christiaan Huygens identify the "handles" as a flat ring that surrounded Saturn. Another astronomer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, was the first to discover that Saturn had not one ring but a series of concentric rings, with what appeared to be gaps between them. The Cassini spacecraft, appropriately named after him, shot through one of those gaps on Wednesday morning. But the more we learn about the rings of Saturn, the more astonishing they become. From Earth, the rings look like solid, flat doughnuts. However, we learned from earlier space missions that there are in fact thousands of rings, each made up of innumerable pieces of ice, each orbiting Saturn, some passing so close to each other that they may form ever-changing chains and clumps that behave like rivers of ice and rock. Cassini first passed through a gap in the outer rings of Saturn on June 30, 2004. As data comes in from Cassini's close encounter with the innermost rings — the first of dozens scheduled before Cassini's final September swan dive into Saturn itself — we will learn more about the rings. We naturally don't know what we will learn, but one thing you can count on is that it will be amazing. The Long Road to a Grand Finale Swan Dive But for the Cassini spacecraft, diving between Saturn and its inner ring is only the second-to-last act in a long-running adventure. Launched in 1997, nearly 20 years ago, Cassini reached the neighborhood of Saturn in 2004 after a series of gravitational flybys gave it the energy to reach the distant outer planet, and its Scalable SIRUâ„¢ (Scalable Inertial Reference Unit) navigational system helped its insertion into Saturn's orbit through a gap in Saturn's outer rings. The SIRUâ„¢ system was especially integral to the precise positioning of the spacecraft, says Greg Levin, systems engineer at Northrop Grumman. "As an example of precision during the Cassini mission, there are often 'blackout' periods during operation of the spacecraft where it can't lock on to the sun or the stars to identify its position in space," says Levin. "During these periods, which can last up to five nail-biting hours at a time, the SIRU is critical for ensuring the spacecraft maintains its precise orientation. Over eight years, the SIRU precision during these blackouts was maintained to less than one half of one degree of rotation." Levin adds that SIRUâ„¢ remains a highly reliable sensor more than seven years past its specified life span. Shortly after reaching Saturn space, Cassini released a robotic passenger — the Huygens probe, named for the ring discoverer who also discovered Saturn's giant moon Titan. Huygens landed on Titan in early 2005, giving us close-ups of a unique world of methane lakes. (Doesn't that sound straight out of old-time science fiction?) Through the years that followed, Cassini sent back thousands of images of Saturn's enormous and varied moon system, along with other data suggesting that some of these worlds may have liquid water beneath their frozen surfaces — and, just possibly, life.One Does Not Blithley Fly Through the Rings But for nearly 13 years, Cassini carefully kept its distance from and precisely slipped through the gap between the magnificent outer rings of Saturn. As Brian Resnick recounts at Vox, meticulous flying was needed for a very good reason. Most of outer space is, well, empty space. The rings of Saturn are a dense celestial shooting gallery of ice particles, all of them orbiting Saturn at speeds many times faster than a bullet. Even the gaps in the rings are not empty; they are merely less cluttered than the brightly visible rings and even a tiny spec of ice floating in a relatively empty gap could wreck a spacecraft. Which makes shooting the gap in the rings a risky maneuver, no matter how precise the navigation. Such perilous maneuvers require precision instruments. Again, the SIRUâ„¢ system has its role in maneuvering the dangerously tight space between the rings. Says Levin: "Cassini is designed such that its instruments are fixed to the spacecraft. In order for the spacecraft to accomplish different parts of the scientific mission, the entire spacecraft needs to move to point each of the 12 instruments. Northrop Grumman's SIRUâ„¢ is critical to this process and is an enabler for the science mission of the spacecraft." In 2017, Cassini is, for the first time, exploring the space between Saturn and its innermost ring. During this final phase, the spacecraft is traversing the 3,000-kilometer gap between the outer fringe of Saturn's atmosphere and the inner edge of the main ring. As the spacecraft executes 22 orbits, it will draw closer and closer to Saturn until the planet's atmosphere slows down the spacecraft and Cassini swan dives into Saturn itself. That mission's most eagerly anticipated chapters are being written as you read this article, as Cassini reports back on its last close encounter with the rings. Stay tuned, because in all likelihood the best is yet to come.

Cassini Spacecraft: The New Lord of the Rings

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?

Key Takeaways  Quantum communication, high-fidelity communications at interstellar distances, could be achieved by exploiting the quantum nature of light. The basic units of quantum communication are qubits, which are typically subatomic particles such as photons or electrons. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) "listens in" to the universe for evidence of extraterrestrial life.For centuries, people have pondered the question, "Are we alone in the universe?" To date, however, researchers in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) have come up with a resounding "we're not sure." But that hasn't stopped people from wondering.How would we know if ETs were trying to communicate with us? What language might they use? And how might we communicate back with them?"Taking a Quantum LeapResearchers from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, believe that the answers to these questions could lie in a field of study called quantum communication. In a paper published recently in Physical Review D, Professor Arjun Berera and Jaime Calderón-Figueroa, both theoretical physicists, suggest that high-fidelity communications at interstellar distances could be achieved by exploiting the quantum nature of light.SETI at a GlanceIn an interview with Now, Seth Shostak, senior astronomer and fellow at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, astronomers look for signs of intelligent ET life in three ways: Conventional search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), which uses large radio telescopes (such as the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array, with its 42 antennas, each one six meters in diameter) to scan the heavens looking for narrowband signals. Optical SETI, which involves watching for flashing laser pulses using instruments such as the SETI Institute's LaserSETI detection devices. Making careful observations of optical data looking for artifacts of ET societies — such as the infrared signature of a Dyson swarm, a theoretical "cloud" of habitats, satellites and solar energy collectors orbiting a star that would allow an advanced society to harvest and exploit all the energy coming from its home star.However, Shostak clarifies that SETI involves listening only — primarily in the 1-10 Gigahertz (GHz) frequency band — and no broadcasting."SETI scientists often monitor frequencies adjacent to 1420 Megahertz, also known as the hydrogen line, where neutral hydrogen produces radiation," he explains. "Every astronomer on Earth has that frequency marked on their dial, so to speak, so any messages from aliens in that band will be heard by everyone."What Is Quantum Communication?According to MIT Technology Review, the basic unit of quantum communication is called a qubit. Qubits are typically subatomic particles such as photons or electrons.Unlike bits — the electrical or optical "1s" and "0s" that carry your e-mail, podcasts, tweets and TikToks — qubits have some rather unusual properties that allow quantum computers to process information exponentially faster than conventional binary computers.One of these properties is called superposition, which allows qubits to represent multiple combinations of "1" or "0" at the same time. While classical bits can only access one of 2n states at a time (e.g., two bits have 22 = 4 possible states, three bits have 23 = 8 possible states, etc.), qubits can access all 2n possible states at once.The State of EntanglementEven more relevant to alien quantum communication is a property of qubits called entanglement, which allows two members of a qubit pair to exist in a single quantum state. Changing the state of one paired qubit instantly changes the state of the other in a very predictable way, even if they are separated by very long distances.Berera and Calderón-Figueroa propose that entanglement could be exploited in a process called quantum teleportation to potentially enable interstellar communications with ET societies. Quantum teleportation instantly transfers the "state" (i.e., information contents) of one quantum particle to a distant one without sending the particle itself.Contemplating Quantum TeleportationQuantum teleportation requires a pair of entangled qubits shared between a sender and receiver, plus a third qubit whose contents are to be teleported between those points. The sender initiates an interaction between their entangled qubit and the third qubit, which causes a change in the quantum state of their entangled qubit. When that change is analyzed and relayed to the receiver using a conventional electromagnetic pathway, the receiver can recreate the original message contained in the third qubit, effectively teleporting the information from sender to receiver."It's conceivable that a very advanced society could set up entangled particles all over the galaxy and use quantum entanglement to communicate," says Shostak.However, he emphasizes that quantum communication can never exceed the speed of light, even for aliens, because quantum messaging between senders and receivers still relies on using a conventional electromagnetic signal.Maintaining CoherenceFor Berera and Calderón-Figueroa, the real challenge with quantum teleportation is that quantum messaging over interstellar distances needs to retain its coherence and maintain high fidelity, i.e., to maintain the integrity of its message as it travels long distances.A peculiar aspect of quantum messaging is that if a message is "observed" or interacts with its environment, its waveform collapses, resulting in the loss of its information. This so-called state of decoherence can result from quantum messages interacting with say, gravitational fields, gas, dust and radiation from stars.The universe is largely empty space, of course, but is it empty/transparent enough to facilitate reliable interstellar messaging? Berera and Calderón-Figueroa ran calculations on the movement of photons in different frequency bands across space to gauge the likelihood of decoherence occurring.They determined that photons, particularly those in the X-ray spectrum, could be beamed across hundreds of thousands of light years, a distance comparable to the width of our own Milky Way galaxy. These conditions could give interstellar communications with aliens a fighting chance.What Are We Looking For?As SETI scientists scan the night skies with their ginormous radio telescopes looking for dispatches from ET, how do they even know what to look for?"A lot of astronomical phenomena — quasars, pulsars, the planets in our solar system, hot and cold gas, black holes — create radio noise," observes Shostak. "But they generally don't make noise that's confined to a particular frequency band."However, he notes that if astronomers observe a signal centered around a narrow frequency band much like a station on your car's radio, "that would indicate a signal produced by a transmitter, not a natural process."Still Waiting …And has the SETI Institute ever received such a signal? Shostak just smiles."If we'd found one that was clearly an alien signal, you wouldn't have to call me up," he chuckles. "You would know about it."Keeping It RealEven if Shostak and his SETI colleagues thought they had detected signals from ETs, several realities currently shape the nation's ability to conduct such a "conversation."For one, there is the matter of technology. Quantum communication is still in its infancy. As a nation, we're a long way from being able to extract information in a meaningful way from incoming ET quantum communication.Shostak acknowledges that there are also practical considerations: time and, by extension, money."If the nearest aliens are 100 light years away, it will take 100 years for your response to reach them, and another 100 years for their response to reach you again," he muses." And in those 200 years, your funding has probably gone away as well."Instead of trying to engage aliens in logistically impossible conversation, Shostak suggests that it might be smarter to just download and send them the entire internet."The internet is a rich information source indeed," he says. "They could put their computers on it, take advantage of its repetitive nature and build up a complete vocabulary — everything from cats to cars to humans. It would sure be a lot easier than us trying to decipher hieroglyphics back in the early 19th century."Northrop Grumman exploration seeks to put academic research and theory into practice for quantum communications. Learn more about what we do.

