NASA entdeckt neuen Beweis für dunkle Materie

Cambridge (Massachusetts) (USA), 22.08.2006 – Angaben von NASA-Wissenschaftlern zufolge bringen neue Beobachtungen der Masseverteilung einen klaren Beweis für die Trennung von dunkler Materie und normaler Materie.

„Es handelt sich hier um das energiereichste kosmische Phänomen nach dem Urknall, von dem wir wissen“, sagte Maxim Markevitch vom Harvard-Smithsonian Zentrum für Astrophysik und Mitglied des NASA-Teams, das Bilder analysierte, die mit dem Chandra-Röntgen-Observatorium, dem Hubble-Weltraumteleskop, dem Very Large Telescope der europäischen Südsternwarte und den optischen Magellanteleskopen gesammelt worden waren.

Die Beobachtungen unterstützen die Theorie, wonach der Großteil des Universums aus unsichtbarer dunkler Materie besteht, die durch Beobachtung ihrer Gravitationskraft auf sichtbare Materie entdeckt wurde.

„Ein Universum, das von dunklem Stoff beherrscht wird, scheint absurd, deshalb wollten wir überprüfen, ob es irgendwelche grundlegenden Schwachstellen in unserer Überlegung gibt“, sagte Teamleiter Doug Clowe von der University of Arizona in Tucson. „Diese Ergebnisse sind ein direkter Beweis dafür, dass dunkle Materie existiert.“

Weil die Gravitationskraft Licht ablenken kann, war es dem Team möglich, das Vorhandensein von dunkler Materie mit Hilfe von Gravitationslinsen zu entdecken. Licht, das von Himmelskörpern auf der weiter entfernten Seite der Galaxie emittiert wird, wurde durch ein Gravitationsfeld stärker abgelenkt, als diese durch die Ablenkung aufgrund der sichtbaren Materie erwartet worden wäre, die sich in der galaktischen Konstellation findet. Um ihre Entdeckung zu machen, stellten die Wissenschaftler Teleskope auf einen Galaxienhaufen ein, der die offizielle Bezeichnung 1E0657-56 trägt, aber inoffiziell aufgrund seiner Form als Bullet Cluster (Gewehrkugelhaufen) bekannt ist.

Die Form einer Gewehrkugel ist das Ergebnis eines heftigen Zusammenpralls eines kleinen Galaxienhaufens mit einem anderen, größeren Haufen und entsteht durch die Interaktion von normaler Materie bei so einer Kollision. Dunkle Materie jedoch kennt keine der Kräfte, die normale Materie beeinflussen – bis auf die Gravitation. Und so spaltete sie sich schließlich während des Ereignisses von der normalen Materie ab.

Diese Ergebnisse werden in einer kommenden Ausgabe der Astrophysical Journal Letters veröffentlicht werden.


NASA flyby of Saturn moon Titan produces first image of liquid on another world

NASA have revealed that a flyby of its probe Cassini past Titan, a moon of Saturn, has produced a historic image: the first photograph showing liquid on a world other than our own.

The picture shows a "specular reflection" from an extremely smooth surface, in this case a liquid. Cassini has been trying to spot one since arriving in 2004, and in 2008 used infrared data to prove that there were liquid methane lakes down there. The northern hemisphere has only been visible since August 2009, as before then it was covered by winter weather. Most of Titan's lakes are in the north.

"This one image communicates so much about Titan — thick atmosphere, surface lakes and an otherworldliness. It’s an unsettling combination of strangeness yet similarity to Earth," said Bob Pappalardo, a Cassini scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Titan's atmosphere is, like Earth's, mainly nitrogen, but temperatures on the icy world are around -180°C. This reduces the prospect of life, although the presence of liquid does increase the likelihood.

The lake seen in the photograph is called Kraken Mare, and at 150,000 square miles (400,000 square kilometers), it isn't the largest basin on north Titan, but it is bigger than the Earth's biggest lake, the Caspian Sea.

Ralf Jaumann, another Cassini scientist, spoke of the team's hopes for the future. "Next, we want to find out more about Titan's liquid. Do we have some kind of weather there? Do we have changes with seasons? Does it rain? How does the liquid methane run across the surface?"

A team of scientists are due to propose to NASA that the agency drop a boat into a Titan lake, with Kraken Mare and the similarly sized Ligeia Mare being hot candidates. The Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) is projected to be relatively low-cost at US$400 million and would investigate the composition, density and shape of a Titan lake. If launched in 2016 it could arrive in 2023 and spend several years floating on the moon. However, several other projects are also keen to get themselves the next opportunity NASA is offering for the launch of a new project other than its own.


சனிக் கோளின் நிலவில் திரவம் இருப்பதை நாசாவின் விண்கலம் படம் பிடித்தது

சனிக் கோளின் நிலவான "டைட்டானில்" திரவம் இருப்பதை நாசாவின் கசினி-ஹியூஜென்ஸ் விண்ணுளவி முதற் தடவையாக படம் பிடித்தது. பூமியை விட வேறு ஓர் உலகில் திரவமிருப்பது படம் பிடிக்கப்பட்டது இதுவே முதற் தடவையாகும்.

மிகவும் வழவழப்பான திரவ மேற்பரப்பொன்றில் தெறித்து வரும் கதிர்களை இவ்விண்கலம் படம் பிடித்துள்ளது. 2004 ஆம் ஆண்டு கசினி விண்கலம் இங்கு வந்ததில் இருந்து இவ்விடத்தைப் படம் பிடிக்க முயன்று வந்தது. 2008 ஆம் ஆண்டில் அகச்சிவப்பு (infrared) தரவுகளைக் கொண்டு திரவ மெத்தேன் ஆறுகள் இங்கு இருப்பதை இது உறுதி செய்தது. டைட்டானின் அநேகமான ஆறுகள் அதன் வடக்கிலேயே உள்ளன.

டைட்டானின் காற்று மண்டலம் பூமியைப் போன்றே நைதரசன் அங்கு அதிகமாகக் காணப்படுகிறது. ஆனாலும் டைட்டானின் பனிப்பிரதேசங்களில் வெப்பநிலை -180 °C ஆகும். இது அங்கு உயிரினம் வாழ்வதற்கான சாத்தியக்கூறுகளைக் குறைக்கிறது. இருந்தாலும், திரவம் அங்கு இருப்பது உயிர்கள் வாழ்வதற்கான அறிகுறிகளை அதிகரிக்கின்றது.

படத்தில் காணப்பட்ட ஆறு 400,000 சதுர கிமீ பரப்பளவைக் கொண்டுள்ளது. படகு ஒன்றை இந்த ஆற்றில் இறக்குவதற்கு அறிவியலாளர் குழு ஒன்று நாசாவுக்குப் பரிந்துரைத்துள்ளது. "டைம்" எனப்படும் இப்படகு 2016 ஆம் ஆண்டில் விண்ணுக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டால், 2023 ஆம் ஆண்டிலேயே டைட்டானைச் சென்றடையும் எனக் கணக்கிடப்பட்டுள்ளாது.

ஞாயிறு, திசம்பர் 20, 2009


NASA launches exoplanet-hunting satellite TESS

On Wednesday at 6:51 p.m. local time (2251 UTC), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, United States, carrying, as a payload for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).  NASA designed TESS to search for exoplanets circling stars mostly within 300 light-years of the Sun.

Officially a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission, much of the TESS program is to be run from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research in cooperation with the Goddard Space Flight Center. "One of the biggest questions in exoplanet exploration is: If an astronomer finds a planet in a star's habitable zone, will it be interesting from a biologist's point of view?" TESS principal investigator George Ricker told the press, "We expect TESS will discover a number of planets whose atmospheric compositions, which hold potential clues to the presence of life, could be precisely measured by future observers."

A little more than an hour after launch, NASA and SpaceX teams announced the satellite was up and functioning and had deployed its solar panels. Most launches have a roughly two-hour period during which the mission can be executed, but this one had a window of only thirty seconds because this satellite must use the Moon's gravity to reach the desired orbit.

TESS is slated to enter a high orbit distinct from the geosynchronous orbits used by many other satellites.  TESS instrument scientist Joel Villasenor, also of MIT, explained, "The Moon and the satellite are in a sort of dance. The Moon pulls the satellite on one side, and by the time TESS completes one orbit, the Moon is on the other side tugging in the opposite direction. The overall effect is the Moon's pull is evened out, and it's a very stable configuration over many years. Nobody's done this before, and I suspect other programs will try to use this orbit later on."

If all goes according to plan, TESS will circle the Earth for 60 days to establish its 13.7-day orbit and test its machinery before beginning its mission: using its four cameras to analyze stars for decreases in brightness that may be caused by a planet passing between us and them, a technique called the transit method.  TESS's launch comes just as the Kepler space telescope, launched into orbit around the Sun 2009, is about to run out of fuel.  Scientists used Kepler to identify at least over 2300, perhaps over 4500 planets and gather data on stars and black holes.  TESS is designed to cover 400 times as much of the sky as Kepler, and is capable of viewing 85% of the sky.  Scientists expect it to find 1500 planets during its two-year mission, 300 Earth-like, but believe it may find many more.

Because TESS's cameras can cover a wide range of radiant energy, including infrared, scientists believe it may be able to detect planets orbiting red dwarf stars, which scientists consider likely to host rocky, Earth-like planets with the right mass for an atmosphere and the right temperature to host liquid water, a range called the habitable zone.

The data collected by TESS are to be publicly accessible so anyone who wishes may participate in the search. NASA plans to process the data, about 27 gigabytes collected per day, using a supercomputer called Pleiades.

The original schedule had launch at 6:32 p.m. on Monday evening but it was postponed so the SpaceX team could perform more guidance navigation control tests before launch.

SpaceX is a private company that has partnered with NASA before on such missions as resupplying the International Space Station.


Nieuwe satelliet gaat op zoek naar planeten en buitenaards leven

De nieuwe satelliet genaamd TESS wordt de opvolger van de Kepler. Het ruimtevaartbedrijf NASA hoopt daarmee nieuwe planeten te vinden en misschien wel buitenaards leven.

