Selasa, 31 Mei 2022

Strange Radio-Emitting Neutron Star Discovered in Stellar Graveyard - SciTechDaily

76s Pulsar Compared to Other More Rapidly Spinning Sources

Artist impression of the 76s pulsar (in magenta) compared to other more rapidly spinning sources. Credit: Danielle Futselaar

An international team of astronomers has discovered a strange radio-emitting neutron star, which rotates extremely slowly, completing one rotation every 76 seconds.

The team of researchers says it is an unusual discovery as it resides in the neutron star graveyard where they do not expect to see any radio emission at all. The discovery was made using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa and published in the journal, Nature Astronomy on May 30, 2022. The study was led by members of the ERC-funded MeerTRAP (More Transients and Pulsars) group at The University of Manchester.

The source was initially found from a single flash, or pulse, by the MeerTRAP instrument whilst piggybacking on imaging observations being led by a different team, ThunderKAT. MeerTRAP and ThunderKAT then worked closely together to puzzle out its origin. Combining the data from the two teams, it was then possible to confirm the pulsations and get an accurate position for the source, enabling detailed and more sensitive follow-up observations.

Neutron stars are extremely dense remnants of a supernova explosion of a massive star. They can produce beams of radio waves that sweep around the sky as the neutron star spins, producing regular flashes like cosmic lighthouses. Scientists currently know of about 3,000 of these in our own Milky Way galaxy. However, the new discovery is unlike anything seen so far. The team thinks it could belong to the theorized class of ultra-long period magnetars with extremely strong magnetic fields.

MeerKAT Telescope

South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope. Credit: South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

Dr. Manisha Caleb, formerly from The University of Manchester and now at the University of Sydney, who led the research said: “Amazingly we only detect radio emission from this source for 0.5% of its rotation period. This means that it is very fortuitous that the radio beam intersected with the Earth. It is therefore likely that there are many more of these very slowly spinning sources in the Galaxy which has important implications for how neutron stars are born and age.

“The majority of pulsar surveys do not search for periods this long and so we have no idea how many of these sources there might be. In this case, the source was bright enough that we could detect the single pulses with the MeerTRAP instrument at MeerKAT.”

“Amazingly we only detect radio emission from this source for 0.5% of its rotation period. This means that it is very fortuitous that the radio beam intersected with the Earth. It is therefore likely that there are many more of these very slowly spinning sources in the Galaxy which has important implications for how neutron stars are born and age.”

— Dr. Manisha Caleb

The newly discovered neutron star is named, PSR J0901-4046, and shows characteristics of pulsars, (ultra-long period) magnetars, and even fast radio bursts. While the radio energy produced suggests a pulsar origin, the pulses with chaotic sub-pulse components, and the polarization of the pulses are reminiscent of magnetars.

While the spin period of PSR J0901-4046 might be more consistent with a white dwarf, another less extreme type of stellar remnant, scientists do not see any multi-wavelength support for this. It is presently unclear how long this source has been emitting in the radio. It was discovered in a well-studied part of the galaxy, but radio surveys don’t usually search for periods this long, or pulses that last more than a few tens of milliseconds.

Manisha Caleb

Dr. Manisha Caleb. Credit: University of Sydney

“The radio emission from this neutron star is unlike any we have ever seen before,” explained Professor Ben Stappers at The University of Manchester and Principal Investigator of the MeerTRAP project. “We get to view it for about 300 milliseconds, which is much longer than for the majority of other radio emitting neutron stars. There seem to be at least 7 different pulse types, some of which show strongly periodic structure, which could be interpreted as seismic vibrations of the neutron star. These pulses might be giving us vital insight into the nature of the emission mechanism for these sources.”

“The sensitivity that MeerKAT provides, combined with the sophisticated searching that was possible with MeerTRAP and an ability to make simultaneous images of the sky made this discovery possible. Even then it took an eagle eye to recognize it for something that was possibly a real source because it was so unusual looking!” said Dr. Ian Heywood from the ThunderKAT team and the University of Oxford who collaborated on this study.

Detecting similar sources is observationally challenging, which implies that there may be a larger undetected population waiting to be uncovered. This new discovery adds to the possibility of the existence of a new class of radio transients, the ultra-long period neutron stars, suggesting a possible connection to the evolution of highly magnetized neutron stars, ultra-long period magnetars, and fast radio bursts.

Reference: “Discovery of a radio-emitting neutron star with an ultra-long spin period of 76 s” by Manisha Caleb, Ian Heywood, Kaustubh Rajwade, Mateusz Malenta, Benjamin Willem Stappers, Ewan Barr, Weiwei Chen, Vincent Morello, Sotiris Sanidas, Jakob van den Eijnden, Michael Kramer, David Buckley, Jaco Brink, Sara Elisa Motta, Patrick Woudt, Patrick Weltevrede, Fabian Jankowski, Mayuresh Surnis, Sarah Buchner, Mechiel Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Laura Nicole Driessen and Rob Fender, 30 May 2022, Nature Astronomy.
DOI: 10.1038/s41550-022-01688-x

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2022-05-31 08:29:12Z
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Minggu, 29 Mei 2022

A super-rare meteor storm may light up the sky Monday night - The Weather Network

While it is possible that we may see nothing at all extraordinary on Monday night, there's the chance we may see hundreds, if not thousands, of meteors streaking through the sky.

Roughly 27 years ago, in 1995, astronomers watched as a comet began to shatter. Although comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3 had been discovered some 65 years before, it had been a fairly unremarkable object for all that time. Even the meteor shower associated with it, the tau Herculids which peak at the end of May each year, barely produces any meteors at all. Since 1995, though, the comet brightened significantly as it broke into multiple fragments. This breakup also ejected a fair amount of dust and debris out around the comet.

Comet 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann breakup - jpegPIA08452-scaled - NASAThis image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows an infrared view of the shattered remnants of Comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3, strung out in a trail of beads along its orbit. The larger fragments can be seen to emit plumes of ice, dust and gas, which are pushed away by radiation pressure due to sunlight. (Credit: NASA)

Since then the tau Herculids have remained a fairly unimpressive meteor shower. Each year, it occurs between late May and mid-June, and peaks at the end of May. However, it usually produces so few meteors that it hasn't been worth mentioning in any seasonal night sky observing guides.

