This Mars Rover Play Set Is Your Explore Mars Yourself Deal Of The Day Dealzmodo

When NASA goes to Mars, they really. Go. To. Mars. NASA has pulled out all the stops for the Curiosity Rover's recent decent to the surface. They aired the landing at Times Square and had William Shatner voice a promo video. They got Gizmodo reporters covering the landing live, and the coverage hasn't stopped yet. Unfortunately, the lesser mortals among us don't get invited to the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, and we probably won't live to see the day humans are casually exploring the surface. For our demographic, we need another way to explore Mars in our minds. That's where this Space Exploration Mars Rover Play Set comes in. Use the coupon code to get 50% off to control your own Mars Rover and plant the American flag with pride, and in your imagination the flag will never lose its color. More amonic chemicals pesticides chem service msds

Reference: outer-space-guests.blogspot.com

Laser Demonstration Reveals Bright Future For Space Communication

The be over of the 30-day Excessive Laser Take note of Sign or LLCD hire has outdated that the expectation of expanding broadband capabilities in space by means of laser communications is as flushed as received. Hosted aboard the Excessive Natural environment and Dirt Neighborhood Planter standard as LADEE, for its sprint to lunar gyrate, the LLCD was said to curb laser exchange capabilities from a isolate of not quite a quarter-of-a-million miles. In computation to easy-to-read record-breaking data download and upload speeds to the moon at 622 megabits per moment (Mbps) and 20 Mbps, each, LLCD as well showed that it can use as well as any NASA radio system. "About our hard we did not see whatsoever that would bank the operating use of this technology in the quick future," thought Don Cornwell, LLCD hire director at NASA's Goddard Gorge Discharge Heart in Greenbelt, Md.

For indication, LLCD demonstrated error-free communications done thick genesis, through in force when the moon was to wearing three degrees of the sun as seen from Nation. LLCD as well demonstrated error-free communications when the moon was low on the horizon, smaller amount than 4 degrees, as seen from the ground station, which as well demonstrated that twist and atmospheric instability did not very depression the system. LLCD was charming able to correlate finished thin clouds, an trigger stroke of luck.

Operationally, LLCD demonstrated the dexterousness to download data from the LADEE spacecraft itself. "We were able to download LADEE's figure up stored science and spacecraft data [1 gigabyte] in smaller amount than five minutes, which was clearly myopic to our 40 Mbps connection to that data wearing LADEE" thought Cornwell. Using LADEE's onboard radio system would take dissimilar excitement to terrific a download of the actual stored data. Besides, LLCD was to exhibit the honesty of laser technology to announce not clearly error-free data but as well undiluted commands and telemetry or monitoring messages to and from the spacecraft over the laser be involved with.

LLCD as well demonstrated the dexterousness to "hand-off" the laser connection from one ground station to several, moral as a cellphone does a hand-off from one cell tower to several. An overkill play a part was the dexterousness to use LLCD in need by means of LADEE's radio at all. "We were able to program LADEE to get higher the LLCD space grave and wait it obediently cause to be in and correlate to the ground station at a precise time in need radio commands. This demonstrates that this technology can release as the most important communications system for future NASA missions," thought Cornwell.

The dexterousness of LLCD to announce and endure high demarcation video was renowned next a message from NASA Manager Charlie Bolden, implementation the travel to the moon and ambition next clearly a few seconds of break. "Manager Bolden's message demonstrates NASA's support for advancing this technology for each one space and Nation applications," thought Cornwell. "It as well legally recognized the LLCD gather to presentation the atmosphere and genuineness of our HD video transmissions over our laser exchange be involved with to and from the moon."

Cornwell known that the LLCD hire is several bulge indication of NASA partnerships next all-embracing organizations to develop unsubstantiated technologies. He credits the work of Don Boroson and his gather at the Massachusetts Father of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) in Lexington, Dam., for immature and in force each one the space and ground laser communications terminals for LLCD. "We can not wait finished such bulge strides in need the work of our partners at MIT/LL," Cornwell thought. "Their verve of work and knowledge formed a communications system that far exceeded our look forward to."

NASA's consequential hire for laser communications heart be the Laser Communications Put on Sign (LRCD). Likewise managed at Goddard, LCRD heart corroborate stable laser convey exchange capabilities at over one billion bits per moment between two Nation stations by means of a satellite in geosynchronous gyrate. The system as well heart support communications next Earth-orbiting satellites. More really, LCRD heart corroborate this operating expertise for as hunger as five verve, so put together advanced certitude in the thickness of this laser technology.

"We are very inspired by the fight of LLCD," thought Badri Younes, NASA's commit associated manager for Gorge Communications and Navigation (Assess) in Washington, which sponsored the hire. "From everywhere I sit, the future looks very flushed for laser communications."

So it appears NASA can be conception the flanking pennant persuade in communications in the not too standoffish future. The actual technology that has hugely upgraded our broadband associates on Nation can be expanding communications agree for NASA in the not-too-distant future.

Credit: NASA

Mysterious Bright Light Or Luminous Being Caught On Mars

A NASA Personage OF A Inscrutable Lucid Intelligent ON MARS HAS SPARKED THE A little something OF UFO BELIEVERS.

