Online Astronomy Society Academy
December 2016
Image of the Month - Page 4
Exoplanet Watch - Page 5
Schiaparelli - Pages 6
Beagle 2 - Page 7
Space X Mars Missions in 2018 - Page 8
Super Moon Special Pages 9-10
Do I need a Phd - Page 11-13
Online Astronomy Society Academy Courses Pages 14-20
GCSE Physics and Astronomy Sample Page 21
ESA’s GasTrace Orbiter - Page 22-23
NASA Air traffic control for the universe - Page 24-25
Monthly Astronomer Biography Pages 26-27
Honour for software writer Margaret Hamilton Page 28-29
Image By Pete Williamson Member of the Online astronomy Society
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EXOPLANET WATCH: BAD WEATHER ON HD189733 B By Russell Adam Webb
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exoplanets that orbit in the habitable zone of their stars. A few of these are candidates for Earth 2.0. HD189733 b is not one of them. HERE ARE MANY
HD189733 b is not your ideal vacation location. It might look pleasant from a few million miles away, but on the surface you’ll find 5,400 mph winds and sideways raining glass. Lying a mere 63 light-years from Earth, HD189733 b would easily recognizable because of its bright blue complexion. But you shouldn’t be fooled into thinking this is some kind of aquatic paradise. In fact, the features and climatic conditions on the surface of this planet are thought to be truly terrifying. Discovered in 2005, HD189733 b is thought to be a brilliant shade of blue, a discovery made possible with the assistance of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments. Whilst it may look like our own planet from a distance, the planets couldn’t be more different. Firstly, the wind on the planet blows at a brisk 5,400 mph. That’s seven times the speed of sound and keep in mind that the fastest wind on Earth ever recorded was a mere 213 mph. If the unimaginable winds were not enough to stop you from visiting, the sideways raining glass might be.
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The orbit of the planet is also rather peculiar. A year on the planet lasts only 2 of our own Earth days. This type of orbit will usually cause a planet to be tidally locked; meaning one side of the planet will be fundamentally different from the other. If the planet is so different from Earth, then why does it have such a striking resemblance? Experts at NASA have said that they believe the answer lies in the chemistry of the planet’s atmosphere. The Hubble Space Telescope, which will soon be replaced by the recently completed James Webb Space Telescope, has made many high profile discoveries in its extensive service. It recently discovered another odd exoplanet that takes 7 of our years to orbit its 2 stars which lie around 7 million miles from each other. Hubble will continue to search for other worlds, even when the JWST is operational, and will undoubtedly provide us with more interesting finds in the future.
By Jonathon Amos
The European Space Agency has released details from its preliminary report into the Schiaparelli crash on Mars. The investigation confirms the probe misinterpreted sensor data, which made it think it was below ground level, when in reality the module was still at an altitude of around 3.7km. This prompted Schiaparelli to jettison its parachute too early and to fire its landing rockets for just three seconds. These actions put the probe into a freefall that led to its destruction. A crater and scattered hardware were later imaged by an American satellite. "This is still a very preliminary conclusion of our technical investigations," said David Parker, Esa’s director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration. "The full picture will be provided in early 2017 by the future report of an external independent inquiry board, which is now being set up, as requested by Esa’s director general, under the chairmanship of Esa's inspector general. "But we will have learned much from Schiaparelli that will directly contribute to the second ExoMars mission being developed with our international partners for launch in 2020." Schiaparelli was part of Esa's ExoMars programme - a joint venture with the Russians - which is endeavouring to search for evidence of past or present life on the Red Planet. The 600kg robot was conceived as a technology demonstrator - a project to give Europe the learning experience and the confidence to go ahead with the landing on Mars in 2021 of an ambitious sixwheeled rover. This future vehicle will use some of the same technology as Schiaparelli, including its doppler radar to sense the speed and distance to the surface on descent, and its guidance, navigation and control (GNC) algorithms. Engineers will be encouraged that so many key systems on the descent probe worked as expected on 19 October. The parachute deployed as planned at an altitude of 12km when the probe was travelling at a speed of 1,730km/h.
