Space News Update
— March 23, 2012 —
Contents
In the News
Story 1:
NASA Jet Stream Study Will Light up the Night Sky
Story 2:
Experiments May Force Revision of Astrophysical Models of the Universe
Story 3:
NASA GRACE Data Hit Big Apple on World Water Day
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
Space Calendar
NASA-TV Highlights
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week
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1. NASA Jet Stream Study Will Light up the Night Sky
[NASA has rescheduled the launch of five suborbital
sounding rockets from the Wallops Facility in
Virginia as part of a study of the upper level jet
stream to no earlier than Sunday morning March 25.
Tonight’s (March 23) launch attempt was postponed
because of poor weather conditions. A criteria for
launch is clear skies not only at Wallops but also at
viewing sites in New Jersey and North Carolina.
Clouds at all three sites prevented tonight’s launch
attempt.
A decision on a March 25 launch attempt will be
made this afternoon, March 23.]
High in the sky, 60 to 65 miles above Earth's surface, winds rush through a little understood region of Earth's
atmosphere at speeds of 200 to 300 miles per hour. Lower than a typical satellite's orbit, higher than where most
planes fly, this upper atmosphere jet stream makes a perfect target for a particular kind of scientific experiment:
the sounding rocket. Some 35 to 40 feet long, sounding rockets shoot up into the sky for short journeys of eight
to ten minutes, allowing scientists to probe difficult-to-reach layers of the atmosphere.
In March, NASA will launch five such rockets in approximately five minutes to study these high-altitude winds
and their intimate connection to the complicated electrical current patterns that surround Earth. First noticed in
the 1960s, the winds in this jet stream shouldn't be confused with the lower jet stream located around 30,000
feet, through which passenger jets fly and which is reported in weather forecasts. This rocket experiment is
designed to gain a better understanding of the high-altitude winds and help scientists better model the
electromagnetic regions of space that can damage man-made satellites and disrupt communications systems.
The experiment will also help explain how the effects of atmospheric disturbances in one part of the globe can
be transported to other parts of the globe in a mere day or two.
"This area shows winds much larger than expected," says Miguel Larsen, a space scientist at Clemson
University who is the principal investigator for these five rockets, known as the Anomalous Transport Rocket
Experiment (ATREX). "We don't yet know what we're going to see, but there is definitely something unusual
going on. ATREX will help us understand the big question about what is driving these fast winds."
Determining what drives these winds requires precise understanding of the way the winds move and what kind
of turbulence they show. To get an idea of the task at hand, imagine mapping not just the ups and downs of
ocean waves but the attendant surf, undertow, and tides, all from 60 miles away and in only 20 minutes. To
accomplish this, the five sounding rockets will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia
releasing a chemical tracer into the air. The chemical – a substance called trimethyl aluminum (TMA) -- forms
milky, white clouds that allow those on the ground to "see" the winds in space and track them with cameras. In
addition, two of the rockets will have instrumented payloads to measure pressure and temperature in the
atmosphere.
The rockets will be launched on a clear night within a period of minutes, so the trails can all be seen at the same
time. The trimethyl aluminum will then be released in space out over the Atlantic Ocean at altitudes from 50 to
90 miles. The cloud tracers will last for up to 20 minutes and will be visible in the mid-Atlantic region, and
along the east coast of the United States from parts of South Carolina to New Jersey.
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"People have launched single rockets before," says Larsen. "But the key here is that we're extending the range
of measurements to many hundreds of miles. The furthest rocket will make it half way to Bermuda."
Sounding rockets are usually launched one or two at a time, so launching five at once will call for specific
timing and direction to gather the required data. The rockets must be launched on a clear night between March
14 and April 3. Scientists will then use special camera equipment to track the five clouds and measure how
quickly they move away from each other. They can then plug this information into equations that will describe
what kind of turbulence exists in the winds.
One possible kind of turbulence is called three-dimensional turbulence, turbulence much like what one sees
flowing down a river and swirling around rocks or in gusting winds on Earth. If this is seen, it would suggest
the winds move with laws of motion similar to those governing small-scale waves in water. Such waves might
be driven by heat in the atmosphere that varies in the course of a day. This would jibe with one of the original
theories for how the winds are created, and indeed there are those who think of this region as a kind of
atmospheric "surf zone" in the sky. Another view is that the winds at that height are too fast to jibe with this
model. Moreover, man-made tracers, such as Space Shuttle exhaust, do not break up and dissipate as one might
expect from such turbulence, but remain remarkably coherent.
