Simulated Mars trip planned to find best meals on the red planet. It’s almost like a picnic! Life may exist in some form on Mars. Well-stocked supermarkets don’t. So if astronauts someday head there in what’s estimated would be a three-year mission — roughly six months travel each way, plus two years on the planet — what they’d take to eat would be among the concerns. To figure the cheapest and easiest ways to give astronauts well-rounded meals that they wouldn’t eventually tire of, a group of Cornell University andUniversity of Hawaii-Manoa researchers are looking for a half-dozen volunteers to spend four months next year living in a simulated Mars base on a Hawaii lava flow. The volunteers will live essentially like astronauts, Hunter says. They’ll dress in simulated spacesuits — hazardous material suits instead of heavier and more cumbersome spacesuits. They’ll take a mix of the prepared foods NASA astronauts eat today and some shelf-stable foods, such as flour, sugar and freeze-dried meats, for making their own meals. NASA currently has no plans for a Mars mission, though it’s developing a rocket for deep-space distances, such as the moon or Mars, spokesman J.D. Harrington says. It also has a research projects underway that look at other issues related to long spaceflights, such as radiation exposure and eyesight problems astronauts often develop, he says. The site of the study hasn’t been determined, though there are a number of locations in Hawaii that are “quite Mars-like in various ways,” says Kim Binstead, co-investigator at the University of Hawaii-NASA Astrobiology Institute. “We need a site that is very low on vegetation, visually isolated, visually Mars-like and very stark.” Volunteers, Hunter says, should be mostly scientists or engineers and “people who are congenial or easygoing, without a whole lot of prickles — people who are interested in food, who know how to cook. And people who are healthy.” Those chosen will go to Cornell this summer to train to prepare meals with the given supplies, Hunter says. There’ll be a two-week dry run before the four-month experiment “to make sure everyone gets along and the equipment works,” she says. The deadline for applying is Feb. 29. To apply, go to manoa.hawaii.edu/hi-seas. Researchers say they’ll make their choices by the end of May. (Article Via) (Image Via)
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Simulated Mars trip planned to find best meals on the red planet. It’s almost like a picnic!

Life may exist in some form on Mars. Well-stocked supermarkets don’t.

So if astronauts someday head there in what’s estimated would be a three-year mission — roughly six months travel each way, plus two years on the planet — what they’d take to eat would be among the concerns.

To figure the cheapest and easiest ways to give astronauts well-rounded meals that they wouldn’t eventually tire of, a group of Cornell University andUniversity of Hawaii-Manoa researchers are looking for a half-dozen volunteers to spend four months next year living in a simulated Mars base on a Hawaii lava flow.

The volunteers will live essentially like astronauts, Hunter says. They’ll dress in simulated spacesuits — hazardous material suits instead of heavier and more cumbersome spacesuits. They’ll take a mix of the prepared foods NASA astronauts eat today and some shelf-stable foods, such as flour, sugar and freeze-dried meats, for making their own meals.

NASA currently has no plans for a Mars mission, though it’s developing a rocket for deep-space distances, such as the moon or Mars, spokesman J.D. Harrington says. It also has a research projects underway that look at other issues related to long spaceflights, such as radiation exposure and eyesight problems astronauts often develop, he says.

The site of the study hasn’t been determined, though there are a number of locations in Hawaii that are “quite Mars-like in various ways,” says Kim Binstead, co-investigator at the University of Hawaii-NASA Astrobiology Institute. “We need a site that is very low on vegetation, visually isolated, visually Mars-like and very stark.”

Volunteers, Hunter says, should be mostly scientists or engineers and “people who are congenial or easygoing, without a whole lot of prickles — people who are interested in food, who know how to cook. And people who are healthy.”

Those chosen will go to Cornell this summer to train to prepare meals with the given supplies, Hunter says. There’ll be a two-week dry run before the four-month experiment “to make sure everyone gets along and the equipment works,” she says.

The deadline for applying is Feb. 29. To apply, go to manoa.hawaii.edu/hi-seas. Researchers say they’ll make their choices by the end of May.

(Article Via)

(Image Via)

Source: USA Today

First human-robot handshake… in space To my knowledge, in the history of human/robot relations, there has never been a time when humans shook hands with robots in space. Until yesterday, anyway. That’s because NASA’s Robonaut completed its systems checks aboard the International Space Station, which culminated in a handshake with Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank. The robot, which has been slowly assembled over the past year on the ISS, has now completed its systems checks. In addition to the handshake, it also said, using American sign language, “Hello World.” “For the record, it was a firm handshake,” Burbank said to NASA. “Very nice. Nice job on the programming and all the engineering. Quite an impressive robot.” The Robonaut is designed to perform maintenance tasks aboard the space station to free up the Astronauts for more important research tasks. You can follow Robonaut on Twitter here. (Article Via)
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First human-robot handshake… in space

To my knowledge, in the history of human/robot relations, there has never been a time when humans shook hands with robots in space.

