NASA investigating deep-space hibernation technology

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Manned missions to deep space present numerous challenges. In addition to the sheer amount of food, water and air necessary to keep a crew alive for months (or years) at a time, there's also the question of keeping them busy for the entirety of a long-duration flight.

Exercise is certainly an option, but the necessary equipment will take up space and be a drain on power.

In addition, they'll need room to move around, places to sleep, eat, work, and relax during their down time.

Otherwise, they will be at risk of succumbing to feelings of claustrophobia, anxiety, insomnia, and depression, among other things.

NASA has been looking at a few options and one proposed solution is to put these crews into an induced state of hypothermia resulting in torpor, a kind of hibernation.

Rather than being awake for months or years on end, astronauts could enter a state of deep sleep at the beginning of their mission and then wake up near the end.

This way, they would arrive refreshed and ready to work, rather than haggard and maybe even insane.

If this is starting to sound familiar, it's probably because the concept has been explored extensively by science fiction.

Though it goes by different names, cryosleep, reefersleep, cryostasis, etc., the notion of space explorers preserving their bodies through cryogenic suspension has been touched upon by numerous sci-fi authors, movies and franchises.

But NASA's plan is a little different than what you might remember from 2001: A Space Odyssey or Aliens.

Artist’s concept for Mars-ready habitat. 

Credit: SpaceWorks

Instead of astronauts stepping into a tube and having their temperature lowered, torpor would be induced via the RhinoChill, a device that uses invasive tubes to shoot cooling liquid up the nose and into the base of the brain.

To research the technology, NASA has teamed up with SpaceWorks, an Atlanta-based aerospace company that is investigating procedures for putting space crews into hibernation.

During this year's International Astronomical Congress (IAC) 2014, which took place from Sept. 29th to Oct. 3rd in Toronto, representatives from SpaceWorks shared their vision.

Artist’s concept of “sleeping to Mars”. Credit: SpaceWorks Enterprising

According to the company, inducing torpor in a crew of astronauts would eliminate the need for accommodations like galleys, exercise equipment, and large living quarters.

Instead, robots could electrically stimulate key muscle groups and intravenously deliver sustenance to ensure the health and well being of the astronauts while in transit.

As Dr. Bradford, President of SpaceWorks Enterprises Inc., stated:
"We have completed the initial evaluation of our concept which demonstrated significant benefits against non-torpor Mars mission approaches and established the medical plausibility of torpor."

"We have expanded our team and put together a development plan that we are in the process of executing."

"While the longer term goal of enabling access to Mars is our ultimate objective, we have a number of near-term, commercial applications for this technology that we will develop along the way."

Read the full article here

Black holes exploding into 'white holes'

The collapse of a star into a black hole could be a temporary effect that leads to the formation of a 'white hole', suggests a new model based on a theory known as loop quantum gravity.

A new scientific theory suggests that when black holes reach the end of their lifespan, they explode into "white holes" and release all of their matter into space.

If true, the theory could help put to rest the debate over whether or not black holes actually destroy the matter they end up devouring.

As noted by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, when a dying star ends up collapsing under its own weight, at some point the collapse becomes irreversible, resulting in a black hole that consumes light and anything else within its surrounding area.

Although black holes do slowly leak radiation over time, ultimately draining the black hole completely, this doesn't account for all the other matter that the dying star has consumed.

Since quantum theory does not allow for the possibility that information can be lost, though, two researchers from France's Aix-Marseille University believe they've discovered an explanation for this so-called "information paradox."

Carlo Rovelli

According to physicists Carlo Rovelli and Hal Haggard, a black hole eventually reaches a point where it cannot collapse any further and the internal pressure begins to push outwards.

This essentially turns the black hole inside out and expels everything it once consumed back into space.

Notably, the scientists believe that these white holes are created not long after the black hole's original formation, and we humans can't see it because gravity dilates time and makes the black hole's lifespan seem to last for billions or trillions of years.

Their current calculation is that it only takes a few thousandths of a second for a black hole to turn into a white hole.

Hal Haggard

Importantly, the process is very long seen from the outside, but is very short for a local observer at a small radius," the researchers wrote in a paper on the subject.

Ron Cowen, a science writer at Nature, explained further.

If the authors are correct, tiny black holes that formed during the very early history of the Universe would now be ready to pop off like firecrackers and might be detected as high-energy cosmic rays or other radiation.

In fact, they say, their work could imply that some of the dramatic flares commonly considered to be supernova explosions could in fact be the dying throes of tiny black holes that formed shortly after the Big Bang.

