Meteor flies across Canada

Hundreds of Canadians witnessed a giant “fireball” flying over Alberta and Saskatchewan Thursday night.  Almost all experts agree that the object was actually a large, high speed meteor burning through the earth’s atmosphere.

 

Click here to see a picture of the bright meteor.

 

The meteor is believed to have been visible over an area of 435 miles, which explains the hundreds of reports that came in after the meteor had eventually burned out. 

 

Paul Delaney, an astronomer from York University told Canadian Television that the meteor most likely disintegrated before it hit the earth.

 

Some experts, however, believe that there may be some remnants of the meteor still in the area.  Alan Hildebrand, a planetary scientist at the University of Calgary said that the meteor probably radiated at the equivalent of a “billion-watt bulb,” so it would have been difficult for anyone in the area to miss.

 

To view footage of the meteor, see the video to the left of the screen at this link.

Endeavor appears ok

It appears that the small pieces seen flying off of the Endeavor during its launch did not do detrimental damage to the spacecraft.  The Endeavor plans to complete its scheduled repairs and upkeep of the International Space Station.

Endeavor update

At least two pieces of debris were seen coming off of Endeavor during its launch Friday.  Scientists are currently inspecting it to make sure no critical damage has been done.  More updates will follow when information becomes available.

Click here to read an article on msn.com with an accompanying video about Endeavor’s launch.

NASA’s Endeavor launches Friday

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to launch the Endeavor space shuttle Friday at 7:55 p.m.  The mission is one of four trips this year to the International Space Station to refurbish the residential area of the space station.

 

According to a NASA press release, seven astronauts led by Capt. Chris Ferguson will make the roughly 200 mile journey to bring new supplies to station.  It will take two full days to get to the space station.  You can see a picture of the crew courtesy of NASA here.

 

“The mission is all about home improvement, home improvement both inside and out,” Ferguson told CNN.  Indeed, the mission is all about fixes and repairs to the station.

 

The residential area will be converted from a three to a six person living space.  Crew members often live on the space station for months at a time, so a comfortable living space is important for the scientists and technological experts involved in the station’s maintenance and advancements.

 

The crew will also conduct four spacewalks to service the station.  The servicing will include installing a new nitrogen tank, a global positioning system, an antenna, and a camera. 

 

Reaching the space station will require a series of maneuvers that involve adequate lighting and extensive precision.  The overall mission will take 16 days, a short time period compared to the length of planning.  LeRoy Cain, NASA launch integration manager, emphasized the crew’s preparedness saying, “The crew is ready.  The team is ready.”

India’s Chandrayaan-1 begins moon orbit

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently announced that its Chandrayaan-1 orbiter officially entered its first lunar transfer trajectory.  Many believe the launch was a planned response to China’s latest spacewalk mission.

 

A transfer trajectory is a low-energy maneuver that sets spacecrafts into the gravitational pull of celestial bodies.  ISRO is displaying this picture of the Chandrayaan-1 undergoing pre-launch tests and this picture of the orbiter launching on its website.

 

The director at the India Space Agency, Manmohan Singh, made it clear in comments to Reuters that the move was partially directed at China.  “China has gone earlier,” he said, “but today we are trying to catch them, catch that gap, bridge the gap.”

 

Representing the United States’s response to the mission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released this statement in 2006 to assure India of its intention to cooperate.  In the statement, NASA also announced its aim to have two of its own “scientific instruments on India’s maiden voyage to the moon.

 

Many are less enthusiastic about India’s space progress.  Bharat Karnad, an Indian strategic affairs analyst, told the New York Times that the mission was a “misuse of resources that this country [India] can ill afford at this point.”

 

India and China both plan to launch manned moon missions within a decade.  Their recent and future cosmic developments represent steps in their space race to international prestige, scientific superiority and self-reliance.

Astronauts vote from space

At a distance of over 250 miles above Earth’s surface, astronauts on the International Space Station are still managing to catch election fever.  In a video message sent from the space station, Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer and Science Officer Greg Chamitoff described how they proudly took part in their civic duty and urged all Americans to do the same.

 

“If we can do it, so can you,” the astronauts told voters in their video, which can be viewed here, courtesy of the Telegraph online.

 

A bill that gives astronauts the ability to vote electronically from space was passed in 1997 by the Texas State Legislature.  As many know, NASA headquarters are in Houston, and most American astronauts to call the city their home.

 

“It’s like a really, really absentee ballot,” commented Alexa Seidl, a Political Science Student at the University of Washington.  Seidl went on to say that she now finds it difficult to believe anyone has a good excuse not to exercise their right to vote in this year’s election.

 

Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain have both made the point to comment on the importance of NASA.  In a speech today in Florida, McCain said that to cut the federal deficit he would put a “freeze government spending on all but the most important programs.”  He included NASA in his list of important programs. 

McCain’s comments and the astronaut voting bill demonstrate how space technology and innovations are considered vital to the United States and the world.

 

Follow Up:  The Hubble Space Telescope’s camera is back up and running, as this picture from NASA shows.  (The picture is of two gravitationally paired galaxies interacting.)

