Issue #4 (November 2013)
Tweeting from the ISS
Astronaut Karen Nyberg (@AstroKarenN) posted this photo on Oct. 28 along with the following on twitter: W/ departure of #ATV4, aft docking port empty. We move our Soyuz there Fri making room for @AstroRM & @Astro_Wakata pic.twitter.com/lpatsjbAoA. Two days later she followed that with another tweet: Up early to suit up, get in Soyuz, undock …
Titan’s northern lakes resemble Earth’s salt flats
With the sun now shining down over the north pole of Saturn’s moon Titan, a little luck with the weather, and trajectories that put the spacecraft into optimal viewing positions, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has obtained new pictures of the liquid methane and ethane seas and lakes that reside near Titan’s north pole. The images reveal …
Students send experiments to space on suborbital flight
Gasps, whistles, and cheers burst from 300 observers as the SpaceLoft 7 rocket blasted into the sky from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. Among the crowd were 60 students, ranging from middle school through university level, who watched the rocket carry experiments they had designed and built. “That feeling of seeing something you built …
Delta V and the GRAVITY of the situation
In the recent film release, “Gravity,” astronauts are left stranded at the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) after a pretty horrific accident. Since one of the astronauts was wearing a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), they used the nifty apparatus to get to the International Space Station (ISS). We like this movie, even though many space blogs …
How long before we get there?
Vocabulary • Apoapsis Delta V Burn: The rocket firing at the highest point of a Transfer Orbit. • Periapsis Delta V Burn: The rocket firing at the lowest point of a Transfer Orbit. • Transfer Time: The time between apoapsis and periapsis Delta V rocket firings. Narrative Getting from one orbital altitude to another not …
Robotic armada is invading Mars from all directions
Mars Global Surveyor acquired this global map of Mars in September of 2000. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS The Red Planet is getting a whole lot of attention from Earthlings right now, and it’s like never before in the history of humanity and space exploration. Currently, an armada of five spacecraft from Earth are actively exploring the vicinity …
Generations of windblown sediments on Mars
This colorful scene is situated in the Noctis Labyrinthus region of Mars, perched high on the Tharsis rise in the upper reaches of the Valles Marineris canyon system. Targeting the bright rimmed bedrock knobs, the image also captures the interaction of two distinct types of windblown sediments. Surrounding the bedrock knobs is a network of …
India launching MOM to study Mars
India is gearing up for its first ever space undertaking to the Red Planet – the Mars Orbiter Mission, or MOM – which is the brainchild of the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO. Among other objectives, MOM will conduct a search for potential signatures of Martian methane – which could stem from either living …
NASA’s MAVEN orbiter set to launch on quest to study Mars atmosphere
MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission) is NASA’s next mission to Mars. After a decade of hard work by dedicated science and engineering teams, it is scheduled to lift off on Nov. 18, 2013 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on an Atlas V 401 rocket. The 903 kilogram (2000 pound) probe will arrive at the …
The Mars Society: Humans to Mars in a decade
A long time ago in the Milky Way Galaxy, Chris McKay, Penelope Boston, and Carol Stoker were on Planet Earth contemplating all things Mars. These three scientists, graduate students at the University of Colorado, decided to form a group called the Mars Underground and hold annual meetings to explore the science behind putting humans on …