May 27

Scientist: Europas Ice-Covered Oceans Full of Oxygen

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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Europa’s icy waters may contain enough oxygen to support various kinds of lifeforms–including more than just the microbial kind.
We already know that Europa, arguably Jupiter’s most interesting moon, contains a global ocean that runs about 100 miles deep, with an icy crust on top, as Space.com reports. For years, scientists have theorized that the moon could support extraterrestrial life, at least in microbial form.
Richard Greenberg, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at Tucson, and the author of Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter’s Ocean Moon, explained in the article that an oxygen-rich layer of ice at the top could actually extend down much further than thought, and could reach the oceans underneath.
Greenberg found that as the ice on the base of the oxygenated crust melts, even with the most conservative assumptions, “after only a half-million years oxidant levels in the ocean would reach the minimum oxygen concentration seen in Earth’s oceans”–enough to support small crustaceans, according to the article.
“I was surprised at how much oxygen could get down there,” Greenberg said in the report. He added that we wouldn’t necessarily have to land a probe on the planet to detect the oxygen more directly, as telescope-based spectroscopy from Earth could help shed further light on the subject. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)
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May 14

Spacecraft to Conduct Massive Experiment–With Lasers

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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NASA and ESA are planning to launch three spacecraft into orbit around the sun some three million miles apart, and then have them shoot lasers at each other, Popular Science reports.
You may want to stop for a moment and just bask in the coolness of that idea. Back yet? The purpose of this project will be to prove one last part of Einstein’s theory of relativity: the existence of gravitational waves, or “huge ripples in time and space that flow outwards from the collision of huge celestial bodies like black holes,” as the report said.
To do this, NASA and ESA will deploy LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna; it consists of three spacecraft that will fire lasers at each other and measure the relative positions of floating cubes of gold and platinum alloy–with a precision of 40 millionths of a millionth of a meter.
The project is set for launch in 2020.
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May 14

Space Shuttle Atlantis Final Mission: A Tweeted View from the Launch

Posted in: NASA, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili

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Liftoff, right on schedule!

Update: 3: 40 PM 5-14-10

It’s been over an hour, and I still can’t shake the sensation–the heart-pounding, head-thumping thrill–of witnessing a space-shuttle launch.

Space Shuttle Atlantis successfully launched, for the last time, from pad 39A at 2:20 PM EDT amid a massive plume of white smoke and orange flames. It was a picture-perfect launch. I overheard one NASA Administration official say during the post-launch news conference, “Atlantis is telling us, ‘Please use me again.'” I agree.

You can view more of my photos from the launch and NASA Tweetup event at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulanoff/sets/72157623931612379/

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See my previous journal entries and more photos, after the jump

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May 10

NASA Troubleshooting Voyager 2 Issue

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Today's Chili
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab announced that it is working on a data transmission problem with Voyager 2. JPL said that the issue appears to be related to the flight data system, which formats data before sending it back to Earth. Signals currently take about 13 hours to travel each way between the spacecraft and our planet.
“Voyager 2’s initial mission was a four-year journey to Saturn, but it is still returning data 33 years later,” said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement. “It has already given us remarkable views of Uranus and Neptune, planets we had never seen close-up before. We will know soon what it will take for it to continue its epic journey of discovery.”
Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, about two weeks before its twin Voyager 1 spacecraft. The two craft are currently the most distant human-made objects, and are out at the edge of the solar system. Mission managers expect Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to exit our system and enter interstellar space in about five years.
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May 07

NASA Shoots Orion Capsule into the Desert Sky

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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NASA engineers have a hit a new level with testing for the Orion crew capsule, and have successfully catapulted it about a mile into the air Thursday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the Associated Press reports.
The idea was to test a launch-abort system, in development for four years, that could return astronauts and the capsule itself to safety in the event of a launch pad fire or other problem during the craft’s launch sequence.
The report said the test “marked the first time a launch-abort system of this type has been used for a U.S. space travel system since the Apollo rockets of the 1960s and 1970s.” NASA originally planned the Orion capsule as a way to take astronauts back to the moon, but the Obama administration has redirected resources toward building more advanced rockets.
In this capacity, one possibility is that the Orion capsule could function as an emergency escape vehicle for the International Space Station, and prevent the need to rely on Russia’s Soyuz capsule for that purpose.
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May 06

