RYMDNYTT FRÅN SF-JOURNALEN
En specialupplaga av gamla SF-Journalenmed bara rymdnotiser. Rymden är ju
science så att det stänkerom det. Rymden kan ge uppslag till wittra
sf-noveller. Raketer som startar från planeter! Landstigning på Mars. Letande
efter utomjordiska signaler. Futuristiska stjärnskepp som går in i
hyperrymden. Jag vill bo i rymden...
Det finns så myckert rymdnyheter som helst, så detta är ett urval från bara
de senaste veckorna. Vi lever i en tid då nya teleskop upptäcker exoplaneter
som konfetti på ett barnkalas, rovers far runt på Mars och förvandlar planeten
till rusningstid på Sveavägen och sonder studsar runt bland de yttre planeterna
som biljardbollar. Och snart kommer NASAs nya Stora Raketer att starta. (Och
ja, de flesta notiser är cut-and-paste. Enklast så.)
* HAR SOLSYSTEMET EN NIONDE PLANET?
"Astronomers have discovered several more objects in the extreme outer solar
system whose orbital characteristics hint at the existence of an unseen
"perturber" in those dark depths — a hypothetical world larger than Earth
dubbed Planet Nine."
http://www.space.com/33890-planet-nine-existence-evidence-grows.html
* MÖJLIGT JORDLIKNANDE PLANET HITTAD KRING VÅR NÄRMASTE STJÄRNA!
"In what’s being hailed as one of the biggest astronomical discoveries of the
century, scientists with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) today
confirmed the discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone of
Proxima Centauri—our nearest neighboring star. Details of the team’s discovery
were just published in Nature. ...
Now we know those rumors were true: There is clear evidence for a planet
orbiting Proxima Centauri, a small red dwarf star located just 4.25 light years
away, slightly closer to Earth than the famous binary pair of Alpha Centauri A
and B. It’s been dubbed Proxima b, and the ESO team pegs its mass as being
roughly 1.3 times that of Earth.
Its orbit is 4.3 million miles from Proxima Centauri, just 5 percent of the
distance between Earth and our own Sun. But the star is also much cooler than
our Sun, so Proxima b still lies within the so-called “habitable zone” for
exoplanets, with temperatures sufficient for water to be in a liquid state on
the surface."
http://gizmodo.com/new-earth-like-exoplanet-could-be-discovery-of-the-cent-1785614793
"Last week, astronomers announced that our nearest neighboring star hosts an
Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone—an exciting prospect for alien life,
and a possible second home for humanity. But before we assemble the
interstellar welcoming party to greet our cosmic neighbors, we need to figure
out whether Proxima b is capable of supporting life at all. Thanks to the James
Webb Space Telescope, that question could be answered in less than three years
...
The concern that Proxima b may be a dead, airless world stems from the fact
that it orbits its dim red dwarf star, Proxima Centauri, at a distance of just
4.6 million miles. (Earth, for comparison, is 93 million miles from the Sun.)
This tight orbit affords Proxima b enough sunlight for Earth-like temperatures
and liquid water, but it also subjects the planet to powerful,
atmosphere-stripping solar winds. What’s more, it virtually ensures that
Proxima b is tidally locked, with a permanent dayside and a permanent
nightside. Unfortunately, models suggest that the atmospheres of tidally locked
planets may be prone to sudden collapse, as volatile gases freeze out on the
nightside. ...
But atmospheres can also be replenished through volcanic activity, and on
planets with strong magnetic fields, they’re less likely to escape. Since we
know nothing of Proxima b’s volcanic activity or magnetic field strength, we
can’t even make an educated guess about its prospects of having an atmosphere.
But we’re dying to know, because an atmosphere means oceans are possible, and
the two together mean life is.
That’s where the JWST comes in. As Loeb and Kreidberg discuss in their paper,
the key to sniffing out Proxima b’s atmosphere lies in the planet’s infrared
heat signature. And it just so happens that Hubble’s successor is highly
attuned to the infrared part of the spectrum.
“As Proxima b moves about its star, there is no day-night variation,” Loeb
explained. “The day side is hot and the night side is cold. But the temperature
difference between day and night depends on whether the planet is bare rock, or
if it has an atmosphere or ocean, because these redistribute heat.”
In other words, the temperature difference between Proxima b’s day side and
its night side will be larger if there is no atmosphere. In fact, the day side
will re-emit all of the energy it absorbs from Proxima Centauri as a blackbody,
and we can calculate exactly how much blackbody radiation there should be. The
night side, on the other hand, will be hell frozen over. ...
