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Perth: (The Conversation) Last week, three tiny Australian satellites from Curtin University's <keyword id="23932163" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binar-Space-Program" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Binar Space Program" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Binar Space Program">Binar Space Program</keyword> burned up in Earth's atmosphere. That was always going to happen. In fact, Binar means "fireball" in the Noongar language of the First Nations people of Perth. When a satellite is in low Earth orbit (2,000km or less), it experiences orbital decay as it drags closer and closer to the surface, eventually burning up. But these cube satellites (<keyword id="21533654" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CubeSats" source="keywords">CubeSats</keyword>), known as Binar-2, 3 and 4, entered the atmosphere much sooner than originally planned. They only lasted for two months - a third of what was expected. This significantly reduced valuable time for science and testing new systems. The reason for their untimely demise? Our Sun has kicked into high gear, and the Binar satellites are far from the only casualty. Recent high <keyword id="20792842" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Solar-activity" source="keywords">solar activity</keyword> has been causing an unexpected headache for satellite operators in the last few years, and it's only increasing. <h2>Why is the Sun so active? </h2> Solar activity includes phenomena such as sunspots, solar flares and solar wind - the stream of charged particles that flows toward Earth. This activity is a product of the Sun's ever-changing magnetic field, and approximately every 11 years, it completely flips. At the midpoint of this cycle, solar activity is at its highest. While this cycle is known, specific solar activity is challenging to predict - the dynamics are complex and solar forecasting is in its infancy. In the last few months, indicators of solar activity were more than one and a half times higher than predictions for this point in the current cycle, labelled <keyword id="22712826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-cycle-25" source="keywords">solar cycle 25</keyword>. <h2>The impact of <keyword id="20087207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-weather" source="keywords">space weather</keyword> </h2> Space weather refers to the environmental effects that originate from outside our atmosphere (mostly the Sun). It affects us on Earth in a variety of noticeable and unnoticeable ways. The most obvious is the presence of auroras. In the past few months, auroras have been visible far more intensely and closer to the equator than in the last two decades. This is a direct result of the increased solar activity. Space weather, and solar activity in particular, also creates additional challenges for satellites and satellite operators. Higher solar activity means more solar flares and stronger solar wind - resulting in a higher flux of charged particles that can damage or disrupt electrical components on satellites. It also means an increase in ionising radiation, resulting in a higher dose for astronauts and pilots, and potential disruptions to long-distance radio communications. But for satellites in low Earth orbit, the most consistent effect of solar activity is that the extra energy gets absorbed into the outer atmosphere, causing it to balloon outward. As a result, all satellites less than 1,000km from Earth experience a significant increase in <keyword id="23473319" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="atmospheric-drag" source="keywords">atmospheric drag</keyword>. This is a force that disrupts their orbit and causes them to fall towards the planet's surface. Notable satellites in this region include the International Space Station and the Starlink constellation. These satellites have thrusters to counteract this effect, but these corrections can be expensive. Low Earth orbit also contains many university satellites, such as the Binar CubeSats. Cube satellites are rarely equipped with tools that can adjust their altitude, so they're entirely at the mercy of space weather. <h2>What happened to Binar? </h2> The Binar Space Program is a satellite research program operating out of Curtin University. It aims to advance our understanding of the Solar System and lower the barrier for operating in space. The program began operations with its first satellite, Binar-1, in September 2021. This was less than a year into solar cycle 25 when solar activity was relatively low. In these conditions, the ten-centimetre cube satellite started at an altitude of 420km and survived a full 364 days in orbit. The program's follow-up mission - Binar-2, 3, and 4 - were three equally sized CubeSats. However, they were expected to last approximately six months owing to the extra surface area from new deployable solar arrays and a forecast increase in solar activity. Instead, they only made it to two months before burning up. While cube satellite missions are relatively cheap, the premature ending of a mission will always be costly. This is even more true for commercial satellites, highlighting the need for more accurate space weather forecasting. The good news is the Sun will calm down again. Despite the current unexpectedly high solar activity, it will likely slow down by 2026, and is expected to return to a solar minimum in 2030. While this was not an explicit goal of the mission, the Binar Space Program has now poignantly demonstrated the dramatic effects of solar activity on space operations. While the untimely loss of Binar-2, 3 and 4 was unfortunate, work has already begun on future missions. They are expected to launch into far more forgiving space weather. (The Conversation).

