First All-Sky Infrared Catalogs Released After 25 Years

All-sky surveys represent one of the most important tools in astronomy today. They allow experts to set reference points for their studies, and also to compare various celestial objects between themselves, and with newly discovered ones. For the first time in more than a quarter of a century, a new series of infrared all-sky surveys, covering in excess of 1.3 million light sources, has been made available, under the name of the AKARI All-Sky Catalogs. The information is available here and here, ScienceDaily reports.

“The release of the catalogs is very timely. Many of the objects detected by AKARI and contained in these catalogs will be prime candidates for future investigation at far-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths with Herschel. These catalogs will be very useful for astronomers preparing for the next opportunity, in May, to propose observations with Herschel,” the AKARI project scientist for the European Space Agency (EAS), Alberto Salama, explains. He shares that the new datasets could be used to derive more information on subjects such as the traits of nearby stars, on how planetary systems form around new stars, or on how stars started forming very early in the history of the Universe.

Launched in February 2006, the AKARI spacecraft was Japan's first infrared astronomical satellite. Its mission ran between May 2006 and August 2007, during which time it did a full sweep of the visible sky, imaging all the targets that eventually ended up forming the catalogs. Its two main instruments were the Infrared Camera (IRC), which worked in the 9- and 18-micrometer bands, and the Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS), which looked at the sky in the 65-, 90-, 140-, and 160-micrometer bands. IRC holds the record for most infrared sources discovered, at 70,000 objects, with FIS trailing some distance away, with only about 430,000 objects identified.

Each of the two catalogs features data from one of these two instruments. As such, rather than producing a single, large dataset, experts decided to split the information into the AKARI-IRC Point Source Catalog and the AKARI-FIS Bright Source Catalog. Behind this ambitious project was the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which managed the AKARI mission in collaboration with ESA. Scientists from the Seoul National University, in South Korea, have also contributed to developing the satellite and its instruments. Survey-data processing took place at the ESA European Space Astronomy Center (ESAC) near Madrid, Spain.

Sand Flows May Have Created Martian Gullies

Martian gullies may have been formed through the action of fluid sand, and not liquid water, a new research shows

For the past 11 years, ever since the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft sent back images of the mid-latitude regions of the Red Planet, astronomers have been obsessed with the gully-like features they noticed in the datasets. The landscape features resembled their Earth-based counterparts significantly, and so experts naturally assumed that the formation process must be the same between the two. But a new study now seems to suggest that this is not the case, and that water is not responsible for the gullies on our neighboring planet, Technology Review reports.

Over time, various theories have argued that the gullies were not in fact formed by water, but by the flow of sand on the surface. Now, a series of experiments appears to validate this assumption and indeed verify that sand flows are responsible for carving out the landscape features. An additional element that seems to support this idea is the vast amount of data sent back by Spirit and Opportunity, the NASA rovers that are currently in their seven year on the planet.

While the new theory does nothing in the way of proposing that water never existed on Mars, it simply draws attention to a number of issues related to the age of the gullies. While the two exploration rovers indeed found signs of water on the Red Planet, the liquid was present at their respective locations billions of years ago, and not sooner. On the other hand, the gullies were found to be only a few million years old. This clearly eliminates the possibility that they were created by water. Some proposed that water from aquifers may be responsible, but the idea does not stand because rain is needed to replenish aquifers, and no such thing exists on Mars.

Scientists at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, led by experts Yolanda Cedillo-Flores and Hector Javier Durand-Manterola, propose a new explanation for the gullies. They say that the formations developed as frozen carbon dioxide in the ground started to sublimate into the Martian atmosphere. This process in turn makes the sand become “fluid,” and start “flowing” even above light slopes. This explanation also accounts for why no gullies exist at the equator or poles. Carbon dioxide cannot freeze at the equator, and cannot unfreeze at the poles, the experts say.

Venus Express Does Aerobreaking Maneuvers

The European Space Agency (ESA) has been operating the Venus Express spacecraft around the second planet from the Sun since April 2006. The instruments aboard the probe managed to collect a wealth of data about the surface and atmosphere of the space rock, and contributed considerably to our understanding of its structure. In order to boost the amount of data we have on Venus, experts at ESA conducted a series of 5 aerobreaking maneuvers in its sweltering atmosphere last week, during which the solar panels on the spacecraft were used as sails to propel it through the chemical mix.

This meant that the entire probe was basically transformed into a highly-sensitive sensor, which proved to be very suitable for assessing the density of the atmosphere above Venus, just 111 miles, or 180 kilometers, over the cloud cover that conceals its surface. “The aerodrag campaign went without problem, and conclusively demonstrated that Venus Express can be securely and accurately used to sense the density of the planet's atmosphere. Venus Express has shown once again that it is a very capable satellite,” explained the Venus Express spacecraft operations manager, Octavio Camino.

