Space news and Exploration II

[ImGoing2Heaven]

Students aim to put cyanobacteria on Mars to generate oxygen
7 hours ago by Tomasz Nowakowski, Astrowatch.net

Cyanobacteria Spirulina. Credit: cyanoknights.bio

Mars is a very harsh and hostile environment for future human explorers and like any other known planet it has no breathable air. That could change someday, and it may be soon enough for our generation to witness it, as the student team from Germany has a bold vision to make a first step to terraform the Red Planet, turning it more Earth-like. The plan is to send cyanobacteria to Mars to generate oxygen out of carbon dioxide which is the main component of Martian atmosphere (nearly 96%). "Cyanobacteria do live in conditions on Earth where no life would be expected. You find them everywhere on our planet!" team leader Robert P. Schröder told astrowatch.net. "It is the first step on Mars to test microorganisms." The project is participating in the Mars One University Competition and if it wins, it will be send as a payload to Mars, onboard the Dutch company's mission to the Red Planet. Now everyone can vote to help make it happen by visiting the CyanoKnights.bio webpage.
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Read more at: Students aim to put cyanobacteria on Mars to generate oxygen

first, there's no way for humans to survive on mars.
Second Jesus would be furious if we changed and altered the heavens from his perfection. Third man can not travel through space, Apollo was a how by buzz armstrong

 

[ImGoing2Heaven]

Jesus hates space travel!!!

 

[ScienceRocks]

Jesus hates space travel!!!

Go back into the tree, troll.

I am sure your god believes that humans should all suffer without medical advances, electricy or anything else. He probably thinks we should be worshiping him within our caves.

 

[ImGoing2Heaven]

Man did not come from trees, atheist scum

 

[ScienceRocks]

I am sure your god believes that humans should all suffer without medical advances, electricy or anything else. He probably thinks we should be worshiping him within our caves.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Back to space!!!

Here is stuff to look forward for in 2015! The Space Missions and Events We re Most Looking Forward to in 2015 WIRED

 

[ImGoing2Heaven]

The space program in the 50s and 60s was the biggest hoax in human history.
Buzz Armstrong was the devils tool to lead man down a slippery slope of extreme sin, referred to by atheists as "space travel", referred to by the children of God as an invasion of hallowed grounds of Heaven!

 

[ImGoing2Heaven]

Jesus hates space travel!!!

Go back into the tree, troll.

I am sure your god believes that humans should all suffer without medical advances, electricy or anything else. He probably thinks we should be worshiping him within our caves.

Discovery and longevity is not heretical, as long as they are Biblical science based

 

[ScienceRocks]

God bless space exploration!!!

Super-Earths have long-lasting oceans
7 hours ago

This artist's depiction shows a gas giant planet rising over the horizon of an alien waterworld. New research shows that oceans on super-Earths, once established, can last for billions of years. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)

For life as we know it to develop on other planets, those planets would need liquid water, or oceans. Geologic evidence suggests that Earth's oceans have existed for nearly the entire history of our world. But would that be true of other planets, particularly super-Earths? New research suggests the answer is yes and that oceans on super-Earths, once established, can last for billions of years.

Read more at: Super-Earths have long-lasting oceans

 

[ScienceRocks]

Watch SpaceX launch its Falcon 9 rocket and try to land it on a barge

by Steve Dent | @stevetdent | 6mins ago

Very soon at around 6:20 AM EST today (11:20 AM in the UK) SpaceX will launch one its mighty Falcon 9 rockets carrying a Dragon capsule, weather permitting. "Big deal!" you may well say. "What's another rocket launch?" We're sure you're not that jaded (they're all amazing) but this one is pretty special. After the Dragon is up and away doing its thing (carrying ISS cargo, to be exact), the 14-story tall first stage will attempt to make a precision landing on an ocean platform only 300x100 feet in size. That's never been tried before, and even the normally brash Musk said "the odds of success are not great -- perhaps 50 percent at best." That makes things extra exciting, so grab your popcorn and check out the video below.

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA s Kepler Marks 1 000th Exoplanet Discovery Uncovers More Small Worlds in Habitable Zones NASA

NASA’s Kepler Marks 1,000th Exoplanet Discovery, Uncovers More Small Worlds in Habitable Zones

Two of the newly validated planets, Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b, are less than 1.5 times the diameter of Earth. Kepler-438b, 475 light-years away, is 12 percent bigger than Earth and orbits its star once every 35.2 days. Kepler-442b, 1,100 light-years away, is 33 percent bigger than Earth and orbits its star once every 112 days.
Both Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b orbit stars smaller and cooler than our sun, making the habitable zone closer to their parent star, in the direction of the constellation Lyra. The research paper reporting this finding has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

With the detection of 554 more planet candidates from Kepler observations conducted May 2009 to April 2013, the Kepler team has raised the candidate count to 4,175. Eight of these new candidates are between one to two times the size of Earth, and orbit in their sun's habitable zone. Of these eight, six orbit stars that are similar to our sun in size and temperature. All candidates require follow-up observations and analysis to verify they are actual planets

 

[ScienceRocks]

Most Earth-like planet ever discovered could be a cosy home for alien life
Most Earth-like planet ever discovered could be a cosy home for alien life Science The Guardian
Kepler 438b is likely to be a rocky world in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone of its parent star where the temperature is just right for liquid water to flow

An Earth-like planet orbiting a star that has formed a planetary nebula. Earlier in its life, this planet may have resembled the newly discovered Kepler 438b. Illustration: David A Aguilar/CfA
Ian Sample, science editor

Tuesday 6 January 2015 13.15 EST

An alien world that orbits a distant star in the constellation of Lyra may be the most Earth-like planet ever found outside the solar system.