Could Quantum Communication Enable an Extraterrestrial Handshake?

Far inside the habitable zone, 520 light-years from Earth, a strange planet whips around its parent star. WASP 127-b makes a bee-line from one side to the other in four days. Yet this wanderer is no winged Mercury. It's not small or rocky. It orbits off-kilter, in the opposite direction of its parent star's rotation — like a table tilted to the plane of the solar system. As far as exoplanets go, this planet is not quite like anything scientists have found before. The existence of undiscovered and alien planets hold potential for new discoveries in space and science, including a look into weather on other planets. WASP 127-b is a gas giant, like Jupiter or Saturn. Unlike the two biggest planets in our solar system, this exoplanet is an order of magnitude closer to its star than Mercury is to our sun. It's bigger than Jupiter, while only having 16% of Jupiter's mass. That means the planet is sort of â€¦ puffy. Hot, fast and, for a planet, fluffy. WASP 127-b's Salt Clouds One of the cool things about finding a planet this big and fluffy and this close to its star? Not only can you look at it — you can also look through the upper layers of its atmosphere. Scientists from around the world worked together to combine data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile to watch one of the least dense planets discovered to date move in front of its star over and over again. No research team had (successfully) tried using one ground-based telescope and one space-based telescope to go cloud-watching on another planet. Their powers combined, the two telescopes were able to watch light from WASP 127 filter through the layers of vapor hovering around this huge planet. Researchers now believe one of those vapor layers could possibly be water, and the other looks more like sodium. This could mean there are salt clouds, or at least salt in the clouds. No one is quite sure — yet. Weather on other planets is fascinating because, unlike Earth, scientists have to pull out all the stops to even begin to measure it. There's no walking outside, holding out a palm or consulting the neighbor whose knee always knows when it's going to rain. Finding and measuring the composition of clouds on an alien world took two of the world's biggest telescopes. Death of a Gas Giant WASP-12b, like WASP 127-b, is big, hot, fast and close to its star. In fact, it's so close to WASP-12 that WASP-12b — which is 46% larger than Jupiter — is being literally pulled apart. Or rather, its nearness to the star heats up the gas, which rises so high that it literally falls away from the planet toward WASP-12. Researchers calculated that with the mass loss, WASP-12 only had 10 million more years of existence. A similar fate may await WASP 127-b, another hot Jupiter. Hot Jupiters in general are becoming a popular topic in the exoplanet universe, mostly because they shouldn't be there. Young stars have high winds that blow gas away. Even when it gets cool and quiet enough for the gas to settle down and collect into these hot Jupiters' cores, they are huge and solid. In order to exist up close and personal with a star, the material from the planet's core needs to find its way to the clouds. Then, that material needs to wander close to the parent star after the star has grown out of its initial, young-star, high-wind phase. That's a lot of steps to become a hot Jupiter that gets just close enough to show us its cloud cover — but not close enough to get that cover ripped off by the star that bore it. It's strange to think how the same kind of star — a yellow G-type main sequence — can give birth to Earth while another creates conditions terribly adverse to any kind of life. WASP 127-b's salt-filled clouds face a 2,000-degree Fahrenheit surface, and it's getting even hotter. Now that scientists can look into the atmospheres of worlds far, far away using multiple telescopes, exoplanetary meteorology (or "alien cloud spotting") could take researching weather on other planets to entirely new heights. 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.

The Buzz About Weather on Other Planets: WASP 127-b

Exoplanet research, the study of planets orbiting distant stars, has discovered more than 4,000 confirmed exoplanets, according to Universe Today, with nearly 5,000 more potential candidates awaiting confirmation. Those numbers are astronomical, considering our own solar system boasts a mere eight major planets. Very few exoplanets can be directly imaged, even by our most powerful telescopes. Most are discovered, and then further studied, by a combination of indirect methods, such as measuring the slight dimming of a star when a planet passes directly in front of it, blocking out some of its light. This was the method used by the Kepler space mission to discover many of these planets, and now being used by its successor, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Featherweight Worlds Many of the known exoplanets, according to Digital Trends, have characteristics similar to those of the eight major planets in our solar system. These fall into one of three broad groups:   Relatively small and rocky planets like Earth and Mars, known as terrestrial planets  Much larger planets resembling Jupiter or Saturn, called gas giants because they are believed to be mostly gaseous  An intermediate group called ice giants, resembling Uranus and Neptune, made up largely of plain old ice and similar frozen materials  But some exoplanet discoveries have downright weird characteristics, unlike those of any of the familiar worlds of our solar system. Perhaps the oddest mysterious planets are the ones that have the density of cotton candy, which astronomers have informally dubbed super-puff planets. A Whole Lot of Nothing? This whimsical-sounding name refers to the planets' most striking characteristic. They're big — comparable in size to Jupiter and Saturn — but relative to their size they're extreme featherweights, only a few times more massive than Earth. The implication is that their density must be extremely low, roughly a hundred times less dense than Jupiter, which itself is about five times less dense than rocky Earth. Three planets orbiting a sunlike star called Kepler 51, some 2,600 light-years from Earth, are prime exemplars of the cotton candy planet phenomenon. According to EarthSky, all three are similar in size to Jupiter and Saturn, but only weigh in at a few times the mass of (relatively) tiny Earth. Astronomer Jessica Libby-Roberts, who led a research team that studied them, sums them up succinctly: "They're very bizarre." Origin Stories How can a planet so tenuous even hold itself together? The researchers, in fact, found hints that at least one of them is not holding itself together: The innermost of the three worlds, notes EarthSky, is losing material at a rate of billions of tons every second. It happens that Kepler 51 and its planets are relatively young, only about half a billion years old (compared to some 4.5 billion for our sun and solar system). To another member of the research team, Zachory Berta-Thompson, this suggests that "we're seeing them at a time in their development where we've rarely gotten the chance to observe planets. This system offers a unique laboratory for testing theories of early planet evolution." Lords of the Rings A separate research team offers another possible explanation: The super-puff planets may not be as big as they seem. Instead, they may be smaller planets surrounded by enormous ring systems. In our solar system, notes Space.com, all four of the largest planets have rings, though only Saturn's are extensive and bright enough to be a spectacular sight. And while we are a long ways from getting Saturn-style portraits of any exoplanet, astronomers should be able to indirectly detect planetary rings — and have been a bit puzzled at not finding any. It may be, however, that we have detected exoplanet rings, without being quite able to recognize them as such. Our methods of detecting exoplanets are operating so close to their limits of precision that we cannot readily tell whether starlight is being blotted out by a giant planet or by rings surrounding a smaller planet. No existing telescope can tell the difference. But that will change, says Space.com with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. It will allow observations so precise that we'll be able to tell planets and their rings apart. Today's cotton candy exoplanets will be mysterious planets no longer. No need to be disappointed, though. For every mystery solved, we can be confident that the Webb, and other new satellites and instruments, will discover a host of new mysteries for us to puzzle over.

Cotton-Candy Exoplanet Mystery

How are planets formed? Until recently, astronomers who study our planets and alien exoplanets thought they knew. Now, a discovery of a six-exoplanet star system some 200 light-years away named TOI-178 is challenging planetary formation theories. Five of the system's six planets revolve around their central sun in predictable patterns that repeat, with some planets aligning every few orbits. This seemingly well-choreographed dance, called "orbital resonance" or "chain of resonance," has rarely been observed in the universe. But the curiosity doesn't stop there. Even though the exoplanets have consistent, resonant orbits, their individual densities vary widely. "It appears there is a planet as dense as the Earth right next to a very fluffy planet with half the density of Neptune, followed by a planet with the density of Neptune," team member and astronomer Nathan Hara of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, said in a press statement for the European Southern Observatory (ESO). "It is not what we are used to." As the scientists explained in the study published in the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, the TOI-178 system formed "contrary to what one would expect from simple formation and evolution models" and will provide "important clues" to the formation of other systems. Detecting Alien Planets To date, astronomers have confirmed the existence of more than 4,000 exoplanets, with thousands of other candidates on deck, according to NASA. The alien planet nearest to Earth is Proxima Centauri b, as EarthSky notes. It orbits the star Proxima Centauri, located 4.2 light-years away. (One light-year equals 6 trillion miles.) Because exoplanets are so distant from Earth, astronomers cannot observe them through conventional telescopes. Most exoplanets are found by using specialized instruments on ground-based observatories and orbiting satellites that can detect light coming from alien worlds. One method involves imaging the temporary dimming of light coming from the central star as one of its exoplanets passes in front of it. Another method involves detecting slight wobbles in the central star's light spectrum as the gravity from one of the orbiting exoplanets tugs on it. The team that investigated TOI-178, led by Adrien Leleu from the University of Geneva and the University of Bern in Switzerland, used both of these methods to study the motion of the planets, as ESO reports. Researchers analyzed data from a host of astronomical instruments, including the European Space Agency's CHEOPS satellite, the ground-based ESPRESSO instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope array and other instruments sited at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. From the data, the astronomers uncovered a trove of important details. The six planets orbit their star much faster than planets do in our own solar system. The innermost planet in TOI-178 circles the star in just a couple of days. The slowest one does it in less than an Earth month. The sizes of the TOI-178 planets range from about one to three times the size of Earth, while their masses are 1.5 to 8 times the mass of Earth, according to ESO. Although similar to our solar system in some ways, the positions of the planets and how they behave are out of this world. Orbital Resonance In our own solar system, only two examples of orbital resonance occur, ScienceAlert notes. The first lies with Pluto and Neptune: For every two orbits Pluto makes around the Sun, Neptune makes three. That's a ratio of two to three, referred to as a 2:3 resonance. The three moons of Jupiter also form a chain of resonance. For every single orbit Ganymede makes around Jupiter, Europa makes two trips and Io makes four — a 1:2:4 resonance. Elsewhere in the universe, other star systems have planets linked in a chain of resonance. The Kepler-80 system has five exoplanets in a resonance chain of 4:6:9:12:18. The TRAPPIST-1 system has a seven-exoplanet resonance chain of 2:3:4:6:9:15:24, as ScienceAlert reports. But ESO notes that the five planets in TOI-178 "follow a much more complex chain of resonance, one of the longest yet discovered in a system of planets." The innermost of those five exoplanets completes 18 orbits for every three orbits of the outermost. The entire chain is 3:4:6:9:18. To better comprehend TOI-178's orderly chain of resonance, ESO created an animation of the orbits that is scored with musical notes attributed to each planet. The note rings when a planet completes either one full or one-half orbit. When planets align at these points in their orbits, they chime in harmonic resonance. Their orderly resonance provides clues about TOI-178's past, according to team member Yann Alibert from the University of Bern. "The orbits in this system are very well-ordered, which tells us that this system has evolved quite gently since its birth," Alibert said in the ESO press release. If another object had impacted a planet in the system earlier in its life, the configuration of orbits would have been disrupted. How Are Planets Formed? Although TOI-178's planetary orbits display an orderly chain of resonance, the composition of those planets is anything but tidy. The rocky planets are much larger than those in our own solar system, and the gas planets are much smaller, ESO notes. And unlike our own solar system, where the planets are neatly arranged from dense inner planets to less-dense outer planets, TOI-178 has rocky planets right next to gassy ones. "In the few systems we know where the planets orbit in this resonant rhythm, the densities of the planets gradually decrease as we move away from the star, and it is also what we expect from theory," Leleu told SciTechDaily. According to NASA, the basic theory of planetary formation goes like this: Our solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust that may have collapsed due to some external force, such as a shock wave from a nearby supernova. As the disk of material continued to spin, it pulled in more and more material until pressure in the core forced hydrogen atoms to combine and form helium, which released a tremendous amount of energy. A Sun was born. Eventually, the disk pulled in more matter, which clumped together to form planets and moons. Nearest the Sun, only rocky material could withstand the heat of the new star, while ice, liquid or gas settled into the outer regions of the solar system. How or why TOI-178's planets seem to break the norm is still puzzling. Other questions remain, such as why only five of the six planets orbit in resonance. Leleu and his team continue to parse the data, looking for additional clues and even additional planets. "We might find more planets that could be in the habitable zone — where liquid water might be present on the surface of a planet — which begins outside of the orbits of the planets that we discovered to date," Leleu told the European Space Agency. Although the discovery leaves the door open on several mysteries, it also throws into question how our own solar system formed. Did our planets once have harmonic resonance in the way TOI-178's planets have? Leleu told Phys.org that he thinks the implications could impact some of our most fundamental assumptions. "This contrast between the rhythmic harmony of the orbital motion and the disorderly densities certainly challenges our understanding of the formation and evolution of planetary systems," he said.