NASA’s Hubble Fix Reveals More Problems

            Engineers for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope were stumped by more technical problems this week.  Glitches and human errors have plagued the telescope since its launch eighteen years ago.

 

            “It seems like Hubble always has some sort of problem,” said Courtney Sutcliff, a former astronomy student at the University of Washington.  She also remarked that some believe the time has come to retire the telescope, which was originally intended to be used only a few years.

 

            Last month, Hubble’s main computer crashed.  The computer is designed to send extensive data to Earth.  After weeks of work, Hubble engineers were able to switch the telescope to its backup computer, only to be immediately surprised by another setback.

 

            The new problem is a broken power unit on one of Hubble’s cameras.  The telescope is famous for capturing spectacular space photos, like this crab nebula picture from NASA, back to Earth.

 

            Art Whipple, a Hubble manager, told eFlux Media that “The soonest we [NASA] would be back doing full science would be late [this] week.”  He went on to say that the Hubble team is currently deciphering and organizing massive amounts of data that the backup computer is downloading.  The computer is working in overdrive to make up for time lost while the telescope was out of order.

 

            The Hubble Space Telescope has been serviced by astronauts four times, and has so far cost around $6 billion to build and maintain.

 

            If you want to know more, NASA.com has extensive information on the Hubble Space Telescope.

MESSENGER Flies by Mercury

NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, also known as MESSENGER, flew by the planet Mercury for its second time last week.  MESSENGER was able to capture multiple pictures of Mercury’s surface, like this one from Information Week.  The images give astronomers a close-up look at a never before seen side of the planet.

 

MESSENGER principal investigator Sean Solomon told Astronomy Magazine that all of MESSENGER’s instruments “returned data as planned” from the side of the Mercury opposite the one the MESSENGER viewed in its first flyby last January. 

 

            Among the interesting features viewed was the crater Kuiper.  NASA originally spotted Kuiper in the 1970s, but it can be seen more clearly than ever in the MESSENGER’s new images.  Discover Magazine’s webpage has an excellent close-up of Mercury’s craters.  Kuiper is the largest crater at the top of the image.

 

New traits of Mercury’s surface, made clear from the MESSENGER images, are rays extending from what appears to be a young crater.  Astronomers believe rays are material ejected from all young craters.  (Earth’s moon is known to have similar rays.)  Because radar “bounces” indicated material present other than rock on Mercury’s surface, scientists expected to find the rays.  However, this is the first time the rays have actually been visible in images.  You can clearly see them extending from a crater in this other image from Discover Magazine.

 

The MESSENGER will make one more pass by Mercury before falling into orbit around it in March 2011.  Orbiting will allow the MESSENGER to closer study and obtain data from the planet.

China Accomplishes Successful Spacewalk Mission

The People’s Republic of China accomplished its first successful spacewalk in late September.  The achievement adds China to the exclusive “space-conquering” club whose members include only Americans and Russians. 

 

The spacecraft, entitled Shenzhou VII, left Earth at 9:07p.m., on Sept. 25, taking three astronauts on a mission to walk in space.  At 4:40p.m. Beijing time on Sept. 27, astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the Shenzhou VII (though he was attached by safety cords) and floated in the cosmos for about 18 minutes while the module orbited Earth.  

 

“I am here greeting the Chinese people and the people of the world,” said Mr. Zhai.

 

The mission marks the beginning of China’s new space program, which also includes launching a space station and landing on the moon by 2020.  The New York Times has an in-depth article that details more of China’s space plans.

 

The accomplishment is yet another indication of China’s rising prominence in the international system, and the United States and Russia have taken it as motivation to enhance their own space programs.  Symbolically, space achievements represent the power, wealth, and technology of nations.

 

Both presidential candidates in the United States have recently addressed what they deem to be the importance of our NASA space programs.  This article from nasawatch.com describes and reports on Senator Obama’s opinions on the importance of NASA and its accomplishments. 

 

Most leaders recognize that a flourishing space program is essential if the U.S. wishes to remain the world’s most powerful country, demonstrating yet another example of why we should pay attention to space advancements and news.

Happy Birthday NASA (and welcome to my blog)!

This Wednesday, October 1st, marked the 50^th “birthday” of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); so what better week is there to begin an astronomy and space blog?

 

The world celebrated NASA’s birthday throughout this week with articles, television specials, and radio news coverage.  Some might question why the birthday has received so much attention, and whether they should even follow astronomy and space science.  MSN has 10 great reasons why we should all recognize and commemorate NASA’s expansion in the last half-decade.

 

Many also don’t realize that astronomy is about more than stars and spaceships, and fail to recognize how NASA’s accomplishments have given extensively to humankind.  But from the United States’ position in international politics, to the world’s advancements in environmental protection strategies, it has been proven again and again how essential cosmological developments are in many fields.

 

That being said, this blog is designed to bring stellar and planetary news to interested but inexpert readers.  Astronomy can be fascinating and useful even to those of us who don’t have doctorates in Astrophysics.  I hope to excite readers about astronomy, its advances, and those advances’ influence in the world.  Thanks, and enjoy!

 

(If you have extra time, take a look at this funny comic by Granite Greek about the question about whether Pluto is a planet-a question I will be addressing in future posts.)