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Source - BBC Online The vehicle's heatshield, too, did its job of slowing the probe and protecting it from the high temperatures of atmospheric entry - and this discshaped shield was released at an altitude of 7.8km. But it was then that the descent sequence started to go awry. Schiaparelli's inertial measurement unit (IMU) had earlier sensed rotational accelerations in the probe when the parachute first opened that very briefly stepped outside what had been anticipated. The data became "saturated". Unfortunately, when this information was then taken in by the GNC system, the probe incorrectly updated where it thought it was in the descent. And when the data from the doppler radar subsequently kicked in, the error already in play was propagated forward. At one stage, Schiaparelli even calculated its position to be several metres below the surface of the planet. "The system ended up calculating a negative altitude," explained Esa's Schiaparelli's manager, Thierry Blancquaert. "And this is when the probe initiated the other steps which was to release the parachute attached to the backshell, switch on the propulsion system, and then switch it off, and then switch to surface mode." As it went into freefall, and thinking it had already touched down, Schiaparelli started up its post-landing sequence, including booting up its onboard weather station and getting ready to transmit the pictures it had been taking on the way down. The probe crashed into the dusty, equatorial Meridiani Plain at a velocity of about 150m/s (540km/h). All this information was discerned from telemetry that Schiaparelli sent back as it hurtled down through the Martian atmosphere. Engineers will take the lessons learned into the 2021 landing, assuming the rover mission is approved. "Because we know what went wrong, we can correct it; and I'm super-happy to have reached this conclusion," Thierry Blancquaert told BBC News. Europe's research ministers still have to find the funds to carry the rover project through to completion. This matter should be resolved at the Esa Ministerial Council in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 1/2 December
By Rhodri Evans New images of the European Space Agency’s Beagle 2 have emerged recently, suggesting that it came closer to success than has long been thought. These new images have been analysed more thoroughly and carefully than previous images of Beagle 2, and with the help of a computer simulation it is being suggested that Beagle 2 did not crash land. Instead, this team led by Professor Mark Sims of Leicester University are arguing that Beagle 2 deployed, but not completely correctly. They suggest that, due to not deploying correctly, that it may well have done science for a period of about 100 days, before shutting down due to lack of power. They even suggest that there is a very slim possibility that it is still working. I do have to take issue, however, with the way this story is worded on the BBC website. It implies that we now know, with certainty, that Beagle 2 operated for some period on the surface of Mars. This is not true. One study has argued that it did. One swallow does not make a summer. This particular team’s analysis and study will need to be looked at by others before we can say with any reasonable certainty that Beagle 2 survived its landing. New images of Beagle 2 taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have been analysed by a computer model, suggesting it may have actually worked for a short period of time. As with any suggestion which flies in the face of conventional wisdom, this claim will need to be checked and followed up by others. But, if the evidence is sufficiently strong that Beagle 2 did not crash, then it will come as a relief to those who worked on it and have long felt that it failed in a crash. Sadly, even if it did work, we have not received any data back from it; and that is not going to change.
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By Russell Adam Webb
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PACEX TOLD THE
international community that they plan to visit the red planet in 2018. What will they be testing and how will it assist future missions? The first technology SpaceX plan to test is supersonic retropropulsion. In the past, when we’ve sent landers to the surface of other worlds, we’ve used parachutes to slow the module down and bring it to a bearable landing speed. Never to miss an opportunity to show off, SpaceX plan to use its upgraded SuperDraco thrusters to slow the craft down and land gently. They have the experience when it comes to landing craft, having successfully landed first stage boosters, but this will certainly be a new challenge for them. Whilst this hasn’t been attempted before, NASA have accepted that this is the best option for future missions as they will almost certainly have heavier payloads and parachutes just won’t do. How will NASA be involved? Whilst NASA have not officially provided any funding to assist SpaceX on a Mars mission, they have provided assistance in other ways. For instance, NASA has many experts in many different fields at their disposal, whilst SpaceX has a relatively new team and NASA have agreed to have it’s specialists and experts collaborate and help Elon Musk achieve his ambitions. They will also get use of NASA’s Deep Space Network to help communicate with anything SpaceX send. I managed to catch up with Glen Nagle from the Deep Space Network for a bit more information on how the network works and how it could assist SpaceX. NASA isn’t helping out entirely for free. They will be expecting SpaceX to share the data they collect from the mission and its tests. NASA experts think the data and experience gained from this could be critical to the success of future missions.
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So what is the current timeline of planned events? Well, NASA have repeated their aims of getting to Mars by the late 2030’s, although this is subject to a number of factors and can be brought forward or pushed back, depending on public opinion, the budget and who is in charge. SpaceX have decided that they want to do it a bit quicker and Elon publicly said that his plans begin in 2022, with intrepid explorers launching in 2024. It is, afterall, SpaceX’s ultimate goal to establish a permanent human presence on Mars SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, says that this would make humanity a multi-planetary species and insure us in case something happened to Earth. How will we get there? SpaceX have made much of their biggest ship yet, the Falcon Heavy, which is due to be completed and tested next year and will probably take anything SpaceX send to Mars in 2018. For manned missions, however, SpaceX intend to utilize an entirely new vehicle called the Interplanetary Transport System. Musk see’s this vehicle as key to transporting humans to other worlds and has put a lot of work into the design of this spacecraft. You can see what he thinks in the video below:
Supermoon
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Feature
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Do I need a PhD? By Alastair Leith For some 30 years I have been an amateur astronomer and had it drummed in that if I wanted to go pro i needed a Batchelors in a Science related subject, preferable Physics or Astrophysics to be an Astronomer. Then the MSc or a PhD following. Sadly as it become clear my ability with maths and numbers was up there with my ability with DIY (Destroy It Yourself) it seemed the only science I could do at uni was Chemistry. Where I tried my best to keep my interested alive in Astronomy and tried to find some way to make it relevant to Astronomy. Looking back it would have been nice to have done some Astro units but the offer (despite my tutors knowing) was never made. Oh well. From there my scientific career was brought to an abrupt end when I got my degree classification. Or was it? I recall some years ago when Dr Allan Chapman gave a talk on Astronomy and the Clergy, he described how men when to university to read for a degree and left as ordained priests. However once in the cloth so to speak, they were not exactly hard pushed with religious work, they had their curates for that. But what it did was it gave them time and of course the job game them money to invest in scientific persuits. Where they continued scientific investigation. Which was why so many great scientists of the past were also of the clergy. I like to compare that to this day and age where we graduate (or not whichever the case maybe) we move into our jobs, but we still invest our time and money in scientific persuits. I am as guilty as the next for this. Loads of books, telescopes, and equipment. I think if one thing has changed in recent years, certainly since I did my degree is the way the internet has helped shape things. Not only social media, but various professions too. With the advent of email and even live skype conversations, its made commication a lot easier. Certainly as founder of Online Astronomy Society I have tried to work with communities to invest in this and utilise it as much as possible. Trying to bring people from different walks of life but the same like mind together to share knowledge, ideas, and help when people needed it.