This year is different, though.

On the night of May 30-31, 2022, astronomers believe there is a chance that Earth could pass through a concentrated cluster of debris from 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3. If that chance pays out, it will likely produce an outburst that rivals the major annual meteor showers, such as the Perseids or the Geminids. However, there's also the potential that we could see thousands of bright streaks in the sky as it delivers a meteor storm!

The time to watch for this depends on where you live. Researchers with the Institute for Celestial Mechanics and Computation of Ephemerides at the Paris Observatory have shown that if an outburst occurs, it will be centred over California's Baja Peninsula at around 10 p.m. PDT on May 30. Most of North America will be able to see it, with the exception of the Arctic and the Pacific Northwest.

For Canada, this means that the eastern half of the country has the best chance to see any outburst that may occur. The chances become more slim the farther west an observer is, due to the effects of twilight.

Meteor activity is expected to last for only a few hours, peaking around 1 a.m. EDT on Tuesday — 2:30 a.m. NDT, 2 a.m. ADT, 12 a.m. CDT, 11 p.m. CST/MDT, and 10 p.m. PDT.

tau-Herculids-outburst-Stellarium-SSutherlandLook towards the bright star Arcturus, in the southwestern sky, in the hours just after midnight, EDT, on the night of Monday, May 30 to Tuesday, May 31, 2022, for the radiant of the potential tau Herculids outburst. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland

ON THE OTHER HAND

Although we may see something truly awe-inspiring on Monday night, we shouldn't get our hopes up too much.

"This is going to be an all or nothing event," said Bill Cooke, of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.

Meteor showers are the result of Earth passing through streams of debris left behind by comets and some asteroids as they orbit the Sun. The key word in all of that, for this story, is behind. The tiny meteoroids in the debris stream are nearly always blown off the comet or asteroid to follow along in the wake of their parent object.

In the case of this potential outburst of the tau Herculids, it all depends on debris from 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3 being ejected with enough force during the breakup to shoot it ahead of the comet.

The reason for this is due to the timing and relative positions of Earth, the comet's orbit and debris stream, and the main fragments of the comet.

Normally, we see next to nothing at this time of year from the comet's very diffuse debris stream. After the comet shattered, though, there was a lot more dust and debris located near the remaining fragments. If we could encounter some of that more concentrated debris, it would produce the outburst we're looking for. However, the timing is off.

73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann-3-C orbit-viewer-snapshot NASA-JPL-CaltechThis orbit diagram shows the relative positions of the inner planets, the comet apparent primary fragment 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3-C, and the comet's orbit, on May 31, 2022, at 5 UTC. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Scott Sutherland

At the moment, those larger fragments of the comet are nowhere near us. They're due to pass through our current location in space over the next few months. By then, though, Earth will be millions of kilometres away from where we are now, as the planet continues along its orbit around the Sun. So, for this outburst to happen, we need some of the debris to have shot so far ahead of the fragments that it is in our path on Monday night.

According to NASA, observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope did show that some of the debris was ejected with enough force that we should encounter it.

"This is one reason why astronomers are excited," Lee Mohon wrote on NASA's Watch the Skies blog.

PROMISING SIGNS

There's no indication yet if the outburst is actually occurring, and we've certainly been disappointed by previous outburst predictions. However, we are seeing some promising signs.

The Spanish Meteor Network managed to capture a tau Herculid fireball on Friday night.

Additionally, the Global Meteor Network detected its first tau Herculids, too.

The questions that remain are 1) how much debris is in our path for Monday night, and 2) exactly how fast will it be travelling when it gets swept up by Earth's atmosphere.

If there is only a small amount of relatively slow-moving meteoroids, we likely won't see anything. The meteor shower may still occur, but as the researchers point out, it may only be picked up by Canadian Meteor Radar.

If there's a lot of fast-moving debris, though, with plenty of 'sand' and 'gravel' mixed in with the dust, we could see a spectacular display light up the sky.

TIPS FOR WATCHING A METEOR SHOWER

Meteor showers are events that nearly everyone can watch. No special equipment is required. In fact, binoculars and telescopes make it harder to see meteor showers, by restricting your field of view. However, there are a few things to keep in mind so you don't miss out on these amazing events.

The three best practices for observing the night sky are:

  • Check the weather,
  • Get away from light pollution, and
  • Be patient.

Clear skies are essential. Even a few hours of cloudy skies can ruin your chances of watching an event such as a meteor shower. So, be sure to check The Weather Network on TV, on our website, or from our app, and look for my articles on our Space News page, just to be sure that you have the most up-to-date sky forecast.

Next, you need to get away from city light pollution. If you look up into the sky from home, what do you see? The Moon, a planet or two, perhaps a few bright stars such as Vega, Betelgeuse and Procyon, as well as some passing airliners? If so, there's too much light pollution in your area to get the most out of a meteor shower. You might catch an exceptionally bright fireball if one happens to fly past overhead, but that's likely all you'll see. So, to get the most out of your stargazing and meteor watching, get out of the city. The farther away you can get, the better.

Watch: What light pollution is doing to city views of the Milky Way

For most regions of Canada, getting out from under light pollution is simply a matter of driving outside of your city, town or village until a multitude of stars is visible above your head.

In some areas, especially in southern Ontario and along the St. Lawrence River, the concentration of light pollution is too high. Getting far enough outside of one city to escape its light pollution tends to put you under the light pollution dome of the next city over. The best options for getting away from light depend on your location. In southwestern Ontario and the Niagara Peninsula, the shores of Lake Erie can offer some excellent views. In the GTA and farther east, drive north and seek out the various Ontario provincial parks or Quebec provincial parks. Even if you're confined to the parking lot after hours, these are usually excellent locations from which to watch (and you don't run the risk of trespassing on someone's property).

If you can't get away, the suburbs can offer at least a slightly better view of the night sky. Here, the key is to limit the amount of direct light in your field of view. Dark backyards, sheltered from street lights by surrounding houses and trees, are your best haven. The video above provides a good example of viewing based on the concentration of light pollution in the sky. Also, check for dark sky preserves in your area.

