SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is all set to make a new addition into the International Space station.&nbsp;

The rocket that took of at 12:31PM ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida,&nbsp;will launch a supercomputer called Spaceborne, from Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

The Computer system is a joint project between HPE and NASA which aims to check the vulnerability of commercial computer in harsh space environment.&nbsp;

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Weather remains 70% GO for tomorrow&#39;s 12:31pm ET launch of <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX">@SpaceX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dragon?src=hash">#Dragon</a> carrying science/cargo to <a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station">@Space_Station</a>: <a href="https://t.co/bIT8bGXhdB">https://t.co/bIT8bGXhdB</a> <a href="https://t.co/kR2itmA0rP">pic.twitter.com/kR2itmA0rP</a>
&mdash; NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/896875505474863105">August 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Mark Fernandez, the HPE engineer said that the space-bound computer is designed with an ability to make one trillion calculations in a single second.&nbsp;

The space station is placed in lower Earth orbit which makes it an unfavourable place for computers.The ISS is exposed to more radiation from solar flares and cosmic rays because of its presence outside the Earth&#39;s protective atmosphere.&nbsp;

In order to safeguard computers from this exposure they are shielded to make them physically &quot;hardened&quot; which can help in making them adaptable to higher radiation environment.

The project will be experimenting the regular &quot;off- the -shelf&quot; computers to examine their operation in space for longer time. These computers with upgraded software are designed to deal radiation exposure differently.&nbsp;

Running on open-source Linux operating system the computer is programmed to detect &nbsp;high-radiation event.

NASA said that the computer&nbsp;will respond by throttling its systems and lowering its operating speed to save power and avoid damage.

The computer has passed 146 safety tests and certifications by NASA before the space travel, according to HPE. The system is expected to last for an year in the space station after which it will be compared to an identical computer that HPE will be monitoring on the ground.&nbsp;

Later, after the project works similar software hardened computers can be developed as critical tool for future deep space missions beyond Earth.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The rocket that took of at 12:31PM ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida,?will launch a supercomputer called Spaceborne

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is all set to make a new addition into the International Space station. The rocket that took of at 12:31PM ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida, will launch a supercomputer called Spaceborne, from Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The Computer system is a joint project between HPE and NASA which aims to check the vulnerability of commercial computer in harsh space environment. Weather remains 70% GO for tomorrow's 12:31pm ET launch of @SpaceX #Dragon carrying science/cargo to @Space_Station: https://t.co/bIT8bGXhdB pic.twitter.com/kR2itmA0rP — NASA (@NASA) August 13, 2017 × Mark Fernandez, the HPE engineer said that the space-bound computer is designed with an ability to make one trillion calculations in a single second. The space station is placed in lower Earth orbit which makes it an unfavourable place for computers.The ISS is exposed to more radiation from solar flares and cosmic rays because of its presence outside the Earth's protective atmosphere. In order to safeguard computers from this exposure they are shielded to make them physically "hardened" which can help in making them adaptable to higher radiation environment. The project will be experimenting the regular "off- the -shelf" computers to examine their operation in space for longer time. These computers with upgraded software are designed to deal radiation exposure differently. Running on open-source Linux operating system the computer is programmed to detect high-radiation event. NASA said that the computer will respond by throttling its systems and lowering its operating speed to save power and avoid damage. The computer has passed 146 safety tests and certifications by NASA before the space travel, according to HPE. The system is expected to last for an year in the space station after which it will be compared to an identical computer that HPE will be monitoring on the ground. Later, after the project works similar software hardened computers can be developed as critical tool for future deep space missions beyond Earth.

Spaceborne: SpaceX new launch into international space station

NASA is planning to hire a &#39;Planetary Protection Officer&#39; to prevent &quot;aliens&quot; from invading the planet. &nbsp;

The US space agency will offer a salary between $124,406 and $187,000 per year.&nbsp;

The agency is looking for professionals to restrict the entry of alien microbes from contaminating the Earth and to ensure that human space explorers do not damage moons and other terrestrial objects.

The job is open to an experienced top level civilian government employee with an advanced degree in physical science, engineering or mathematics. The job requirements need willing travellers. Besides these, they should be able to manage a significant amount of emails, proposals, and other reading.

NASA has opened applications for US citizens and US nationals till August 14, 2017.&nbsp;

&quot;Planetary protection is concerned with the avoidance of organic-constituent and biological contamination in human and robotic space exploration,&quot; NASA wrote on its website.&nbsp;

The position was created after the US agreement &quot;Outer Space Treaty of 1967&quot;. The treaty aims to &quot;pursue studies of outer space [&hellip;] and conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter [&hellip;]&rdquo;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The agency is looking for professionals to restrict the entry of alien microbes from contaminating the Earth and to ensure that human space explorers do not damage moons and other terrestrial objects

NASA is planning to hire a 'Planetary Protection Officer' to prevent "aliens" from invading the planet. The US space agency will offer a salary between $124,406 and $187,000 per year. The agency is looking for professionals to restrict the entry of alien microbes from contaminating the Earth and to ensure that human space explorers do not damage moons and other terrestrial objects. The job is open to an experienced top level civilian government employee with an advanced degree in physical science, engineering or mathematics. The job requirements need willing travellers. Besides these, they should be able to manage a significant amount of emails, proposals, and other reading. NASA has opened applications for US citizens and US nationals till August 14, 2017. "Planetary protection is concerned with the avoidance of organic-constituent and biological contamination in human and robotic space exploration," NASA wrote on its website. The position was created after the US agreement "Outer Space Treaty of 1967". The treaty aims to "pursue studies of outer space […] and conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter […]”

NASA to pay officers $187,000 to prevent 'alien' entry

By Aimen Zaki

Taking a step forward in supersonic transport, NASA has decided to build a supersonic aircraft for commercial&nbsp;use.

NASA is all set to launch Quiet Supersonic Technology(QueSST) X-Plane which will mark a comeback of supersonic flights after Concorde retired in 2003.

NASA in a report has also confirmed that it has conducted few experimental flights in Florida&#39;s space coast. The agency is also planning to get a&nbsp;better understanding of the impact&nbsp;of&nbsp;low-altitude atmospheric turbulence on sonic booms by continuing with its&nbsp;assessment in Florida. NASA has worked out its design for the supersonic plane in collaboration with Lockheed Martin.

According to a report, the new supersonic aircraft is 94 feet long with room for one pilot. The overall budget for the project is nearly $390 million.

Last year, NASA administrator Charles Bolden had said: &ldquo;NASA is working hard to make flight greener, safer and quieter &ndash; all while developing aircraft that travel faster, and building an aviation system that operates more efficiently.&rdquo;

&ldquo;To that end, it&rsquo;s worth noting that it&#39;s been almost 70 years since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 as part of our predecessor agency&#39;s high-speed research. Now we&rsquo;re continuing that supersonic X-plane legacy with this preliminary design award for a quieter supersonic jet with an aim toward passenger flight,&quot; Bolden added.&nbsp;

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Nasa is all set to build the new Quiet Supersonic Technology X-Plane which could have flight times. (Image source: Lockheed Martin) (Others)
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The new supersonic passenger plane is designed to fly at 55,000 feet above the ground. The design also proposes to solve the noise problem that is associated with such aircrafts. NASA with its new project is aiming at establishing an advance low-sound supersonic flight that will be a revolutionary step in the supersonic aerospace industry.

Commercial supersonic transports became a reality in the 20th century with the two supersonic planes: Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144.

Concorde

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British Airways Concorde (Image source: Wikipedia) (Others)
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Concorde was an elite supersonic passenger jet airliner that was introduced as part of a joint venture by the UK and French government on March 2, 1969. The aircraft was a huge success as it travelled with a speed of over twice the speed of sound.&nbsp;

It was generally preferred by rich passengers who could afford the tickets of the supersonic flight. It soon became a hotspot for high profile Hollywood bigwigs&nbsp;and rock stars.

The Concorde&#39;s budget in 1962 was projected at &pound;160m which would be around &pound;2 billion&nbsp;in today&#39;s money.

However, Concorde flights were discontinued following a plane crash on July 25, 2000 in Gonesse near Paris in which a hundred passengers were killed. The fall in air travel after 9/11 attacks was&nbsp;also a major reason for its retirement.&nbsp;

Tupolev Tu-144

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Tupolev Tu-144 (Image source: Wikipedia) (Others)
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The supersonic aircraft was Russian-built Tu-144. The plane was a product of the former&nbsp;USSR and flew for twenty years - 1963 to 1983.&nbsp;

Apparently, Russia could not solve the problems faced by the Tu-144 flight services that included cabin noise, higher oil prices&nbsp;and various structural failures.&nbsp;

Now with&nbsp;the second generation NASA supersonic airliners in the horizon, the age of supersonic flights could be making a comeback with the QueSST.&nbsp;

NASA is all set to launch Quiet Supersonic Technology X-Plane which will mark a comeback of supersonic flights after Concorde retired in 2003

By Aimen Zaki Taking a step forward in supersonic transport, NASA has decided to build a supersonic aircraft for commercial use. NASA is all set to launch Quiet Supersonic Technology(QueSST) X-Plane which will mark a comeback of supersonic flights after Concorde retired in 2003. NASA in a report has also confirmed that it has conducted few experimental flights in Florida's space coast. The agency is also planning to get a better understanding of the impact of low-altitude atmospheric turbulence on sonic booms by continuing with its assessment in Florida. NASA has worked out its design for the supersonic plane in collaboration with Lockheed Martin. According to a report, the new supersonic aircraft is 94 feet long with room for one pilot. The overall budget for the project is nearly $390 million. Last year, NASA administrator Charles Bolden had said: “NASA is working hard to make flight greener, safer and quieter – all while developing aircraft that travel faster, and building an aviation system that operates more efficiently.” “To that end, it’s worth noting that it's been almost 70 years since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 as part of our predecessor agency's high-speed research. Now we’re continuing that supersonic X-plane legacy with this preliminary design award for a quieter supersonic jet with an aim toward passenger flight," Bolden added. Nasa is all set to build the new Quiet Supersonic Technology X-Plane which could have flight times. (Image source: Lockheed Martin) (Others) × The new supersonic passenger plane is designed to fly at 55,000 feet above the ground. The design also proposes to solve the noise problem that is associated with such aircrafts. NASA with its new project is aiming at establishing an advance low-sound supersonic flight that will be a revolutionary step in the supersonic aerospace industry. Commercial supersonic transports became a reality in the 20th century with the two supersonic planes: Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144. Concorde British Airways Concorde (Image source: Wikipedia) (Others) × Concorde was an elite supersonic passenger jet airliner that was introduced as part of a joint venture by the UK and French government on March 2, 1969. The aircraft was a huge success as it travelled with a speed of over twice the speed of sound. It was generally preferred by rich passengers who could afford the tickets of the supersonic flight. It soon became a hotspot for high profile Hollywood bigwigs and rock stars. The Concorde's budget in 1962 was projected at £160m which would be around £2 billion in today's money. However, Concorde flights were discontinued following a plane crash on July 25, 2000 in Gonesse near Paris in which a hundred passengers were killed. The fall in air travel after 9/11 attacks was also a major reason for its retirement. Tupolev Tu-144 Tupolev Tu-144 (Image source: Wikipedia) (Others) × The supersonic aircraft was Russian-built Tu-144. The plane was a product of the former USSR and flew for twenty years - 1963 to 1983. Apparently, Russia could not solve the problems faced by the Tu-144 flight services that included cabin noise, higher oil prices and various structural failures. Now with the second generation NASA supersonic airliners in the horizon, the age of supersonic flights could be making a comeback with the QueSST.

NASA's QueSST: The second generation supersonic planes

The US military&#39;s experimental X-37B space plane landed on Sunday at NASA&rsquo;s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing a classified mission that lasted nearly two years, the Air Force said.

The unmanned X-37B, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, touched down at 7:47 a.m. EDT (1147 GMT) on a runway formerly used for landings of the now-mothballed space shuttles, the Air Force said in an email.

The Boeing-built space plane blasted off in May 2015 from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co.&nbsp;

The X-37B, one of two in the Air Force fleet, conducted unspecified experiments for more than 700 days while in orbit.

It was the fourth and lengthiest mission so far for the secretive program, managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.

The orbiters &quot;perform risk reduction, experimentation and concept-of-operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies,&quot; the Air Force has said without providing details. The cost of the program is also classified.

The Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit group promoting the peaceful exploration of space, says the secrecy surrounding the X-37B suggests the presence of intelligence-related hardware being tested or evaluated aboard the craft.

The vehicles are 29 feet (9 meters) long and have a wingspan of 15 feet, making them about one quarter of the size of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration&rsquo;s now-retired space shuttles.

The X-37B, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, first flew in April 2010 and returned after eight months. A second mission launched in March 2011 and lasted 15 months, while a third took flight in December 2012 and returned after 22 months.

Sunday&rsquo;s landing was the X-37B&#39;s first in Florida. The three previous landings took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Air Force relocated the program in 2014, taking over two of NASA&rsquo;s former shuttle-processing hangars.

The Air Force intends to launch the fifth X-37B mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of the Kennedy Space Center, later this year.&nbsp;

(Reuters)

The X-37B, one of two in the Air Force fleet, conducted unspecified experiments for more than 700 days while in orbit.

The US military's experimental X-37B space plane landed on Sunday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing a classified mission that lasted nearly two years, the Air Force said. The unmanned X-37B, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, touched down at 7:47 a.m. EDT (1147 GMT) on a runway formerly used for landings of the now-mothballed space shuttles, the Air Force said in an email. The Boeing-built space plane blasted off in May 2015 from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co. The X-37B, one of two in the Air Force fleet, conducted unspecified experiments for more than 700 days while in orbit. It was the fourth and lengthiest mission so far for the secretive program, managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The orbiters "perform risk reduction, experimentation and concept-of-operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies," the Air Force has said without providing details. The cost of the program is also classified. The Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit group promoting the peaceful exploration of space, says the secrecy surrounding the X-37B suggests the presence of intelligence-related hardware being tested or evaluated aboard the craft. The vehicles are 29 feet (9 meters) long and have a wingspan of 15 feet, making them about one quarter of the size of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s now-retired space shuttles. The X-37B, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, first flew in April 2010 and returned after eight months. A second mission launched in March 2011 and lasted 15 months, while a third took flight in December 2012 and returned after 22 months. Sunday’s landing was the X-37B's first in Florida. The three previous landings took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Air Force relocated the program in 2014, taking over two of NASA’s former shuttle-processing hangars. The Air Force intends to launch the fifth X-37B mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of the Kennedy Space Center, later this year. (Reuters)

Unmanned US Air Force space plane lands after secret mission

A SpaceX reusable cargo ship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean safely on Sunday, ending a mission to supply astronauts on the International Space Station, the company said.

The Dragon capsule, the only such vessel capable of returning research samples and other material to Earth, remained docked with the ISS for nearly a month after delivering more than two tonnes of food, water and scientific equipment for NASA on February 23.

Before its departure, the crew loaded the cargo ship with old equipment, waste and almost 4,000 pounds of research samples from experiments carried out in the station`s condition of microgravity.

Released by the ISS&#39;s robot arm at 0900 GMT, the capsule undertook a more than six-hour journey back to Earth,landing off the coast of Mexico just before 1600 GMT, its final descent slowed by three giant parachutes.

&quot;Today we said goodbye to the #Dragon!&quot; tweeted the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, one of six crew members, who arrived on the ISS in November.

