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Elon Musk unveils first tourist for SpaceX ‘Moon loop’

Sep 20, 2018Volume 11, Issue 16

“Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot remain in the cradle forever.“ Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

CONTENTS

ASTRONEWSLETTER

•WhatisBFR?...........................................1

•ElonMuskunveilsfirsttouristfor

SpaceX‘Moonloop’.............................1

•Orion’sfirstServiceModule

integrationcomplete.............................2

•5HazardsofHumanSpaceflight...2

•ClosestExoplanetCouldbe

HabitableWithaDaysideOcean...3

•TESSsharesfirstscienceimagein

hunttofindnewworlds....................3

•AstronomyPictureoftheDay.........4

ElonMusk’s company SpaceX has unveiled the first private passenger it plans to flyaroundtheMoon.JapanesebillionaireandonlinefashiontycoonYusakuMaezawa,42,announced:“IchoosetogototheMoon.”Themissionisplannedfor2023,andwouldbethefirstlunarjourneybyhumanssince1972.Butitisreliantonarocketthathasnotbeenbuiltyet,andMrMuskcautioned:“It’snot100%certainwecanbringthistoflight.”ThecompanysaidtheflightonboardtheBigFalconRocket(BFR)-alaunchsystemthatwas unveiled byMrMusk in 2016 - represented“an important step toward enablingaccessforeverydaypeoplewhodreamoftravellingtospace”.EarlieronTwitter,MrMuskhadalreadyhintedthatthepassengerwouldbefromJapan.MrMaezawamadeheadlineslastyearafterpaying$110.5m(£85.4m)forapaintingbythelateartistJean-MichelBasquiatatanauctioninNewYork.TheartenthusiastsaidonMondayhewouldinvitesixtoeightartistsfromaroundtheworldtojoinhimonthetrip.

New rocket for a new missionOnly24humanshavevisitedtheMoon-allofthemAmericans;12ofthemlandedonthemoon.Nasa’sApollo17inDecember1972markedthelasttimehumanslandedonthemoon,orwentbeyondlowEarthorbit.MrMaezawawillnotlandonthemoon.Hewilltravelonwhatiscalleda“freereturntrajectory”,whichwillbringhisBFRshipbacktoEarthafterithasgonearoundthefarsideofthesatellite.bbc.com 1

BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) is a fully reusablevehicle designed to service all Earth orbitneedsaswell as theMoonandMars.Thistwo-stagevehicle—composedofaBoosterandaShip—willeventuallyreplaceFalcon9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon. By creatinga single system that can service a varietyofmarkets, SpaceX can redirect resourcesfromFalcon9,FalconHeavyandDragontothe BFR system—which is fundamental inmakingBFRaffordable.

INTERPLANETARYTRANSPORTBuilding Moon bases and Mars cities willrequire affordable delivery of significantquantities of cargo and people. The fullyreusable BFR uses in-space propellanttransfertoenablethedeliveryofover100tofusefulmasstothesurfaceoftheMoonorMars.BFRisdesignedtoultimatelycarryasmany as 100 people on long-duration,interplanetaryflights.

What is BFR?

spacex.com Astro Newsletter

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Orion’s first Service Module integration complete

Last week at the Airbus integration hall inBremen, Germany, technicians installed thelastradiatorontheEuropeanServiceModulefor NASA’s Orion spacecraft marking themodule’sfinishedintegration.ESA’sEuropeanservicemodulewillprovidepower,water,airand electricity to NASA’s Orion explorationspacecraft that will eventually fly beyondthe Moon with astronauts. The EuropeanServiceModule is now complete for Orion’sfirstmissionthatwilldoalunarfly-bywithoutastronauts to demonstrate the spacecraft’scapabilities.

Much like closing the bonnet on a car,withthe radiators in place technicians can nolonger access the internals of the Europeanservice module, symbolically ending theassemblyandintegrationofthemodulethatwillflyfurtherintoourSolarSystemthananyotherhuman-ratedspacecrafthaseverflownbefore.Techniciansworked24hoursadayinthreeshiftstocompletetheservicemodule’sassembly which is now going through thelaststagesof itsextensivetesting.Engineerswill put the module through its paces withfunctional tests that include checking thenewly installed radiators and testing thepropulsionsystemwithitsintricatepipelinesthatdeliverfuelandoxidisertothespacecraft’s33engines.