Although Rovelli and Haggard aren't completely dismissing the idea that black holes leak radiation, they said the trickles of energy would not be sufficient enough to deplete the dying stars of all the energy they've consumed.

Radiation may very well seep out, but their work is primarily concerned with discovering what happens inside a black hole.

Both Rovelli and Haggard admitted that their theory needs to be tested further with more comprehensive calculations.

If research confirms their ideas, however, theoretical physicist Steven Giddings of the University of California Santa Barbara says, "It would be important. Understanding how information escapes from a black hole is the key question for the quantum mechanics of black holes, and possibly for quantum gravity itself."

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge, UK, has recently suggested that true event horizons would be incompatible with quantum physics.

More Information: Black hole fireworks: quantum-gravity effects outside the horizon spark black to white hole tunneling - Authors: Hal M. Haggard, Carlo Rovelli - arXiv:1407.0989

ESA EuTEF Module takes up its position on the Space Station

The European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) attached to the ESA Columbus module of the International Space Station during orbital flight. 

Credit: DLR, Institute of Aerospace Medicine /Dr. Gerda Horneck

In the movies, humans often fear invaders from Mars.

These days, scientists are more concerned about invaders to Mars, in the form of micro-organisms from Earth.

Three recent scientific papers examined the risks of interplanetary exchange of organisms using research from the International Space Station.

All three, Survival of Rock-Colonizing Organisms After 1.5 Years in Outer Space, Resistance of Bacterial Endospores to Outer Space for Planetary Protection Purposes and Survival of Bacillus pumilus Spores for a Prolonged Period of Time in Real Space Conditions, have appeared in Astrobiology Journal.

Organisms hitching a ride on a spacecraft have the potential to contaminate other celestial bodies, making it difficult for scientists to determine whether a life form existed on another planet or was introduced there by explorers.

So it's important to know what types of micro-organisms from Earth can survive on a spacecraft or landing vehicle.

Currently, spacecraft landing on Mars or other planets where life might exist must meet requirements for a maximum allowable level of microbial life, or bioburden.

These acceptable levels were based on studies of how various life forms survive exposure to the rigors associated with space travel.

Kasthuri J. Venkateswaran

"If you are able to reduce the numbers to acceptable levels, a proxy for cleanliness, the assumption is that the life forms will not survive under harsh space conditions," explains Kasthuri J. Venkateswaran, a researcher with the Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a co-author on all three papers.

That assumption may not hold up, though, as recent research has shown that some microbes are hardier than expected, and others may use various protective mechanisms to survive interplanetary flights.

These are electron micrographs of Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 spores on aluminum before and after exposure to space conditions. 

Credit: P. Vaishampayan et al., Survival of Bacillus pumilus Spores for a Prolonged Period of Time in Real Space Conditions. Astrobiology Vol 12, No 5, 2012.

Spore-forming bacteria are of particular concern because spores can withstand certain sterilisation procedures and may best be able to survive the harsh environments of outer space or planetary surfaces.

Spores of Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 have shown especially high resistance to techniques used to clean spacecraft, such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation and peroxide treatment.

When researchers exposed this hardy organism to a simulated Mars environment that kills standard spores in 30 seconds, it survived 30 minutes.

For one of the recent experiments, Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 spores were exposed for 18 months on the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF), a test facility mounted outside the space station.

"After testing exposure to the simulated Mars environment, we wanted to see what would happen in real space, and EuTEF gave us the chance," says Venkateswaran.

"To our surprise, some of the spores survived for 18 months." These surviving spores had higher concentrations of proteins associated with UV radiation resistance and, in fact, showed elevated UV resistance when revived and re-exposed on Earth.

The findings also provide insight into how robust microbial communities are able to survive in extremely hostile regions on Earth and how these microbes are affected by radiation.

Hubble Image: Observing the Heart of NGC 5793

This new Hubble image is centered on NGC 5793, a spiral galaxy over 150 million light-years away in the constellation of Libra. 

This galaxy has two particularly striking features: a beautiful dust lane and an intensely bright center. much brighter than that of our own galaxy, or indeed those of most spiral galaxies we observe.

NGC 5793 is a Seyfert galaxy. These galaxies have incredibly luminous centers that are thought to be caused by hungry supermassive black holes, black holes that can be billions of times the size of the sun, that pull in and devour gas and dust from their surroundings.

This galaxy is of great interest to astronomers for many reasons. For one, it appears to house objects known as masers.

Whereas lasers emit visible light, masers emit microwave radiation. The term "masers" comes from the acronym Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Maser emission is caused by particles that absorb energy from their surroundings and then re-emit this in the microwave part of the spectrum.

