NASA says it intends to discontinue development of its VIPER moon rover, due to cost increases and schedule delays — but the agency is also pointing to other opportunities for robotic exploration of the lunar south polar region. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover was originally scheduled for launch in late 2023, targeting the western edge of Nobile Crater near the moon’s south pole. The south polar region is a prime target for exploration because it’s thought to hold deposits of water ice that could sustain future lunar settlements. NASA plans to send astronauts to that region by as early as 2026 for the first crewed lunar landing since 1972. Unfortunately, the VIPER project ran into a series of delays, due to snags in the testing and development of the rover as well as the Astrobotic Griffin lander that was to deliver the rover to the lunar surface. The readiness date for VIPER and Griffin was most recently pushed back to September 2025. During an internal review, NASA managers decided that continuing with VIPER’s development would result in cost increases that could lead to the cancellation or disruption of other moon missions in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, or CLPS. NASA notified Congress of its intent to discontinue development. The budgeted cost for building VIPER was $433.5 million, and the estimated cost of building and launching the Griffin lander is $235.6 million, according to a 2022 report from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General. NASA said it will continue supporting Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One, with launch set for no earlier than the fall of 2025. Instead of delivering VIPER, the mission would provide a flight demonstration of the lander and its engines. In January, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander passed up an opportunity to land on the moon due to a problem with its propulsion system. NASA said other missions could verify the presence of ice in the moon’s south polar region and determine how such resources could be used to further exploration goals. “We are committed to studying and exploring the moon for the benefit of humanity through the CLPS program,” Nicola Fox, NASA’s associate administrator for science, said today in a news release. “The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the moon over the next five years. Our path forward will make maximum use of the technology and work that went into VIPER, while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio.” Late this year, for example, Intuitive Machines is due to deliver an ice-mining experiment called PRIME-1 to the south pole under the terms of the CLPS program. PRIME-1 is designed to drill for water ice and study what happens to the H2O when it’s brought up to the surface. In league with NASA, the CLPS program and a wide array of other partners, the Canadian Space Agency is planning to send an ice-hunting rover to the lunar south polar region by as early as 2026. The Artemis program’s crewed missions will also study the moon’s ice deposits and how they can be used. NASA said it plans to disassemble VIPER and arrange for the reuse of the rover’s components and scientific instruments for other missions to the moon. But prior to disassembly, the agency said it would consider expressions of interest from commercial and international partners for use of the existing VIPER rover system at no cost to the federal government. Interested parties can email HQ-CLPS-Payload@mail.nasa.gov anytime between July 18 and Aug. 1. NASA said the VIPER team would conduct an “orderly close-out” through next spring. Word of VIPER’s demise was met with disappointment in some quarters of the space community. “In the Artemis era, why is lunar science targeted for cancellation?” Laura Seward Forczyk, founder and executive director of the space consulting firm Astralytical, asked in a posting to the X social-media platform. Phil Metzger, a planetary physicist at the University of Central Florida, said NASA was making a “bad mistake.” “This was the premier mission to measure lateral and vertical variations of lunar ice in the soil,” Metzger wrote in a posting to X. “It would have been revolutionary. Other missions don’t replace what is lost here.” The post NASA Stops Work on VIPER Moon Rover, Citing Cost and Schedule Issues appeared first on Universe Today.

