DART successfully impacts Dimorphos asteroid

Image courtesy of NASA

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully collided with the asteroid Dimorphos, moonlet of the larger Didymos asteroid today at 7:14 PM EDT. The event was broadcasted live on NASA's offical YouTube channel.

Created by the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) for the purpose of testing planetary defense solutions against asteroids, DART is an unmanned spacecraft created with the intention of not only showcasing a method of defense against asteroids but allowing scientists to better prepare future solutions via the data gained from its impact as well as showcasing multiple new technologies.

Chief among these technologies is the Small-body Maneuvering Autonomous Real Time Navigation (SMART Nav) system which DART successfully tested on July 1 and August 2 with the help of Jupiter and its moon Europa. This system allows the craft to autonomously maneuver itself towards Dimorphos by feeding images taken by Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) into a computer algorithm that analyzes the images and adjusts DART's course accordingly.

Also notable is the Italian Space Agency's (ASI) Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube) which was deployed by DART for the purpose of capturing and analyzing the effects of DART's impact.

Launched into space via a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, DART slammed into Dimorphos as it passed in front of Didymos at 14,000 mph, making it not only the first planetary defense mission in the history of mankind, but the first successful mission as well. Scientists are currently working on analyzing the data from the impact.

Update 9/29/22: Both the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) were able to observe DART's impact on Dimorphos.

Image courtesy of NASA

JWST was able to capture an image of the asteroid before the impact as well as several more images over a period of five hours with its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), a feat which posed a significant challenge for Webb due to the speed of the asteroid. In order to track Dimorphos, Webb's team utilized a method they had tested in the upcoming weeks that allowed Webb to track asteroids at up to three times its original speed limit.

Scientists also hope to scan the area of impact with Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) in order to learn more about the asteroid's chemical composition.

Images courtesy of NASA

Hubble captured 45 images total over a several hour period as part of Cycle 29 General Observers Program 16674, showcasing Dimorphos immediately before and 15 minutes after the impact. Through these images, scientists estimate the brightness of the asteroid system increased as much three times normal after DART's collision and continue to remain so eight hours after.

Hubble plans to observe the Didymos-Dimorphos system 10 more times in the next three weeks for the purpose of determine the full scope of the effects of DART's impact on Dimorphos.

Update 10/11/22: Analysis of data has confirmed that DART's impact has succesfully altered the orbit of the Dimorphos, marking the first time mankind has successfully altered the orbit of a celestial object.

Graph courtesy of NASA

Before DART's impact, Dimorphos completed its orbit around its parent asteroid Didymos in 11 hours 55 minutes. After the impact, scientists estimate that a complete orbit now takes around 11 hours 23 minutes.

Scientists are now focused on gauging the efficiency of the momentum transfer from DART's 14,000 mile-per-hour collision with Dimorphos. To do so, data from DART's terminal approach and the LICIACube satellite observing the impact will be utilized to approximate the asteroid's shape and mass. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Hera probe will also conduct a scan of the area of impact in December 2026.

DART uses Jupiter and Europa to test navigation systems

Image courtesy of NASA.

NASA's Direct Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) craft has utilized Jupiter and its moon Europa to test the craft's autonomous navigation systems in preparation for its eventual impact with the asteroid Didymos.

Described as DART's "equivalent of an eye and a brain", the Small-body Maneuvering Autonomous Real Time Navigation (SMART Nav) system created by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) allows DART to autonomously maneuver itself by sending images taken by a high resolution camera, known as the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO), through a series of algorithms that allow the craft to make the necessary course corrections.

On July 1 and August 2, DART's operations team tested the SMART Nav system by targeting Europa as it emerged from behind Jupiter in order to better understand how the system interprets the images DRACO views. This was done due to the resemblance of Europa's emergence to how Didymos's moonlet Dimorphos will emerge during the impact. The above image is a composite image of Jupiter and its moons taken from approximately 435 million miles away from the planet.

While DART obviously did not directly impact Jupiter or its moons, the tests gave the team a much greater understanding of how DRACO views space that in turn allows scientists to better interpret the images sent by DART when the craft eventually makes its final approach.

DART's progress can be tracked via APL's DART webpage.

James Webb makes its first observations of Mars

Mars NIRCam images. Images and info courtesy of NASA

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made its first observations of the planet Mars, complimenting data given by other projects on the red planet with its infrared data.

From its unique observation point, Webb is able to view a region of Mars' southern hemisphere with its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instruments. However, due to Mars being one of the brightest objects in the night sky, Webb could only take very short exposure images of the surface due to the instruments being made to amplify distant light sources.

The first image (upper right), taken at 2.1 microns, showcases many surface details consistent with those in visual images of Mars due to the large amount of relfected sunlight.

The second image (bottom right), taken at 4.3 microns, showcases the thermal emissions given off as Mars loses heat within the region. However, the Hellas Basin, Mars' largest impact crater, appears darker not due to a colder temperature but due to its low altitude and high absorption of CO2 molecules passing through the atmosphere.

Mars NIRSpec data. Graph courtesy of NASA.

Webb's NIRSpec data reveals the composition of Mars' atmosphere by tracking the amount of light absorbed by molecules within it, represented by dips/spikes in the graph. 

