Low Gravity Simulator Lets You Jump Around in Lunar Gravity

When the Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon, they had to perform tasks in 1/6th of Earth’s gravity. At first, walking and working in this low gravity environment posed some challenges. However, the astronauts soon adapted and figured out that hopping like a bunny made it easier to get around.

The Artemis astronauts will also need to adapt to life on the Moon, and to that end, ESA has built a unique facility in a 17-meter (55 ft.) refurbished ventilation shaft.  

A participant uses the MoLo facility in Milan, Italy which simulates lunar gravity. Credit: ESA.

Called the Movement in Low gravity environments (MoLo), the program operates at the LOOP (Locomotion On Other Planets) facility in Milan, Italy. The cavedium (vent shaft) laboratory has a special chair that simulates lunar gravity. It is equipped with a bungee rope suspension system which allows subjects to jump up to 6 meters in the air. Scientists monitor the subjects’ movements, observing how they jump, balance, and land to better understand how best to live and work on the Moon. The chair can also be modified to simulate Mars, which has 38% of Earth’s gravity.

If it sounds like fun, it is. I’ve had the chance to use the 1/6th Gravity Chair at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, which I’ll talk about below.

However, the MoLo studies aren’t just for fun, but for serious science. The study team consists of experts from several different universities and research centers and they are evaluating the movement and balance of each test subject as they jump and perform various other forms of locomotion.

The scientists are looking for how the body responds to reduced gravity levels as well as for things like how that lower gravity can impair balance. (Take a look at the video below of the Apollo astronauts walking, hopping and falling on the Moon!)

The scientists also study what methods of locomotion are the most efficient gait in different gravities. Among the various results, they have already shown what the Apollo astronauts proved, that bouncing on the Moon is actually the most “economical” of gaits, as opposed to on Earth, which is walking.

If the study reveals that balance is impaired due to reduced gravity levels, the scientists want to also figure out and define effective countermeasure systems to prevent falls and balance problems on the lunar and Martian surfaces. Additionally, they will try to determine what exercises are most effective to help astronauts mitigate or prevent deconditioning of muscles and bones that occurs in lower gravities. Perhaps the hopping on the Moon is beneficial not only for improved locomotion, but for keeping bones and muscles strong, too.

The participants using the low gravity chair have electromyography (EMG) sensors placed on their legs to measure muscle activity. Additionally, participants wear special reflective markers that allow for full 3D motion analysis with special sensors that provides data to special software that can reconstruct the participant’s body movements.

ESA said the next step of the study will happen during parabolic flights, where both lunar and Mars gravity can be simulated.  During the rollercoaster flight, all body parts are affected equally, allowing the team to study the effects of lower gravity on human balance.

That’s me walking “on the Moon” at ?@SpaceCampUSA? in the 1/6th gravity chair. Awesome experience! pic.twitter.com/XECDETWRpa

— Nancy Atkinson (@Nancy_A) March 30, 2023

The 1/6^th Gravity Chair at Space Camp is more for fun than science, but it was an awesome experience. There are two different uses for these chairs at Space Camp: one is for the attendees to experience walking and hopping in lunar gravity, and the other is part of the simulated missions that are the hallmarks of Space Camp.  

Nancy Atkinson waits for her turn in the 1/6^th Gravity Chair at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama to perform an EVA during a simulated lunar mission. Credit: Space Camp USA.

I was part of a lunar mission where during a lunar EVA (complete with a space suit) my crewmate and I had to construct a solar array “on the Moon” working in simulated 1/6th gravity. I found it quite easy to climb up the scaffolding to attach our solar panels to the array in the simulated lower gravity. It was an incredible amount of fun! I highly recommend Space Camp, for both kids (4^th grade to high school) and adults.

At Space Camp USA, performing an EVA using the 1/6th Gravity Chairs to build a solar array ‘on the Moon’. Credit: Space Camp USA.

Learn more about the LOOP facility here.

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Now We Know How a Solar Storm Took Out a Fleet of Starlinks

On March 23rd, sky observers marveled at a gorgeous display of northern and southern lights. It was reminder that when our Sun gets active, it can spark a phenomenon called “space weather.” Aurorae are among the most benign effects of this phenomenon.

At the other end of the space weather spectrum are solar storms that can knock out satellites. The folks at Starlink found that out the hard way in February 2022. On January 29th that year, the Sun belched out a class M 1.1 flare and related coronal mass ejection. Material from the Sun traveled out on the solar wind and arrived at Earth a few days later. On February 3, Starlink launched a group of 49 satellites to an altitude only 130 miles above Earth’s surface. They didn’t last long, and now solar physicists know why.

A group of researchers from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Catholic University of America took a closer look at the specifics of that storm. Their analysis identified a mass of plasma that impacted our planet’s magnetosphere. The actual event was a halo coronal mass ejection from an active region in the northeast quadrant of the Sun.

A SOHO image of the coronal mass ejection headed out (lower right from the Sun). Several days later it collided with Earth’s magnetic field, which helped thicken the atmosphere. That produced atmospheric drag which affected the Starlink satellites. Courtesy NASA/SOHO.

The material traveled out at around 690 kilometers per second as a shock-driving magnetic cloud. Think of it as a long ropy mass of material writhing its way through space. As it traveled, it expanded and at solar-facing satellites—including STEREO-A, which took a direct hit from it—made observations. Eventually, the cloud smacked into Earth’s magnetosphere creating a geomagnetic storm.

How Starlink Satellites Experienced the Effects Space Weather

One of the side effects of space weather that can affect satellites is warming in a region called the “thermosphere”. That increased the density of the upper atmosphere over a short amount of time and caused it to swell up. A denser atmosphere causes a phenomenon called “atmospheric drag”. Essentially, the thicker atmosphere slows down anything moving through. It also heats things up.

The atmosphere thickened enough that it affected the newly launched Starlink stations. They started to experience atmospheric drag, which caused them to deorbit and burn up on the way down. It was an expensive lesson in space weather and provided people on Earth with a great view of what happens when satellites fall back to Earth. It was also that could have been avoided if they’d delayed their launch to account for the ongoing threat.

Video captured over Puerto Rico of Starlink satellites plunging through Earth’s atmosphere on February 7, 2022. Courtesy KevinIZooropa.

How Does Space Weather Work?