&quot;She is taking part of us back to the ground with her - important scientific samples, some from the crew!&quot;

(AFP)

&nbsp;

The capsule, the only such vessel capable of returning research samples and other material to Earth, remained docked with the ISS for nearly a month

A SpaceX reusable cargo ship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean safely on Sunday, ending a mission to supply astronauts on the International Space Station, the company said. The Dragon capsule, the only such vessel capable of returning research samples and other material to Earth, remained docked with the ISS for nearly a month after delivering more than two tonnes of food, water and scientific equipment for NASA on February 23. Before its departure, the crew loaded the cargo ship with old equipment, waste and almost 4,000 pounds of research samples from experiments carried out in the station`s condition of microgravity. Released by the ISS's robot arm at 0900 GMT, the capsule undertook a more than six-hour journey back to Earth,landing off the coast of Mexico just before 1600 GMT, its final descent slowed by three giant parachutes. "Today we said goodbye to the #Dragon!" tweeted the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, one of six crew members, who arrived on the ISS in November. "She is taking part of us back to the ground with her - important scientific samples, some from the crew!" (AFP)

Watch: SpaceX Dragon returns to Earth

India&#39;s first lunar probe - the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - which was considered lost, is still orbiting the Moon, NASA scientists have found by using a new ground-based radar technique.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost communication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009, almost a year after it was launched on October 22, 2008. Now, scientists at NASA&#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California have successfully located the spacecraft still circling some 200 kilometres above the lunar surface.

&ldquo;We have been able to detect NASA&#39;s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Indian Space Research Organisation&#39;s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in lunar orbit with ground-based radar,&rdquo; said Marina Brozovic, a radar scientist at JPL and principal investigator for the test project.

&quot;Finding LRO was relatively easy, as we were working with the mission&#39;s navigators and had precise orbit data where it was located. Finding India&#39;s Chandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work because the last contact with the spacecraft was in August of 2009,&quot; said Brozovic.

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is very small, a cube about 1.5 meters on each side - about half the size of a smart car. 
Although the interplanetary radar has been used to observe small asteroids several million miles from Earth, researchers were not certain that an object of this smaller size as far away as the Moon could be detected, even with the world&#39;s most powerful radars.

Chandrayaan-1 proved the perfect target for demonstrating the capability of this technique. To find a spacecraft 380,000 kilometres away, JPL&#39;s team used NASA&#39;s 70-metre antenna at NASA&#39;s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California to send out a powerful beam of microwaves directed towards the Moon. Then the radar echoes bounced back from lunar orbit were received by the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia.

Finding a derelict spacecraft at lunar distance that has not been tracked for years is tricky because the Moon is riddled with mascons (regions with higher-than-average gravitational pull) that can dramatically affect a spacecraft&#39;s orbit over time, and even cause it to have crashed into the Moon.

JPL&#39;s orbital calculations indicated that Chandrayaan-1 is still circling some 200 kilometres above the lunar surface, but it was generally considered &quot;lost.&quot; However, with Chandrayaan-1, the radar team utilised the fact that this spacecraft is in polar orbit around the Moon, so it would always cross above the lunar poles on each orbit.

On July 2 last year, the team pointed Goldstone and Green Bank at a location about 160 kilometres above the Moon&#39;s north pole and waited to see if the lost spacecraft crossed the radar beam.

Chandrayaan-1 was predicted to complete one orbit around the Moon every two hours and eight minutes. Something that had a radar signature of a small spacecraft did cross the beam twice during four hours of observations, and the timings between detections matched the time it would take Chandrayaan-1 to complete one orbit and return to the same position above the Moon&#39;s pole.

The team used data from the return signal to estimate its velocity and the distance to the target. This information was then used to update the orbital predictions for Chandrayaan-1.

Chandrayaan operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieved 95 per cent of its planned objectives. Among its many achievements, the greatest achievement was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in the lunar soil.

(PTI)

ISRO lost communication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009, almost a year after it was launched on October 22, 2008

India's first lunar probe - the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - which was considered lost, is still orbiting the Moon, NASA scientists have found by using a new ground-based radar technique. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost communication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009, almost a year after it was launched on October 22, 2008. Now, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California have successfully located the spacecraft still circling some 200 kilometres above the lunar surface. “We have been able to detect NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in lunar orbit with ground-based radar,” said Marina Brozovic, a radar scientist at JPL and principal investigator for the test project. "Finding LRO was relatively easy, as we were working with the mission's navigators and had precise orbit data where it was located. Finding India's Chandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work because the last contact with the spacecraft was in August of 2009," said Brozovic. The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is very small, a cube about 1.5 meters on each side - about half the size of a smart car. Although the interplanetary radar has been used to observe small asteroids several million miles from Earth, researchers were not certain that an object of this smaller size as far away as the Moon could be detected, even with the world's most powerful radars. Chandrayaan-1 proved the perfect target for demonstrating the capability of this technique. To find a spacecraft 380,000 kilometres away, JPL's team used NASA's 70-metre antenna at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California to send out a powerful beam of microwaves directed towards the Moon. Then the radar echoes bounced back from lunar orbit were received by the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. Finding a derelict spacecraft at lunar distance that has not been tracked for years is tricky because the Moon is riddled with mascons (regions with higher-than-average gravitational pull) that can dramatically affect a spacecraft's orbit over time, and even cause it to have crashed into the Moon. JPL's orbital calculations indicated that Chandrayaan-1 is still circling some 200 kilometres above the lunar surface, but it was generally considered "lost." However, with Chandrayaan-1, the radar team utilised the fact that this spacecraft is in polar orbit around the Moon, so it would always cross above the lunar poles on each orbit. On July 2 last year, the team pointed Goldstone and Green Bank at a location about 160 kilometres above the Moon's north pole and waited to see if the lost spacecraft crossed the radar beam. Chandrayaan-1 was predicted to complete one orbit around the Moon every two hours and eight minutes. Something that had a radar signature of a small spacecraft did cross the beam twice during four hours of observations, and the timings between detections matched the time it would take Chandrayaan-1 to complete one orbit and return to the same position above the Moon's pole. The team used data from the return signal to estimate its velocity and the distance to the target. This information was then used to update the orbital predictions for Chandrayaan-1. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieved 95 per cent of its planned objectives. Among its many achievements, the greatest achievement was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in the lunar soil. (PTI)

NASA spots ISRO's 'lost' Chandrayaan-1 orbiting the moon

NASA is planning to send an ice chest-sized box to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will freeze gas atoms to create the coolest spot in the universe - an advance that may provide new insights into gravity and dark matter. Inside that box, lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic &quot;knife&quot; will be used to cancel out the energy of gas particles, slowing them until they&#39;re almost motionless.

The suite of instruments, developed by NASA&#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL). It is set to ride to space in August aboard the SpaceX CRS-12.

CAL&#39;s instruments are designed to freeze gas atoms to a mere billionth of a degree above absolute zero - more than 100 million times colder than the depths of space. &quot;Studying these hyper-cold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity,&quot; said CAL Project Scientist Robert Thompson of JPL. 
 
&quot;The experiments we&#39;ll do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy - some of the most pervasive forces in the universe,&quot; said Thompson. When atoms are cooled to extreme temperatures, as they will be inside of CAL, they can form a distinct state of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. 
 
In this state, familiar rules of physics recede and quantum physics begins to take over. Matter can be observed behaving less like particles and more like waves. Rows of atoms move in concert with one another as if they were riding a moving fabric. These mysterious waveforms have never been seen at temperatures as low as what CAL will achieve. 
 
NASA has never before created or observed Bose-Einstein condensates in space. On Earth, the pull of gravity causes atoms to continually settle towards the ground, meaning they are typically only observable for fractions of a second. However, on the ISS, ultra-cold atoms can hold their wave-like forms longer while in freefall. That offers scientists a longer window to understand physics at its most basic level. 
 
Thompson estimated that CAL will allow Bose-Einstein condensates to be observable for up to five to 10 seconds. Future development of the technologies used on CAL could allow them to last for hundreds of seconds. 
 
Bose-Einstein condensates are a &quot;superfluid&quot; - a kind of fluid with zero viscosity, where atoms move without friction as if they were all one, solid substance. &quot;If you had superfluid water and spun it around in a glass, it would spin forever. There&#39;s no viscosity to slow it down and dissipate the kinetic energy,&quot; said Anita Sengupta of JPL, Cold Atom Lab project manager. 
 
&quot;If we can better understand the physics of superfluids, we can possibly learn to use those for more efficient transfer of energy,&quot; said Sengupta.

(PTI)

An ice chest-sized box will fly to the International Space Station this summer

NASA is planning to send an ice chest-sized box to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will freeze gas atoms to create the coolest spot in the universe - an advance that may provide new insights into gravity and dark matter. Inside that box, lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic "knife" will be used to cancel out the energy of gas particles, slowing them until they're almost motionless. The suite of instruments, developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL). It is set to ride to space in August aboard the SpaceX CRS-12. CAL's instruments are designed to freeze gas atoms to a mere billionth of a degree above absolute zero - more than 100 million times colder than the depths of space. "Studying these hyper-cold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity," said CAL Project Scientist Robert Thompson of JPL. "The experiments we'll do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy - some of the most pervasive forces in the universe," said Thompson. When atoms are cooled to extreme temperatures, as they will be inside of CAL, they can form a distinct state of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this state, familiar rules of physics recede and quantum physics begins to take over. Matter can be observed behaving less like particles and more like waves. Rows of atoms move in concert with one another as if they were riding a moving fabric. These mysterious waveforms have never been seen at temperatures as low as what CAL will achieve. NASA has never before created or observed Bose-Einstein condensates in space. On Earth, the pull of gravity causes atoms to continually settle towards the ground, meaning they are typically only observable for fractions of a second. However, on the ISS, ultra-cold atoms can hold their wave-like forms longer while in freefall. That offers scientists a longer window to understand physics at its most basic level. Thompson estimated that CAL will allow Bose-Einstein condensates to be observable for up to five to 10 seconds. Future development of the technologies used on CAL could allow them to last for hundreds of seconds. Bose-Einstein condensates are a "superfluid" - a kind of fluid with zero viscosity, where atoms move without friction as if they were all one, solid substance. "If you had superfluid water and spun it around in a glass, it would spin forever. There's no viscosity to slow it down and dissipate the kinetic energy," said Anita Sengupta of JPL, Cold Atom Lab project manager. "If we can better understand the physics of superfluids, we can possibly learn to use those for more efficient transfer of energy," said Sengupta. (PTI)

NASA plans to create 'coolest spot in universe'

A NASA science satellite orbiting Mars was forced to make a rare evasive manoeuvre to avoid a collision next week with one of the planet&#39;s two small moons, the US&nbsp;space agency said on Thursday.

Flight controllers at NASA&#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, commanded the MAVEN spacecraft, which is studying Mars&#39; vanishing atmosphere, to fire up its engine on Tuesday to boost its speed by about 1.3 feet per second (0.4 metres per second).

The acceleration was necessary to slightly shift MAVEN&#39;s orbit and steer the satellite clear of the Martian moon Phobos, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement.

Without the tweak, MAVEN and the small, lumpy moon would have reached the same point in space within seven seconds of one another next Monday, March 6. In its new orbit, MAVEN will miss Phobos by about two and a hald minutes, NASA said.

MAVEN is in an egg-shaped orbit that regularly crosses the paths of other science satellites and of Phobos, which circles just 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometres) above the Martian surface, closer than any other known moon to a planet in the solar system. At that distance, Phobos whips around Mars three times a day.

Flight controllers regularly monitor MAVEN&#39;s path for potential collisions. Tuesday&#39;s evasive action was the first time MAVEN had to dodge the potato-shaped Phobos, which measures about 10 by 14 miles by 11 miles (16 by 22.5 by 18 kilometres).

MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, reached the red planet in September 2014.

(Reuters)

Boosting the satellite's speed by 1.3 metres a second was needed to slightly shift MAVEN's orbit, and steer clear of the Martian moon Phobos

A NASA science satellite orbiting Mars was forced to make a rare evasive manoeuvre to avoid a collision next week with one of the planet's two small moons, the US space agency said on Thursday. Flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, commanded the MAVEN spacecraft, which is studying Mars' vanishing atmosphere, to fire up its engine on Tuesday to boost its speed by about 1.3 feet per second (0.4 metres per second). The acceleration was necessary to slightly shift MAVEN's orbit and steer the satellite clear of the Martian moon Phobos, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement. Without the tweak, MAVEN and the small, lumpy moon would have reached the same point in space within seven seconds of one another next Monday, March 6. In its new orbit, MAVEN will miss Phobos by about two and a hald minutes, NASA said. MAVEN is in an egg-shaped orbit that regularly crosses the paths of other science satellites and of Phobos, which circles just 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometres) above the Martian surface, closer than any other known moon to a planet in the solar system. At that distance, Phobos whips around Mars three times a day. Flight controllers regularly monitor MAVEN's path for potential collisions. Tuesday's evasive action was the first time MAVEN had to dodge the potato-shaped Phobos, which measures about 10 by 14 miles by 11 miles (16 by 22.5 by 18 kilometres). MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, reached the red planet in September 2014. (Reuters)

NASA satellite orbiting Mars dodges planet's moon with rare evasive manoeuvre

The US space agency said Friday it is considering putting astronauts on an upcoming test flight of the deep space capsule Orion as it aims to orbit the Moon.

Orion is being built with an eye to one day ferrying astronauts to Earth&#39;s neighbouring planet, Mars, perhaps by the 2030s.

Until now, the Orion test flight known as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) was scheduled for 2018 and was expected to be unmanned.

But NASA&#39;s acting administrator Robert Lightfoot asked on February 15 for the space agency to study the feasibility of putting people on board, and the findings of that study are expected in the coming months.

&quot;Our priority is to ensure the safe and effective execution of all our planned exploration missions with the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket,&quot; said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA&#39;s human exploration and operations mission directorate.

The capsule will be propelled to space atop a rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently being developed. NASA has described it as the &quot;most powerful rocket in the world.&quot;

Orion will &quot;fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown,&quot; NASA added.

The space capsule also aims to &quot;stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.&quot;

The study is evaluating the pros and cons of adding two crew members, and could possibly delay the EM-1 mission until mid-2019.

The current plan is to send astronauts on Orion&#39;s second flight, EM-2, an eight-day mission in 2021. &nbsp;

(AFP)

The deep space capsule Orion will one day take astronauts to Mars

The US space agency said Friday it is considering putting astronauts on an upcoming test flight of the deep space capsule Orion as it aims to orbit the Moon. Orion is being built with an eye to one day ferrying astronauts to Earth's neighbouring planet, Mars, perhaps by the 2030s. Until now, the Orion test flight known as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) was scheduled for 2018 and was expected to be unmanned. But NASA's acting administrator Robert Lightfoot asked on February 15 for the space agency to study the feasibility of putting people on board, and the findings of that study are expected in the coming months. "Our priority is to ensure the safe and effective execution of all our planned exploration missions with the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA's human exploration and operations mission directorate. The capsule will be propelled to space atop a rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently being developed. NASA has described it as the "most powerful rocket in the world." Orion will "fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown," NASA added. The space capsule also aims to "stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before." The study is evaluating the pros and cons of adding two crew members, and could possibly delay the EM-1 mission until mid-2019. The current plan is to send astronauts on Orion's second flight, EM-2, an eight-day mission in 2021. (AFP)

NASA mulls putting astronauts on deep space test flight

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Astronomers have found a nearby solar system with seven Earth-sized planets, three of which circle their parent star at the right distance for liquid surface water (WION)
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Astronomers have found a nearby solar system with seven Earth-sized planets, three of which circle their parent star at the right distance for liquid surface water, bolstering the prospect of discovering extraterrestrial life, research published on Wednesday showed.