Scientists hope to utilize both complete sets of data to explain regional differences on Mars as well as locate trace gasses in the atmosphere.

Webb's position and progress can be tracked on NASA's "Where is Webb?" page.

Perseverance discovers rich organic material on Mars

Image courtesy of NASA

 NASA's Perseverance rover has taken samples containing trace amounts of organic molecules, possibly remnants of ancient life on Mars.

The samples were retrieved during the rover's second scientific venture in the Jezero Crater, an area theorized to have once been the site of a convergence between a martian lake and river.

“We picked the Jezero Crater for Perseverance to explore because we thought it had the best chance of providing scientifically excellent samples – and now we know we sent the rover to the right location,” said NASA's Associate Science Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen.

In the previous scientific venture, Perseverance obtained samples from around the crater's surface. The rover found the area to be covered in igneous rocks formed by subterranean magma that gave scientists clues as to when the river formed due to their age.

For the second venture, Perseverance retrieved samples from the river's delta in, among other places, an area known as "Wildcat Ridge", a three feet wide rock structure believed to have been formed as mud and fine sands settled from an evaporating lake. These samples were analyzed by Perseverance's Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument.

Within these samples, SHERLOC found a sizable quantity of organic materials, the largest on the mission to date. While organic materials have been discovered on Mars before, the large amount discovered in "Wildcat Ridge" in proximity to an area where life could have potentially thrived as well as the presence of sulfate, a mineral known for its preservation of fossils on Earth, has scientists eager to transport the samples back to Earth for further analysis.

CAPSTONE suffers glitch en route to lunar orbit

Image courtesy of NASA

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) small satellite has suffered an "anomaly" after completing a course correction maneuver while en route to its planned lunar orbit. This anomaly caused the satellite to go into safe mode though the ground team remains in contact with the satellite. Both Advanced Space and Terran Orbital are currently working to resolve the issue.

Update 9/12/22: Advanced Space has released an update confirming the anomaly occured after or near the completion of a course correction and that CAPSTONE is projected to remain on course to its intended lunar orbit. Regardless, the ground team is attempting recovery with the help of NASA's Deep Space Network. 

Currently, efforts are focused on an improving the thermal situation around CAPSTONE's engines and other subsystems in order to maneuver the satellite back on course. This will be done by utilizing power generated by CAPSTONE's solar panels which have remained functional throughout the satellite's impromptu shutdown.

Update 9/15/22: Advance Space has improved communications with CAPSTONE and confirmed that the satellite possesses sufficient power to raise the temperature around the satellite's engines back to optimal levels. CAPSTONE remains on course to its projected orbit.

Update 9/21/22: Advanced Space has successfully improved thermal conditions around CAPSTONE's propellant and other critical subsystems necessary for maneuvering the satellite back on course. Tests and preparations to perform said maneuver are underway.

Update 10/7/22: Advanced Space successfully uploaded a recovery plan to CAPSTONE that allowed the ground team to regain control over the satellite. The satellite's solar panels are now orientated towards the sun and the antennas are in a position optimized for data transmission.

The fault that caused CAPSTONE to go into safe mode is hypothesized to be the result of a partially open valve on one of the satellite's eight thrusters causing the associated thruster to vent thrust whenever it was pressurized. Solutions for this problem are currently in development.

Tarantula Nebula shown by Webb in stunning detail

Image courtesy of NASA

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured images of the "Tarantula Nebula" AKA: the "30 Doradus Nebula", one of the largest nebulae discovered by scientists.

Found in the "Local Group" of galaxies, so named because the Milky Way lies at the center, the Tarantula Nebula is estimated to have a diameter of around 550 light-years across and a combined mass of around one million times that of our own sun. Within this mass of gases, some of the hottest stars known to mankind are born. Thus, scientists believe the Tarantula Nebula could hold vital clues to the formation process of stars and the universe itself.

The first image (above), taken by Webb's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) with the aid of the telescope's Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), showcases a 340 light-year-across region of the nebula where the majority of stars are formed as well as the various pillars and formations of cosmic dust that earnt the nebula its name. Of particular note are the stars glowing blue as they are younger stars in the early stages of their life.

Image courtesy of NASA

The second image (above) was taken by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and allows for a more detailed never-before-seen view of the pillars that make up the nebula. The various hydrocarbons (shown in blue and purple) and other materials involved in the creation glow brightly while the hotter stars are filtered out.

Webb's current progress can be tracked via NASA's "Where is Webb?" page.

 

James Webb snaps its first image of an exoplanet

Image and info courtesy of NASA

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured its first direct image of a planet outside of our solar system, following in the footsteps of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) before it.

The exoplanet HIP 65426 b, originally discovered in 2017 by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), was photographed by Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) through various filters, a task made easier due to the exoplanet being about 100 times more distant from its star than Earth is to the Sun.

“Obtaining this image felt like digging for space treasure,” UC postdoctoral researcher Aaryn Carter said referring to how, as the person in charge of analyzing the images, it still took large amounts of image processing to unveil HIP 65426 b despite the planet's distance from its star and Webb's advanced instruments.

JWST's current progress can be tracked via NASA's "Where is Webb" page.