EXPLORING THE OUTER LIMIT: NEW HORIZONS

  INTRODUCTION:

NASA hopes the New Horizons mission will help us understand worlds at the edge of 0ur solar system. New Horizons will give us the first close-up look at the dwarf planet Pluto and venture deep into the distant, mysterious Kuiper Belt – a relic of solar system formation.

NEW HORIZONS: 

New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a team led by S. Alan Stern, the spacecraft was launched in 2006 with the primary mission to perform a flyby study of the Pluto system in 2015, and a secondary mission to fly by and study one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) in the decade to follow. It is the fifth artificial object to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System.

New Horizons space probe

·        Mission type- Flyby (Jupiter · Pluto · 2014 MU₆₉)

·        Operator- NASA

·        Mission duration- Primary mission: 9.5 years

·        Elapsed:  12 years, 9 months, 4 days

·        Launch date- January 19, 2006, 19:00 UTC

·        Rocket- Atlas V (551) AV-010

·        Launch site- Cape Canaveral SLC-41

On January 19, 2006, New Horizons was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station by an Atlas V rocket directly into an Earth-and-solar escape trajectory with a speed of about 16.26 kilometers per second (10.10 miles/s; 58,500 km/h; 36,400 mph). At launch, it was the fastest probe ever launched from earth, but was beaten by the Parker Solar Probe on 12 August 2018. After a brief encounter with asteroid 132524 APL, New Horizons proceeded to Jupiter, making its closest approach on February 28, 2007, at a distance of 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles). The Jupiter flyby provided a gravity assist that increased New Horizons' speed; the flyby also enabled a general test of New Horizons' scientific capabilities, returning data about the planet's atmosphere, moons, and magnetosphere.

Most of the post-Jupiter voyage was spent in hibernation mode to preserve on-board systems, except for brief annual checkouts. On December 6, 2014, New Horizons was brought back online for the Pluto encounter, and instrument check-out began. On January 15, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto.

On July 14, 2015, at 11:49 UTC, it flew 12,500 km (7,800 miles) above the surface of Pluto, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet. On October 25, 2016, at 21:48 UTC, the last of the recorded data from the Pluto flyby was received from New Horizons. Having completed its flyby of Pluto, New Horizons has maneuvered for a flyby of Kuiper belt object (486958) 2014 MU69, expected to take place on January 1, 2019, when it will be 43.4 AU from the Sun. In August 2018, NASA cited results by Alice on New Horizons to confirm the existence of a "hydrogen wall" at the outer edges of the Solar System, that was first detected in 1992 by the two Voyager spacecraft.

THE JOURNEY TO PLUTO

The three billion mile trip to Pluto took almost 10 years. It takes light 4.5 hours to travel the same distance. 

1.    Jan, 2006: New Horizon spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral.

2.    Feb, 2007: Spacecraft gets slingshot gravity boost from Jupiter.

3.    2007-2014: For most of the 8-year trek from Jupiter to Pluto, the spacecraft is in a state of hibernation.

4.    Dec. 2014: Spacecraft awakens from hibernation to begin its mission.

5.    July 2015: New Horizons will pass within 6200 miles of the frozen dwarf planet.

6.    2017-2020: Pending NASA approval, the spacecraft will be directed toward one or more Kuiper Belt objects beyond Pluto.

PRIMARY MISSION OBJECTIVES:

Sending a spacecraft on this long journey will help us answer some basic questions about Pluto:

·       What does the surface look like?

·       What is the chemical composition of the surface?

·       What is the makeup of Pluto’s atmosphere?

PLUTO

The largest Object in the Kuiper Belt is now considered a dwarf planet. Like other Kuiper Belt objects, Pluto is primarily made of rock and ice.

WHY PLUTO IS NOT A PLANET?

A planet has to be the basic dominant gravitational body in its orbit, Pluto fails to meet this criteria, as there are many objects similar to Pluto in and around its orbit. Pluto is only about 0.07 times the mass of other objects in its orbit. In comparison, Earth has 1.7 million times the mass of other objects in its orbit.

ICE DWARFS are ancient relics that formed over 4 billion years ago and are considered planetary embryos whose growth stopped. Since they are the bodies out of which the larger planets accumulated, they have a great deal to teach us about planetary formation.

OTHER KUIPER BELT OBJECTS:

COMPLETING A MISSION

Having completed its flyby of Pluto, New Horizons has maneuvered for a flyby of Kuiper Belt object (486958) 2014MU_69, expected to take place on January 1, 2019, when it will be 43.4 AU from the Sun.