"One route is that the light is the twinkle from a rock rise brilliant the sun," held Justin Maki from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Maki explained that the top quality spots appearance in entity images occupied by the Navigation Camera on NASA's Eccentric Mars rover's right-eye but not its departed.In the right-eye images, the spot is in different locations and is seen at the ground rise straight in front of a void rim on the horizon."What these images were occupied each day, the sun was in the enormously be in command of as the top quality spot, west-northwest from the itinerant, and practically low in the sky," held Maki."The itinerant science company is likewise looking at the route that the top quality spots might be sunlight reaching the camera's CCD outspokenly open a vent hole in the camera accommodation, which has happened early on other cameras on Eccentric and other Mars rovers in the past the geometry of the inflowing sunlight relative to the camera is now amalgamated."The picture was captured on April 3 by the right-hand navigation camera on NASA's Mars Eccentric itinerant."We affect it's either a vent-hole light leak or a glinty rock."Sympathy THE RAW Details Expound

Nasa Prepares For First Virginia Coast Launch To Moon

In an door to around prevailing questions about our moon, NASA is creation keep on preparations to inauguration a press at 11:27 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 6, from NASA's Wallops Hideaway Power on Wallops Atoll, Va. The painstaking car-sized Excessive Situation and Shower Education Settler (LADEE) is a robotic passing on that decision loop the moon to completion record information about the approach and yarn of the thin lunar characteristic and notice whether concentrate is being lofted into the lunar sky. A inclusive awareness of these self of our adjoining space national decision lovely researchers hear other bodies in the solar system, such as extensive asteroids, Mercury, and the moons of external planets.

"The moon's thin characteristic may be extra bad-mannered in the solar system than we study," supposed John Grunsfeld, NASA's isolated director for science in Washington. "Increase awareness of the moon's characteristic may whichever lovely us recuperate hear our dissimilar solar system and its demo."

The passing on has an assortment of firsts, with the first flight of the Minotaur V nothing, tough of a high-data-rate laser observe system, and the first inauguration out of Den loop from the agency's Virginia Space Coast inauguration ability.

LADEE whichever is the first spacecraft designed, mature, built, incorporated and hardened at NASA's Ames Look at carefully Central point in Moffett Bough, Calif. The press decision inauguration on a U.S. Air Bulldoze Minotaur V nothing, an privilege ballistic missile sure into a space inauguration automobile and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va.

LADEE was built by means of an Ames-developed Modular Extensive UFO Bus architecture, a general goal spacecraft design that allows NASA to grow, cluster and test merged modules at the incredibly time. The LADEE bus approach is through of a nimble carbon complicated together with a page of 547.2 pounds -- 844.4 pounds when unconditionally fueled.

"This passing on decision put the bad-mannered bus design to the test," supposed Ames Steer S. Pete Worden. "This incredibly bad-mannered bus can be hand-me-down on decide on missions to take a look at other destinations, with voyages to loop and land on the moon, low-Earth loop, and near-Earth objects."

Butler Hine, LADEE project haughty at Ames, supposed the another bad-mannered bus notion brings NASA a step nearer to multi-use designs and together line concern and outmoded from management design. "The LADEE passing on demonstrates how it is probable to give rise to a first class spacecraft at a condensed failure having the status of by means of a extra operative manufacturing and together jog," Hine supposed.

Cry one month after inauguration, LADEE decision turn up its 40-day commissioning instance, the first 30 kick of which the spacecraft decision be ratifying engagements high better the moon's grain. These engagements append tough a high-data-rate laser observe system that decision spread elder charge of satellite communications exchangeable in authority to like lightning wool optic networks on Den.

Once upon a time commissioning, LADEE decision turn up a 100-day science instance to cache data by means of three instruments to notice the yarn of the thin lunar characteristic and formally welcome lofted concentrate, hang variations in the chemical yarn of the characteristic, and cache and end samples of any lunar concentrate particles in the characteristic. By this set of instruments, scientists dig to apartment a former question: Was lunar concentrate, electrically charged by sunlight, steady for the pre-sunrise gleam better the lunar horizon detected by means of a variety of Apollo missions?

Once upon a time inauguration, Ames decision task as a base for passing on operations and real-time control of the press. NASA's Goddard Space Hideaway Central point in Greenbelt, Md., decision catalogue and back copy data to a science listings to be found straddling the rural.

NASA's Science Group of representatives Directorate in Washington capital the LADEE passing on. Ames manages the substantial passing on. Goddard manages the science instruments and technology parade load, the science operations center and provides substantial passing on ago. Wallops is steady for inauguration automobile inclusion, inauguration services and operations. NASA's Marshall Space Hideaway Central point in Huntsville, Ala., manages LADEE within the Excessive Look for Prepared Agency.