The star, known as TRAPPIST-1, is a small, dim celestial body in the constellation Aquarius. It is located about 40 light years away from Earth, close by astronomical standards, but about 44 million years away at the average cruising speed of a commercial passenger jet.

Researchers said the proximity of the system, combined with the proportionally large size of its planets compared to the small star, make it a good target for follow-up studies. They hope to scan the planets&#39; atmospheres for possible chemical fingerprints of life.

&quot;The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not just a matter of if, but when,&rdquo; NASA chief scientist Thomas Zurbuchen said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The discovery, published in this week&#39;s issue of the journal Nature, builds on previous research showing three planets circling TRAPPIST-1. They are among more than 3,500 planets discovered beyond the solar system, or exoplanets.

&quot;This is the first time that so many Earth-sized planets are found around the same star,&quot; lead researcher Michael Gillon, with the University of Liege in Belgium, told reporters.

Researchers have focused on finding Earth-sized rocky planets with the right temperatures so that water, if any exists, would be liquid, a condition believed to be necessary for life.

&quot;I think that we&#39;ve made a crucial step towards finding if there is life out there,&quot; University of Cambridge astronomer Amaury Triaud said on a conference call with media on Tuesday.

The diameter of TRAPPIST-1 is about 8 per cent of the sun&#39;s size. That makes its Earth-sized planets appear large as they parade past.

From the vantage point of telescopes on Earth, the planets&#39; motions regularly block out bits of the star&#39;s light. Scientists determined the system&#39;s architecture by studying these dips. &quot;The data is really clear and unambiguous,&quot; Triaud wrote in an email to Reuters.

Because TRAPPIST-1 is so small and cool, its so-called &quot;habitable zone&quot; is very close to the star. Three planets are properly positioned for liquid water, Gillon said.

&quot;They form a very compact system,&quot; Gillon told reporters on Tuesday. &quot;They could have some liquid water and maybe life.&quot;

Even if the planets do not have life now, it could evolve. TRAPPIST-1 is at least 500 million years old, but has an estimated lifespan of 10 trillion years. The sun, by comparison, is about halfway through its estimated 10-billion-year life.

In a few billion years, when the sun has run out of fuel and the solar system has ceased to exist, TRAPPIST-1 will still be an infant star, astronomer Ignas Snellen, with the Netherlands&#39; Leiden Observatory, wrote in a related essay in Nature.

&quot;It burns hydrogen so slowly that it will live for another 10 trillion years,&quot; he wrote, &quot;which is arguably enough time for life to evolve.&quot;

(Reuters)

The star, TRAPPIST-1, is a small, dim celestial body in the constellation Aquarius. It is located only about 40 light years away from Earth

Astronomers have found a nearby solar system with seven Earth-sized planets, three of which circle their parent star at the right distance for liquid surface water (WION) × Astronomers have found a nearby solar system with seven Earth-sized planets, three of which circle their parent star at the right distance for liquid surface water, bolstering the prospect of discovering extraterrestrial life, research published on Wednesday showed. The star, known as TRAPPIST-1, is a small, dim celestial body in the constellation Aquarius. It is located about 40 light years away from Earth, close by astronomical standards, but about 44 million years away at the average cruising speed of a commercial passenger jet. Researchers said the proximity of the system, combined with the proportionally large size of its planets compared to the small star, make it a good target for follow-up studies. They hope to scan the planets' atmospheres for possible chemical fingerprints of life. "The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not just a matter of if, but when,” NASA chief scientist Thomas Zurbuchen said at a news conference on Wednesday. The discovery, published in this week's issue of the journal Nature, builds on previous research showing three planets circling TRAPPIST-1. They are among more than 3,500 planets discovered beyond the solar system, or exoplanets. "This is the first time that so many Earth-sized planets are found around the same star," lead researcher Michael Gillon, with the University of Liege in Belgium, told reporters. Researchers have focused on finding Earth-sized rocky planets with the right temperatures so that water, if any exists, would be liquid, a condition believed to be necessary for life. "I think that we've made a crucial step towards finding if there is life out there," University of Cambridge astronomer Amaury Triaud said on a conference call with media on Tuesday. The diameter of TRAPPIST-1 is about 8 per cent of the sun's size. That makes its Earth-sized planets appear large as they parade past. From the vantage point of telescopes on Earth, the planets' motions regularly block out bits of the star's light. Scientists determined the system's architecture by studying these dips. "The data is really clear and unambiguous," Triaud wrote in an email to Reuters. Because TRAPPIST-1 is so small and cool, its so-called "habitable zone" is very close to the star. Three planets are properly positioned for liquid water, Gillon said. "They form a very compact system," Gillon told reporters on Tuesday. "They could have some liquid water and maybe life." Even if the planets do not have life now, it could evolve. TRAPPIST-1 is at least 500 million years old, but has an estimated lifespan of 10 trillion years. The sun, by comparison, is about halfway through its estimated 10-billion-year life. In a few billion years, when the sun has run out of fuel and the solar system has ceased to exist, TRAPPIST-1 will still be an infant star, astronomer Ignas Snellen, with the Netherlands' Leiden Observatory, wrote in a related essay in Nature. "It burns hydrogen so slowly that it will live for another 10 trillion years," he wrote, "which is arguably enough time for life to evolve." (Reuters)

NASA finds 7 Earth-size planets where life is possible

A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off on Sunday from a Florida launch pad once used to send NASA astronauts to the moon, a step forward for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his company&#39;s goal of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.

The 229-foot tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 soared off a seaside launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center at 9.39 am&nbsp;ET (1439 GMT) carrying a Dragon cargo ship bound for the station.

Nine minutes after blastoff, the main section of the rocket flew back to a landing pad at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the eighth successful touchdown for Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

&quot;Baby came back,&quot; Musk wrote on Twitter, celebrating the re-landing, which came a day after SpaceX decided to delay the mission 13 seconds before launch due to concerns about the steering system in the rocket`s upper stage, the company said.

Sunday&#39;s launch was the first for SpaceX from Launch Complex 39A, originally built for the 1960s-era Apollo moon program and later repurposed for the space shuttles.

The pad was last used for the final space shuttle launch in 2011. In 2014, SpaceX signed a 20-year lease to use pad and has spent millions remodeling it.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The launch was also SpaceX&#39;s first from Florida since an accident in September heavily damaged what had been the company&#39;s prime site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of the NASA spaceport.&nbsp;

Last month, SpaceX resumed flying its Falcon 9 rockets using a second launch pad in California, where the first stage of the rocket also nailed its re-landing.&nbsp;

The company plans to reuse the rockets, slashing costs and allowing it to offer reduced pricing.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which hired SpaceX to fly cargo to the station after the shuttle program ended, closely monitored the launch to learn more about the company`s operations before it clears the company to fly NASA astronauts on SpaceX rockets.

SpaceX and Boeing Co are scheduled to begin flying crew to the station by the end of 2018. A Government Accountability Office report last week said both companies face technical hurdles that likely will delay their programs.&nbsp;

SpaceX aims to have the Florida launchpad,&nbsp;damaged in last year&#39;s explosion, up and running by this summer.

(Reuters)

The 229-foot tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 soared off a seaside launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center at 9.39 am?ET

A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off on Sunday from a Florida launch pad once used to send NASA astronauts to the moon, a step forward for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his company's goal of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station. The 229-foot tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 soared off a seaside launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center at 9.39 am ET (1439 GMT) carrying a Dragon cargo ship bound for the station. Nine minutes after blastoff, the main section of the rocket flew back to a landing pad at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the eighth successful touchdown for Space Exploration Technologies Corp. "Baby came back," Musk wrote on Twitter, celebrating the re-landing, which came a day after SpaceX decided to delay the mission 13 seconds before launch due to concerns about the steering system in the rocket`s upper stage, the company said. Sunday's launch was the first for SpaceX from Launch Complex 39A, originally built for the 1960s-era Apollo moon program and later repurposed for the space shuttles. The pad was last used for the final space shuttle launch in 2011. In 2014, SpaceX signed a 20-year lease to use pad and has spent millions remodeling it. The launch was also SpaceX's first from Florida since an accident in September heavily damaged what had been the company's prime site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of the NASA spaceport. Last month, SpaceX resumed flying its Falcon 9 rockets using a second launch pad in California, where the first stage of the rocket also nailed its re-landing. The company plans to reuse the rockets, slashing costs and allowing it to offer reduced pricing. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which hired SpaceX to fly cargo to the station after the shuttle program ended, closely monitored the launch to learn more about the company`s operations before it clears the company to fly NASA astronauts on SpaceX rockets. SpaceX and Boeing Co are scheduled to begin flying crew to the station by the end of 2018. A Government Accountability Office report last week said both companies face technical hurdles that likely will delay their programs. SpaceX aims to have the Florida launchpad, damaged in last year's explosion, up and running by this summer. (Reuters)

SpaceX launches rocket from historic NASA pad in Florida

Shawna Pandya, a 32-year-old Indian-origin neurosurgeon based in Canada has been shortlisted for NASA&#39;s Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) programme 2018 mission.&nbsp;

With roots in Mumbai, where her grandmother resides the general physician with Alberta University Hospital could follow in the footsteps of Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams to be third Indian-origin woman in space.&nbsp;

Pandya is also an accomplished opera singer, a taekwondo champion and has also trained in Muay Thai with a Navy SEAL.&nbsp;

&quot;I am being trained as a citizen scientist and there are some 120 who would be part of the space mission. The experiments in biomedicine and medical science along with physiological, health, and environmental observations in Microgravity (PHEnOM) are also part of it. The work is distributed among the participants.&quot;, Dr Pandya said.&nbsp;

&quot;I am also in the team working for a project called Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere (PoSSUM), which will study the effects of climate change.&quot;

&quot;There has been a lot of support from my family, including my mother. They were well aware of my dreams since childhood and now also they are supporting to my journey,&quot; she added.&nbsp;

She completed her B.Sc in neuroscience at University of Alberta, then pursued M.Sc. in space science from International Space University. She completed her MD also from the University of Alberta.&nbsp;

She applied for medical school and the space programme at the same time.&nbsp;

The mission is expected to start by early 2018.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from PTI) 
&nbsp;

The 32-year-old Indian-origin neurosurgeon based in Canada has been shortlisted for NASA's Citizen Science Astronaut programme 2018 mission

Shawna Pandya, a 32-year-old Indian-origin neurosurgeon based in Canada has been shortlisted for NASA's Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) programme 2018 mission. With roots in Mumbai, where her grandmother resides the general physician with Alberta University Hospital could follow in the footsteps of Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams to be third Indian-origin woman in space. Pandya is also an accomplished opera singer, a taekwondo champion and has also trained in Muay Thai with a Navy SEAL. "I am being trained as a citizen scientist and there are some 120 who would be part of the space mission. The experiments in biomedicine and medical science along with physiological, health, and environmental observations in Microgravity (PHEnOM) are also part of it. The work is distributed among the participants.", Dr Pandya said. "I am also in the team working for a project called Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere (PoSSUM), which will study the effects of climate change." "There has been a lot of support from my family, including my mother. They were well aware of my dreams since childhood and now also they are supporting to my journey," she added. She completed her B.Sc in neuroscience at University of Alberta, then pursued M.Sc. in space science from International Space University. She completed her MD also from the University of Alberta. She applied for medical school and the space programme at the same time. The mission is expected to start by early 2018. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Shawna Pandya to become third Indian-origin woman in space

NASA on Friday marked the 50th anniversary of its moon program&#39;s fatal Apollo launchpad fire with the first public display of the scorched hatch that trapped three astronauts inside their spaceship during a routine pre-launch test.

NASA astronauts Virgil &quot;Gus&quot; Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died when thick smoke filled the crew module of the Apollo 1 capsule on January 27, 1967, in what was the first deadly accident in the space agency&#39;s early days.

The men were unable to open the capsule&#39;s three-part hatch before being overcome by smoke. Emergency rescue teams rushed to battle the fire at the launchpad, located at what is now Cape Canaveral Air Force Station but were too late.

The hatch has now been taken out of storage and incorporated into a new display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to honour the fallen astronauts and serve as a reminder of the risks of spaceflight.

&quot;Had that accident occurred in space, we&#39;d have never known exactly what had happened,&quot; former Gemini and Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford said at a ceremony to mark the exhibit&#39;s opening.

The deaths of these &quot;three great heroes...helped save at least one other in flight, maybe two,&quot; he added.

Investigators discovered several problems with the Apollo capsule design that led to the fire, including an electrical wiring issue, a pure-oxygen environment and flammable materials throughout the crew cabin.

NASA made dozens of changes and resumed flying in October 1968, setting the stage for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing in July 1969.

Grissom, aged 40 and one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, became the second American in space in a suborbital flight that preceded John Glenn&#39;s landmark first US&nbsp;orbital space flight. White, who was 36, became the first American to walk in space as pilot of the Gemini 4 mission in June 1965. Chaffee, 31, was a rookie astronaut with no previous spaceflight experience.

Friday&#39;s ceremony was one of the several events this week in which NASA also paid tribute to the Space Shuttle Challenger crew, killed during launch on January 28, 1986, and the Shuttle Columbia astronauts, who died when that spaceship broke apart as it re-entered the Earth&#39;s atmosphere on February 1, 2003.

At twilight, the families of the Apollo 1 astronauts gathered at the base of the seaside launch complex where Grissom, White and Chaffee had been testing their capsule when the fire broke out.

&ldquo;It&#39;s really important that we come together and we don&rsquo;t forget who they were and what they sacrificed. Even more important we remember that we don&rsquo;t ever want to have it happen again,&rdquo; Kennedy Space Center director and former shuttle astronaut Bob Cabana told the families.

Cabana said the new exhibit was intended to highlight the importance of a work culture where people feel free to voice concerns. Management and communications problems contributed to both space shuttle accidents, investigators found.

NASA is preparing to turn over crew flights to the International Space Station to privately owned SpaceX and Boeing Co as early as 2018.

