Sep 28
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found evidence of an ancient riverbed on Mars. While it’s now dried up, it’s the first ever evidence to prove that running water once poured over the surface of the red planet. This is huge. More »
Sep 28
NASA’s Curiosity rover finds ancient streambed on Mars, evidence of ‘vigorous’ water flow
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Curiosity may have spent a while limbering up for the mission ahead, but now it’s found evidence of an ancient streambed on Mars that once had “vigorous” water flow. Photos of two rock outcroppings taken by the rover’s mast camera between the north rim of Gale Crater and the foot of Mount Sharp reveal gravel embedded into a layer of conglomerate rock. The shape of the small stones indicate to NASA JPL scientists that they were previously moved, and their size (think from grains of sand to golf balls) are a telltale sign that water did the work instead of wind. Evidence of H2O on Mars has been spotted before, but this is the first direct look at the composition of riverbeds NASA has observed from above.
According to Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich, it’s estimated that water flowed at the site anywhere from thousands to millions of years ago, moved at a clip of roughly 3 feet per second and was somewhere between ankle and hip deep. “A long-flowing stream can be a habitable environment,” Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger said. “It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though. We’re still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment.”
NASA’s Curiosity rover finds ancient streambed on Mars, evidence of ‘vigorous’ water flow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
Computer World, CNN | 
NASA (JPL) | Email this | Comments
Sep 27
The Curiosity rover is examining all sorts of things on the surface of Mars, but today, NASA is reporting a major breakthrough. Curiosity has discovered evidence on an old, dried up streambed on the surface of Mars, suggesting that water did once indeed flow on the Red Planet. Of course, we’ve seen evidence for the presence of water on Mars a few times in the past, but NASA scientists are calling this discovery “the first of its kind.”
The big breakthrough here isn’t the discovery of the channel – we’ve known about channels like this for a while now – but rather the discovery of gravel carried by the long-gone stream. The gravel is embedded in a conglomerate of rock, and it gives scientists a lot of information about the stream that once filled the channel. Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich says that the stream was likely flowing at three feet per second, “with a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep.”
Most of the gravel discovered by Curiosity is round in shape, which means that it traveled a significant distance. The conglomerate was discovered between the northern rim of the Gale crater and the base of Mount Sharp, which is where Curiosity will eventually end its two-year journey. The gravel likely came from above the rim, where the Peace Vallis channel feeds into an alluvial fan containing many other channels. NASA scientists say that the number of channels in the fan suggest that water was frequently flowing, which is a pretty big discovery.
The rounded shape of the gravel also confirms that the it was carried by water, not wind. NASA says that it might use Curiosity to examine the material holding the outcrop of rocks together as well as the composition of the gravel discovered embedded in the streambed. In doing so, it will give scientists a broader picture of the regional geography, and Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger says that NASA may have “already found our first potentially habitable environment,” on the surface of Mars. That is definitely exciting, and we’re looking forward to hearing more about Curiosity’s mission soon. Stay tuned.
[via NASA JPL]
Curiosity rover discovers ancient streambed on surface of Mars is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Sep 27
Scientists Discover Iron Man Found by Nazis Is of Extraterrestrial Origin [Space]
Posted in: Today's Chili
No, it isn’t the plot for the next Indiana Jones movie: According to a research paper published on the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, scientists have discovered that an Iron Man sculpture found by a Nazi expedition in Tibet is of extraterrestrial origin. More »
Sep 27
Two Russian astronomers recently discovered a previously unknown comet. The discovery was made using CCD images, and scientists believe the comet may become very bright late next year. The comet is expected to be bright because it will pass extremely close to the sun and then pass “somewhat” close to the earth.
The comet is officially known as C/2012 S1 (ISON), and it will be better viewed by people in the northern hemisphere. The astronomers who discovered the comet are Artyom Novichonok and Vitaly Nevski. The duo discovered the comet when viewing CCD images taken on September 21 using a 0.4-meter telescope that is part of the Scientific Optical Network (ISON) located in Kislovodsk, Russia.
Right now, the comet is said to be very dim at about 10,000 times fainter than the faintest star visible to the unaided eye. However, scientists expect the comet will brighten dramatically as it gets closer to the sun. The comet is expected to pass 1.16 million miles from the sun on November 28, 2013.
There’s a chance that the comet will become bright enough when it passes near the Sun to be visible during the day. Once the comet makes its orbit around the sun it could even be visible in the morning and evening skies. The comet will pass 40,000,000 miles from Earth and could possibly remain visible to the unaided eye through January of 2014.
[via PC Mag]
Astronomers discover new comet that may put on a show in late 2013 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Sep 27
Supplies have been ferried to the ISS using unmanned European cargo ships for a long time. Once the unmanned spacecraft is put into orbit, it uses computer-control to navigate to and dock with the ISS. Once docked, the astronauts pop open a few hatches and retrieve the cargo needed to survive in space.
NASA officials announced this week that a glitch in computer systems have delayed the undocking of the ATV-3 spacecraft currently dock with the ISS. The computer glitch was on a laptop computer inside the space station, and the glitch prevented orbital departure of the unmanned spacecraft. The laptop computer inside the station serves as the command panel for the ATV-3 spacecraft.
ISS commander Sunita Williams told NASA that commands sent from the laptop were apparently not reaching the spacecraft. NASA engineers met yesterday to discuss the malfunction and determine when the next undocking attempt can be made. ATV-3, also known as Edoardo Almadi, is the third unmanned cargo ship built by the ESA.
The unmanned ship is used to carry necessities such as food, water, scientific gear, and other supplies to the ISS. The spacecraft headed to the international space station in late March of this year with 7.2 tons of cargo onboard. The ATV spacecraft is 32-feet long and nearly 15-feet wide. The craft is disposable and burns up in the atmosphere during reentry. The next ATV mission will launch in April of 2013.
[via Space.com]
Unmanned cargo ship stuck to ISS after computer glitch prevents undocking is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Sep 26
How do photographers get those absolutely stunning photos of the stars? Not by aiming a point-and-shoot at the sky. To zoom into galaxies far away you not only need specialized glass—you need the right type of image sensor in your camera. And while they don’t come cheap, at least now they come… cheaper. More »
Sep 26
That picture above is the deepest and most detailed view of the universe ever captured. It’s called XDF, or eXtreme Deep Field, and was created using Hubble Telescope data from 2003 and 2004. It combines ten years of NASA Hubble Space photographs of a single sky sample into one full-color historic view of the galaxies. Hubble pointed at this patch of the constellation Fornax for fifty days, with an exposure time of 2 million seconds. A dazzling trip back in time, the image reveals almost 5,500 galaxies that include Andromeda, spirals similar to the Milky Way, along with remnants of galactic collisions. According to NASA, the XDF reveals galaxies that go as far back as 13.2 billion years.
There’s a video after the break describing how the shot was assembled; those interested in learning even more can participate in a Google+ webinar with the XDF team this Thursday, September 27th. Here’s hoping that when NASA finally gets the James Webb Space Telescope going, we’ll have an even deeper view into our galactic past.
Continue reading Hubble reveals XDF, the deepest view of the universe ever captured
Hubble reveals XDF, the deepest view of the universe ever captured originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Gizmodo | NASA, HubbleSite | Email this | Comments
Sep 26
Sep 26
October 8th. That’s the final launch date for fearless Felix Baumgartner, the daredevil that is going to jump from the edge of space. The 42-year-old Baumgartner is eager to attempt the record-breaking super-sonic parachute jump. He says that he feels like wild animal in a cage right now. More »
Who's in charge here?
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.