The planet, named Kepler 438b, is slightly larger than Earth and circles an orange dwarf star that bathes it in 40% more heat than our home planet receives from the sun.

The small size of Kepler 438b makes it likely to be a rocky world, while its proximity to its star puts it in the “Goldilocks” or habitable zone where the temperature is just right for liquid water to flow.

A rocky surface and flowing water are two of the most important factors scientists look for when assessing a planet’s chances of being hospitable to life.

Kepler 438b, which is 470 light years away, completes an orbit around its star every 35 days, making a year on the planet pass 10 times as fast as on Earth. Small planets are more likely to be rocky than huge ones, and at only 12% larger than our home planet, the odds of Kepler 438b being rocky are about 70%, researchers said.

One of the other planets, Kepler 442b, lies in the same constellation 1,100 light years away. It is about a third larger than Earth, receives about two thirds as much starlight, and has a 60% chance of being rocky, according to a report to be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Guillermo Torres, lead author on the study, said the size and amount of light falling on the planets made them the most Earth-like planets yet found beyond our solar system. Before their discovery, the exoplanets most similar to our own were Kepler 186f, which is 10% larger than Earth and receives a third as much light, and Kepler 62f, which is 40% larger and gets about 41% as much light.

The scientists do not know if the planets have atmospheres, but if they are cloaked in insulating layers of gas, the mean temperatures of Kepler 438b and 442b are expected to be about 60 and zero degrees Celsius respectively.

The Harvard-Smithsonian team used a computer program called Blender to confirm that the planets originally spotted by the Kepler space telescope were real. False sightings can happen when pairs of stars that lie behind the one being studied eclipse each other, causing the background light to dim slightly. In some cases, this can be mistaken for a planet moving in front of its star.

“The pair of stars can be way behind the target star, but if they are in the same line of sight, the result is a very tiny dimming that can look like a planet,” said Torres.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Validation of 12 small Kepler transiting planets in the habitable zone


1501.01101 Validation of Twelve Small Kepler Transiting Planets in the Habitable Zone

VALIDATION OF TWELVE SMALL KEPLER TRANSITING PLANETS IN THE HABITABLE ZONE

We present an investigation of twelve candidate transiting planets from Kepler with orbital periods ranging from 34 to 207 days, selected from initial indications that they are small and potentially in the habitable zone (HZ) of their parent stars. Few of these objects are known. The expected Doppler signals are too small to confirm them by demonstrating that their masses are in the planetary regime. Here we verify their planetary nature by validating them statistically using the BLENDER technique, which simulates large numbers of false positives and compares the resulting light curves with the Kepler photometry. This analysis was supplemented with new follow-up observations (high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, adaptive optics imaging, and speckle interferometry), as well as an analysis of the flux centroids. For eleven of them (KOI-0571.05, 1422.04, 1422.05, 2529.02, 3255.01, 3284.01, 4005.01, 4087.01, 4622.01, 4742.01, and 4745.01) we show that the likelihood they are true planets is far greater than that of a false positive, to a confidence level of 99.73% (3) or higher. For KOI-4427.01 the confidence level is about 99.2% (2.6). With our accurate characterization of the GKM host stars, the derived planetary radii range from 1.1 to 2.7R⊕. All twelve objects are confirmed to be in the HZ, and nine are small enough to be rocky. Excluding three of them that have been previously validated by others, our study doubles the number of known rocky planets in the HZ. KOI-3284.01 and KOI-4742.01 are the planets most similar to the Earth discovered to date when considering their size and incident flux jointly.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Gemini Planet Imager produces stunning observations in its first year
7 hours ago

GPI imaging of the planetary system HR 8799 in K band, showing 3 of the 4 planets. (Planet b is outside the field of view shown here, off to the left.) These data were obtained on November 17, 2013 during the first week of operation of GPI …more

Stunning exoplanet images and spectra from the first year of science operations with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) were featured today in a press conference at the 225th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle, Washington. The Gemini Planet Imager GPI is an advanced instrument designed to observe the environments close to bright stars to detect and study Jupiter-like exoplanets (planets around other stars) and see protostellar material (disk, rings) that might be lurking next to the star.

Read more at: Gemini Planet Imager produces stunning observations in its first year

Direct pictures. Is that proof enough for you?