&ldquo;The lessons learned from Apollo 1 are critical to our future success and I don&rsquo;t ever want them forgotten,&rdquo; Cabana said. &ldquo;We got to the moon not in spite of Apollo 1, but because of Apollo 1.&rdquo;

(Reuters)

The hatch is displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to honour the fallen crew, and as a reminder of the risks of spaceflight

NASA on Friday marked the 50th anniversary of its moon program's fatal Apollo launchpad fire with the first public display of the scorched hatch that trapped three astronauts inside their spaceship during a routine pre-launch test. NASA astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died when thick smoke filled the crew module of the Apollo 1 capsule on January 27, 1967, in what was the first deadly accident in the space agency's early days. The men were unable to open the capsule's three-part hatch before being overcome by smoke. Emergency rescue teams rushed to battle the fire at the launchpad, located at what is now Cape Canaveral Air Force Station but were too late. The hatch has now been taken out of storage and incorporated into a new display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to honour the fallen astronauts and serve as a reminder of the risks of spaceflight. "Had that accident occurred in space, we'd have never known exactly what had happened," former Gemini and Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford said at a ceremony to mark the exhibit's opening. The deaths of these "three great heroes...helped save at least one other in flight, maybe two," he added. Investigators discovered several problems with the Apollo capsule design that led to the fire, including an electrical wiring issue, a pure-oxygen environment and flammable materials throughout the crew cabin. NASA made dozens of changes and resumed flying in October 1968, setting the stage for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing in July 1969. Grissom, aged 40 and one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, became the second American in space in a suborbital flight that preceded John Glenn's landmark first US orbital space flight. White, who was 36, became the first American to walk in space as pilot of the Gemini 4 mission in June 1965. Chaffee, 31, was a rookie astronaut with no previous spaceflight experience. Friday's ceremony was one of the several events this week in which NASA also paid tribute to the Space Shuttle Challenger crew, killed during launch on January 28, 1986, and the Shuttle Columbia astronauts, who died when that spaceship broke apart as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003. At twilight, the families of the Apollo 1 astronauts gathered at the base of the seaside launch complex where Grissom, White and Chaffee had been testing their capsule when the fire broke out. “It's really important that we come together and we don’t forget who they were and what they sacrificed. Even more important we remember that we don’t ever want to have it happen again,” Kennedy Space Center director and former shuttle astronaut Bob Cabana told the families. Cabana said the new exhibit was intended to highlight the importance of a work culture where people feel free to voice concerns. Management and communications problems contributed to both space shuttle accidents, investigators found. NASA is preparing to turn over crew flights to the International Space Station to privately owned SpaceX and Boeing Co as early as 2018. “The lessons learned from Apollo 1 are critical to our future success and I don’t ever want them forgotten,” Cabana said. “We got to the moon not in spite of Apollo 1, but because of Apollo 1.” (Reuters)

NASA unveils Apollo 1 hatch 50 years after fatal fire

Since the &#39;Space Race&#39; era of exploration&nbsp;between United States and Soviet Union, space technology has witnessed major developments.

Astronomers have carried out the study of space with telescopes and have progressed to take forward&nbsp;physical exploration, both by unmanned robotic probes and human spaceflights.

Early space explorations were carried out for military, communications and security purposes&nbsp;but now space colonisation, or space humanisation, is also emerging as a new frontier.

If you want to know how we fare in terms of space travel in the future, have a look at some of the most kickass upcoming space missions:

<h2>Asteroid mining technology</h2>

This year, the world will witness the first flight in connection with the long-term goal of asteroid mining.&nbsp;The Prospector-X test flight&nbsp;is a precursor to the Prospector-1 mission&nbsp;and will test the company&rsquo;s water-based propulsion, avionics and navigation systems. If successful, the Prospector-1 mission will take place before the end of the decade.&nbsp;

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<h2>Blue Origin&nbsp;</h2>

Jeff Bezos&rsquo;s Blue Origin private space firm has a manned test flight dated for early this year. It will be a sub-orbital hop rather than a full-fledged journey into orbit. They also have a space capsule offering&nbsp;large windows and space for up to six people.

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<h2>Cassini&#39;s grand finale</h2>

NASA&rsquo;s&nbsp;Cassini probe has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, and&nbsp;the space agency is set for a finale this year.&nbsp;Cassini will&nbsp;undertake 22&nbsp;orbits between the inner rings and the planet, capturing information and images. Once the&nbsp;orbits are complete, the probe will burn&nbsp;in Saturn&rsquo;s upper atmosphere.&nbsp;Cassini has made many important discoveries since its launch. It spotted liquid-hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and geysers of water ice blasting from the south polar region of Saturn&rsquo;s moon Enceladus.

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<h2>Chinese probe to&nbsp;land on moon and return with samples</h2>

This is perhaps the most ambitious mission undertaken by the Chinese space agency. So far, China has sent a rover to the moon, but returning back with samples is risky. Chang&rsquo;e 5 mission will see a lunar lander touching down on the moon, gathering samples and bringing them back to Earth. Returning back is difficult as the probe needs to be protected during re-entry.

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<h2>Dawn&#39;s mission&nbsp;</h2>

NASA&#39;s Dawn spacecraft will complete its task this year. The $467-million Dawn mission was launched in September 2007 to study Vesta and Ceres, the two largest objects in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft has revealed a lot&nbsp;about dry, rocky Vesta and icy Ceres&nbsp;and has found evidence of water ice being&nbsp;common just beneath the dwarf planet&#39;s surface.

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<h2>Exoplanet hunter</h2>

NASA will continue the search for exoplanets this year. It is teaming up with SpaceX to launch the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) space telescope. TESS will monitor more than 200,000 stars for temporary drops in brightness caused by planetary transits. These planets range from gas giants to potential Earth-like planets. It will spend the early years looking for alien planets that cross the faces of their parent stars.&nbsp;

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<h2>ESA to launch exoplanet telescope</h2>

The year will witness&nbsp;two space telescopes being launched.&nbsp;CHEOPS, one of the telescopes, will be looking at nearby stars&nbsp;already known to host exoplanets. This will give new information about existing planets.

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<h2>Falcon Heavy</h2>

Expected to launch in spring/summer, Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket in the world. It will be&nbsp;capable of carrying 60 tons (54 metric tons) to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and 24.5 tons (22.2 metric tons) to the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).&nbsp;

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<h2>Green alternative to chemical propulsion</h2>

NASA will be launching the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM)&nbsp;for a new form of green propulsion, as an alternative to hydrazine, the fuel used today. It will lead to&nbsp;fuel loading becoming much safer, faster and less expensive. The alternative also has a higher density than hydrazine with a better thrust and a lower freezing point.

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<h2>Launching satellites from a Boeing 747</h2>

We have had plenty of satellites being launched into space from a jet aircraft, but firing satellites from a Boeing is completely unheard of. Virgin Galactic will be testing its new LauncherOne&nbsp;programme, which aims to carry&nbsp;a 200 kg payload&nbsp;into a &#39;sun synchronous orbit&#39;&nbsp;for less than $10 million.

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<h2>Private moon landing</h2>

For an award prize of&nbsp;$30 million, two companies will be fighting to land a robotic craft on the moon, a first for a private entity.&nbsp;Google&lsquo;s Lunar X Prize, in the form of Israel&rsquo;s SpaceIL and the USA&rsquo;s Moon Express programmes are looking to award the company which can achieve this feat. To win, they will not just land the spacecraft but will travel 500 metres and transmit HD video/pictures back to Earth.

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<h2>Space debris</h2>

The mission is set to launch this year and will test a device that is aimed at capturing&nbsp;orbiting space debris. There will also be a system of spacing junk with an attached dragsail that will allow&nbsp;the existing&nbsp;debris to be pushed out of the orbit. If successful, we might just have less&nbsp;space junk floating around our planet.

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(Contributed by: Zeba Khan)

&nbsp;

From mining asteroids to private space flights and even space tourism, here's what you can expect in space exploration in 2017

Since the 'Space Race' era of exploration between United States and Soviet Union, space technology has witnessed major developments. Astronomers have carried out the study of space with telescopes and have progressed to take forward physical exploration, both by unmanned robotic probes and human spaceflights. Early space explorations were carried out for military, communications and security purposes but now space colonisation, or space humanisation, is also emerging as a new frontier. If you want to know how we fare in terms of space travel in the future, have a look at some of the most kickass upcoming space missions: Asteroid mining technology This year, the world will witness the first flight in connection with the long-term goal of asteroid mining. The Prospector-X test flight is a precursor to the Prospector-1 mission and will test the company’s water-based propulsion, avionics and navigation systems. If successful, the Prospector-1 mission will take place before the end of the decade. Blue Origin Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin private space firm has a manned test flight dated for early this year. It will be a sub-orbital hop rather than a full-fledged journey into orbit. They also have a space capsule offering large windows and space for up to six people. Cassini's grand finale NASA’s Cassini probe has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, and the space agency is set for a finale this year. Cassini will undertake 22 orbits between the inner rings and the planet, capturing information and images. Once the orbits are complete, the probe will burn in Saturn’s upper atmosphere. Cassini has made many important discoveries since its launch. It spotted liquid-hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and geysers of water ice blasting from the south polar region of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Chinese probe to land on moon and return with samples This is perhaps the most ambitious mission undertaken by the Chinese space agency. So far, China has sent a rover to the moon, but returning back with samples is risky. Chang’e 5 mission will see a lunar lander touching down on the moon, gathering samples and bringing them back to Earth. Returning back is difficult as the probe needs to be protected during re-entry. Dawn's mission NASA's Dawn spacecraft will complete its task this year. The $467-million Dawn mission was launched in September 2007 to study Vesta and Ceres, the two largest objects in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft has revealed a lot about dry, rocky Vesta and icy Ceres and has found evidence of water ice being common just beneath the dwarf planet's surface. Exoplanet hunter NASA will continue the search for exoplanets this year. It is teaming up with SpaceX to launch the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) space telescope. TESS will monitor more than 200,000 stars for temporary drops in brightness caused by planetary transits. These planets range from gas giants to potential Earth-like planets. It will spend the early years looking for alien planets that cross the faces of their parent stars. ESA to launch exoplanet telescope The year will witness two space telescopes being launched. CHEOPS, one of the telescopes, will be looking at nearby stars already known to host exoplanets. This will give new information about existing planets. Falcon Heavy Expected to launch in spring/summer, Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket in the world. It will be capable of carrying 60 tons (54 metric tons) to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and 24.5 tons (22.2 metric tons) to the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Green alternative to chemical propulsion NASA will be launching the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) for a new form of green propulsion, as an alternative to hydrazine, the fuel used today. It will lead to fuel loading becoming much safer, faster and less expensive. The alternative also has a higher density than hydrazine with a better thrust and a lower freezing point. Launching satellites from a Boeing 747 We have had plenty of satellites being launched into space from a jet aircraft, but firing satellites from a Boeing is completely unheard of. Virgin Galactic will be testing its new LauncherOne programme, which aims to carry a 200 kg payload into a 'sun synchronous orbit' for less than $10 million. Private moon landing For an award prize of $30 million, two companies will be fighting to land a robotic craft on the moon, a first for a private entity. Google‘s Lunar X Prize, in the form of Israel’s SpaceIL and the USA’s Moon Express programmes are looking to award the company which can achieve this feat. To win, they will not just land the spacecraft but will travel 500 metres and transmit HD video/pictures back to Earth. Space debris The mission is set to launch this year and will test a device that is aimed at capturing orbiting space debris. There will also be a system of spacing junk with an attached dragsail that will allow the existing debris to be pushed out of the orbit. If successful, we might just have less space junk floating around our planet. (Contributed by: Zeba Khan)

Out-of-the-world space expeditions

A massive rift in the Antarctic Peninsula&#39;s Larsen C ice shelf has been spotted by NASA.

On November 10, scientists from NASA&rsquo;s IceBridge mission captured an image of the 70-mile-long crack.

According to NASA, the crack is more than 300 feet wide and about a third of a mile deep.

Once the crack completely cuts through the ice shelf, it will produce an iceberg roughly the size of the state of Delaware in the United States, according to Ice Bridge.

Larsen C is Antarctica&#39;s fourth-largest ice shelf, and it holds back the land-based glaciers just behind it, according to science news website Live Science.

(WION)

Scientists from NASA?s IceBridge mission captured an image of the crack in the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen C ice shelf back on November 10

A massive rift in the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen C ice shelf has been spotted by NASA. On November 10, scientists from NASA’s IceBridge mission captured an image of the 70-mile-long crack. According to NASA, the crack is more than 300 feet wide and about a third of a mile deep. Once the crack completely cuts through the ice shelf, it will produce an iceberg roughly the size of the state of Delaware in the United States, according to Ice Bridge. Larsen C is Antarctica's fourth-largest ice shelf, and it holds back the land-based glaciers just behind it, according to science news website Live Science. (WION)

NASA spots 70-mile-long ice rift in Antartica

An unusually large and bright moon will adorn the night sky on November 14 - the closest &quot;supermoon&quot; to Earth in 68 years and a chance for dramatic photos and spectacular surf.

Weather permitting, the phenomenon should appear at its most impressive at 13:52 GMT, when it will be at its fullest just&nbsp;as night falls over Asia, astronomers said.

Provided there are no clouds and not too much light pollution, people should be able to see Earth&#39;s satellite loom unusually large over the horizon shortly after sunset, irrespective of where in the world they are.

This happens when the moon is full at the same time as, or very near, perigee -- its closest point to Earth on an elliptical, monthly orbit.

&quot;On November 14, it becomes full within about two hours of perigee - arguably making it an extra-super Moon,&quot; NASA says on its website.
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The orbit itself is changeable, meaning the distance from Earth differs from perigee to perigee -- this time it will be the closest since 1948 at a distance of 356,509 kilometres (221,524 miles).&nbsp;The average is 384,400km.

On Monday, the full moon&#39;s relative proximity should make it appear about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than at its furthest orbit point, according to the Irish Astronomical Association (IAA).

&quot;Because the earth/moon system will be getting quite close to the time of year when it is closest to the Sun (January 4, 2017), the moon will be receiving more sunlight than average, also boosting its apparent brightness.&quot;

Furthermore, the moon&#39;s position in the sky will mean its southern hemisphere, the brighter of the two, will be turned towards earth, said the IAA.

Illusion

Without foreknowledge, one might barely notice that the moon appears brighter than usual, astronomers say.&nbsp;Once it is high in the sky, it would be hard to tell that the moon is larger. But on the horizon, it could be quite spectacular.

&quot;When you look at the moon when it&#39;s rising, there is this optical illusion where it looks bigger,&quot; astronomer Mark Bailey, emeritus director of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, told AFP.

Lying low, as a backdrop to trees or buildings for context, our satellite appears larger to the human eye despite being the same size the whole night.

Supermoons are actually quite common -- there is one every 14 months on average. 
&quot;But some supermoons are more super than others,&quot; said Pascal Descamps of the Paris Observatory -- the closer the Earth the more so.

&quot;If you want to try to image it, choose a location where you&#39;ll get some nice terrestrial feature in the foreground: a well-known landmark such as a tower or a spire will provide a nice comparison, particularly if you stay back a bit and&nbsp;use a zoom or telephoto lens which will magnify both objects,&quot; added the IAA.

The supermoon will also mean a stronger high tide, something that gets surfers giddy with excitement, not only at the prospect of riding bigger waves, but doing so at night.

The next comparable event will be in 2034, when the moon will come even closer, by 64km, to Earth.

