The Sweetest Real Estate In The Solar System

Way back in 2019, the New Horizons space probe passed by the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth, a 20-mile-wide chunk of ice that bears an uncanny resemblance to a snowman. Arrokoth is thus officially the farthest object ever closely observed and explored, and unless a new target for New Horizons to be pointed at is found in the next few years (an unlikely scenario, considering how little fuel New Horizons has left), Arrokoth will hold that record for a very long time.

 NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

While the snowman resemblance is kind of neat, there really isn't much to Arrokoth to excite the average person. It's a chunk of ice floating around billions of miles away. However, scientists were intrigued by the object's color; Arrokoth is a rusty red, which isn't generally a color that ice becomes. The theory at the time was that the solar wind had converted Arrokoth's various ices into organic molecules, and that these organic molecules were responsible for the object's unusual color.

Unfortunately, New Horizons couldn't turn around for a second look to answer this very important question, but it didn't need to, courtesy of a new study. The experiment the researchers undertook was shockingly simple: Build a miniature Kuiper Belt object, bombard it with high-energy electrons to simulate billions of years worth of solar wind, and observe the results.

The first thing they noticed after irradiating their chunk of ice was the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are actually quite common throughout the universe. But beyond that, they found a couple surprises, namely a sugar you're familiar with: glucose. The very same glucose, in fact, that your body depends on. So, if you went out there, dug up a little chunk, and licked it, the ice would actually taste sweet. It's those various sugars, the researchers said, that give Arrokoth its unusual color.

But before you suit up for the longest trip to the candy store ever undertaken, there's a catch to Arrokoth's sweetness. During their test, the researchers also detected glycerol, which is an important ingredient in soap. And that's not such a nice thing to eat. Unless, of course, you've just dropped the F-dash-dash-dash. Ralphie would probably appreciate a sweet-tasting soap ... so long as he doesn't get his tongue stuck to it.

Recently Discovered Asteroid Is Still In Geologic Diaper

Trust me, that headline makes sense in the end.

Back in November 2023, the Lucy space probe passed the asteroid 152830 Dinkinesh, a main-belt asteroid about a kilometer in diameter. During this close fly-by, Lucy discovered that Dinkinesh was actually a binary asteroid, as it had a small companion moon (about 200 meters in diameter). This moon was named Selam; its namesake is a young Australopithecus afarensis individual discovered about 25 years ago. Australopithecus afarensis, if you're not familiar, was an early homidid species, with the most famous example being ... Lucy, the space probe's namesake, who lived 3.2 million years ago. 

Keep that number in mind for a moment as we get back to Selam. The asteroid, not the ancient hominid.

Naturally, astronomers performed all sorts of research on Selam, and recently made a rather interesting discovery, based on the moon's orbit: Selam is young. It's a veritable infant, in fact, coming in at just 2 to 3 million years old. Now, that's obviously pretty old by normal human standards, but compared to the age of the solar system? That's nothing. Not only that, the asteroid is actually younger than the namesake of the space probe that discovered it. Pretty rare for a celestial object we've visited to be younger than something tangible in human history, but here we have it.

Also, the researchers calculated Selam's age using something called a tidal-BYORP equilibrium equation, and yes, the joke here is that BYORP is a funny-sounding acronym. Look, not everything can be high-brow and informative. Sometimes you just have to appreciate BYORP and leave it at that.

To Boldly Go Where No Head Has Ached Before

Space travel is a bit of a headache. Actually, that's underselling the problem, space travel is an enormous headache. There are so many things that can go wrong and so many things that need to be accounted for to keep astronauts safe in a cruelly punishing environment. You have to think about air, radiation, the lack of gravity ... the list goes on and on.

And now, if the metaphorical headaches weren't bad enough, astronauts also need to contend with the actual headaches. 

In research published in Neurology, 22 of 24 astronauts followed during a 7-year period of observation on the International Space Station experienced one or more instances of headache, with 378 headaches being reported over 3,596 total days in space. In addition, before going into space, only 38% of those astronauts experienced headaches; after returning to Earth, no astronaut reported experiencing headaches.