The Sun constantly sends a stream of charged particles called the solar wind. This stream varies in density, speed, and temperature. Occasionally, the Sun will also belch out clouds of plasma in what’s called a ‘coronal mass ejection’. Sometimes it also sends out solar flares. All the material it loses travels away on the solar wind.

During periods when the Sun is more active, those clouds of plasma can come pretty frequently. If they impact Earth, the results can vary from a pretty auroral display all the way to commercial satellite disruptions and power blackouts on the ground. The loss of the Starlink satellites was a particularly massive effect of space weather.

Artist’s impression of the solar wind from the sun (left) interacting with Earth’s magnetosphere (right). Such activity worked to thicken the atmosphere, which worked to drag down the Starlink satellites. Credit: NASA

Current Space Weather Effects

At the moment, the Sun’s activity is increasing as it heads into a period called “solar maximum”. We can expect more auroral displays, along with CMEs and flares. With the strong outbursts come threats to our technology. Obviously, communications and other satellites are in danger. So are astronauts on the International Space Station.

But, the threats aren’t just in space. Earth-based power grids, communication lines, and other technologies are also at risk. For example, when a geomagnetic storm hits, it sets up huge circulating electrical currents between Earth and space. These are called “geomagnetically induced currents”. At the very least, they can short out power lines and grids. When those go down, so do the Internet, computer systems, telephone systems, and other crucial services. The average person would immediately experience a power outage, at the very least. But, airlines, banks, and other systems would be down until power and communications could be restored. There’s a great need to strengthen our technology against solar storms.

Starlink Lessons Learned?

The loss of the Starlink satellites cost the company millions of dollars. The company elected to launch, even though the space weather community warned about the effects of a geomagnetic storm. For years now, solar physicists have been warning about the effects of space weather. Most satellite companies pay attention to reports from such places as the Space Weather Prediction Center. If they get enough warning ahead of time, they can take steps to protect their equipment. Astronauts on the ISS can take shelter until the storm passes. And, power companies and others can follow forecasts of such storms so they can take whatever action is needed in the event of a strong event.

Solar physicists continue to study these solar outbursts in hopes of coming up with a foolproof prediction system. At the moment, when something erupts from the Sun, we get notifications from a fleet of satellites. Those give us minutes to hours of “heads-up” time to prepare for the worst. NASA and other agencies continue to improve solar studies and prediction methods so that companies launching satellites to low-Earth orbit can take steps to protect their investments.

For More Information

The Solar Cause of the 2022 February 3 Geomagnetic Storm that Led to the Demise of the Starlink Satellites
Space Weather Prediction Center
Space Weather FX (Video)

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Gravitational Waves From Colliding Neutron Stars Matched to a Fast Radio Burst

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) were first detected in 2007 (the Lorimer Burst) and have remained one of the most mysterious astronomical phenomena ever since. These bright radio pulses generally last a few milliseconds and are never heard from again (except in the rare case of Repeating FRBs). And then you have Gravitational Waves (GW), a phenomenon predicted by General Relativity that was first detected on September 14th, 2015. Together, these two phenomena have led to a revolution in astronomy where events are detected regularly and provide fresh insight into other cosmic mysteries.

In a new study led by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), an Australian-American team of researchers has revealed that FRBs and GWs may be connected. According to their study, which recently appeared in the journal Nature Astronomy, the team noted a potential coincidence between a binary neutron star merger and a bright non-repeating FRB. If confirmed, their results could confirm what astronomers have expected for some time – that FRBs are caused by a variety of astronomical events.

The research team included physicists from OzGrav, the University of Western Australia, the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) at Curtin University, and the Nevada Center for Astrophysics (NCfA) at the University of Nevada. The study was led by Alexandra Moroianu, a postgraduate student from UWA’s School of Physics, Mathematics, and Computing, who worked with researchers at OzGrav, ICRAR, and NCfA to study a GW event that happened to coincide with an FRB (a very unlikely coincidence).

The possible causes of FRBs have been debated since they were first detected, with candidates ranging from black holes, neutron stars, and magnetars to possible extraterrestrial transmissions. To date, over 1000 FRBs have been detected thanks to dedicated radio telescopes, like the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). Over time, young magnetars became the most favored candidate by astrophysicists, though recent observations have bolstered the idea that FRBs could have a variety of progenitors.

This includes mergers between neutron stars in compact binary systems. Astronomers have long predicted that these mergers. Clancy W. James, an astrophysicist with ICRAR and co-author of the study, explained in a recent article that appeared in The Conversation:

“Astronomers have long predicted that two neutron stars – a binary – merging to produce a black hole should also produce a burst of radio waves. The two neutron stars will be highly magnetic, and black holes cannot have magnetic fields. The idea is the sudden vanishing of magnetic fields when the neutron stars merge and collapse to a black hole produces a fast radio burst. Changing magnetic fields produce electric fields – it’s how most power stations produce electricity. And the huge change in magnetic fields at the time of collapse could produce the intense electromagnetic fields of an FRB.”

To test this theory, Moroianu and her colleagues examined GW190425, a GW event detected on April 25th, 2019, by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), the Virgo Collaboration, and CHIME. This event was only the second time astronomers detected GWs caused by the inspiral of two non-spinning neutron stars (BNS). Based on the signal properties, the LIGO team estimated that these stars were 1.72 and 1.63 times as massive as the Sun and formed a “supramassive neutron star.”

Using CHIME data first released two years after the event, Moroianu identified a non-repeating fast radio burst (FRB 20190425A), which occurred only two and a half hours after GW190425 and originated from the same spot in the sky. However, confirming that the two were related was rather challenging since one of LIGO’s detectors picked up the GW event (LIGO Livingston). In addition, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was blocked by Earth at the time, which prevented the detection of gamma rays (which would have confirmed that the two events were related).

Nevertheless, the team was able to determine the FRB’s distance by tracing the amount of gas it passed through. This is characteristic of fast radio bursts, where high-frequency radio waves travel through the interstellar medium (ISM) faster than frequency waves. “Because we know the average gas density of the universe, we can relate this gas content to distance, which is known as the Macquart relation,” James added. “And the distance traveled by FRB 20190425A was a near-perfect match for the distance to GW190425. Bingo!”

The authors acknowledge that this coincidence does not prove that FRBs result from neutron star mergers, but it does lend credence to the theory that BNSs could also be a progenitor. Despite the evidence they provide, they also estimate the odds of the two signals being caused by the same event are about 1 in 200. What is needed, at this point, is to find additional examples of FRBs and GW events coinciding. The odds of detecting such events will improve considerably when the recently-upgraded Virgo and Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA) come back online this May.

