Deep Space and Interplanetary Exploration - Houston, we are go for launch!

[Death_from_above]

I hope I live to see that.

"Live Long and Prosper"

but..

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/the-failure-of-phobos/

Eventually, in perhaps 30 to 50 million years, tidal forces will pull Phobos apart.

[Maingunnery]

Or we could give it a push....

[Daryk]

Mars needs icy comets, not rocky moons... ;)

[Prospernia]

I hope I live to see that.

If you can stick around for another 50 million-years, you'll see Phobos either crash into Mars or become a ring.  Deimos, will take another 50 million-years to drift into solar-orbit again; also, you'd see Africa slam into Europe and create the Mediterranean-mountains and Saturn will lose its rings. Hope you've got some really, good, and I mean really good, health-insurance!!!

[truetanker]

Also, wouldn't the South Pole be the new North?

TT

[Daryk]

Huh?  Why? ???

[rebs]

So the JWST just detected more molecules linked to possible biotic processes on Europa.  That, and in about a year or so (not accounting for any delays or unexpected disruptions and upheavals), NASA will launch the Europa Clipper.  And as already posted, ESA's launch of the JUICE mission will take place in a week or two.

Here is a very good article from Inverse that discusses the two missions.  And under that is a link to a brief NASA article about JWST identifying a carbon source on Europa.

https://www.inverse.com/science/juice-mission-vs-europa-clipper

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-webb-finds-carbon-source-on-surface-of-jupiter-s-moon-europa

[Daryk]

Cool!  +1 more for Arthur C. Clarke! :)

[rebs]

Cool!  +1 more for Arthur C. Clarke! :)

Indeed! 

[Daryk]

Is that an eclipse, or what? ???

[rebs]

Actually, it is indeed an eclipse.  It's Io.  Closest of the Galilean Moons, so it casts a substantial shadow.

But it does call to mind the black spot that appeared when the monoliths started to transform Jupiter.

[Daryk]

That it does!  Thanks for the pic AND the explanation! :)

[truetanker]

Huh?  Why? ???

https://climate.nasa.gov/explore/ask-nasa-climate/3104/flip-flop-why-variations-in-earths-magnetic-field-arent-causing-todays-climate-change/

Since the forces that generate our magnetic field are constantly changing, the field itself is also in continual flux, its strength waxing and waning over time. This causes the location of Earth’s magnetic north and south poles to gradually shift, and to even completely flip locations every 300,000 years or so. That might be somewhat important if you use a compass, or for certain animals like birds, fish and sea turtles, whose internal compasses use the magnetic field to navigate.

That's why...

TT

[Daryk]

Ah, that... the magnetic poles flipping is unlikely to change our maps, though... ;)

[rebs]

So I stumbled upon this 3D video representation of the cloud tops on Jupiter, produced from data compiled by Juno.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/jupiter-s-cloud-topped-in-3d-junocam-visualization/vi-AA1hj5kP?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=8cd2d01161b64b81945c7d5ef10324d7&ei=28#details

[Daryk]

Neat video, thanks for sharing! :)

[Prospernia]

Is that an eclipse, or what? ???

Look a lot closer.

[truetanker]

Scoundrel Nerfhearder : Ah-oh... That's no Moon!
A Space Princess : Let's get out of here!
Space Mog : Grr-oawlll... whimper

TT

[rebs]

ESA's Euclid space telescope has come down with a case of the gremlins.  Currently, its sensors can no longer orient the orbital craft by starlight as it was designed.  Additionally, sunlight and x-rays are corrupting photographs.  Basically the space telescope is not functional for its purpose of detecting, imaging and quantifying dark matter and dark energy.  But the scientists who work with it are optimistic about correcting these issues.

Read more in the link below.

https://gizmodo.com/euclid-space-telescope-faltering-start-1850888158

[Daryk]

Sounds like typical teething troubles...

[rebs]

The JWST has observed several Jupiter-sized objects that are free-floating in the Orion Nebula.  Understandably, this finding reminds scientists that they have a lot to learn about planetary and star formation.

https://www.rocketnews.com/2023/10/jupiter-sized-objects-in-orion-nebula-baffle-scientists/

[rebs]

New Horizons has been given the go ahead to continue mission operations until 2029.  There is grousing about funding, but ignoring or discarding a perfectly good robotic outpost that has traveled that far into the Kuiper Belt and still has so much life left in its plutonium power supply would be ludicrous. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-s-new-horizons-probe-scores-extended-vacation-in-kuiper-belt/ar-AA1hzysv?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=65ef8e9ecc7b4f3c8d6d9b968524bf24&ei=36

[worktroll]

And I trust you all saw the articles about antimatter responding normally to gravity? Very cool, and may have some impact on why any matter exists (eg. slightly more matter than antimatter created in the Big Bang, so when the annihilations finished, a thin mist of mainly hydrogen was left.) That assymetry is one of the more confusing things about creation.

[Daryk]

Haven't seen the articles, but never imagined anything other than that... ;)

Those Jupiter-sized objects sounds kind of dark to me... ;D

And huzzah for New Horizons! :)

[rebs]

Below is a link to a video from Space.com about the supernova remnant of a white dwarf star that likely exploded only a few hundred years ago.  Images in the video are from Hubble and Chandra space telescopes, and are often combined.


https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=white+dwarf+star+supernova&mid=5FB217F34A8B21BC94E25FB217F34A8B21BC94E2

[Daryk]

Interesting video, thanks! :)

[rebs]

The Vela pulsar has been observed to be producing roughly 200 times more energy than previously thought possible.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/pulsar-surprises-astronomers-with-record-breaking-gamma-rays/ar-AA1hKN9d

[Daryk]

Well, that's one astronomer who knows what they'll be doing for the rest of their life! :)

[rebs]

Titan.

As seen through the JWST.  Check out this video.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/saturn-s-moon-titan-captured-by-the-james-webb-space-telescope/vi-AA1hOOhE?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=6a69e4e2a3a54062a32c0ad093a1ecda&ei=13

[Daryk]

Is it combined imagery with Keck?  The text isn't 100% clear on that point...