Space Scan

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.

Source:abc
Image:pontiac

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.

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.

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.

Source: AP
Image: cache eb

A British team of astronomers from St Andrews University in Fife University in Staffordshire has discovered three planets, hotter and heavier than Jupiter! The planets are named Wasp-3b, Wasp-4b and Wasp-5b.

The scientists at Queen’s University in Belfast and Keele University in Staffordshire were also involved in the discovery. These planets, according to Professor Andrew Cameron of St. Andrews University, are ’surprisingly heavy’. These planets are gas planets like Jupiter but are much more hotter because they are around 50 percent closer to their respective parent stars.

A lot of things are happening in the International Space Station over the past couple of months. Recently, the astronauts are trying to install a solar powered tower in the international space station. This involves a space walk which has high stakes.

Apparently, the solar wings of the space station seem to be malfunctioning. So Scott Parazynski will be attempting what we call an exploratory solar wing ’surgery’. He will be going around looking for problems with the solar wings.

It’s time for yet another shuttle mission. Irrespective of the poor weather, the shuttle blasted off at around 11:38 p.m. local time. The Shuttle flight STS 120 took off in order to install the ‘Harmony’ node in the ISS. This time, the mission to the International Space Station (ISS), was a complete Italian show.

On Monday evening the weather conditions were poor for the launch. The blast off had to be postponed till Tuesday morning when the weather window cleared up. After the launch, Harmony will be on it’s way for a two week long mission. During the two weeks, about 5 space walks would be carried out.

Still wondering what exactly is Harmony? Well, here’s your answer. Harmony is going to be the living quarters for the ISS folks. It will be just an expansion of living and working space in the space station. It will be a link to three labs on board the ISS. Harmony will also act as a future docking station for the Japanese HTVs as well as other shuttle missions to the ISS.

Harmony space node weighs about 14 tonnes and is about 4.6m wide. Worldwide contributions are being made to the ISS. The US, Japan, Italy and Russia are the ones mostly contributing to the International space hub. This shuttle mission will pave way for the Columbus lab set to fly in December. I hope everything works out for the folks up there.

Image Credit: Zeto

Time and again United States is proving its commitment for technological and space research for enhancement of quality of life of its countrymen. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), one of the world’s most superior space research organizations is getting ready to launch its latest space shuttle Discovery into its orbit.

Scheduled to be launched on October 23, 2003, the launch activities begin at 18.00 GMT on October 21 itself. Considering the amount of work and manpower involved NASA officials and scientists feel that the time is just enough to complete all the tasks before the craft can be launched into space. This Discovery mission is titled STS-120 and will keep the shuttle Discovery for two weeks in space.

The Australian scientists have designed a new lunar habitat, dubbed as Luna Gaia, which would enable astronauts to live in outer space with adequate air, water, and food. The new space habitat is 90 to 95 percent self-sufficient, reports Cosmos Magazine.

Besides the fear of planets colliding with each other, there’s always the threat from a giant asteroid. In an effort to protect the earth from the asteroids, the mirrors became their answer. Scientists use mirrors to direct the rays of sun towards the asteroid. The heat from the solar rays will ultimately destroy any asteroid.