Ruimtevaartdeskundigen kijken uit naar de lancering, want de nieuwe satelliet gaat op zoek naar exoplaneten. Dit zijn planeten die buiten ons zonnestelsel liggen, maar die zijn moeilijk te zien omdat ze geen warmte afgeven. De verwachting is dat TESS 500 zal vinden. Kepler vond meer, namelijk twee derde (2500) van bij de elkaar 3750 gevonden exoplaneten.

TESS speurt in grotere gebieden van de ruimte af van wat nu mogelijk is. Sterren zijn zichtbaar omdat ze warmte geven, net zoals onze zon. Ook wordt gekeken of leven mogelijk is. Uiteindelijk gaat dit onderzoek om met de grote vraag: is er buitenaards leven mogelijk?

Maar er is wel een probleem, de afstanden zijn te groot. De eerste ster buiten ons als sterrenstelsel, Proxima Centauri, ligt zo'n 4,2 miljard lichtjaar van ons verwijderd. Om die ster binnen 4 jaar te bereiken, zal er 300.000 km per seconde moeten worden gereisd. Met raketten is dat volstrekt onmogelijk, omdat ze slechts 475 km per seconde halen.


NASA launches satellites to study northern lights

A Delta II rocket blasted off from NASA's Cape Canaveral launch pad today, carrying five satellites designed to investigate the northern lights and the electromagnetic storms that cause them. The launch had been twice delayed due to bad weather, but was eventually performed at 23:00 UTC.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have collectively invested $200 million in the mission, known as the THEMIS Project. Through this mission, they hope to develop better techniques to forecast electromagnetic storms, in order to protect communication satellites, power grids, and spacewalking astronauts. Scientists from the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary also helped with the project.

The Sun continuously sends a stream of charged particles, called the solar wind, at the Earth. We are generally protected from the solar wind by the Earth's magnetosphere. During substorms, however, the magnetosphere gets overloaded by the solar wind and the magnetic field lines stretch until they eventually snap back, energizing and flinging electrically charged particles towards Earth.

Scientists want to find out what snaps in the overloaded magnetosphere to trigger a substorm.


NASA-Satellitenmission zur Erforschung elektromagnetischer Sonnenstürme gestartet

Cape Canaveral (Vereinigte Staaten), 19.02.2007 – Um 18:01 Uhr EST wurden am vergangenen Samstag von Startrampe 17-B des Kennedy Space Centers in Cape Canaveral von der „United Launch Alliance“ (ULA) im Auftrag der NASA fünf Satelliten gleichzeitig mit einer Delta-II-Rakete ins Weltall geschossen. Es handelt sich um die erste Satellitenmission, bei der fünf Satelliten auf einmal ins All befördert wurden. 73 Minuten nach dem Start wurden die fünf Satelliten planmäßig ausgesetzt und sendeten erste Signale aus, die von der Missionsleitung in Berkeley (University of California) aufgefangen wurden. Vassilis Angelopoulos, der Leiter des Projekts THEMIS, erwartet, dass die Satellitenmission einen „Durchbruch im Verständnis dafür bringen wird, wie das Magnetfeld der Erde Energie von der Sonne aufnimmt und abgibt.“

Der Start der Delta-Rakete war ursprünglich für Freitag vorgesehen, musste jedoch wegen schlechten Wetters um einen Tag verschoben werden. Nach ihrer erfolgreichen Aussetzung wird es noch bis etwa Mitte September dauern, bis die THEMIS-Satelliten ihre endgültigen, stark elliptischen Erdumlaufbahnen erreicht haben.

Unablässig weht von der Sonne ein Partikelstrom elektrisch geladener Teilchen ins Weltall, den die Astronomen kurz „Sonnenwind“ nennen. Das Magnetfeld der Erde, das aus der Drehung des eisenhaltigen, flüssigen Erdkerns entsteht, schirmt die Erdoberfläche weitgehend vor dem Sonnenwind ab. Aber wie auf der Abbildung (rechts) zu erkennen ist, wird das Magnetfeld der Erde, seine „Magnetosphäre“ durch die Kraft des Sonnenwindes zur (sonnen-)windabgewandten Seite der Erde verformt, so dass diese sonnenabgewandte Seite des Erdmagnetfeldes wie ein „Windsack“ aussieht, wie man sie auf Brücken und Flugzeuglandebahnen findet, wie es in einer NASA-Information heißt.

So genannte „substorms“ (eine Art Sturm-Unterkategorie) überlasten die Magnetosphäre über das normale Maß hinaus. Die magnetischen Feldlinien, die in Richtung auf die Pole der Erde zulaufen, werden nun zu Einfallstoren, die große Mengen ionisierten Gases in die obere Atmosphäre der Polarregionen schleudern. Diese Wirkung des Sonnenwindes nehmen wir von der Erde aus als Nordlichter (aurora borealis) wahr.

Die an dem Projekt arbeitenden Wissenschaftler gehen nun von der Annahme aus, dass das Studium der genannten „elektromagnetischen Teilstürme“ wesentlich zum Verständnis der Entstehung des Sonnenwindes und seiner Wechselwirkung mit der Erdmagnetosphäre beitragen wird.

Stärkere Sonnenstürme, die sich möglicherweise aus Serien aufeinander folgender elektromagnetischer Teilstürme zusammensetzen, können erhebliche Schäden verursachen. Der Ionenstrom kann so energiereich sein, dass auf der Erde elektronische Bauteile in Mobiltelefonen, Fernsehgeräten und viele anderen Geräten beschädigt werden können. Besonders gefährdet sind natürlich auch Raumfahrtmissionen, da Satelliten und bemannte Raumflugkörper nicht einmal durch das Erdmagnetfeld geschützt werden. Die Gas-Ionen von der Sonne können sogar lebende Zellen schädigen und so Hautkrebs und andere Zelldegenerationen auslösen. Dies alles ist wohl bekannt. Unklar ist aber immer noch, wie diese Stürme sich genau entwickeln, so dass Vorhersagen möglich sind. Dazu gibt es verschiedene Theorien.

So weit bisher bekannt, entstehen die so genannten elektromagnetischen Teilstürme in einem relativ kleinen Gebiet innerhalb der Erdmagnetosphäre auf der von der Sonne abgewandten Seite und breiten sich von dort in rasanter Geschwindigkeit über hunderttausende Kilometer aus. Wo genau dieser Entstehungsort ist, ließ sich bisher daher nicht feststellen. Einzelne Satelliten haben keine Chance diesen Ort ausfindig zu machen, da für eine genaue Ortsbestimmung mehrere Beobachtungsperspektiven nötig sind. Dieser Problematik versucht das THEMIS-Projekt durch die vergleichende Analyse von Satellitendaten von fünf verschiedenen Standorten gerecht zu werden.

Themis ist in der griechischen Mythologie die Gottheit der Gerechtigkeit und Ordnung. Das Akronym „THEMIS“ bedeutet: „Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms“. Themis besteht aus fünf Satelliten, die unabhängig voneinander und auf verschiedenen Erdorbits Daten über den Sonnenwind liefern sollen. Die relativen Zeitdifferenzen der von Satelliten aufgezeichneten Daten erlaubt – ähnlich dem durch zwei Augen entstehenden dreidimensionalen Bild – wesentlich genauere Ortsbestimmungen der zu beobachtenden Phänomene, als ein einzelner Satellit sie je liefern könnte. Das Projekt ist auf eine Zeitdauer von zwei Jahren angelegt. In diesem Zeitraum erwartet die NASA zirka 30 elektromagnetische Teilstürme, deren Daten von den Satelliten aufgezeichnet und an Bodenstationen auf der Erde übermittelt werden sollen. Gleichzeitig werden 20 Stationen in Kanada und den USA die über Nordamerika auftretenden Polarlichter mit Hilfe automatischer Kameras dokumentieren. Die Auswertung und der Abgleich dieser Daten soll entscheidende Aufschlüsse über den genauen Entstehungsort sowie die Ausbreitung der Teilstürme geben, die unter anderem die imposanten Naturscheinungen der Nordlichter erzeugen. Die Forschungsergebnisse werden unter anderem künftigen Raumfahrtmissionen zugute kommen, es aber auch erleichtern, den irdischen Auswirkungen des Sonnenwindes besser zu begegnen.

Auch in Deutschland und Österreich beobachtete man den Start der THEMIS-Mission mit Spannung. Das „Institut für Weltraumforschung“ (IWF) der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften mit Sitz in Graz sowie das Institut für Geophysik und extraterrestrische Physik (IGEP) der TU Braunschweig waren wesentlich an der Herstellung der Magnetometer beteiligt, die bei dieser Mission zum Einsatz kommen, darunter einem so genannten FluxGate Magnetometer, mit dessen Hilfe magnetische Felder vermessen werden können. Weiterhin war auch das Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik in Garching beteiligt.


La NASA lance des satellites afin d'étudier les aurores boréales

Une fusée Delta II a décollé hier du pas de tir de Cap Canaveral, transportant cinq satellites conçus pour l'étude des aurores boréales et des orages électromagnétiques qui les engendrent. Le tir a été deux fois reporté en raison du mauvais temps, mais devait éventuellement être réalisé à 23h (UTC).

La NASA et l'Agence spatiale canadienne ont investi collectivement 200 millions de dollars US dans cette mission, le projet THEMIS. Grâce à cette mission, les deux agences espèrent développer de meilleures techniques d'études des orages magnétiques, dans le but de protéger les communications satellites, les grilles d'énergies et les sorties spatiales des astronautes.

Le Soleil émet continuellement un flux de particules chargées, appelé le vent solaire, vers la Terre. Nous sommes généralement protégés de ce vent solaire par la magnétosphère terrestre. Durant les tempêtes, cependant, la magnétosphère peut être saturée par le vent solaire et les lignes de champ solaire sont étirées jusqu'à ce qu'elles se brisent, énergisant et portant des particules chargées électriquement vers la Terre.

Les scientifiques veulent découvrir ce qui se brise dans la magnétosphère saturée en provoquant une tempête magnétique.


NASA launches Space Shuttle Atlantis

At 2:01:56 p.m EDT Monday, Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off above Florida on its two day journey to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to make repairs.