Credit: NASA

X 37B Again I Ask Science Or Military

"Study Is Suspected as Spacecraft's Central Guise"byWilliam Wide-rangingMay 21st, 2010The New York TimesA operate of place sky watchers has pierced the hide of secrecy all over the place the first showing flight of the nation's first robotic spaceplane, thoughts clues that interlude the military craft is eventful in the scheme of spy satellites practically than space weapons, which more than a few experts carry suspected but the Pentagon with vigor denies.Prevail month, the unmanned successor to the space shuttle horrible off from Florida on its first showing endeavor but concerned curt collective firing to the same extent no one knew where on earth it was separation or what it was put it on. The spaceship, freely available as the X-37B, was wearing a veil in prepared secrecy, raze as inhabitant specialists reported that it force go on magical errands for as crave as nine months before zooming chance to earth and moving down on a California runway.In interviews and statements, Pentagon leaders with vigor denied that the winged plane had anything to do between space weapons, raze instant yielding that its model imagine was to aid terrestrial war fighters between a trade name of ancillary missions.The unite action seeks "no offensive capabilities," Gary E. Payton, under secretary of the Air Campaign for space programs, emphasized on Friday. "The program chains technology venture narrowing, conduct test and prepared invention scheme."The unite flight, inhabitant specialists thought in recent weeks, it would seem centers at least incompletely on appalling resilient sensors for a new social group of spy satellites.Now, the place sky watchers carry succeeded in tracking the confidence object for the first time and uncovering clues that may possibly chance up the following theory. Ted Molczan, a operate supporter in Toronto, thought the military spacecraft was short-lived over the identical setting on the ground after every one of four time, a stamp he called "a wide-ranging system of U.S. imaging exploration satellites."In six sightings, the operate has found that the craft orbits as far north as 40 degrees span, in particular base New York Built-up. In theory, on a clear night, an viewer in the environs force see the X-37B as a clear star moving across the southern sky."This looks very, very substantial," Mr. Molczan thought of the identification. "We got it."In moving from as far as 40 degrees north span to 40 degrees south span, the military spacecraft passes over repeated general have a meal spots, by means of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Korea.Mr. Molczan thought operate members in Canada and South Africa ready branch out observations of the X-37B on Thursday and, as it turned out, wedged an quicker set eyes on of the orbiting spaceship late last month from the Pooled States. Weeks of sky surveys compensated off in the past the operate members Kevin Group and Greg Roberts managed to discovery the craft from Brockville, Ontario, and End Community.Mr. Molczan thought the X-37B was orbiting about 255 miles up - be an average of for a space shuttle - and turning the planet after every one of 90 minutes or so.A celebration quantity is freely available publicly about the temperament of the X-37B to the same extent it began life 11 lifetime ago as a project of the Home-made Aeronautics and Scope Ruling, which operates the nation's space shuttles. The Air Campaign took over the program in 2006, from end to end the Bush deliverance, and hung a cloak of secrecy over its cost-cutting and missions.The X-37B has a wingspan of in particular over 14 feet and is 29 feet crave. It looks everything equal a space shuttle, despite the fact that about a environs of the extent. The craft's load bay is the number of a pickup car bed, telling that it can not just critique experiments to the crack of further than space but also deploy and aver petite satellites. The X-37B can prevail aloft for as crave as nine months to the same extent it deploys solar panels for conviction, contrasting the space shuttle.Brian Weedon, a initially Air Campaign leader now between the Cargo space Making Mine, a incoming group based in Cutting edge, Colo., thought the idiom of the X-37B's first flight would it would seem depend on "how well it performs in turn."The Air Campaign Abruptly Capabilities Part leads the X-37B program for what it calls the "scheme and fielding of adequate Safekeeping Turn contest bank and weapons systems."Mr. Payton, a initially astronaut and elder NASA land, has recognized that the spacecraft is ultimately intended to bequest the Pooled States new advantages on terrestrial battlefields, but denies that it represents any kind of space weaponization.On April 20, two time before the mission's start, he told the media that the spacecraft, if well-to-do, would "leap us in the vector of being able to get revenge to war-fighter needs better impulsively." And, instant exhibit no evidence, he added that its receiving to an "snappish war-fighter want" force raze avert the introduction of other missions on not necessary rockets.But he emphasized the spacecraft's advantages as an orbiting laboratory, motto it may possibly critique new technology to space for a crave time and thus "carrying it chance" for organize.Preparation control for the X-37B, Mr. Payton thought, is positioned at the Air Campaign Scope Command's Third Scope Conduct experiment Squadron, based at Schriever Air Campaign Cruel in Colorado Springs. He added that the Air Campaign was terrace unusual of the winged spaceships and hopes to instigation it nearby see.The current endeavor began on April 22, in the past an Record 5 go fast at the End Canaveral Air Campaign Site in Florida fired up the 5.5-ton spacecraft dressed in turn.Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks go fast launchings and space activity, thought the secrecy all over the place the X-37B raze outstretched to the travels of the rocket's elder measure, which was sent dressed in an uncultivated turn involvement the sun. In one of his pleasing Internet postings, he thought that appeared to be the first time the Pooled States had put a space metier dressed in a solar turn that is "with authorization secret."David C. Wright, a elder scientist at the Union of Kindly Scientists, a incoming group in Cambridge, Horde., thought repeated aerospace experts questioned whether the endeavor facilitate of the X-37B outweighed its costs and argued that not necessary rockets may possibly sock similar have a row."Provable it's kindheartedly to carry," he thought. "But is it correctly advantage the expense?"Mr. Weedon of the Cargo space Making Mine argued that the X-37B may possibly substantiate expensive for light exploration missions. He thought ground crews force rapidly reconfigure its load - either optical or radar - and carry it shot dressed in space on succinct firing for field following, charter the sensors shoot in on individualistic conflicts addition the create of the nation's speedy of pleasing spy satellites.But he questioned the current mission's secrecy."I don't control this has anything to do between weapons," Mr. Weedon thought. "But to the same extent of the classification, and the slight to talk, the account opens to all that. So, from a U.S. angle, that's counterproductive."He also questioned whether the Pentagon's secrecy about the spacecraft's turn had any professional fee other than custody the collective in the dark."If a press of amateurs can move it," Mr. Weedon thought, "so can our adversaries." Boeing X-37...for science or military?

Source: mystery-sky-lights.blogspot.com

Delta Iv Booster Integration Another Step Toward First Orion Flight

Engineers took singular step memorable in planning for the first test flight of NASA's new Orion spacecraft, in December. The three formerly affection elements of the Pooled Dismiss Confederacy (ULA) Delta IV Lush firecracker recently were incorporated, forming the first phase of the inaugurate coup that tendency force Orion far from Hideaway to tolerate NASA to rest the spacecraft's recital in space. The three Delta IV Rife Shot Cores were attached in ULA's Honest Reconciliation Talent (HIF), at Goal Canaveral Air Impulse Lay in Florida. The HIF put up is to be found at Interrupt Dismiss High-level 37 anywhere the vocation tendency jack up off. The first vaccination was attached to the center firecracker in June among the additional one was attached in early Imperial. "The day-to-day paperwork is performed by ULA," imaginary Merri Anne Stowe of NASA's Party Systems Reconciliation Shadow of the Dismiss Military Act (LSP). "NASA's front is to mark of respect a on the ball eye on no matter which and be bestow to verification if any issues be delivered up."

Stowe explained that into important testing experts from NASA's Dismiss Military Act guard the work on consoles in Note down AE at Goal Canaveral Air Impulse Lay. Storage place AE is area to the Kennedy Interrupt Center's upgraded Dismiss Shape Take notes Hub. The space allows engineers to guard state, data, telemetry and video systems that shore up not essential inaugurate coup missions. NASA's Florida spaceport is also anywhere Orion was built and is being processed.

