Softpedia News - Space

Why Titan's Lakes Are Asymmetrically Distributed

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:31:00 GMT

Astronomical investigations of Saturn's moon Titan have revealed over the past few years that the celestial body has numerous methane and ethane lakes adorning its surface. As more and more data sets on the lakes were made available through observations by the Cassini spacecraft and other instruments, researchers noted a peculiarity on the moon, namely the fact that its lakes were unevenly distributed across its northern and southern region. Now, experts at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) believe that they may have figured out why.

The team proposes that the distribution may have been caused by the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the Sun. The scientists argue that, when the same thing happens on Earth, the climate gets triggered into ice ages as well. The process has been dubbed “astronomical forcing.” The study group is led by expert Oded Aharonson, a Caltech associate professor of planetary science. The scientist is also the lead author of a new paper detailing the idea, which appears in the November 29 advance online edition of the respected journal Nature Geoscience.

According to data collected by Cassini's Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), the northern lakes on Titan cover more than 20 times the surface that lakes in the southern hemisph... (read more)

Japan Launches New Spy Satellite

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:33:00 GMT

The Japanese space agency JAXA launched on Saturday another advanced military satellite into the low-Earth orbit. The instrument was carried aboard an H-2A delivery system, which is of the same type used for the new H-2 Transfer Vehicles (HTV), which are capable of reaching the ISS. The new satellite is aimed at boosting the nation's already super-advanced capabilities in space, but it was launched without honors or media coverage, Space reports.

The launch took place at 0121 GMT on Saturday (8:21 pm EST Friday), as the delivery system carrying the advanced payload took off from the Yoshinobu complex. The facility is located on the Tanegashima Island, from where most of Japan's space launches take place. The H-2A rocket soared to the skies at 10:21 am local time, from the Launch Pad No.1 facility at the complex. Reports from the site qualified the mission as a success, quoting Japanese government officials.

The top secret Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) was inserted into its polar orbit more than 15 minutes after launch. This type of orbits is the most suitable for such observations and information gathering, and it is widely used by governments around the world. The H-2A rocket was propelled by two liquid hydrogen-powered stages. Additional thrust was provided by two solid fuel-burning boosters, which were r... (read more)

The ISS Did Not Change Course on Saturday

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:13:00 GMT

Experts at Mission Control in Houston said recently that the International Space Station (ISS) was not forced to deviate from its orbit on Saturday, as initially feared. Scientists tracking pieces of space debris around the station, as well as their chances of impacting the football field-sized laboratory, had determined previously that the pieces of space junk would pass very close to the orbital facility and its astronauts. Mission controllers were therefore ready to give the order to move the ISS out of its stable orbit.

Throughout Friday, experts in Houston kept an eye on the space junk, and eventually decided that the threat it posed was lower than previously established. The piece of space debris flew closest to the station and its crew on Saturday, at 6:05 pm EST (2305 GMT). According to the latest measurements, the object passed more than five and a half miles (or nine kilometers) away from the ISS, which in the end turned out to be about two times further away than the first observations proposed.

The trash came from a spent Delta 2 rocket, which was used to deliver the Wild 2 NASA mission to orbit more than ten years ago. The goal of that mission was to launch the Stardust sample-return component to the comet, study it, and then return grains of sand from its surface back to Earth. This was prove... (read more)

First Signs of Life Possibly Discovered on Mars Meteorite

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:46:00 GMT

A few years ago, a large controversy was set in motion in the international scientific community about the possible existence of fossilized life forms in a Martian meteorite that crash-landed in Antarctica. The piece of rock, known as ALH 84001, was then believed by some to contain certain proof that life existed on the Red Planet sometime in the past. Skeptics were naturally less than willing to accept that, and proposed that cross-contamination may have been responsible for the discovery. Just recently, results of a new set of analysis have demonstrated that a non-biological explanation for how the structures formed is unfeasible and impossible.

