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THE PLANETARY REPORT FAREWELL, SEPTEMBER EQUINOX 2017 VOLUME 37, NUMBER 3 CASSINI Planetary.Org CELEBRATING a LEGACY of DISCOVERIES
THE PLANETARY REPORT FAREWELL, SEPTEMBER EQUINOX 2017 VOLUME 37, NUMBER 3 CASSINI planetary.org CELEBRATING A LEGACY OF DISCOVERIES ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES C DYNAMIC RINGS C COMPLICATED TITAN C ACTIVE ENCELADUS ABOUT THIS ISSUE LINDA J. SPILKER is Cassini project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. IN 2004, Cassini, the most distant planetary seafloor. As a bonus, it has revealed jets of orbiter ever launched by humanity, arrived at water vapor and ice particles shooting out of Saturn. For 13 years, through its primary and fractures at the moon’s south pole. two extended missions, this spacecraft has These discoveries have fundamentally been making astonishing discoveries, reshap- altered many of our concepts of where life ing and changing our understanding of this may be found in our solar system. Cassini’s unique planetary system within our larger observations at Enceladus and Titan have made system of unique worlds. A few months ater exploring these ocean worlds a major focus for arrival, Cassini released Huygens, European planetary science. New insights from these dis- Space Agency’s parachuted probe built to coveries also have implications for potentially study the atmosphere and surface of Titan habitable worlds beyond our solar system. and image its surface for the very first time. In this special issue of The Planetary Report, a handful of Cassini scientists share some results from their studies of Saturn and its moons. Because there’s no way to fit every- thing into this slim volume, they’ve focused on a few highlights. Meanwhile, Cassini continues performing its Grand Finale orbits between the rings and the top of Saturn’s atmosphere, circling the planet once every 6.5 days. -
Spacecraft Imaging for Amateurs an International Community of Space
Planetary Close-ups emily lakdawalla Spacecraft Imaging for Amateurs An international community of space This is Mars’s Big Sky Country, a windswept, nearly featureless plain. Tiny ripples in the rust-colored sand march farther than the eye can see, to a horizon so fl at one might be able to see the curvature of the planet. As far as anyone knows, those ripples have not budged in eons. But all is not still; gaze upward, and you might be surprised by the rapid motion overhead, where feathery cirrus clouds, frosty with bright crystals of water ice, fl oat on high Martian winds. The scene is from Meridiani Planum, composed from eight images captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity just before she reached a deep crater named Victoria, on the 950th Martian day of her mission. But the beautiful image was not created by anyone on the Mars Exploration Rover team; no scientist would likely have Earthbound produced it, because it owes its beauty as much to art as it observers never does to science. see Mars as a The image is the collaborative creation of a whole crescent, but amateur-imagesmith community; six people, each from spacecraft do. a diff erent country, had a hand in it. Twelve hours after The author cre- Opportunity took the photos, the data had been received on ated this view Earth and posted to the internet. Within another 17 hours, from six images rover fans had found the photos, assembled the mosaic, taken by Viking and shaded the sand and sky based on color photos Oppor- Orbiter 2 in tunity had taken of a similar landscape the day before. -
Jjmonl 1603.Pmd
alactic Observer GJohn J. McCarthy Observatory Volume 9, No. 3 March 2016 GRAIL - On the Trail of the Moon's Missing Mass GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) was a NASA scientific mission in 2011/12 to map the surface of the moon and collect data on gravitational anomalies. The image here is an artist's impres- sion of the twin satellites (Ebb and Flow) orbiting in tandem above a gravitational image of the moon. See inside, page 4 for information on gravitational anomalies (mascons) or visit http://solarsystem. nasa.gov/grail. The John J. McCarthy Observatory Galactic Observer New Milford High School Editorial Committee 388 Danbury Road Managing Editor New Milford, CT 06776 Bill Cloutier Phone/Voice: (860) 210-4117 Production & Design Phone/Fax: (860) 354-1595 www.mccarthyobservatory.org Allan