NASA to Use Ocean Floor as Underwater Lab

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili

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We’ve already heard of expeditions in Antarctica to simulate conditions on other planets, but this idea reaches new depths.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston announced Wednesday that it will again participate in the NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operation (NEEMO) mission.
The mission will use the ocean’s floor as a way to simulate the low-gravity conditions astronauts would experience on another planet’s surface. The idea is to learn how a future crew might interact with the lander, rover, robotic arms, and other gear.
The 14-day undersea expedition will take place aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo. In addition, teachers and students in the Middle School Aerospace Scholars program on May 11th will participate in an event to navigate a rover along a predetermined course on the ocean floor.
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May 05

Space Shuttle Launch (and Tweetup) Set for May 14

Posted in: NASA, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili

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After passing the rigorous Flight Readiness Review (FRR) that precedes every launch, the Space Shuttle Atlantis was cleared today for a scheduled liftoff at May 14 at 2:20 p.m. ET. To coincide with the launch, NASA has organized a tweetup similar to the highly successful event held last November for Atlantis’s most recent launch. This time, 150 lucky participants–including PCMag.com Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff as well as myself–will travel to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for the two-day event, meet with shuttle technicians, managers, engineers, and astronauts, and view the Shuttle launch from NASA’s press site.

Today, mission managers unanimously voted to maintain the May 14 launch date, which had been tentatively set months ago. The clearance was announced moments ago at a NASA press conference.

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May 05

Upcoming NASA Telescope Passes Critical Milestone

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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NASA scientists announced that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an infrared telescope that can look further back in the universe’s history than ever before, has officially met all science and engineering requirements ahead of its upcoming mission, Space.com reports.
The $5 billion JWST is a sort-of-successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, but its focus on the infrared spectrum means we’ll likely see less of the gorgeous astrophotography we’ve become used to from Hubble, at least from this spacecraft.
That said, the JWST can observe older light, see deeper into the universe, and provide important clues about the Big Bang and the evolution of our own solar system, the report said–not to mention the formation of star systems capable of supporting extraterrestrial life.
The JWST is scheduled to enter hardware production in 2012 ahead of its planned launch in 2014.
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May 05

Plasma Rocket Could Get Asteroid Mission

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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VASIMR, the plasma rocket capable of reducing travel time to Mars by over 80 percent, may soon get its own dedicated mission to visit an asteroid, according to Discovery News.
Originally, VASIMR (the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket) was being built as a spare for another heading to the International Space station. But by heading for an asteroid, it could serve as a powerful demonstration of VASIMR’s plasma-based technology, the report said.
“The engine is actually firing right now,” VASIMR inventor and physicist Franklin Chang-Diaz told Discovery News. “We have lots of hurdles and challenges; we have lots of work to do. But if you look at what has happened in the last five years since we left NASA, it’s been amazing.”
VASIMR is on target for a 2014 launch to the space station; Chang-Diaz is building two engine spares, one of which could set sail for a completely different mission that NASA doesn’t invest in. Check out the full report for details.
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May 04

Blizzard Rages on Saturn

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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And here you thought the D.C. area “snowmageddon” was big–this one is about five times its size.
NASA astronomers and amateur skywatchers are currently transfixed by a massive blizzard raging on Saturn, one that’s large enough to see from Earth, Space.com reports.
The good news is that we can get much more detail about the storm, courtesy of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Saturn. However, NASA was first tipped off by amateur astronomers here on Earth, the report said.
Part of the problem is that Cassini’s imaging and spectrometer observations are locked in place months in advance, while the storm may appear and disappear in a matter of weeks. Cassini has other instruments dedicated to gathering weather-related data just like this, though, and is currently having a field day with the storm.
(The above image is from amateur astronomer Christopher Go, courtesy of NASA/JPL Caltech/GSFC).
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