Space
Mysterious region of space directly above Earth’s atmosphere causes spacecraft to slow down
A mysterious region of outer space just above Earth’s atmosphere is causing spacecraft to slow down, and researchers are trying to figure out why. The same area has interfered with GPS and other technology, prompting NASA to launch a recent mission to determine the cause.
“At about 250 miles above Earth, the spacecraft feel more drag, as if they hit an obstacle,” said Mark Conde, a physicist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and principal investigator for NASA’s Cusp Region Experiment-2, or CREX-2 mission, in a press release announcing the new work.
According to the same release, the air at this altitude and at this location above the North Pole is “noticeably denser” than the rest of the air in the spacecraft’s orbit, which led to the deceleration. However, as the release notes, “no one knows why or how.”
In trying to solve this mystery, the researchers first looked at the area of space that caused this strange effect. And they discovered that it’s not just spacecraft that are having these problems.
“Strange things are happening in Earth’s atmosphere at high latitudes,” the release explains. “Around local noon, when the Sun is at its highest point, a funnel-shaped tear in our planet’s magnetic field passes overhead.
Earth’s magnetic field normally protects us from the stream of charged particles known as the solar wind, but this periodic tear above the North Pole allows this wind to penetrate directly into Earth’s atmosphere, causing all sorts of trouble.
“Radio and GPS signals behave strangely as they pass through this part of the sky,” the study release notes, and then talks about the most recent mystery.
“Over the past 20 years, scientists and spacecraft operators have noticed something else unusual when spacecraft pass through this area: They slow down.”
That’s where NASA’s CREX-2 mission is headed.
When it arrives, “the rocket will eject 20 containers the size of soda cans, each with its own small rocket engine, in four directions.
These containers are designed to burst at different altitudes, where they will release vapor beacons, which are essentially particles found in fireworks that glow. Researchers hope these particles will form a three-dimensional grid around the target area, allowing the team behind the mission to figure out the cause of the spacecraft’s mysterious slowdown.
“The wind will paint the sky with these glowing clouds,” the release explains, “showing how the air moves in this unusual area of the atmosphere.”
“The team is optimistic,” the same release adds, “The sun is in a more active stage of its natural cycle this time, increasing the chances that space weather conditions will be favorable for their mission to study an unusually dense region of the atmosphere.”
“The team is optimistic,” the same release adds, “The Sun is in a more active stage of its natural cycle this time, increasing the chances that space weather conditions will be favorable for their mission to study the unusually dense region of the atmosphere.”
According to a December 1 NASA update, “The CREX-2 payload was successfully launched at 3:25 a.m. ET from the Andøya Space Center in Norway.”
In addition, “Preliminary reports indicate that the flight was successful, and the vapor ampoules worked as planned. Good data were obtained, including data from the vapor imaging team.”
Now we await the results and, hopefully, the solution to the mystery.
According to NASA, a rogue, hyper-speed object, which is over
27,306 times the size of Earth, is hurtling so fast through our galaxy
that it might break free of the Milky Way.
Scientists say they have determined that the mysterious object was
cruising at a breakneck one million miles per hour when they spotted it
more than 400 light years from Earth. One light-year is equal to six
trillion miles.
Could this latest find be connected to the fake alien invasion that has long been in the pipeline?
The Mail Online reorts: While experts have not determined what the newfound celestial body is, they speculated it is a ‘brown dwarf,’ a star which is larger than a planet but lacks the mass to sustain long-term nuclear fusion in its core like Earth’s sun.
If the object confirmed as a brown dwarf, it would be first-ever to
be documented in a chaotic, hyper-speed orbit capable of breaking free
from our home galaxy.
A coalition of citizen-scientists with NASA’s ‘Backyard Worlds: Planet 9’ projectwere the first to spot the celestial body, the US space agency confirmed this week.
‘I can’t describe the level of excitement,’ German citizen-scientist Martin Kabatnik, a long-time member of NASA’s Backyard Worlds program, said in statement.
‘When I first saw how fast it was moving,’ the Nuremberg-based
researcher confessed, ‘I was convinced it must have been reported
already.’
Backyard Worlds citizen-scientists Martin Kabatnik, Thomas P. Bickle
and Dan Caselden were the first to spot this million mph object a few
years ago, earning the hyper-speed object the catalogued name CWISE
J124909.08+362116.0.
According to astronomer Dr Kyle Kremer,
who has collaborated with them on better understanding the object,
several astrophysics theories could explain how the object, CWISE J1249
for short, could have gotten to its incredible speed.
In one theory, CWISE J1249 rocketed out of a two star or binary star
system after its ‘white dwarf’ sister star died off — collapsing in an
explosive runaway nuclear fusion reaction called a supernova.
Another viable theory has it that CWISE J1249 originated inside a
tight cluster of starts called a ‘globular cluster’ where it was flung
free via the pull of a black hole.
‘When a star encounters a black hole binary,’ Dr Kremer said in a
NASA statement on the discovery, ‘the complex dynamics of this
three-body interaction can toss that star right out of the globular
cluster.’
Sławosz Uznański will be the second Pole in space and the first to fly to the International Space Station (ISS).
Uznański revealed that his mission to the ISS is planned for 2025 and will last about two weeks. He will launch from Cape Canaveral on a rocket provided by SpaceX. This journey not only represents a significant milestone for Uznański but also for Polish space exploration.
Last year, Uznański was officially selected for this mission, after which he commenced his training at the European Space Agency’s facility in Cologne, Germany. Initially planned for 2024, the mission faced delays, but new details have recently emerged on Uznański’s social media profiles.
During his two-week stay on the ISS, he will focus on Polish scientific projects and technology tests, including artificial intelligence applications in space and studies on the effects of microgravity on the human immune system.
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) received numerous project proposals for Uznański’s mission. Due to limited space, only seven were selected, highlighting the extensive interest and potential impact of this mission.
Uznański will travel to the ISS in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, a vehicle regularly used by NASA for transporting astronauts. The Crew Dragon will be mounted atop a Falcon 9 rocket, with the launch also set to take place at Cape Canaveral. While the exact launch date is yet to be confirmed, preparations are in full swing.
In a move to further his training, Uznański has relocated to Houston, Texas. Starting Monday, he will begin a new training phase at Axiom Space, a partner in the mission, followed by sessions at NASA and SpaceX facilities. This mission not only propels Uznański into space but also significantly advances Poland’s stature in the global aerospace sector.
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