Measuring atmospheric density with a probe such as this one is fairly easy. All engineers had to do is orient its solar panels in a manner that saw a small amount of torque force being generated in the body of the spacecraft. This happened because the instrument was passing through the faintest traces of the Venusian atmosphere, which created drag. The density could then be inferred from the amount of correction that reaction wheels needed to apply in order to keep the craft in its planned trajectory in space. These wheels counter-rotate within Venus Express itself, and are considered to play a fundamental role in ensuring the success of small correction maneuvers.

According to ESA mission managers, the spacecraft is expected to continue performing such aerobreaking maneuvers well into 2011 and 2012, even though the mission was originally scheduled to end back in May 2009. Due to the amazing performances of the probe, the mission was first extended for 4 months, and then, in September 2009, it was extended to 2010. However, engineers in charge of the machine are convinced that there's still life in it, and that the mission will receive additional funding, Space reports.

US military launches top-secret robotic spacecraft

A US Air Force unmanned spacecraft blasted off on Thursday from Florida, amid a veil of secrecy about its military mission.

The robotic space plane, or X-37B, lifted off from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas V rocket at 7:52 pm local time (2352 GMT), according video released by the military.

"The launch is a go," Air Force Major Angie Blair told AFP.

Resembling a miniature space shuttle, the plane is 8.9 meters (29 feet) long and has a wing-span of 4.5 meters.

The reusable space vehicle has been years in the making and the military has offered only vague explanations as to its purpose or role in the American military's arsenal.

The vehicle is designed to "provide an 'on-orbit laboratory' test environment to prove new technology and components before those technologies are committed to operational satellite programs," the Air Force said in a recent release.

Officials said the X-37B would eventually return for a landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but did not say how long the inaugural mission would last.

"In all honesty, we don't know when it's coming back," Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary for Air Force space programs, told reporters in a conference call this week.

Payton said the plane could stay in space for up to nine months.

Flight controllers plan to monitor the vehicle's guidance, navigation and control systems, but the Air Force has declined to discuss what the plane is carrying in its payload or what experiments are scheduled.

Pentagon officials have sidestepped questions about possible military missions for the spacecraft, as well as the precise budget for its development -- estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.

The results of the test flight will inform "development programs that will provide capabilities for our warfighters in the future," Payton said.

The space plane -- manufactured by Boeing -- began as a project of NASA in 1999, and was eventually handed over to the US Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.

The Air Force has plans for a second X-37B, scheduled to launch in 2011.

X-37B robotic space plane aims for Thursday launch

LOS ANGELES – The military is poised to launch an unmanned winged spacecraft resembling a miniature space shuttle Thursday and it probably won't be a one-time shot.

Gary Payton, Air Force deputy under secretary for space programs, said Tuesday the Air Force has contracted for a second space plane depending on the success of the prototype's maiden flight.

"Currently, we're looking at a 2011 launch for that second tail number. That assumes everything goes properly as predicted on this first flight," Payton told reporters.

After a decade of development, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is slated to launch from Florida and spend up to nine months in orbit. It will re-enter Earth on autopilot and land like an airplane at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The spacecraft will conduct classified experiments while in orbit. Payton said the Air Force's main interest is to test the craft's automated flight control system and learn about the cost of turning it around for launch again.

Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division, the X-37 program was originally headed by NASA. It was later turned over to the Pentagon's research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on the project, but the current total has not been released.

"After a tumultuous history of sponsorship, it's great to see the X37 finally get to the launch pad and get into space," Payton said.

Astronauts hoist cargo carrier onto space station

This image provided by NASA shows a front-on, 800mm view of the top part of Discovery's cabin as a shuttle crew member waves, top right, provided by one of the Expedition 23 crew members onboard the International Space Station Wednesday April 7, 2010. The shuttle was in the midst of a back-flip, performed to enable the station's cameras to survey it for possible damage.

The International Space Station has a new walk-in closet.

Space shuttle Discovery's astronauts lifted the 13-ton cargo carrier from the payload bay late Wednesday and attached it to the space station early Thursday. About half of that mass represents science experiments and supplies, as well as a new bedroom and freezer. NASA says the sleeping compartment may be turned into a powder room, where space station residents can take sponge baths and clean up.

The Italian-built cargo carrier - named Leonardo after Signor da Vinci - will return to Earth filled with trash and old equipment. Then it will be beefed up and flown back up in September as a permanent storage unit for the space station. That will be the last shuttle flight.