With their improved sensitivity, these observatories and their LIGO counterparts (LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston) are expected to detect thousands of events in the coming decades. Meanwhile, CHIME, the SKA, and other FRB detectors continue to exponentially increase the number of recorded FRB events, providing a robust basis for comparison. However, as James indicated, we may not have to wait long before more evidence is found:

“The key piece of evidence that would confirm or refute our theory – an optical or gamma-ray flash coming from the direction of the fast radio burst – vanished almost four years ago. In a few months, we might get another chance to find out if we are correct. In a few months, we may find out if we’ve made a key breakthrough – or if it was just a flash in the pan.”

Further Reading: The Conversation

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Plans are Underway to Build a 30 Cubic Kilometer Neutrino Telescope

How do astronomers look for neutrinos? These small, massless particles whiz through the universe at very close to the speed of light. They’ve been studied since the 1950s and detecting them provides work for a range of very interesting observatories.

There’s IceCube in Antarctica (below), which uses a cubic kilometer of ice at the South Pole as its collector. Another neutrino detector, called KM3Net, is under development deep beneath the surface of the Mediterranean sea. It joins existing detectors around the world.

This image shows a visual representation of one of the highest-energy neutrino detections superimposed on a view of the IceCube Lab at the South Pole. Credit: IceCube Collaboration

Now, a consortium of Chinese scientists has plans to develop another deepwater neutrino “telescope” that will be more extensive than any current technology online today.

According to lead researcher Chen Mingjun at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the facility will be the largest neutrino observatory in operation. “It will be a 30-cubic-kilometer detector comprising over 55,000 optical modules suspended along 2,300 strings,” said Chen.

Why Study Neutrinos?

Neutrinos come from a number of sources across the universe. Astronomers know that energetic events produce them, such as a supermassive star explosion. Often, a rush of neutrinos alerts astronomers to the fact that a supernova has exploded. They reach Earth before the light from the catastrophic event can get here.

Neutrinos (along with cosmic rays) also come from the Sun, from stellar explosions, from objects called blazars, and there were even neutrinos created in the Big Bang. On Earth, they emanate from the decay of radioactive materials beneath the surface, and from nuclear reactors and particle accelerators.

Black-hole-powered galaxies called blazars are the most common sources detected by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. They are sources of neutrinos and cosmic rays. Credits: M. Weiss/CfA

Neutrino astronomy is a way to use these particles (as well as cosmic rays) to search out their sources and understand the physics behind them. Neutrinos offer a chance for astronomers to “see” processes that they can’t catch any other way. That includes activity in the Sun’s core, the hidden cores of galaxies, gamma-ray bursts, and the events in starburst galaxies.

How to Detect Neutrinos

Spotting and measuring these fast-moving, nearly mass-less particles isn’t an easy task. They don’t interact very easily with regular matter, which makes them difficult to pin down. Depending on where they originate, neutrinos can travel through many light-years of space before interacting with interstellar gas and dust, or a planet, or star. Once they do, they pass almost completely unimpeded. But, they do interact briefly with matter. That interaction produces other detectable reactions and particles.

Super-Kamiokande, a neutrino detector in Japan, holds 50,000 tons of ultrapure water surrounded by light tubes. Credit: Super-Kamiokande Observatory

Since they’re such slippery objects, neutrino detectors have to have a large “collecting area” to detect enough for study. The first neutrino observatories were built underground. That isolated the detectors from local radiation “pollution.” Detection requires extremely sensitive equipment and even the best ones on Earth only measure a relative few.

Some neutrino observatories use a fluid called tetrachloroethylene to “capture” clues to neutrinos passing through. You might know this material better as dry cleaning fluid. When a neutrino hits a chlorine 37 atom in the tank, it converts it to an argon-37 atom. That’s what the instruments detect.

Another way to measure neutrinos is through what’s called a Cherenkov detector. The name refers to Cherenkov radiation, which is emitted whenever charged particles such as electrons or muons move through water, heavy water, or ice. The charged particle generates this radiation as it moves through the detector fluid. That’s the method IceCube, KM4Net, Lake Baikal, and others use. The Chinese underwater detector will improve on this method and go hunting for neutrinos on a much larger scale.

Linking Neutrino and Cosmic Ray Sources

The aim of building such an extensive telescope is to detect high-energy neutrinos, but Chen thinks that there may be a link to cosmic rays. He expects that the neutrinos the facility detects will contribute to solving a century-old scientific puzzle of the origin of cosmic rays.

In the early 1900s, scientists discovered that energetic particles constantly bombard Earth. Since then, astronomers have tracked neutrinos as well as gamma rays from space. In 2021, China’s Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) in Sichuan province detected 12 sources of gamma rays. These probably came from the same sources as some cosmic rays.

A schematic diagram of the high-energy underwater neutrino telescope under development by Chinese scientists. Courtesy Chinese Academy of Sciences

Chen said one popular hypothesis is that the high-energy neutrinos and gamma rays are potentially produced simultaneously when high-energy cosmic rays originate. “If we can detect the two particles together, we can determine the origin of the cosmic rays,” said Chen. The team wants to see if neutrino collisions in their detector produce secondary particles. These should emit light signals for their underwater detectors to see. Some research already hints at this possibility, and Chen believes that neutrino detection could trace the origin of this mystery space radiation.

Next Steps

Most members of the team have spent years in the study of cosmic rays, particularly through project LHAASO. Now they’re gearing up to do the same with neutrinos in a whole new facility. There’s no doubt hunting extraterrestrial neutrinos from deep water will present new challenges. Underwater equipment and operations are very costly. In addition, the team has to develop a detector that can be completely waterproofed. However, work is underway, and the team just completed the first sea trial to test the detecting system at a depth of 1,800 meters underwater.

For More Information

Scientists Mull Building Underwater Telescope to Detect Cosmic Rays
KM3NeT
IceCube Neutrino Observatory
LHAASO Dark Matter Search

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China Hints at Its Goals for a Lunar Base

In June 2021, China announced it was partnering with Russia to launch a lunar exploration program that would rival NASA’s Artemis Program. This program would include robotic landers, orbiters, and crewed missions that would culminate with the creation of an outpost around the Moon’s southern polar region – the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). While the details are still scant, periodic updates have provided a “big-picture” idea of what this lunar outpost will look like.

