Jun 04

Report: Earths Atmosphere Disappearing Faster than Mars

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

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We’re not saying Earth will soon go all Total Recall on us and require humans to walk around in radiation-shielded space suits. But a new Discovery report indicates that researchers were recently “stunned” to find out that our planet is losing its atmosphere faster than both Mars and Venus are–neither of which have significant magnetic fields. That could have major implications for what we thought was true about Earth’s atmosphere. And it’s likely due to the sun.

“We often tell ourselves that we are very fortunate living on this planet because we have this strong magnetic shield that protects us from all sorts of things that the cosmos throws at us — cosmic rays, solar flares and the pesky solar wind,” said Christopher Russell, a professor of geophysics and space physics at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in the article. “It certainly does help in some of those areas but … in the case of the atmosphere, this may not be true.”
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Jun 03

International Space Station Now at Full Capacity

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

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For the first time in its 10-year history, the International Space Station is finally at its full capacity of six astronauts, after a Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three new residents arrived at the ISS on Friday, according to Discovery News. In addition, each of the major space station partners is represented on board for the first time: two Russians and one American, Japanese, Canadian and Belgian. The ISS crew had never gone above three astronauts at time, and dipped to two for a while following the Columbia disaster in 2003.

“There is so much potential in this beginning, in this historic milestone,” Steve MacLean, president of the Canadian Space Agency and a former astronaut, said at the Russian control center outside Moscow, according to the article. “[It represents] what we will be able to achieve with future programs … and what we as a combined series of countries can do for the future exploration of space.” In a few weeks, the space shuttle Endeavor will arrive with another seven astronauts, for a total of 13, although that will only be temporary, the report said. (Image credit: European Space Agency)

Be sure to check out our tips for viewing the space station from Earth, as well as Microsoft’s Virtual Earth-powered space station online explorer.
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May 29

Opportunity Rings Up 10 Miles on Mars

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

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The Opportunity Mars rover has now passed the 10-mile mark on the red planet’s surface, according to Softpedia. The milestone comes more than five years after the rover landed on Mars along with its twin, Spirit, on opposite sides of the planet. Opportunity’s achievement also comes as Spirit remains stuck in some loose terrain.

For the most part, Opportunity is in excellent condition, although it is slowed somewhat by a little wear on several of its mechanical parts. Spirit, though, has had a jammed wheel for the past three years and has been driving backwards ever since–and is now stuck to boot.
“For a vehicle that was designed to travel 1 km over its lifetime, going 16+ km is a pretty substantial accomplishment!” said Steve Squyres, the project’s lead scientist and based at Cornell University, in an interview with Space. Opportunity is currently on its way to Endeavor crater.
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May 29

Balloon Observatory to Study Suns Surface

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

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A telescope capable of studying the surface of the sun is now tied to a giant balloon and scheduled to launch as early as this Monday from Sweden, according to Space.com. The telescope, dubbed Sunrise, will float from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden over the arctic to a safe touchdown in Canada in six days, the report said. NASA is treating the project as an experiment and will use the telescope to snap high-resolution photos of the sun’s surface during the flight.

The telescope and its accompanying scientific instruments are a 2-ton payload. The giant balloon, meanwhile, is larger than a stadium and filled with almost 34 million cubic feet of helium. It will fly at an altitude of almost 23 miles, and rotate horizontally using a tracking system in order to stay lined up with the sun. The goal of the project is to help scientists figure out some of the mysterious phenomena caused by magnetic fields on the surface of the sun, according to the report. (Image credit: Sweden Space Corp.)
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May 28

NASA Names New Mars Rover: Curiosity

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

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NASA has selected a sixth-grade student’s entry and named its new Mars Rover Curiosity. 12-year-old Clara Ma has won a trip to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., where she will be able to sign the rover as it is being built. The new flagship rover, originally called the Mars Science Laboratory, will launch in 2011.

