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Europe plans asteroid sample grab
European scientists and engineers are working on a potential new mission to bring back material from an asteroid.
The venture, known as Marco Polo, could launch in the next decade, and would be designed to learn more about how our Solar System evolved.
The plan is to select a small asteroid - less than 1km across - near Earth and send a spacecraft there to drill for dust and rubble for analysis.
Mission plans are being worked on by UK Astrium and OHB in Germany.
Both satellite manufacturers have been asked to undertake a feasibility study, to assess the type of spacecraft architecture that would be needed to carry out the project.
A final decision on whether to approve the mission will be made by the European Space Agency (Esa) in a few years' time. The mission would launch towards the end of the next decade, in about 2017.
Asteroids are the debris left over from the formation of the Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago.
Studying their pristine material should provide new insights on how the Solar System came into being and how planets like Earth evolved.
"We'll be looking at the best solution for getting there and back," UK Astrium's Dr Ralph Cordey told BBC News.
"We've got to look at all elements of the mission - how we would design the mission, how to design the trajectory to one of a number of possible asteroids, how to optimise that so we use the smallest spacecraft, the least fuel and the smallest rocket."
Marco Polo might work like this:
• After the launch on a Soyuz rocket from Europe's Kourou spaceport, a propulsion unit would take the mission out to its target asteroid
• The main spacecraft unit would undertake a remote-sensing campaign, gathering key information on shape, size, mass, spin and global composition
• It would then attempt to land, drilling a few cm into the surface. Up to 300g of dust and pebbles would be stored away in a sealed capsule
• After lifting off the asteroid, the spacecraft would put itself on a homeward trajectory, releasing the capsule close to Earth for a re-entry
• The capsule would land without parachutes. It would be opened in a clean facility to ensure there was no Earth contamination
Esa has an exploration roadmap for the missions it wishes to conduct in the coming years. Marco Polo is being considered under its Cosmic Visions programme, and is one of a number of competing ideas in a class of missions that could cost in the region of 300 million euros.
It is quite possible that Marco Polo, if approved, could be undertaken in partnership with Japan.
Sample return missions are of significant interest to scientists. Although in-situ measurements provide remarkable insights, so much more would be learnt if materials were brought back to Earth laboratories, where the full panoply of modern analytical technologies can be deployed. European scientists and engineers are working on a potential new mission to bring back material from an asteroid. ... more -
Russia to help Cuba build space center - World news- msnbc.com
MOSCOW - Moscow is ready to help Cuba develop its own space center, Russia's space agency chief said on Wednesday after talks in Caracas with Venezuelan and Cuban officials, Itar-Tass news agency reported MOSCOW - Moscow is ready to help Cuba develop its own space center, Russia's space agency chief said on Wednesday after talks in ... more
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Was Mars wet for a billion years longer? - Mars- msnbc.com
"Parts of ancient Mars may have been wet for a billion years longer than scientists previously thought, a new study of images of the red planet's surface suggests.
Along with Earth and the other inner planets of our solar system, Mars formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists have long known that flowing water formed many of the features seen on Mars today, but previous studies suggested that water runoff from precipitation had ceased after the first billion years of Mars' history, called the Noachian Epoch.
But one team of scientists thinks these rains and floods persisted into more recent — geologically speaking — periods in Mars' history "Parts of ancient Mars may have been wet for a billion years longer than scientists previously thought, a new study of images of ... more -
Martian soil may contain detrimental substance
LOS ANGELES - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft has detected the presence of a chemically reactive salt in the Martian soil, a finding that if confirmed could make it less friendly to potential life than once believed.
Scientists previously reported that the soil near Mars' north pole was similar to backyard gardens on Earth where plants such as asparagus, green beans and turnips could grow. But preliminary results from a second lab test found perchlorate, a highly oxidizing salt, that would create a harsh environment.
The first test "suggested Earth-like soil. Further analysis has revealed un-Earthlike aspects of the soil chemistry," chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson said in a statement Monday.
On Earth, perchlorate is a natural and manmade contaminant sometimes found in soil and groundwater. It is the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel and can be found in fireworks, pyrotechnics and other explosives.
It's unclear how perchlorate forms on Mars or how much there is of it. NASA is investigating whether the substance could have gotten there by contamination before launch. Phoenix used another fuel, hydrazine, to power its thrusters and land on the red planet on May 25.
Phoenix detected the salt through a chemistry experiment. The lander mixed soil with water brought from Earth into a teacup-size beaker and stirred it. Two dozen sensors inside the beaker detect the soil's pH and probe for traces of mineral nutrients.
The first test determined the soil was slightly alkaline and contained nutrients such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride necessary for living things. The second test found the highly reactive perchlorate.
Scientists want to confirm their results because another Phoenix instrument that bakes and sniffs soil samples found no evidence of perchlorate during a run on Sunday.