On the other hand, if ATREX sees winds that exhibit what's called two-dimensional turbulence, this would
support a model based on a more directed, jet stream flow.
"In 3-D turbulence, one sees complicated movement," says Larsen. "But there's a tendency for 2-D turbulence
to behave almost in the opposite manner – the airflow coalesces into single streams, like a jet stream."
This kind of airflow would also be strongly enhanced by the combination of electrical currents in the region and
the rate of the Earth's rotation. Together, this connection might result in the fast, coherent streams of air so far
observed.
The rockets being used for the mission are two Terrier-Improved Malemutes, two Terrier-Improved Orions and
one Terrier-Oriole. In order for the launches to occur, clear skies are required at three special camera sites
located along the coast in Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey.
NASA has used TMA for decades as part of rocket studies from sites worldwide to study the near-space
environment. TMA burns slowly and produces visible light that can be tracked visually and with special camera
equipment.
The products of the reaction when TMA is exposed to air or water are aluminum oxide, carbon dioxide and
water vapor. Aluminum oxides are used to combat heartburn and to purify drinking water. Also, all three
products occur naturally in the atmosphere. The TMA poses no threat to the public during preparation on the
ground or during the release in space.
To try to spot the sounding rocket trails, follow the launch status updates at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex.html
Source: NASA
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2. Experiments May Force Revision of Astrophysical Models of the Universe
In a challenge to current astrophysical models of the universe, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories Z
machine and the University of Rostock in Germany have found that current estimates of ice-giant planetary
interiors overstate water's compressibility by as much as 30 percent.
The work was reported in the paper "Probing the Interior of the Ice Giants" in the Feb. 27 Physical Review
Letters.
"Our results question science's understanding of the internal structure of these planets," said Sandia lead author
Marcus Knudson, "and should require revisiting essentially all the modeling of ice giants within and outside our
solar system."
An accurate estimate of water's shrinking volume under the huge gravitational pressures of large planets is
essential to astrophysicists trying to model the evolution of the universe. They need to assume how much space
is taken up by water trapped under high density and pressure, deep inside a planet, to calculate how much is
needed of other elements to flesh out the planet's astronomical image.
To come up with the composition of the so-called ice-giants Neptune and Uranus, as well as any of the ice-giant
exoplanets being discovered in distant star systems, astrophysicists begin with the orbit, age, radius and mass of
each planet. Then, using equations that describe the behavior of elements as the forming planet cooled, they
calculate what light and heavy elements might have contributed to its evolution to end up with the current
celestial object.
But if estimates of water volume are off-target, then so is everything else.
The measurements -- 10 times more accurate than any previously reported -- at Sandia's Z accelerator agree
with results from a modern simulation effort that uses the quantum mechanics of Schroedinger's wave equation
-- the fundamental equation of wave mechanics -- to predict the behavior of water under extreme pressure and
density.
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The model, developed through a University of Rostock and Sandia collaboration, is called "First Principles
Modeling" because it contains no tuning parameters.
"You're solving Schroedinger's equation from a quantum mechanical perspective with hydrogen and oxygen as
input; there aren't any knobs for finagling the result you want or expect," Knudson said.
The model's results are quite different from earlier chemical pictures of water's behavior under pressure, but
agree quite well with the Z machine's test results, said Knudson. These results were achieved by using Z's
magnetic fields to shoot tiny plates 40 times faster than a rifle bullet into a water-sample target a few
millimeters away. The impact of each plate into the target created a huge shock wave that compressed the water
to roughly one-fourth its original volume, momentarily creating conditions similar to those in the interior of the
ice giants.
Sub-nanosecond observations captured the behavior of water under pressures and densities that occur
somewhere between the surface and core of ice giants.
"We took advantage of recent, more precise methods to measure the speed of the shock wave moving through
the water sample by measuring the Doppler shift of laser light reflected from the moving shock front, to 0.1
percent accuracy," said Knudson.
The re-shocked state of water was also determined by observing its behavior as the shock wave reflected back
into the water from a quartz rear window (its characteristics also determined) in the target. These results
provided a direct test of the First Principles model along a thermodynamic path that mimics the path one would
follow if one could bore deep into a planet's interior.