Once complete the service module will bepackedandflown toNASA’sKennedySpaceCenterinFlorida,USA.Orion’ssolarwingswillbe shipped separately, also fromBremen. IntheUSAthemodulewillbestackedtogetherwithNASA’sCrewModuleAdaptorandCrewModule,thefirsttimethecompletespacecraftwillbeondisplay.

Orion’s first Service Module integration

complete A human journey to Mars, at firstglance,offersaninexhaustibleamountof complexities. To bring a missiontotheRedPlanetfromfictiontofact,NASA’sHumanResearchProgramhasorganized hazards astronauts willencounter on a continual basis intofiveclassifications:

1. RadiationThe first hazard of a human missionto Mars is also the most difficult tovisualizebecause,well,spaceradiationisinvisibletothehumaneye.Radiationis not only stealthy, but consideredoneofthemostmenacingofthefivehazards.

Above Earth’s natural protection,radiation exposure increases cancerrisk, damages the central nervoussystem, can alter cognitive function,reduce motor function and promptbehavioral changes. To learn whatcan happen above low-Earth orbit,NASA studies how radiation affectsbiological samples using a ground-basedresearchlaboratory.

2. Isolation and confinementBehavioral issues among groups ofpeoplecrammedinasmallspaceoveralongperiodoftime,nomatterhowwell trained they are, are inevitable.Crewswillbecarefullychosen,trainedand supported to ensure they canworkeffectivelyasateamformonthsoryearsinspace.

OnEarthwehavetheluxuryofpickingupourcellphonesandinstantlybeingconnectedwithnearlyeverythingandeveryonearoundus.OnatriptoMars,astronauts will bemore isolated andconfined thanwecan imagine.Sleep

loss, circadian desynchronization,and work overload compound thisissue and may lead to performancedecrements,adversehealthoutcomes,andcompromisedmissionobjectives.

3. Distance from EarthThethirdandperhapsmostapparenthazard is, quite simply, the distance.Mars is,onaverage,140millionmilesfrom Earth. Rather than a three-daylunartrip,astronautswouldbeleavingourplanetforroughlythreeyears.Ifamedicaleventoremergencyhappenson the station, the crew can returnhome within hours. Additionally,cargo vehicles continual resupplythe crews with fresh food, medicalequipment,andotherresources.OnceyouburnyourenginesforMars,thereisnoturningbackandnoresupply.

4. Gravity (or lack thereof)Thevarianceofgravitythatastronautswillencounter isthefourthhazardofahumanmission.OnMars,astronautswouldneedtoliveandworkinthree-eighths of Earth’s gravitational pullfor up to two years. Additionally,on the six-month trek between theplanets,explorerswillexperiencetotalweightlessness.

5. Hostile/closed environmentsAspacecraftisnotonlyahome,it’salsoa machine. NASA understands thatthe ecosystem inside a vehicle playsa big role in everyday astronaut life.Importanthabitability factors includetemperature,pressure,lighting,noise,andquantityofspace.It’sessentialthatastronauts are getting the requisitefood, sleep and exercise needed tostayhealthyandhappy.

5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight

spacedaily.com

marsdaily.com

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Closest Exoplanet Could be Habitable With a Dayside Ocean

Astro Newsletter

phys.org

Closest Exoplanet Could be Habitable With a Dayside Ocean NASA’snewestplanethunter,theTransiting

Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), isnow providing valuable data to helpscientistsdiscoverandstudyexcitingnewexoplanets, or planets beyond our solarsystem. Part of the data fromTESS’ initialscienceorbitincludesadetailedpictureofthesouthernskytakenwithallfourofthespacecraft’s wide-field cameras. This “firstlight” science image captures awealth ofstarsandotherobjects, includingsystemspreviouslyknowntohaveexoplanets.

TESS acquired the image using all fourcameras during a 30-minute period onTuesday, Aug. 7. The black lines in theimage are gaps between the cameradetectors. The images include parts of adozen constellations, from Capricornusto Pictor, and both the Large and SmallMagellanic Clouds, the galaxies nearestto our own. The small bright dot abovethe Small Magellanic Cloud is a globularcluster—asphericalcollectionofhundredsof thousands of stars—called NGC 104,also known as 47Tucanae because of itslocation in the southern constellationToucana,theToucan.Twostars,BetaGruisandRDoradus,aresobrighttheysaturateanentirecolumnofpixelsonthedetectorsof TESS’s second and fourth cameras,creatinglongspikesoflight.TESSwill spend two yearsmonitoring 26such sectors for 27 days each, covering85percentof thesky.During itsfirstyearof operations, the satellite will study the13 sectors making up the southern sky.ThenTESSwillturntothe13sectorsofthenorthern sky to carry out a second year-longsurvey.