Brown University geologist John Mustard, who has no role in the mission, said judgment about the soil's potential to support life should be reserved until all the data are in.
But at first glance, "it is a reactive compound. It's not usually considered an ingredient for life," Mustard said.
The latest soil finding comes less than a week after NASA extended Phoenix's three-month mission by another five weeks through the end of September.
Since arriving at Mars, the three-legged lander has impressed scientists by confirming that ice exists in the Martian arctic plains. Its main task is to study whether the landing site could be a habitable zone for primitive life forms to emerge. LOS ANGELES - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft has detected the presence of a chemically reactive salt in the Martian soil, a finding th... more -
Mysterious Northern Lights Understood
People have long marveled at the majestic and mysterious northern lights that light up the skies over the polar regions of countries like Canada and in Scandinavia. Scientists have known for years that these undulating auroras are caused by a storm of charged particles high above Earth. And although a sight to behold, the forces triggering these lights can endanger satellites and air travelers near the poles. But researchers were in the dark about just what forces acted on these so-called magnetic substorms to produce the shimmering lightshows that dazzle us—until now.
Scientists have debated for decades whether local electrical disruptions in Earth's magnetic field or far-flung happenings in the so-called magnetotail (the tapering region of the magnetic field that points away from the sun) lead to the flare-ups of these substorms and their associated auroras.
Researchers say they were able to pinpoint the source by using measurements of magnetic fields recorded by five satellites that were sent into space as part of NASA's THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) project, which is designed to track "space weather" events called substorms as they unfold. The answer: these substorms form when Earth's magnetic field lines collapse on each other, showering the upper atmosphere with captured radiation from the sun where it sparks the auroras primarily over Earth's polar regions known as the northern and southern lights (aka the aurora borealis and aurora australis, respectively).
"Charged particles from the sun blow up Earth's magnetic tail like a balloon, and then for some reason the balloon leaks," says study co-author Stephen Mende, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley.
You can read more by clicking the link- it's a multi page story or by visiting the links below
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=:ePkh8BM9E2...
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=:ePkh8BM9E2...
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=:ePkh8BM9E2...
Please join the conversation by commenting below. People have long marveled at the majestic and mysterious northern lights that light up the skies over the polar regions of countries l... more -
Floating cities on Venus
"Some of you may have heard me talk about colonizing Venus. Well, for those who haven't, Universe Today is running story about floating cities on Venus. It's a reasonable alternative for space colonies — after all, the atmosphere of Venus (at about 50 km) is the most Earth-like environment in the solar system (other than Earth, of course). '50 km above the surface, Venus has air pressure of approximately 1 bar and temperatures in the 0C-50C range, a quite comfortable environment for humans. Humans wouldn't require pressurized suits when outside, but it wouldn't quite be a shirtsleeves environment. We'd need air to breathe and protection from the sulfuric acid in the atmosphere.'"
This link was a sum up, the link to the actual article is on this site. Pretty neato. "Some of you may have heard me talk about colonizing Venus. Well, for those who haven't, Universe Today is running story abo... more -
New planetoid added to solar system!
Last week, a star was born. Or, more accurately, a planetoid was born. Makemake is the newest member of our solar system. The International Astronomical Union recently recognized the reddish object covered with frozen methane and ethane gases as a dwarf planet and classified it as a plutoid last week.
MakeMake, pronounced "Mah-keh Mak-keh" (rhymes with wakka-wakka?), was named after the creator god of Easter Island mythology because it was discovered around Easter in 2005. The plutoid's hobbies include orbiting Neptune, not having any satellites of its own, and being the second brightest Tran-Neptunian Object in our solar system. It is our solar system's fourth plutoid, joining Pluto, Ceres, and Eris in the heavens...and in our heart.
Don't let Pluto push you around, Makemake; dude's a hater. He's still angry over being demoted. You keep on orbiting, guy. We have your back.
DigitalJournal.com: Makemake, a Pluto-size non-planet, is named, despite the Easter Bunny Last week, a star was born. Or, more accurately, a planetoid was born. Makemake is the newest member of our solar system. The Internat... more -
Asteroids: Earth's Final Deadly Impact
Beyond global warming, fiery chunks of massive celestial bodies rocketing towards earth may be our final impact and completely out of our control. Beyond global warming, fiery chunks of massive celestial bodies rocketing towards earth may be our final impact and completely out of ... more
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Dwarf planet near Pluto named for Polynesian god
"A dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune has been designated the third plutoid in the solar system and given the name Makemake, the International Astronomical Union said on Saturday.
The red methane-covered dwarf planet formerly known as 2005 FY9 or "Easterbunny" is named after a Polynesian creator of humanity and god of fertility.