Until yesterday, anyway.

That’s because NASA’s Robonaut completed its systems checks aboard the International Space Station, which culminated in a handshake with Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank. The robot, which has been slowly assembled over the past year on the ISS, has now completed its systems checks. In addition to the handshake, it also said, using American sign language, “Hello World.”

“For the record, it was a firm handshake,” Burbank said to NASA. “Very nice. Nice job on the programming and all the engineering. Quite an impressive robot.”

The Robonaut is designed to perform maintenance tasks aboard the space station to free up the Astronauts for more important research tasks. You can follow Robonaut on Twitter here.

(Article Via)

Source: forbes.com

Astronaut wannabes respond by the thousands

Sign me up for the next launch as well.

Source: chron.com

Orion Test - 2014 The milestone is the maiden test flight of its Orion spacecraft, a launch that has come into sharper relief in the three months since NASA and manufacturer Lockheed Martin announced it. As planned, an unmanned Orion capsule will begin its journey at Cape Canaveral and take two loops around Earth before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. What’s now clear is that the capsule will be sent far beyond the lower Earth orbit of the International Space Station. At its peak, Orion’s orbit is expected to extend nearly 3,700 miles from Earth - the farthest a NASA spacecraft built for humans has gone since the early 1970s. That distance is “significantly higher than human spaceflight has gone since Apollo,” said Larry Price, Orion deputy program manager at Lockheed Martin. “The reason for that is so we can get a high-energy entry so we can stress the heat shield.” The test will determine whether Orion can survive the re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere - where temperatures are expected to reach 4,000 degrees - in preparation for a human flight in 2021. NASA hopes that Orion eventually can carry astronauts back to the moon or to nearby asteroids. Besides the heat shield, the practice flight is designed to test 10 systems whose failure could be disastrous, including the capsule’s flight software and parachutes. Like its Apollo-era predecessors, the four-person Orion capsuleis designed to land in water. “The beauty about flying in 2014 is that we can learn early [if there are problems], so if we find something we really got to fix we’ve got time before we fly people,” said Mark Geyer, head of the Orion program at NASA. Read More (Image Via)
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Orion Test - 2014

The milestone is the maiden test flight of its , a  that has come into sharper relief in the three months since NASA and manufacturer Lockheed Martin announced it.

As planned, an unmanned Orion capsule will begin its journey at  and take two loops around Earth before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. What’s now clear is that the capsule will be sent far beyond the lower  of the .

At its peak, Orion’s orbit is expected to extend nearly 3,700 miles from Earth - the farthest a  built for humans has gone since the early 1970s.

That distance is “significantly higher than human spaceflight has gone since Apollo,” said Larry Price, Orion deputy program manager at Lockheed Martin. “The reason for that is so we can get a high-energy entry so we can stress the .”

The test will determine whether Orion can survive the re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere - where temperatures are expected to reach 4,000 degrees - in preparation for a human flight in 2021. NASA hopes that Orion eventually can carry astronauts back to the moon or to nearby asteroids.

Besides the heat shield, the practice flight is designed to test 10 systems whose failure could be disastrous, including the capsule’s flight software and parachutes. Like its Apollo-era predecessors, the four-person is designed to land in water.

“The beauty about flying in 2014 is that we can learn early [if there are problems], so if we find something we really got to fix we’ve got time before we fly people,” said Mark Geyer, head of the Orion program at NASA.

Read More

(Image Via)

Source: physorg.com

NASA Releases Amazing 64-MP 8000x8000 Photo of Earth NASA has released a breath-taking high-definition image of our fair planet from space. The 64-megapixel image was captured by the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA’s most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. According to NASA, the image is a a composite that uses a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012. (Via Tomsguide)
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NASA Releases Amazing 64-MP 8000x8000 Photo of Earth

NASA has released a breath-taking high-definition image of our fair planet from space. The 64-megapixel image was captured by the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA’s most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. According to NASA, the image is a a composite that uses a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012.

