Overlook

 

Way back in the 20th century, the first moon walkers understood that it was best to get up high and survey the terrain for interesting features.

Eric also learned the same in his Exo Geology class while exploring exomoon JWST-0-875645. In the exomoon's low gravity, he hopped up some boulders to observe the cratered, dusty landscape, but he was really grabbed by the sky!

(From my fun series called "Eric the Explorer" featuring my grandson's toy astronaut.)

Red Dwarf Jungle

 

Eric read that six percent of red dwarf stars have an Earth-sized planet in the "habitable zone." This zone is the range of distances from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water.

The majority of the sun's closest neighbors are red dwarfs. It didn't take Eric long to find a red dwarf with a planet covered in thick vegetation. He could spend years exploring this exotic place.

Lava Tube

 

Eric loves to explore lava tubes on the moon and Mars.

On Mars, lava tubes are a great place to start human settlements. Mars has a thin atmosphere that lets way too much harmful radiation hit the surface.

But putting your tender skin beneath a few meters of rock and soil solves that problem nicely.

It costs a lot of time and energy to dig a tunnel for a habitat, but a lava tube is a ready-made tunnel for free!

Also called a pyroduct, lava tubes are formed when flowing lava from a volcanic vent moves beneath the already-hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties out, it will leave a tunnel. We find them all over the solar system wherever we find volcanoes.

More about lava tubes here: https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/lava-tubes-natures-shelters-for-cosmic-colonization/

Desolation

 

Eric always enjoyed trips to Earth's moon.  Ever since his first visit for Explorer Camp, he always thrilled at the moon's "magnificent desolation" as perfectly described by his hero Buzz Aldrin.

It was funny to remember how Explorer Camp lasted one day.  One lunar day.  Because of the moon's slow rotation, a full day-night cycle on the moon lasts about 27 Earth days!

"Jupiter Glow"

 

They call it "Jupiter Glow." Jupiter has an enormous, active magnetic field, and a spacewalk outside Jupiter Station sometimes make everything glow with a strange light.

Imagine your space station and astronauts pulsing with light like the aurora on Earth. Kinda cool.

Eric was helping John adjust a camera outside the station when he took a minute to float free and soak in the amazing sight.



(Note: I totally made up "Jupiter Glow," but check out Jupiter's magnetic and plasma environment here: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/jupiter/magnetosphere)

A Bad Day

 

Eric floated outside his spaceship and watched the comet impact exoplanet JAC.229900.98.2. Even though he knew there was only simple bacterial life on the young planet, it was still sad to see all the damage.

On a bright note, over the next several thousand years, the planet would heal and maybe the disruption would jumpstart even more biological diversity.

Nitrogen Snow

 

Out in the Oort cloud, the sun is just a bright star, and temperatures slide close to absolute zero.

Here on O-753948, Eric's boots crunch through a light dusting of snow. But the snow is made from flakes of nitrogen, not water.

Sparkles, Sparkles Everywhere

 

From Eric's exploration log...

"I always enjoy visiting exo-moon GJKF-6840. The sky is alive with stars, giant planets (both with thriving civilizations), and asteroids that sparkle in the shifting light.

Even the little moon, one of a dozen circling the busy binary-planet system, glitters with shiny glass nodules prized by jewelers all over the galaxy."

Ejected!

 

From Eric's exploration log...

"Moonlet JC3475032 is an asteroid orbiting exoplanet HSC09342. Both are called 'rogue' bodies since they are not orbiting a star as part of a solar system.

Maybe the exoplanet was tossed out of its solar system when a bigger planet's gravity messed up it's orbit.

I wonder if its little moonlet came along, or was it picked up later? Either way, it's good to have a friend."

In the photo above, Eric is enjoying the sunrise from a nearby star, just one of millions in this globular cluster.

Thermal Scan

 

Eric setup his camera and walked toward the asteroid's horizon. But, he left it in thermal scanning mode, making the whole scene look like a groovy painting from LeRoy Neiman back in the 20th century.

Baked and Frozen

 

From Eric's Exploration Log, page 58...


"The rocks were ancient, and they had been baked, frozen, and lashed with solar radiation. Still, I managed to find a few tiny fossils that reminded me of Earth's clams. It seems like there is a lesson in here somewhere. Maybe something about hope in a forbidding place?"

Eric the Explorer

 

I am starting a new bit of silliness about the adventures of Eric the Explorer.  

Today, he checked out an asteroid that seemed dull and empty until he found an area covered in shining gem stones.

Yesterday, he spent time on a cold exo-Moon to find a spot for a new space telescope.

Mix and Match

 

Ever since I was a little kid in Honduras, I always had a picture in my head of the perfect astronaut spacesuit.

It was always new and clean. One use, then off to a museum.

Well, it's not that way these days. I've retired my original suit, and, like other full-time space explorers, I am slowly upgrading components over time.

My friend Mick has a mixed bag of suit parts that work just fine. He says it's like accumulating golf gear or scuba gear.

He wrote me saying, 

"My new helmet shell was issued by the Rocket Team. They sent a nice card saying it was a gift to 'honor your work publishing books about us.' My power module is from a NASA moon suit, and my suit's upper torso is from Rocket Lab. A real mixed bag. I look like a space hobo!"

(c)2022 Mickey Kulp
Facebook: SpaceArt57

Power and Propulsion

 

Each of the dozen Lunar Orbital Gateways has a similar modular design. And the heart of each one is the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE).

The PPE uses electric propulsion to control the station's orbit. It also provides power and communications for visiting lunar explorers.

Last month, I worked with a crew outside Gateway Eight. The station is sponsored by the Botnamso Corporation representing Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.

The best part of the job was eating bread rolls and grilled antelope with the permanent staff.




(c)2022 Mickey Kulp
Facebook: SpaceArt57

Space Art 57: The Hornet Nebula

 

We came out of the wormhole and dropped straight into a churning hornet's nest of gas and dust and scattered suns.

Some major gravitational event had occurred within the last billion years or so, something that had flung stars and worlds around like glitter. Hot, young stars were igniting in the dense regions of debris.

If this place had a sound, it would be heavy metal.

We stayed just long enough to get a minimal data set, log the jump coordinates, and name it "The Hornet Nebula."


(c)2022 Mickey Kulp
https://www.facebook.com/SpaceArt57