Multiple experiments were performed, providing a series of results at increasing pressures to create an accurate
equation of state. Such equations link changes in pressures with changes in temperatures and volumes.
Z can create more pressure -- up to 20 megabars -- than at Earth's core (roughly 3.5 megabars), and millions of
times Earth's atmospheric pressure. The Z projectiles, called flyer plates, achieve velocities from 12 to 27
kilometers a second, or up to 60,000 mph. The pressure at the center of Neptune is roughly 8 megabars.
Water at Z's ice-giant pressures also was found to have reflectivity like that of a weak metal, raising the
possibility that water's charged molecular fragments might be capable of generating a magnetic field. This could
help explain certain puzzling aspects of the magnetic fields around Neptune and Uranus.
"Reducing uncertainty on the composition of planetary systems by precisely measuring the equation of state of
water at extreme conditions can only help us understand how these systems formed," Knudson said.
These experimental techniques also are used at Z to study materials of critical importance to the nuclear
weapons program. In addition to producing the largest amount of X-rays on Earth when firing, the huge
pressures generated by Z make it useful to astrophysicists seeking data similar to that produced by black holes
and neutron stars.
Source: Spaceref.com
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3. NASA GRACE Data Hit Big Apple on World Water Day
To highlight declines in the world's groundwater supplies, a new
visualization of Earth's groundwater reserves, created in part with
space data from the joint NASA/German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission,
debuted on New York's Times Square on March 22, International
World Water Day.
The 30-second animation, titled "Visualizing Seasonal and Longterm Changes in Groundwater Levels," will be on display several
times each hour through April 22 on Times Square's massive
Thomson Reuters and NASDAQ digital signboards. Viewers of the
interactive animation are invited to use their mobile devices to
submit their city and add a graph to the sign. The animation can be
viewed at: http://vimeo.com/user10042778 .
Netherlands designer Richard Vijgen developed the animation using
GRACE data analyzed by professor Jay Famiglietti, director of the
UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling at the University of California,
Irvine; and from United States Geological Survey data supplied by
Leonard Konikow. Vijgen was the winning entry in an international
design visualization competition sponsored by the organization HeadsUP!, in collaboration with
Visualizing.org. Founded by digital media artist Peggy Weil, HeadsUp! challenges designers to visualize
critical global issues and create a shared sign for the public square.
Groundwater is a critical, but often overlooked, natural resource. According to a U.N. report, more than 1.5
billion people around the world depend on groundwater for their drinking water. It comes from the natural
percolation of precipitation and other surface waters down through Earth's soil and rock, accumulating in
cavities and layers of porous rock, gravel, sand or clay. Groundwater levels respond slowly to changes in
weather and can take months or years to replenish once pumped for irrigation or other uses.
Famiglietti's analyses show that groundwater is being depleted at alarming rates in many of the world's major
aquifers. "The GRACE data set is exciting, because it gives us the first global pictures of Earth's changing
freshwater," he said.
The twin GRACE satellites, which celebrated their 10th year in orbit this week, measure minute changes in
Earth's gravity field by measuring micron-scale variations in the separation between the two spacecraft, flying
in formation 137 miles (220 kilometers) apart in low Earth orbit. These variations in gravitational pull are
caused by local changes in Earth's mass. Masses of water, ice, air and solid Earth can be moved by weather
patterns, seasonal change, climate change and even tectonic events such as large earthquakes. GRACE was
developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The depletion of groundwater from large aquifers due to drought and human activities affects gravity enough to
provide a signal that GRACE can measure, in concert with other remote sensing data. After accounting for other
mass variations, such changes in gravity can be translated into an equivalent change in water. GRACE has been
used to detect major depletion of groundwater in northern India, California's Central Valley and elsewhere
around the globe.
Groundwater levels are monitored by local sensors as well as from space with GRACE, but the data are
formatted for expert hydrologists, rather than concerned citizens. Underground and out of sight, the public lacks
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a clear indicator of changing groundwater levels. By using the GRACE satellite data, HeadsUP! offered
designers the chance to visualize the water under the surface of Earth, as "seen" from space.
