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Tag: Moon

  • 2 private lunar landers head toward the moon in a roundabout journey

    2 private lunar landers head toward the moon in a roundabout journey

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a two-for-one moonshot, SpaceX launched a pair of lunar landers Wednesday for U.S. and Japanese companies looking to jumpstart business on Earth’s dusty sidekick.

    The two landers rocketed away in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the latest in a stream of private spacecraft aiming for the moon. They shared the ride to save money but parted company an hour into the flight exactly as planned, taking separate roundabout routes for the monthslong journey.

    It’s take 2 for the Tokyo-based ispace, whose first lander crashed into the moon two years ago. This time, it has a rover on board with a scoop to gather up lunar dirt for study and plans to test potential food and water sources for future explorers.

    Lunar newcomer Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is flying 10 experiments for NASA, including a vacuum to gather dirt, a drill to measure the temperature below the surface and a device that could be used by future moonwalkers to keep the sharp, abrasive particles off their spacesuits and equipment.

    Firefly’s Blue Ghost — named after a species of U.S. Southeastern fireflies — should reach the moon first. The 6-foot-6-inches-tall (2-meter-tall) lander will attempt a touchdown in early March at Mare Crisium, a volcanic plain in the northern latitudes.

    The slightly bigger ispace lander named Resilience will take four to five months to get there, targeting a touchdown in late May or early June at Mare Frigoris, even farther north on the moon’s near side.

    “We don’t think this is a race. Some people say ‘race to the moon,’ but it’s not about the speed,” ispace’s founder CEO Takeshi Hakamada said this week from Cape Canaveral.

    Both Hakamada and Firefly CEO Jason Kim acknowledge the challenges still ahead, given the wreckage littering the lunar landscape. Only five countries have successfully placed spacecraft on the moon since the 1960s: the former Soviet Union, the U.S., China, India and Japan.

    “We’ve done everything we can on the design and the engineering,” Kim said. Even so, he pinned an Irish shamrock to his jacket lapel Tuesday night for good luck.

    The U.S. remains the only one to have landed astronauts. NASA’s Artemis program, the successor to Apollo, aims to get astronauts back on the moon by the end of the decade.

    Before that can happen, “we’re sending a lot of science and a lot of technology ahead of time to prepare for that,” NASA’s science mission chief Nicky Fox said on the eve of launch.

    If acing their respective touchdowns, both spacecraft will spend two weeks operating in constant daylight, shutting down once darkness hits.

    Once lowered onto the lunar surface, ispace’s 11-pound (5-kilogram) rover will stay near the lander, traveling up to hundreds of yards (meters) in circles at a speed of less than one inch (a couple centimeters) per second. The rover has its own special delivery to drop off on the lunar dust: a toy-size red house designed by a Swedish artist.

    NASA is paying $101 million to Firefly for the mission and another $44 million for the experiments. Hakamada declined to divulge the cost of ispace’s rebooted mission with six experiments, saying it’s less than the first mission that topped $100 million.

    Coming up by the end of February is the second moonshot for NASA by Houston-based Intuitive Machines. Last year, the company achieved the first U.S. lunar touchdown in more than a half-century, landing sideways near the south pole but still managing to operate.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • A Southern California school plants a ‘Moon Tree’ grown with seeds flown in space

    A Southern California school plants a ‘Moon Tree’ grown with seeds flown in space

    LAKE FOREST, Calif. — To cheers and applause from kids wearing spacesuits and star-studded T-shirts, a tree was planted in California that is out of this world.

    The so-called “Moon Tree” — grown with seeds that were flown around the moon — was wheeled out in a wagon accompanied by several students carrying shovels to help dig its new home at Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary School in Lake Forest.

    The school, which has roughly 500 students in grades K-12, was among those selected to receive a seedling for a giant sequoia that was grown with seeds flown on NASA’s Artemis I Mission in 2022.

    “It’s kind of crazy,” said Emily Aguesse, a sixth grader who participated in Monday’s ceremony welcoming the tree. “I’ve always wanted to go to space but this motivates it even more.”

    It’s the second time that NASA has flown seeds into space and brought them back for planting. An astronaut for the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 who was a former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper carried seeds that later were grown into the first generation of Moon Trees, which were planted in states spanning from Alabama to Washington.

    While many of those seedlings were distributed to national monuments, this latest batch has been given to schools and museums to promote science and conservation education and help bring space down to Earth, said Paul Propster, chief story architect for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

    “It’s just kind of cool and fun to connect the next generation of explorers,” Propster said.

    It isn’t known whether space travel has an effect on how plants grow and scientists continue to study the topic, he said.

    In 2022, NASA and the Forest Service flew nearly 2,000 seeds from five species of trees aboard the unmanned Orion spacecraft, which went into lunar orbit and spent about four weeks traveling in space.

    Once back on Earth, the seeds were grown into young sycamores, sweetgums, Douglas firs, loblolly pines and giant sequoias that could be shared with the public through an application process.

