Space Exploration Thread

[gutza1]

Sorry for not keeping this updated. Here's some news on Artemis II:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/10/aii-core-weld-issues/

[The Chronicler]

The space probe Lucy recently completed a flyby of a small asteroid in the Asteroid Belt, mainly to make sure its systems are all functioning properly ahead of its primary mission of visiting several Trojan Asteroids near Jupiter over the next several years, but the images from this brief flyby revealed that this small asteroid not only has its own moon, but that moon also turns out to be a contact binary object.
https://www.space.com/nasa-lucy-asteroid-dinky-3-space-rocks-contact-binary

[gutza1]

On an unrelated note, it appears the US military's top-secret unmanned spaceplane, the X-37B, is preparing to launch aboard a... Falcon Heavy of all things, in order to test out "new orbits."

https://www.space.com/space-force-x-37b-spacex-falcon-heavy-1st-launch-dec-2023

The most obvious idea is that this is a mission to geostationary transfer orbit, which the X-37B's conceptual predeccessor's heat shield was rated for. However, the Falcon Heavy is theoretically capable of launching the X-37B all the way around the Moon, though I don't know if the X-37B's heat shield is rated for reentry on a lunar return trajectory. Whatever the mission is, it's definitely going to be interesting.

[The Chronicler]

A quite rare kind of exoplanet system has recently been confirmed, consisting of six "sub-Neptune" planets with "mathematically perfect" orbits close to their host star:
https://www.space.com/six-sub-neptunes-found-100-light-years-from-earth

[gutza1]

A quite rare kind of exoplanet system has recently been confirmed, consisting of six "sub-Neptune" planets with "mathematically perfect" orbits close to their host star:
https://www.space.com/six-sub-neptunes-found-100-light-years-from-earth

Yeah. This appears to have been a configuration left over from the beginning of the system, which is surprising.

[The Chronicler]

We know about the possibility of finding life on Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa, or Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus. There's even been educated suggestions of life being possible under the ices of Pluto or even in the less intense upper atmosphere of Venus. But now, perhaps one of the most astonishing possible places to find life in the Solar System could be on Mercury under glaciers made of salt.
https://www.space.com/mercury-salt-glaciers-habitability

[The Chronicler]

https://www.space.com/uranus-neptune-similar-shades-of-blue-voyager-2-images

Uranus and Neptune are actually the same shade of blue-green. Apparently, the images that Voyager 2 had sent back in 1989 were artificially enhanced to make Neptune much more blue than would look in true visible light. In addition, it seems that Uranus turns more blue during the equinoxes and more green during the solstices, which might explain why the Voyager 2 images of that planet from 1986 are more green while some of the more recent images by telescopes appear more blue.

[The Chronicler]

NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter and its moon Europa was scheduled for launch on October 10, but with the intense hurricane expected to pass through Florida this week, that launch has now been postponed indefinitely. Hopefully, they'll be able to reschedule it soon enough to not miss the planetary alignment that would allow that space probe to reach Jupiter by 2030. The good news is that they've got the probe and rocket secured inside the hangar, and the launch window is good until November 6.

[Sporeguy97]

dang i was looking forward for it to launch this month but you can't control the weather, also i'm glad there is space thread on here 

[The Chronicler]

Well, good news. The launch was successfully done earlier this week on Monday, so Europa Clipper is now on its way to Jupiter, using gravity assists from Mars and Earth along the way.