If Proxima b does have an atmosphere, the next step will be figuring out what
it’s made of. We’ll specifically want to look for things like oxygen, water
vapor, and methane, which could indicate habitable conditions if not active
biological processes. This, however, requires us to catch starlight as it
bounces off or filters through the planet’s atmosphere—an extraordinarily
difficult thing to do. While the JWST might be able to detect a few compounds
including ozone, full atmospheric analysis will have to wait for future
ground-based observatories like the Extremely Large Telescope, which is
expected to see first light in the mid-2020s."
http://gizmodo.com/how-well-get-our-first-big-clue-about-life-on-proxima-b-1785942106
* ASTRONAUTER I DVALA FÖR MARS-FÄRD?
"Researchers are working on ways to induce a hibernation-like torpor state in
astronauts — a breakthrough they say is key to establishing a long-term colony
on Mars."
http://www.space.com/33894-mars-colonization-hibernating-astronauts-torpor.html
* NASA-SOND TILL ASTEROID STARTAR I SEPTEMBER
"NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission — which is scheduled to launch Sept. 8 — aims to
send samples of the potentially Earth-threatening asteroid Bennu back to Earth
in 2023."
http://www.space.com/33762-nasa-asteroid-sampling-mission-osiris-rex.html
* NASA:S NÄSTA BAMSERAKET
"The Space Launch System (SLS) comes in an array of elements that will evolve
over time, and that will vary depending on whether the vehicle carries crew or
cargo.
The first few iterations of SLS will contain a pair of solid rocket boosters
capped with four RS-25 engines. Most of the engines planned for each launch
vehicle are space shuttle veterans, which have undergone rigorous testing.
According to NASA, "The RS-25 is one of the most tested large rocket engines in
history, with more than 3,000 starts and over a million seconds of total ground
test and flight firing time over 135 missions."
The four liquid-propellant engines at the base of each rocket, combined with
solid rocket boosters, will push the SLS into orbit during its eight-minute
climb toward space. Like the engines, the solid propellant boosters were
qualified by the space shuttle program, though they've been modified to work
with SLS. As technology evolves, the solid rocket boosters will be swapped out
for advanced boosters.
The long, thin "rocket" structure known as the core stage rises over 200
feet tall between the boosters, and will carry 730,000 gallons (2.76 million
liters) of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power the engines.
NASA's Orion crew module will carry human crews into space, though it will
fly without the crowd on the first test mission. Drawing from more than half a
century of research and development, the Orion module plans to be flexible
enough to carry humans to a variety of destinations.
The entire craft includes a crew and service module, a spacecraft adaptor to
connect it to the powerful rockets beneath, and a new launch abort system that
NASA claims "will significantly increase crew safety."
Although Orion is relatively new, it has undergone rigorous testing before it
will carry anyone off of Earth. The abort system, which will provide the crew
with the ability to escape if an emergency occurs on the launch pad, was
successfully tested at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. An array of
tests confirmed Orion's ability to withstand the launch, abort, re-entry and
spaceflight itself. The ocean and NASA's Hydro Impact Basin hosted trials that
recreated how the module will behave when it splashes down in the ocean at the
end of its mission. The capsule itself took a low-orbit test flight in December
2014.
Unlike previous human launch systems, SLS is planned to grow and evolve over
time. It consists of four configurations that will carry cargo and crew into
the darkness of space. This growing capabilities allows engineers to utilize
the design today but grow with the future.
Standing over 322 feet (98 meters) tall, the first Block 1 configuration will
carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to a stable orbit beyond the moon, then
return it safely home. The Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) will travel 40,000
miles (64,000 km) beyond the moon, a three- to five-day journey that is farther
than any astronauts have traveled. The journey will demonstrate the integrated
performance of the rocket, the Orion module, and the ground support teams
before humans launch. It will be SLS's maiden voyage.
The first mission may not carry people, but it won't be traveling empty. When
it launches, it will carry more than a dozen CubeSats, small satellites not
much bigger than a breadbox but capable of collecting science on their own.
The mission is scheduled to launch in 2018.
The second mission, Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) will host a similar
configuration to EM-1. This time, however, the Orion capsule won't be empty.
Instead, it will carry several astronauts into the region of space past the
moon to the region explored by the previous mission, and is targeted for a 2021
timeframe, though some reports suggest it may have to wait until 2023.