Ostergren Website Development JJMO Staff Marc Polansky It is through their efforts that the McCarthy Observatory Technical Support has established itself as a significant educational and Bob Lambert recreational resource within the western Connecticut Dr. Parker Moreland community. Steve Barone Jim Johnstone Colin Campbell Carly KleinStern Dennis Cartolano Bob Lambert Mike Chiarella Roger Moore Route Jeff Chodak Parker Moreland, PhD Bill Cloutier Allan Ostergren Cecilia Dietrich Marc Polansky Dirk Feather Joe Privitera Randy Fender Monty Robson Randy Finden Don Ross John Gebauer Gene Schilling Elaine Green Katie Shusdock Tina Hartzell Paul Woodell Tom Heydenburg Amy Ziffer In This Issue "OUT THE WINDOW ON YOUR LEFT" ............................... 4 SUNRISE AND SUNSET ...................................................... 13 MARE HUMBOLDTIANIUM AND THE NORTHEAST LIMB ......... 5 JUPITER AND ITS MOONS ................................................. 13 ONE YEAR IN SPACE ....................................................... 6 TRANSIT OF JUPITER'S RED SPOT .................................... -
Grail): Extended Mission and Endgame Status
44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2013) 1777.pdf GRAVITY RECOVERY AND INTERIOR LABORATORY (GRAIL): EXTENDED MISSION AND ENDGAME STATUS. Maria T. Zuber1, David E. Smith1, Sami W. Asmar2, Alexander S. Konopliv2, Frank G. Lemoine3, H. Jay Melosh4, Gregory A. Neumann3, Roger J. Phillips5, Sean C. Solomon6,7, Michael M. Watkins2, Mark A. Wieczorek8, James G. Williams2, Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna9, James W. Head10, Wal- ter S. Kiefer11, Isamu Matsuyama12, Patrick J. McGovern11, Francis Nimmo13, G. Jeffrey Taylor14, Renee C. Weber15, Sander J. Goossens16, Gerhard L. Kruizinga2, Erwan Mazarico3, Ryan S. Park2 and Dah-Ning Yuan2. 1Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02129, USA ([email protected]); 2Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technol- ogy, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA; 3NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; 4Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; 5Planetary Science Directorate, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA; 6 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA; 7Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA; 8Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 94100 Saint Maur des Fossés, France; 9Dept. of Geophysics and Center for Space Resources, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA; 10Dept. of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA; 11Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA; 12Lunar and Planetary Laborato- ry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; 13Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; 14Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA; 15NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35805, USA, 16University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. -
Space Sector Brochure
SPACE SPACE REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY TO SPACE SPACECRAFT TECHNOLOGIES PROPULSION Moog provides components and subsystems for cold gas, chemical, and electric Moog is a proven leader in components, subsystems, and systems propulsion and designs, develops, and manufactures complete chemical propulsion for spacecraft of all sizes, from smallsats to GEO spacecraft. systems, including tanks, to accelerate the spacecraft for orbit-insertion, station Moog has been successfully providing spacecraft controls, in- keeping, or attitude control. Moog makes thrusters from <1N to 500N to support the space propulsion, and major subsystems for science, military, propulsion requirements for small to large spacecraft. and commercial operations for more than 60 years. AVIONICS Moog is a proven provider of high performance and reliable space-rated avionics hardware and software for command and data handling, power distribution, payload processing, memory, GPS receivers, motor controllers, and onboard computing. POWER SYSTEMS Moog leverages its proven spacecraft avionics and high-power control systems to supply hardware for telemetry, as well as solar array and battery power management and switching. Applications include bus line power to valves, motors, torque rods, and other end effectors. Moog has developed products for Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) Systems, such as high power DC converters, switching, and power stabilization. MECHANISMS Moog has produced spacecraft motion control products for more than 50 years, dating back to the historic Apollo and Pioneer programs. Today, we offer rotary, linear, and specialized mechanisms for spacecraft motion control needs. Moog is a world-class manufacturer of solar array drives, propulsion positioning gimbals, electric propulsion gimbals, antenna positioner mechanisms, docking and release mechanisms, and specialty payload positioners. -