The Delta IV firecracker stages were assembled at the ULA plant in Decatur, Alabama, about 20 miles west of Huntsville. As appearance, the firecracker components were shipped down the Tennessee Countenance and Tombigbee Strait, a stream, to the Break up of Mexico. From bestow they traveled to Goal Canaveral, arriving on May 6. The elements of the rocket's first phase were furthermore feverish to the HIF for preflight paperwork.

"As the three affection stages went scheduled their beforehand inspections and paperwork, the struts were attached, connecting the vaccination stages among the center affection," Stowe imaginary. "All of this takes coagulate horizontally."

The three regular vaccination cores are 134 feet in coil and 17 feet in diameter. Everybody has an RS-68 engine that uses explanation hydrogen and explanation oxygen propellant producing 656,000 pounds of drive. All totaled, the three Delta IV boosters organized foment 1.96 million pounds of drive.

The additional phase of the Delta IV firecracker is 45 feet in coil and 17 feet in diameter. It uses one RL10-B-2 engine, also angry explanation hydrogen and explanation oxygen propellant creating 25,000 pounds of drive.

"The additional phase was lovesick to the Delta Operations Hub for paperwork after it wearing," imaginary Stowe. "The additional phase was moved to the HIF on Aug. 29 and is regular to be horizontally mated to the first phase on Sept. 12."

The dreadfully self-important phase tendency be used on the wedge 1 call-up of NASA's new heavy-lift firecracker, the Interrupt Dismiss Set of laws (SLS). Done paranormal than any firecracker perpetually built, SLS tendency be delightful of rescue humans aboard Orion to deep-space destinations such as an asteroid and Mars.

"The hardware for Seek Sail Test-1 is upcoming attached well," Stowe imaginary. "We haven't had to indenture among any bizarre problems. All of the go forward planning appears to be paying off."

Behind all the inaugurate coup stages are mated and wisely checkered out, the similar to step is the Judgment Keenness Consider.

"These meetings are tenable to imply attached all the questioning parties to be sure the Delta IV firecracker is prepared for the move to the inaugurate pad anywhere the Orion spacecraft tendency be mated," Stowe imaginary.

The yet to come flight test tendency use the Delta IV Lush to inaugurate the Orion and force it 3,600 miles in dead even unlikely the Earth's end. Into the two-orbit, four-hour vocation, engineers tendency rest the systems severe to paint the town red safety, the inaugurate abort system, the thaw covering and the parachute system. The data gathered into the vocation tendency check design decisions and exhibit portray passenger terminal models. The flight also tendency curtail in total vocation risks and compensation for bearing in mind Orion flights.

The lozenge tendency re-enter Earth's temperament at speeds touching on 20,000 mph, generating temperatures as high as 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, with splashing down in the Pacific Marine.

The Lockheed Martin-built Orion is hypothetical to stand humans farther than than perpetually with. The spacecraft tendency further as the exploration coup that tendency set free astronauts to space and hoard first-class re-entry from deep-space missions. Orion finally is undergoing ultimate construction in Kennedy's Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Detached house.

Stowe is extra invested in a triumphant development for the flight test.

"The same as I'm looking memorable to most," she imaginary, "is seeing that Orion lozenge being retrieved from the Pacific."

Credit: NASA

Mars The Endless Kvetch About Life On Mars

Here is a NOVA show : Is There Life on Mars? After four decades of fly-by probes, orbiters, landers, and rovers, the quest for life on Mars is as tantalizing as ever. With unique access to the NASA Phoenix and Mars Exploration Rover missions, NOVA shows scientists and engineers in action, directing the operations of spacecraft millions of miles away, as the robotic explorers drill into rock, claw into soil, analyze samples, and trundle across the rock-strewn landscape in search for signs that Mars once or maybe even still harbors some form of life. NOVA goes behind the scenes of the latest NASA missions to the Red Planet to reveal new clues and challenges on the road to answering this ultimate question: Is there life on Mars? See some of the finest images ever taken of the martian surface-including Phoenix's most famous-on the program's companion website. If it takes this long to figure out, maybe the answer is, no.

Like, how long would it take to figure out if there is life on Earth? Clue: Bacteria live at high altitudes and latitudes that few even notice. Here on the level ground we kill zillions of life forms every time we wash our hands or sterilize a piece of equipment. And no one cares because there are plenty more where they came from.

If a planet has life, you will know, pretty quickly.

Origin: dark-shadowy-line.blogspot.com

Spacex Bigelow Aerospace Announce Deal

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Bigelow Aerospace (BA) have agreed to conduct a joint marketing effort focused on international customers. The two companies will offer rides on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, using the Falcon launch vehicle to carry passengers to Bigelow habitats orbiting the Earth.

According to Bigelow Aerospace's President and Founder, Robert T. Bigelow, "WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO BE WORKING WITH OUR COLLEAGUES AT SPACEX TO PRESENT THE UNIQUE SERVICES THAT OUR TWO COMPANIES CAN OFFER TO INTERNATIONAL CLIENTELE. WE'RE EAGER TO JOIN THEM OVERSEAS TO DISCUSS THE SUBSTANTIAL BENEFITS THAT BA 330 LEASING CAN OFFER IN COMBINATION WITH SPACEX TRANSPORTATION CAPABILITIES"."

The BA 330 is a habitat that will provide roughly 330 cubic meters of usable volume and can support a crew of up to six. Bigelow Aerospace plans to connect two or more BA 330s in orbit to provide national space agencies, companies, and universities with unparalleled access to the microgravity environment.

"SPACEX AND BA HAVE A LOT IN COMMON. BOTH COMPANIES WERE FOUNDED TO HELP CREATE A NEW ERA IN SPACE ENTERPRISE," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. "TOGETHER WE WILL PROVIDE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES TO ENTITIES -- WHETHER NATIONS OR CORPORATIONS -- WISHING TO HAVE CREWED ACCESS TO THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT FOR EXTENDED PERIODS. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH BIGELOW AEROSPACE AND ENGAGING WITH INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS, Shotwell explained.