It's perhaps not surprising that headaches were worse during the first week in space, being both worse in severity and more likely to be migraine-like, but headaches continued to occur throughout each astronaut's time in space.

So, what's going on to make space both a figurative and literal headache? While the study authors stressed that the study findings only show an association between space travel and headaches, they added that it most likely comes down to the lack of gravity. Not only does zero G degrade your bones and muscles, it also affects balance and posture. Space motion sickness is extremely common, and while vomiting may be the first thing that comes to mind for astronauts who haven't gotten their space legs yet, headache is actually just a common a symptom of motion sickness.

Now obviously, there are bigger problems to tackle than space headaches when it comes to making human space travel possible. Still, it is an important issue to tackle. We don't want the first person to step foot on Mars to walk out of the lander and say "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for the ibuprofen keeping the migraines at bay."

Voyager 2 Is Truly All Alone Right Now

NASA's made a bit of a boo-boo. They recently sent a series of planned commands to Voyager 2, which is something they do from time to time. However, somewhere in those commands was apparently an order to rotate the craft by 2 degrees. That's not a lot, but when we're dealing with a spacecraft over 12 billion miles away, it's more than enough to completely cut communication with Voyager 2. Oops.

There is some good news. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed a bit later utilizing the Deep Space Network that Voyager 2 is still broadcasting. They didn't fully lose it; Voyager 2 is still alive. NASA engineers will attempt to contact the probe and get it to point back at Earth. But even if that doesn't work, all is not lost, as Voyager 2 is programmed to automatically point itself at Earth every few months. The next reorientation is scheduled for October 15. Contact should be resumed then.

In the end, this should represent a relatively harmless blip in Voyager 2's long life, but also, come on NASA, what are you doing? Voyager's been cruising for 46 years now and it's billions and billions of miles away? Don't get it upset now. Come on.

Saturn Becomes Moon Champion Of The Solar System

Jupiter and Saturn have a lot of moons. Many, many moons. Earlier this year, Jupiter edged ahead of Saturn in the official total, with scientists announcing 12 new moons, bringing its total up to 92, compared with 83 for Saturn. But Jupiter didn't hold onto the crown for long, as scientists have now announced 62 new moons around Saturn. This means Saturn now has 145 official moons, making it the first planet to have more than 100. That is a lot of moons. I distinctly remember growing up learning that Saturn only had 18 moons. And I'm not that old. Naturally, Cassini helped boost the total, but most of the new moons were discovered here on Earth. This batch of 62 came from observations out of an observatory in Hawaii.

Naturally, all of these new moons are tiny, irregular rocks, just a few kilometers across. There are no undiscovered Titans lurking around Saturn. And of course, similar observations of Jupiter could reveal just as many similar moons, if not more. Jupiter may end up taking the title of Moon Champion back. But for now, Saturn is very, very far ahead.

Earth Punches An Asteroid In The Face For Science

You may have heard about this already, but NASA recently attacked an asteroid. And that's not really hyperbole. In fact, NASA went all in with the DART space probe, literally launching the half-ton probe into Dimorphos, a 500-foot-wide asteroid in orbit around Didymos, a slightly larger asteroid. There's a very good reason they did this: To test whether or not NASA could save Earth from asteroid impact. 

It's really simple physics. Slam an object into another object, and that second object's trajectory will be altered. Now, even moving at 14,000 MPH, DART won't alter Dimorphos' orbit by that much. This is a half-ton spacecraft versus a giant boulder weighing millions of tons. But NASA is hopeful that they will see something (they're hoping for shortening the orbital period by 1%, or 10 minutes), which is why they undertook this test on a moon, rather than any old asteroid. It's much easier to see a change in an orbit that's only a few thousand miles long, rather than an asteroid orbiting the sun, where the orbital circumference would be a couple hundred million miles long. 

A 1% orbital period change isn't a lot, obviously, but remember, this is space we're talking about. If we detect an asteroid or comet coming straight for Earth from far enough away, a 1% change in trajectory would absolutely make the difference between that object hitting and missing Earth. So, in conclusion, NASA is testing an Earth defense system, and unless physics lets us down, it should work. You can hopefully take "asteroid impact" of the list of potential apocalypses. 

Now That James Webb Is Active, What's It Been Up To?