This of course means that only a biological explanation for the formation of the worm-like structures can be possible. The meteorite arrived on our planet more than 13,000 years ago, after floating through space for more than 16 million years. When it was originally studied, in 1996, the meteorite hinted that it may contain biological samples, but critics dismissed this claim, saying that a non-biological explanation could be found to explain them. In the recent investigation, a team of experts at the NASA Johnson Space Center, led by Chief Scientist for Astrobiology David S. McKay, looked at the rock again, using technology that was not available to science 13 ye... (read more)

Herschel Captures Spectrograph Data on VY Canis Major

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:35:00 GMT

Scientists handling the European Space Agency's (ESA) Herschel Space Observatory announce the release of observations performed on one of the largest stars ever known to science, VY Canis Major. The advanced instrument, which was launched in May aboard a modified Ariane 5 delivery system, alongside the Planck Observatory, was able to make out the star using two of its scientific payloads, the Photodetecting Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE).

ESA and the respective instrument teams say that the new data were obtained by the advanced space observatory earlier this year, as part of its performance verification phase. The main reason why they were carried out was to show that the instruments aboard the telescope were indeed as advanced as they were advertised be back on Earth. Herschel currently orbit Earth from the L2 Lagrangian point, more than 1.5 million kilometers away from the planet. From its position, it always blocks incoming sunlight or Earth and Moon reflections, which allow it to conduct amazing observations in the Universe.

The Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) was also assessed in the new trials, which come on the heels of previous tests. The latter offered mission controllers a measure of the advanced capabilities th... (read more)

Atlantis Lands Perfectly

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:04:00 GMT

Under picture-perfect weather, the space shuttle Atlantis landed on the Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Runway 33 at 09:44 am EST (1444 GMT), wrapping up the successful STS-129 assembly flight to the International Space Station (ISS). After 10 days and 19 hours into space and more than 4.4 million miles traveled around the planet, the shuttle and its seven-astronaut crew are currently safe at the Cape Canaveral, Florida facility. The flight marks the last time a station crew member is brought back to Earth aboard a space shuttle, as NASA plans to withdraw its space fleet in September 2010.

During the seven days the shuttle spent docked on the space station, it delivered more than 15 tons of supplies and scientific equipment to the laboratory. All the supplies were installed either inside or outside the facility. Two large containers featuring spare parts that the station needs to manage with until 2015-2016 have also been removed from the shuttle's cargo bay and attached to the outer hull of the station. The parts are too large to be carried on Russian Soyuz capsules, for example, and therefore can only be ferried on the US shuttles.

Three spacewalks were conducted in the week that Atlantis spent docked to the outpost. Two new antennas were added, and an oxygen tank was replaced. Several new scientific experiments were als... (read more)

China to Launch New Moon Orbiter in 2010

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:04:00 GMT

China, somewhat of a new player on the international space scene, apparently wants to make up for the time it lost in front of the United States, Europe, and Russia. Having successfully launched its first unmanned lunar probe in 2007, the country is currently aiming at a 2010 deadline for the launch of its second scientific device, which it hopes to have operational as early as possible. The first orbiter, named Chang’e-1, managed to transmit back the first pictures of the Moon's surface in January 2008.

The Chinese space agency also plans to send its first taikonaut to the surface of Earth's natural satellite by 2020 at the latest. The country has already demonstrated spacewalk capabilities, so now it’s just a matter of developing the necessary technology to construct the carrier spacecraft that would deliver its crew to the surface of the Moon. By 2050, the same basic plan shows, the country would like to have its own, permanent base on the satellite, from which to conduct experiments. The goal is highly ambitious, even with China's massive funds and interest in such explorations.

The goal also leaves analysts skeptical because the country only exhibited space capabilities in 2003, on October 15, when taikonaut Yang Liwei went to space aboard the Shenzhou-V spacecraft. Since then additional flights... (read more)

Atlantis Scheduled to Land Today

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:04:00 GMT

After separating from the International Space Station (ISS) early Wednesday, and spending Thanksgiving in space on Thursday, astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis are currently getting ready to return home. They are scheduled to touch down on Runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 9:44 am EST (1444 GMT). The seven crew members are already awake, NASA reports, after they were played the song “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue. Their wake up time was 1:28 am EST (0628 GMT).

