More on making the X-37B an ISS supply and crew ferry
More on making the X-37B an ISS supply and crew ferry.
More on making the X-37B an ISS supply and crew ferry.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
More on making the X-37B an ISS supply and crew ferry
Venus has an ozone layer too
Tracing the Canals of Mars
1.6 million hand-signed petitions handed to Congress demanding Obamacare be repealed before it can be fully implemented
Right on! On Wednesday a petition with more than 1.6 million signatures was delivered to Congress, demanding Obamacare be repealed before it can be fully implemented.
Right on! On Wednesday a petition with more than 1.6 million signatures was delivered to Congress, demanding Obamacare be repealed before it can be fully implemented.
“A good scientist is a humble and listening scientist and not one that is sure 100 percent in what he read in the textbooks.”
Steve Jobs has passed away
Steve Jobs has passed away.
Steve Jobs has passed away.
Water from comets
New results using the Herschel Space Telescope suggest that Earth’s water was brought here by comets.
New results using the Herschel Space Telescope suggest that Earth’s water was brought here by comets.
Astronomers have found a dozen supernovae taking place closer to the Big Bang than ever detected.
Astronomers have found a dozen supernovae taking place only a few billion years after the Big Bang.
[The results suggest that these types of supernovae] were exploding about five times more frequently 10 billion years ago than they are today. These supernovas are a major source of iron in the universe, the main component of the Earth’s core and an essential ingredient of the blood in our bodies.
Astronomers have found a dozen supernovae taking place only a few billion years after the Big Bang.
[The results suggest that these types of supernovae] were exploding about five times more frequently 10 billion years ago than they are today. These supernovas are a major source of iron in the universe, the main component of the Earth’s core and an essential ingredient of the blood in our bodies.
Beethoven — second movement, Fifth Symphony, performed by NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini
An evening pause: This March 22, 1952 television performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony from Carnegie Hall by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, was probably the most remembered by the generation of our parents. I show the second movement, because it happens to be my favorite. Listen as the opening theme returns several times during the piece, only changing the last time into something even more beautiful.
Watching Toscanini as he conducts is fascinating as well.
Want to become an astronaut? NASA insists you speak Russian
Want to become an astronaut? NASA requires you to speak Russian.
Want to become an astronaut? NASA requires you to speak Russian.
Aden Meinel, astronomer and innovator, has passed away
Aden Meinel, astronomer and innovator, has passed away.
Meinel, first director of the Kitt Peak Observatory, was the also first to conceive and try to build robotic telescopes that could be operated remotely. Many of his ideas were later incorporated both on the ground and in space.
Aden Meinel, astronomer and innovator, has passed away.
Meinel, first director of the Kitt Peak Observatory, was the also first to conceive and try to build robotic telescopes that could be operated remotely. Many of his ideas were later incorporated both on the ground and in space.
The sun’s activity goes boom
Today NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center released its monthly graph of the Sun’s solar cycle sunspot activity. Posted below, it shows the Sun’s activity finally leaping upward in September, after several months of less than expected performance.
It is interesting to see how the sun’s rising sunspot activity for the past year has followed a consistent fluctuating pattern, whereby a sudden monthly jump in sunspots is then followed by several months of decline. If this pattern repeats itself again, we should expect to see the numbers ease off again in October and November.
Regardless, the higher sunspot counts for September are more in line with past predictions. In fact, the solar scientists at the Marshall Space Flight Center have increased their prediction for the time and intensity for the peak of the sun’s maximum. Last month they had called for a peak in May 2013 with a sunspot number of 70. Now, they are predicting the peak will come in April 2013 with a number of 77. They note however that even this higher number will result in the weakest maximum in more than a hundred years.
A summary of Messenger’s first six months in orbit around Mercury
A summary of Messenger’s first six months in orbit around Mercury.