Just last month the IAU, which names planets and other heavenly bodies, decided to create a new class of sub-planets called plutoids.
Pluto, demoted from planet status, and Eris are the other two plutoids. A fourth dwarf planet named Ceres has been excluded from the plutoid club because it orbits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Makemake is just slightly smaller and dimmer than Pluto and was only discovered in 2005."
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I liked "Easterbunny" better. "A dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune has been designated the third plutoid in the solar system and given the name Makemake, th... more -
Smallest planet shrinks in size
Data from a flyby of Mercury in January 2008 show the planet has contracted by more than one mile (1.5km) in diameter over its history. Data from a flyby of Mercury in January 2008 show the planet has contracted by more than one mile (1.5km) in diameter over its history... more
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Voyager pictures reveal Solar System is egg-shaped
The Solar System is not round, but an egg shape with its bottom edge squashed inward, according to data beamed back from a three decade old space probe.
The outer limits of the system of planets around our own Sun, where the influence of our local star ends, are being probed by the Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977 on a five year mission to study Jupiter and Saturn.
The two nuclear powered probes continued to speed onwards to the outer Solar System, each flying in slightly different directions, with Voyager 1 becoming the most distant man-made object in space in the 1990s.
Today, in Nature, an analysis of recent data streamed back from the Voyager 2 spacecraft helps build up a picture of how the Sun interacts with the rest of the galaxy. The current mission of both spacecraft is to reach and study the outer limits of the heliosphere - a magnetic 'bubble' around the Solar System created when the particles that stream out from the Sun crash into and hold back the soup of particles in the rest of interstellar space.
When the solar wind senses the edge of the bubble, called the heliopause, located at 7-8.5 billion miles from the Sun, it prepares for the impending collision at the "termination shock", where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speed Prof Edward Stone of Caltech and colleagues report that Voyager 2 crossed this boundary closer to the Sun than expected, suggesting that the heliosphere in the south is dented, or pushed in, closer to the Sun by the interstellar magnetic field.
Voyager 1 passed the termination shock at about 8.7 billion miles from the Sun, while Voyager 2 reached its more southerly edge, sooner than expected, passing the shock at about 7.8 billion miles. This reveals that the heliosphere is squashed inward in the south compared to the north.
Dr Rob Decker of the Johns Hopkins University, one of the team studying Voyager 2 measurements, said: "The squashing is rather small (a 10 percent effect at best), and competing modelling teams are still arguing over details." Dr John Richardson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, who discusses what happens to the energy of the solar wind in another Nature paper, added that the little probes will begin true interstellar travel in another decade.
"We hope the Voyagers will cross the heliopause boundary in about 10 years and be the first spacecraft to measure what is outside of the Sun's heliosphere." The Solar System is not round, but an egg shape with its bottom edge squashed inward, according to data beamed back from a three decad... more -
Solar eclipse will offer rare view of solar system
A total solar eclipse will cut a swath of shadow through Greenland, the Arctic, Russia, Mongolia and China on August 1. And thousands of people will travel to remote locations just to stand in the dark for three minutes -- and maybe perceive the vast size of the solar system.
Locations are rarely convenient, and planning a successful eclipse trip involves specialized maps, astronomical charts, statistical weather data, GPS and optical gear, backcountry camping equipment (perhaps), and a good working relationship with uncertainty.
The reward, though, can be like a short trip into space. The corona itself is a big freakish thing: a feathery halo of streaming particles along magnetic field lines, which look not like nice summer rays but kill-you-dead radiation.
It's also so big and far away as to bend one's sense of scale. At least three planets are usually visible, and this August there will be four: Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Mars. A total solar eclipse will cut a swath of shadow through Greenland, the Arctic, Russia, Mongolia and China on August 1. And thousands ... more -
The Earth's cries are heard in space
Earth emits an ear-piercing series of chirps and whistles that could be heard by any aliens who might be listening, astronomers have discovered.
The sound is awful, a new recording from space reveals.
Scientists have known about the radiation since the 1970s. It is created high above the planet, where charged particles from the solar wind collide with Earth's magnetic field. It is related to the phenomenon that generates the colorful aurora, or Northern Lights.
The radio waves are blocked by the ionosphere, a charged layer atop our atmosphere, so they do not reach Earth. That's good, because the out-of-this-world radio waves are 10,000 times stronger than even the strongest military signal, the researchers said, and they would overwhelm all radio stations on the planet.
Theorists had long figured the radio waves, which were not well studied, oozed into space in an ever-widening cone, like light from a torch.
But new data from the European Space Agency's Cluster mission, a group of four high-flying satellites, reveals the bursts of radio waves head off to the cosmos in beam-like fashion, instead.
This means they're more detectable to anyone who might be listening.
The Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR), as it is called, is beamed out in a narrow plane, as if someone had put a mask over a torch and left a slit for the radiation to escape.
