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Mars probe Phoenix digs up first sample of Martian soil
Nearly two weeks after its historic landing, the US Mars probe Phoenix has scooped up its first sample of Martian soil and begun analyzing it for water and organic compounds, a NASA official said.
The 200-milliliter (12 cubic inches) of Martian earth is topped by a white crust that has set NASA scientists debating whether it is ice or salt deposits from evaporated water.
"It looks like a good sample for us," Phoenix mission chief scientist Peter Smith told reporters in a telephone conference.
"This is really an important occasion for us, to be poised to make a measurement for the first time of the polar soil that will tell us how much water is in the soil, and secondly what the minerals are that make up the soil," said Smith.
Especially intriguing, he said, is to find out whether ice believed to be under the Martian soil has already melted and changed the composition of the soil.
A chunk of permafrost-like soil of the Martian arctic was scooped up Thursday by the probe's 2.35 meter (7.7 foot) titanium and aluminum backhoe-like extension.
It now lies inside the scoop, poised over an instrument called the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, where it will be dumped and sealed in for several days of analysis, the scientist said.
"The first step is to dry water out of the sample and find out what percentage of water there is .. The test should tell very quickly," said Smith.
The TEGA will heat up the sample gradually to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 Farenheit).
"I would guess by the end of next week we will be in a pretty good position to tell you our first assessment of this soil, and if we are lucky enough to get some white material in there, to figure out what it is too," Smith said.
He does not think the white crust material is ice.
"We suspect that actual ice is going to be very hard to dig a chunk. I can agree this probably is not ice, but I can't say that for certain."
Phoenix is scheduled to collect two more samples of Martian soil over the next few days. One will be analyzed by optical microscope, the other by chemical analysis, said Phoenix mission chief Mat Robinson, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California.
The scientists stressed that the Phoenix probe is not equipped to test Martian soil for fossils or living microbes.
Since landing on May 25, the spacecraft has already compiled photographs of the stark reddish Martian north pole terrain surrounding it.
Using a panoply of high-tech instrumentation, Phoenix will over the next three months examine the soil and take records of the climate in the Red Planet's arctic, with scientists seeking to understand the history of the presence of water in its three forms there, and hoping to dig up signs of life-supporting organic minerals.
Water was first detected on the Martian north pole by the US Odyssey probe in 2002. It sparked the Phoenix mission.
End Quote Nearly two weeks after its historic landing, the US Mars probe Phoenix has scooped up its first sample of Martian soil and begun analy... more -
Galaxy Dynamics
Gravitas: Portraits of a Universe is astrophysicist John Dubinski's self-published DVD containing his stunning supercomputer simulations of galactic evolution set to music. Gravitas: Portraits of a Universe is astrophysicist John Dubinski's self-published DVD containing his stunning supercomputer simulatio... more
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ESA - Living Planet Programme - CryoSat-2
The European Space Agency
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Cassini-Huygens: Mission to Saturn and Titan
JPL has a nice site devoted to Cassini images.
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NASA's new spacecraft and rockets
NASA has been busy planning for a new spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), to be able to rendezvous with the ISS and then to take a crew back to the moon in conjunction with the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM). A Crew Launch Vehicle, named Ares I, derived from the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) will deliver the CEV to low Earth Orbit (LEO) while a larger rocket, Ares 5, will deliver ISS cargo of the LSAM to LEO. Once in LEO, the CEV and LSAM will dock and a J-2X Earth Departure Stage (EDS) will deliver the CEV/LSAM to Low Lunar Orbit (LLO) at 100 km. The EDS is discarded and CEV/LSAM temporarily decouple. The LSAM then performs the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) to deliver the LSAM to the lunar surface will all 4 astronauts onboard. After some amount of time on the surface, an ascent stage from the LSAM boosts the crew back to LLO and the ascent stage docks with the unattended CEV. The ascent stage is discarded and the service module section of the CEV boosts the crew module (with crew) towards Earth reentry, and the service module is then discarded. The crew module reenters the upper atmosphere and an ablative heat shield slows the craft to a point where it is captured by the Earth. Parachutes then slow the crew module for a land (or sea in emergencies) landing. Whew, safe at last from solar storms! Ares V will be able to launch 130 metric tons LEO inclined at 28.5 degrees or it can deliver 55 metric tons to trans-lunar orbit. By comparison, the Saturn V was capable of 118 metric tons to LEO or 47 metric tons to lunar orbit.
