Looking Up: Pondering life on other worlds Nov 7, 2009
We have a moon that takes most of the hits by asteroids and meteors for us ... We have just the right spacing of other planets and far off giant planets that also capture a lot of missile attacks (comets and asteroids). (Belmont Citizen Herald, MA)
Space Tourism a Reality by 2012 Nov 7, 2009
For example, passengers may be able to travel out to visit asteroids, speculates space engineer Greg Matloff, a professor at The City College of New York, in an interview with FoxNews. com. (Fox News)
Counting downNASAs uncertain future Nov 5, 2009
The long-term goal of exploration would shift from a high-tech replay of the Apollo moon effort to an incremental program with different, lower-gravity destinations, such as near-Earth asteroids or Martian moons. "We have identified, I think, a relatively new approach ... to conducting a spaceflight program somewhat different than what's in the current plan," Augustine told reporters when the final report was released on Oct. 22. (MSNBC -- Technology)
NASA's future is on Mars Nov 1, 2009
Instead, the panel members said, NASA should be focusing on new, and presumably more expensive, places to explore, such as nearby asteroids or one of the moons of Mars ... What will we learn from sending a manned mission to the moon, or one of the many nearby asteroids. (Athens Banner-Herald)
Editorial roundup: Human trafficking Oct 31, 2009
Instead, the panel members said, NASA should be focusing on new, and presumably more expensive, places to explore, such as nearby asteroids or one of the moons of Mars. Whatever direction is taken, it's up to NASA officials to prove the billions of dollars being spent on the space program is worth it, especially at a time when those billions could be well-spent on a wide variety of items to help the citizens of this country. (Hanford Sentinal, CA)
Asteroid explosion was a whopper for Earth Oct 30, 2009
"My understanding is that this may have been the largest object to strike the Earth since the fireball near the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific on February 1, 1994," said Clark Chapman, a noted specialist in asteroids and a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "Although the Indonesian object was large and the resulting may have been the equivalent of several Hiroshima bombs, it is not unexpected for our planet to be hit every decade or so by such an... (MSNBC -- Technology)
http://bit.ly/33kEg0 Oct 30, 2009
JPL's Near Earth Object Office coordinates NASA's efforts to detect, track cterize potentially hazardous asteroids s that could approach Earth. 473,547 followers. (Why Files)
Show Transcript: October 29 Oct 29, 2009
And that's where this was first envisioned, was to think about space station, lunar, asteroids, beyond. ZARRELLA: The White House has still not decided whether Ares, built with a budget as thin as the rocket itself, should be the shuttle's replacement. (CNN -- US)
Adolescents' Gambling A Part Of A Cluster Of Problem Behaviors Oct 27, 2009
Astronomy students looking for supernovae examined photographs and found asteroids. They used both unaided eyes and computer analysis to identify the. (Science Daily)
Fortress Luna Hits iPhone Oct 26, 2009
A gravitational anomaly in the outer solar system has flung thousands of asteroids towards the Earth. Players must launch nuclear missiles from a secret base on the moon and intercept these asteroids before they destroy the world. (IGN Wireless Games)
NASA's newest rocket set for Tuesday launch Oct 24, 2009
That would allow NASA to focus on designing the technology and heavy-lift rocket to take humans to the moon, Mars, or nearby asteroids, the panel said. "We are happy that the report is released and we have that to work with," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Panel Says NASA Should Skip Moon, Fly Elsewhere Oct 23, 2009
It would take less fuel to land and return from asteroids or comets that swing by Earth or even the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, Augustine said. FOX NEWS VIDEOS. (Fox News)
Spaced Out: Panel Says NASA Needs Help Oct 23, 2009
Space Program Needs Major Revision, Says Augustine Commission - ABC News. Report: Switzerland Receives Extradition Request for Roman Polanski. (ABC News)
Panel says NASA shouldnt revisit moon Oct 23, 2009
Asteroids, Martian moons suggested as alternate destinations ... It would take less fuel to land and return from asteroids or comets that swing by Earth or even the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, due to the reduced pull of gravity, Augustine said ... Panel member Ed Crawley, a professor at MIT, said NASA should explore the inner solar system "to interest the American public in new destinations." He noted that so many new asteroids and comets are being discovered each year that the potential... (MSNBC -- Technology)
