Friday, May 10, 2024

Space Junk: Expensive Problem for NASA



The Big Take
Space Junk Spawns A Billion Dollar Cleanup Industry
To fix Earth’s tricky orbital debris problem, startups and governments are testing everything from kamikaze satellites to robotic grappling arms.
Bloomberg.com
14 hours ago
Space Junk Poses an Expensive Problem for NASA, Startups


Steve Wozniak's startup Privateer plans to launch hundreds of satellites to  study space debris | Space


What's up in space
    
 

This is an AI Free Zone! Text created by Large Language Models is spreading rapidly across the Internet. It's well-written, artificial, frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being.

 

GET READY FOR A 'CANNIBAL CME': Multiple CMEs are heading for Earth (see the movie below). A new NOAA forecast model suggests that three of them could merge to form a potent "Cannibal CME." Cannibal CMEs form when fast-moving CMEs overtake slower CMEs in front of them. Internal shock waves created by such CME collisions do an good job sparking geomagnetic storms when they strike Earth's magnetic field. Indeed, NOAA is now predicting a severe storm on May 11th when the Cannibal arrives. CME impact alerts: SMS Text

SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: This weekend's geomagnetic storm watch has been upgraded from G2 (Moderate) to G4 (Severe). Why? Because giant sunspot AR3664 keeps hurling CMEs toward Earth. Following today's X2.2 solar flare, there are now at least 4 storm clouds heading our way. See how many you can count in this 24-hour movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory:

A NOAA forecast model predicts that two or three of these CMEs could merge to form a Cannibal CME, which will strike Earth during the early hours of May 11th. Cannibal CMEs are notoriously good at sparking strong geomagnetic storms and low latitude auroras. In fact, NOAA is now predicting a G4-class (Severe) storm on May 11th when the Cannibal arrives.

Don't miss the storm! Sign up for Space Weather Alerts to receive instant text messages when the CMEs arrive.

 All Sky Fireball Network

Every night, a network of NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.

On May 09, 2024, the network reported 7 fireballs.
(5 sporadics, 2 eta Aquarids)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]

 Near Earth Asteroids

Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.

On May 9, 2024 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2024 JM2
2024-May-04
6.9 LD
11.8
63
2024 JE
2024-May-04
13.8 LD
7.8
49
2024 HK1
2024-May-04
1.8 LD
8.6
29
2024 JY
2024-May-05
4.8 LD
28.9
30
2024 HV1
2024-May-05
3.4 LD
8.8
21
2024 HW1
2024-May-05
5 LD
11
19
2024 FR5
2024-May-05
4.9 LD
5.2
49
2024 HL2
2024-May-06
7.6 LD
13.4
26
2024 HM2
2024-May-06
17.4 LD
25
51
2024 HE2
2024-May-06
3.1 LD
12.1
22
2024 JP3
2024-May-06
12.5 LD
6.9
12
2024 JF
2024-May-06
1.2 LD
11.7
7
2024 JR1
2024-May-07
0.8 LD
13
10
2024 JO2
2024-May-07
1.7 LD
14.4
9
2024 JX1
2024-May-08
5 LD
20
21
2024 JD
2024-May-08
0.7 LD
3.3
10
2024 JG1
2024-May-08
10.5 LD
12.3
24
2024 JL3
2024-May-08
1 LD
18.5
19
2024 JM1
2024-May-09
10.9 LD
10.4
26
2024 JZ
2024-May-09
11 LD
25.1
69
2024 JT3
2024-May-09
0.1 LD
10.9
5
2024 JN3
2024-May-09
0.8 LD
13
15
2024 JR3
2024-May-09
2.4 LD
19.1
19
2021 JG9
2024-May-10
16.9 LD
16.1
32
2016 FT14
2024-May-10
19.9 LD
5.9
39
2024 JK1
2024-May-10
6.9 LD
9.7
18
2024 JV6
2024-May-10
1.6 LD
9.4
8
2024 JN
2024-May-12
4.4 LD
3.3
8
2024 JB2
2024-May-13
11.6 LD
17.7
81
2015 KJ19
2024-May-14
15.8 LD
23.1
112
2014 WF6
2024-May-14
7.2 LD
18.9
47
2024 JW6
2024-May-14
5.7 LD
8.6
17
2021 JN10
2024-May-15
14.7 LD
13.4
33
2021 JJ
2024-May-15
16.8 LD
5.7
28
2024 JG6
2024-May-17
11.2 LD
7.4
21
2022 WN2
2024-May-17
13.7 LD
5.5
6
2024 JQ1
2024-May-18
5.7 LD
3
13
2024 JD1
2024-May-20
19 LD
5.5
28
2015 WO1
2024-May-20
7.4 LD
15.6
86
2019 VB5
2024-May-21
7.8 LD
6.3
2
2024 JZ6
2024-May-23
14.7 LD
14
264
2024 HP
2024-May-23
15.5 LD
7.7
204
2024 HP2
2024-May-25
5.8 LD
2.3
20
2024 JY1
2024-May-26
17.3 LD
10.2
60
2008 LD
2024-May-28
7.7 LD
4.5
6
2021 LV
2024-May-29
12 LD
15.5
9
2024 JG
2024-May-29
8.7 LD
7.4
28
2024 JA3
2024-May-30
6.2 LD
8.5
36
2008 XH
2024-May-31
13.8 LD
14.7
102
2024 JP1
2024-Jun-01
17.9 LD
4.7
24
2024 JC1
2024-Jun-01
15.1 LD
4.8
30
1998 KY26
2024-Jun-01
12 LD
5.3
25
2016 JC6
2024-Jun-01
19.9 LD
7.1
188
2008 YN2
2024-Jun-05
10.5 LD
7.7
20
2021 LW3
2024-Jun-06
9.7 LD
9.8
86
2024 CR9
2024-Jun-11
19.2 LD
7.4
447
2022 XC1
2024-Jun-12
16.5 LD
6.5
21
2022 WW11
2024-Jun-17
19.7 LD
14.4
15
2019 NJ
2024-Jun-27
17.2 LD
10.1
66
415029
2024-Jun-27
17.3 LD
25.9
2304
2022 MM1
2024-Jun-28
7.8 LD
10.9
39
2010 XN
2024-Jun-28
14.1 LD
11.3
52
2022 HD1
2024-Jun-29
17.3 LD
7.2
63
2017 MB3
2024-Jun-30
5 LD
6.5
30
2022 BY39
2024-Jul-02
13.2 LD
3
4
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU.
 Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere

SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements.

Latest results (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-year low:

What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.

.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. A number of controversial studies (#1#2#3#4) go even further, linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.

Data points in the graph labeled "Stratospheric Radiation" correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.

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