Naturally occurring masers, like those observed in NGC 5793, can tell us a lot about their environment; we see these kinds of masers in areas where stars are forming.

In NGC 5793 there are also intense mega-masers, which are thousands of times more luminous than the sun.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Perlman (Florida Institute of Technology)

Female astronauts have a lower threshold for space radiation than males

22 astronauts and Johnson Space Center's first female director, Carolyn Huntoon, met in the fall of 2012 to honour the late astronaut Sally Ride and her legacy. 

Seated (from left): Carolyn Huntoon, Ellen Baker, Mary Cleave, Rhea Seddon, Anna Fisher, Shannon Lucid, Ellen Ochoa, Sandy Magnus. 

Standing (from left): Jeanette Epps, Mary Ellen Weber, Marsha Ivins, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Bonnie Dunbar, Tammy Jernigan, Cady Coleman, Janet Kavandi, Serena Aunon, Kate Rubins, Stephanie Wilson, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Megan McArthur, Karen Nyberg, Lisa Nowak 

Credit: NASA

Why are there more men than women in space? The answer might not be as straightforward as you first think.

According to physiological models used by NASA, female astronauts have a lower threshold for space radiation than their male counterparts, meaning opportunities for space exploration are more limited for them.

Radiation exposure from a long time spent in deep space or on the surface of certain planets is thought to cause an increase in the probability of developing cancer.

According to NASA, the added risk of a male developing cancer on a 1 000-day Mars mission lies somewhere between 1 percent and 19 percent.

The odds are worse for women. In fact, because of breasts and ovaries, the risk to female astronauts is nearly double the risk to males.

This means that while all astronauts are somewhat are limited in the missions they can fly, the limitations on female astronauts are far harsher.

The work of the ongoing EU Project SR2S ('Space Radiation Superconductive Shield') may change this.

Driven by the belief that technology can be sufficiently developed to allow both genders to withstand a long duration stay in space, SR2S aims to solve the issue of radiation protection for all astronauts within the next three years.

But how can the project deliver this level of protection to radiation? According to project organisers, the SR2S superconducting shield will provide an intense magnetic field, 3 000 times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field and will be confined around the space craft.

The magnetic fields will extend to about 10 metres in diameter and ionizing particles will be deflected away.

Project organisers say that shielding the astronauts from ionising radiation in this way is a prerequisite to realistically plan for exploration missions to Mars, Near Earth Asteroids (NEOs) or for setting on the Moon surface.

Speaking about the evolution of SR2S, Project leader Professor Roberto Battiston (seen in the video above) said, 'We believe we will succeed in this goal of solving the radiation protection issue.

In the last few months the international teams working at CERN have solved two major technical issues relevant to the superconducting magnets in space [...]

These developments open the way to larger and more effective space radiation shields and in turn facilitate deep space travel for female astronauts'.

Professor Battiston added, 'Researchers must focus on both genders in current and future studies. The next exploration challenges, deep space travel to Near Earth Asteroids (NEOs) and long duration stay on Mars and on the moon, require an effective way to actively shield astronauts.'

NASA Curiosity Rover: Radiation on Mars 'Manageable' for Manned Mission

The risk of radiation exposure is not a show-stopper for a long-term manned mission to Mars, new results from NASA's Curiosity rover suggest.

A mission consisting of a 180-day cruise to Mars, a 500-day stay on the Red Planet and a 180-day return flight to Earth would expose astronauts to a cumulative radiation dose of about 1.01 sieverts, measurements by Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument indicate.

To put that in perspective: The European Space Agency generally limits its astronauts to a total career radiation dose of 1 sievert, which is associated with a 5-percent increase in lifetime fatal cancer risk.

Radiation Assessment Detector

About the size of a small toaster, the Radiation Assessment Detector will look skyward and use a stack of silicon detectors and a crystal of cesium iodide to measure galactic cosmic rays and solar particles that pass through the Martian atmosphere. 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI

South Pole telescope detector aids study of the universe

Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) users from Argonne's High Energy Physics and Materials Science divisions helped design and operate part of the South Pole Telescope, a project that aims a large telescope at the night sky to track radiation from the period just after the universe was born. 

Developing and designing the detectors for the camera required expertise from several Argonne facilities and research divisions, including the expertise and capabilities in CNM's Nanofabrication & Devices Group.

In the wake of the Big Bang, all matter was hot, dense particles and light. As the universe aged, it began to spread and cool, and the intense light from that period traveled across space.

The light is still traveling and has a very distinct radiation signature called the cosmic microwave background. 