* Kaohsiung amateur astronomer discovers asteroid Oct 21, 2009
In August, the International Astronomical Unions Committee on Small Body Nomenclature X an international organization responsible for the naming of asteroids and comets X formally approved the designation and gave Tsais discovery a permanent number, 215080 ... Tsai said most larger asteroids have been discovered and only small asteroids that cannot be easily detected are left to be spotted with highly sophisticated instruments ... Tsai has documented 13 asteroids, but Kaohsiung is... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
Weekend News Roundup Oct 20, 2009
Asteroids, lunar plumes, crafty Android marketing and more. by. (IGN Gear)
That stuff about 2012? It's not going to happen Oct 17, 2009
The reality about the universe is that it is, in fact, wild and woolly, with all manner of exploding stars, gamma-ray bursts, black holes, not to mention comets that plunge toward the sun and rogue asteroids that just maybe have Earth's number ... In recent years, astronomers have mapped all the asteroids near Earth that are 2 miles in diameter or larger, Morrison said. (AZCentral -- News)
How the Moon produces its own water Oct 16, 2009
On bodies without such a natural shield, for example asteroids or the planet Mercury, the solar wind reaches the ground. The SARA team expects that these objects too will reflect many of the incoming protons back into space as hydrogen atoms. (Scientific American)
FIREBALL PICTURE: Meteor Explodes Over the Netherlands Oct 16, 2009
Earth is constantly being bombarded by smaller debris from comets, asteroids, and even other rocky planets in the solar system. But a fireball of this size and brightness is likely seen anywhere in the world only every 20 to 25 years, Jurriens estimates. (National Geographic)
Giant Impact Near India -- Not Mexico -- May Have Doomed Dinosaurs Oct 16, 2009
Asteroids are rich in iridium, and such anomalies are thought of as the fingerprint of an impact. Adapted from materials provided by. (Science Daily)
Mel's Arecibo Adventure Oct 16, 2009
Even though an affirms that the observatory provides "unmatched precision and accuracy" in detecting asteroids or comets that could hit the Earth, as things stand now there'll be no more money to fund Arecibo's unique radar capability after fiscal year 2010 ... She helps visiting astronomers get the most from their runs, and when time permits she studies the surface compositions of asteroids by observing their visible and near-infrared spectra. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Asteroid Is Actually A Protoplanet, Study Of First High-resolution Images Of Pallas Confirms Oct 14, 2009
Pallas, like its sister asteroids Ceres and Vesta, was that rare thing: an intact protoplanet ... "We think of these large asteroids not only as the building blocks of planets but as a chance to look at planet formation frozen in time." ... The massive body is unique, she said, partly because "its orbit is so much different from other asteroids. It's highly inclined.". (Science Daily)
2nd largest asteroid in Solar System protoplanet Oct 11, 2009
"We think of these large asteroids not only as the building blocks of planets but as a chance to look at planet formation frozen in time." ... They were unable to determine if it was a crater, but the depression did suggest something else important: that it could have led to Pallas' small family of asteroids orbiting in space. (Xinhuanet, China)
Less Ado About Apophis Oct 11, 2009
The problem is that when asteroids rotate, their orbits change due to a subtle phenomenon, called the whose consequences for impact predictions have only recently been appreciated. Spin an asteroid one way, and its orbit gets bigger; spin it the other way, and the orbit gets smaller. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Water Discovery on Moon Surface Spurs India's $2.5 Billion Lunar Ambition Oct 9, 2009
The U.S. plans to return to the moon by 2020, although President is considering other options such as landings on asteroids. NASA today plans to crash a rocket into a crater near the moons south pole in the search for frozen water. (Bloomberg -- Australia & New Zealand)
New Aluminum-water Rocket Propellant Promising For Future Space Missions Oct 9, 2009
Findings from spacecraft indicate the presence of water on Mars and the moon, and water also may exist on asteroids, other moons and bodies in space, said Son, who also has a courtesy appointment as an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics. The tiny size of the aluminum particles, which have a diameter of about 80 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, is key to the propellant's performance. (Science Daily)
NASA downgrades threat of asteroid Oct 8, 2009