Though it took off with only six astronauts aboard, the shuttle is currently heading home with seven. The extra passenger is former Expedition 20 and 21 ISS flight engineer, Nicole Stott, who has just completed her three-month stay aboard the orbital laboratory. She is currently scheduled to be the last ISS astronauts to return home on a space shuttle. The remaining five flights that the American space agency has planned for its space fleet will deal exclusively with assembling the station, which is currently 86 percent complete. By September 2010, when the shuttles are to be retired, the outpost needs to be 100 percent finished. Crew rotation will be ensured by the Russian space agency.

According to NASA, the weather is looking perfectly fine for a landing at the KSC, and chances of the sh... (read more)

Fermi Discovers Gamma-Ray Microquasar

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:21:00 GMT

The NASA-operated Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has taken a deeper look into a very peculiar binary system, known as Cyngus X-3. It has discovered, in premiere, unambiguous evidence that high-energy gamma-rays are being produced by the structure, something that no other observatory was able to say for certain until now. According to the earliest study results, the system most likely comprises a massive star of high burning temperatures with a weird object, which astronomers say that is either a black hole or a neutron star. Regardless of what it is, the companion was found to be emitting jets of matter into space at half the speed of light. The ejections are active in radio wavelengths.

The reason why such space structures are known as microquasars is because they resemble larger quasars and blazers, which are very distant galaxies believed to be powered by a supermassive black hole at their core. The latter two types of galaxies show the exact same characteristics as their micro cousins, except at larger scale. These traits include rapid changes in the overall brightness of the system, the presence of radio jets, as well as very powerful emissions across multiple wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Cyngus X-3 was first discovered in 1966. Even with the methods of the time, the structure made itself obvious by being... (read more)

Prometheus Wreaks Havoc in Saturn's F Ring

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:01:02 GMT

A recently released picture of the F Ring around Saturn shows it being obliterated on a certain portion by the passing of the tiny moon Prometheus through it. The image was snapped by the NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft on August 21. The probe, which has been orbiting the gas giant for many years, took advantage of its distant vantage point to image the interesting effects that the diminutive moon had on one of Saturn's most interesting rings. Its main trait is that it changes its appearance on a timescale of hours, which makes it the most active structure of this type in the solar system.

It is also the outermost discrete ring circling the gas giant, and, as such, it is heavily influenced by the two moons flanking it, Prometheus and Pandora. The ring itself is composed of a central line and a spiral strand waving around the former. The first moon has the most dramatic influence on the structure of the ring. As it moves within it, it tends to basically “steal” matter from it, carving channels into the small formation, which is only a few hundred kilometers wide. It was known before that the Prometheus had the power to create kinks and knots in the F Ring, but the extent of this influence was not accurately assessed until the new Cassini observations.

“The moon and the ring have eccentric, off... (read more)

Future Purposes for Ailing QuikSCAT Satellite Under Assessment

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:31:01 GMT

The ten-year-old QuikSCAT (Quick Scatterometer) NASA mission is considered by many at the American space agency and elsewhere as one of the most valuable national resources in orbit today. The satellite, whose goal was to provide up-to-date data on the direction and speed of winds over the planet's oceans, was originally designed to last for no more than five years. It was launched on June 19, 1999 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, aboard a Titan 23G delivery system, and entered the active scientific-operation stage shortly after. However, in recent months, age-related damages have prevented it from continuing its mission, experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announce.

“In recent months, the QuikSCAT project team has been monitoring a pattern of increasing friction in the bearings that allow the antenna to spin, leading to increased resistance and strain on the motor that turns QuikSCAT's rotating antenna. This degradation was fully expected, as the spin mechanism was designed to last about 5 years,” a press release on the JPL official news blog shows. The antenna stopped spinning altogether on Monday, November 23, after showing increased signs of trouble over the weekend. Unfortunately, the glitch was not minor, and the mechanisms could no longer spin the SCAT.