The United States has been the first nation to reach every planet from mercury to Neptune with a space probe. If New Horizons is successful, the US will have completed the initial reconnaissance of the solar system.

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Malavika

Meghana

Mithuna P

Namitha

REFERENCE:
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NASA'S UPCOMING MISSIONS

Introduction

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System, advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorates Heliophysics Research Program, exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft missions such as New Horizons, and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the great observations and associated programs. On May 23, 2009, former President of USA Barack Obama announced the nomination of Charles Bolden as NASA Administrator. Charles Bolden was confirmed by the Senate on July 15, 2009.

1. James Webb Space Telescope [JWST] (2021)

Aim : Observe the most distant events / objects in the Universe.

The JWST being developed by NASA with significant contribution from Canadian Space agency and the European Space agency and is named after James E Webb.

In December NASA announced the construction of JWST was complete and that its extensive testing phase would begin. In March 2018 NASA delayed JWST’s launch after the telescopes sunshield ripped during practice development. It was delayed again in June 2018.

The James Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope that will be the successor to the Hubble space telescope. The JWST will Provide greatly important resolution and sensitivity and will enable a broad range of investigation across the fields of Astronomy and Cosmology. One of its major goals is observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe. Such as the formation of first galaxies. These types of targets are beyond the reach of current ground and space based instruments. Other goals include understanding the formation of stars and exo-planets, the direct imaging of ex planets and Novas.

The JWST primary mirror is composed of hexagonal mirror segments made of gold coated Beryllium. These combine to create a mirror with a diameter of 6.5m much larger than Hubbles 2.4m mirror. Unlike the Hubble which observes in near UV visible and near IR spectra. The JWST will observe in the long wavelength visible light through the mid infrared range. This will allow the JWST to observe high red shift objects the are too old and too distant for the Hubble and other earlier instruments to observe. The telescope must be kept very cold to observe in the infrared without interference. The JWST will be deployed in space near the earth sun L2 lagrangian point and it consist of a sunshield madeup of five layers of a material called Kapton. Each layer is coated with aluminum, while the sun-facing side of the two hottest layers (designated layer 1 and layer 2) are also coated with doped-silicon (or treated silicon) to reflect the sun's heat back into space. The sunshield is a critical part of the JWST, which is due to be launched in October 2018, because the infrared cameras and four instruments aboard must be kept very cold (below 50 Kelvin) and out of the sun's heat and light if they are to function properly.

2. Euclid Spacecraft (2021)

Aim : Search for dark matter and dark energy.

Euclid is a medium class (M – class) mission and is the part of European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) cosmic vision 2015-2025 Scientific program. Euclid is a visible to near infrared space telescope currently under development by the ESA and Euclid Consortium. This M-class of mission have an ESA budget cap at around $500 million. Basically to say, the mission is named after the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid of Alexandria. Euclid was chosen in October 2011 together with solar orbiter, out of several competing machines. This launch is planned for 2020.

The objective of Euclid mission is to better understand dark energy and dark matter by accurately measuring the acceleration of the universe. To achieve this the korsch type telescope will measure the shapes of galaxies at varying distance from earth and investigate the relationship between distance and red shift. Dark energy is generally accepted as contributing to the increased acceleration of expanding universe. So understanding this relationship will help to define how physicists and Astrophysics understand it. Euclid’s Mission advances and compliment ESA’s plank telescope.

3. Europa Lander (2024) 

Aim: Search for life on Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Europa Lander is a proposed astrobiology mission concept by NASA to say the Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Mainly to say the Europa Lander is a NASA’s mission to study Jupiter moon Europa. If selected and developed it would be launched separately in 2024 to complement the studies by Europa Clipper Orbiter Mission.

On earth Subglacial Microbial mission at blood falls survive in cold darkness without oxygen living in beine water below Taylor Glacier but come out at this location in Antartica. The red colour comes from dissolved iron.

The objective of mission would be searching for bio-signatures at the subsurface to characterize the composition of non-ice near subsurface material and determine proximity of liquid water and recently erupted material near the Lander’s location.

The main goals of this mission are to search for evidence of past or present life on Europa, to assess the habitability of Europa by directly analyzing material from surface and to characterize the surface subsurface for future missions.

4. Mars Manned Mission (2033-2039)

Aim: To establish human settlement on Mars.

Mars is the stepping of the human race on its voyage into the universe. Human settlement on Mars will aid our understanding of the origin of the solar system, the origin of life and our place in universe.

A new report by a non-government organization suggest that NASA could get astronauts to Mars orbit by 2033 and onto the red planet surface by 2039. It is the Mars one’s goal to establish a human settlement on mars. Human settlement of mars is the next gaint leap for mankind. Exploring the solar system as a united humanity will being us all closer together.