Jupiter-Bound Juno Spacecraft Taking Shape

Image comment: The Juno spacecraft is beginning to take shape at a Lockheed Martin facility, in Denver

Image credits: NASA / JPL / Lockheed Martin

In August 2011, NASA plans to launch a new space exploration mission, this time aimed at Jupiter. Dubbed Juno, the spacecraft will travel the distance from Earth to the gas giant within an estimated five years, and is scheduled to reach its destination in 2016. Officials at the American space agency are now proud to announce that the final version of the probe is beginning to take shape at the Denver, Colorado-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

According to experts at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, the mission is destined to help astronomers, astrobiologists and planetary scientists gain more insight into how the planet appeared, developed and evolved. The main objectives of the flight can be compared to the ones Cassini has in exploring Saturn, also a gas giant. The principal investigator of the Juno mission will be scientist Scott Bolton, who holds an appointment at the San Antonio, Texas-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).

“We're excited the puzzle pieces are coming together. We're one important step closer to getting to Jupiter,” reveals Bolton. He explains that the assembly, testing and launch operations phase of Juno began recently, on April 1, inside a high-bay clean room at the Lockheed Martin facility. What this means is that, over the next few months, an army of engineers and technicians will be in charge of outfitting scientific, navigation and propulsion instruments on Juno.

“We plan to be doing a lot of testing in the next few months. We want to make sure the spacecraft is ready for the long journey to Jupiter and the harsh environment it will encounter there,” adds JPL Juno project manager, Jan Chodas. The team hopes that, by peering through the thick layer of clouds surrounding Jupiter, they will be able to gain additional insight into the processes that governed our solar system a short time after it first formed.

India Developing Winged Reusable Rocket

An engineering model of the Indian space shuttle called “Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator” at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. PHOTO: ISRO

India is developing a winged reusable rocket and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has configured a Technology Demonstrator as a first step towards realising it, the space agency said in a report.

India's space scientists have already configured a winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). This is a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-reusable launch vehicle, according to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The agency said in its latest annual report that a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived.

"The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies like hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion. First in the series of demonstration trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX)," it said.

Meanwhile, for the Chandrayaan-2 mission, expected by 2012-13, ISRO has received 36 Indian payload proposals for orbiter and lander/rover.

The Scientific Advisory Board of Chandrayaan-2, a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-1, is currently in the process of reviewing the payloads proposed for orbiter.

ISRO sources said the space agency has also received foreign proposals evincing interest to send their instruments for hosting by the Chandrayaan-2 which would be jointly developed with Russia.

It would have an Indian orbiter and mini-rover, and Russian lander and rover.

According to ISRO, the Megha-Tropiques satellite, an Indo-French joint mission for the study of the tropical atmosphere and climate related aspects, is expected to be launched later this year.

It is set to join a string of global spacecraft designated to study climate change.

"Considering the strong global demand for data from Megha-Tropiques, ISRO, CNES (French space agency) and NASA have agreed to integrate this satellite into Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) constellation of satellites," ISRO said.

"With this, Megha-Tropiques will be one of the eight satellites contributing to the global scientific community to study and understand the dynamics of climate system," it said.

Data from the recently-launched Oceansat-2, which carried an atmospheric sounder 'ROSA' from Italy apart from main payloads - ocean colour monitor and scatterometer - is highly sought after by international scientific community.

In this respect, a cooperative programme on sharing the data with National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for their operational research is expected to be signed shortly, it said.

Astronauts return to Earth on Russian spacecraft

A Russian cosmonaut and a US astronaut returned to Earth on Thursday from the International Space Station (ISS) after 169 days in space, mission control in Moscow said.

"The crew of the Souyz TMA-16 craft is on Earth," it said in a statement, after Jeffrey Williams of the United States and Russia's Maxim Surayev touched down after five-and-a-half months together on the ISS.

At 1125 GMT, the spacecraft "made a safe landing in the designated area northeast of the town of Arkalyk" in the steppes of Kazakhstan, the mission control said.

"The cosmonauts are feeling well," it added.

"Working in frigid temperatures, Russian recovery teams were on hand at the landing site to help the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and readjust to gravity," the US space agency NASA said in a statement.

NASA said that as members of the Expedition 21 and 22 crews, the two presided over the completion of the US segment of the space station.

The Russian-US duo had been high above Earth for 169 days, blasting off into space on September 30, 2009 and docking with the ISS on October 2, according Russia's mission control.

Until December 1, Surayev and Williams had worked as flight engineers in a crew that also included Belgian Frank De Winne, Canadian Robert Thirsk and Russian Roman Romanenko.