T... (read more)

New Magnetic Heat Shields Under Development

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:01:02 GMT

Arguably the most dangerous stage of a space flight is the reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. The process is so harsh that space agencies involved in the International Space Station (ISS) use it to destroy the resupply capsules completely. They are steered into the incorrect angle, and they burn up and disintegrate. The space shuttles and Soyuz capsules are the most advanced things we have in this regard. The NASA vehicle is protected by a large number of ceramic tiles, which offer as much protection as possible against the fierce temperatures that are generated by the spacecraft's impressive speed when it enters the atmosphere.

However, at this point, efforts are being conducted to produce a completely new generation of heat shields, one that does not rely on direct protection, but rather on deflecting the super-hot plasma that is formed beneath spacecraft as they pass through the upper atmosphere. A number of space agencies in European countries, together with EADS Astrium, and the German aerospace center, DLR (Deutschen Zentrums for Luft- und Raumfahrt), are currently working on an approach that makes use of superconducting magnets. The goal is to create such powerful magnetic fields, that the plasma around the ship would essentially not be allowed to touch its hull, PhysOrg reports.

The new technol... (read more)

Diagnostics Tests Find No Wheel Stall on Spirit

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:01:02 GMT

During the last set of drive commands uploaded to the Martian rover Spirit, engineers have encountered a problem in one of the rover's wheels, which jammed when the time came to spin. The entire drive attempt was therefore stopped by the robot's onboard computer, so as not to make its situation even worse than it was. As such, mission managers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which control the two components of the Martian Exploration Rovers (MER) program, decided to upload a set of diagnostic instructions on Tuesday, so as to assess the condition of the rover.

Their research found that the wheel that stalled during the Sol 2092 (Saturday, November 21) drive attempt, the right-rear one, was functioning according to specifications on November 24 (Sol 2095). The diagnostic showed that the wheel was free of obstructions, which made the engineers wonder what could have been that prevented it from moving during the full maneuvers. A number of other tests were conducted in addition to the one related to the wheel, including a rotor resistance one, an assessment of the rover's steering capabilities, and a small backward rotation of the right-rear wheel alone. A short, forward commanded motion was also uploaded.

The right-rear wheel is not the same wheel that stalled on Sol 1899 (May 6), the JPL ... (read more)

Opportunity Studies Mars' 'Marquette Island'

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:36:00 GMT

While its twin Spirit is currently struggling to get out of Troy, the sandy trap that has been keeping it hostage since late April, Opportunity is having a field day studying a rock known as Marquette Island. On Sol 2070 (Nov. 19), the explorations robot used its rock abrasion tool's wire brush to investigate the peculiar formation, in an attempt to get more insight into its composition. The announcement was made by scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in Pasadena, California.

Using the rover’s front hazard-avoidance camera, scientists collected this image of the rock, shortly after the abrasion tool completed its task, The targeted area, which is known as Peck Bay, is revealed in the small, circular and dark shape just below the end of Opportunity's robotic arm. The “Bay” only has a diameter of about 5 centimeters (2 inches), but experts hope that this will be enough to allow them a sneak peak into the rock internal composition. Finding it out is very important, because it may provide them with clues as to past climate changes on Mars, as well as details of the planet's wet past.

Astronomers jokingly say that Endeavor has to be driving down Meteorite Alley. Since 2005, it discovered five such structures, of wh... (read more)

Future Ideas for Space Travel

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:43:00 GMT

Everyone knows that space is big. The thing about calling the Universe massive and what not is that no one can get a clear image of precisely what type of distances we're talking about. The closest star to our location would take the equivalent of 50 million Earth-Moon journeys to get too, or roughly 4.2 light-years. Other stars are thousands, millions, and billions of light-years away, so you do the math. For instance, Voyager 1, traveling at about 17 kilometers per second – the fastest speed of a human-built space probe, would take 74,000 years to get to Proxima Centauri, our closest stellar neighbor. So, how do we go about shortening these awfully-long times?

