NASA

FarView Observatory – A Large, In-Situ Manufactured, Lunar Far Side Radio Array

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 19:18:00 +0000

FarView Observatory – A Large, In-Situ Manufactured, Lunar Far Side Radio Array Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/06/2023 - 13:18

From NASA: FarView is a low frequency (5-40 MHz) radio telescope array comprised of 100,000 dipole antennas, dispersed over ~ 200 km2. The observatory is manufactured in-situ, utilizing Lunar Resources’ developed technologies that first extract metals (along with oxygen) from lunar regolith then manufacture most of the required elements of the observatory: dipole antennas, solar cells, power lines, from those materials. FarView will be built on the lunar far side to shield it from the Earth’s ionospheric and anthropomorphic radio interference that compromise these observations from being made on Earth.

Significant advancements were made during the Phase I study. We adopted a subarray architecture rather than the single, fully connected array suggested in the Phase I proposal. The new subarray architecture made it relatively easy to identify potential build sites on the lunar far side. The region between 20 and 60 S latitude and 120 and 220 E longitude was found to be particularly rich in suitable sites. The science case for FarView was further developed with an emphasis on the unique capabilities to probe the unexplored Cosmic Dark Ages using interferometric radio observations. We were able to illustrate the potential for FarView to deliver a tomographic map tracing the evolution of the Universe from before the birth of the first stars to the beginning of reionization. Read more...

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NASA’s next lunar rover will run open-source software

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 16:59:01 +0000

NASA’s next lunar rover will run open-source software Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/12/2021 - 10:59

Neel V. Patel

From MIT Technology Review: In 2023, NASA will launch VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover), which will trek across the surface of the moon and hunt for water ice that could one day be used to make rocket fuel. The rover will be armed with the best instruments and tools that NASA can come up with: wheels that can spin properly on lunar soil, a drill that’s able to dig into extraterrestrial geology, hardware that can survive 14 days of a lunar night when temperatures sink to ˗173 °C.

But while much of VIPER is one of a kind, custom-made for the mission, much of the software that it’s running is open-source, meaning it’s available for use, modification, and distribution by anyone for any purpose. If it’s successful, the mission may be about more than just laying the groundwork for a future lunar colony—it may also be an inflection point that causes the space industry to think differently about how it develops and operates robots.

Open-source tech rarely comes to mind when we talk about space missions. It takes a tremendous amount of money to build something that can be launched into space, make its way to its proper destination, and then fulfill a specific set of tasks hundreds or thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of miles away. Keeping the know-how to pull those things off close to one’s chest is a natural inclination. Open-source software, meanwhile, is more usually associated with scrappy programming for smaller projects, like hackathons or student demos. The code that fills online repositories like GitHub is often an inexpensive solution for groups running low on cash and resources needed to build code from scratch. Read more…

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NASA-funded project to explore one-of-a-kind lunar observatory

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 21:46:29 +0000

NASA-funded project to explore one-of-a-kind lunar observatory Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/01/2021 - 14:46

Daniel Strain

From ��ƷSM��ӰƬ Today: Lunar Resources, Inc. of Houston, Texas, and the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ are launching a new research effort to lay the groundwork for a one-of-a-kind lunar radio astronomy observatory—a network of hundreds of miles of antennas constructed on the far side of the moon using materials harvested from the lunar surface itself.

NASA recently awarded the team a $125,000 grant to complete a nine-month study on the project, called the Lunar Farside Radio Observatory, or FarView. The funding is part of the 2021 Phase I NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The program is highly competitive with less than 5% of proposals selected for an award.

The NIAC program selects novel concepts to transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs—such as radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts—while engaging America's innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey. Jack Burns, a professor in the departments of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and Physics at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ, developed the concept for the unprecedented observatory. Read more...

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Fly me to the moon, and far beyond

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 21:56:43 +0000

Fly me to the moon, and far beyond Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/13/2020 - 15:56

Ken McConnellogue

From CU On the Air Podcast: Since the late 1940s, the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ has sent important experiments and instruments to every planet in our solar system. In 50+ space missions, NASA spacecraft have launched hundreds of instruments from ��ƷSM��ӰƬ as well as 20 CU scientists, faculty and alumni – including 18 from Boulder, one from UCCS and one from CU Anschutz. ��ƷSM��ӰƬ Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Professor Jack Burns continues to have longstanding ties with NASA that benefit the department and CU as a leading-edge institution. Listen to the Podcast.

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Intuitive Machines selects landing site for CLPS mission

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 18:02:26 +0000

Intuitive Machines selects landing site for CLPS mission Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/14/2020 - 12:02

Jeff Foust

From SpaceNews: Intuitive Machines has identified a landing site for a commercial lunar lander mission next year that will carry payloads from NASA and other customers.

The Houston-based company announced April 13 that its IM-1 lander mission, scheduled for launch in October 2021, will touch down near a valley called Vallis Schröteri in Oceanus Procellarum, or the Ocean of Storms. That valley, or rille, is the largest on the moon, and was under consideration by NASA as a landing site for the Apollo 18 mission before that mission’s cancellation.

Within that region, the company said it found a desirable landing site, 200 meters across, for its lander. Images of the landing site from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show that site to be flat and devoid of large craters or rocks that would be a hazard to the lander. It will also have abundant sunlight throughout the lunar day, which lasts 14 Earth days. Read more...

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NASA Selects Mission to Study Causes of Giant Solar Particle Storms

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 16:17:19 +0000

NASA Selects Mission to Study Causes of Giant Solar Particle Storms Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/30/2020 - 10:17

From NASA: NASA has selected a new mission to study how the Sun generates and releases giant space weather storms – known as solar particle storms – into planetary space. Not only will such information improve understanding of how our solar system works, but it ultimately can help protect astronauts traveling to the Moon and Mars by providing better information on how the Sun’s radiation affects the space environment they must travel through.