When viewing a meteor shower, be mindful of the phase of the Moon. Meteor showers are typically at their best when viewed during the New Moon or Crescent Moon. However, a Gibbous or Full Moon can be bright enough to wash out all but the brightest meteors. Since we can't get away from the Moon, the best option is just to time your outing right, so the Moon has already set or is low in the sky. Also, you can angle your field of view to keep the Moon out of your direct line of sight. This will reduce its impact on your night vision and allow you to spot more meteors.

Once you've verified you have clear skies and you've limited your exposure to light pollution, this is where being patient comes in.

For best viewing, your eyes need some time to adapt to the dark. Give yourself at least 20 minutes, but 30-45 minutes is best for your eyes to adjust from being exposed to bright light.

Note that this, likely more than anything else, is the one thing that causes the most disappointment when it comes to watching a meteor shower.

If you step out into your backyard from a brightly lit home and looking up for a few minutes, you might be lucky enough to catch a rare bright fireball meteor. However, it's far more likely that you won't see anything at all. Meteors may be streaking overhead, but it takes time for our eyes to adjust, so that we can actually pick out those brief flashes of light. Waiting for at least twenty minutes, while avoiding sources of light during that time (streetlights, car headlights and interior lights, and smartphone and tablet screens) dramatically improves your chances of avoiding disappointment.

Sometimes, avoiding your smartphone or tablet isn't an option. In this case, set the display to reduce the amount of blue light it gives off and reduce the screen's brightness. That way, it will have less of an impact on your night vision.

You can certainly gaze into the starry sky while you are letting your eyes adjust. You may even see a few of the brighter meteors as your eyes become accustomed to the dark.

Once you're all set, just look straight up and enjoy the view!

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2022-05-29 20:37:00Z
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NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter captures record-breaking flight video - CanIndia News

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  1. NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter captures record-breaking flight video  CanIndia News
  2. Watch the Dramatic Video of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's Record-Breaking Flight  SciTechDaily
  3. NASA video shows Mars helicopter Ingenuity's record-breaking flight  Space.com
  4. Images from Mars captured flight of a rotorcraft  ABC News
  5. Thrilling New Video Shows Ingenuity Helicopter's Record-Breaking Flight Over Mars  Gizmodo
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2022-05-29 09:20:17Z
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Jumat, 27 Mei 2022

Astronomers will train James Webb Telescope's high-precision spectrographs on two intriguing rocky exoplanets - Phys.org

Illustration of exoplanet 55 Cancri e, a rocky planet with a diameter almost twice that of Earth orbiting just 0.015 astronomical units from its Sun-like star. Because of its tight orbit, the planet is extremely hot, with dayside temperatures reaching 4,400 degrees Fahrenheit (about 2,400 degrees Celsius). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STScI)

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2022-05-27 19:56:50Z
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Kamis, 26 Mei 2022

A 'meteor storm' of 1000 shooting stars per hour may light up the skies over North America next week - Livescience.com

Ready to embrace some meteoric uncertainty?

The Tau Herculids meteor shower may light up the skies over North America on May 30 and 31. Or it may not. There's a chance we might pass through the thickest part of the comet fragment that is creating the debris, in which case the night skies will be filled with shooting stars.

If the shower happens in the right way, it could lead to a spectacular "meteor storm," in which Earth passes through an especially thick forest of space rocks, leading to up to 1,000 shooting stars per hour, according to the Washington Post (opens in new tab). And as a bonus, the moon will be new and the radiant, or apparent direction of the shower, is in the high-up constellation of Hercules in the northern sky. This means there will be a minimum of natural light pollution to contend with when looking for shooting stars.

But the sky show is not a guarantee, NASA cautioned. If the comet that spawned the storm has debris traveling slower than 220 mph (321 km/h), "then nothing will make it to Earth and there will be no meteors from this comet," Bill Cooke, who leads NASA's meteoroid environment office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a recent agency blog post (opens in new tab).

A fireball observed by the CA000P Global Meteor Network camera in Ontario on April 17. (Image credit: Miguel Preciado)
(opens in new tab)

Meteors are best visible around 2 a.m. local time, and for the best shot of seeing them, people should get as far away as possible from city lights. Wear comfortable clothing, arm against mosquitoes, and sit back in a lawn chair to look up. The best meteor streakers appear far away from the radiant.

The originating small solar system body for this shower is a comet, kind of like an icy snowball, known as 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, or SW3 for short. The comet has been falling apart for a while and close to 70 pieces were observed as early as 2006, although NASA suspects more fragments are lurking in the solar system. 

"If it makes it to us this year, the debris from SW3 will strike Earth's atmosphere very slowly, traveling at just 10 miles [16 kilometers] per second," the agency warned. Slower meteors tend to produce fainter trails in the sky, but we might get surprised.

Astrophotographers wanting to catch meteors should consult the beginner's guide (opens in new tab) at our sister website, Space.com. But if you can't catch any this time around, don't worry as there are many other meteor showers every year. A usual great bet is the Perseids (opens in new tab), which peak around mid-August.

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing meteor photo and would like to share it with Live Science readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to community@livescience.com.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. 

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2022-05-26 14:53:02Z
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Scientists Monitor Crystallization of Nickel Using Liquid-Phase Electron Microscopy - AZoNano

A lack of knowledge of how nickel crystallizes into a solid has hampered its prospective application in new nanomaterials and as a low-cost catalyst in chemical reactions that are performed in many industrial processes.

Scientists Monitor Crystallization of Nickel Using Liquid-Phase Electron Microscopy.
Researchers however have now been able to observe such crystallization of nickel’s two structural forms at the atomic scale using liquid-phase electron microscopy. Image Credit: Nano Research.

Researchers have now used liquid-phase electron microscopy to observe such crystallization of nickel’s two structural forms at the atomic scale.

On May 13th, 2022, a report explaining their findings was published in the journal Nano Research.

Catalysts are materials that accelerate the rate of chemical reactions, and they are necessary for the creation of a wide range of industrial goods. However, one of the obstacles they face in a variety of applications, not least in energy technologies, is that many of them are precious metals.

Platinum, for example, costs hundreds of dollars per ounce and is employed as a catalyst to speed up processes to such an extent that makes a variety of clean fuel sources a practical reality.