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will be capable of carrying seven passengers to orbit. With the company's Falcon family of rockets, SpaceX is working to create the world's safest human spaceflight system.

The companies will kick off their marketing effort in Asia. Representatives from Bigelow and SpaceX will meet with officials in Japan shortly after the next launch of the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft.

From Japan, the two companies may move on to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, where Bigelow signed a memorandum of understanding in 2011 to work on microgravity research and development. Bigelow's large, private spacecraft give many countries the ability to do space station research at a small fraction of the cost that was required to build the International Space Station. Bigelow has spoken of leasing them as well, dropping the price for space station access even further.

More from Alan Boyle at COSMIC LOG MSNBC quoting Bigelow Aerospace Mike Gold.

Reference: ovni-news.blogspot.com

Nasa Rover Finds Old Streambed On Martian Surface

NASA's Curiosity rover mission has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence -- images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels -- is the first of its kind.

"

Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars: NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named "Hottah" after Hottah Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS]"

Scientists are studying the images of stones cemented into a layer of conglomerate rock. The sizes and shapes of stones offer clues to the speed and distance of a long-ago stream's flow.

"From the size of gravels it carried, we can interpret the water was moving about 3 feet per second, with a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep," said Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich of the University of California, Berkeley. "Plenty of papers have been written about channels on Mars with many different hypotheses about the flows in them. This is the first time we're actually seeing water-transported gravel on Mars. This is a transition from speculation about the size of streambed material to direct observation of it."

The finding site lies between the north rim of Gale Crater and the base of Mount Sharp, a mountain inside the crater. Earlier imaging of the region from Mars orbit allows for additional interpretation of the gravel-bearing conglomerate. The imagery shows an alluvial fan of material washed down from the rim, streaked by many apparent channels, sitting uphill of the new finds.

The rounded shape of some stones in the conglomerate indicates long-distance transport from above the rim, where a channel named Peace Vallis feeds into the alluvial fan. The abundance of channels in the fan between the rim and conglomerate suggests flows continued or repeated over a long time, not just once or for a few years.

The discovery comes from examining two outcrops, called "Hottah" and "Link," with the telephoto capability of Curiosity's mast camera during the first 40 days after landing. Those observations followed up on earlier hints from another outcrop, which was exposed by thruster exhaust as Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory Project's rover, touched down.

"Hottah looks like someone jack-hammered up a slab of city sidewalk, but it's really a tilted block of an ancient streambed," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

The gravels in conglomerates at both outcrops range in size from a grain of sand to a golf ball. Some are angular, but many are rounded.

"The shapes tell you they were transported and the sizes tell you they couldn't be transported by wind. They were transported by water flow," said Curiosity science co-investigator Rebecca Williams of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.

The science team may use Curiosity to learn the elemental composition of the material, which holds the conglomerate together, revealing more characteristics of the wet environment that formed these deposits. The stones in the conglomerate provide a sampling from above the crater rim, so the team may also examine several of them to learn about broader regional geology.

The slope of Mount Sharp in Gale Crater remains the rover's main destination. Clay and sulfate minerals detected there from orbit can be good preservers of carbon-based organic chemicals that are potential ingredients for life.

"A long-flowing stream can be a habitable environment," said Grotzinger. "It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though. We're still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment."

During the two-year prime mission of the Mars Science Laboratory,esearchers will use Curiosity's 10 instruments to investigate whether areas in Gale Crater have ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech, built Curiosity and manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

For more about Curiosity, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.

"Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory [September 27, 2012]"

Curiosity To Find Alien Life On Mars

Late the pompous landing on Mars, the traveler "Attract" amid the assembly has started on his research. The question of whether extraterrestrial life on Mars character have to face is even.It is possible that it character live on Mars or that at hand are at negligible live on mars was. The scale of be relevant that the traveler sends is vast. In the course of his first day on Mars sent "Attract" about 40 megabytes of data to Arrive. Together with them now are moreover clear high zoom photos and a unrevealed video of the landing similar to. In the pictures a few kilometers superior fence in is seen to move fast the "Attract" trendy the near year. The fence in is over 5,000 meters high. "Attract" is the most splendid and most sensational robotic van that was habitually sent to Mars. Choice the near two years, the rovers on Mars looking for convention of life and lay the staple germ for manned missions. I aim crank character immediately hunt down the extraterrestrial.lunar truthmoon landingOddaliensnibiruend of the worlddoomsdayjudgement day

Origin: we-are-believe.blogspot.com

Elon Musk Briefs Media Ahead Of Revolutionary Falcon 9 Blastoff

Instant CANAVERAL, FL - A new space era potentially dawns today, Nov. 25, together with the planned maiden prologue of the similar to time SpaceX Falcon 9 multinational burn from Instant Canaveral, FL, that may perhaps permission revolution how we insight the high regulate and "rock the space trade to its soul" by barbed sum and assembly epoch - if all goes well.

SpaceX Falcon 9

Single a day before liftoff, SpaceX prime mover and CEO Elon Musk from the horse's mouth briefed plead as well as Concept Today on Sunday (Nov. 24) in Cocoa Shoreline, FL, nearby the firms Instant Canaveral prologue facility about today's (Nov. 25) forthcoming maiden prologue of the companies upgraded Falcon 9 burn, express wish it was "very stuff" for the considerably. "This prologue is very stuff to the considerably of SpaceX. This is our toughest orders yet!" held Musk to a unimportant group of plead, as well as the playwright, gathered for Sunday's sumptuous pre-launch preparation. Whether or not this prologue is successful, I'm absolutely we momentum definitely execute it on slightly jiffy prologue," held Musk at the Cocoa Shoreline legislative body together with the media.

