Artist rendering of Orion during Exploration Mission-1 as it travels 40,000 miles past the Moon.
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When a spacecraft built for humans ventures into deep space, it requires an array of features to keep it and a crew inside safe. Both distance and duration demand that spacecraft must have systems that can reliably operate far from home, be capable of keeping astronauts alive in case of emergencies and still be light enough that a rocket can launch it.
Artemis Missions near the Moon will start when NASA’s Orion spacecraft leaves Earth atop the world’s most powerful rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System. After launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Orion will travel beyond the Moon to a distance more than 1,000 times farther than where the International Space Station flies in low-Earth orbit, and farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever ventured. To accomplish this feat, Orion has built-in technologies that enable the crew and spacecraft to explore far into the solar system.
Systems to Live and Breathe
As humans travel farther from Earth for longer missions, the systems that keep them alive must be highly reliable while taking up minimal mass and volume. Orion will be equipped with advanced environmental control and life support systems designed for the demands of a deep space mission. A high-tech system already being tested aboard the space station will remove carbon dioxide (CO2) and humidity from inside Orion. Removal of CO2 and humidity is important to ensure air remains safe for the crew breathing. And water condensation on the vehicle hardware is controlled to prevent water intrusion into sensitive equipment or corrosion on the primary pressure structure.
The system also saves volume inside the spacecraft. Without such technology, Orion would have to carry many chemical canisters that would otherwise take up the space of 127 basketballs (or 32 cubic feet) inside the spacecraft—about 10 percent of crew livable area. Orion will also have a new compact toilet, smaller than the one on the space station. Long duration missions far from Earth drive engineers to design compact systems not only to maximize available space for crew comfort, but also to accommodate the volume needed to carry consumables like enough food and water for the entirety of a mission lasting days or weeks.
Highly reliable systems are critically important when distant crew will not have the benefit of frequent resupply shipments to bring spare parts from Earth, like those to the space station. Even small systems have to function reliably to support life in space, from a working toilet to an automated fire suppression system or exercise equipment that helps astronauts stay in shape to counteract the zero-gravity environment in space that can cause muscle and bone atrophy. Distance from home also demands that Orion have spacesuits capable of keeping astronaut alive for six days in the event of cabin depressurization to support a long trip home.
Proper Propulsion
The farther into space a vehicle ventures, the more capable its propulsion systems need to be to maintain its course on the journey with precision and ensure its crew can get home.
Orion has a highly capable service module that serves as the powerhouse for the spacecraft, providing propulsion capabilities that enable Orion to go around the Moon and back on its exploration missions. The service module has 33 engines of various sizes. The main engine will provide major in-space maneuvering capabilities throughout the mission, including inserting Orion into lunar orbit and also firing powerfully enough to get out of the Moon’s orbit to return to Earth. The other 32 engines are used to steer and control Orion on orbit.
In part due to its propulsion capabilities, including tanks that can hold nearly 2,000 gallons of propellant and a back up for the main engine in the event of a failure, Orion’s service module is equipped to handle the rigors of travel for missions that are both far and long, and has the ability to bring the crew home in a variety of emergency situations.
The Ability to Hold Off the Heat
Going to the Moon is no easy task, and it’s only half the journey. The farther a spacecraft travels in space, the more heat it will generate as it returns to Earth. Getting back safely requires technologies that can help a spacecraft endure speeds 30 times the speed of sound and heat twice as hot as molten lava or half as hot as the sun.
When Orion returns from the Moon, it will be traveling nearly 25,000 mph, a speed that could cover the distance from Los Angeles to New York City in six minutes. Its advanced heat shield, made with a material called AVCOAT, is designed to wear away as it heats up. Orion’s heat shield is the largest of its kind ever built and will help the spacecraft withstand temperatures around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit during reentry though Earth’s atmosphere.
Before reentry, Orion also will endure a 700-degree temperature range from about minus 150 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Orion’s highly capable thermal protection system, paired with thermal controls, will protect Orion during periods of direct sunlight and pitch black darkness while its crews will comfortably enjoy a safe and stable interior temperature of about 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
Radiation Protection
As a spacecraft travels on missions beyond the protection of Earth’s magnetic field, it will be exposed to a harsher radiation environment than in low-Earth orbit with greater amounts of radiation from charged particles and solar storms that can cause disruptions to critical computers, avionics and other equipment. Humans exposed to large amounts of radiation can experience both acute and chronic health problems ranging from near-term radiation sickness to the potential of developing cancer in the long-term.