The science of predicting asteroid orbits is based on a physical model of the solar system which includes the gravitational influence of the sun, moon, other planets and the three largest asteroids. NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using both ground and space-based telescopes. (Xinhuanet, China)
> read more Oct 7, 2009
3 crashed into Earth one year ago. But they've made the most of the strange black fragments of it that fell to the ground that day. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Dirty Stars Make Good Solar System Hosts Oct 7, 2009
6, 2009) Some stars are lonely behemoths, with no surrounding planets or asteroids, while others sport a skirt of attendant planetary bodies ... 20, 2009) Astronomers have found that at least 1 in 100 white dwarf stars show evidence of orbiting asteroids and rocky planets, suggesting these objects once hosted solar systems similar to our. (Science Daily)
Rocket Smash Could Find Moon’s Water Ice, Expert Says Oct 7, 2009
The cratered surface of the Moon shows it has a history of violent collisions with asteroids and comets. Such collisions frequently occur, but the difference is that this time we know precisely where and when to look. (Science Daily)
Water Lust: Why All the Excitement When H2O Is Found in Space? Oct 5, 2009
Observational evidence suggests that water as a solid, liquid or gas is present at the poles of Mercury, within the thick clouds of Venus, on , inside asteroids and comets, and on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Scientists also have speculated that Jupiter's moons , Ganymede and Callisto have vast subsurface oceans of liquid water. (Scientific American)
SARS spurs China to act on AIDS Oct 5, 2009
A major new telescope to spot dangerous asteroids and comets, called Pan-STARRS, is being taken offline to fix image-quality problems. 18:00 01 October 2009. (Yahoo News -- SARS)
Quick Rebound From Marine Mass Extinction Oct 3, 2009
(June 16, 2008) If you are curious about Earth's periodic mass extinction events such as the sudden demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, you might consider crashing asteroids and sky-darkening super. (Apr. (Science Daily)
On moonless nights, look for the not-so-bright sights among stars Oct 3, 2009
With this setup, the telescope can image selected bright objects, such as asteroids and double stars, almost as sharply as Hubble can do from space. Near the 100-inch telescope, astronomers have also built a cutting-edge new instrument for much sharper measurements. (Boston Globe)
MESSENGER Spacecraft Prepares For Final Pass By Mercury Sep 30, 2009
28, 2009) NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft known as MESSENGER will fly by Mercury for the third and final time on Sept. 29. The spacecraft will pass less than 142 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter Mercury's orbit in 2011. (Science Daily)
The Humid Moon Sep 30, 2009
Usually cosmic chemists invoke the comets and water-rich asteroids that occasionally strike the Moon. Some of the resulting water vapor becomes infused in the dusty lunar regolith, the thinking goes, with most of it ending up at the dark, cold poles. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
New moons on the horizon Sep 30, 2009
Then there are 104 moons associated with asteroids and 58 with various objects beyond Neptune, mostly in the Kuiper Belt. Since 2000, 47 new moons of Jupiter and 43 of Saturn have been discovered. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Twin Keck Telescopes Probe Dual Dust Disks Sep 25, 2009
"Our new observations suggest 51 Ophiuchi is a beautiful protoplanetary system with a cloud of dust from comets and asteroids extremely close to its parent star," said Marc Kuchner, an astronomer at Goddard and a member of the research team ... Much of the dust in our solar system forms inward of Jupiter's orbit, as comets crumble near the sun and asteroids of all sizes collide. (Science Daily)
Spitzer spots swirling clump of planetary stuff Sep 25, 2009
This is known as a transitional disc and over time is replaced by a disc made up of debris resulting from more dramatic collisions between asteroids, comets and planets. The warm glow of the transitional discs can be detected by Spitzer and used to map out their morphology. (Astronomy Now Online)
Water Found on Moon, Probes Report Sep 25, 2009
Pieters figures there are three possibilities: It came from comets or asteroids that crashed into the moon, those crashes freed up trapped water from below the surface, or the solar wind carries hydrogen atoms that binds with oxygen in the dirt ... If it is the solar wind, that also means that other places without atmosphere in our solar system, such as Mercury or asteroids, can also have bits of water, Sunshine said. (CBS News)
Water on moon, Mars exceeds forecast Sep 25, 2009