The common sense answer is fly faster, much faster. In fact, experts say, we should develop the technology to fly at close to the speed of light before we even think about leaving the solar system. According to our understanding of basic physics, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, which is a constant. Other interpretation says otherwise but, for practical applications, this constant needs to be used. Proposals on how these massive speeds can be achieved include ships propelled by repeated hydrogen bomb explosions, or by vast, laser-powered reflective sails, or even by the annihilation of matter and antimatter. Naturally, we would have to develop an an... (read more)

Join ISS and Atlantis Crews for Thanksgiving in Space

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:39:00 GMT

Today, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) and the space shuttle Atlantis, both currently in space, will pause for a moment from their daily activities, to celebrate Thanksgiving in microgravity. Twelve crew members are in space at this time, seven on the shuttle, and five on the orbital laboratory, Space reports. The break comes as Atlantis is on track for a Friday touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida. On the station, NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams replaced ESA's Frank de Winne as the Commander of the current mission.

To honor the fact that the shuttle crew will spend this holiday in space, the American agency replaced the regular icon representing Atlantis on Mission Control's screens with one showing a turkey. The spacecraft has spent more than a week docked to the ISS, delivering 15 tons of cargo, from its cargo bay to both internal and external compartments on the international research lab. Three spacewalks were also performed in the meantime, during which astronauts installed two new antennas, an oxygen tanks, and also prepared neighboring compartments for the arrival of Node 3, nicknamed Tranquility, in February 2010.

The STS-129 flew to orbit carrying six astronauts as opposed to the usual seven, but returns home carrying a full load. Nicol... (read more)

Martian Crater Wall Reveal Signs of Former Active Processes

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:08:00 GMT

In a new image made available by scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, traces of active processes inside Martian craters can be clearly seen. The variety and complexity of these past events puzzle astronomers, which are not forced to revise existing knowledge of how the past of the Red Planet must have looked like. The group that analyzed the new photos says that the processes which left their scars on the crater walls occurred much later after the craters themselves were formed, most likely due to asteroid impacts.

The picture was snapped using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, aboard the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars for a long time and is mainly responsible for some of the largest advancements we made in our understanding of how our neighboring planet evolved. The orbiter is currently in a minimally-functioning state, known as the “safe mode,” as experts at JPL attempt to find ways of restoring its full scientific capacities. It suffered four computer glitches this year, of which one forced it to switch between its two computer systems, and mission controllers want to know the cause of the problem before allowing it to resume operations again.

“... (read more)

NASA Finds Definite Proof of Solar 'Tsunamis'

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:01:02 GMT

For many years, scientists have observed elusive formations on the surface of the Sun, but have attributed them to being mere optical illusions, caused by the constant motion of the star's atmosphere. Just recently, the twin STEREO spacecraft managed to demonstrate that this was, in fact, not the case, and that the structures actually existed. Dubbed “solar tsunamis,” they are in fact massive, incredibly powerful waves of hot plasma, which create ripples just like a pebble thrown in a pond does. With the new observations, their existence has been finally proven, Space reports.

Though it may seem weird at first, you understand why the experts couldn't believe their eyes when they learned of the impressive traits that these formations had. One of them was noticed to bulge out from the surface of the Sun, to a height roughly equal to our planet's diameter, and then extended outwards in a circular pattern for several millions of miles. The phenomenon generated what is best described as a wall of plasma, which traveled at very high speeds from its origin, accumulating strength as it went along. This is what happens in the Earth's oceans when tsunamis occur, hence the name.

Some skeptical scientists suggested that the so-called tsunamis were in fact just plays of light, which created the appearance of s... (read more)

Cluster Yields Hints to the Evolution of the Milky Way

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:21:00 GMT

Astronomers believe that, many years ago, when our galaxy was still in its infancy, it collided with a dwarf cousin, giving birth to a host of processes, including the development of a stellar cluster. As the Milky Way went on to grow to the impressive sizes it has today, the “fossilized” stellar cluster endured and continues to do so to this day. Now, it provides scientists with much-needed clues as to the origin and development of our galaxy and of the troubled times it faced before it became this enormous behemoth, Space reports.

