NASA engineers have successfully fixed the glitch on the LADEE spacecraft.
NASA engineers have successfully fixed the glitch on the LADEE spacecraft.
NASA engineers have successfully fixed the glitch on the LADEE spacecraft.
Tag: science
NASA engineers have successfully fixed the glitch on the LADEE spacecraft.
NASA’s lunar probe LADEE was successfully launched tonight from Wallops Island.
NASA’s lunar probe LADEE was successfully launched tonight from Wallops Island.
Update: A computer glitch occurred shortly after reaching orbit, causing the computer to shut down the spacecraft’s reaction wheels.
Engineers seem unworried, and expect to have the problem solved within a couple of days.
NASA’s lunar probe LADEE was successfully launched tonight from Wallops Island.
Update: A computer glitch occurred shortly after reaching orbit, causing the computer to shut down the spacecraft’s reaction wheels.
Engineers seem unworried, and expect to have the problem solved within a couple of days.
The project manager said today that all the problems outlined in a December GAO report have been resolved.
Some good news from the James Webb Space Telescope: The project manager said today that all the problems outlined in a December GAO report have been resolved.
Some of these issues are also described here.
Some good news from the James Webb Space Telescope: The project manager said today that all the problems outlined in a December GAO report have been resolved.
Some of these issues are also described here.
NASA has lost contact with its Deep Impact probe and is racing against time to save it.
NASA has lost contact with its Deep Impact probe and is racing against time to save it.
NASA has lost contact with its Deep Impact probe and is racing against time to save it.
Cumulative data from a variety of space probes now shows that the direction of the interstellar wind has shifted during the past forty years.
Cumulative data from a variety of space probes now shows that the direction of the interstellar wind has shifted during the past forty years.
Cumulative data from a variety of space probes now shows that the direction of the interstellar wind has shifted during the past forty years.
How to view the east coast launch on Septembert 6 of LADEE.
How to view the east coast launch on Septembert 6 of LADEE.
LADEE will attempt to solve the leftover question from the Apollo-era: Does the surface dust on the Moon levitate? The question is real, and the consequences could be significant for future lunar settlements.
How to view the east coast launch on Septembert 6 of LADEE.
LADEE will attempt to solve the leftover question from the Apollo-era: Does the surface dust on the Moon levitate? The question is real, and the consequences could be significant for future lunar settlements.
A survey of planetary nebulae near the Milky Way’s central bulge has revealed that they tend to be aligned with each other.
A survey of planetary nebulae near the Milky Way’s central bulge has revealed that they tend to be aligned with each other.
This discovery is unexpected and suggests that the influence of the bulge, probably its magnetic field, is far greater than predicted.
A survey of planetary nebulae near the Milky Way’s central bulge has revealed that they tend to be aligned with each other.
This discovery is unexpected and suggests that the influence of the bulge, probably its magnetic field, is far greater than predicted.
Astronomers submit a slew of proposals for using the partly crippled Kepler space telescope.
Astronomers submit a slew of proposals for using the partly crippled Kepler space telescope.
Ideas range from a survey of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects to a study of Jupiter-sized exoplanets in large orbits. Kepler scientists will sort through the proposals and decide by 1 November which ones, if any, to recommend to NASA headquarters for further review.
Sadly, none of these ideas excites me very much. The tragedy here is that we have this really good optical telescope above the atmosphere, and we can’t point it accurately enough to use it.
Astronomers submit a slew of proposals for using the partly crippled Kepler space telescope.
Ideas range from a survey of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects to a study of Jupiter-sized exoplanets in large orbits. Kepler scientists will sort through the proposals and decide by 1 November which ones, if any, to recommend to NASA headquarters for further review.
Sadly, none of these ideas excites me very much. The tragedy here is that we have this really good optical telescope above the atmosphere, and we can’t point it accurately enough to use it.
Brazil stalls paying its share for the construction of the Extremely Large Telescope.
Brazil stalls paying its share for the construction of the Extremely Large Telescope.
They signed the agreement in 2010, but can’t get their legislature to allocate the money.
Brazil stalls paying its share for the construction of the Extremely Large Telescope.