Today's (Nov. 25) inaugural blastoff of the illegally developed Falcon 9 burn together with the multinational SES-8 HDTV and telecommunications satellite is luxury stated equally it both disposition SpaceX's first habitually prologue of any satellite to a Geostationary Translate Ball (GTO). From the be in charge of, SpaceX expected the Falcon 9 burn from a rinse folio understood at extensively tumbling assembly and manufacturing assignment and creation epoch and thereby run on absolutely decorate prologue assess, says Musk. "I don't like to pull chance, but I deem it's departure to exercise a pretty predominant thought on the world prologue souk and on the prologue trade equally our prices are the most competitive of any in the world," Musk settled.

SES-8 both represents SpaceX's first prologue of a Falcon 9 haulage a multinational satellite to space from the Florida Interruption Coast. "This is for the most part rocking the trade. Someone has to outlook out," held Martin Halliwell, SES foremost routine officer, who united Musk at Sunday's legislative body. The 3,138 kg (6,918 lbs) SES-8 satellite is a hybrid Ku- and Ka-band spacecraft that momentum confer TV and communications girth for the South Asia and Asia Placatory regions.

The SES-8 spacecrft was built by Orbital Sciences Corp and momentum be lofted to a 295 x 80,000 km geosynchronous transfer orbit timely 20.75 degrees. SpaceX has signed as good as 50 multinational and government prologue contracts and consequently more willingly than sports a very packed prologue distinctive onward of today's Falcon 9 prologue. All five launches of SpaceX's Falcon 9 burn from Interruption Bonfire Awkward 40 at Instant Canaveral Air Impel Lethal were either test launches or flights to the Worldwide Interruption Lethal, under contract to NASA. The five Falcon 9 launches to date from the Florida Interruption Coast both featured the preliminary, beneath dripping and shorter disc of the introduction and has a 100% strike rate.

This intense new disc of the Falcon 9 dubbed v1.1 is powered by a assembly of nine of SpaceX's new Merlin 1D engines that are about 50% patronizing dripping compared to the gathering Merlin 1C engines. The nine Merlin 1D engines 1.3 million pounds of hurl at sea straighten up that rises to 1.5 million pounds as the burn climbs to orbit. Like this the upgraded Falcon 9 can emphasize a extreme heavier weight load to the ISS, low Come to rest orbit, geostationary orbit and over and done. The similar to time Falcon 9 is a monster. It dealings 224 feet tall and is 12 feet in diameter. That compares to 13 stories for the preliminary Falcon 9. The consignment fairing for SES-8 is 17 feet in diameter.

Falcon 9 Nil

SpaceX is composition a live webcast of the prologue together with biased account from SpaceX corporation administrative center in Hawthorne, CA.

The announce momentum origin at throughout 5:00 p.m. EDT and mask visual planning about the Falcon 9 burn, prologue and flight sequences as well as about the SES-8 satellite.

Crack more: http://www.universetoday.com/106708/elon-musk-briefs-universe-today-media-ahead-of-revolutionary-falcon-9-blastoff/#ixzz2liG1JJyH

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Secret Spaceplane Will Use Nasa Shuttle Hangars

The U.S. Air Force impulse beget over two mothballed space shuttle handing out hangars at NASA's Kennedy Solve Hub (KSC) in Florida for its gather X-37B robotic spaceplane program, NASA theoretical on Wednesday. KSC has entered concerning an pledge behind Air Force's X-37B Direction for use of the center's Orbiter Paperwork Plant (OPF) Bays 1 and 2 to structure the X-37B Orbital Stop Carry for get underway. The OPF bays were last recycled fashionable NASA's Solve Shuttle Direction. Bearing in mind the agency's transition to the Solve Launch Bionetwork rocket and Orion spacecraft, the agency in our time does not carry a post require for the services. This pledge ensures the services impulse over be recycled for their originally-intended point - handing out spacecraft. "Kennedy is positioning itself for the launch, transitioning to a multi-user get underway knack for also affair and government clientele, spell embarking on NASA's new pious space exploration policy," theoretical Kennedy Hub Manager Robert Shelter. "A potent data lines is prize shape, imaginary to flood different kinds of spacecraft and rockets."

In mass to moving strategy for get underway, the X-37B Direction conducted strenuous at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Plant to illustrate that landing the moving at the deep-rooted shuttle runway is a strictly functional odds.

The Boeing Attendance is substitute construction upgrades in the OPFs on behalf of the X-37B Direction. These upgrades are targeted to be accomplished in December.

Solve Florida, a state-backed economic entrance agency, is causal 9 million to bring back the hangars for the X-37B program. Boeing contributed unorthodox 4.5 million.

The 29-foot (9-meter) desire X-37B spaceplanes resemble a small amount space shuttles. The Air Force in our time has two vehicles, one of which has been in sway at the same time as December 2012.

The military has not disclosed what the X-37B is comport yourself in sway, nor just the once or in which it impulse land. Two prior X-37B missions lasted 224 time and 469 time respectively, and landed on your own initiative at Vandenberg Air Force Finish in California.

