SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: December 2008
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Pieces coming together for first test
launch of NASA's new spacecraft
(Dec 15, 2008)
NASA is using powerful computers and software programs to design the
rocket that will carry crew and cargo to space after the space shuttle
retires. But those computers will have their work checked the old-fashioned
way with the first of several uncrewed demonstration launches beginning
in 2009. Ares I-X, the
first Ares I test rocket, will lift off from Kennedy Space Center
in the summer of 2009.
Read
more. Source: NASA |
Virgin Galactic 'mothership' to take first
flight
(Dec 13, 2008)
Virgin
Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo is set to take is maiden flight in the
next two weeks. The flight will be the first of dozens planned for
the high-altitude craft, which could become the first privately-owned
vehicle to carry tourists to the edge of space. The high-altitude
plane is designed to loft an eight-passenger craft called SpaceShipTwo
to an altitude of 15 kilometers.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Cosmic diamonds may be hidden in 'carbon
onions'
(Dec 12, 2008)
An exotic carbon structure could explain why astronomers have seen
very little diamond
dust in the universe. Since the 1980s, researchers have puzzled over
the origin of "nanodiamonds", tiny diamond deposits preserved in meteorites,
such as the Allende meteorite
that landed in Mexico in 1969.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Ocean worlds may be dying stars' last
haven for life
(Dec 11, 2008)
Large and distant ocean
worlds could provide a last refuge for life around Sun-like stars,
long after the heat of the stars' red giant phase sterilises closer-in,
Earth-like planets, new calculations suggest.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Astronomers find the two dimmest stellar
bulbs
(Dec 11, 2008)
The new record-holder for dimmest known star-like object in the universe
goes to twin "failed" stars, or brown
dwarfs, each of which shines feebly with only one millionth the
light of our sun. Previously, astronomers thought the pair just one
typical, faint brown dwarf. But when NASA's Spitzer
Space Telescope observed the object, it was able to accurately
measure its extreme faintness and low temperature for the first time,
and reveal its true nature.
Read
more. Source: NASA/Caltech/Spitzer |
Swirling waters boost chance of life on
Europa
(Dec 11, 2008)
With Jupiter stirring
the pot, the planet's icy moon Europa
may be brewing a more nutritious soup for life than anyone had expected.
New calculations show that additional variations, due to a suspected
slight tilt of the moon's spin axis relative to its orbital plane,
make it possible for Jupiter's gravity to warm Europa's ocean directly
by stirring up currents within it.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Hubble Telescope finds carbon dioxide
on an extrasolar planet
(Dec 10, 2008)
The Hubble Space Telescope
has discovered carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. This
breakthrough is an important step toward finding chemical biotracers
of extraterrestrial life. The Jupiter-sized planet, called HD
189733b, is too hot for life. But the Hubble observations are
a proof-of-concept demonstration that the basic chemistry for life
can be measured on planets orbiting other stars.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Giant black hole confirmed in Milky Way
(Dec 10, 2008)
There is a giant
black hole at the center of our galaxy,
a study has confirmed. German astronomers tracked the movement of
28 stars circling the center of the Milky Way, using the European
Southern Observatory in Chile. The black hole is four million times
heavier than our Sun, according to the paper in The Astrophysical
Journal.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Space elevator trips could be agonisingly
slow
(Dec 9, 2008)
The simple act of climbing could throw space
elevators off track and potentially into harm's way, a new study
suggests. Fixing the problem could require agonisingly slow trips
lasting nearly a month or the careful choreography of multiple climbers.
Space elevators have been proposed as a cheap alternative to expensive
rocket launches to send cargo, and perhaps even humans, into space.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Rivers of gas flow around stars in new
space image
(Dec 9, 2008)
A new image from NASA's Spitzer
Space Telescope shows a turbulent star-forming region, known as
the Omega Nebula
or Swan Nebula (M17) where rivers of gas and stellar winds are eroding
thickets of dusty material. The picture provides some of the best
examples yet of the ripples of gas, or bow shocks, that can form around
stars in choppy cosmic waters.
Read
more. Source: NASA-Caltech/Spitzer |
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