(Via Tomsguide)

Source: tomsguide.com

Opportunity, 8 years on Mars The Opportunity rover landed on the Red Planet at 9:05 p.m. PST Jan. 24, 2004 (12:05 a.m. EST Jan. 25), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. While NASA declared Spirit dead last year, Opportunity continues to gather data in its dotage, helping scientists understand more and more about Mars’ wetter, warmer past. “It is amazing. I have to remind myself — my God, this thing is still going!” said John Callas, Opportunity’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “But more importantly, it is still very productive on the surface.” History of Opportunity and Spirit 
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Opportunity, 8 years on Mars

The Opportunity rover landed on the Red Planet at 9:05 p.m. PST Jan. 24, 2004 (12:05 a.m. EST Jan. 25), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. While NASA declared Spirit dead last year, Opportunity continues to gather data in its dotage, helping scientists understand more and more about Mars’ wetter, warmer past.

“It is amazing. I have to remind myself — my God, this thing is still going!” said John Callas, Opportunity’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “But more importantly, it is still very productive on the surface.”

History of Opportunity and Spirit 

Source: space.com

NASA | Biggest Solar Storm Since 2005

The sun erupted late on January 22, 2012 with an M8.7 class flare, an earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), and a burst of fast moving, highly energetic protons known as a “solar energetic particle” event. The latter has caused the strongest solar radiation storm since September 2005 according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

NASA’s Goddard Space Weather Center’s models predict that the CME is moving at almost 1,400 miles per second, and could reach Earth’s magnetosphere — the magnetic envelope that surrounds Earth — as early as tomorrow, Jan 24 at 9 AM ET (plus or minus 7 hours). This has the potential to provide good auroral displays, possibly at lower latitudes than normal.

(Via NASA Goddard)

Source: youtube.com

Aurora Australis Observed from the International Space Station Among the views of Earth afforded astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), surely one of the most spectacular is of the aurora. These ever-shifting displays of colored ribbons, curtains, rays, and spots are most visible near the North (aurora borealis) and South (aurora australis) Poles as charged particles (ions) streaming from the Sun (the solar wind) interact with Earth’s magnetic field. While aurora are generally only visible close to the poles, severe magnetic storms impacting the Earth’s magnetic field can shift them towards the equator. This striking aurora image was taken during a geomagnetic storm that was most likely caused by a coronal mass ejection from the Sun on May 24, 2010. The ISS was located over the Southern Indian Ocean at an altitude of 350 kilometers (220 miles), with the astronaut observer most likely looking towards Antarctica (not visible) and the South Pole. The aurora has a sinuous ribbon shape that separates into discrete spots near the lower right corner of the image. While the dominant coloration of the aurora is green, there are faint suggestions of red left of image center. Dense cloud cover is dimly visible below the aurora. The curvature of the Earth’s horizon (the limb) is clearly visible, as is the faint blue line of the upper atmosphere directly above it (at image top center). Several stars appear as bright pinpoints against the blackness of space at image top right. Auroras happen when ions in the solar wind collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. The atoms are excited by these collisions, and they typically emit light as they return to their original energy level. The light creates the aurora that we see. The most commonly observed color of aurora is green, caused by light emitted by excited oxygen atoms at wavelengths centered at 0.558 micrometers, or millionths of a meter. (Visible light is reflected from healthy (green) plant leaves at approximately the same wavelength.) Red aurora are generated by light emitted at a longer wavelength (0.630 micrometers), and other colors such as blue and purple are also sometimes observed.  (Via Nasa Earth Observatory)
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Aurora Australis Observed from the International Space Station

Among the views of Earth afforded astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), surely one of the most spectacular is of the aurora. These ever-shifting displays of colored ribbons, curtains, rays, and spots are most visible near the North (aurora borealis) and South (aurora australis) Poles as charged particles (ions) streaming from the Sun (the solar wind) interact with Earth’s magnetic field.

While aurora are generally only visible close to the poles, severe magnetic storms impacting the Earth’s magnetic field can shift them towards the equator. This striking aurora image was taken during a geomagnetic storm that was most likely caused by a coronal mass ejection from the Sun on May 24, 2010. The ISS was located over the Southern Indian Ocean at an altitude of 350 kilometers (220 miles), with the astronaut observer most likely looking towards Antarctica (not visible) and the South Pole.

The aurora has a sinuous ribbon shape that separates into discrete spots near the lower right corner of the image. While the dominant coloration of the aurora is green, there are faint suggestions of red left of image center. Dense cloud cover is dimly visible below the aurora. The curvature of the Earth’s horizon (the limb) is clearly visible, as is the faint blue line of the upper atmosphere directly above it (at image top center). Several stars appear as bright pinpoints against the blackness of space at image top right.

