Exploring the Depths of Titan's Seas

by Nancy Smith Kilkenny for Glenn Research Center
Cleveland OH (SPX)
Mar 13, 2015

In our solar system, there are only two planetary bodies with liquid lakes and seas-Earth and Titan, a moon of Saturn. But instead of water, Titan lakes are made of liquid methane with temperatures registering at almost -300 F.

So how would NASA study this interesting place? Steve Oleson of NASA Glenn's COMPASS Lab (Collaborative Modeling for Parametric Assessment of Space Systems) believes the team, along with partners from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and the Penn State University Applied Research Lab have come up with an innovative answer.

"We have developed a concept to send a submarine to Titan's largest northern sea," says Oleson. "This craft would be loaded with scientific instruments that could carry out detailed investigations under the surface providing unprecedented knowledge of an extraterrestrial sea."

A 90-day, 1,250-mile voyage exploring Kraken Mare, a sea comparable in size to the Great Lakes, is proposed.

"The mission concept will investigate a full spectrum of oceanographic phenomena: chemical composition of the liquid, surface and subsurface currents, mixing and layering in the "water" column, tides, wind and waves, bathymetry, and bottom features and composition," explains Oleson. "Measurements of all these aspects of Titan's hydrocarbon ocean environment can only be made through focused exploration with a well-instrumented craft."

Communicating with Earth would not be possible when the vehicle is submerged, so it would need to make regular trips to the surface to transmit science data. Due to the length of time needed to develop the hardware, travel time and the fact that seasons last seven years on Titan, Oleson and his team propose a launch in the 2040s, one of the summer periods.

If the Titan submarine concept is chosen by NASA to develop further, NASA Glenn expertise in radioisotope power, sensor and communications systems would be incorporated into the design.

The COMPASS team presented its idea to NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium in February where visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions are presented for consideration. NIAC projects study innovative, technically credible, advanced concepts that could one day "change the possible" in aerospace.

Source: Saturn Daily.
Link: http://www.saturndaily.com/reports/Exploring_the_Depths_of_Titans_Seas_999.html.

Japan firm marks one small step for solar energy in space

Tokyo (AFP)
March 13, 2015

A major Japanese machinery company said Friday that it has succeeded in transmitting energy wirelessly, marking a step toward making solar power generation in space a reality.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said it used microwave technology to send 10 kilowatts of power -- enough to run a set of conventional kitchen appliances -- through the air to a receiver 500 meters (1,640 feet) away.

Wireless power transmission is currently under development as the core technology to tap the vast amount of solar energy available in space and use it on Earth.

While the distance in Mitsubishi's experiment was not huge, the technology could pave the way for humankind to eventually tap the vast amount of solar energy in space.

The announcement Friday comes after the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said it had also succeeded in moving a smaller 1.8 kilowatts of power wirelessly, and as a solar-powered Swiss plane broke a distance record as part of its bid to circumnavigate globe.

Resource-poor Japan is looking for ways to plug a yawning energy gap left by the shutdown of its nuclear reactors after the 2011 Fukushima atomic crisis. The accident forced Tokyo to turn to pricey fossil-fuel alternatives to keep the lights on.

"We believe we demonstrated the possibility of commercializing wireless power transmission through our experiment," Mitsubishi said in a statement on Friday.

Solar power generation in space has many advantages over its Earth-based cousin, notably the permanent availability of energy, regardless of weather or time of day.

While man-made satellites, such as the International Space Station, have long been able to use the solar energy that washes over them from the sun, getting that power down to Earth has been the thing of science fiction.

The Japanese research offers the possibility that humans will one day be able to farm an inexhaustible source of energy in space, but it is estimated to take years, possibly until 2040s, to commercialize the new technology.

For years, Japan's space agency has been working on devising Space Solar Power Systems, under which microwave-transmitting solar satellites would be set up about 36,000 kilometers (22,300 miles) from the earth.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Japan_firm_marks_one_small_step_for_solar_energy_in_space_999.html.

Astronauts return to Earth on Russian Soyuz spaceship

Miami (AFP)
March 12, 2015

Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut returned to Earth aboard a Soyuz space capsule after spending six months at the International Space Station.

Yelena Serova, Alexander Samokutyaev and Barry Wilmore landed in snowy Kazakhstan just after sunrise on Thursday morning.

"The Expedition 42 crew is back on Earth," said NASA commentator Rob Navias on the US space agency's live broadcast of the event.

"They have landed in a vertical position, upright," he added, citing Russian search and recovery forces which routinely go out to pick up the returning spacefarers after they touch down on the remote steppe southeast of Dzhezkazgan.