Reviewing the Contribution of GRAIL to Lunar Science and Planetary Missions Maria T
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 12, EPSC2018-575, 2018 European Planetary Science Congress 2018 EEuropeaPn PlanetarSy Science CCongress c Author(s) 2018 Reviewing the contribution of GRAIL to lunar science and planetary missions Maria T. Zuber and David E. Smith Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139- 4307, USA. ([email protected], [email protected]) Abstract Q of the Moon determined to be 41±4 at the monthly frequency. The GRAIL Discovery mission to the Moon in 2011 provided an unprecedentedly accurate gravity field model for the Moon. The goal of the mission was to provide insight into the structure of the Moon from its interior to the surface but it also made significant contributions to lunar spacecraft operations for all future lunar missions to the Moon. We discuss the science and the broader contributions from this mission that completed its objectives in December 2012 when the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface. 1. Introduction Figure 1: Free-air gravity of the Moon from GRAIL. GRAIL was a mission designed to measure the Full uniform resolution spherical harmonic models gravity field of the Moon with both high accuracy were obtained out to degree & order 1200 with and high resolution. The measurement goal was to special fields with higher resolutions over certain obtain the gravity at resolutions that would enable areas to degree and order 1800. interpretation of the crust at fractions of its thickness, estimated at the time of launch to be about 45 km. To 3. Mission Operations obtain a surface resolution of less than 10 km required the spacecraft to orbit the Moon at less than The significant improvement in our knowledge of the 20 km, an altitude that was considered dangerous at gravity field of the Moon by GRAIL enabled the re- that time without an accurate gravity field model. -
THE PLANETARY REPORT JUNE SOLSTICE 2016 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 2 Planetary.Org
THE PLANETARY REPORT JUNE SOLSTICE 2016 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 2 planetary.org ILLUMINATING CERES DAWN SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON AN ENIGMATIC WORLD BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT C LIGHTSAIL 2 TEST C MEMBERSHIP UPGRADES SNAPSHOTS FROM SPACE EMILY STEWART LAKDAWALLA blogs at planetary.org/blog. Black Sands of Mars ON SOL 1192 (December 13, 2015), Curiosity approached the side of Namib, a Faccin and Marco Bonora Image: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Elisabetta massive barchan sand dune. Namib belongs to a field of currently active dark basaltic sand dunes that form a long barrier between the rover and the tantalizing rocks of Mount Sharp. This view, processed by Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin, features wind-carved yardangs (crests or ridges ) of Mount Sharp in the background. After taking this set of photos, Curiosity went on to sample sand from the dune, and it is now working its way through a gap in the dune field on the way to the mountain. —Emily Stewart Lakdawalla SEE MORE AMATEUR-PROCESSED SPACE IMAGES planetary.org/amateur SEE MORE EVERY DAY! planetary.org/blogs 2 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2016 CONTENTS JUNE SOLSTICE 2016 COVER STORY Unveiling Ceres 6 Simone Marchi on why Ceres is a scientific treasure chest for Dawn. Pathway to the Stars Looking back at years of Society-led solar sail 10 development as Breakthrough Starshot is announced. Life, the Universe, and Everything 13 Planetary Radio in Death Valley. ADVOCATING FOR SPACE Partisan Peril 18 Casey Dreier looks at the U.S. President’s impact on space policy and legislation. DEVELOPMENTS IN SPACE SCIENCE Update on LightSail 2 20 Bruce Betts details the progress we’ve made in the year since LightSail 1 launched. -
