Space and astronomy news
When and where will Russia’s Phobos-Grunt satellite crash back to Earth? It’s too early to tell, but the engineers from Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) have put together an animation which recaps what has happened with the spacecraft so far, and what is expected to occur during the uncontrolled re-entry.
[/caption] They are headed toward the surface like a speeding freight train… and running ahead of them is a shockwave. Just like a loud sound can trigger a snow avalanche here on Earth, the shockwave of a meteorite crashing through the Martian atmosphere could trigger dust avalanches on the surface before an actual impact. According …
Continue reading “Incoming! Meteorite Shockwaves Could Set Off Martian Dust Avalanches”
[/caption] Editor’s note: Bruce Dorminey, science journalist and author of “Distant Wanderers: The Search for Planets Beyond the Solar System,” interviews NASA’s MESSENGER mission Project Scientist Ralph McNutt about what we are learning about Mercury. Thirty-five years after NASA’s Mariner 10 interplanetary probe flew by and imaged less than half of tiny Mercury’s surface, NASA’s …
Continue reading “Our Own Private Hell: Unlocking Mercury’s Enigmatic Past”
[/caption] A mega quartet of luminaries led by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen and legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan have joined forces to create a revolutionary new approach to space travel. This new privately funded venture entails the development of a mammoth air-launched space transportation system that aims to dramatically cut the high costs and …
Editor’s note: Dr. David Warmflash, principal science lead for the US team from the LIFE experiment on board the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, provides an update on the mission for Universe Today. As last-ditch efforts to recover control of the unpiloted Phobos-Grunt spacecraft continue, officials, engineers, and scientists at the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) have shifted …
Continue reading “Russian Space Program Prepares for Phobos-Grunt Re-Entry”
[/caption] NASA’s Dawn Asteroid Orbiter successfully spiraled down today to the closest orbit the probe will ever achieve around the giant asteroid Vesta, and has now begun critical science observations that will ultimately yield the mission’s highest resolution measurements of this spectacular body. “What can be more exciting than to explore an alien world that …
Continue reading “Dawn swoops to lowest orbit around Vesta – Unveiling Spectacular Alien World”
[/caption] On November 14, President Obama signed an Appropriations bill that solidified NASA’s budget for fiscal year 2012. The space agency will get $17.8 billion. That’s $648 million less than last year’s funding and $924 million below what the President had asked for. But it’s still better than the $16.8 billion proposed earlier this year …
Continue reading “Good and Bad News Comes With NASA’s 2012 Budget”
[/caption] NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, the most technologically complex and scientifically capable robot built by humans to explore the surface of another celestial body, is poised to liftoff on Nov. 26 and will enable a quantum leap in mankind’s pursuit of Martian microbes and signatures of life beyond Earth. “The Mars Science Lab and the …
[/caption] In recent years, it has become surprisingly apparent that, contrary to previous belief, Earth is not the only place in the solar system with liquid water. Jupiter’s moon Europa, and possibly others, are now thought to have a deep ocean below the icy crust and even subsurface lakes within the crust itself, between the …
[/caption] Nov 19 Update: MSL launch delayed 24 h to Nov. 26 – details later In just 7 days, Earth’s most advanced robotic roving emissary will liftoff from Florida on a fantastic journey to the Red Planet and the search for extraterrestrial life will take a quantum leap forward. Scientists are thrilled that the noble …
Continue reading “NASA’s Curiosity Set to Search for Signs of Martian Life”