About Space / Astronomy

Elevator To Space

2009-11-05T17:47:54Z

I can almost here it now:
Elevator door opens...
"What floor sir?"
"Space Station Please."
"Yes sir."
Sound ridiculous? Well, yeah, it is actually. But, the idea of an elevator to space may be a reality sooner than you might think. The 2009 Space Elevator games are under way, and there have already been some interesting developments. For those of you not familiar the the competition, NASA has put up a $2 million prize for anyone who can construct a prototype elevator capable of taking a heavy payload up one kilometer in the air.

In order to qualify for a part of the prize money, a team must ascend a 900 meter course with an average speed of 5 meters per second. This benchmark was reached by Team LaserMotive this week, and there are two other teams that will try and reach that milestone this week as well.

Of course this all is a far cry from building an actual space elevator. But it is a necessary first step. The ultimate goal is to create an efficient way for NASA and others to transport heavy payloads (like satellites and space craft) to low Earth orbit. Right now, that is the most difficult and costly aspect of NASA's operations. The common wisdom is that such an elevator would pay for itself in just a few years of operation.

Unfortunately though, my vision of taking an elevator to space and visiting the international space station, or some other space hotel will have to remain a dream... at least for now.

Elevator To Space originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 17:47:54.

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Lunar Landers Take Flight

2009-11-03T17:15:42Z

After a suspenseful race to the finish, NASA handed out a $1 million prize to Masten Space Systems. The company, based in California, participated in the Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. The Armadillo team out of Texas earned the $500,000 second place prize.

Each team that competed had to design, build and fly a module from one landing pad to another, and then return. They only had 135 minutes to complete the tasks, and were judged based on the precision and accuracy of their landings. The Masten team had difficulty getting their craft ready to fly for their scheduled attempts on Wednesday and Thursday. However, the judges allowed the team to worth through the night and attempt a flight on Friday, which turned out to be the winning attempt.

The spirit of the competition was similar to that of the $10 million Ansari X-prize, where groups competed to build a privately funded manned space craft. The hope is that new technology will be developed privately, allowing advancement to happen at a more rapid pace.

Lunar Landers Take Flight originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 17:15:42.

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Scientists Detect Most Distance Object Ever Seen

2009-11-02T14:09:11Z

Only 630 million years after the creation of the Universe a super-massive star exploded in a violent supernova. The energy from this explosion has been traveling across the Universe ever since, more than 13 billion years. This event marks the most distant object ever observed.

These types of events, known as a gamma-ray burst or GRB, typically occur at least twice a week on average. However, this is the oldest event ever recorded, besting the previous mark by 150 million years.

GRBs are important to understanding the Universe as they allow us to "see" events that occurred billions of years ago. Normally, celestial events are difficult to observe when they are that far away, but GRBs emit so much light, particularly in the gamma-ray band (hence the name), that scientists can easily detect them.

Scientists Detect Most Distance Object Ever Seen originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 14:09:11.

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Latest iPhone App From NASA

2009-10-29T11:21:21Z

Love space and astronomy? Have an iPhone (I wish)? Well the ultimate geek tool is now available -- a new iPhone app that will allow you to keep up on all things NASA anywhere, anytime!

The new free application, developed by NASA themselves, has four functions: Missions, Videos, Images, and Updates. The video and image functions will give you access to NASAs vast archive of, well, images and videos.

The mission function gives you access to information about any of NASAs many satellites, shuttle launches, Moon missions, rocket tests... well you get the idea. But if you just want to know what the latest happenings are, check out the updates function. You could also track orbiting craft like the international space station in real time.

Perhaps the coolest feature (in my geeky opinion) is the NASA picture of the day. Let's face it, space and astronomy pictures are pretty cool (don't believe me, check out the vast array of image galleries on this site), so this is a great way to have those images sent right to your phone.

Latest iPhone App From NASA originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 11:21:21.

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Ares 1-X Test Launch A Success

2009-10-28T23:33:19Z

A prototype of NASA's new rocket, the Ares 1-X, took its first test flight this morning. After being delayed for more than 24 hours due to weather concerns, the launch went as smoothly as could be expected.

The flight was designed to test new design and technology features for future NASA rockets. During the two and a half minutes before burn out -- when the rocket engine shuts off -- the Ares 1-X performed several trajectory maneuvers. Ultimately the rocket reached speeds well over twice the speed of sound and soared to more than 22 miles above the Earth.

These tests are very important as they allow scientists to see how the rocket will behave under various conditions. Though it seemed like a beautiful, sunny Florida morning, the high altitude clouds and cross winds were significant.

Unlike an airplane that has more dynamic control and can handle more severe weather, a rocket can have great difficulty dealing with even mild forces of nature. This is because an airplane only has to worry about cruising at 6 or 7 miles in the air, where as a rocket must climb ten times higher, often carrying considerable weight.

As NASA analyzes the results of this launch will they will be able to take the next steps in creating the next line of rockets and space vehicles. All of which is necessary to continue exploring beyond our World.

Image Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Ares 1-X Test Launch A Success originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 23:33:19.