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t has always pleased me when I often wake to find that while we’ve slept, images, observations, and questions have been posted from the Americas and the Far East. Indicating that the global astronomical community itself, never actually sleeps. It also shows that even though we might be separated by dilect, religious beliefs, or politics, we have a common ground where we can work, communicate, and share knowledge together as equals. I think out of this its pleased me to see how different people contribute to Astronomy in different ways. From the imagers who spend literally hours outside (or not in some cases!) collecting endless hours of data from an object that has not changed its transmission of protons likely in several million years. The results are proudly displayed on the Facebook groups, or even in the national magazines, or more modestly perhaps, simply framed on the dining room wall! (my ambition!) However, I have also noticed another breed of Astronomer coming out of the woodwork (pardon the pun) and this brings me to the title of this article, do I need a PhD? People who seem to be doing, as amateur astronomers, without access to expensive equipment, doing some actual science. Sir Patrick Moore always maintained that Astronomy was one of the few sciences where the amateur could still produce some scientifically useful work, frankly this has not only remained so, but more seem to be stepping forward to do it. I have no examples but I am sure more people without a formal scientific education are getting named on science papers than before. The sad thing is often these fields do not result in the aesthetically pleasing images many of us like to see in the national Astro mags. Many of them are also unsung, yet do some really useful, valuable, scientific work. So much so that even the Astronomical community has stood up to work with them and support them in some cases even offering funding. I could not write an article like this without naming a few of them.
Asteroids Asteroids as many will know are the left over debris from the birth of the solar system. Although they are often in many cases very small (no bigger than the size of a suitcase) others are significantly larger. So why is this of interest to us? Simply put, the number of chunks of rock which float through the solar system which present a threat to mother Earth at some point. We all remember the meteorite that hit Russia a few years back, while another passed by at about the same time. Neither of these we either saw or predicted. Thankfully both managed to collide with us without causing too much damage. Had the Russian meteor had arrived later, same latitude, UK would have been clobbered. Perhaps being a more densely populated nation (arguably) it would have been another outcome entirely! Fact is, quite often we get bombarded by chunks of rock like this, often on a daily, weekly basis, but because the objects pass over relatively unpopulated areas of the planet, like land into our massive oceans or over the Antartic, few of them make the news. However the task of identifiying and plotting these is quite another job entirely. For once a previously unidentified chunk of rock has been identified, it then needs to have its path (orbit) determined, is it a threat to us basically. This in itself is a MASSIVE task, where few amateur astronomers would see it as being a fulfilling investment of their time. It’s a hobby after all and if you don’t take joy from what you do, then what is the point.
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One chap in particular however has made the process of identifying and monitoring these relics very much his hobby. In fact so much is his work respected and valued hes even become what we call a Pro-Am a Professional – Amateur Astronomer. Guy Wells, spends many hours most nights with his highly calibrated, specialised equipment monitoring these objects and sending the results back for analysis. Does he have a PhD? Nope, not even a scientific batchelors, but such is his expertise and training he needs neither. In fact the way things are going for Guy Wells (who lives in smokey London) he may even soon receive an income for the work enabling him to focus on it full time! Does he have a massive dome in his garden? Nope, though while the telescope might be large on amateur standards, it’s a pee shooter by professional. Guy Wells of Northolt Observatory Is the only observatory in London doing this kind of work. Who knows one day the reason why your still able to get up in the morning to go about your business maybe due to the work he does, helping to keep our path around the Sun safe. Spectroscopy I do not think you can discuss Pro-Am work without discussing spectroscopy. Simply put, if you pass a ray of white light through a prism it splits it into a rainbow. Sir Isaac Newton was the first to notice this, but he did not follow up on it. Soon after it was noted that if you passed sunlight through a prism, beyond the red, there was a region where the heat increased. UV radiation. So whats the big deal then, you pass light though a prism and you get a rainbow? So? Whats the scientific significance of that? As the same process was applied to our Sun and the spectra analysed in more detail, it was discovered that there were lines in the spectrum, dark lines. A colleague of Sir William Herschel pointed these out to him, but he took it no further. In fact it was some years before it was noticed that these lines were fingerprints left by various elements which aborbed in that region of the spectrum.
Hydrogen for example, comes up a lot in this as it’s the most abundant element in the universe (followed closely by helium). So it become important to us to understand where the aborption lines for Hydrogen were. In fact they are called the “Balmer Series” and consist of 6 dark (Fraunhofer) lines. The strongest of which is Hydrogen Alpha 4861A. These are the lines that many scientists tend to look out for in their work. You often find other lines in the stars which indicate presence of other elements (in fact its how we know what stars are made of!). Typically we’ve found a range of elements including Iron, Silicon, even Calcium and some compounds in cooler stars. Not only can we tell the chemistry of such stars from their spectra, but we can also identify what the object is doing, is it moving towards us or away from us? What speed? How its done is no biggy, if your driving a car, and hear an emergency vehicle with a siren, if the noise gets louder, the sound ways are more compressed (we say blue shifted) conversely as it moves away the sound gets fainter. So the sound waves are more extended or stretched. We say its red shifted. The Fraunhofer lines are affected like this too, If a star moves towards us, the lines are pushed up towards the blue end of the spectrum. If away, the lines move more towards the red end.
