http://www.universetoday.com Space and astronomy news Fri, 09 May 2008 16:48:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After 660 days in space and 10,000 orbits around Earth, the pioneering inflatable prototype is still going strong. Launched atop a converted intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12th, 2006, the Bigelow Aerospace vision for a space hotel is gradually being realized. The first test was to see whether the design ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/09/space-hotel-prototype-makes-10000th-orbit/ This past Wednesday, NASA announced they have scheduled a press conference for next Wednesday, May 14, at 1 p.m. EDT, to reveal the discovery of an object in our galaxy that astronomers have been hunting for more than 50 years. This gives everyone an entire week to speculate, ruminate ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/09/rumor-mill-churns-with-nasas-upcoming-announcement/ Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for a very incredible weekend? The action begins on Friday as we take you on a guided tour of the lunar surface. On Saturday, celebrate Astronomy Day with a very special unaided eye sky event and a return to the Moon. ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/09/the-weekend-skywatchers-forecast-may-9-11-2008/ When the Shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, what other mode of transport could be used to take NASA astronauts into space? After all, we routinely launch satellites into orbit, why can't the same technology be adapted and used for human spaceflight? Well, the US Senate committee on space and ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/09/after-the-shuttle-should-astronauts-be-launched-on-satellite-rockets/ Playing with black holes is a risky business, especially for a star that is unlucky enough to be orbiting one. Assuming an unfortunate star hasn't already had all of its hydrogen fuel and other component elements stripped from its surface, the powerful tidal forces will have some fun with the ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/stars-orbiting-close-to-black-holes-flattened-like-hot-pancakes/ Scientists from the MESSENGER mission continue to analyze the data from the spacecraft's first flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008. Initial data about the planet's gravity field grabbed the science team's attention, as the actual gravity data differed from predictions based on the Mariner 10 flyby in ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/unknowns-in-mercurys-gravity-field-provides-challenges-for-messenger-mission/ NASA is collaborating with Intell and SGI to create one of the world's fastest supercomputers whose power will be measured in petaflops. By 2009 the US space agency wants to develop a computational system that will be able to do 1,000 trillion calculations per second. And by 2012 it hopes ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/nasa-flips-for-petaflops/ Reading something like this makes me hopeful that we're no longer in the infant stage of our understanding of our solar system: we've been patient and observant while growing in our knowledge. Scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere only visible from Earth every 15 ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/long-term-observations-reveal-patterns-in-saturns-atmosphere/ This week, the Carnival of Space is hosted by the Space Cynics. A big thanks to them for stepping in at the last minute to host this week's edition. Click here to read the Carnival of Space #53 And if you're interested in looking back, here's an archive to all the past ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/carnival-of-space-53/ An online video that's been circulating like wildfire on the internet recently is actually almost two years old, says Michael Laine, founder of LiftPort, a company looking to develop a space elevator. The video was taken in the fall of 2006, at least 20 months ago. The video ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/popular-space-elevator-video-not-news-says-liftport-founder/ This is something I can stomach when considering the launch of an unmanned robotic mission into space. It seems obvious that there should be a "flight termination" switch, especially when considering the damage a malfunctioning rocket could do to populated areas. If mission controllers see the rocket veer off course, ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/shuttle-launch-controllers-prepared-to-press-self-destruct-button/ On Tuesday, to help out with the 50-year anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, clips from 100 hours of restored archive footage of NASA missions were made public. At the screening, John Glenn, America's first astronaut to orbit the Earth, watched the clips and had time to reminisce ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/legendary-astronaut-john-glenn-speaks-out-on-shuttle-decommissioning/ Are you ready for Astronomy Day? Astronomy Day is a grass roots movement designed to share the joy of astronomy with the general population - "Bringing Astronomy to the People." During this year's Astronomy Day on May 10, thousands of people who have never looked through a telescope ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/astronomy-day-may-10-2008/ For three weeks, 23 volunteers spent time helping NASA test a new life support system for the spacecraft that will replace the shuttle. Five volunteers at a time would squeeze into a special room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours. Sweating and heavy breathing ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/volunteers-sweat-for-nasa/ In a few decades from now, when we've got interplanetary space travel perfected and all of us Average Joes can hop in our own personal spacecraft or grab the local express line of the Milky Way Transport Service, visiting other planets and moons is going to be a blast. ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/the-space-travelers-guide-to-surviving-without-a-spacesuit-part-1/ Have you ever wanted to test your astronomy knowledge against the best? Then take the warp speed jump to Spock's Astro Quiz. It's more than just astronomy trivia, it's a great way to test your astronomy knowledge, learn more about astronomy related topics and interact via live ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/spocks-astro-quiz/ We're familiar with the close-up images of Earth captured by orbital satellites and astronauts on the International Space Station. But here are a few pictures of the Earth and Moon captured at a distance, while passing around the Moon, or orbiting distant Saturn. In the words of Carl Sagan, "Look ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/photos-of-the-earth-and-moon-from-other-worlds/ It could be the scene from a movie: huge plumes of ash and gas rising during a ferocious volcanic eruption, sparking off a dazzling lightning storm; lightning bolts thundering to life inside and out of the hot cloud. However, this is the reality down on the ground for the people ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/lightning-storm-generated-by-chilean-volcano-images/ No, not that kind of snow, but scientists say deep inside the planet Mercury, iron “snow” forms and falls toward the center of the planet, much like snowflakes form in Earth’s atmosphere and fall to the ground. The movement of this iron snow could be responsible for Mercury’s mysterious ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/snow-on-mercury/ Here's this week's "Where In The Universe?" mystery image. Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to guess what location in the universe is depicted here. No peeking below before you make a guess. Give yourself an extra point if you can name the feature shown here, ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/where-in-the-universe-4/ During the STS-123 mission to the International Space Station in March 2008 Japanese astronaut Takeo Doi tested a special boomerang in space to see how it worked in the microgravity environment of the ISS. The boomerang used in the experiment was a “Roomerang,” a small, tri-blade boomerang intended for ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/jaxa-releases-boomerang-experiment-video/ What would happen if we spot a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEO) heading straight for us? Assuming we had enough time, we might be able to pull together a group of brave astronauts (or oil drillers) and send them to the asteroid just in the nick of time to destroy it... oh ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/06/nasa-considers-manned-asteroid-mission/ Could you handle six months in space with a tiny handful of crew? Keep in mind you'd be doing everything with them, eating, sleeping, chatting, working, waiting, more sleeping, the occasional emergency, more chatting... If you look around your office now, could you really see yourself spending 24/7 with any ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/06/will-mars-astronauts-be-put-in-suspended-animation-for-the-journey/ Scientists looking at the various Lagrangian Points in our solar system noticed a pattern. Lagrange points, (named after their discoverer Josef Lagrange) are five special locations in the vicinity of two orbiting masses where a third, smaller mass can orbit at a fixed distance from the larger masses. ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/06/did-earth-have-more-than-one-moon/ As you've probably noticed, Universe Today has gotten in influx of talented writers to pitch in around here. Tammy Plotner, of course, has been working with me for years, and so have Nancy Atkinson and Mark Mortimer. Ian O'Neill and Nick Wethington are newer contributors, but have definitely proven to ... http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/06/finally-some-help/