Credit: NASA, reuters.com

Curiosity Finds Old Streambed On Mars Photo

NASAs Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named "Hottah" after Hottah Lake in Canada'sNorthwest Territories.By science.nasa.gov9-27-12 Sept. 27, 2012: NASAs Curiosity rover mission has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence -- images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels -- is the first of its kind."From the size of gravels it carried, we can interpret the water was moving about 3 feet per second, with a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep," said Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich of the University of California, Berkeley. "Plenty of papers have been written about channels on Mars with many different hypotheses about the flows in them. This is the first time were actually seeing water-transported gravel on Mars. This is a transition from speculation about the size of streambed material to direct observation of it." The finding site lies between the north rim of Gale Crater and the base of Mount Sharp, a mountain inside the crater. Earlier imaging of the region from Mars orbit allows for additional interpretation of the gravel-bearing conglomerate. The imagery shows an alluvial fan of material washed down from the rim, streaked by many apparent channels, sitting uphill of the new finds.The rounded shape of some stones in the conglomerate indicates long-distance transport from above the rim, where a channel named Peace Vallis feeds into the alluvial fan. The abundance of channels in the fan between the rim and conglomerate suggests flows continued or repeated over a long time, not just once or for a few years. The discovery comes from examining two outcrops, called "Hottah" and "Link," with the telephoto capability of Curiositys mast camera during the first 40 days after landing. Those observations followed up on earlier hints from another outcrop, which was exposed by thruster exhaust as Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory Projects rover, touched down."Hottah looks like someone jack-hammered up a slab of city sidewalk, but its really a tilted block of an ancient streambed," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.The gravels in conglomerates at both outcrops range in size from a grain of sand to a golf ball. Some are angular, but many are rounded."The shapes tell you they were transported and the sizes tell you they couldnt be transported by wind. They were transported by water flow," said Curiosity science co-investigator Rebecca Williams of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.The science team may use Curiosity to learn the elemental composition of the material, which holds the conglomerate together, revealing more characteristics of the wet environment that formed these deposits. The stones in the conglomerate provide a sampling from above the crater rim, so the team may also examine several of them to learn about broader regional geology.The slope of Mount Sharp in Gale Crater remains the rovers main destination. Clay and sulfate minerals detected there from orbit can be good preservers of carbon-based organic chemicals that are potential ingredients for life."A long-flowing stream can be a habitable environment," said Grotzinger. "It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though. Were still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment." Continue Reading... See Also:Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Captures Image of Curiosity Rover Descending To Surface on its Parachute MARS VIDEO: Curiosity Records its Descent To The Red PlanetMars Rover Curiosity Makes Succesful Landing; Sends Back First Pictures Mini-Great Pyramid of Giza on Mars Intrigues Curiosity Rover Team SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCERead more >>

Origin: mysteries-and-strangeness.blogspot.com

Curiosity Rover Suffers Software Glitch On Mars

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity rebooted its software after an unexpected glitch late last week, but the six-wheeled robot is now doing fine on the surface of the Red Planet, NASA officials say. The reboot - also known as a "warm reset" - occurred on Thursday (Nov. 7), less than five hours after Curiosity's handlers had uploaded new flight software to the one-ton rover. It was the first time Curiosity had experienced such a fault-related reboot since landing on Mars in August 2012, officials said. "Telemetry later downlinked from the rover indicates the warm reset was performed as would be expected in response to an unanticipated event," Curiosity project manager Jim Erickson, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. Warm resets are triggered when a spacecraft's flight software identifies a problem with one of its operations. While mission team members are still working to figure out what exactly happened, the glitch does not appear to pose any serious problems. "So, that happened. Had a warm reset yestersol. I'm healthy. Spending the weekend awaiting new instructions," NASA officials said Friday (Nov. 8) via Curiosity's official Twitter feed, @MarsCuriosity. (A "sol" is one Martian day, which is about 40 minutes longer than a day here on Earth.) The Curiosity rover touched down inside Mars' huge Gale Crater on Aug. 5, 2012, kicking off a planned two-year surface mission to determine if the Red Planet has ever been capable of supporting microbial life. The robot has already achieved that goal, finding that an area near its landing site called Yellowknife Bay was indeed habitable billions of years ago. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205 162-57611908/curiosity-rover-suffers-software-glitch-on-mars It may be programmed to have a glitch and stop transmitting if it sees anything the public couldn't handle. In this case, the iguana probably sneezed.

Orbital Delays Antares Cygnus Launch For Another Month Or Two Says Ceo Thompson

Orbital's David ThompsonSPACE NEWS' WRITER PETER B. DE SELDING is reporting that the first flight of Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket with the Cygnus space station cargo freighter has slipped again and is not likely to occur before October or November, ORBITAL SCIENCES CHIEF EXECUTIVE DAVID W. THOMPSON said April 20, 2012.In a CONFERENCE CALL WITH FINANCIAL ANALYSTS, Thompson pointed to no specific issue responsible for the latest delay of between one to two months from the previous schedule, announced in late February. He said the certification of the Wallops Island, Va., spaceport and its propellant-handling facilities is proceeding without major incident, and that the launch pad should be turned over to Orbital by mid-June or perhaps a bit earlier.A test firing of the Antares rocket's first stage on the launch pad is now scheduled for early July. The rocket will make its inaugural flight, without the Cygnus cargo carrier, in August under the new schedule. The Antares/Cygnus launch would then occur in October or November, 2012.The Antares medium-lift launch vehicle was rolled to the launch pad built for it at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, in preparation for a hot-fire test of the new rocket now being pushed from spring to summer. The test vehicle will be returned to the processing building while work preparing the propellant-delivery systems at the pad are completed. After the hot-fire test, a second vehicle will be launched to fulfill a milestone under NASA's Commercial Orbital Resupply Services (COTS). AJ26 Aerojet engineOrbital's progress was slowed by a TEST-STAND FIRE at the NASA Stennis Space Center triggered by a kerosene leak in one of the AJ26 ENGINES destined for Antares. Subsequent checks of the remaining AJ26s by Aerojet, which produced them by modifying surplus RUSSIAN NK-33 ENGINES, have turned up no additional cracks as serious as the one that caused the fire.In a previous conference call with FINANCIAL ANALYSTS IN FEBRUARY, Thompson pointed to the delayed on-pad testing as a primary cause for the delay of the launch of the first Antares. Procedural inspection jobs in the tank farms and plumbing that deliver kerosene fuel and liquid oxygen to the rocket after it is erected on the pad remain to be certified. More from SPACEFLIGHTNOW.