The new mission, called the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE), is an array of six CubeSats operating as one very large radio telescope. NASA has awarded $62.6 million to design, build and launch SunRISE by no earlier than July 1, 2023.

NASA chose SunRISE in August 2017 as one of two Mission of Opportunity proposals to conduct an 11-month mission concept study. In February 2019, the agency approved a continued formulation study of the mission for an additional year. SunRISE is led by Justin Kasper at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

"We are so pleased to add a new mission to our fleet of spacecraft that help us better understand the Sun, as well as how our star influences the space environment between planets," said Nicky Fox, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division. "The more we know about how the Sun erupts with space weather events, the more we can mitigate their effects on spacecraft and astronauts." Read more...

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Under a DAPPER Moon: NASA Eyes Wild Radio Science Projects on the Lunar Farside

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 20:14:36 +0000

Under a DAPPER Moon: NASA Eyes Wild Radio Science Projects on the Lunar Farside Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/23/2019 - 13:14

Meghan Bartels

From Space.com: NASA's quest to return humans to the moon could boost a field of research that might not seem particularly lunar in nature: cosmology.

But the far side of the moon could be a powerful place to answer some of the most compelling questions about the universe — and NASA's push to bring humans back to the moon could cut the prices enough to make this science a reality. Even a scientist leading the push for NASA to investigate these missions admits it wasn't the most intuitive idea when he first heard about it.

"We were [science fair] judges together and they were asking me what I thought about telescopes on the moon," Jack Burns, an astrophysicist at the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ, told Space.com. "And I said, I didn't think much about it at all. It just didn't occur to me."

Since then, he and his colleagues have thought about it a lot. Their conclusion is that observatories on the far side of the moon offer a unique opportunity for modern astronomers. Burns has spent this year thinking through two specific mission concepts designed to take advantage, focusing particularly on the period before stars began to form, called the dark ages. Read more...

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Three projects tapped by NASA for lunar exploration have Boulder ties

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 16:31:07 +0000

Three projects tapped by NASA for lunar exploration have Boulder ties Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/04/2019 - 10:31

Charlie Brennan

From the Daily Camera: NASA has announced a dozen science and technology payloads that will be at the core of the nation’s mission to put humans back on the moon by 2024, and two of them are led by investigators based in Boulder, while a third also has local ties.

Artemis is the name given by NASA to the project to fulfill President Donald Trump’s directive that the U.S. achieve a manned landing on the moon by 2024 and a sustainable human presence there by 2028, as part of an effort to develop the science to support putting humans on Mars.

The 12 science investigations picked by NASA to serve as the foundation of Artemis will go to the moon on future flights through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services project, which will allow rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services for payloads that advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the moon, according to the agency. Read more...

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Scientists scramble to build payload for 2021 moon landing

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 07:06:38 +0000

Scientists scramble to build payload for 2021 moon landing Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/02/2019 - 01:06

Robert Sanders

From Berkeley News: Scavenging spare parts and grabbing off-the-shelf hardware, University of California, Berkeley, space scientists are in a sprint to build scientific instruments that will land on the moon in a mere two years.

NASA announced yesterday that it has selected 12 scientific payloads to fly aboard three lunar landing missions within the next few years. One of them will be the Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment (LuSEE), which will be built under the direction of Stuart Bale, a UC Berkeley professor of physics and a veteran of several past NASA missions, including the Parker Solar Probe that was launched last August.

The science and technology experiments will explore the moon’s surface environment in advance of upcoming human missions and are part of NASA’s collaboration with commercial partners to launch payloads — and, by 2024, humans — to the moon.

Bale and his colleagues at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory have less than $6 million to cover the costs, which means they will be co-opting spare parts originally built for the Parker Solar Probe and other spacecraft, including STEREO, which launched in 2006 and is still providing stereo views of the sun, and the 2013 MAVEN on a mission to Mars. The LuSEE will make comprehensive measurements of electromagnetic phenomena on the surface of the moon and erect a simple radio telescope — the first operational telescope on the moon. Read more...

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NASA Selects 12 New Lunar Science, Technology Investigations

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 16:42:16 +0000

NASA Selects 12 New Lunar Science, Technology Investigations Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/01/2019 - 10:42

From NASA Release 19-053: NASA has selected 12 new science and technology payloads that will help us study the Moon and explore more of its surface as part of the agency’s Artemis lunar program. These investigations and demonstrations will help the agency send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 as a way to prepare to send humans to Mars for the first time.

The selected investigations will go to the Moon on future flights through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) project. The CLPS project allows rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services for payloads like these that advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon. Many of the new selections incorporate existing hardware, such as parts or models designed for missions that have already flown. Seven of the new selections are focused on answering questions in planetary science or heliophysics, while five will demonstrate new technologies.

"The selected lunar payloads represent cutting-edge innovations, and will take advantage of early flights through our commercial services project,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Each demonstrates either a new science instrument or a technological innovation that supports scientific and human exploration objectives, and many have broader applications for Mars and beyond.”

The selected NESS investigation is:

The Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment (LuSEE)
LuSEE will integrate flight-spare and repurposed hardware from the NASA Parker Solar Probe FIELDS experiment, the STEREO/Waves instrument, and the MAVEN mission to make comprehensive measurements of electromagnetic phenomena on the surface of the Moon. The principal investigator is Stuart Bale of University of California, Berkeley.

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