They signed the agreement in 2010, but can’t get their legislature to allocate the money.
“The timing couldn’t be worse.”
The next IPCC report: “The timing couldn’t be worse.”
The author describes how the new report, due out in just a couple of months, is probably already obsolete because of a slew of new papers documenting the long 10 to 15 year pause in global warming that was not predicted by any of the climate models used by the IPCC.
This quote I think sums things up nicely, however:
Due to a ‘combination of errors’, the models have overestimated warming by 100% over the past 20 years and by 400% over the past 15 years.
The next IPCC report: “The timing couldn’t be worse.”
The author describes how the new report, due out in just a couple of months, is probably already obsolete because of a slew of new papers documenting the long 10 to 15 year pause in global warming that was not predicted by any of the climate models used by the IPCC.
This quote I think sums things up nicely, however:
Due to a ‘combination of errors’, the models have overestimated warming by 100% over the past 20 years and by 400% over the past 15 years.
No Atlantic hurricanes in August for the first time in eleven years.
More extreme weather, eh? There were no Atlantic hurricanes in August this year, for the first time in eleven years.
As I’ve noted repeatedly, there is no evidence yet of an increase of extreme weather events as predicted by global warming advocates. In fact, some recent data suggests a decline, though I personally wouldn’t take that seriously either.
So, when Al Gore or Barack Obama or Dianne Feinstein starts running around like Chicken Little, claiming the sky is about to fall, remember these facts.
More extreme weather, eh? There were no Atlantic hurricanes in August this year, for the first time in eleven years.
As I’ve noted repeatedly, there is no evidence yet of an increase of extreme weather events as predicted by global warming advocates. In fact, some recent data suggests a decline, though I personally wouldn’t take that seriously either.
So, when Al Gore or Barack Obama or Dianne Feinstein starts running around like Chicken Little, claiming the sky is about to fall, remember these facts.
Hubble sees a cosmic caterpillar
Hubble sees a cosmic caterpillar.
I am always astonished at the weird loveliness of these astronomical objects. They are big, tenuous, faint, and almost impossible to see. And yet, when we tease them out of the darkness they blind us with beauty.
Hubble sees a cosmic caterpillar.
I am always astonished at the weird loveliness of these astronomical objects. They are big, tenuous, faint, and almost impossible to see. And yet, when we tease them out of the darkness they blind us with beauty.
Using the combined power of 200,000 home computers astronomers have discovered 24 new pulsars in the Milky Way.
Using the combined power of 200,000 home computers astronomers have discovered 24 new pulsars in the Milky Way.
Using the combined power of 200,000 home computers astronomers have discovered 24 new pulsars in the Milky Way.
Astronomers have identified a star almost identical to the Sun, except that it is 4 billion years older.
Astronomers have identified a star almost identical to the Sun, except that it is 4 billion years older.
They have dated this old age by the amount of lithium detected in the star.
Astronomers have identified a star almost identical to the Sun, except that it is 4 billion years older.
They have dated this old age by the amount of lithium detected in the star.
Physicists have managed to create and confirm, for a brief moment, the existence of the 115th element of the periodic table.
Physicists have managed to create and confirm, for a brief moment, the existence of the 115th element of the periodic table.
In experiments in Dubna, Russia about 10 years ago, researchers reported that they created atoms with 115 protons. Their measurements have now been confirmed in experiments at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany.
To make ununpentium [the new element’s temporary name] in the new study, a group of researchers shot a super-fast beam of calcium (which has 20 protons) at a thin film of americium, the element with 95 protons. When these atomic nuclei collided, some fused together to create short-lived atoms with 115 protons. “We observed 30 in our three-week-long experiment,” study researcher Dirk Rudolph, a professor of atomic physics at Lund University in Sweden, said in an email. Rudolph added that the Russian team had detected 37 atoms of element 115 in their earlier experiments.
Physicists have managed to create and confirm, for a brief moment, the existence of the 115th element of the periodic table.
In experiments in Dubna, Russia about 10 years ago, researchers reported that they created atoms with 115 protons. Their measurements have now been confirmed in experiments at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany.
