Mark Peter van Sijll🛡’s Post

Astronomers Demand Radio Silence at the Moon's Far Side, But Resistance May Be Futile: Gizmodo reports that increased activity on the Moon "may affect the unique radio silence on the lunar far side, an ideal location for radio telescopes to pick up faint signals from the cosmic past." This week, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) held the first Moon Farside Protection Symposium in Italy to advocate for preserving radio silence on the far side of the Moon. The symposium hopes to raise awareness about the threat facing the far side of the Moon and develop approaches to shielding it from artificial radio emissions.... NASA has shown interest in using the lunar radio silence, proposing an ultra-long-wavelength radio telescope inside a crater on the far side of the Moon. The Lunar Crater Radio Telescope is designed to observe the universe at frequencies below 30 megahertz, which are largely unexplored by humans since those signals are reflected by the Earth's ionosphere, according to NASA. At those low frequencies, radio telescopes on the Moon can detect near-Earth objects approaching our planet before other observatories, it can search for signals of alien civilizations, and study organic molecules in interstellar space... As more missions head towards the Moon, however, that perfect silence is increasingly being compromised. Earlier this week, for example, China launched a satellite to relay communication between ground operations on Earth and an upcoming mission on the far side of the Moon. The satellite, Queqiao-2, is the first of a constellation of satellites that China hopes to deploy by 2040 to communicate with future crewed missions on the Moon and Mars. As part of its Artemis program, NASA is aiming to build the Lunar Gateway, a space station designed to orbit the Moon to support future missions to the lunar surface and Mars. In advance of this, a NASA-funded cubesat, called CAPSTONE, has entered into a unique halo orbit to demonstrate the stability and practicality of this trajectory for future lunar missions... CAPSTONE marks the beginning of something big — establishing a permanent communication link between Earth and lunar assets, and ensuring the steady, uninterrupted flow of data. NASA and its Chinese counterparts have eerily similar plans for lunar exploration, and the Moon is currently a 'free-for-all' with no regulations set in place as to who can own our dusty orbital companion. "In other words, things are about to get real loud out there as far as radio transmissions are concerned." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Astronomers Demand Radio Silence at the Moon's Far Side, But Resistance May Be Futile: Gizmodo reports that increased activity on the Moon "may affect the unique radio silence on the lunar far side, an ideal location for radio telescopes to pick up faint signals from the cosmic past." This week, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) held the first Moon Farside Protection Symposium in Italy to advocate for preserving radio silence on the far side of the Moon. The symposium hopes to raise awareness about the threat facing the far side of the Moon and develop approaches to shielding it from artificial radio emissions.... NASA has shown interest in using the lunar radio silence, proposing an ultra-long-wavelength radio telescope inside a crater on the far side of the Moon. The Lunar Crater Radio Telescope is designed to observe the universe at frequencies below 30 megahertz, which are largely unexplored by humans since those signals are reflected by the Earth's ionosphere, according to NASA. At those low frequencies, radio telescopes on the Moon can detect near-Earth objects approaching our planet before other observatories, it can search for signals of alien civilizations, and study organic molecules in interstellar space... As more missions head towards the Moon, however, that perfect silence is increasingly being compromised. Earlier this week, for example, China launched a satellite to relay communication between ground operations on Earth and an upcoming mission on the far side of the Moon. The satellite, Queqiao-2, is the first of a constellation of satellites that China hopes to deploy by 2040 to communicate with future crewed missions on the Moon and Mars. As part of its Artemis program, NASA is aiming to build the Lunar Gateway, a space station designed to orbit the Moon to support future missions to the lunar surface and Mars. In advance of this, a NASA-funded cubesat, called CAPSTONE, has entered into a unique halo orbit to demonstrate the stability and practicality of this trajectory for future lunar missions... CAPSTONE marks the beginning of something big — establishing a permanent communication link between Earth and lunar assets, and ensuring the steady, uninterrupted flow of data. NASA and its Chinese counterparts have eerily similar plans for lunar exploration, and the Moon is currently a 'free-for-all' with no regulations set in place as to who can own our dusty orbital companion. "In other words, things are about to get real loud out there as far as radio transmissions are concerned." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