Mapping the cosmic microwave background can reveal information about dark matter and dark energy, which are thought to make up 95% of the universe.

Dark energy affects the way galaxy clusters form. By comparing the distribution of distant galaxy clusters with the distribution observed nearby, scientists can decode the role dark energy plays in the universe.

The majority of cosmic microwave background radiation has wavelengths of 1-2 mm. These photons are absorbed by water, so a dry, flat and preferably cold space is needed to capture them.

The South Pole is one of only two ideal locations on Earth. The South Pole telescope is more than 30 feet across, and Argonne scientists helped build its camera.

Detectors for the camera were developed and designed with expertise from several Argonne facilities and research divisions.

At the core of the detector technology is a thin—at the nanoscale—superconducting film comprised of Mo/Au bilayer-based heterostructures modified with superconducting (niobium) and normal (gold) metal stripes.

Superconductors can carry an electrical charge perfectly and are highly sensitive to changes in temperature.

When thermal radiation from the cosmic microwave background hits the camera, it heats the material slightly, changing the conductivity of the film.

The energy coming from that particular part of the sky is then recorded.

More information: D. Hanson et al., "Detection of B-Mode Polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background with Data from the South Pole Telescope," Physical Review Letters, 111, 141301 (2013)

3C353: Giant Plumes of Radiation

Jets generated by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies can transport huge amounts of energy across great distances. 

3C353 is a wide, double-lobed source where the galaxy is the tiny point in the center and giant plumes of radiation can be seen in X-rays from Chandra (purple) and radio data from the Very Large Array (orange). 

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Tokyo Institute of Technology/J.Kataoka et al, Radio: NRAO/VLA

Researchers calculate radiation exposure associated with journey to Mars

The RAD instrument measures radiation dose using silicon detector and plastic scintillator technology.

The latter has a composition somewhat similar to tissue and is more sensitive to neutrons than are the silicon detectors.

This illustration of RAD shows the silicon detectors (A, B & C) that measure charged particles and the plastic detectors (D, E & F) that measure both charged and neutral particles.

Credit: Hassler et al., 2012. Space Science Reviews, 170, 503.

On November 26, 2011, the Mars Science Laboratory began a 253-day, 560-million-kilometer journey to deliver the Curiosity rover to the Red Planet.

Radiation Assessment Detector

En route, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) made detailed measurements of the energetic particle radiation environment inside the spacecraft, providing important insights for future human missions to Mars.

Cary Zeitlin

"In terms of accumulated dose, it's like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days," said Dr. Cary Zeitlin, a principal scientist in SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division and lead author of Measurements of Energetic Particle Radiation in Transit to Mars on the Mars Science Laboratory, scheduled for publication in the journal Science on May 31.

"Understanding the radiation environment inside a spacecraft carrying humans to Mars or other deep space destinations is critical for planning future crewed missions," Zeitlin said.

"Based on RAD measurements, unless propulsion systems advance rapidly, a large share of mission radiation exposure will be during outbound and return travel, when the spacecraft and its inhabitants will be exposed to the radiation environment in interplanetary space, shielded only by the spacecraft itself."

Two forms of radiation pose potential health risks to astronauts in deep space: a chronic low dose of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and the possibility of short-term exposures to the solar energetic particles (SEPs) associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections.

Radiation dose is measured in units of Sievert (Sv) or milliSievert (1/1000 Sv). Long-term population studies have shown that exposure to radiation increases a person's lifetime cancer risk; exposure to a dose of 1 Sv is associated with a 5 percent increase in fatal cancer risk.

GCRs tend to be highly energetic, highly penetrating particles that are not stopped by the modest shielding provided by a typical spacecraft.

These high-energy particles include a small percentage of so-called heavy ions, which are atomic nuclei without their usual complement of electrons.

Heavy ions are known to cause more biological damage than other types of particles.

Energetic protons constitute about 85 percent of the primary galactic cosmic ray flux and easily traverse even the most shielded paths (reds) inside the MSL spacecraft.

Heavy ions tend to break up into lighter ions in thick shielding, but can survive traversal of thin shielding (blues) intact.

The solar particles of concern for astronaut safety are typically protons with kinetic energies up to a few hundred MeV (one MeV is a million electron volts).

Solar events typically produce very large fluxes of these particles, as well as helium and heavier ions, but rarely produce higher-energy fluxes similar to GCRs.

The comparatively low energy of typical SEPs means that spacecraft shielding is much more effective against SEPs than GCRs.

"A vehicle carrying humans into deep space would likely have a 'storm shelter' to protect against solar particles. But the GCRs are harder to stop and, even an aluminum hull a foot thick wouldn't change the dose very much," said Zeitlin.