See http://www.plasmaben.com/CEV.html for more info. NASA has been busy planning for a new spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), to be able to rendezvous with the ISS and then t... more -
Colonizing the Moon
The Vision for Space Exploration is the United States space policy announced on January 14, 2004 by U.S. President George W. Bush. It is seen as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the state of human spaceflight at NASA, and a way to regain public enthusiasm for space exploration.
The Vision for Space Exploration is the United States space policy announced on January 14, 2004 by U.S. President George W. Bush. It ... more -
NASA's Constellation Program
NASA animation of the Ares I and V vehicles. Also known as the crew and cargo launch vehicles. These are the proposed vehicles to supersede the Space Shuttle program which ends in 2010. This animation depicts the proposed lunar exploration mission scenario. NASA animation of the Ares I and V vehicles. Also known as the crew and cargo launch vehicles. These are the proposed vehicles to supe... more
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Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two Animation
Virgin Galactic is the world's first spaceline. Giving you the groundbreaking opportunity to become one of the first ever non-professional astronauts. Virgin Galactic will own and operate its privately built spaceships, modelled on the remarkable, history-making SpaceShipOne.
Virgin's vast experience in aviation, adventure, luxury travel and cutting-edge design combined with the unique technology developed by Burt Rutan will ensure an unforgettable experience unlike any other available to mankind.
With safety at the forefront, our unique spacecraft is being designed at Rutan's base in Mojave, California alongside a concerted research and development programme.
"The deal with Mojave Aerospace Ventures is just the start of what we believe will be a new era in the history of mankind, one day making the affordable exploration of space by human beings a real possibility." Richard Branson.
It is these spaceships that will allow affordable sub-orbital space tourism for the first time in the history of the universe.
http://www.virgingalactic.com/
Virgin Galactic is the world's first spaceline. Giving you the groundbreaking opportunity to become one of the first ever non-professi... more -
Mars probe appears to have landed atop ice
"Elated scientists probing the arctic surface of Mars with their newly landed Phoenix spacecraft said Saturday they are convinced they have found a bright and shiny layer of genuine ice only inches beneath the Martian soil and directly under the body of the lander itself.
"It's the consensus of all of us that we have found ice," said Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, as he talked to reporters in a conference call only six days after Phoenix landed safely from Earth. "It's shiny and smooth - it's absolutely astounding!"
But Smith did add a note of scientific caution: "It's not impossible that it's something else," he conceded, "but our leading interpretation is ice. We are looking at an extended table of ice."
And it turns out that Phoenix itself made the epochal discovery, for it was the exhaust from the lander's twelve retrorockets - firing during the last few seconds of the spacecraft's touchdown last Sunday - that blew a mere 3 to 6 inches of Martian topsoil away and uncovered the patch of ice near one of the lander's three legs. The camera on the lander's robotic arm snapped images of the flat, gleaming slab.
Spacecraft flying in orbit high above the planet carry sensitive radar instruments that can probe as much as a yard or so beneath the Martian surface, and their signals have already indicated a broad layer of what Earth-bound scientists believe is buried ice in the planet's frigid far northern region where Phoenix was sent to explore".
By David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor "Elated scientists probing the arctic surface of Mars with their newly landed Phoenix spacecraft said Saturday they are convinced they... more -
Real time satellite tracking
... and satellite and space shuttle news.
