Space news and Exploration II

[mamooth]

SpaceX Takes Second Shot at Falcon 9 Landing on Sunday

After 3 scrubbed launches (one due to a bad range radar, two due to high upper level winds), the DSCOVR satellite finally went up.

Following launch delays SpaceX DSCOVR satellite soars towards space - CSMonitor.com

Its main mission is to sit between the earth and sun and give advance warning of solar storms headed towards earth. It also has cameras pointing back towards earth, so it can provide regular pictures of the entire sunlit side of the earth.

The barge landing of the first stage was scrubbed due to high waves, but they did set it down slowly into the ocean.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Twinkle mission to take a closer look at exoplanet atmospheres
By David Szondy
February 12, 2015
3 Pictures

One reason exoplanets are so fascinating is the possibility that they may harbor life, but the definition of habitable used by astronomers is so broad that it could include planets that obviously aren't. To help zero in on the more likely candidates, a British-built satellite called Twinkle will look at the atmospheres of exoplanets to seek more definite signs of life, as well as clues as to the chemistry, formation and evolution of exoplanets.

 

[ScienceRocks]

To me it looks like we are in some living things body. A universe inside this living thing. On a molecular level. One million years to us is one day to it. And it is just something living inside something else. Etc.

I was sitting there looking at this yesterday and thought it was exactly this. Wouldn't it be amazing if it was so?

It looks like when they show us DNA up close on a molecular level. The universe does look like a living thing. And when we look at a drop of water its like a mini city in there.

It is truly incomprehensible. All I know is this little planet and sun are going to die someday and I want humans to live forever.

Its funny religious people are worried about themselves living forever and I'm more concerned about the human race.

If we can clone humans can we clone fish chicken and cows? Would water be a problem? Is space cold because then we can probably figure out how to make water from ice?

What are some of the hurdles to leaving our solar system?

The only way humans are going to last the next 3-4 million years is expansion. I feel the same way as you do and wish humanity would get off this rock! Yes, we've clones quite a few humans throughout the past two decades..Sheep for one. No water wouldn't be a probably as moons like Europa have 3 times the fresh water as the earth and mars has enough water(if it was melted) would cover a flat surface the size of mars 36 meters deep. Most of the moons of Jupiter(besides io) and Saturn are made out of ice.

We melt ice with adding energy, which speeds up the molecules. Also, inside our space ship or surface base, we'll have the right atmosphere with the right density for the molecules to bump into each to melt the ice. We'll make our own environment!

A few hurdles is speed and will. Speed as it takes 11 years to get to Pluto at 60,000 mph! We'll need something that goes 10% of the speed of light to get anywhere! And that will take will as a lot of anti-science people will whine about spending a trillion bucks to do it.

 

[Manonthestreet]

China—along with every other space-active government—wants to mine helium-3 from the Moon. And now, by successfully navigating a space capsule through re-entry and landing, China's Chang'e 5 test space mission puts the country one step closer to its long term space dream.

Read more: China Might Trump the Rest of the World in the Moon Mining Race - Modern Notion

 

[sealybobo]

Twinkle mission to take a closer look at exoplanet atmospheres
By David Szondy
February 12, 2015
3 Pictures

One reason exoplanets are so fascinating is the possibility that they may harbor life, but the definition of habitable used by astronomers is so broad that it could include planets that obviously aren't. To help zero in on the more likely candidates, a British-built satellite called Twinkle will look at the atmospheres of exoplanets to seek more definite signs of life, as well as clues as to the chemistry, formation and evolution of exoplanets.

The link didn't explain what do they mean exo? Does that just mean they might have life?

 

[ScienceRocks]

Twinkle mission to take a closer look at exoplanet atmospheres
By David Szondy
February 12, 2015
3 Pictures

One reason exoplanets are so fascinating is the possibility that they may harbor life, but the definition of habitable used by astronomers is so broad that it could include planets that obviously aren't. To help zero in on the more likely candidates, a British-built satellite called Twinkle will look at the atmospheres of exoplanets to seek more definite signs of life, as well as clues as to the chemistry, formation and evolution of exoplanets.

The link didn't explain what do they mean exo? Does that just mean they might have life?

Extrasolar planets is what they should of said. We will have to see what the data says before we can tell whether they have life or not.

 

[sealybobo]

To me it looks like we are in some living things body. A universe inside this living thing. On a molecular level. One million years to us is one day to it. And it is just something living inside something else. Etc.

I was sitting there looking at this yesterday and thought it was exactly this. Wouldn't it be amazing if it was so?

It looks like when they show us DNA up close on a molecular level. The universe does look like a living thing. And when we look at a drop of water its like a mini city in there.

It is truly incomprehensible. All I know is this little planet and sun are going to die someday and I want humans to live forever.

Its funny religious people are worried about themselves living forever and I'm more concerned about the human race.

If we can clone humans can we clone fish chicken and cows? Would water be a problem? Is space cold because then we can probably figure out how to make water from ice?