During the 11 day repair mission to the HST, astronauts will perform five spacewalks, installing two new instruments and repairing two others.  The two new instruments are the US$126 million Wide Field Camera 3 and the $81 million Cosmic Origins Spectrograph.  The instruments to be repaired are the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which failed on August 3, 2004 and January 27, 2007, respectively. The mission will also see the installation of a new Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit to replace the existing one.

"On Servicing Mission 4, we're going to give Hubble another extreme makeover. This makeover will be the best one yet because we will outfit Hubble with the most powerful and advanced imaging and spectrographic instruments available and we will extend Hubble's operating lifetime for five additional years,"  said Program Manager Preston Burch.

Scott D. Altman is the mission commander of the fifth and final mission to service the HST. This will be his fourth space flight, and his second one to service the telescope. John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino, two of the crews space walkers has also been to HST previously.  Andrew Feustel and Michael Good are the other two spacewalkers.  Pilot Gregory C. Johnson, and flight engineer Megan McArthur complete the crew's complement.

Space shuttle Endeavour is on standby due to an increased probability of an impact with space debris compared to previous missions. "There are very small odds we would, in fact, have a problem on ascent for which the remedy would be a launch on need shuttle, a rescue shuttle. But against the very small probability that it could occur, we will carry that rescue option in the manifest. ... The safety of our crew conducting this mission will be as much as we can possibly do," explained former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin.


STS-125 : Décollage réussi pour la navette spatiale Atlantis

La navette spatiale Atlantis a décollé du pas de tir 39A de Cap Kennedy aux États-Unis à 20 h 02 (heure de Paris) en direction du satellite Hubble pour une ultime mission de réparation.

La navette a été mise en orbite quelques minutes après le tir.

« L'équipe au sol nous a préparé une superbe navette, « et le décollage s'est bien passé » a déclaré Bill Gerstenmaier, le directeur des opérations spatiales à la NASA. C'est un bon début pour une mission pleine de défis. » a-t-il ajouté.

Désormais commence une « course » pour rattraper Hubble en orbite autour de la Terre.

Pendant les 11 jours de la mission, les astronautes vont installer deux nouveaux instruments, en réparer deux et améliorer le satellite afin qu'il puisse continuer à fonctionner jusqu'en 2014.

La mission a été qualifiée « de très dangereuse » à cause des risques de collision avec des micro-météorites. De plus, aucun amarrage de secours à la Station spatiale internationale ne sera possible, en raison de la distance très importante à parcourir. En cas de problème majeur sur la navette Atlantis, la navette Endeavour décollerait pour ramener sur Terre les astronautes, ceux-ci n'ayant que 25 jours de réserves d'air.

Les navettes seraient reliées par un bras robotisé puis un cordage serait installé pour pouvoir traverser.

Si Atlantis devait être abandonnée, elle serait programmée pour s'auto-détruire.


Spaceshuttle Atlantis gelanceerd

CAPE CANAVERAL – Om 20.01 CET is vanaf het Kennedy Space Center in Florida de spaceshuttle Atlantis met zeven bemanningsleden aan boord gelanceerd. Atlantis is nu onderweg naar de ruimtetelescoop Hubble.

Doel van de missie is het uitvoeren van algemene onderhoudswerkzaamheden op de ruimtetelescoop, zoals het vervangen van camera's, batterijen en gyroscopen. In de elf daagse missie zijn daarvoor vijf ruimtewandelingen gepland. Daarna moet de Hubble het tot 2014 kunnen uithouden. Wat er na 2014 met de Hubble gebeurt, laat de ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA in het midden. Het plan is dat er tegen die tijd een nieuwe ruimtetelescoop, de James Webb, in een baan rond de aarde zal zweven.


2009-05-11: Atlantis poleciał do Teleskopu Hubble'a

Wahadłowiec Atlantis wystartował w poniedziałek, jak planowano, ok godz. 20:01 czasu CEST (21:01 czasu polskiego) z Centrum Lotów Kosmicznych imienia Johna F. Kennedy'ego na przylądku Canaveral na Florydzie.

Jego celem jest przeprowadzenie napraw i remontu Kosmicznego Teleskopu Hubble'a (HST) krążącego po orbicie okołoziemskiej, gdzie prom kosmiczny powinien dolecieć w środę.

Na pokładzie promu znajduje się siedmioosobowa załoga, w tym 38-letnia astronautka
Katherine Megan McArthur. Kapitanem jest doświadczony pilot Scott Altman, który ma za sobą trzy misje wahadłowców.

11 dniowa misja promu Atlantis (STS-125), dokona lekkiej przebudowy i konserwacji 19-letniego teleskopu, dzięki której będzie mógł dalej pracować przynajmniej do 2014 roku.

Misja wahadłowca będzie trwać do 22 maja i w trakcie niej planowanych jest pięć wyjść astronautów w przestrzeń kosmiczną. Poza wymianą i naprawą niektórych elementów teleskopu, zostaną zainstalowane dwa nowe urządzenia, z którymi naukowcy wiążą duże nadzieje: kamera WFC3 (Wide Field Camera 3) i spektrograf COS (Cosmic Origins Spectrograph).

Kamera WFC trzeciej generacji jest 20-30 razy czulsza od obecnie zainstalowanej w teleskopie WFPC2. Ma pracować w świetle widzialnym, podczerwonym i ultrafioletowym. Spektrograf COS będzie dostarczał między innymi materiałów do badań nad wielkoskalową strukturą wszechświata. Przybliży naukowcom procesu formowania się i ewolucji odległych galaktyk, planet i gwiazd.

Oprócz instalacji tych dwóch urządzeń naprawione mają być: spektrograf STIS (Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph), który przestał pracować w 2004 i kamera ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveys), która popsuła się dwa lata temu.

Nie obejdzie się też bez wymiany żyroskopów, które często były już przyczyną poważnych problemów i przerw w działaniu HST.

Teleskop Hubble'a jest chyba najpopularniejszym i najbardziej medialnym urządzeniem optycznym stworzonym przez człowieka. Ten 12,5-tonowy teleskop został wysłany na orbitę okołoziemską w 1990 roku jako efekt współpracy Amerykańskiej (NASA) i Europejskiej Agencji Kosmicznej (ESA).

Misja STS-125 jest transmitowana "na żywo" (online) przez Internet poprzez telewizję internetową NASA_TV.


NASA mission finds water on the Moon

"The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water," says a press release from NASA. A Moon mission launched by the agency has confirmed the presence of water on the moon. The discovery comes a year after a NASA instrument on an Indian lander indicated there were water molecules on the surface of our satellite.

On September 24, 2008 the Indian Space Research Organisation had stated Chandrayaan-1 had discovered water based on readings from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, one of eleven instruments carried by the probe. Those results indicated water was widespread in low quantities. That probe, launched in October 2008, had to be abandoned on August 30 when contact was lost with it on the Moon's surface.

The new mission, called LCROSS, consisted of two separate spacecraft which travelled the 250,000 miles together in June before separating. An empty rocket slammed into the Cabeus crater, near the southern pole, while a small spacecraft stayed behind to take measurements from the plume of debris thrown up, although it too ultimately crashed into Cabeus. Across the United States people spent the night on lawns and in parks hoping to see the impact, on the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing, but it was invisible to the naked eye. NASA had predicted a visible six-mile plume; the reality was only a mile high.

The twin impacts on October 9 are now known to have sent 25 gallons of water ice and vapour into the air amongst the debris kicked up from the 60 to 100 foot wide hole produced by the rocket. This amount only accounts for the debris scientists could actually see over the rim, and the remaining debris could contain more water. It is unclear how much water may be distributed across the Moon, although hydrogen at the poles suggests water ice there.

LCROSS stands for lunar crater observation and sensing satellite, which was the satellite's name, while its rocket companion was called Centaur. It took a month to analyse the spectrometer data from the mission, and efforts are ongoing to determine the composition of the remaining material kicked up out the crater. The whole project cost $75 million.

"We got more than just whiff. We practically tasted it with the impact," said project co-investigator Peter H Schultz. The material thrown up split into a curtain travelling sideways and a plume that passed the crater's rim, bringing it into the sunlight for the first time in billions of years. Both contained water. "We are ecstatic," said project leader Anthony Colaprete.
"We didn't find just a little bit, we found a significant amount."

Michael Wargo, who heads up lunar research for NASA, said "We're unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbour and by extension the solar system. It turns out the moon harbours many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding." It is thought that by analysing the water we can learn of the moon's history, in a fashion similar to investigating Earth history with ice cores.

University of Maryland physicist Robert Park cautioned that people should not assume that water on the lunar surface would support a colony. "They've haven't found a big reservoir of it," he said. "I suspect this is just water clinging to the soil particles."

Buzz Aldrin, one of the first to walk on the Moon when he followed pioneer Neil Armstrong out of Apollo 11, said he was pleased by the news but added that "People will overreact to this news and say, 'Let's have a water rush to the moon.' It doesn't justify that." Aldrin wants the US to aim to colonise Mars, but NASA is looking at more lunar trips. Last month a new rocket was tested, and Barack Obama has set up a panel to look at possible Moon missions. George W. Bush had previously proposed a $100 billion programme to put more astronauts onto the Moon. NASA wants to return by 2020 and build a lunar base, allowing astronauts to remain for months at a time.


На Луната е открит лед

NASA съобщи, че е открила значително количество заледена вода на дъното на кратера Кабеус, на южния полюс на Луната.

Американската агенция избра региона, след като сонда преди бе открила следи от водород, знак за наличието на лед. Според NASA това е откритие от изключително значение. За в бъдеще това ще направи възможно произвеждането на горива за ракетите от лунни материали. Така производството им значително ще поевтинее и ще даде по-големи възможности за космическите изследвания.

На Луната има и залежи от хелий 3, един от редките на Земята изотопи на хелия, който се използва при термоядрения синтез.

Radio Canada


La NASA confirma que hay agua en la Luna

La Agencia espacial norteamericana anunció el hallazgo de grandes cantidades de agua en la luna. "Encontramos agua, y no apenas un poco, sino una cantidad significativa" indicaron en el Centro Ames de Investigación de la NASA.

El hallazgo de agua fue anunciado en octubre pasado cuando la sonda LCross impactó en el polo sur de la luna, en el cráter llamado Cabeus. La idea fue estrellar el artefacto contra la superficie lunar para producir una nube de materiales que los científicos pudieran estudiar en detalle. "Los datos preliminares obtenidos del análisis de esos materiales indican que la misión descubrió, exitosamente, agua", dicen en la NASA.