Also of interest: world wide sighting opportunities - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
Another fun link: Earth and moon viewer -
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth/action?opt=-p ... and satellite and space shuttle news. ... more -
Saturn's Titan has implications for understanding of life throughout galaxy
NASA's Cassini spacecraft buzzed Titan last month, coming close enough to taste the Saturnian moon's atmosphere. The data acquired has implications for our understanding of life throughout the galaxy, as well as Earth's own past.
The second largest moon in the solar system, Titan has long been of interest for hopeful exobioligists. As the only other body we know of with surface bodies of liquid, complete with nitrogen, methane and complete seasonal weather weather patterns (similar to Earth's). It even has beaches, though you'll need a little more than a swimsuit to visit. Vast bodies of chemicals constantly stirred by wind and wave, heated over a gentle sunlight heat with the occasional dash of articles from Saturn's magnetosphere for spice - a perfect recipe for life. Just like a certain planet you might be familiar with (look down if you forget).
Of course there a few minor differences from our own blue-green globe. There's no oxygen for one thing, but if you think that's a problem then you're guilty of "aerobic respiration prejudice" (don't worry, most multicellular organisms are). It's also really quite amazingly cold - so cold that it has awesomely-named "cryovolcanoes", where boiled (or even just melted) water is enough to set off seismic-level explosions. Again, that's a barrier that's been overcome by homegrown Earth bacteria, so there's no reason it couldn't be managed elsewhere.
Cassini's onboard instruments have detected hydrocarbons containing up to seven carbon atoms. How important is that for life? Here's a hint: molecules with carbon in them are called organic, and those without are inorganic. Carbon is kind of a big deal, and the more (and more complicated) carbon compounds present the further towards the great cosmic chemical cocktail that is "life" you are. Some scientists believe that the Titanian interior, with its greater temperature, could already host microbial life - but it'll be a while before we can check that (unless we get real lucky, and some alien cells get real unlucky, with a cryovolcano eruption). One thing's for sure - the craft is only on the sixth of forty-five planned flybys so we can expect to hear a lot more about this real soon.
PS Yes, it is ironic that we're expecting Titanic lifeforms to be single celled.
Posted by Luke McKinney. Photo Credit: James Estrin/New York Times.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft buzzed Titan last month, coming close enough to taste the Saturnian moon's atmosphere. The data acquired ha... more -
Do our brains change when we travel in outer space?
"In February, 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell experienced the little understood phenomenon sometimes called the “Overview Effect”. He describes being completely engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness. Without warning, he says, a feeing of bliss, timelessness, and connectedness began to overwhelm him. He describes becoming instantly and profoundly aware that each of his constituent atoms were connected to the fragile planet he saw in the window and to every other atom in the Universe. He described experiencing an intense awareness that Earth, with its humans, other animal species, and systems were all one synergistic whole. He says the feeling that rushed over him was a sense of interconnected euphoria. He was not the first—nor the last—to experience this strange “cosmic connection”.
Rusty Schweikart experienced it on March 6th 1969 during a spacewalk outside his Apollo 9 vehicle: “When you go around the Earth in an hour and a half, you begin to recognize that your identity is with that whole thing. That makes a change…it comes through to you so powerfully that you’re the sensing element for Man.” Schweikart, similar to what Mitchell experienced, describes intuitively sensing that everything is profoundly connected.
Their experiences, along with dozens of other similar experiences described by other astronauts, intrigue scientists who study the brain. This “Overview Effect”, or acute awareness of all matter as synergistically connected, sounds somewhat similar to certain religious experiences described by Buddhist monks, for example. Where does it come from and why?..."