The next set of missions require the Block 1B configuration. The Block-1B
version of SLS will be approximately 364 feet (111 m) tall, towering above the
historic Saturn V rocket that carried astronauts to the moon. In addition to
carrying the Orion module, the Block 1B can carry with it exploration systems
such as a small deep-space habitat module.
"The second configuration of SLS, known as Block 1B, will be the workhorse of
the proving ground phase of NASA's journey to Mars," Creech said.
"The rocket will carry crew and exploration systems tens of thousands of
miles beyond the moon to demonstrate new capabilities that will enable us to
then move outward toward the Red Planet."
Or the module can be swapped out for a payload configuration that can carry
larger exploration systems or science spacecraft instead of people.
"While many people think of the Space Launch System in terms of human
exploration, SLS could have a wide application in a lot of other areas,
including space science," Creech said.
"For missions to the outer planets, for example, SLS could make it possible
to do things that are currently impossible, such as sending larger scientific
spacecraft with more instruments to far off destinations with reduced transit
times."
That could include helping the proposed mission to Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
According to NASA, the transit time for the Europa Clippercould be reduced to
less than half needed by other launch vehicles."
http://www.space.com/33908-space-launch-system.html
* GALAX SOM TILL 99.99% ÄR "MÖRKMATERIA"?
"Astronomers have discovered a galaxy as big as the Milky Way that consists
almost entirely of dark matter, a mysterious and invisible substance that
scientists have been trying to figure out for decades."
http://www.space.com/33850-weird-galaxy-is-mostly-dark-matter.html
* ROSETTA-SONDEN SÅG KOMETUTBROTT
"In stroke of luck, ESA's Rosetta probe had a majority of its instrumentation
pointed at Comet 67/CG when it had an outburst in February 2016. The probe's
dust detecting instrument was hit with about 20 times more dust than a typical
day that month."
http://www.space.com/33854-comet-67p-outburst-slams-rosetta-probe-with-dust-video.html
"Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has captured dramatic imagery of a comet
outburst that may have been caused by a landslide on the icy body."
http://www.space.com/33858-rosetta-spacecraft-comet-outburst-video.html
* RYSKT RADIOTELESKOP HÖRDE MÖJLIG ET-SIGNAL
"Astronomers using the RATAN-600 radio telescope in the Russian Republic of
Karachay-Cherkessia have detected an unusual signal emanating from a star
located about 94 light-years from Earth. It’s not clear if the signal is being
transmitted by aliens, but the researchers say we should keep a close watch on
this intriguing new extraterrestrial candidate.
As reported by Paul Gilster at Centauri Dreams, the anomalous signal was
detected by an international team of astronomers back on May 15, 2015. The
researchers, led by N. N. Brusilov, describe a “strong signal in the direction
of HD164595,” a planetary system located in the constellation Hercules. The
finding is set to be discussed at a meeting of the IAA SETI Permanent Committee
on September 27, 2016."
http://gizmodo.com/alien-hunters-spot-freaky-radio-signal-coming-from-near-1785889615
I dagens Meetro säger Tobia Carozzi vid svenska radioteleskopet i Onsala:
- Jag skulle nog vara försi9ktig med att ropa hej vid det här stadiet. Det
finns många andra möjliga förklaringar.
Signalen har hittills inte upprepats.
* OM KINAS FÖRSTA MARSROVER
"A press event was held in Beijing, China that signaled the launching of a
public competitive campaign to get a name and logo for the country's first
robotic Mars probe."
http://www.space.com/33833-china-mars-rover-lander-design-unveiled.html
* DEN AVLÄGSNASTE GALAXHOPEN HITTAD
"Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have
found galaxy cluster CL J1001+0220. It is the most distant galaxy cluster to be
found to date."
http://www.space.com/33899-galaxy-cluster-discovered-over-11-billion-light-years-away-video.html
* TIDIGARE OKÄND ASTEROID KOM NÄRA JORDEN
"On Saturday(27/8), a newly discovered 50-150-foot-long (15-45 m) asteroid was
spotted. Later that night, it flew by Earth at less than one-quarter of the
distance to the moon. Don’t panic, though. It’s fine. We’re fine. Everything’s
fine.