This flat beam could be detected by aliens who've figured this process out, the researchers say. The knowledge could also be used by Earth's astronomers to detect planets around other stars, if they can build a new radio telescope big enough for the search. They could also learn more about Jupiter and Saturn by studying AKR, which should emit from the auroral activity on those worlds, too.
"Whenever you have aurora, you get AKR," said Robert Mutel, a University of Iowa researcher involved in the work.
The AKR bursts -- Mutel and colleagues studied 12,000 of them -- originate in spots the size of a large city a few thousand miles above Earth and above the region where the Northern Lights form.
"We can now determine exactly where the emission is coming from," Mutel said.
Our planet is also known to hum, a mysterious low-frequency sound thought to be caused by the churning ocean or the roiling atmosphere.
Hear it hear..... http://www.space.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=0806... Earth emits an ear-piercing series of chirps and whistles that could be heard by any aliens who might be listening, astronomers have d... more -
Jupiter could cause Mecury to smash into the Earth
Three separate groups of scientists have used different computer simulations to predict the same frightening outcome. It is possible the massive gravitational pull of Jupiter could put the planet Mercury on a collision course with Earth.
The findings indicate that the solar system is not as stable as previously thought and that Mercury is susceptible to being pulled around on its orbit. This could lead to one of four scenarios:
Scenario 1: Mercury will crash into the Sun
Scenario 2: Mercury will be ejected from the solar system altogether
Scenario 3: Mercury will crash into Venus
Scenario 4: Worst-case-scenario, Mercury will crash into Earth.
Any such collision would spell the end for pretty much everything on the planet. The last time such a collision occurred the resulting debris formed the Moon. BUT, don’t start worrying just yet. There's only about a 1% chance that any of this will happen before the Sun becomes a red giant billions of years from now (and destroys life on Earth anyway). Three separate groups of scientists have used different computer simulations to predict the same frightening outcome. It is possible t... more -
Is the sun "dead"?
Dark spots, some as large as 50,000 miles in diameter, typically move across the surface of the sun, contracting and expanding as they go. These strange and powerful phenomena are known as sunspots, but now they are all gone. Not even solar physicists know why it’s happening and what this odd solar silence might be indicating for our future. Dark spots, some as large as 50,000 miles in diameter, typically move across the surface of the sun, contracting and expanding as they... more
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Tiniest extrasolar planet found
Astronomers have sighted the smallest extrasolar planet yet orbiting a normal star - a distant world just three times the size of our own.
Discovering a planet with a similar mass to that of Earth is considered the "holy grail" of research into planets that lie outside our Solar System.
It is vital because researchers want to find other worlds that could host life.
The planet orbits a star which is itself of such low mass it may in fact be a "failed star", or brown dwarf.
Astronomers found the new world using a technique called gravitational microlensing. This takes advantage of the fact that light is bent as the rays pass close to a massive object, like a star.
The planet, called MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb, is about 3.3 times the size of Earth. Some researchers have suggested the planet could have a thick atmosphere and have even speculated there could be a liquid ocean on its surface. Astronomers have sighted the smallest extrasolar planet yet orbiting a normal star - a distant world just three times the size of our ... more -
Lucy's laugh travels the solar system
In 1951, when CBS first broadcast the I Love Lucy show, Ricky, Lucy, Fred and Ethel became electromagnetic signals traveling at nearly the speed of light to receivers all over America, where they got bounced on to our living rooms and into our lives.
But not all those signals stayed on Earth.
A few signals bounced off the surface of our planet or shot straight up into the sky and continued onward. Traveling at light speed in empty space, the signals arrived at the moon after a second and a half, says astronomer Chris Impey of the University of Arizona. An hour later, Lucy passed Jupiter. Five hours later, she was at the edge of our solar system. So where is her signal today? "It's traveled for 57 years," says Impey, "and a light year is about 4 trillion miles, so 57 light years is about 200 trillion miles."
That's a long voyage. I Love Lucy passed Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our sun, around 1955 and has now moved past about 200 stars and who knows how many planets. This raises the question: If there's intelligent life out there, could it hear Lucy? In 1951, when CBS first broadcast the I Love Lucy show, Ricky, Lucy, Fred and Ethel became electromagnetic signals traveling at nearly... more -
Solar System's 'look-alike' found
"Astronomers have discovered a planetary system orbiting a distant star which looks much like our own."
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Solar system's 'look-alike' found
Astronomers have discovered a planetary system orbiting a distant star which looks much like our own.
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'Tsunami' on the Sun
Astronomers have captured the first footage of a solar "tsunami" hurtling through the Sun's atmosphere at over a million kilometres per hour.
Get me out of here, i'm scared. Astronomers have captured the first footage of a solar "tsunami" hurtling through the Sun's atmosphere at over a millio... more
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