Este hallazgo abre un capítulo importante en la investigación espacial y constituye un paso importante para la potencial instalación de asentamientos humanos en la Luna.

"La concentración y distribución de agua y de otras sustancias requieren más análisis, pero podemos decir con seguridad que el cráter Cabeus contiene agua" indicó Anthony Colaprete, científico de equipo del proyecto LCross en el Centro de investigaciones de la NASA en California.


La NASA trouve de l'eau sur la lune

« L'argument que la Lune serait un endroit sec et désolé ne tient plus à la présence d'eau », déclare un communiqué de presse de la NASA. Une mission vers la Lune lancé par l'agence a confirmé la présence d'eau sur la Lune. La découverte intervient un an après qu'un instrument de la NASA, installé sur un atterrisseur indien eut révélé la présence de molécules d'eau sur la surface de notre satellite.

Le 24 septembre 2008, l'Indian Space Research Organisation avait affirmé que Chandrayaan-1 avait découvert l'eau selon les mesures du Moon Mineralogy Mapper de la NASA, un des onze instruments embarqués par la sonde. Ces résultats indiquaient que l'eau était répandue en faibles quantités. Cette sonde, lancée en octobre 2008, a dû être abandonné le 30 août après qu'elle eut été perdue lors du contact avec la surface de la Lune.

En juin, la nouvelle mission, baptisée LCROSS, se composait de deux satellites distincts qui ont parcouru ensemble les 384 400 kilomètres avant de se séparer. Une fusée a percuté le cratère Cabeus, près du pôle sud. Pendant ce temps, un petit engin spatial est resté sur place pour effectuer des mesures de la collision. Les scientifiques ont observé 100 litres (25 gallons) de glace d'eau et de vapeur dans l'air parmi les débris produit par l'impact de la fusée.


Valóban van víz a Holdon

A NASA-nál elkészültek az amerikai űreszköz, az LCROSS színképi mérései egy részének elemzésével. A Hold felszínébe való csapódáskor kirepült anyagfelhőben víz nyomaira bukkantak.

A kísérlet célja éppen az volt, hogy megpróbálják víz nyomát kimutatni a kirepülő holdanyagban. Az eredmény lényege röviden: valóban van víz a Holdon – legalábbis a déli pólus közelében levő Cabeus-kráterben, méghozzá nem is kevés.

A 79 millió dolláros LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) által szállított üres Centaur rakétafokozat október 9-én, majdnem pontosan az előre jelzett pillanatban csapódott a Hold felszínébe, a Cabeus-kráterben. A 2,2 tonnás rakétafokozatot 4 perccel követte maga az űreszköz, amely addig is méréseket végzett, amíg ugyancsak el nem érte a Hold felszínét.

A vízre utaló első bizonyítékot az ütközés nyomán a kráterből felszálló anyagról készített színképek szolgáltatták, mind a közeli infravörös, mind az ultraibolya tartományban. A spektroszkópiai méréseket az LCROSS végezte, miután az „előreküldött” üres Centaur rakétafokozat becsapódott a Holdba. Becslések szerint a műszerek „látókörébe” összesen mintegy 100 kg-nyi vízmolekula került. Ez csupán egy viszonylag kicsi felszíni területről származott, vagyis logikusnak tűnik az a feltételezés, hogy a becsapódási pont környékén jelentős mennyiségű vízjég lehet a Hold talajában.

A Cabeus-kráter belseje állandóan árnyékban és rendkívüli hidegben van a Holdon, ezért előzetesen azt remélték, hogy ha valahonnan, hát az onnan származó anyagban van esély a víz kimutatására. Ezért is jelölték ki az LCROSS célpontjául. A most nyilvánosságra hozott előzetes eredmények szerint tehát a vízjég ott van. A pontos koncentrációjára, eloszlására vonatkozó adatokra még várni kell. Az esemény során készített egyéb mérések elemzése még tart. A napfényt évmilliárdok óta nem látott kráterbelsőben a vízen kívül még más meglepő anyagokat is találhatnak.


Dados de impacto de sonda na Lua indicam a presença de água

Dados preliminares disponibilizados pela sonda Lcross indicam que a missão descobriu água durante os impactos de 9 de outubro com uma região em sombra perpétua no fundo da cratera Cabeus, perto do polo sul lunar. A informação foi divulgada hoje (13) pela NASA, a Agência Espacial norte-americana.

A água na Lua pode estar mais disseminada e existir em quantidade maior que a esperada, diz nota da Nasa.


நிலவில் பெருமளவு தண்ணீர் இருப்பது உறுதி செய்யப்பட்டது

நிலவில் நீர் இருப்பதற்கான சாத்தியக்கூறுகளை ஆராய கடந்த மாதம் நிலவில் நடத்தப்பட்ட ஆய்வுகள் வெற்றியளித்திருப்பதாக நாசாவின் வானியலாளர்கள் அறிவித்துள்ளனர்.

நிலவின் தென்முனையில் பனிக்கட்டிகளை எடுப்பதற்காக ராக்கெட் ஒன்றை நாசா சென்ற மாதம் மோதவிட்டது. மோதலின் போது சேகரிக்கப்பட்ட மாதிரிகளை ஆய்வு செய்த விஞ்ஞானிகள் பெருமளவு நீர்-பனிக்காட்டிகளும் நீராவிகளும் அங்கு இருப்பதைக் கண்டுபிடித்தனர்.

"நாம் சிறிதளவை மட்டும் கண்டுபிடிக்கவில்லை; குறிப்பிடத்தக்களவு தண்ணீரைக் கண்டுபிடித்துள்ளோம்" என்று தலைமை அறிவியலாளர் அந்தனி கொலப்பிரெட் தெரிவித்தார்.

நிலவில் இவற்றைவிடப் பெருமளவு தண்ணீர்ர் இருப்பதற்கான அறிகுறிகள் மேலும் தென்பட்டால், நிலவுக்குப் பயணம் மேற்கொள்ளும் விண்வெளிவீரர்களுக்கு இது பெருமளவு பயனைக் கொடுக்கும்.

"இதனைக் குடிநீராகப் பயன்படுத்தவும் வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது." எனத் தெரிவித்தார் நாசாவின் நிலவாய்வுத் திட்டத்தின் தலைமை வானியலாளர் மைக் வார்கோ.

சனி, நவம்பர் 14, 2009


NASA observes largest supernova on record

SN 2006gy was the brightest and largest supernova ever discovered, scientists announced. The star was in the NGC 1260 galaxy, in the same direction as the constellation Perseus and may be a type of supernova previously predicted by theory but not observed. The conclusion was reached after extended observations of the supernova by both optical telescopes and X-ray telescopy. Currently, there are two possible explanations for the supernova's brightness, but both require the star in question to have been at least a hundred times as massive as the sun. Although the supernova is brighter than SN 1987A, which was bright enough to be seen by the naked eye, SN 2006gy is too far away to be seen by the naked eye.

The star Eta Carinae, which is in our galaxy, is similar in size to the star which became SN 2006gy. It is possible that Eta Carinae could supernova in a similar fashion. Dave Pooley, one of the discoverers of SN 2006gy said that if Eta Carinae exploded in a similar fashion, it would be bright enough that one could read by its light. However, Pooley estimates the likelihood of the star exploding soon is small and estimates that, even if it did explode, the risk to life on earth would be minimal.


SN 2006gy: największy wybuch supernowej

Portal Gazeta.pl 8 maja poinformował o największej w historii astronomii eksplozji supernowej SN 2006gy.

Pojęciem "supernowa" określa się kosmiczne eksplozje wyzwalające duże ilości gazu, światła i ciężkich pierwiastków. Jasny punkt po wybuchu gwiazdy widoczny jest nawet do miesiąca. Supernowa zanim wybuchnie starzeje się, kurczy a następnie zapada pod własnym ciężarem.

Zaobserwowany wybuch był 240 milionów lat świetlnych od Ziemi. SN 2006gy miała masę 150 razy większą od Słońca. Supernowa została odkryta we wrześniu 2006 roku.

Alex Filippenko (NASA) podsumował, że supernowa była "królem wszystkich gwiezdnych eksplozji".

Jasny punkt pozostały po eksplozji jest widoczny jedynie przez specjalistyczny sprzęt astronomiczny.

"Takie wybuchy są bardzo daleko od naszej planety. Niczym wiec nam nie grożą. Gdyby nie było takich wybuchów nie byłoby i nas. Wybuchy supernowych stworzyły bowiem materie z której zbudowany jest Wszechświat" - poinformował prof. Michał Różyczka (Centrum Astronomiczne Mikołaja Kopernika).

W galaktyce, w której znajduje się Ziemia, jest również gwiazda która może eksplodować w każdej chwili. Naukowcy twierdzą, że po wybuchu, jej światło będzie tak mocne, że w nocy będzie można czytać książkę. "Wiemy tylko z grubsza co się tam dzieje, dlatego taki wybuch może nastąpić za tysiąc lub za milion lat" - twierdzi prof. Różyczka.


NASA plans for future moon missions

NASA has announced plans for sending humans back to the Moon, as a first step to Mars.

A 2018 lunar mission is proposed, where a crew of four would remain on the Moon for as long as a week.  A minimum of two lunar missions a year is planned, with astronauts remaining as long as six months.

Some of the technology had previously been proposed for replacement of the Space Shuttle.

For a lunar mission, the LSAM and EDS would be placed in orbit by a cargo launcher, then a CEV would dock with the assembly before leaving Earth orbit.

The goal is to begin production of the new spacecraft by 2011.

The plans are a means to implement President Bush's "Vision for Space Exploration" program.  Goals include:


La NASA annonce de nouveaux vols habités sur la Lune pour 2018

La NASA a annoncé la reprise des vols habités vers le satellite naturel de la Terre dès 2018. Les vols et séjours sur la Lune seront la première étape avant des vols spatiaux habités vers Mars.

Préalablement à la mission, des robots vont sonder les zones d'atterissage, probablement avant 2009. L'étude des poussières lunaires, extrêmement fines et collantes, devra également être poussée, car les véhicules risquent de s'enliser et seront probablement attaqués par ces très fines particules.

