Space news and Exploration II

[ScienceRocks]

Time for Larry Niven's probes and follow up slowboats or at least harvesting He3?

At this moment I'd be happy if we sent up a few improved keplers to replace this one.

 

[william the wie]

More widespread telescopes are needed for better resolution as well.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Space fishing: ESA floats plan to net space junk

Space fishing: ESA floats plan to net space junk

With the film Gravity hoovering up awards for its portrayal of astronauts dodging colliding satellites, now seems a good time to talk about the very real threat posed by space debris. It’s small wonder, then, that ESA’s Clean Space initiative is looking at developing a satellite that can rendezvous with space debris and render it harmless by netting it like fish. The proposal is just one of the ideas to be discussed as part of a symposium this May focusing on the space agency's e.DeOrbit mission.

 

[Old Rocks]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Oh my, another socialistic commie trying to create a government monopoly on space travel. Will these pinkoes never stop in their support of government monopolies?

 

[Old Rocks]

Time for Larry Niven's probes and follow up slowboats or at least harvesting He3?

Sheesh. I thought I was the only fan of the Known Universe on this board.

 

[william the wie]

Time for Larry Niven's probes and follow up slowboats or at least harvesting He3?

Sheesh. I thought I was the only fan of the Known Universe on this board.

You mean I may have to change boards to get civilized conversation from more than one board member? Do you know of Laumer and Piper?

 

[mamooth]

The super-earths that Kepler can detect are more likely to be mini-Neptunes than larger versions of earth.

Are Super-Earths Actually Mini-Neptunes?

 

[mamooth]

NASA and JAXA (the Japanese Space Agency) successfully launched the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite on Feb 27. All systems are currently performing as expected.

NASA and JAXA Launch New Satellite to Measure Global Rain and Snow | NASA

 

[ScienceRocks]

Curiosity rover captures spectacular Martian mountain snapshot

Curiosity rover captures spectacular Martian mountain snapshot

Like any good tourist, NASA's rover Curiosity apparently couldn't resist the photobug urge from a gorgeous Martian mountain scene she happened by recently and decided to pull over and enjoy the view.

So she stopped the dune buggy mid-drive on the sandy road to her daily destination one Sol last week on Feb. 19, powered up the camera suite and excitedly snapped a spectacular landscape view of a striated rock field dramatically back dropped by towering Mount Sharp on the horizon.

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA Proves Water Existed on Mars

NASA Proves Water Existed on Mars

18 years have passed since scientists from NASA tried to prove that water once existed on Mars and now, the theory is back with even stronger arguments. According to a team of experts at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, aMartian meteorite called Yamato 000593 contains distinct structures and compositional characteristics which could suggest that biological processes happened on Mars hundreds of millions of years ago. The meteorite, which was discovered in Antarctica approximately 50,000 years ago, was formed about 1.3 billion years ago from a lava flow. The team from NASA also suggests that an event caused the meteorite to detach from Mars around 12 million years ago.

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA's $17.5 Billion Budget Request for 2015 Would Fund New Science Missions, Ground Flying Telescope
NASA's $17.5 Billion Budget Request for 2015 Would Fund New Science Missions, Ground Flying Telescope | Space.com

WASHINGTON — NASA's 2015 budget would remain essentially flat at $17.5 billion under a White House spending proposal unveiled today (March 4) that would hold the line on the agency's biggest space programs while laying the groundwork for major new astrophysics and planetary science missions.

However, a large airborne infrared telescope known as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) would be grounded unless NASA's partner on the project, the German Aerospace Center, steps up its contribution, a senior agency official said ahead of the budget rollout.

Should be at least 25 billion. Does a hell a lot more for this nation then the worthless nation building we have been doing in the middle east.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

An asteroid is headed this way. But even though it will come closer than the moon, astronomers say it will pose no danger.

 

[ScienceRocks]

'Dimer Molecules' Aid Study of Exoplanet Pressure, Hunt for Life

'Dimer Molecules' Aid Study of Exoplanet Pressure, Hunt for Life -- ScienceDaily
Date:

March 4, 2014

Astronomers at the University of Washington have developed a new method of gauging the atmospheric pressure of exoplanets, or worlds beyond the solar system, by looking for a certain type of molecule.
And if there is life out in space, scientists may one day use this same technique to detect its biosignature -- the telltale chemical signs of its presence -- in the atmosphere of an alien world.