Case in point, at a recent national space conference, a team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) presented a list of objectives for the ILRS. According to China Science Daily, these objectives will include Moon-based astronomy, Earth observation, and lunar in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). In addition, the CAS scientists indicated that China plans to establish a basic model for a lunar research station based on two planned exploration missions by 2028, which will subsequently expand into an international base.

Zou Yongliao, the head of the lunar and deep space exploration division of the CAS, revealed these goals. According to Zou, while plans for the ILRS are still a work in progress, scientists have already made progress in developing specific objectives for scientific research and operations on the Moon. Similar to what NASA has in store, the main objectives include studying the Moon’s composition, formation, and evolution. This research began in earnest with sample-return missions and Moon rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts, which indicated similarities between Earth and the Moon.

Illustration of NASA astronauts and the elements of the Artemis Base Camp operating around the Moon’s southern polar region. Credit: NASA

These same rocks also provided the first evidence of water on the Moon, which future crewed missions intend to explore further. Locating and assessing where critical resources like water ice are located is vital to human exploration on the Moon and could eventually lead to the creation of permanent lunar settlements. Attention was also given to scientific experiments that the ILRS will enable, including growing plants in lunar gravity and ISRU operations involving lunar minerals and solar energy. This research will also have implications for long-duration stays on the Moon and even lunar settlement.

Outposts on the far side of the Moon also present opportunities for astronomy, not the least of which is radio astronomy. Radio telescopes on the Moon will be unencumbered by interference on Earth, while optical telescopes won’t have to contend with light pollution or atmospheric distortion. According to Zou, specific objectives will include exploring star formation, stellar activities, Earth observation, and Solar dynamics. These studies will allow scientists to learn more about “space weather” and how to predict major solar eruptions (solar flares).

Zou and his colleagues also noted that the Moon is the “main field” of deep space exploration and that constructing a lunar research station was a “historical necessity.” This is consistent with China’s near- and long-term priorities for space exploration. Like NASA’s “Moon to Mars” architecture, this plan involves creating the infrastructure that will allow for a program of “sustainable exploration and development” while also enabling the crewed exploration of Mars in the 2030s.

While no mention was made concerning Russia’s continued participation in the ILRS program (which has become doubtful with the war in Ukraine), it seems clear at this point that China is prepared to go it alone. This should come as no surprise since the original plan involved China doing the majority of the heavy lifting. Without the Russian Soyuz-2 and Angara-5 launchers, China will likely turn to its own Long March 5 rockets and the super-heavy reusable launch vehicle they currently have in development.

Artist rendering of an Artemis astronaut exploring the Moon’s surface during a future mission. Credit: NASA

Similarly, in lieu of Russia’s proposed Luna-25, Luna-26, and Luna-27 missions (assuming they are further delayed), China is more than capable of relying on its own Chang’e program, which will send two additional missions to the Moon (Chang’e-6 and Chang’e-7) in 2024 and 2026 (respectively). In short, China’s space program is making considerable progress and looks to be on track for making crewed lunar missions by the end of the decade (or soon after). This latest announcement and the scientific objectives outlined at the conference reflect that confidence.

Further Reading: Xinhua

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Artemis II is Literally Coming Together

In November 2024, NASA’s Artemis II mission will launch from Cape Canaveral, carrying a crew of four astronauts around the Moon before returning home. This will be the first crewed mission of the program, paving the way for Artemis III and the long-awaited return to the Moon in 2025. These missions will rely on the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) super-heavy launch vehicle. At NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, teams of engineers have just finished integrating all five major structures that make up the core stage of the Artemis II rocket.

This included joining the engine section to the rest of the rocket stage, which technicians performed on March 17th. Located at the base of the 64.6-meter (212-foot) core stage, the engine section is the rocket’s most complex and intricate part. In addition to avionics, thousands of sensors, miles of electrical cables, and propellant lines, the engine section is a crucial attachment point for the four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters, two pieces of technology from the Space Shuttle Era.

The next step will see the technicians integrate the four RS-25s into the engine section to complete the core stage. Between these four thrusters and the solid rocket boosters, the core stage will produce 3.99 million kg (8.8 million lbs) of thrust at liftoff. Once the engines are added, the crews at Michoud will begin integrating the core stage with its solid rocket boosters and the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle, which consists of the spacecraft’s crew and service modules, the Launch Abort System, and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage.

In terms of payload, a crewed SLS will be able to transport between 95.25 and 118 metric tons (105 to 130 US tons) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 34.5 to 39 metric tons (38 to 43 US tons) to the Moon. The rocket is vital to NASA’s Artemis Program, which will land the “first woman and first person of color” on the Moon by 2025. The long-term goal is to create a program of “sustained lunar exploration and development,” including the Lunar Gateway and Artemis Base Camp. In addition to lunar exploration, this infrastructure will enable crewed missions to Mars in the coming decade.

Everything is coming together for Artemis II, literally and figuratively!

Credit: NASA

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It's Time For Your Annual Weather Update for the Outer Solar System

A couple times a year, the Hubble Space Telescope turns its powerful gaze on the giant planets in the outer Solar System, studying their cloudtops and weather systems. With the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) Program, Hubble provides us with these views and also delivers weather reports on what’s happening. Here’s an updated report and some new images of the stormy surfaces of Jupiter and Uranus.  

According to Hubble, the forecast for Jupiter continues to be stormy, especially at low northern latitudes. In just the past decade, a prominent string of storms have formed, creating what’s called a “vortex street,” which is especially visible in the image from November 12, 2022.  This is a wave pattern of nested anticyclones and cyclones, “locked together like in a machine with alternating gears moving clockwise and counterclockwise,” according to planetary scientists. NASA says that if the storms get close enough to each other, they could merge into a storm even larger than Jupiter’s notorious Great Red Spot. These storms have only sprung up recently, as in the 1990s and early 2000s, these types of storms weren’t around. But these storms seem to be getting more active over time, and the strong color differences indicate that Hubble is seeing different cloud heights and depths as well.

The black dot on Jupiter’s western side is from the moon Io, which is visible as an orange sphere near Jupiter’s center. If you zoom in on the full-size version of this image, found here, you’ll see that Hubble’s resolution is so sharp that you can make out Io’s mottled-orange surface, which comes from the numerous active volcanoes.

In the most recent image from January 6, 2023, the Great Red Spot shows up perfectly. NASA says that although this vortex is big enough to swallow Earth, it has actually shrunk, and is now the smallest size it has ever been over observation records dating back 150 years.