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These principles allow us to get quite creative in terms of what we can discern from an object millions of miles away. To this end there are a number of amateur astronomers who invest quite a lot of their time in this area too. Hugh Allen, a very close friend of mine is one such person. Using his 8 inch Schmidt Cassegraine Telescope, he uses an Alpy Spectroscope and appears to be out most nights looking to see what new secrets in the universe he can interpret from their spectra. What stories he tells too from this journey. In many ways too I envy him (and I know it is wrong to envy) but as a chemist myself, am also very interested in this kind of work. Although for some people an Alpy Spectroscopy might be out of the reach of some people price wise. There is the Hawksey Star Analyser. SA100 which costs about £70 or so pounds and can be placed at the end of a camera. I use a DSLR. Hugh Allen himself is a Cambridge University graduate (not a PhD) who now works at Hewlett Packard as a development chemist. There is no doubt from Hughs work though that he is doing some amazing, inspiring work.
Online Astronomy Society Academy Courses Amateur Astronomy Courses GCSE Astronomy Diploma Astrophysics and Space Science Maths Skills -Maths for advanced level Physics - Maths for AS level Physics Space Kidets Astronomy for Educators
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We offer a variety of courses ranging from the practical to the theoretical, each is designed to equip our delegates with what they need to get fun, enjoyment and value from their hobby. Each course is created by experienced amateur astronomers who have learned their skills the hard way, taking many years to perfect their art. They pass on the lessons from their mistakes so you don’t have to make the same ones.
Astronomy for Beginners This course is designed for the ABSOLUTE beginner, there is an exclusive guide available too. It walks the novice through the stages offering a step by step guide on how to get started and the pitfalls to avoid.
Imaging the Moon Learn how with easily and reasonably cheaply obtainable hardware how easy it is to image our nearest neighbour. We offer step by step instructions which include video, where you actually see the trainer DO it.
Solar Astronomy Perhaps for the more advanced, we look at whats needed to take lovely Hydrogen Alpha (HA) images of the Sun SAFELY, how to setup, capture, and process images of the total majesty the Sun has to offer.
Imaging for beginners We look at imaging a planet with a webcam
Spectroscopy for Beginners Looks at what spectroscopy is and what is needed to do it. We then look at how to capture spectra (a further course is due to be added to this on processing spectra data that will be included at no extra charge once available). Also, Included FREE when you enrol for any of the above. Want an OASA passport to view the lot? ÂŁ30 will give you access to ALL courses for the year at no extra charge (does not include GCSE Astronomy) Please click here to enrol now
Cosmology Written by an expert in the field, we walk you though the history of the universe. Where did it come from, to how it may eventually end.
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The OASA is one of the few academic institutions offering GCSE by distance learning, but how does it work?
course outline GCSE Astronomy is a year long course which starts June 2016 next year and runs right up until June the following year when the exam is taken. The format after enrolling is the student is added to a course induction page where they are invited to meet other students (online of course) and their tutors. They are also invited to ask any questions and learn more about the course. All learning takes place online in fact for your £180 you will receive 24/7 access to the online portal Tutor support (via forum, Skype, and email) Study planner text books (both hard copy and digital) downloadable worksheets New visual material and interactive media now added to improve the learning experience 2 assessed projects (aided and unaided) Final examination registration and completion Award of GCSE Astronomy qualification (subject to students final grade. We also now offer Biology and Chemistry as an added freebie. (these are not tutor supported and do NOT lead to a final qualification)
The Online Astronomy Society Academy and Mickeldore Publishing are pleased to announce the creation of a new maths course. Written by Dr Nigel Marshall, himself a senior Edexcel GCSE Astronomy examiner we are now able to assist students completing their GCSE Maths courses with the maths skills they need to complete A / AS-level Physics. It has long been widely achnowledged that some (but not all) students have struggled with the maths needed for A/ AS level Physics as its just not in the GCSE Maths Syllabus. As such we are now able to offer a nice summer course for students to complete either during their recess period or to compliment their existing studies.