"The RAD data show an average GCR dose equivalent rate of 1.8 milliSieverts per day in cruise. The total during just the transit phases of a Mars mission would be approximately .66 Sv for a round trip with current propulsion systems," said Zeitlin.

Time spent on the surface of Mars might add considerably to the total dose equivalent, depending on shielding conditions and the duration of the stay.

Exposure values that ensure crews will not exceed the various space agencies standards are less than 1 Sv.

More Information here

NASA ISS IV-TEPC Instrument: Tissue-equivalent proportional counter

The Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC), in situ on the ISS, consists of a spectrometer and cylindrical detector with which to measure external radiation doses.

The purpose of the TEPC is to collect a record of the International Space Station (ISS) environment to construct exposure history records for the crew.

Credit: NASA, JPL

Description
The Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC) is a gas proportional counter used to characterize the radiation environment.

TEPC will also provide near real-time measurements to ground personnel during radiation events and make survey measurements in different parts of the ISS for shield verifications.

TEPC collects data as a function of time to measure the dose and estimate the dose equivalent by making spectral measurements of the lineal energy loss of the radiation as it passes through the detector volume.

The omni-directional detector is surrounded by a tissue equivalent plastic and the internal gas (propane) provides an energy deposition response similar to human tissue. The detector gas is at a very low pressure such that the mass of the gas is approximately that of a cell.

The 512 channel spectrometer stores the lineal energy data in energy bins ranging from approximately 25 keV/micron through channels exceeding 1000 keV/micron. The crew is able to read the current level through an electronic display and has the capability to telemeter data to the ground every 10 seconds.

TEPC is a portable piece of equipment, integrated with numerous ports in various modules to support the survey function of the equipment.

TEPC is an automatic micro-dosimetry system. Each TEPC consists of two main components, the spectrometer unit and the detector unit.

The spectrometer unit contains a powerful computer that allows real-time analysis of the data and provides calculations of total dose, total dose equivalent and incremental dose, as a function of linear energy transfer (LET) and time, for penetrating radiation in space.

The detector unit is attached directly to the multi-channel analyzer (MCA) card in the spectrometer.

Different size detectors can be attached to the TEPC depending on the desired task.

The radiation data that is measured can be stored inside the spectrometer unit for later analysis or communicated via RS-232 to a host computer.

The TEPC is calibrated in terms of lineal energy, by exposing it to fission neutrons and 137Cesium sources.

Human SpaceFlight: Radiation is the Greatest Danger

Artist's rendering of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle on a deep space mission. CREDIT: NASA

High radiation levels beyond Earth orbit pose the biggest challenge to human exploration of deep-space destinations, experts say.

With current spacecraft technology, astronauts can cruise through deep space for a maximum of one year or so before accumulating a dangerously high radiation dose, researchers say.

As a result, many intriguing solar system targets remain off-limits to human exploration at the moment.

"There is an equivalent of a Mach 1 — a sound barrier — that exists, in terms of galactic cosmic radiation," Alvin Drew, manager of NASA's Deep Space Habitat Project, during a presentation with the agency's Future In-Space Operations working group.

"Until we solve that, we are still in the age of wooden ships and canvas sail for going out in space," added Drew, an astronaut who has flown on two space shuttle missions.

"Until we get to a point where we are looking at steam engines and ships of iron, we may be very limited in how far we can go."

Nasa Mars Rover Curiosity: Atmospheric radiation may be lower than expected,

Mars' thin atmosphere -- and lack of magnetic field -- lets many charged and neutral particles through. 

Curiosity rover's Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument will check to see if astronauts could work there.

Credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Why the surprise? So far, it was expected that Mars, having a very thin atmosphere and no magnetosphere, would represent a rather harsh environment when it comes to cosmic radiation.

On Earth, the atmosphere and magnetosphere work as a powerful shield protecting terrestrial life. With the Martian atmosphere being only 1 % of the terrestrial one, it seems there was reason to be concerned.

These presumed high radiation levels would pose a significant threat to potential future astronauts travelling to Mars.

Moreover, they might be able to prevent the existence of any sort of Earth-like lifeforms on the planet.

Hassler was reluctant to reveal further details as he believes additional verification of the data needs to be carried out.

As the first radiation measurements ever carried out on the surface of another celestial body suggest, the radiation levels Curiosity detected on Mars are about the same as those experienced by crews aboard the International Space Station.

Astronomers Capture Fireworks in the Early Universe

Galaxies in the early universe grew fast by rapidly making new stars. 

