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"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler", Albert Einstein
Browsing All Posts filed under »SPACE«
NASA Launching Experiment to Examine the Beginnings of the Universe
When did the first stars and galaxies form in the universe? How brightly did they burn their nuclear fuel? Scientists will seek to gain answers to these questions with the launch of the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRIment (CIBER) on a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket between 11 and 11:59 p.m. EDT, June 4 from […]
The most powerful particles in the Universe
May 17, 2013
a cosmic smash Wolfgang Bietenholz This year we are celebrating 101 years since the discovery of cosmic rays. They are whizzing all around the Universe, and they occur at very different energies, including the highest particle energies that exist. However, theory predicts an abrupt suppression (a “cutoff”) above a specific huge energy. This is difficult […]
Bright explosion on the Moon
May 17, 2013
For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. “Lunar meteor showers” have turned out to be more common than anyone expected, with hundreds of detectable impacts occurring every year. They’ve just seen the biggest explosion in the history of the […]
Project Kronos
May 10, 2013
Project Kronos is a documentary film set in the not too distant future, following a mission to achieve interstellar space travel. As the mission unfolds with extraordinary results, the scientists find themselves dealing with a much bigger agenda. Written and Directed by Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull
Fermi’s Close Call with a Soviet Satellite
April 30, 2013
NASA scientists don’t often learn that their spacecraft is at risk of crashing into another satellite. But when Julie McEnery, the project scientist for NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, checked her email on March 29, 2012, she found herself facing this precise situation. While Fermi is in fine shape today, continuing its mission to map […]
Herschel Completes Its ‘Cool’ Journey in Space
April 29, 2013
The Herschel observatory, a European space telescope for which NASA helped build instruments and process data, has stopped making observations after running out of liquid coolant as expected. The European Space Agency (ESA) mission, launched almost four years ago, revealed the universe’s “coolest” secrets by observing the frigid side of planet, star and galaxy formation. […]
Twist in dark matter tale hints at shadow Milky Way
April 11, 2013
THE HUNT for some of the most wanted stuff in the universe took a new twist this week with the first results from a high-profile, space-based dark matter detector. The results are inconclusive, but, if combined with recent theory, they hint at something exciting. Could the universe have a dark side, complete with its own […]
Scientists to Io: Your Volcanoes Are in the Wrong Place
April 5, 2013
Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the Solar System, with hundreds of volcanoes, some erupting lava fountains up to 250 miles high. However, concentrations of volcanic activity are significantly displaced from where they are expected to be based on models that predict how the moon’s interior is heated, according to NASA […]
First result from the AMS experiment
April 3, 2013
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) Collaboration announces the publication of its first physics result in Physical Review Letters. The AMS Experiment is the most powerful and sensitive particle physics spectrometer ever deployed in space. As seen in Figure 1, AMS is located on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) and since its installation […]
New York City at Night
April 1, 2013
One of the Expedition 35 crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station exposed this 400 millimeter night image of the greater New York City metropolitan area on March 23, 2103. For orientation purposes, note that Manhattan runs horizontal through the frame from left to the midpoint. Central Park is just a little to the […]
Saturn is Like an Antiques Shop, Cassini Suggests
March 27, 2013
A new analysis of data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggests that Saturn’s moons and rings are gently worn vintage goods from around the time of our solar system’s birth. Though they are tinted on the surface from recent “pollution,” these bodies date back more than 4 billion years. They are from around the time that […]
NASA Voyager Status Update on Voyager1 Location
March 20, 2013
“The Voyager team is aware of reports today that NASA’s Voyager 1 has left the solar system,” said Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. “It is the consensus of the Voyager science team that Voyager 1 has not yet left the solar system or reached interstellar space. […]
Why is Curiosity Looking for Organics?
March 7, 2013
What are organic molecules, and what can they tell us about the history of Mars? Learn more in this 60-second video. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Video: Station Crew Captures Dragon
March 3, 2013
The International Space Station Expedition 34 crew successfully captured the SpaceX Dragon capsule with the station’s robotic arm at 5:31 a.m. EST Sunday.
NASA Rover Confirms First Drilled Mars Rock Sample
February 21, 2013
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has relayed new images that confirm it has successfully obtained the first sample ever collected from the interior of a rock on another planet. No rover has ever drilled into a rock beyond Earth and collected a sample from its interior. Transfer of the powdered-rock sample into an open scoop was […]
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to release first results
February 18, 2013
By Jonathan Amos The scientist leading one of the most expensive experiments ever put into space says the project is ready to come forward with its first results. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was put on the International Space Station to survey the skies for high-energy particles, or cosmic rays. Nobel Laureate Sam Ting said […]
Curiosity Rover’s Self Portrait …
February 12, 2013
… at ‘John Klein’ Drilling Site, Cropped This rectangular version of a self-portrait of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013). The rover is positioned at a patch of flat […]
Curiosity Maneuver Prepares for Drilling
January 30, 2013
The percussion drill in the turret of tools at the end of the robotic arm of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has been positioned in contact with the rock surface in this image from the rover’s front Hazard-Avoidance Camera (Hazcam). The drill was positioned for pre-load testing, and the Hazcam recorded this image during the 170th […]
There’s new evidence of a wet underground environment on Mars!