After Winne, Thirsk and Romanenko left, Williams assumed command of the ISS, which had been manned by just two people until three more crew members arrived on December 23.

The three current inhabitants -- Russia's Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi of Japan and US astronaut Timothy Creamer -- will man the ISS until the arrival of a new spacecraft, the Soyuz TMA-18, whose launch is planned for April 2.

The ISS, which orbits 350 kilometres (220 miles) above Earth, is a sophisticated platform for scientific experiments, helping test the effects of long-term space travel on humans, a must for any trip to distant Mars.

Secret Space Plane Prepares for Launch

The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) is at this point the home of two very important space vehicles, each of which still needs to prove its worth in a first test flight. If the missions are successful, then one of the spacecraft would ensure that uninterrupted access of American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), whereas the other would provide a highly-mobile space platform to the US Air Force (USAF), for a wide variety of applications. The latter mission is the secretive X37B prototype, which is also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle. It arrived at the CCAFS sometime in February, and is currently undergoing final preparations for its launch.

Scheduled for April 19, this would be the first instance in which such a machine is launched from Florida. The spacecraft has relatively small dimensions (29-foot-long, 15-foot-wide), but it is capable of great things in orbit, its manufacturers say. The space plane itself has been developed and built at the Boeing Phantom Works facility, which is located in Southern California, Space reports. The overall design resembles that of a small space shuttle, and the new instrument even has a cargo bay. But the main difference is that the X37B is an unmanned craft and that it would be used primarily for attack and defense purposes (presumably).

According to officials in the USAF, the new space plane, weighing some 11,000 pounds, will be delivered to orbit aboard an Atlas 5 deliver system. “It is now undergoing spacecraft processing including checkout, fueling, and encapsulating in the 5-meter fairing of the Atlas 5 [rocket],” a USAF spokesperson said in a statement. Occasionally, people involved in this project release updates on how the spacecraft is doing, even though other details about it are classified. The entire program is managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, Space reports.

This project was initially developed by NASA, and was only later on handed to the Pentagon. In the version of the spacecraft proposed by the American space agency, the orbiter would be endowed with a 7-foot-long payload bay, which would be capable of deploying a number of small scientific payloads. Once in the hands of the Pentagon, the X-37B received a lot of attention from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as well, which tested it throughout 2007.

Coolest spacecraft ever in orbit around second Lagrange point

On 2 July, the detectors of Planck's High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273 C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft has also just entered its final orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, or L2.

Planck is equipped with a passive cooling system that brings its temperature down to about -230 C by radiating heat into space. Three active coolers take over from there, and bring the temperature down further to an amazing low of -273.05 C, only 0.1 C above absolute zero - the coldest temperature theoretically possible in our Universe.

Such low temperatures are necessary for Planck's detectors to study the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the first light released by the universe only 380 000 yrs after the Big Bang, by measuring its temperature across the sky.

The detectors will look for variations in the temperature of the CMB that are about a million times smaller than one degree - this is comparable to measuring from Earth the heat produced by a rabbit sitting on the Moon. This is why the detectors must be cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero ( - 273.15 C, or zero Kelvin, 0K).

Details on the different stages of the cool-down process are available via the 'Planck in depth' link at right.

Starting at 13:15 CEST 2 July, the Planck Mission Control Team conducted a crucial orbit insertion manoeuvre designed to place the satellite into its final orbit about L2.

Once commanded, the burn was auto-controlled by Planck, with the thrusters operating for between 12 and 24 hours. The manoeuvre directed the satellite into its final operational orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, L2.

The thruster burn was planned to deliberately underperform by a small margin, necessitating a small 'touch up' manoeuvre in the coming days to bring the satellite fully onto its planned trajectory.

'While this manoeuvre itself is routine, it represents the final major step in the long voyage to L2, and everyone here is quite happy to see Planck getting into its operational orbit,' said Chris Watson, Spacecraft Operations Manager, speaking in the mission's Dedicated Control Room at ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany.

The manoeuvre was planned to change the satellite's speed by 211.6 km/hour, ending with a final speed of 1010 Km/hour with respect to the ground. Together with Earth and the virtual point L2, Planck will then be orbiting the Sun at a speed of 106 254 km/hour (29.5 km/second).

At the start of 2 July's manoeuvre, Planck was located 1.43 million km from Earth.

All commissioning activities are on schedule, and this phase of the mission is practically complete. Over the next few weeks, the operation of the instruments will be fine-tuned for best performance.

Planck will begin to survey the sky in mid-August.

Source: European Space Agency