[ImpracticalDino]

Oh wow, that's pretty interesting. I'm wondering what details and measurements they will unravel this time about Jupiter this time. Reminds Mo-o-o of this video he watched from AsapSCIENCE, an older video of theirs where I learned about the idea of "gravity assist" and how they used the Earth's gravity to help a spacecraft named "Juno" slingshot its momentum in late 2013. It made it to Jupiter in 2016.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHin6lk4KqU

[Sporeguy97]

venus has got to be my favorite planet in the solar system, from acid rain to temperatures that can melt lead it's a pretty cool planet... but what does it sound like   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3Ife6iBdsU&t=119s
it's a cool video by the way

[The Chronicler]

Here's something very interesting I've been hearing about over this past week. According to a recent analysis of data, it seems that when Voyager 2 did its flyby of Uranus back in 1986, it had the unfortunate timing of visiting that planet right when a solar storm was passing through. As a result, the data that was collected of its "unusual" magnetic field is probably inaccurate for what it would typically be like. This also suggests that, contrary to what the data had indicated during that flyby, some of the large icy moons around that planet might possibly turn out to have potential for subsurface oceans (like Jupiter's Europa or Saturn's Enceladus). Fortunately, plans are already underway to eventually send a new space probe to orbit Uranus, though it's not expected to launch until 2032 and then arrive in 2045.

https://www.space.com/the-universe/uranus/long-ago-voyager-2-might-have-caught-uranus-at-a-bad-time
https://www.space.com/uranus-moon-miranda-subsurface-ocean-voyager-2
https://www.space.com/uranus-moon-mission-habitability
https://www.space.com/nasa-uranus-orbiter-probe-mission-science

[The Chronicler]

A trio of lunar landers developed by private companies were launched not long ago, two American and one Japanese. The Japanese lander is taking a longer flight and is expected to land sometime in June, while the two American landers made their landing attempts earlier this week.

Blue Ghost by Firefly Aerospace was an absolute success:
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/were-on-the-moon-private-blue-ghost-moon-lander-aces-historic-lunar-landing-for-nasa
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/sunrise-on-the-moon-private-blue-ghost-lander-captures-amazing-shot-after-historic-lunar-touchdown-photo

Athena, the second attempt by Intuitive Machines after the first one toppled over upon landing, seems to have suffered a similar fate as the previous attempt:
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/private-intuitive-machines-moon-lander-fell-over-inside-crater-at-lunar-south-pole-photo-reveals

What I find especially intriguing is that there will be a lunar eclipse next week, meaning that Blue Ghost will have the opportunity to take the first ever photos of Earth from the Moon during such an event. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what those images will be like.

[The Chronicler]

The lunar eclipse was last night, and the Blue Ghost lander did in fact capture an image of the Sun being eclipsed by the Earth as seen from the surface of the Moon.

Some more information about the image:
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/wow-private-lunar-lander-watches-diamond-ring-eclipse-from-the-surface-of-the-moon-photo
https://www.popsci.com/science/blue-ghost-eclipse/

[ImpracticalDino]

@The Chronicler: Any ideas or estimates on when we are able to see the supernova explosion of the "Blaze Star" right here on Earth? The estimated date for when we are able to view the supernova has already passed, and I have not seen any news about the supernova being seen yet.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/science/t-coronae-borealis-may-explode-in-the-next-year-experts-say-after-multiple-false-alarms-know-the-upcoming-blaze-star-predictions/articleshow/119645035.cms

This article says some of the predictions were March 27th (already passed), November 10th, and June 25th, 2026. However... just like all the other articles that have date estimates of the Blaze Star's supernova reaching our eyes on Earth, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Many prior predictions about the supernova were wrong, and once again the recent prediction was wrong. I am not blaming anything or anyone, since I would imagine these types of things are super hard to predict a very precise date... let alone a general time frame.

So there lies my main concern then. If we cannot be sure about the exact timing, then I fear many people will be caught off guard and not notice the supernova explosion on time, on the night that it is actually visible in the Earth's night sky. We are able to see the supernova explosion about every 79 years or so on average... so basically, only once in a lifetime. This literally makes it a once in a lifetime opportunity, eh? Pretty co-o-o-ol stuff, I'll say.

Though actually... Mo-o-o will ask you this directly, since you are someone who is generally excited about awesome space events and usually go out to observe them. Is the hype of the "Blaze Star" deserved, and should it be something that any respectable fan of space, or perhaps even the average person, should not want to miss? How do you think it compares to other astronomical events and discoveries of space?