That’s Tonight Fyi

NASA Wants Deep Space Habitat Ideas

How will humans live on Mars? Well, NASA’s not really sure yet, but if you’ve got any ideas you can submit them now. The agency has just put out a call for proposals for “deep space habitation prototypes.”

from NASA’s press release:

NASA is soliciting proposals for the development of prototypes for deep space habitats that will give astronauts a place to call home during long-duration missions supporting the agency’s Journey to Mars.

pretty much

The Ice House

Plan for habitation on Mars based on 3D-printed ice.

http://www.marsicehouse.com/

Hearing: Next Steps to Mars: Deep Space Habitats

Subcommittee on Space (114th Congress) Next Steps to Mars: Deep Space Habitats

The Solar System!

bonus Pluto!

What Did Astronaut Scott Kelly Do After a #YearInSpace?

Astronaut Scott Kelly just returned from his One-Year Mission aboard the International Space Station. After spending 340 days on orbit, you can imagine that he started to miss a few Earthly activities. Here are a few things he did after his return home:

Watched a Sunset

While on the International Space Station for his One-Year Mission, astronaut Scott Kelly saw 16 sunrises/sunsets each day…so he definitely didn’t miss out on the beauty. That said, watching a sunset while on Earth is something that he had to wait to see. Tweet available HERE. 

Ate Fresh Food

After spending a year on the International Space Station, eating precooked food, anyone would be excited to dig into a REAL salad. Astronaut Scott Kelly was no exception, and posted about his first salad on Earth after his one-year mission. Learn more about what astronauts eat while in space HERE. Tweet available HERE.

Jumped into a Pool

Water is a precious resource in space. Unfortunately, that means that there isn’t a pool on the space station. Luckily, astronaut Scott Kelly was able to jump into some water after his return to Earth. Tweet/video available HERE.

Sat at a Dinner Table

While living on the International Space Station, crew members regularly enjoy their meals together, but do so while floating in microgravity. The comfort of pulling up a chair to the dinner table is something they can only experience once they’re back home on Earth. Tweet available HERE.

Enjoyed the Weather

When crew members live on the space station they can’t just step outside for a stroll. The only time they go outside the orbiting laboratory is during a spacewalk. Even then, they are confined inside a bulky spacesuit. Experiencing the cool breeze or drops of rain are Earthly luxuries. Tweet available HERE.

Stopped by the Doctor’s Office

The One-Year Mission doesn’t stop now that astronaut Scott Kelly is back on Earth. Follow-up exams and tests will help scientists understand the impacts of microgravity on the human body during long-duration spaceflight. This research will help us on our journey to Mars. Tweet available HERE. 

Visited the Denist

When you spend a year in space, you’ll probably need to catch up on certain things when you return to Earth. Astronaut Scott Kelly made sure to include a visit to the dentist on his “return home checklist”. Tweet available HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Mars used to be much more Earth-like than we once thought. The Curiosity rover recently discovered high levels of manganese oxide, which can only exist in oxygen-rich environments. This means Mars used to have as much oxygen as Earth and plenty of water on its surface. Source Source 2

NASA has trialled an engine that would take us to Mars in 10 weeks

And may have inadvertently created a warp drive in the process.

NASA scientists have reported that they’ve successfully tested an engine called the electromagnetic propulsion drive, or the EM Drive, in a vacuum that replicates space. The EM Drive experimental system could take humans to Mars in just 70 days without the need for rocket fuel, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this could change everything.

But before we get too excited (who are we kidding, we’re already freaking out), it’s important to note that these results haven’t been replicated or verified by peer review, so there’s a chance there’s been some kind of error. But so far, despite a thorough attempt to poke holes in the results, the engine seems to hold up.

Continue Reading.

Largest Batch of Earth-size, Habitable Zone Planets

Our Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Three of these planets are firmly located in an area called the habitable zone, where liquid water is most likely to exist on a rocky planet.

This exoplanet system is called TRAPPIST-1, named for The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile. In May 2016, researchers using TRAPPIST announced they had discovered three planets in the system.

Assisted by several ground-based telescopes, Spitzer confirmed the existence of two of these planets and discovered five additional ones, increasing the number of known planets in the system to seven.

This is the FIRST time three terrestrial planets have been found in the habitable zone of a star, and this is the FIRST time we have been able to measure both the masses and the radius for habitable zone Earth-sized planets.

All of these seven planets could have liquid water, key to life as we know it, under the right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.

At about 40 light-years (235 trillion miles) from Earth, the system of planets is relatively close to us, in the constellation Aquarius. Because they are located outside of our solar system, these planets are scientifically known as exoplanets. To clarify, exoplanets are planets outside our solar system that orbit a sun-like star.

In this animation, you can see the planets orbiting the star, with the green area representing the famous habitable zone, defined as the range of distance to the star for which an Earth-like planet is the most likely to harbor abundant liquid water on its surface. Planets e, f and g fall in the habitable zone of the star.

Using Spitzer data, the team precisely measured the sizes of the seven planets and developed first estimates of the masses of six of them. The mass of the seventh and farthest exoplanet has not yet been estimated.

For comparison…if our sun was the size of a basketball, the TRAPPIST-1 star would be the size of a golf ball.

Based on their densities, all of the TRAPPIST-1 planets are likely to be rocky. Further observations will not only help determine whether they are rich in water, but also possibly reveal whether any could have liquid water on their surfaces.

The sun at the center of this system is classified as an ultra-cool dwarf and is so cool that liquid water could survive on planets orbiting very close to it, closer than is possible on planets in our solar system. All seven of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary orbits are closer to their host star than Mercury is to our sun.

 The planets also are very close to each other. How close? Well, if a person was standing on one of the planet’s surface, they could gaze up and potentially see geological features or clouds of neighboring worlds, which would sometimes appear larger than the moon in Earth’s sky.

The planets may also be tidally-locked to their star, which means the same side of the planet is always facing the star, therefore each side is either perpetual day or night. This could mean they have weather patterns totally unlike those on Earth, such as strong wind blowing from the day side to the night side, and extreme temperature changes.

Because most TRAPPIST-1 planets are likely to be rocky, and they are very close to one another, scientists view the Galilean moons of Jupiter – lo, Europa, Callisto, Ganymede – as good comparisons in our solar system. All of these moons are also tidally locked to Jupiter. The TRAPPIST-1 star is only slightly wider than Jupiter, yet much warmer. 

How Did the Spitzer Space Telescope Detect this System?

Spitzer, an infrared telescope that trails Earth as it orbits the sun, was well-suited for studying TRAPPIST-1 because the star glows brightest in infrared light, whose wavelengths are longer than the eye can see. Spitzer is uniquely positioned in its orbit to observe enough crossing (aka transits) of the planets in front of the host star to reveal the complex architecture of the system. 

Every time a planet passes by, or transits, a star, it blocks out some light. Spitzer measured the dips in light and based on how big the dip, you can determine the size of the planet. The timing of the transits tells you how long it takes for the planet to orbit the star.

The TRAPPIST-1 system provides one of the best opportunities in the next decade to study the atmospheres around Earth-size planets. Spitzer, Hubble and Kepler will help astronomers plan for follow-up studies using our upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2018. With much greater sensitivity, Webb will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone and other components of a planet’s atmosphere.

At 40 light-years away, humans won’t be visiting this system in person anytime soon…that said…this poster can help us imagine what it would be like: 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com