Hasta La Gadget!

Future spacesuits could come with built-in stabilizers to help astronauts stabilize themselves on their spacewalks.

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NASA has published a series of images taken of the asteroid 1998 QE2, which were snapped yesterday via the Deep Space Network Antenna in California. Although the asteroid was located 3.75 million miles away, its relative distance was quite close, and it brought with it a moon, which is smaller in diameter and visible in the images as the white spot. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory took the opportunity to observe the asteroid, led by Marina Brozovic.

According to NASA, the asteroid is a binary asteroid, as shown by the radar images that were taken. About 16-percent of asteroids measuring in with a minimum diameter of 655-feet are of the binary variety. Based on the images, the space agency says the asteroid is about 1.7-miles in diameter, rotating in less than 4 hours and featuring multiple concavities.

Aside from the asteroid is one of its more interesting feature – the moon, which is said to be about 2000 feet in diameter. At about 2PM today, the asteroid was at its closest point to Earth, measuring in at about 15x the distance between our planet and the moon. Such was a notable event, with the asteroid not being slated for coming this close again within the next 200 years, possibly longer.

As you might have guessed from its name, the asteroid was discovered back in 1998. While it is no longer as close to us as it was today, it will still be hanging around in the vicinity for awhile, and as such researchers in both California and Puerto Rico will observe and image the space rock until June 9. Says NASA, in the coming days we may get to see clear, more detailed images of 1998 QE2.

Keeping an eye on the asteroid is part of a bigger plan that involves tracking the space rocks, helping to ultimately protect Earth – or at least help anticipate, at this point – when an asteroid might collide with our planet. Many projects are underway looking into various methods on how to redirect or destroy near-earth objects that pose a danger to our planet.

SOURCE: NASA

Asteroid 1998 QE2 passes Earth with moon in tow is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Ever since joining Google+ early last year, The White House has become more and more involved with the social network. And with word spreading amongst Earthlings about an asteroid (with its own moon, no less) zipping past the planet sometime around 5:00PM ET, the executive mansion of the US couldn’t have chosen a better day to discuss the topic. As part of its ongoing “We the Geeks” series on Google+, The White House will be hosting a Hangout today where it plans to talk about asteroid characterization, identification, resource utilization and more. As you’d expect, there will be a some knowledgeable people present to spark the conversation, including NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, former astronaut Ed Lu and, of course, Bill Nye. So, if you plan to fly swing by later, be sure to set a reminder for 2:00PM ET, as that’s when the Hangout is expected to begin.

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Source: The White House

As humankind ramps up efforts to send its first fleet of astronauts to Mars, research into the various effects of such a trip are being studied extensively, including the psychological state of those who travel and live on the Red Planet. It has been known that radiation levels on Mars are high, and as such radiation shields will be used to protect against its negative effects. Current research, however, shows that the risk of developing cancer is higher than currently acceptable for NASA astronauts.

In order to determine the levels of radiation astronauts would be exposed to on Mars from within a radiation-shielded spacecraft, NASA used the Radiation Assessment Detector on Curiosity rover. Such a tool is designed to provide valuable data on radiation and shielding efforts, to allow the agency’s researchers to determine the effectiveness of different methods.

Said NASA’s Associated Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier: “As this nation strives to reach an asteroid and Mars in our lifetimes, we’re working to solve every puzzle nature poses to keep astronauts safe so they can explore the unknown and return home … we’ll continue to make the advances we need in life sciences to reduce risks for our explorers. Curiosity’s RAD instrument is giving us critical data we need so that we humans, like the rover, can dare mighty things to reach the Red Planet.”

NASA has a career limit in place for the amount of radiation an astronaut can be exposed to, a measure in place to minimize the astronaut’s chance of developing cancer as a result of the exposure. What the study conducted with RAD revealed was a possible radiation exposure level for Mars travelers that exceeds this limit, which means either new better shielding is needed or the lifetime limit needs to be increased.

A single Sievert measurement of radiation exposure represents a 5-percent increased risk of developing a fatal cancer, which is higher than NASA’s 3-percent lifetime exposure limit. The average radiation exposure measured by RAD came in at 1.8 milliSieverts per day, most of which was not the result of solar activity. According to one researcher, this is equivalent to getting a whole-body catscan every 5 – 6 days.

SOURCE: NASA

Mars astronauts have higher chance of cancer is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The latest arrivals to the International Space Station docked in record time, NASA has confirmed, with the Express Soyuz Flight safely opening hatches at just past midnight this morning. Expedition 36 – which brought three engineers from NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and the European Space Agency – took under six hours to reach the orbiting research platform, having taken off in the evening of Tuesday, May 28. Their arrival brings the ISS’ crew back up to six, following the departure earlier this month of Commander Chris Hadfield and his two colleagues.

The current compliment of orbiting engineers now includes NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano, as well as Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy of NASA and Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin of Russian Federal Space Agency, who made it to the ISS on March 28. The latter three will remain until September, before returning to Earth.

Soyuz docking with ISS:

There’s plenty to be done in the intervening period. Five spacewalks are planned to ready the ISS for the Russian Multipurpose Module to be installed in December, with another to take the Olympic torch outside on November 9th. The sextet will also be responsible for ISS-side management of various supply vessels expected over the coming 5.5 months, which will include cargo hauls from the ESA, Russia, and Japan.

That’s in addition to the ongoing scientific experiment load ongoing on the ISS, which will be added to with a new project investigating how longer periods in space might impact bone density. It’s also expected to also help understand osteoporosis for those back on Earth.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether any of the six crewmembers can engage with the public back on Earth in the same way that Commander Hadfield did. The Canadian astronaut made a name for himself with his outreach efforts, deftly using social media and YouTube to stoke interest in science and technology.

Even Hadfield’s closing days on the space station were notable, with the engineer recording a special version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity complete with a full music video (albeit with some assistance from people back home).

Soyuz delivers new ISS crew in fastest shuttling yet is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.