NASA's Mars helicopter flies - NOT amateur radio

NASA has successfully test flown its helicopter on Mars.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56799755 .

The Moon and Mars - NOT amateur radio

It seems amazing that man first went to the Moon in 1969, even before I had started work. Whether I will ever again see man on the Moon, or even Mars, in my lifetime is uncertain. It would not surprise me if the Chinese did it first!

I see the USA is looking for commercial companies to get involved, presumably to save money.

See https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-new-partnerships-for-commercial-lunar-payload-delivery-services

Mars landing - NOT amateur radio

Landing probes on Mars seems to be fraught with problems, so I just hope this latest mission goes as planned. It must be those pesky green men!

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46333459 .

UPDATE 2133z: It looks like it successfully landed.

TESS Satellite - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News has a link to the NASA site about TESS, a satellite that is due to launch in April. The satellite will help in the search for planets orbiting distant stars outside our solar system, so called exoplanets.

See https://www.nasa.gov/tess-transiting-exoplanet-survey-satellite .

Southgate News - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News (always worth a look every few days) reports that a NASA commercial cargo spacecraft touched down in the eastern Pacific with a valuable cargo from the ISS.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/may/dragon_spacecraft_splashdown.htm .

Double or single peak for cycle 24?

At the moment the jury is still out on this. We've seen activity slide since the peak around Nov 2011 but there may be signs that the trend is upwards again leading to a second peak as has happened in a few recent sunspot cycles. This NASA video gives some insight into the thinking.

Solar prediction update

NASA has slightly modified its predictions for the current sunspot peak showing the peak month as May 2013 with a 95% prediction of just over 100. The smoothed number will peak later.  Although conditions will gradually deteriorate after the peak, the monthly sunspot number is still expected to be over 60 right until mid 2016. See http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/ssn_predict.txt . The evidence in the short- term looks somewhat less good, but things can change rapidly.

So, get on the air, especially on the higher HF bands and enjoy the good times!

Date/Month 95%   50%     5%

2012  11  96.1  68.7  41.4
2012  12  97.2  69.7  42.1
2013   1  98.2  70.5  42.8
2013   2  99.1  71.2  43.4
2013   3  99.8  71.8  43.9
2013   4 100.4  72.4  44.3
2013   5 100.9  72.8  44.6
2013   6 101.3  73.1  44.9
2013   7 101.6  73.4  45.1
2013   8 101.8  73.5  45.2
2013   9 101.8  73.5  45.2
2013  10 101.8  73.5  45.2
2013  11 101.6  73.3  45.1
2013  12 101.3  73.1  44.9
2014   1 100.9  72.8  44.6
2014   2 100.4  72.4  44.3 

Latest sunspot news

The latest from NASA:

The current prediction for Sunspot Cycle 24 gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 75 in the Fall of 2013. The smoothed sunspot number (for 2012/02) is already nearly 67 due to the strong peak in late 2011 so the official maximum will be at least this high. We are currently well over three years into Cycle 24. The current predicted and observed size makes this the smallest sunspot cycle since Cycle 14 which had a maximum of 64.2 in February of 1906.

 The latest prediction graph from http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/ssn_predict_l.gif

Solar predictions

The NASA solar physics website has some recent updates to the solar cycle peak predictions:

"The current prediction for Sunspot Cycle 24 gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 76 in the Fall of 2013. The smoothed sunspot number (for 2012/02) is already nearly 67 due to the strong peak in late 2011 so the official maximum will be at least this high. We are currently well over three years into Cycle 24. The current predicted and observed size makes this the smallest sunspot cycle since Cycle 14 which had a maximum of 64.2 in February of 1906."

Looks like they are expecting a double peak cycle with a slightly larger peak about a year from now. We'll see. The peak is likely to be very low compared with mega-peaks seen in the last half century.

Protecting power grids from solar storms

NASA Science News reports:

"Every hundred years or so, a solar storm comes along so potent it fills the skies of Earth with blood-red auroras, makes compass needles point in the wrong direction, and sends electric currents coursing through the planet's topsoil. The most famous such storm, the Carrington Event of 1859, actually shocked telegraph operators and set some of their offices on fire. A 2008 report by the National Academy of Sciences warns that if such a storm occurred today, we could experience widespread power blackouts with permanent damage to many key transformers."

There are plans afoot to create an early warning system to protect the US grid system in such events.