    Nearly 150 seedlings were distributed earlier in the year, and another batch is expected this fall, NASA officials said.

    Santiago — a science and technology-focused magnet school — planted its tree in a space-themed outdoor garden decorated with colorful stones painted by students. The school’s parent and teacher association will have community volunteers care for the Moon Tree, which is expected to grow in girth and stature for decades amid a grove of eucalyptus that shades the campus in Southern California.

    Colorful ropes were laid in circles on the ground to show students how big the tree could grow 50 years from now — and 500.

    “This tree will grow with the kids,” said Liz Gibson, who has three children at the school and chaired the NASA Moon Tree ceremony.

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  • NASA spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter’s moon Europa in search of the right conditions for life

    NASA spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter’s moon Europa in search of the right conditions for life

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a quest to explore Jupiter’s tantalizing moon Europa and reveal whether its vast hidden ocean might hold the keys to life.

    It will take Europa Clipper 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter, where it will slip into orbit around the giant gas planet and sneak close to Europa during dozens of radiation-drenched flybys.

    Scientists are almost certain a deep, global ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy crust. And where there is water, there could be life, making the moon one of the most promising places out there to hunt for it.

    Europa Clipper won’t look for life; it has no life detectors. Instead, the spacecraft will zero in on the ingredients necessary to sustain life, searching for organic compounds and other clues as it peers beneath the ice for suitable conditions.

    “Ocean worlds like Europa are not only unique because they might be habitable, but they might be habitable today,” NASA’s Gina DiBraccio said on the eve of launch.

    SpaceX started Clipper on its 1.8 million-mile (3 billion-kilometer) journey, launching the spacecraft on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

    The $5.2 billion mission almost got derailed by transistors.

    NASA didn’t learn until spring that Clipper’s transistors might be more vulnerable to Jupiter’s intense radiation field than anticipated. Clipper will endure the equivalent of several million chest X-rays during each of the 49 Europa flybys. The space agency spent months reviewing everything before concluding in September that the mission could proceed as planned.

    Hurricane Milton added to the anxiety, delaying the launch by several days.

    About the size of a basketball court with its solar wings unfurled, Clipper will swing past Mars and then Earth on its way to Jupiter for gravity assists. The nearly 13,000-pound (5,700-kilogram) probe should reach the solar system’s biggest planet in 2030.

    Clipper will circle Jupiter every 21 days. One of those days will bring it close to Europa, among 95 known moons at Jupiter and close to our own moon in size.

    The spacecraft will skim as low as 16 miles (25 kilometers) above Europa — much closer than the few previous visitors. Onboard radar will attempt to penetrate the moon’s ice sheet, believed to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more (15 kilometers to 24 kilometers) thick. The ocean below could be 80 miles (120 kilometers) or more deep.

    The spacecraft holds nine instruments, with its sensitive electronics stored in a vault with dense zinc and aluminum walls for protection against radiation. Exploration will last until 2034.

    If conditions are found to be favorable for life at Europa, then that opens up the possibility of life at other ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond, according to scientists. With an underground ocean and geysers, Saturn’s moon Enceladus is another top candidate.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will scour Jupiter moon for the ingredients for life

    NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will scour Jupiter moon for the ingredients for life

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA spacecraft is ready to set sail for Jupiter and its moon Europa, one of the best bets for finding life beyond Earth.

    Europa Clipper will peer beneath the moon’s icy crust where an ocean is thought to be sloshing fairly close to the surface. It won’t search for life, but rather determine whether conditions there could support it. Another mission would be needed to flush out any microorganisms lurking there.

    “It’s a chance for us to explore not a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago, but a world that might be habitable today — right now,” said program scientist Curt Niebur.

    Its massive solar panels make Clipper the biggest craft built by NASA to investigate another planet. It will take 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter and will sneak within 16 miles (25 kilometers) of Europa’s surface — considerably closer than any other spacecraft.

    Liftoff is targeted for this month aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Mission cost: $5.2 billion.

    One of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, Europa is almost the size of our own moon. It’s encased in an ice sheet estimated to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more (15 kilometers to 24 kilometers) thick. Scientists believe this frozen crust hides an ocean that could be 80 miles (120 kilometers) or more deep. The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted what appear to be geysers erupting from the surface. Discovered by Galileo in 1610, Europa is one of the four so-called Galilean moons of Jupiter, along with Ganymede, Io and Callisto.

    What type of life might Europa harbor? Besides water, organic compounds are needed for life as we know it, plus an energy source. In Europa’s case that could be thermal vents on the ocean floor. Deputy project scientist Bonnie Buratti imagines any life would be primitive like the bacterial life that originated in Earth’s deep ocean vents. “We will not know from this mission because we can’t see that deep,” she said. Unlike missions to Mars where habitability is one of many questions, Clipper’s sole job is to establish whether the moon could support life in its ocean or possibly in any pockets of water in the ice.