Obviously, the big space news this month is James Webb, and the numerous images it's sent back. You've probably seen that iconic first image, the deep field view of a tiny corner of the universe, peering back billions of years. But it's done more than that, and this is a good review of the telescope's first couple weeks of activity. I'm excited for what's to come: James Webb has imaged the TRAPPIST-1 system, well known for hosting multiple potentially habitable planets. The data's still being analyzed, but we'll know soon.

James Webb's iconic first image.

Voyager Probes Begin Their Long Goodbye

Voyagers 1 and 2 have lived a remarkable life. We're at 45 years now, 15 years longer than I've lived, and yet they're still out there, still reporting back to an increasingly distant Earth. And if NASA has its way, they will continue to do so for another 10 years. But the Voyagers were not made to live forever. Their plutonium power supply is losing potency at a rate of 4 watts a year, and so, to keep the probes going as long as possible, some of their instruments will be shut down. The power just cannot be spared. 

But while the Voyagers will eventually run out of power, let's not forget all the work they've done over their long lives. That's a long article, but very informative. I didn't know that the engineers essentially snuck one over on the government, utilizing slightly more expensive parts to make the probes much hardier. They were only supposed to last a few years, not 50. Just think what we would have missed out on if they hadn't bent the rules.

The End Is Scheduled For the ISS

As a new and exciting era of space exploration begins with the James Webb Space Telescope, another ends. The International Space Station has a definitive end of life, scheduled for a controlled deorbiting in 2031. However, it won't be easing into retirement, with NASA planning a full load of science in the next 9 years. Yeah, those goals are a bit opaque at this point, in the general "do science for the benefit of humanity" sense, but it's not going to be like Skylab which sort of sat around unused for the majority of its time up in space.

A big question for the post-ISS future: What comes next? NASA is betting on commercial space station, which is ... ambitious. Private space flight is definitely something that exists, but an entire space station? I wouldn't be surprised to see that 2031 date pushed back a bit, since NASA said they definitely want some overlap between the first commercial station going up and the ISS coming down. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the only space stations being commercially owned. These private space companies aren't owned by the greatest of people.

James Webb Has Arrived

Yes, the James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at its final resting spot (the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point) and has fully deployed. Now all we have to do is wait for it to cool down, and the science will start to pour in. Bonus points: It seems to have used less fuel than initially predicted to reach L2, so the James Webb team says the telescope should be able to operate beyond the 10 years they originally planned on. That's some great news right there.

A Post That Isn't About Golf or Beer

It's been a while, hasn't it? 

I suppose the big news as of late is the James Webb telescope, which has finally stopped being a punchline and is actually out in space, heading toward its final position a million miles from Earth, off at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 2. As of January 6, it's deployed its radiator and its secondary mirrors. It won't be fully cooled off until summer, but the deployment process has gone well thus far. And it has to, considering that nothing can go wrong. It's not like Hubble, there's no fixing the mirror if it's misaligned. In that regard, it's probably a good thing they took so long to launch it. Still, I can't imagine anyone on that project has done much sleeping in the past couple weeks. I know I'd be struggling.

Oh, and don't worry, we'll be right back to our regularly scheduled golf and beer programming. 

Riding a Wienermobile to the Moon

Okay, not quite, but Oscar Mayer has offered NASA usage of a Wienermobile to transport astronauts up to the Orion rocket from their crew quarters several miles away from the launch pad. Among other potential uses, the Orion rocket will be used for Artemis, or NASA's return to the moon. I don't have much else to say about this, but I kind of want to see the Neil Armstrong of the 21st century walking out of a Wienermobile up to his rocket on his way to the moon. Not exactly profound, but definitely funny.

New Space Probe In The Works To Explore Beyond The Solar System

We have sent a total of four space probes beyond the confines of the solar system, with one more quickly approaching the edge. The Voyagers have given us a decent amount of good data about interstellar space, but they weren't designed for it, and it's the same story for New Horizons when it gets out that far. Those probes can only tell us so much. So now NASA has a new mission in the works, though it's still very early, to send a purpose-built space probe out to study interstellar space. The mission, which will hopefully launch in the mid 2030s and will last around 50 years, will involve the probe blasting out quickly (relatively speaking that is) to around 1,000 AU and examining the heliosphere, which is where the sun's influence ends. It's an ambitious mission, and I really hope it actually happens.