X-ray binaries are some of the oddest ducks in the cosmic zoo and they attract attention across thousands of light-years. Now, astronomers have captured new high-resolution radio images of the first one ever discovered. It’s called Circinus X-1. Their views show a weird kind of jet emanating from the neutron star member of the binary. The jet rotates like an off-axis sprinkler as it spews material out through surrounding space, sending shockwaves through the interstellar medium. The MeerKAT radio telescope in South African spotted the S-shaped jets emanating from the neutron star. Its images are the first-ever high-resolution views of such jets, according to lead researcher Fraser Cowie. “This image is the first time we have seen strong evidence for a precessing jet from a confirmed neutron star,” he said, referring to the neutron star’s off-axis spin. “This evidence comes from both the symmetric S shape of the radio-emitting plasma in the jets and from the fast, wide shockwave, which can only be produced by a jet changing direction.” Such an awkward spin gives the jets their peculiar S-like configuration. Since scientists aren’t completely sure what phenomena caused them to launch in the first place, studying the odd behavior gives insight into the extreme physics behind its existence. Examining the Neutron Star Jets in Detail The MeerKAT measurements showed not only the jet but revealed termination shocks moving away from the neutron star. These occur in regions where the jets slam into material in surrounding space. This is the first time astronomers found such shocks around an X-ray binary like Circinus X-1. Those waves are moving fast—at about 10 percent the speed of light and their structure points back to the jet as their source. “The fact that these shockwaves span a wide angle agrees with our model,” Cowie said. “So we have two strong pieces of evidence telling us the neutron star jet is processing.” A MeerKAT radio image of the S-shape jet precessing in the Circinus X-1 X-ray binary pair system. The jet emanates as a result of the accretion of material around the neutron star. Courtesy: Fraser Cowie, Attribution CC BY 4.0. The speed of those shockwaves turns them into particle accelerators producing high-energy cosmic rays. The fact that those rays exist tells astronomers the action around the X-ray binary is extremely energetic. That high-energy activity has grabbed astronomers’ attention for half a century. Still, it remains a mysterious system, so as Cowie points out, it’s important to observe the jets and see how their behavior changes over time. “Several aspects of its behavior are not well explained so it’s very rewarding to help shed new light on this system, building on 50 years of work from others,” he said. “The next steps will be to continue to monitor the jets and see if they change over time in the way we expect. This will allow us to more precisely measure their properties and continue to learn more about this puzzling object.” About Circinus X-1 The Circinus X-1 system contains a neutron star and a companion. The pair lies some 30,000 light-years away in the direction of the southern hemisphere constellation Circinus. It was first spotted in June 1969 by an Aerobee suborbital rocket carrying X-ray-sensitive instruments and has been studied for years by astronomers using optical, X-ray, and radio telescopes. Composite image of Circinus X-1, which is about 24,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Circinus. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison/S. Heinz et al; Optical: DSS; Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA The system is a pretty young member of the X-ray-binary class of objects. Typically, a binary pair consists of a black hole and a sun-like star, or a neutron star and a sun-like star. The tremendous gravity of the more massive member of the pair continually pulls material from the companion. Eventually, a hot disk of gas forms and spirals down to the surface of the neutron star. This accretion process unleashes huge amounts of energy, and some of it powers the jets. They carry material away from the system at close to the speed of light. Illustration of Circinus X-1 and its jets. Circinus X-1 is about 4,600 years old, based on studies of the material around the binary system done using observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. It’s one of the brightest objects in the X-ray sky and has been studied ever since its discovery. The neutron star component is extremely dense and is the leftover neutron-rich core of a supermassive star that exploded as a supernova some 4,600 years ago. Astronomers know of hundreds of X-ray binaries in the Milky Way alone. Studies of Circinus X-1 give them insight into events and processes occurring early in the life of the binary. Interestingly one other X-ray binary shows an s-shape jet structure. It’s called SS 433. However, it may not have a neutron star. Instead, there may be a black hole powering that system. That makes the existence of Circinus X-1 doubly interesting since it contains a neutron star doing much the same thing. For More Information “Garden Sprinkler-like” Jet Seen Shooting out of Neutron StarX-ray Binary Circinus X-1 The post Neutron Star is Spraying Jets Like a Garden Sprinkler appeared first on Universe Today.

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Politics EXCLUSIVE: An Advance Glimpse at Vance’s RNC Speech The speech will connect the circumstances of his childhood to the policies the Trump ticket champions. Before the Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance takes the stage to address the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, a source familiar with the contents of the speech told The American Conservative what to expect from Trump’s new running mate. “Expect a powerful story of a boy who grew up in poverty, with no father in his life, and a drug addicted mother”—and who now finds himself on the verge of being the vice president of the United States, the source told TAC. Vance may achieve what only 49 others have come November, but his origins are an all too familiar story in modern heartland America. “A lot of people in middle America are going to see themselves and their community in his story,” the source added.  But the ultimate goal of a Trump-Vance administration would be to make upbringings like the one Vance endured a rarity once again. “His firsthand experience in that upbringing shaped his views on a lot of the biggest issues in the campaign,” including “trade, immigration, ending the endless wars.”  Now, as Trump’s running mate, Vance’s aim tonight is “to connect that life experience to the Trump policies” that improved the lives of Americans and their families, the source claimed.  While Vance has been ruthlessly attacked by the corporate media since becoming Trump’s running mate, Americans unfamiliar with the junior senator of Ohio will get to know him tonight. The post EXCLUSIVE: An Advance Glimpse at Vance’s RNC Speech appeared first on The American Conservative.

CNN Analyst Admits Biden’s Debate Disaster Wasn’t Just A ‘Bad Night’ [VIDEO]

"That'll make you believe in God."