THE NEXT GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on Nov. 30th when a stream of solar wind hits Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is glowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere, now turning to face Earth. Arctic auroras are likely later this week. Free: Aurora Alerts.
MARTIAN CUBESATS AND THE MARS LANDING: For the first time ever, cubesats are approaching Mars. Their mission: To experience 7 minutes of terror. If all goes as planned, on Monday the two tiny spacecraft will watch NASA's InSight lander touchdown on the Red Planet, relaying updates to Earth in near-real time.
InSight is the latest NASA probe to land on Mars--or disintegrate in the attempt. On Nov. 26th, it will tear through the planet's atmosphere in a fireball, shedding more than 12,000 mph of velocity in just under 7 minutes. NASA hopes InSight will touchdown gently on the plains of Elysium Planitia where it can drill into Mars, using seismometers, heat flow sensors, and radios to study the planet's interior.
Officially the two cubesats are known as MarCO-A and MarCO-B, but JPL engineers have nicknamed them "WALL-E" and "Eva." They were launched alongside the lander on May 5, 2018. Mission controllers weren't even sure the tiny spacecraft would survive the journey across interplanetary space--but they did. Now they will act as radio relay stations. Instead of waiting several hours for InSight to report back to Earth, WALL-E and Eva will relay entry, descent and landing data much sooner. This is the first time cubesats have traveled beyond Earth orbit, so it will be a significant achievement if they succeed.
NASA will broadcast the landing on NASA TV starting at 2 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 26th. Tune in here.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
COMET PLUNGES INTO THE SUN: Subtract one from the Solar System's total count of comets. Yesterday a small unnamed comet dove into the sun and evaporated. Coronagrapbhs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded the death plunge:
A subsequent movie shows the comet going in, but not coming out again. R.I.P.!
The doomed comet was a member of the Kreutz family. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago. They are seen falling into the sun dozens of times a year. This particular sungrazer measured a few tens of meters in diameter, too small to survive a close approach with the sun.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
A GIFT FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a moonstone from the edge of space. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this moonstone wrapped in a hand-crafted sterling silver Celtic love knot 35.1 km (115,158 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $179.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. All sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education