Turning Night Into Day

      Have you ever stood out in your backyard or a park after dark and look up at the stars? Have you ever been in a really dark location and stared in wonder at the beauty of our Milky Way galaxy as its hazy band stretches across the sky? If one company has its way that may not be something you can do for much longer.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted permission for a company called Reflect Orbital to put a giant space mirror, called Earendil-1 in orbit. The company’s plan is to use the giant mirror to reflect sunlight down to Earth for “extra solar energy and area-wide lighting” at night. Their ultimate goal is to place 50,000 of these in Earth orbit by 2035. They claim the nighttime lighting could be used for agriculture, emergency response, and other industrial sectors.

Artists conception of sunlight-refelcting space mirror. Credit Reflect Orbital

But what they don’t talk about are all the negative effects critics claim will result from this activity. Such intense lighting at night is harmful for human health, ecosystems, aviation and astronomy. The light could disrupt circadian rhythms of plants, animals and humans. The satellites will need to repointed every four minutes. As it redirects the light, it could temporarily blind pilots and drivers on the ground, possibly causing car wrecks and plane crashes which would endanger people.

When asked why the FCC would allow such a project with potentially fatal consequences, it responded “the risks of harm raised on the record regarding Reflect Orbital’s solar reflector are unrelated to the Commission’s role in authorizing use of radiofrequency spectrum.” Basically, the FCC said they don’t consider dangers to humans, ecosystems, or the safety of airplanes or drivers when making their decisions.

 A NASA Space News article describes many of the problems with artificial light at night (ALAN). The article states that ALAN disrupts circadian rhythm of many different animals. It has been documented extensively in insects, migratory birds causing injuries and fatalities through collision in flight and disruption of navigation during migration, and marine ecosystems, including coral spawning and sea turtle hatchling orientation, among other negative effects.

 Thousands of these space mirrors brightening the night sky could spell the death of astronomy. Ground based telescope would no longer be able to see much in our “night” sky, and the huge number of such satellites in space may render many orbiting astronomical instruments useless.

Starlink Satellite Train. Credit Starlink Insider

Astronomers now have to account for the thousands of satellites already in orbit that interfere with delicate observations. The addition of thousands more very bright satellites could end visual astronomy altogether. The star map shows the night sky for this month. No planets will be visible at chart time, but if you can get to a dark location, you can marvel at the hazy band of the Milky Way, a sight that may become rarer in just a few years.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

Rocks In Space

 You have probably seen a shooting star while outside at night. Maybe you have also witnessed a meteor shower when numerous shooting stars occur over the course of the night. They represent a tiny piece of our solar system falling to Earth. Sometimes, many meteors can be seen over the course of a few hours. We call these meteor showers.

 Perseid meteor shower which peaks in Mid-August. Credit NASA/Preston Syches

Our solar system consists of eight planets. Well, some people, myself included, believe that Pluto should still be considered a planet, and there is evidence that another one orbits far from the sun but has yet to be discovered. Along with those planets, there are five objects that astronomers refer to as “dwarf planets” orbiting the sun. That’s what Pluto was demoted to in 2006.

Our sun is also orbited by thousands of asteroids, smaller rocky objects left over from the formation of the planets. Many of these orbit between Mars and Jupiter in a region called the Asteroid Belt. In the region beyond Neptune lies an area called the Kuiper Belt, a flattened disc   of millions of comets, objects containing mostly frozen gases along with a bit of rocky material. Even more comets exist in a vast shell surrounding our solar system.

The asteroids in the asteroid belt occasionally collide, creating a large number of smaller bits of rock, which astronomers call meteoroids. Being so small, they are easily affected by the gravity of other bodies orbiting the sun and scatter throughout the inner solar system.

Artist's view of the asteroid belt. Credit NASA

If one comes close to our planet, Earth’s gravity reels it in. These meteoroids enter our atmosphere at tremendous speeds, often exceeding 25,000 miles per hour. At such speeds, friction with our air creates so much heat that the air itself begins to glow. That glowing streak of light is known as a meteor or a shooting star. The tiny bit of rock itself is far too small to be seen, typically being not much larger than a grape.

The heat created by the meteoroid’s passage through our atmosphere will usually disintegrate it into fine dust. If the meteoroid creating the shooting star is large enough to survive to the ground, we call it a meteorite. Scientists estimate that a few hundred tons of meteoritic material fall to Earth each day, much of it in the form of very fine dust from disintegrated meteoroids. Many larger pieces fall as meteorites. These are highly prized by scientists because they help us understand how our solar system formed. Collectors pay for meteorites. The rarest meteorites come from the Moon and Mars. The largest known Martian meteorite sold for 5.3 million dollars.

