SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: December 2006
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Shuttle night lift-off postponed
(Dec 8, 2006)
NASA has called off the launch of its third space shuttle mission
in six months because of poor weather. The crew were seated inside
the space shuttle Discovery
at the scheduled launch time of 2135 (0235 GMT), but low clouds prevented
lift-off. The launch was scheduled to be the first night launch of
the orbiter since the Colombia accident in 2003.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
NASA telescope sees black hole munch on
a star
(Dec 7, 2006)
A giant black hole
has been caught red-handed dipping into a cosmic cookie jar of stars
by NASA's Galaxy Evolution
Explorer. This is the first time astronomers have seen the whole
process of a black hole eating a star, from its first to nearly final
bites. "This type of event is very rare, so we are lucky to study
the entire process from beginning to end," said Dr. Suvi Gezari of
the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Water flowed 'recently' on Mars
(Dec 6, 2006)
NASA says it has found "compelling" evidence that liquid water flowed
recently on the surface of Mars.
The finding adds further weight to the idea that Mars might harbour
the right conditions for life. The appearance of gullies, revealed
in orbital images from a NASA probe, suggests that water could have
flowed on the surface in the last few years.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Probe's powerful camera spots Vikings
on Mars
(Dec 6, 2006)
It is a feat millions of times more impressive than finding a needle
in a haystack. The new Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted about a dozen spacecraft on
the Martian surface and, incredibly, taken pictures of such sharpness
that scientists have been able to identify individual rocks that were
first photographed by the Viking
landers in 1976. [Image: Spirit's backshell and parachute
photograped by MRO]
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
US plans permanent base on Moon
(Dec 5, 2006)
US space agency NASA has said it plans to start work on a permanently-occupied
base on the Moon after
astronauts begin flying back there in 2020. The base is likely to
be built on one of the Moon's poles and will serve as a science centre
and possible stepping stone for manned missions to Mars.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Potential danger: Moon hit by more space
rocks than thought
(Dec 4, 2006)
Potentially dangerous small space rocks are smashing into the Moon
a lot more often than was expected, according to an ongoing NASA study.
"We've now seen 11 and possibly 12 lunar impacts since we started
monitoring the Moon one year ago," said Bill Cooke, head of NASA's
Meteoroid Environment Office. "That's about four times more hits than
our computer models predicted."
Read
more. Source: space.com |
Astronauts sample haute cuisine
(Dec 3, 2006)
Saying "the food was out of this world" has taken on a whole new meaning
as the International Space
Station crew has been sampling haute cuisine in space. Last Sunday
the ISS astronauts swapped their usual rations for quails roasted
in Madrian wine and duck breast confit, European Space Agency officials
said. The gourmet menu was created by French master chef Alain Ducasse.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
HiRISE team begins releasing a flood of
Mars images over the Internet
(Dec 2, 2006)
The University of Arizona-based team that operates the high-resolution
camera on NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, in conjunction with NASA, is releasing
the first of what will be a non-stop flood of incredibly detailed
Mars images taken during the spacecraft's two-year primary science
mission.
Read
more. Source: University of Arizona |
Carbon globules in meteorite may have
seeded Earth life
(Dec 1, 2006)Life on Earth may have started with the help of
tiny hollow spheres that formed in the cold depths of space, a new
study suggests. The analysis of carbon bubbles found in a meteorite
shows they are not Earth contaminants and must have formed in temperatures
near absolute zero. The bubbles, called globules, were discovered
in 2002 in pieces of a meteorite that had landed on the frozen surface
of Tagish Lake in British Columbia, Canada, in 2000.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
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