    When its solar wings and antennas are unfurled, Clipper is about the size of a basketball court — more than 100 feet (30 meters) end to end — and weighs nearly 13,000 pounds (6,000 kilograms). The supersized solar panels are needed because of Jupiter’s distance from the sun. The main body — about the size of a camper — is packed with nine science instruments, including radar that will penetrate the ice, cameras that will map virtually the entire moon and tools to tease out the contents of Europa’s surface and tenuous atmosphere. The name hearkens to the swift sailing ships of centuries past.

    The roundabout trip to Jupiter will span 1.8 billion miles (3 billion kilometers). For extra oomph, the spacecraft will swing past Mars early next year and then Earth in late 2026. It arrives at Jupiter in 2030 and begins science work the next year. While orbiting Jupiter, it will cross paths with Europa 49 times. The mission ends in 2034 with a planned crash into Ganymede — Jupiter’s biggest moon and the solar system’s too.

    There’s more radiation around Jupiter than anywhere else in our solar system, besides the sun. Europa passes through Jupiter’s bands of radiation as it orbits the gas giant, making it especially menacing for spacecraft. That’s why Clipper’s electronics are inside a vault with dense aluminum and zinc walls. All this radiation would nix any life on Europa’s surface. But it could break down water molecules and, perhaps, release oxygen all the way down into the ocean that could possibly fuel sea life.

    Earlier this year, NASA was in a panic that the spacecraft’s many transistors might not withstand the intense radiation. But after months of analysis, engineers concluded the mission could proceed as planned.

    NASA’s twin Pioneer spacecraft and then two Voyagers swept past Jupiter in the 1970s. The Voyagers provided the first detailed photos of Europa but from quite a distance. NASA’s Galileo spacecraft had repeated flybys of the moon during the 1990s, passing as close as 124 miles (200 kilometers). Still in action around Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has added to Europa’s photo album. Arriving at Jupiter a year after Clipper will be the European Space Agency’s Juice spacecraft, launched last year.

    Like Europa, Jupiter’s jumbo moon Ganymede is thought to host an underground ocean. But its frozen shell is much thicker — possibly 100 miles (160 kilometers) thick — making it tougher to probe the environment below. Callisto’s ice sheet may be even thicker, possibly hiding an ocean. Saturn’s moon Enceladus has geysers shooting up, but it’s much farther than Jupiter. Ditto for Saturn’s moon Titan, also suspected of having a subterranean sea. While no ocean worlds have been confirmed beyond our solar system, scientists believe they’re out there — and may even be relatively common.

    Like many robotic explorers before it, Clipper bears messages from Earth. Attached to the electronics vault is a triangular metal plate. On one side is a design labeled “water words” with representations of the word for water in 104 languages. On the opposite side: a poem about the moon by U.S. poet laureate Ada Limon and a silicon chip containing the names of 2.6 million people who signed up to vicariously ride along.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Though it’s not the moon yet, it’s the next best thing for European astronauts

    Though it’s not the moon yet, it’s the next best thing for European astronauts

    COLOGNE, Germany — Donning heavy spacesuits and visors to protect them from sunlight, astronauts Astronauts Thomas Pesquet of France and Matthias Maurer of Germany, accompanied by their trusty canine robot, move slowly on what looks like the lunar surface.

    But it’s not the moon.

    It will be years before the European Space Agency can send one of its astronauts there. For now, they are practicing in a facility the agency opened in Germany on Wednesday where lunar conditions have been replicated.

    The LUNA facility at the European Astronaut Center near Cologne has 900 tons of ground-up volcanic rock like that on the moon spread over a surface a bit bigger than a basketball court. The moon’s low-gravity environment will be simulated using movable ceiling-mounted trolleys that follow a suspended astronaut or rover’s movements.

    In a pre-opening briefing, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst said the facility will offer “most aspects that we will encounter on the moon.”

    “It’s the surface, it’s the lunar dust, the rocks, the lighting,” he said. “We will work in spacesuits that limit our movement, limit our view.”

    ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said at the opening ceremony that the facility “marks a significant milestone in Europe’s space exploration efforts.”

    ESA has negotiated for three spots on future moon missions under the NASA-led Artemis program by 2030, depending on the progress of the program. It currently relies on NASA and others to get its astronauts to space. The agency is building the service module for the Orion crew capsule that will fly to the moon as part of Artemis.

    “We need to prepare for the moon because currently we are only flying to low-Earth orbit to the International Space Station,” said ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. “But the next missions will bring us to the moon.”

    The facility’s lunar soil is made of volcanic rock mined in the Siebengebirge mountain range, not far from where the facility is located, and then ground and sifted until it’s as close to the moon’s surface as possible. The facility is opening several years later than planned, delayed by the pandemic and the discovery of protected lizards at the site just as construction was about to begin, forcing relocation.

    Plans are to use the facility, jointly operated by ESA and the German Aerospace Agency, to test lunar rovers and practice walking on the moon’s surface in cumbersome space suits, among other things.

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