Since it would be nice to spend some time at mars we are only interested in the one way trip, which is half of the time of the full orbit, or about nine months. So it takes nine months to get to mars.

The mission of Mars includes obstacles beyond budget. Keeping Astronaut healthy and happy on the journey is important among them. Without stopovers between earth and mars, astronauts will need to port everything they need with them including air, food and water for a round trip duration of two to three years.

5. Psyche Spacecraft (2022)

Aim: Study asteroid Psyche well known for huge amounts of metals like iron, nickel, gold, platinum, etc.

Psyche is the heaviest known M-type asteroid and is thought to be the exposed iron core of protoplanet. This asteroid may be the remnant of a violent collision with another object that stripped off the outer crust. The radar observation of the asteroid from earth indicate an iron nickel compositer. On January 4, 2017 the Psyche mission was chosen along with Lucy mission as NASA’s next discovery class missions.

The Psyche spacecraft will use solar electric propulsion, and the scientific payload will be an imager, a magnetometer and a gamma-ray spectrometer. Scientists think that 16 Psyche could be the exposed core of an early planet that could have been as large as Mars and lost its surface in a series of violent collisions.

The mission will launch in 2022 and arrive in four years to perform 21 months of science. The spacecraft will be built by NASA JPL in collaboration with SSL (formerly space systems / loral) and arizona state university.

REFERENCE: 

[1] https://en.m.wikipepedia.org
[2] https://www.space.com

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Delvita Veigas

Divyashree K
Ezitha Monteiro
Keerthana

A MAN BEYOND TIME

THE MAN BEYOND TIME

INTRODUCTION

One of the towering achievements of 20^th century physics is the theory of relativity by Albert Einstein. Newton’s theory of gravitation was soon accepted without question and it remained unquestioned until the beginning of this century. Then Albert Einstein shook the foundations of physics with the introduction of his theory of relativity. These theory transformed theoretical physics and astronomy during the 20^th century superseding a 200 years old theory of mechanics created primarily by Isaac Newton.

Let’s go through the mind- blowing theory proposed by Albert Einstein….

THE PIONEER OF MODERN PHYSICS

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Germany to Jewish parents. Einstein was not a very bright student. He even had problems with his speech. When he was 5 years old, Einstein saw a magnetic compass and marveled at the needle that kept moving with an invisible force. At age 12, he found a book on geometry which he read over and over again. He became fascinated by math and taught himself. During 1905, often called Einstein’s “miracle year”, he published four papers in the ANNALEN DER PHYSIK, each of which would alter the course of modern physics. In 1921, Einstein won the noble prize for physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, since his ideas on relativity were still considered questionable. And he died on April 18, 1955.

VICTORIOUS FAILURE

Michelson Morley experiment is the most brilliant failure in the all history of science. It was designed to detect the motion of earth through the lumineferuos ether. Ether was the invention of 19^th century’s physicists to explain how the light was transmitted through empty space between sun and earth. The legend about Michelson Morley experiment is that it’s just deeply rooted as the story about Isaac and the apple. Michelson and Morley did their experiment and proved there was no ether and so Einstein was forced to invent the theory of relativity in order to explain the net result.

SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY:

Special theory of relativity is generally accepted and experimentally well confirmed physical theory regarding the relationship between space and time. It is based on two postulates:

The laws of physics are invariant in all inertial systems. The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source. It was originally proposed by Albert Einstein in paper published 26 September 1905, titled “on the electrodynamics of moving bodies”. The inconsistency of  Newtonian mechanics with Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism and the lack of experimental confirmation for a hypothesized lumineferous ether lead to the development of special relativity, which corrects mechanics to handle situations involving motions at a significant fraction of the speed of light. As of today, special relativity is the most accurate model of motion at any speed when gravitational effects are negligible. Special relativity implies a wide range of consequences, which have been experimentally verified including length contraction, time dilation, relativistic mass, mass- energy equivalence, a universal speed limit and relativity of simultaneity. It has replaced the conventional notion of an absolute universal time with the notion of a time that is dependent on reference frame and special position.

GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

General theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915. General theory of relativity explains the law of gravitation and its relation to other forces of nature. It applies to the cosmological and astrophysical realm; including astronomy. General relativity generalizes special relativity and Newton’s law of universal gravitation providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time. Some predictions of general relativity differ significantly from those of classical physics especially concerning the passage of time, the geometry of space, the motion of bodies in free fall and the propagation of light. Examples of such differences include gravitational time dilation, gravitational lensing, the gravitational red shift of light, and the gravitational time delay.

