About Space / Astronomy

Hubble Sees Changing Surface of Pluto

2010-02-09T14:32:07Z

Poor Pluto. Once known as the smallest and loneliest planet in our solar system, it was subsequently stripped of its planet status. And pictures of the tiny world always painted it as a grey, desolate wasteland. There is even a Facebook support group for the little fella.

Well not anymore. After four years of computers crunching away on Hubble data, a new image of the icy rock shows that it is much more dynamic -- and colorful -- than once thought. From the image it is evident that as Pluto rotates the color pattern on the surface also changes. At first scientists believed that this might have been a problem with the data. However, Pluto's companion, Charon, was also in the Hubble image and did not exhibit this behavior, so they concluded that this was indeed an actual effect.

Further study revealed white areas that have been determined to be an icy layer of methane and nitrogen. But scientists also noted the presence of the black and orange regions, thought to be caused by the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun breaking up the methane molecules. This is somewhat amazing given how distance Pluto is from the Sun.

Pluto may not have regained its planet status back (nor will it), but at least its hidden beauty has finally been revealed.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Buie/Southwest Research Institute

Hubble Sees Changing Surface of Pluto originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 14:32:07.

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3-2-1 Launch... Only 4 To Go!

2010-02-08T22:56:08Z

The Space Shuttle Endeavour left the launch pad early this morning and is now in orbit on its way to the International Space Station (ISS). This is the first shuttle flight of the year, and represents the beginning of the end for the aging shuttle fleet.

The focus of this mission is to deliver a module to the ISS that will increase the interior space and provide additional living quarters. While the crew will not arrive to the space station until Wednesday, they are busy testing equipment and preparing for the space walks that will be needed to install the new node and research facility.

Image Credit: NASA

3-2-1 Launch... Only 4 To Go! originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 22:56:08.

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Update on NASA Budget

2010-02-04T14:22:06Z

Last week I noted that the Obama administration had cut the Constellation Program from the budget, effectively killing the proposed return mission to the Moon and future manned Mars missions. An ancillary effect being that we would not need to rely on our Russian counterparts to complete our obligations to the International Space Station. This news initially angered proponents of the space program, including myself, because of the administration's demolition of our manned space program.

However, once President Obama officially released the complete budget and vision for the future of our space program things began to come into focus. The Constellation Program was behind schedule and over budget. It may turn out to be that canceling the program is the best long term solution. However, this does mean that we will effectively outsourcing our manned space program for the next several years at least.

There is another side to the story however, one that I overlooked in my haste to criticize the extermination of the Constellation Program. The government is actually getting behind NASA and the space program. President Obama has committed $6 billion more to NASA's budget over the next five years than expected. The new focus is going to be on developing new technologies to advance our ability to do space research as well as lower future costs of space exploration. And, while the Constellation Program is dead, the future of manned space exploration is not.

The president is laying the ground work for what NASA calls "A bold new effort that invests in American ingenuity for developing more capable and innovative technologies for future space exploration". This exploration will also rely more heavily on private industry and other nations to develop new technology and take on some of the manufacturing burden for large scale projects. It may be slow going -- forget about the 2020 and 2030 time tables for landing men on other worlds -- but this new program promises to be better and more cost effective in the long run.

The International Space Station (ISS) will also see its life extended, at least through 2020. This will allow the ISS to reach its full potential.

So, I must admit, I may have been too quick to judge. After looking more deeply at the plan that has been laid out for NASA, I think we are heading in the right direction, it will just take some time to see it through to fruition. The new plan is immense and complex, and I will outline the details in a forthcoming article, but until then I just want to make clear that there is a future for the space program. And the details of that program are beginning to come sharply into focus. Stay tuned.

Image Credit: NASA

Update on NASA Budget originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 14:22:06.

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The Future of the International Space Station

2010-02-03T15:29:36Z

As part of the re-invisioning of NASA (more on this tomorrow), the work of the International Space Station will be extended through at least 2020. This will allow scientists to expand the experiments being conducted and, according to NASA, enable "this vital orbiting laboratory to reach its full potential."

Sounds good to me. Personally though, I was just psyched about this image that was released along with the announcement. Pretty spectacular, huh? Telll me what you think!

Image Credit: NASA

The Future of the International Space Station originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 15:29:36.

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NASA Has Given Up on Getting Spirit Free

2010-02-01T17:04:53Z

NASA has announced that it has officially given up trying to free the Spirit Rover from the bed of sand that has been holding it captive. (For a rather funny portrayal of these events, go here.) This does not mean however that it will no longer provide scientific data. Rather, it will study the surrounding martian surface and what lay beneath it.

The coming Martian winter is of concern, but NASA hopes that the little trooper will survive. Should the rover live on, scientists hope that it can help answer a question that has plagued them for years: is the Martian core completely solid, or does it contain a liquid outer shell like Earth?