January 20, 2013
Layers with Carbonate Content Inside McLaughlin Crater on Mars This view of layered rocks on the floor of McLaughlin Crater shows sedimentary rocks that contain spectroscopic evidence for minerals formed through interaction with water. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded the image. A combination of clues suggests […]
Wil Wheaton: Life Saving Technology from NASA
January 17, 2013
NASA’s commitment to safety in space has been saving lives on Earth for years. Rocket-powered parachutes can save entire airplanes, Apollo-era life rafts have saved hundreds of sailors, and a cardiac pump developed from rocket engine technology has extended the lives of hundreds of patients www.nasa.gov
First Use of Mars Rover Curiosity’s Dust Removal Tool
January 8, 2013
This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity shows the patch of rock cleaned by the first use of the rover’s Dust Removal Tool (DRT). The tool is a motorized, wire-bristle brush on the turret at the end of the rover’s arm. Its first use was on the 150th […]
Apollo 40 years on: how the moon missions changed the world for ever
December 16, 2012
Photographs from the Apollo missions reshaped how we see the Earth and ourselves, while the ingenuity that put men on the moon gave birth to technologies that we all use today Christopher Riley On 19 December 1972, a final sonic boom above the south Pacific signalled the end of the Apollo programme, as a tiny […]
Curiosity rover nearing Yellowknife Bay
December 12, 2012
he NASA Mars rover Curiosity drove 63 feet (19 meters) northeastward early Monday, Dec. 10, approaching a step down into a slightly lower area called “Yellowknife Bay,” where researchers intend to choose a rock to drill. The drive was Curiosity’s fourth consecutive driving day since leaving a site near an outcrop called “Point Lake,” where […]
Apollo 17 Launch
December 7, 2012
The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 17 (Spacecraft 114/Lunar Module 12/Saturn 512) space vehicle is launched from Pad A., Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, at 12:33 a.m. (EST), Dec. 7, 1972. Apollo 17, the final lunar landing mission in NASA’s Apollo program, was the first nighttime liftoff of the Saturn V launch vehicle. […]
SAM: Sample Analysis at Mars
December 3, 2012
NASA’s Curiosity rover analyzed its first solid sample of Mars with a variety of instruments, including the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite. Developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., SAM is a portable chemistry lab tucked inside the Curiosity rover. SAM examines the chemistry of samples it ingests, checking particularly […]
Mariner 4 Snaps First TV Image of Mars
November 29, 2012
A ‘real-time data translator’ machine converted a Mariner 4 digital image data into numbers printed on strips of paper. Too anxious to wait for the official processed image, employees from the Voyager Telecommunications Section at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, attached these strips side by side to a display panel and hand colored the numbers like […]
Cassini Finds a Video Gamers’ Paradise at Saturn
November 26, 2012
You could call this “Pac-Man, the Sequel.” Scientists with NASA’s Cassini mission have spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Tethys. (The first was found on Mimas in 2010). The pattern appears in thermal data obtained by Cassini’s composite infrared spectrometer, with […]
Felix Baumgartner’s historic freefall
November 14, 2012
Documentary telling the behind-the-scenes story of Felix Baumgartner’s historic, record-breaking 128100ft freefall from the edge of space to Earth on 15 October 2012. http://youtu.be/y0XWakvVTS4
Earth’s magnetic shield behaves like a sieve
November 5, 2012
The Earth’s magnetic field is more permeable than previously thought, according to researchers analysing data from the European Space Agency’s Cluster mission. The findings have implications for modelling the dangers posed by space weather and could also help us better understand the magnetic environments around Jupiter and Saturn. The Cluster mission, launched in 2000, comprises […]
Mars in a Minute: Is Mars Red Hot?
November 1, 2012
What would it feel like if you could stand on Mars — toasty warm, or downright chilly? Find out more about the temperature on Mars in this 60-second video from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. www.youtube.com
Herschel’s Final Destination: The Moon?
October 31, 2012
Herschel will run out of its helium coolant at some point in the first half of 2013, after which the mission will be over. There is much debate about what to do with the spacecraft after that. One suggestion is to fly Herschel into the Moon, creating a fresh impact crater and allowing astronomers to […]
SpaceX’s Manned Dragon Space Capsule Explained
October 28, 2012
Infographic SpaceX’s manned Dragon space capsule is a private spacecraft designed to carry seven astronauts on missions to and from low-Earth orbit. The Dragon spacecraft is a gumdrop-shaped capsule powered by two solar arrays. It is a crewed version of the robotic Dragon spacecraft developed by SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) of Hawthorne, Calif. The manned […]
Alien hunting: how to find DNA on Mars
October 24, 2012
by Lisa Grossman -newscientist.com No one has looked for life on Mars for more than 30 years, ever since NASA’s Viking missions sent back inconclusive results. Genomics maverick Craig Venter wants to change that. Cracker of the human genome and builder of synthetic life, Venter announced at the Wired Health Conference in New York last week that he wants to send a DNA sequencer […]
Mars Soil Sample Delivered for Analysis Inside Rover
October 18, 2012
Mission Status Report NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has ingested its first solid sample into an analytical instrument inside the rover, a capability at the core of the two-year mission. The rover’s Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument is analyzing this sample to determine what minerals it contains. “We are crossing a significant threshold for this mission […]
Τhere’s a space ship outside!
