Space exploration thread

[BlueGin]

Sun's magnetic field "is about to flip", warns NASA

The whole of the sun's magnetic field is about to "flip", according to NASA - with warning signs being spotted by observatories around the world this year.

This "flip" happens every 11 years, and coincides with the greatest solar activity in the "cycles" of the sun, known as "Solar Maximum" - with sunspots and "coronal mass ejections" on the surface of the sun.

"It looks like we're no more than 3 to 4 months away from a complete field reversal," says solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system."

Yahoo! News UK & Ireland - Latest World News & UK News Headlines

 

[BlueGin]

Perseid Meteor Shower: August's 'Fireball Champion' Should Dazzle Stargazers

Gear up to see some great balls of fire flashing through the sky this month.

According to NASA research, the upcoming Perseid meteor shower produces more fireballs — bright meteors that streak across the sky — than any other annual shower, earning it the title of "fireball champion".

During the peak of the Perseids, stargazers under dark skies could see more than 100 meteors per hour, but some bright fireballs can also be spotted in urban, light polluted areas.

"We have found that one meteor shower produces more fireballs than any other," Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement. "It's the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on August 12th and 13th."

Perseid Meteor Shower: August's 'Fireball Champion' Should Dazzle Stargazers

 

[ScienceRocks]

First Hundred Thousand Years of Our Universe

Mystery fans know that the best way to solve a mystery is to revisit the scene where it began and look for clues. To understand the mysteries of our universe, scientists are trying to go back as far they can to the Big Bang. A new analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation data by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has taken the furthest look back through time yet – 100 years to 300,000 years after the Big Bang – and provided tantalizing new hints of clues as to what might have happened

.

First Hundred Thousand Years of Our Universe « Berkeley Lab News Center

 

[ScienceRocks]

Space station poised to launch open-source satellites

Space station poised to launch open-source satellites - space - 07 August 2013 - New Scientist

Want to do your own space experiment? From next week, you will be able to run science projects on the world's first open-source satellites. And it won't break the bank.

ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on 3 August aboard a Japanese resupply vehicle (which is also carrying fresh food, supplies and a talking humanoid robot).

Known as CubeSats, each mini satellite packs an array of devices – including cameras, spectrometers and a Geiger counter – into a cube just 10 centimetres to a side.

The cargo ship carrying the CubeSats should arrive at the ISS on 9 August, and the satellites will then be deployed using a robotic-arm technique tested last year. The method can put several small satellites into orbit around Earth, eliminating the need for dedicated launch vehicles and making citizen-science missions like ArduSat more affordable.

 

[ScienceRocks]

A Jovian Mystery: It's Time to Land On Europa

Europa has only been seen from afar, but its aura of intrigue has inspired scientists to study ideas as to how to explore the icy Jovian moon.

In a new study published today (Aug. 7), a NASA-appointed science definition team lays out the rich tapestry of discovery facing any mission to study Europa, but what questions do we need answering?

A Jovian Mystery: It's Time to Land On Europa : Discovery News

I wish we would stop rebuilding countries that hate us and go find these questions out.

 

[BlueGin]

MAVEN mission team / picks haiku for Red Planet / We're green with envy

NASA's next mission to Mars will carry what no spacecraft has carried before: more than a thousand 17-syllable haiku poems, digitized on a decorated DVD.

The "Message to Mars" haiku contest is part of the outreach effort associated with the MAVEN orbiter, which is to be launched this fall to study the Red Planet's atmosphere.

More than 12,500 valid entries were submitted by poets around the world, according to the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, which is in charge of MAVEN's science operations and organized the contest. Each haiku reflected the 5-7-5-syllable scheme associated with the traditional Japanese form of poetry.

Internet users were given the chance to vote for their favorite poem

MAVEN mission team /*picks haiku for Red Planet /*We're green with envy - NBC News.com

 

[dilloduck]

MAVEN mission team / picks haiku for Red Planet / We're green with envy

NASA's next mission to Mars will carry what no spacecraft has carried before: more than a thousand 17-syllable haiku poems, digitized on a decorated DVD.

The "Message to Mars" haiku contest is part of the outreach effort associated with the MAVEN orbiter, which is to be launched this fall to study the Red Planet's atmosphere.

More than 12,500 valid entries were submitted by poets around the world, according to the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, which is in charge of MAVEN's science operations and organized the contest. Each haiku reflected the 5-7-5-syllable scheme associated with the traditional Japanese form of poetry.

