On June 28, NASA successfully launched the CAPSTONE project, which is the first step forward in paving the way for Artemis missions that will put astronauts back on the Moon after a period of 50 years. But this is just a development that happened last week. Here we have compiled some of the most exciting space news that happened during the previous week in case you missed it.
NASA launched CAPSTONE to pave the way for the Moon
A small spacecraft launched on June 28 from New Zealand as part of the CAPSTONE mission. It contained a microwave-sized CubeSat satellite. Its goal is to reduce the risk for future spacecraft by testing innovative navigation technologies and a new halo-shaped orbit that could be used by a space station orbiting the Moon in the future.
The mission carries a payload flight computer and a dedicated radio that will perform calculations to determine if the CubeSat is in its intended orbital trajectory. It will be NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) as a reference point. The idea here is that it communicates directly with LRO and will use the data obtained from this cross-link to measure how far away it is from LRO and how quickly the distance between the two changes, helping it to determine its position at the space.
The CAPSTONE mission will test a new orbit. (Image credit: NASA)
NASA will use it to evaluate CAPSTONE’s autonomous navigation software called the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS). Once successfully tested, the software could allow future spacecraft to determine their location without having to rely solely on Earth-based tracking.
The orbit it is testing, called the near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), is very elongated and its location is at a point of precise equilibrium between the gravities of the Earth and the Moon. This orbit could offer stability for long-term missions such as Gateway, a planned space station that will orbit the Moon and require minimal energy to maintain it. Once deployed, Gateway will serve as the ideal position for missions to the Moon and beyond.
An unusual place of impact on the Moon of an unknown rocket
NASA’s LRO had detected an unusual “double crater” on the Moon: an 18-meter-diameter eastern crater superimposed on a 16-meter-diameter western crater. The unexpected formation of a double crater indicates that any rocket that caused it had large masses at each end, which is unusual because spent rockets usually have the mass concentrated at the end of the engine and the rest of the rocket stage. it consists of an empty fuel tank.
No other impact of rockets on the Moon has created double craters as far as NASA scientists know. The four craters created by the third stage of the Saturn rockets (from Apollo 13, 14, 15 and 17) were irregularly contoured and were substantially larger, with the majority more than 35 meters in diameter.
The unexpected double-crater formation indicates that the rocket’s body had large masses at each end, which is unusual. (Image credit: NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University)
Researchers at the University of Arizona’s Space Domain Awareness Laboratory at the Lunar and Planetary Observatory believe the double crater was caused by a Chinese rocket launcher in 2014. But NASA still refers to the ass of the impact crater that was created by a “mystery.” rocket ”.
Using data from the Curiosity rover to measure the key ingredient of life on Mars
Using data from NASA’s Curiosity rover, scientists are first measuring the total organic carbon of Martian rocks. There is evidence that the climate of the red planet was similar to that of Earth billions of years ago; with a thicker atmosphere and liquid water flowing into rivers and seas. If there were ever life on Mars, scientists believe that the sites of these ancient bodies of water would be the best place to look for signs. Organic carbon is an important component of the molecules of life.
The Curiosity rover went to the Yellowknife Bay Formation at Gale Crater on Mars, which is the site of an ancient lake on Mars, and drilled samples of 3.5 billion-year-old mud rocks there. Curiosity then delivered the sample to the Mars Analysis Instrument (SAM), in which an oven heated powdered rock to progressively higher temperatures. He used oxygen and heat to convert organic carbon into carbon dioxide.
View of the Gale Crater Formation in Yellowknife Bay, where the Curiosity rover collected samples for analysis. (Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS)
After that, he measured the amount of carbon dioxide so that later scientists could use that data to measure the amount of organic carbon in the rock. This experiment was actually conducted in 2014, but the scientists needed years of analysis to understand the data and put the results in the context of the other discoveries of the mission at Gale crater. The resource-intensive experiment was performed only once during the 10 years of the Curiosity rover on Mars. In addition, the presence of organic carbon does not necessarily indicate extraterrestrial life, as there are many non-biological processes that can create it.
NASA wants public help to detect Martian clouds
The space agency has organized a project called “Cloudspotting on Mars” that uses its citizen science platform Zooniverse. NASA scientists are inviting the public to identify clouds on the red planet as part of the project in hopes that it will help solve a fundamental mystery about Mars’ atmosphere.
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been studying the red planet since 2006 and its Mars Climate Sounder has studied the planet’s atmosphere in infrared light. NASA teams are turning to the public to mark “arcs” in sixteen years of infrared data. Clouds appear as arcs in data and are said to be more easily detected by human eyes than algorithms. Of course, NASA plans to use the crowdfunding project to train better algorithms that can do this job in the future.
“Enchanted Lake” on Mars might be the best place to look for life on Mars
NASA had shared images of an “enchanted lake” on Mars, where scientists believe the rover of perseverance could find the first evidence of extraterrestrial life. Enchanted Lake is a rocky outcrop where scientists believe water existed in the past. The image was captured by the rover’s hazard avoidance cameras (Hazcams) on April 30 this year.
The image was taken near the base of the Jezero Crater Delta and provided scientists with a close-up view of the sedimentary rocks of Mars. These rocks usually form when fine particles carried by water or air are deposited in layers that become rocks over time. Scientists believe that water existed on Enchanted Lake in the past and that there is a possibility that it may have harbored life when it did.