Potential signs of ancient life in Mars rover photos
12 hours ago by Johnny Bontemps, Astrobio.net

A rock bed at the Gillespie Lake outcrop on Mars displays potential signs of ancient microbial sedimentary structures. Credit: NASA

A careful study of images taken by the NASA rover Curiosity has revealed intriguing similarities between ancient sedimentary rocks on Mars and structures shaped by microbes on Earth. The findings suggest, but do not prove, that life may have existed earlier on the Red Planet.

Read more at: Potential signs of ancient life in Mars rover photos

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA Approves SpaceX's Plans to Send Astronauts to Space Station

http://www.space.com...-milestone.html

SpaceX's Dragon capsule is one step closer to flying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

SpaceX has passed NASA's "certification baseline review," which required the California-based company to outline exactly how it plans to ferry crews to and from the orbiting lab using the Dragon spacecraft and its Falcon 9 rocket under SpaceX's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract with the space agency.

Great news

 

[ScienceRocks]

We need a dozen more keplers! This is about 3.5 years of real viewing time.

 

[ScienceRocks]

1501.01305 Kepler-445 Kepler-446 and the Occurrence of Compact Multiples Orbiting Mid-M Dwarf Stars

KEPLER-445, KEPLER-446 AND THE OCCURRENCE OF COMPACT MULTIPLES ORBITING MID-M DWARF STARS

We confirm and characterize the exoplanetary systems Kepler-445 and Kepler-446: two mid-M dwarf stars, each with multiple, small, short-period transiting planets. Kepler-445 is a metal-rich ([Fe/H]=+0.25 ± 0.10) M4 dwarf with three transiting planets, and Kepler-446 is a metal-poor ([Fe/H]=-0.30 ± 0.10) M4 dwarf also with three transiting planets. Kepler-445c is similar to GJ 1214b: both in planetary radius and the properties of the host star. The Kepler-446 system is similar to the Kepler-42 system: both are metal-poor with large galactic space velocities and three short-period, likely-rocky transiting planets that were initially assigned erroneously large planet-to-star radius ratios. We independently determined stellar parameters from spectroscopy and searched for and fitted the transit light curves for the planets, imposing a strict prior on stellar density in order to remove correlations between the fitted impact parameter and planet-to-star radius ratio for short-duration transits. Combining Kepler-445, Kepler-446 and Kepler-42, and isolating all mid-M dwarf stars observed by Kepler with the precision necessary to detect similar systems, we calculate that 21 +7 −5 % of mid-M dwarf stars host compact multiples (multiple planets with periods of less than 10 days) for a wide range of metallicities. We suggest that the inferred planet masses for these systems support highly efficient accretion of protoplanetary disk metals by mid-M dwarf protoplanets.

 

[ScienceRocks]

The Dark Energy Survey Begins to Reveal Previously Unknown Trans-Neptunian Objects

Sometimes when you stare at something long enough, you begin to see things. This is not the case with optical sensors and telescopes. Sure, there is noise from electronics, but it’s random and traceable. Stargazing with a telescope and camera is ideal for staring at the same patches of real estate for very long and repeated periods. This is the method used by the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and with less than one percent of the target area surveyed, astronomers are already discovering previously unknown objects in the outer Solar System.

The Dark Energy Survey is a five year collaborative effort that is observing Supernovae to better understand the structures and expansion of the universe. But in the meantime, transient objects much nearer to home are passing through the fields of view. Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), small icy worlds beyond the planet Neptune, are being discovered. A new scientific paper, released as part of this year’s American Astronomical Society gathering in Seattle, Washington, discusses these newly discovered TNOs. The lead authors are two undergraduate students from Carleton College of Northfield, Minnesota, participating in a University of Michigan program.

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA Set to Attempt SLS Engine Test This Afternoon

This afternoon, a space shuttle engine is scheduled to roar to life for the first time since 2011.

NASA has confirmed they will attempt a test firing of the RS-25 engine, which was installed on the A-1 test stand at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi last July. The RS-25, a reusable workhorse used to power space shuttles into orbit for three decades, is now slated for installation on the core state of the Space Launch System, NASA's heavy-lift rocket scheduled to debut in 2018. Imagery and video are not expected to be released until after the test is complete.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Spacex will try again to launch ISS mission with chance of proving reusable rocket viability
Next Big Future Spacex will try again to launch ISS mission with chance of proving reusable rocket viability

Spacex will again try to launch what could be a rocket that will attempt to successfully land its first stage on a barge. This will enable recovery and reuse. This is the link to the livestream broadcast on Saturday Weather is currently 80% “GO” for Falcon 9 and Dragon’s launch attempt tomorrow. Liftoff is targeting 4:47am EST – set your alarms.

Elon Musk is developing rockets that could be reused, rather than burn up on re-entry to earth’s atmosphere, in the belief they’ll drastically reduce the cost of trips to Mars. Launch has been delayed until Friday because of some Z actuator glitch.

He could make history -- and remake the space launch sector -- when new technology that captures spent rocket segments is put to the test for the first time today.