To make ununpentium [the new element’s temporary name] in the new study, a group of researchers shot a super-fast beam of calcium (which has 20 protons) at a thin film of americium, the element with 95 protons. When these atomic nuclei collided, some fused together to create short-lived atoms with 115 protons. “We observed 30 in our three-week-long experiment,” study researcher Dirk Rudolph, a professor of atomic physics at Lund University in Sweden, said in an email. Rudolph added that the Russian team had detected 37 atoms of element 115 in their earlier experiments.
Scientists using data from India’s Chandrayaan-1 space probe have detected new evidence of water inside one crater.
More water on the Moon: Scientists using data from India’s Chandrayaan-1 space probe have detected new evidence of water inside one lunar crater.
What makes this detection important is that this particular water was not placed there by the solar wind or asteroids. Its chemistry suggests it seeped upward from deep within the Moon’s interior.
More water on the Moon: Scientists using data from India’s Chandrayaan-1 space probe have detected new evidence of water inside one lunar crater.
What makes this detection important is that this particular water was not placed there by the solar wind or asteroids. Its chemistry suggests it seeped upward from deep within the Moon’s interior.
A union strike has shut down the new ALMA telescope array in Chile.
A union strike has shut down the new ALMA telescope array in Chile.
A union strike has shut down the new ALMA telescope array in Chile.
“An inconvenient untruth.”
Some historical perspective about what we know about the polarity reversal of the Sun’s magnetic field.
Some historical perspective about what we know about the polarity flip of the Sun’s magnetic field at solar maximum.
This article gives the right kind of background information that was not provided by other recent news stories.
Some historical perspective about what we know about the polarity flip of the Sun’s magnetic field at solar maximum.
This article gives the right kind of background information that was not provided by other recent news stories.
Curiosity snaps a spectacular image of Mt Sharp as it begins its journey to the mountain’s base.
Curiosity snaps a spectacular image of Mt Sharp as it begins its journey to the mountain’s base.
The rover has already traveled more than a mile. The mountain however remains about five miles away.
Curiosity snaps a spectacular image of Mt Sharp as it begins its journey to the mountain’s base.
The rover has already traveled more than a mile. The mountain however remains about five miles away.
NASA will reactivate the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) next month to use it to look for more near Earth asteroids.
NASA will reactivate the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) next month to use it to look for more near Earth asteroids.
This decision raises two thoughts.
- Why did they shut it down in the first place if it was still viable and could still do important research? If the cost wasn’t worth the benefit then, how has this equation changed now? And if the cost was worth the benefit, it then was foolish to shut it down in the first place. Though it costs money to operate these things, it is always cheaper to keep something running than to build something new. The press announcement above doesn’t really address these issues, and I wish it did.
- I wonder if this decision is somehow related to the end of the Kepler mission. With Kepler out of service, maybe NASA decided to shift the funds to run that telescope over to WISE. They do not say, but the timing is interesting. This decision could be a hint that Kepler doesn’t really have another mission it can fulfill, and thus the money to run it has already been put elsewhere.
NASA will reactivate the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) next month to use it to look for more near Earth asteroids.
This decision raises two thoughts.
- Why did they shut it down in the first place if it was still viable and could still do important research? If the cost wasn’t worth the benefit then, how has this equation changed now? And if the cost was worth the benefit, it then was foolish to shut it down in the first place. Though it costs money to operate these things, it is always cheaper to keep something running than to build something new. The press announcement above doesn’t really address these issues, and I wish it did.
- I wonder if this decision is somehow related to the end of the Kepler mission. With Kepler out of service, maybe NASA decided to shift the funds to run that telescope over to WISE. They do not say, but the timing is interesting. This decision could be a hint that Kepler doesn’t really have another mission it can fulfill, and thus the money to run it has already been put elsewhere.
The rover Opportunity has settled into its winter haven on Mars.
The rover Opportunity has settled into its winter haven on Mars.
The rover’s handlers plan to get Opportunity up onto Solander Point’s north-facing slope before mid-December, NASA officials said. But the golf-cart-size robot won’t hibernate through the winter; rather, it will continue to move about, investigating several different Solander Point outcrops.