The agency said in a statement that they selected the name following a nationwide student contest that attracted more than 9,000 proposals, both over the Internet and via snail mail. The panel considered the quality of the essays, as well as name suggestions from the project leaders and a non-binding public poll.
NASA describes the mission as a long duration rover equipped to “assess the biological potential of at least one target area, characterize the local geology and geochemistry, investigate planetary processes relevant to habitability, including the role of water, and to characterize the broad spectrum of surface radiation.” JPL, which is heading up the mission, is planning for it to last at least one martian year, or 687 days.
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May 27

Obama Picks Former Astronaut to Head NASA

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

NASA_Charles_Bolden.jpgPresident Obama has announced the nomination of General Charles F. Bolden Jr, a 34-year Marine Corps veteran, four-time NASA space shuttle astronaut, and current CEO of aerospace consulting firm JackandPanther, for the position of NASA administrator.

Bolden will have a full plate in front of him. The top question will be whether or not Bolden sticks with the Bush plan for NASA–which is to return humankind to the moon and eventually send manned missions to Mars–or decides to de-emphasize manned missions in favor of much cheaper and arguably more useful robotic missions. Current indications, though, are that Obama chose Bolden in part because he is a strong proponent of manned spaceflight–and will therefore keep the dream alive.
The appointment also comes as NASA retires its remaining three space shuttles by the end of 2010, moves away from maintaining Hubble after its recent successful repair trip, and develops next-generation rockets that won’t be ready to carry astronauts until at least 2015.
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May 22

NASAs Lunar Orbiter on Schedule for June Launch

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

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Ready for a return to the moon? NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will collect information about the moon’s poles, measure radiation, and check out potential sites for an eventual human return to the moon’s surface in 2020–and it’s on track for a June 17th launch aboard an Atlas V rocket, according to Space.com.

NASA is launching the orbiter in tandem with the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which will plunge into the surface of the moon in an attempt to find water ice. LRO’s seven instruments will help scientists compose high resolution,
three-dimensional maps of the lunar surface as well as complete a survey of the far ultraviolet spectrum, the report said. (Image credit: NASA)

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May 20

Mars Probes Team Up to Un-Stick Stuck Rover

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

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The Spirit Mars rover has been stuck in the red planet’s soil for a couple of weeks, so NASA is trying out a bunch of procedures–some involving other Mars craft–in order to figure out how to best extract Spirit from its predicament.

The problem: one of Spirit’s wheels stalled out, and the other wheels dug themselves in part of the way. The trick is to avoid sinking the rover further to the point where the belly pan is touching the soil, according to Space.com.
The report said that initially the Mars project team was worried that the left-middle wheel had jammed, but a recent diagnostic test of the motor on May 16th proved that its electrical resistance was within normal operating range, indicating that the motor is probably fine.
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May 19

Hubble is Released Into Orbit

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

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And that’s a wrap: Space shuttle Atlantis crew member Megan McArthur used the shuttle’s robotic arm to release the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit at 8:57 a.m. EST Tuesday, CNN reports. The mission marks the last time humans will touch the 19-year old telescope. Hubble has taken hundreds of thousands of high-resolution images–all free of the earth’s murky atmosphere.

“With soft separation burn, Atlantis now is slowly backing away from the telescope,” NASA said in a statement. “A jet firing will be performed in about a half-hour to increase Atlantis’ separation rate from the telescope, as the seven crew members bid farewell to Hubble for the final time.”
During the repair mission, NASA astronauts performed five spacewalks to install a new deep-space camera, a new spectrograph, new batteries, a guidance sensor, and insulation, and repaired the older main camera and an older spectrograph.
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May 18

Rivers May Have Recently Flowed On Mars: Report

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

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More space news, this time further out into the solar system: the two Mars rovers are still trucking along, but scientists here on Earth are working on a thorny problem related to the red planet.

New research suggests that water may have flowed over Mars’ surface in at least one place over the past billion years–relatively “recently,” since the planet has been around for about the same 4.5 billion years as our own–giving more credence to the idea that life may have once existed there, according to ScienceNOW.

A while back, the rovers confirmed that water covered the surface of Mars about four billion years ago, when it was much warmer. But now that the planet is cooler and drier, we’ve only found small bits of evidence here and there. That’s beginning to change, though.
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