Dome News

News of Astronomy, Space, Science, & Technology

Table of Contents

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Image: Four Rocky Planets

Planets Ahoy

Astronomy Picture of the Day Sep 30 2008

Can you spot the Solar System's four rocky planets?

In the above image taken on September 20, all of them were visible in a single glance, but some of them may be different than you think. Pictured above, the brightest and highest object in the sky is the planet Venus.

The object lowest in the sky is the planet Mars, while the object furthest to the left is the planet Mercury. The last remaining point of light is... the bright star Spica, which leaves the question -- where is the fourth rocky planet?

That would be Earth, specifically part of Australia, visible across the entire bottom of the image.

See Astronomy Picture of the Day for links to further info.

NASA Image of the Day

Image: A Spacewalk During Apollo 9

Apollo 9

NASA Image of the Day Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:48 AM ET

Astronaut Russell Schweickart, lunar module pilot, stands on the module's deck during his spacewalk on the fourth day of the Apollo 9 mission. This photograph was taken from inside the lunar module "Spider" by mission commander James McDivitt.

Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of the command/service module along with the lunar module. The mission's three-person crew, which also included command module pilot Dave Scott, tested several aspects critical to landing on the moon including the lumar module's engines, backpack life support systems, navigation systems and docking maneuvers. The mission was the second manned launch of a Saturn V rocket and was the third manned mission of the Apollo Program.

After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew spent 10 days in low Earth orbit.

The Space Shuttle

Nasa's space shuttle site - For the latest information see NASA human spaceflight page

For info on the Columbia investigation see the STS-107 Investigation Reference page.

The space shuttle in the Wikipedia

The latest news of STS-124 on Space.Com

Atlantis Launch Postponed

NASA Delays Shuttle Mission to Hubble Telescope

SPACE.com Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

NASA has delayed the last shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope until early 2009 in order to repair a broken device that is blocking the orbital observatory from sending its iconic images of the cosmos back to Earth, agency officials said late Monday.

Seven astronauts were training to launch toward Hubble aboard the shuttle Atlantis on Oct. 14 on mission to extend the space telescope's life through at least 2013, but the unexpected failure of a vital data relay system on Saturday will add months of delay to their spaceflight.

"I think it's very obvious that Oct. 14 is off the table," NASA's space shuttle program manager John Shannon told reporters.…

See SPACE.com for links to further info.

Hubble servicing mission on hold

floridatoday.com - Space Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

NASA's fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission is being delayed until at least mid-February so that a critical spare computer can be launched to the observatory, officials said Monday.

Next up as a result: the Nov. 14 launch of Endeavour on an International Space Station outfitting mission, two days ahead of schedule.

NASA had hoped to launch Atlantis on Oct. 14 on a mission to install two new Hubble science instruments, resuscitate two other pieces, and equip the telescope to enable it to operate through at least 2013.…

More on the Hubble Failure and Repair Mission Delay

Hubble update

Bad Astronomy Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

NASA held a press conference about Hubble Space Telescope's malfunction. They put out a press release about it. Here are the high points:

1) Hubble is currently in "safe mode", basically sleeping. The Science Instrument Command and Data Handling System has failed (arrowed in the picture at left). It worked for 18+ years, which is pretty good. The specific part that failed is the Science Data Formatter, which takes the observational data, formats it into packets, adds headers, then sends it down to Earth at a rate of 1Mb per second. Without it, Hubble can take data but cannot send it to us! It's not known exactly what piece of the SDF failed, but the whole schmeer is basically on the fritz.…

Privatizing Spaceflight

The commercialization of space

Space tourism

Development of manned spacecraft financed by private business or individuals

The X-PRIZE for privately financed spaceflight

SpaceShipOne wins the X-Prize

The Virgin Galactic website

The Space Adventures website

The Rocketplane website

Starchaser Industries

The Blue Origin website

The XCOR website

The Armadillo Aerospace website

The private launch firm SpaceX

Bigelow Aerospace — the space hotel people

America's Space Prize for the development of a privately developed, reusable spacecraft capable of reaching earth orbit

What's Next for SpaceX?

SpaceX Aims Next for Space Station and the Moon

Wired Top Stories Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

With a successful Falcon 1 launch under their belt, all eyes are now on the SpaceX team and the larger Falcon 9 rocket scheduled to be shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida, late this year to prep for its NASA cargo flights.