If the solar wind hypothesis is true, Sunshine said, it suggests that the same process might form water on other oxygen-rich bodies without atmospheres in the inner solar system, including Mercury and many asteroids. Later Thursday, scientists reported discoveries made with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which launched from Cape Canaveral in August 2005. (Florida Today)
Scientists Plan Against Asteroid Attacks Sep 25, 2009
Rapid-survey telescopes discover thousands of asteroids every year, but there's something very particular about this one ... The exercise, which took place in December 2008, exposed the chilling dangers asteroids pose ... We have barely begun to track down the millions of skyscraper-sized asteroids zipping around Earth's neighbourhood, any one of which could unleash as much destructive power as a nuclear bomb on impact. (Newsmax)
Clump Of Swirling Planetary Material Spotted Sep 24, 2009
Over time, this disk fades and a new type of disk emerges, made up of debris from collisions between planets, asteroids and comets. Ultimately, a more settled, mature solar system like our own forms. (Science Daily)
Cosmic Ninjas: In Search Of Dark Asteroids Sep 22, 2009
In Search Of Dark Asteroids (And Other Sneaky Things) ... In Search Of Dark Asteroids (And Other Sneaky Things) ... WISE will scan the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating the most comprehensive catalog yet of dark and dim objects in the cosmos: vast dust clouds, brown dwarf stars, asteroids -- even large, nearby asteroids that might pose a threat to Earth. (Science Daily)
Individuals In Vegetative States Can Learn Sep 21, 2009
A NASA mission to two asteroids, one formed of lava and the other potentially containing water, will help find clues about the formation of our solar. . (Science Daily)
Chinks In ISS Armour Deliver Data On Space Junk Impacts Sep 18, 2009
Asteroids and comets leave trails of fine dust behind them while solid rocket boosters often used to transfer satellites into higher orbits spray out fine droplets of aluminium oxide. Second in the DEBIE series. (Science Daily)
Saint-Exupery's Humane Imagination Sep 16, 2009
A prince emerges from a far away planet and tells him about his travels through the asteroids. There the prince met six characters: a king; a conceited individual desperate to be admired; a drunkard who drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking; a businessman who claims to own over 501 million stars; a lamplighter; and a geographer who never leaves his office to see the beauty of the world. (The American Conservative)
House members criticize NASA report, propose boosting agency's budget Sep 16, 2009
In a summary report issued earlier this month, the committee recommended relying on private rocket companies as a cheaper way of reaching the space station, abandoning Ares I and revising NASA's planned Ares V rocket to take humans and cargo to asteroids and eventually Mars. Augustine, who sat calmly as committee members lit into his panel's work, said the group was asked to recommend options and that continuing Constellation was one of them. (Honolulu Advertiser)
Largest-ever Collection Of Coins From Period Of Revolt Against Romans Found In Judean Hills Sep 16, 2009
15, 2009) The largest cache of rare coins ever found in a scientific excavation from the period of the Bar-Kokhba revolt of the Jews against the Romans has been discovered in a cave by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University. The coins were discovered in three batches in a deep cavern located in a nature reserve in the Judean hills. (Science Daily)
Jupiter Captured Comet For 12 Years In Mid-20th Century Sep 16, 2009
An international team led by Dr Katsuhito Ohtsuka modelled the trajectories of 18 quasi-Hilda comets," objects with the potential to go through a temporary satellite capture by Jupiter that results in them either leaving or joining the Hilda group of objects in the asteroid belt. Most of the cases of temporary capture were flybys, where the comets did not complete a full orbit. However, Dr Ohtsuka s team used recent observations tracking Kushida-Muramatsu over nine years to calculate hundreds of... (Science Daily)
Space: Flying high Sep 15, 2009
This might involve sending people to the moon, but might also involve visiting asteroids and other places of interest. In other words, human exploration of the solar system does not have to be fixed doggedly on the moon first and Mars later. (The Economist)
Gotcha! Jupiter turned comet into a moon Sep 15, 2009
Asteroids and comets can sometimes be distorted or fragmented by tidal effects induced by the gravitational field of a capturing planet, or may even impact with the planet. The most famous victim of both these effects was comet D/1993 F2 (Shoemaker-Levy 9), which was torn apart on passing close to Jupiter and whose fragments then in 1994. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Expert panel: NASA can't afford moon plan Sep 11, 2009