Nickel, on the other hand, is one of the most abundant metals in the earth’s crust, costing only pennies per ounce. Nickel is also quite stable in a wide range of conditions. As a result of their wide range of catalytic applications, nickel-based catalysts have recently attracted a lot of research attention.

Catalysts containing precious metals, on the other hand, boost reaction speed more than nickel.

Several strategies have been devised to increase nickel’s catalytic capabilities and to use nickel as a component of new nanomaterials, but to make even more progress, researchers must better understand some of the most fundamental features of nickel formation and structure.

They investigate nickel crystals in their tiny form, at the commencement of their formation (or nucleation) from a liquid, to conduct such research. Any crystal particle with at least one side measuring fewer than 100 nm is referred to as a nanocrystal (one thousand-millionth of a meter).

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Nickel nanocrystals can be found in two crystal-lattice forms: cubic and hexagonal, often known as “hexagonal-close-packed” or hcp. The mechanism behind the formation of these two lattice structures—the crystallization process—has remained largely unexplained.

To gain a complete understanding of the crystallization process, direct real-time monitoring of the nucleation routes of hcp nickel nanocrystals at the atomic level is required.

Other researchers have used liquid-phase electron microscopy to study the crystallization paths of silver and gold nanocrystals in real-time, showing the multi-step nucleation processes of these elements’ crystal formation.

In contrast to a traditional microscope, electron microscopy uses a beam of electrons to illuminate an object of interest rather than photons. Since the wavelength of an electron is far less than that of the photons that make up visible light, it is possible to investigate incredibly small things.

The procedure is the same in liquid-phase electron microscopy, but it allows for the study of specimens in liquid. Liquid phase electron microscopy has proven to be a useful method for monitoring the nucleation and development of nanocrystals since the goal is to see how solid crystals form from a liquid.

In principle, the Ni nanocrystals could crystallize in fcc or hcp phases. Usually, the formation of the new phase of nanocrystals is dependent on the adsorption energy of surfactant and the surface energy of exposed facets. Some researchers had earlier used this technique to investigate the formation of the cubic structural form of nickel nanocrystals in homogeneous Ni (II) growth solution containing Ni-ammine-acetate complexes.

Junyu Zhang, Study Co-author and Researcher, Instrumental Analysis Center, Huaqiao University

Zhang added, “And now, in this work, both in situ liquid cell TEM study and theoretical calculations identified the non-classical features of hcp Ni crystallization in N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) solution at a high dose rate of the electron beam.”

The researchers prepared a liquid solution with more nickel than could be dissolved (a ‘supersaturated solution’) so that any surplus would naturally precipitate out as a solid (in other words via crystallization). They then employed a liquid-phase electron microscope to watch the nucleation in real-time.

They have specifically reported the real-time and direct visualization of the dynamic processes of amorphous-phase-mediated crystallization of Ni hcp nanoparticles with (10) or hcp Ni (0001) facets in a homogeneous solution through spinodal decomposition, solidification, and atomic-scale crystallization under high electron beam dose rates.

They also used layer-by-layer growth to examine the facet development of Ni nanocrystals. Finally, the brittle Ni disintegrated into the solution.

The researchers hope that having a better understanding of the fundamental processes of nickel crystal formation at the lowest scale will help them create better hcp-nickel materials systems and catalysts in the future.

Journal Reference:

Zhang, J, et al. (2022) Atomic mechanisms of hexagonal close-packed Ni nanocrystallization revealed by in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy. Nano Research doi:10.1007/s12274-022-4475-3.

Source: http://www.tup.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/index.html

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2022-05-26 15:24:00Z
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Rabu, 25 Mei 2022

To Counter China, US, Japan Launch Bid to Put First Japanese Astronaut on Moon - HT Tech

The US and Japan agreed to work to put the first Japanese astronaut on the moon, accompanied by an American astronaut, as the longtime allies develop a partnership aimed at countering China.

The US and Japan agreed to work to put the first Japanese astronaut on the moon, accompanied by an American astronaut, as the longtime allies develop a partnership aimed at countering China.

The two countries said in a joint statement they’d collaborate on human and robotic moon missions “including a shared ambition to see a future Japanese astronaut on the lunar surface,” with a goal of signing an implementation agreement this year. 

Also read: Looking for a smartphone? To check mobile finder click here.

Following a meeting Monday in Tokyo between President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the countries also said they “are committed to a Japanese astronaut opportunity on the Gateway, a human outpost in the lunar vicinity, as part of expanding Artemis collaboration.” 

The joint lunar exploration development ties into the Artemis project, a US-led effort to return astronauts to the moon and eventually send humans to Mars.

US-Japanese space cooperation “is taking off, looking toward the moon and to Mars,” Biden said Monday at a press conference with Kishida.

“I’m excited about the work we will do together on the Gateway Station around the moon and look forward to the first Japanese astronaut joining us in the mission to the lunar surface, under the Artemis program,” he added.

The US and Japan are seeking to work more closely on space exploration after NASA officials warned of growing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Monday’s news comes amid the race to start extracting potentially hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of resources on the moon and elsewhere.

The moon may contain large amounts of helium-3, an isotope potentially useful as an alternative to uranium for nuclear power plants because it’s not radioactive. Experts believe 5,000 tons of coal could be replaced by about three tablespoons of helium-3. 

The geopolitics of space mirrors the competition between the US and its allies against China and Russia. The world’s top superpowers have been struggling to agree upon a common set of rules to govern the next generation of space activity. 

Japan and South Korea are among 19 countries that have agreed to support the Artemis Accords, a non-legally binding set of principles for exploration of the moon, Mars and beyond.

But China and Russia have led opposition to the accords. They are jointly promoting an alternative project on the moon they say is open to all other countries: the International Lunar Research Station. 

Japan itself has one of the world’s most advanced space programs, and in 2020 the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency succeeded in bringing back material from an asteroid using the unmanned Hayabusa2 probe. 

About a dozen Japanese nationals have experienced space travel, putting the country roughly even with China, Germany and France, but far behind the US and Russia in the global rankings. The country’s space budget jumped by more than 20% to about 450 billion yen ($3.5 billion) last year. 

