Space News for May 9, 2008

ISS Astronaut on Colbert Report

The Colbert Report has gone galactic! ISS astronaut Garrett Reisman joked with Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central last night. It's a very fun interview. Laser cannons and alien puppet masters are mentioned. Source: Comedy Central © Nancy Atkinson for Universe Today, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us digg Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google Want more on [...]

"Tricorder" Checks for Unwanted ISS Microbes

Astronauts on board the space station now their very own tricorder. While this 21st century version isn't as versatile as its 24th century counterpart, made famous in the Star Trek television series, it will help keep the ISS crew healthy. The real name of this device is LOCAD-PTS, short for Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development [...]

That's WMAP, Seen from Earth

Okay, now astronomers are just showing off. See the three little multicolored dots in the upper right of this image? That's NASA's WMAP satellite, seen from a distance of 1.5 million km. The photograph was taken from the 2.2 meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory at La Silla, Chile. Apart from demonstrating some impressive [...]

Learning to Breathe Mars Air (Video)

Talk about dedication! Volunteers in Russia are testing the ability of humans to breathe argon-enriched air, as part of a research program that simulates a manned trip to Mars. Researchers want to know if humans can survive breathing air similar to that found on Mars. Of the experiment one Russian scientist said, "Our [...]

Solution to NASA's Glove Problem

Damage is occurring to NASA's spacesuit gloves during spacewalks at the International Space Station. In fact, in August of 2007, astronaut Rick Mastracchio was ordered back into the the space station's airlock when he noticed a hole in his spacesuit glove. Damage had also been found on previous EVAs, prompting NASA to call [...]

Hubble Image of the Colliding Antennae Galaxies (with Video)

It's time for another beautiful image from the Hubble Space Telescope. And this time, there's an added bonus… video. The latest images released by Hubble are based on research of the Antennae Galaxies, known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039. Astronomers used to think that they were 65 million light-years away, but the new research [...]

Space Hotel Prototype Makes 10,000th Orbit

After 660 days in space and 10,000 orbits around Earth, the pioneering inflatable prototype is still going strong. Launched atop a converted intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12th, 2006, the Bigelow Aerospace vision for a space hotel is gradually being realized. The first test was to see whether the design could self-inflate and carry out [...]

Rumor Mill Churns With NASA's Upcoming Announcement

This past Wednesday, NASA announced they have scheduled a press conference for next Wednesday, May 14, at 1 p.m. EDT, to reveal the discovery of an object in our galaxy that astronomers have been hunting for more than 50 years. This gives everyone an entire week to speculate, ruminate and in some cases go [...]

The Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast: May 9-11, 2008

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for a very incredible weekend? The action begins on Friday as we take you on a guided tour of the lunar surface. On Saturday, celebrate Astronomy Day with a very special unaided eye sky event and a return to the Moon. No rest for the [...]

After the Shuttle, Should Astronauts be Launched on Satellite Rockets?

When the Shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, what other mode of transport could be used to take NASA astronauts into space? After all, we routinely launch satellites into orbit, why can't the same technology be adapted and used for human spaceflight? Well, the US Senate committee on space and aeronautics was told by a [...]

Stars Orbiting Close to Black Holes Flattened like Hot Pancakes

Playing with black holes is a risky business, especially for a star that is unlucky enough to be orbiting one. Assuming an unfortunate star hasn't already had all of its hydrogen fuel and other component elements stripped from its surface, the powerful tidal forces will have some fun with the doomed stellar body. First the [...]

Unknowns in Mercury’s Gravity Field Provides Challenges for MESSENGER Mission

Scientists from the MESSENGER mission continue to analyze the data from the spacecraft's first flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008. Initial data about the planet's gravity field grabbed the science team's attention, as the actual gravity data differed from predictions based on the Mariner 10 flyby in 1975. Any unknowns in [...]