Internet users were given the chance to vote for their favorite poem

MAVEN mission team /*picks haiku for Red Planet /*We're green with envy - NBC News.com

Best reason to stop funding the space program that I've ever heard.

 

[ScienceRocks]

MAVEN mission team / picks haiku for Red Planet / We're green with envy

NASA's next mission to Mars will carry what no spacecraft has carried before: more than a thousand 17-syllable haiku poems, digitized on a decorated DVD.

The "Message to Mars" haiku contest is part of the outreach effort associated with the MAVEN orbiter, which is to be launched this fall to study the Red Planet's atmosphere.

More than 12,500 valid entries were submitted by poets around the world, according to the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, which is in charge of MAVEN's science operations and organized the contest. Each haiku reflected the 5-7-5-syllable scheme associated with the traditional Japanese form of poetry.

Internet users were given the chance to vote for their favorite poem

MAVEN mission team /*picks haiku for Red Planet /*We're green with envy - NBC News.com

Best reason to stop funding the space program that I've ever heard.

So you're a Taliban kind of man that doesn't believe in advancing this nation? People like you would turn this country into just that.

Enjoy my ignore asshole.

 

[dilloduck]

MAVEN mission team / picks haiku for Red Planet / We're green with envy

NASA's next mission to Mars will carry what no spacecraft has carried before: more than a thousand 17-syllable haiku poems, digitized on a decorated DVD.

The "Message to Mars" haiku contest is part of the outreach effort associated with the MAVEN orbiter, which is to be launched this fall to study the Red Planet's atmosphere.

More than 12,500 valid entries were submitted by poets around the world, according to the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, which is in charge of MAVEN's science operations and organized the contest. Each haiku reflected the 5-7-5-syllable scheme associated with the traditional Japanese form of poetry.

Internet users were given the chance to vote for their favorite poem

MAVEN mission team /*picks haiku for Red Planet /*We're green with envy - NBC News.com

Best reason to stop funding the space program that I've ever heard.

So you're a Taliban kind of man that doesn't believe in advancing this nation? People like you would turn this country into just that.

Enjoy my ignore asshole.

Matthew---use reason. Look at the big picture.

 

[ScienceRocks]

We give tens of billions of dollars to build schools throughout the rest of the world to have the chance to have education as we do. You want to side with the Taliban? Why not fund our educational programs and give our children something to strive for in life.

WTF is all these wars doing if not bringing the chance to advance to those people. You want to fucking tell me our children don't deserve that.

 

[ScienceRocks]

This is the problem with extremism be it left or right...

It is fucking stupid and doesn't have any facts backing it.

 

[dilloduck]

This is the problem with extremism be it left or right...

It is fucking stupid and doesn't have any facts backing it.

Money---there's a fact
Priorities--there's another one

 

[ScienceRocks]

I'd rather spend on education and our science programs then another day of nation building.

That would do far more for this nation. I am sorry to see someone go to such extremes against our society reminding a top society on this planet.

 

[ScienceRocks]

U.S. 'Space Fence' Will Cease To Operate, Site Says

A U.S. radar system that tracks thousands of objects orbiting Earth — from satellites to harmful debris — has been slated for shutdown, according to the Space News site. The ground-based network known as the "Space Fence" may cease to operate in October.

"This is your notice to begin preparing the sites for closure," a memo from Air Force Space Command told the contractor that operates the arrays last week. The memo obtained by Space News continues, "A specific list of action items will be provided as soon as it is finalized. A specific date to turn off the mission system has not been established yet, but will be provided to you immediately upon determination."

U.S. 'Space Fence' Will Cease To Operate, Site Says : The Two-Way : NPR


Yay, let's leave all of our gps, satellites and even our space station totally fucking unprotected. Yay, let's go completely back to the 18th century. Fuck you republican cock suckers!!!

It's war!

Who can vote for the 18th century is pure insanity! Did I tell you that satellite communications and gps is going to be killed because of these morons!

 

[ScienceRocks]

SPACEX IS AWARDED LAUNCH OF GERMAN RADAR RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE SYSTEM

Falcon 9 rockets will deliver three-satellite SARah Constellation that will serve German Ministry of Defense

Hawthorne, CA – Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) will provide the launch services for Germany’s second-generation radar reconnaissance satellite system. The satellites, provided by OHB System AG and Astrium GmbH, will replace the current constellation and will be delivered to orbit by two Falcon 9 rockets in 2018 and 2019.