How does a hunk of Mars fall to Earth? Asteroids occasionally strike Mars. Due to its smaller gravity, fragments can be blasted into space. Rarely, such a piece of Mars eventually falls to Earth. There are only some 400 known Martian meteorites found on Earth.

     Meteorites aren’t the only things that fall from the sky. Along with mundane weather phenomena like rain, hail, sleet, and snow, some surprising things have fallen to earth. Large numbers of live and dead animals occasionally fall. People have found golf balls, coins, and even sugar crystals that fell from the sky. Some objects, like meteorites, fall all the way from space. You can learn about these and many more of the strange objects that have fallen to the ground in my book “When the Sky Falls, Duck.” This book won a recent Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award. It is available from Barnes and Noble’s online store at BN.com.

 

    Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.

    This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

Weird Rocks on Mars

 Perhaps you have seen videos or pictures of rocks very carefully stacked as an artistic work. They may even look impossibly balanced. 

Balanced Rocks. Wikipedia.

    Or you may have seen so-called balancing rocks, with one huge boulder precariously sitting on a tiny point on top of another large boulder. These terrestrial balancing boulders weren’t created by humans, but rather by wind and water erosion.

Balancing rocks formed by erosion. Nevada Traveler

Scientists studying the images and data sent back by the Perseverance rover on Mars found an unusual sight. It appears to be three or four rocks neatly stacked one on top of the other. It rather resembles a hamburger with an oversized patty or an undersized bun. The patty in the middle looks as if it broke because the bun was too small. The rocks fit together so perfectly that they look as if they were stacked by human hands. Scientists attribute the stacked appearance to wind erosion of a single rock. Some say it looks more like water erosion, but there hasn’t been any surface water on Mars for perhaps 3 billion years.

Staxcked rocks on Mars. NASA/JPL/Cal Tech

This find by Perseverance isn’t the only weird rock discovered on the surface of Mars. Perseverance photographed a rock with stripes or striations on it. It looks to the scientists studying the images and data from the rover to be volcanic in origin. It appears to have fallen from a layer of similar rock farther up the slopes of Jezero crater that Perseverance has been exploring since it landed. Athanasios Klidaras, a PhD student in planetary science at Purdue University, wrote in a statement on NASA's Science website, "Our knowledge of its chemical composition is limited, but early interpretations are that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes."

Stripped rock on Mars. NASA/JPL/Cal Tech

One of the stranger rocks Perseverance imaged the researchers nicknamed "St. Pauls Bay." It is covered with hundreds of millimeter-sized, dark grey spheres. Some of them have tiny pinholes in them. Scientists believe these spheres to be concretions formed by the interaction of groundwater circulating through pores in the rock. It is also possible they were formed by volcanic activity. "Each of these formation mechanisms would have vastly different implications for the evolution of these rocks, so the team is working hard to determine their context and origin," the mission team said in the statement. "Placing these features in geologic context will be critical for understanding their origin and determining their significance for the geological history of the Jezero crater rim and beyond."

Studded rock on Mars. NASA/JPL/Cal Tech

While Perseverance’s main job is to look for evidence of past life on Mars, which it has yet to find, it is finding that the environment was once, long ago, conducive to life. It may yet find fossilized bacterial remains like those we have found on our planet.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

Surprising Things We Have Launched to Space

 We have sent a lot of stuff to space. Along with more than 640 people, we’ve launched numerous non-human astronauts to space, including dozens of primates, over 30 Soviet dogs, mice, cats, jelly fish, tortoises, fish, and spiders. In 1947, the U.S. launched a group of fruit flies on a suborbital flight using a captured German V-2 rocket to study the effects of radiation. While they didn’t go into orbit, they were the first living things to reach space. We humans have launched more than 25,000 satellites into Earth orbit or beyond. Of those, nearly 17,000 still remain in orbit, but only around 14,200 remain operational.

Ham, the chimpanzee, launched in 1961. Credit NASA

All the above were launched to study the feasibility and safety of space flight or to study the effects of long-term weightlessness. But along with animals and humans, plus communication and weather satellites, Earth resources, and other scientific satellites, we have launched a few stranger items into space.

Several space missions have included small pieces of the Wright Flyer, the first airplane. On one such space flight, bits of the plane rode with Apollo 11 to the Moon’s surface. Those missions demonstrated how human flight has come full circle.

Several companies now offer “space burials,” sending cremated remains into space. Elysium Space is one of several such companies. With them, you can launch a small portion of one’s remains sealed in a small capsule. They offer such services as a “Shooting Star” memorial in which the remains are released into orbit where the small capsule falls back to earth, burning up like a shooting star. Or you might opt for a “Lunar Memorial” in which the remains are delivered to the Moon’s surface. In 1997, the first space burial involved sending remains of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, to enjoy the final frontier. Elysium claims the remains of more than 640 people have flown in space.

