Space news and Exploration II

[ScienceRocks]

NASA successfully opens 20-foot-wide SMAP antenna
By Chris Wood

NASA mission controllers have successfully deployed the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory’s reflector antenna, in what is an important step along the road towards the satellite becoming fully operational.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Mystery Spot on Dwarf Planet Ceres Has Mysterious Partner

The intrigue surrounding Ceres continues to deepen as a NASA probe gets closer to the dwarf planet.
The new photos of Ceres from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which is scheduled to arrive in orbit around Ceres on the night of March 5, reveal that a puzzling bright spot on the dwarf planet's surface has a buddy of sorts.
"Ceres' bright spot can now be seen to have a companion of lesser brightness, but apparently in the same basin," Dawn principal investigator Chris Russell, of UCLA, said in a statement. "This may be pointing to a volcanolike origin of the spots, but we will have to wait for better resolution before we can make such geologic interpretations."

 

[ScienceRocks]

Ancient Black Hole Is So Big It Doesn't Fit Current Theories: A Surprise From The Early Universe

A black hole with the mass 12 billion times that of our sun has been discovered and appears to have attained that size by the time the universe was less than a billion years old, going against current theories of black hole formation, astronomers say.

The black hole, 12.8 billion light years from Earth, is powering a quasar with a luminosity of 420 trillion suns, the brightest quasar in the early universe ever observed, they say.

Current theories hold that the black hole and its quasar could not have grown so large and so bright so soon following the birth of the universe in the Big Bang around 13.7 billion years ago, astronomers say.

 

[sealybobo]

Ancient Black Hole Is So Big It Doesn't Fit Current Theories: A Surprise From The Early Universe

A black hole with the mass 12 billion times that of our sun has been discovered and appears to have attained that size by the time the universe was less than a billion years old, going against current theories of black hole formation, astronomers say.

The black hole, 12.8 billion light years from Earth, is powering a quasar with a luminosity of 420 trillion suns, the brightest quasar in the early universe ever observed, they say.

Current theories hold that the black hole and its quasar could not have grown so large and so bright so soon following the birth of the universe in the Big Bang around 13.7 billion years ago, astronomers say.

Would you go to mars one way? I bet half the people that applied would back out if picked.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Ancient Black Hole Is So Big It Doesn't Fit Current Theories: A Surprise From The Early Universe

A black hole with the mass 12 billion times that of our sun has been discovered and appears to have attained that size by the time the universe was less than a billion years old, going against current theories of black hole formation, astronomers say.

The black hole, 12.8 billion light years from Earth, is powering a quasar with a luminosity of 420 trillion suns, the brightest quasar in the early universe ever observed, they say.

Current theories hold that the black hole and its quasar could not have grown so large and so bright so soon following the birth of the universe in the Big Bang around 13.7 billion years ago, astronomers say.

Would you go to mars one way? I bet half the people that applied would back out if picked.

If the infrastructure was in place so I can live out my life on mars. That and some form of a adapted internet! The big goal with going to mars and setting up a colony is making sure it lives a natural and happy life.

 

[sealybobo]

Ancient Black Hole Is So Big It Doesn't Fit Current Theories: A Surprise From The Early Universe

A black hole with the mass 12 billion times that of our sun has been discovered and appears to have attained that size by the time the universe was less than a billion years old, going against current theories of black hole formation, astronomers say.

The black hole, 12.8 billion light years from Earth, is powering a quasar with a luminosity of 420 trillion suns, the brightest quasar in the early universe ever observed, they say.

Current theories hold that the black hole and its quasar could not have grown so large and so bright so soon following the birth of the universe in the Big Bang around 13.7 billion years ago, astronomers say.

Would you go to mars one way? I bet half the people that applied would back out if picked.

If the infrastructure was in place so I can live out my life on mars. That and some form of a adapted internet! The big goal with going to mars and setting up a colony is making sure it lives a natural and happy life.

The people going now know they'll only live something like 100 days.

 

[sealybobo]

Did you see some of the tapes sent in? People are nuts.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

That's a great point above about 'adapted internet.' Are the Mars-candidates aware that their precious cellphones will be useless?

"Hey, why doesn't my smartphone work? I wanna go home!"

 

[ScienceRocks]

The Curiosity robot confirms methane in Mars' atmosphere which may hint that existed life

The tunable laser spectrometer in the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument of the Curiosity robot has unequivocally detected an episodic increase in the concentration of methane in Mars' atmosphere after an exhaustive analysis of data obtained during 605 soles or Martian days.
This has been revealed in an article authored by scientists from the MSL (Mars Science Laboratory) mission, recently published in Science. One of the authors of this article is Francisco Javier Martín-Torres, a researcher at the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences (CSIC-UGR).

This puts an end to the long controversy on the presence of methane in Mars, which started over a decade ago when this gas was first detected with telescopes from Earth. The controversy increased afterwards with the measurements obtained by orbiting satellites, some of which were occasionally contradictory. These new and incontrovertible data open paths for new research that can identify the sources that produce this gas—which could include some type of biological activity—and the mechanisms by means of which the gas is eliminated with such inexplicable speed.

Read more at: The Curiosity robot confirms methane in Mars atmosphere which may hint that existed life

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA Dawn's spacecraft will insert into dwarf planet Ceres orbit late next week and then spiral down for 20 months

NASA's Dawn spacecraft will be in orbit around Ceres in one more week. NASA has released a photo of Ceres Dwarf planet Ceres continues to puzzle scientists as NASA's Dawn spacecraft gets closer to being captured into orbit around the object.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Life 'not as we know it' possible on Saturn's moon Titan

A new type of methane-based, oxygen-free life form that can metabolize and reproduce similar to life on Earth has been modeled by a team of Cornell University researchers.