A Six-Exoplanet System Challenges Assumptions of How Planets Form

In the great classroom of physics — otherwise known as the universe — gravity doesn't work or play well with the three other fundamental forces of nature: electromagnetism, the weak force and the strong force.   These three forces are enormously powerful but operate mainly over short distances. Most important to physicists, all three can be neatly explained by the theory of quantum mechanics.   Gravity is different. Physicists can't quite wrap their heads around the graviton, the quantum particle of gravity that's almost impossible to detect.   Needless to say, all of this makes gravity — and the search for the graviton — a core challenge of contemporary physics.   The Odd Force Out   On the one hand, compared to the other fundamental forces of nature, gravity is incredibly weak. The weak nuclear force makes nuclear bombs explode, while magnetism (which is much weaker) allows a toy magnet to pick up a steel needle against the whole gravitational force of the Earth.   But weak as it is, gravity dominates the universe because all mass, including mysterious dark matter, produces gravity. The force of gravity makes the Earth and other planets round. In fact, without gravity, there would be no objects in the universe, only an ever-thinner gas of individual particles.   All of which makes the search for a theory of quantum gravity a very big deal.   Black Holes and Unsolvable Messes   The core challenge for physicists is that gravitons are exceedingly difficult to detect because gravity is so weak. In fact, per Scientific American, detecting the graviton the old fashioned way, by observation of particle collisions in a classical atom smasher, is outright impossible. The device would need to be so big and massive that it would collapse into a black hole.   Even if it still worked, we'd never get the results.   There are other complications as well, as Space.com pointed out. Physicists working in quantum mechanics have come up with a mathematical tool called renormalization that can be used to gauge the interaction of quantum particles on the subatomic scale. But because gravity involves changing the shape of space, introducing gravitons to the renormalization equations makes them go haywire.   Physicist Netta Engelhardt said this "effectively means that you need an infinite number of experiments to determine anything," which, she noted, is "not a realistic theory."   The Cheshire Cat's Grin   The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy labeled the development of the physical theory of quantum gravity as "under construction."   But physicists are still looking for clever ways that may allow us to confirm the existence of the graviton without ever actually detecting one.   As Quanta magazine described, this hat trick would work by showing that two microdiamonds have become entangled — linked together in their properties by quantum effects — as a result of the tiny gravitational force exerted between them. Physicist Miles Blencowe described it as detecting "the grin of the Cheshire cat," proving that quantum gravity exists.   At the same time, reported Physics World, a research team is using the motions of the planets to pin down a maximum limit to the mass of the graviton. Observations of the solar system over the last 100 plus years show that gravitons must have a mass at most about a trillion trillion times less than the mass of a neutrino, the least massive particle we know about for sure.   Progress in science is hardly ever straightforward or easy. It is full of workarounds, hat tricks, and making the most of circumstantial evidence, which is what makes it so interesting. 

The Graviton: The Quantum Particle That Makes the World Round

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

How Space Tourism Will Push Space Medicine to New Heights

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.
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What Happens to Your Immune System in Space? 

On a moonless night, far from city lights, the sky seems filled with countless stars. And of course the stars we can see, even on the darkest and clearest night, are only a tiny fraction of the total: billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars. Most of these stars have characteristics that are familiar to astronomers, and their lives unfold in fairly predictable ways. In the case of our sun, this is very good news for us. But there are also some decidedly strange stars out there. Some pose mysteries for astronomers; others are not so much puzzling as they are just plain awesome. All of them come in handy when you want to entertain your friends with some interesting space facts. Zombie Stars Supernova explosions, disintegrating stars that briefly flare up to several hundred million times brighter than the sun, ought to have the ring of finality if anything does. But Science Alert reports that astronomers have now discovered several cases of zombie stars that underwent supernova explosions yet somehow managed to reassemble themselves and go on shining. Strange stars don't get much stranger than that. The name might seem a bit unfair. After all, while these certainly qualify as strange stars, there is no evidence that they resemble zombies. Surely "supernova survivor" would be just as accurate. But zombie stars don't just reanimate after going supernova — they do so by dining on other stars, gravitationally stripping them away until nothing is left of the other star. So perhaps the name fits! A New Alien Megastructure Candidate Astronomers sometimes observe objects that seem to be fairly ordinary stars, except that their light output seems to vary in ways that are completely inexplicable. A familiar recent example was a star officially named KIC 8462852, better known as Tabby's Star, after the astronomer who investigated it. Its light patterns are so strange that Tabetha Boyajian and other astronomers seriously considered the possibility that it was surrounded by an artificial structure. Alas, further observations were not consistent with this theory, and mere dust clouds are a more likely culprit. But there is a new kid in town among strange stars, HD 139139. It has not yet acquired a popular name, but as Scientific American reports, the astronomers are still scrambling to come with a robust explanation for what they are seeing. A megastructure, perhaps? The Methusaleh Star  One of the most interesting space facts concerns HD 140283, named the Methusaleh star after the biblical figure. Classified as a subgiant, the Methusaleh star is fairly normal, not what you'd expect in a list of strange stars — except for one subtle but serious complication. Observations of HD 140283 indicate that, according to our understanding of stellar aging, it ought to be between 13.2 and 14.4 billion years old. The hitch is that, as NASA points out, by our best estimate the entire universe is about 13.8 billion years old. This rules out the upper half of the age range for HD 140283, and makes even the low-end estimate seriously problematic. How can such an ordinary star have been formed when the universe itself was only just starting to take shape? A good question, and cosmologists would love to know the answer. A Baby Star That Will Outlive the Sun If the Methusaleh star is unusually old for a star, a dim nearby star designated 2MASS J0523-1403 is in its merest infancy — and will be for billions of years to come, long after our sun has flared into a red giant, then dwindled away. There is no particular mystery here, just a sheer breadth of time that sends shivers up the spine. 2MASS J0523-1403, according to a report in Scientific American, is very close to the dividing line between the smallest and least massive red dwarf stars and their slightly smaller and less massive cousins, brown dwarfs — objects that are not quite full-blown stars, because they are not big enough to sustain hydrogen fusion. Small as it is, 2MASS J0523-1403 is a true star that does burn hydrogen — and will go on burning it for an estimated 12 trillion years, long after the sun has become a tiny dark cinder. The Most Massive Star in the Universe At the far end of the stellar mass and brightness range from 2MASS J0523-1403 is a star known as R136a1, and located approximately 170,000 light-years away in the Milky Way's largest satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. According to NASA, R136a1 is the most massive known star. In cosmic terms, R136a1 will not shine for long. Stars of this type are headed for supernova explosions, says EarthSky, and that should be the end of it. Unless, perhaps, it becomes a zombie star, and comes back for another round.

Five Strange Stars That Keep Astronomers on Their Toes

For casual stargazers, one of the most easily recognizable observable constellations is Orion. This constellation is visible high in the night sky during winter. Observers might notice a bright star, or the famous Orion's "belt" of three bright blue stars, but an odd feature has astronomers taking a closer look. Recently, they observed a funky star system in the constellation called GW Orionis, about 1,300 light-years away from Earth. GW Orionis has three warped, misaligned rings, and it appears to be the first of its kind among the star systems that have been observed to this day. What's So Strange About GW Orionis? In May 2020, Jiaqing Bi, Nienke van der Marel and their colleagues published a study in the Astrophysical Journal Letters which suggested that a planet could be the reason GW Orionis has such a strange misalignment of rings. "To our knowledge, its outermost ring is the largest dust ring ever found in protoplanetary disks," they wrote. Researchers observed the odd rings for the first time in 2017. "We were surprised to see the strong misalignment of the inner ring," said Bi in a National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) announcement. "But the strange warp in the disk is confirmed by a twisted pattern that ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) measured in the gas of the disk." In September 2020, astrophysicist Stefan Kraus and 32 colleagues published a study in Science that reveals new details about an odd trio of stars in Orion. The authors explain that young stars are surrounded by a circumstellar disk made of gas and dust. Scientists theorize that planets can form from the materials in these disks. Kraus stated in the NRAO announcement, "In our images, we see the shadow of the inner ring on the outer disk. At the same time, ALMA allowed us to measure the precise shape of the ring that casts the shadow. Combining this information allows us to derive the three-dimensional orientation of the misaligned ring and of the warped disk surface." In a straightforward solar system like ours, planets orbit a single star like the sun. But GW Orionis is more complicated. Two of the stars are orbiting each other, while a third star orbits them hundreds of millions of miles away. This appears to be creating an odd gravitational situation that is warping the disk. The authors write, "Our images show an eccentric ring that is misaligned with the orbital planes and the outer disk. The ring casts shadows on a strongly warped intermediate region of the disk. If planets can form within the warped disk, disk tearing could provide a mechanism for forming wide-separation planets on oblique orbits." Gaining Deeper Insights From Space Popular Science reports that the system's inner ring has enough dust to build 30 Earths. The new study, which is the culmination of 11 years of work, provides new insight into how planets are formed, especially in unusual orbits. According to the NRAO, if future studies find an exotic planet in GW Orionis, it would be the first planet ever observed to orbit three stars, and it would "possess a very unusual orbit." In the latest Orion studies, astronomers used instruments on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) array and ALMA, both of which are located in the Chilean desert, and Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) telescope array in California. Along with ground-based observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope has been taking awe-inspiring images from space since 1990. And soon, the James Webb Space Telescope, an orbiting infrared observatory that's 100 times more powerful than Hubble, will be positioned even deeper in space — 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. This will allow astronomers to peer even deeper into space to discover previously unknown details of funky star systems and much more. If astronomers have been able to find fascinating systems like GW Orionis with the existing tools so far, the next generation of space exploration is bound to be even more exciting. 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.