Cost Maths for Advanced Level Physics: £85 (including book) Maths for AS Level Physics £130 (including book)
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Diploma in Astrophysics and Space Science Astrophysics and Space Exploration Between ourselves and Dr Nigel Marshall, we have long believed there was a need for an “A-Level” course. We say A-Level in inverted commas as it is targeted at that level, BUT there is no assessment, no final examination. Therefore NO final qualification is awarded. Despite this we feel the course will be more than worthwhile to follow. Not only to satisfy the hunger for knowledge from the more academic amateur Astronomer come Astrophysicist but to cater for the curious. This course endeavours to take you to worlds you have never been. But don’t take our word for it, take a look at the contents. Kepler’s Laws and Orbital Motion – 1. Historical Overview of Kepler’s laws; 2.Orbital Paramets; 3.Newton’s law of Gravitation; 4.Types of Orbit (polar, geostationary, Molniya, Sun-synchronous etc); 5.Getting into Space and Orbit Transfers. History of Space Exploration – 1.The Space Age Begins (Steps Towards the Moon); 2.Beyond Apollo:Space Stations & the Shuttle; 3.Looking Up, Looking Down (Earth-orbiting Satellites); 4.Probing the Solar System. Earth’s Atmosphere – its Benefits and Limitations – 1.Structure and Physical Properties of the Atmosphere; 2.Atmospherioc Phenomena (sky, clouds, meteors, aurorae etc.); 3.The Ozone Layer; 4.The Greenhouse Effect. The Physics of Stars – 1.Internal structure and stellar radiation; 2.The Birth of Stars; 3.Thermonuclear Reactions; 4.The Death of Stars; 5.Variable Stars Observational Techniques Overview reminder of the electromagnetic spectrum 2. Overview of the history of the discovery of radio waves 3. Looking at the different wavelengths in turn and what they tell us about what is going on 4. Types of telescopes used 5. Spectroscopy
Cosmology 1 – Other theories of the Universe, including steady state, and the Cyclic Universe 2- CMB and Explorer 1 3- Dark Matter, also including Relativity and Gravitational Waves
Space Kidets Space Kidets is more than just a course, it is the merger of our History of Space module with our Astronomy for Kids module to produce Space Kidets. But its more than just a course. We like our learners to come to us and stay with us. What do we offer, well we offer regular updated regarding what to see when to look up at the night sky. This includes monthly updates posted into the classroom showing where the planets are and any other special events going on like passes of the International Space Station or Iridium Flare (join the course to read up more on what those are!). Also, as our learners benefit as we add more course material to what is already a substantial course, we like to think they might like to stay with us to work towards their GCSE Astronomy course.
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Astronomy for Educators With the growing popularity and demand for testing Astronomy in the home, school, and colleges demand began to grow for us to also turn our attention to training educators. To this end we have have developed a course, similar to our GCSE Astronomy where the same content is followed but we’ve taken the bad bits out. By bad bits we mean no compulsory projects, no final exam. Clearly as such there is no qualification offered at the end of this course. However in addition to all the other beneifits of the GCSE Astronomy we offer Full online tutor support (forums, email, skype) Digital and hardcopy of the textbook Downloadable worksheets Study planner In addition to this we’ve added The basics of what you need to get into astronomy Constellation basics Telescopes Plus other free resources and info are being added all the time Who is this course for?
Anyone who teaches Astronomy be it for: Clubs Societies Academies Schools Home Educators Or anyone just looking for more knowledge without examination pressure The course spans about a year and costs £130 we can also assist if telescopes or other equipment are required.
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How does the atmosphere of Venus illustrate global warming? By Richard Murtagh
Sample from my GCSE Physics & Astronomy blog, which is nearing completion. I answer the question.... "How does the atmosphere of Venus illustrate global warming?" — The closest planet to the Sun is Mercury; yet, it’s not the hottest. That record is held by Venus, the second planet from the Sun. How can this be? Venus may be farther away, but it has an extremely dense atmosphere which acts like a planet-wide blanket: trapping the Sun’s infrared radiation, so very little of it escapes. On Venus, it’s bone dry, and the temperature is hot enough to melt lead! The hellish Venusian conditions are due to its atmosphere being 97% carbon dioxide (CO2). This is a ‘greenhouse’ gas — named for its ability to trapin heat. We know that CO2 is produced by volcanoes. Venus has many more volcanoes than Earth. Indeed, while the exact number is unknown, it’s clear that the surface is 90% basaltic rock; that is, rock formed from cooling lava. This suggests that Venus was once extremely volcanically active. Hence, its atmosphere became choked with CO2. Thankfully, Earth has far fewer volcanoes and is much less volcanically active. However, by burning fossil fuels, we’re filling our own atmosphere with CO2 — albeit at a slower rate than once occurred on Venus.
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To compound our worries, humans are systematically destroying trees and plants, which do a miraculous thing for us: they take in harmful CO2 and put out precious oxygen. And so, not only are we pumping CO2 into our atmosphere, we’re destroying the natural means of removing it. Many ‘green’ initiatives are now being pursued, but it may be too-little-too-late. Already, the sea level on Earth is rising, since confirmed global warming may be causing the polar ice caps to melt. You can discover the dangers of this on Google. In the interests of balance, I should point out that a growing body of scientific opinion denies that the polar ice caps are melting. Still, strong evidence supports a growing rise in sea level. Even if the polar caps aren’t to blame now, they will be eventually if our planet keeps getting warmer. And no scientist denies that the complete melting of the caps would be calamitous. In summary, the atmosphere of Venus illustrates what can happen to an Earth-like planet if the greenhouse gas level soars.
ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter By Rhodri Evans The Schiaparelli space probe has been in the
Methane was first detected in the Martian atmos-
news quite a lot this last week or so. It was
phere in 2003 by NASA scientists. The following
due to land on the surface of Mars last
year NASA’s Mars Express Orbiter and some
Wednesday (19 October), but lost contact
ground-based observations detected methane at
about one minute before this. On Friday (21
the level of about 10 parts per billion.