What are some of the hurdles to leaving our solar system?

The only way humans are going to last the next 3-4 million years is expansion. I feel the same way as you do and wish humanity would get off this rock! Yes, we've clones quite a few humans throughout the past two decades..Sheep for one. No water wouldn't be a probably as moons like Europa have 3 times the fresh water as the earth and mars has enough water(if it was melted) would cover a flat surface the size of mars 36 meters deep. Most of the moons of Jupiter(besides io) and Saturn are made out of ice.

We melt ice with adding energy, which speeds up the molecules. Also, inside our space ship or surface base, we'll have the right atmosphere with the right density for the molecules to bump into each to melt the ice. We'll make our own environment!

A few hurdles is speed and will. Speed as it takes 11 years to get to Pluto at 60,000 mph! We'll need something that goes 10% of the speed of light to get anywhere! And that will take will as a lot of anti-science people will whine about spending a trillion bucks to do it.

Imagine planting a few weeds and grasses and seeds that spread fast at first and then a few fish and pigs and rabbits and beaver on a planet and chickens on a raw planet. Also finches and sparrow. Whatever animals breed fast. Then we bring corn radishes onions potatoes apple trees pear trees grapes etc.

 

[sealybobo]

Twinkle mission to take a closer look at exoplanet atmospheres
By David Szondy
February 12, 2015
3 Pictures

One reason exoplanets are so fascinating is the possibility that they may harbor life, but the definition of habitable used by astronomers is so broad that it could include planets that obviously aren't. To help zero in on the more likely candidates, a British-built satellite called Twinkle will look at the atmospheres of exoplanets to seek more definite signs of life, as well as clues as to the chemistry, formation and evolution of exoplanets.

The link didn't explain what do they mean exo? Does that just mean they might have life?

Extrasolar planets is what they should of said. We will have to see what the data says before we can tell whether they have life or not.

Why are they extra solar? Extra what? Does it just mean may have life or something more?

 

[ScienceRocks]

Twinkle mission to take a closer look at exoplanet atmospheres
By David Szondy
February 12, 2015
3 Pictures

One reason exoplanets are so fascinating is the possibility that they may harbor life, but the definition of habitable used by astronomers is so broad that it could include planets that obviously aren't. To help zero in on the more likely candidates, a British-built satellite called Twinkle will look at the atmospheres of exoplanets to seek more definite signs of life, as well as clues as to the chemistry, formation and evolution of exoplanets.

The link didn't explain what do they mean exo? Does that just mean they might have life?

Extrasolar planets is what they should of said. We will have to see what the data says before we can tell whether they have life or not.

Why are they extra solar? Extra what? Does it just mean may have life or something more?

Extrasolar = outside of our solar system and orbiting another star.

Extrasolar (From extra, Latin for outside or beyond, and solar, Latin for the Sun) is a term applied to any object that exists outside the Solar System

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX signs landing pad agreement with US Air Force
By David Szondy
February 12, 2015
2 Pictures

Cape Canaveral has seen decades of rockets lifting into space, and now it will act as home to the world's first space landing pad. Brigadier General Nina Armagno, commander of the US Air Force 45th Space Wing, signed an agreement with SpaceX; giving the company a five-year lease on Launch Complex 13 (LC-13) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, which will be converted to receive returning boosters and spacecraft making powered soft landings.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hubble captures rare image of triple Jupiter transit
By Anthony Wood

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a rare image of a triple transit, as three of Jupiter's largest moons cast their shadows on the gas giant's planetary disk. The three moons captured in the image – Europa, Callisto and Io, were among the first celestial objects observed with a telescope, and were instrumental in debunking the long held belief that the Earth was at the center of the universe.

 

[ScienceRocks]

New tool processes Cassini snaps to provide clearest-ever view of Titan
By Chris Wood
February 13, 2015
3 Pictures

A new technique has been developed to suppress the noise in radar images of Titan captured by Cassini. The snaps are usually grainy in appearance due to electronic noise, but the new tool pulls back the curtain, providing the clearest view yet of Saturn’s largest moon.

 

[ScienceRocks]

World's biggest solar telescope set for 2019 completion in Hawaii
By Richard Moss
February 14, 2015
3 Pictures

The US$344 million Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is designed to image the surface of the Sun in unprecedented detail and help scientists address fundamental questions about solar physics when it opens sometime in 2019. The DKIST has just entered the next phase in its construction, with a consortium of eight UK universities and businesses tasked with producing the telescope's all-important cameras. Once complete, it will be the biggest solar telescope in the world – dwarfing current titleholder Big Bear Solar Observatory in California and edging out the 4.07 m (13.12 ft) European Solar Telescope that's also currently under construction.

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA tests TGALS glider-based satellite launch system
By David Szondy
February 14, 2015
8 Pictures

Recently, DARPA unveiled its ALASA system for launching satellites from fighter planes. Now NASA is upping the ante with its Towed Glider Air-Launch System (TGALS), which is designed to launch satellites from a twin-fuselage towed glider. Under development by NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, it's designed as an economical method for putting spacecraft into low-Earth orbit with the first test flight of a scale prototype having already been conducted.

