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The Planetary Society Blog
10 Mar 2014, 19:18 UTC
Rosetta's comet target, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, has emerged from behind the Sun as seen from Earth, and the Very Large Telescope has photographed it. The new images show that cometary activity has already begun as Rosetta approaches for its August rendezvous.
The Very Large Telescope sights Rosetta's comet target, sees activity beginning
10 Mar 2014, 19:18 UTC
Rosetta's comet target, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, has emerged from behind the Sun as seen from Earth, and the Very Large Telescope has photographed it. The new images show that cometary activity has already begun as Rosetta approaches for its August rendezvous.
Discover
10 Mar 2014, 18:07 UTC
The first episode of the ambitious reboot of Cosmos, which debuted last night, closely follows the template of the first episode of the original. It also differs in some important ways--most of them right on target, but one of them unfortunately off the mark. Special effects have advanced greatly since Carl Sagan's 1980 original; the new visualizations are both more dramatic and more realistic. Science has advanced greatly as well. The updated Cosmos discusses free-floating planets betwee
Did "Cosmos" Pick the Wrong Hero?
10 Mar 2014, 18:07 UTC
The first episode of the ambitious reboot of Cosmos, which debuted last night, closely follows the template of the first episode of the original. It also differs in some important ways--most of them right on target, but one of them unfortunately off the mark. Special effects have advanced greatly since Carl Sagan's 1980 original; the new visualizations are both more dramatic and more realistic. Science has advanced greatly as well. The updated Cosmos discusses free-floating planets betwee
Astro Watch
10 Mar 2014, 17:32 UTC
What's more interesting than videos of cats chasing laser beams over the kitchen floor? How about videos sent OVER laser beams from NASA's International Space Station back to Earth? A team of about 20 working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., through the lab’s Phaeton early-career-hire program, led the development of the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) investigation, which is preparing for a March 16 launch to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX-3 mission. The goal? NASA’s first optical communication experiment on the orbital laboratory.Scientific instruments used in space missions increasingly require higher communication rates to transmit gathered data back to Earth or to support high-data-rate applications, like high-definition video streams. Optical communications—also referred to as “lasercom”—is an emerging technology where data is sent via laser beams. This offers the promise of much higher data rates than what is achievable with current radio frequency (RF) transmissions and has the advantage that it operates in a frequency band that is currently unregulated by the Federal Communications Commission."Optical communications has the potential to be a game-changer," said mission manager Matt Abrahamson. "Right now, many of our deep space missions communicate at 200 to 400 kilobits per second.” OPALS ...
International Space Station to Beam Video via Laser Back to Earth
10 Mar 2014, 17:32 UTC
What's more interesting than videos of cats chasing laser beams over the kitchen floor? How about videos sent OVER laser beams from NASA's International Space Station back to Earth? A team of about 20 working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., through the lab’s Phaeton early-career-hire program, led the development of the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) investigation, which is preparing for a March 16 launch to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX-3 mission. The goal? NASA’s first optical communication experiment on the orbital laboratory.Scientific instruments used in space missions increasingly require higher communication rates to transmit gathered data back to Earth or to support high-data-rate applications, like high-definition video streams. Optical communications—also referred to as “lasercom”—is an emerging technology where data is sent via laser beams. This offers the promise of much higher data rates than what is achievable with current radio frequency (RF) transmissions and has the advantage that it operates in a frequency band that is currently unregulated by the Federal Communications Commission."Optical communications has the potential to be a game-changer," said mission manager Matt Abrahamson. "Right now, many of our deep space missions communicate at 200 to 400 kilobits per second.” OPALS ...