The lack of cooperation between the US and China on space exploration is particularly dangerous in an era where the cosmos are becoming more crowded, and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are increasingly launching satellites to delve into commercial opportunities.

Japanese e-commerce billionaire Yusaku Maezawa spent time on the International Space Station last year in preparation for becoming the first private passenger on a planned trip around the moon on Musk’s SpaceX in 2023. No Japanese citizens have actually landed on the moon. 

NASA in April conducted tests for the launch of Artemis I, a fully robotic mission to the moon -- the first since Apollo 17 in 1972. China is swiftly moving toward a goal of matching US capabilities. China is the only country to operate its own space station, and last year became only the second nation after the US to land a rover on Mars.

US legislation first passed in 2011 prevents NASA from most interactions with its Chinese counterpart, and the US has blocked China from taking part in the International Space Station -- a move that simply prompted Beijing to build its own. 

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2022-05-25 06:54:38Z
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Starliner spacecraft cleared for undocking and re-entry – Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Astronauts on the International Space Station closed the hatch to Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft Tuesday, and ground teams used the lab’s robotic arm to inspect the capsule’s heat shield to clear the test vehicle for undocking Wednesday and return to Earth for a late afternoon landing in New Mexico.

The Boeing-owned spacecraft launched last Thursday and docked at the space station Friday night, reaching the orbiting research complex for the first time after officials aborted a test flight in 2019. The unpiloted demonstration mission is set to conclude Wednesday with an automated departure from the space station, followed a few hours later by a parachute-assisted, airbag cushioned landing at White Sands Space Harbor.

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines closed the forward hatch to the Starliner spacecraft at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) Tuesday. Hines became the first person to enter a Starliner spacecraft in orbit Saturday, when the station crew opened the hatch and began three days of inspections and checkouts inside the capsule’s crew cabin.

Lindgren and Hines, who arrived at the station on a SpaceX Dragon capsule last month, performed several tests inside the Starliner capsule during its docked stay at the space station. They performed communications checks inside the Starliner spacecraft, unpacked about 500 pounds of cargo, then replace it with about 600 pounds of cargo for return to Earth.

The Starliner is scheduled to undock from the station at 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT) Wednesday, then back away to a safe distance from the complex before a 58-second braking burn at 6:05 p.m. EDT (2205 GMT) to drop out of orbit.

The crew module, designed for reuse, will jettison its disposable service module at 6:08 p.m. EDT (2208 GMT). The service module houses the ship’s abort engines, solar panels, radiators and other equipment.

The service module will burn up during re-entry over the Pacific Ocean, while the Starliner crew module — containing an instrumented test dummy nicknamed “Rosie” — will orient itself using 12 control thrusters to point its blunt end forward to face a flow of super-heated air as it plunges into the atmosphere.

Astronauts Jessica Watkins, Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Samantha Cristoforetti on the International Space Station Tuesday. Credit: NASA TV / Spaceflight Now

Traveling at 25 times the speed of sound, the 15-foot-wide (4.6-meter) Starliner capsule will encounter the first discernible traces of the atmosphere at 6:33 p.m. EDT (4:33 p.m. MDT; 2233 GMT). Temperatures outside the capsule will reach as hot as 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius).

An ablative base heat shield, ceramic tiles and thermal blankets will protect the capsule as it heads for White Sands.

The human-rated spaceship will fly over Mexico, passing just west of El Paso before triggering its parachute deployment sequence at an altitude of around 30,000 feet (9 kilometers).

The Starliner will jettison its upper heat shield and deploy a pair of drogue parachutes. Then mortars will fire and pilot chutes will pull three main parachutes from their bags at 6:45 p.m. EDT (4:45 p.m. MDT; 2245 GMT). Less than a minute later, the capsule will release its bottom heat shield, allowing airbags to inflate at around 3,000 feet (900 meters).

Touchdown is scheduled for 6:49 p.m. EDT (4:49 p.m. MDT; 2249 GMT) at White Sands Space Harbor, part of the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range. The first Starliner test flight, which was cut short by software problems in 2019, successfully landed at White Sands.

The facility was used by NASA in 1982 for the landing of the space shuttle Columbia in 1982. Columbia touched down on an unpaved landing strip at White Sands to conclude NASA’s third space shuttle mission.

Boeing’s Starliner is the first U.S. crew-rated capsule designed to return from orbit for a landing on the ground. Russia’s Soyuz capsule is also designed for a ground landing, but SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and NASA’s Orion deep space crew capsule — like the Apollo command module from the 1960s and 1970s — splash down in the ocean at the end of their missions.

Forecasters predict favorable weather Wednesday for landing of the Starliner spacecraft at White Sands. Boeing’s backup landing site for this mission is Willcox Playa in Arizona. The Starliner program has also surveyed potential landing sites at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah and Edwards Air Force Base in California, in addition to two possible landing zones at White Sands.

The OFT-2 mission is a precursor before NASA clears astronauts to fly on the next Starliner mission to the International Space Station. After landing, Boeing will transport the Starliner capsule back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for refurbishment and use on a future crew mission.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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2022-05-25 03:59:42Z
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Selasa, 24 Mei 2022

Here's what happened during Boeing's 'nail-biting' spacecraft docking - CTV News

Boeing managed to dock a spacecraft at the International Space Station late last week, but it was not without several minor hangups.

The mission kicked off Thursday evening with a Florida launch, and the Starliner — which is designed to carry astronauts but is flying without people for this test — docked with the ISS Friday night at 8:28 pm ET. The docking occurred about an hour later than expected as ground crews worked through a few issues, including a software issue that skewed graphics, sort of like a misaligned GPS map. There were also issues with sensors and some docking components that were not initially moving correctly.

The capsule has a docking ring that pops out as it approaches its port and is used to latch on to the ISS. During the first attempt at docking, some components didn't move into the proper configuration. Ground teams had to try the pop-out process a second time to get everything in the right place. There had also been a small problem with the Starliner's cooling loops, which are part of the system that regulates the spacecraft's temperature.

All those issues had to be analyzed or fixed in time for the Starliner to move ahead, and the docking ultimately went off without a major issue.