Just below and to the right of the GRS, Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede can be seen.  

Why is this view of Jupiter smaller than the image from just a few months ago? Jupiter was 130,350 km (81,000 miles) farther from Earth (and Hubble) when the photo was taken.

Hubble images of Uranus from 2014, compared to 2022. Credits: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), and Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI).

Moving on to Uranus, Hubble has been watching an extensive storm system at the north pole of this planet getting brighter each year as the planet approaches the peak of summer in its northern hemisphere. Of course, Uranus is tilted on its side, and so the north pole is can be found where the equator would be on our Solar System’s other planets.

Comparing images from 2014 to this latest image taken on November 10, 2022, this giant storm system now covers a large percentage of the planet. NASA says that at the Uranian equinox in 2007, neither pole was particularly bright. Now, planetary astronomers are trying to discern how and why this polar storm continues to grow. It might involve various atmospheric effects, from circulation, particle properties, and chemical processes, which control how the atmospheric polar cap changes with the seasons.

As northern summer solstice approaches in 2028 the cap may grow larger and brighter still, and will be aimed directly toward Earth, allowing good views of the north pole. Additionally, the ring system, clearly visible here, will then appear face-on. This will provide new and unique views of the rings.

These Hubble views of the Solar System’s gas giants complement observations from the spacecraft visiting these worlds, such as Juno, currently orbiting Jupiter. When the Cassini mission — which plunged into Saturn in 2017 — was orbiting the Saturn system, astronomers could compare the views from Hubble and Cassini, providing more insights. Additionally, planetary scientists can look back at images from the Voyager 1 and 2 probes, which collectively flew by all four giant planets between 1979 and 1989, and compare with the recent Hubble images to track changes over time of the weather on planets in the outer Solar System.

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Europa’s Ice Rotates at a Different Speed From its Interior. Now We May Know Why

Jupiter’s moon, Europa, contains a large ocean of salty water beneath its icy shell, some of which makes it to the surface from time to time, and this vast ocean could host life, as well. Europa was most recently observed by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, but current examinations of the moon’s internal ocean are limited to computer models and simulations produced here on Earth, as no mission is actively exploring this tiny moon orbiting Jupiter. Other than the internal water occasionally breaching the icy shell and making it to the surface, what other effects could the internal ocean have on the icy shell that encloses it?

This is what an international team of researchers hope to answer as they examined the rotational relationship between Europa’s icy shell and the small moon’s interior ocean. While scientists have long suspected the free-floating properties of the ice shell, meaning it’s detached from the interior ocean, this new study is the first to present new modeling that suggests the currents of the ocean could be driving the icy shell’s rotation.

Artist illustration of Europa’s internal ocean interacting with the icy shell with Jupiter and Io in the background. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

For the study, the researchers examined the drag force exhibited between the icy shell and the ocean beneath it. In fluid mechanics, the drag force is what a solid object experiences as it moves through a surrounding fluid. In this case, the bottom of Europa’s icy shell that’s moving through the interior ocean. The study also offers hints that Europa’s surface features of countless cracks and ridges could also be the result of the icy shell stretching and compressing while it’s being dragged along by the interior ocean.

“Before this, it was known through laboratory experiments and modeling that heating and cooling of Europa’s ocean may drive currents,” said Dr. Hamish Hay, who is a researcher at the University of Oxford University but performed the research while a postdoctoral research associate at NASA JPL-Caltech, and is lead author of the study. “Now our results highlight a coupling between the ocean and the rotation of the icy shell that was never previously considered.”

Scientists have been arguing for decades over the rotational speeds between the icy shell and interior ocean, specifically pertaining to if the shell rotates faster. However, scientists have always tried to use Jupiter’s massive gravity tugging on Europa and its icy shell as the reason why the icy shell might rotate faster than the ocean, but they haven’t considered the ocean itself as being the reason, until now.

Learn about Europa, its ocean-surface interaction, and NASA’s Europa Clipper mission!

“To me, it was completely unexpected that what happens in the ocean’s circulation could be enough to affect the icy shell. That was a huge surprise,” said Dr. Robert Pappalardo, who is a Europa Clipper Project Scientist at JPL, and a co-author on the study. “And the idea that the cracks and ridges we see on Europa’s surface could be tied to the circulation of the ocean below – geologists don’t usually think, ‘Maybe it’s the ocean doing that.’”

In collaboration with the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division, the researchers developed circulation models of Europa’s interior ocean using the same methods to develop models for studying the oceans of the Earth. Scientists have long hypothesized that Europa’s internal ocean is heated from the bottom from a combination of radioactive decay and tidal heating, and created simulations to determine how this could affect the ocean circulation.

The research team discovered that while the ocean circulation appeared to start off with vertical motion—north-south and south-north—from the bottom of the ocean, Europa’s rotation caused these currents to eventually veer horizontally—east-west and west-east. When the researchers incorporated the drag force into their models, they discovered that with enough speed the ocean currents could alter the rotation speed of the icy shell above over time, making it move either faster or slower. In the end, the researchers determined that as the internal ocean circulation changes over time, so does the rotation speed of the icy shell.

Artist’s in-depth illustration of Europa’s internal ocean, plus external forces, interacting with the moon’s surface. (Credit: NASA)

“The work could be important in understanding how other ocean worlds’ rotation speeds may have changed over time,” said Dr. Hay. “And now that we know about the potential coupling of interior oceans with the surfaces of these bodies, we may learn more about their geological histories as well as Europa’s.”

A vital piece to learning more about Europa and its internal ocean is NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in 2024 and arrive at Jupiter in 2030. While the primary science objective of Europa Clipper will be to determine the potential habitability of Europa, specifically pertaining to its internal ocean, this mission could also offer an enormous opportunity to learn more about how the internal ocean affects the icy shell and the rotational behavior of them both. In preparation for the missions, scientists at NASA JPL are currently using a simulation chamber called “The Ark” to learn more about Europa before Clipper gets there.

What new insights will scientists learn about Europa’s internal ocean and its effects on the moon’s icy shell in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

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Type One Energy Raises $29M to Work on a Crazy Fusion Device

A Wisconsin-based startup called Type One Energy says it’s closed an over-subscribed $29 million financing round to launch its effort to commercialize a weird kind of nuclear fusion device known as a stellarator.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the $2 billion clean-energy fund created by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, partnered with TDK Ventures and Doral Energy Tech Ventures to co-lead the investment round. Other backers include Darco, the Grantham Foundation, MILFAM, Orbia Ventures, Shorewind Capital, TRIREC and Vahoca.