So, it's not a particularly sexy question, but it is of considerable importance. You see, the origin of our solar system is still something of a mystery. The solar nebula hypothesis -- the theory that our solar system evolved from a large cloud of gas and dust -- has gone a long way in explaining the data we have collected about our solar system. However, as we have begun to study other solar systems we have noticed that they have significantly different characteristics than our own. So, at the very least, assumptions that we made about the origin and evolution of our solar system don't seem to apply to solar systems in general.

The hope is that the more that we study other worlds we can get a clearer picture of how our solar system formed, and perhaps shed some light on a rather significant hole in our scientific understanding.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA Has Given Up on Getting Spirit Free originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 17:04:53.

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Amazing Full Moon in Store Tonight

2010-01-29T14:23:43Z

Those of you lucky enough to be around clear skies tonight -- I live in the midwest so I haven't seen a clear sky for weeks -- then check out the Moon. It is only the end of January, but the Moon will be on its closest approach of 2010, making it appear bigger and brighter than it will ever appear again this year.

For simplicity we usually discuss the orbit around the Earth as having a circular path, but in fact it is slightly elliptical. Tonight, the Moon will be more than 15,000 miles closer to Earth than average, making it appear about 30% larger and brighter.

You should be able to see good detail, even with the naked eye. If you live near an observatory though, you might want to consider venturing out to see some of the cool features on the surface.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS

Amazing Full Moon in Store Tonight originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 14:23:43.

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Huge Setback for Manned Space Program

2010-01-28T16:03:54Z

Just as NASA was starting to make progress on the Constellation program it appears that President Obama has pulled the plug. The President's new budget does not include any funding for the program, including the much discussed trip to the Moon.

Instead, NASA will be expected to begin buying seats on Russian rockets to fulfill our commitments to the International Space Station (ISS). Under this new plan NASA would be primarily responsible for monitoring climate change and developing a new rocket. The return mission to the Moon planned for 2020...? Scraped.

Perhaps I was just more out of the loop than I thought, but this came as a bit of a surprise to me. I figured that the President was going to recommend shifting focus to more short term goals (like meeting our commitments to the ISS), but I did not expect that we would be all but abandoning our space program. Now, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it clearly shows a paradigm shift away from human exploration. I am disappointed to say the least. Hopefully this is a temporary setback, but only time will tell. What are you thoughts?

Image Credit: NASA

Huge Setback for Manned Space Program originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 16:03:54.

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Deep Space Beauty

2010-01-27T12:00:13Z

Welcome to week two of my Image Highlight series. Every week I am going to highlight an astronomy or space related image, and then open it up for discussion.

For this week I thought I would keep it simple and pick one of my favorite Hubble images. One of the reasons that I love this image is that it is so amazing that it almost looks, well, fake. But what you are seeing is what is known as a light echo. The super red giant star -- V838 Monocerotis -- suddenly became extra luminous in 2002. This dramatic sudden change in luminosity briefly lit up the surrounding gas and dust which was caught by Hubble's camera.

So, what do you think? Does anything strike you about it? What comes to mind when you see this image?

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Deep Space Beauty originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 12:00:13.

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Astronauts to Walk On... an Asteroid?

2010-01-26T14:06:51Z

While perhaps not as awe inspiring as landing on the Moon or Mars, NASA's proposal to land astronauts on an asteroid is equally as fruitful, and assuredly just as dangerous.

With the prospect of the Moon and Mars missions being postponed from their original target dates, NASA has been exploring the possability of sending astronauts to the asteroid 1999 AO10 Near Earth Object (NEO) in the not too distant future -- maybe even by 2025. This sounds great, but this is actually several years later than NASA was originally aiming.

The destination of a NEO was originally intended to serve as a warm-up mission before returning to the Moon by 2020. However, due to the news that the previous -- and ambitious -- schedule layed out by NASA and former President Bush may be delayed, it may be that this logical first test in landing astronauts on objects not of this world will be postponed.

In either case, the prospect of landing astronauts on an asteroid presents an interesting opportunity. Besides the obvious benifit of giving NASA valuable experience of send astronauts outside of Low Earth Orbit (LEO), it also could give us insight into how we can better detect and prepare our selves from such objects that could pose a threat to Earth. This may be our first opportunity -- along with the proposed unmanned probe -- to really study these objects up close before they are damaged by impacts.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astronauts to Walk On... an Asteroid? originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 14:06:51.

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NASA Discovers Trees On Mars?

2010-01-21T11:33:31Z

Well, no. The HiRISE probe, carrying an extremely powerful camera, sent back up close pictures of the martian surface. And what we see are not in fact trees, but rather sand and dust clouds that are being blown from the surface. They create the illusion of dark streaks against the backdrop of the red surface of the planet. To us looking at the image the dark dust appears to be trees lining the surface of the planet.

But, alas, we still have yet to find any life on the surface. And we won't find life either, at least not to the scale of living organisms like animals or trees. The lack of a substantial atmosphere makes the existence of a carbon-based life form on the surface impossible since air is necessary for survival.

Oh well, sure makes for a pretty cool picture anyway.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA Discovers Trees On Mars? originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 11:33:31.

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