Hasta La Gadget!

NASA’s Martian rover, Curiosity, has beamed back early results from its first mouthful of red soil, with signs that the Mars dust is similar in composition to Hawaiian volcanic basalt. X-ray diffraction testing of an accuracy previously unseen on Mars was used on a sample gathered earlier this month, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced, with the soil believed to be much younger than that which suggested evidence of historic water on the planet’s surface several weeks ago.

Then, Curiosity was believed to have been in an area of Mars that would previously have been a riverbed, with conglomerate rocks estimated at several billion years old. Those were consistent with the presence of flowing water; however, the newer samples are more in line with soil that has had “limited interaction with water” the JPL says.

“Much of Mars is covered with dust, and we had an incomplete understanding of its mineralogy,” David Bish, CheMin co-investigator with the Indiana University in Bloomington said of the new results. “We now know it is mineralogically similar to basaltic material, with significant amounts of feldspar, pyroxene and olivine, which was not unexpected.”

“Roughly half the soil is non-crystalline material, such as volcanic glass or products from weathering of the glass” Bish concluded. “So far, the materials Curiosity has analyzed are consistent with our initial ideas of the deposits in Gale Crater recording a transition through time from a wet to dry environment.”

As Bish says, the results aren’t exactly coming as a huge surprise to the Mars researchers. The X-ray diffraction basically confirmed much of the previous inference and assumption about the surface of the planet, while the CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy Instrument) also identified some previously unexpected minerals in the sample.

Still, it’s early days yet. Curiosity is expected to take two years to implement its ten instruments and help scientists figure out whether microbial life would ever have been feasible on Mars.

Curiosity finds Mars soil a distant cousin of Hawaii is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NASA has temporarily repurposed its tropical rainfall monitoring satellite to grab a 3D view of the eye at the center of Hurricane Sandy, while the International Space Station has recorded its progression along the East Coast of the US. The 3D graphics from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) show that Sandy, despite having a relatively small eye, is carrying a whole lot of power, with the space footage showing the extent of the 85mph+ winds approaching the southern New Jersey coast.

“TRMM-observed properties of Hurricane Sandy’s eyewall are evidence of remarkable vigor. Most hurricanes only have well-formed and compact eyewalls at category 3 strength or higher. Sandy was not only barely a category 1 hurricane, but Sandy was also experiencing strong wind shear, Sandy was going over ocean typically too cold to form hurricanes, and Sandy had been limping along as a marginal hurricane for several days” NASA

As for the ISS view, the space station astronauts have a privileged view of the top-down perspective of Sandy as it gathers steam. The video below shows the live feed from NASA’s cameras, though since the ISS is moving, the correct portion of the US isn’t always in view. NASA says the next clear view will be at 12:45 ET.

NASA isn’t leaving hurricane exploration to the occasional re-use of TRMM, however. The space agency is also midway through preparations for the Global Precipitation Measuring (GPM) satellite mission, launching in 2014, and set to increase the accuracy of extreme weather prediction as well as help meteorologists understand what causes such events.

Of course, while NASA’s imagery is certainly interesting, it’s not especially useful for people on the ground. For that, it’s best to turn to Google’s crisis map which shows the coming storm, active shelters, traffic conditions, and more.

NASA shows Hurricane Sandy in 3D and from Space Station is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has been observing Saturn and has recorded enormous disturbances in the upper atmosphere of the ringed planet. The disturbances in the upper atmosphere were so massive that it set records as some of the largest storms ever seen on the planet. According to the scientists, the composite infrared spectrometer instrument on Cassini noted that the powerful atmospheric discharge pushed the temperature in Saturn’s stratosphere 150°F above normal.

The scientists also note that they detected a huge increase in the quantity of ethylene gas in the upper atmosphere during the discharge. Where exactly that huge amount of ethylene gas came from is unknown. Ethylene is said to be a strange gas to find on Saturn.

The gas is colorless, odorless, and is rarely found on Saturn. The gas is associated with biological processes here on earth. To make the discovery of the massive atmospheric discharge even more baffling, scientists report that the temperature spike was so extreme as to border on “unbelievable.” The discharge occurred in a portion of Saturn’s atmosphere that is typically very stable.

To illustrate the extreme temperature change associated with the atmospheric discharge the scientists attempted to put things in perspective for us. According to scientist Brigitte Hesman, the temperature change equates to going from the deepest and coldest part of winter in Fairbanks, Alaska to the height of summer in the Mojave Desert here on earth. The storm that caused the massive atmospheric discharge was first observed by Cassini in the northern hemisphere of Saturn on December 5, 2010. The ethylene gas discharge peaked at levels 100 times higher than scientists believed was possible on Saturn.

[via PlanetSave]

Cassini spies massive atmospheric discharge on Saturn is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Update: Here’s a new video of Sandy as it approaches the United States, captured from the International Space Station just a few minutes ago. The snowpocalyptic “frankenstorm”—as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls it—has “weaken a little.” More »

NASA and commercial partner Blue Origin have announced that the company has conducted a successful pad escape test as of October 19 at the Blue Origin West Texas launch site. Blue Origin was able to fire its pusher-escape motor and launch a full-scale suborbital crew capsule from the simulated propulsion module. The test was part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Blue Origin is a NASA Commercial Crew Development Round 2 participant and the Space Act Agreement funded the work. The goal of the program is to develop and deliver a reliable US commercial crew space transportation system providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to the ISS and low-Earth orbit. Once testing and development of commercial crew modules is complete and approved, NASA will contract with private companies to transport astronauts into space.

During the test, the suborbital crew capsule travels to an altitude of 2307 feet. Once at that altitude three parachutes were deployed and the crew capsule floated to a soft landing 1630 feet away from the simulated propulsion module. The pusher escape system was developed by Blue Origin to allow a crew capsule escape in the event of an emergency during any phase of ascent for the company’s suborbital New Shepherd system.

The results of the test will be used to shape the design of the escape system for the company’s planned space vehicle. The system Blue Origin has developed is expected to allow full reusability of the launch vehicle, which is different from previous NASA systems. The escape systems used during the Mercury and Apollo programs required NASA to jettison the unused escape system. By reusing the escape system in future flights the cost of putting astronauts and cargo into space is cheaper.

Blue Origin successfully completes NASA pad escape test is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.