October) NASA released images taken by its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which have led
Large temporal and positional variations in the
ESA to conclude that Schiaparelli exploded on
methane concentration were measured between
impact, probably due to a failure of the
2003 and 2006, which suggests that the methane
thruster rockets which were meant to guide it
is both seasonal and local.
gently down over its last few kilometres of descent. This separate story suggests that
The other possible source of methane is geological
the failure of the thruster rockets to burn
activity. Any methane in the Martian atmosphere
correctly was due to a computer glitch, and
is quickly broken down by ultraviolet light from
that they only burned for 3 seconds instead
the Sun (there is no ozone layer to protect the
of the intended 29 seconds.
molecules from UV light, as there is on Earth). This means that any methane present in the Mar-
What has received far less attention than
tian atmosphere but have been recently produced.
Schiaparelli is the larger spacecraft which
So, how can we tell the difference between meth-
transported it to Mars – the Trace Gas Orbiter ane due to bacteria and methane due to geological (TGO). The TGO was successfully put into activity? orbit about Mars after it and Schiaparelli separated. Whilst ESA scientists worried about
The key is to look for the presence of other gases
the silence of Schiaparelli, they were never-
along with the methane. If the methane is geolog-
theless jubilant that the TGO had successfully
ical in origin it will be accompanied by sulphur
manoeuvred into orbit about the red planet.
dioxide. If, however, it is due to bacteria it will be accompanied by ethane and other similar mole-
The TGO’s primary scientific mission is to look cules. The TGO will be able to measure both the for traces of methane emanating from Mars. methane and these other gases, and so hopefully This is of great scientific interest, because
will help us determine the origin of the methane.
methane could be due to life on Mars. Many
In addition, it will be able to measure and image
bacteria on Earth, in particular those
other things, including sub-surface hydrogen down
that respire anaerobically, emit methane. The
to a depth of a metre. This will help us better map
best known example are the bacteria which
out the amount and extent of subsurface water ice
help digest food in the stomachs of many
on Mars.
animals, including us. This is why cows are one of the primary sources of methane emission, the gas is coming from the bacteria in their stomachs.
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In all, the TGO has four scientific instruments on it,
The TGO will orbit Mars at an altitude of
namely
400 km, in a circular orbit taking only 2 hours to orbit once. The orbit will be in-
1. The Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD). This instrument has two infrared and one ultraviolet spectrometer channels. 2. The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) has three infrared spectrometer channels. 3. The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) is a high-resolution colour stereo camera which will be able to resolve down to a resolution of 4.5 metres on the Martian surface. Being stereo, it will be able to create an accurate elevation map of the Martian surface. 4. The Fine-Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND), a neutron detector which can indicate the presence of hydrogen in the form of water or hydrated minerals. FREND can detect hydrogen down to a depth of 1 metre in the Martian surface. NOMAD and ACS are the two instruments which will measure the methane and other trace molecules in the atmosphere. Twice each orbit, when the Sun is both rising and setting as seen from the TGO, it will use the passage of the Sun’s light through the Martian atmosphere to detect and measure the presence of trace molecules, down to a few parts per billion (ppb).
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clined at 74 degrees to the Martian equator. It was launched on the 14 March, so took just over 6 months to get to Mars. In 2021 ESA plans to land a rover on the Martian surface, but whether this schedule is delayed due to the failure to successfully land Schiaparelli remains to be seen.
NASA’s Deep Space Network – Air Traffic Control For The Universe By Russell Adam Webb The role of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is to provide two-way radio contact with over three dozen robotic space missions exploring the solar system and beyond. As part of NASA’s Deep Space Network we transmit commanding to spacecraft which are hundreds of millions to tens of billions of kilometers from Earth. We also receive back the data those spacecraft collect and relay that back to the JPL in Pasadena, California where it is processed and sent to mission science teams all over the world. Which agencies do you work with? The missions we support represent not just NASA but many other space agencies, including those of Russia, India, Japan and the European nations as part of their European Space Agency (ESA). Glen Nagle is the Education and Public Outreach Manager of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and What sort of hardware do you operate? I put a few questions to him regarding the complexities of We transmit and receive data using five large parabolic communication in the vastness of space. dishes – one 70 meter antenna (Deep Space Station 43) and four 34 meter antennas (DSSs 34, 35, 36 & 45). Keeping in touch can be difficult in the modern world. DSS43 is the largest steerable parabolic dish in the Even though we’ve never been more connected as a southern hemisphere. DSS36 is our newest antenna, society, I constantly find myself losing contact with old which started operations on October 1st, 2016. friends and often forgetting to phone distant relatives. And A good way to think about the Complex is to consider then, when I want to call or message them I can’t; I’ve us being like the post office service or air traffic control changed phones and not transferred their number. Or, as for the universe. often happens, they’ve changed email address and they We ensure that information is relayed between Eartharen’t on Facebook. I go searching through old notebooks bound scientists and their robotic counterparts exploring for phone numbers that have been disconnected and I end the harsh environment of space. up travelling for hours just to say hello. How many staff do you have working here and what are So imagine if those relatives lived billions of miles from Earth and needed constant contact in case they diverted off thier roles? course and crashed into a comet. This maybe a little exaggerated, but two-way communication with anything we send into space is extremely crucial to the success of any mission. Communication in space can be a complex task and I wanted to know a bit more about how we connect with a growing number of probes and satellites across the galaxy, so I managed to catch up with Glen Nagle, Education and Public Outreach Manager of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex to ask a few questions about their operations. Glen was more than happy to tell me about their ongoing project, but made it clear that his views did not reflect those of NASA or any other space agency Hi Glen. Can you take us through the day to day operations at the Canberra Deep Space Operation Complex?