Want to be Rich? Move to 16 Psyche!

There are many asteroids in the solar, but 16 Psyche is a pretty unique one. For one thing, it's pretty big, being about 140 miles in diameter. In addition, it's mostly made of metal, rather than rock or ice. Hubble has taken a close look at this object and determined that it's mostly made of iron and nickel. That's the same composition as the core of a planet, and it's led scientists to theorize that 16 Psyche is precisely that: The exposed core of a planet that was never able to form, or was formed but was destroyed. We'll find out more in a few years when a NASA mission reaches 16 Psyche.

Oh, about the being rich thing ... the iron that 16 Psyche is made of is worth about 10,000 quadrillion dollars. And that's just the iron. So expect mining operations to begin as soon as possible. It may not be as romantic as a gold rush, but the great iron rush of 16 Psyche is coming.

Curiosity Reaches 8 Years on Mars

It's impressive, but it's still got 6 years before it matches Opportunity. NASA really knows how to make its Mars rovers, it seems, and we can only hope Perseverance, the new rover recently launched, has just as much good luck as its older siblings.

Want to Design A Moon Toilet?

Try to think of a career that's more bold and exciting than astronaut. But getting to space takes a lot of hard and not so glamorous work. There's a lot of engineering involved in making a spaceship, and not just the engineering you might expect. Take the Lunar Loo Challenge recently announced by NASA, which is exactly what you might expect. Design a toilet that is small and can be used on the moon. The winner gets $35,000, and there's even a junior category if you're a kid who loves space and also enjoys designing bathrooms. Hey, I'm sure there's someone out there who fits that description.

Today in Counterproductivity

We want to send people to Mars. That's a big goal both for science and politicians. So you would think it would make sense to fund our current Mars projects adequately so that we can learn as much as possible to make that first manned mission as safe and productive for the astronauts as possible. This would be a poor time to cut the budget of our Mars expeditions. Or not. Sure, it's still a proposal at this point so hopefully things will change, but come on government. Let's give NASA the money they need.

The James Webb Telescope Won't be a Joke Much Longer

Yes, not only does it have an official launch date (March 2021), but the telescope and the scientific instruments have been put together. So that's only about 10 years late. Maybe more.

Yeah, that's all I've got for this week. I'm just impressed this stupid telescope is actually moving forward in a coherent fashion.

New Horizons Completes Fly-by of Ultima Thule

What I really want to know is if the timing was purposeful or not. Having New Horizons complete this historic fly-by on New Year's Day just seems a little too convenient.

Anyway, we have our first actual image of a Kuiper Belt object! And it's ... a red snowman!

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Obviously, this isn't the greatest picture of all time, and more will be coming. New Horizons is beaming back data at a very low power, so it's going to take more than a year to get everything back from the encounter. Hey, New Horizons is 4 billion miles away, you gotta be patient with these things.

But I'm sure we'll be getting more and better pictures in the days to come. I doubt this will be the last time I write about little Ultima Thule.

Slow Pulsars and Kepler is Dead

Yes, we've got a double whammy with the space news today.

Slowest-spinning pulsar discovered

Most pulsars spin really quickly. Like, they can complete one rotation in dozens or maybe even hundreds of times per second. The slowest rotation period previously discovered is 8.5 seconds. That makes this new pulsar positively lazy, to be honest. It takes a lethargic 23.5 seconds to complete one rotation.

What makes the discovery more impressive is the emission only lasts 200 milliseconds. That means the outgoing radio beam isn't directly facing us and could have very easily missed us entirely.

Will this discovery mean anything earth-shattering? Well, probably not, though it was not known pulsars could spin so slowly and still produce radio emissions. So that's kind of cool.

RIP Kepler

I posted something about this a few months ago, and I just thought I'd update with the official time of death. On October 30th, NASA officials announced that Kepler had run out of fuel and its mission was finally at an end. It was a good and productive life for the telescope, and it's given us incredible insight into exoplanets and how common they really are.