By Rebecca Sato
"In February, 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell experienced the little understood phenomenon sometimes called the “Overview Eff... more -
Life on Mars could have come from Earth
"Recently, the headlines are filled with statements from NASA that soil on Mars may contain microbial life. What if this is true after all? Would such a discovery confirm evolutionary theory? No ..." "Recently, the headlines are filled with statements from NASA that soil on Mars may contain microbial life. What if this is true after... more
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Future Nasa Projects
1. Fly the space shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement in 2010
2. Complete the International Space Station according to NASA's commitments
3. Broaden its programs in science and aeronautics, while focusing the human spaceflight endeavors on exploration
4. Develop , build and fly a new Crew Exploration Vehicle (Project Orion) with its launch vehicles (Ares) by 2014
5. Develop and expand partnerships with private industries
6. Develop a program to return humans to the moon, establish a lunar base and pursue subsequent exploration of Mars and other destinations
"The history of NASA has shown that it can do amazing things. But history has also shown that NASA needs strong presidential leadership, strong leadership within NASA, public support, and congressional funding. NASA has the infrastructure in place for leadership, to obtain its scientific and technical goals and to inform and educate the public. NASA will continue to do amazing things in aviation and space exploration."
I guess watching the Nasa Channel with my dad everyday is finally showing. 1. Fly the space shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement in 2010 ... more -
Phoenix delivers first photos of Martian Arctic
"Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.
Here's a brief overview of the Phoenix mission:
The complement of the Phoenix spacecraft and its scientific instruments are ideally suited to uncover clues to the geologic history and biological potential of the Martian arctic. Phoenix will be the first mission to return data from either polar region providing an important contribution to the overall Mars science strategy "Follow the Water" and will be instrumental in achieving the four science goals of NASA's long-term Mars Exploration Program.
--Determine whether Life ever arose on Mars
--Characterize the Climate of Mars
--Characterize the Geology of Mars
--Prepare for Human Exploration
The Phoenix Mission has two bold objectives to support these goals, which are to (1) study the history of water in the Martian arctic and (2) search for evidence of a habitable zone and assess the biological potential of the ice-soil boundary."
--provided by NASA
And the pictures are AMAZING "Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called V... more -
Arctic plains of Mars await Sunday landing
When NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander sets down in the Martian arctic on Sunday, it will open a new, icy frontier for scientists back on Earth.
Phoenix, a stationary lander set to make a planned May 25 descent to the Martian surface, is going to where no probe has gone before - the northern plains of Vastitas Borealis on Mars.
"Ten years ago, you wouldn't have chosen this spot at all because it looks just like every other part of Mars," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "A lot of the features aren't even named up there."
But it's the promise of what lies beneath the frozen surface features, signs of untouched Martian water ice first spotted by orbiters in 2002, which spurred NASA engineers and researchers to launch the $420 million Phoenix last August.
Wielding its robotic arm like a backhoe, Phoenix is designed to dig down in to the Martian soil to collect water ice samples. It will feed them into small onboard ovens and beakers to determine if its landing site may have once been habitable for microbial life.
"We believe that the ice is somewhere between 4 and 6 centimeters (1.5 to 2.3 inches) below the surface," Phoenix deputy principal investigator Deborah Bass of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) told SPACE.com. "It's not going to be ice skating rink-pure, white, shiny ice. It's going to be permafrost - dust, dirt and ice all mixed together."
Only one NASA spacecraft - the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander - has ever targeted a polar region of Mars for study, but that spacecraft crashed just before landing near the planet's south pole in December 1999. NASA's past successful Mars landers, the two Viking probes of the 1970s and '80s, and the hardy Spirit and Opportunity rovers that still explore the Martian surface today, set down near the planet's equatorial regions.
The history of Earth's own climate change and the building blocks of life are preserved in the ices near the Arctic Sea, Smith said during a Thursday mission briefing at the Pasadena, Calif.-based JPL.
When NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander sets down in the Martian arctic on Sunday, it will open a new, icy frontier for scientists back on Ear... more -
Explore The Universe From The Comfort Of Your Workstation
I can't download it yet, my present computer is too "old" and doesn't meet the requirements, but as soon as I acquire a new computer with dual-core and loads of storage, the first thing I'll do is to go to http://www.worldwidetelescope.org and download it. Click on the image to get your first taste of the World Wide Telescope! I can't download it yet, my present computer is too "old" and doesn't meet the requirements, but as soon as I acquire a new computer w... more
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Mars radar opens up a planet’s third dimension
ESA’s Mars Express radar sounder, MARSIS, has looked beneath the martian surface and opened up the third dimension for planetary exploration. The technique’s success is prompting scientists to think of all the other places in the Solar System where they would like to use radar sounders.
No matter how accurate a camera is, it can only map a planet’s surface. To retrieve information about the underground realm, planetary scientists in the past would have thought it necessary to land on the surface and start digging. But that would only be good for a single spot on a large planet and the first few decimetres of the surface.
To get the global picture of the subsurface they need a radar sounder, such as the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS), to find the best spots for the future landers to go and dig.
MARSIS was an experiment in every sense of the word. “It was a leap into the unknown,” says Ali Safaeinili, MARSIS co-investigator at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California, USA.
No one had ever used a radar sounder from orbit on another planet before. So the team could not even be sure whether it would work as planned. The subsurface of the planet might have been too opaque to the radar waves or the upper levels of martian atmosphere (ionosphere) might have distorted the signal too much to be useful. Thankfully, none of this happened.
“We have demonstrated that the polar caps at Mars are mostly water ice, and produced an inventory so now we know exactly how much water there is,” says Roberto Orosei, MARSIS Deputy Principal Investigator, IASF-INAF, Italy.
Armed with a better understanding of how planetary radar sounders work, the MARSIS team is beginning to look further afield in the Solar System, to other bodies that might benefit from radar investigation. One obvious target is Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa.
A MARSIS-type experiment in orbit around Europa could probe its icy crust to help understand the puzzling features we see on the surface. It may even see the interface at the bottom of the ice where an ocean is expected to begin.
At Saturn’s moon, Titan, penetrating radar could be used to measure the depths of the hydrocarbon lakes that the Cassini spacecraft has detected. It could also probe the structure beneath the enigmatic geysers that Cassini has observed on another one of Saturn’s satellites, Enceladus. “Radar sounders are very well suited to exploring icy worlds,” says Orosei.
But not just for icy moons. Asteroids and comets could be thoroughly scanned by a radar sounder, producing three-dimensional maps of their interior – perhaps exactly the data we will need if, one day, we have to nudge one out of Earth’s way.
MARSIS has served as an excellent example of international collaboration between Europe and America. Increasingly, such collaborations are set to become a positive feature of our joint exploration of space. ESA’s Mars Express radar sounder, MARSIS, has looked beneath the martian surface and opened up the third dimension for planetary explo... more -
Scientists discover signs of ancient life on Mars
For the first time, satellite imagery reveals thick Martian salt deposits scattered across the planet's southern surface, which one planetary scientist claims could be sites of ancient life.
The mats of sodium chloride — the same taste-enhancing mineral found on your kitchen table — serve as more evidence of Mars' watery past, and researchers think the briney pools that made them could have been hospitable to life.
For the first time, satellite imagery reveals thick Martian salt deposits scattered across the planet's southern surface, which one pl... more -
Sleeping robot in space
Following the start of their 16-day-mission, astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour have begun their work thousands of miles above our heads.
The space-explorers have paralysed a $200m (£100m) robot at the international space station and are now awaiting a software patch to be beamed up so they can fix it, if the patch or install fails, then the astronauts could be facing another spacewalk to mend the apparatus that is designed to help astronauts avoid difficult and dangerous spacewalks for repairs to the space station.
The astronauts had managed to piece the nine separate pieces of the robot, but were left stumped when the software didn't work. Following the start of their 16-day-mission, astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour have begun their work thousands of miles above ... more
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Space Exploration