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To operate the Complex, we currently have 90 personnel, an all Australian team, with expertise in various engineering and technical disciplines. They operate the Complex 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We work very closely with our colleagues at our sister stations located near Madrid, Spain and at Goldstone, California. Between the three sites we provide 24 hour coverage of the entire solar system as the Earth turns. There is a detailed tracking schedule which is determined many weeks, months and sometimes years in advance that dictates which spacecraft are to be provided communication and when. The mission scientists develop their programming for the spacecraft activity, trajectory, observations etc and relay those to JPL who then send them to the appropriate DSN Complex. The Complex then sends those commands to the spacecraft, ensuring that all data is sent and received. The operations teams at the Complex have continuous phone/internet communications with the mission teams to handle any last minute requests. When the time comes for receiving data in the schedule, we track the mission and capture the data its transmitting. We process this by eliminating the random radio noise produced by the universe itself, that is also received. The cleaned up signal is then sent back to JPL, given the final step of processing by compiling the data stream back into images and instrument data for the scientists to study and produce their results. Apart from our communications work, there is obviously a lot of maintenance that goes on with the antenna dishes and all of the computer and processing systems that handle the data. When we are not communicating with spacecraft or doing maintenance, we may be doing some radio astronomy work or more likely going through training and simulation scenarios for future missions. If you were in Charles Bolden’s position, where would you concentrate NASA’s efforts? This is not something that we feel we can answer, other than to say that NASA’s current efforts in both robotic and current/future human exploration activities will continue to be supported by the Deep Space Network and similar tracking facilities around the world. Do you think private space flight companies will play a major role in the race to Mars and beyond? Or do you think the commercialization of space is a long way off?
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The exploration of Mars is likely to involve cooperation between many nations and the expertise of many engineers, technicians and scientists around the world. It is clear that there are also some commercial operators, some of whom already work with NASA, have their own goals to reach the red planet; SpaceX being a good example. There is already synergy between the traditional government lead efforts in space exploration and the new commercial operators. So it makes sense to work together in the effort to go to Mars and one day beyond. In terms of broader ‘commercialization’ of space as a resource and companies working and developing space on their own, that is probably still a long way off. All the current commercial operators still get a considerable amount of their money from government contracts. Obviously the Schiaparelli loss was disappointing, but the current signs point to a software error, which is not particularly devastating as they are usually fixable. What happens next for the ExoMars operation? Was there a contingency plan? The Schiaparelli mission was primarily a test of the future Entry, Descent and Landing system that ESA plans to use for their future ExoMars rover in the early 2020s. So from a purely technical point of view, the test was a success because it did indeed ‘test’ the system and it was found to have flaws. Better to have that happen now, than when we really needed it for a critical/safe landing of your major project. ESA is still in the process of determining exactly what went wrong for Schiaparelli’s EDL and will work out a fix and perform further testing on Earth to ensure high confidence of a successful landing of the ExoMars rover. Of course, it is really important to remember that Schiaparelli was only a part of this first ExoMars mission. The Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft successfully entered orbit and will produce some exciting new science about the Martian atmosphere over the course of its mission, as well as providing in orbit communication support of the next phase of the ExoMars program. Thanks Glen! Glen has worked in the science education and space industry for more than 25 years. He has held roles in organizations such as the Australian Space Industry Chamber of Commerce, the National Space Society of Australia, and has been on the organizing committees of several international space industry conferences.
Acclaimed Career After a short stint teaching in Indiana, Hubble returned to the University of Chicago to study astronomy. Not long after, he was recruited by California's Mount Wilson Observatory to help complete the construction of its Hooker telescope. Before beginning the new position—which he excitedly accepted—Hubble completed a doctorate in astronomy, enlisted in the U.S. Army and served a tour of duty in World War I.
Astronomer Edwin Hubble revolutionized the field of astrophysics. His research helped prove that the universe is expanding, and he created a classification system for galaxies that has been used for several decades. Synopsis Edwin Hubble was born on November 20, 1889. He graduated from the University of Chicago and served in WWI before settling down to lead research in the field of astrophysics at Mount Wilson Observatory in California. Hubble's revolutionary work includes finding a constant relationship between galaxies' redshift and distance, which helped to eventually prove that the universe is expanding. Additionally, a classification system that he created for galaxies has been used by other researchers for decades, now known as the Hubble sequence. Early Life Born in Marshfield, Missouri on November 20, 1889, to father John Powell Hubble and mother Virginia Lee (James) Hubble, Edwin Hubble began reading sciencefiction novels at a young age. One of his favorite books was Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In 1898, when he was 10 years old, Hubble and his seven siblings moved with their parents to Chicago, Illinois. There, Hubble attended high school and excelled at sports, particularly track and field—as a high school student, he broke the Illinois state high jump record.
