Preliminary conclusions: damage to the spacecraft "Progress MS-21" caused by external influence

The State Commission continues to analyze emergency situations with the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft and Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft that occurred on the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-23 unmanned spacecraft will be launched to the station on February 24.

Survey of the outer surface of the Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft

After undocking from the ISS on February 18, a detailed photo and video survey of the Progress MS-21 spacecraft was carried out.

According to preliminary data from the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia named after S.P. Korolev (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), Progress MS-21, like Soyuz MS-22 before, was subjected to external influence. Such conclusions are made on the basis of photographs that show changes on the outer surface of the ship, including on the radiator of the instrument-aggregate compartment and solar panels. Holes were found on them that were not fixed either during the manufacture of Progress MS-21 at the plant, or during its preparation for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, or during the flight and docking of the spacecraft with the ISS.

In addition, in order to exclude the version of a manufacturing defect, RSC Energia analyzed the history of comments on the thermal control system of the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft over the past 15 years.

“Remarks that could lead to such an emergency situation were not identified. The reliability reserve of the thermal control system is one year from the date of launch of the ship, so the system is guaranteed to be reliable in the design conditions of its operation,” follows from the report of the enterprise.
Image above: Photographs that show changes on the outer surface of the Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft.

Experts continue to analyze the information received. It is also planned to conduct a series of ground experiments to simulate damage similar to what was detected on the Progress MS-21. This will help to finally check all versions and develop measures to counter such threats in the development and production of spacecraft and vehicles.

The information received allowed the state commission to decide on the possibility of an unmanned launch of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on February 24 and its docking to the ISS on February 26. This ship is designed to replace the emergency Soyuz MS-22, the regular return to Earth of the crew consisting of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev, Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, as well as their urgent descent in case of an emergency.
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Hubble captures the start of a new 'spoke' season of Saturn: NASA

FEB 14, 2023 In a latest image of Saturn captured by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Hubble Space Telescope, the appearance of spokes on the planet's rings heralded the start of a new 'spoke' season, according to a statement by NASA. Scientists will be looking for clues to explain the cause and nature of the spokes, the statement said. The suspected culprit for the spokes is the planet's variable magnetic field, the statement said. Planetary magnetic fields interact with the solar wind, creating an electrically charged environment. On Earth, when those charged particles hit the atmosphere this is visible in the northern hemisphere as the aurora borealis, or northern lights, NASA said. Scientists think that the smallest, dust-sized icy ring particles can become charged as well, which temporarily levitates those particles above the rest of the larger icy particles and boulders in the rings, NASA said. Like Earth, Saturn is tilted on its axis and therefore has four seasons, though because of Saturn's much larger orbit, each season lasts approximately seven Earth years, the space agency said. Equinox occurs when the rings are tilted edge-on to the Sun. The spokes disappear when it is near summer or winter solstice on Saturn, which is when the Sun appears to reach either its highest or lowest latitude, respectively, in the northern or southern hemisphere of a planet, the space agency said. As the autumnal equinox of Saturn's northern hemisphere on May 6, 2025, draws near, the spokes are expected to become increasingly prominent and observable, the statement said. The latest image captured by Hubble is heralded the start of Saturn's "spoke season" with the appearance of two smudgy spokes in the B ring, one of the rings, of Saturn, the statement said. The ephemeral features don't last long, but as the planet's autumnal equinox approaches, more will appear, the statement said. The ring spokes were first observed by NASA's Voyager mission in the early 1980s. The transient, mysterious features can appear dark or light depending on the illumination and viewing angles, the statement said. NASA senior planetary scientist Amy Simon, head of the Hubble Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program said, "Thanks to Hubble's OPAL program, which is building an archive of data on the outer solar system planets, we will have longer dedicated time to study Saturn's spokes this season than ever before." NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observation time devoted to Saturn each year, thanks to the OPAL program, and the dynamic gas giant planet always showed something new, said the space agency. Saturn's last equinox occurred in 2009, while NASA's Cassini spacecraft was orbiting the gas giant planet for close-up reconnaissance, the agency said in the statement. With Cassini's mission completed in 2017, and the Voyager spacecrafts long gone, Hubble is continuing the work of long-term monitoring of changes on Saturn and the other outer planets, the space agency said. "Despite years of excellent observations by the Cassini mission, the precise beginning and duration of the spoke season is still unpredictable, rather like predicting the first storm during hurricane season," Simon said. While our solar system's other three gas giant planets also have ring systems, nothing compares to Saturn's prominent rings, making them a laboratory for studying spoke phenomena, the statement said. Whether spokes could or do occur at other ringed planets is currently unknown, NASA said. "It's a fascinating magic trick of nature we only see on Saturn for now at least," Simon said. Hubble's OPAL program will add both visual and spectroscopic data, in wavelengths of light from ultraviolet to near-infrared, to the archive of Cassini observations, NASA said. Scientists are anticipating putting these pieces together to get a more complete picture of the spoke phenomenon, and what it reveals about ring physics in general, the statement said.Copyright © Jammu Links News, Source: Jammu Links News
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Sun is white and not yellow, confirms former NASA astronaut!


Most people believe the Sun is yellow since it appears yellow from the ground, but after reading this tweet, we may have to rethink our views.

This space truth was recently confirmed by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly in a widely shared tweet. The Sun's true colour is actually white, and the explanation the dwarf star typically seems yellow is due to an odd interaction between light physics that causes the sun to look yellow the majority of the time.

Our atmosphere causes the sun to appear yellow. But once you are outside of the atmosphere of the Earth, the Sun appears to be all white. NASA claims that this is because of way our eyes see colour.

Sunsets and sunrises seem red, yellow, or orange because the sun's light must traverse through all of Earth's atmosphere to reach the surface when it is lower in the sky than when it is directly overhead.