The globular cluster goes by the name of Terzan 5 and is located in the central bulge that makes up the core of the Milky Way. This bulge can be noticed in images of our galaxy's flattened disk, as the protrusions that form above and below the galactic plane. The structure is nothing more than a large collection of stars, which are held together by interacting gravity forces. Such a formation can host up to 1 million stars, though smaller clusters, featuring only 10,000 such celestial bodies, have been observed. Until now, about 150 clusters have been discovered in the Milky Way. All of them are ancient, by cosmic standards.

Experts believe that each of the structures appeared at around the same time a massive cloud of gas and dust did. The widely-accepted i... (read more)

MRO Glitch Will Be Addressed with New Instructions

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:01:01 GMT

In a new set of actions destined to return the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to its full capabilities, experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are planning to upload a new set of commands to the ailing Martian probe. They argue that the glitch that prompted the orbiter's computer to reboot on August 26 left the spacecraft vulnerable to certain glitches. Mission controllers believe that the new lines of code will restore at least some of the original functions that the MRO instruments had before the mishap.

The August malfunction is not the only one that was recorded this year, the team says. The computers also shut down previously on February 23, June 3 and August 6, and, since the fourth time this happened, experts have been frantically trying to figure out the root cause. They also attempted to analyze the implications that the glitches had, or might have, on the ship's systems, and how these changes would affect its future operations. Since the second August incident, MRO has performed little science, as it was kept in “safe mode,” which means that only basic systems such as altitude control and propulsion were left online. Its instruments were not used during these months.

The JPL team discovered in its investigation that the main culprit that was responsible for the four... (read more)

Milky Way Gets New 3D Map

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:59:00 GMT

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is of the massive spiral variety, which means that it features two arms (four by some accounts) filled with stars. Measuring the distance to these stars is something that may seem simple at first, but which is actually very complicated, mostly because of the inherent uncertainties that existing models bring to the table. All that is about to change, as the first results of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are starting to be made available. For almost a decade, astronomers have been using the 2.5 meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory, in New Mexico, to scout the skies and create a new map of our galaxy, that would allow astronomers to study its formation and evolution.

According to Technology Review, the largest difficulty that we have is the fact that we cannot be certain that other stars are indeed as far from us as we think they are. Existing measuring methods have a high degree of accurate approximation, which means that the distance is correctly appreciated to some extent. But no expert can put his or her life on a bet that these are actually the correct distances. At this point, Hertzprung-Russel diagrams (also known as the color magnitude diagrams) are the most widely used in establishing where another star is located.

The method relies on calculating an object's position based on a tra... (read more)

Atlantis Undocks from the ISS, Heads Home

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:35:00 GMT

After more than a week tied to the International Space Station (ISS), the space shuttle Atlantis is finally heading home. The spacecraft undocked from the orbital facility at 4:53 am EST (0953 GMT), carrying seven crew members in stead of the six it took to orbit. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott is returning home, after completing her three-month stay aboard the international laboratory. The STS-129 assembly flight was a resounding success and the shuttle is currently on course for a Friday landing, Space reports.

According to a statement released on NASA's official website, the ISS is now about 86 percent complete, and weighs in at around 759,222 pounds. After the separation occurred, shuttle pilot grabbed the stick and is currently flying around the station, thus enabling his colleagues to snap high-resolution photos of the orbiting complex in all of its splendor. Another important addition to the station will be made in February 2010, when the American space agency will deliver the Node3 module to orbit.

During the current Atlantis flight, more than 15 tons of equipment were delivered, unloaded, and stored aboard the ISS or on its outer hull. During three very successful spacewalks, STS-129 astronauts installed new scientific experiments outside the station and also replaced some equipment that had depleted its ... (read more)

Early Black Holes May Have Formed Inside 'Cocoons'

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:35:00 GMT

Experts at the University of Colorado in Boulder (UCB) propose a new model for how the earliest black holes formed. They say that their research has led them to believe that what are now the behemoths of the skies, keeping entire galaxies in their place, originally developed inside dense, star-like cocoons, which prevented the gases around the infant structures from dissipating and favored their formation. The powerful X-ray radiations that black holes are familiar for may have also been quenched by the same formation process, which may have involved two stages.