GW Orionis: A First-of-Its-Kind Star System in the Orion Constellation

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

Ceres: From Asteroid to Ocean World

Soon, the James Webb Space Telescope (also known as JWST or Webb) will expand our views of the sky. Astronomers will use the new telescope to observe previously unseen regions of space, ranging from the galaxies that formed right after the Big Bang to the youngest star systems that are forming today. Earth is minuscule in the scale of the universe. So far, astronomers have discovered giant planets, supermassive black holes, hypergiant stars, superclusters of galaxies and other large objects in between. And that's while observing just a small sliver of the universe with the Hubble Space Telescope. It is hard to predict what Webb will ultimately discover. "It's a new instrument, the largest telescope ever built for space," says Jon Arenberg, chief engineer for Space Science Missions at Northrop Grumman. "We'll be able to collect data that we have not gotten our hands on before, including observing the early universe, in particular." Astronomers have already discovered some humongous objects, and JWST could soon uncover even more giants in space. "By having this new instrument that that can observe even more galaxies than we've seen before, we will be able to look for structures and groups of these galaxies in places we've never looked," Arenberg explains. Contemplating the size of objects in space compared to our tiny home on Earth could make your head spin, but Arenberg finds comfort and pride in JWST's mission of discovery. "I feel empowered, enlightened, illuminated — not tiny," Arenberg says. He adds, "The scale of the universe is huge. But so is our planet compared to me, and I don't feel small or insignificant here on Earth." What Is the Largest Object in the Universe? It's a straightforward question with a nebulous answer. First, it depends on how you define size — by mass or volume. A giant cloud of gas, for example, is enormous in volume but relatively small in mass (it doesn't contain much matter). Black holes, on the other hand, are defined by infinitely small volume with infinite density, according to Sky and Telescope. Secondly, we'll have to consider what counts as an object. If a group of particles is an object, what about a group of galaxies? One thing is certain, the largest objects in space are much, much larger than Earth. They just appear small because they are so far away from us. Here are some of the largest known objects in the universe. 1. Largest Planet Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It's a giant ball of gas that could fit all the other planets in the solar system inside it. According to NASA, more than 1,300 Earths would fit inside Jupiter. But Jupiter is tiny compared to HAT-P-67 b, an exoplanet (orbiting a different star than our sun) that astronomers first observed in 2017. Astronomy.com reported that this newly discovered planet is 2.08 times the size of Jupiter, although it isn't as dense, weighing in at 60% less than Jupiter's mass. It's the biggest, fluffiest planet we know of so far. 2. Largest Star According to NASA, our sun is a million times the size of the Earth. But to put this in context, if our entire solar system was the size of a quarter, the sun would be a microscopic speck of dust on that quarter. As big as a million times Earth sounds, Space.com points out that our sun is only an average-sized star. Scientists have discovered "hypergiant" stars such as UY Scuti, which could fit more than 1,700 of our suns in its radius. 3. Largest Black Hole Unlike stars, black holes don't take up space, but they are dense. The largest black hole in our neighborhood, Sagittarius A*, is 4 million times more massive than the sun, according to MIT Technology Review. Meanwhile, 700 million light-years away from Earth, a galaxy called Holm 15A contains the largest known black hole in the observable universe. Astronomers used data gathered by the Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert to run simulations that map out this distant galaxy. Their models suggest that Holm 15A has a supermassive black hole that is at least 40 billion times more massive than the sun. 4. Largest Structure Although structures might not technically count as "objects" according to astrophysics terminology, from a logical perspective, a structure is the largest object in the universe. Gravity can make galaxies clump together in space. Multiple galaxies form clusters, which can form superclusters, and even long lines of galaxies called walls, according to New Scientist. The largest known structure is the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Great Wall. This superstructure is made of 830 galaxies bound by gravity that swirl together in a wall that is a billion light-years across. JWST could help astronomers discover even larger superstructures. "We will be able to collect images and spectra from hundreds or tens of thousands of galaxies. This will help astronomers identify groups of galaxies," says Arenberg. Frontier of the Future Great societies have always pursued the unknown, explains Arenberg. He says, "Increasing our scientific knowledge is not only good in and of itself, but it's the basis of our economy and our security." All these records for the largest objects in space could soon be broken as new, powerful telescopes reveal hidden spots in the universe. Peering into deep space with JWST is the next step in a long legacy of exploration. Arenberg says, "Americans have always prided themselves on discovery and the frontier since the beginning of the country. And this is just carrying on that legacy from our ancestors. We should dare to do these amazing things and inspire ourselves and inspire the next generation."

Could JWST Discover the Largest Object in the Universe?

1.1 Establishment of NASA, Oct. 1, 1958 https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-history-overviewNASA begins operation. The agency's passion for discovery and commitment to innovation fuel the future of space exploration.1.2 Project Mercury, Feb. 20, 1962 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/index.htmlAstronaut John Glenn, onboard Friendship 7, orbits the Earth in NASA's Mercury capsule, expanding our perception of the possible.1.3 Apollo 11 Moon Landing, July 20, 1969 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo-11.htmlWith one small step, Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew make a giant leap for the future of human space travel.1.4 Voyager, Sept. 5, 1977 https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/Interstellar probe Voyager 1 launches from Cape Canaveral on a mission to explore the universe. Today, the craft is more than 13 billion miles from Earth.1.5 Opportunity, Jan. 3, 2004 https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/overview/NASA's Opportunity rover sets a new standard for the future of space exploration, covering more than 28 miles of Martian surface over 15 years.1.6 Cygnus, Sept. 2013 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/cygnus.html#.XN2ZLshKhPZCloser to home, the Cygnus cargo delivery spacecraft first launched in 2013, providing a critical resupply line for the International Space Station (ISS).1.7 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), April 18, 2018 https://tess.mit.edu/science/TESS will spend two years looking into the sky — and deep into space — to find thousands of exoplanets and help bolster the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system.1.8 Orion Launch Abort System (LAS), In Development https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/orion_las_fact_sheet_8.5x11_4page_11_19_15.pdfThe Orion LAS protects astronauts if something goes wrong — its abort motor produces over 400,000 pounds of thrust to pull the spacecraft out of harm's way.1.9 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Launch in 2021 https://jwst.nasa.gov/about.htmlThe JWST features a 6.5-meter ultra-lightweight beryllium mirror and five-layer sunshield capable of attenuating the sun's heat more than a million-fold.1.10 Space Launch System (SLS) Solid Rocket Boosters, In Development https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_solid_rocket_booster_fact_sheet_final_508_june2018.pdfSLS solid rocket boosters are the most powerful ever built for flight. Standing 17 stories tall and burning six tons of propellant per second, they're powering the future of space exploration.Interested in all things on the space? We are too. Take a look at our open positions and consider joining our team: NorthropGrumman.com/careers.

