Year: 2014

Philae’s landing site dust-covered ice

8:42 am

Based on the data that Philae beamed down prior to going into hibernation, scientists believe the landing site on Comet 67P/C-G is made of a layer of dust 4 to 8 inches thick covering solid ice.

At Philae’s final landing spot, the MUPUS probe recorded a temperature of –153°C close to the floor of the lander’s balcony before it was deployed. Then, after deployment, the sensors near the tip cooled by about 10°C over a period of roughly half an hour. “We think this is either due to radiative transfer of heat to the cold nearby wall seen in the CIVA images or because the probe had been pushed into a cold dust pile,” says Jörg Knollenberg, instrument scientist for MUPUS at DLR.

The probe then started to hammer itself into the subsurface, but was unable to make more than a few millimetres of progress even at the highest power level of the hammer motor. “If we compare the data with laboratory measurements, we think that the probe encountered a hard surface with strength comparable to that of solid ice,” says Tilman Spohn, principal investigator for MUPUS.

Looking at the results of the thermal mapper and the probe together, the team have made the preliminary assessment that the upper layers of the comet’s surface consist of dust of 10–20 cm thickness, overlaying mechanically strong ice or ice and dust mixtures.

In many ways, this result is a testament to the magnificence of science and the industrial revolution. The methods and technology that made it possible for scientists to predict the make up of comets (dirty snowballs) were developed in the period from the 16th to the 19th centuries, hundreds of years before it was even possible to see Comet 67P, no less land on it and sample its surface. And what do we find when we do land there? The data gathered beforehand from far away is confirmed, as precisely as one can imagine.

Update: Another of Philae’s instruments also detected organics on the surface, though the reports so far are very vague.

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The long working relationship between Obama and Gruber

4:29 pm

Just in case you happen to see a press conference or speech in the next few weeks where you see Barack Obama denying knowing or ever working with Jon Gruber — the man who has been called the architect of Obamacare and of whom numerous videos have now been discovered where he contemptuously describes Americans as “stupid” while explaining how the Obama administration deliberately lied to get the law passed — watch this video below from a 2006 event.

Obama is simply a bald-faced liar in almost everything he does. Don’t be fooled by him anymore. He is dangerous, untrustworthy, and should no longer be supported by anyone, from the left or the right or by Republicans or Democrats.

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Falcon Heavy launchpad work begun

8:50 am

The competition heats up: SpaceX has begun the construction work necessary to convert the launchpad it will use at the Kennedy Space Center for its first test flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket, now scheduled for summer 2015.

Most of the current work appears to be taking place on the perimeter area of the pad, with the construction of a hanger building – known as the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) – that will house the Falcon Heavy rocket and associated hardware and payloads during processing. During rollout, the Falcon Heavy will be transported atop the Transporter Erector (TE), which will ride on rails, up the famous 39A ramp that once saw Space Shuttle and Apollo stacks arrive via the Crawler Transporters.

The July launch date is considered preliminary and a target date only and is of course subject to change.

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Russias pulling out of ISS in 2020

8:41 am

Another news story from Russia has confirmed that the Russian government intends to break off its partnership at ISS in 2020, and that it will instead start assembling its owns space station in 2017 and will use some modules now docked with ISS to do it.

This event was always possible, and one of the many reasons I always opposed Bill Clinton’s decision to form the ISS partnership. The partnership acted as a crutch for NASA and the U.S, allowing us to avoid spending the money to build a self-sufficient space station. When the Russians leave in 2020 ISS will lack some crucial facilities that it now depends on, and will require some fast scrambling and additions to the station by NASA to keep it going at that point.

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Philae spotted before and after first bounce

8:32 am

A close review of a series of Rosetta images has identified Philae’s first landing site, as well as the spacecraft itself as it approached and bounced away.

The second link is especially amazing, as it includes a gif animation of the landing site, showing the before situation, the puff of dust just after impact, and then Philae drifting away with its shadow hitting the surface of the comet.

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Philae has gone to sleep

7:49 pm

Despite several attempts to reposition the lander to get more sunlight to its solar panels, Philae went into hibernation on Saturday.

There is still a chance the lander will come back awake, but right now the Rosetta science team considers its mission complete. Meanwhile, Rosetta will continue its flight with Comet 67P/C-G, tracking it closely for the next year as it makes its next close approach to the sun.

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Been underground

7:41 pm

I just got back from a cave project weekend in the mountains of southeastern Arizona, which is why I have not posted this past weekend. The project involves surveying and mapping one of the more significant caves in Arizona, and has been on-going now for almost three years. We hope to finish sometime next year. I am the cartographer and project leader.

Posting to resume shortly. Stay tuned.

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Drill baby drill!

8:57 am

Faced with a loss of power in Philae’s batteries due to a lack of sunlight, scientists plan to activate the lander’s drill today.

This action might push the lander off the surface again, but it also might move it into daylight. At the least it might get them some geological data.

If the reserve battery runs out of power and the spacecraft shuts down on Saturday, there is still a chance that it could come back to life at a later time, should Comet 67P/C-G’s position change enough to put its solar panels in daylight and it can charge its main battery.

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Obamacare is forcing the closure of small rural hospitals nationwide

9:42 pm

Finding out what’s in it: The regulations imposed by Obamacare have raised costs so much that dozens of small rural hospitals, generally serving poorer communities, have been forced to close.

Since the beginning of 2010, 43 rural hospitals — with a total of more than 1,500 beds — have closed, according to data from the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program. The pace of closures has quickened: from 3 in 2010 to 13 in 2013, and 12 already this year. Georgia alone has lost five rural hospitals since 2012, and at least six more are teetering on the brink of collapse. Each of the state’s closed hospitals served about 10,000 people — a lot for remaining area hospitals to absorb.

The Affordable Care Act was designed to improve access to health care for all Americans and will give them another chance at getting health insurance during open enrollment starting this Saturday. But critics say the ACA is also accelerating the demise of rural outposts that cater to many of society’s most vulnerable. These hospitals treat some of the sickest and poorest patients — those least aware of how to stay healthy. Hospital officials contend that the law’s penalties for having to re-admit patients soon after they’re released are impossible to avoid and create a crushing burden.

The article also describes how the high cost converting all hospital records from paper to electronic, something that Obamacare requires, is also forcing the shut down of these hospitals.

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