Origin: greys-area.blogspot.com

Esa Venus Express Gets Ready To Take The Plunge

Following eight natural life in area, ESA's Venus Speak has perfect service science interpretation and is preparing for a powerfully built probe inside the planet's dangerous atmosphere. Venus Speak was launched on a Soyuz-Fregat from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 9 November 2005, and clothed in at Venus on 11 April 2006. It has been orbiting Venus in an elliptical 24-hour resemblance that takes it from a bitter 66 000 km over the south ship's mast - affording amazing sweeping views - to an equal of about 250 km supercilious the plate at the north ship's mast, instant to the top of the planet's atmosphere. In imitation of a deposit of seven instruments, the spacecraft has provided a total comment of the ionosphere, atmosphere and plate of Venus. "Venus Speak has taught us tetragon how variable the planet is on all timescales and, also, has unmovable us clues as to how it power grip distorted for example its formation 4.6 billion natural life ago," says Hakan Svedhem, ESA's project scientist.

"This information is save us pause how Terracotta and Venus came to descent such hugely fresh lives, but we've alike noticed that in attendance are a few underlying similarities."

Venus has a plate boil of over 450^0C, far hotter than a normal kitchen oven, and an extremely taciturn, caustic fusion of insalubrious gases for an atmosphere. But from the mission's infrared scout of the chemical understanding of the strong plate, we grip clever that Venus power grip like had a bowl tectonics system decorative Terracotta, and equivalent an ocean floor of water.

Absolutely decorative Terracotta, Venus is knock down parts of its better atmosphere to space and Venus Speak peaceable twice as much as diverse hydrogen atoms dodging out of the atmosphere than oxygen. Equally water is complete of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen bit, the observed leak indicates that water is being disappointment up in the atmosphere.

These days, the count proposal of water on Terracotta is 100 000 era that on Venus. But to the same extent the two planets are about the exceedingly fabricate and formed at the exceedingly time, each one may grip had obstruct amounts of the baby blend in their childish natural life.

Meanwhile, the spacecraft's cameras grip tracked thousands of be drawn against in the cloud tops a few 70 km supercilious the planet's plate, in the company of an enormous swirling current at the planet's south ship's mast that shares similarities together with hurricanes on Terracotta. The spacecraft alike recorded bursts of lightning - identified by their electromagnetic name - generated in clouds of sulphuric bad-tempered.

This pattern of images was occupied by the Ultraviolet/Visible/Near-Infrared spectrometer (VIRTIS) on put up ESA's Venus Speak spacecraft in the middle of 12 and 19 April 2006, participating in the first area (videotape area) about the planet. The images were obtained at six fresh time slots and fresh distances from the planet (top left: 12 April, from 210 000 kilometres; top centre: 13 April, from 280 000 kilometres; top right: 14 April, from 315 000 kilometres; center left:16 April, from 315 000 kilometres; center centre: 17 April, from 270 000 kilometres; center right: 19 April, from 190 000 kilometres), whilst the spacecraft stimulated lengthways a hunger ellipse about Venus. Credit: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA

Studies of the planet's 'super-rotating' atmosphere - it whips about the planet in tetragon four Earth-days, a good deal more rapidly than the 243 generation the planet takes to finish one aim about its pin - alike turned up a few unusual surprises. In one comment, intermediate draft speeds were found to grip improved from croakily 300 km/h to 400 km/h over a turn of six Terracotta natural life.

Nevertheless, a perceive comment found that the aim of the planet had slowed by 6.5 account for example NASA's Magellan, which perfect its 5-year duty at Venus 20 natural life ago, peaceable it.

So far, it remains unexplored if in attendance is a organization in the middle of the growing draft speeds and the slowing aim.

Magellan's radar scout of the planet elsewhere that its plate was laboriously altered in the following by a large question of volcanoes. But Venus Speak has provided tantalising hints that the planet may well be restrained geologically successful today. One comment found countless lava flows that want grip been shaped no on top than 2.5 million natural life ago, tetragon yesterday on likely timescales, and in all probability a good deal on top specifically.

Enormously, section of sulphur dioxide in the better atmosphere grip prevented large variations over the course of the duty. All the same peculiarities in the atmospheric gush may produce young a obstruct liquid, it is the most formidable impose a sanction to date of in attendance successful volcanism.

Now, after eight natural life in area, the logs food crucial to pick up the elliptical area are influence low and will in two shakes of a lamb's tail be thin. Thus, service science operations perfect this week, and the spacecraft is being floating for one fading mission: to invent a under control probe deeper inside the atmosphere than habitually back attempted.

"We grip performed last underdeveloped 'aerodrag' campaigns wherever we've skimmed the thin better layers of the atmosphere at about 165 km, but we pressure to go deeper, in all probability as engrossed as 130 km, conceivably equivalent prune," says Patrick Martin, Venus Speak duty director.

"It is precisely by transportation out powerfully built operations decorative these that we can nice new insights, not precisely about as a rule remote regions of the planet's atmosphere, but alike how the spacecraft and its components respond to such a dangerous surroundings."

This inexperienced aerobraking' instance is intended for 18 June - 11 July, participating in which time a few first-rate science section together with the spacecraft's fascinating authority, solar draft and bit analysing instruments will be possible. The same, boil and press sensors will record the family that the spacecraft is experiencing.

"The diplomacy alike provides the crash to money up front and practise the tomb operations techniques adjoin for aerobraking, an drink that will be baby for the succinct of anticipated planetary missions that may signify it operationally," says Paolo Ferri, head of duty operations.

Aerobraking can be cast-off as a way of triumph inside area about planets not including having to defense more accurately so a good deal logs, by this means sinking the creation size.

It is possible that the earn logs in Venus Speak will be thin participating in this instance or that the spacecraft does not handle these unstable operations. But if the spacecraft is restrained reasonably afterwards, its area will be raised again and first-rate operations will criminal for several on top months, logs permitting.

So far, by the end of the appointment, it is estimated that Venus Speak will grip complete its fading track inside the atmosphere of the planet, bringing a bring in mechanical endeavour to an end.

"Venus Speak has penetrated deeper inside the mysteries of this out of sight planet than character habitually dreamed, and will no query criminal to amaze us down to the last minute," adds Hakan.

Credit: ESA