If the crashing sound of lightning striking Saturn wasn’t enough to excite your inner-meteorologist, then perhaps footage of a raging extraterrestrial hurricane will win you over. After orbiting the ringed planet for nine years, NASA’s Cassini probe has managed to snag video of a super storm on the celestial body’s north pole. Cloaked by the darkness of winter, the hurricane’s eye became visible as Saturn’s northern hemisphere transitioned into spring. Unlike the tropical cyclones of Earth (see: Hurricane Katrina, Sandy and Irene), this furious typhoon has been spinning for several years and has winds that flow at speeds exceeding 300MPH. Further differentiating itself from our world’s whirlwinds, this alien cyclone is locked to its planet’s north pole and is fueled by small amounts of water vapor instead of an actual ocean. Completely in a category of its own, the hurricane’s eye measures about 1,250 miles wide and is surrounded by fluffy white clouds the size of Texas. To see this Saturnian fury in all its glory, check out the video after the break and feel free to leave your gratuitous hurricane names in the comments below.
Space is a dangerous world. Debris is flying around everywhere, including small space rocks (read: bits of asteroid or meteoroid), which means that the International Space Station is constantly prone to getting hit by these small objects, and when you’re traveling at 4.8 miles per second, even small objects can have a big impact. ISS Commander Chris Hadfield tweeted a photo of a hole in the one of the solar panels where a space rock ripped through.
Few details are known at this point, but Hadfield referred to the damage on the solar panel as a “bullet hole,” and said that he was “glad it missed the hull.” We’re not sure exactly what would happen if a small rock like that collided with the ISS hull, but judging from Hadfield’s sigh of relief, nothing good would come out of it.
We’re guessing that the hole didn’t cause too much severe damage to the solar panel, or else the ISS would be in deep trouble. We’re not sure how large the small hole is, but it doesn’t look big at all — merely a small speck compared to the sheer size of the solar panels on the station.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Hadfield has talked about small meteoroids hitting the ISS. He hosted a Reddit AmA back in February where he discussed “micro-meteorites would sometimes hit the hull and make a loud “ping” noise, which leaves dents on the outside of the station. However, Hadfield notes that a larger piece of rock could come along and cause greater damage.
Space-gazers and fans of the ringed planet Saturn should keep their eyes upward this weekend, as the planet reaches its highest point above the horizon in its opposition phase. Visible to the naked eye – but all the better with a telescope, since you’ll then be able to see its distinctive rings – Saturn will be most clearly visible late on Saturday or in the early hours of Sunday, and though often visible at other times, will be both brighter and bigger than it usually appears.
That extra degree of clarity is because the planet will be at its closest to Earth as well as at its opposition point: the exact opposite from where the sun is positioned. Saturn will be visible all through the night, with a steady glow, though it will take some tools of the astronomy trade if you want to make out more than that.
For instance, Space suggests, magnification of at least 25 power will show more details of Saturn, with the rings making it appear oval in shape rather than circular as the naked eye might see it. Quadruple that magnification and more of the planet’s details will be picked out, including several of its 62 moons.
The best point to see Saturn is late evening, when the planet reaches its highest point. To actually find it, the LA Times suggests, look for the bright star Arcturus – off along the “handle” of the Big Dipper, away from the bowl – and then to the right, where the star Spica is. Saturn is below and left of that.
If that all sounds complicated, then NASA’s video, below, should give more of an indication as to where Saturn will be in the night sky, as well as what you might expect to see with the naked eye and various types of telescope. Saturn will be at its best on April 28, the space agency suggests.
No, you’re not looking at an early preview of Star Wars Episode VII — it just might represent the future of air transport, though. Boeing has spent years developing a truly quiet supersonic airliner concept, the Icon II, and what you see is an aerodynamics test of a mockup in a vaguely Death Star-like wind tunnel at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. The starfighter design is for more than just show, as you’d suspect. Its V-tail design moves sonic booms further back, reducing the chance that shockwaves will reach the ground (and our ears) intact, while the top-mounted engines isolate engine noise. Boeing and NASA are ultimately hoping for production passenger aircraft discreet enough to fly over land at supersonic speeds, although we can’t help but think that the sci-fi look is a convenient bonus.
Today the unpiloted Russian cargo ship known as Progress 51 has reached the International Space Station and docked successfully. This news is extra positive due to the failure of the craft’s antenna after initial launch, both Russian mission control and NASA confirming earlier this week. The craft has now docked – at 1225 GMT to be precice – after extra care was given to the landing due to the unopened antenna.
This situation allows Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko and Pavel Vinogradov to access three full tons of food, fuel, supplies, and a set of experiment hardware along with the rest of the crew of six aboard the ISS. Though the Kurs antenna remained undeployed, it would appear that the mission has been a full success. The final hard mate occurred at 8:34 a.m. EDT according to NASA.
This docking happened between the Progress 51 Russian cargo ship and the rear port of the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station. What you’re seeing above is a video presented by Russian mission control of the Russian Federal Space Agency at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This launch made way at 6:12 a.m. EDT just two days ago en route to the ISS.
With the supplies brought in this week, the ISS will be stocked with an additional 1,764 pounds of propellant, 57 pounds of air, 926 pounds of water, 48 pounds of oxygen, and 3,483 pounds of spare parts and experiment hardware. For its trip back to our planet, the Progress 51 craft will be filled with trash and station discards. Good luck, team!
And readers, be sure to head to SlashGear’s Science tag portal for more excellent space-bound action!