Les astronautes seront propulsés sur la Lune avec un concept similaire à celui des programmes Apollo : le Exploration Transportation System (ETS), composé du Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), qui contiendra la nourriture et des réserves en carburant et du Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM), atterrisseur à quatre « pattes », en version passager ou cargo. Ces unités seront propulsées par l' Earth Departure Stage (EDS) et le Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) qui propulsera la capsule vers sa destination finale sur deux étages de combustion.


NASA 2018年に再び宇宙飛行士を月面へ

アメリカ航空宇宙局(NASA)は再び宇宙飛行士を月面に送り込むことを計画していることを発表した。NASAのグリフィン長官が19日に発表した。この計画は火星への探査飛行の第一歩として立案されている。

2018年を目指し、月面有人探査を計画する。宇宙飛行士4人が1週間を上限に月面に滞在する。年に少なくとも2回の月面探査を行い、宇宙飛行士が最大6ヶ月間月面に滞在する。

これにともない、2010年に退役予定のスペースシャトルに変わり、新たに4人乗りの多目的宇宙船(CEV)を、2012年を目処に開発する予定。CEVは10回まで再利用が可能。また有人探査に先立ち、早ければ2008年にロボットによる探査飛行を行う予定。

計画どおり2018年に実行され、月面に宇宙飛行士が降り立った場合、アポロ計画以来、実に46年ぶりの月面着陸となる。


NASA ogłosiła powrót człowieka na Księżyc w drugiej dekadzie XXI wieku

NASA ogłosiła w poniedziałek swoje plany dotyczące powrotu ludzi na Księżyc. Głównym założeniem jest wysłanie czteroosobowej załogi w roku 2018 na tygodniowy pobyt na Srebrnym Globie.

Grupa astronautów ma odbyć podróż nowym pojazdem kosmicznym. Aby uniknąć wysokich kosztów produkcji i testów, wykorzystane będą w nim części (silniki) z wahadłowców a także trzy razy większa kapsuła podobna do tych z misji Apollo.

Nowy statek kosmiczny ponadto będzie posiadał baterie słoneczne dostarczające energię. Dodatkowo silniki kapsuły i lądownika będą pracowały na płynnym metanie - według naukowców z NASA przydadzą się wtedy, gdy opracowana zostanie technologia pozwalająca na przekształcenie składników marsjańskiej atmosfery w pełnowartościowe paliwo.

Powtórny lot na Księżyc jest jednym z punktów prezydenckiej Wizji Eksploracji Kosmosu ogłoszonej przez George W. Busha. Zakłada ona, iż powrót na naturalnego satelitę Ziemi jest bezpośrednim celem przygotowującym do lotu ludzi na Marsa.

Ostatni załogowy lot na Księżyc odbył się w 7 grudnia 1972 roku w ramach misji Apollo 17.


NASA releases first topographical map of Mercury

On Friday, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released the first ever global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury.

The DEM was created using data gathered by NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, including over 100,000 photographs, and shows a variety of Mercury's topographical features including the planet's highest and lowest points. MESSENGER principal investigator Sean Solomon said they hope the information will be used to investigate Mercury's geological history.

The highest elevation on Mercury is at 4.48 kilometres (2.78 miles) above Mercury’s average elevation, located just south of the equator in some of Mercury’s oldest terrain. The lowest elevation, at 5.38 kilometers (3.34 miles) below Mercury’s average, is found on the floor of the Rachmaninoff basin, a double-ring impact basin suspected to host some of the most recent volcanic deposits on the planet.

The MESSENGER spacecraft was launched in 2004 to study Mercury, including its chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. MESSENGER began orbiting Mercury in March 2011, becoming the first spacecraft to do so. In April 2015, having completed its mission, MESSENGER dropped out of orbit and impacted the surface of Mercury.


La NASA llança el primer mapa topogràfic de Mercuri

Divendres, l'Administració Nacional d’Aeronàutica i de l’Espai dels Estats Units (NASA) va llançar el primer Model Digital d'Elevacions (DEM) de Mercuri. El DEM s'ha creat usant dades recollides pel Mercury Surface, Space Environment, geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) de la NASA de la superfície de Mercuri, incloent-hi més de 100 000 fotografies, i mostra una gran varietat de característiques topogràfiques de Mercuri com a punts més baixos i més alts del planeta. L'investigador principal de MESSENGER, Sean Solomon, va dir que esperen que la informació serà utilitzada per investigar la història geològica de Mercuri.

L'elevació més alta de Mercuri està 4,48 quilòmetres sobre la elevació mitjana del planeta i es troba just al sud de l'equador, en alguns dels terrenys més antics de Mercuri. L'elevació més baixa, 5,38 quilòmetres per sota de la mitjana d'elevació mitjana, es troba en el sòl de la conca Rachmaninoff, una conca d'impacte de doble anell que se sospita que pot albergar alguns dels dipòsits volcànics més recents del planeta.

La nau espacial MESSENGER va ser llançada en 2004 per estudiar Mercuri, incloent la seva composició química, geologia i camp magnètic. MESSENGER va començar a orbitar Mercuri al març de 2011, convertint-se en la primera nau espacial en fer-ho. A l'abril de 2015, després d'haver completat la seva missió, MESSENGER va abandonar l'òrbita i va impactar contra la superfície de Mercuri.


NASA says Martian soil could sustain life

The scientists behind the Mars Phoenix Lander project announced that the soil on Mars was more alkaline than expected and could sustain life.

Scientists at NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration claimed that they were "flabbergasted" by their discovery on the possibility that life could grow on Martian soil.

"It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard, you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well. ... It is very exciting for us," said Sam Kounaves, the lead wet chemist at NASA.

The project did not elaborate any further if there was indeed life on Mars, down to the microbe level and instead stated that their discovery was only preliminary and more analysis will be needed.

There was still no evidence in the soil that "would preclude life," and instead of an assumption of a toxic environment, Martian soil is actually, "very friendly."

The discovery was made after the Mars Phoenix Lander scooped up Martian soil for analysis. The lander touched down on Mars on May 25, 2008 and has been conducting several survey projects.


НАСА подтверждает присутсвие льда на Марсе


鳳凰號發現火星有冰

鳳凰號火星探測器找到火星表面有冰的證據。

美國太空總署的科學家指，鳳凰號火星探測器上星期用機械手臂在火星表面挖掘坑道時，所傳送回地球的影像中，發現幾塊白色反光的物體，懷疑可能是鹽或者冰，四天後這些物體不見了，因此科學家初步認為，這些白色物體應該是冰，由於被挖出來而被太陽蒸發，而鹽不可能發生這種變化。

鳳凰號於5月25日降落火星至北極，主要的目標就是找到水，因為水是決定火星是否曾經適合，或可能適合生命棲息的重要因素。

這項探測任務是由亞利桑那大學的史密斯教授負責，噴氣推進實驗室管理。


NASA says Phoenix spacecraft may have landed on ice

According to NASA, new images received from the Phoenix lander on Mars shows a possible layer of ice on its landing site. Scientists received the images on Friday May 30 from the craft's robotic arm camera. The image was taken on the fifth Martian day, or Sol 5.

Scientists say that as Phoenix landed, the exhaust from its thrusters cleared away a three to four inch layer of Martian soil which exposed a flat layer of a white substance, that NASA says could be ice. The image shows the white layer which is shiny and smooth.

"It's the consensus of all of us that we have found ice. We were expecting to find ice within two to six inches of the surface. The thrusters have excavated two to six inches and, sure enough, we see something that looks like ice. It's not impossible that it's something else, but our leading interpretation is ice," said top Phoenix investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson Peter Smith.

One exposed edge of the underlying material was seen in Sol 4 images, but the newer image reveals a greater extent of it. The abundance of excavated smooth and level surfaces adds evidence to a hypothesis that the underlying material is an ice table covered by a thin blanket of soil. Tests will be performed on the soil and surrounding area to determine exactly what the substance is.

"We could very well be seeing rock, or we could be seeing exposed ice in the retrorocket blast zone. We'll test the two ideas by getting more data," stated Ray Arvidson, one of the mission investigators.

Phoenix is searching for evidence of water and microbial life on Mars. Its mission is to determine Mars's ability or inability to host life and hold water. The Phoenix lander uses a robotic arm to dig through the protective top soil layer to the alleged water ice below and ultimately bring both soil and water ice to the lander platform for sophisticated scientific analysis.


Spekulationen über Eisfund durch Raumsonde „Phoenix“ auf dem Mars

Tucson (Vereinigte Staaten), 01.06.2008 – Möglicherweise steht die von der Universität of Arizona geleitete US-Marssonde Phoenix vor einer großen Entdeckung. Auf der Website der Weltraumbehörde NASA ist zu lesen: „Scientists have discovered what may be ice that was exposed when soil was blown away as NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed on Mars last Sunday, May 25.“ Mit anderen Worten: Bodenbestandteile, die durch das Aufwirbeln des Marsstaubes bei der Landung freigelegt wurde, könnten möglicherweise Eis sein. Ob es sich dabei tatsächlich um Eis handelt oder ob es doch „nur“ Gestein ist, wollen die Experten nun untersuchen.

Ray Arvidson von der Washington Universität in St. Louis hält beide Varianten für möglich. Wenn es Eis wäre, müsste der freigelegte Gegenstand heller werden, da es das in der Mars-Atmosphäre befindliche Wasser als neue Frostschicht sichtbar machen würde.


NASA says star system contains 'earth-like planet' in the making

NASA scientists have stated that an "earth-like" planet is currently forming in a star system's 'habitable zone' just over 400 light-years from Earth. The new discovery was made by NASA's Spitzer Space telescope.

According to scientists, dust and rock orbiting a ten million year old star in the system HD 113766 contains "enough [material] to build a Mars-size planet or larger."

"The timing for this system to be building an Earth is very good. If the system was too young, its planet-forming disk would be full of gas, and it would be making gas-giant planets like Jupiter instead. If the system was too old, then dust aggregation or clumping would have already occurred and all the system's rocky planets would have already formed," said NASA scientist Carey Lisse from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory located in Baltimore, Maryland.

