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The Moon is regularly abused by meteors, but NASA recently spotted a super bright flash as a space rock hit the lunar surface. Here’s what happened.
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At the center of this image, and hidden in a thick cloud of dust, is the Egg Nebula’s central, dying star. #space #NASA #stars (Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA)
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This image is a composite of 25 separate images spanning the period of April 16, 2012, to April 15, 2013.
It uses the SDO AIA wavelength of 171 angstroms and reveals the zones on the sun where active regions are most common during this part of the solar cycle.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO/AIA/S. Wiessinger
Neat.
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Look at this baby picture of our universe. Wasn’t it cute?
The European Space Agency on Thursday released this image yesterday, which depicts what the universe looked like a mere 380,000 years after the Big Bang. While that may sound like a fair amount of time, the universe was virtually an infant then, giving scientists new insight into its origins.
“The new satellite data underscored the existence of puzzling anomalies that may yet lead theorists back to the drawing board. The universe appears to be slightly lumpier, with bigger and more hot and cold spots in the northern half of the sky as seen from Earth than toward the south, for example. And there is a large, unexplained cool spot in the northern hemisphere.”
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Twenty-seven years ago today, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded during its 10th flight mission (STS-51-L), just 73 seconds after liftoff. The mission was originally scheduled to begin on January 22, 1986, but it had to be rescheduled several times before the Challenger finally departed from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 28. After the failure of an O-ring seal on one of the shuttle’s Solid Rocket Boosters, the vessel burst into flames and exploded. The tragic events were captured during a live broadcast, and all seven crew members lost their lives.
Today in history: Looking back at the 1986 Challenger Shuttle disaster
Photo: NASA
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As if space travel weren’t risky enough already, now astronauts have to grapple with the fear that being in deep space might fry their brains.
The radiation in space is similar to what might be experienced in a nuclear explosion, but here on Earth, we’re protected by our planet’s magnetic field. When astronauts leave Earth’s orbit, however, that layer of protection is gone, and human bodies are bombarded by radioactive particles, which have already been linked to increased cancer risk and cardiovascular issues. But “perhaps the greatest danger of such prolonged exposure,” says Alasdair Wilkins at io9, is “the degeneration of the brain itself.”
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center wanted to study how prolonged time spent in deep space could affect astronauts. So they exposed mice to levels of radiation similar to what humans would encounter on a three-year round trip to Mars, then tested the mice’s memories. The results were startling. Mice exposed to radiation failed to recall objects and places, and their brains showed an increased buildup of beta amyloid, a protein considered one of the clearest indicators of Alzheimer’s disease. ”These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” says researcher M. Kerry O’Banion.
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NASA’s new spacesuit looks awfully familiar…
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As the moon passes the sun, the ghostly tendrils of the outer atmospheric layer, the “corona,” are visible, providing scientists a moment of focused attention on our mysterious star.
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Cartoon of the day — Breaking records and laws
PAUL ZANETTI © 2012 Cagle Cartoons(Source: theweek.com)
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Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX for short, launched a rocket with a capsule carrying supplies for the International Space Station on Sunday, officially beginning a new era in which NASA will count on private companies to carry cargo and, eventually, people into orbit. The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, the billionaire PayPal founder, declared the liftoff a success. Despite a problem with one of the rocket’s nine engines, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule is expected to dock with the space station on schedule Wednesday. SpaceX completed a test mission in May, but this is its first paid supply run to the space station. What will this trip mean for the future of space flight? Here, a brief guide:
What is SpaceX delivering to the space station?
It’s taking 1,000 pounds of supplies, including food, clothing, gear, and science experiments. The scientific projects include 23 built by students, including one designed by California middle school students to see how Silly Putty works in zero-gravity. The equipment includes a freezer to store laboratory samples at temperatures as low as 300 degrees below zero. The ship is also carrying a treat for the three people on board the space station — chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream.(Source: theweek.com)
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Saturn’s moon Titan has long piqued the interest of scientists because its surface is covered in seas, lakes, and rivers — which are strangely filled with liquid methane. Although the moon has a number of obvious differences from Earth (its surface temperature is a frigid -289 degrees Fahrenheit, among other things), it’s still an “enticing target for human exploration” because its bountiful liquids and unique atmosphere “could actually support life,” says Megan Garber at The Atlantic. In recent years, both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have beamed back images of the moon’s “planet-like body,” which may even have a “subsurface ocean.”
But how do you explore a moon covered in methane oceans and rivers? In a space boat, obviously.
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NASA requires its astronauts to exercise on space flights to fight off the debilitating effects of zero-gravity on the body’s bone and muscle. But Sunita Williams, U.S. commander of the Expedition 33 crew at the International Space Station, took things to another level when she completed the first ever triathlon in space — running, biking, and even swimming to compete with Earth-based athletes 240 miles below in Southern California.
Since quarters are a bit cramped at the I.S.S., Williams used special exercise equipment to keep up with triathletes competing in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon in Southern California. For the half-mile “swimming” portion, Williams strapped into something called the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED), which uses weights to imitate water resistance while swimming through anti-gravity. For the 18-mile biking portion she used a stationary bike, and for the four-mile run she used a specially outfitted treadmill that strapped her in to keep her from floating off.