Planetary Science
Mission Directorate: Science Theme: Planetary Science Theme Overview Planetary Science is a grand human enterprise that seeks to discover the nature and origin of the celestial bodies among which we live, and to explore whether life exists beyond Earth. The scientific imperative for Planetary Science, the quest to understand our origins, is universal. How did we get here? Are we alone? What does the future hold? These overarching questions lead to more focused, fundamental science questions about our solar system: How did the Sun's family of planets, satellites, and minor bodies originate and evolve? What are the characteristics of the solar system that lead to habitable environments? How and where could life begin and evolve in the solar system? What are the characteristics of small bodies and planetary environments and what potential hazards or resources do they hold? To address these science questions, NASA relies on various flight missions, research and analysis (R&A) and technology development. There are seven programs within the Planetary Science Theme: R&A, Lunar Quest, Discovery, New Frontiers, Mars Exploration, Outer Planets, and Technology. R&A supports two operating missions with international partners (Rosetta and Hayabusa), as well as sample curation, data archiving, dissemination and analysis, and Near Earth Object Observations. The Lunar Quest Program consists of small robotic spacecraft missions, Missions of Opportunity, Lunar Science Institute, and R&A. Discovery has two spacecraft in prime mission operations (MESSENGER and Dawn), an instrument operating on an ESA Mars Express mission (ASPERA-3), a mission in its development phase (GRAIL), three Missions of Opportunities (M3, Strofio, and LaRa), and three investigations using re-purposed spacecraft: EPOCh and DIXI hosted on the Deep Impact spacecraft and NExT hosted on the Stardust spacecraft. -
Planetary Science Update & Perspectives on Venus Exploration
Planetary Science Update & Perspectives on Venus Exploration Presentation at VEXAG James L. Green Director, Planetary Science Division May 6, 2008 1 Outline • FY09 Presidents Budget • Venus exploration opportunities: – Plans for next New Frontiers – Plans for next Discovery – Plans for SALMON – R&A opportunities 2 BUDGET BY SCIENCE THEME 3 Planetary Division 4 Planetary Division 5 What Changed, What’s the Same What Changed: • Initiated an Outer Planets Flagship (OPF) study activity joint with ESA/JAXA. • Lunar Science Research augmented to include a series of small lunar spacecraft. • Augments and enhances R&A to return more results from Planetary missions. • Discovery Program: Includes the recently selected MoOs (EPOXI and Stardust-NExT), adds Aspera-3 2nd extension (ESA/Mars Express), and selected GRAIL. • Preserves critical ISP work FY08 thru FY10, but deletes outyear activities in favor of more critical R&A and RPS enhancements. • Completes the Advanced Stirling RPS development and prepares for flight demonstration. • Mars Scout 2011 delayed to 2013 due to conflict of interest discovered during proposal evaluation. • Direction to the Mars Program to study Mars Sample Return (MSR) as a next decade goal • Expands US participation on the ESA/ExoMars mission by funding the potential selection of BOTH candidate U.S. instruments and EDL support. What’s the Same: • Discovery Program: MESSENGER, Dawn, Mars Express/Aspera-3, Chandraayn/MMM • New Frontiers Program: Juno and New Horizons • Mars Program: Odyssey, MER, MRO, Phoenix, MSL • Research -
Navigation of the Twin GRAIL Spacecraft Into Science Formation at the Moon †
Navigation of the Twin GRAIL Spacecraft into Science Formation at the Moon † P.G. Antreasian 1, R.S. Bhat 2, S.B. Broschart 3, M.K. Chung 4, K.E. Criddle 3, T.D. Goodson 5, S.J. Hatch 6, D.C. Jefferson 3, E.L. Lau 3, S. Mohan 3, J.S. Parker 2, R.B. Roncoli 7, M.S. Ryne 3, T.H. Sweetser 5, T.H. You 8, B.T. Young 2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 Abstract On February 29, 2012 the twin NASA Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft, Ebb and Flow, achieved precise synchronized formation for collecting highly sensitive lunar gravity data. This was accomplished after performing a total of 27 maneuvers between the two spacecraft (13 on Ebb, 14 on Flow) over six months. Each 300 kg GRAIL spacecraft independently flew a 3.8-month, low-energy trajectory to reach the Moon