The trio left Earth on September 26. They spent 167 days in space and traveled more than 70 million miles (112 million kilometers) during that time, NASA said.

The next crew launches from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on March 28.

The men on board will be US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka.

Kelly and Kornienko will stay at the research outpost for an entire year instead of the usual six months, "collecting valuable biomedical data that will inform future deep space, long-duration missions," NASA said.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Astronauts_return_to_Earth_on_Russian_Soyuz_spaceship_999.html.

Ganymede, biggest moon in the solar system, has a saltwater ocean

by Eric Mack
March 12, 2015

NASA says new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope confirm the presence of a subsurface ocean on Jupiter's largest moon.

The ocean is estimated to be about 60 miles thick -- 10 times deeper than the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Pacific -- but is buried under a layer of mostly icy crust 95 miles thick. Ganymede joins other neighborhood moons like Europa, the asteroid belt dwarf planet Ceres, and Saturn's Enceladus and Titan that host strange icy or liquid layers, making them prime targets in the search for life beyond Earth.

Scientists have hypothesized for decades that Ganymede might harbor an icy or even liquid ocean beneath its frigid surface. The key to confirming the presence of a saltwater ocean came from observing Ganymede's aurorae, which would look bright red to a human able to stand on the surface of the moon and gaze up through its thin oxygen atmosphere. But don't get too excited, it's much too thin to support life as we know it.

Auroral phenomena -- think the bright northern lights of the aurora borealis or the aurora australis down south -- are not fully understood, but are linked to magnetic fields interacting with the solar wind. Ganymede is the only moon in the solar system that generates its own magnetic field thanks to its liquid iron core, but it also lies within the magnetic field of massive Jupiter. As Jupiter's magnetic field changes, it affects the aurorae on Ganymede, causing them to "rock back and forth" according to Joachim Saur, a professor for geophysics at the University of Cologne, who presented the news on a NASA teleconference Thursday.

Saur explained that the rocking effect seemed to be dampened by something else. Rather than altering the aurorae six degrees, as models suggested that they should given the electromagnetic fields involved, they only changed by two degrees, leading scientists to conclude that the rocking is inhibited by a salty subsurface ocean.

"This confirms the existence of an ocean and simultaneously rules out the absence of an ocean," he told reporters.

The news comes on the heels of the finding earlier this week that Saturn's moon Enceladus may contain enough warm water to support life. Ganymede will also now be more competitive when it comes to garnering attention among the Jovian moons -- its sibling Europa and its presumed subsurface ocean has long excited space geeks, even working its way into the priority list for future NASA missions.

Looks like NASA may now need to add another moon to its itinerary for that deep-space journey.

Source: Cnet.
Link: http://www.cnet.com/news/the-biggest-moon-in-the-solar-system-also-has-a-confirmed-ocean-says-nasa/.

Russia to send new missiles to Baltic exclave on maneuvers

March 17, 2015

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia plans to station state-of-the art missiles in its westernmost Baltic exclave and deploy nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea as part of massive war games to showcase its resurgent military power amid bitter tensions with the West over Ukraine.

The Russian military exercises this week range from the Arctic to the Pacific Ocean and involve tens of thousands of troops, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The Iskander missiles will be sent to the Kaliningrad region that borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania as part of the maneuvers, said a Defense Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment publicly.

The official also said Russia will deploy long-range, nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine a year ago. In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the Baltic Fleet, the Southern Military District and the Airborne Forces have been brought to the highest stage of combat readiness and have started moving to shooting ranges as part of the drills.

The wide-ranging exercise started Monday, when President Vladimir Putin ordered the Northern Fleet and other military forces on combat alert as part of the exercise in the Arctic. Other units in the Pacific region, southern Siberia and southwestern Russia also launched drills.

The Iskander missiles deployment to Kaliningrad reflects Moscow's readiness to raise the ante in response to NATO moves to deploy forces closer to Russia's borders. The missiles, which are capable of hitting enemy targets up to 500 kilometers (310 miles away) with high precision, can be equipped with a nuclear or a conventional warhead. From Kaliningrad, they could reach several NATO member states.

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz interpreted the move as an attempt by Russia to pressure EU nations as they consider possible new sanctions against Russia over Ukraine. "Russia is making this gesture before the European Council meeting," she said. "It is trying to influence European Council decisions concerning extending or adding new sanctions."

Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia, which holds the EU presidency, said Tuesday he did not expect "a discussion of new sanctions or any decisions" when EU leaders meet Thursday in Brussels. Igor Sutyagin, a Russia expert at the Royal United Services Institute, said beefing up forces in the Baltic exclave was a top priority for the Russian military.