Instead, the panel emphasized what it called a "flexible path" of exploring near-Earth objects such as asteroids or the moons of Mars, then landing on the moon after other exploration. "There's a lot of places in the neighborhood," Crawley said. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Science)
Human space travel deserves a prepaid ticket Sep 10, 2009
The panel, consisting of aerospace experts, suggests a range of options for long-distance travel in space, such as skipping the planned moon station for landings on asteroids instead ... If that underfunding persists, the panel suggests a "flexible path" of landing first on asteroids or on Mars's moons. (Christian Science Monitor)
4 55 Open Source Apps Transforming Education Sep 10, 2009
When possible, it uses actual photographs of planets, asteroids, and other objects, so that you can see what they really look like. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.. (Datamation)
Our views: The bold course Sep 10, 2009
Members also said Mars should be NASAs ultimate human destination, but the capability doesnt exist to get there, so the near-term focus should be on missions that could result in moon visits or sending crews to land on asteroids. But hanging over those options was the panels inescapable truth. (Florida Today)
Shooting the moon may have to wait Sep 10, 2009
The panel proposed a variety of options to make the cost more manageable, including skipping the moon altogether in favor of a "flexible path" of exploring near-Earth asteroids and the Martian moons. It also suggested bypassing the intermediate Ares I rocket, slated for its initial test launch this fall, and going directly to development of the larger Ares V planned for the moon landing. (Montana Standard, MT)
Presidential panel calls for expanded business role in space exploration Sep 10, 2009
It recommended a strategy of exploring space beyond the moon by choosing objects such as asteroids or Martian moons for astronauts to reach to gain practice at manned and robotic exploration in advance of trying to land on the surface of Mars. gavery@bizjournals. (Denver Business Journal, CO)
Panel: Space goals need $3 billion more a year Sep 9, 2009
It doesn't rule out sustained exploration of the moon but also favors sending astronauts to asteroids and to the moons of Mars. What really bothered the committee, however, was Obama's plan to slash NASA's moon-exploration budget in the coming years. (USA Today -- Tech)
White House report says return to moon not viable Sep 9, 2009
Another option would start by building up overall capabilities in human spaceflight, and then turn attention to landings on the moon, Mars or other destinations such as near-Earth asteroids and Martian moons (the "Flexible Path" option). The panel tended to emphasize the Flexible Path option. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Panel says NASA can’t afford to go back to moon Sep 9, 2009
Instead, the panel emphasized what it called a flexible path of exploring near-Earth objects such as asteroids, the moons of Mars, and then landing on the moon after other exploration. The panel also said that the space shuttle should continue flying until early 2011 to finish all its space station work and that it can t realistically retire by Oct. 1, 2010 as the Bush administration planned. (Boston Globe)
Full moon Friday: What you can see Sep 5, 2009
The lighter areas are mostly cratered highlands, where relatively recent asteroids have crashed into the moon's surface, exposing bright rock beneath the surface. The on the moon, on the left side, is actually called an "ocean": the Oceanus Procellarum or Ocean of Storms. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Phobos-Grunt Probe to Put Microbial Life in Mars Orbit Sep 2, 2009
Researchers think Phobos and its even smaller companion Deimos started out as asteroids that were gravitationally pulled into Mars's orbit. Space agencies would like to know whether the moons' porous interiors harbor water that could be exploited by future visitors to Mars. (Scientific American)
British plan to tackle asteroids Sep 1, 2009
A team of British scientists are developing plans for a spacecraft that could stop large asteroids from destroying the Earth ... The tractor would steer asteroids away from the Earth ... NASA's Near Earth Object Programme reports on its website that it has recorded 1068 known "Potentially Hazardous Asteroids", however there are thousands more estimated to be present in space. (BBC News -- Technology)
Out of This World Sep 1, 2009
The competition has three categories, including deep space, Earth and space and the solar system, which encapsulates the Sun, the planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Deep spaces images, not surprisingly, are the most difficult to capture. (Fox News)