(AFP)

The phenomenon occurs when the moon is full at the same time as, or very near, perigee -- its closest point to earth

An unusually large and bright moon will adorn the night sky on November 14 - the closest "supermoon" to Earth in 68 years and a chance for dramatic photos and spectacular surf. Weather permitting, the phenomenon should appear at its most impressive at 13:52 GMT, when it will be at its fullest just as night falls over Asia, astronomers said. Provided there are no clouds and not too much light pollution, people should be able to see Earth's satellite loom unusually large over the horizon shortly after sunset, irrespective of where in the world they are. This happens when the moon is full at the same time as, or very near, perigee -- its closest point to Earth on an elliptical, monthly orbit. "On November 14, it becomes full within about two hours of perigee - arguably making it an extra-super Moon," NASA says on its website. The orbit itself is changeable, meaning the distance from Earth differs from perigee to perigee -- this time it will be the closest since 1948 at a distance of 356,509 kilometres (221,524 miles). The average is 384,400km. On Monday, the full moon's relative proximity should make it appear about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than at its furthest orbit point, according to the Irish Astronomical Association (IAA). "Because the earth/moon system will be getting quite close to the time of year when it is closest to the Sun (January 4, 2017), the moon will be receiving more sunlight than average, also boosting its apparent brightness." Furthermore, the moon's position in the sky will mean its southern hemisphere, the brighter of the two, will be turned towards earth, said the IAA. Illusion Without foreknowledge, one might barely notice that the moon appears brighter than usual, astronomers say. Once it is high in the sky, it would be hard to tell that the moon is larger. But on the horizon, it could be quite spectacular. "When you look at the moon when it's rising, there is this optical illusion where it looks bigger," astronomer Mark Bailey, emeritus director of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, told AFP. Lying low, as a backdrop to trees or buildings for context, our satellite appears larger to the human eye despite being the same size the whole night. Supermoons are actually quite common -- there is one every 14 months on average. "But some supermoons are more super than others," said Pascal Descamps of the Paris Observatory -- the closer the Earth the more so. "If you want to try to image it, choose a location where you'll get some nice terrestrial feature in the foreground: a well-known landmark such as a tower or a spire will provide a nice comparison, particularly if you stay back a bit and use a zoom or telephoto lens which will magnify both objects," added the IAA. The supermoon will also mean a stronger high tide, something that gets surfers giddy with excitement, not only at the prospect of riding bigger waves, but doing so at night. The next comparable event will be in 2034, when the moon will come even closer, by 64km, to Earth. (AFP)

Watch tonight: Closest 'supermoon' to earth in 68 years

In a US presidential election that&#39;s already been out of this world, the lone American astronaut in outer space has cast his vote, NASA said on Monday.

Shane Kimbrough became the latest astronaut to join in a long tradition of voting while floating above the Earth, inside the orbiting International Space Station.

&quot;Current space station resident astronaut Shane Kimbrough is the most recent astronaut to take advantage of the opportunity,&quot; NASA said in a statement.

Since astronauts can already get emails in space, an electronic ballot generated by the Galveston county clerk&#39;s office was emailed to Kimbrough&#39;s secure account at NASA&#39;s Johnson Space Center.

Mission control then transferred the email to the space station, so Kimbrough could make his selections some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth, before sending it back to Texas via secure email.

There was no word from NASA or Kimbrough on which candidate he picked for president.

Kimbrough rode a Russian Soyuz rocket to the ISS on October 19 to start a four-month mission at the research outpost, along with two Russian cosmonauts.

US astronauts have been able to vote from space since 1997, under Texas law. Most astronauts live in the Houston area, home to NASA&#39;s mission control and Johnson Space Center.

The first American to vote from space was David Wolf, who cast his ballot from the Russian space station Mir.

The first US astronaut to vote for a president from space was Leroy Chiao in 2004.

(AFP)

An electronic ballot was emailed to Shane Kimbrough's secure account which NASA then passed on to the International Space Station

In a US presidential election that's already been out of this world, the lone American astronaut in outer space has cast his vote, NASA said on Monday. Shane Kimbrough became the latest astronaut to join in a long tradition of voting while floating above the Earth, inside the orbiting International Space Station. "Current space station resident astronaut Shane Kimbrough is the most recent astronaut to take advantage of the opportunity," NASA said in a statement. Since astronauts can already get emails in space, an electronic ballot generated by the Galveston county clerk's office was emailed to Kimbrough's secure account at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Mission control then transferred the email to the space station, so Kimbrough could make his selections some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth, before sending it back to Texas via secure email. There was no word from NASA or Kimbrough on which candidate he picked for president. Kimbrough rode a Russian Soyuz rocket to the ISS on October 19 to start a four-month mission at the research outpost, along with two Russian cosmonauts. US astronauts have been able to vote from space since 1997, under Texas law. Most astronauts live in the Houston area, home to NASA's mission control and Johnson Space Center. The first American to vote from space was David Wolf, who cast his ballot from the Russian space station Mir. The first US astronaut to vote for a president from space was Leroy Chiao in 2004. (AFP)

US election 2016: Lone American astronaut in space casts his vote

Thirteen years after its first, failed attempt to place a rover on Mars, Europe reaches a crucial stage Sunday in a fresh quest to scour the Red Planet for signs of life, this time with Russia.

Mission controllers will instruct a spacecraft about 175 million kilometres (109 million miles) from Earth to release and steer a paddling pool-sized lander towards the Red Planet&#39;s cold, dry surface.

Scheduled to arrive next Wednesday (October 19), the short-lived lander&#39;s sole purpose is to prepare the way for a subsequent rover which will drill into Mars in search of extra-terrestrial life.

&quot;Our goal here is to prove we can get to the surface, do science, take data,&quot; European Space Agency (ESA) science advisor Mark McCaughrean said ahead of Sunday&#39;s lander-release manoeuvres.

Dubbed Schiaparelli, the 600-kilogramme (1,300-pound) lander will separate from its mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), after a seven-month, 496 million-kilometre (308 million-mile) trek from Earth.

The lander and the TGO -- which will enter into orbit around Mars to sniff its atmosphere for gases excreted by living organisms -- comprise the first phase of the joint European-Russian ExoMars project.&nbsp;

The second phase, due for launch in 2020 after a two-year funding delay, is the ExoMars rover, for which Schiaparelli will be testing entry and soft-landing technology.

More than half of US, Russian and European attempts to land and operate craft on the Martian surface since the 1960s have failed.

The last time Europe tried, the British-built Beagle 2 disappeared without a trace after separating from the Mars Express mothership in December 2003.

It was finally spotted in January 2015 in a NASA picture of Mars. It showed that even though Beagle 2 failed to establish contact, it had successfully landed.&nbsp;

What&#39;s making the methane?&nbsp;

The United States is alone in having successfully operated rovers on Mars.

If there is life on Mars, it is unlikely to be found on the surface, which is bombarded by ultraviolet and cosmic rays.

But scientists say traces of methane in Mars&#39; thin atmosphere may be an indicator of something stirring underground.

Methane also does not survive the Sun&#39;s ultraviolet rays for long, McCaughrean explained.&nbsp;

&quot;And so for it actually to exist in the Martian atmosphere, it must be coming from something. Something must be making methane.&quot;

One possible source is underground volcanoes.&nbsp;

Another is life: single-celled microbes called methanogens, which on Earth live in places without oxygen such as animal stomachs, where they convert carbon dioxide into methane.

It is hoped that the ExoMars rover -- equipped to drill two-metres (six feet) below the surface -- will yield some clues as to the provenance of Mars&#39; methane.

In the meantime, Schiaparelli&#39;s exploits will be crucial in designing the rover&#39;s landing gear.

The lander will separate from the TGO around 1430 GMT on Sunday, about a million kilometres (621,000 miles) from the Red Planet.

It will enter the atmosphere on Wednesday at an altitude of some 121 km and a speed of nearly 21,000 km (13,000 miles) per hour.

The hot and bumpy trip through Mars&#39; atmosphere will take six minutes.

To protect the lander, an &quot;aeroshell&quot; will absorb and dissipate the heat generated by atmospheric drag for the first three or four minutes.

When it has reached an altitude of 11 km and slowed to 1,700 km/hr, a supersonic parachute will be deployed, the ESA said.

After slowing further and jettisoning its shell and parachute, Schiaparelli will activate nine speed-control thrusters. It will briefly hover at an altitude of two metres before cutting its engines and falling to the surface.

The impact is meant to be absorbed by a crushable structure in the lander&#39;s belly -- similar to a car&#39;s crumple zone.

&quot;It is a complex mission,&quot; Thierry Blancquaert, ESA&#39;s Schiaparelli manager, told AFP. &quot;Landing on Mars requires a lot of technology.&quot;&nbsp;

With a 10-minute delay -- the time it takes for a message to reach Earth -- Schiaparelli will send data on temperature, humidity, density profile and electrical properties.

Battery-driven and without solar panels, the lander should last for two or three days.

&quot;Even if it does not work, we will gain a lot of information,&quot; said Michel Denis, ExoMars flight director.&nbsp;

&quot;If something goes wrong, we will know what it was.&quot;

After releasing Schiaparelli, the TGO will change course to avoid crashing into Mars.

It will then start a 12-month process of &quot;aerobraking&quot; -- skimming the Martian atmosphere to bleed off energy -- to change its eccentric orbit into a circular one.

In early 2018, it will start analysing Mars&#39; atmosphere from an altitude of about 400 km.

If Sunday&#39;s separation fails, mission controllers can try again on Monday.

(AFP)

A lander will leave a Euro-Russian spaceship on Sunday, try and land on the red planet

Thirteen years after its first, failed attempt to place a rover on Mars, Europe reaches a crucial stage Sunday in a fresh quest to scour the Red Planet for signs of life, this time with Russia. Mission controllers will instruct a spacecraft about 175 million kilometres (109 million miles) from Earth to release and steer a paddling pool-sized lander towards the Red Planet's cold, dry surface. Scheduled to arrive next Wednesday (October 19), the short-lived lander's sole purpose is to prepare the way for a subsequent rover which will drill into Mars in search of extra-terrestrial life. "Our goal here is to prove we can get to the surface, do science, take data," European Space Agency (ESA) science advisor Mark McCaughrean said ahead of Sunday's lander-release manoeuvres. Dubbed Schiaparelli, the 600-kilogramme (1,300-pound) lander will separate from its mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), after a seven-month, 496 million-kilometre (308 million-mile) trek from Earth. The lander and the TGO -- which will enter into orbit around Mars to sniff its atmosphere for gases excreted by living organisms -- comprise the first phase of the joint European-Russian ExoMars project. The second phase, due for launch in 2020 after a two-year funding delay, is the ExoMars rover, for which Schiaparelli will be testing entry and soft-landing technology. More than half of US, Russian and European attempts to land and operate craft on the Martian surface since the 1960s have failed. The last time Europe tried, the British-built Beagle 2 disappeared without a trace after separating from the Mars Express mothership in December 2003. It was finally spotted in January 2015 in a NASA picture of Mars. It showed that even though Beagle 2 failed to establish contact, it had successfully landed. What's making the methane? The United States is alone in having successfully operated rovers on Mars. If there is life on Mars, it is unlikely to be found on the surface, which is bombarded by ultraviolet and cosmic rays. But scientists say traces of methane in Mars' thin atmosphere may be an indicator of something stirring underground. Methane also does not survive the Sun's ultraviolet rays for long, McCaughrean explained. "And so for it actually to exist in the Martian atmosphere, it must be coming from something. Something must be making methane." One possible source is underground volcanoes. Another is life: single-celled microbes called methanogens, which on Earth live in places without oxygen such as animal stomachs, where they convert carbon dioxide into methane. It is hoped that the ExoMars rover -- equipped to drill two-metres (six feet) below the surface -- will yield some clues as to the provenance of Mars' methane. In the meantime, Schiaparelli's exploits will be crucial in designing the rover's landing gear. The lander will separate from the TGO around 1430 GMT on Sunday, about a million kilometres (621,000 miles) from the Red Planet. It will enter the atmosphere on Wednesday at an altitude of some 121 km and a speed of nearly 21,000 km (13,000 miles) per hour. The hot and bumpy trip through Mars' atmosphere will take six minutes. To protect the lander, an "aeroshell" will absorb and dissipate the heat generated by atmospheric drag for the first three or four minutes. When it has reached an altitude of 11 km and slowed to 1,700 km/hr, a supersonic parachute will be deployed, the ESA said. After slowing further and jettisoning its shell and parachute, Schiaparelli will activate nine speed-control thrusters. It will briefly hover at an altitude of two metres before cutting its engines and falling to the surface. The impact is meant to be absorbed by a crushable structure in the lander's belly -- similar to a car's crumple zone. "It is a complex mission," Thierry Blancquaert, ESA's Schiaparelli manager, told AFP. "Landing on Mars requires a lot of technology." With a 10-minute delay -- the time it takes for a message to reach Earth -- Schiaparelli will send data on temperature, humidity, density profile and electrical properties. Battery-driven and without solar panels, the lander should last for two or three days. "Even if it does not work, we will gain a lot of information," said Michel Denis, ExoMars flight director. "If something goes wrong, we will know what it was." After releasing Schiaparelli, the TGO will change course to avoid crashing into Mars. It will then start a 12-month process of "aerobraking" -- skimming the Martian atmosphere to bleed off energy -- to change its eccentric orbit into a circular one. In early 2018, it will start analysing Mars' atmosphere from an altitude of about 400 km. If Sunday's separation fails, mission controllers can try again on Monday. (AFP)

Thirteen years later, Europe heads for Mars in search of life again

NASA is set to unveil a &#39;surprise activity&#39; in connection with Jupiter today. The announcement has already got the guesswork going. 
 
Following claims that Jupiter&#39;s moon Europa has strong evidence of liquid water deep beneath its crust, which could be favourable for life, astronomers from the US space agenct will present their Europa observations that led to the surprise findings at 11.30 pm Indian time (2 pm EDT).
<div class="twitter-block">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Monday, we&rsquo;ll announce new findings from Jupiter&rsquo;s moon Europa. Spoiler alert: NOT aliens: <a href="https://t.co/89qj23DM6Y">https://t.co/89qj23DM6Y</a> <a href="https://t.co/d7cSuBBXZz">pic.twitter.com/d7cSuBBXZz</a>
&mdash; NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/780180586510123008">September 25, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
 
After a five-year expedition, NASA&#39;s Juno spacecraft has sent the first set of images of Jupiter&#39;s north pole and auroras rippling across its southern pole, during the spacecraft&#39;s first flyby of the planet with its instruments switched on. 
&nbsp;
<div class="twitter-block">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
A whole new world. My 1st glimpse of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jupiter?src=hash">#Jupiter</a>&rsquo;s north pole looks unlike anything seen before <a href="https://t.co/OODrfqlCag">https://t.co/OODrfqlCag</a> <a href="https://t.co/ghTlibdxaV">pic.twitter.com/ghTlibdxaV</a>
&mdash; NASA&#39;s Juno Mission (@NASAJuno) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAJuno/status/771742731160817664">September 2, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
 
The images show storm systems and weather activity unlike anything seen&nbsp;before on any of our solar system&#39;s gas-giant planets, NASA was reported as saying. 
 
&quot;First glimpse of Jupiter&#39;s north pole, and it looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before,&quot; said Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, IANS reported. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s bluer in colour up there than other parts of the planet, and there are a lot of storms,&quot; Bolton noted,&quot; he said. 
 
NASA had announced last year that it intends to send a robotic spacecraft, equipped with a suite of scientific instruments, to circle Europa in the 2020s. 
 