For more on the HeadsUP! project, visit: http://www.pitchengine.com/headsup2012/data-visualization-comesto-times-square-transforms-19k-sq-ft-ad-space-wsatellite-data--design-reaching-millions
World Water Day is an annual event created by the United Nations in 1992 to focus attention on the importance
of freshwater and to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. For more information,
visit: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/ .
GRACE is a joint NASA mission with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Research Center
for Geosciences (GFZ), in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. For more on GRACE, visit:
http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace/ , http://www.nasa.gov/grace , and http://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/ .
For more on NASA's work to improve global water security, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/world_water_day_2012.html .
Source: NASA
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The Night Sky
Friday, March 23
• Venus and Jupiter continue shining in the west during
and after dusk this week, though ever farther apart.
Venus is so bright that it's easy to spot before sunset if
you have normally sharp vision. About a half hour after
sunset this evening, look very far below Venus and
Jupiter, and perhaps a little right, for the very thin, dayand-a-half-old crescent Moon as shown here.
Saturday, March 24
• Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon now form a
flattened triangle in the west as twilight fades. As
darkness deepens, look above Venus for the Pleiades.
Sunday, March 25
• The Moon hangs with Jupiter this evening, as shown
here. Consider this a warmup for its pairing with brighter
Venus tomorrow. It's also a good opportunity to see
Jupiter even before the Sun sets — something that's
possible but rarely done with the unaided eye.
Monday, March 26
• The Moon and Venus, the two brightest celestial
objects after the Sun, appear paired up in the west this
evening. In reality Venus is 260 times farther away. It's
at a distance of 6 light-minutes from Earth, compared to
the Moon's distance of 1.3 light-seconds. Jupiter, looking
on from below, is currently 48 light-minutes from Earth.
Coincidentally, Venus is at its greatest elongation: 46°
east of the Sun. That makes this the very best possible
time to spot Venus during daylight hours.
Source: Sky & Telescope
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ISS Sighting Opportunities
For Denver:
No Sighting Opportunities
SATELLITE
LOCAL
DATE/TIME
DURATION
(MIN)
MAX ELEV
(DEG)
APPROACH
(DEG-DIR)
DEPARTURE
(DEG-DIR)
ISS
Fri Mar 23/05:16 AM
2
29
29 above NNW 11 above NE
ISS
Sat Mar 24/05:54 AM
3
14
10 above NW
10 above NNE
ISS
Sun Mar 25/04:59 AM
1
18
18 above N
11 above NNE
ISS
Mon Mar 26/05:36 AM
2
11
10 above NNW 10 above N
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Daylight Time)
March 24, Saturday
7 a.m., 11 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/19) - HQ (All Channels)
8 a.m., 10 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/20) - HQ (All Channels)
9 a.m., 9 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/21) - HQ (All Channels)
10 a.m., 8 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/22) - HQ (All Channels)
11 a.m., 7 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/23) - HQ (All Channels)
12 p.m. - NASA Television Video File - HQ (Public and Media Channels)
1 p.m. - Replay of ISS Mission Control Interview with the Digital Learning Network - HQ (All
Channels)
March 25, Sunday
6 a.m., 5 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/19) - HQ (All Channels)
7 a.m., 4 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/20) - HQ (All Channels)
8 a.m., 3 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/21) - HQ (All Channels)
9 a.m., 2 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/22) - HQ (All Channels)
10 a.m., 1 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update (3/23) - HQ (All Channels)
11 a.m. - Replay of ISS Mission Control Interview with the Digital Learning Network - HQ (All
Channels)
12 p.m. - NASA Television Video File - HQ (Public and Media Channels)
Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.