 

[william the wie]

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

An asteroid is headed this way. But even though it will come closer than the moon, astronomers say it will pose no danger.

where's the capacity to deflect or capture these rocks as needed?

 

[FA_Q2]

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

An asteroid is headed this way. But even though it will come closer than the moon, astronomers say it will pose no danger.

where's the capacity to deflect or capture these rocks as needed?

nonexistent.

the thought is nice considering that the result could mean the end of all human life but the logistics are insane. those rocks are traveling hellishly fast and are quite small compared to the vast expanse of space. Hitting it would be nigh impossible.

earlier in this thread was a link to an idea of how to 'spear' something like this. IMHO, that is the first step on creating an actual defensive plan should a rock threaten the planet.

 

[william the wie]

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than moon

where's the capacity to deflect or capture these rocks as needed?

nonexistent.

the thought is nice considering that the result could mean the end of all human life but the logistics are insane. those rocks are traveling hellishly fast and are quite small compared to the vast expanse of space. Hitting it would be nigh impossible.

earlier in this thread was a link to an idea of how to 'spear' something like this. IMHO, that is the first step on creating an actual defensive plan should a rock threaten the planet.

I suspect you are right.

 

[SmedlyButler]

Curiosity rover captures spectacular Martian mountain snapshot

Curiosity rover captures spectacular Martian mountain snapshot

Like any good tourist, NASA's rover Curiosity apparently couldn't resist the photobug urge from a gorgeous Martian mountain scene she happened by recently and decided to pull over and enjoy the view.

So she stopped the dune buggy mid-drive on the sandy road to her daily destination one Sol last week on Feb. 19, powered up the camera suite and excitedly snapped a spectacular landscape view of a striated rock field dramatically back dropped by towering Mount Sharp on the horizon.

Reading this article made me cringe. Maybe it was meant for an elementary school audience and got mis-filed. The language used really dumbed down the message. "she happened by recently and decided to pull over and enjoy the view".
Wow, the author must think his audience is child-like or intellectually challenged.

Anyway, Curiousity is a scientific-engineering marvel and the photos it sends us are endlessly fascinating.

 

[SmedlyButler]

Waiting for Christmas when I was a kid wasn't as frustrating as waiting for the next generation of Space and Earth based telescopes that will come on line around 2020.

This is one of the most exciting. (An artists rendition of the GMT on it's flattened mountain top in the Atacama desert of Chili)

It's the Giant Magellan Telescope. The segmented mirrors effectively form a single optical surface with an aperture of 24.5 meters, or 80 feet in diameter. Compare that to the 100 inch telescope on Mt. Wilson that Edwin Hubble used to make observations that revolutionized our understanding of the Universe,

It's adaptive optics will help it achieve resolutions 10 times greater than the space-based Hubble. We just can't even imagine what we might learn about unknown unknowns or known unknowns or.....I just don't know

LINK:GMT Overview

 

[ScienceRocks]

Europe's Space Jet rears its head after years in the dark

Europe's Space Jet rears its head after years in the dark | DVICE

In the years immediately following Virgin Galactic's 2004 debut, European airplane manufacturer Airbus announced that it too would be headed to the edge of space. The space jet, as they called the project, would be capable of carrying its human cargo to space without the aid of a mothership like Virgin's White Knight Two. But after 2007, the project went strangely silent.

The reigning theory at the time was that Airbus had simply failed to muster up any partners for their billion-dollar spaceplane. Now, with at least a dozen other space planes in varying stages of development, it seems that Airbus has found the will to move forward with their once cutting-edge project. Later this year, Airbus will be carrying out a drop test in the skies above Singapore, the first of many steps that need to be taken in order to see the space jet become a reality.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Lasers 'Could Prevent Space Debris Collisions'

Lasers 'Could Prevent Space Debris Collisions'

Scientists are hoping to prevent a real life version of the disaster scenario in Gravity by removing space debris with lasers.

Scientists in Australia plan to track tiny pieces of debris in space and blast them with Earth-based lasers to prevent potential collisions.

The new Space Environment Management Cooperative Research Centre (SEMCRC) aims to predict the trajectories of debris from Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra.

Eventually, researchers hope to be able to knock objects off course using lasers, forcing them to slow down and fall back into the atmosphere where they will burn up harmlessly.

Matthew Colless, head of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University, said the amount of space junk orbiting Earth, from tiny screws to parts of old rockets, needs to be addressed.