Monday&#39;s &nbsp;announcement will be made in the presence of Paul Hertz, NASA`s Director of astrophysics and William Sparks, astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

This comes after the space agency's claims that Jupiter's moon Europa has strong evidence of liquid water deep beneath its crust

NASA is set to unveil a 'surprise activity' in connection with Jupiter today. The announcement has already got the guesswork going. Following claims that Jupiter's moon Europa has strong evidence of liquid water deep beneath its crust, which could be favourable for life, astronomers from the US space agenct will present their Europa observations that led to the surprise findings at 11.30 pm Indian time (2 pm EDT). Monday, we’ll announce new findings from Jupiter’s moon Europa. Spoiler alert: NOT aliens: https://t.co/89qj23DM6Y pic.twitter.com/d7cSuBBXZz — NASA (@NASA) September 25, 2016 After a five-year expedition, NASA's Juno spacecraft has sent the first set of images of Jupiter's north pole and auroras rippling across its southern pole, during the spacecraft's first flyby of the planet with its instruments switched on. A whole new world. My 1st glimpse of #Jupiter’s north pole looks unlike anything seen before https://t.co/OODrfqlCag pic.twitter.com/ghTlibdxaV — NASA's Juno Mission (@NASAJuno) September 2, 2016 The images show storm systems and weather activity unlike anything seen before on any of our solar system's gas-giant planets, NASA was reported as saying. "First glimpse of Jupiter's north pole, and it looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before," said Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, IANS reported. "It's bluer in colour up there than other parts of the planet, and there are a lot of storms," Bolton noted," he said. NASA had announced last year that it intends to send a robotic spacecraft, equipped with a suite of scientific instruments, to circle Europa in the 2020s. Monday's announcement will be made in the presence of Paul Hertz, NASA`s Director of astrophysics and William Sparks, astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. (WION with inputs from agencies)

NASA to announce 'surprise' finding on Jupiter's moon today

In a first, US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is all set to launch a near-Earth asteroid mission to collect pristine carbon samples and shed light on the &quot;dawn of the solar system&quot;. 
 
The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security- Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), and bring at least a 2.1-ounce sample back to Earth for study, according to NASA.&nbsp; 
 
According the space agency, the $800 mn mission &quot;will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
The official Twitter account for the ambitious mission remains abuzz with updates ahead of the launch. Social media users have got their queries answered using the #askNASA hashtag&nbsp; 
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Bennu was chosen due to its accessibility from Earth, size &amp; carbon-rich composition. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/askNASA?src=hash">#askNASA</a> <a href="https://t.co/r6BS2zRkXy">https://t.co/r6BS2zRkXy</a>
&mdash; OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/773598852268101632">September 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
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REx stands for regolith explorer. Regolith=loose surface material that I will collect from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/asteroid?src=hash">#asteroid</a> Bennu. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/askNASA?src=hash">#askNASA</a> <a href="https://t.co/ISlYJljkmu">https://t.co/ISlYJljkmu</a>
&mdash; OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/773552218767327232">September 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The spacecraft is set to blast off Thursday at 7:05 pm (2305 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Weather forecasters have said that there is 80 per cent chance of favourable launch of the mission.&nbsp; 
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<h5>According the space agency, the $800 mission &quot;will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.&quot;&nbsp;</h5>
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&#39;A small mountain in space&#39; 
 
&quot;The primary objective of the mission is to bring back 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of pristine carbon-rich material from the surface of Bennu,&quot; Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of the mission and a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, was quoted as saying by AFP.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We expect these samples will contain organic molecules from the early solar system that may give us information and clues to the origin of life.&quot; 
 
OSIRIX-REx, &nbsp;about 1,600 feet (492 meters) in diameter, is expected to reach Bennu in August 2018 and return to Earth with its bounty in 2023. &quot;Think of it as a small mountain in space,&quot; Lauretta said. 
 
According to NASA estimates, the asetroid&#39;s 1.2-year orbit around the sun brings it closer to Earth every six years at a distance similar to the moon, although there is very little chance Bennu could collide with Earth. 
 
NASA Scientists estimate there is a one-in-800 chance that Bennu might actually hit Earth 166 years from now.&nbsp;The highest probability, one in 2,500, would occur between 2175 and 2196. 
 
The space agency points out that asteroids are remnants of the building blocks that formed the planets and enabled life and &quot;those like Bennu contain natural resources such as water, organics and metals.&quot;&nbsp;
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Very slim. It&#39;s only a 1 in 2700 chance that Bennu could collide with Earth in the next few hundred years. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/askNASA?src=hash">#askNASA</a> <a href="https://t.co/0nxtO7eKf5">https://t.co/0nxtO7eKf5</a>
&mdash; OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/773579348930682880">7 September 2016</a></blockquote>
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Rendezvouz with the asteroid&nbsp; 
 
According to a fact sheet provided by NASA, the spacecraft &quot;will orbit the sun for a year, then use Earth&rsquo;s gravitational field to assist it on its way to Bennu&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;In August 2018, OSIRIS-REx&rsquo;s approach to Bennu will begin. It will use an array of small rocket thrusters to match the velocity of Bennu and rendezvous with the asteroid,&quot; the fact sheet says.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;&#39;The spacecraft will begin a detailed survey of Bennu two months after slowing to encounter Bennu. The process will last over a year, and, as part of it, OSIRIS-REx will map potential sample sites.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
After the mission is completed, the spcacraft will not return. It will be placed in a solar orbit.&nbsp;
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After I return my sample, I&#39;ll be put in a solar orbit. There&#39;s no 2nd mission planned, but I&#39;ll be ready. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/askNASA?src=hash">#askNASA</a> <a href="https://t.co/WstUtp3kYe">https://t.co/WstUtp3kYe</a>
&mdash; OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/773560895385571332">7 September 2016</a></blockquote>
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(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
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Scientists are hopeful that the seven-year, $800 mn mission will reveal something about the origins of the Bennu asteroid and of life itself

In a first, US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is all set to launch a near-Earth asteroid mission to collect pristine carbon samples and shed light on the "dawn of the solar system". The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security- Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), and bring at least a 2.1-ounce sample back to Earth for study, according to NASA. According the space agency, the $800 mn mission "will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth." The official Twitter account for the ambitious mission remains abuzz with updates ahead of the launch. Social media users have got their queries answered using the #askNASA hashtag Bennu was chosen due to its accessibility from Earth, size & carbon-rich composition. #askNASA https://t.co/r6BS2zRkXy — OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) September 7, 2016 REx stands for regolith explorer. Regolith=loose surface material that I will collect from #asteroid Bennu. #askNASA https://t.co/ISlYJljkmu — OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) September 7, 2016 The spacecraft is set to blast off Thursday at 7:05 pm (2305 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Weather forecasters have said that there is 80 per cent chance of favourable launch of the mission. According the space agency, the $800 mission "will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth." 'A small mountain in space' "The primary objective of the mission is to bring back 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of pristine carbon-rich material from the surface of Bennu," Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of the mission and a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, was quoted as saying by AFP. "We expect these samples will contain organic molecules from the early solar system that may give us information and clues to the origin of life." OSIRIX-REx, about 1,600 feet (492 meters) in diameter, is expected to reach Bennu in August 2018 and return to Earth with its bounty in 2023. "Think of it as a small mountain in space," Lauretta said. According to NASA estimates, the asetroid's 1.2-year orbit around the sun brings it closer to Earth every six years at a distance similar to the moon, although there is very little chance Bennu could collide with Earth. NASA Scientists estimate there is a one-in-800 chance that Bennu might actually hit Earth 166 years from now. The highest probability, one in 2,500, would occur between 2175 and 2196. The space agency points out that asteroids are remnants of the building blocks that formed the planets and enabled life and "those like Bennu contain natural resources such as water, organics and metals." Very slim. It's only a 1 in 2700 chance that Bennu could collide with Earth in the next few hundred years. #askNASA https://t.co/0nxtO7eKf5 — OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) 7 September 2016 Rendezvouz with the asteroid According to a fact sheet provided by NASA, the spacecraft "will orbit the sun for a year, then use Earth’s gravitational field to assist it on its way to Bennu". "In August 2018, OSIRIS-REx’s approach to Bennu will begin. It will use an array of small rocket thrusters to match the velocity of Bennu and rendezvous with the asteroid," the fact sheet says. "'The spacecraft will begin a detailed survey of Bennu two months after slowing to encounter Bennu. The process will last over a year, and, as part of it, OSIRIS-REx will map potential sample sites." After the mission is completed, the spcacraft will not return. It will be placed in a solar orbit. After I return my sample, I'll be put in a solar orbit. There's no 2nd mission planned, but I'll be ready. #askNASA https://t.co/WstUtp3kYe — OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) 7 September 2016 (WION with inputs from agencies)

Towards the dawn of the solar system: NASA set to launch near-Earth asteroid mission

SpaceX&#39;s Falcon 9 rocket&nbsp;exploded at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, multiple media reports said. 
 
It remains unclear at the moment whether there have been casualties. But the intensity of the explosion rocked buildings &quot;several miles away&quot;, according to The Verge. 
 
Emergency services&nbsp;have however said there is no threat to the public. 
 
Although the cause of the blast remains unknown, NASA officials said it occurred during a static fire test of the rocket&#39;s engines. 
 
SpaceX, a company owned by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, intends to send people to Mars within the next two decades.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
 
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The intensity of the blast shook buildings "several miles away"

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploded at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, multiple media reports said. It remains unclear at the moment whether there have been casualties. But the intensity of the explosion rocked buildings "several miles away", according to The Verge. Emergency services have however said there is no threat to the public. Although the cause of the blast remains unknown, NASA officials said it occurred during a static fire test of the rocket's engines. SpaceX, a company owned by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, intends to send people to Mars within the next two decades. (WION with inputs from agencies)

SpaceX rocket explosion rocks Kennedy Space Centre

NASA&#39;s&nbsp;Juno&nbsp;space probe on Saturday made its first close approach to the planet Jupiter.

Juno&nbsp;was merely 4,200 kilometers away from&nbsp;the solar system&#39;s largest planet, the closest any spacecraft has passed, traveling at 130,000 miles per hour (208,000 kilometers per hour) at around 5:51 am (12:51 GMT).

It was the first time&nbsp;Juno&rsquo;s eight scientific instruments and its camera were switched on, marking the science mission&#39;s start, officials said in a statement on NASA&#39;s website.

&quot;This is our first opportunity to really take a close-up look at the king of our solar system and begin to figure out how he works,&quot; said Scott Bolton,&nbsp;Juno&#39;s principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, had said before the event took place.

Juno&nbsp;first swept close to Jupiter when it entered orbit around the planet early last month after a nearly five-year voyage to help study the solar system&#39;s origins.

However, all the probe&#39;s instruments were turned off not to interfere with its positioning as it entered the 53.5-day orbit.

Juno&nbsp;will now be probing Jupiter&#39;s many layers to measure their composition, magnetic field and other properties. Scientists hope to learn the source of the planet&#39;s fierce winds and whether Jupiter is made entirely of gas or has a solid core.

They also expect to learn more about the planet&#39;s great red spot, a huge storm that has raged for thousands of years.

Saturday&#39;s flyby was&nbsp;Juno&#39;s first chance to take pictures of Jupiter&#39;s mysterious poles. 
 
&quot;No other spacecraft has ever orbited Jupiter this closely, or over the poles in this fashion,&quot; said Steve Levin,&nbsp;Juno&nbsp;project scientist from NASA&#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

NASA says it will release images from the flyby late next week.

Although data from the probe is expected to reach Earth in several days, results from scientists&#39; analysis will take longer.

&quot;This is our first opportunity and there are bound to be surprises,&quot; Levin said. &quot;We need to take our time to make sure our conclusions are correct.&quot;

Juno&nbsp;is set to make 35 more close passes by Jupiter during its main mission, scheduled to end in February 2018, when the probe will self-destruct by diving into the planet&#39;s atmosphere. 
 
(AFP)

The probe was merely 4,200 kilometers away from?the planet, the closest any spacecraft has passed

NASA's Juno space probe on Saturday made its first close approach to the planet Jupiter. Juno was merely 4,200 kilometers away from the solar system's largest planet, the closest any spacecraft has passed, traveling at 130,000 miles per hour (208,000 kilometers per hour) at around 5:51 am (12:51 GMT). It was the first time Juno’s eight scientific instruments and its camera were switched on, marking the science mission's start, officials said in a statement on NASA's website. "This is our first opportunity to really take a close-up look at the king of our solar system and begin to figure out how he works," said Scott Bolton, Juno's principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, had said before the event took place. Juno first swept close to Jupiter when it entered orbit around the planet early last month after a nearly five-year voyage to help study the solar system's origins. However, all the probe's instruments were turned off not to interfere with its positioning as it entered the 53.5-day orbit. Juno will now be probing Jupiter's many layers to measure their composition, magnetic field and other properties. Scientists hope to learn the source of the planet's fierce winds and whether Jupiter is made entirely of gas or has a solid core. They also expect to learn more about the planet's great red spot, a huge storm that has raged for thousands of years. Saturday's flyby was Juno's first chance to take pictures of Jupiter's mysterious poles. "No other spacecraft has ever orbited Jupiter this closely, or over the poles in this fashion," said Steve Levin, Juno project scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA says it will release images from the flyby late next week. Although data from the probe is expected to reach Earth in several days, results from scientists' analysis will take longer. "This is our first opportunity and there are bound to be surprises," Levin said. "We need to take our time to make sure our conclusions are correct." Juno is set to make 35 more close passes by Jupiter during its main mission, scheduled to end in February 2018, when the probe will self-destruct by diving into the planet's atmosphere. (AFP)

Juno orbiter gives NASA first close-up look at Jupiter

Record-breaking warm temperatures in the first half of 2016 have primed the Arctic for another summer of&nbsp;low sea ice cover, said NASA on Friday (August 19). 
 
&quot;Globally it&#39;s been the warmest year on record,&quot; said NASA scientist Walt Meier from Goddard Space Flight&nbsp;Center in Greenbelt, Maryland &quot;That&#39;s resulted in an earlier melt of the Arctic sea ice and an opening of&nbsp;the ocean. And so we&#39;re on track for one of the lowest sea ice years on our satellite record and one of&nbsp;the lowest minimums which will reach in mid-September.&quot; 
 
Sea ice is frozen ocean water around the polar caps, and is important because it &quot;acts like a refrigerator&nbsp;for the global climate system,&quot; keeping the Arctic region cool, says Meier. 
 
Over the past three decades, Arctic Sea ice has dramatically declined; making what was once extraordinary&nbsp;low measurements the new normal. 
 
&quot;As we&#39;re losing the ice, as we&#39;ve been seeing over the previous decades and especially in recent years,&nbsp;we&#39;re replacing that with the dark ocean that absorbs all that energy and the ocean heats up and the whole&nbsp;Arctic heats up, and basically it&#39;s like we&#39;re opening up the refrigerator door so the Arctic&#39;s cooling&nbsp;mechanism is becoming less and less efficient as we lose the sea ice,&quot; said Meier. 
 
But the region is warming twice as fast as elsewhere in the world, making the Arctic one of the most&nbsp;visible signs of a changing planet. 
 
&quot;The Arctic is connected to the rest of the climate system, said Meier. &quot;The Arctic is not like Las Vegas.&nbsp;What happens in the Arctic doesn&#39;t stay in the Arctic.&quot; 
 
Meier explained warming of the Arctic is changing the balance between the cold Arctic and the lower&nbsp;latitudes that potentially changes weather patterns. 
 
&quot;We already seeing evidence of that in terms of how the jet stream is changing,&quot; said Meier. &quot;It&#39;s&nbsp;becoming less of a west the east flow and more of a loopy flow kind of more north to south which leads to&nbsp;more extreme events things like droughts things like torrential rains and flooding.&quot; 
 
Global warming has been one of the issues discussed in the US presidential campaign, with the democratic&nbsp;nominee Hillary Clinton seeing it as an immediate concern, while her Republican rival Donald Trump,&nbsp;dismisses the issue as minor. 
 
Meier said he prefers to ignore the politics. 
 
&quot;I&#39;m of course interested in the consequences as a citizen and concerned,&quot; said Meier. &quot;But my role as a&nbsp;scientist here at NASA is to kind of really dig into the science, dig into the data, and the satellite&nbsp;data and understand what&#39;s going on. 
 