Auroras happen when ions in the solar wind collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. The atoms are excited by these collisions, and they typically emit light as they return to their original energy level. The light creates the aurora that we see. The most commonly observed color of aurora is green, caused by light emitted by excited oxygen atoms at wavelengths centered at 0.558 micrometers, or millionths of a meter. (Visible light is reflected from healthy (green) plant leaves at approximately the same wavelength.) Red aurora are generated by light emitted at a longer wavelength (0.630 micrometers), and other colors such as blue and purple are also sometimes observed.

 (Via Nasa Earth Observatory)

Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Photograph of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft (Via Nasa APOD)
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Photograph of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft

(Via Nasa APOD)

Source: apod.nasa.gov

Sunset on Mars On May 19, 2005, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover’s 489th Martian day, or sol. Hopefully we’ll be viewing such sunsets with our own eyes soon. Looking forward to that day. (Via Nasa)
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Sunset on Mars

On May 19, 2005, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover’s 489th Martian day, or sol.

Hopefully we’ll be viewing such sunsets with our own eyes soon. Looking forward to that day.

(Via Nasa)

Source: nasa.gov

NASA tests parachutes Last month NASA tested the parachutes on it’s new Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. A C-130 aircraft dropped a mockup of the design during the test and the parachutes were said to have done well in a failure scenario.  Orbital test flights will commence in 2014 even though the actual launching platform for Orion, called the Space Launch Systems (SLS), won’t be ready until 2017. Deep Space flights with the Orion-SLS combo are predicted to occur in 2021. (Via Space.com) But what really comes out at me is that the name of the vehicle reminds me of a different type of vehicle proposed by NASA for deep space missions in the late 1950’s. The original Project Orion proposed a deep space vehicle powered by nuclear explosions.  Small nuclear ordinances would be tossed out the back end of the spacecraft, and the resulting explosion would produce a wave of expanding plasma which would impact a “pusher” plate at the rear of the spacecraft, propelling Project Orion forward. Noteworthy facts about Project Orion: A single Project Orion mission would have been sufficient to establish a large permanent moon base.  Project Orion aimed for a manned mission to Mars by 1965 Project Orion aimed for a manned mission to Saturn by 1970 A ship powered by the Orion drive could have travelled to Pluto and back to Earth in less than a year.  The spacecraft envisaged for Project Orion were single-stage and entirely reusable. Unlike Saturn V, the Space Shuttle, Ares, etc., there are no discardable fuel tanks or booster rockets. In Project Orion, the entire craft would travel to its destination, regardless of whether that is Earth orbit, the moon, Mars or Saturn.  Project Orion plans were developed for craft varying in size from 300 tons (the smallest version) to 8,000,000 tons (the size of a small city). By comparison, the Shuttle orbiter has a mass of approximately 110 tons and can carry about 30 tons of payload into low Earth orbit, and the Saturn V could launch about 120 tons in low Earth orbit or 50 tons into lunar orbit.  Including development and all other costs, Project Orion was estimated to be at least 20 times cheaper per pound, than any chemical rocket, at putting payload into low Earth orbit… and vastly cheaper for more distant destinations.  The scientists working on Project Orion didn’t just plan to send a few highly trained astronauts on space missions; they intended to go themselves to Saturn, in many cases taking their wives and children with them! (Via Project Orion) (Via Oriondrive.com)
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NASA tests parachutes

Last month NASA tested the parachutes on it’s new Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. A C-130 aircraft dropped a mockup of the design during the test and the parachutes were said to have done well in a failure scenario. 

Orbital test flights will commence in 2014 even though the actual launching platform for Orion, called the Space Launch Systems (SLS), won’t be ready until 2017.

Deep Space flights with the Orion-SLS combo are predicted to occur in 2021.

(Via Space.com)

But what really comes out at me is that the name of the vehicle reminds me of a different type of vehicle proposed by NASA for deep space missions in the late 1950’s. The original Project Orion proposed a deep space vehicle powered by nuclear explosions. 

Small nuclear ordinances would be tossed out the back end of the spacecraft, and the resulting explosion would produce a wave of expanding plasma which would impact a “pusher” plate at the rear of the spacecraft, propelling Project Orion forward.

Noteworthy facts about Project Orion:

  • A single Project Orion mission would have been sufficient to establish a large permanent moon base. 

  • Project Orion aimed for a manned mission to Mars by 1965

  • Project Orion aimed for a manned mission to Saturn by 1970

  • A ship powered by the Orion drive could have travelled to Pluto and back to Earth in less than a year. 

