Universe Today

The company that aims to be the first "spaceline," by taking paying passenger to space on a regular basis is also looking at contributing to science, too. Virgin Galactic is looking at the possibility of carrying scientific instruments on board the aircraft that brings its spaceship skyward. Richard Branson is teaming up with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to gather information about atmospheric composition and particularly greenhouse gases. NOAA is interested in flying atmospheric monitoring instruments on the carrier vehicle WhiteKnightTwo, because it will be in regular flight above 50,000 ft for the next year-and-a-half during its test-flight period. "Almost everything NOAA does at the moment is at 25,000ft (7,600m) maximum altitude. It's quite difficult to find research aircraft that do atmospheric testing above that," said Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic.
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Filed under: Space Flight, Space Tourism | 7 Comments »

Everyone is suffering from severe angst about the fate of the Hubble Space Telescope, and now, on the heels of Hubble's data controller failure news comes more ANGST. But this is a good ANGST – which is an acronym for ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury. The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) has completed a thorough survey of galaxies in our cosmic backyard, providing clues about how stars form. Using Hubble, astronomers observed around 14 million stars in 69 galaxies, ranging from 6.5 million light-years to 13 million light-years from Earth. Interestingly, some galaxies were found to be full of ancient stars, while others are like sun-making factories. So, if you're suffering from Hubble angst, peruse the images from this newest survey – they may bring you comfort. Either that, or you'll cry from sorrow of what could possibly be lost… (no, no, no — think happy thoughts!!!)…
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Filed under: Hubble, galaxies | 13 Comments »

A spectacular video recorded on September 29 shows the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle plunging through Earth's atmosphere and breaking apart. It doesn't take long for the action to start — about 7 seconds into the video, there's a bright flash — which portrays the demise of the first and very successful space station freighter ship built by the European Space Agency. Two observation teams were chasing Jules Verne, in two separate aircraft, taking video and images. This video shows the spacecraft breaking up over the Pacific Ocean beginning at about 15:36 CEST. Below are more images, too:

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Filed under: Space Flight | 14 Comments »

Remember the movies of clouds floating above the Phoenix Lander? Further study with the lander's Lidar instrument has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. "The clouds are composed of ice crystals, and some of the crystals are large enough to fall through the atmosphere," said Jim Whiteway, lead scientist for the Meteorological Station on Phoenix. Whiteway and several researchers shared recent findings from Phoenix at a press briefing today. "So snow is falling from the clouds and we are going to be watching very closely over the next month for evidence that the snow is actually landing on the surface. This is a very important factor in the hydrological cycle on Mars, with the exchange of water between the surface and the atmosphere."

"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," Whiteway added.
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A simple lesson in school physics provides the fundamental theory behind rockets. Simply put, by quickly pushing lots of exhaust out, the great mass of a rocket will ascend. Yet, as is often the case, putting theory into practise is anything but simple. J.D. Hunley in his book 'Preludes to U.S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology – Goddard Rockets to Minuteman III' presents the many painful, exciting steps that made this technological marvel a practical mode of transport. The reader will find that rocket theory is fine, but it's through the engineering that people have really shown the height to which they can arise.
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Filed under: Book Reviews | 2 Comments »

This week we have another new host for the Carnival of Space: Twisted Physics. Learn about the legacy of Challenger, low gravity volcanoes, and the plucky little rovers that could.

Click here to read the Carnival of Space #72

And if you're interested in looking back, here's an archive to all the past carnivals of space. If you've got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. Just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it. It will help get awareness out there about your writing, help you meet others in the space community – and community is what blogging is all about. And if you really want to help out, let me know if you can be a host, and I'll schedule you into the calendar.

Finally, if you run a space-related blog, please post a link to the Carnival of Space. Help us get the word out.

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Another week, another roundup of your questions. This week listeners asked: will reaching light speed destroy the Universe? When is Andromeda going to look really, really cool with the unaided eye? Why didn't dark matter all turn into black holes? And there's even more. If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to info@astronomycast.com and we'll try to tackle it for a future show.

Click here to download the episode.

Or subscribe to: astronomycast.com/podcast.xml with your podcatching software.

Questions Show – Light speed, Andromeda Galaxy, Dark Matter and Black Holes show notes.

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Look around you. Breathe in some air. Everything you can see and feel was formed in a star. Today we'll examine that long journey that matter has gone through, forged and re-forged in the hearts of stars. In fact, the device you're using to listen to this podcast has some elements formed in a supernova explosion.