Such prodigious star formation episodes, characterized by the intense radiation of the newborn stars, were often accompanied by fireworks in the form of energy bursts caused by the massive central black hole accretion in these galaxies. 

This discovery by a group of astronomers led by Peter Barthel of the Kapteyn Institute of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Our Milky Way galaxy forms stars at a slow, steady pace: on average one new star a year is born. Since the Milky Way contains about a hundred billion stars, the actual changes are very slight.

The Milky Way is an extremely quiet galaxy; its central black hole is inactive, with only weak energy outbursts due to the occasional capture of a passing star or gas cloud.

This is in marked contrast to the 'active' galaxies of which there are various types and which were abundant in the early universe.

Quasars and radio galaxies are prime examples: owing to their bright, exotic radiation, these objects can be observed as far as the edge of the observable universe.

The light of the normal stars in their galaxies is extremely faint at such distances, but active galaxies can be easily detected through their luminous radio, ultraviolet or X-ray radiation, which results from steady accretion onto their massive central black holes.

Until recently these distant active galaxies were only interesting in their own right as peculiar exotic objects.

Little was known about the composition of their galaxies, or their relationship to the normal galaxy population.

However, in 2009 ESA's Herschel space telescope was launched. Herschel is considerably larger than NASA's Hubble, and operates at far-infrared wavelengths.

This enables Herschel to detect heat radiation generated by the processes involved in the formation of stars and planets at a small scale, and of complete galaxies at a large scale.

Peter Barthel has been involved with Herschel since 1997 and heads an observational program targeting distant quasars and radio galaxies.

His team used the Herschel cameras to observe seventy of these objects. Initial inspection of the observations has revealed that many emit bright far-infrared radiation.


The Astrophysical Journal Letter 'Extreme host galaxy growth in powerful early-epoch radio galaxies', by Peter Barthel and co-authors, describes their project and the detailed analysis of the first three distant radio galaxies.

The fact that these three objects, as well as many others from the observational sample, emit strong far-infrared radiation indicates that vigorous star formation is taking place in their galaxies, creating hundreds of stars per year during one or more episodes lasting millions of years.

The bright radio emission implies strong, simultaneous black hole accretion. This means that while the black holes in the centers of the galaxies are growing (as a consequence of the accretion), the host galaxies are also growing rapidly.

The Herschel observations thereby provide an explanation for the observation that more massive galaxies have more massive black holes.

Astronomers have observed this scaling relationship since the 1990s: the fireworks in the early universe could well be responsible for this relationship.

Says Barthel, "It is becoming clear that active galaxies are not only among the largest, most distant, most powerful and most spectacular objects in the universe, but also among the most important objects; many if not all massive normal galaxies must also have gone through similar phases of simultaneous black hole-driven activity and star formation."

Reference: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 757, Number 2 "Extreme Host Galaxy Growth in Powerful Early-epoch Radio Galaxies" Peter Barthel, Martin Haas, Christian Leipski, and Belinda Wilkes dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/757/2/L26

Tepco space camera detects radiation

 Image credit: TEPCO

The device, the ’super-wide angle Compton Camera’, uses technology that originates from space exploration, namely, it monitors radiation in the same manner that the ASTRO-H satellite (also known as NEXT or New X-ray Telescope) is able to.

Japanese researchers have developed a new way to detect and monitor potentially dangerous radiation.
Scientists based at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency have been working in partnership with the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA).

According to a recent press release, the collaborative project designed to develop radiation levels more efficiently has been a success.

In the aftermath of Fukushima and subsequent concerns over radiation and nuclear reactor safety, the team have designed a new gamma camera that can be used to help alleviate some of the these worries.

Radiation is detected via this spectrum and sensor-based technology. The camera is capable of creating images of gamma ray-emitting radioactive particles though advanced sensors with a 180 degree capability.

What makes the camera useful in relation to more land-bound activities is that it can detect radiation that has collected at high altitudes.

These can include area such as building roofs — where it is normally difficult for measurements to be collected with existing survey meters.
 

The Compton Camera has been trialed this year to detect radiation levels in a field test.

At the Kusano area of Iitate village in Fukushima, the camera measured both radiation and concentration levels.

According to the release, the trial was successful — resulting in a broad area and higher degree of accuracy in radiation detection than other gamma cameras are able to detect.

In conjunction with TEPCO, JAXA and JAEA will develop the camera towards feasible use in radiaoactive material monitoring and decontamination work.

Not only can it be used in dangerous areas (such as at the Fukushima nuclear power plant) but it could also be used to monitor close-by areas and assess their safety levels.

