Space Scan

It was a teary farewell for the astronauts aboard the linked shuttle Discovery and the International space Station, as Discovery makes its return journey to mother earth. Clayton Anderson who had spent five months in orbit is now headed home to be reunited with family and friends. He will be replaced by Daniel Tani, who will remain in orbit for the next two months. The most difficult task undertook by the astronauts during their space mission was spending four days fixing a solar panel. A solar energy panel on a newly installed beam ripped while being unfurled. It took astronaut Scott Parazynski to undertake an unprecedented spacewalk to help fix the solar panel. After their accomplishment six astronauts commandeered by Pamela Melroy is now headed for earth leaving three others in the space station. After pulling away from the space station, the shuttle will spent the Monday morning flying around the space station for picture taking. The engineers are particularly interested to see how the newly installed solar wing is affected by vibrations of undocking. The shuttle had dropped a pressurized compartment, weighing nearly 34,000 pounds that will serve as a docking port for future laboratories. Discovery’s 15-day mission will end on Wednesday when it will touch the earth.

Over the past week, Comet Holmes is lighting the northern sky with its magnificent light drawing thousands of professional and amateur sky watchers on rooftops. The Comet named after Edwin Holmes, who discovered it in 1892, was visible to the astronomers only through the telescope until 23 October. Since then it had suddenly exploded and expanded making it visible also to naked eye. Comet Holmes is exploding and its coma has grown to become larger than Jupiter. The coma is made of dust and gas and is illuminated by the sun that makes it bright in the night sky. Unlike most other comets, Comet Holmes lacks a tail. Scientists speculate that the comet exploded owing to the presence of sinkholes in its nucleus giving it a honey-comb-like structure. The collapse exposed the comet ice to the sun transforming the ice into gas. For those interested to catch a glimpse of this celestial spectacle, Comet Holmes can be seen in the northern sky in the constellation Perseus. The show is expected to last for weeks if not for months.

Researchers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) have found a large chunk of the universe, thought to have been found in 2002, missing. This new revelation has reduced the weight of the universe by ten to twenty percent than what was previously calculated. The group that earlier found what was theorized to be a significant fraction of the ‘missing mass’ that binds together the universe has now discovered that some x-rays thought to come from intergalactic clouds of warm gas are instead caused by lightweight electrons. According to Dr. Max Bonamente, an assistant professor in UAH, if the source of so much x-ray energy is tiny electrons instead of heavier atoms, this means that the mass of x-ray emitting clouds is much less. A significant portion of what was thought to be the missing mass is actually ‘relativistic electrons’ traveling at almost the same speed as light. These electrons collide with photons from cosmic microwave background. Energy from the collision converts the photons from low-energy microwaves to high-energy x-rays.

Black Holes are the most intriguing objects in space. The massive dead stars with intense gravitational force, gobbling every object that comes on its path. Detecting it would help in revealing new information about not only itself, but also will aid in testing the great theories of Physics. This is what scientists are expecting to achieve after the biggest known black hole with a mass of 18 billion Suns has been discovered. We are at a safe distance from the giant at 3.5 billion light years away from it. It is situated at the heart of a quasar QJ287 – this intergalactic source of high-energy electromagnetic radiation is the aid to scientists to help measure the black hole. In fact, there is not a single black hole, but there are two giants — with the smaller one weighing 100 million Suns, orbiting around the larger one. Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity can be verified from the new discovery. It is difficult to measure the dimensions of the black hole, and scientists have to rely on the surrounding electromagnetic radiations and the speed of gas clouds to come to any deductions. The recent discovery will help in testing the theory that black holes could spiral towards each other as they radiate energy in the form of giant gravitational waves. Sometime in the next 100,000 earth years, the two black holes may merge into one another, scientists believe!

NASA is synonymous with spacecrafts, but this time they are in news owing to one of their latest stunts in developing a Parachute. This special Parachute has been developed for aiding the spacecraft land on Mars to set up an analytical laboratory, which NASA plans to launch in 2009. The spacecraft under discussion here is being built by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Though I would like to bring your attention not to the spacecraft but the Parachute, which is going to help this spacecraft land. Not diverting from the point that this special Parachute will help a huge spacecraft land not mere human beings, it has been made with utmost care and precision. This huge Parachute is being tested by the Mars Science Laboratory, NASA. Built by Pioneer Aerospace, the Parachute has 80 suspension lines. It is more than 50 meters long with an opening of almost 17 meters. It large size is complimented by a large disk gap of about 3.8 meters. If we go by NASA, then this Parachute is also unique in terms of its wide disk gap. The NASA engineers claim this Parachute has the largest disk gap to be ever built in a Parachute. But how many times do we build Parachutes to help rovers land in Mars? Keeping in mind its large size, it required an equally large wind tunnel. Known specifically as the world’s largest wind tunnel in possession of Ames Research Center, NASA, in the sate of California. The tunnel is said to provide room for a Boeing 737 easily.

