Weekly Space Hangout – Jan. 16, 2015: Hard Landings, False Alarms & Found Beagles

Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain)

Guests:
Morgan Rehnberg (cosmicchatter.org / @MorganRehnberg )
Ramin Skibba (@raminskibba)
Brian Koberlein (@briankoberlein)

This Week’s Stories:

Rare Eclipse of Alpha Comae Berenices
Beagle 2 Found
False alarm on the ISS
SLS RS-25 Engine Test
Falcon 9 landing attempt
Milky Way’s long spiral arms
Pulsar goes quiet
Measuring Saturn’s position accurately
Retro NASA Travel Posters Invite You to Real Alien Worlds
Sudden Impact: Did Meteorite Carve Icy Crater in Antarctica?
World’s Most Powerful Camera Receives Funding Approval
Has Curiosity Found Evidence for Ancient Microbial Life on Mars? Maybe, Says Noted Geobiologist.
January 2015 Launch Schedule
APOD: 2015 January 12 – Super Planet Crash; Semi-interactive Simulation of Planetary Orbital Mechanics
First Notable Solar Flare of 2015
SpaceX: Falcon Heavy Poised to Fly This Year
Virgin Galactic Planning Spaceship 2 Return to Flight
Extrasolar Storms: How’s the Weather Way Out There? [Storms on Brown Dwarfs]
Wax Fuel Gives Hybrid Rockets More Oomph
XCOR’s Path to Space
SpaceX Breaks Ground, Dragon Berths, and a New Era Begins
Shields Up: Star Trek “Shields” Science Fiction? Not So Fast…
Musk Cites USAF-ULA Relationship in Certification Delay
New Horizons Begins Pluto Encounter Operations
QVC Doesn’t Know What the Moon Is
[Included as a bit of humor – or incredulity – on a Friday.]
Three Nearly Earth-Size Planets Found Orbiting Nearby Star
NOAA: 2014 Was Warmest Year on Record

We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Google+, Universe Today, or the Universe Today YouTube page.

You can join in the discussion between episodes over at our Weekly Space Hangout Crew group in G+, and suggest your ideas for stories we can discuss each week!