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Space Calendar
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•
Mar 23 [Mar 23] ATV-3 Edoardo Amaldi Ariane 5ES Launch (International Space Station),
Successful
Mar 23 - Asteroid 2012 EB2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
Mar 23 - Asteroid 12485 Jenniferharris Closest Approach To Earth (1.872 AU)
Mar 23 - Asteroid 20469 Dudleymoore Closest Approach To Earth (2.273 AU)
Mar 23 - Asteroid 21564 Widmanstatten Closest Approach To Earth (2.654 AU)
Mar 23 - Wernher von Braun's 100th Birthday (1912)
Mar 24 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #313 (OTM-313)
Mar 24 - Comet C/2012 B3 (La Sagra) Closest Approach To Earth (3.436 AU)
Mar 24 - Asteroid 215423 Winnecke Closest Approach To Earth (1.473 AU)
Mar 24 - Asteroid 55 Pandora Closest Approach To Earth (2.149 AU)
Mar 24 - Asteroid 2202 Pele Closest Approach To Earth (2.284 AU)
Mar 24 - Asteroid 334 Chicago Closest Approach To Earth (2.910 AU)
Mar 25 - European Summer Time - Set Clock Ahead 1 Hour (European Union)
Mar 25 - Intelsat 22 Proton M-Briz M Launch
Mar 25 [Mar 17] Asteroid 2012 EK8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU)
Mar 25 - Asteroid 6560 Pravdo Closest Approach To Earth (1.471 AU)
Mar 25 - Asteroid 42355 Typhon Closest Approach To Earth (17.656 AU)
Mar 26 - Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Trajectory Correction Maneuver #2 (TCM-2)
Mar 26 - Cosmos-Oko (US-KMO) Proton M-Briz M Launch
Mar 26 - Asteroid 22824 von Neumann Closest Approach To Earth (1.710 AU)
Mar 26 - Asteroid 2097 Galle Closest Approach To Earth (2.899 AU)
Wernher von Braun, 1964
Source: JPL Space Calendar
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Food for Thought
NASA GRAIL Returns First Student-Selected Moon Images
One of two NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon has beamed back the first student-requested pictures of the
lunar surface from its onboard camera. Fourth grade students from the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in
Bozeman, Mont., received the honor of making the first image selections by winning a nationwide competition
to rename the two spacecraft.
The image was taken by the MoonKam, or Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students. Previously
named Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) A and B, the twin spacecraft are now called Ebb
and Flow. Both washing-machine-sized orbiters carry a small MoonKAM camera. Over 60 student–requested
images were taken by the Ebb spacecraft from March 15-17 and downlinked to Earth March 20.
"MoonKAM is based on the premise that if your average picture is worth a thousand words, then a picture from
lunar orbit may be worth a classroom full of engineering and science degrees," said Maria Zuber, GRAIL
mission principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. "Through
MoonKAM, we have an opportunity to reach out to the next generation of scientists and engineers. It is great to
see things off to such a positive start."
GRAIL is NASA's first planetary mission to carry instruments fully dedicated to education and public outreach.
Students will select target areas on the lunar surface and request images to study from the GRAIL MoonKAM
Mission Operations Center in San Diego.
The MoonKAM program is led by Sally Ride, America's first woman in space, and her team at Sally Ride
Science in collaboration with undergraduate students at the University of California in San Diego. More than
2,700 schools spanning 52 countries are using the MoonKAM cameras.
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"What might seem like just a cool activity for these kids may very well have a profound impact on their
futures," Ride said. "The students really are excited about MoonKAM, and that translates into an excitement
about science and engineering."
Launched in September 2011, Ebb and Flow will answer longstanding questions about the moon and give
scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the GRAIL mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate in Washington. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, is home to the
mission's principal investigator, Maria Zuber. GRAIL is part of the Discovery Program managed at NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the
spacecraft. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.
To view the student-requested images, visit: http://images.moonkam.ucsd.edu
For more information about MoonKAM, visit: https://moonkam.ucsd.edu
For more information about GRAIL, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/grail
Source: NASA
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Space Image of the Week
VISTA Stares Deep into the Cosmos
Explanation: ESO's VISTA telescope has created the widest deep view of the sky ever made using infrared
light. This new picture of an unremarkable patch of sky comes from the UltraVISTA survey and reveals more
than 200,000 galaxies. It forms just one part of a huge collection of fully processed images from all the VISTA
surveys that is now being made available by ESO to astronomers worldwide. UltraVISTA is a treasure trove
that is being used to study distant galaxies in the early Universe as well as for many other science projects.
ESO’s VISTA telescope has been trained on the same patch of sky repeatedly to slowly accumulate the very
dim light of the most distant galaxies. In total more than six thousand separate exposures with a total effective
exposure time of 55 hours, taken through five different coloured filters, have been combined to create this
picture. This image from the UltraVISTA survey is the deepest infrared view of the sky of its size ever taken.
Image Credit: ESO
Source: European Southern Observatory
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