Though packed with lots of results, this strikes me as the most interesting discovery so far:
Orbital data reveal that Mercury’s magnetic field is offset far to the north of the planet’s center, by nearly 20% of Mercury’s radius. Relative to the planet’s size, this offset is much more than in any other planet, and accounting for it will pose a challenge to theoretical explanations of the field. . . . This finding has several implications for other aspects of Mercury, says Anderson, who co-authored several of the presentations in the MESSENGER session. “This means that the magnetic field in the southern hemisphere should be a lot weaker than it is in the north. At the north geographic pole, the magnetic field should be about 3.5 times stronger than it is at the south geographic pole.
A summary of Messenger’s first six months in orbit around Mercury.
Though packed with lots of results, this strikes me as the most interesting discovery so far:
Orbital data reveal that Mercury’s magnetic field is offset far to the north of the planet’s center, by nearly 20% of Mercury’s radius. Relative to the planet’s size, this offset is much more than in any other planet, and accounting for it will pose a challenge to theoretical explanations of the field. . . . This finding has several implications for other aspects of Mercury, says Anderson, who co-authored several of the presentations in the MESSENGER session. “This means that the magnetic field in the southern hemisphere should be a lot weaker than it is in the north. At the north geographic pole, the magnetic field should be about 3.5 times stronger than it is at the south geographic pole.
The Taj Mahal in danger of collapse
The Taj Mahal is in danger of collapse.
Certain points about this story — few details and the extreme and sudden nature of the claims — leave me skeptical and wondering if it isn’t merely a ploy for funding.
The Taj Mahal is in danger of collapse.
Certain points about this story — few details and the extreme and sudden nature of the claims — leave me skeptical and wondering if it isn’t merely a ploy for funding.
CBS News Reporter Says White House Screamed, Swore at Her Over allowing thousands of guns to illegally go to Mexico
A CBS news reporter says White House officials screamed and swore at her over her questions about the administration’s decision to permit thousands of guns to be illegally transferred to Mexican criminals.
A CBS news reporter says White House officials screamed and swore at her over her questions about the administration’s decision to permit thousands of guns to be illegally transferred to Mexican criminals.
Judge rules that NASA has the right to sue for camera given to former astronaut
A Florida judge has ruled that NASA has the right to sue for the camera former Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell says was given to him by NASA forty years ago.
A Florida judge has ruled that NASA has the right to sue for the camera former Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell says was given to him by NASA forty years ago.
A new Arianespace rocket
A new Arianespace rocket starts its journey to French Guiana.
This first launch, the Vega qualification flight, is planned for January 2012 and will pave the way for five missions that aim to demonstrate the system’s flexibility. . . . Vega is compatible with payload masses ranging from 300 kg to 2500 kg, depending on the type and altitude of the orbit required by the customers. The benchmark is for 1500 kg into a 700 km-altitude polar orbit.
This rocket is comparable to SpaceX’s now discontinued Falcon 1, though it can put more payload into orbit.
A new Arianespace rocket starts its journey to French Guiana.
This first launch, the Vega qualification flight, is planned for January 2012 and will pave the way for five missions that aim to demonstrate the system’s flexibility. . . . Vega is compatible with payload masses ranging from 300 kg to 2500 kg, depending on the type and altitude of the orbit required by the customers. The benchmark is for 1500 kg into a 700 km-altitude polar orbit.
This rocket is comparable to SpaceX’s now discontinued Falcon 1, though it can put more payload into orbit.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Researcher Fired Amidst New Controversy
Office politics in science: Chronic fatigue syndrome researcher fired amidst new controversy.
I read this story and wonder if these scientists are as bad as politicians.
Office politics in science: Chronic fatigue syndrome researcher fired amidst new controversy.
I read this story and wonder if these scientists are as bad as politicians.
The Ten Tenors – Bohemian Rhapsody
A global map of Titan, in color
Crime rates plummet in Chicago and Washington after gun laws were ruled unconstitutional
Surprise, surprise! The crime rates plummeted in Chicago and Washington after the Supreme Court ruled their gun laws were unconstitutional.
Surprise, surprise! The crime rates plummeted in Chicago and Washington after the Supreme Court ruled their gun laws were unconstitutional.
NASA awards $1.35M to creators after their electric plane flies 200 miles
NASA awards $1.35 million to the creators of an electric-powered plane after it flies 200 miles.