Right now, the Sun is far more active than predicted - and small satellites are paying the price

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Baiju Bhatt, the cofounder of trading app Robinhood, has a new space startup.</li><li>Aetherflux aims to launch a constellation of satellites to transmit solar power to Earth using infrared lasers.</li></ul>When Baiju Bhatt co-founded the stock trading app <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robinhood-collapse-what-happened-retail-investing-meme-stocks-future-finance-2022-2">Robinhood</a> in 2013 with his college best friend, Vlad Tenev, the aim was to "democratize finance for all."Robinhood's no-fee, gamified approach to investing made capital markets more accessible than ever before, leading to an IPO in 2021.After over a decade at the company, Bhatt stood down as Robinhood's chief creative officer in March to pursue what was described at the time as "other entrepreneurial interests."In October, Bhatt announced he was launching Aetherflux, a Silicon Valley-based space startup.Aetherflux aims to create a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) that will collect solar power and beam it down to receptors on Earth using infrared lasers.Just as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-starlink-spacex-satellite-internet-business-constellation-fleet-elon-musk-mars">Elon Musk's Starlink</a> constellation has transformed communications, Bhatt hopes Aetherflux will revolutionize energy, he told Business Insider in an interview.The receptors will be just 10 meters in diameter, Bhatt said, meaning they can be placed virtually anywhere and theoretically provide power to remote locations that would otherwise be too expensive or dangerous to reach."If we succeed, we unlock a renewable energy source for humanity that can be delivered virtually anywhere," he wrote in a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/allow-me-re-introduce-myself-baiju-bhatt-nu1ic/?trackingId=xecx1MNjQxGa6fapJvT2fA%3D%3D">LinkedIn post</a> announcing Aetherflux.If it works, far more solar power can be captured in orbit than through the atmosphere at ground level, and there would be no nighttime or weather disruptions to the power source. It would also free up land used for solar farms on Earth.Aetherflux plans to start by powering military operations in remote locations or remote mining operations, Bhatt said.<div type="image" title="A profile of Baiju Bhatt smiling in a black t-shirt in front of a beige background." height="3553" width="5324" msid="114432481" hostid="261" sizebytes="611312"></div>Bhatt hopes that a single receptor will one day be able to capture enough power for a small neighborhood of homes. He added that they'd need around 100 satellites to provide continuous power to one location.The idea of space-based solar power has existed for decades, but theories have generally rested on large constructions being sent into orbit and using microwaves to transmit energy.In January 2023, the California Institute of Technology launched a solar space-power demonstrator satellite into orbit for a yearlong mission to test out a range of potential approaches.Caltech's president, Thomas F. Rosenbaum, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/space-solar-power-project-ends-first-in-space-mission-with-successes-and-lessons">said the project</a> had shown them that solar power beamed from space "is still a future prospect" but that it "should be an achievable future."Aetherflux wants to do things differently by using infrared lasers and a modular approach.The science has already been demonstrated; it's just going to be an engineering and economic feat to prove it can be done from space, Bhatt said.To begin with, Aetherflux plans to send a single satellite into orbit by the first quarter of 2026 to demonstrate that solar energy transmission is possible.<h2 id="f76e6857-d783-49d8-94bf-ab950b9759df">The right time to be in space</h2>Though the career jump from finance to the space industry may seem unusual, Bhatt said space has been his "lifelong calling."NASA was a part of Bhatt's childhood. His father moved to the US from India to pursue physics and got a job at NASA's Langley Research Center in the 1990s studying atmospheric sciences.With a bachelor's in physics and a master's in mathematics, both from Stanford, Bhatt thought he'd be a physicist too. So, Robinhood was a "bit of a detour," he told BI.He is still a board member but has stepped back from day-to-day operations.One lesson Bhatt said he learned from running the trading app was how powerful capitalism could be in accelerating innovation."If you can take a problem that's been stagnating and you can create a capitalist system around it where people can make money doing something, you'll see the rate of progress really speed up," he said.<div type="image" title="Baiju Bhatt (right) and Vlad Tenev, founders of the online brokerage Robinhood." height="4160" width="6240" msid="114432476" hostid="261" sizebytes="601100"></div>After meeting with people working on power for DARPA at the beginning of this year and seeing the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-spacex-starship-launch-five-huge-deal-space-travel-2024-10">timeline Starship is on</a>, Bhatt decided that the best opportunities were now in space.Since 2009, the sum of private investments in space startups has soared from essentially nothing to $327.3 billion, according to the latest "<a target="_blank" href="https://spacecapital.docsend.com/view/9d69zpfz4ddms3ry">Space Investment Quarterly</a>" report published by venture capital and angel-investment firm Space Angels.The industry's value is expected to continue booming. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/aerospace-and-defense/our-insights/space-the-1-point-8-trillion-dollar-opportunity-for-global-economic-growth">McKinsey</a> estimates that the global space economy will be worth $1.8 trillion by 2035, accounting for inflation, up from $630 billion in 2023."It's hard to find something more exciting and impactful than space," said Matthew Weinzierl, a professor of the economics of space at Harvard Business School and coauthor of the upcoming book "Space to Grow.""This really is a new frontier, one where technological innovation can create new markets and solve real problems, often in ways we haven't thought of before," he said.Weinzierl said that in the past two decades, the US government has created pathways for commercial players, enabling market forces to take hold."Prices to orbit have dropped, launch availability has soared, and a wave of entrepreneurs are finding new ways to create value," he said.<div type="image" title="SpaceX's Super Heavy booster as it returned to its launch site, with the sun rising in the background." height="1031" width="1920" msid="114432482" hostid="261" sizebytes="52022"></div>With so many more commercially available products, space has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starship-launch-success-elon-musk-vision-cheap-space-travel-closer-2024-3#:~:text=%22With%20Starship%2C%20SpaceX%20is%20poised,in%20an%20email%20on%20Thursday.">never been cheaper</a>.Aetherflux is an example of how companies are using off-the-shelf solutions to speed up development. Its satellites are purchased readymade from satellite bus provider <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/palmer-luckey-anduril-apex-defense-tech-space-satellite-surveillance-2024-10">Apex</a>, the high-powered lasers it plans to use are commercially available, and it'll be using <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-launch">SpaceX</a> as a launch partner for its 2026 mission."The part that we're building is the actual optical design, the control systems, and the power transmission link, as well as the ground station," said Bhatt.<h2 id="5dda5318-030a-431a-91ff-f205b537a068">The future of Aetherflux</h2>When he spoke with BI, Bhatt had just moved into a lab facility in the Bay Area. With a team of 10 employees, he will begin iterating ground tests, developing the system design, and working with regulators.He's self-funding the project "completely," he told BI. As one of Robinhood's cofounders, Bhatt's net worth spiked after its IPO in 2021. He is worth around $1.7 billion, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/baiju-bhatt/">Forbes reports.</a>Although access to space has become more routine and affordable, Weinzierl said there is still a lot of uncertainty around the industry. Some of the ideas and businesses being developed today won't survive, but they'll be "the foundation that tomorrow's entrepreneurs will learn from and build on," he said.A self-proclaimed science nerd, Bhatt named his startup after a 19th-century theory about a pervasive medium called the aether, which physicists believed light traveled through."Einstein came along in 1905 and was basically like, nah, that stuff's all wrong. Light is the same in every reference frame," said Bhatt.So Aetherflux is named after a disproven scientific theory? Yes, Bhatt agreed with amusement. But he's "laser-focused" on the first mission and adamant that Aetherflux won't fall into the same bracket as its namesake."Space is hard," he admitted, "but we're committed to demonstrating this and making it happen."

