With time-lapse videos often covering periods of several years or more, we’ve been trained to to assume that, translated into real time, their subject is barely moving at a snail’s pace. And this is what makes Dan Maker-Moore’s incredible, 15-second time lapse of the moon rising over Los Angeles all the more astounding—the whole thing was shot in just under half an hour. More »
During NASA’s Apollo 10 moon mission in 1969, not quite everything went to plan. But we’re not talking Apollo 13-style disasters here—instead, we’re talking about some toilet-based issues. More »
This ingenious website made by David Paliwoda shows how far Mars is from Earth in a metric all us Internet lovers understand: pixels. If Earth was a 100 pixels wide, how far would Mars be? To start off, the moon would be 3000 pixels away (and 27 pixels wide). Mars? More »
Earlier this week, the scientists responsible for discovering the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto turned to the Internet for names, allowing the public to vote on one of a dozen options, including such titles as Heracles, Erebus, Cerberus, and Persephone. Thanks to the urging of William Shatner, who is perhaps most known for his roll in Star Trek, a thirteen option has been added to the ballot: Vulcan.
Although the first thought when most people hear the word “Vulcan” is the Star Trek race, it is in fact the name of the Roman god of lava and smoke. Even better and more applicable to the situation, Vulcan is also the nephew of Pluto in mythology. Shatner had also suggested another name, Romulus, which is sadly already taken by another moon.
Nevertheless, in an update posted on its official Pluto Rocks! website, the SETI Institute thanked Shatner for his recommendations, and officially updated the ballot to include Vulcan. For those who don’t know, the names given to Pluto’s other moons all have a particular meaning or purpose, and Vulcan would fit right in with them.
Pluto is named after Hades, Greek god of the underworld, a name chosen decades ago by a child named Venetia Burney. Pluto’s largest moon has the befitting name Charon, which is the boatsman who would take the souls of the recently deceased across Styx to Hades’ playground (Styx is one of the names on the ballot, by the way). You can check out the complete list of names on the ballot here, as well their meaning. Once you’ve made your choice, you can cast your vote here.
[via Pluto Rocks!]
William Shatner gets “Vulcan” name option added for Pluto’s moons is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Ever since scientists determined Pluto as no longer an official planet in our solar system, we frankly started to forget about the tiny rock floating around outside of our solar system. However, scientists are making the dwarf planet relevant again, and they now need our help to name Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons, which were just recently-discovered.
A website called “Pluto Rocks” is looking to gain the public’s interest in space by allowing people the opportunity to vote on certain names for Pluto’s moons. There’s 12 name candidates to vote on, some of which are “Hercules,” “Styx,” and “Orpheus.” Voting ends at noon ET on Monday, February 25, so you have a little bit of time to get your vote in. Plus, you can vote once per day in order to raise the chances of your choice winning.
The two new moons discovered orbiting around Pluto were were found during a detailed analysis of data captured from the Hubble Space Telescope. One was discovered in 2011, and the other was discovered last year. The moons are actually very tiny, measuring only 15 to 20 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) across. NASA plans to get a better look at the moons when the New Horizons probe plans to fly past Pluto in 2015.
After the vote is over, the teams that discovered the moons will choose two names to submit to the International Astronomical Union, and will announce the names of the moons after their formal approval, which will most likely be sometime in April. We may also see more moons around Pluto being discovered once the New Horizons probe flys by. The discovery teams even said that they wouldn’t be surprised if they discovered several more moons.
[via ABC News]
Scientists want help naming Pluto’s newly-discovered moons is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Building a base on the Moon poses a rather large logistics problem when all the construction material has to make a 238,900-mile journey. The European Space Agency has proposed packing light: it’s teaming with Foster + Partners to test the possibility of 3D printing not just the tools, but whole lunar buildings. The current method would bind powder in layers to create hollow, cellular building blocks that are both sturdy and relatively light. With an improved D-Shape printer from Monolite, the ESA believes it could finish a whole structure inside of a week — if only we could finish most Earth-bound homes so quickly. There’s no word on the likelihood of any spacefarers using the technique, but it’s easy to see the value of leaving more room for the supplies that really matter.
Via: CNET
Source: ESA
The European Space Agency and London-based architecture firm Foster are exploring the possibility of constructing buildings on the Moon that are 3D printed using lunar soil and inflatable domes. While the soil itself wouldn’t be durable enough to be used in structures, scientists have mixed simulated lunar soil with magnesium oxide to produce a more robust solution.
The structures themselves would first be inflated using a type of fabric to create a dome-shaped building. Then, the modified soil would be laid on top of the dome to make the building more structurally sound. Plus, that added layer would protect inhabitants from meteorites, gamma rays, and extreme temperatures.
The ESA has already created a 1.5-ton block of simulated lunar soil using 3D printing methods, and it’s made from a mixture of terrestrial basaltic rock, magnesium oxide, and a “binding salt.” Of course, the extreme temperatures and the zero-gravity state on the Moon could affect the chemical reactions with the modified soil, but testing out the printer in a vacuum proved that the concept could easily work.
Proposed locations for where lunar bases would be built are on either poles of the Moon, where temperatures are more accurate to Earth’s climate. It’s not exactly set on when the bases on the Moon will begin construction, but numerous companies are already lining up to help out with the massive undertaking, and Deep Space Industries (DSI) is already planning to have a capable 3D printer built by 2020.
[via PhysOrg]
ESA proposes 3D-printed buildings on the Moon is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We have seen many concepts, but this is the most realistic plan yet for humanity’s first Moon Base. It will be more efficient and cheaper to build than any other alternative, as it uses 3D printing to quickly transform raw lunar soil into habitable domes. More »
This video is stunning. Made by Mark Gee, the real time video shows the moon rising over New Zealand. It’s incredible to see the dark sky be filled with the gigantic glowing orb. Just seeing that offwhite color float up makes me more excited than any sunrise ever. More »
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