Massive Solar Flare: HD Still

NASA image captured March 6, 2012

View a video of this event here

The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle on March 6, 2012 at 7PM ET.

This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare, after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011, since the sun’s activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007.

The current increase in the number of X-class flares is part of the sun’s normal 11-year solar cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which is expected to peak in late 2013.

About an hour later, at 8:14 PM ET, March 6, the same region let loose an X1.3 class flare. An X1 is 5 times smaller than an X5 flare.

These X-class flares erupted from an active region named AR 1429 that rotated into view on March 2.

Prior to this, the region had already produced numerous M-class and one X-class flare. The region continues to rotate across the front of the sun, so the March 6 flare was more Earthward facing than the previous ones.

It triggered a temporary radio blackout on the sunlit side of Earth that interfered with radio navigation and short wave radio.



In association with these flares, the sun also expelled two significant coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are travelling faster than 600 miles a second and may arrive at Earth in the next few days.

In the meantime, the CME associated with the X-class flare from March 4 has dumped solar particles and magnetic fields into Earth’s atmosphere and distorted Earth's magnetic fields, causing a moderate geomagnetic storm, rated a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5.

Such storms happen when the magnetic fields around Earth rapidly change strength and shape.

A moderate storm usually causes aurora and may interfere with high frequency radio transmission near the poles.

This storm is already dwindling, but the Earth may experience another enhancement if the most recent CMEs are directed toward and impact Earth.

In addition, last night’s flares have sent solar particles into Earth’s atmosphere, producing a moderate solar energetic particle event, also called a solar radiation storm.

These particles have been detected by NASA’s SOHO and STEREO spacecraft, and NOAA’s GOES spacecraft.

At the time of writing, this storm is rated an S3 on a scale that goes up to S5. Such storms can interfere with high frequency radio communication.

Besides the August 2011 X-class flare, the last time the sun sent out flares of this magnitude was in 2006. There was an X6.5 on December 6, 2006 and an X9.0 on December 5, 2006.

Like the most recent events, those two flares erupted from the same region on the sun, which is a common occurrence.

Credit: NASA/SOHO

Solar Storms: Electro-magnetic Radiation from the Sun

Caption: Artist illustration of events on the sun changing the conditions in Near-Earth space.

Credit: NASA 

Space weather starts at the sun. It begins with an eruption such as a huge burst of light and radiation called a solar flare or a gigantic cloud of solar material called a coronal mass ejection (CME).

But the effects of those eruptions happen at Earth, or at least near-Earth space. Scientists monitor several kinds of space "weather" events, geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms, and radio blackouts – all caused by these immense explosions on the sun.

To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/storms-on-sun.html

Glowing Nebula: Ultra-Violet Radiation

The Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory has imaged a region of star formation called NGC 3324. The intense radiation from several of NGC 3324's massive, blue-white stars has carved out a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust.
CREDIT: ESO

The Heart Of Cygnus Fermi: A Cosmic-ray Cocoon

Cygnus X hosts many young stellar groupings, including the OB2 and OB9 associations and the cluster NGC 6910. 

The combined outflows and ultraviolet radiation from the region's numerous massive stars have heated and pushed gas away from the clusters, producing cavities of hot, lower-density gas.

In this 8-micron infrared image, ridges of denser gas mark the boundaries of the cavities. Bright spots within these ridges show where stars are forming today. Credit: NASA/IPAC/MSX.

The constellation Cygnus, now visible in the western sky as twilight deepens after sunset, hosts one of our galaxy's richest-known stellar construction zones.

Astronomers viewing the region at visible wavelengths see only hints of this spectacular activity thanks to a veil of nearby dust clouds forming the Great Rift, a dark lane that splits the Milky Way, a faint band of light marking our galaxy's central plane.

Located in the vicinity of the second-magnitude star Gamma Cygni, the star-forming region was named Cygnus X when it was discovered as a diffuse radio source by surveys in the 1950s.

Now, a study using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope finds that the tumult of star birth and death in Cygnus X has managed to corral fast-moving particles called cosmic rays.

Cosmic rays are subatomic particles - mainly protons - that move through space at nearly the speed of light. In their journey across the galaxy, the particles are deflected by magnetic fields, which scramble their paths and make it impossible to backtrack the particles to their sources.

Yet when cosmic rays collide with interstellar gas, they produce gamma rays - the most energetic and penetrating form of light - that travel to us straight from the source.

By tracing gamma-ray signals throughout the galaxy, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) is helping astronomers understand the sources of cosmic rays and how they're accelerated to such high speeds. In fact, this is one of the mission's key goals.