October 14, 2012
Space Shuttle Endeavour crawls through central LA on its final journey to new home Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk
Meteorite points to asteroid Vesta’s dynamo
October 13, 2012
A team of scientists in the US says that the asteroid Vesta probably had a rotating liquid core in its early history. This, the researchers say, created a dynamo that produced a magnetic field strong enough to magnetize the rocks on its surface. As it was previously thought that only larger planets, such as Earth, […]
Mars Rock Touched by NASA Curiosity has Surprises
October 12, 2012
Target: Jake Matijevic Rock This image shows where NASA’s Curiosity rover aimed two different instruments to study a rock known as “Jake Matijevic.” The red dots are where the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument zapped it with its laser on Sept. 21, 2012, and Sept. 24, 2012, which were the 45th and 48th sol, or […]
The impact of the Parkes observatory
October 9, 2012
Fifty Years in Fifteen Minutes Philip Edwards The scientific output of Parkes over its fifty year history is briefly reviewed on a year-by-year basis, and placed in context with other national and international events of the time. Read more: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.2138v1.pdf
Voyager 1: beyond the edge of the solar system at last?
October 8, 2012
By Kelly Oakes It was on my first birthday that the Voyager 1 spacecraft turned around and took a picture of the pale blue dot we call home. That picture was Voyager’s last glimpse of Earth before its camera was switched off and it began to sail, uninterrupted, towards interstellar space. Around the same time […]
Nasa’s Curiosity Mars rover to scoop sand sample
October 6, 2012
By Jonathan Amos The Curiosity rover is preparing to scoop its first sample of Martian soil. The vehicle, which landed on the Red Planet in August, has driven up to a pile of sandy material that mission scientists have dubbed “Rocknest”. This weekend, the robot will dig into the ground with its clamshell-shaped trowel, with […]
A curious cold layer in the atmosphere of Venus
October 1, 2012
Venus Express has spied a surprisingly cold region high in the planet’s atmosphere that may be frigid enough for carbon dioxide to freeze out as ice or snow. The planet Venus is well known for its thick, carbon dioxide atmosphere and oven-hot surface, and as a result is often portrayed as Earth’s inhospitable evil twin. […]
What is Beyond Apollo?
September 27, 2012
By David S. F. Portree – wired.com Periodically I take a moment to explain what Beyond Apollo is and isn’t. Beyond Apollo is a blog devoted to space history. It’s unique in that it explores space history by looking at missions and programs that did not happen. I defend this approach by pointing out that […]
First James Webb telescope mirrors delivered to Nasa
September 25, 2012
The first two components of the huge mirror set to fly on the US James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have been delivered to Nasa. James Webb – regarded as the successor to Hubble – is due to launch in 2018. After they have been checked, the hexagonal mirror components will be stored until engineers are […]
When will we send humans to Mars?
September 21, 2012
In the first instalment of a two-part feature, Dr Alexander Kumar – who has been overwintering at Concordia Station, Antarctica – examines what it would take to send humans to Mars, and what lessons we can learn from similar environments on Earth. Just how far are we from mounting a crewed mission to the Red […]
Build a supercomputer on the moon
September 17, 2012
Hal Hodson NASA currently controls its deep space missions through a network of huge satellite dishes in California, Spain and Australia known as the Deep Space Network (DSN). Even the Voyager 1 probe relies on these channels to beam data back to Earth as it careers away into space. But traffic on the network is […]
Puzzling Little Martian Spheres …
September 14, 2012
… That Don’t Taste Like ‘Blueberries’ Small spherical objects fill the field in this mosaic combining four images from the Microscopic Imager on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The view covers an area about 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) across, at an outcrop called “Kirkwood” in the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour […]
Video: Exploring new worlds
September 13, 2012
Underground day 4. In a room with a beautiful pond the astronauts enjoy a meal before descending even deeper into Earth. An international crew of six astronauts are training for a caving adventure designed to prepare them for spaceflight. There are many similarities to spaceflight such as a lack of day–night cycle, sensory deprivation, minimal […]
Curiosity Rover Takes Self Portrait
September 8, 2012
On Sol 32 (Sept. 7, 2012) the Curiosity rover used a camera located on its arm to obtain this self portrait. The image of the top of Curiosity’s Remote Sensing Mast, showing the Mastcam and Chemcam cameras, was acquired by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). The angle of the frame reflects the position of […]
May 21, 2013
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