Is the Habitable Worlds Observatory a Good Idea?

Conceptual vision of the Habitable Worlds Observatory. Credit/©: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

The Habitable Worlds Observatory, NASA’s planned successor to the James Webb Space Telescope, will be a monster of an instrument. Using the same origami-like technique pioneered by the James Webb, the HWO will unfold a mirror spanning 6-8 meters across. Among its many science goals, its primary mission will be to directly image promising nearby exoplanets to hunt for biosignatures, which are signs of life as we know it.

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Spring-loaded Robot Could Explore the Asteroid Belt Almost Indefinitely

The asteroid belt beckons – it contains enough resources for humans to expand into the entire rest of the solar system and has no biosphere to speak of. Essentially, it is a giant mine just waiting to be exploited. So, a student team from the University of Texas at Austin has devised a plan to exploit it as part of the Revolutionary Aerospace System Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL), a competition sponsored by NASA to encourage undergraduate and graduate students to develop innovative ideas to solve some of space exploration’s challenges. UT Austin’s submission to the competition last year, known as the Autonomous Exploration Through Extraterrestrial Regions (AETHER) project, certainly fits that bill.

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Stunning 80 Megapixel Image of a Stellar Nursery

This is an 80-million-pixel picture of the star cluster RCW 38, located 5500 light-years away. Credit: ESO

RCW 38 is a molecular cloud of ionized hydrogen (HII) roughly 5,500 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Vela. Located in this cloud is a massive star-forming cluster populated by young stars, short-lived massive stars, and protostars surrounded by clouds of brightly glowing gas. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) recently released a stunning 80-million-pixel image of the star cluster that features the bright streaks and swirls of RCW 38, the bright pink of its gas clouds, and its many young stars (which appear as multi-colored dots).

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Many Stars Could Have Sent Us ‘Oumuamua

ESO/M. Kornmesser

When astronomers detected the first known interstellar object, ‘Oumuamua, in 2017, it sparked a host of new studies trying to understand the origin and trajectory of the galactic sojourner.

‘Oumuamua’s unique properties – unlike anything orbiting our sun – had scientists pondering how such an object could have formed. Now, a pair of researchers, Xi-Ling Zheng and Ji-Lin Zhou, are using numerical simulations to test out possible solar system configurations that could result in ‘Oumuamua-like objects. Their findings show that solar systems with a single giant planet have the necessary orbital mechanics at work to create such an object – but that other explanations may still be required.

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Construction of Roman Continues With the Addition of its Sunshade

Technician Brenda Estavia is installing the innermost layer of the sunshade onto the deployable aperture cover structure of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya

NASA continues to progress with the development of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST), the next-generation observatory with a target launch date of 2027. As the direct successor to the venerable Hubble Space Telescope, Roman will build on the successes of Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, the “mother of the Hubble,” the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will have a panoramic field of view 200 times greater than Hubble’s infrared view, enabling the first wide-field maps of the Universe.

Combined with observations by the ESA’s Euclid mission, these maps will help astronomers resolve the mystery of Dark Matter and cosmic expansion. The development process reached another milestone as the mission team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center successfully integrated the mission’s sunshade—a visor-like aperture cover—into the outer barrel assembly. This deployable structure will shield the telescope from sunlight and keep it at a stable temperature, allowing it to take high-resolution optical and infrared images of the cosmos.

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A Flaming Flower in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Stars are born, shine brightly, and some die young as energetic supernova explosions. In this image of the open star cluster NGC 2040 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the cluster resembles a flaming flower. The image was captured by the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory. This nebulous flower showcases the dramatic story of stellar life, death and rebirth. Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Our neighbour, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is rich in gas and dust and hosts regions of extremely robust star formation. It contains about 700 open clusters, groups of gravitationally bound stars that all formed from the same giant molecular cloud. The clusters can contain thousands of stars, all emitting vibrant energy that lights up their surroundings.

One of these clusters is NGC 2040 in the constellation of Dorado, and the Gemini South Telescope captured its portrait.

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A Bola Robot Could Provide Stable Jumping Capability on Low-Gravity Bodies

New research on locomotion techniques that could be used in space exploration is constantly coming out. A lab from UCLA known as the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) is presenting a paper at the upcoming IEEE Aerospace Conference in March that details a unique system. The Space and Planetary Limbed Intelligent Tether Technology Exploration Robot (SPLITTER) consists of two miniaturized jumping robots tethered together.

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White Dwarfs Could Be More Habitable Than We Thought

Artist's rendition of a white dwarf from the surface of an orbiting exoplanet. New research suggests that white dwarfs can be hospitable hosts for life-supporting exoplanets. Image Credit: Madden/Cornell University

White dwarfs are the remnants of once brilliant main sequence stars like our Sun. They’re extremely dense and no longer perform any fusion. The light they radiate is from remnant heat only.

Astronomers have doubted that white dwarfs could host habitable planets, partly because of the tumultuous path they follow to become white dwarfs, but new research suggests otherwise.

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Dramatically Decreasing the Time it Takes to Measure Asteroid Distances

Artist's impression of a Near-Earth Asteroid passing by Earth. Asteroids are out there and they pose a threat to Earth. A new method of determining their distance more quickly could help keep us safe. Image Credit: ESA

We all know that asteroids are out there, that some of them come dangerously close to Earth, and that they’ve struck Earth before with catastrophic consequences. The recent discovery of asteroid 2024 YR4 reminds us of the persistent threat that asteroids present. There’s an organized effort to find dangerous space rocks and determine how far away they are and where their orbits will take them.

A team of scientists has developed a method that will help us more quickly determine an asteroid’s distance, a critical part of determining its orbit.

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Should Astronauts Add Jumping to their Workout Routine?

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti uses the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device aboard the International Space Station to simulate weightlifting in microgravity Credit:NASA / ESA

It’s a familiar sight to see astronauts on board ISS on exercise equipment to minimise muscle and bone loss from weightlessness. A new study suggests that jumping workouts could help astronauts prevent cartilage damage during long missions to the Moon and Mars. They found that the knee cartilage in mice seems to grow stronger after jumping exercises, potentially counteracting the effects of low gravity on joint health. If effective in humans, this approach could be included in pre-flight routines or adapted for space missions.

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