Some of the consequences of general relativity are:

• Clocks run slower in deeper gravitational wells. This is called gravitational time dilation.
• Orbits précis in a way unexpected in Newton’s theory of relativity.
• The ray of light bend in the presence of a gravitational field.
• Rotating mass “ drag along” the space time around them ; a phenomenon termed "frame-dragging".
• The universe is expanding, and the far parts of it are moving away from us faster than the speed of light.

CONCEPTS IN A NUTSHELL

Ø Space Time: Einstein realized that space and time are relative. An object in motion actually experiences time at a slower rate at one rest.

Ø Relativity of simultaneity: Two events simultaneous for one observer may not be simultaneous for another observer if the observers are in relative motion.

Ø Time dilation: a clock that is moving relative to an observer will be measured to tick slower than a clock that is at rest in the observers on frame of reference. That is moving clocks are measured to tick more slowly than on observers stationary clock.

Ø Length Contraction: The length of object moving at relativistic speed undergoes a contraction along the dimension of motion. That is a moving objects length is measured to be shorter than its proper length, which is the length as measured in the objects on rest frame.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS

What if you travelled faster than the speed of light? 

As an object approaches the speed of light its mass tends to infinity. So does the energy required to move the object also tends to infinity, which is not possible. For this reason, no normal object can travel as fast as or faster than the speed of light.

Is there really an absolute frame of reference?

General relativity tells us that there is no absolute frame of reference. Actually it tells us that all the frames are relative, which is but not the same as there is no absolute frame.

Is time an illusion?

Time is actually relative and flexible and according to Albert Einstein the dividing line between past, present, futures is an illusion. Time has not always existed, the theory relativity suggests before the big bang, 13.75 billion years ago, time and space did not exist.

DO YOU KNOW?

Ø All though Einstein will forever be associated with the theory of relativity, his Nobel Prize was actually awarded to him for his observation of photoelectric effect. Einstein theory of relativity was not completely accepted by scholars’ until many years.

Ø 1905 is often referred as Einstein’s miracle year. In that year Einstein published four different ground breaking papers, which laid the foundation of modern physics.

Ø The discovery of the hugely important equation E=mc², which showed that energy and matter are interconveratble is considered to be his biggest accomplishment, but there is evident that another physicist published this equation a year before him.

Ø Einstein could have lived longer when he suffered a burst blood vessel, Doctors told him surgery could have saved his life. But he declined the procedure, saying “It is tasteless to prolong life artificially”.

Ø What were the last words of Einstein???

      
His last words will never be known. He said them in German, but attending nurse didn’t speak German and couldn’t recall what he said.

EINSTEIN’S QUEST FOR A UNIFIED THEORY

After having become famous for several brilliant breakthroughs in physics, including Brownian motion, photoelectric effect and the special and general theories of relativity, Einstein spent the last 30 years of his life on a fruitless quest for a way to combine gravity and electromagnetism into single elegant theory.

INCOMPLETENESS OF THEORY RELATIVITY

General relativity as emerged as a highly successful model of gravitation and cosmology. However there are strong indications that, the theory is incomplete. The problem of quantum gravity and the question of the reality of space time singularities remain open. General relativity is incomplete since it does not include the gravitational radiation reaction force and the interaction of gravitation with charged particles. The discovery charge mass interaction establishes the need for unification of electromagnetism and gravitation and would explain many puzzles. Observational data that is taken as evidence for dark energy and dark matter could indicate the need for new physics. Even taken as is, general relativity is rich with possibilities for further explorations.

THE MAN WHO BEHIND:

Ø Photons: he discovered that light is made up of small particles called photon and was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921.

Ø Bose Einstein condensate: Einstein discovered a state of matter with another scientist, Satyendra Bose. Today it is used in things like lasers.

Ø Atomic bomb: not directly connected with inventing it, but his theory of relativity is connected with the invention of the atomic bomb.

Ø Global positioning system such as GPS, GLONASS and the forthcoming Galileo must account for all of the relativistic effects.

Ø Satellite based measurement need to take into account relativistic effects

Ø Nuclear plants: relativity is one of the many reasons that mass and energy can be converted into each other which is how nuclear power plants work

Ø Study of black holes, supernovas and other space phenomena

Reference:    

 [1] Arthur Beiser : 2005, Concepts of modern physics, New Delhi, Tata  McGraw-Hill

[2] J.C. Upadhyaya: 2003, Mechanics, Agra, Ram Prasad Publications

[3] https://en.m.wikipepedia.org

[4] https://www.space.com

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Anusree A

Baby Athira

Deekshitha kumari

Dakshayani P

The Legend of Physics

The Legend of Physics: Stephen William Hawking

INTRODUCTION

He (8 January 1942-14 March 2018) was an English Theoretical Physicist, cosmologist, and author, who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. He was the Lucasian Professor  of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009.

His scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the frame work of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit the radiation, often called Hawking Radiation. Hawking was the first to setout a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He was the vigorous supporter of the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Hawking achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discuss his own theory and cosmology in general. His book A Brief History Of Time appeared on the British Sunday Times Best seller list for a record breaking 237 weeks. Hawking was the Fellow of the Royal Society(FRS), A  life time member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom, the highest civilian awarded in the United States. In 2002, Hawking was ranked a number 25 in the BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Hawking had a rare early –onset slow –Progressing form of motor neurone disease(also known as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ‘’ALS’’ or Lou Gehrig’s disease) that gradually paralyzed him over the decades. Even after the loss of his speech, he was still able to communicate through a speech generating device, initially through use of a hand held switch, and eventually by using single cheek muscle. He died on 14 March 2018 at the age of 76.

Some important discoveries of Stephen Hawking:

1. Singularity

Einstein's theory also tells about singularity,that is where the space time appeared to be infinite curve but at that time it was unclear  that singularity was real or not, later Roger Penrose proved that singularity would indeed form in black hole later, Stephen hawking did path breaking work on singularities and applied it for whole universe and told that gravitational force produces singularities. He also told that Einstein's theory produced a singularity that is the big bang and hawking proved it mathematically.

2. Cosmic Inflation theory 1982

This theory was introduced by Alan goth in 1980. That is, in physical cosmology cosmic inflation is a theory in which the universe expands exponentially soon after the big bang. Further Hawking was one of the first who calculated quantum fluctuations which means the small variation in the distribution of matter and shows that, during inflation, it might give rise to the spread of galaxies in the universe.

3. Model on the wave function of the universe 1983

Stephen hawking was interested in establishing a quantum theory of gravity, but with James hartle, he published a model, the hartle - hawking  state in 1983.

This theory states that, time did not exist before the big bang explosion and hence the concept of beginning of the universe is meaningless. The universe does not have any initial boundaries  in time or space.

4. Top-down theory on cosmology 2006

Along with Thomas hertog, he proposed a theory “top-down cosmology" in 2006. It proposed that the universe had not one unique initial state but consisted of a superposition of many possible initial conditions. several other books were also published like “the universe in a nutshell”, “God created the integers: Mathematical breakthrough that changed history" in 2005 etc.

Law of Black Hole Mechanics

Stephen hawking discovered the law of mechanics in 1971 – 1972. His first law states that the total surface area of the black hole will never get smaller. It is also known as the hawking area theorem. Another law states that, Black hole were hot. But it is a contradiction of classical physics which states that black hole doesn’t radiate heat. Another law is no gain theorem of black holes, which states that black hole can be characterized by three numbers; their mass, angular momentum and charge.

One more law is, black holes emit the radiation, which may continue till they exhaust their energy and evaporates. Which is also called as hawking radiation. In 1971 he won the prestigious gravity research foundation award for his essay black hole.

Personal life

Hawking had a rare early onset slow progressing form of motor neuron disease or ALS, that gradually paralyzed him over the decades. The diagnosis of ALS came when he was at 21 in 1963. At the time doctors gave him a life expectancy of two years. In 1960’s his physical abilities declined, he began to use a crutch and as he lost the ability to write he developed compensatory visual methods including seeing equations in terms of geometry and at last he lost his voice and control over his body and he stick into a wheel chair at his younger age only, but his brain was still awake and active and it created magic all over the world. The entire world was shocked because of the discoveries and achievements of a parlayed man, and he became the pole star of physics.

When hawking was a graduate student he met jane wild before his diagnosis of ALS, and the couple became engaged in 1964 and they got 3 children, Robert, Lucy and timothy. But in 1980 they got separated after that he married Mason and this marriage also broke down soon.

Awards

• ·         Adams prize (1966)
• ·         Eddington medal (1975)
• ·         Maxwell medal and prize (1976)
• ·         Heineman prize (1976)
• ·         Hughes medal (1976)
• ·         Albert Einstein award (1978)
• ·         RAS gold medal (1985)
• ·         Dirac medal (1987)
• ·         Wolf prize (1988)
• ·         Prince of Austria’s award (1989)
• ·        Andrew garment award (1998)
• ·         Naylor prize and lectureship (1999)
• ·        Lilienfeld prize (1999)
• ·        Presidential medal of freedom (2016)
•    

Reference:

Internet

Journal