It might sound hard to believe, but dozens of spacecraft have crashed themselves onto the surface of the Moon. All in the name of science. The first was the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2, which smashed into the lunar surface in 1959. Well, an upcoming mission is all set to do it again. NASA’s Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) will launch in 2008 together with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Its booster rocket will smash into the Moon first, carving out a large crater, and then the smaller Shepherding spacecraft will smash into the same spot, analyzing the debris cloud before it’s destroyed too.
Continue reading “Crashing Into the Moon… On Purpose”
Cluster Spacecraft Catch a Magnetic Reconnection
ESA’s Cluster spacecraft were in the right place at the right time on September 15, 2001. They flew through a region of the Earth’s magnetosphere at the exact moment that it reconfigured itself. The wealth of data will help scientists better model interactions between the Earth’s magnetosphere and the solar wind, as well as the magnetic fields around other stars and exotic objects with powerful magnetic fields.
Continue reading “Cluster Spacecraft Catch a Magnetic Reconnection”
Inflatable Habitat Reaches Orbit
Robert Bigelow’s dream of a thriving space tourism industry took a significant step forward today with the launch of the Genesis 1 experimental spacecraft. Bigelow Aerospace reported that the prototype habitat was successfully lofted into orbit atop a converted Russian inter-continental ballistic missile. Once in orbit, it extended its solar panels and began to inflate. The rocket launched at 6:53 pm Moscow Time, and the company released a series of statements over the course of the day reporting that everything’s going well.
Continue reading “Inflatable Habitat Reaches Orbit”
Solar Shade to Reverse Global Warming
The overwhelming scientific consensus predicts that human emissions of carbon dioxide will warm the planet over the coming decades and centuries. By how much and how quickly is still up for dispute, but most agree it’s time to take action. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the key, but what if it’s already too late, and the temperature tipping point has already been reached? Dr. Roger Angel from the University of Arizona takes a page from the book of C. Mongomery Burns and suggests a gigantic sunshade placed in space above the Earth might help keep us cool.
Continue reading “Solar Shade to Reverse Global Warming”
Cassini’s Mission is Half Over
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will reach the half-way point of its 4 year mission on Friday – it arrived at Saturn on June 20, 2004. Although the spacecraft has already visited Titan 15 times, it’ll pick up the pace for the remainder of its mission, performing another 30 flybys. Starting in July, mission controllers will begin altering Cassini’s orbit with respect to the Sun by nearly 180-degrees. This will give it a bird’s eye view of Saturn’s ring system.
Continue reading “Cassini’s Mission is Half Over”
SMART-1 Prepares for the End
ESA’s SMART-1 has been orbiting the Moon for 16 months, but it’s out of fuel, so its life is almost over. On September 3, 2006, it will crash into the Moon’s surface in a final act of science. If its orbit was to decay naturally, the spacecraft would impact on the far side of the Moon; however controllers have devised a strategy to help it impact on the near side, in view of Earth-based telescopes.
Continue reading “SMART-1 Prepares for the End”
MESSENGER Flips Over to Get Some Shade
As NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft gets closer to Mercury, it’s also flying closer to the Sun. And temperatures are rising. The spacecraft rotated 180-degrees on June 21, pointing its sunshade towards the Sun. This will keep temperatures to safe levels within the spacecraft. MESSENGER will keep this shade between itself and the Sun for the remainder of its mission. The spacecraft’s next big event will be its flyby with Venus on October 24.
Continue reading “MESSENGER Flips Over to Get Some Shade”
Artificial Solar System Could Search for Extra Dimensions
The concept of extra dimensions, that there are whole other regions of reality that we can’t perceive, has tantalized physicists for years. Although the math looks good (if you like that kind of thing), scientists want physical evidence they can measure. And how do you test for 4 dimensions of space when you’ve only got a 3-dimensional ruler? One idea is to use gravity, a force that might actually reach across an extra dimension and give scientists the evidence they’re looking for. In order to run this experiment, a pair of physicists think the best strategy is to start from scratch and build a whole new solar system… in miniature.
Continue reading “Artificial Solar System Could Search for Extra Dimensions”
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Continues to Lower its Orbit
NASA’s newest visitor to the Red Planet, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is still in the process of shrinking its orbit, enroute to its final science orbit. When the spacecraft first arrived, its farthest point from the planet was 45,000 kilometers (28,000 miles). After 11 weeks of aerobraking operations, it’s reduced this distance to about 20,000 km (12,000 miles). Controllers estimate that the spacecraft will still need to sweep through Mars atmosphere 400 more times over the next 12 weeks to complete its orbital maneuvers. Its final mapping orbit will be approximately 255 to 320 km (160 to 200 mi) above the Martian surface.
Continue reading “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Continues to Lower its Orbit”
Fast Moving New Horizons Tracks an Asteroid
Still a decade away from its final meeting with Pluto, New Horizons tested out its instruments on a relatively nearby asteroid. The spacecraft turned its Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) on asteroid 2002 JF56 at a range of 1.34 to 3.36 million kilometers (about 833,000 to 2.1 million miles). Controllers were happy to see that the camera system was able to track the asteroid while the spacecraft was moving so quickly; it’ll need this capability when it reaches Pluto. Its next stop will be Jupiter, which it’s due to encounter on February 28, 2007.
Continue reading “Fast Moving New Horizons Tracks an Asteroid”