Click here to download the episode.

Or subscribe to: astronomycast.com/podcast.xml with your podcatching software.

Nucleosynthesis: Elements from Stars show notes.

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A major failure on the Hubble Space Telescope has shut down science operations, as the spacecraft is unable to send any data to Earth, according to an article on NASA Spaceflight.com. The failure is on the “Side A” control system. There is also a back-up system, Side B which has never been used. Attempts will be made to switch to Side B later this week. This switch has never been attempted during the lifetime of the telescope, but it is hoped that the switch will work, allowing the HST to return to functionality. This may have an impact on the STS-125’s mission to repair the Hubble, delaying it to 2009, if managers decide to send up a replacement unit, or if a mitigation plan fails to restore the Telescope’s functionality.

Update: NASA held a news conference this afternoon, and said the servicing mission — which was going to launch on Oct. 14 — is definitely on hold. They will attempt to turn on Side B later this week, and depending on how that goes, they are working on a plan to have the shuttle servicing mission bring up and install a spare Science Instrument Command and Data Handling System sometime in 2009. Phil has the dicey details over at Bad Astronomy
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Europe's Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) successfully completed its six-month mission today with a controlled destructive re-entry over the South Pacific. Following a final de-orbit burn at 14:58 CEST which slowed its velocity by 70 m/s, the ATV entered the upper atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km at 15:31 CEST. It broke up at an altitude of 75 km with the remaining fragments falling into the Pacific some 12 minutes later. The break-up was monitored by two aircraft, a Gulfstream V, and a NASA DC-8. "The operations went perfectly; there was no hiccup at all." said ESA's mission director Alberto Novelli. "There is a very big feeling of accomplishment because the mission went perfectly from end to end. At the same time we are a little bit sad. The six months (of operation) were very intense and demanding, so there is a mixed feeling. But we are looking forward to start preparing for the following mission."
Update: the first images from the re-entry have just been posted:

ATV re-entry. Credit: ESA

Filed under: Space Flight, Space Station | 1 Comment »

The commercial spaceflight company Space X successfully launched its Falcon 1 unmanned booster, becoming the first private company to send a rocket into orbit. The two-stage rocket lifted off at 7:16 p.m. EDT (23:16 GMT) from the the launch site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the about 2,500 miles (4,023 km) southwest of Hawaii. This successful launch comes almost two months after an engine timing error during stage separation caused the failure of Space X's third Falcon 1 test. If you missed watching the live webcast, below is the video. Watching the live webcast was wonderful; the people who actually built this rocket could be heard cheering in the background as each milestone in the climb to orbit was reached. Congratulations to everyone at Space X!

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Are you ready for one very sweet and complete optics package? For anyone who does astronomy outreach work, is interested in practicing binocular astronomy or is just looking for a great teaching tool, I've got something you really need to take a look at… the Celestron 10X50 UpClose Binoculars and Green Laser Pointer Optics Kit. Read more…

Filed under: Telescope Reviews | 8 Comments »

Fireball over Adelaide - Doug Robertson

While imaging the Large Magellanic Cloud, astrophotographer Doug Robertson got a real surprise when he went to process his data…. He'd accidentally recorded the uncontrolled return of the intermediate stage of a recent Russian rocket launch that just put three GLOSNASS satellites into orbit. Read more…

Filed under: Satellites, Space Flight | 26 Comments »

It's official, China has become the third nation to successfully carry out a spacewalk in Earth orbit. Fighter pilot Zhai Zhigang was the first to exit the Shenzhou-7 module at 16:30 Beijing Time (08:30 GMT), as the Chinese space agency streamed live video of the event. Zhai lifted himself through the hatch and waved at the camera attached to the service module on the outside of the craft, with Earth looming overhead. Shortly after, crew mate Liu Boming emerged to hand Zhai a small Chinese flag which he waved enthusiastically. The extra-vehicular activity (EVA) lasted for about 15 minutes. At the start of the EVA, Zhai said, "I'm feeling quite well. I greet the Chinese people and the people of the world."
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Filed under: China, Space Flight | 20 Comments »

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It's a dark sky weekend and a great opportunity to really get to know some unusual deep sky objects – like brilliant open clusters and tiny compact galaxy groups. Even if you just sit outside and stargaze, you might catch a member of the Alpha Aurigid meteor shower! Are you ready? Then get out your binoculars and telescopes and let's head out for adventure… Read more…

Filed under: Astronomy, Observing | 10 Comments »