Robinhood's cofounder has joined the rapidly growing commercial space race, and wants to beam solar power from satellites to earth

Bengaluru, Ahead of India's Aditya-L1 <keyword id="73822" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-mission" source="Orion">solar mission</keyword>, a top scientist said the monitoring of the Sun on a 24-hour basis is a must to study <keyword id="18618306" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-quakes" source="Orion">solar quakes</keyword> which can alter the geomagnetic fields of earth. The Aditya-L1 mission to study the Sun is slated to be launched at 11.50 am from the Sriharikota spaceport on Saturday. Explaining the need to study the Sun, Professor and In-Charge Scientist at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Dr R Ramesh told PTI that just as there are earthquakes on Earth, there are something called solar quakes - called as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) - on the surface of the Sun. In this process, millions and millions of tons of solar materials are thrown into the interplanetary space, he said, adding these CMEs can travel at a speed of approximately 3,000 km per second. "Some of the CMEs can also be directed towards the Earth. The fastest CME can reach near Earth space in approximately 15 hours," Dr Ramesh pointed out. On why this mission was different from other similar ventures, he said, "Though ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA (<keyword id="107353" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="national-aeronautics-and-space-administration" source="Orion">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</keyword>) have launched similar missions in the past, the <keyword id="3586950" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="aditya-l1" source="Orion">Aditya L1</keyword> mission will be unique in two main aspects because we will be able to observe the solar corona from the place where it almost starts. Also we'll be able to observe the magnetic field changes in the solar atmosphere, which are the cause for coronal mass ejections or solar quakes." Sometimes, these CMEs damage satellites by "engulfing" them, he said. Due to the discharged particle flow from the CMEs, all the electronics onboard satellites can malfunction. These CMEs come all the way to Earth, Dr Ramesh said. In 1989, for instance, when there was a massive eruption of the solar atmosphere, Quebec in Canada went without power for about 72 hours; And in 2017, the Zurich airport in Switzerland was affected because of CME for almost 14 to 15 hours. Dr Ramesh said once the CMEs reach the Earth, which is like a big magnet with north and south poles, they can travel along the magnetic field lines and then they can alter the Earth's geomagnetic field. Once the geomagnetic field is affected, it can impact the high voltage transformers. "So, it is very important to put a centre of observation to continuously monitor the Sun, which is possible from the Lagrangian (L1) point," he pointed out. India is launching the Aditya-L1 to place its satellite at Langrangian-1 point. According to him, the authorities at Bengaluru-based IIA, an institution with a long tradition of almost close to 125 years of observing the Sun, felt that they should monitor the Sun on a 24 hours basis so that any changes that are taking place (on the Sun) are very well observed. Though observations of the Sun can be carried out with a ground-based telescope, they have two major limitations, Dr Ramesh said. One is that there are only eight or nine hours available in a day to monitor the sun since such observations can be carried out only during day time and not at night. The second challenge while monitoring the Sun from Earth is that the light coming from the Sun will be scattered by the dust particles in the atmosphere. As a result the image can get blurred, he explained. To avoid these shortcomings in solar observation, the IIA felt the need to have a telescope in space for 24-hour uninterrupted observations of the Sun. There are five vantage points from where the Sun can be monitored. These are called the Lagrangian points, which are named after an Italian astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange who discovered them. The gravitational force of attraction between the Sun and the Earth at the Lagrange points are perfectly balanced, the scientist said. "Of all these five points, there is a point called L1 to have an uninterrupted view of the Sun. This point is located between the Sun and Earth at a distance of 1.5 million km from the Earth," the IIA professor explained. According to him, the Aditya L1 space mission will take 100-plus days to reach the Lagrangian-1 point. Data from this satellite will be downloaded at ISRO's Indian Deep Space Network near Byalalu on the outskirts of Bengaluru and will be transmitted by a dedicated internet link to the Payload Operations Centre of the IIA, Dr Ramesh said. The data will be processed and sent back to ISRO for dissemination to the general public as well as for use by the scientific community.

Aditya L1: Solar quakes can alter geomagnetic field of earth says top scientist

The northern lights may appear stunning from Earth, but it turns out they look even better from space.NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick released stunning timelapse footage of auroras dancing above Earth this week, as seen from the International Space Station.The video, posted on August 12, shows the moon setting and the subsequent sunrise amid streams of red and green.The sunrise illuminates an orbiting Soyuz spacecraft in blue."The aurora have been amazing the past few days. Great timing for trying out a new lens that recently arrived on Cygnus," Dominick posted <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/dominickmatthew/status/1823081465753825718">on X</a>, referring to the US Cygnus spacecraft.Dominick said he captured the footage using an Arri Zeiss 15mm, T1.8 lens with a 1/3 s exposure and a 1/2 s interval.He also posted static photos from the aurora borealis he saw from space, showing the moon setting amid the lights.<div type="image" title="The moon makes it way towards the horizon to set amongst red and green aurora, seen from space" height="2184" width="3276" msid="112547662" hostid="261" sizebytes="1244926"></div>He explained that while the image may look "upside down", that is how astronauts are usually oriented in their observation area aboard the spacecraft, and that images of this kind are generally rotated when posted on social media.He did not specify what region of the Earth they were flying over. However, a solar storm over the weekend sparked auroras in both the northern and southern hemispheres. According to<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drop-everything-and-watch-this-stunning-video-of-northern-lights/"> Scientific American</a>, the northern lights appeared as far south as Texas and Mississippi.Dominick, who is a NASA astronaut and a US Navy Commander, is serving a six-month term on board the International Space Station as a flight engineer.He told Scientific American that he has been working on capturing time-lapse videos from the ISS for some time."It was intense," he told the publication. "I'm up here with a couple of veteran folks that have spent more than a year of their life in space across missions, and all of them have unanimously said they've never seen anything like it."There are likely to be more chances to catch an aurora display in the coming years.That's because our sun has an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-time-lapse-video-sun-solar-cycle-10-years-2020-7">11-year cycle</a> in which it increases and decreases in activity. We're approaching solar maximum when the sun reaches peak activity. Experts have previously predicted this should <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/next-solar-maximum-2025-what-expect-cycle-2023-4">happen in 2025</a>.While that may create more stunning auroras, it could also cause some problems on Earth.As more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronal-hole-on-sun-blasts-solar-wind-toward-earth-2023-3">sunspots</a> appear on the surface of our star during its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-footage-shows-sun-solar-activity-increasing-2023-5">active period</a>, it may prompt more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-storms-flares-dangerous-effects-earth-sun">solar storms</a>, creating bursts of electromagnetic energy that can affect everything from the power grid to GPS signals.We're not in any immediate danger, however. Physicists predict that this cycle will not be the biggest we've ever seen, and we're getting better at spotting storms <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-flare-coronal-eruption-geomagnetic-storm-effects-safety">to be able to prepare for them</a>.

Stunning timelapse video shows the northern lights from space thanks to a solar storm

The mission, known as <keyword id="19026307" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="atmospheric-perturbations" source="Orion">Atmospheric Perturbations</keyword> around the Eclipse Path or APEP, is led by <keyword id="19026308" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="aroh-barjatya" source="Orion">Aroh Barjatya</keyword>, will study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere, the space agency has said. On October 14, people viewing the annular solar eclipse will experience the sun dimming to 10 per cent its normal brightness, leaving only a bright "ring of fire" of sunlight as the moon eclipses the sun. Some 50 miles up and beyond, the air itself becomes electric. Scientists call this atmospheric layer the ionosphere because it is where the UV component of sunlight can pry electrons away from atoms to form a sea of high-flying ions and electrons. The sun's constant energy keeps these mutually attracted particles separated throughout the day. But as the sun dips below the horizon, many recombine into neutral atoms for the night, only to part ways again at sunrise. During a solar eclipse, the sunlight vanishes and reappears over a small part of the landscape almost at once. In a flash, ionospheric temperature and density drop, then rise again, sending waves rippling through the ionosphere. "If you think of the ionosphere as a pond with some gentle ripples on it, the eclipse is like a motorboat that suddenly rips through the water," said <keyword id="40286" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="barjatya" source="Orion">Barjatya</keyword>, a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. "It creates a wake immediately underneath and behind it, and then the water level momentarily goes up as it rushes back in." The APEP team plans to launch three rockets in succession -- one about 35 minutes before local peak eclipse, one during peak eclipse, and one 35 minutes after. They will fly just outside the path of annularity, where the moon passes directly in front of the sun. Each rocket will deploy four small scientific instruments that will measure changes in electric and magnetic fields, density, and temperature. If they are successful, these will be the first simultaneous measurements taken from multiple locations in the ionosphere during a solar eclipse. Barjatya chose sounding rockets to answer the team's science questions because they can pinpoint and measure specific regions of space with high fidelity. They can also measure changes that happen at different altitudes as the suborbital rocket ascends and falls back to Earth. The APEP rockets will take measurements between 70 to 325 kilometres) above the ground along their trajectory. In addition, a ground-based observation will collect ionospheric density and neutral wind measurements. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Haystack Observatory in Westford, will run their radar to measure ionospheric perturbations farther away from the eclipse path. Finally, a team of students from Embry-Riddle will deploy high-altitude balloons (reaching 100,000 feet) every 20 minutes to measure weather changes as the eclipse passes by. The APEP rockets launched in New Mexico will be recovered and then relaunched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, on April 8, 2024, when a total solar eclipse will cross the US from Texas to Maine.

Riding into the sun: Indian-origin NASA scientist to lead rocket mission into 2023 solar eclipse

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> posted on X that he has a Voyager golden record. </li><li>That got me thinking, so I called NASA to find where the original copies went.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/voyager-spacecraft-carry-golden-records-explain-earth-to-aliens-2022-6">NASA sent two golden records off to space in 1977</a> to teach aliens about Earth — and Elon Musk is apparently a fan.The Tesla and SpaceX CEO commented on a <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1765436348935074121">post</a> on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday that included an image of a golden record."I have one," Musk said in the post.Musk wasn't clear on whether he had an original or a copy, and he didn't respond to a request for comment. But his post had me wondering: Who has the original golden records?<h2>Tracking down the golden records</h2>NASA launched two golden records into space on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/voyager-spacecraft-mission-anniversary-discoveries-scientist-2024-3">Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in 1977</a> as a way to teach other civilizations about life on Earth if they ever came across the probes. The twin spacecraft were launched over 40 years ago to explore the outer solar system.The golden records attached to the exterior of the spacecrafts, with visual instructions on how to play 115 images, spoken greetings in 55 languages, and variation of sounds from Earth, including a 90-minute music playlist, according to a post on NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).The 12-inch gold-plated copper disks also include a message from President Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Waldheim, according to NASA.When I started looking into the golden records, I noticed conflicting numbers for how many originals were created. Some news articles cited 10 golden records, others said there were eight total.But according to an archivist at JPL, there were 12 original records: two of them went to space and 10 were given to institutions or people on Earth.Here are the institutions and people who got a copy, according to the JPL archivist:<ul><li>NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory</li><li>Johnson Space Center</li><li>Kennedy Space Center</li><li>Glenn Research Center</li><li>Langley Research Center</li><li>Goddard Space Flight Center</li><li>National Air &amp; Space Museum at the Smithsonian</li><li>The Library of Congress </li><li>The President</li><li>The United Nations</li></ul>But only eight of the 10 on Earth are currently accounted for. According to the archivist, the copies that went to Langley Research Center and President Carter couldn't be located a few years ago.While Musk probably doesn't have an original golden record, he could have a copy. There was a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ozmarecords/voyager-golden-record-40th-anniversary-edition">successful Kickstarter</a> to fund a box set of the record and they're now sold online starting at $88.But the original materials are for sale — and Jon Lomberg, the design director of the golden record, has all of the original images and other archival material from the golden record. He told BI he'd be happy to sell it to Musk."There's a way that you can feel, I think, a personal attachment to that project by knowing that this was the actual slide that the people that made the record used and looked at and argued over and decided to scan and send into space and it," Lomberg said.A personal copy of the master audio recording owned by the late Carl Sagan, the lead scientist of the project, went to auction at Sotheby's in July 2023, but didn't hit its reserve and wasn't sold. And it should be noted: not even Sagan himself got a copy of the original record.<h2>Voyager 1 and 2's ongoing mission</h2>Since launching, the spacecraft <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-close-up-photos-show-volcanoes-erupt-on-jupiters-moon-2024-2">discovered volcanoes on Jupiter's moon</a>, identified the intricacies of Saturn's rings, and took the first close-up photographs of Uranus and Neptune. NASA has since extended the mission and has kept in communication with the probes as they enter interstellar space.Their current mission is to explore the outermost edge of the Sun's domain.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/voyager-probes-mission-history-farthest-movie-2018-08">Voyager 1 is about 15 billion miles from Earth,</a> and Voyager 2 is a little over 12.5 billion miles away, according to tracking information from JPL.Since December, Voyager 1 has had issues with its flight data system, keeping Earth from receiving any data. JPL spokesperson Calla Cofield told BI that NASA doesn't have any updates on Voyager 1."The team continues information gathering and are preparing some steps that they're hopeful will get them on a path to either understanding the root of the problem and/or solving it," Cofield said.Voyager 2 is operating normally after brief communication issues last year, according to a NASA <a target="_blank" href="https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=130">update</a> posted in August.While the golden records on the Voyager spacecraft are expected to last over a billion years, Lomberg said the probes will probably crash on another planet or star eventually. Lomberg said that, in some sense, the golden records sent to space are dated by now: they don't have any information on personal computers or rap music. But he said the message is still timeless."The fundamental things that we show, the mountains and the rivers and the oceans and parents and children and the beauty of sport," Lomberg said. "There's some things that never age."

What happened to the extra copies of the Voyager mission's golden records 

The US space agency, <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="nasa" source="keywords">NASA</keyword>, has pushed back its manned <keyword id="20134050" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artemis" source="keywords">Artemis</keyword> mission to the <keyword id="19899207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moon" source="keywords">Moon</keyword> to 2025 that will send the first woman and first person of colour on the lunar surface. NASA will now target September 2025 for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission around the Moon, and September 2026 for Artemis III, which is planned to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole. Artemis IV, the first mission to the Gateway lunar space station, remains on track for 2028. The first mission, Artemis II, was supposed to take place later this year. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement that they have learned a lot since Artemis I, and the success of these early missions relies on "our commercial and international partnerships to further our reach and understanding of humanity's place in our solar system". "Artemis represents what we can accomplish as a nation - and as a global coalition. When we set our sights on what is hard, together, we can achieve what is great," he added. The space agency said that ensuring crew safety is the primary driver for the Artemis II schedule changes. "As the first Artemis flight test with crew aboard the Orion spacecraft, the mission will test critical environmental control and life support systems required to support astronauts," said NASA. NASA's investigation into unexpected loss of char layer pieces from the spacecraft's heat shield during Artemis I is expected to conclude this spring. The new timeline for Artemis III, said NASA, aligns with the updated schedule for Artemis II, which ensures the agency can incorporate lessons learned from Artemis II into the next mission, and acknowledges development challenges experienced by NASA's industry partners. "We are letting the hardware talk to us so that crew safety drives our decision-making. We will use the Artemis II flight test, and each flight that follows, to reduce risk for future Moon missions," said Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA said that it has asked both Artemis human landing system providers -- SpaceX and Blue Origin -- to begin applying knowledge gained in developing their systems as part of their existing contracts toward future variations to potentially deliver large cargo on later missions. "Artemis is a long-term exploration campaign to conduct science at the Moon with astronauts and prepare for future human missions to Mars. That means we must get it right as we develop and fly our foundational systems so that we can safely carry out these missions," said Amit Kshatriya, manager of NASA's Moon to Mars Program Office.

NASA delays mission to take humans back to Moon until 2025

Bengaluru, The <keyword id="16816527" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="propulsion-module" source="Orion">Propulsion Module</keyword> (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 has been moved from an orbit around the Moon to an orbit around Earth, <keyword id="6358064" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro" source="Orion">ISRO</keyword> has said, terming the operation a unique experiment. The primary objective of the <keyword id="15331763" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chandrayaan-3-mission" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-3 mission</keyword> was to demonstrate a soft landing near the lunar south polar region and perform experiments using the instruments on the 'Vikram' lander and the 'Pragyan' rover. The spacecraft was launched on July 14, 2023, on board the LVM3-M4 vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR). On August 23, the Vikram lander made its historic touchdown on the Moon and subsequently, the Pragyan rover was deployed. The scientific instruments in the lander and rover were operated continuously for one lunar day as per the defined mission life. "The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 have been completely met," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement. For the Propulsion Module, the main objective was to ferry the lander module from the Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) to the final lunar polar circular orbit and separate the lander, it said. After the separation, the Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload in the PM was also operated, the space agency said. The initial plan was to operate this payload for about three months during the mission life of the PM. The precise orbit injection by LVM3 and optimal earth or lunar burn manoeuvres resulted in the availability of over 100 kg of fuel in the PM after over one month of operations in the lunar orbit, it added. ISRO said that it was decided to use the available fuel in the PM to derive additional information for future lunar missions and demonstrate the mission operation strategies for a sample return mission. To continue the SHAPE payload for earth observation, it was decided to re-orbit the PM to a suitable earth orbit. This mission plan was worked out considering collision avoidance such as preventing the PM from crashing onto the Moon's surface or entering into the Earth's Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO) belt at 36,000 km and orbits below that, the statement said. Considering the estimated fuel availability and the safety of the GEO spacecraft, the optimal earth return trajectory was designed for October 2023. The first maneuver was performed on October 9, 2023, to raise apolune altitude to 5,112 km from 150 km thus increasing the period of orbit from 2.1 hours to 7.2 hours. Later, considering the estimate of available propellant, the second manoeuvre plan was revised to target an Earth orbit of 1.8 lakh x 3.8 lakh km. The Trans-Earthinjection (TEI) maneuver was performed on October 13, 2023. In the post-TEI manoeuvre realised orbit, the PM made four Moon fly-bys before departing the sphere of influence (SOI) of the Moon on November 10. Currently, the PM is orbiting Earth and crossed its first perigee on November 22 with an altitude of 1.54 lakh km. The orbit period is nearly 13 days with a 27-degree inclination. The perigee and apogee altitude vary during its trajectory and the predicted minimum perigee altitude is 1.15 lakh km, ISRO said. "Hence as per current orbit prediction, there is no threat of close approach with any operational Earth-orbiting satellites," it said. As per the plan, the SHAPE payload is being operated whenever Earth is in its field of view. Also, a special operation of the SHAPE payload was carried out on October 28, 2023, during a solar eclipse. The SHAPE payload operations will continue further, the statement added. "UR Rao Satellite Centre/ISRO's flight dynamics team has developed an analysis tool from first principles for this operation which is being validated through the return maneuvers carried out for the Chandrayaan-3 PM," ISRO said. According to ISRO, the following are the main outcomes of the return manoeuvres carried out on the PM related to future missions: Planning and execution of trajectory and manoeuvres to return from the Moon to Earth; development of a software module to plan such a manoeuvre and its preliminary validation; planning and execution of a gravity-assisted fly-by across a planet or celestial body; and avoiding uncontrolled crashing of the PM onto the Moon's surface at the end of life of the PM thus meeting the requirements of no debris creation.

ISRO moves Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module to orbit around Earth in unique experiment

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA's Parker Solar Probe is set to pass the Sun on 24 December 2024.</li><li>It's due to fly past the sun at 195 km/s, or 435,000 mph.</li></ul>NASA's Parker Solar Probe is set to pass the Sun next year in a milestone moment for space exploration.The probe, launched on Aug 12, 2018, is due to fly past the sun at 195 km/s, or 435,000 mph on 24 December 2024, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67837161">BBC</a> reported.<a target="_blank" href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/parker-solar-probe/">NASA</a> describes it as a mission to ""touch the Sun" on its website, aiming to get our "first-ever sampling of a star's atmosphere.""We are basically almost landing on a star," Nour Raouafi, a scientist on the project, told the BBC."This will be a monumental achievement for all humanity. This is equivalent to the Moon landing of 1969," he said.The mission aims to help us gain a deeper understanding of the Sun, with the probe orbiting closer to the Sun's surface than any has before and within Mercury's orbit, NASA says.The probe gathers measurements and images to help scientists learn more about where solar wind comes from and how it is evolving. It also makes "critical contributions to forecasting changes in the space environment that affect life and technology on Earth."The probe will face extreme heat and radiation on its journey, flying "more than seven times closer to the Sun than any spacecraft."Dr Nicky Fox, NASA's head of science, told the BBC that they "don't know" what they'll find in the mission, "but we'll be looking for waves in the solar wind associated with the heating.""I suspect we'll sense lots of different types of waves which would point to a mix of processes that people have been arguing over for years," she added.

NASA is on a mission to 'touch the Sun' in milestone moment for space exploration 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jon Carmichael captured what is considered one of the most stunning photos of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-2024-total-solar-eclipse-cool-best-special-nasa-2024-1">solar eclipse</a>.</li><li>But getting the shot of his dreams was no cakewalk. </li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with astrophotographer<a target="_blank" href="https://joncarmichael.com/108"> Jon Carmichael</a>. It has been edited for length and clarity.I have been dreaming of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tips-how-to-take-pictures-photos-solar-eclipse-2024-2">specific eclipse photo</a> since I was 12 years old: I wondered if I could get high enough in the sky to see the shadow of the moon moving over the Earth.I finally got my chance during the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-eclipse-maps-time-weather-traffic-brightness-2017-8">2017 Great American Eclipse</a>, but capturing that perfect shot from my dreams was not easy.About a year before the eclipse Alaska Airlines announced it had an entire plane flying into the eclipse with just one seat left and it was holding a competition for that seat. It felt like fate.I poured my heart and soul into a 30-second video explaining why I should get the seat. All my eggs were in that basket. But when it announced the winner less than a week before the eclipse, I'd lost.I can't describe how devastated I was.At that point, it was a race against time. At first, I gave into my disappointment and laid in my bed. Then I started looking at commercial flight paths, which involved a lot of math.As I looked at flight paths, I realized that a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-airlines-plane-detour-drop-off-flight-attendant-deadheading-2023-8">Southwest flight</a> from Portland, Oregon to St. Louis, Missouri would travel basically along the eclipse path. I had to be on that plane. But, I'm based in New York, so I needed to buy a last-minute cross-country flight to Portland.When I got there, that Alaska Airlines flight I had dreamed of was departing from the next gate. It felt like the universe was torturing me.Still, I was determined. When I arrived, I was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photo-international-space-station-hidden-passing-sun-2023-4">equipped with three cameras</a> and a surplus of cash in case I needed to bribe someone for a window seat.Then Southwest announced it was delaying the flight. My heart sank. I was going to miss the brief window to witness the eclipse, I thought. But then the flight crew clarified that they were deliberately delaying the flight so it would be inside the moon's shadow.I nearly died of relief, then decided to push my luck. I took out all my cameras and made sure the NASA t-shirt I was wearing was clear. I told the crew my whole saga. Lucky for me, the flight crew and pilot <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-photo-eclipse-2018-9#the-pilots-actually-circled-the-eclipse-a-few-times-so-passengers-could-witness-the-once-in-a-lifetime-event-thats-when-carmichael-captured-his-stunning-photo-2">took my mission to heart</a>.I was the first one on the plane, and the ground crew even cleaned my window. The pilot did circles at 39,000 feet and adjusted the angle of the plane so I could get the best possible shot.To be clear, this was not a private jet. This was a Southwest commercial plane rerouting its flight for my shot — I can't believe I was so lucky.After we landed, the real work began. I spent hundreds of hours over the course of a year <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/draggan-ai-tool-altering-photos-like-photoshop-steroids-research-paper-2023-5">editing the more than 1,200 photos</a> I'd taken.The <a target="_blank" href="https://joncarmichael.com/108">result</a> has been hailed as one of the most outstanding eclipse photos in history, showing not only the eclipsed sun, but also the shadow of the moon sweeping over the Snake River, the border between Idaho and Oregon.Getting that shot really was a childhood dream come true. If I try to reproduce a similar image, again, I'm worried <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-people-struck-by-lightning-chances-2018-5">lightning won't strike</a> twice.So instead of trying to force it, I'm going to savor the experience this year.After all, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-where-when-see-solar-eclipse-united-states-nasa-map-2023-3">total solar eclipses</a> are a miracle. They only happen because Earth is just the right distance from the sun and moon, so I really want to appreciate that magic during the 2024 total eclipse.<h2>What I'm doing differently this year</h2><div type="image" title="Total solar eclipse in the upper right of the photo with the moon's shadow cast down on the mountainous land below." height="1250" width="2000" msid="108530985" hostid="261" sizebytes="84742"></div>At first, I considered just enjoying this eclipse in nature with my family. I'm based in New York, relatively close to the path of totality, so it would have been easy.But then, Southwest Airlines contacted me about a partnership, and I couldn't say no.So now, I'll be on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-air-lines-solar-eclipse-flight-april-2024-2">another flight, high above clouds</a> and unpredictable weather, hoping to catch another spectacular image.The difference is, this time instead of being alone I'll be with the people I love: my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and nieces, Alayna and Madelyn.We'll be traveling on a flight from Dallas to Pittsburg, which should give us plenty of opportunity to photograph the eclipse with different landscapes.I'm keeping my specific ideas to myself, but I will say that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mississippi-river-dangerously-low-second-year-in-row-army-dredging-2023-9">Mississippi River</a> is an iconic feature of the US that I'd love to highlight.<h2>I'm planning ahead, and you should too</h2>Even though I'll be on a flight, getting a great photo of the eclipse takes a lot of planning ahead even if you're an amateur shooting with your smartphone.The angle of this eclipse means it will be higher in the sky than the 2017 event, making it more difficult to get the sun and the landscape into the same shot.I've been spending a lot of time using tools like this Navy <a target="_blank" href="https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/Eclipse2024#forma">calculator</a> that lets you see the height of the eclipse at different longitudes and latitudes.Knowing what the eclipse will look like in various places will help me get the best shot — I hope.Regardless of whether I get a great photo this time, or not, being with my loved ones is what really matters to me this time around.Flying through an eclipse with Alayna and Madelyn, who are the same age I was when I first became fascinated with the skies, will truly be a full-circle moment.

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