Tesla launched Elon Musk’s personal cherry red Tesla Roadster with a dummy astronaut sitting at the wheel in 2018. The car with “Starman” was sent into a solar orbit that took it out to the distance of Mars, and it still floats out there.

A significant part of NASA’s mission involves educating and exciting kids about space. NASA knows kids like dinosaurs, so in 1985, they launched some bones from a Maiasaur (“Good Mother”) dinosaur to be used for school educational programs. That was the first of multiple dinosaur fossils launched to space. Objects flown in space can sell to collectors for huge amounts of money, so some dinosaur fossils were simply flown to create a greater selling price.

Lego makes popular kid’s building block toys. NASA sent a Lego set to the International Space Station, hoping that such missions will inspire kids to consider fields in aerospace engineering.

Over the years, astronauts have smuggled object with them on space flights. Alan Shepard, Apollo 14 commander, smuggled 3 golf balls and a six iron club head modified to attach to a sample scoop handle. The first ball was barely hit and rolled into a small, nearby crater, the first lunar hole in one. The second was a better hit. Shepard claimed it went for “miles and miles” in the reduced lunar gravity, although subsequent analysis of the video by NASA engineers found it actually traveled a mere 40 yards. I’ve had shorter tee shots in my very short golfing career.

Scott Kelly in a gorilla costume onboard the ISS. Credit Scott Kelly

During astronaut Scott Kelly’s year-long mission on the ISS in 2016, his twin brother Mark secretly sent a gorilla suit on a cargo resupply mission. Scott wore it while chasing crewmates through the station. Videos of him cavorting as a gorilla are still available on the internet.

Who knows what strange object some space agency will next send to space?

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

Water Bears Might Help Humans Colonize Mars

 Perhaps you have heard of tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets. They are tiny, 8-legged critters that live in water. They can be found all over our planet. They are known to survive extreme conditions. They can be frozen, boiled, dried out, or stuck on the outside of a spacecraft in the vacuum and high radiation levels of space and still survive. This survivability may prove to be very important to future Martian colonists.

National Geographic describes them like this. “Scientists have discovered roughly 1,300 species of tardigrades worldwide. These creatures are considered aquatic because they need a thin layer of water around their bodies to prevent dehydration. Despite their need for water, they live in all kinds places, from the deep sea and hot springs to terrestrial environments like sand dunes. Terrestrial tardigrades prefer freshwater mosses and lichen habitats, hence their nickname, moss piglet.”

Tardigrade, also known as water bears and moss piglets. Shuttercock

Martian colonists will have to grow their own food. Sending constant supply ships to deliver food and water is impossible. But the soil of Mars is poisonous to plants, primarily due to high levels of salt, particularly perchlorate, in the planet’s soil. In the movie “The Martian” starring Matt Damon, an astronaut who was mistakenly thought to have died, was left on Mars. He managed to grow potatoes and survived until he could contact Earth and have a rescue mission sent to retrieve him.

A recent paper from researchers in the U.S., Poland and the U.K. led by lead author Corien Bowerman’s, a professor of Microbiology at Penn State, shows how tardigrades might help future astronauts survive on Mars. A major part of the diet of Tardigrades consists of the cellular fluids of bacteria and other microscopic cells. They can clean the soil to help crops grow.

Potatoes and many other crops could be grown in Martian soil, except for the salts. The soil on Mars isn’t like what’s in your backyard. The planet is covered in loose, rocky debris and dust, what scientists call regolith. The researchers added tardigrades to some simulated Martian regolith but within two days, the hardy water bears all died. In order to remove any toxic contaminates in the soil, they washed it with water then added more tardigrades. To the researchers delight, they thrived.

Martian colonists drillingh for water. NASA

The researchers concluded that tardigrades could help future colonists on Mars survive. Once the regolith covered by greenhouses was cleaned, the tiny creatures would help Earth crops grow. The researchers cautions that more study is need. “These experiments have ramifications for the choice of species for functional soils to support plants and humans on Mars and for the limitations of terrestrial life; however, more testing is necessary to fully understand the potential habitability and dangers of Martian regolith.”

Martian Colony. NASA

We may have our first Martian colony within a few decades. The tiny water bears will help those brave colonists to survive.

  

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

Where Will the First Space Baby Be Born?

 Since the International Space Station, ISS, became operational, the length of astronaut stays in the weightlessness of space have increased from days or weeks to months and years. The crews now regularly consist of both men and women. Only one married couple, Mark Lee and Jen Davis, has been on a space mission together. Their trip was on board the now-decommissioned Space Shuttle, which offers no privacy. Although NASA claims that no astronauts have had sex off Earth, that will change as NASA and other space agencies plan for eventual permanently manned stations in orbit around or on the surface of the Moon. Eventually, NASA plans to send crews to Mars and, in the more distant future, have permanent colonies on Mars. A round trip to Mars, even if they don’t land there to study the planet, will take as much as three years.