"It was really nail-biting watching that vehicle sit out there for a while until it was it was time to come in," Mark Nappi, Boeing's Starliner program manager, told reporters Friday night.

Looming over the mission, however, has been several other issues with the spacecraft's on-board thrusters, which manoeuvre and orient that vehicle as it sails through space. Two of those thrusters shut down prematurely shortly after the spacecraft reached orbit. A couple of other thrusters had problems later on.

Despite the setbacks, the spacecraft was performing "beautifully," according to Steve Stich, the manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which oversees Starliner as well as SpaceX's Crew Dragon program.

"Of course this is a test flight, and as those that probably watched throughout the day, you saw that we're learning along the way, and it's very exciting," Stich said on a press call Friday night.

NASA and Boeing officials said that the thruster issues aren't major concerns because the Starliner has "a lot" of built-in backups, Stich said. There are 48 such thrusters on the vehicle, and the capsule's onboard computers can choose to use one thruster over another if it detects anything slightly off.

Although Boeing does want to understand why the thrusters weren't working as planned, according to Nappi, it might not happen.

"We may never know what the real cause of this is," he said.

Engineers narrowed the thruster issues down to "six or seven" possible causes, with three that seemed most likely. Zeroing in on the exact issue may require engineers to see the thrusters in person, something that can't happen because the thrusters are attached to the service module — a part that will be jettisoned and left to burn up in the atmosphere before the Starliner makes its controlled return to Earth.

That's expected to happen in the next few days. The Starliner will undock from the ISS, manoeuvre its way toward home, then use its thrusters to slice back into the thick part of the Earth's atmosphere before parachuting to a landing in the desert of New Mexico.

If all that goes well, it will be massive win for Boeing, which is coming off of years of delays and development hangups with Starliner.

The spacecraft's first attempt at completing an orbital test mission in 2019 had to be returned from space prematurely, without completing an ISS docking, because of software issues. A second attempt to launch Starliner to the ISS in August last year was scrapped after pre-flight checks discovered issues with key valves becoming stuck.

If this mission is completed safely, Boeing's Starliner could launch astronauts by the end of 2022.

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2022-05-24 13:56:33Z
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NASA's dust-covered InSight Mars lander takes its last selfie on the Red Planet - Devdiscourse

NASA's InSight Mars lander took what is likely to be its last or final selfie on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day (sol) of the mission. The spacecraft is anticipated to end science operations later this summer as its power levels are diminishing due to dusty solar panels.

InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, touched down on Mars in November 2018 to study the interior of Mars and take the planet's vital signs, its pulse, and temperature.

Now into an extended mission through December 2022, InSight's solar panels have been producing less power as they continue to accumulate dust. Over the next few months, there will be more dust in the air, which will reduce sunlight, and ultimately the lander's energy, therefore, the mission is unlikely to continue operations for the duration of its current extended mission.

InSight took its first selfie on Mars in December 2018 and second in April 2019, when it was covered with far less dust than it is today.

According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission for the agency's Science Mission Directorate, the lander's robotic arm needs to move several times in order to capture a full selfie. Because its dusty solar panels are producing less power, the mission team will soon put the arm in its resting position (called the "retirement pose") for the last time in May 2022.

So far, NASA's InSight mission has recorded invaluable weather data, detected more than 1,300 marsquakes and studied remnants of Mars' ancient magnetic field.

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2022-05-24 06:14:02Z
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Senin, 23 Mei 2022

Ancient massive 'Dragon of Death' flying reptile dug up in Argentina - Devdiscourse

Argentine scientists discovered a new species of a huge flying reptile dubbed "The Dragon of Death" that lived 86 millions of years ago alongside dinosaurs, in a find shedding fresh insight on a predator whose body was as long as a yellow school bus.

The new specimen of ancient flying reptile, or pterosaur, measured around 30 feet (9 meters) long and researchers say it predated birds as among the first creatures on Earth to use wings to hunt its prey from prehistoric skies. The team of paleontologists discovered the fossils of the newly coined Thanatosdrakon amaru in the Andes mountains in Argentina's western Mendoza province. They found that the rocks preserving the reptile's remains dated back 86 million years to the Cretaceous period.

The estimated date means these fearsome flying reptiles lived at least some 20 million years before an asteroid impact on what is now Mexico's Yucatan peninsula wiped out about three-quarters of life on the planet about 66 millions years ago. Project leader Leonardo Ortiz said in an interview over the weekend that the fossil's never-before-seen characteristics required a new genus and species name, with the latter combining ancient Greek words for death (thanatos) and dragon (drakon).

"It seemed appropriate to name it that way," said Ortiz. "It's the dragon of death." The reptile would likely have been a frightening sight. Researchers, who published their study last April in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research, said the fossil's huge bones classify the new species as the largest pterosaur yet discovered in South America and one of the largest found anywhere.

"We don't have a current record of any close relative that even has a body modification similar to these beasts," said Ortiz.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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2022-05-23 20:31:05Z
CBMigwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5kZXZkaXNjb3Vyc2UuY29tL2FydGljbGUvc2NpZW5jZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC8yMDQ3OTY2LWFuY2llbnQtbWFzc2l2ZS1kcmFnb24tb2YtZGVhdGgtZmx5aW5nLXJlcHRpbGUtZHVnLXVwLWluLWFyZ2VudGluYdIBhwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5kZXZkaXNjb3Vyc2UuY29tL2FydGljbGUvc2NpZW5jZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC8yMDQ3OTY2LWFuY2llbnQtbWFzc2l2ZS1kcmFnb24tb2YtZGVhdGgtZmx5aW5nLXJlcHRpbGUtZHVnLXVwLWluLWFyZ2VudGluYT9hbXA
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Boeing's Starliner has nearly broken SpaceX's astronaut monopoly - Quartz

The US wanted two redundant ways to get astronauts into space, and it now it nearly has them after an uncrewed Boeing Starliner arrived at the International Space Station over the weekend.

The second privately owned spacecraft built through the commercial crew program after SpaceX’s Dragon, Boeing’s Starliner promises to expand both NASA’s scientific work and give a new option to companies and individual seeking transport to space.

