Using ISS as a launching platform to get to the Moon
The various partners running the ISS are considering using it as a platform to launch an orbital manned mission to the Moon.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
Archeologists find 400,000 year old spears in coal mine
Archeologists have found 400,000 year old spears in what appears to have been an ancient lake shore hunting ground, suggesting that organized hunting occurred far sooner than previously believed.
X-37B goes missing.
Spaceweather.com noted yesterday that the amateur astronomers have reported the X-37B space plane missing. It did not show up when expected, based on its known orbit. Key quote:
It’s possible that the X-37B has landed. More likely, the space plane has maneuvered into a new orbit and will be recovered again in the nights ahead.
Shutting Up Business
Footage of SpaceShipTwo’s first solo flight
Take a look at this short video released by Virgin Galactic of SpaceShipTwo’s first solo flight:
Mars’ geology suggests it once had rich carbon dioxide atmosphere
The discovery by scientists of carbonate rock deep below the Martian surface suggests the planet once had a rich carbon dioxide atmosphere. It also suggests that conditions might be more habitable for life deep underground.
Rescue shaft breaks through to Chilean miners
Rescue shaft breaks through to Chilean miners.
Kitten massage therapy
An evening pause: Kitten massage therapy.
Chilean miners are arguing about who should be the last to exit
Things must be looking up! The trapped Chilean miners are now arguing about who should be the last to exit.
Sunspots return to the Sun
After a three day stretch of blankness, a new sunspot has appeared on the Sun. The question remains: Have we now seen the last blank day for the just ending solar minimum?
Bolden ignores Congress with trip to China
The effort of NASA administrator Charles Bolden to increase cooperation with China is apparently in direct conflict with the wishes of Congress.
Hayabusa particles mostly rocky
Japanese scientists have announced that the particles found in the Hayabusa return capsule are mostly made up of rocky materials.
December Soyuz flight to ISS delayed due to damage
The December Soyuz flight to ISS will be delayed due to the damage the capsule received during its transport by rail to Baikonur.
SpaceShipTwo makes its first solo flight and landing
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first solo flight and landing today.
Physicist resigns for American Physical Society over climategate
Physicist resigns from the American Physical Society over climategate. Key quote:
It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist.
An engineer’s guide to cats
An evening pause:
A Night to Remember
An evening pause: With the death of film director Roy Ward Baker yesterday, I think it appropriate to watch a clip from one of his classics, A Night to Remember (1958). This understated but frighteningly powerful film captured the reality of the Titanic’s sinking in a style that is unfortunately rare today.
The Sci-Fi Airshow
Chile miners should be reached ‘within hours’
The shaft to rescue the trapped Chilean miners should reach them ‘within hours’, according to this BBC report.
Asteroids of note
At today’s press conference at the 42nd meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences, the topic was asteroids, including one which holds the possibility of hitting the Earth.
- 65 Cybele has been found to have water ice and organic molecules on its surface, the second such asteroid so found. Key quote from the abstract:
We conclude that 65 Cybele is covered by fine anhydrous silicate grains, with a small amount of water-ice and complex organic solids. This is similar to comets where non-equilibrium phases coexist, e.g. water-ice and anhydrous silicates; thus we conclude that this is a very primitive object.
According to Humberto Campins of the University of Central Florida, this combination of water and organics could become hospitable to life should some form of energy be added, such as an impact to the asteroid.
- The origin of the asteroid Phaethon, cause of the Geminids meteor shower, has been traced to the Pallas family of asteroids, a family created by the debris thrown out during a crater impact on the large asteroid Pallas. Campins also noted that this proves Phaethon is an asteroid and not a comet, a question that astronomers had been debating beforehand. Read the abstract here.
- Asteroid 1999 RQ36, which has a 1 in a 1000 chance hitting the Earth in 2182 and is also the prime target of a proposed NASA sample return mission, has now been determined to be a member of the Polana family of asteroids. This makes 1999 RQ36 a very primitive asteroid from the very beginnings of the solar system. Moreover, this suggests that the Polana family could be the “most important” source of many near Earth asteroids. The abstract can be found here.