Milestones to Moonshots: The Past, Present and Future of Space Exploration

In July 2021, the world experienced something it had not seen since July 1969: a head-to-head race between rival space launch teams, with real uncertainty about which one would be first to reach its goal. The original Space Race of the 1960s between the U.S. and the Soviet Union ended when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. The Soviets, uninterested in winning the silver, ended their moon project and shifted focus to their Soyuz orbital spacecraft, which even today remains a space access workhorse. The new competition involves not rival superpowers but rival billionaires: Jeff Bezos, who went to space aboard his New Shepard spacecraft, and Richard Branson, who went there on his VSS Unity spaceplane. According to Geekwire, the two sides have consistently denied that any rivalry was involved. The big-picture race in the 1960s was to achieve human space travel, and humanity accomplished its goal. The new race is to achieve commercial space travel, and this seems to be working out so far — though in a way that hardly anyone expected even a few years ago. To the Edge of Space A striking fact about the new space race is that the goals of the contestants were relatively modest. The rival mission teams did not aim to send people into orbit, or even to send them as high as the first American suborbital spaceflights did. Indeed, the Soviets skipped this step entirely, notes Space.com, as their first human spaceflight, by Yuri Gagarin in 1961, went into orbit. Instead, according to CBS News, the rival private spaceflight teams settled for reaching just high enough to cross the official threshold of space, as defined by two different agencies. NASA defines outer space as beginning at an altitude of 50 miles (about 80 km), while the Fé©dé©ration Aé©ronautique Internationale puts the beginning of outer space at a higher altitude: 100 km, about 62 miles up. Difficult — But Not Impossible The reason why the space-racing billionaires settled for modest suborbital flights instead of dropping by for a visit to the ISS is that human orbital spaceflight is incredibly challenging. And with current technology, it comes with a hefty price tag, even for billionaires. What exactly makes human spaceflight so challenging? Practically everything, though requirements like keeping people alive while their vessel is surrounded by hard vacuum apply as much to suborbital "space-adjacent" flights as to orbital missions. But the biggest challenge is the enormous speed needed to reach orbit, about five miles per second, or around 30 times faster than jetliners. And because kinetic energy (the energy you have to put into something to make it go fast) rises as the square of velocity, it takes nearly a thousand times as much energy for your body to reach orbit as it does to push you along to a pokey 550 mph, a typical passenger jet speed. For comparison, the New Shepard (per CNBC) and VSS Unity (per CNN) suborbital spacecraft only clocked in at around 2,200 to 2,300 mph, a mere four times the speed (and 16 times the kinetic energy per pound) of standard commercial jets. This is certainly enough to send them and their passengers a few dozen miles to the edge of space, where they experienced about three minutes of weightlessness. It may only be a taste of space, but even a taste would be pretty awesome for a lot of us. Old Space, New Space, Just Plain Space The billionaire space race of 2021 had one conspicuous non-participant: Elon Musk. This is striking because Musk is the one new-era commercial space entrepreneur whose company can and has launched people not just on a suborbital hop to the edge of space, but into orbit. Indeed, as Axios reported, a few weeks after Branson and Bezos made their trips, Musk's company, SpaceX, launched four people into orbit on what it billed as the first "all-civilian" orbital spaceflight. The flight, called Inspiration4, drew less media attention than the summer competition, since Musk himself was not on the passenger list. In the bigger picture, the most striking fact about Musk's version of private enterprise in space is how much SpaceX and its technology resembles its "old space" competitors. Its Falcon rocket family looks and flies very much like the Atlas and Delta rockets, whose roots go back to the early days of the original space race. Mostly this is a matter of physics and engineering. Multi-stage rockets with boosters are a proven technology for sending spacecraft and people into orbit and beyond, and Musk chose to stick mostly with what was already known to work when he started out. This is a sensible-shoes approach to space travel. The Subtle Limits of Commerce Another reason why Musk's approach and technology look familiar is that private enterprise in space is not actually new. Every American space booster has been the product of private industry, so in its overall technology and organization, SpaceX is going where the American space launch industry has often gone before. This does not mean "nothing to see here." One crucial difference between SpaceX and its competitors is that Musk started out developing space rockets "on spec" — not designing them to meet a customer's specific requirements, but designing them with the hope that if you build it, they will come. Economically this was very risky, but it did allow a potentially crucial innovation: the recovery, refurbishment, and reuse of booster stages. As Universe Today points out, from the dawn of the space age, people have been dismayed at the price tag of building a vehicle as large, complex and expensive as a jetliner that could only be used once. The Space Shuttle was reusable, except for the big yet relatively simple and cheap external tank, but it pushed the limits of 1970s technology so hard that it ended up being more expensive to fly than conventional expendable boosters. With four decades of technology progress to work with, SpaceX was able to develop an alternative approach to reusability. Its first stage and boosters, the most expensive section of a multistage rocket, are fitted with landing legs and automatically guided to land on floating barges positioned downrange from the launch site. And this works; the recovered stages are refurbished and used again. According to Universe Today, these second-hand rockets are then sold to customers as "flight tested" models. Why didn't the "old space" companies try that same trick first? The reason is simple. They are commercial businesses, and their business is launching rockets for specific customers who want to send things or people into space. None of those customers were eager to pay extra for the development and testing of this new technology, even if it might reduce costs in the future. SpaceX did not face that problem, and because its original "customer" was Elon Musk himself, he was perfectly happy to spend his own money to develop technology he sees as important to a space-centric future. This gets to the heart of the matter: SpaceX itself was not a commercial business proposition in the usual sense, at least not at the beginning. Space travel was, in a sense, approached as a hobby — Musk thought it would be awesome to do. A lot of us think space travel is awesome, and if you're reading this, chances are good that you agree. However, most of us don't have several billion dollars to spend on things we think are awesome. Musk did and has. The Amazing Power of Awesome Musk is not the only one to pursue space travel because it's cool. While the original space race was all about competition between world powers, the half-century of NASA spaceflight since then has been fueled by American taxpayers. Yes, there are numerous practical reasons for a space program to exist, such as the desire to launch weather or internet satellites tied to profit-making businesses, but human spaceflight and interplanetary exploration probes have been funded at least partly because they are, well, awesome. The power of awesome is also what propelled the summer space race of billionaires. A suborbital hop crosses no frontier that Alan Shepard didn't cross 60 years ago, but Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson both thought it would be worth spending a few billion dollars to do it. Both also think it's awesome enough that they will get their money back by selling suborbital hops to paying customers. We cannot yet say whether enough well-heeled customers will agree to make Blue Origins or Virgin Galactic profitable propositions. What we can say is that commercial space travel has already taken a direction that hardly anyone would have expected until a few years ago. Profit-making "practical" space missions, such as launching constellations of satellites for global phone service, are ongoing. Meanwhile, technology such as winged spacecraft released from mother-ship airplanes — like Branson's VSS Unity, and the legendary X-15 before it — are transforming this industry. But because this does not involve human spaceflight, it takes place largely out of the public eye. For decades, space visionaries have anticipated that profit-oriented business operations would drive a private enterprise future for human spaceflight. A whole subgenre of science fiction proposed that commercial enterprises such as orbital solar power stations or asteroid mining would provide the impetus to take people into space. The awesome factor might be reason enough for some, but hope of profit was expected to bring in the cold, hard cash. But at least so far, it has not worked out quite that way. None of those technologies has drawn enough interest from investors to gain substantial funding. Instead, it turned out to be the sheer awesome factor that motivated private entrepreneurs to reach for space. If human commercial space travel also turns out to be profitable, we'll likely see the funding of even more amazing human space missions. But the profit motive has been more of a hoped-for fringe benefit than a driving motivation in the new space race. Awesome, as it turns out, may be enough.

The Next Age of the Space Race Is Already Here

When stars go dim, astronomers take notice. Most stars, after all, shine with a steady light, including the sun. But the ones that are variable usually vary in predictable ways, so any unexpected dimming gets attention. When one of the brightest stars in the sky abruptly went dim at the beginning of 2020, astronomers emphatically took notice. The Betelgeuse star, which marks the shoulder of the star-rich constellation of Orion the Hunter, is visibly bright in the winter night sky, largely due to its enormous size and luminosity. According to Space.com, Betelgeuse is 900 times the size of the sun, and if it were put in the sun's place, it would extend past the orbit of Mars. It's so big that it's one of the relatively few stars you can actually image as more than a speck of light — a fact that plays a key role in resolving this mystery. Betelgeuse Star on the Brink These images show Betelgeuse as a turbulent place that seems to bubble and boil visibly on a time scale of months. This turbulence lends support to models of stellar structure and life cycle which suggest that Betelgeuse, a red supergiant, is a prime candidate to explode as a supernova. In cosmic terms, an explosion is imminent — which means it could take place at any time in the next few thousand years. That is a long time in human terms, but any time really does mean any time, so when Betelgeuse suddenly went dim far beyond its usual fluctuations, astronomers couldn't help but wonder whether it was about to go out with a bang. At the same time, astronomers understood that the same instability that will one day cause Betelgeuse to explode also makes the star prone to lesser outbursts and disruptions. Two alternative theories of what might be going on began to make the rounds. One theory was that one of Betelgeuse's regular fluctuations in temperature and brightness happened to be steeper than usual, with dramatic effects on how it looked to distant observers. Another theory was that dust clouds known to be formed by stellar winds from Betelgeuse were the cause of the dimming. If Betelgeuse were too far away for good observation, these alternative possibilities might have remained hypotheses, as there would be no way to test them. But because Betelgeuse is relatively close and easy to observe, it's a good object to study for lessons about what happens to these rare but spectacular stars. A Serendipitous Snapshot Reveals the Mystery As such, it was not a total surprise when it turned out that a team of astronomers was imaging Betelgeuse right through the period of its sudden dimming, beginning with what Science News calls an image "serendipitously" taken in January 2019 — not long before the mysterious dimming episode began. These images, along with new computer models of the interior of Betelgeuse, allowed the research team to evaluate the two theories that had been proposed to explain the dimming and recovery. As it turns out, both theories were right, and the two phenomena put forth as explanations were actually working in tandem to produce the sudden dimming and subsequent recovery of Betelgeuse. The episode began deep inside the star's tenuous outer layers, with a bubble of gas that erupted through the visible surface and billowed out into space — "a big burp," as Wired put it. This showed up clearly in Hubble Space Telescope imagery, notes SciTechDaily. "With Hubble," says Andrea Dupree, a member of the research team, "we could see the material as it left the star's surface and moved out through the atmosphere, before the dust formed that caused the star to appear to dim." After the eruption, Betelgeuse entered one of its regular cycles of becoming slightly dimmer and cooler. This was enough to allow some of the gas from the eruption to condense into grains of dust that blocked much of the visible light still coming from the star. These combined effects produced the dimming observed from Earth. As the dust grains spread out and dissipated to the point where they no longer blocked Betelgeuse's starlight, Betelgeuse visibly brightened up again. Betelgeuse is now shining as though the episode never happened, but sooner or later, it will explode. In the meantime, Universe Today notes that we are learning about new processes by which heavy elements produced in the cores of massive stars are released into space, where they may eventually contribute to the formation of Earthlike planets. And we're learning more about the behavior of unstable red supergiants as well, which not only helps us understand why stars go dim but also may provide us with advance warning when Betelgeuse is ramping up for its grand finale. 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.

Betelgeuse Star Dims and Recovers — No Supernova This Time

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. 

To Reach the Arctic, Scientists Look Outside Their Orbit

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

What Ever Happened to the Moon's Magnetosphere?

 How will artificial intelligence influence the future of space travel? If HAL 9000, the AI from "2001: A Space Odyssey," were a space explorer, where would it go and what would it look for?  For decades, we Earthlings have sent probes out into the vast unknown of space to study, explore and document some of the great mysteries of the cosmos. These spacefaring robots have featured varying degrees of autonomy, though most have been teleoperated by people on their home planet. Recent probes, however, have shown that self-directed robots can do amazing things. The Cassini probe, for instance, was launched in 1997 to explore Saturn. It has been studying the ringed planet since 2004, but this year it has been executing its Grand Finale sequence of dives between Saturn and its innermost ring before it burns up in the Saturn atmosphere.  AI and the Future of Space Travel  Robotic space travel will evolve even further with AI technologies, such as machine learning and deep learning. In a recent paper published in Science Robotics, researchers argue that robotic spacecrafts will make more and more of their own decisions in deep space, improving mission efficiency and even accomplishing "otherwise impossible observations, such as responding to a short-lived plume at a comet millions of miles from Earth."  Steve Chien and Kiri Wagstaff of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology provide an overview of how space probes have developed over the years. In the future, they could be exploring remote parts of our solar system, such as Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter.  "With rapid innovation in space robotics, the possibility of exploring neighboring systems far, far away (such as Alpha Centauri, a voyage of approximately 60 years by robot), is on its way to becoming a reality," the authors wrote in the paper.  "The goal is for AI to be more like a smart assistant collaborating with the scientist and less like programming assembly code," Chien, a senior research scientist on autonomous space systems, was quoted as saying. "It allows scientists to focus on the 'thinking' things -- analyzing and interpreting data -- while robotic explorers search out features of interest." Evolving the Exploration Game  Aside from Cassini, there are a number of examples of how AI has helped drive robotic space travel and exploration. NASA's Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment on the Earth Observing-1 satellite features machine learning and pattern recognition functions to perform tasks such as analyzing images to detect phenomena that were not present in prior observations. The Opportunity and Curiosity rovers have used AI systems to autonomously identify Martian dust devils as well as targets (and fine-tuning those targets) for chemistry analysis using a laser; NASA's Mars 2020 rover will also feature an AI system. The Mars 2022 Orbiter, a next-generation communications satellite that Northrop Grumman is working on, may also feature autonomous systems.  AI-driven space travel and exploration missions will require the ability to use the probe's own observations to create models of what is "normal" for a given environment, such as a remote moon. When sensor data record something extraordinary, the spacecraft will have to detect that phenomenon, evaluate its significance and perhaps decide to devote more resources to it to learn more.  While artificial intelligence can save time as well as energy and storage resources for probes that are far from Earth, researchers don't envision human operators being out of a job anytime soon.  "For the foreseeable future, there's a strong role for high-level human direction," says Wagstaff, a principal data scientist with JPL's machine learning group. "But AI is an observational tool that allows us to study science that we couldn't get otherwise."