Orion was designed from the start with built in system-level features to ensure reliability of essential elements of the spacecraft during potential radiation events. For example, Orion is equipped with four identical computers that each are self-checking, plus an entirely different backup computer, to ensure Orion can still send commands in the event of a disruption. Engineers have tested parts and systems to a high standard to ensure that all critical systems remain operable even under extreme circumstances.
Orion also has a makeshift storm shelter below the main deck of the crew module. In the event of a solar radiation event, NASA has developed plans for crew on board to create a temporary shelter inside using materials on board. A variety of radiation sensors will also be on the spacecraft to help scientists better understand the radiation environment far away from Earth. One investigation called AstroRad, will fly on Artemis I and test an experimental vest that has the potential to help shield vital organs and decrease exposure from solar particle events.
Constant Communication and Navigation
Spacecraft venturing far from home go beyond the Global Positioning System (GPS) in space and above communication satellites in Earth orbit. To talk with mission control in Houston, Orion will use all three of NASA’s space communications networks. As it rises from the launch pad and into cislunar space, Orion will switch from the Near Earth Network to the Space Network, made possible by the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, and finally to the Deep Space Network that provides communications for some of NASA’s most distant spacecraft.
Orion is also equipped with backup communication and navigation systems to help the spacecraft stay in contact with the ground and orient itself if it’s primary systems fail. The backup navigation system, a relatively new technology called optical navigation, uses a camera to take pictures of the Earth, Moon and stars and autonomously triangulate Orion’s position from the photos. Its backup emergency communications system doesn’t use the primary system or antennae for high-rate data transfer.
Octopus are famous for their sophisticated intelligence; some scientists even argue that cephalopods were the first intelligent beings on the planet. They are able to untie knots, open jars, and toddler proof cases, and are generally expert escape artists. There is increasing evidence that cephalopods have unique personalities—one octopus may be shy and reclusive, another curious and playful, or possibly mischievous and cranky. Perhaps, being defenseless, with soft bodies and living in a competitive environment with stronger, more agile bony fish led them to evolve especially sharp minds for problem-solving.
Intelligence requires big brains. A cephalopod brain is divided into many different sections called lobes. The squid Loligo has at least 30 different lobes. The lobes are specialized centers that, among other things, process information from the eyes, control camouflage, and store memories. Though structured similarly to other mollusks, a cephalopod nervous system far surpasses the nervous systems of their closest molluscan relatives—the California sea slug has about 18,000 neurons while the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, has roughly 200 million neurons in its brain. Humans have many more, just under 100 billion, but a cephalopod is on par with dogs and some monkeys since they also carry about two-thirds of their neurons in their arms, not their head. Unlike humans and other mammals, the cephalopod brain will grow one and a half times its original size from the moment of birth to adulthood.
A veined octopus sits inside a vacant bivalve shell, which it uses as a portable shelter, in the Philippines. This is one of the few examples—if not the only example—of tool use in invertebrates.
(Jeffrey de Guzman/Nature’s Best Photography)
With intelligence comes the ability to learn. Scientists first realized cephalopods had a talent for learning after the publication of a groundbreaking study by a German researcher named Jakob von Uexkull in 1905. Uexkull starved a group of octopuses for fifteen days and then presented them with hermit crabs carrying anemones on their shells. The famished octopuses readily attacked the hermit crabs, though after a few stings from the anemones they soon avoided the crabs altogether. It was clear octopuses were cleverer than once believed and, as a result, scientists in the early 1900s began testing the limits of a cephalopod’s learning capacity.
Early studies found an octopus can be trained to perform specific behaviors using food rewards and shock punishments, showing they are capable of making associations. When presented with a foreign but harmless object they will initially explore and investigate, but after consecutive introductions, they quickly lose interest, a sign they remember the object and its now unremarkable nature.
TED-Ed, Cláudio L. Guerra
Surprisingly, though, octopuses are not the best when it comes to tackling mazes—they fail to even remember a simple sequence of turns. However, in one experiment, the species Octopus maya quickly learned whether to take a right or left in a simple “T” maze to escape the dry maze and find their reward—the reprieve of a seawater tank. Levers are also tricky for octopuses and, for the most part, tests trying to teach octopuses to feed themselves using a lever mechanism have been unsuccessful.
It may come as a bit of a surprise that although they are reclusive and solitary creatures, octopuses may be able to learn from one another. In a 1992 study, scientists trained a group of octopuses to discriminate between two colored balls. Choosing a red ball elicited a tasty snack while choosing a white ball elicited an unpleasant shock. As this group of octopuses learned to associate color with reward and punishment, a second group of octopuses was allowed to observe from separate tanks. Next, these observers were given the choice—red or white. Without reward or punishment, the second group chose the red ball more quickly than the initial group.
