SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: August 2005
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Next US Mars probe set for launch
(Aug 10, 2005)
The US space agency's new robotic mission to Mars
is set to blast off. Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will scour the planet for suitable
landing sites on future missions, in the quest to eventually send
astronauts to Mars. The probe will investigate the history of water
on the Red Planet and could identify suitable habitats for life. An
Atlas V rocket
carrying the probe is due to blast-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Florida on Wednesday at 1254 BST (0754 EDT; 1154 GMT). Update:
launch delay to no earlier than 0750 EDT, Aug. 11
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Cosmic rays 'harm pilots' sight'
(Aug 9, 2005)
Airline pilots may be at increased risk of eye damage because of their
exposure to cosmic radiation, warn experts. The Icelandic researchers
found commercial pilots were three times more likely than normal to
develop cataracts – clouding of the lens of the eye. Cosmic
rays – very energetic particles and radiation which bombard
the Earth from outer space – have already been linked to cataracts
among astronauts.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Earth's surface transformed by massive
asteroids
(Aug 7, 2005)
A cluster of at least three asteroids
between 20 and 50 km across colliding with Earth over 3.2 billion
years ago caused a massive change in the structure and composition
of the earth's surface, according to new research by ANU earth scientists.
According to Andrew Glikson and John Vickers from the Department of
Earth and Marine Sciences at ANU, the impact of these asteroids triggered
major earthquakes, faulting, volcanic eruption and deep-seated magmatic
activity and interrupted the evolution of parts of the Earth's crust.
Read
more. Source: spaceref/Australia National Univ. |
Moon soils store Earth's early breath
(Aug 5, 2005)
The Moon's soil preserves
gases from the ancient Earth's atmosphere, say scientists who have
studied results from the Apollo
missions. The discovery hints that our planet's magnetic field switched
on about 3.9 billion years ago. This in turn points to when life began
on Earth, as the magnetic field protects us from a hail of DNA-damaging
particles from space.
Read
more. Source: Nature |
Discovery may need more repairs
(Aug 4, 2005)
NASA scientists are trying to determine whether the US space shuttle
Discovery will need
more repairs before being given the all clear to return to Earth.
On Wednesday an astronaut carried out a pioneering spacewalk to the
orbiter's underside to remove protruding material threatening the
heatshield's integrity. But engineers now fear the thermal blanket
near the cockpit is damaged and needs repairs to stop it tearing off.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Titan may be as dry as a bone
(Aug 4, 2005)
Saturn's moon Titan
is as dry as a bone over most of its surface, suggest new infrared
images from Earth. The work supports similar observations from the
Cassini spacecraft,
in orbit around the Ringed Planet. And it suggests previous radar
studies from the ground – which hinted the giant moon was covered
in liquid methane seas – were actually detecting signs of liquid
that had long since vanished.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Methane on Mars: the plot thickens
(Aug 3, 2005)
Methane
on Mars may be produced
at rates 3000 times higher than previously thought and partially destroyed
by dust storms, controversial new research suggests. The work is sure
to reignite the debate over a possible biological origin for the gas,
but another team reports that subsurface volcanism alone – and
not life – can account for the gas. Sunlight is thought to destroy
methane molecules in Mars's atmosphere over about 300 years. So recent
discoveries of the gas by space- and ground-based instruments suggested
it is actively being replenished by geological processes or, possibly,
living microbes.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Astronomers to decide what makes a planet
(Aug 3, 2005)
The discovery of a new addition to our Solar System has prompted astronomers
to fast-track plans to decide what is and is not a planet. The rules,
which could be formulated by the end of this week, could more than
double the number of local planets – or they could demote Pluto
(shown here), leaving us with only eight in our neighbourhood. The
number of planets appeared to rise to ten on 29 July, when US astronomers
announced the discovery of 2003
UB313, a chunk of rock and ice that orbits near Pluto, around
15 billion kilometres from the Sun.
Read
more. Source: Nature |
Cosmic rays may prevent long-haul space
travel
(Aug 2, 2005)
The radiation encountered on a journey to Mars
and back could well kill space travellers, experts have warned. Astronauts
would be bombarded by so much cosmic radiation that one in 10 of them
could die from cancer. The crew of any mission to Mars would also
suffer increased risks of eye cataracts, loss of fertility and genetic
defects in their children, according to a study by the US Federal
Aviation Administration. Cosmic rays, which come from outer space
and solar flares, are now regarded as a potential limiting factor
for space travel. "I do not see how the problem of this hostile radiation
environment can be easily overcome in the future," says Keran O'Brien,
a space physicist from Northern Arizona University.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Space shuttle to get critical fix
(Aug 2, 2005)
An astronaut is to make unprecedented repairs to the space shuttle
Discovery, NASA
has announced. Stephen Robinson will remove strips that are sticking
out between heat shield tiles on Discovery's belly. Nasa is concerned
the dangling material – called gap fillers – could cause
part of the shuttle to overheat as it re-enters the atmosphere. Astronauts
have never fixed a shuttle's heat shields on a spacewalk before –
or gone under an orbiting shuttle.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Astronomers detect '10th planet'
(Aug 1, 2005)
Astronomers in the United States have announced the discovery of the
10th planet to orbit our Sun. The largest object found in our Solar
System since Neptune was discovered in 1846, it was first seen in
2003 but has only now been confirmed as a planet. Designated 2003
UB313, it is about 3,000km across, a world of rock and ice and
somewhat larger than Pluto. Scientists say it is three times as far
away as Pluto, in an orbit at an angle to the orbits of the other
planets. Astronomers think that at some point in its history, Neptune
likely flung it into its highly-inclined 44-degree orbit.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Ice lake found on the Red Plane>
(Aug 1, 2005)
A giant patch of frozen water has been pictured nestled within an
unnamed impact crater on Mars.
The photographs were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on
board Mars Express,
the European Space Agency probe which is exploring the planet. The
ice disc is located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers
much of Mars' far northern latitudes. The existence of the water-ice
patch on Mars raises the prospect that past or present life will one
day be detected.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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