Stellarator fusion devices rely on a pretzel-shaped torus of magnets to contain the plasma where fusion takes place. They have a design that’s strikingly different from, say, the giant tokamak that’s being built for the multibillion-dollar ITER experimental fusion reactor in France, or the laser-blasting device at the National Ignition Facility in California that recently hit an energy-producing milestone. Some have gone so far as to call stellarators the “fusion reactor designed in hell.”

The twisted structure of a stellarator device is meant to create a stable magnetic field for plasma containment without having to use massive circulating electric currents. Plasma physics labs have been building stellarators since the 1950s. The billion-dollar Wendelstein 7-X reactor — which began operation in Germany in 2015 — is currently the world’s largest experimental fusion device of the stellarator type.

In parallel with experiments such as ITER and Wendelstein 7-X, commercial ventures are pursuing the dream of harnessing nuclear fusion — the phenomenon that powers the sun in accordance with Albert Einstein’s famous E=mc² equation. Fusion is touted as a relatively clean, carbon-free source of energy, potentially fueled by deuterium extracted from the world’s oceans or helium-3 mined on the moon. But it’s been devilishly difficult to develop a workable fusion power plant.

Plans for commercial fusion typically call for smashing atoms or ions together under pressures and temperatures high enough to transform a smidgen of mass directly into energy. Fusion Energy Base’s litany of companies runs from Agni to Zap — and includes Commonwealth Fusion Systems, another startup in Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ portfolio. But Type One Energy is one of only two stellarator-centric companies on the list. (The other is Renaissance Fusion.)

Carmichael Roberts, who co-leads Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ investment committee, said it’s worth making a multimillion-dollar bet on stellarator technology.

“Fusion is the ultimate energy source, and its successful commercialization will be a huge leap towards achieving clean and abundant energy for everyone,” Roberts said in a news release. “Advances in stellarator science, including Type One Energy’s ability to execute a stellarator development project, provide the basis for a very exciting and promising path to practical fusion on the grid in the coming decades.”

In conjunction with the infusion of capital, Christofer Mowry will take over as Type One Energy’s CEO. Mowry is Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ senior adviser on fusion, and previously served as CEO of Vancouver, B.C.-based General Fusion. He said Type One “represents a special opportunity.”

“This team’s knowledge and credibility gives Type One the unique ability to effectively integraete recent global advances in stellarator-relevant technology and to deliver a fusion power plant without another costly, large-scale science validation machine,” Mowry said.

The newly announced funding brings Type One’s total investment since its founding in 2019 to $30.7 million. Type One said the added support will fuel rapid expansion of the company, which currently has fewer than 10 full-time employees.

The company’s partners include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. “We look forward to collaborating with Type One Energy to realize the advantags of HTS high-field fusion magnets to their stellarator technology,” said Dennis Whyte, the center’s director.

Type One and its scientific collaborators @MIT-PSFC, @UWMadison & @CFS_energy built the world’s first high-temp superconducting cable for stellarator magnets. The new design stayed superconducting despite the complex geometry. A complete HTS stellarator magnet is now being built. pic.twitter.com/TWpGYEPQwh

— Type One Energy (@typeoneenergy) June 28, 2021

Type One hasn’t specified a target date for commercialization, other than to say that its FusionDirect timeline for developing a viable Fusion Power Plant, or FPP, will unfold over the coming decade.

“The company will build a relatively low-cost but high-performance stellarator Risk Reduction Platform over the next several years,” Type One said in an emailed statement. “The RRP testbed will be used to validate several FFP engineering design choices and confirm the fidelity of its stellarator plasma physics models and simulations. The RRP testbed will support the ongoing primary mission to design and develop the FPP, which has already begun.”

It goes without saying that it’ll take more than $29 million to get a commercial fusion power plant up and running — but the newly announced funding should take Type One well beyond square one.

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Beads of Lunar Glass Boost Hopes for Using the Moon’s Water

Beads of glass could become a key source of water for future crewed settlements on the moon, researchers say.

That claim is based on an assessment of the water contained within a sampling of glassy beads that were created over the course of millennia by cosmic impacts on the moon, and ended up being brought back to Earth in 2020 by China’s Chang’e-5 sample return mission.

A spectroscopic analysis determined that the beads contained more water than the researchers expected based on past studies. They surmised that interactions between hydrogen ions in the solar wind and oxygen-bearing materials in lunar soil created H₂O molecules that could be trapped within the glass — and then diffused under the right conditions.

Based on an extrapolation of such findings, the research team — headed by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences — estimates that glass beads in lunar soil may contain up to 270 trillion kilograms (595 trillion pounds, or 71 trillion gallons) of water.

“We propose that impact glass beads in lunar soils are a prime water reservoir candidate able to drive the lunar surface water cycle,” the researchers report in Nature Geoscience.

Scientists have known for decades that the moon harbors reservoirs of water in the form of ice, concentrated at the poles. That sort of water is thought to have arrived in the form of cometary impacts, with water molecules migrating to permanently shadowed craters in the lunar polar regions.

Water was even detected in glass bead samples that were brought back to Earth by NASA’s Apollo lunar missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s — but the water detected in the Chang’e-5 samples was three times as abundant on average. And based on studies of basaltic glass beads on Earth, the researchers say it’s theoretically possible for the abundances to be even greater.

“This could be the result of dynamic diffusion and release of water in the impact glass beads controlled by the time-of-day temperature oscillations,” they write. “The dynamic ingress and egress of water in impact glass beads could have acted as a buffer to explain the global and daily variations of water abundance on the lunar surface and in the lunar exosphere.”

Researchers propose a three-stage process for sustaining a lunar water cycle with impact glass beads: (A) The beads are created when a meteoroid impact melts silica-bearing materials on the moon’s surface. (B) The solar wind brings hydrogen ions to the surface, and interactions with oxygen-bearing materials produce water molecules that are trapped within the beads. (C) The beads sink deeper into the lunar soil, creating a reservoir for water. Irradiation or further meteoroid impacts can cause release of the water. (Credit: He et al. / Nature Geoscience)

If enough of the beads could be collected, and if engineers can come up with an efficient way to heat up the beads and extract the H₂O, that could give future lunar explorers a source of water for drinking, oxygen for breathing, and hydrogen for rocket fuel. Those are a couple of big “ifs,” but the research team says the problems seem solvable.

