Space Times

Welcome to the latest edition of Agnirva.com Space Times

Houston, We Have a Helium Problem! Starliner Struggles to Bring Astronauts Home!

Sunita Williams, an Indian-American NASA astronaut, along with Butch Wilmore, are currently stuck in space aboard the Starliner spacecraft. Initially planned as an 8-day mission, the astronauts are now struggling to return to Earth due to several technical issues. Since departing Earth, the spacecraft has experienced five helium leaks, five dead maneuvering thrusters, and a malfunctioning propellant valve.

The delay in their safe return stems from issues with Starliner's expendable propulsion system, which is crucial for maneuvering the spacecraft away from the ISS and positioning it for re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Many of Starliner's thrusters have overheated, and the helium leaks, used to pressurize these thrusters, are linked to their frequent use.

According to NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich, Starliner can remain docked to the ISS for up to 45 days under normal conditions. This period can be extended to 72 days if necessary, giving engineers time to resolve the technical issues.

NASA and Boeing are working tirelessly to fix these problems, running tests to diagnose the issues and find the best solution for a safe return. Despite the challenges, Stich is confident that once the issues are resolved, Starliner will safely bring Williams and Wilmore back to Earth.

In the meantime, there is speculation that Elon Musk’s SpaceX could assist with a rescue. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which is certified by NASA for astronaut transport, might step in to bring the astronauts and their crew members home if needed.

Sherlock Who? Perseverance’s SHERLOC Solves Its Own Lens Cover Mystery!

After six months of intense troubleshooting, the SHERLOC instrument on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is back in action. This instrument, crucial for detecting signs of ancient microbial life, successfully analyzed a rock target on Mars for the first time since January.

SHERLOC, which stands for Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals, uses cameras and a laser spectrometer to examine rocks for organic compounds and minerals. The instrument had been out of commission due to a malfunction with its protective lens cover, which had frozen in place and prevented data collection.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California worked tirelessly to diagnose and fix the issue. They ran diagnostics, tested potential solutions on a duplicate SHERLOC at JPL, and employed various strategies to free the stuck lens cover. These included heating the motor, rotating the rover's arm, and even using the rover’s drill to jostle the cover.

On March 3, the cover finally opened, allowing SHERLOC's cameras to resume operations. The team then focused on adjusting the instrument’s focus by fine-tuning the distance between SHERLOC and its targets using the rover's robotic arm. After extensive testing on both Earth and Mars, they established the optimal positioning for clear imaging and data collection.

By May 20, SHERLOC successfully captured images of a Martian rock, and on June 17, the instrument’s spectrometer was confirmed operational. This milestone enables Perseverance to continue its mission of exploring Jezero Crater for signs of ancient life, focusing on areas with potential carbonate and olivine deposits that could provide clues about Mars' watery past.

Perseverance project manager Art Thompson praised the team’s relentless efforts, stating, "Mars is hard, and bringing instruments back from the brink is even harder. But the team never gave up. With SHERLOC back online, we're continuing our explorations and sample collection with a full complement of science instruments.

Baby Stars Playing with Gas Jets? Webb Telescope Says Yes!

For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a phenomenon that astronomers have long hoped to directly image. In a stunning image of the Serpens Nebula, the discovery is located in the northern area of this young star-forming region.

Astronomers found an intriguing group of protostellar outflows, which are formed when jets of gas from newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust. Unlike typical outflows that vary in orientation, these are aligned in the same direction, resembling sleet during a storm. This discovery, made possible by Webb’s high-resolution near-infrared capabilities, provides new insights into star formation.

Principal investigator Klaus Pontoppidan from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained, “Astronomers have long assumed that stars formed from collapsing clouds spin in the same direction, but this has not been observed so directly before. These aligned structures show the fundamental process of star birth.”

The alignment of stellar jets relates to the rotation of the forming star. As the interstellar gas cloud collapses, it spins faster. For the gas to continue collapsing, some angular momentum must be removed. A disk forms around the young star, and swirling magnetic fields in the inner disk launch twin jets in opposite directions. These jets, visible as bright red streaks in the Webb image, are shockwaves from the jets hitting surrounding gas and dust, indicating the presence of molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Joel Green from the Space Telescope Science Institute noted, “This area of the Serpens Nebula, Serpens North, is now clear with Webb. We can see young stars and their outflows, some previously invisible due to thick dust.”

The Serpens Nebula, located 1,300 light-years from Earth, is only one to two million years old. It hosts a dense cluster of newly forming stars around 100,000 years old, some destined to grow as massive as our Sun. Green praised Webb’s capabilities, saying, “Webb is a young stellar object-finding machine, providing a complete picture of the star formation process.”

In addition to the jets, the image shows filaments and wisps representing reflected starlight from still-forming protostars, with some areas showing orange diffuse shades due to dust. The region also includes the "Bat Shadow," a feature discovered in 2020 by the Hubble Space Telescope, visible at the center of the Webb image.

Welcoming all Space Enthusiasts to learn about space concepts with Agnirva.com Courses. Agnirva.com is an ISRO Registered Space Tutor

Link: https://www.agnirva.com

Agnirva.com Space Community IN-SPACe ISRO - Indian Space Research Organization

Come, Take A Space Walk! Join Agnirva.com

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center NASA Marshall Space Flight Center United Nations BLUE ORIGIN Virgin Galactic World Economic Forum United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) OpenAI Microsoft Google DeepMind Google Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO Luxembourg Space Agency Agenzia Spaziale Italiana NSO - Netherlands Space Office IN-SPACe SpaceX German Aerospace Center (DLR) ISRO - Indian Space Research Organization