ith the goal of reaching 145 billion kilometres (
billion miles) from the Sun, the proposed robotic
explorer would push the limits of engineering know-
howandspacetechnology,advocatessay.
The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)
in Laurel, Maryland, is leading an international look at this
prospectwithateamofscientistsandengineersstudyinga
missiontothevirtuallyunexploredspacebeyondourSun's
sphere of influence.
“Overall I think the study is progressing well and
will provide some good and solid input for the next
Decadal Survey round,” said APL's Ralph McNutt,
interstellar probe study leader and principal investigator.
The Decadal Survey is based on studies led by the US
National Academies to provide a science community
consensus on new undertakings in NASA space science
and exploration.Interstellar probes and interstellar
precursormissionsarenotnew,McNutt
explained, “but have lacked traction with
policymakers and the scientific community
at large because of the states of both
scientific knowledge and engineering realities”.
Moreover, he explained that the next step in
reaching to the stars will require the recognition
of engineering limits, scientific trades and scientific
compromises, “but this is new neither in science
nor exploration. Such a step would be an interstellar
probe. The time for that step has come.”he f light-test version
ofSpaceX's Starship
vehicle could be ready
to take its first short ‘hopping’
excursioninamatterofweeks,
company founder and CEO Elon
Musk has said in a statement.
"Aiming for four weeks, which
probably means eight weeks,
due to unforeseen issues," Musk
tweetedinJanuarywhenasked
byafollowerwhenthefirst
hopper test would take place.
SpaceX is developing Starship
and a giant rocket called the
Super Heavy to take people to
andfromtheMoon,Marsand
other destinations throughout
the Solar System.
The first crewed Red Planet
mission for the rocket and
100-passenger Starship could
come as early as the mid-2020s
if development and testing go
well,Muskhassaid.
This work is taking place at
both SpaceX headquarters in
Hawthorne, California, and
the company's test site in
South Texas near the border
city of Brownsville. The hopper
flightswilltakeofffromthis
latter facility.
When they're up and running
both Starship and the Super
Heavy will rely on SpaceX's
powerful Raptor engine, which
iscurrentlyindevelopment.
TheenginesontheStarshiptest
vehicle will be “a blend of Raptor
development and operational
parts,” Musk explained. The
first of these hopper engines
will probably be test-fired next
month, he added.itizen scientists have unveiled a distant
exoplanetthatisbelievedtoberoughlytwice
thesizeofEarthandlocatedwithinitsstar's
habitable zone. The exoplanet, named K2-288Bb, could
eitherbearockyworldlikeEarthoragas-richplanetlike
Neptune. Using data from NASA's Kepler space telescope,
the new world was found 226 light years from Earth in
theconstellationTaurus,accordingtoNASA.
“It's a very exciting discovery due to how it was
found, its temperate orbit and because planets of this
size seem to be relatively uncommon,” Adina Feinstein,
lead scientist of the study, said. The new world lies in
a stellar system called K2-288 which includes two dim,
cool M-type stars that are roughly 8.2 billion kilometres(5.1billionmiles)apart—aboutsix-timesthedistance
betweenSaturnandtheSun.
Thebrighterstarofthepairisestimatedtobehalf
as large and massive as Earth's Sun, while its dimmer
companionisaboutone-thirdtheSun'smassandsize.
K2-288Bb orbits the smaller and dimmer star every 31.
days. Furthermore, the data suggests that K2-288Bb
resides within its host star's habitable zone, which means
the planet may have liquid water on its surface.
The exoplanet was discovered using data from the
fourth observing campaign of Kepler's K2 mission,
which ran from 2014 to 2018. Specifically, the research
team looked for evidence of periodic changes in stars'
brightness which would suggest that an exoplanet
passed in front of one of the stars. Using this method the
team found evidence of two likely planetary transits in
theK2-288system.Observationsofathirdtransitwere
needed to confirm the discovery of an exoplanet.
It turned out the team was not utilising all of
thespacecraft'sdata.DuringitsK2missionKepler
repositioned itself towards a new patch of sky once every
three months. There were initial concerns about the
accuracy of Kepler's measurements collected during the
first few days after it was reoriented in the sky. “That's
howwemissedit–andittookthekeeneyesofcitizen
scientists to make this extremely valuable find and point
us to it,” Feinstein said.
© NASA/JPL-Caltech; SpaceX
Illustrations of the craft show a
three-finned, retro designAn artist's impression of
NASA's Voyager 1W
Distant, 'potentially habitable' planet spotted
by citizen scientists
Musk: SpaceX
‘Starship’
hopper to
make test
flight 'within
weeks'
C
T
'Wild' interstellar
probe mission idea
gains momentum
LAUNCH PAD
YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE UNIVERSEThe exoplanet could host
liquid water on its surfaceIN COOPERATION WITHIN COOPERATION WITHWords by Leonard DavidWords by Samantha MathewsonWords by Mike Wall