Lisse states that the dust and rock, which was examined by the telescopes infrared spectrometer instrument, is more processed than the snowball-like stuff that makes up infant solar systems and comets, which are considered cosmic "refrigerators" because they contain pristine ingredients from the early solar system, but he also says that the material is not quite ready to form an actual planet, meaning that the material is currently in a "transitional phase" or in a phase just before a planet begins to form.

The dusty material Lisse says, does not contain "any water ice, carbonates, or fragile organic materials," making the star system a fairly young celestial body.

"The material mix in this belt is most reminiscent of the stuff found in lava flows on Earth. I thought of Mauna Kea material when I first saw the dust composition in this system - it contains raw rock and is abundant in iron sulfides, which are similar to fool's gold," said Lisse. Mauna Kea is a well-known volcano in Hawaii.

Scientists remain excited knowing that they have the chance to observe a planet forming right before their eyes. "It is fantastic to think we are able to detect the process of terrestrial planet formation. Stay tuned - I expect lots more fireworks as the planet in HD113766 grows," added Lisse.


La Nasa ha scoperto un pianeta di tipo terrestre in formazione

Gli scienziati della NASA hanno affermato che un pianeta terrestre si trova attualmente in formazione nella zona abitabile di un sistema stellare distante poco più di 400 anni luce. La nuova scoperta è stata realizzata dal telescopio spaziale Spitzer della NASA.

Secondo gli scienziati, le rocce e le polveri orbitanti che orbitano intorno a una stella di 10 milioni di anni nel sistema HD 113766, contengono «[materiale] sufficiente per formare un pianeta delle dimensioni di Marte o più grande».

«L'età di questo sistema per costruire una Terra è buono. Se il sistema fosse troppo giovane, il disco del pianeta in formazione sarebbe pieno di gas e produrrebbe un gigante gassoso, come Giove. Se il sistema fosse troppo vecchio, allora l'aggregato o ammasso di polveri si sarebbe già prodotto e tutti i pianeti rocciosi del sistema si sarebbero già formati», ha affermato Carey Lisse, scienziato della NASA dal Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, a Baltimora, nel Maryland.

Lisse ha affermato che la polvere e la roccia, che è stata esaminata dagli strumenti spettrometri a infrarosso dei telescopi, è più lavorata della materia a forma di palla di neve che ha prodotto il giovane sistema solare e le comete, che sono considerati i "refrigeratori" cosmici perché contengono gli ingredienti originali del neonato sistema solare, ma ha anche detto che il materiale non è sufficientemente pronto per formare un pianeta, al momento, intendendo che il materiale in una "fase di transizione" o in una fase appena precedente a quella in cui un pianeta comincia a formarsi.

I materiali polverosi, dice Lisse, non contengono «acqua, carbonati, o materiale organico fragile», rendendo il sistema stellare un corpo celeste abbastanza giovane.

«Il miscuglio di materiale in questa fascia è quello che meglio ricorda ciò che è stato trovato nelle colate laviche. Ho pensato ai materiali di  Mauna Kea quando ho visto per la prima volta la composizione delle polveri in questo sistema - contiene roccia infiammata e solfuri di ferro, che sono simili alla pirite», ha detto Lisse. Manua Kea è il famoso vulcano delle Hawaii

Gli scienziati sono entusiasti, poiché hanno la possibilità di osservare la formazione di un pianeta davanti ai loro occhi. «È fantastico pensare che siamo in grado di studiare il processo di formazione di un pianeta terrestre. Tenetevi pronti - mi aspetto molti fuochi d'artificio man mano che il pianeta in HD113766 cresce», ha aggiunto Lisse.


NASA spacecraft to begin collecting data on Mercury

Today, NASA's spacecraft MESSENGER, or the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, is expected to begin its two day mission at about noon (eastern time), of data collecting and photographing of the planet Mercury. It is the first spacecraft to visit the planet in 34 years, since Mariner 10's visit to the planet in 1974.

"This is raw scientific exploration and the suspense is building by the day. What will MESSENGER see? Monday will tell the tale," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C..

This encounter will provide a critical gravity assist needed to keep the spacecraft on track for its March 2011 orbit insertion, beginning an unprecedented yearlong study of Mercury. The flyby also will gather essential data for mission planning. It will flyby an impact crater called the Caloris basin which is almost 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) in diameter. The basin is one of the largest impact craters in our solar system.

"Caloris is huge, about a quarter of the diameter of Mercury, with rings of mountains within it that are up to two miles high. Mariner 10 saw a little less than half of the basin. During this first flyby, we will image the other side," said Louise Prockter, the instrument scientist for the Mercury Dual Imaging System at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

It also will study the global magnetic field and improve our knowledge of the gravity field from the Mariner 10 flyby. The long-wavelength components of the gravity field provide key information about the planet's internal structure, particularly the size of Mercury's core. The flyby also will map Mercury's tenuous atmosphere with ultraviolet observations and document the energetic particle and plasma of Mercury's magnetosphere. In addition, the flyby trajectory will enable unique particle and plasma measurements of the magnetic tail that sweeps behind Mercury.

MESSENGER was launched on August 3, 2004 and will travel just under five billion miles in total. It already has flown past Earth once and Venus twice. The spacecraft will use the pull of Mercury's gravity during this month's pass and others in October 2008 and September 2009 to guide it progressively closer to the planet's orbit. Insertion will be accomplished with a fourth Mercury encounter in 2011.


La sonde Messenger commence son survol de Mercure

Publié le 14 janvier 2008  La sonde Messenger (en anglais : MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging)  devrait commencer aujourd'hui vers 12h (heure de l'est en Amérique du Nord, UTC-5) sa mission de deux jours consistant à photographier et à collecter des données sur la planète Mercure. Il s'agit de la première sonde à visiter cette planète depuis trente-quatre ans et le passage de la sonde Mariner 10 en 1974.

« Le suspens et l'attente scientifique augmentent au fil des jours. Que va voir la sonde ? Nous en saurons plus lundi. » s'enthousiasmait Alan Stern, administrateur associé à la NASA pour la direction scientifique de la mission, à Washington.

Ce survol devrait fournir des informations sur la gravité qui permettront de préparer la mise en orbite mercurienne de la sonde en mars 2011, après de nombreuses années d'études. Le vol apportera également des données essentielles pour la planification de la mission.

La sonde survolera aussi un cratère appelé le bassin Caloris, de près de 1287 km de diamètre, l'un des plus grands cratères de notre système solaire. « Le cratère de Caloris est immense : il représente un quart du diamètre de Mercure et comporte des chaines de montagnes de plus de deux milles [3,2 kilomètres] de hauteur. Mariner 10 avait survolé un peu moins de la moitié du cratère. Avec ce premier vol, nous aurons des images de l'autre partie. » explique une des conseillères scientifiques de la mission, Louise Prockter, du laboratoire de physique appliquée de l'université Johns-Hopkins, situé à Laurel dans le Maryland.

La sonde étudiera également la champ magnétique global de Mercure pour améliorer les connaissances sur le champ de gravité (déjà étudié par la mission Mariner 10). Le longueur des ondes composant le champ de gravité apportera des informations fondamentales sur la structure interne de la planète, en particulier la taille du cœur de Mercure. Le vol devrait également cartographier l'atmosphère de Mercure à l'aide d'un spectre ultraviolet et fournir des informations sur les particules énergétiques et le plasma de la magnétosphère de Mercure. En outre, la trajectoire du vol permettra de mesurer les particules et le plasma uniques du champ magnétique, situé derrière Mercure.

La sonde Messenger a été lancée le 3 août 2004 et aura parcouru au total un peu moins de cinq milliards de milles (huit milliards de kilomètres). Elle a déjà survolé une fois la terre et deux fois Vénus. La sonde utilisera la force de la gravité de Mercure au cours de ce premier mois, puis de nouveau lors de son deuxième et troisième survol en octobre 2008 et en septembre 2009 pour se rapprocher de l'orbite de la planète. Elle entrera en orbite en 2011 lors de son quatrième survol de Mercure.


Sonda da NASA começa a coletar dados de Mercúrio

Hoje, a sonda espacial da  NASA MESSENGER, ou o ME rcury S urface, S pace  EN vironment, GE ochemistry, e  R anging espacial, está prevista para começar seus dois dias na missão do meio-dia (Tempo do leste), a Coleta de dados e fotografando do planeta Mercúrio. É a primeira nave espacial a visitar o planeta em 34 anos, uma vez que Mariner 10 visitou o planeta em 1974.

"Este é a bruta exploração científica e suspense é o edifício de dia para dia. Qual será a visão da MESSENGER? Segundo diz a história", disse Alan Stern, administrador associado da NASA para a Ciência Missão Direcção em Washington, DC.

Este encontro irá proporcionar uma crítica gravidade auxiliar necessária para manter a nave espacial no caminho para a sua órbita inserção em março de 2011, que tem início um número sem precedentes de estudos de Mercúrio. A sonda flyby também irá recolher dados essenciais para a missão de planeamento. A flyby irá ter um impacto com a cratera chamada de bacia Caloris, que mede quase 800 milhas (1287 km) de diâmetro. A bacia é uma das maiores crateras impacto no nosso sistema solar.

"Caloris é enorme, cerca de um quarto do diâmetro de Mercúrio, com anéis de montanhas dentro dela que são até duas milhas elevado. A Mariner 10 viu um pouco menos de metade da bacia. Durante esta primeira flyby, vamos as outras imagens Secundárias ", disse Louise Prockter, o instrumento para o cientista Mercury Dual Imaging System, o Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory de Laurel, Maryland.

Além disso, irá estudar o campo magnético global e melhorar o nosso conhecimento da gravidade domínio da Mariner 10 flyby. O tempo de onda componentes da gravidade campo fornecer as informações fundamentais sobre a estrutura interna do planeta, em especial o tamanho do núcleo de Mercúrio. O flyby também irá mapear a tênue atmosfera de mercúrio com observações em ultravioleta e documentar as partículas energéticas e de plasma da magnetosfera de Mercúrio. Além disso, a trajetória flyby permitirá única partícula e medições de plasma da cauda magnética que varre por trás de Mercúrio.