NASA awards $1.35 million to the creators of an electric-powered plane after it flies 200 miles.
A Virgin Galactic customer gets a refund
A Virgin Galactic customer gets a refund.
A Virgin Galactic customer gets a refund.
The 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded
The 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to the astronomers who discovered dark energy.
Saul Perlmutter from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded half of this year’s prize for his work on the Supernova Cosmology Project, with the other half awarded to Brian P. Schmidt from the Australian National University and Adam G. Riess from the Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, for their work on the High-z Supernova Search Team.
The 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to the astronomers who discovered dark energy.
Saul Perlmutter from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded half of this year’s prize for his work on the Supernova Cosmology Project, with the other half awarded to Brian P. Schmidt from the Australian National University and Adam G. Riess from the Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, for their work on the High-z Supernova Search Team.
Shawn Colvin – I don’t know why
An evening pause: Shawn Colvin, at the 1988 Philadelphia Folk Festival, early in her career, singing one of her early hits.
For an extraterrestrial skiing experience, Enceladus is the place to go.
An update on the ongoing X-37B mission
An update on the ongoing X-37B mission.
I like this quote from the article:
Meanwhile, Boeing has begun to look at derivatives of their X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle — including flying cargo and crew to the International Space Station. Speaking this week at the Space 2011 conference —organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and held in Long Beach, Calif. — Arthur Grantz of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems sketched out a host of future uses for the space plane design. For one, the X-37B, as is, can be flown to the space station and dock to the facility’s common berthing mechanism. No new technology is required for X-37B to supply cargo services to the ISS, Grantz said. Also, an X-37C winged vehicle has been scoped out, a craft that would ride atop an Atlas 5 in un-shrouded mode.
The Boeing roadmap, Grantz added, also envisions a larger derivative of the X-37B space plane, one that can carry up to seven astronauts, as well as tote into Earth orbit a mix of pressurized and unpressurized cargo.
An update on the ongoing X-37B mission.
I like this quote from the article:
Meanwhile, Boeing has begun to look at derivatives of their X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle — including flying cargo and crew to the International Space Station. Speaking this week at the Space 2011 conference —organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and held in Long Beach, Calif. — Arthur Grantz of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems sketched out a host of future uses for the space plane design. For one, the X-37B, as is, can be flown to the space station and dock to the facility’s common berthing mechanism. No new technology is required for X-37B to supply cargo services to the ISS, Grantz said. Also, an X-37C winged vehicle has been scoped out, a craft that would ride atop an Atlas 5 in un-shrouded mode.
The Boeing roadmap, Grantz added, also envisions a larger derivative of the X-37B space plane, one that can carry up to seven astronauts, as well as tote into Earth orbit a mix of pressurized and unpressurized cargo.
The Obama administration by the numbers
Simple, graphic, and devastating: The Obama administration by the numbers.
Simple, graphic, and devastating: The Obama administration by the numbers.
The strange hollows on the mountain tops of Mercury
Another spectacular planetary science image, this time from Messenger orbiting Mercury. This close-up image of the hollows of Mercury only illustrates their mystery. The insert shows the context of the close-up image. These irregular sinks are here found on the mountain top ridge of an inner crater rim. Also, some but not all of the hollows have bright interiors.
Scientists have proposed that some form of impact melt process caused these hollows. At impact, the ground literally rippled like water when you toss a stone into a pool. Here, however, the molten ripples quickly froze, creating the inner and outer crater rim rings. To my untrained eye, the hollows look like collapse features where the surface hardened first, then collapsed when the molten inner material drained away as it became solid.
Why some hollows are bright, however, is not yet understood.
Dawn begins close-up orbit observations
Dawn begins close-up orbit observations of Vesta. More new results here.
In this orbit, the average distance from the spacecraft to the Vesta surface is 420 miles (680 kilometers), which is four times closer than the previous survey orbit.
Dawn begins close-up orbit observations of Vesta. More new results here.
In this orbit, the average distance from the spacecraft to the Vesta surface is 420 miles (680 kilometers), which is four times closer than the previous survey orbit.