Artist conception of a Martian colony. Wikimedia Commons

A senior NASA research scientist, Fathi Karouia, co-wrote a paper along with eight other experts in reproductive medicine, aerospace health, and bioethics. They took as their goal to study and identify any risks and define the gaps in research and governance of conception in space. "As human presence in space expands, reproductive health can no longer remain a policy blind spot," Karouia said in a statement. "International collaboration is urgently needed to close critical knowledge gaps and establish ethical guidelines that protect both professional and private astronauts, and ultimately safeguard humanity as we move toward a sustained presence beyond Earth."

Giles Palmer, a senior clinical embryologist at the International IVF Initiative who led the new study, said in the paper, "As human activity shifts from short missions to sustained presence beyond Earth, reproduction moves from abstract possibility to practical concern."

Limited laboratory experimentation and data on astronauts on longer ISS flights give scientists some worrisome details. They show us that weightlessness, radiation, altered circadian rhythms, psychological stress, and prolonged isolation all pose risks to the reproductive functions in both women and men.   

Several insects have been taken into space and allowed to breed. Findings of these experiments showed accelerated aging and immune system compromise, among other irregularities, but all were able to successfully breed. Follow-up studies of the offspring back on Earth haven’t been performed.

Certain physical peculiarities have been seen in astronauts. Those who stay in space for too long develop puffy heads and bird-like, thin legs. This occurs because the heart can more easily pump blood up to the head, so much so that their brains start to float and move around a bit. As their bodily fluids move toward the heads of astronauts, they can develop neuro-ocular syndrome. The optic nerve swells due to greater fluid pressure, causing the back of the eye to flatten. According to NASA, 70% of astronauts on the ISS experience some amount of swelling in the back of their eyes. This may cause blurry vision and the occasional headache. Glasses can help alleviate this. On Earth, your bones and muscles must constantly work to keep you upright against the pull of gravity. With a lack of gravity, that’s no longer necessary, and astronauts lose bone and muscle mass.

While all these effects eventually return to normal upon returning to Earth's normal gravity, the concern is how such issues might affect a fetus in the womb. A fetus conceived in space won’t have ever experienced “normal” body functions for the body to return to. How will such physical changes affect their development?

We will eventually go to the Moon and on to Mars. A trip to Mars will last longer than the gestation period of a human baby. It is possible that those children will never be able to come back home after growing up in such a different gravitational environment. They may end up becoming the first true Martians.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

Potential Dangers from Space Junk

 Perhaps you have heard that tens of thousands of objects orbit Earth. That includes all the many satellites that monitor our weather, help us study Earth’s resources, make communication possible, and allow countries to spy on each other. Much of what’s up there is space junk: spent upper rocket stages, dead satellites, and debris from collisions. NASA tracks more than 45,000 objects larger than four inches. More satellites and collision debris are added to that total every year.

Every object in Earth orbit will eventually fall back down. On average, a satellite or a piece of one falls out of orbit once a week. Most of the stuff will simply disintegrate due to friction with our atmosphere. But some will survive to reach the lower levels of our atmosphere or even to strike the ground. Larger and denser objects often survive atmospheric passage. And these pose the greatest danger. Not only are people on the ground at potential risk, so are airplanes.

Satellite rentery into Earth's atmosphere. Credit NASA/ESA/Bill Moede and Jesse Carpenter

One research paper estimated that by 2030, any given commercial airline flight will have a 1 in 1000 chance of being hit by a returning piece of space debris. At any given time, there are 12,000 to 14,000 commercial planes in the air. Collisions between airplanes and space junk seem almost inevitable.

The odds are even worse in areas of high airplane traffic. Ewan Wright and a group of researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, studied the possibility of such collision events. He stated, “There is a 26 percent chance of an uncontrolled space debris reentry in busy airspaces such as the Northeastern United States or Northern Europe each year.” The chances that the bit of space debris falling in high air traffic areas will actually hit a plane are quite small. But, as we launch more and more satellites each year, that risk will increase.

No one is suggesting that we should halt all satellite launches, but many researchers are urging that we start evaluating ways to mitigate the risks. "Aircraft can be affected by smaller pieces of debris. For example, airplanes flying through the ash of a volcano are risky because of the small particles," European Space Agency space debris system engineer Benjamin Virgili Bastida said. "Kind of a similar thing could happen with re-entering debris." Bastida and several colleagues published a paper in the Journal of Space Safety Engineering. The paper outlines the possible need to close airspace if there is a high potential of falling space debris.

None of the experts is suggesting that you stop taking airline flights. But they strongly express the need to study the problem and determine the best strategies for mitigating the dangers of returning space debris.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.