 

[ScienceRocks]

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...ar-of-icy.html

On February 9, Cassini's trajectory took it within 47,000 kilometers of Rhea. During the encounter Cassini acquired two very large mosaics on a gibbous Rhea, capturing its heavily cratered surface in beautiful detail. This is the first icy moon flyby of the second equatorial phase of the extended-extended mission. It is also the last close encounter that Cassini will ever have with Rhea. Now, we shouldn't be too sad about that, because of all of Saturn's non-Titan moons, Rhea is the one that Cassini has already done the best job of imaging. It's the second largest moon and since it is the one next closest to Saturn from Titan, Cassini's orbit has taken it relatively close to Rhea relatively frequently, providing plenty of imaging opportunities. I just searched, and there are already 5,219 images aimed at Rhea in the Cassini data archives, among them several big mosaics shot during similarly close encounters. Still, it's sad to know that we've now left Rhea behind for good.

To better understand the data that Cassini gathered during the most recent flyby, I sorted it all out into a single image. You can see that there are three global views from the wide-angle camera, and two large mosaics. The wide-angle views were shot only using a clear filter. The mosaics were shot at full resolution through a clear filter, then at half-resolution through ultraviolet, green, and infrared filters. A small area near Rhea's equator was imaged using two more filters, a longer-wavelength infrared and a blue filter, because there is an especially colorful feature there of interest to scientists.

 

[ScienceRocks]

ABS-SatMex, aka ABS-3A/Eutelsat 115 West B

Static fire: NET Feb. 22, 2015
Launch: NET Feb 27, 2015
Window: 2301-2346 Local (Eastern)

Launch may slip right into early March. May not.

Satellites: 2 Boeing 702SP commsats. The 702SP is a new commsat, these are the first, which uses no chemical propulsion - just electric Hall Effect thrusters and a much smaller quantity of xenon as a reaction mass. This drastically reduces the mass of the 702SP, allowing them to be launched in pairs (dual manifesting) on launchers smaller than Proton or Ariane 5.

As the bottom pic shows, they're lighter but not really "small."

Hall Effect thruster

Stacked Boeing 702SP's

 

[ScienceRocks]

Mystery Mars haze baffles scientists

A mysterious haze high above Mars has left scientists scratching their heads.

The vast plume was initially spotted by amateur astronomers in 2012, and appeared twice before vanishing.
Scientists have now analysed the images and say that say the formation, stretching for more than 1,000km, is larger than any seen before.
Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers believe the plume could be a large cloud or an exceptionally bright aurora.
However, they are unsure how these could have formed in the thin upper reaches of the Martian atmosphere.
"It raises more questions than answers," said Antonio Garcia Munoz, a planetary scientist from the European Space Agency.
Around the world, a network of amateur astronomers keep their telescopes trained on the Red Planet.
They first spotted the strange plume in March 2012 above Mars' southern hemisphere.
Damian Peach was one of the first stargazers to capture images of the phenomenon.
He told BBC News: "I noticed this projection sticking out of the side of the planet. To begin with, I thought there was a problem with the telescope or camera.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-31491805

 

[ScienceRocks]

A close call of 0.8 light years

A group of astronomers from the US, Europe, Chile and South Africa have determined that 70,000 years ago a recently discovered dim star is likely to have passed through the solar system's distant cloud of comets, the Oort Cloud. No other star is known to have ever approached our solar system this close - five times closer than the current closest star, Proxima Centauri.

Read more at: A close call of 0.8 light years

 

[ScienceRocks]

Laser 'ruler' holds promise for hunting exoplanets

The hunt for Earth-like planets around distant stars could soon become a lot easier thanks to a technique developed by researchers in Germany.

In a paper published today, 18 February, in the New Journal of Physics, the team of researchers have successfully demonstrated how a solar telescope can be combined with a piece of technology that has already taken the physics world by storm—the laser frequency comb (LFC).

It is expected the technique will allow a spectral analysis of distant stars with unprecedented accuracy, as well as advance research in other areas of astrophysics, such as detailed observations of the Sun and the measurement of the accelerating universe by observing distant quasars.

Read more at: Laser ruler holds promise for hunting exoplanets

 

[ScienceRocks]

Dawn captures sharper images of Ceres
8 hours ago

These two views of Ceres were acquired by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Feb. 12, 2015, from a distance of about 52,000 miles (83,000 kilometers) as the dwarf planet rotated. The images have been magnified from their original size. The Dawn …more

Craters and mysterious bright spots are beginning to pop out in the latest images of Ceres from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. These images, taken Feb. 12 at a distance of 52,000 miles (83,000 kilometers) from the dwarf planet, pose intriguing questions for the science team to explore as the spacecraft nears its destination.

Read more at: Dawn captures sharper images of Ceres