Falcon 9 has nine Merlin rocket engines to Falcon 1's one, hence the 9 and the 1 in their names, and is capable of taking cargo, and eventually crew, to and from the International Space Station. The maiden voyage of the Falcon 9 is scheduled for the first quarter of 2009 from the larger launch pad SpaceX is currently refurbishing at the Cape.…

See Wired Top Stories for links to further info.

Space Tourist Signs Up for Second Trip

U.S. Billionaire to Make Second Private Spaceflight

SPACE.com Download time: Sep 30 2008 9:30 AM ET

American billionaire Charles Simonyi, a computer software executive who paid more than $20 million to fly to the International Space Station aboard a Russian-built Soyuz capsule in spring 2007, will train for a second Soyuz trip to the space station in spring 2009.

Vienna, Va.-based Space Adventures announced Tuesday that Simonyi will be the first repeat customer since the company began organizing space missions for private citizens in 2001.…

The Global Environment

Global climate change, the ozone layer, and other world environmental issues

Global warming in the Wikipedia

A NASA reference article on global warming

Global Warming FAQs:

US National Climate Data Center
Natural Resources Defense Council
Union of Concerned Scientists
Skepticism About Global Warming from Brian Carnell's Skepticism.net
See Wikipedia for both sides of the debate

Information on abrupt climate change (Could something like the "Day After Tomorrow" scenario happen?)

Science @ NASA
The Weather Underground
Abrupt Climate Change FAQ from the Union of Concerned Scientists
The Wikipedia on abrupt climate change
Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises — free online book from the National Academies Press

Ozone Layer FAQs:

Ozone Hole FAQ from The Weather Underground
Ozone Depletion FAQs from faqs.org

Geoengineering a Solution to Global Warming

Global Warming Fix? Carbon Dioxide Captured Directly From Air With Simple Machine

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

University of Calgary climate change scientist David Keith and his team are working to efficiently capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide directly from the air, using near-commercial technology.

In research conducted at the U of C, Keith and a team of researchers showed it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) – the main greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming – using a relatively simple machine that can capture the trace amount of CO2 present in the air at any place on the planet.…

WhiteKnight Two to Monitor Atmosphere for NOAA

Virgin Galactic craft to help monitor climate

New Scientist - Aviation Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

Climate science could become an unexpected beneficiary of civilian spaceflight thanks to a deal between Virgin Galactic and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Virgin Galactic is developing a high-altitude plane called WhiteKnightTwo that will carry a passenger rocket, SpaceShipTwo, to a height of about 50,000 feet (15 kilometres). At that altitude, the rocket will separate from the plane and fire, taking its crew to the edge of space.…

Mars

Mars and Its Moons

Background information about Mars

NASA's Mars Rover site at JPL

A gallery of Spirit's images and slideshow

A gallery of Opportunity's images and slideshow

Google Mars

Mars Global Surveyor

Mars Odyssey

Mars Express orbiter

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Mars Phoenix Lander

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Phoenix Sees Snow on Mars

Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow On Red Planet, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.

A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars has detected snow from clouds about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground.…

Snowfall Seen on Mars

SPACE.com Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

Even as its mission winds down, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has spotted snow falling from the Martian sky.

Phoenix's camera and meteorological equipment have shown clouds and fog forming during the night as the air gets colder.

"This is now occurring every night," said Jim Whiteway of York University in Toronto and lead scientist for Phoenix's Meteorological Station.…

See SPACE.com for links to further info.

Snow place like Mars

Bad Astronomy Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

The Phoenix lander has been doing all sorts of cool things since it touched down on the red planet a few months ago. And the news keeps coming down in a flurry… literally!

Phoenix has an experiment on board that beams a laser upward to measure how the atmosphere and ground interact. Incredibly, it detected snow falling from clouds! Sadly, the snow vaporized before it could get the surface, so there won't be any Marvin the Snowman antics from the Phoenix engineers. Actual falling snow has never been detected on mars before, so this is pretty cool. Every time I hear something like that, I'm reminded that Mars is a world, an actual place, and not just a reddish-butterscotch dot in the sky. Wow.…

Phoenix Update, Sol 123: Press briefing with carbonates, clays, and snow!

Planetary Society Weblog Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:48 AM ET

EDIT: I just got a couple of the graphs that they showed during today's briefing, which didn't make it on to the JPL or Arizona websites for some reason. They're included below. There was a long-awaited press briefing from the Phoenix team this week. They had a lot of ground to cover, with no fewer than six presenters in two different locations, each giving a short summary of something newsy, so a list works best to summarize what they had to ....

NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:48 AM ET

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.

A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars has detected snow from clouds about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground.…

The Cosmos

Stars, galaxies, nebulae, and cosmology

Also fundamental physics with possible astronomical or cosmological implications

Tutorials:

Big Bang   Inflation   The Cosmic Microwave Background   The Cosmic Dark Ages   Dark Matter   Dark Energy - For a more technical discussion go here.   Ask the Experts: What are dark matter and dark energy, and how are they affecting the universe? Measuring Stellar & Galactic Distances (difficult!)   Supernovas   Supernovas & Pulsars   Black Holes   Pulsars   Cosmology: the Observable Universe (moderately technical)   Cosmology (very difficult!)   

No Dark Energy?

Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble?

SPACE.com Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

If the notion of dark energy sounds improbable, get ready for an even more outlandish suggestion.

Earth may be trapped in an abnormal bubble of space-time that is particularly void of matter. Scientists say this condition could account for the apparent acceleration of the universe's expansion, for which dark energy currently is the leading explanation.…

See SPACE.com for links to further info.

Podcast: How Chemical Elements Are Made in Stars

Podcast: Nucleosynthesis: Elements from Stars

Universe Today Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

Look around you. Breathe in some air. Everything you can see and feel was formed in a star. Today we'll examine that long journey that matter has gone through, forged and re-forged in the hearts of stars. In fact, the device you're using to listen to this podcast has some elements formed in a supernova explosion.…

Energy

Policy, technology, and resources

Record Efficiency for New Solar Cell

Solar Cell Sets World Efficiency Record At 40.8 Percent

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have set a world record in solar cell efficiency with a photovoltaic device that converts 40.8 percent of the light that hits it into electricity. This is the highest confirmed efficiency of any photovoltaic device to date.

The inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cell was designed, fabricated and independently measured at NREL. The 40.8 percent efficiency was measured under concentrated light of 326 suns. One sun is about the amount of light that typically hits Earth on a sunny day. The new cell is a natural candidate for the space satellite market and for terrestrial concentrated photovoltaic arrays, which use lenses or mirrors to focus sunlight onto the solar cells.…

Nuclear Weapons

All forms of nuclear weaponry, focussing particularly on nuclear proliferation and possible terrorist nukes.

The Wikipedia article on nuclear weapons

Easier Nuclear Weapons

Charles Ferguson: Beware of New, Easy-to-Make Nukes

Wired Top Stories Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

In the past, malefactors seeking to enrich uranium to bomb-grade quality needed either a highly conspicuous industrial plant or specialized equipment that was hard to obtain and relatively easy to monitor. But there's a new method on the horizon, and it's potentially far easier to hide.

For the past four years, Charles Ferguson has been tracking the progress of a technology known as laser isotope separation. Still experimental, it requires only a warehouse-sized space and the kind of lasers within reach of a high school science geek.…

Technology

Towards an Artificial Nose

MIT paves way to 'artificial nose'

EurekAlert! - Technology, Engineering and Computer Science Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

MIT biological engineers have found a way to mass-produce smell receptors in the laboratory, an advance that paves the way for "artificial noses" to be created and used in a variety of settings.

The work could also allow scientists to unlock the mystery of how the sense of smell can recognize a seemingly infinite range of odors.

"Smell is perhaps one of the oldest and most primitive senses, but nobody really understands how it works. It still remains a tantalizing enigma," said Shuguang Zhang, associate director of MIT's Center for Biomedical Engineering and senior author of a paper on the work appearing online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Artificial noses could one day replace drug- and explosive-sniffing dogs, and could have numerous medical applications, according to Zhang and his colleagues. DARPA recently approved funding for the team's MIT (microfluidic-integrated transduction) RealNose project.…

Bill Gates: A Robot in Every Home

A Robot In Every Home?

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Download time: Sep 30 2008 7:49 AM ET

Observers like Bill Gates believe that by 2025 we could have robots in every home. In labs across Europe, researchers are creating designs that could become the robo-butler of the future.

Bill Gates likens the current state of robotics research to the earliest days of personal computing history when he formed the then fledging company Microsoft. Like the 1970s personal computer market, robotics designs and breakthroughs are following one another rapidly, and consumers are beginning to take an interest, too.

In Europe, as the rest of the world, there is s surge in robotics research, reflected in part by the European Network of Robotic Research (EURON), an EU-funded network of excellence that completed its work in May 2008.…