AI in the Space Travel Drivers' Seat

 NASA has already found evidence of "primitive life" on early Mars: organic molecules, mineral features characteristic of biological activity and possible fossils of bacteria-like organisms. Just last month, the space agency announced the discovery of 10 new planets in the "Goldilocks zone" of their stars — both warm enough and cool enough to potentially support life. Kepler program scientist Mario Perez puts it simply: "We are probably not alone". But it's one thing to know that we have interstellar analogues that haven't dropped by to visit, and another to speculate scientifically about what type of life is out there. What could aliens look like? How would they act? Let's talk about the new neighbors. Plant Potential Back in February, the Spitzer Space Telescope helped find TRAPPIST-1 — a system of seven rocky planets, three of which are in the Goldilocks zone. This zone is extremely close to the TRAPPIST-1 star, an ultra-cool dwarf star the size of Jupiter. This means that all seven new planets orbit the star closer than Mercury's orbit to our sun, and most of the light and heat emitted is on the infrared portion of the spectrum. All seven planets are tidally locked, meaning only one side ever faces the sun, and they orbit so quickly that one full rotation around their star takes only two Earth weeks. So what does this mean for life? In the absence of hard data but with the significant potential for liquid water on at least three planets, Futurism asked scientists to speculate on the nature of plants that might exist across TRAPPIST-1 worlds. Experts suggest that most plant life would exist on the sun-facing side of these planets and would likely develop larger leaves to capture as much light as possible from the dimmer star, or develop a way to convert infrared radiation into energy. More details about the atmosphere and gravity will also inform plant features — planets with greater mass and thicker atmospheres would produce larger, shorter plants that could withstand powerful winds, while less massive planets with thinner atmospheres would produce tall, spindly flora. Larger Lifeforms Plants are one thing, but what about animals? What kind of alien creatures could we encounter on TRAPPIST-1 planets or any of the 50 potentially habitable worlds that NASA has discovered? It depends on who you ask. Some experts argue that symmetrical, bipedal life makes the most sense because it's efficient and adaptable — but this only works if alien environments closely match that of Earth. Other scientists note that life doesn't have to be carbon-based like ours; it could also be iron- or silicon-based to accommodate local conditions. There's also speculation that other forms of life might be so other that human beings wouldn't recognize them as alive. This might include life forms with the ability to control their bodies at the molecular level or that exist as forms of dark matter we're not currently able to comprehend.Advanced Aliens Beyond alien monkeys, sea creatures and bugs, is there a chance that advanced interplanetary creatures exist? It's possible. As noted by Quartz, the human search for extraterrestrial life is naturally human-focused; with no other frame of reference we assume that aliens would think and act much as we do, for example sending out radio signals and other energy pulses as a way to communicate. And we might be right — in 2015 the Kepler telescope detected rapid brightness fluctuations from star KIC 846252 that can't be explained by natural causes. Some people have theorized that the pattern came from a "Dyson Sphere" — a massive solar array built by advanced civilizations and used to directly capture a star's energy. What appears to us as a blinking light could be this array passing in front of the star. Speculation? Absolutely. Existing? Undeniably. It's unlikely that we're alone in the universe, and the discovery of new planets capable of producing life is now driving both speculation and exploration. No matter what the neighbors look like or how they live their lives, it's time to figure out how to say "hello."

New Planets and the Potential for Life: What Do Our Interstellar Neighbors Look Like?

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

Discovery of the Planets in Our Solar System

Activities conducted using spacecraft have become a ubiquitous part of our society. From monitoring hurricanes to measuring the ozone layer to a host of defense-related missions, U.S. government agencies today rely heavily on satellites and aerospace technology to conduct their day-to-day activities. But how are satellites conceived, designed, produced and deployed? NASA describes a spacecraft as "a vehicle or device designed for travel or operation outside the Earth's atmosphere." A satellite is described as "a type of spacecraft that orbits the Earth, the moon or another celestial body." In this series, we will use the terms spacecraft and satellite interchangeably. * * * Planning for the launch and deployment of a spacecraft begins in the earliest days of its conception, when a customer is still defining mission requirements on the "back of a napkin." How large the spacecraft will be, what orbit it will occupy, and how much shock and dynamic loading it can sustain during liftoff all help determine the type of launch vehicle that can deliver it most effectively to orbit. "Typically, we're procuring the launch vehicle as a commercial service for the government or working with them to figure out what launch vehicle they plan to provide," says Will Whalen, a launch system integration (LSI) specialist with Northrop Grumman. Either way, Whalen adds, the LSI team is working with a customer team and the contractor's space vehicle and mission payload team very early in the proposal development phase to define the most appropriate — and most competitive — launch vehicle. Launch and launch vehicle costs can make up 10 to 30% of the mission value, so it's very important to get it right. Creating the Right Match After a contractor secures a satellite contract, its LSI team begins working closely with the space vehicle team and the launch vehicle provider to ensure a good match — mechanically and electrically — between the space vehicle, or satellite, and the launch vehicle. "It's critical that all stakeholders in the launch and deployment process work together from day one," emphasizes Whalen. The LSI team works with the launch vehicle provider to define the electrical and mechanical interfaces between the satellite and launch vehicle, the dynamic forces that the satellite and the upper stage will experience, and the details of the separation sequence, adds Whalen. It's important, for example, that the second stage provide sufficient thrust and stability to steer and control the satellite safely through the suborbital and separation phases of launch. The LSI team also coordinates early in the satellite development process, Whalen explains, with U.S. government entities —typically U.S. Air Force — that will need to support the launch. For military launches, for example, the Air Force provides satellite fueling services on the ground, plus radar systems and ground control stations that track the satellite during launch and deployment. Shipping for Safety After the satellite has been completed, it is shipped to its launch site, typically two to four months before launch depending on how much work the contractor team expects to do at the launch site. Most U.S. satellites are launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or Kennedy Space Center in Florida, or Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Satellites are either shipped by air (a few hours) or truck (a week or longer). "Whenever possible, we transport satellites by air because it's faster, involves less risk, and avoids delays that can occur if we ship an oversize container by truck on normal U.S. highways," explains Whalen. "Sometimes our customer arranges for us to use a specialty government transport system such as a C-17 Globemaster or C-5 Galaxy aircraft." Coming Clean At the launch site, the satellite is brought into a processing facility that contains a series of progressively cleaner rooms. The first stop is an airlock where the shipping container is cleaned of all its road or air transport grime. Next is a high bay where the satellite is erected, lifted out of its shipping container, and placed on a processing stand that will allow integration and test (I&T) specialists to work on the satellite at different levels. Checking Reality After the I&T team connects its test sets and charges the satellite's batteries — they are shipped in a low state of charge to ensure safety and preserve battery life — it begins a carefully scripted series of tests. "During this phase of launch preparation, we activate the space vehicle, check out its payloads, and make sure that all of its subsystems — command and data handling, propulsion, attitude control etc. — are functioning the way we expect," says Whalen. "We want the specialists who designed and tested these systems in the factory to review the data and validate one last time that the data looks good and that none of our subsystems have been damaged in transit." Preparing for Launch After the space vehicle has been shown to be operating correctly, and before it is fueled, the launch preparation team simulates connecting the satellite to the Air Force Space Command Network (AFSCN), the communication link used during launch, deployment and on-orbit checkout. The AFSCN also provides a backup channel for sending commands or receiving telemetry should the satellite's primary communications link become unavailable during normal on-orbit operations. The final phases of the contractor's launch preparation include integrating the satellite mechanically with its separation system, and installing a special nose cone called the payload fairing around that entire assembly. The fairing protects the spacecraft against aerodynamic pressure and heating during launch and its ascent through the atmosphere. With the space vehicle contractor in observation mode only, the launch vehicle provider then integrates the fairing-enclosed payload with the launch vehicle. Counting Down And then the countdown to launch begins. The countdown period is normally 12 hours or less. Prior to countdown, all of the launch stakeholders, including contractors, customers and base authorities, meet for a final "launch commit" review. The goal is to ensure that all tasks associated with launch vehicle and satellite payload preparation have been completed, and that all assets needed to support the launch such as radar and tracking stations are available and working properly. It's also time for the satellite contractor team to go through its final checklist in preparation for launch. "On the day of launch, we power up the satellite and configure it for launch," explains Rob Woods, a satellite systems operation expert with Northrop Grumman. "If our technical team members spot anything they feel could jeopardize the safety or success of the mission, they can call for a launch hold or even a scrub." Skyway to Heaven Following a nominal countdown and liftoff, the launch vehicle provider takes the lead during the early, or ascent, phase of launch. Teams on the ground monitor the health and status of the launch vehicle as its main stage and any booster stages execute their specified burns, then drop off. Once the launch vehicle reaches a predetermined altitude above the atmosphere, it also releases the payload fairing, exposing the satellite to the space environment. During this ascent phase, the satellite contractor team puts the satellite into its separation configuration. Satellite batteries only have so much power, so during launch and liftoff, only a minimum, critical set of hardware (typically command and data handling) is powered up," says Woods. "Once a satellite separates from the second stage, however, it must be ready to assume complete control of itself, so all of its primary subsystems such as attitude control, propulsion, and communication have to be switched on." The second stage of the launch vehicle typically separates from the satellite and places it into either a circular low Earth orbit (LEO) or an intermediate transfer orbit. For more urgent, time-sensitive missions, the second stage might boost the satellite into a higher altitude (medium earth or geosynchronous) orbit before separation. Some satellites boost themselves from LEO to their final orbit using their own propulsion system, a process that can take several days, weeks or months. Final Checks Once the satellite reaches its final orbit, a team of engineers located at the satellite's permanent ground control station — often located at a customer site — begins a disciplined, on-orbit checkout of the spacecraft. This team typically includes the satellite contractor and customer representatives. "You can think of on-orbit checkout like the boot-up of your home computer, except that ours lasts for about 90 days," explains Woods. "Unlike your computer, however, which was booted up many times before you purchased it, a satellite can't be booted up in its operational configuration until the day you launch it. We have to turn things on very slowly and methodically." During this checkout phase, Woods continues, the ground operators configure the satellite for on-orbit operations. Their work includes powering on any remaining subsystems and mission payloads, and deploying the satellite's solar arrays, communications antennae, payloads or other articulations. "Once everything's activated and deployed, we verify that all of our satellite subsystems are fully operational," says Woods. "For example, we might change the pointing of the satellite, check that our star trackers are tracking stars as expected, or make sure that our mission sensors are seeing what they're supposed to see." The team also calibrates the satellite's instruments, and confirms, through a process called validation, that the data being collected by those instruments is consistent with expected and previously characterized data sets, he added. The on-orbit check-out process typically takes 30 to 90 days depending on the size of the satellite and complexity of the mission. Letting Go, Moving On Before "turning over the keys" to the spacecraft, however, Woods and his team provide the satellite's operators with all the critical and relevant details they'll need to ensure the safe, continuous and effective operation of the spacecraft. After that, they are typically kept on stand-by to provide periodic maintenance support or to diagnose and help resolve any technical issues that arise once the satellite goes operational. In summary, developing, producing and launching a satellite is a challenging, complex and extremely disciplined process. It takes the collective skills and talents of many people working toward a common goal. Space is a harsh and unforgiving environment, and critical details overlooked or misunderstood during satellite development can lead to disappointing or disastrous outcomes. If done right, however, every satellite has the potential to deliver valuable insights about the state of the planet and the human condition for many years to come. If you're ready to launch your career into a new orbit, check out the latest job opportunities at www.northropgrumman.com/careers