Scientists and common person alike have always wondered whether there is life elsewhere in the universe. Discovery of a new planet orbiting a star beyond the solar system might help scientists to discover alien life. Scientists of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena discovered a new planet orbiting 55 Cancri, star located 41 light years from Earth in the Cancer constellation. The discovery of a quintuple planetary system raises hope that there are planetary systems similar to our solar system in the outer space. The planet discovered is the fourth planet in its planetary system. The new planet is about 45 times the mass of Earth and appears to be similar to Saturn in its composition and appearance. The planet is fourth from 55 Cancri and completes one orbit in 260 days. Its location puts the planet in the habitable zone where temperatures would allow water formation. The planet was discovered using Shane telescope at the Lick Observatory in San Jose and WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

If you thought that the whole concept of the Star Trek Enterprise was fascinating to watch but far too fictitious to be true, then one can safely bet that you are right for a long, long time in to the future. But if you thought the same way next time you were watching ‘Total Recall’, then you might be woefully wrong. If NASA gets its way, then very soon we will all be in training camps, making sure we understand the principles of levitation in outer space and electromagnetic radiation. Total Recall, according to NASA, is the next step in evolution. Evolution is the simple process that has kept us alive till date on this planet. While species come and go, the fact is every organism has evolved to ensure the sustenance of life on the planet. To put it in simple terms, for nature all life is the same and one. It is the successful continuation of existence of this life that matters to it. Ironically, for man life and existence is almost only himself. So instead of letting nature’s evolution help, he is now thinking of evolving in a different way- with the help of science. Man hopes that his existence is assured by the brainchild that he conceived and nourished over centuries. NASA is exactly planning that, by making sure that it trains more astronauts and maybe some civilians to make sure that one day they can step on moon and maybe go on to live on Mars. The plan is very simple and it is to obviously inhabit Mars when we probably have no more of a planet left to exploit out here. It will not be as simple as directing a movie with Martian sets though. Water and stable atmosphere temperatures are needed. Injecting methane in to the atmosphere of Mars and hopefully a more stable temperature will see the polar ice caps of Mars melt and provide water. But all this is still almost far too impossible to achieve any time in the near future. Moon is the first stop to the destination. NASA’s currently planning a lunar outpost where astronauts could stay for a week at a time. In 2020, this Orion spacecraft will take astronauts there to start building it. Training is being designed in Antarctica to replicate the rough conditions on Mars. There are flights planned for next year to take people to the edge of our atmosphere. So maybe a holiday touching the stars and flirting with the moon may not be that far away. But one surely hopes the day will not come when we do indeed need to migrate to Mars. Then we might be akin to nothing more than locust who infest, destroy and move on. Remember ‘Independence Day’? Now we don’t want to be the bad guys of the flick, do we? If the plan to move to Mars is an ‘Insurance Cover’, then let us hope we never need to claim it. We have only one home and that is down here and if we work hard enough, it is more than capable of being home to all of us.

Space has always fascinated us. The radio emissions from the planet is what scientists are mostly curious about. These waves come from the Saturn’s magnetic field. The recent publication of NASA’s Saturn recordings, reveal the eerie space audio to us. The Saturn’s audio sounds very much like a space craft on the run. The whistling, warbling as well as whooshing sounds made by the planet Saturn are very unique indeed. However, I still doubt the credibility of these sounds. The sounds were recorded from a 2005 flyby of the Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The very strange whistling sound can be likened to a heavy metal object being dragged along a surface. The sound samples have been recorded by the Huygen’s microphones. These were recorded by NASA’s space vehicle Cassini in April of 2002.The sounds are very much like the soundtrack of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although, this odyssey is very real. At least, we can hope so.

The solar system has been the subject of numerous studies till date. An interesting discovery made by Voyager space crafts found that the solar system is dented. This discovery has been made from the ‘edge’ of the solar system. The edge of the system is where the solar wind runs up against thin gas. It is this wind that blows in every which way. Although, it mostly blows in an outward direction. Yet another element in the solar system is the boundary between heliosphere and interstellar space. This boundary as the scientists claim is in an abrupt shock wave. Back in 2004, NASA’s space craft Voyager 1 probed this shock wave area and found out that the shock wave is dented i.e. there’s a small hole in the shock wave. In another mission launched by NASA back in the year 1977, Voyager 2 reported a similar squash in the shock wave boundary. So, it is clear that there is a hole in the solar system. However, the space scientists are not quite sure as to what caused this whole or what would ‘fill’ up this hole. I think it’s quite shocking that such a dent exist in the solar system. I wonder if that has anything to do with the global climate change. Although, I seriously doubt. Anyway, both the space crafts (Voyager 1 and 2) are currently in the heliosheath and they are supposed to continue outward beyond the very last reaches of the sun’s winds.

Several decades ago we were all excited about the moon and sending humans to the moon. Now, the Red planet, Mars has taken over the moon. Recently, the North American Space Agency planned it’s manned mission to Mars in near future during a meeting at Houston, Texas. The American space agency plans on sending a 6 to 7 month long manned mission to Mars sometime in 2031. This was done in tandem with President Bush’s program of returning humans to the moon. The NASA folks present at the meeting talked about how they can achieve this goal. The Mars space rig will weigh about 880,000 pounds. The Mars manned mission will cost NASA anything between $20bn to about $450bn. A chunk of the investment will go towards the newly developed Ares V rockets that NASA has built for the mission. I think that’s a huge investment on NASA’s part. Hopefully, they will make some cool discoveries during the 2031 mission. The space agency is working on developing new ways to protect it’s astronauts from harms way. Although, there’s no telling when danger will strike them in space. The ‘ship’ to Mars will be equipped with a ‘close loop’ life support system. The plan is to grow plants and feed the crew. Air and water will be recycled within the craft. However, many queries still remain and plenty of things need to be figured before NASA can promise it’s crew a safe journey to Mars and back. Image Credits: Rdfrights, Astronomy