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"Raising the Flag" by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson.
"There’s a particular kind of decision that doesn’t just change the law. It rewrites the story we tell ourselves about the country. The Supreme Court’s latest ruling on the Voting Rights Act is one of those decisions.
The court’s conservative majority didn’t simply narrow a statute. It made a far more sweeping claim: that the conditions that justified the law no longer exist."
https://nickanderson.substack.com/p/raising-the-flag
#UsPol
1/n -
Some info on the GoPro HERO4 cameras attached to each of the 4 solar arrays of the Artemis II Orion European Service Module (ESM).
These are a WiFi-based GoPro cameras, modified for use in space.
- 5.8 GHz WiFi
- 4kx3k pixels (12 MP)
- Fixed 18-mm lens
- No LED/LCD display
- Metal caseThe primary purpose of these cameras is to check the health and status of the spacecraft and to aid in problem diagnosis.
Go #Artemis2 #Orion #ESM
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20230003915/downloads/Wi-Fi%20on%20Artemis%201%20-%20FINAL.pdf
71/n -
7 years ago, on New Year's Day, Jan 1, 2019, the NASA New Horizons spacecraft flew by the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft, the contact binary trans-Neptunian object 2014 MU6, now named Arrokoth.
Arrokoth means "sky" in the Powhatan/Algonquin language.
New Horizons also saw evidence for methanol, water ice and organic molecules on the red surface of the 35 km Kuiper Belt object.
https://pluto.jhuapl.edu/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/486958_Arrokoth
Also see https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/111681146380738902
#NewHorizons
1/n -
Here is a fascinating time-lapse video of the full construction, assembly and installation of NASA’s Deep Space Station 53 (DSS-53) at the Deep Space Network’s Madrid complex in Spain.
The video covers the period from November 2018 to March 2020. The antenna became fully operational in late February 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Np25TRfu8
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTE4redzJAk for a longer video taken from a different angle.
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Construction of the new 34m antenna DSS-23 at NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) site at Goldstone, CA, is progressing well. On Dec 18, the 34-meter-wide 133-ton steel framework for the Deep Space Station 23 (DSS-23) reflector dish was installed on a 20-meter-high alidade – a platform above the antenna's pedestal that will steer the reflector during operations.
The new antenna is expected to be operational in 2026.
https://www.nasa.gov/technology/space-comms/deep-space-network/nasas-new-deep-space-network-antenna-has-its-crowning-moment/
1/n
#NASA #DSN #Space -
Weight of the lunar samples brought back by China‘s Chang'e-6 probe = 1935.3 grams. It is slightly less than the 2 kg goal, since Chang'e-6's drill could not penetrate beyond 1 m due to some rocks below the lunar surface.
Chang'e 6 chief designer Hu Hao revealed that the soil is stickier and has clumps compared to Chang’e-5’s sample.
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202406/28/WS667e18f8a31095c51c50b526.html
#Change6
21/n -
U.S. Space Command confirms the break-up of the defunct Russian satellite Resurs P1 yesterday. It resulted in over 100 pieces of trackable debris.
Even though NASA has not identified the satellite that resulted in the defensive posture at the ISS yesterday, it probably was due to this satellite.
Cause of satellite break-up is not known at this time.
https://www.spacecom.mil/Newsroom/News/Article-Display/Article/3819238/press-release-break-up-of-russian-owned-space-object/
#SpaceDebris #USSPACECOM
2/n -
Although the calvings in this area are not thought to be directly linked to climate change, NASA states that "the Brunt Ice Shelf is feeling the same pressures as elsewhere around Antarctica, including low sea ice conditions. When less sea ice is present, ice shelves are more exposed to destabilizing wind and wave action."
In the waters around Antarctica, ice coverage in Feb. 2024 shrank to near-historic lows for the third year in a row.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152848/antarctic-ice-shelf-spawns-iceberg-a-83
#Iceberg #A83 #Antarctic
4/n -
Names for icebergs larger than 10 nautical miles (on the longest axis) start with the letter A, B, C or D followed by a sequentially assigned number, e.g., A-83.
The letter is based on the Antarctic quadrant where an iceberg originates, as shown in the graphic below -
A = 0-90W (Bellingshausen/Weddell Sea)
B = 90W-180 (Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea)
C = 180-90E (Western Ross Sea/Wilkesland)
D = 90E-0 (Amery/Eastern Weddell Sea)https://polarjournal.ch/en/2021/02/18/how-to-name-an-iceberg/
#Iceberg #A83 #Antarctic
3/n -
The Halley VIa Research Station operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is located on the Brunt Ice Shelf as shown in the map below. It used to sit on the A-81 iceberg area as seen in the map above and was moved to its current location in 2016 before A-81 broke loose.