&quot;That&#39;s where I feel like myself and NASA in general provides the greatest benefit to society.&quot; 
 
Meier said in 2018, NASA will launch the ICESat-2 satellite which will be taking some of the most advanced&nbsp;measurements of the polar regions to date. 
 
(Reuters)

Over the past three decades, Arctic Sea ice has dramatically declined

Record-breaking warm temperatures in the first half of 2016 have primed the Arctic for another summer of low sea ice cover, said NASA on Friday (August 19). "Globally it's been the warmest year on record," said NASA scientist Walt Meier from Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland "That's resulted in an earlier melt of the Arctic sea ice and an opening of the ocean. And so we're on track for one of the lowest sea ice years on our satellite record and one of the lowest minimums which will reach in mid-September." Sea ice is frozen ocean water around the polar caps, and is important because it "acts like a refrigerator for the global climate system," keeping the Arctic region cool, says Meier. Over the past three decades, Arctic Sea ice has dramatically declined; making what was once extraordinary low measurements the new normal. "As we're losing the ice, as we've been seeing over the previous decades and especially in recent years, we're replacing that with the dark ocean that absorbs all that energy and the ocean heats up and the whole Arctic heats up, and basically it's like we're opening up the refrigerator door so the Arctic's cooling mechanism is becoming less and less efficient as we lose the sea ice," said Meier. But the region is warming twice as fast as elsewhere in the world, making the Arctic one of the most visible signs of a changing planet. "The Arctic is connected to the rest of the climate system, said Meier. "The Arctic is not like Las Vegas. What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic." Meier explained warming of the Arctic is changing the balance between the cold Arctic and the lower latitudes that potentially changes weather patterns. "We already seeing evidence of that in terms of how the jet stream is changing," said Meier. "It's becoming less of a west the east flow and more of a loopy flow kind of more north to south which leads to more extreme events things like droughts things like torrential rains and flooding." Global warming has been one of the issues discussed in the US presidential campaign, with the democratic nominee Hillary Clinton seeing it as an immediate concern, while her Republican rival Donald Trump, dismisses the issue as minor. Meier said he prefers to ignore the politics. "I'm of course interested in the consequences as a citizen and concerned," said Meier. "But my role as a scientist here at NASA is to kind of really dig into the science, dig into the data, and the satellite data and understand what's going on. "That's where I feel like myself and NASA in general provides the greatest benefit to society." Meier said in 2018, NASA will launch the ICESat-2 satellite which will be taking some of the most advanced measurements of the polar regions to date. (Reuters)

NASA says 2016 heat to take its toll on Arctic Sea ice

NASA scientists have chosen five green technology concepts that have the potential to transform the aviation industry in the next decade by reducing aircraft fuel usage and emissions by 75 per cent. 
 
The concepts were selected under NASA&#39;s Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Programme in the US for a two-year study. 
 
The topics, including three specifically targeted at electrically-propelled aircrafts are the use of alternative fuel cells, three-dimensional (3D) printing to increase electric motor output, lithium-air batteries for energy storage, new mechanisms for changing the shape of an aircraft wing in flight and a lightweight material called aerogel in the design and development of aircraft antenna. 
 
These five concepts, in addition to three of the six selected last year, address NASA&#39;s green aviation initiatives to cut fuel use by half, lower harmful emissions by 75 per cent, and significantly reduce aircraft noise, scientists said. 
 
&quot;There definitely was an emphasis in our selections on bringing forward activities that addressed a NASA aeronautics goal to reduce the carbon footprint of aviation during the 21st century,&quot; said programme manager Doug Rohn. 
 
(PTI)

The scientists have chosen five green technology that were selected under NASA's 'Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Programme' in US

NASA scientists have chosen five green technology concepts that have the potential to transform the aviation industry in the next decade by reducing aircraft fuel usage and emissions by 75 per cent. The concepts were selected under NASA's Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Programme in the US for a two-year study. The topics, including three specifically targeted at electrically-propelled aircrafts are the use of alternative fuel cells, three-dimensional (3D) printing to increase electric motor output, lithium-air batteries for energy storage, new mechanisms for changing the shape of an aircraft wing in flight and a lightweight material called aerogel in the design and development of aircraft antenna. These five concepts, in addition to three of the six selected last year, address NASA's green aviation initiatives to cut fuel use by half, lower harmful emissions by 75 per cent, and significantly reduce aircraft noise, scientists said. "There definitely was an emphasis in our selections on bringing forward activities that addressed a NASA aeronautics goal to reduce the carbon footprint of aviation during the 21st century," said programme manager Doug Rohn. (PTI)

NASA aims to reduce aircraft fuel use, emissions by 75%

The Aral Sea,&nbsp;once the fourth largest lake in the world,&nbsp;has shrunk to less than 10 per cent in&nbsp;size over the years,&nbsp;National Aeronautics and Space Administration&nbsp;(NASA) says.&nbsp; 
 
Nestled between the countries Uzbekistan,&nbsp;Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan,&nbsp;the lake has receded drastically turning the eastern basin of the lake into a desert, called the Aralkum Desert. 
 
In&nbsp;a timelapse video, NASA has captured the&nbsp;lake&rsquo;s disappearance spanning from the year 2000 to 2016. 
 
A 16-year old trajectory shows how the lake went from being a healthy waterbody to a victim of human interference. It&nbsp;started with the Soviet Union intervention that&nbsp;redirected the lake&#39;s&nbsp;tributaries to irrigate the nearby desert. As the desert bloomed,&nbsp;Aral Sea&nbsp;suffered&nbsp;severe damage that led to its&nbsp;waterline receding over the years. 
 
The communities living by the lake&nbsp;lost their livelihood and had to eventually move out.&nbsp;The water body saw further damage when the Kazakhstan government built a dam between northern and southern part of the lake, leaving it irreparable.&nbsp; 
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?A 16-year old trajectory shows how the lake went from being a healthy waterbody to a victim of human interference

The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world, has shrunk to less than 10 per cent in size over the years, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says. Nestled between the countries Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the lake has receded drastically turning the eastern basin of the lake into a desert, called the Aralkum Desert. In a timelapse video, NASA has captured the lake’s disappearance spanning from the year 2000 to 2016. A 16-year old trajectory shows how the lake went from being a healthy waterbody to a victim of human interference. It started with the Soviet Union intervention that redirected the lake's tributaries to irrigate the nearby desert. As the desert bloomed, Aral Sea suffered severe damage that led to its waterline receding over the years. The communities living by the lake lost their livelihood and had to eventually move out. The water body saw further damage when the Kazakhstan government built a dam between northern and southern part of the lake, leaving it irreparable.

NASA's timelapse video captures shocking disappearance of the world's fourth largest lake Aral Sea

An international team of researchers announced on Monday the discovery of 104 new planets outside our solar system, including four that could have Earth-like, rocky surfaces. 
 
Scientists discovered the exoplanets using the Kepler space telescope as well as ground observations by Earth-based telescopes, including four on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. 
 
The $600 million Kepler mission has allowed scientists to discover more than 4,600 planets -- 2,326 of them confirmed -- since it launched in 2009. 
 
&quot;The diversity of planets is astounding,&quot; said Evan Sinukoff, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii who contributed to the research. 
 
&quot;We discovered many planets about twice the size of the Earth orbiting so close to their host stars that they are hotter than 1000 degrees.&quot; 
 
The latest trove includes 21 situated within their sun&#39;s habitable zone -- the distance from a star that could permit liquid water to exist and support life. 
 
The four potentially rocky planets -- ranging from 20 to 50 per cent larger than Earth -- orbit tightly around the same star in a planetary system about 400 light-years from Earth. 
 
Though the planets rotate around their star even closer than Mercury orbits the sun, two of the planets may have surface temperatures similar to Earth&#39;s, as their star is cooler than our sun, astronomers said. 
 
The unmanned Kepler mission has been scanning 150,000 stars in the Cygnus constellation for signs of orbiting bodies, particularly those that might be able to support life. 
 
It works by observing a dimming in the light of a star, known as a transit, each time an orbiting planet passes in front of it. 
 
In 2013, the space telescope suffered a problem with the reaction wheels that typically keep the spacecraft steady. 
 
NASA subsequently set the spacecraft on a new mission called K2, to study supernovas, star clusters and far-off galaxies. 
 
Scientists verified the latest exoplanets as part of the K2 mission. 
 
(AFP)

The $600 million Kepler mission has allowed scientists to discover more than 4,600 planets since it was launched in 2009

An international team of researchers announced on Monday the discovery of 104 new planets outside our solar system, including four that could have Earth-like, rocky surfaces. Scientists discovered the exoplanets using the Kepler space telescope as well as ground observations by Earth-based telescopes, including four on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The $600 million Kepler mission has allowed scientists to discover more than 4,600 planets -- 2,326 of them confirmed -- since it launched in 2009. "The diversity of planets is astounding," said Evan Sinukoff, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii who contributed to the research. "We discovered many planets about twice the size of the Earth orbiting so close to their host stars that they are hotter than 1000 degrees." The latest trove includes 21 situated within their sun's habitable zone -- the distance from a star that could permit liquid water to exist and support life. The four potentially rocky planets -- ranging from 20 to 50 per cent larger than Earth -- orbit tightly around the same star in a planetary system about 400 light-years from Earth. Though the planets rotate around their star even closer than Mercury orbits the sun, two of the planets may have surface temperatures similar to Earth's, as their star is cooler than our sun, astronomers said. The unmanned Kepler mission has been scanning 150,000 stars in the Cygnus constellation for signs of orbiting bodies, particularly those that might be able to support life. It works by observing a dimming in the light of a star, known as a transit, each time an orbiting planet passes in front of it. In 2013, the space telescope suffered a problem with the reaction wheels that typically keep the spacecraft steady. NASA subsequently set the spacecraft on a new mission called K2, to study supernovas, star clusters and far-off galaxies. Scientists verified the latest exoplanets as part of the K2 mission. (AFP)

NASA's Kepler discovers more than 104 exoplanets

The International Space Station (ISS) has a popular live feed that is available to the public, accessible via&nbsp;their Ustream page. The feed lets virtually anyone peek into the functioning of the space station, and also experience some spectacular views of our home planet. 
 
However this feed was mysteriously shut off a few days ago, following reports of an unidentified object entering its vicinity. The incident happened on July 9 and was proliferated by popular UFO hunter Streetcap1, who uploaded a video of the object travelling across the ISS camera&rsquo;s field of view. 
 
The clip appears to show a blue object descending toward the Earth&rsquo;s horizon, rotating all the while. 
 
He has however posted a caveat saying that this can&nbsp;well be anything,&nbsp;not necessarily an alien craft. He does however say that what makes this incident especially interesting is the fact that the live video feed appeared to have been terminated the instant the object stopped moving. 
 
Possible explanations of what this object could be range from a meteor, to it probably being the Chinese space cargo ship Tiangong-1.&nbsp;This incident has sparked discussions among conspiracy theorists and UFO hunters, accusing NASA of intentionally disabling their live video feed at times such as these. 
 
(DNA)

A UFO hunter has recorded footage of a live NASA ISS video that appears to have been cut short after the sighting

The International Space Station (ISS) has a popular live feed that is available to the public, accessible via their Ustream page. The feed lets virtually anyone peek into the functioning of the space station, and also experience some spectacular views of our home planet. However this feed was mysteriously shut off a few days ago, following reports of an unidentified object entering its vicinity. The incident happened on July 9 and was proliferated by popular UFO hunter Streetcap1, who uploaded a video of the object travelling across the ISS camera’s field of view. The clip appears to show a blue object descending toward the Earth’s horizon, rotating all the while. He has however posted a caveat saying that this can well be anything, not necessarily an alien craft. He does however say that what makes this incident especially interesting is the fact that the live video feed appeared to have been terminated the instant the object stopped moving. Possible explanations of what this object could be range from a meteor, to it probably being the Chinese space cargo ship Tiangong-1. This incident has sparked discussions among conspiracy theorists and UFO hunters, accusing NASA of intentionally disabling their live video feed at times such as these. (DNA)

International Space Station cuts live video feed after possible UFO encounter

Three astronauts blasted off into the early morning sky in an upgraded Soyuz spacecraft from Russia&#39;s Baikonur cosmodrome on Thursday, heading towards the International Space Station (ISS). 
 
First-time astronauts Kathleen Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of the Japanese space agency set off for a four-month mission at the ISS with Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin at around 0136 GMT. 
 
&quot;All is well on board!&quot; said mission control in comments relayed by NASA TV, which broadcast footage of the launch in Kazakhstan. 
 
Footage also showed Ivanishin and Onishi giving each other fist bumps to celebrate the successful launch. 
 
Features of the new Soyuz series include upgraded boosters, an improved navigation system, strengthened shielding from debris and more cells on the craft&#39;s solar panels. 
 
The trio&#39;s launch was delayed by two weeks as Russian space officials carried out further software tests on the modified vehicle. 
 
The craft&#39;s journey to dock at the ISS will take two days - longer than the usual six-hour flight - to give ground control more time to monitor the tweaked system&#39;s performance. 
 
NASA&#39;s Kate Rubins will be the first woman aboard the ISS since Italian Samantha Cristoforetti returned to earth with the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (199 days) in June last year. 
 
The molecular biologist-turned astronaut will also become the first person to sequence DNA in space during her mission. 
 
&quot;Rocket is on the launchpad, crew is ready to go! #AstroKate&quot; the NASA Astronauts Twitter handle tweeted prior to her launch. 
 
Rubins&#39; launch caps an exciting week for NASA as the US space agency&#39;s unmanned Juno spacecraft entered orbit around distant Jupiter on Tuesday after a journey of nearly five years. 
 
Onishi, who trained as a pilot on Japan&#39;s largest commercial airliner, is the eleventh Japanese national to enter space. 
 
His journey to the ISS, where he will participate in experiments connected to the Japanese space agency&#39;s Kibo program, coincides with the Tanabata star festival celebrated across his homeland. 
 
The last Japanese astronaut to spend time at the ISS, Kimiya Yui, returned to earth from the ISS in December alongside NASA&#39;s Kjell Lindgren and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. 
 
Flight engineer Anatoly Ivanishin has already logged over 165 days in space following his first mission at the ISS in 2011 and 2012 and has a background as a military pilot. 
 
Following docking at ISS, Rubins, Ivanishin and Onishi will join current ISS commander Jeff Williams of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin. 
 
The ISS space laboratory has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour since 1998. 
 
Space travel has been one of the few areas of international cooperation between Russia and the West that has not been wrecked by geopolitical tensions over Ukraine. 
 