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Playing behavior is also attributed to intelligent organisms like mammals and some birds, but recent studies suggest octopuses may also like to have a little fun. A 1999 study at the Seattle Aquarium found that two of ten octopuses squirted water at weighted pill bottles, pushing the bottles against a filter current. After waiting for them to float back the octopuses squirted them again, almost like bouncing a basketball. A 2006 study suggested that octopuses will play with blocks as well.
Sometimes referred to as the chameleons of the sea, a cephalopod can change the color and texture of its skin in the blink of an eye. Some use this skill to blend into their environment as masters of disguise, while others purposefully stand out with a flashy display. They change texture by controlling the size of projections on their skin (called papillae), creating surfaces ranging from small bumps to tall spikes. A 2018 study on cuttlefish found that once the papillae extend they become locked in place, enabling the cuttlefish to effortlessly hold their textured disguise while expending minimal energy. The color transformations are made possible by thousands of pigment-filled cells that dot the entire body, called chromatophores.
Within each chromatophore is an elastic, pigment-filled sac that is connected and controlled by several muscles and nerves. When the muscles contract the sack expands, revealing vibrant pigments—reds, browns, and yellows. When the muscles relax, the sack shrinks back down, hiding the pigment. Some cephalopods also have iridophores and leucophores, which add to the complexity of the skin’s color. The iridophores lie directly beneath the chromatophores and are responsible for displays of metallic greens, blues, gold, and silver. Leucophores, also known as “white spots,” scatter and reflect all light from the environment and are believed to aid in camouflage.
Octopus cyanea) has shaped itself like algae or some coral so hide from predators or stalk prey.This day octopus () has shaped itself like algae or some coral so hide from predators or stalk prey.
(Flickr user Pudekamp
In combination, these color and texture changing techniques allow a cephalopod to mimic almost any background. Experiments by Roger Hanlon show cuttlefish expertly mimicking mottled textures, stripes, spots, and a black and white checkerboard!
Certain cephalopods have even mastered the ability to impersonate other animals, a self-defense tactic called mimicry. The mimic octopus is the pinnacle of shape-shifting wizardry. It appears to imitate up to 15 different animals (that we know of). Faced with a pesky damselfish it buries six of its arms in the sand leaving just two strategically placed and colored to look like the venomous banded sea snake (a predator of the fish). It can also cruise along the sand like a flat, banded sole fish or swim up in the water column like the venomous, spiny lionfish. The pharaoh cuttlefish’s chosen disguise is just as impressive—it can mimic the color, behavior and shape of a hermit crab.
Science Friday
ome cephalopods have one more trick up their sleeves when changing color. It’s called bioluminescence, which is the creation of light in specialized light organs called photophores. Light is created through a chemical reaction that produces light energy in the body of the animal, similar to how fireflies flash on a hot summer night. A catalyst called luciferase sets off the light producing substance called luciferin. The result is an eerie glow, startling flash, or syncopated blinking.
Glowing photophores are visible on a squid ( Abralia veranyi ) viewed from below at low light levels.
(E. Widder, ORCA, www.teamorca.org
Bioluminescence serves more than just a pretty display. The concentration of photophores on the bottom side of some squid suggests the light is used as a camouflage technique called counterillumination; the bright light protects the squid from lurking predators below by allowing it to blend in with light coming from the surface of the water. But for the cephalopods that want to stand out, light is used to lure prey or flash as a warning for predators. The dazzling light displays of the firefly squid during mating season off the coast of Japan are quite the sight to see at night, though scientists are unclear whether the purpose of the light is to attract mates, deter predators, or something yet to be discovered.
One of the most exciting light displays is performed by the vampire squid. Deep ocean dwellers, vampire squid rely on three types of light organs. Each of the eight arms is tipped with several simple light organs, tiny photophores dot the skin, and a third, more complex pair of light organs with photoreceptors sit near the fins. When startled, luminescent clouds of mucus are emitted from the arm-tip light organs, leading scientists to think the glowing display is a defense mechanism.
Ed Yong, PBS Digital Studies
While some cephalopods, like the vampire squid, are able to produce light on their own, for others lighting up requires a bit of help. The bobtail squid relies on a bacterium called Vibrio fischeri, and will selectively allow this bacterium to grow within its photophores. At birth, a young bobtail squid lacks the bioluminescent bacteria and must find the light producing microbes in the water column. At this stage of life, the squid’s light organ is not fully developed but small hairs along the photophore sweep the bacteria closer, and a molecular deterrent prohibits all bacteria except Vibrio fischeri from entering. Once one bacterium successfully enters the photophore it multiplies by the hundreds of thousands, a colonization that spurs the full development of the photophore. Without the bacteria the bobtail squid’s photophore will not develop, rendering the light organ useless as a cloaking device. Vibrio fischeri is a common bioluminescence partner with some other cephalopods that owe their glowing skills to the microbe.