Professor Mitchell Begelman – the chair of the UCB Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Department and the leader of the new study – argues that supermassive stars, which are generally considered to be the precursors of black holes, started forming in the early Universe within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. This is far earlier than the end of the Reionization Epoch, which is believed to have concluded about 1 billion years after our Universe exploded into being. Details of the idea are to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The expert also says that such a star would have grown inside the protective cocoon to unfathomable sizes, of tens of millions of tim... (read more)

Cassini Images Saturn's Auroras

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:32:00 GMT

Until not many years ago, astronomers believed that auroras only form on our planet, from the interaction of solar winds with Earth's magnetic lines. With the advent of modern telescope technology, it became possible to construct devices that proved this to be false. It was shown that most planets which have magnetic field lines and atmospheres can form these peculiar lights, which have puzzled and inspired so many here. Just recently, the Cassini spacecraft has sent back a new set of recordings of Saturn's auroras, which had been revealed before, but not in so much detail, Space reports.

In the gas giant's case, the formation mechanism for these shimmering lights is mostly the same as that seen here on our planet. The magnetic fields looming overhead interact with chemicals in the planet's atmosphere, forcing it to produce the auroras. While on Earth they occur closer to the ground, in our distant neighbor's case they usually form about 750 miles (1,200 km) above the surface. This sets Saturn on the first place in the top of highest ever auroras in the solar system, astronomers say.

“The auroras have put on a dazzling show, shape-shifting rapidly and exposing curtains that we suspected were there, but hadn't seen on Saturn before. Seeing these things on another planet helps us understand them a little better when ... (read more)

'Youngest' Brown Dwarf Discovered by Spitzer

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:01:02 GMT

The Spitzer Space Telescope is one of the most renowned and important telescopes that the American space agency NASA currently has in orbit. Although the stage of its mission in which it observed the sky at super-low temperatures is over, it is still very capable of performing competitive science. This was again demonstrated recently, when the instrument revealed the youngest, brown dwarf ever observed across the Universe. If the find is confirmed using other telescopes as well, then the find could contribute to clarify one long-standing mystery about how this class of objects forms.

When it comes to analyzing temperatures and masses, brown dwarfs are very difficult to study, mostly because they are placed somewhere between giant gas planets and small stars when it comes to these two factors. According to experts at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, the dwarfs are a lot lighter and cooler than normal stars, but a lot larger and warmer than gas giants. So, astronomers have asked themselves for a very long time which of the two classes of bodies results in the brown dwarfs. Pros and cons for both origins have been laid on the table and weighed, but the new investigation could easily put an end to the scientific debate.

“We decided to go several steps back in the process ... (read more)

Website Allows People to Analyze 'Galactic Cannibalism'

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:01:02 GMT

One of the biggest unanswered questions regarding the Universe today is why there are two types of galaxies, one that has trailing spiral arms, such as our own Milky Way, and one that looks more like a compact ball of stars, known as a barrel galaxy. Astronomers have struggled with this question for a long time, and now they have finally decided to enlist the help of the general public on the issue. Researchers at the George Mason University and Oxford University have recently developed a new site, which allows amateur scientists to view millions of pictures of galactic mergers, or collisions.

The new site is called Galaxy Zoo Mergers and it just went online yesterday. It is played like a “cosmic slot machine,” in which citizen scientists compare images of galactic cannibalism with millions of other simulated pictures of mergers, designed by computer models. Basically, what the new website does is allow its users to do computer modeling of galaxies to determine how a collision happened. The GZM is a spinoff from an earlier international project, called Galaxy Zoo, which allowed everyone to help categorize the known galaxies of our Universe with just a few clicks.

“Visitors to the Galaxy Zoo Mergers site use what's rather like a giant slot machine, with a real image of a galacti... (read more)

New Solar Telescope Launches this Winter

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:22:00 GMT

In spite of being right under our noses, the Sun is still very little understood. While its physical and chemical traits have been established some time ago, there is still confusion about the underlying mechanisms that trigger the formation of events such as solar storms. Predicting them is of vital importance for our safety. As such, engineers at the American space agency NASA will launch a new telescope this winter, called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), Space reports.