TESS shares first science image in hunt

to find new worlds

InofAugustof2016,astronomersfromthe European Southern Observatory(ESO) confirmed the existence of anEarth-like planet around ProximaCentauri–thecloseststartoourSolarSystem. In addition, they confirmedthat this planet (Proxima b) orbitedwithin its star’shabitablezone.Sincethattime,multiplestudieshavebeenconductedtodetermine ifProximabcouldinfactbehabitable.

Unfortunately, most of this researchhas not been very encouraging. Forinstance,manystudieshaveindicatedthatProximab’s sunexperiences toomuch flare activity for the planet tosustain an atmosphere and liquidwater on its surface. However, ina new NASA-led study, a team ofscientists has investigated variousclimate scenarios that indicate thatProxima b could still have enoughwatertosupportlife.

The study, titled “Habitable ClimateScenariosforProximaCentauribwithaDynamicOcean“,recentlyappearedin the scientific journal Astrobiology.ThestudywasledbyAnthonyD.DelGenio of NASA’s Goddard InstituteforSpaceStudies(GISS)andincludedmembers from the NASA GoddardSpaceFlightCenter(GSFC),ColumbiaUniversity,andTrinnovimLLC–an ITcompany that provides institutionalandmissionsupportfortheGSFC.

Tobreakitdown,planetslikeProximab – which orbit M-type (red dwarf )stars–facealotofchallengeswhenitcomestohabitability.Forone,itscloseorbittoitsstarwouldhavelikelyledtoarunawaygreenhouseeffectearly initshistory.Itwouldalsobesubjecttointense radiation (X-ray and extremeultraviolet fluxes) and solar wind –which would lead to catastrophicatmosphericandwaterloss.

However,thereisalotwedon’tknowaboutProximab’sevolutionaryhistory,and there are scenarios in whichhabitability could be a possibility.It could also extend to other rockyplanetsthatorbitM-type(reddwarf )stars,whichisevenmoreencouraging.Given that these stars account forover70%ofthestarsintheMilkyWayGalaxyalone,thelikelihoodthattheysupportpotentiallyhabitableplanetsincreases the odds of finding extra-terrestriallifesignificantly.

In thecomingyears,next-generationinstruments are expected to playa major role in the detection andcharacterizationof exoplanets.Theseinclude the James Webb SpaceTelescope (JWST), the Wide-FieldInfrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST),and ground-based instruments likethe Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)and the Giant Magellan Telescope(GMT).AndyoucanbetsomeoftheirtimewillbededicatedtostudyingtheclosestexoplanettoEarth!

technology.org

Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of stars. The cosmicCocoonontheupperrightalsopunctuatesalongtrailofobscuringinterstellardust clouds to its left. Cataloged as IC 5146, thebeautiful nebula is nearly 15light-years wide, located some 3,300 light years away toward the northernconstellation of the Swan (Cygnus). Like other star forming regions, it standsout in red,glowing,hydrogengasexcitedbyyoung,hot stars andblue,dust-reflectedstarlightattheedgeofanearlyinvisiblemolecularcloud. Infact,thebrightstarnearthecenterofthisnebulaislikelyonlyafewhundredthousandyears old, powering the nebular glow as it slowly clears out a cavity in themolecularcloud’sstarformingdustandgas.Thisexceptionallydeepcolorviewof the Cocoon Nebula traces tantalizing features within and surrounding thedustystellarnursery.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

New School Year is Started

4 Astro Newsletter

apod.nasa.gov

Cocoon Nebula Deep Field

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New School Year is StartedAnother school year started and we keep going with more space news! If you did notknow, hundreds of articles and photos have been shared with students and teachersvia our Astro Newsletter over the last eleven years and this year will be no different.With some new schools joining our educational programs, we look forward to reachingmorepeople.During the2017-2018schoolyear,wehaveconducted82videoconferenceswithinourPartner School Science Program (PSSP) and 216 videoconferences within our Future ExplorersProgram(FEP).Thisyear,wehaveaddedanewtopic toourcurriculumcalled“ElectromagneticSpectrum”.Withthiseducationalpackagewelearnthebasicsoftheelectromagneticspectrumandhowvarioustypesofelectromagneticwavesarerelatedintermsofwavelengthandenergy.Wewishalltheteachersandstudentsasuccessfulschoolyear.Maythisbethebestschoolyearever!