 |
| Image credit: Gemini/AURA |
|
| Gemini Sees Galaxies in a Royal Rumble |
| Sep 7, 2004 - The latest image released by the Gemini Observatory shows a group of galaxies tearing each other apart 300 million light-years away. The galaxies are members of Stephan's Quintet, and their shapes are completely warped by gravitational interactions that have been going on for millions of years. This ongoing chaos has spawned huge stellar nurseries - hotspots of furious star formation. They'll keep on interacting for a few more million years before merging into larger objects; the smaller galaxies will be completely torn apart. (Full Story) |
|
|
|
 |
| Image credit: NASA |
|
| NASA Assesses the Damage From Frances |
| Sep 7, 2004 - It's bad, but it could have been much worse. Hurricane Frances devastated Florida over the weekend, with the eye sweeping close to NASA's Kennedy Space Center - the region sustained winds as high as 110 kph (70 mph). There were no injuries, and the worst damage was to the Vehicle Assembly Building, which lost more than 1,000 panels, leaving huge holes in its sides. None of the space shuttles or the Swift mission were damaged. The center is closed Tuesday for most employees, and a more detailed damage assessment should be released later today. (Full Story) |
|
|
|
 |
| Image credit: ESA |
|
| Hubble Sees the Stingray Nebula |
| Sep 7, 2004 - The Hubble Space Telescope took this image of the Stingray Nebula, known to astronomers as Henize 1357. The dim star is surrounded by a halo of gas that was shed when the star became a red giant - a final stage in its life. As the nebula expanded away from the star, the remaining core got hotter and hotter, heating the gas up until it glowed. The Stingray Nebula is the youngest known planetary nebula; it wasn't visible in the sky just 25 years ago, when the gas around the central star hadn't heated up enough to glow. (Full Story) |
|
|
|
 |
| Image credit: NASA |
|
| Final Helios Report Released |
| Sep 4, 2004 - The board inquiring into the loss of the remotely-operated Helios aircraft released its final report on Friday. Helios was a solar-powered aircraft, capable of flying higher than any conventional plane. During a test flight in June, 2003, the aircraft took off from the island of Kauai and flew out over the Pacific Ocean. About 30 minutes into its flight, turbulence caused Helios to become unstable, with its wings bending more than it was designed for. Shortly after that, the upper surface of the wing ripped off, and it plunged into the ocean. The board determined that NASA lacked the analysis tools to predict how turbulence could affect the plane in all conditions. (Full Story) |
|
|
|
 |
| Image credit: NASA |
|
| Astronauts Complete Final Spacewalk |
| Sep 3, 2004 - The crew of Expedition 9, Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke, completed their fourth and final walk outside the International Space Station on Friday. The spacewalkers spent a total of 5 hours and 21 minutes in space installing equipment to prepare for the arrival of the new European cargo ship next year, including three communication antennas. Three more antennas will be installed by the next station crew, and Expedition 11 will upgrade equipment inside the Zvezda module to prepare for the new cargo ships as well. (Full Story) |
|
|
|
|