Gemini South Telescope: A new eye to scan the sky for exoplanets

The Gemini South telescope houses the latest gear to hunt down and snap photos of exoplanets. 

Credit: Gemini Observatory, CC BY 

There is excitement in astronomy and planetary science departments worldwide as the new Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), housed in the Gemini South Telescope in the Chilean Andes, turns its razor-sharp gaze to the skies.

This device, known as GPI for short, is the first of a small handful of sophisticated instruments to attempt a task that until recently was considered all but impossible: to image the faint mote of light betraying the presence of a planet nestled against the overwhelming glare of its host star.

Planets in orbit around distant stars, exoplanets, are now known to adorn more than 1,000 star systems. There is possibly five times that number under strong suspicion awaiting only final confirmatory data to join the club.

You could be forgiven for thinking this avalanche of discovery – all coming in the past 20 years – has settled most of the important questions in exoplanetary science.

The reality, though, is it hasn't.


Location, location, location
The sample of exoplanets we now have tells us far more about the limitations of the techniques we use to find them than it does about the exoplanets themselves. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

The search can be likened to the proverbial scientist in a dark car park searching for a set of dropped car keys under the only streetlight.

A passer-by asks: "Did you drop your keys there?" "No," you reply. "I dropped them somewhere over there in the dark, but I can only see here."

That patch of discovery illuminated by our present instruments particularly favours the largest planets in the closest orbits about their host stars.

The extreme examples of this (and the most celebrated exoplanet discovery, of 51 Peg, that launched the field in 1995) are known as "hot Jupiters".

The name understates their inhospitable crushing gravity combined with searing radiation field from the looming host star.

In a quest to identify planets capable of supporting life hot Jupiters score low. Astronomers are working on a valuation scheme that would identify those that lie within the so-called "habitable zone".

TDRS-L Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Launch Lights Up the Night Sky

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lights up the night sky over Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida as it carries NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, to Earth orbit. 

Launch was at 9:33 p.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 23 during a 40-minute launch window.

The TDRS-L spacecraft is the second of three new satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for NASA by expanding the lifespan of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) fleet, which consists of eight satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

The spacecraft provide tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human exploration missions orbiting Earth.

These include NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. 

TDRS-L has a high-performance solar panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet the growing S-band communications requirements.

TDRSS is one of three NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) networks providing space communications to NASA’s missions.

Image Credit: NASA/Dan Casper

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Ready For Launch From Cape Canaveral

The chosen launch vehicle, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-L) spacecraft on board, arrives at the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41. 

The TDRS-L spacecraft is the second of three new satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for NASA by expanding the lifespan of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) fleet, which consists of eight satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

The spacecraft provide tracking, telemetry, command and high bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human exploration missions orbiting Earth.

These include NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.

TDRS-L has a high-performance solar panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet the growing S-band communications requirements.

TDRSS is one of NASA's three Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) networks providing space communications to NASA missions.

Image Credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

NASA accepts third generation TDRS into network

This is TDRS-k, ready for launch. 

Credit: Boeing

NASA has accepted ownership of its newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) from Boeing after successfully completing in orbit testing. TDRS-K, will be renamed TDRS-11 upon entry into service.

"This is a major step in replenishing an aging TDRS fleet which is essential in providing communications to support space exploration," said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters.

"We look forward to the launch of two additional satellites in the next few years to complete the replenishment program."

The TDRS fleet provides communications support to an array of science missions, as well as several launch vehicles.

The network has provided critical real-time communication with NASA's human spaceflights since early in the Space Shuttle Program. TDRS network operations continue to provide support for International Space Station activities.

"The acceptance of this spacecraft is the result of many years of hard work by dedicated team members at NASA and Boeing," said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

"This next generation of spacecraft ensure network continuity for at least another decade."

Goddard is home to the TDRS Project Office, which is responsible for the development and launch of the communication satellites.

The Boeing Company headquartered in Chicago, Ill., is the private contractor for the TDRS K, L and M satellites.

TDRS is the space element of NASA's Space Network, providing the critical communication lifeline for NASA missions.

NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Program, part of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for NASA's Space Network.