after separation from the launch vehicle on September 10, 2011. Accurate performance of the Delta-II 7920H 10C launch vehicle led to the cancellation of the first of five planned Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TCMs) on each spacecraft to target the required lunar orbit insertion conditions. Each GRAIL Trans-Lunar Cruise (TLC) trajectory shown in Figure 1 was optimized using 3 TCMs (TCMs 2-4). The last maneuvers, TCM-A5, B5, which were planned to clean up trajectory errors 8 days from lunar orbit insertion were cancelled due to good performance of the earlier TCMs. The Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuvers executed on New Year’s Eve (Dec 31, 2011) and New Year’s Day (Jan 1, 2012), respectively for Ebb, and Flow. -
PAC March 9 10 2020 Report
NASA ADVISORY COUNCIL PLANETARY SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE March 9-10, 2020 NASA Headquarters Washington, DC MEETING REPORT _____________________________________________________________ Anne Verbiscer, Chair ____________________________________________________________ Stephen Rinehart, Executive Secretary Table of Contents Opening and Announcements, Introductions 3 PSD Update and Status 3 PSD R&A Status 5 Planetary Protection 7 Discussion 8 Mars Exploration Program 8 Lunar Exploration Program 9 PDCO 11 Planetary Data System 12 PDS at Headquarters 13 Findings and Discussion 13 General Comments 13 Exoplanets in Our Backyard 14 AP Assets for Solar System Observations 15 Solar System Science with JWST 16 Mercury Group 17 VEXAG 17 SBAG 18 OPAG 19 MEPAG 19 MAPSIT 20 LEAG 21 CAPTEM 21 Discussion 22 Findings and Recommendations Discussion 23 Appendix A- Attendees Appendix B- Membership roster Appendix C- Agenda Appendix D- Presentations Prepared by Joan M. Zimmermann Zantech, Inc. 2 Opening, Announcements, Around the Table Identification Executive Secretary of the Planetary Science Advisory Committee (PAC), Dr. Stephen Rinehart, opened the meeting and made administrative announcements. PAC Chair, Dr. Anne Verbiscer, welcomed everyone to the virtual meeting. Announcements were made around the table and on Webex. PSD Status Report Dr. Lori Glaze, Director of the Planetary Science Division, gave a status report. First addressing the President’s Budget Request (PBR) for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Dr. Glaze noted that it was one of the strongest science budgets in NASA history, representing a 12% increase over the enacted FY20 budget. The total PBR keeps NASA on track to land on the Moon by 2024; and to help prepare for human exploration at Mars. -
Wrinkle Ridges and Ancient Rifts Bordering Procellarum and Frigoris Identified in Grail Gravity Data
49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2083) 2044.pdf WRINKLE RIDGES AND ANCIENT RIFTS BORDERING PROCELLARUM AND FRIGORIS IDENTIFIED IN GRAIL GRAVITY DATA. T. R. Watters1, D.R. DeFelice1, 2, 1Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA ([email protected]); 2Department of Geology and Astronomy, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, USA. Introduction: The recent and current stress state of the over and parallel- ing the bordering rifts may express Moon is dominantly contractional. This is evident from structural control by these buried features. a vast population of globally distributed lobate thrust Wrinkle Ridges of Procellarum and Frigoris: The dis- fault scarps revealed in images returned from the Lunar tribution of wrinkle ridges mapped using LROC mosaics Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) [1-3]. The pe- and stereo derived topography indicates a direct spatial riod of dominant global contraction appears to date back correlation with segments of the narrow linear Bouguer as far as ~3.6 Gyr when large-scale mare basin-related and gradient anomalies (Fig. 1). A large number of the extension appears to have ceased [4-7], marking a stage wrinkle ridges that occur outside the mascon basins are in the Moon's thermal history at which interior cooling spatially associated with the anomalies. The hypothesis resulted in a shift from net expansion to net contraction that co-located wrinkle ridges have been controlled by [8, 9]. During the last stages of this period of net expan- subsurface structures related to buried border rifts can be sion, starting at ~3.9–4.0 b.y., the mare basalts were em- tested by examing the displacement-length (D/L) of placed [10].