“When the Sepia is frightened and in terror, it produces this blackness and muddiness in the water, as it were a shield held in front of the body.”—Aristotle, The History of Animals, Book IV (ca. 350 BC). Translated by Arthur Leslie Peck and Edward Seymour Forster. Aristotle XII: Parts of Animals Movement of Animals, Progression of Animals (1937).
In a stressful situation, a cephalopod has one final defense tactic. Almost all cephalopods have an ink sac, a bladder that can suddenly release a plume of dense, black ink. The ink is a mix of two secretions—a melanin-based chemical from the ink gland that gives it the dark hue and a thick mucus from the animal’s funnel organ. Another compound in the ink, called tyrosinase, is a potent irritant that can disrupt a predator’s smell and taste, as well as cause blindness. When startled or attacked by a predator the ink jet works like a smokescreen, a distraction, or a cephalopod look-a-like that the predator attacks instead which allows the real cephalopod to make a quick escape.
A humboldt squid ( Dosidicus gigas ) releases a cloud of ink at night in Mexico's Sea of Cortez.
(Brian Skerry, National Geographic)
The ink can also act as a warning cue to other cephalopods. In the presence of ink the California market squid will begin to swim, and the Caribbean reef squid will initiate camouflage coloring. The Japanese pygmy squid has figured out how to use ink to hunt for shrimp, rather than just hide from predators. It squirts a few quick puffs in the direction of the shrimp and then darts through the ink to grab its meal. The ink is potentially used as a way to both hide from the prey and to distract the shrimp from noticing the incoming attack.
For most cephalopods, sex is a once in a lifetime event—both the male and female die shortly after mating. A male sometimes initiates the interaction with a courtship display meant to attract and woo the female, though for most octopuses there is little foreplay. If successful, the male will use his hectocotylus, a specialized arm, to deposit sperm packets called spermatophores on or in the female.
Two California market squids (Loligo opalescens) mate in the waters off of California's Channel Islands. While spawning, the males' arms blush red as he embraces the female; a warning to other competing males to back-off.
(© Brian Skerry, www.brianskerry.com)
The story of how the name hectocotylus came to be is a tale of mistaken identity. In 1829, the famous naturalist George Cuvier identified an odd “organism” within the mantle of a female paper nautilus (which, to make matters even more confusing is, in fact, an octopus) and thought it was a new parasitic worm which he called the hectocotylus. Turns out, it was actually a male cephalopod arm, but the name stuck. In the paper nautilus, the hectocotylus detaches completely during sex and remains inside the female—this is what Cuvier mistook as a worm. Fertilization varies from species to species and in some cases the female holds on to the hectocotylus in a specialized pouch and fertilizes the eggs as she lays them.
In some squid and cuttlefish, mating occurs in mass gatherings and the males compete for access to the female as she spawns. In the European squid, Loligo vulgaris, smaller males will skirt around the edges of the spawning ground and display patterns similar to a female, rather than challenge the dominant male. Once a female begins to spawn, a small male will dart in and quickly mate with her, a behavior that has earned them the name “sneaker” males.
Two squids tending to egg casings.
(Josh Cummings, Flickr
If a female octopus lives near the ocean floor, once her eggs are fertilized, she will scout out a shelter to lay her eggs and attach them to the ceiling or walls in long strings. She’ll forgo eating and instead spend her time fanning the eggs with water to keep them clean and protect them from predators. While most octopus mothers spend less than a few months watching over their brood, one deep-sea octopus, Graneledone boreopacifica, holds the record for the longest time spent watching over her eggs—over four and a half years! The long egg development time is most likely a response to the relatively cold environment of the deep sea. For some squids that live in the open ocean, the eggs are spawned in gelatinous masses that then drift within the water column. The discovery of a mass squid graveyard off the coast of California indicates that once the female squid successfully reproduce, they die and sink to the bottom of the ocean to over 3,300 feet (1,000 m) where they become food for deep-sea scavengers.
Upon hatching, the tiny, baby cephalopods become planktonic, meaning they live in the water column. Many hatchlings are already adept predators and will actively pursue prey. Little is known about the early life stages of specific species due to difficulties in identifying the very small young.
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