A MESSENGER foi lançado em 3 de agosto de 2004 e vai viajar apenas menos de cinco mil milhões de milhas no total. Ela já tem voado uma vez passado Terra e Vênus duas vezes. A nave espacial irá utilizar a atração da gravidade de Mercúrio durante este mês de passe e outros, em outubro de 2008 e setembro de 2009 para guiá-lo progressivamente mais estreitas com a órbita do planeta. Inserçãões de sondas na sua superfície será feita com um quarto encontro em 2011.

*Today's Mercury Flyby To Be the First Since 1974 — Washington Post, 14 de janeiro de 2008

*Paulette Brown. NASA Spacecraft to Make Historic Flyby of Mercury — NASA, 10 de janeiro de 2008


NASA successfully launches Kepler Telescope

NASA's Kepler Telescope, which will search for planets orbiting other stars, was successfully launched by a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at approximately 10:51 p.m. (EST).

NASA regained the rocket's signal at 12:11 a.m. EDT Saturday, shortly after confirming the satellite's separation from the rocket.

According to the Kepler Mission page on NASA's website, the telescope "is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets." The telescope is named after Johannes Kepler, an astronomer, astrologist and mathematician from Germany in the late 1500 and early 1600s.

The Kepler Telescope will use the 'Transit Method' of detecting planets. When planets pass in front of their parent star, a small black dot is cast over the star, called a transit. Transits by terrestrial planets produce a small change in a star's brightness of about one part in ten thousand (.01%), lasting for 2 to 16 hours.

Kepler's view is 105 square degrees and will be focused on one area all the time. It will orbit around our Sun, maintaining a constant distance from Earth of 950 miles. It will continuously and simultaneously monitor the brightnesses of more than 100,000 stars for the life of the mission, which is expected to be three and a half years.

"Even if we find no planets like Earth, that by itself would be profound. It would indicate that we are probably alone in the galaxy," said William Borucki, the mission's science principal investigator.

Although planets orbiting stars other than the Sun had been theorized for centuries, it was only in 1988 that a team of Canadian astronomers made the first detection of extrasolar planets orbiting the star Gamma Cephei. Now over 300 extrasolar planets are said to have been discovered.

The launch comes just weeks after NASA's failed launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, which crashed into the ocean off Antarctica's coast. It would have been the first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the most significant human-produced greenhouse gas and the principal human-produced driver of climate change. The cost of the project was US$273 million.


Lancement réussi pour le télescope Kepler

Publié le 7 mars 2009   La NASA a réussi le lancement du télescope spatial Kepler qui cherchera de nouvelles planètes en orbite autour d'étoiles. La fusée Delta II a décollé de Cap Canaveral le vendredi 6 mars 2009 à 22:49 (heure locale). La NASA capta son signal samedi à 12:11, juste après la séparation du troisième étage. Le télescope américain a été baptisé en l'honneur de Johannes Kepler, astronome et mathématicien allemand de la fin du XVIe siècle et du début du XVIIe siècle.

La compagnie Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., basée à Boulder, est le maître d'œuvre de la construction du télescope. La mission est sous l'égide du Jet Propulsion Laboratory. L'engin est d'une masse de 1 039 kilogrammes. Son énergie est fournie par un panneau solaire délivrant une puissance de 651 watts. Il possède un télescope d'un mètre afin de mesurer les changements de luminosité durant les transits des exoplanètes devant leur étoile. Il observera la luminosité d'environ 100 000 étoiles pendant trois ans et demi, afin de détecter des changements périodiques dûs à des planètes : cette technique est celle du transit. Kepler ne se trouvera pas en orbite autour de la Terre, mais autour du Soleil, de telle manière qu'elle ne lui cache pas les étoiles. Cela permettra aussi de minimiser les perturbations gravitationnelles, ce qui stabilisera la plate-forme d'observation. PlanetQuest, un projet de calcul distribué utilisant la plate-forme BOINC, devrait permettre d'analyser les données recueillies.

Initialement prévue pour novembre 2006, la mise sur orbite a souffert de multiples retards pour des raisons budgétaires.


NASA to extend the Phoenix probe mission by 5 weeks

The Phoenix probe that was sent to Mars has had its mission extended. Part of Phoenix's mission was to chemically analyze soil samples, and to confirm the presence of water ice. The ice was confirmed by the use of an instrument that can identify vapours; a small sample of ice within Martian soil was heated until it melted at 0°C (32°F), the melting point for water.

The original mission was planned to be funded for a 3 months, with the cutoff in late August. However, as a result of the probe's good condition, NASA has stated that its mission will be extended by 5 weeks, till September 30.

"Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars," said the Head of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Michael Meyers. An additional expense of US$2 million will be incurred because of the extension, on top of the US$420 million that has already been spent. This will allow for two more trenches to be dug, which will be dubbed as "Cupboard" and "Neverland".

The Phoenix probe landed on Mars on May 25 of this year near the north pole of Mars, where the ice was discovered. The ice was found in a trench approximately 5cm deep referred to as "Snow White". "It's been very successful and Mars had proven itself to be very interesting, mechanically the spacecraft is operating great, and there's plenty of power margin to carry us beyond the waning summer," said Meyers.

The original goal of the mission was to determine if the red planet was capable of supporting life. Phoenix is in the process of performing experiments to determine if ice ever melted in Mars' history. In addition it is searching for the organic-based compounds that are necessary for life forms to exist.

Phoenix's principal investigator Peter Smith told the press conference that "we hope to be able to answer the question of whether this was a habitable zone on Mars. It will be for future missions to find if anyone is home on this environment."

Unlike the twin Mars Exploration Rovers which has now been operating on Mars for several years, the Phoenix Lander itself is expected to cease operations entirely by the exit of 2008 when the harsh Martian polar winter takes over and the low temperatures most likely will leave the Lander's instruments irreparably damaged.


Marte, confermata dalla sonda Phoenix la presenza dell'acqua

La NASA ha trovato acqua su Marte. L'ha annunciato oggi lo scienziato William Boynton dell'Università dell'Arizona. La sonda Phoenix lanciata il 4 agosto 2007 e atterrata il 25 maggio 2008.

Boynton annuncia «abbiamo l'acqua», nel comunicato dell'agenzia spaziale statunitense, spiegando che era già stata osservata la presenza di ghiaccio sul "pianeta rosso", ma questa è la prima volta che l'acqua viene esaminata.

Dopo questa scoperta il termine della missione, precedentemente previsto per la fine di agosto, è stato posticipato al prossimo 30 settembre.


NASA har funnet vann på Mars

Målform: Bokmål - Dato: 1. august 2008 - Oppdater siden - Rediger artikkelen - Flere nyheter

USA: / Mars: NASAs romdsonde Phoenix har funnet vann på Mars.

Tidligere har sterke tegn på vann blitt funnet, men for første gang har direkte kontakt med vann blitt oppnådd. Sonden, som er ett laboratorium, har gjort kjemiske analyser av hva som som så ut som is og analysene beviste mistankene.


NASA hittar vatten på Mars

Publiceringar 1 augusti • augusti 2008 • kvartal 3 • vecka 31


NASA's Deep Impact probe strikes comet successfully

NASA's Deep Impact probe collided with the comet Tempel 1 on Monday, as intended by scientists.  The collision took place at 5:45 UTC and NASA held a press briefing shortly after at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, NASA's non-manned space flight control center. A full-fledged press conference by NASA is scheduled to be at JPL on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. PDT (9:00 UTC).

The experiment, intending to provide more information about the make up of comets, consisted of a 370 kg projectile being fired at the comet in order to observe and analyse the resultant impact. With information gleaned from the impact, the comet's general make-up can be established and more accurate hypotheses regarding how the Solar system and the universe came to be.

Deep Impact is a NASA space probe designed to study the composition of the interior of a comet. Previous space missions to comets, such as Giotto and Stardust, were merely fly-by missions, only able to photograph and examine the surfaces of cometary nuclei. The Deep Impact mission will be the first to examine a cometary interior, and thus, scientists hope, reveal new secrets about these small frozen bodies.

Following its launch on January 12, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft took 174 days to reach Comet Tempel 1 at a cruising speed of 103,000 kilometers per hour (64,000 miles per hour).  Once the spacecraft reached the vicinity of the comet on July 3, 2005, it separated into two portions, an impactor and a flyby probe.  The impactor used its thrusters to move into the path of the comet, impacting 24 hours later at a relative speed of 37,000 kilometers per hour.  The impactor has a mass of 370 kilograms and approached Tempel 1 with a relative speed of 10.30 kilometers per second (6.3 miles per second), thus delivering 1.96 × 1010 joules of kinetic energy, the equivalent of 4.5 tons of TNT.  Scientists believe that the energy of this high-velocity collision will be sufficient to excavate a crater up to 100 meters wide (larger than the bowl of the Roman Colosseum), although the crater has not yet been spotted in post-impact images because the cloud of debris is obscuring the view.

Just minutes after the impact, the flyby probe passed by the nucleus at a close distance of 500 km, taking pictures of the crater position, the ejecta plume, and the entire cometary nucleus.  The entire event was photographed by Earth-based telescopes and orbital observatories, such as the Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer and XMM-Newton.  In addition, the impact was observed by cameras and spectroscopes on board Europe's Rosetta spacecraft, which was about 80 million km from the comet at the time of impact.  Rosetta should determine the composition of the gas and dust cloud kicked up by the impact.  [1]

The total Deep Impact mission cost is US$330 million.

The Deep Impact mission will help answer fundamental questions about comets, such as:

Scientists hope that these questions will be answered, at least in part, by data from the Deep Impact mission. For example, the size and shape of the crater produced by the impact will tell scientists how well-packed the cometary material is.


Crash auf Tempel 1: Raumsonde wie geplant auf Kometen eingeschlagen

Pasadena (Vereinigte Staaten), 04.07.2005 – Wie geplant am Unabhängigkeitstag der USA schlägt der „Impactor“ - ein Teil der Kometensonde „Deep Impact“ auf dem Kometen „Tempel 1“ ein. Der Zusammenprall fand genau wie geplant um 07:52 Uhr MESZ statt, im Kontrollzentrum in Pasadena brach daraufhin großer Jubel aus.