The TDRS fleet now consists of eight satellites with ground stations at White Sands, N.M. and Guam. NASA's upgrade to the network includes modifications to those ground terminals.

The TDRS Project was established in 1973 to provide continuous communications to NASA's critical low Earth-orbiting science and human spaceflight missions.

When TDRS-1 was launched from space shuttle Challenger in 1983, TDRS spacecraft were the largest, most sophisticated communication satellites ever built.

TDRS-1 provided NASA an exponential increase in data rates and contact time communicating with spacecraft.

NASA continued adding TDRS spacecraft (the first seven were built by TRW, later to become Northrop Grumman) until 1995.

TDRS-2 was lost during the Challenger accident in 1986. From 2000 to 2002, NASA added three spacecraft to the fleet, establishing the second generation.

The H, I, and J, satellites were built by Hughes (later to become Boeing) and continue to operate along with members of the now aging first generation. TDRS-1 was retired in 2010 and TDRS-4 in 2011.

On Jan. 30, TDRS-K was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Before this year's launch it had been 10 years since NASA last added a TDRS to the network.

These next-generation satellites are being built at Boeing's Space & Intelligence Systems in El Segundo, Calif.

TDRS-K, L, M, together with the other spacecraft that continue to operate well beyond their design life, will ensure NASA's critical missions will be supported into the 2020's.

The launch of TDRS-L is slated for January 2014 and TDRS-M will be ready for launch in December of 2015.

NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) test bed has begun its experiments

NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) test bed has begun its experiments after completing its checkout on the International Space Station.

The SCaN test bed is an advanced, integrated communications laboratory facility that uses a new generation of software-defined radio (SDR) technology to allow researchers to develop, test and demonstrate advanced communications, networking and navigation technologies in space.

This radio communication technology is based on a new standard that enables radio characteristics and functionality to be changed simply by altering the software. It can be transferred to any radio built to the standard.

The cost savings and efficiency of this new technology will improve NASA's data communications in the future.

Michael Suffredini

"The space station serves as a dynamic test bed for the technologies needed for future human and robotic exploration," said International Space Station Program Manager Michael Suffredini.

"SCaN is an example of the technologies that are being matured in low-Earth orbit and used to increase science return of many different types of spacecraft."

Checkout activities completed in February established the status and health of the payload, including the antenna systems and software on each of three SDRs.

The test bed will help technology developers and mission planners understand how they will be used in future missions.

"With the development and deployment of this test bed, NASA has enabled significant future advancements by gaining knowledge and understanding of SDR development," said John Rush, technology and standards director for SCaN at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"That has created expertise across the agency that will define and develop the next generation of SDRs for future missions."

Initial experiments under way include advancing in S-band and Ka-band SDR technology and enhancing the capabilities of the existing communications paths, especially in the Ka-band. Researchers expect the test bed to operate aboard the space station for as long as six years.

"The SCaN Test bed represents a significant advancement in SDRs and its applications for NASA," said David Irimies, project manager for the SCaN test bed at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

Credit: John Rush, technology and standards director for SCaN at NASA.
An experiment with NASA's latest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-K will be the first in-orbit test and demonstration of a TDRS spacecraft acquiring and successfully auto-tracking a Ka-band user in low-Earth orbit.

This reconfigurable in-orbit laboratory provides broad participation to NASA, industry, academia and other government agencies.

These experiments will contribute data to the Space Telecommunications Radio Standard Compliant repository and will enable future hardware platforms to use common, reusable software modules to reduce development time and costs.

Herschel & Planck satellites ready to go

Herschel, the monster space telescope, will position itself in an extended orbit (1.5Mn Km) on the other side of the Earth from the Sun (L2, Le Grange point). It will use the Earth as a shield to protect it from the Sun's local radiation. Its mission is to reveal the young universe in new detail.

Whereas the Planck satellite will take up a similar orbit at the L2, Le Grange point and start to record the background radiation left after the Big Bang. (Image: ESA)

A new Cosmic map

The new survey mapped the positions of more than 100,000 galaxies. The black strips are areas the survey did not cover because matter in our own galaxy blocked the view (Illustration: Chris Fluke/Swinburne University of Technology)