“These findings indicate that the lunar soils contain a much higher amount of solar wind-derived water than previously thought, which could be a water reservoir for in situ utilization in future lunar exploration,” they say in their study. “Indeed, this water entrapped in impact glass beads appears to be quite easy to extract.”

Astronauts could investigate the possibilities further as part of NASA’s Artemis program, which is due to send the first crewed mission since the Apollo era to the lunar surface in the mid-2020s. And if the newly reported findings hold up, they could also apply to the exploration of other worlds where water has been detected, such as Mercury and Vesta.

“Our findings indicate that the impact glasses on the surface of solar system airless bodies are capable of storing solar wind-derived water and releasing it to space,” the researchers behind the new study say.

Huicun He of the Chinese Academy of Science’s Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics is the lead author of the study in Nature Geoscience, titled “A Solar Wind-Derived Water Reservoir on the Moon Hosted by Impact Glass Beads.” Twenty-seven other researchers are listed as co-authors.

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Finally, JWST's Data on the First TRAPPIST-1 Planet. Survey Says? It Sucks

With the James Webb Space Telescope’s ability to detect and study the atmospheres of distant planets orbiting other stars, exoplanet enthusiasts have been anticipating JWST’s first data on some of the worlds in the famous TRAPPIST-1 system. This is the system where seven Earth-sized worlds are orbiting a red dwarf star, with several in the habitable zone.

Today, a new study was released on the innermost planet in the system, TRAPPIST-1 b. The authors of the study were quite frank: this world very likely has no atmosphere at all. Additionally, the conditions there for possible life as we know it only get worse from there.

This world orbits so close to the star that it receives four times as much irradiation as the Earth receives from the Sun. Its dayside temperatures reach 500 kelvin, (roughly 230°C, or 450°F), which on the upside is the perfect temperature to bake a pizza.

All planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system have been observed previously with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, and so far, no atmospheric features have been detected. But still, astronomers haven’t been able to rule out the possibility. With JWST’s infrared capabilities, it has the power to detect ‘heavy’ molecules such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, and methane, and so has the potential to determine whether or not the TRAPPIST-1 planets have atmospheres, and if so, what they are made of.

“These observations really take advantage of Webb’s mid-infrared capability,” said Thomas Greene, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Ames Research Center and lead author on the study published in the journal Nature. “No previous telescopes have had the sensitivity to measure such dim mid-infrared light.”

Light curve showing the change in brightness of the TRAPPIST-1 system as the innermost planet, TRAPPIST-1 b, moves behind the star. This phenomenon is known as a secondary eclipse. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI), T. P. Greene (NASA Ames), T. Bell (BAERI), E. Ducrot (CEA), P. Lagage (CEA)

TRAPPIST-1 b, the innermost planet, has an orbital distance about one hundredth that of Earth’s, and so is not within the system’s habitable zone. Nor was it ever expected to have an atmosphere, due to the hellish conditions.

So, it wasn’t a surprise that they found virtually no detectable atmospheric absorption from carbon dioxide or other species. This is probably because TRAPPIST-1b absorbs nearly all the irradiation from the red dwarf star and does not have a high-pressure atmosphere.

But still, there was one more way to look for any traces of atmosphere, which is to measure the planet’s temperature.

Greene and colleagues used the JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which can observe mid-to-long wavelength radiation, to assess the thermal emission of TRAPPIST-1b. According to their paper, they detected the planet’s secondary eclipse, which is when TRAPPIST-1b passes behind its star and were able to measure the planet’s dayside temperature. They explained:

“When the planet is beside the star, the light emitted by both the star and the dayside of the planet reach the telescope, and the system appears brighter. When the planet is behind the star, the light emitted by the planet is blocked and only the starlight reaches the telescope, causing the apparent brightness to decrease. Astronomers can subtract the brightness of the star from the combined brightness of the star and planet to calculate how much infrared light is coming from the planet’s dayside. This is then used to calculate the dayside temperature.”

Comparison of the dayside temperature of TRAPPIST-1 b as measured using Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to computer models showing what the temperature would be under various conditions. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI), T. P. Greene (NASA Ames), T. Bell (BAERI), E. Ducrot (CEA), P. Lagage (CEA)

This type of observation was in itself a major milestone, the team said. With the star more than 1,000 times brighter than the planet, the change in brightness is less than 0.1%.

“There was also some fear that we’d miss the eclipse. The planets all tug on each other, so the orbits are not perfect,” said Taylor Bell, a post-doctoral researcher at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute who analyzed the data, quoted in a press release. “But it was just amazing: The time of the eclipse that we saw in the data matched the predicted time within a couple of minutes.”

The team said they hope to make more observations of TRAPPIST 1b, as they’d like to know more about the heat redistribution of the planet. Additionally, this observation can help inform future observations of the other TRAPPIST-1 planets –as well as the properties of other red dwarf planets — and how they differ from those in our own Solar System.

So, stay tuned for JWST data on the next world in the system; it looks like we’re going to get them one at a time.

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Why Does ‘Oumuamua Follow Such a Bizarre Orbit? Hydrogen Outgassing

Nothing excites space enthusiasts like a good alien mystery. The interstellar visitor ‘Oumuamua presented one as it moved through the inner solar system in 2017. At least one scientist has insisted that this pancake-shaped object is an alien spacecraft. That’s because of the way it accelerated away from the Sun as it passed through. However, a number of planetary scientists say its activity might be more comet-like—something fairly common in the solar system.

Certainly, a lot of theories floated around about which natural events could cause ‘Oumuamua to accelerate away. At least one of them invokes nitrogen outgassing, although that theory has some problems. It could be more like icy Pluto. Or, maybe it’s some kind of interstellar “dust bunny” made of materials stuck together in a weird shape.

A new study by a pair of astronomers solves at least part of the mystery by using chemistry. They suggest that hydrogen gas (H₂) got formed and trapped in ‘Oumuamua thanks to millions of years of cosmic radiation. Once it experienced even a little heat from the Sun, the hydrogen gas was released. That provided a sort of “jet engine effect”, giving the object a surprising amount of acceleration as it left.