How Spacecraft Are Created: Launch and Deployment

Our solar system resembles two very different planetary systems combined into one. These two groups of planets are separated by a disproportionately wide gap between Mars and Jupiter, dubbed "the Great Divide" by a study published in Nature Astronomy. Astronomers have been puzzled by this divide for decades. A Spiraling Mystery The two planetary systems are divided as such:   The four major planets that are closest to the sun — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — are compact, solid bodies made up largely of heavy elements such as silicon and iron.  The four outer planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — are much larger and are mostly made up of light substances such as hydrogen and water ice, mostly in gaseous form.  According to The Planetary Society, a "snow line" between the inner and outer planets explains how the early solar system was divided into such different groups. Substances like water ice formed solid grains beyond the snow line, which eventually coalesced into the outer planets. Closer to the newborn sun, which shone brighter than today's mature sun, the grains were vaporized and dispersed.  But this explanation does not fully account for the wide gap between the two groups of planets, or how different the planets are. The inner planets are not only short of hydrogen and helium, they are also short of carbon. But grains of carbon only boil away at very high temperatures, and would spiral inward unhindered past the snow line. For years, says Science Daily, astronomers put the blame on Jupiter, whose enormous mass might have trapped grains and kept them from moving inward. Enter the "Great Divide" Now a pair of astronomers has offered an alternate explanation for both the Great Divide and the dramatic differences between the planets on each side of it. According to Science Alert, the researchers, Ramon Brasser and Stephen Mojzsis, started by examining infrared images of very young stars, many of which have been found to be surrounded by concentric dust rings. These are believed to be an early stage in the formation of planetary systems. And the researchers suggest that, 4 1/2 billion years ago, a similar set of dust rings formed around the newly formed sun. The effect of these dust rings, the researchers argue, was to form regions of alternating high and low pressure in the early solar system that blocked carbon- and water-rich grains of material from the outer region from spiraling inward. The Rocky Mountains of Space This barrier effect led the authors to come up with the name the Great Divide, inspired by the Rocky Mountains, which divide the Midwestern watershed of the Mississippi from the watershed of west coast rivers such as the Columbia. The solar system's Great Divide would not have been an absolute barrier. Some grains must have slipped across — enough for Earth to end up not only with some carbon, but also enough water to form its oceans. While the Great Divide, in this theory, was necessary for Earth to become earthlike at all, its permeability was also essential for the formation of life on Earth. As for the Great Divide itself, it vanished in the early days of the solar system, its dust ring particles being dispersed or else incorporated into planets. Its former location, between the current orbits of Jupiter and the asteroid belt, is now all but empty. Time for Stress Testing  These events happened more than 4 billion years ago, but for planetary scientists, now is when the real fun begins. A dramatic new (possible!) solution to a long-standing puzzle does not make scientists just drop everything and hail this latest discovery. First they need to check it out. As Live Science reports, some commentators are not entirely convinced. One astronomer notes that the Brasser-Mojzsis team has not yet offered a detailed model of the ancient solar ring system to confirm that it would indeed function as a Great Divide. So we may need to check back in after a few years to learn the final outcome of this particular adventure in solar system research. That's the way it goes, out on the frontier.

The Great Divide: The Origin of Our Planetary Split

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

What Occurs When Living Organisms Encounter Deep Space Radiation?

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.
 
 
 
 
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.
 
 
 
 
 

Earth&#8217;s Inner Core Has Slowed Its Spin — Should We Be Worried?

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

What Is a Brown Dwarf?

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

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

More than 700 Earth observing satellites orbit the globe. Flying miles above the planet, the spacecraft use remote sensing instruments, such as cameras, radar, lidar and radio receivers to monitor a wide range of weather and environmental conditions as well as radio communications. Some sensing systems already collect gigabytes and even terabytes of data per hour. And because each sensor type has its own unique way of analyzing information, the world can be surveyed for abundant reasons in details as small as 10 inches, reports MIT Technology Review. "The progress we have seen is stunning," says Anne Hale Miglarese, founder and CEO of Radiant Earth Foundation, a non-profit organization creating training data libraries of satellite imagery that can be used to improve machine learning algorithms meant to support research around agriculture, conservation and climate change. Soon researchers will be able to build a digital twin of the Earth on a daily basis. "We'll see buildings going up, ships crossing the sea, and we will be able to monitor the physical footprint of climate change," says Miglarese. Scientists armed with sensing data — from ocean temperatures, storm system, snow cover, vegetation, pollution, artificial lights and more — gain a deeper understanding of global events and processes so expansive they cannot be studied easily from the ground. Not only that, researchers can uncover hidden worlds obscured by tropical jungles or sheets of ice. Here are five discoveries made by Earth observing satellites flying high in the sky. Ancient Ruins Space archaeologist Sarah Parcak, a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, uses satellites orbiting high above Earth to discover clues to ancient civilizations. Her most memorable find occurred in 2010, while looking at satellite images of Egypt. The region was normally an unremarkable region of sandy soil, but in these particular images, which were taken during a wet time of the year, Parcak noticed the outlines of buildings and streets of what turned out to be the 3,000-year-old city of Tanis. The ancient ruins stood out in the photos because rain had soaked into mud bricks, making them easy to distinguish from the sandy ground, Parcak told The Guardian. Since, then Parcak has discovered 18 new pyramids and thousands of new tombs and has scoured satellite images looking for evidence of ancient civilizations, including the Vikings and the Romans. In 2016, she won a $1 million TED Prize, which she used to build the citizen science platform, GlobalXplorer. It allows any person to search high-resolution images for hints of archaeological sites. "We've had about 90,000 users find almost 20,000 previously unrecorded potential sites there, 700 of which we think are of major archaeological importance," Parcak told The Guardian. Invasive Species Around the world, invasive plants and animals, introduced more often than not by humans, crowd out native species. They decrease biodiversity and degrade wildlife, pushing parts toward extinction, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the fragile ecosystem of the Galapagos Islands, for instance, the quinine tree, Cuban cedar, blackberry, guava and others threaten indigenous plants, reports The Darwin Foundation. The organization, which was founded to ensure the conservation of the environment and biodiversity of the archipelago, is currently collaborating with universities to use remote sensing imagery from satellites to locate a variety of invasive plant species in order to eradicate them. In a project with Brown University, researchers from the Darwin Foundation are analyzing images donated by the commercial satellite company Maxar (formerly DigitalGlobe). Their network of spacecraft collects high-resolution images of the planet daily, capturing photos in a wide spectrum of light, including infrared. Multi-spectral images pick up different concentrations of chlorophyll in plants and can be used to characterize specific species. By combining data from these images with camera data taken with low-flying drones, researchers trained a computer model to find invasive plants in satellite images alone. They have created maps of the most dominant invasive plants on Santa Cruz island, namely blackberry, guava and Cuban cedar, and are working on the maps for the islands of Floreana and Santiago. Lost Continents Not all Earth observing satellites turn cameras on our planet. A satellite from the European Space Agency named GOCE (for Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) had an incredibly sensitive instrument designed to measure Earth's gravity, which changes across the globe, depending on the topography and the density of material below the surface. GOCE orbited Earth from 2009 to 2013, gathering data and transmitting it back to Europe. Eventually it finished its mission and plummeted into the atmosphere, where it burned up. Scientists kept studying the remote sensing data it had collected, though. In 2018, researchers from Kiel University in Germany combined the information from GOCE with data from a different satellite to digitally strip the ice from Antarctica and peer beneath. In the bedrock they found remnants of ancient continents beneath Antarctica, reports Live Science. East Antarctica's crust has a very old mix of features called cratons, cores of continents that came before Antarctica. They also found orogens, crumpled-up regions where ancient continents would have rammed together and created mountains. "This observation leads back to the break-up of the supercontinent Gondwana and the link of Antarctica to the surrounding continents," the study's leader Jé¶rg Ebbing told Live Science. Illegal Fishing Boats High crimes run rampant on the high seas. Up to one in five fish sold in the world is caught illegally, according to Pew research. Large-scale illegal fishing damages ecosystems and depletes fish stocks and is linked to arms and wildlife smuggling, drug trafficking, human rights abuses and slavery. A patchwork of fishing policies, lax enforcement and the impossibility of policing the open ocean only exacerbates, reports Pew. How to combat it? The answer lies in satellite technology. Some satellites are equipped with receivers that receive radio signals from a ship's Automatic Identification System, or AIS. The signal is analogous to a plane's air traffic control data and contains information about the ship's identity, position, course and speed. They're automatically generated and sent every two to 180 seconds from vessels more than 120 feet long as a way to prevent collisions and allows authorities to monitor vessel activities. Researchers around the word are beginning to analyze this and other data to piece together the otherwise unseen happenings in commercial fishing. One project, Global Fishing Watch, a nonprofit launched in 2016 and funded by Oceana, Google and SkyTruth, leverages satellite data and machine learning to track, visualize and share data about global fishing activity in near-real time and for free. To date, the platform has tracked approximately 65,000 commercial fishing vessels globally, an effort that has improved transparency and enforcement. Migrating Animals In the United States, big game species such as deer, elk, antelope, mountain goats and wild sheep draw lucrative amounts of hunting revenue to local economies. But human development, increased road traffic and expanded oil and gas drilling is adversely impacting wildlife. In Wyoming, for instance, mule deer herds have declined by 40% over 15 years in regions where oil and gas extraction has boomed, reports the Center for American Progress. Not only do shrinking herds reduce biodiversity, but they negatively impact Western state economies, where hunters and outdoor enthusiasts spend hundreds of billions of dollars Recently Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Oregon and New Mexico have begun ramping up funding and research efforts to study animal migration in an effort to improve wildlife management and conservation. Most scientists have turned to GPS collars and satellite tracking technology. Advancements in the technology have made it possible to not only accurately locate animals but do so every hour, reports Smithsonian. Scientists can reprogram a collar remotely, too, setting up so-called "geo-fences" that send out a notification if a group of animals leaves a predetermined border. Although studies have found that migration patterns change, species have unique pathways and timing. The majority of herds travel to the same summer ranges and return to the same winter ranges, year after year, reports Smithsonian. Knowing those routes can help conservation efforts. Research from the University of Wyoming, for instance, found that 4,000 to 5,000 pronghorn used a migration route that passed through the small town of Pinedale, Wyoming, situated in a valley between two large peaks. Preventing the development of private land there was critical to keeping the herds flowing through unimpeded. Another study from the University of Wyoming that used GPS collars on mule deer found that the animals "have a cognitive map of their migration routes and seasonal ranges, which helps them navigate tens to hundreds of miles between seasonal ranges," assistant professor, Jerod Merkle said in a press statement. "Because landscape memory so strongly underlies mule deer migratory behavior, the loss of a migratory population also will destroy the herd's collective mental map of how to move within a landscape, making it very difficult to restore lost migration routes," the researchers say. The view of Earth from miles above is expanding our understanding of the world and our place on it. And although there are more than 700 Earth observing satellites circling the globe, more are coming online. According to MarketWatch, the global commercial satellite imaging market is expected to grow more than 10% by 2023. It's only a matter of time before other hidden mysteries are laid bare.

