SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: December 2008
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& science news > space & science news: December 2008: 1
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Scientists find 'missing' mineral and
clues to Mars mysteries
(Dec 19, 2008)
Researchers using a powerful instrument aboard NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter have found a long-sought-after mineral
on the Martian surface and, with it, unexpected clues to the Red Planet's
watery past. Surveying intact bedrock layers with the Compact Reconnaissance
Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, scientists found carbonate
minerals, indicating that Mars
had neutral to alkaline water when the minerals formed at these locations
more than 3.6 billion years ago.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Kepler spacecraft ready to ship to Florida
(Dec 19, 2008)
Engineers are getting ready to pack the Kepler
spacecraft into a container and ship it off to its launch site
at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station. The mission, scheduled to launch on March 5,
will seek to answer an age-old question – are there other Earths
in space? Kepler will monitor more than 100,000 stars for signatures
of planets of various sizes and orbital distances.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Planets living on the edge
(Dec 19, 2008)
Some stars have it tough when it comes to raising planets. A new image
from NASA's Spitzer
Space Telescope shows one unlucky lot of stars, born into a dangerous
neighborhood. The stars themselves are safe, but the material surrounding
them – the dusty bits of what might have been future planets
– can be seen blowing off into space.
Read
more. Source: NASA/Caltech/Spitzer |
Flaw theory over Mars Beagle loss
(Dec 18, 2008)
Britain's ill-fated Mars probe, Beagle
2, may have met a fiery end through a miscalculation, New Scientist
reports. The spacecraft, built to find signs of life, vanished on
Christmas Day 2003. A simulation by Queensland University scientists
suggests the probe went out of control during its descent due to a
misjudgement of the Martian atmosphere.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Galaxy clusters' stunted growth confirms
dark energy
(Dec 17, 2008)
Dark
energy is stunting the growth of the universe's galaxy clusters,
new observations reveal. The finding uses a new technique to confirm
that the universe is accelerating in its expansion, pushed apart by
a mysterious repulsion – dark energy – that is overpowering
the effect of gravity.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Report urges timetable for human mission
to Mars
(Dec 16, 2008)
The Obama administration should set a concrete schedule for human
Mars missions, and make
sure new hardware developed for NASA's return to the Moon
can be adapted for missions to other destinations, a new report says.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Titan's volcanoes give NASA spacecraft
chilly reception
(Dec 16, 2008)
Data collected during several recent flybys of Titan
by the Cassini spacecraft
have put another arrow in the quiver of scientists who think the Saturnian
moon contains active cryovolcanoes spewing a super-chilled liquid
into its atmosphere. The information was released Monday during a
meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Phoenix site on Mars may be in dry climate
cycle phase
(Dec 16, 2008)
The Martian arctic soil that NASA's Phoenix
Mars Lander dug into this year is very cold and very dry. However,
when long-term climate cycles make the site warmer, the soil may get
moist enough to modify the chemistry, producing effects that persist
through the colder times.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Saturn's dynamic moon Enceladus shows
more signs of activity
(Dec 16, 2008)
The closer scientists look at Saturn's small moon Enceladus,
the more they find evidence of an active world. The most recent flybys
of Enceladus made by the Cassini
spacecraft have provided new signs of ongoing changes on and around
the moon. The latest high-resolution images of Enceladus show signs
that the south polar surface changes over time.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Commercial space station finds first customers
(Dec 15, 2008)
Commercial space flight is taking off. SpaceX
of Hawthorne, California, which in September launched the first privately
built rocket to go into orbit, has secured two customers for its DragonLab
mini space station.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
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