Hasta La Gadget!

An advanced telescope imaging system, called Project 1640, has been the first of its kind to detect planets orbiting around stars outside of our own solar system. After six years of development with NASA, the American Museum of Natural History and the California Institute of Technology, the telescope made of high-tech instruments and software has returned its first images.

Since planets orbiting around other stars are difficult to see due to the amount of light they produce, Project 1640 creates “dark holes” around the stars so the planets can be made visible. The images show a star that is about one and a half times larger than our sun.

“All indications point to a tremendous diversity of planetary systems, far beyond what was imagined just 10 years ago. We are on the verge of an incredibly rich new field,” said Gautam Vasisht of NASA Let Propulsion Laboratory. Once the exoplanets are made visible, researchers can determine the colors they produce, their atmospherical chemical compositions and and even physical characteristics of their surfaces.

The team plans on using the advanced telescope to study hundreds of stars outside of our solar system over the next three years.

[via Verge]

Advanced telescope can detect exoplanets is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Researchers may have just cracked the code for living longer. Several Caenorhabditis elegans worms, which surprisingly have a lot in common with humans, were taken onboard an 11-day mission to the International Space Station and brought back to be studied. The C. elegans worm is one of the most studied organisms in the entire world and is frequently used in space travel research due to the similarities they share with humans in the way muscles deteriorate.

The study revealed that five genes in the worm showed reduced activity, which actually changed how they aged. When these genes were supressed in Earth-bound worms, longer lifespans would result. University of Nottingham researcher Dr. Nathaniel Szewczyk commented on the study, saying: “It would appear that these genes are involved in how the worm senses the environment and signals changes in metabolism in order to adapt to the environment. Most of us know that muscle tends to shrink in space.”

The results suggest that the worms’ response is adaptive rather than pathological. The worms also experienced changes in muscles that involved decreased production of the polyglutamine aggregates protein, which plays a role in the ageing of the muscle. On that note, Szewczyk also said: “Counter-intuitively, muscle in space may age better than on Earth. It may also be that spaceflight slows the process of ageing.”

[via BBC]

Study reveals space travel may slow ageing process is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Following a 13-day space mission, a Chinese space capsule carrying two crew members and China’s first female astronaut returned safely to Earth today. All three astronauts successfully completed a manual docking with the Tiangong-1 laboratory module during the mission.

Extensive medical monitoring of each crew member was critical and all three members emerged today from the capsule after landing in China’s north-western Inner Mongolia region with each member appearing to be in good health. The first manned mission to the module was their longest and most challenging mission to date.

Space program commander Gen. Chang Wanchuan declared the mission to be a success and an important milestone for the country’s progress in space exploration. Another manned mission had been scheduled for later on in the year however it may be delayed depending on the evaluation of the completed Shenzhou 9 mission and the Tiangong 1’s condition.

“Tiangong-1, our home in space, was comfortable and pleasant. We’re very proud of our nation,” female astronaut Liu Yang said. The Tiangong 1 module has a few more years until it will be retired and permanently replaced with a 54-tonne space station around the year 2020.

[via BBC]

Chinese space crew land safely after a successful mission is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This Sunday was the first time a manned Chinese spacecraft successfully docked with another spacecraft, this being just one of several brand new achievements of the crew that blasted off last week. This crew aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft also included the first female astronaut in the history of China, and makes up only the four crew of humans sent from China to explore space. This mission was launched in order to test the viability of the craft the Chinese already had in space and will be part of the decision on how China chooses to proceed with their space program from here on out.

Chinese astronauts Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang were launched into orbit on June 16th and had a mission to connect with the unmanned Tiangong 1 module in orbit late in the week. This mission is now officially a success, and all docking has been successful. The module was (and is) roughly the size of a city bus and will pave the way for future much larger space stations for the Chinese in the future.

Tiangong 1 has been in space and in orbit since September of 2011, with the last mission to reach the craft being the Shenzhou 8 capsule in November. This capsule was a robotic docking mission and was also a grand success. Have a peek at a celebration the Chinese had upon reaching this, their most recent space-based achievement.

[via CSM]

Chinese astronauts achieve milestone after milestone is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.