The rover Opportunity has settled into its winter haven on Mars.
The rover’s handlers plan to get Opportunity up onto Solander Point’s north-facing slope before mid-December, NASA officials said. But the golf-cart-size robot won’t hibernate through the winter; rather, it will continue to move about, investigating several different Solander Point outcrops.
The Moon’s dirtiest secret: Does its dust levitate?
The Moon’s dirtiest secret: Does its dust levitate?
This is a serious mystery left over from the Apollo missions which has significant ramifications not only for future research (the dust would interfere badly with any astronomical observatories) but also for any colonies that are eventually established.
The Moon’s dirtiest secret: Does its dust levitate?
This is a serious mystery left over from the Apollo missions which has significant ramifications not only for future research (the dust would interfere badly with any astronomical observatories) but also for any colonies that are eventually established.
A draft of the next IPCC climate report has arrived, and it is more of the same: We are all gonna die!
A draft of the next IPCC climate report has arrived, and it is more of the same: We are all gonna die!
An international panel of scientists has found with near certainty that human activity is the cause of most of the temperature increases of recent decades, and warns that sea levels could conceivably rise by more than three feet by the end of the century if emissions continue at a runaway pace. The scientists, whose findings are reported in a draft summary of the next big United Nations climate report, largely dismiss a recent slowdown in the pace of warming, which is often cited by climate change doubters, attributing it most likely to short-term factors. The report emphasizes that the basic facts about future climate change are more established than ever, justifying the rise in global concern. It also reiterates that the consequences of escalating emissions are likely to be profound.
I love the way the journalist here uses the term “climate change doubters.” Throughout the story it is applied to skeptical scientists in such a way as to imply that any doubt about these conclusions is obviously something to snicker at and to ignore.
As for the claim that the seas will rise three feet in the next 90 years, note that the level of sea rise has been consistently between 2 and 3 millimeters per year for the past half century, even as we have been pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the climate has supposedly warmed. At 3mm per year, the seas will only rise 270 millimeters by the end of the century, or just under 11 inches, not three feet as claimed by this new IPCC report.
A draft of the next IPCC climate report has arrived, and it is more of the same: We are all gonna die!
An international panel of scientists has found with near certainty that human activity is the cause of most of the temperature increases of recent decades, and warns that sea levels could conceivably rise by more than three feet by the end of the century if emissions continue at a runaway pace. The scientists, whose findings are reported in a draft summary of the next big United Nations climate report, largely dismiss a recent slowdown in the pace of warming, which is often cited by climate change doubters, attributing it most likely to short-term factors. The report emphasizes that the basic facts about future climate change are more established than ever, justifying the rise in global concern. It also reiterates that the consequences of escalating emissions are likely to be profound.
I love the way the journalist here uses the term “climate change doubters.” Throughout the story it is applied to skeptical scientists in such a way as to imply that any doubt about these conclusions is obviously something to snicker at and to ignore.
As for the claim that the seas will rise three feet in the next 90 years, note that the level of sea rise has been consistently between 2 and 3 millimeters per year for the past half century, even as we have been pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the climate has supposedly warmed. At 3mm per year, the seas will only rise 270 millimeters by the end of the century, or just under 11 inches, not three feet as claimed by this new IPCC report.
Observations of the comet that the European probe Rosetta will visit next year suggest it is becoming active earlier than expected.
Observations of the comet that the European probe Rosetta will visit next year suggest it is becoming active earlier than expected.
Observations of the comet that the European probe Rosetta will visit next year suggest it is becoming active earlier than expected.
A star that went nova last week is now visible to the naked eye.
A star that went nova last week is now visible to the naked eye.
“Nova Delphini 2013 is among the 30 brightest novae ever recorded,” says S&T editor in chief Robert Naeye. “It’s a wonderful target for backyard observers, given that it’s visible to the naked eye and relatively easy to find. But it’s also attracting the intense interest of scientists, who are using a wide assortment of telescopes and astronomical satellites to better understand these enigmatic explosions.”
Though related scientifically to certain kinds of supernovae, this is not a supernova. Nonetheless, it is rare for these events to be bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Go outside tonight and take a look!