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Ares Rocket Rolled to Launch Pad

2009-10-23T13:57:53Z

Even with the recent news that future manned space flights might be delayed, NASA this week has rolled out its first test rocket -- The Ares 1-X -- that could be used to send man into space. Under the current plan, the rocket would be used beginning in 2016 to send the first astronauts into space aboard a new Orion space capsule.

It took NASA almost 8 hours to slowly transport the rocket from the construction area to the launching pad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. Preparations will continue to be made to the rocket during the coming week, when an expected test launch around October 27.

Image Credit: NASA

Ares Rocket Rolled to Launch Pad originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 13:57:53.

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Moon Mission May Be Put On Hold

2009-10-23T13:23:09Z

NASA's return to the Moon, scheduled for 2020, may possibly be delayed. A report, requested by President Obama and prepared by a panel of scientists and experts, lays out the current and future plans for manned space travel.

There is a dilemma with the current state of the space program. Namely, the next generation of space orbiters, the Orion capsule, is scheduled to be completed in 2017, a year after the international space station is set to be retired. And the rest of the lunar landing project would not be ready by 2017, eliminating the need for such a capsule until at least 2020.

So, the panel suggested that instead of continuing to invest money into a program that could sit idle for years, NASA should invest money to develop a smaller capsule that could fly on an already existing rocket. This would allow NASA to transport both commercial and scientific equipment to low Earth orbit (LEO).

The panel also suggested that the timetable that had been laid out for visiting the Moon as well as Mars may not be ideal. Particularly there would be a large upfront cost to develop the technology needed.

Instead, the panel suggested integrating technologies as they became available -- lowering the costs over time -- and planning missions to asteroids, or even orbiting Mars, before planning landing missions. Under this scenario, a landing mission to the Moon would still be possible by the mid 2020s.

Image Credit: NASA

Moon Mission May Be Put On Hold originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 13:23:09.

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Looking for E.T.'s Home

2009-10-22T16:34:49Z

It has been more than 25 years since the release of the movies like E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Man has forever desired to explore the galaxy, and discover a world where life might exist. But, in our attempt to find such a planet, we have only found worlds where life could never exist.

So the recent news that 32 additional planets have been found, bringing the total to more than 400, may not sound too exciting. However, buried in the findings is the fact that 6 of the 32 new planets are classified as Super-Earths.

Super-Earths are planets with similar characteristics to Earth, but are considerably larger -- typically at least 5 times as large as Earth, with some more than 5 times the size of Jupiter.

Of course a planet closer to the size of Earth would be necessary to support life, but these objects are currently hard to find given their smaller size. However, our ability to readily detect these Super-Earths, teamed with coming advances in technology, should allow scientists to begin finding Earth sized planets in the next 5 to 10 years.

And, while more than 400 extrasolar planets have been discovered, only about 20 had previously been classified as Super-Earths. So, this discovery is leading scientists to believe that there are more Super-Earths out in the Milky Way Galaxy than previously thought. In Fact, some propose that more than 40% of stars in our Galaxy could have these Earth-like planets orbiting them.

The next logical question then, of course, is could any of these worlds sustain life. Well, that is a little more complicated. The planet not only has to be Earth-like, but also reside a certain distance from its host star -- in a region known as the habitable zone. If a planet is too close to the star the planet will become too hot and be hit with too much solar radiation. If the planet is too far away not enough radiation and heat will reach the planet.

So, while we have yet to find another planet where life may exist, scientists believe that we are getting very close. Given the vast amount of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, and the high probability that an Earth-like planet could be orbiting any given star, it seems to be only a matter of time. I, for one, am still hoping.

Looking for E.T.'s Home originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 16:34:49.

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Meteor Shower - Prime Viewing

2009-10-20T21:09:21Z

For those of you who have missed the recent meteor activity, Wednesday may be your best opportunity to get in on the action. The annual Orionid shower -- named because the shower appears to be coming from the constellation Orion -- will hit its peak Wednesday morning, October 21.

The meteor shower owes its origins to Halley's comet. As the comet passes through Earth's orbit, it leaves behind a trail of dust. As the dust enters the Earth's atmosphere, the dust particles heat up, creating the streaks of light across the sky which we call shooting stars.

There are many meteor showers that occur every year, however the Orionid shower is usually one of the best. On Wednesday it should be producing about 15 to 20 events per hour, though there may be periods where there are a rush of events all at once. And if you are watching after midnight, the shower should appear overhead making it easy to see.

Meteor Shower - Prime Viewing originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 21:09:21.

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NASA Crashes Probes into Moon

2009-10-12T17:03:14Z

Normally when we think of space probes, we imagine small satellites orbiting planets and moons, taking pictures and scientific measurements. Well, early Friday morning NASA watched two probes crash into the moon. On purpose.

Now, I know what you might be thinking, so no, NASA was not suddenly handed over to a bunch of pre-schoolers. Rather, scientists are investigating the presence of water (in the form of ice) under the surface of the Moon. The first of the two probes crashed into the Moon around 7:31 a.m., creating a dust cloud more than 6 miles high.

The second probe followed behind the first, taking pictures and measurements as it passed through the dust cloud. It then crashed into the surface about 4 minutes later with an impact about 1/3 the size of the first.

The results of the mission, called LCROSS (the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite), are intended to be the first step in planning a manned mission to the Moon by 2020.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA Crashes Probes into Moon originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 17:03:14.

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