OrbitalHub

ESA dixit:

“Since arriving at Mars in October 2016, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has been aerobraking its way into a close orbit of the Red Planet by using the top of the atmosphere to create drag and slow down. It is almost in the right orbit to begin observations – only a few hundred kilometres to go! With aerobraking complete, additional manoeuvres will bring the craft into a near-circular two-hour orbit, about 400 km above the plane, by the end of April. The mission’s main goal is to take a detailed inventory of the atmosphere, sniffing out gases like methane, which may be an indicator of active geological or biological activity. The camera will help to identify surface features that may be related to gas emissions. The spacecraft will also look for water-ice hidden below the surface, which could influence the choice of landing sites for future exploration. It will also relay large volumes of science data from NASA’s rovers on the surface back to Earth and from the ESA–Roscosmos ExoMars rover, which is planned for launch in 2020.”

Video credit: ESA

NASA dixit:

“How can you see the atmosphere? By tracking what is carried on the wind. Tiny aerosol particles such as smoke, dust, and sea salt are transported across the globe, making visible weather patterns and other normally invisible physical processes.

This visualization uses data from NASA satellites, combined with mathematical models in a computer simulation allowing scientists to study the physical processes in our atmosphere. By following the sea salt that is evaporated from the ocean, you can see the storms of the 2017 hurricane season. During the same time, large fires in the Pacific Northwest released smoke into the atmosphere. Large weather patterns can transport these particles long distances: in early September, you can see a line of smoke from Oregon and Washington, down the Great Plains, through the South, and across the Atlantic to England.

Dust from the Sahara is also caught in storms systems and moved from Africa to the Americas. Unlike the sea salt, however, the dust is removed from the center of the storm. The dust particles are absorbed by cloud droplets and then washed out as it rains.”

Video credit: NASA Goddard

ESA dixit:

“Atmospheric carbon dioxide is the most important human-made greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. Oceans assist in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere: phytoplankton accumulate carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and their chlorophyll colours the ocean’s waters. Satellites use this colour to measure chlorophyll, which helps scientists to calculate how much carbon dioxide is absorbed or emitted.”

Video credit: ESA/CCI Ocean Colour/Climate Monitoring User Group/Planetary Visions

Wikipedia dixit:

“Progress MS-08, identified by NASA as Progress 69 or 69P, is a Progress spacecraft used by Roscosmos to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). Progress MS-8 launched on 13 February 2018 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket and docked on 15 February 2018 with the aft docking port of the Zvezda module. The Progress MS-8 spacecraft carries about 2746 kg of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. The spacecraft delivered food, fuel and supplies, including 890 kg of propellant, 46 kg of oxygen and air, 420 kg of water.”

Video credit: Roscosmos

SpotMini concept is a likely candidate for future planetary exploration missions. I predict Mars Rover 2030 mission will borrow a lot from the SpotMini design.

~ dj

Read more about SpotMini…

Video credit: Boston Dynamics

ESA dixit:

“ESA’s XMM-Newton has spotted surprising changes in the powerful streams of gas from two massive stars, suggesting that colliding stellar winds don’t behave as expected. Massive stars – several times larger than our Sun – lead turbulent lives, burning their nuclear fuel rapidly and pouring large amounts of material into their surroundings throughout their short but sparkling lives.

These fierce stellar winds can carry the equivalent of Earth’s mass in a month and travel at millions of kilometres per hour, so when two such winds collide they unleash enormous amounts of energy. The cosmic clash heats the gas to millions of degrees, making it shine brightly in X-rays.

Normally, colliding winds change little because neither do the stars nor their orbits. However, some massive stars behave dramatically. This is the case with HD 5980, a pairing of two huge stars each 60 times the mass of our Sun and only about 100 million kilometres apart – closer than we are to our star. One had a major outburst in 1994, reminiscent of the eruption that turned Eta Carinae into the second brightest star in the sky for about 18 years in the 19th century. While it is now too late to study Eta Carinae’s historic eruption, astronomers have been observing HD 5980 with X-ray telescopes to study the hot gas.”

Read more…

Video credit: ESA