A star that went nova last week is now visible to the naked eye.
“Nova Delphini 2013 is among the 30 brightest novae ever recorded,” says S&T editor in chief Robert Naeye. “It’s a wonderful target for backyard observers, given that it’s visible to the naked eye and relatively easy to find. But it’s also attracting the intense interest of scientists, who are using a wide assortment of telescopes and astronomical satellites to better understand these enigmatic explosions.”
Though related scientifically to certain kinds of supernovae, this is not a supernova. Nonetheless, it is rare for these events to be bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Go outside tonight and take a look!
Formation flying in space, without propellants.
Formation flying in space, without propellants.
Electromagnetic formation flight (EMFF) gets around this propellant problem by turning the satellites in a formation into electromagnets. By using a combination of magnets and reaction wheels, spacecraft in formation can move and change their attitude and even spin without propellant. Satellites can change their polarity to attract or repel one another, turn, or shift their relative positions in any manner that doesn’t require changing the center of gravity for the entire formation.
A prototype is going to be tested inside ISS in the near future.
Formation flying in space, without propellants.
Electromagnetic formation flight (EMFF) gets around this propellant problem by turning the satellites in a formation into electromagnets. By using a combination of magnets and reaction wheels, spacecraft in formation can move and change their attitude and even spin without propellant. Satellites can change their polarity to attract or repel one another, turn, or shift their relative positions in any manner that doesn’t require changing the center of gravity for the entire formation.
A prototype is going to be tested inside ISS in the near future.
Scientists have assembled a movie of one Martian moon eclipsing another, taken from Curiosity.
Scientists have assembled a movie of one Martian moon eclipsing another, taken from Curiosity.
Video below the fold.
» Read more
Scientists have assembled a movie of one Martian moon eclipsing another, taken from Curiosity.
Video below the fold.
» Read more
The engineering tests to try to save Kepler have found that the mission is essentially over.
The engineering tests to try to save Kepler have found that the mission is essentially over.
A headline at this New York Times article, “NASA’s Kepler Mended, but May Never Fully Recover” is wrong, as the telescope has not been “mended.” They have found they might be able to do some limited science, at the most. NASA is going to review this possibility, weighing the cost versus the benefit, and decide in the fall.
The engineering tests to try to save Kepler have found that the mission is essentially over.
A headline at this New York Times article, “NASA’s Kepler Mended, but May Never Fully Recover” is wrong, as the telescope has not been “mended.” They have found they might be able to do some limited science, at the most. NASA is going to review this possibility, weighing the cost versus the benefit, and decide in the fall.
Scientists today published a new model that suggests that Voyager 1 actually entered interstellar space in July of last year.
Ad astra: Scientists today published a new model that suggests that Voyager 1 actually left the solar system and entered interstellar space in July of last year.
In describing on a fine scale how magnetic field lines from the sun and magnetic field lines from interstellar space can connect to each other, they conclude Voyager 1 has been detecting the interstellar magnetic field since July 27, 2012. Their model would mean that the interstellar magnetic field direction is the same as that which originates from our sun.
Other models envision the interstellar magnetic field draped around our solar bubble and predict that the direction of the interstellar magnetic field is different from the solar magnetic field inside. By that interpretation, Voyager 1 would still be inside our solar bubble.
This new model might very well explain the conflicting data received from the spacecraft, some of which said it was out of the solar system and some of which said it was not.
Ad astra: Scientists today published a new model that suggests that Voyager 1 actually left the solar system and entered interstellar space in July of last year.
In describing on a fine scale how magnetic field lines from the sun and magnetic field lines from interstellar space can connect to each other, they conclude Voyager 1 has been detecting the interstellar magnetic field since July 27, 2012. Their model would mean that the interstellar magnetic field direction is the same as that which originates from our sun.
Other models envision the interstellar magnetic field draped around our solar bubble and predict that the direction of the interstellar magnetic field is different from the solar magnetic field inside. By that interpretation, Voyager 1 would still be inside our solar bubble.
This new model might very well explain the conflicting data received from the spacecraft, some of which said it was out of the solar system and some of which said it was not.