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While working at Mount Wilson, Hubble proved that other galaxies existed outside of the Milky Way, where Earth is located, by taking photos through the observatory's Hooker telescope and comparing the varying degrees of luminosity among Cepheid variable stars. There had been no clear idea of the Milky Way's size at the time, and through his research, Hubble was able to estimate that the Andromeda Nebula (thought of simply as a spiral at the time) was nearly 900,000 light years away from the Milky Way, thus it had to be its own galaxy. The Andromeda Nebula was later proven to be much farther away, at nearly 2.48 million light years (through further analyses of the spacial indications of stars' light). The Andromeda Nebula was later renamed the Andromeda Galaxy. In the early mid-1920s, Hubble began conducting new research, along with fellow astronomer Milton Humason, on the galaxies' spectral shifts and unique distances, particularly looking at their relationship with the earth. He and Humason then published their research in 1929, theorizing that redshifts in galaxies' light emissions—which shows that galaxies are moving away from each other—move at a linear rate to the distance between them. In other words, Hubble was stating that a galaxy's redshift is twice the size as another's when it's twice as far from another galaxy. The two men's research was widely well-received. In 1936, Hubble published The Realm of the Nebulae, a historical and explanatory piece on his research in the field of extragalactic astronomy. Hubble worked at Mount Wilson Observatory until 1942, when he left to work at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland during World War II. For his service during the war, in 1946, Hubble received the Medal of Merit.
Death and Legacy Hubble continued to conduct research at the Mount Wilson Observatory, as well as the Palomar Observatory in California, until he died on September 28, 1953. He had suffered a stroke that was caused by cerebral thrombosis, and was 63 years old at the time. Hubble's work in the field of astronomy was truly revolutionary. By showing that other galaxies existed, scientists had a better idea of the concept of the size of the universe and the possibility of other planets. The classification system for galaxies that he created (now known as the Hubble sequence) has been used by other researchers for nearly a century. Hubble's work with Humason helped bolster the then-theory that the universe was expanding—a connection that Hubble ardently denied could be made with any certainty, and published his sentiments with the help of chemist Richard Tolman in the mid-1930s. Since then, however, the expanding-universe theory has largely been accepted by scientists worldwide. Hubble's and Humason's research work also helped prove that galaxies must come from a central point of origin, and was used by some scientists to support the Big Bang Theory— one of the most popular theories on the universe's origin, which was first suggested by Georges Lemaître in 1927. Hubble remains one of the world's most famous astronomers. In addition to receiving the Medal of Merit (1946), he is the recipient of the Franklin Medal (in physics), Legion of Merit, Bruce Medal and Gold Medal (from the Royal Astronomical Society). As a tribute to Hubble's groundbreaking work in astrophysics, NASA named its Hubble Space Telescope after Edwin Hubble. Countless university facilities, a planetarium, an asteroid and a portion of a highway in Missouri also share his name. Personal Life Hubble married Grace Burke on February 26, 1924. The couple never had children.
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By Jonathon Amos Margaret Hamilton was a lead software developer for Nasa's Apollo Moon missions in the 1960s An 80-year-old woman who wrote software for the Apollo space missions has been given the United States' highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Margaret Hamilton was one of 21 people awarded the medal by President Barack Obama in a star-studded ceremony. It is almost 50 years since her initial work on the Apollo 11 moon mission. Mrs Hamilton's pioneering software helped land the lunar module and its crew on the Moon in 1969. Other notable medal recipients at Tuesday's ceremony at the White House included comedian and talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres, actor Tom Hanks and musicians Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen. President Obama said Mrs Hamilton "symbolises that generation of unsung women who helped send humankind into space". Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin may have garnered many of the headlines after Apollo 11's successful landing, but Mrs Hamilton was among those working behind the scenes at time when computer science was so new it was not even a recognised term, and code was written out by hand. Mrs Hamilton led a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that created the on-board flight software for Nasa's moon missions. One small tweak for mankind? "Our astronauts didn't have much time, but thankfully they had Margaret Hamilton," President Obama said, as he awarded her the medal. He was referring to a tweak Mrs Hamilton made to the Apollo system which enabled the computer to prioritise commands when overloaded with tasks. Her work proved vital on the day: minutes before the lunar lander reached the Moon's surface on 20 July 1969, several computer alarms were triggered. But, thanks to Mrs Hamilton's foresight, the Nasa team was able to see that the alert was nothing critical, and the landing went ahead. "If the computer hadn't recognized this problem and taken recovery action, I doubt if Apollo 11 would have been the successful moon landing it was," wrote Mrs Hamilton in 1971.
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Source - BBC Online
Mrs Hamilton was a 24-year-old maths graduate when she got a job at MIT. She planned for it to be temporary step, while supporting her husband who was studying law at Harvard University. She then intended to go back to her own studies. However when MIT was asked to work on the Apollo space program, she joined the team and was hooked in an exciting new field. A working mother in the 'Wild West' In an interview with Wired magazine in 2015, Mrs Hamilton admitted that being a working mother in the 1960s brought additional challenges and she often took her daughter, then four years old, into the lab.
She also noted that in this new world of computing, there were no footsteps to follow in. "When I first got into it, nobody knew what it was that we were doing. "It was like the Wild West. There was no course in it. They didn't teach it," she said. Yet she and her MIT colleagues went on to write the code for the world's first portable computer. From the 1970s onwards, she used her expertise to found her own software businesses, including Hamilton Technologies, which is still based in Massachusetts. Mr Obama also hailed the Indiana-born mathematician for developing software architecture that "echoes in countless technologies today" and said she encapsulated the "American spirit of discovery that exists in every little girl and little boy".
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Rear Admiral Grace Hopper was also awarded the medal, posthumously. Mr Obama said the computer scientist, who died in 1992, was at the forefront of computers and programming development from the 1940s to 1980s. President Obama hailed the 21 honourees as "extraordinary Americans who have lifted our spirits, strengthened our union, pushed us toward progress".