New "Technology" post from THE HILL: Five things to know about the Odysseus moon landing  A robotic lunar lander developed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private spacecraft to land on the moon Thursday. The Odysseus lunar lander’s victory was the first U.S. landing on the moon in over 50 years, and faced some difficulties in its trip to the lunar surface, with Intuitive Machines CEO Stephen Altemus calling it “a nail-biter” following the landing. Here’s five things to know about the landing: It was the first lunar landing for the U.S. in over 50 years Odysseus’s touchdown on the lunar surface marked the first lunar landing for a U.S. spacecraft in over 50 years, according to The Associated Press. The last lunar landing occurred in 1972 with the Apollo 17 mission. It was the first private spacecraft to land on the moon Odysseus became the first private spacecraft to land on the moon when it touched down Thursday. It was developed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines and is a part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, featuring private contracts between the agency and U.S. companies for the delivery of materials to the moon. “Odysseus has a new home,” Intuitive Machines posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it successfully landed. The spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center last week on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is also a private company that works with NASA. It has goals including investigating space weather Odysseus has scientific instruments to help “perform science test technologies and demonstrate capabilities,” as NASA works on its exploration of the moon. According to NASA, while on its way to the moon, the lander’s instruments were going to assist in measuring fuel quantities and gathering data about plume-surface interactions. Now that it is on the moon, its instruments will investigate space weather and lunar surface interactions and radio astronomy, per NASA. It faced some troubles on its journey to the moon Prior to landing on the moon, Odysseus faced issues and its expected touchdown time was delayed. In the few hours before the landing, the craft’s laser navigation system failed, according to The Associated Press. Therefore, Intuitive Machines’ flight control team had to rely on an experimental NASA laser system. It will help prepare for future human exploration of the moon “@Int_Machines' uncrewed lunar lander landed at 6:23pm ET (2323 UTC), bringing NASA science to the Moon's surface,” NASA posted on X Thursday. “These instruments will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under #Artemis.” Under NASA’s Artemis program, humans will return to the lunar surface in 2026, with the first woman and person of color making the trip, according to the agency. https://bit.ly/3T9PG9t

Astronomers Demand Radio Silence at the Moon's Far Side, But Resistance May Be Futile: Gizmodo reports that increased activity on the Moon "may affect the unique radio silence on the lunar far side, an ideal location for radio telescopes to pick up faint signals from the cosmic past." This week, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) held the first Moon Farside Protection Symposium in Italy to advocate for preserving radio silence on the far side of the Moon. The symposium hopes to raise awareness about the threat facing the far side of the Moon and develop approaches to shielding it from artificial radio emissions.... NASA has shown interest in using the lunar radio silence, proposing an ultra-long-wavelength radio telescope inside a crater on the far side of the Moon. The Lunar Crater Radio Telescope is designed to observe the universe at frequencies below 30 megahertz, which are largely unexplored by humans since those signals are reflected by the Earth's ionosphere, according to NASA. At those low frequencies, radio telescopes on the Moon can detect near-Earth objects approaching our planet before other observatories, it can search for signals of alien civilizations, and study organic molecules in interstellar space... As more missions head towards the Moon, however, that perfect silence is increasingly being compromised. Earlier this week, for example, China launched a satellite to relay communication between ground operations on Earth and an upcoming mission on the far side of the Moon. The satellite, Queqiao-2, is the first of a constellation of satellites that China hopes to deploy by 2040 to communicate with future crewed missions on the Moon and Mars. As part of its Artemis program, NASA is aiming to build the Lunar Gateway, a space station designed to orbit the Moon to support future missions to the lunar surface and Mars. In advance of this, a NASA-funded cubesat, called CAPSTONE, has entered into a unique halo orbit to demonstrate the stability and practicality of this trajectory for future lunar missions... CAPSTONE marks the beginning of something big — establishing a permanent communication link between Earth and lunar assets, and ensuring the steady, uninterrupted flow of data. NASA and its Chinese counterparts have eerily similar plans for lunar exploration, and the Moon is currently a 'free-for-all' with no regulations set in place as to who can own our dusty orbital companion. "In other words, things are about to get real loud out there as far as radio transmissions are concerned." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

🚀 Breaking Boundaries: NASA’s Laser Message from Deep Space 🌍 Exciting news from the cosmos! NASA’s Psyche mission has made history by transmitting a laser message to Earth from a staggering distance of 𝟏𝟒𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. This feat is not just about breaking records; it’s a glimpse into the future of space communication and exploration. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥-𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫. The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment onboard the Psyche spacecraft was responsible for this breakthrough. By interfacing with the spacecraft’s radio frequency transmitter, DSOC sent a copy of engineering data across the vastness of space, 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. This achievement is a game-changer for space travel. Optical communications promise data transmission rates 10 to 100 times faster than current radio frequency systems. Imagine receiving high-definition imagery and complex scientific information at broadband speeds from deep space! 𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐀’𝐬 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: 🚀 𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐀 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐗 to provide launch services for the mission. 🚀 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: The Psyche spacecraft was launched on October 13, 2023, from Kennedy Space Center. 🌍 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲: In August 2029, after a 𝐬𝐢𝐱-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝟐.𝟐 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 (3.6 billion kilometers), the spacecraft will start orbiting the asteroid for at least 26 months. 💲𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭: The total cost for NASA to launch Psyche and the secondary payloads is approximately $117 million. 💡 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝: The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment promises data transmission rates 10 to 100 times faster than current radio frequency systems. As we prepare for humanity’s next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars – 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦. The success of DSOC demonstrates that we’re ready to take on the challenge of interplanetary communication. Let’s celebrate this monumental step and the brilliant minds at NASA who continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Here’s to the future of space exploration and the innovations that will take us there!👇 ******************************************** • Please 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 • Ring the 🔔 for notifications.