NASA initially partnered with Boeing in 2014 to build a vehicle to carry astronauts from the Earth to the orbital laboratory, but attempts at test-flights in 2019 and 2021 failed, revealing serious problems. After launching to orbit last week, the Starliner reached its docking port at the ISS on the evening of May 20, where astronauts already onboard popped open its hatch the next morning.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing: The vehicle had two thrusters fail during flight for as yet unknown reasons, but Starliner was designed with built-in redundancy for just that scenario and was able maneuver in space without any danger. A heat-control system also malfunctioned, and it took two tries to get its docking adapter to work.

NASA
Astronauts enter the Starliner and greet a test dummy who took the flight up.

Still, that’s what you expect from a spacecraft on its shake-down cruise. After spending the next several days on orbit, it will need to safely return to Earth for a parachute landing in New Mexico. Then, Boeing’s engineers will analyze the vehicle to prepare for a flight test with actual astronauts sometime in the next year. A panel of independent safety advisers urged them to take their time, particularly with a potential redesign of some troubled valves under consideration.

When Starliner is ready for regular service, it will be key to realizing NASA’s vision for the future of space activity near our planet. More astronauts will be able to visit the International Space Station more often, enabling more scientific work. And the vehicle will create more capacity for the kinds of private missions that the space agency says? will seed the development of private space stations.

Most importantly, the Starliner will break SpaceX’s monopoly on flying astronauts for western countries and companies. The only other human-rated spacecraft are Russia’s Soyuz and China’s similar Shenzou. That gives SpaceX serious pricing power when it negotiates with NASA and other customers who can’t or won’t fly on those state-owned systems.

If Boeing is prepared to expand its human spaceflight services, we may finally see the falling cost of going to space that the space industry has promised.

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2022-05-23 17:57:20Z
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Boeing Starliner Successfully Docks at International Space Station for 1st Time - The Quint

Boeing's passenger spacecraft, the CST-100 Starliner, on Saturday, 21 May, successfully docked itself to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time, paving the way for its future flights to potentially bring humans to the orbiting laboratory.

This was the Starliners' third attempt, on a mission designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable system as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Programme.

The first was in December 2019, which failed due to a series of software glitches. In the second attempt last August, Boeing halted the flight just hours before liftoff, after discovering some propellant valves that weren't working properly.

"Through the combined work of NASA and Starliner teams, the spacecraft connected to the Boeing-built International Docking Adapter at (5:58 am India time)," Boeing Space said in a tweet.

NASA tweeted, "The Boeing Space Starliner that just arrived at the International Space Station on a test flight is carrying over 500 lbs (227 kg) of cargo and crew supplies."

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2022-05-23 07:13:09Z
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Minggu, 22 Mei 2022

The Moon will redden during an eclipse on Sunday night - OI Canadian

Some Earthlings will be able to witness a total lunar eclipse on the night of Sunday to Monday, an infrequent celestial spectacle during which the nocturnal star loses its brilliance and gradually turns red.

The eclipse will be visible from parts of the American, European and African continents between moonrise and moonset.

This phenomenon occurs about twice a year, when the Sun, Earth and Moon are perfectly aligned, and the Moon is in its full phase.

The star slips into the shadow of the Earth, which then shields the sun’s rays, and gradually loses its white glow.

But it does not go out for all that: the Earth continues to send back to the Moon light from the Sun, via rays which take on a red hue by a process of “refraction of the atmosphere”, explains to AFP Florent Deleflie, from the Paris-PSL Observatory.

“During an eclipse, only the Earth can illuminate the Moon via this re-emission of red rays,” continues the astronomer.

“It’s very intriguing to see a bright, white Moon take on a red, extinguished hue over the minutes,” he adds. Visible with binoculars as with the naked eye, the phenomenon can give “spectacular photos” if the weather conditions are good.

The eclipse will last about five hours, and its totality phase – when the star is completely in the Earth’s shadow – a little over an hour.

The eclipse will be visible entirely in South America, Central America and over an eastern part of North America.

In mainland France, the eclipse will be total at the end of the night: the lunar disc will then be completely red. Note that the Moon will set during this phase of totality, at the same time as the Sun will rise.

The next total lunar eclipse is scheduled for November 2022, in the middle of the Pacific. In mainland France, the last dates back to January 2019 and the next will not take place until 2029.

Lunar eclipses have shown that the Earth was round “from antiquity”, underlines the astronomer. “On the surface of the lunar disc, the limit between the shadow and the part illuminated by the Sun is slightly curved: this is the projection of the roundness of the Earth”.

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2022-05-22 14:54:01Z
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Snapping Sagittarius A*: How scientists captured the first image of our galaxy’s black hole - RFI English

Issued on:

On May 12, scientists from the international research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration unveiled the first image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole located at the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.

This was the result of observations conducted using a global array of radio telescopes that form the EHT.

Dr Frederic Gueth, deputy director of the Grenoble-based Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM), is one of the scientists involved in the project.

In an  interview with RFI’s Dhananjay Khadilkar, Gueth talked about the monumental effort involved in capturing this image, and its significance. 

Q1. What is a black hole and why is it located at the centre of our galaxy?

A black hole is one of those fascinating objects whose presence was predicted by Albert Einstein. It is so massive that nothing, not even light, can escape from it.

We cannot observe a black hole because nothing can get out of it. However, there is a trick to observing it. There is a black hole at the centre of every galaxy, not just the Milky Way.

The Sagittarius A* is four million times more massive than the Sun, which is already an incredibly massive object. It is located at 27,000 light years away.

Q2. How did you capture the image of Sagittarius A*?

We knew there was a black hole (at the centre of our galaxy) but we never had direct imaging of it.

All the proof we had of its existence was indirect. To observe the black hole, we used a network of radio telescopes that operate in the millimetre (wavelength) domain. 

We have 10 observatories all over the planet. All the observations from different sites were carried out simultaneously. We needed to have atomic clocks at all these sites to make sure the synchronisation was perfect.

The (observational) data was combined by using a very complicated mathematical process to create this image which is not an optical image.

We needed to observe at radio wavelengths for one simple reason. There is a lot of gas and dust in the interstellar medium, which absorbs light at optical wavelength. That’s why we cannot observe the vicinity of the black hole in the optical wavelength. 

