Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Aerospace

Third Van Allen Radiation Belt Discovered

NASA’s twin Van Allen Probes, launched just last August, have revealed a previously unknown third radiation belt around Earth. Video and highlighted quote courtesy NASA.

Van Allen Probes Discover a New Radiation Belt

Previous observations of the Van Allen belts dating back to the late 1950s have documented two distinct regions of trapped radiation surrounding our planet, known as the inner and outer radiation belts. Particle sensors aboard the twin Van Allen Probes quickly revealed to scientists the existence of a transient, third radiation belt. Scientists observed the third belt for four weeks before a powerful interplanetary shock wave from the sun annihilated it.

What a surprise – the Sun modulates the Van Allen Belts.

01 Mar 2013 by Aerospace Environment Science

Solar Flare

I watched this short video of a solar flare captured by SDO on New Year’s Eve. The video was on today’s APOD. They compared the prominence to a ballet:

Of particular interest is the tangled magnetic field that directs a type of solar ballet for the hot plasma as it falls back to the Sun.

The sun is approaching solar maximum sometime soon. In some circles, scientists believe we may already have passed the maximum which will prove to be a disappointment to greenbats. It will also disappoint some Ham radio operators who delight in ionospheric radio propagation which is enhanced by solar activity.

15 Jan 2013 by Aerospace Astronomy Environment Science

Mars Science Laboratory – Curiosity Rover

Curiosity RoverOn August 5, 2012, The Curiosity Rover landed on Mars for its two-year-long mission to look for signs of life on the red planet. Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet’s “habitability.”

This image was featured on the Astronomy Picture of the Day yesterday, but at a much larger and higher resolution. The composite image was constructed from 55 different images wherein the robotic arm holding the camera was digitally removed, making it appear as if it weren’t a self-portrait. Click on the image to enlarge.

To find out about the possibility of life (past or present), the rover carries the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the martian surface. The rover will analyze samples scooped from the soil and drilled from rocks. The record of the planet’s climate and geology is essentially “written in the rocks and soil” — in their formation, structure, and chemical composition. The rover’s onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and the local geologic setting in order to detect chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and will assess what the martian environment was like in the past.

Portions of the description above, came from the Mars Science Laboratory Overview website.

28 Dec 2012 by Aerospace Rocket Science Technobabble

Curiosity Lands Safely on Mars

Curiosity

Congratulations to NASA and JPL team for the safe landing of the Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory.

Mission Information courtesy JPL/NASA:

Mission name: Mars Science Laboratory

Rover name: Curiosity rover

Size: About the size of a small SUV — 10 feet long (not including the arm), 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall — (about 3 meters long (not including the arm), 2.7 meters wide, and 2.2 meters tall), or about the height of a basketball player.

Arm Reach: About 7 feet (2.2 meters)

Weight: 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds)

Features: Geology lab, rocker-bogie suspension, rock-vaporizing laser and lots of cameras

Mission: To search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favorable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life

Launch:
7:02 a.m. PST, Nov. 26, 2011
(10:02 a.m. EST)

Landing:
10:31 p.m. PDT, Aug. 5, 2012
(1:31 a.m. EDT, Aug. 6, 2012)

Length of mission on Mars: The prime mission will last one Mars year or about 23 Earth months.

Image courtesy JPL/NASA. Click to enlarge

06 Aug 2012 by Aerospace Science

Solar Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

cme-still.jpgI just love these 3D colorized graphics that depict the motion of solar events in space. This one shows a CME directed almost directly toward Earth and Mars. Click on the image at right to view the animated CME path as forecast.

From SpaceWeather.com:

CME TARGETS EARTH, MARS:

A coronal mass ejection (CME) launched from the sun on Feb. 24th appears set to hit both Earth and Mars. According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the cloud should reach Earth today, Feb. 26th around 1330 UT, followed by Mars two days later. Click to view the CME’s animated forecast track.

26 Feb 2012 by Aerospace Astronomy Environment

Solar Radiation Storm and CME

These colorful solar animations are always very interesting to me. Click animation below to view full-sized version.

From SpaceWeather.com:

A radiation storm that began on Nov. 26th when a magnetic filament erupted on the sun is subsiding. Nevertheless, the Earth-effects are just beginning. The same explosion that caused the radiation storm also hurled a CME into space at about 930 km/s (2 million mph). According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will reach our planet on Nov. 28th at 17:21 UT (+/- 7 hours).

solar-rad-cme.gif

28 Nov 2011 by Aerospace Astronomy Environment Rocket Science

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