Hyperbolic trajectory of ?Oumuamua through the inner Solar System, with the Sun at the focus, showing its position every 7 days. The planet positions are fixed at the perihelion on September 9, 2017. Shown from a three-quarter perspective, roughly aligned to the plane of ?Oumuamua’s path. Credit: Tomruen, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Explaining Oumuamua’s Outgassing and Acceleration

University of California Berkeley astrochemist Jennifer Bergner came up with the outgassing explanation and brought it to the attention of colleague Darryl Seligman, who is a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University. Bergner studies chemical reactions that happen on icy rocks in the vacuum of space. “A comet traveling through the interstellar medium basically is getting cooked by cosmic radiation, forming hydrogen as a result,” Bergner said. “Our thought was: if this was happening, could you actually trap it in the body so that when it entered the solar system and it was warmed up, it would outgas that hydrogen? Could that quantitatively produce the force that you need to explain the non-gravitational acceleration?”

Bergner and Seligman studied the idea further and found a clue in decades-old research about ice behavior in space. When high-energy particles (like cosmic rays) hit an icy body, the process produces and traps molecular hydrogen (H₂) inside. Cosmic rays (which travel at nearly the speed of light) can penetrate quite deeply into ice. That could convert a quarter (or more) of an icy body’s water to hydrogen gas.

Traveling through space, a comet with a lot of H₂ hidden away would remain that way indefinitely. But, as we know from studying comets, solar radiation affects icy objects. Once a comet nucleus approaches the inner solar system, that radiation causes volatiles to vaporize. Thar creates a stream of gas and dust that creates the coma, dust, and plasma tails.

Did This Happen to ‘Oumuamua?

Bergner explained how subsequent outgassing of H₂ could have happened to this little body. Astronomers estimate it’s about 115 by 111 by 19 meters in size. “For a comet several kilometers across, the outgassing would be from a really thin shell relative to the bulk of the object, so both compositionally and in terms of any acceleration, you wouldn’t necessarily expect that to be a detectable effect,” she said. “But because ‘Oumuamua was so small, we think that it actually produced sufficient force to power this acceleration.”

If it’s a comet from another star system, that gives scientists new insights into conditions elsewhere in our galaxy. We know comets are the icy leftovers of star and planet formation. This makes them a great way to probe the conditions in the solar nebula 4.5 billion years ago. If the same formation activities happened elsewhere and created ‘Oumuamua. then it’s a treasury of information about its home system.

“What’s beautiful about Jenny’s idea is that it’s exactly what should happen to interstellar comets. We had all these stupid ideas, like hydrogen icebergs and other crazy things, and it’s just the most generic explanation,” Seligman said. “The comets and asteroids in the solar system have arguably taught us more about planet formation than what we’ve learned from the actual planets in the solar system,” Seligman said. “I think that the interstellar comets could arguably tell us more about extrasolar planets than the extrasolar planets we are trying to get measurements of today.”

If this holds true for ‘Oumuamua, then it solves the essential mystery of this alien object. And, it’s actually more exciting than aliens. It gives an interesting look at star and planet formation in other places in the Galaxy.

For More Information

Surprisingly simple explanation for alien comet ‘Oumuamua’s weird orbit
Acceleration of 1I/‘Oumuamua from radiolytically produced H2 in H2O ice

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Asteroid Ryugu Contains Niacin (aka Vitamin B3)

In December 2020, JAXA’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft delivered a pristine sample of otherworldly dust and rock from asteroid Ryugu to Earth. Scientists have since had the opportunity to study the sample, and announced last week that the asteroid contains organic molecules important for life. In particular, they discovered Niacin, otherwise known as vitamin B3, and Uracil, one of the four core components of ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Niacin, which is found in our diets via nuts, seeds, legumes, and meats, helps human bodies build fat and create energy from the nutrients we eat. It also plays a role in repairing DNA.

Uracil, as one of the building blocks of RNA, plays an important function in our bodies too. It carries instructions from DNA, which is contained inside the nucleus of our cells, to the cells’ ribosome, where proteins are made.

Optical microscopic images of bulk samples from Hayabusa2 (from Yada et al. 2021, Wikimedia Commons).

Similar molecules have been discovered in extraterrestrial objects before, but the pristine condition of Hayabusa2’s sample makes the evidence much more compelling.

“Scientists have previously found nucleobases and vitamins in certain carbon-rich meteorites, but there was always the question of contamination by exposure to the Earth’s environment,” said Yasuhiro Oba, Associate Professor at Hokkaido University, who led the study.

“Since the Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected two samples directly from asteroid Ryugu and delivered them to Earth in sealed capsules, contamination can be ruled out,” he explained.

Hayabusa2’s sampling technique involved flying the spacecraft low to the asteroid’s surface, then firing a projectile at the asteroid, throwing up dust and rock in a debris cloud that could be caught by the spacecraft’s open sampling container. Two samples were taken: one from the surface soil, and another from deeper within the asteroid. To obtain the deep sample, the spacecraft fire a larger projectile at Ryugu to form a crater, and then took a sample from the crater floor.

Asteroid Ryugu as seen by Hayabusa2 in 2018. (JAXA Hayabusa 2, Meli thev, Wikimedia Commons).

Uracil was found in both the surface and subsurface samples, though it was more prevalent in the subsurface. In other words, ultraviolet photons and cosmic rays may have caused the Uracil on the asteroid’s surface to begin to decay.

“Organic molecules in the surface materials would have experienced energetic processes more extensively than those in the subsurface materials, which potentially causes preferential degradation of molecules at the surface,” the researchers wrote.

Other organic molecules discovered in the samples include amino acids, amines, and carboxylic acids.

The researchers compared the Ryugu samples with previously studied meteorites – especially the Orgueil meteorite, which fell to Earth in southern France in 1864. The similarities are striking, though they are not identical, and suggest that the meteorite came from a similar C-type asteroid.

Studies of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites like the Orgueil sample, and of asteroids like Ryugu, are helping piece together how the building blocks of life ended up on Earth in the first place. Vitamin B3, Uracil, and other organic molecules are present elsewhere in the Solar System, and have been for a long time. This new research suggests we probably have asteroids like Ryugu to thank for these life-giving compounds here at home.

Learn More:

Yasuhiro Obo et al. “Uracil in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu,” Nature Communications.

“Uracil found in Ryugu samples.” Hokkaido University.

Feature Image: A conceptual image for sampling materials on the asteroid Ryugu containing uracil and niacin by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft (NASA Goddard/JAXA/Dan Gallagher).

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