Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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February 11th, 2014
The count in China is one alive, one still silent.
That’s the Internet word this morning that scientists have regained contact with the science-instrumented Chang’e 3 lander after surviving a 14-day lunar night. No official word, however, as of this posting.
Whether the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) has come out of a “cosmic coma” remains unknown. That rover experienced a mechanical control anomaly that may have spelled its doom.
The rover abnormality occurred due to “complicated lunar surface environment,” the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) reported January 25.
The reportedly now active Chang’e-3 lander went into a controlled hibernation mode on Friday, January 24th Beijing Time.
While scientists were organizing repairs to the Yutu rover prior to its hibernation, in the hopes of it surviving the super-chilly lunar night, the mobile Moon robot may be long-gone.
An announcement from Beijing mission control is expected shortly on the condition of Yutu.
Posted in 
Top: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University/Arizona
State University
Bottom: Courtesy of Jim Rice/PSI
More detective work is ahead explains James Rice, Senior Scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, Geology Team Leader, at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.
According to Rice, the rover scientists are still working the data and scratching their collective heads. The object of attention remains an enigma.
Stuart Island
The hope now is by rolling over to the “Stuart Island” area — and working that site over — the picture may become clearer.
Now on tap is roving over to a new work site, an area that has several interesting targets that will be investigated.
Stuart Island is roughly 80 centimeters from Pinnacle Island – and may be the source rock for the mystery find.
At that locale there is a nice size rock that’s ideal for using the rover’s rock abrasion tool. There is also some interest to analyze the soil in the area that the rover has kicked up, Rice says.
Depression in Space: How Computer Software Could Help Astronauts Cope
http://www.space.com/24538-space-depression-astronauts-long-missions.html
America’s Space Futures: Defining Goals for Space Exploration, Editor Eric Sterner; George C. Marshall Institute, Arlington, Va.; $12.99, shipping and handling $3.99; (soft cover); 2013.
The George C. Marshall Institute has published a thought-provoking new book, America’s Space Futures: Defining Goals for Space Exploration, edited by Institute Fellow Eric R. Sterner.
There are those that see NASA as a lost in space agency, lacking of vision, without direction and having a shortfall of finances to set the country on a proper trajectory of space leadership.
This book adds fodder to that precept. It has convened an august group of authorities to look at today’s NASA and where the country should go in space. Basically, it’s a view of that “vision thing.”
Contributors to the book are:
•James Vedda, Senior Policy Analyst at the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy & Strategy
•Scott Pace, Director of the Space Policy Institute and Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs
•William Adkins, President of Adkins Strategies LLC and former Staff Director of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee
•Charles Miller, President of NexGen Space LLC and former NASA Senior Advisor for Commercial Space
•Eric Sterner, Fellow at the George C. Marshall Institute and faculty member at Missouri State University Graduate Department of Defense and Strategic Studies.
I think the reader will find their perspectives, in essay form, of value – but also may shake up the views of some.
The book is potpourri of prognostication about where NASA has come from and where it’s going – or where it needs to go. This volume deals with what makes for a 21st century space strategy; how best to advance U.S. geopolitical and international interests in space; the need to prime the pump on research and development to ensure space leadership; and a historical look at private-sector – government partnerships.
Sterner as editor adds as wrap up to the book: “As our space program moves forward, it’s critical that we not simply start with where we are and look to make things better, but that we have a clear eye on where we want to be.”
My view is that this book is a contribution to that debate, deliberation, and decision-making intended to recast and strengthen the U.S. space program, and enlighten those that are hungry for a revitalized U.S. space agenda.
For more information on this book, go to:
http://marshall.org/space-policy/americas-space-futures-defining-goals-for-space-exploration/
NOTE: On December 13, 2013, the Institute brought together contributors to the book for a special discussion. The video can be seen here:
Teamwork! That’s what it took…
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter caught a glimpse of the space agency’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) required extremely precise timing, worked out by the LADEE, LROC, and LRO operations teams.
LADEE is in an equatorial orbit (east-to-west) while LRO is in a polar orbit (south-to-north).
“By happenstance the two spacecraft are occasionally very close. On January 15 the two came within 9 km of each other,” said LROC leader, Mark Robinson at Arizona State University.
Air Force’s Mysterious X-37B Space Plane Passes 400 Days in Orbit
by Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist
January 29, 2014 06:45am ET
http://www.space.com/24459-x37b-space-plane-mission-400-days.html
A planetary system around our nearest star — beyond our Sun — is emerging.
That’s the stellar forecast that suggests scientists are getting closer to discovering Earth-like planets close to Earth.
Word is that “superhabitable” worlds must be considered for future follow-up observations of signs of extraterrestrial life. These worlds offer more benign environments to life than Earth does.
This view is being championed by Rene´ Heller of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and John Armstrong, Department of Physics, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah.
Ideal target
Writing in a new issue of Astrobiology, they center on Alpha Centauri B — a member of the closest stellar system to the Sun – a locale that is supposed to host an Earth-mass planet.
That makes it an ideal target for searches for a superhabitable world, Heller and Armstrong suggest.
“Though our considerations are anticipatory, they still rely on the assumption that life needs liquid water,” Heller and Armstrong write.
Principle of mediocracy
The scientists note that the “principle of mediocracy” cannot be used to logically explain why Earth should be a particularly habitable planet or why other inhabited worlds should be Earth-like.
In their hypothesis article in Astrobiology, Heller and Armstrong illustrate how tidal heating can render terrestrial or icy worlds habitable beyond the stellar habitable zone.
“Eventually, just as the Solar System turned out to be everything but typical for planetary systems, Earth could turn out to be everything but typical for a habitable or, ultimately, an inhabited world,” they conclude.
“In our view, a variety of processes exist that can make environmental conditions on a planet or moon more benign to life than is the case on Earth.”
An upshot of their work is possible good news for interstellar travel fans. That is, a delicious destination – a mere 4.3 light years away — may not be all that far away for adventurous stellar sailors.
For more details, go to:
