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New Eyes In The Skies


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#1 Lazarus Long

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Posted 17 September 2002 - 04:16 PM


I want to start this off by complimenting BobDrake on the fine job he did in the previous forum and I will be adding links to those incredible subjects as I edit this introduction. I think we need to examine the area of orbital and ground based observatories, learn about their specific issues and proposals as well as enjoying some of the breath taking vistas they offer us of the expanding known universe.

Sit back folks and enjoy, but don't forget to conbtribute [!]

Posted Image
The Hubble Space Telescope has been sending images, like the one this month of a galaxy called Hoag's Object, since 1990.


New Eyes in Space, Even Sharper Than Hubble's
By WARREN E. LEARY


WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 — Even in astronomy, there are some tough acts to follow. After parting a curtain to the universe with the Hubble Space Telescope and allowing millions to experience previously hidden wonders in space, what do you do for an encore?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration last week revealed its choice for the next stage in expanding human vision into deep space. The agency announced that it would build the long-discussed Next Generation Space Telescope, selecting the design of a team led by TRW Inc., for a successor to Hubble to be launched in 2010.

The new observatory, while only half as big as the 24,000-pound Hubble, will have a primary, light-gathering mirror 20 feet in diameter compared with the existing telescope's 8-foot reflector. With a mirror that has a light gathering area six times as large as the Hubble's and a suite of more sensitive instruments, the new telescope should be able to detect objects a hundredth the brightness Hubble can see in visible light and one four-hundredth the brightness in the infrared part of the light spectrum.

Following recommendations from astronomers who suggested a bold new concept, NASA said it would build an observatory that would look back into time and space for some of the first light produced in the universe. Unlike Hubble, this telescope will be sent into orbit far from Earth and should be able to detect and analyze the faint, warm light produced when the first stars and galaxies formed a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the theoretical beginning of the universe some 14 billion years ago, scientists say.

The observatory will also be used to study the formation of planets and to search for the hidden dark matter that is thought to make up most of the matter in the universe.

The new telescope will not be just a larger version of Hubble, a traditional telescope that mostly views objects in the visible light part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is seen by the human eye. The observatory will be optimized to see in the infrared, best for detecting faint light moving rapidly away from the observer that has shifted into the red, thermal part of the spectrum.

Dr. Alan Dressler, an astronomer with the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution in Pasadena, Calif., who took part in studies of what should follow Hubble, said scientists wanted more than just a bigger space telescope.

"The Hubble Space Telescope raised the ante," Dr. Dressler said. "The desire was to make a huge leap, to go for something bold that would really be a breakthrough. So the goal became to see the first light of stars and the emerging of galaxies. This is the birth of the modern universe we live in today."

Although the new telescope is optimized for infrared viewing, astronomers and NASA agreed that the observatory had to have the ability to produce visible light pictures at least as good as Hubble's, to assure public support. "NASA has tried for years to recapture the public imagination about space and, to everyone's surprise, the public got caught up in the images from Hubble," Dr. Dressler said. "We were conscious of this public perception in making our recommendations."

Dr. Marcia Rieke of the University of Arizona, the principal investigator for the observatory's primary instrument, a near-infrared camera, said pictures from the new telescope taken in the visible light range should be much better than Hubble's. "The telescope will be best in the infrared area, but it can extend into visible light and do just fine," she said.

Heartened by the success of Hubble, NASA readily embraced recommendations from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and the National Academy of Sciences for the first-light telescope.

However, in a time of tightening budgets, the agency's challenge is to build and operate the new telescope for substantially less cost than Hubble. With its periodic hardware upgrades, the Hubble itself has cost more than $2 billion, not to mention operating costs of at least that much when the bill for space shuttle flights to the telescope for maintenance is included. Since its launching in 1990, NASA has sent four shuttle service missions to the observatory and a final upgrade and repair flight is scheduled for 2004.

TRW and its partners, including Bell Aerospace and Eastman Kodak, are to build, test and operate the new observatory for a year under an $824.8 million contract that does not include launching costs. NASA officials said the ultimate cost of the observatory, planned to last at least 5 years and perhaps 10, could be about $1.2 billion.

One way in which the new telescope will be cheaper to operate than Hubble is that it is not designed to be repaired or serviced once launched. Because of this, engineers are emphasizing high reliability and backup capabilities for all critical systems, said John C. Mather, the project scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

To isolate the telescope from infrared interference from the Earth and the Sun, the observatory will be launched on an expendable rocket on a three-month journey that will take it to an area 940,000 miles from Earth called L2 for Lagrange Point 2. At a spot like this, the gravity of the Earth and the Sun balance each other out and a spacecraft can keep a stable position with just a few rocket adjustments. The L2 spot is located on the side of the Earth in the direction away from the Sun, with the planet always positioned between the Lagrange point and the Sun.

The spacecraft, whose three main instruments consist of multiwavelength cameras and spectroscopic devices that break down light to be analyzed, also will have a multilayered sunshade the size of a tennis court to insulate it from light and heat produced by the Sun and Earth that could interfere with its observations. The shade and the remote location allow the observatory to cool to below minus 378 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing other cooling systems aboard to chill detectors even more for the best infrared readings.

For the 20-foot diameter mirror to fit into a rocket nose cone, it will be built as 36 hexagonal segments that are folded over into three panels at launch and unfurled into its circular shape once in space. These flexible panels will have multiple, computer-controlled actuators on their backsides that can alter the shape of the mirrors to make sure reflected light is perfectly focused on a collector.

To cut costs and reduce risk of technical problems, NASA has been supporting research into lightweight mirrors, star detectors and other relevant technologies. The telescope initially was planned to have a 26-foot-diameter mirror, but the size was reduced to 20 feet to cut costs by reducing complexity and fabrication time.

Mr. Mather said delays in developing the mirror technology increased cost estimates and pushed launch time from 2008 to 2010. "The mirror is the hardest problem," he said, "We saw that at the beginning so it's no surprise."

The Hubble's biggest problem was also the mirror: it was found to be defective after launching and later had to be corrected by installation of special lenses. NASA does not want a repeat of that embarrassment.

In a year, the agency must make the critical decision of what material to use for the new telescope's mirror. The candidates are a metal mirror made of beryllium or one made of some form of glass.

Mr. Mather said NASA would take its time selecting the best material and would thoroughly test the entire observatory as a unit before launching it.

"Some things you just can't rush," he said.

NASA Starts Planning Hubble's Going-Away Party (September 17, 2002)

Interactive Feature: The Webb Telescope

#2 Mind

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Posted 25 September 2002 - 01:34 AM

Here is a link of a famous photo from Apollo 8 "Earth Rise". We have all probably seen it before, but it is worth a look again. Just to put our little spot in the universe in a different perspective

Posted Image

http://grin.hq.nasa....001-000009.html

I got the link from a company website...Transorbital. They are the first company to get permission to land on the moon (although I do not know why anyone needs the U.S. government's permission to do such a thing). They are planning 3 missions to the moon in the next couple years. You can read all about it at

http://www.transorbital.net/index.html

I hope you didn't mind, Mind, [ph34r] I just inserted the picture ;) LL/kxs

#3 Mind

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Posted 09 May 2003 - 03:22 PM

Pretty Nebula and Star Picture


Planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets, but in crude or low-power telescopes they can look similar to the fuzzy disks that planets present. Large modern observatories, like the Hubble Space Telescope, can resolve these objects into dazzling detail.

The one, called NGC 3132, is typical of the breed: An expanding cloud of gas surrounds a dying star. NGC 3132 is about a half of a light-year in diameter and is visible from the Southern Hemisphere, where astronomers call it the Eight-Burst or the Southern Ring Nebula. At just 2,000 light-years away, this nebula is one of the closest known.

Look at the center. You'll see two stars. The fainter one is actually responsible for the beauty that surrounds it. Having ejected its shell, it's now smaller than our Sun but very hot. The intense ultraviolet radiation it emits lights up the nebula. The star that appears brighter in this image is younger, and the two stars are gravitationally bound in orbit around one another.

A third star is visible in the upper right corner of the image, but it is not part of the system.

Edited by Mind, 09 May 2003 - 03:24 PM.


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#4 Lazarus Long

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Posted 09 May 2003 - 04:18 PM

Another delicious image that is worth its Bytes for inclusion

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#5 Lazarus Long

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Posted 09 May 2003 - 04:27 PM

By the way this would be a good candidate for the temporal experiment I suggested. We should be able to determine the difference between the source and reflected energy and it is even better that they are only about half a year apart between the original and echoed light.

I would be curious to determine if there is a frequency shift that after the spectrum of the gas cloud is filtered out is demonstrated for the light that is emitted from the source. Remember the echo is six months "older" but we can compare it to the original and analyze frequency and modulation to determine if the "metric" of time is effected. The frequency of the light wave is a form of temporal meter and how it is modulated is another.

Frequency and Time

Modulation

Modulation Physics

Edited by Lazarus Long, 09 May 2003 - 04:38 PM.


#6 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 May 2003 - 12:31 PM

I have my own opinions on this that are parallel but not quite the same. I think that we can produces some super reflective materials very soon out of nanoparticle application that may not only allow a current to align the molecular substrate on the surface film into near perfect reflective ability but through varying the nature of the current could function to polarize and filter light thus allowing selective absorption/reflection of various wavelengths.

This does not require "Assembler Technology" but could reflect a ground based application that applies the material as a surface coat created in a controlled lab facility on Earth or on a specialized facility attached the Orbital Space station.

Why is this important?

Because essentially I can describe how to produce a super light weight mirror that is vastly greater in diameter than anything they are imagining (and this is a great article).

I am talking being able to build an inflatable mirror with controllable curvature that is constructed out of semi elastic materials and can span kilometers, not 30 meters. And placing a set of them in Geosynchronous orbit at opposite sides of the Earth so as to create a 3Dimensional Imaging system that exploits a functional parallax effect for producing true stereo imaging of relational aspects of the heavens.

http://story.news.ya...pe_technologies

Eye on the Future: NASA Explores Innovative Space Telescope Technologies
Mon May 12, 9:55 AM ET Add Science - Space.com
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer, SPACE.com

BOULDER, Colo. -- The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope (news - web sites) has yielded light buckets full of discovery and out-of-sight imagery.

But make way for a revolutionary class of 21st century observing outpost - huge, high-tech facilities that could be assembled in space by a cadre of astronauts and robots.

Thanks to the march of technology -- in civilian, military, and intelligence-gathering circles -- space telescopes far larger than those now being planned appear workable. Major advances are in the offing, fostered to a great degree by the need for super-surveillance of world trouble spots, as well as more intensive scrutiny of Earth's complex global climatic condition.

Today's quest for around-the-clock "situational awareness" can be expanded to embrace a larger, cosmological theme: How our home planet fits in space and time within a universe of galaxies, stars, solar systems, Earth-like worlds, and extraterrestrial life.

A big picture view of space-borne astronomy was charted by some 60 technologists, astronomers, astronauts, and space project managers. They took part in a NASA (news - web sites)-sponsored meeting, Future Large Optical Systems in Space, held here May 1-2.


Killer applications

"The more we explore 'out there'…the more sophisticated our understanding is of ourselves, our world, and its place in space and time," said Harley Thronson, Technology Director for the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and meeting leader.

There are a host of "killer applications" for large optics in space.

Thronson said orbiting mega-telescopes could look back in time to where the earliest birth of star formation takes place. Conditions in the early universe that created galaxies would also be observable. Furthermore, the ins and outs of how planets take shape around young stars could be studied, he told SPACE.com.

"Identifying, prioritizing and investing in the technologies that make possible these type of observations will be a challenge worthy of our most creative young scientists and engineers," Thronson said.


Mind stretching

The goal of the two-day gathering was to create the systems, priorities, and relationships necessary to make possible the large space optical systems of the next decade, Thronson said.

The confab of experts tackled observatory technology; needed infrastructure; how best to orchestrate long-term projects; ways to mobilize management; as well as define roles for humans and robots.

To help harness needed technologies, a series of "stepping stone missions" were advocated. The crafting of a roadmap for placing large optical systems in space would meld NASA expertise with that of the U.S. Air Force, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and other agencies.

The time is ripe for "mind stretching", said Robert Cassanova, Director of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. He urged attendees to think beyond current NASA plans for space-based observatories.

Doing so means exploring the limits of what is currently thought to be technically feasible, Cassanova said. He advised that "evolutionary" thinking must be replaced by "revolutionary" concepts that are inspiring a new class of enabling technologies.


Parking spot

One outcome of the gathering is the likelihood of building space-based telescopes far larger than the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The JWST is an orbiting infrared observatory and assigned a parking spot at the L2 Point, some 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth. Using 36 mirror segments that unfold to form its primary mirror, JWST is on tap to take the place of the Hubble Space Telescope at the end of this decade.

"I think there are wonderful possibilities for future large observatories," said John Mather, JWST's Senior Project Scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. There are no laws of physics or engineering against increasing telescope sizes by another factor of three above the JWST aperture of 21.3 feet (6.5 meters), he said.

Telescopes sporting 98-feet (30-meter) apertures to monster mirrors nearly 165-feet (50-meters) in size were broached by working groups at last week's gathering.


Mirror technologies

While great advances are foreseen and eventually required, Mather said that the pathway to those advances is not yet clear. For one, the technologies for fabricating mirror segments are not in hand. Other top priorities for working in near-infrared and shorter wavelengths involve better performing mirror technology - in terms of surface accuracy, high stiffness, low mass, coupled with faster, less-risky, and cheaper processing techniques. For ultraviolet wavelengths, a push in detector technology is necessary, he added.

For the longer term it's important to develop technologies for assembling and servicing observatories in space, Mather pointed out. "Tremendous ingenuity has been shown in developing methods for assembling and deploying equipment in space, and the International Space Station is a shining example," he said.

"I think that as soon as our mirror technologies can support telescopes much larger than JWST, we will be able to complete the engineering of space deployment, assembly, and servicing for them. This will almost surely require astronauts with remote manipulators -- dumb robots or smart tools -- because our newest telescopes are exposed and fragile and sensitive to contamination," Mather said.


Assembly required

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has brought a useful perspective and experience in looking outward to deploying future space observatories, said Rud Moe of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Drawing upon his background as Servicing Mission Manager for the HST, Moe said that humans are valuable "system agents".

"Humans greatly enhance or enable system performance overall, even in space. The HST servicing missions are great examples of the value humans operating in-space for satellite servicing can bring to space science and other programs," Moe told SPACE.com.

"For ambitious NASA goals beyond the near term, perhaps in the next two decades, the limits of remote operation of deployable structures will be reached. Assembly in space will be needed," Moe said. "The best tools for such operations in this timeframe will be tele-operated robotics. Human presence and participation on-the-spot will be required for use of tele-operation far from Earth," he advised.

Knowledge base: walking out the door

There are red flags, however, in piecing together any large optical systems in space program.

A worry expressed at the meeting centered on ground and astronaut talent in future years. Beyond HST's last servicing in 2005, or perhaps out as far as 2009, loss of capability in this arena is likely. Moreover, the graying of NASA means the knowledge base in orbital servicing will, quite literally, walk out the door.

Then there's the issue of how to enable in-space assembly operations at far-flung sites, be it high Earth orbits, lunar orbit, on the Moon's surface, or out at Sun-Earth libration points.


To support these goings-on, work is needed on such items as high-capability launch vehicles and in-space transportation. Also deserving of attention is assuring human safety in radiation environments and for extended sojourns in less than a one-gravity environment.

New paradigm

Although tough issues need to be grappled with, a rolling up the sleeves attitude is taken by Michael Kaplan, Director of NASA Electro Optical Payloads for Boeing.

"This new paradigm could be the synergy between the human and space science programs that many have been searching for in Washington, D.C.," Kaplan said. Every large aperture astronomy mission after the James Webb Space Telescope needs to look at this new paradigm, he said.

The time is now to identify and begin developing new technologies, Kaplan said. Modest demonstrations and tool building could be carried out on existing assets, such as the space shuttle or the International Space Station, he said.

"Human/robotic in-space assembly, integration and testing, and servicing could be a very viable solution for all future large aperture space astrophysics missions," Kaplan said. "All of these steps could and should happen very soon," he concluded.

#7 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 May 2003 - 12:52 PM

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#8 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 May 2003 - 12:54 PM

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#9 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 May 2003 - 12:56 PM

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#10 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 May 2003 - 12:57 PM

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#11 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 May 2003 - 01:00 PM

Posted Image

Edited by Lazarus Long, 14 May 2003 - 01:06 PM.


#12 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 May 2003 - 01:03 PM

And to end today's journey through heaven one image from a little closer to home.
LL/kxs

Posted Image

#13 Lazarus Long

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Posted 22 May 2003 - 08:49 PM

And now for a look back from the Martian Orbiter, its like seeing home from over the last ridge on your walk to the horizon.

Posted Image

#14 Lazarus Long

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Posted 22 May 2003 - 08:54 PM

And here is what is far and away over the horizon. LL/kxs

http://www.space.com...day_030522.html

Posted Image
Anne Beiter and Jon Shallop/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

Some folks look at this galaxy and think its been punched in the eye, apparently, for it is nicknamed the Black Eye Galaxy. Then again, some people call it the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy. We humans love to name things.

This view of the spiral galaxy, officially named M64, was taken recently by amateur observers Anne Beiter and Jon Shallop during a night of observing at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. A program there introduces amateurs to the art and science of astronomy and astrophotography.

M64 is currently experiencing a tremendous rate of star formation. This appears to be due, at least in part, to an odd fact: Stars and gas in the outer part of the galaxy orbit in the opposite direction of stuff nearer the center, setting up a region of friction at the boundary.




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