Astrosphere for May 16, 2007

Follow me around the astrosphere. Here we go:

One of the most important extrasolar planetary discoveries of the year was announced yesterday – a new Neptune-sized planet. Since there wasn’t an official press release, the news has been gathering slowly. A few bloggers have already jumped on the story and have some analysis. systemic, and Centauri Dreams both have great articles. I’ll get mine done in a few hours.

Missed NASA’s Lunar Regolith challenge? Well, you can see some videos of the hardy diggers trying to win the prize. Jim, and his All Over the Map Blog has the links. Thanks to Hobbyspace for the find.

The Internet works so well because computers can talk to each other, regardless of platform, hardware, software, or operating system. That’s not the case in space, and Space Pragmatism thinks that’s going to be a problem. What happens when an astronaut on the Moon needs to send an emergency message, but the only satellite in view can’t relay the signal?