BAS notes that this A-83 calving was expected, the ice shelf is stable and they don’t expect a response to this new event.
https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/brunt-ice-shelf-in-antarctica-calves-new-iceberg/
https://www.bas.ac.uk/polar-operations/sites-and-facilities/facility/halley/
#A83 #Halley #Antarctic
2/n -
An iceberg named A-83, 380 sq km in size, broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica on May 20.
"This calving event results from a prolonged weakening of the ice at the McDonald Ice Rumples and progressive eastward extension of the so-called ‘Halloween Crack’ into the ice shelf."
In 2021, the Brunt Ice Shelf produced an iceberg called A-74 followed by an even bigger berg, named A-81, in 2023.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/05/Iceberg_A-83_breaks_free
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152848/antarctic-ice-shelf-spawns-iceberg-a-83
#A83 #Antarctica
1/n -
Recorded sightings of Halley’s Comet go back more than 2,000 years. One of the famous recordings is in the Bayeux Tapestry which depicts scenes from the Norman invasion of England in 1066. The tapestry is displayed in a special museum in Bayeux, Normandie (France).
https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/roundup/1780/955YearsAgoHalleysCometandtheBattleofHastings
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Bayeux_Tapestry_32-33_comet_Halley_Harold.jpg
#Halley
4/n -
@markmccaughrean has a thought-provoking thread on why we should "build a new mission to Halley in the footsteps of ESA’s Giotto, Rosetta, & Comet Interceptor. To rendezvous with it, fly alongside, & return again in 2134."
https://fosstodon.org/@markmccaughrean@mastodon.social/111553172377340948
#Halley
3/n -
Here is a pic posted by the Icelandic Met Office of the newly installed remote sensing SO2 detectors/cameras, one of which detected SO2 yesterday and triggered an evacuation of Grindavík, while residents were being allowed to enter to collect essential belongings.
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How do these SO2 detectors work?
Interestingly, they work along similar principles used to detect molecules in stars and exoplanets!
The spectrum of sunlight traveling through air is examined using a Differential Optical Absorption Spectrometer (DOAS). SO2 causes absorption of certain wavelengths (around 310/320 nm); dips at these wavelengths can be detected and measured.
Can work across large distances. Requires sunlight.
See example below.https://resonance.on.ca/gcso2%20gas%20camera%20brochure.htm
#Iceland #DOAS #SO2
12/n -
Although research published as early as the 1970s predicted the importance of CH3+ in interstellar chemistry, it has previously been virtually impossible to detect. It took a sensitive infrared space-based telescope like JWST to finally detect it.
https://esawebb.org/news/weic2315/
#JWST #Orion #CH3+
3/n -
CH3+ reacts with a wide range of other molecules and has been theorized to be the cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry, yet until now has remained undetected.
The discovery vindicates the theory that CH3+ can form in the presence of strong UV radiation. UV radiation is destructive to complex organic molecules, but under the right conditions it can facilitate it. There is evidence that the solar system disk was UV radiated by a nearby star. -
Interstellar organic chemistry gets a boost as JWST detects a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+) was detected in a young star system with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
The methyl cation molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule
https://esahubble.org/images/heic0601a/
#JWST #Orion #CH3+
1/n -
The TRAPPIST-1 system, with its ultra-cool red dwarf star and 7 exoplanets is relatively small in extent, as illustrated by this graphic of the orbits of the exoplanets compared to that of planet Mercury.
https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2016/27/3775-Image.html?news=true
#JWST #TRAPPIST1 #exoplanet #Science
8/n -
Here is a graph from the paper that shows how the measured temp. of 503K implies a lack of atmosphere for exoplanet TRAPPIST-1b.
Top green curve: flux for 508K temp predicted for zero heat redistribution.
Blue curve: flux for measured 503K dayside temp.
Orange curve: the predicted flux with heat redistribution by an atmosphere.
Last 2 curves: spectra from CO2 and O2+CO2 atmospheres.
The MIRI 15 µm filter measurement lies on the blue curve.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.14849
#JWST #TRAPPIST1 #exoplanet
7/n -
Few more artist's impressions of the exoplanets of the TRAPPIST-1 system.
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1615/
#JWST #TRAPPIST1 #exoplanet #NASA #ESO
6/n -
An artist's concept of a view from the watery surface of exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f.
Measurements by Hubble of UV radiation in the TRAPPIST-1 system suggest that the outer planets of the system might still harbor substantial amounts of water.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Catlech
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1453/hubble-delivers-first-hints-of-possible-water-content-of-trappist-1-planets/
#JWST #TRAPPIST1 #exoplanet #Science
5/n -
The Artemis Orion spacecraft trajectory over its 26-day mission is shown below.
Tomorrow morning, Orion will flyby within 100 km of the lunar surface and fire its thrusters to steer it towards the Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO). Orion will enter DRO proper after another burn (DRI) on Nov 25.
Between Nov 25 and Dec 1, Orion will coast in the DRO.
A DRD burn on Dec 1, followed by an RPF burn on Dec 5 will set course for home.
Source: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180001259/downloads/20180001259.pdf + overlays by me.