Universe Today
10 Mar 2014, 16:23 UTC
Live in the New York City tri-state area, or anywhere near the path above? One of the most unusual big ticket astronomical events of 2014 occurs on in the morning hours of Thursday March 20th, when the asteriod 163 Erigone “blocks” or occults the bright star Regulus. This is brightest star to be occulted by […] The projected path of the March 20th occultation of Regulus by 163 Erigone. Credit: Ted Blank/IOTA. Live in the New York City tri-state area, or anywhere near the path above? One of the most unusual big ticket astronomical events of 2014 occurs on in the morning hours of Thursday March 20th, when the asteriod 163 Erigone “blocks” or occults the bright star Regulus. This is brightest star to be occulted by an asteroid for 2014, and has a potential to be observed by millions.(...)Read the rest of How to Watch an Asteroid Occult a Bright Star on March 20th (983 words) © David Dickinson for Universe Today, 2014. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: 163 Erigone, asteroid occultation new york, erigone moon, regulus 2014, regulus erigone, regulus occultation Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
How to Watch an Asteroid Occult a Bright Star on March 20th
10 Mar 2014, 16:23 UTC
Live in the New York City tri-state area, or anywhere near the path above? One of the most unusual big ticket astronomical events of 2014 occurs on in the morning hours of Thursday March 20th, when the asteriod 163 Erigone “blocks” or occults the bright star Regulus. This is brightest star to be occulted by […] The projected path of the March 20th occultation of Regulus by 163 Erigone. Credit: Ted Blank/IOTA. Live in the New York City tri-state area, or anywhere near the path above? One of the most unusual big ticket astronomical events of 2014 occurs on in the morning hours of Thursday March 20th, when the asteriod 163 Erigone “blocks” or occults the bright star Regulus. This is brightest star to be occulted by an asteroid for 2014, and has a potential to be observed by millions.(...)Read the rest of How to Watch an Asteroid Occult a Bright Star on March 20th (983 words) © David Dickinson for Universe Today, 2014. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: 163 Erigone, asteroid occultation new york, erigone moon, regulus 2014, regulus erigone, regulus occultation Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
NASASpaceFlight.com
10 Mar 2014, 16:02 UTC
International Launch Services (ILS) and ISS Reshetnev have announced they are evaluating the technical feasibility into launching two large satellites at the same time on a Proton-M launch vehicle. The announcement comes just days after United Launch Alliance (ULA) President Michael Gass noted his company is also looking into dual satellite launches. Dual Launch: As rockets continue to increase their upmass capability, while satellite manufacturers find ways into reducing the weight of their spacecraft, utilizing the efficiency of a launch vehicle’s power is a continual consideration for launch service providers. Arianespace are the current masters at launching two large satellites in one go, with most Ariane 5 launches involving and upper and lower passenger, separated by the SYLDA dual-passenger dispenser system. The SYLDA is a light-weight structure adding around 500 kg of mass to the mission. It is assembled from composite sandwich panels, and is capable of carrying an upper satellite weighing up to 6.5 metric tonnes in the dynamic and thermal environment encountered in-flight. Astrium Space Transportation Composites Centre in Les Mureaux, near Paris manufacture the SYLDA’s for Arianespace, with a new generation known as the “+2100″ – 600 mm longer than the standard “A” version – enabling Arianespace ...
ILS evaluating dual launch capability for Proton-M missions
10 Mar 2014, 16:02 UTC
International Launch Services (ILS) and ISS Reshetnev have announced they are evaluating the technical feasibility into launching two large satellites at the same time on a Proton-M launch vehicle. The announcement comes just days after United Launch Alliance (ULA) President Michael Gass noted his company is also looking into dual satellite launches. Dual Launch: As rockets continue to increase their upmass capability, while satellite manufacturers find ways into reducing the weight of their spacecraft, utilizing the efficiency of a launch vehicle’s power is a continual consideration for launch service providers. Arianespace are the current masters at launching two large satellites in one go, with most Ariane 5 launches involving and upper and lower passenger, separated by the SYLDA dual-passenger dispenser system. The SYLDA is a light-weight structure adding around 500 kg of mass to the mission. It is assembled from composite sandwich panels, and is capable of carrying an upper satellite weighing up to 6.5 metric tonnes in the dynamic and thermal environment encountered in-flight. Astrium Space Transportation Composites Centre in Les Mureaux, near Paris manufacture the SYLDA’s for Arianespace, with a new generation known as the “+2100″ – 600 mm longer than the standard “A” version – enabling Arianespace ...
The Daily Galaxy
10 Mar 2014, 15:00 UTC
The Orion Nebula is home to hundreds of young stars and even younger protostars known as proplyds. Many of these nascent systems will go on to develop planets, while others will have their planet-forming dust and gas blasted away by the fierce ultraviolet radiation emitted by massive O-type stars that lurk nearby. A team of astronomers from Canada and the United States has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the often deadly relationship between highly luminous O-type stars and nearby protostars in the Orion Nebula. Their data reveal that protostars within 0.1 light-years (about 600 billion miles) of an O-type star are doomed to have their cocoons of dust and gas stripped away in just a few millions years, much faster than planets are able to form. "O-type stars, which are really monsters compared to our Sun, emit tremendous amounts of ultraviolet radiation and this can play havoc during the development of young planetary systems," remarked Rita Mann, an astronomer with the National Research Council of Canada in Victoria, and lead author on a paper in the Astrophysical Journal. "Using ALMA, we looked at dozens of embryonic stars with planet-forming potential and, for the first time, found ...