According to NASA, shorter light wavelengths, like blue, are more likely to be scattered through the atmosphere as time goes on, whereas longer light wavelengths, like red, can go considerably farther.

Since the amount of sunshine merely inundates the photoreceptor cells in our eyes, blending all the colours together, we are unable to distinguish a single colour from the sun. White is the result of combining all colours of light. As a result, the sun appears white in space and yellow on Earth. DailyBangladesh/RAH, Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com/
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Mars rover sees hints of past life in latest rock samples

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has detected its highest concentrations yet of organic molecules, in a potential signal of ancient microbes that scientists are eager to confirm when the rock samples are eventually brought to Earth.

While organic matter has been found on the Red Planet before, the new discovery is seen as especially promising because it came from an area where sediment and salts were deposited into a lake -- conditions where life could have arisen.

"It is very fair to say that these are going to be, these already are, the most valuable rock samples that have ever been collected," David Shuster, a Perseverance return sample scientist, told reporters during a briefing.

Organic molecules -- compounds made primarily of carbon that usually include hydrogen and oxygen, but also at times other elements -- are not always created by biological processes.

Further analysis and conclusions will have to wait for the Mars Sample Return mission -- a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to bring back the rocks that is set for 2033.

Nicknamed Percy, the rover landed on Mars' Jezero Crater in February 2021, tasked with caching samples that may contain signs of ancient life, as well as characterizing the planet's geology and past climate.

The delta it is exploring formed 3.5 billion years ago. The rover is currently there investigating sedimentary rocks, which came about from particles of various sizes settling in the then watery environment.

Percy cored two samples from a rock called "Wildcat Ridge," which is about three feet (one meter) wide, and on July 20 abraded some of its surface so it could be analyzed with an instrument called SHERLOC that uses ultraviolet light.

The results showed a class of organic molecules called aromatics, which play a key role in biochemistry.

"This is a treasure hunt for potential signs of life on another planet," NASA astrobiologist Sunanda Sharma said.

"Organic matter is a clue and we're getting stronger and stronger clues...I personally find these results so moving because it feels like we're in the right place, with the right tools, at a very pivotal moment."

There have been other tantalizing clues about the possibility of life on Mars before, including repeated detections of methane by Perseverance's predecessor, Curiosity.

While methane is a digestive byproduct of microbes here on Earth, it can also be generated by geothermal reactions where no biology is at play.DailyBangladesh/SA, Mars rover sees hints of past life in latest roc
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NASA scrubs launch of giant Moon rocket, may try again Friday

NASA scrubs launch of giant Moon rocket, may try again Friday
NASA has scrubbed a test flight of its powerful new rocket, in a setback to its plan to send humans back to the Moon and eventually to Mars, but may shoot for another launch attempt on Friday. "We don't launch until it's right," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said after an engine issue forced a cancellation of Monday's flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "This is a very complicated machine," Nelson said. "You don't want to light the candle until it's ready to go." The goal of the mission, baptized Artemis 1 after the twin sister of Apollo, is to test the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule that sits on top. The mission is uncrewed -- mannequins equipped with sensors are standing in for astronauts and will record acceleration, vibration and radiation levels. Mike Sarafin, mission manager of Artemis 1, said the space agency is hoping to make another launch attempt later this week. "Friday is definitely in play," Sarafin said. NASA would have a better idea of whether a Friday launch is feasible after a meeting on Tuesday of the management team, he said. "We just need a little bit of time to look at the data," Sarafin said. Next Monday, September 5, is an alternative launch date. Blastoff had been planned for 8:33 am (1233 GMT) but was cancelled because a test to get one of the rocket's four RS-25 engines to the proper temperature range for launch was not successful. Delays are "part of the space business," Nelson said, expressing confidence NASA engineers will "get it fixed and then we'll fly." Tens of thousands of people -- including US Vice President Kamala Harris -- had gathered to watch the launch, which comes 50 years after Apollo 17 astronauts last set foot on the Moon. "Our commitment to the Artemis Program remains firm, and we will return to the Moon," Harris tweeted. Veteran NASA astronaut Stan Love told reporters he was disappointed but "not really surprised." "This is a brand new vehicle," Love said. "It has a million parts. All of them have to work perfectly." Extreme temperatures: Overnight operations to fill the orange-and-white rocket with ultra-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen were briefly delayed by a risk of lightning. A potential leak was detected during the filling of the main stage with hydrogen, causing a pause. After tests, the flow resumed. NASA engineers later detected the engine temperature problem and decided to scrub the launch. The Orion capsule is to orbit the Moon to see if the vessel is safe for people in the near future. At some point, Artemis aims to put a woman and a person of color on the Moon for the first time. During the 42-day trip, Orion will follow an elliptical course around the Moon, coming within 60 miles (100 kilometers) at its closest approach and 40,000 miles at its farthest -- the deepest into space by a craft designed to carry humans. One of the main objectives is to test the capsule's heat shield, which at 16 feet in diameter is the largest ever built. On its return to Earth's atmosphere, the heat shield will have to withstand speeds of 25,000 miles per hour and a temperature of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) -- roughly half as hot as the Sun. Crewed mission to Mars: NASA is expected to spend $93 billion between 2012 and 2025 on the Artemis program, which is already years behind schedule, at a cost of $4.1 billion per launch. The next mission, Artemis 2, will take astronauts into orbit around the Moon without landing on its surface. The crew of Artemis 3 is to land on the Moon in 2025 at the earliest. And since humans have already visited the Moon, Artemis has its sights set on another lofty goal: a crewed mission to Mars. The Artemis program aims to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon with an orbiting space station known as Gateway and a base on the surface.Gateway would serve as a staging and refueling station for a voyage to the Red Planet that would take a minimum of several months. Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com/
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