Hasta La Gadget!

NASA‘s Solar Dynamics Observatory, more commonly known as SDO, has spent the last three years taking pictures of the sun, showing off its steady increase in activity as its latest 11-year cycle nears its peak. As part of the project, NASA has taken some of the images and compiled them into a single 3-minute video, which makes it easy to see the gradual increase in solar activity. You can check out the video after the jump.

The SDO started taking the pictures early in 2010, says NASA, snapping one image of the sun every 12 seconds, each shot being taken in 10 wavelengths. Each wavelength shows the sun in a different way, with four of them being featured in the second half of the video, which you can watch below. The video most prominently displays the sun in 171 Angstroms wavelength.

Although the SDO captured an image every 12 seconds, the video only features two images taken each day over the course of three years. Each image is shown for two frames, and the video has a frame rate of 29.7fps. As such, the video is only 3 minutes long, but makes it simple to note every 25-day rotation, as well as some other events, including a partial eclipse, a solar flare, and even the comet Lovejoy.

The solar images provide scientists with a constant stream of data to analyze, helping to solve questions and offer data on a variety of phenomenon. If you have an astute eye, you might notice that the sun seems to shrink and grow very slightly over the course of the video. NASA says this is because the spacecraft that took the images and the sun’s position are variable.

[via NASA]

NASA video displays 3 years of Sun images in 3 minutes is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Students at St. Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington, VA are aiming to be a part of a milestone. The school is looking to become the first K-8 school to launch a “CubeSat” satellite into space. The proposed satellite that the students will build would be four inches long in all directions and would weigh around three pounds.

The project has to be approved by NASA, but if the school gets clearance, the satellite will have a planned launch date sometime later in 2014. The CubeSat satellite that St. Thomas More students have planned will be designed to take photographs and temperature readings, and have them beamed back to the school on Earth.

The concept of the CubeSat was first developed in 1999 by Cal Poly and Stanford University. Since then, over 75 CubeSat satellites have launched into space, most of which have been made by colleges and universities, but never before by an elementary/intermediate school. The entire school is taking part in the project including the kindergarteners.

Once NASA approves the satellite, they will provide the school with a mobilized “clean room” to make sure that the construction phase is met with strict guidelines and standards that NASA follows themselves. The space agency will also provide an antenna to the school that will allow them to receive the photos and temperature readings that the satellite sends back.

The satellite will either be launched into space on a rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, or it may be launched as cargo from Kazakhstan to the International Space Station, then placed into orbit from there. The total cost of the satellite is said to be around $10,000, and it is expected to remain in orbit for at least nine months.

[via Sun Gazette]

Young students aim to be among first to launch small satellite is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Orbital Science Corps. Antares rocket completed its first successful test launch today after seeing a series of complications over the last few days. Orbital attempted to test launch the rocket last Wednesday, however, a data cable located at the upper stage of the rocket detached prematurely. It was then rescheduled over and over due to the high winds present at the launch site. Luckily today, everything was cooperating with the test launch.

Antares was able to reach its target altitude of 155 miles above earth within 10 minutes. It carried with it a dummy capsule weighing about 8,377 pounds. The dummy was meant to represent that actual weight of the Cygnus capsule. Along with the test launch, Antares successfully released three small-sized Phonesat satellites, Alexander, Graham and Bell, into orbit. These satellites were part of an experiment for NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Now that Orbital has finally completed its test launch, it plans on doing two more launches this year. The first launch is expected to come around June, and will be the Orbital’s first cargo fight to the International Space Station. The second launch is expected to happen sometime in November. The Cygnus capsule is expected to bring about 5,952 pounds of supplies to the ISS when it launches in November.

Orbital is one of two private companies contracted by NASA to bring cargo to the ISS. It has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA, and is expected to complete 8 cargo missions. The other company, SpaceX, has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, and has already completed 2 out of 12 of its cargo missions. NASA stated that it enlisted the help of both these companies because it didn’t want to give one company the monopoly on space cargo deliveries. Congratulations to Orbital. We’re looking forward to its future launches.

[via Space.com]

Orbital’s Antares rocket successfully completes its first test launch is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Antares rocket test launch by Orbital Sciences Corp. has been delayed yet again due to poor weather conditions. The launch has been rescheduled frequently since April 17th due to several complications, including strong winds at NASA’s Wallops Island launch site and a minor equipment malfunction. This time, the launch has been rescheduled for tomorrow, April 21st, at 5:00PM. NASA will provide live coverage of the event beginning at 4:30PM through both its website as well as its TV channel.

Orbital Sciences Corp. planned on launching the rocket on April 17th, but due to a minor equipment malfunction, the launch was delayed until the 18th. A data cable at the upper stage of the Antares rocket detached too early, causing the delay. On April 18th, 19th, and today, the launch was rescheduled over and over due to strong winds present at the launch site. Hopefully tomorrow will be different.

Orbital is trying to test launch the Antares rocket to see if its ready for prime-time. Orbital is one of two companies contracted by NASA to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. It has to complete 8 unmanned cargo missions to the International Space Station using its Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule in order to uphold its $1.9 billion contract. SpaceX, the other company contracted by NASA, has already completed 2 out of 12 of its cargo missions, placing it ways ahead of Orbital.

When Orbital is able to successfully test launch its Antares rocket, it will carry a simulated Cygnus capsule to an altitude of 155 to 185 miles above Earth. It will also launch 4 satellites into orbit. If everything goes as planned, Orbital will be officially launching its Antares rocket with the real Cygnus Capsule come November, with the capsule delivering 5,952 pounds of supplies to the ISS.

[via Space.com]

Orbital’s Antares rocket launch rescheduled due to weather conditions is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NASA is live-streaming a spacewalk right now, which involves two cosmonauts going out into the deep, dark space in order to fetch some equipment off the exterior of the International Space Station. One of those men is Flight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov, who is 59 years old and is now the oldest person ever to go out on a spacewalk.

Vinogradov is working with Flight Engineer and Cosmonaut Roman Romanenko to replace a broken reflector, as well as retrieve and install experiment equipment on the exterior of the station. Up until today, the oldest person to perform a spacewalk was now-retired NASA astronaut Story Musgrave, who was 58 when he helped fix the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993.

Vinogradov has been a cosmonaut for 20 years and today’s spacewalk is his seventh so far. is making his seventh spacewalk. His first-ever spacewalk took place in 1997 aboard Russia’s old Mir space station. Vinogradov will turn 60 aboard the space station this summer, as he’s been assigned for six months up on the ISS.

What’s perhaps most interesting is that Vinogradov’s partner during today’s spacewalk, Romanenko, is experiencing his first spacewalk ever. Romanenko, who is 41, follows in his father’s footsteps, Yuri Romanenko, who went to space in the 1970s and 1980s. The young Romanenko joked that he is “afraid of the darkness,” as the two cosmonauts stepped outside the ISS.

[via FOX News]

Cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov becomes world’s oldest spacewalker is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.