Today is Festival of Popular Delusions Day! In the spirit of this unique holiday, here are some popular myths regarding space: 1. The Earth is closer to the sun in the summer. This is based on the Earth's elliptical orbit of the sun. It's not as elliptical as people imagine. The actual reason for the seasons is the axial tilt of the Earth. 2. The Sun is yellow. The Sun's true color is white. It emits all wavelengths of visible light. "The wavelengths of light at the blue end of the spectrum are much shorter than those at the red, so collisions with particles in the air are more likely. During the day, blue light scatters high in the atmosphere, giving the sky its blue color and making the sun appear yellow." https://lnkd.in/eCXPyfgv 3. The Great Wall of China can be seen from space. The Great Wall does span an incredible 13,171 miles, but it's only 20 feet wide. One can pick it out on radar images from low earth orbit, but not with the naked eye. Astronauts from the ISS cannot see it unless they use a powerful telephoto camera lens. 4. Saturn is the only ringed planet in our solar system. Nope. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune display some pretty impressive rings. Voyager flybys in the 1970s and 1980s helped confirm it. Voyager launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 41 in 1977 - https://lnkd.in/eA2w3Mxd. 5. The Sun is on fire. It's actually a ball of gas that burns thanks to nuclear fusion at its core. It converts hydrogen into helium, releasing gamma rays that convert to light. It's not on fire because there is no oxygen involved. 6. NASA spent millions in the 1960s to develop a pen that would write in space. Actually, NASA astronauts used pens and pencils. The Fisher Pen Company developed a space pen for around $1 million. Both American and Russian astronauts ended up using it in time. 7. Cellphone calls bounce signals off satellites. They actually relay data through land-based cellular towers. Satellites may rarely be involved in international calls, but 99% of global communications travel through undersea cables. Be sure to visit our website at www.ccspacemuseum.org for more myth-busting about space! Sources: https://lnkd.in/eCXPyfgv https://lnkd.in/evvJTd3G https://lnkd.in/e-cB-m6c #museum #museums #history #space #myths #delusions #debunked #spacetravel #planets #orbits #satellites #NASA #USSF #capecanaveral #spacecoast #LoveFL #FestivalofPopularDelusionsDay

NASA selects Intuitive Machines for south pole lunar lander mission NASA has selected Intuitive Machines to deliver a set of payloads to the south polar region of the moon in 2027, the first award under a commercial lunar lander program in nearly a year and a half. NASA announced Aug. 29 that it awarded a task order valued at $116.9 million through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to Intuitive Machines. That company’s Nova-C lander will deliver six payloads, with a combined mass of 79 kilograms, to the south polar region of the moon in 2027. The six payloads — four from NASA centers, one from the European Space Agency and one from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics — include biology, planetary science and space science experiments, as well as a laser retroreflector array. The ESA payload, the Package for Resource Observation and In-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Characterization, and Testing (PROSPECT), will drill a meter below the surface to study any volatiles like water ice that may exist below the surface. “The instruments on this newly awarded flight will help us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our understanding of the Moon’s environment,” Chris Culbert, CLPS program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said in a statement. In its own statement, Intuitive Machines said that mass on the lander “is expected to be available” for commercial payloads in addition to the NASA payloads, but did not announce any customers beyond NASA. The award is the fourth that Intuitive Machines has received, more than any other company that is part of the CLPS contract. Astrobotic and Firefly Aerospace have each won two task orders and Draper has one. Intuitive Machines is the only company to have landed on the moon when its lander Odysseus touched down, albeit off-kilter, on the IM-1 mission in February. The award, formally known as task order CP-22, was the first landing mission selected by NASA under the CLPS program since March 2023, when it gave a task order to Firefly Aerospace for a landing on the lunar farside. NASA had pushed back the award of CP-22 as well as another mission, CP-21, to go to a region of the moon called the Gruithuisen Domes. https://lnkd.in/gHzTETuD