If you’re in the mood for a lunar eclipse, NASA says that there will be one later today, but it probably won’t be anything too spectacular according to their description. The partial lunar eclipse will be taking place during the day in the US, but there will be a live stream from Dubai that will start at 3 pm ET.
This will mark the first lunar eclipse of 2013, but it won’t be a full one. According to NASA, less than 1.5% of the moon will be darkened by Earth’s shadow, and it will only last 27 minutes, which will make it one of the shortest lunar eclipses that we’ve seen in the past 100 years or so.
The partial lunar eclipse will start at 10 pm GST, and the folks at Slooh Space Camera will be live streaming a video feed from a telescope in Dubai, where the partial lunar eclipse should be completely visible as long as the weather cooperates. Commentary will also be provided by Dr. Lucie Green, who is a researcher at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in England, so it should be quite the learning experience.
If you miss today’s lunar eclipse, don’t worry, as there will be two more throughout 2013, with the next one occurring on May 25. That one should be visible by folks in the US, although it won’t be a completely full lunar eclipse, however. The third lunar eclipse will take place on October 18.
NASA has launched a lot of things into space, such as humans and space ships of course, but one thing we certainly didn’t expect them to launch into space were cell phones.
Yes – mobile phones have been launched into space by NASA as part of a low-budget, experimental satellite program using off-the-held components. The three smartphone that were sent into space were all HTC Nexus One devices and are currently circling the Earth at an altitude of around 150 miles inside of 4-inch metal cubes, and are expected to burn up on re-entry within the next two weeks. The mission for reach “PhoneSat” is to snap photos of the Earth to send back radio messages on a regular basis in order to learn of they can be considered to supply the “brains” for future satellites. (more…)
Apparently, this drawing of the male genitals etched into the surface of Mars—which has popped up on NASA’s website—was just an amusing accident. Either that, or a very dirty-minded individual got hold of the controls of NASA’s ageing Opportunity Mars rover. More »
NASA’s Hubble space telescope has caught a glimpse of a fast moving comet, one of the brightest examples in decades, as it prepares to skim the surface of the sun later this year. Comet (C/2012 S1) ISON was first identified in September last year, with later observations leading astronomers to predict that the hurtling chunk of rock and ice could be the brightest sighted in fifty years. Now, a new photograph shows the comet already active.
When the photo was captured, on April 10, ISON was still 386m miles from the sun (and slightly further away than that from Earth). However, the comet was already active, NASA’s scientists say, with the top layer of frozen volatiles warming up and releasing strong, jet-blasting dust particles.
With some false color added – NASA has put in the blue hue artificially, though the photo was captured using visible light – the effect is already clear. That has scientists impressed, too, since the core nucleus of the comet is believed to be relatively small for the amount of activity it’s showing, around 3-4 miles in diameter. However, the dusty coma – the smudge at the head – is already around 3,1000 miles across.
Both dwindle in comparison to the dust tail left behind, however. NASA says that extends in excess of 57,000 miles, and is in fact so long that Hubble’s frame of view can’t encompass it all. ISON is expected to skim an astronomically-tiny 700,000 miles above the sun’s surface on November 28 2013, though scientists are still crunching data from observations like these to figure out what the effect will be.
Whatever’s left will then continue on, coming within 39.9m miles of Earth before the year is out.
If you weren’t already aware, you should know that there are up to and including three HTC Nexus One smartphones floating above your head right this minute in part of a NASA mission to prove (or disprove) the viability of low-cost space exploration “PhoneSats”. Each of these low-cost satellites was aboard the first flight of Orbital Science Corporation’s Antares rocket, launched after this rocket took off from NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia just two days ago.
Each of these PhoneSats is set to remain in orbit around our planet Earth for a period of up to two weeks. All three of the units have had transmissions received by multiple ground stations thus far, this ringing up as great news for those running the mission from Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
“It’s always great to see a space technology mission make it to orbit — the high frontier is the ultimate testing ground for new and innovative space technologies of the future. Smartphones offer a wealth of potential capabilities for flying small, low-cost, powerful satellites for atmospheric or Earth science, communications, or other space-born applications. They also may open space to a whole new generation of commercial, academic and citizen-space users.” – NASA associate administrator for space technology in Washington, Michael Gazarik
Each of the structures that make up a PhoneSat includes a standard cubical structure approximately 4-inches square, an HTC Nexus One smartphone, and s set of sensors. Each setup also includes a lithium-ion battery that’s significantly larger than that of the original HTC Nexus One as well as a radio with significantly more power than the original smartphone provided so that messages can be sent from high distances above the Earth.
The video above shows an early test launch of an HTC Nexus One launched with a balloon back in 2012 – you’re seeing this video from the perspective of the phone, mind you.
The original HTC Nexus One provides many of the features needed to create the NASA PhoneSat “off the shelf” unit. Each PhoneSat employs a series of miniature sensors, relatively high-resolution cameras, GPS receivers, and more – and whatever else the mission requires that the HTC Nexus One doesn’t provide.
Each of the units launched in this mission cost NASA engineers between $3,500 and $7,000 USD – significantly less expensive compared to essentially any other type of satellite. These costs are relatively low due to NASA engineers’ use of mass-produced commercial hardware such as – you guessed it – the HTC Nexus One.
We’ll continue watching for this set of three Android-toting amigos as they make their trip through our atmosphere and back towards the planet over the next few days and – hopefully – weeks as well.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