The galaxy's best candidate sites for cosmic-ray acceleration are the rapidly expanding shells of ionized gas and magnetic field associated with supernova explosions. For stars, mass is destiny, and the most massive ones - known as types O and B - live fast and die young.

They're also relatively rare because such extreme stars, with masses more than 40 times that of our sun and surface temperatures eight times hotter, exert tremendous influence on their surroundings.

With intense ultraviolet radiation and powerful outflows known as stellar winds, the most massive stars rapidly disperse their natal gas clouds, naturally limiting the number of massive stars in any given region.

Which brings us back to Cygnus X. Located about 4,500 light-years away, this star factory is believed to contain enough raw material to make two million stars like our sun.

Within it are many young star clusters and several sprawling groups of related O- and B-type stars, called OB associations.

One, called Cygnus OB2, contains 65 O stars - the most massive, luminous and hottest type - and nearly 500 B stars.

Astronomers estimate that the association's total stellar mass is 30,000 times that of our sun, making Cygnus OB2 the largest object of its type within 6,500 light-years. And with ages of less than 5 million years, few of its most massive stars have lived long enough to exhaust their fuel and explode as supernovae.

Intense light and outflows from the monster stars in Cygnus OB2 and from several other nearby associations and star clusters have excavated vast amounts of gas from their vicinities.

The stars reside within cavities filled with hot, thin gas surrounded by ridges of cool, dense gas where stars are now forming.

It's within the hollowed-out zones that Fermi's LAT detects intense gamma-ray emission, according to a paper describing the findings that was published in the journal Science.

Plutonium-238 Scarcity Could Derail Future NASA Space Missions

NASA's future space missions may be delayed or cancelled to the scarcity of plutonium-238 which has been used by the space agency to fuel its manned spacecrafts for the past 50 years.

Scientists say that without additional stores of this fuel, the agency's ability to conduct future planetary science is in jeopardy, adding that it is something the United States simply cannot afford.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity which is scheduled to launch Nov. 26, is powered by this radioactive element.

However, with the chemical getting scarce, Curiosity may be the last in a long line of spacecrafts to be powered by plutonium.

"It's like having a car and no gasoline in the car," said Ralph McNutt, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory and a project scientist for NASA's Messenger mission to Mercury.

"The development of this power system has taken place in the U.S. over five decades, and we're on the verge of throwing it all away."

In 2009, the National Research Council reported that plutonium-238 has been and will continue to be "essential to the U.S. space science and exploration program."

The council recommended that domestic production of the material be restarted in order to sustain NASA's planetary science program, and to avoid delays or even cancellations of future missions.

Plutonium-238 is a toxic substance that gives off heat that can be converted to electricity in the cold, dark depths of space.

The United States produced this highly toxic chemical in facilities that supported the nuclear weapons program during the Cold War but they stopped making it in the late 1980s.

The NASA has used these plutonium-powered systems for famous missions like the Voyager probes.

However, Jim Adams, deputy director of planetary science at NASA, told NPR that even with slow down in space exploration due to budget constraints, fuel for NASA missions is only up to around 2022.

ESA gain ISO quality stamp care of NPL

Cosmic radiation is a threat to a spacecraft's electronics, so irradiation by gamma rays is one of the most crucial tests carried out on candidate spacecraft components to confirm their suitability for space flight.

Gamma radiation from a cobalt-60 source is a standard method for simulating exposure to the cosmic particles encountered in orbit. The facility replicates the lifetime effects of cumulative radiation doses, with accelerated testing to simulate years of exposure within just a few days.

Spacecraft such as satellites need to be tested with exposure to gamma rays to confirm they are ready for space flight

The European Space Agency (ESA) has its own cobalt-60 source at its ESTEC technical and engineering centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, where it tests spacecraft components, with the high level of measurement confidence required by its customers.

NPL's Radiation Dosimetry group worked closely with the ESA team to help them develop the measurements and procedures necessary to achieve an independent accreditation to the ISO 17025 standard - General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.

The process was a lengthy one, with initial discussions back in 2007, and NPL played the crucial role of external adviser, coming up with ways of improving not just methods of testing, but also their accompanying technical documentation.

In practical terms, this now means all ESA projects and external customers using the facility can be sure its results have well-defined uncertainty margins, following testing and quality procedures that adhere strictly and transparently to international standards.

With space an ever-more international endeavour, different partner countries can apply these results with full confidence, knowing they are completely reproducible and repeatable.

Find out more about NPL's Dosimetry research.

Find out more about NPL's Radiation Dosimetry facilities.

Find out more about ESA's cobalt-60 irradiation facility.