5 Mysteries Earth Observing Satellites See From Space

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

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

Deep Space Exploration Isn't a Far-Fetched Possibility

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

Science and movies are inextricably linked. Sometimes their relationship is rocky — astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had lots to say about the depiction of gravity in "Gravity." Other times it's a win-win: The first "Jurassic Park" film spurred a resurgence in both paleontology fun and funding.  But is it possible that science on the silver screen could even hit the streets? Beyond "Star Trek"-like smartphones and VR experiences inspired by movies like "Total Recall" and "The Matrix," could we ever go bigger? Could genetically engineered creatures drive the creation of a real-life "Jurassic Park"?  Let's dig in: Is extinction really permanent? Or are we just not trying hard enough?  Life Will Not Be Contained  It's a warning in the film that proves prophetic: As expected, dinosaurs escape their imposed sterility (and physical confines) and start terrorizing human visitors. But what about the science behind creating a sauropod in the cinema? Was "Jurassic Park" anywhere near the truth?  Yes and no. As noted by the BBC, most of the film's massive monsters are actually from the cretaceous period, not the Jurassic. But in terms of actual dinosaur recreation, genetically engineered species designed using preserved DNA isn't too far off the mark.  The problem? DNA doesn't hold up well over time. Recreating a dinosaur requires its entire genome, which means finding DNA. Recreating dinosaurs demands DNA from 66 million years ago, but the oldest sample on record lands near the 1 million year mark. And while Live Science pointed out that 50 million year-old blood has been found in mosquitoes, all traces of DNA were gone.  There's also the little problem with splicing in frog DNA to cover the gaps and open the world's first live dino theme park. Doing this wouldn't give you a powerful T-Rex or terrifying velociraptor — according to Scientific American, you'd end up with a "frogosaur" that might not make it past the embryo stage.  So, to sum up: It's not all bad cinema science, but it won't make you a dinosaur.  Let's Make a Dinosaur!  Maybe there's another option.  Best bet? Start with a dino's closing living relative — the chicken — and work backwards. While dinosaur DNA stubbornly refuses to last more than a million years, the genetic container of your average chicken could be changed to more closely resemble their terrifying relatives.  Dubbed the "chickensoraus" by Dr. Jack Horner — the paleontologist who consulted on all four "Jurassic Park" films — the move from common barnyard animal to genetically engineered exemplar is well underway. Already, his team has manged to shift genetic priorities in chicken embryos to create snouts instead of beaks, and he notes that "wings and hands are not as difficult." Full-fledged tails may be more problematic, but Horner still has hope for new dinosaur hybrids within the next five to 10 years. With substantial progress being made in IVF protocols and processes, it may soon be possible to culture and create chickensorauses (chickensoraii?) at speed and scale.  Efforts are also underway to reverse-engineer creatures closer to our moment in history; Harvard scientists are hard at work trying to bring back the woolly mammoth by combining mammoth genome data and elephant cell cultures using CRISPR genome engineering techniques. So far, the Revive and Restore project reports that "mutations for mammoth hemoglobin, extra hair growth, fat production, down to nuanced climate adaptations such as slightly altered sodium ion channels in cell membranes have already been engineered into fibroblast cell lines." While mammoths won't walk again tomorrow, they could in your lifetime.  The Difference Between "Could" and "Should"  It's a classic line in the film and it still rings true today: Even if we could be recreating dinosaurs, should we?  Probably not. First is the problem of place — as noted by Dr. Susie Maidment in a recent Natural History Museum piece, "an animal that died out naturally, perhaps 150 million years ago, is not going to recognize anything in this world if you bring it back." What does it eat? Where does it live? Opting for a "Jurassic Park," zoo-like structure isn't a great idea because of the potential danger involved and the evolution of animal rights and ethics concerns.  There's also a question of value. While solving the puzzle of dinosaur DNA reconstruction is certainly science-worthy, beating back extinction just for the sake of it is short-sighted. What role would dinosaurs play in human life? Would they simply become experimental puzzles, or could they be tamed for human use? Where would ownership of this methodology lie — and what happens when it's inevitably used for less-than-noble purposes?  Here, a better approach may be using movie-inspired science to reverse the human-caused extinction of more recent species. Nature has already demonstrated this is possible with the Aldabra rail, a flightless bird that lives on the Aldabra Atoll. Originally appearing more than 130,000 years ago in fossil records, the rail became extinct when sea levels around the bird's habitat first rose and then fully submerged the Atoll. Twenty-thousand years later the sea levels fell, a descendant of the bird reappeared and became flightless again, effectively "re-evolving" itself back into existence.  Using known genomes of species like the passenger pigeon or the Tasmanian tiger, there's a path between extinct animals and new generations using a combination of IVF and carefully controlled environmental conditions. While it's not exactly easy — or fast, as the Revive and Restore project shows — there's potential here for genetically engineered creatures that beat extinction events and enhance Earth's biodiversity.  As for Jurassic dinosaurs? They should probably stay parked. 

Dino-Sized Dilemma: Could Genetically Engineered Creatures Evade Extinction?

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

Galileo Galilei's inventions and theories changed the way we view the universe. Today, he is regarded as the father of modern science, but during his lifetime he was condemned as a heretic for contradicting the Roman Catholic Church's belief that the Earth was the center of a perfect universe. Galileo, as he is known, was a philosopher, astronomer and mathematician. He was born in Pisa, Italy, in 1564, according to Britannica. Galileo went to college to study medicine, but he switched his focus to mathematics and ended up quitting school before completing his degree. However, he went on to teach math, and through lectures and writing he built a scholarly reputation. His Greatest Achievements Still Influence Modern Science History.com reported that Galileo made his first important discovery in 1583, when he described the rules that govern the motion of pendulums, which would become the foundation for pendulum clocks. He also invented and improved several other scientific tools that are now considered staples: balances, microscopes, compasses and — most famously — telescopes. During his time, people believed Aristotle's theory that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. Galileo questioned this concept and conducted motion experiments that disproved them. Space.com explains that by dropping balls of different weights, he revealed that objects accelerate at the same rate, regardless of mass. These motion experiments paved the way for Sir Isaac Newton to develop the laws of motion, and they pushed the scientific method into its modern form, in which scientists use experiments to prove that their hypotheses are true. The powerful James Webb Space Telescope and other modern telescopes are the descendants of Galileo Galilei's inventions. Before his time, basic telescopes existed, but they were only used as spyglasses. According to History.com, in 1609, he improved the design of a Dutch telescope and turned it toward the night sky, a key turning point in the history of astronomy. He went on to publish his findings, which included the discovery of Jupiter's moons and new stars in the Milky Way, plus observations of sunspots and the moon's cratered surface. A Controversial Figure Galileo drew conclusions that contradicted the Aristotelian view of the universe, which was widely accepted by both scientists and theologians in his era. Instead of following the widespread belief that Earth was at the center of a perfect heavenly world, Galileo exposed an unruly truth: The universe is chaotic, and it doesn't revolve around us. His work supported the Copernican heliocentric system, the theory that the earth and planets revolve around the sun, according to Biography. Galileo was a devout Catholic who tried to prove that Copernican theory did not contradict the Bible, but the church would not allow a scientist to say he interpreted scripture better than they did. He was summoned before the Roman Inquisition and ultimately convicted of heresy. His books were banned, and he spent the last years of his life under house arrest until he died in 1642.  Galileo Galilei's inventions outlived him and changed the course of history of astronomy and physics. The church eventually accepted Copernican theory and removed Galileo's works from the list of banned books. In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared that Galileo was right after all. The universe remains mysterious, but today's astronomers are armed with both the basic tools and concepts from Galileo's legacy and the cutting-edge technology of today.

Galileo Galilei's Inventions Exposed the Universal Truth

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

Cosmic Mysteries May Provide Insight Into Earliest Star Formations

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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