NASA Flips for Petaflops

NASA is collaborating with Intell and SGI to create one of the world's fastest supercomputers whose power will be measured in petaflops. By 2009 the US space agency wants to develop a computational system that will be able to do 1,000 trillion calculations per second. And by 2012 it hopes to have boosted the power [...]

Long-term Observations Reveal Patterns in Saturn's Atmosphere

Reading something like this makes me hopeful that we're no longer in the infant stage of our understanding of our solar system: we've been patient and observant while growing in our knowledge. Scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere only visible from Earth every 15 years. This discovery [...]

Carnival of Space #53

This week, the Carnival of Space is hosted by the Space Cynics. A big thanks to them for stepping in at the last minute to host this week's edition. Click here to read the Carnival of Space #53 And if you're interested in looking back, here's an archive to all the past carnivals of space. If you've [...]

Popular Space Elevator Video Not "News," says LiftPort Founder

An online video that's been circulating like wildfire on the internet recently is actually almost two years old, says Michael Laine, founder of LiftPort, a company looking to develop a space elevator. The video was taken in the fall of 2006, at least 20 months ago. The video has been downloaded over 200,000 [...]

Shuttle Launch Controllers Prepared to Press "Self Destruct" Button

This is something I can stomach when considering the launch of an unmanned robotic mission into space. It seems obvious that there should be a "flight termination" switch, especially when considering the damage a malfunctioning rocket could do to populated areas. If mission controllers see the rocket veer off course, they can make a quick [...]

Legendary Astronaut John Glenn Speaks Out On Shuttle Decommissioning

On Tuesday, to help out with the 50-year anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, clips from 100 hours of restored archive footage of NASA missions were made public. At the screening, John Glenn, America's first astronaut to orbit the Earth, watched the clips and had time to reminisce over the administration's "Glory Years". [...]

Astronomy Day - May 10, 2008

Are you ready for Astronomy Day? Astronomy Day is a grass roots movement designed to share the joy of astronomy with the general population - "Bringing Astronomy to the People." During this year's Astronomy Day on May 10, thousands of people who have never looked through a telescope will have an opportunity to [...]

Volunteers Sweat for NASA

For three weeks, 23 volunteers spent time helping NASA test a new life support system for the spacecraft that will replace the shuttle. Five volunteers at a time would squeeze into a special room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours. Sweating and heavy breathing was encouraged, as scientists at [...]

The Space Traveler's Guide to Surviving Without a Spacesuit (Part 1)

In a few decades from now, when we've got interplanetary space travel perfected and all of us Average Joes can hop in our own personal spacecraft or grab the local express line of the Milky Way Transport Service, visiting other planets and moons is going to be a blast. Just imagine it: [...]

Spock's Astronomy Quiz

Have you ever wanted to test your astronomy knowledge against the best? Then take the warp speed jump to Spock's Astro Quiz. It's more than just astronomy trivia, it's a great way to test your astronomy knowledge, learn more about astronomy related topics and interact via live chat with others interested in [...]

Photos of the Earth and Moon - From Other Worlds

We're familiar with the close-up images of Earth captured by orbital satellites and astronauts on the International Space Station. But here are a few pictures of the Earth and Moon captured at a distance, while passing around the Moon, or orbiting distant Saturn. In the words of Carl Sagan, "Look again at that dot. That's [...]

Lightning Storm Generated by Chilean Volcano (Images)

It could be the scene from a movie: huge plumes of ash and gas rising during a ferocious volcanic eruption, sparking off a dazzling lightning storm; lightning bolts thundering to life inside and out of the hot cloud. However, this is the reality down on the ground for the people living near the Chaiten Volcano, [...]

Snow on Mercury?

No, not that kind of snow, but scientists say deep inside the planet Mercury, iron “snow” forms and falls toward the center of the planet, much like snowflakes form in Earth’s atmosphere and fall to the ground. The movement of this iron snow could be responsible for Mercury’s mysterious magnetic field, and Mercury may [...]

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