by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
NASA is funding the development of micro-robots to search for signs of life in the oceans of the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
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NASA Funds Development of Micro-robots to Explore Ocean Moons
Tag: Jupiter
2001: A Mission Planning Odyssey
A paranoid computer and excessive secrecy killed Frank Poole wrecked the Discovery One mission. But, there was another problem that’s been hiding in plain sight for half a century.
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
In the classic sci-fi movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the first human mission to explore Jupiter goes off the rails when the Discovery One‘s HAL 9000 computer begins to malfunction. Faced with possible disconnection, HAL kills Frank Poole during a spacewalk, turns off life support for three survey team members in hibernation, and traps mission commander David Bowman outside the ship. Bowman manages to get back inside and disconnects the psychotic computer, triggering a video that explains the true purpose of the mission.
The precise reason for HAL’s malfunction and murderous rampage are not really explained in a movie that is the very definition of opaque. We know that it involved a monolith dug up on the moon that sent a signal to Jupiter. And that HAL knew about it. The answer lies beyond the infinite.
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NASA’s 2021 Achievements Included Mars Landing, First Flight, Artemis, More
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — In 2021, NASA completed its busiest year of development yet in low-Earth orbit, made history on Mars, continued to make progress on its Artemis plans for the Moon, tested new technologies for a supersonic aircraft, finalized launch preparations for the next-generation space telescope, and much more – all while safely operating during a pandemic and welcoming new leadership under the Biden-Harris Administration.
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NASA Zeroing in on Path Forward for Lucy Solar Array
GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — NASA plans to conduct additional ground tests on an engineering model of the Lucy solar array motor and lanyard prior to potentially attempting full deployment of one of the probe’s solar arrays.
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NASA’s Juno: Science Results Offer First 3D View of Jupiter Atmosphere
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — New findings from NASA’s Juno probe orbiting Jupiter provide a fuller picture of how the planet’s distinctive and colorful atmospheric features offer clues about the unseen processes below its clouds. The results highlight the inner workings of the belts and zones of clouds encircling Jupiter, as well as its polar cyclones and even the Great Red Spot.
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NASA, ULA Launch Lucy Mission to ‘Fossils’ of Planet Formation
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE BASE, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Lucy mission, the agency’s first to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, launched at 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
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Hubble Finds Evidence of Persistent Water Vapor in One Hemisphere of Europa
GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observations of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa have revealed the presence of persistent water vapor – but, mysteriously, only in one hemisphere.
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A Few Steps Closer to Europa: Spacecraft Hardware Makes Headway
Take a closer look at the complex choreography involved in building NASA’s Europa Clipper as the mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa approaches its 2024 launch date.
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) – The hardware that makes up NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is rapidly taking shape, as engineering components and instruments are prepared for delivery to the main clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. In workshops and labs across the country and in Europe, teams are crafting the complex pieces that make up the whole as mission leaders direct the elaborate choreography of building a flagship mission.
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NASA Begins Launch Preparations for First Mission to the Trojan Asteroids
NASA’s first spacecraft to explore the Trojan asteroids arrived Friday, July 30, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. It is now in a cleanroom at nearby Astrotech, ready to begin final preparations for its October launch.
The mission has a 23-day launch period beginning on October 16. Lucy will undergo final testing and fueling prior to being moved to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
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SpaceX Wins Contract to Launch NASA’s Europa Clipper Orbiter on Falcon Heavy
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
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Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa Churned by Small Impacts
Jupiter’s moon Europa and its global ocean may currently have conditions suitable for life. Scientists are studying processes on the icy surface as they prepare to explore.
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — It’s easy to see the impact of space debris on our Moon, where the ancient, battered surface is covered with craters and scars. Jupiter’s icy moon Europa withstands a similar trouncing – along with a punch of super-intense radiation. As the uppermost surface of the icy moon churns, material brought to the surface is zapped by high-energy electron radiation accelerated by Jupiter.
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Probing for Life in the Icy Crusts of Ocean Worlds
A technique for scanning Mars rocks for microscopic fossils of ancient life is also being developed to hunt for microbes in the deep ice of Enceladus, Titan, and Europa.
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — Long before NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, one of its highest-level mission goals was already established: to seek out signs of ancient life on the Martian surface. In fact, the techniques used by one of the science instruments aboard the rover could have applications on Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan as well Jupiter’s moon Europa.
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NASA’s Europa Clipper Builds Hardware, Moves Toward Assembly
Jupiter’s moon Europa may have the potential to harbor life. The spacecraft will use multiple flybys of the moon to investigate the habitability of this ocean world.
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — Europa Clipper, NASA’s upcoming flagship mission to the outer solar system, has passed a significant milestone, completing its Critical Design Review. During the review, experts examined the detailed design of the spacecraft to ensure that it is ready to complete construction. The mission is now able to complete hardware fabrication and testing, and move toward the assembly and testing of the spacecraft and its payload of sophisticated science instruments.
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NASA Funds Research on Nuclear-powered Solar Sails to Quickly Explore Outer Planets
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I Award
Funding: up to $125,000
Study Period: 9 months
Atomic Planar Power for Lightweight Exploration (APPLE)
E. Joseph Nemanick
The Aerospace Corporation
Santa Monica, Calif.
The Atomic Planar Power for Lightweight Exploration (APPLE) is an enabling architecture for deep solar system missions on low mass, fast transit space platforms. We explore an alternative vehicle architecture that integrates a long-lived, peak power capable, rechargeable, and modular power system with solar sail propulsion, and examine the new missions this architecture enables.
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Comet Makes a Pit Stop Near Jupiter’s Asteroids
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — For the first time, a wayward comet-like object has been spotted near the family of ancient asteroids.
After traveling several billion miles toward the Sun, a wayward young comet-like object orbiting among the giant planets has found a temporary parking place along the way. The object has settled near a family of captured ancient asteroids, called Trojans, that are orbiting the Sun alongside Jupiter. This is the first time a comet-like object has been spotted near the Trojan population.
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