| | | | | | | Presented By Brilliant | | | | Axios Space | | By Miriam Kramer · May 09, 2023 | | Thanks for reading Axios Space. At 1,395 words, this newsletter is a 5.5-minute read. - Please send your tips, questions and birthday wishes to miriam.kramer@axios.com, or if you received this as an email, just hit reply.
| | | | | | 1 big thing: AI is transforming astronomy |  | | | Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios | | | | AI is speeding up discoveries about the universe and helping to hone the search for life within it. Why it matters: Many astronomers spend a large amount of their time combing through data collected by telescopes. - AI and machine learning can be used to quickly pick out intriguing parts of a dataset, making it less likely that astronomers will miss something important.
- "With astronomy and these huge datasets, there's always a concern that you missed something, or that you didn't know enough about the objects you're trying to study," astronomer Chris Impey of the University of Arizona tells me.
What's happening: Last month, scientists revealed an image of the black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 that was reprocessed using a machine learning algorithm. The sharpened image should allow scientists to more accurately estimate the black hole's mass. - Scientists have also used artificial intelligence to make it easier to analyze vast amounts of data gathered by gravitational wave detectors like LIGO, picking out the ripples in space and time created by collisions between black holes or other dense objects.
- Now, researchers are using algorithms to figure out characteristics of the objects that produced the gravitational waves in the first place.
- AI is also being used to pinpoint newly forming planets around young stars.
The intrigue: SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) efforts could be helped by AI and machine learning, which are particularly adept at picking out patterns in large sets of data. - SETI — which focuses on trying to pick up radio signals emitted by technically advanced societies — generates huge amounts of data.
- "The datasets for SETI endeavors are really massive," SETI Institute president and CEO Bill Diamond tells me. "We generate many tens of terabytes a day."
- The institute and other organizations announced last week that the Very Large Array in New Mexico will join a new experiment to search for radio signals emitted by advanced alien societies, which will rely on machine learning tools.
- "When the compute is completely outfitted for that project — which is right now about halfway — we'll be generating seven terabytes per second of data, so extraordinarily huge amounts of data," Diamond said. "And the only way we're going to be able to parse that data to look for interesting phenomena is with machine learning techniques."
Yes, but: Some worry these tools could spit out false positives that wouldn't otherwise be an issue if humans were analyzing the data. - "It's possible [with] these huge datasets that it could throw so many candidate anomalies at you that you just couldn't keep up and you end up being buried in the candidate anomalies rather than finding new phenomena," Impey said.
- NASA has also been taking a close look at AI, but a report published last week by the Office of Inspector General stresses there are risks to wide adoption of these tools without proper regulation, including possible cybersecurity threats.
What to watch: Scientists are already training an AI algorithm to help create sharper photos when the Vera Rubin Observatory — tasked with learning more about the nature of dark matter and other science goals — comes online in the coming years. - Machine learning has been used to find streaks created by satellites flying overhead in Hubble Space Telescope images, and in the future, algorithms could be used to remove satellite streaks from telescope photos as well.
Share this story |     | | | | | | 2. China's secret spaceplane comes back to Earth |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | An experimental, uncrewed and reusable spacecraft being developed by China completed its second mission yesterday after remaining in orbit for 276 days, according to Chinese state media, my colleague Jacob Knutson writes. Why it matters: Very little is publicly known about the spacecraft, though experts have speculated it could one day be used to interfere with satellites in orbit. Driving the news: Chinese authorities have not publicly released many details about the vehicle or the second mission, except for the amount of time it was in orbit and that it was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert aboard a Long March-2F rocket in August 2022. - It's unclear how high the spaceplane flew, what technologies were tested during the flight or where exactly it landed yesterday.
- State media reported the test marked a breakthrough in China's research into reusable spacecraft technology, which it said will provide the country with more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for "the peaceful use of space in the future."
Of note: The spaceplane released an object in orbit roughly two months after launch, SpaceNews reported, citing U.S. Space Force tracking data. - It's unknown exactly what the object was, though it accompanied the spaceplane and conducted joint maneuvers with it months after its release.
- No official images of the spacecraft — which has been referred to as "Shenlong" — have been released publicly, though images of one of its prototypes may have been captured in 2007.
