Russian Spaceship ‘Gagarin’ Arrives at Space Station
Russian spaceship “Gagarin” arrives at ISS.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Newly discovered asteroid orbits in union with Earth
Newly discovered asteroid follows the Earth as it orbits the Sun, and has been doing it for a quarter million years.
Currently, three other horseshoe companions of the Earth are known to exist but, unlike 2010 SO16, these linger for a few thousand years at most before moving on to different orbits. Also, with an estimated diameter of 200–400 metres, 2010 SO16 is by far the largest of Earth’s horseshoe asteroids. The team has already used the Las Cumbres Observatory’s Faulkes Telescope in an on-going campaign to track the object and refine its orbit further. “It is not that difficult to spot with a medium-sized professional telescope”, says Dr Asher. “It will remain as an evening object in Earth’s skies for many years to come.”
A galaxy eats a star
Nyiragongo Crater: Journey to the Center of the World
Walking in Nyiragongo Crater in Africa. The pictures are stupendous.
GOP Budget Proposal: ‘Not a Penny’ for Obamacare
More progress, if true: The Republican 2012 budget proposal includes nothing for Obamacare.
Evidence that liquid water once existed on a comet
Scientists have found strong evidence that liquid water once existed in the interior of a comet.
Martian Mud Volcanoes
A Koran, and Free Speech, In Flames
Obama Rejects Latest Republican budget
Looks like he has decided to shut the government down: Obama rejects latest Republican budget.
Astronauts take cover as debris drifts toward International Space Station
Astronauts in ISS take cover as Chinese space junk flies past.
NASA human space-flight programme lost in transition
From the British science journal Nature: NASA human space-flight programme lost in transition.
SpaceX Unveils Plan for World’s Most Powerful Private Rocket
SpaceX unveils its plan for the Falcon 9 Heavy, what would be the world’s most powerful private rocket.
The new rocket will be able to carry about 117,000 pounds (53,000 kilograms) of cargo to orbit – about twice the payload-carrying capability of the space shuttle. The Falcon Heavy would launch more than twice as much weight as the Delta 4 heavy, currently the most powerful rocket in operation. Only NASA’s Saturn 5 moon rocket, which last launched in 1973, could carry more cargo to orbit, SpaceX officials said.
Musk said the rocket should lower the launch cost of cargo to about $1,000 per pound, about one-tenth the cost per pound on NASA shuttle launches.