Taking a simultaneously imaginative and rigidly scientific view, chemical engineers and astronomers offer a template for life that could thrive in a harsh, cold world - specifically Titan, the giant moon of Saturn. A planetary body awash with seas not of water, but of liquid methane, Titan could harbor methane-based, oxygen-free cells.

Read more at: Life not as we know it possible on Saturn s moon Titan

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX ABS/Eutelsat-1 Mission

Sunday, March 1st, 2015 at 7:30 PM PST on spacex

In this mission, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the ABS 3A and EUTELSAT 115 West B satellites to a supersynchronous transfer orbit. The ABS/Eutelsat-1 launch window is targeted to open at approximately 10:50pm EST on Sunday, March 1, 2015, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. If all goes as planned, the satellites will be deployed beginning approximately 30 minutes after liftoff.

 

[ScienceRocks]

ESA offers CubeSats a deep space ride on asteroid mission
By David Szondy
February 28, 2015
4 Pictures

CubeSats offer a way to get into space on the cheap. They're compact, inexpensive, and they can piggyback on larger launch payloads to get into orbit. The trouble is, this piggybacking is often like trying to hitchhike cross country on a ride that only goes to the edge of town. The European Space Agency is widening the scope a little by opening a competition for CubeSats to ride into deep space on its Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM).

 

[ScienceRocks]

0115 GMT (8:15 p.m. EST on Sun.)

Fueling of the 224-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket is underway at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad after the SpaceX launch team issued a "go" to begin propellant loading.

The two-stage rocket burns RP-1 fuel -- a high-refined kerosene -- and liquid oxygen during today's 35-minute launch sequence.

Radio checks between the rocket and the Air Force's Eastern Range have begun at 8:05 p.m. EST (0105 GMT). First motion checks should begin at 8:20 p.m. EST (0120 GMT).

Testing of the Falcon 9 rocket's destruct mechanisms is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. EST (0205 GMT), and the launcher's on-board power systems will be activated at 9:20 p.m. EST (0220 GMT).

 

[ScienceRocks]

The Curiosity robot confirms methane in Mars atmosphere which may hint that existed life

"These new and incontrovertible data open paths for new research that can identify the sources that produce this gas—which could include some type of biological activity—and the mechanisms by means of which the gas is eliminated with such inexplicable speed.

Since methane can be the product of biological activity—practically all the existing methane in Earth's atmosphere originates in this way—this has created great expectations that Martian methane could also be of a similar origin."

 

[longknife]

The Curiosity robot confirms methane in Mars atmosphere which may hint that existed life

"These new and incontrovertible data open paths for new research that can identify the sources that produce this gas—which could include some type of biological activity—and the mechanisms by means of which the gas is eliminated with such inexplicable speed.

Since methane can be the product of biological activity—practically all the existing methane in Earth's atmosphere originates in this way—this has created great expectations that Martian methane could also be of a similar origin."

Isn't methane created by cow farts? Does that mean there were Martian cows?

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX lofts two all-electric ion-drive comsats to Clarke orbit

Pics Another month, another successful SpaceX launch. This time, a Falcon 9 sent into orbit a twin set of communications satellites that eschew chemical-engine propellant in favor of solar power.

Typically, half the weight of a satellite is its propulsion fuel, used to maneuver it into position once in space.

However, the two just-launched Boeing 702SP birds each use a xenon ion drive, which electrically stimulates ions of the noble gas to generate small amounts of thrust. Each engine needs just a tenth of the fuel load of traditional satellite propulsion systems.

As a result, the two lighter satellites (about 2.2 tonnes apiece) could be stacked for a single launch. The Falcon 9 can only carry a payload lighter than five tonnes to the birds' geostationary orbit 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above Earth – a distance first described by Arthur C. Clarke.

 

[ScienceRocks]

1503.00692 One of the closest planet pairs to the 3 2 Mean Motion Resonance confirmed with K2 observations and Transit Timing Variations EPIC201505350

One of the closest planet pairs to the 3:2 Mean Motion Resonance, confirmed with K2 observations and Transit Timing Variations : EPIC201505350

Our search through two separate pipelines led to the independent discovery of EPIC201505350, a two-planet system of Neptune sized objects (4.2 and 7.2 R), orbiting a K dwarf extremely close to the 3:2 mean motion resonance. The two planets each show transits, sometimes simultaneously due to their proximity to resonance and alignment of conjunctions.
Results. We obtain further ground based photometry of the larger planet with the NITES telescope, demonstrating the presence of large transit timing variations (TTVs) of over an hour. These TTVs allows us to confirm the planetary nature of the system, and place a limit on the mass of the outer planet of 386M eath.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Giant methane storms on Uranus

Most of the times we have looked at Uranus, it has seemed to be a relatively calm place. Well, yes its atmosphere is the coldest place in the solar system. But, when we picture the seventh planet in our solar system invariably the image of a calming blue hazy disc that the spacecraft Voyager 2 took in 1986 comes to mind.

Read more at: Giant methane storms on Uranus

 

[ScienceRocks]

First satellites with all-electric propulsion call home
By David Szondy
March 3, 2015
5 Pictures

The launch of two new communications satellites may not seem like news these days, but it is when they're the first satellites with all-electric propulsion. Boeing announced that the two 702SP small platform satellites, called ABS-3A and EUTELSAT 115 West B, that launched on Sunday evening are sending back signals to mission control as they power towards geosynchronous orbit under ion drive.