NASA Reveals Key Prototype Telescope for LISA Mission: Preparing for Gravitational Wave Detection to Advance Our Understanding of the Universe NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration has revealed a groundbreaking prototype telescope designed for the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, which aims to detect gravitational waves from cosmic events. This collaborative initiative with the European Space Agency - ESA promises to enhance our understanding of the universe by observing phenomena such as black hole collisions. Know more @ https://lnkd.in/gUCGjSgB Before You Take #NASA #LISA #GravitationalWaves #SpaceScience #Astrophysics #Telescope #SpaceExploration #DarkMatter #BlackHoles #Engineering #ESA #Astronomy #Innovation #SpaceTechnology #CosmicEvents #ScientificCollaboration #FutureOfSpace #STEM #SpaceMission #NASAUpdates #AstrophysicsResearch #SpaceNews #ScientificDiscovery #TechForGood

Crowded Heart of The Hercules Globular Star Cluster | Hubble Space Telescope FriendsofNASA.org | High-res image: https://lnkd.in/gUsSCA2j This image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the core of the great globular cluster Messier 13 and provides an extraordinarily clear view of the hundreds of thousands of stars in the cluster—one of the brightest and best known in the sky. Just 25,000 light-years away and about 145 light-years in diameter, Messier 13 has drawn the eye since its discovery by Edmund Halley, the noted British astronomer, in 1714. The cluster lies in the constellation of Hercules and is so bright that under the right conditions it is even visible to the unaided eye. As Halley wrote: “This is but a little Patch, but it shews it self to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent.” Messier 13 was the target of a symbolic Arecibo radio telescope message that was sent in 1974, communicating humanity’s existence to possible extraterrestrial intelligences. However, more recent studies suggest that planets are very rare in the dense environments of globular clusters. Messier 13 has also appeared in literature. In his 1959 novel, The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut wrote “Every passing hour brings the Solar System forty-three thousand miles closer to Globular Cluster M13 in Hercules—and still there are some misfits who insist that there is no such thing as progress.” The step from Halley’s early telescopic view to this Hubble image indicates the progress in astronomy over the last three hundred years. This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. Data through a blue filter (F435W) are colored blue, data through a red filter (F625W) are colored green and near-infrared data (through the F814W filter) are colored red. The exposure times are 1480 s, 380 s and 567 s respectively and the field of view is about 2.5 arcminutes across. Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA Release Date: July 5, 2010 ESA Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Space Telescope Science Institute #NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #StarClusters #GlobularStarClusters #Messier13 #M13 #GreatHerculesCluster #GreatGlobularCluster #Galaxy #NGC6207 #Hercules #Constellation #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Cosmos #Universe #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Probe Spots History-Making Odysseus Lander on the Moon The achromatic arrow astatine the halfway of the representation points to the Odysseus lunar lander connected the aboveground of the Moon.Image: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University Following a less-than-perfect touchdown, the Odysseus lander has been spotted from lunar orbit portion lying connected its broadside connected the aboveground of the Moon. The lunar lander besides beamed backmost its archetypal images from the Moon arsenic it fights to enactment live earlier it runs retired of power. First Full-Color Images From Webb Space Telescope NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured images of the lander connected Saturday astatine 1:57 p.m. ET. From the images, Intuitive Machines was capable to find that its IM-1 ngo landed little than a mile distant (1.5 kilometers) from its intended landing spot adjacent the Malapert A crater successful the Moon’s southbound rod region, the institution wrote connected X. The Odysseus lander touched down connected the aboveground of the Moon connected February 22, 2024.Image: Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines besides shared the archetypal images captured by Odysseus during its descent to the lunar surface. Odysseus touched down connected the Moon connected Thursday evening, becoming the archetypal commercialized conveyance to onshore connected the Moon. Prior to its descent, the lander’s laser rangefinders, which are designed to measure the Moon’s terrain to place a harmless landing spot, malfunctioned. In bid to assistance Odysseus on its mode down, formation engineers uploaded a bundle spot to repurpose a secondary laser connected a NASA payload connected committee the lander. Odysseus captured this representation astir 35 seconds aft turning connected its broadside during its attack to the landing site.Image: Intuitive Machines The lander made it to the aboveground but ended up sideways, lying horizontally connected what whitethorn beryllium a lunar rock. Some of the antennas that the lander is designed to usage to pass with Earth are pointed downward, which made it hard for Odysseus to transmit information to crushed power astatine first. The lander seems to person gotten the bent of it for now, beaming backmost those aboriginal images from the lunar surface. With the lander connected its side, it is inactive receiving sunlight to its horizontal star panel. Intuitive Machines anticipates that Odysseus’ horizontal star sheet volition lone beryllium exposed to airy until Tuesday morning. After which, the institution whitethorn nary longer beryllium capable to pass with its spacecraft. The lander was primitively designed to past for astir a week connected the Moon. Although its clip connected the lunar aboveground whitethorn beryllium chopped a small spot shorter than intended, formation control...