"SpaceX looks forward to working with OHB and Astrium, and we appreciate their confidence in SpaceX to reliably deliver these satellites to orbit,” said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President and COO. “These missions are very meaningful for SpaceX as the first contracted for a European government.”

OHB will build two passive-antenna synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, and Astrium GmbH will build a larger, phased-array-antenna satellite under contract for OHB. The three-satellite constellation will replace the current OHB-built five-satellite SAR-Lupe constellation.

SPACEX IS AWARDED LAUNCH OF GERMAN RADAR RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE SYSTEM | SpaceX

Diloduck,

Musk fucking rules and pretty soon the private sector will rule space. HAHAHA!!!!

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA Picks Rocket to Launch Asteroid Sample-Return Mission
NASA Picks Rocket to Launch Asteroid Sample-Return Mission | Space.com

NASA has picked the rocket that will launch a spacecraft to a near-Earth asteroid in 2016 to collect samples of the space rock and return them to Earth.

The U.S. space agency has tapped an Atlas 5 rocket built by the Englewood, Colo.-based company United Launch Services to launch the asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-Rex mission. The $800 million asteroid mission will launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in September 2016.

WAHOOOOOO!!!! Knowledge and technological advancement is cool

 

[ScienceRocks]

3D Printer Bound for Space Station Passes Key Test

A 3D printer has notched an important milestone on the way toward its planned launch to the International Space Station next year.

An engineering model of California-based startup Made in Space's 3D printer passed a battery of tests at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirming that the machine can survive the rigors of launch and function in a microgravity environment, company officials announced Wednesday (Aug. 7).

"This developmental testing was vital to the design of our flight-unit printer. We’ve engaged in a fast-paced mission starting in early 2013 to produce hardware that NASA would qualify for launch and installation to the ISS in 2014," Michael Snyder, director of research and development at Made in Space, said in a statement. "The fact that we’ve been able to pass another milestone in an abbreviated time frame is extremely exciting."

3D Printer Bound for Space Station Passes Key Test

3-d made parts, 3-d made rocket engines, Grasshoppers going to cost maybe .3% to refuel....

Space fucking rules and we're so fucking close to trimming the cost of surface to orbit flight that it is simply amazing.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Spaceport America Readies to Welcome Space Tourists

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. — Spread across 18,000 acres, Spaceport America continues to preen itself here in anticipation of booming business as the world's first purpose-built, commercial spaceport.

The "fit-out" of the Spaceport Operations Center continues at the site. New fire trucks and emergency vehicles are now on station, and field maintenance activities are in full swing. A runway extension effort is complete, now yielding a 12,000-foot "spaceway" to handle the projected comings and goings of anchor tenant Virgin Galactic, which plans to begin commercial space tourism flights there in the coming years.

Spaceport America Readies to Welcome Space Tourists

 

[ScienceRocks]

Can asteroids be mined? NASA plans to find out

Can asteroids be mined? NASA plans to find out | DVICE

Many resources on Earth are limited. So what do we do in the future when we run out? What if we could visit asteroids in the solar system and mine those for more materials? NASA hopes that its 2016 asteroid mission will be a step in that direction.

Asteroids are the hundreds of thousands leftovers from the formation of our solar system. They're made up of a variety of metal, rock, dust, and ice. Learning to mine these materials could be a valuable way to gain new resources on Earth, and it could also be critical for the exploration of deep space.

The first trillionaire will be made by mining the asteroids. Probably within the next 50-75 years! Go nasa!

 

[ScienceRocks]

On August 13th, the Falcon 9 test rig (code name Grasshopper) completed a divert test, flying to a 250m altitude with a 100m lateral maneuver before returning to the center of the pad. The test demonstrated the vehicle's ability to perform more aggressive steering maneuvers than have been attempted in previous flights.

Grasshopper is taller than a ten story building, which makes the control problem particularly challenging. Diverts like this are an important part of the trajectory in order to land the rocket precisely back at the launch site after reentering from space at hypersonic velocity

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2t15vP1PyoA]Grasshopper Divert | Single Cam - YouTube[/ame]

Completely reusable and cost .3% to refuel each time. Imagine using each one a dozen times. This is what advancement looks like.