  • The spacecraft envisaged for Project Orion were single-stage and entirely reusable. Unlike Saturn V, the Space Shuttle, Ares, etc., there are no discardable fuel tanks or booster rockets. In Project Orion, the entire craft would travel to its destination, regardless of whether that is Earth orbit, the moon, Mars or Saturn. 

  • Project Orion plans were developed for craft varying in size from 300 tons (the smallest version) to 8,000,000 tons (the size of a small city). By comparison, the Shuttle orbiter has a mass of approximately 110 tons and can carry about 30 tons of payload into low Earth orbit, and the Saturn V could launch about 120 tons in low Earth orbit or 50 tons into lunar orbit. 

  • Including development and all other costs, Project Orion was estimated to be at least 20 times cheaper per pound, than any chemical rocket, at putting payload into low Earth orbit… and vastly cheaper for more distant destinations. 

  • The scientists working on Project Orion didn’t just plan to send a few highly trained astronauts on space missions; they intended to go themselves to Saturn, in many cases taking their wives and children with them!

(Via Project Orion)

(Via Oriondrive.com)

Source: space.com

Biggest Scientific Breakthroughs (and one fluke) of 2011 The world’s lowest density material With bubbles like aerogels but even lighter, so light they can be placed upon the heads of dandelions without doing harm. The density of the material is less than one milligram per cubic centimeter (that’s about 1000 times less dense than water) and the cause behind that is the material’s lattice like structural organization. “Feeling” objects with a brain implant It could be the first step towards truly immersive virtual reality, one where you can actually feel the computer-generated world around you. An international team of neuroengineers has developed a brain-machine interface that’s bi-directional — that means you could soon use a brain implant not only to control a virtual hand, but to receive feedback that tricks your brain into “feeling” the texture of a virtual object. Already demonstrated successfully in primates, the interface could soon allow humans to use next-generation prosthetic limbs (or even robotic exoskeletons) to actually feel objects in the real world. Faster-than-light Neutrinos By now, the neutrinos that were supposedly caught breaking the cosmic speed limit in Gran Sasso, Italy need no introduction. Scientists the world over continue to offer up critiques on the OPERA collaborative’s puzzling results, especially in light of the team’s most recent findings — acquired froma second, fine-tuned version of the original experiment — which reveal that their FTL observations still stand. Of course, the most rigorous, telling, and important tests will come in the form of cross-checks performed by independent research teams, the results of which will not be available until next year at the earliest. Though I’m pretty sure they already debunked FTL neutrinos when they confirmed an error in the satellites used to track them. For the rest, Here
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Biggest Scientific Breakthroughs (and one fluke) of 2011


The world’s lowest density material

With bubbles like aerogels but even lighter, so light they can be placed upon the heads of dandelions without doing harm. The density of the material is less than one milligram per cubic centimeter (that’s about 1000 times less dense than water) and the cause behind that is the material’s lattice like structural organization.

“Feeling” objects with a brain implant

It could be the first step towards truly immersive virtual reality, one where you can actually feel the computer-generated world around you. An international team of neuroengineers has developed a brain-machine interface that’s bi-directional — that means you could soon use a brain implant not only to control a virtual hand, but to receive feedback that tricks your brain into “feeling” the texture of a virtual object.

Already demonstrated successfully in primates, the interface could soon allow humans to use next-generation prosthetic limbs (or even robotic exoskeletons) to actually feel objects in the real world.

Faster-than-light Neutrinos

By now, the neutrinos that were supposedly caught breaking the cosmic speed limit in Gran Sasso, Italy need no introduction. Scientists the world over continue to offer up critiques on the OPERA collaborative’s puzzling results, especially in light of the team’s most recent findings — acquired froma second, fine-tuned version of the original experiment — which reveal that their FTL observations still stand.

Of course, the most rigorous, telling, and important tests will come in the form of cross-checks performed by independent research teams, the results of which will not be available until next year at the earliest. Though I’m pretty sure they already debunked FTL neutrinos when they confirmed an error in the satellites used to track them.

For the rest, Here

Source: io9.com

itsfullofstars: @nasagoddard on Instagram
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itsfullofstars:

@nasagoddard on Instagram

Source: web.stagram.com

Meteor Shower

School tomorrow? I believe this meteor shower is more interesting. Going to stay up, get a warm blanket and watch from a field nearby my house. Everyone should check it out as well. Peak time is 2am ECT, 3am where i live though which is in 40ish minutes.

If it’s too cold, you can still check it out from here.

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