Q3. Out of the ten telescopes that form the EHT array, two belong to IRAM. What are the features of these two telescopes?

One is an antenna of 30 metre diameter located in Sierra Nevada in Spain. The other instrument, called NOEMA or Northern Extended Millimeter Array, is an array of 12 antennas, each of which is 15 metre in diameter. It is located in the French Alps. These two instruments are extremely sensitive. 

Q4. Three years ago, the EHT Collaboration captured the first image of a black hole. Why is it important to capture images of black holes?

(Until these images were taken), all the proof we had about the existence of black holes was indirect. We observed orbits of stars around black holes. By calculating the speed of the stars, we would conclude that the mass of the central object must be so high that it has to be a black hole.

We have never had any direct imaging of black holes. It is therefore extremely satisfactory to do these observations so that we really know it exists. Moreover, we can also start to investigate the physics of the material surrounding the black holes.

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2022-05-22 07:26:46Z
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Sabtu, 21 Mei 2022

Boeing's space mission: Cargo capsule reaches International Space Station | World News | WION - WION

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2022-05-21 18:30:24Z
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NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this week’s lunar eclipse from space - Digital Trends

This week’s lunar eclipse wasn’t only observed from the ground and from the International Space Station — it was also observed from 64 million miles (100 million kilometers) away from Earth by the Lucy spacecraft. Lucy, which is an uncrewed craft from NASA and the Southwest Research Institute on its way to study the Trojan asteroids in the orbit of Jupiter, got a view of the lunar eclipse on May 15 and was able to snap images over a period of three hours which have been turned into a time-lapse video:

The images were taken using Lucy’s L’LORRI instrument which captures high-resolution black and white images. It took 86 images in total which were combined together to create the time-lapse.

Even though Lucy is far away from Earth, the instrument was sensitive enough to be able to view the moon as it passed into the Earth’s shadow and was hidden in darkness for a short time.

”While total lunar eclipses aren’t that rare — they happen every year or so — it isn’t that often that you get a chance to observe them from an entirely new angle,” said Lucy’s principal investigator, Hal Levison, in a statement. “When the team realized Lucy had a chance to observe this lunar eclipse as a part of the instrument calibration process, everyone was incredibly excited.”

This illustration shows the Lucy spacecraft passing one of the Trojan Asteroids near Jupiter.
This illustration shows the Lucy spacecraft passing one of the Trojan Asteroids near Jupiter. Southwest Research Institute

Lucy was in the vicinity of Earth because, following its launch in October 2021, it was traveling toward the Earth to perform a flyby in October 2022. By passing close to a massive body like the Earth the spacecraft can get a gravity-assisted boost to help take it to its distant destination. During its journey, the team can make use of its instruments like its four cameras to observe phenomena like the lunar eclipse, but this requires some creative scheduling as this isn’t what these instruments are primarily designed for.

“Capturing these images really was an amazing team effort. The instrument, guidance, navigation, and science operations teams all had to work together to collect these data, getting the Earth and the Moon in the same frame,” said Acting Deputy Principal Investigator John Spencer. “And all this had to be done while operating the spacecraft in a very tricky environment.”

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2022-05-21 13:15:56Z
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Boeing docks Starliner capsule to ISS for the first time - Al Jazeera English

Boeing’s astronaut capsule reaches International Space Station in uncrewed test do-over after several failed attempts.

With only a test dummy aboard, Boeing’s astronaut capsule pulled up and parked at the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time, a huge achievement for the company after years of false starts.

With Starliner’s arrival late on Friday, NASA has finally realised its longtime effort to have crew capsules from competing US companies flying to the space station.

SpaceX already has a running start. Elon Musk’s company pulled off the same test three years ago and has since launched 18 astronauts to the space station, as well as tourists.

“Today marks a great milestone,” NASA astronaut Bob Hines radioed from the orbiting complex. “Starliner is looking beautiful on the front of the station,” he added.

The only other time Boeing’s Starliner flew in space, it never got anywhere near the station, ending up in the wrong orbit.

This time, the overhauled spacecraft made it to the right spot following Thursday’s launch and docked at the station 25 hours later. The automated rendezvous went off without a major hitch, despite the failure of a handful of thrusters.

If the rest of Starliner’s mission goes well, Boeing could be ready to launch its first crew by the end of this year. The astronauts likely to serve on the first Starliner crew joined Boeing and NASA flight controllers in Houston as the action unfolded nearly 435km (270 miles) up.

NASA wants redundancy when it comes to the Florida-based astronaut taxi service. Administrator Bill Nelson said Boeing’s long road with Starliner underscores the importance of having two types of crew capsules. US astronauts were stuck riding Russian rockets once the shuttle programme ended, until SpaceX’s first crew flight in 2020.

Boeing’s first Starliner test flight in 2019 was plagued by software errors that cut the mission short and could have doomed the spacecraft. Those were corrected, but when the new capsule awaited liftoff last summer, corroded valves halted the countdown. More repairs followed, as Boeing chalked up nearly $600m in do-over costs.

Before letting Starliner get close to the space station on Friday, Boeing ground controllers practised manoeuvring the capsule and tested its robotic vision system. Everything checked out well, Boeing said, except for a cooling loop and four failed thrusters. The capsule held a steady temperature, however, and had plenty of other thrusters for steering.

Once Starliner was within 15km (10 miles) of the space station, Boeing flight controllers in Houston could see the space station through the capsule’s cameras. “We’re waving. Can you see us?” joked Hines.

There was only silence from Starliner. The commander’s seat was occupied once again by the mannequin dubbed Rosie the Rocketeer, a space-age version of World War II’s Rosie the Riveter.

The gleaming white-with-blue-trim capsule hovered 10 metres (33 feet) from the station for close to two hours – considerably longer than planned – as flight controllers adjusted its docking ring and ensured everything else was in order. When the green light finally came, Starliner closed the gap in four minutes, eliciting cheers in Boeing’s control centre. Applause erupted once the latches were tightly secured.

The space station’s seven astronauts will unload groceries and gear from Starliner and pack it up with experiments. Unlike SpaceX’s Dragon capsule that splashes down off the Florida coast, Starliner will aim for a landing in New Mexico next Wednesday.

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2022-05-21 08:43:29Z
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