‘Death Stars’ Wreck Havoc in Orion Nebula
10 Mar 2014, 15:00 UTC
The Orion Nebula is home to hundreds of young stars and even younger protostars known as proplyds. Many of these nascent systems will go on to develop planets, while others will have their planet-forming dust and gas blasted away by the fierce ultraviolet radiation emitted by massive O-type stars that lurk nearby. A team of astronomers from Canada and the United States has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the often deadly relationship between highly luminous O-type stars and nearby protostars in the Orion Nebula. Their data reveal that protostars within 0.1 light-years (about 600 billion miles) of an O-type star are doomed to have their cocoons of dust and gas stripped away in just a few millions years, much faster than planets are able to form. "O-type stars, which are really monsters compared to our Sun, emit tremendous amounts of ultraviolet radiation and this can play havoc during the development of young planetary systems," remarked Rita Mann, an astronomer with the National Research Council of Canada in Victoria, and lead author on a paper in the Astrophysical Journal. "Using ALMA, we looked at dozens of embryonic stars with planet-forming potential and, for the first time, found ...
Centauri Dreams
10 Mar 2014, 13:34 UTC
Just how early we are in our thinking about traveling beyond the Solar System is revealed in a comment made by Ned Wright, principal investigator of the WISE mission. “We don’t know our own sun’s backyard as well as you might think,” said Wright. And he goes on to say, “We think there are even more stars out there left to find with WISE.” That’s a wake-up call indeed given how much WISE has already told us, and what two new studies have brought to light. Davy Kirkpatrick (Caltech) led one of these, examining data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission that performed two full scans of the sky in 2010 and 2011, capturing images of almost three-quarters of a billion galaxies, stars and asteroids. Analyzing data using NASA’s AllWISE program, which makes it possible to compare the datasets more effectively, Kirkpatrick’s team found 3,525 new stars and brown dwarfs within 500 light years of the Sun. These objects, says Kirkpatrick, were totally overlooked before now. In any case, the number of stars and brown dwarfs within range of conceivable future exploration is something we have to clarify, building a 3-D map of nearby space that goes beyond the ...
WISE: New Stars and Brown Dwarfs
10 Mar 2014, 13:34 UTC
Just how early we are in our thinking about traveling beyond the Solar System is revealed in a comment made by Ned Wright, principal investigator of the WISE mission. “We don’t know our own sun’s backyard as well as you might think,” said Wright. And he goes on to say, “We think there are even more stars out there left to find with WISE.” That’s a wake-up call indeed given how much WISE has already told us, and what two new studies have brought to light. Davy Kirkpatrick (Caltech) led one of these, examining data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission that performed two full scans of the sky in 2010 and 2011, capturing images of almost three-quarters of a billion galaxies, stars and asteroids. Analyzing data using NASA’s AllWISE program, which makes it possible to compare the datasets more effectively, Kirkpatrick’s team found 3,525 new stars and brown dwarfs within 500 light years of the Sun. These objects, says Kirkpatrick, were totally overlooked before now. In any case, the number of stars and brown dwarfs within range of conceivable future exploration is something we have to clarify, building a 3-D map of nearby space that goes beyond the ...
collectSPACE.com: Space History News
10 Mar 2014, 11:30 UTC
Preparations are underway for the launch of SpaceX's third cargo run to the International Space Station — including the release of the mission patch for the Commercial Resupply Services 3 (CRS-3/SpX-3) NASA-contracted flight.
SpaceX's 3rd space station resupply flight gets three-sided mission patch
10 Mar 2014, 11:30 UTC
Preparations are underway for the launch of SpaceX's third cargo run to the International Space Station — including the release of the mission patch for the Commercial Resupply Services 3 (CRS-3/SpX-3) NASA-contracted flight.
AmericaSpace
10 Mar 2014, 10:00 UTC
Outgoing Expedition 38 crewmen (bottom row, left to right) Mike Hopkins, Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky) are pictured with their new Expedition 39 comrades (top row, left to right) Koichi Wakata, Mikhail Tyurin and Rick Mastracchio. The two crews have worked together as members of Expedition 38 since November 2013. Now, Wakata will lead [...]