What has people unsettled isn’t only how close the asteroid came to earth,
but rather, how something that large stayed hidden for so long when its path
came so near to our home planet."
http://gizmodo.com/a-previously-undiscovered-asteroid-came-very-close-to-e-1785910481
* FÖRSTA KOMMERSIELLA SATELLITEN MED ÅTERBRUKSRAKET
"Satellite fleet operator SES on Aug. 30 said its 5,000-kilogram SES-10
telecommunications satellite would be the first customer to launch on a reused
SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage, with the launch to occur late this year. "
http://www.space.com/33896-used-spacex-rocket-launching-ses-10-satellite-soon.html
* ATT LETA LIV PÅ SATURNUSMÅNE ENCULADUS?
"Scientists are mulling a variety of ways to hunt for life on Saturn's icy,
ocean-harboring moon Enceladus."
http://www.space.com/33835-saturn-moon-enceladus-alien-life-search.html
* NYKONTAKT MED FÖRLORAD SOL-SOND
"NASA has finally re-established contact with a sun-watching probe that was
once thought lost in space after it abruptly went silent in 2014."
http://www.space.com/33826-long-lost-nasa-sun-probe-phones-home-stereo-b.html
* DELTAGARE I SIMULERAD MARS-BAS UTE IGEN EFTER ETT ÅR
"One year ago, six volunteers—an astrobiologist, a physicist, a pilot, an
architect, a journalist, and a soil scientist — entered a 36-by-20 foot dome,
located near a barren volcano in Hawaii, to simulate what living conditions
would be like on Mars. Today they re-emerged from their year-long isolation.
The NASA-funded project is called HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog
and Simulation), designed to test the effects of isolation in confined
conditions of a human mission to Mars. This is the third such simulation, and
the longest; the two prior missions lasted for four and eight months,
respectively. The Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii was chosen as a location because
it’s most similar to the red, barren Martian terrain.
The six participants could only communicate with the outside world via email,
and those transmissions were delayed by 20 minutes to mimic how long it would
take for such a signal to travel between Earth and Mars. Resources were
limited: anything they needed, they had to bring into the dome with them at the
outset, right down to duct tape. Food was replenished every four months, and
water every two months.
The crew were allowed to leave the dome, but only if they donned heavy space
suits. And there were simulated emergencies: everything from power outages and
broken tools, to a forced evacuation to avoid a harsh radiation wave."
http://gizmodo.com/year-long-simulation-of-humans-living-on-mars-comes-to-1785865918
* JUPITERSOND FLÖG REKORDNÄRA
"NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew closer to the giant planet than any spacecraft
ever, revealing stunning images and gathering detailed information about the
planet for NASA scientists.
The record-breaking mission was launched five years ago, and the spacecraft
has travelled 1.8 billion miles to reach Jupiter’s orbit. Juno’s journey wasn’t
a straight shot, either. It flew around the inner solar system and used Earth’s
gravity to slingshot it toward Jupiter.
In its greatest moment, Juno flew about 2,600 miles above Jupiter’s swirling
clouds - closer than any spacecraft has ever flown near the dangerous planet.
The feat was extremely difficult to coordinate. To put that in perspective, it
is roughly the same distance between New York and Los Angeles.
http://gizmodo.com/nasa-just-flew-a-spacecraft-closer-to-jupiter-than-ever-1785862080
--Ahrvid
--
ahrvid@xxxxxxxxxxx / Follow @SFJournalen on Twitter for the latest news in
short form! / Gå med i SKRIVA - för författande, sf, fantasy, kultur
(skriva-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, subj: subscribe) och förbered dig för
FANTASTIKNOVELLTÄVLINGEN 2016, info www.skriva.bravewriting.com / Om Ahrvids
novellsamling Mord på månen: http://zenzat.wordpress.com/bocker C Fuglesang: ;
"stor förnöjelse...jättebra historier i mycket sannolik framtidsmiljö"! /Nu som
ljudbok: http://elib.se/ebook_detail.asp?id_type=ISBN&id‘86081462 / Läs även AE ;
i nya E-antologin Mellan tid och rum
<http://www.adlibris.com/se/e-bok/mellan-tid-och-rum---himmel-och-hav-9789187711435
/> YXSKAFTBUD, GE VÅR WCZONMÖ IQ-HJÄLP! (DN NoN 00.02.07)
-----
SKRIVA - sf, fantasy och skräck * Äldsta svenska skrivarlistan
grundad 1997 * Info http://www.skriva.bravewriting.com eller skriva- ;
request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx för listkommandon (ex subject: subscribe).