The field of solar dynamics is very complex one, especially because it carries so much importance. Very large solar storms can penetrate the magnetosphere – our planet's protective shield – and wreak havoc among electrical grids. But, most importantly, they can “fry” satellites in orbit, bringing down communications networks and strategic capabilities for a large number of countries. Additionally, there is currently a permanent, six-member crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which will basically be doomed if they are in the way of such a massive solar storm.

It will be the SDO's job to ensure that the intricate workings of the Sun's magnetic fields are revealed. It is scheduled to spend more than 5 years studying the stars, hopefully sufficient time to figure out the mechanisms that govern the 11-ye... (read more)

Wheel Stall Stopped Spirit's Second Drive

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:08:00 GMT

On Sol 2092 (Saturday, November 21), the Spirit rover received a new set of commands to drive, as experts were trying to move ahead with the plan of extricating it from its trap. The robot drove into a patch of loose soil called Troy in late April, and the powder-like dust did not allow for it to move since. Only recently have engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manage the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission, decided to attempt and drive the machine out of its predicament.

The first drive attempt ended prematurely, just seconds after it was initiated. The fault was owed to the fact that the mission planner had set the rover's tilt limits too tight. As soon as the wheels began spinning, the robot exceeded its maximum allowed tilt, and the onboard computer stopped the drive. JPL engineers then spent the next days assessing Spirit's situation, until finally coming to a conclusion about how to proceed next. The initial plans called for the robot to be driven back on its tracks, until it reached harder soil again.

The second drive attempt took place a couple of days later, with revised tilt limits. The machine budged by only an inch, or about 1.2 centimeters, forward and 7 millimeters to the left. The movement also sank the rover into Troy by about 4 millimeters. The second command that w... (read more)

Last Day on the ISS for the Atlantis Crew

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:25:00 GMT

Throughout today, the 12 astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), featuring both members of the orbital outpost and the docked space shuttle Atlantis, will conduct the last maintenance work on the facility. This is the last day the two crews will spend together, as Atlantis is scheduled to undock tomorrow and head back home. After having successfully completed three spacewalks, the astronauts can finally have a moment to themselves before parting ways, Space reports.

After the shuttle departs, there will be only five permanent crew members left on the ISS. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott will hitch a ride with her colleagues back to Earth, marking the last scheduled time when an ISS astronaut is brought back home on the shuttles. From now on, the aging spacecrafts will only be used as workhorses, delivering and replacing the massive parts that make up the station or delivering new modules. One such example is Node 3, which was recently handed over to the American space agency and is scheduled to fly to the station in February 2010.

During the current flight, the shuttle delivered more than 15 tons of supplies to the station, which have mostly been unloaded. However, some of them are still on the spacecraft and astronauts will work throughout today to secure them on the station. The crews will part ... (read more)

New Alien-Searching Code Created

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:06:00 GMT

Over the years, numerous initiatives that sought to find alien civilizations have appeared around the world. These groups benefit from powerful telescopes and transmitters and constantly broadcast messages that contain our location into deep-space. But for a while, some voices have been arguing that the codes sent into the vastness are too complex for alien civilizations to decipher and that they should be made simpler. This is exactly what a team of researchers did. They argue that any potential alien with a bit of mathematical training and knowledge of astronomy can crack it, Wired reports.

The new code was designed by geoscientist Michael Busch, from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and colleague Rachel Reddick, a physicist based at the Stanford University. The duo published the new study in the Friday online issue of the scientific journal arXiv. In the entry, the two wrote that very little attention has been paid in the past to “ensuring that a transmitted message will be understandable to an alien listener.” They argue that neither the 1974 Arecibo message, nor the 1993/2003 Cosmic Calls were properly tested for sense before they were beamed away.

This is one of the main reasons why the team decided to take the task of developing a brand new code all by itself. The algorithms themselve... (read more)