(AFP)

The launch was delayed by two weeks as Russian space officials carried out further software tests on the modified vehicle

Three astronauts blasted off into the early morning sky in an upgraded Soyuz spacecraft from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome on Thursday, heading towards the International Space Station (ISS). First-time astronauts Kathleen Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of the Japanese space agency set off for a four-month mission at the ISS with Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin at around 0136 GMT. "All is well on board!" said mission control in comments relayed by NASA TV, which broadcast footage of the launch in Kazakhstan. Footage also showed Ivanishin and Onishi giving each other fist bumps to celebrate the successful launch. Features of the new Soyuz series include upgraded boosters, an improved navigation system, strengthened shielding from debris and more cells on the craft's solar panels. The trio's launch was delayed by two weeks as Russian space officials carried out further software tests on the modified vehicle. The craft's journey to dock at the ISS will take two days - longer than the usual six-hour flight - to give ground control more time to monitor the tweaked system's performance. NASA's Kate Rubins will be the first woman aboard the ISS since Italian Samantha Cristoforetti returned to earth with the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (199 days) in June last year. The molecular biologist-turned astronaut will also become the first person to sequence DNA in space during her mission. "Rocket is on the launchpad, crew is ready to go! #AstroKate" the NASA Astronauts Twitter handle tweeted prior to her launch. Rubins' launch caps an exciting week for NASA as the US space agency's unmanned Juno spacecraft entered orbit around distant Jupiter on Tuesday after a journey of nearly five years. Onishi, who trained as a pilot on Japan's largest commercial airliner, is the eleventh Japanese national to enter space. His journey to the ISS, where he will participate in experiments connected to the Japanese space agency's Kibo program, coincides with the Tanabata star festival celebrated across his homeland. The last Japanese astronaut to spend time at the ISS, Kimiya Yui, returned to earth from the ISS in December alongside NASA's Kjell Lindgren and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. Flight engineer Anatoly Ivanishin has already logged over 165 days in space following his first mission at the ISS in 2011 and 2012 and has a background as a military pilot. Following docking at ISS, Rubins, Ivanishin and Onishi will join current ISS commander Jeff Williams of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin. The ISS space laboratory has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour since 1998. Space travel has been one of the few areas of international cooperation between Russia and the West that has not been wrecked by geopolitical tensions over Ukraine. (AFP)

Three astronauts blast off for International Space Station in upgraded Soyuz craft

NASA&#39;s unmanned Juno spacecraft on Monday began orbiting Jupiter, a key triumph for the $1.1 billion mission that aims to uncover the origins of the biggest planet in the solar system. 
 
&quot;Welcome to Jupiter,&quot; said a commentator at mission control at NASA`s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 
 
The room erupted in cheers as the solar observatory successfully entered its aimed-for orbit around Jupiter at 11:53 pm (0353 GMT Tuesday). 
 
The spacecraft has traveled 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers) since it launched five years ago from Cape Canaveral, Florida. 
&quot;We are in it,&quot; hollered Scott Bolton, NASA`s principal investigator. 
&nbsp; 
Launched from Florida nearly five years ago, Juno had to be precisely positioned, ignite its main engine at exactly the right time and keep it burning for 35 minutes to shed enough speed so it can be captured by Jupiter&#39;s gravity. 
 
Scientists are particularly interested in learning how much water Jupiter contains, which is key to determining where in the solar system it formed. Jupiter&#39;s origins, in turn, affected the development and position of the rest of the planets, including Earth and its fortuitous location conducive to the evolution of life. 
 
The immense gravity exerted by Jupiter&#39;s sheer size - packing 2-1/2 times the mass of all the other planets combined - is thought to have helped shield Earth from bombardment by comets and asteroids. 
 
&quot;We are learning about nature, how Jupiter formed and what that tells us about our history and where we came from,&quot; Bolton said. 
 
The Juno probe is named for the ancient Roman goddess, who was the wife and sister of Jupiter, the mythological king of gods, and had the power to see through clouds. 
 
&#39;Musical notes&#39; 
 
Only one other spacecraft, Galileo, has ever circled Jupiter, which is five times farther away from the sun than Earth and is itself orbited by 67 known moons. Bolton said Juno is likely to discover even more. 
 
Seven other US space probes have sailed past the gas giant on brief reconnaissance missions before heading elsewhere in the solar system. 
 
The risks to the spacecraft Juno will not end once it arrives in orbit. The probe must quickly turn around and face the sun so its 18,698 solar cells can begin recharging the battery. 
 
&quot;I won&#39;t exhale until we are back sun-pointing again,&quot; Bolton said. 
 
Juno will fly in highly elliptical, egg-shaped orbits that pass within 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of the tops of Jupiter&#39;s clouds and inside the planet&#39;s powerful radiation belts. 
 
Juno&#39;s computers and sensitive science instruments are housed in a 400-pound (180-kg) titanium vault for protection. But during its 37 orbits around Jupiter, Juno will be exposed to the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays, said Bill McAlpine, radiation control manager for the mission. 
 
The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, is expected to last for 20 months. On its final orbit, Juno will dive into Jupiter&#39;s atmosphere, where it will be crushed and vaporized. 
 
Like Galileo, which circled Jupiter for eight years before crashing into the planet in 2003, Juno&#39;s demise is designed to prevent any hitchhiking microbes from Earth from inadvertently contaminating Jupiter&#39;s ocean-bearing moon Europa, a target of future study for extraterrestrial life. 
 
(Agencies)

In its 20-month journey, Juno hopes to learn how and where the planet formed and affected the development and position of the other ones

NASA's unmanned Juno spacecraft on Monday began orbiting Jupiter, a key triumph for the $1.1 billion mission that aims to uncover the origins of the biggest planet in the solar system. "Welcome to Jupiter," said a commentator at mission control at NASA`s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The room erupted in cheers as the solar observatory successfully entered its aimed-for orbit around Jupiter at 11:53 pm (0353 GMT Tuesday). The spacecraft has traveled 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers) since it launched five years ago from Cape Canaveral, Florida. "We are in it," hollered Scott Bolton, NASA`s principal investigator. Launched from Florida nearly five years ago, Juno had to be precisely positioned, ignite its main engine at exactly the right time and keep it burning for 35 minutes to shed enough speed so it can be captured by Jupiter's gravity. Scientists are particularly interested in learning how much water Jupiter contains, which is key to determining where in the solar system it formed. Jupiter's origins, in turn, affected the development and position of the rest of the planets, including Earth and its fortuitous location conducive to the evolution of life. The immense gravity exerted by Jupiter's sheer size - packing 2-1/2 times the mass of all the other planets combined - is thought to have helped shield Earth from bombardment by comets and asteroids. "We are learning about nature, how Jupiter formed and what that tells us about our history and where we came from," Bolton said. The Juno probe is named for the ancient Roman goddess, who was the wife and sister of Jupiter, the mythological king of gods, and had the power to see through clouds. 'Musical notes' Only one other spacecraft, Galileo, has ever circled Jupiter, which is five times farther away from the sun than Earth and is itself orbited by 67 known moons. Bolton said Juno is likely to discover even more. Seven other US space probes have sailed past the gas giant on brief reconnaissance missions before heading elsewhere in the solar system. The risks to the spacecraft Juno will not end once it arrives in orbit. The probe must quickly turn around and face the sun so its 18,698 solar cells can begin recharging the battery. "I won't exhale until we are back sun-pointing again," Bolton said. Juno will fly in highly elliptical, egg-shaped orbits that pass within 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of the tops of Jupiter's clouds and inside the planet's powerful radiation belts. Juno's computers and sensitive science instruments are housed in a 400-pound (180-kg) titanium vault for protection. But during its 37 orbits around Jupiter, Juno will be exposed to the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays, said Bill McAlpine, radiation control manager for the mission. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, is expected to last for 20 months. On its final orbit, Juno will dive into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it will be crushed and vaporized. Like Galileo, which circled Jupiter for eight years before crashing into the planet in 2003, Juno's demise is designed to prevent any hitchhiking microbes from Earth from inadvertently contaminating Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon Europa, a target of future study for extraterrestrial life. (Agencies)

NASA's Juno successfully begins orbiting Jupiter

NASA&#39;s Juno spacecraft hurtled closer toward Jupiter on Friday, headed for a July 4 leap into polar orbit around the solar system&#39;s largest planet to analyse how it formed and helped set the stage for life on Earth. 
 
During a 20-month study, Juno is expected to circle the gas giant in 37 egg-shaped orbits to measure microwaves radiating from inside the planet&#39;s thick atmosphere, map its massive magnetic field and conduct other experiments. 
 
Scientists are particularly keen to learn how much water Jupiter contains, a key to unlocking the origins of the largest celestial body in the solar system after the sun. 
 
Jupiter currently orbits the sun at a distance about five times farther away than Earth, but it may have formed in a different location and migrated, gravitationally elbowing aside other planets along the way. 
 
&quot;Something happens that allows a star to be born and then afterwards the planets ... That eventually leads to us,&quot; said the mission&#39;s lead scientist, Scott Bolton, a space physicist with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. 
 
More than half of the material left over from the formation of the sun 4.6 billion years ago ended up in Jupiter, which has a circumference nearly 11 times bigger than Earth&#39;s and is itself orbited by 67 known moons. 
 
Jupiter is made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, the two simplest and most abundant elements in the universe, but the planet&#39;s enormous mass generates such high pressure that the materials behave in unexpected and unknown ways. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re working in a new environment,&quot; said Frances Bagenal, a planetary scientist with the University of Colorado in Boulder. &quot;We don&#39;t know the physics of how things work at these high pressures.&rdquo; 
 
The Juno probe is named for the ancient Roman goddess, who was the wife and sister of Jupiter, the mythological king of gods, and had the power to see through clouds. 
 
From vantage points as close as 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometres) from the planet&#39;s cloud tops, the spacecraft is to not only search for water but assess whether Jupiter possesses a dense core beneath its atmosphere. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re about to embark on an incredible journey,&quot; Bolton said during a news conference from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 
 
Juno, careening toward Jupiter at more than 160,000 miles per hour (25,750 kph), over 200 times the speed of sound, has been programmed to fire its braking rocket at 11:18 pm EDT on Monday (0318 GMT on Tuesday) in order to slow its course. 
 
The rocket must be precisely positioned and burn for 35 minutes to reduce its speed enough to allow it to be captured by Jupiter&#39;s gravity and swing into orbit. 
 
&quot;If that doesn&#39;t all go just right, we fly past Jupiter,&quot; Bolton said. 
 
Only one other spacecraft, NASA&#39;s Galileo space probe, has orbited Jupiter, circling the planet for eight years before colliding with the gas giant in 2003. The first spacecraft to fly past Jupiter was NASA&#39;s Pioneer 10 in 1973. 
 
Juno, which will arrive at Jupiter after a journey of five years and nearly two billion miles (3.2 billion kilometres), is expected to end its mission as the Galileo probe did, crashing itself into the planet to avoid possible contamination of Jupiter&#39;s ocean-bearing moon, Europa, with any microbes carried by the spacecraft. 
 
(Reuters)

Scientists want to know how much water the planet contains to learn about the origins of the solar system's second largest celestial body

NASA's Juno spacecraft hurtled closer toward Jupiter on Friday, headed for a July 4 leap into polar orbit around the solar system's largest planet to analyse how it formed and helped set the stage for life on Earth. During a 20-month study, Juno is expected to circle the gas giant in 37 egg-shaped orbits to measure microwaves radiating from inside the planet's thick atmosphere, map its massive magnetic field and conduct other experiments. Scientists are particularly keen to learn how much water Jupiter contains, a key to unlocking the origins of the largest celestial body in the solar system after the sun. Jupiter currently orbits the sun at a distance about five times farther away than Earth, but it may have formed in a different location and migrated, gravitationally elbowing aside other planets along the way. "Something happens that allows a star to be born and then afterwards the planets ... That eventually leads to us," said the mission's lead scientist, Scott Bolton, a space physicist with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. More than half of the material left over from the formation of the sun 4.6 billion years ago ended up in Jupiter, which has a circumference nearly 11 times bigger than Earth's and is itself orbited by 67 known moons. Jupiter is made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, the two simplest and most abundant elements in the universe, but the planet's enormous mass generates such high pressure that the materials behave in unexpected and unknown ways. "We're working in a new environment," said Frances Bagenal, a planetary scientist with the University of Colorado in Boulder. "We don't know the physics of how things work at these high pressures.” The Juno probe is named for the ancient Roman goddess, who was the wife and sister of Jupiter, the mythological king of gods, and had the power to see through clouds. From vantage points as close as 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometres) from the planet's cloud tops, the spacecraft is to not only search for water but assess whether Jupiter possesses a dense core beneath its atmosphere. "We're about to embark on an incredible journey," Bolton said during a news conference from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Juno, careening toward Jupiter at more than 160,000 miles per hour (25,750 kph), over 200 times the speed of sound, has been programmed to fire its braking rocket at 11:18 pm EDT on Monday (0318 GMT on Tuesday) in order to slow its course. The rocket must be precisely positioned and burn for 35 minutes to reduce its speed enough to allow it to be captured by Jupiter's gravity and swing into orbit. "If that doesn't all go just right, we fly past Jupiter," Bolton said. Only one other spacecraft, NASA's Galileo space probe, has orbited Jupiter, circling the planet for eight years before colliding with the gas giant in 2003. The first spacecraft to fly past Jupiter was NASA's Pioneer 10 in 1973. Juno, which will arrive at Jupiter after a journey of five years and nearly two billion miles (3.2 billion kilometres), is expected to end its mission as the Galileo probe did, crashing itself into the planet to avoid possible contamination of Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon, Europa, with any microbes carried by the spacecraft. (Reuters)

NASA space probe to lift the veil on Jupiter

NASA&#39;s Hubble Space Telescope has found a brand-new mark on the surface of the farthest planet from the sun.&nbsp; 
 
This vortex is the first one observed on Neptune in the 21st century though similar features were seen around two decades ago in the year 1994 during the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune in 1989 and by the Hubble Space Telescope. The discovery was announced on May 17 in a Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) electronic telegram by team leader Mike Wong of the University of California at Berkeley. 
 
Neptune&#39;s dark vortices, according to experts, are high-pressure systems and are usually accompanied by bright &quot;companion clouds&quot;, which are also now visible on the distant planet. The bright clouds form when the flow of ambient air is perturbed and diverted upward over the dark vortex, causing gases to likely freeze into methane ice crystals. 
 
&quot;Dark vortices coast through the atmosphere like huge, lens-shaped gaseous mountains,&quot; Wong explains, adding, &quot;and the companion clouds are similar to so-called orographic clouds that appear as pancake-shaped features lingering over mountains on Earth&quot;. 
 
&quot;Planetary astronomers hope to better understand how dark vortices originate, what controls their drifts and oscillations, how they interact with the environment, and how they eventually dissipate,&quot; according to UC Berkeley doctoral student Joshua Tollefson. Measuring the evolution of the new dark vortex will extend knowledge of both the dark vortices themselves, as well as the structure and dynamics of the surrounding atmosphere.&nbsp; 
 
(ANI)&nbsp;

Neptune's dark vortices, according to experts, are high-pressure systems and are usually accompanied by bright 'companion clouds'

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found a brand-new mark on the surface of the farthest planet from the sun. This vortex is the first one observed on Neptune in the 21st century though similar features were seen around two decades ago in the year 1994 during the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune in 1989 and by the Hubble Space Telescope. The discovery was announced on May 17 in a Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) electronic telegram by team leader Mike Wong of the University of California at Berkeley. Neptune's dark vortices, according to experts, are high-pressure systems and are usually accompanied by bright "companion clouds", which are also now visible on the distant planet. The bright clouds form when the flow of ambient air is perturbed and diverted upward over the dark vortex, causing gases to likely freeze into methane ice crystals. "Dark vortices coast through the atmosphere like huge, lens-shaped gaseous mountains," Wong explains, adding, "and the companion clouds are similar to so-called orographic clouds that appear as pancake-shaped features lingering over mountains on Earth". "Planetary astronomers hope to better understand how dark vortices originate, what controls their drifts and oscillations, how they interact with the environment, and how they eventually dissipate," according to UC Berkeley doctoral student Joshua Tollefson. Measuring the evolution of the new dark vortex will extend knowledge of both the dark vortices themselves, as well as the structure and dynamics of the surrounding atmosphere. (ANI)

NASA finds new vortex on Neptune

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