Iskander missiles already had been sent briefly to Kaliningrad during December's military maneuvers, but were pulled back afterward. U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme commander in Europe, has termed Russia's "threats to deploy nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles in Kaliningrad" part of what he called the Kremlin's "pattern of continuing behavior to coerce its neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe."

The Kremlin, in its turn, has voiced concern about U.S. plans to beef up its military presence near Russia's borders. Later this month, U.S. troops are holding joint exercises with forces from EU nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Four Polish NATO MiG-29s flew training missions in Lithuania on Monday, under the command and control of an alliance AWACS surveillance aircraft in a small corridor between Belarus and the Kaliningrad region. The mission — described as 'routine' by NATO officials — prompted the Russian military in Kaliningrad to scramble half a dozen fighter jets to monitor the exercise.

Monday's AWACS mission was flying from Oerland airbase, near Trondheim in Norway. The AWACS flights were part of efforts to reassure NATO members in eastern Europe, in particular the Baltic states, which are concerned about Russia's intentions amid the Ukrainian crisis.

Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Tuesday that a battery of U.S. anti-aircraft Patriot missiles will be coming to Poland later this month for a major exercise. He previously said 10,000 foreign troops will be taking part in NATO exercises in Poland this year, the highest number ever.

Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels and David Keyton aboard a NATO AWACS plane contributed to this report.

Russia Grows Maritime Potential, Returns to Global Geopolitics

Moscow (Sputnik)
Mar 13, 2015

Russia returns to global politics, signaling of intention to regain its geopolitical positions as a naval power.

Ekaterina Blinova - Russia is growing its maritime potential, signaling its intention to regain geopolitical power as a naval force, according to experts.

In the midst of withstanding NATO expansion in Eastern Europe and closely observing its national interests in the Middle East, Russia is also strengthening its military presence off its eastern coasts - in the Pacific region - where the geopolitical interests of Moscow and Beijing are overlapping.

Experts point out that for Russia and China the American pivot to East Asia and the Asia-Pacific poses a serious challenge. At the same time both Moscow and Beijing are in territorial disputes with Tokyo; with the balance of power in the Korean peninsula also viewed by the two global players as a guarantee for stability in the region.

So far, Moscow has been upgrading and modernizing its Pacific Fleet units, and holding joint naval drills with China on a regular basis for the last five years. Additionally, Russia's Pacific Fleet is participating in multi-national anti-piracy operations off Northeast Africa's coasts and expanding its Arctic missions.

Military analysts point out that over the last two years the Pacific Fleet has obtained new Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) and Dyugon-class landing craft; Russia's second-biggest fleet will also receive the multipurpose Steregushchy-class corvettes and Yasen-class multipurpose attack nuclear submarines (SSGN) as a part of 20-year naval re-armament program.

It is also worth mentioning that Russia expects eight Borei-class vessels to enter service by 2020, while the missile-carrying nuclear submarines "Vladimir Monomakh" and "Alexander Nevskiy" will join Russia's Navy Force in the Far East this year.

Each Borei-class submarine can carry up to 16 Bulava ballistic missiles (SLBM) which are reportedly capable of overcomng US missile defense systems, making the Pacific Fleet an effective military "shield" of Russia in the Far East and bolstering its retaliatory capacity.

Meanwhile, in 2014 Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced of an ambitious plan to expand Russia's naval presence overseas, setting up access rights for Russia to foreign ports.

Remarkably, during his last visit to Latin America in February 2015, Sergei Shoigu signed a number of important deals strengthening military collaboration between Russia and Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, including agreements, allowing Russian warships to enter the countries' ports.

According to experts, Russia's naval visits to overseas havens have increased substantially over the last three years, including ports of Vietnam, the Seychelles and Singapore.

Russia's gradual naval expansion demonstrates the country's intention to regain its global position as an influential naval power, experts noted, marking Russia's return to classic geopolitics backed up by strong military fleet.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_Grows_Maritime_Potential_Returns_to_Global_Geopolitics_999.html.

Google restores Gaza Man

Monday, 16 March 2015

Google has decided to restore the Gaza Man game to its Play Store after removing it following Israeli pressure to remove it earlier this month, Palestinian newspaper Al-Resalah reported yesterday.

The decision was taken after massive international popular pressure put on Google through different mediums, including social media, radios and satellite channels.

Bridgeview For Trading, which owns the game, said in a statement: "We appreciate this measure, which we consider a correction of a big mistake."

Immediately after it was launched, the game came under intense attack and Google removed it from its Play Store after only three days.

The game shows a Palestinian man with light and primitive weapons facing multiple attacks by fighter jets, helicopters, drones, tanks and other weapons.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/americas/17533-google-restores-gaza-man.