Spaceflight Insider
Laurel Kornfeld
The Hubble Space Telescope, imaged during its last servicing mission in 2009. Credit: NASA
During its 31 years of activity, the Hubble Space Telescope has been “one of the most successful scientific experiments in history,” used to research numerous fields of astronomy ranging from cosmology and the expansion of the universe to the characterization of exoplanets, said astronomer Tom Brown of the Space Telescope Science Institute in a March 2 online presentation.
A joint NASA/European Space Agency project, Hubble launched in 1990. Through servicing missions conducted between then and 2009, it became increasingly more powerful.
The telescope orbits the Earth at an altitude of 333 miles (536 kilometers) and takes 95 minutes to circle the planet. It is powered by solar arrays when traversing Earth’s day side and batteries when passing over its night side.
Spaceflight Insider
Laurel Kornfeld
Composed of various icy organic compounds, Pluto’s famous blue atmospheric haze likely
formed differently from the hazes surrounding Saturn’s moon Titan and Neptune’s moon Triton.
All three worlds have an abundance of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide in their atmospheres, which initially led scientists to think their hazes formed similarly and have similar compositions.
Cassini image of haze surrounding Saturn’s moon Titan. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Now, a new study finds that Pluto’s and Triton’s hazes formed very differently from that of Titan.
Using computer models of haze formation, a team of scientists found that because Pluto’s atmosphere is approximately 175 degrees Fahrenheit (80 degrees Celsius) lower than that of Titan, the chemical reactions that produce Titan’s haze would create only half of the haze particles NASA’s
Spaceflight Insider
Laurel Kornfeld
February 6th, 2021
This image depicts the location of Clavius Crater, a rendering of water trapped in lunar soil, and the SOFIA Observatory. Image Credit: NASA
Two Earth-based studies confirm water molecules are present on the Moon, but the amounts vary depending on location and time of day, Casey Honniball of NASA’s
online seminar titled “A Tale of Lunar Water,” sponsored by the
Lunar and Planetary Institute (
LPI) in Houston, Texas.
Infrared Telescope Facility (
Apollo missions and by the former Soviet Union’s
Luna missions contain low levels of volatile elements though a few had high water contents, Honniball said. However, these samples represent only localized areas on the lunar surface and not the whole Moon.
Spaceflight Insider
Laurel Kornfeld
January 26th, 2021
The late astronomer Ada Carrera, who now has a near-Earth asteroid named for her. Her name selected as the winner of an asteroid-naming contest sparked an online panel discussion by the contest’s sponsors about the role of women in astronomy Credit: Unistellar
The selection of the late astronomer Ada Amelia Carrera Rodriguez as the winner of an asteroid-naming contest sparked an online panel discussion by the contest’s sponsors about the role of women in astronomy.
In a joint project, the
Name the Asteroid” contest in late 2020 for near-Earth asteroid 1999 AP10, also known as Asteroid 159402, which drew over 120 entries.
Moon Dialogs bring together stakeholders in near-future lunar activity
Laurel Kornfeld
January 12th, 2021
A rendering of an Orion spacecraft flying by the Moon during an Artemis mission. Image Credit: NASA
Moon Dialogs, a partnership that seeks to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders to brainstorm about near-future lunar activity, organized Zoom sessions throughout 2020 exploring the wide range of topics pertinent to policy and governance on the Moon.
Representatives of industry, government, science, public policy and non-government organizations held nine interdisciplinary dialog sessions or salons over the past year, culminating in a Dec. 14, 2020, hour-and-a-half-long salon titled “
Lunar Policy Takeaways,” where numerous stakeholders reflected on science and policy recommendations of the past year.