What they're saying: "The ability to release an object while in orbit is something that could be used in the future as a counterspace capability," Makena Young of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told Axios. - "We have no indication now that that's what they are testing for, but it's certainly possible in the future," Young added. "It really falls back on intent, which is really difficult to distinguish."
The big picture: China's development of the spaceplane is an example of the country quickly cultivating technologies that may rival U.S. space capabilities. | | | | | | | | 3. Virgin Galactic gets ready to fly again |  | | | Virgin Galactic's space plane Unity during a glide flight. Photo: Courtesy of Virgin Galactic | | | | Virgin Galactic is planning to fly a crewed test to the edge of space this month, paving the way for commercial operations beginning in June. Why it matters: The test will mark the Richard Branson-founded company's first flight to the edge of space in about two years. Driving the news: Virgin Galactic announced the crew of its next spaceflight yesterday. All of the people flying on this mission will be employees of the company. - The mission objectives "are to evaluate the overall astronaut spaceflight experience end to end and to perform a final assessment of the full spaceflight system before commercial service opens in late June," a Virgin Galactic statement reads.
- This flight follows a successful glide test of the spaceplane — named Unity — in April.
How it works: Virgin Galactic uses a spaceplane and carrier aircraft to send people about 50 miles above Earth to the edge of space. - The carrier airplane takes flight with the spaceplane attached. Once it gets to its target altitude, the spaceplane drops and its engine ignites, propelling it up to about 50 miles.
- Passengers experience a few minutes of weightlessness after its engine cuts off and the plane starts to glide back in for a landing on a runway.
Between the lines: Virgin Galactic successfully launched Branson to the edge of space in 2021, but the FAA opened an investigation when it found the flight went off-course. | | | | | | | | A message from Brilliant | | Sharpen your math, CS and data skills in a few minutes a day | | |  | | | | For professionals and lifelong learners alike, Brilliant is one of the best ways to learn. The deets: Bite-sized interactive lessons make it easy to level up in everything from math and data science to AI and beyond. Join 10+ million people building skills every day. Start with a free 30-day trial. | | | | | | 4. Out of this world reading list |  | | | Auroras dance below the International Space Station in 2022. Photo: Courtesy of NASA | | | | ☀️ Powerful Sun storm could supercharge auroras this week (Stefanie Waldek, Space.com) 🌀 Loaf-size mission launches to improve hurricane forecasting (Ashley Strickland, CNN) 🚀 NASA proposes "hybrid" contract approach for space station deorbit vehicle (Jeff Foust, SpaceNews) 🛰 A 'ChatGPT' for satellite photos already exists (Patrick Tucker, Defense One) | | | | | | | | 5. Weekly dose of awe: Dust circles a young star |  | | | Image: Courtesy of NASA/ESA/CSA, A. Pagan (STScI)/A. Gáspár (University of Arizona) | | | | Dust around a star 25 light-years away glows in this photo taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. - The star, named Fomalhaut, is of interest because it sports the first known asteroid belt outside of our solar system.
- But when the JWST got a glimpse of the star system, it turned out to be far more complicated than astronomers expected.
- "Overall, there are three nested belts extending out to 23 billion kilometers from the star — that's 150 times the distance of Earth from the Sun," NASA said in a statement. "The scale of the outermost belt is roughly twice the scale of our Solar System's Kuiper Belt of small bodies and cold dust beyond Neptune. The inner belts — which had never been seen before — were revealed by Webb for the first time."
| | | | | | | | A message from Brilliant | | AI won't take your job, but someone using AI will | | |  | | | | Future-proof your skill set with Brilliant and learn the concepts behind tech like AI, neural networks and more. Here's how: Brilliant's bite-sized interactive lessons let busy people grow their skills in minutes a day. Join 10M+ people learning on Brilliant — try it for free, then get 20% off. | | | | 🔭 Big thanks to Alison Snyder for editing, Bill Kole for copy editing, Jacob for contributing and the Axios visuals team. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, subscribe. |  | | Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters.
Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington VA 22201 | | | You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios.
To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. | | | Was this email forwarded to you?
Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox. | | | | Follow Axios on social media:    | | | | | |
No comments