Auf dem Kometen, der zu dieser Zeit etwa 133 Millionen Kilometer entfernt war, war der Einschlag deutlich zu sehen. Die Menge des herausgeschleuderten Kometenmaterials übertraf alle Erwartungen der NASA-Wissenschaftler. Kameras, sowohl der vorbeifliegenden Muttersonde als auch des Impaktors, lieferten laufend Bilder, aber auch von anderen Raumsonden - wie Rosetta und vom Weltraumteleskop Hubble - werden Bilder erwartet. Auch auf der Erde wird der Zusammenstoß von zahlreichen Observatorien beobachtet.

Aus der Beobachtung des Einschlags und des resultierenden Kraters erhoffen sich die Forscher tiefe Einblicke in den Aufbau des Kometen. Das durch die Kollision freigesetzte Material wird dann durch Beobachtungsinstrumente von Observatorien im Weltraum und auf der Erde genau analysiert. Zudem könnte der Komet Daten über die Entstehung des Sonnensystems liefern. Einige Experten hatten sogar das Auseinanderbrechen des Kometen nicht ausgeschlossen, dieses traf allerdings nicht ein.


L'impacteur de la sonde « Deep Impact » s'est écrasé avec succès sur la comète « Tempel 1 »

L'impacteur de la sonde américaine Deep Impact est entré en collision avec la comète Tempel 1, vers 5:45 UTC, à l'endroit prévu par la NASA. L'agence spatiale américaine a d'ailleurs rapidement donné une conférence de presse au « Jet Propulsion Laboratory » (JPL) à Pasadena (Californie).

Après un voyage de 173 jours depuis son lancement le 12 janvier 2005, Deep Impact s'est séparé en deux parties le 3 juillet, lors de l'approche de la comète. Après une journée d'approche à une vitesse (relative à la comète) de 37 000 kilomètres par heure, l'impacteur de 370 kilogrammes délivrant à l'impact une énergie de 1.96 × 1010 joules. Les astrophysiciens pensent que l'impacteur pourrait avoir creusé un cratère de cent mètres de diamètre sur Tempel 1. Peu après l'éjection de matière dans l'espace, la sonde a pu prendre des photos des débris, de la position du cratère et du noyau de la comète. Plusieurs satellites d'observation tels que Hubble ou Chandra ont également observé la collision dans différentes longueurs d'ondes (rayons X, lumière visible, infrarouge). De plus, la sonde européenne Rosetta, qui aura également une mission d'observation autour d'une comète, a pris des clichés pour déterminer la composition chimique de la poussière dégagée par l'impact.

Les résultats obtenus par cette expérience pionnière permettront d'éclaircir les zones d'ombre concernant la constitution des comètes, formées aux tout débuts du Système solaire. Le noyau cométaire notamment est encore inconnu, et on pourrait découvrir s'il est poreux ou dense. L'homogénéité et l'origine de la comète pourraient également être déterminées.


Pocisk wystrzelony z sondy Deep Impact uderza w kometę

Jak spodziewali się naukowcy i astronomowie, pocisk wystrzelony z sondy Deep Impact, stworzonej przez NASA zderzył się dzisiaj nad ranem z kometą Tempel 1. Miało to miejsce około godziny 7:45 czasu letniego środkowoerupejskiego (CEST, 5:45 UTC).

Wkrótce po tym wydarzeniu, NASA wydała krótką informację prasową o tym wydarzeniu, ze wstępną informacją na temat tego zderzenia.  Konferencja prasowa została zaplanowana na godzinę 11 czasu polskiego.

Deep Impact jest sondą kosmiczną, stworzoną przez NASA w celu zbadania składu wnętrza komety. Poprzednie misje mające podobny cel, takie jak Giotto i Stardurst, miały na celu jedynie fotografowanie komet z możliwie niewielkiej odległości, oraz sprawdzenie ich powierzchni, bez lądowania, ani zderzania się z nimi. Misja Deep Impact jest więc pierwszą okazją do poznania tajemnic, które mogą skrywać komety.

O tym, jak ważna dla NASA jest ta misja, może świadczyć fakt, że sonda kosztowała blisko 330 milionów dolarów.

Misja sondy Deep Impact pomoże odpowiedzieć na podstawowe pytania na temat komety, takie jak:

Naukowcy mają nadzieję, że te zagadki zostaną, choćby częściowo, rozwiązane przy pomocy danych zebranych w czasie misji Deep Impact. Na przykład, rozmiar i kształt krateru, w który uderzył pocisk, powie naukowcom, jak gęsty jest materiał budujący kometę.


Projétil da Nasa choca-se com cometa

Foi bem-sucedida a operação espacial da Nasa nesta segunda-feira. O projétil Impacto Profundo (Deep Impact) colidiu com o cometa Tempel 1 às 5h45 UTC, como esperavam os cientistas.

"Está confirmado. Aconteceu a colisão. As imagens são incríveis", disse o porta-voz do Laboratório de Propulsão a Jato (JPL). "Acertamos exatamente no lugar em que tínhamos planejado. Isto é espetacular. Agora esperamos receber mais imagens do que ocorreu".

O objetivo da missão era saber como o universo surgiu. Os cientistas acreditam que os cometas são restos do nascimento do sistema solar.

Uma astróloga russa afirma que a Nasa alterou seu horóscopo. O choque do projétil com o cometa alterou os elementos da órbita do cometa e sua efeméride correspondente, atrapalhando o seu trabalho. Ela está pedindo US$300 milhões para restituir suas perdas.

"É óbvio que os elementos da órbita do cometa e as suas efemérides mudarão após a explosão, o que interfere no meu trabalho com astrologia e distorce meu horoscópo", afirmou Marina Bai, de acordo com o diário Izvestia.


NASA's InSight Lander makes it to Mars

On Monday shortly before noon US west coast time (2000 UTC), NASA's InSight lander successfully touched down on Elysium Planitia on Mars. It sent a signal beep and image of the surface of Mars to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The lander used aerobraking with a heat shield, then a parachute and finally rockets to achieve a soft landing on the surface. It used similar entry, descent, and landing sequence to the Phoenix spacecraft.

Insight project manager Tom Hoffman said, "We hit the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph [miles per hour; 19,800 kilometres per hour], and the whole sequence to touching down on the surface took only [six and a half] minutes [...] During that short span of time, InSight had to autonomously perform dozens of operations and do them flawlessly — and by all indications, that is exactly what our spacecraft did."

InSight stands for Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. The lander's two-year mission is to assess what Mars is like underground, determining the planet's heat flow and listening to the reverberations of groundquakes and meteorite impacts.

Acting director of NASA's Planetary Science Division Lori Glaze said, "We've studied Mars from orbit and from the surface since 1965, learning about its weather, atmosphere, geology and surface chemistry [...] Now we finally will explore inside Mars and deepen our understanding of our terrestrial neighbor as NASA prepares to send human explorers deeper into the solar system."

InSight is expected to begin its mission in a few months, once it has placed the equipment on the surface of Mars. Its solar panels are now open, catching sunlight and powering the spacecraft. It is equipped to drive a device up to 16 feet (5 meters) down into Mars's surface, a record for Mars probes. This is to help characterize heat flow from the planet. Insight also has ultra sensitive seismometers which it is to use to detect Mars earthquakes for the first time.  By recording the seismic waves from these quakes, InSight would help scientists infer things about the interior of Mars, such as how seismically active it is. InSight has as single seismometer, with which NASA plans to assess signals from different types of vibrational wave, triangulate their sources, and so derive information about the planetary interior.

InSight was launched May 5 of this year and traveled reportedly 301,223,981 miles (somewhat over 484,773,000 kilometres) between planets followed by two suitcase-sized cube satellites called Mars Cube One, individually MarCO-A and MarCO-B, which relayed information to Earth during the landing process.

Previous successful landers on Mars include Viking 1, Viking 2, Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Phoenix, and Curiosity. Of these, only Curiosity is still in communication with Earth, after NASA lost communication with Opportunity in June. InSight's landing spot in the Elysium Planitia is about 600 km from Curiosity's landing site in Gale Crater.


La sonda InSight de la NASA llega a Marte

El lunes, poco antes del mediodía, hora local de la costa oeste de Estados Unidos (20:00 UTC), la sonda InSight de la NASA aterrizó exitosamente en la Elysium Planitia de Marte. Envió una señal acústica y una imagen de la superficie marciana al Laboratorio de Propulsión a Reacción en California.

El módulo de aterrizaje empleó el aerofrenado con un escudo término, luego un paracaídas y finalmente retropropulsores para lograr un descenso suave en la superficie del planeta. Utilizó una secuencia de entrada, descenso y aterrizaje similar a la de la nave Phoenix.

El director del proyecto, Tom Hoffman, indicó "Llegamos a la atmósfera marciana a [19 800 kilómetros por hora] y toda la secuencia de aterrizaje llevó solo [seis minutos y medio] [...] Durante ese breve lapso de tiempo, la sonda InSight tenía que realizar de manera autónoma docenas de operaciones sin un solo fallo y, según todas las lecturas, eso es exactamente lo que hizo".

InSight es el retroacrónimo de Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (en español: Exploración Interior utilizando Investigaciones Sísmicas, Geodesia y Transmisión de Calor). La misión de dos años tiene el objetivo de estudiar el subsuelo de Marte, determinar el flujo térmico y escuchar las reverberaciones de terremotos e impactos de meteoritos.

Lori Glaze, directora en funciones de la División de Ciencia Planetaria de la NASA, señaló "Hemos estudiado Marte desde la órbita desde 1965, aprendiendo sobre el clima, la atmósfera, la geología y la química de la superficie [...] Ahora finalmente exploraremos dentro de Marte y profundizaremos nuestra comprensión de nuestro vecino terrestre, mientras la NASA se prepara para enviar exploradores humanos al sistema solar".

Se espera que la InSight comience su misión en unos meses, una vez que haya colocado el equipamiento en la superficie marciana. Sus paneles solares fueron desplegados, para recibir la luz solar y alimentar la nave espacial. Está equipada para manejar un dispositivo de cinco metros al interior de la superficie, un récord para las sondas de Marte, para ayudar a caracterizar el flujo térmico del planeta. Además, cuenta con sismógrafos ultra sensibles que se usarán para detectar sismos en Marte por vez primera. Registrar las ondas sísmicas podría ayudar a los científicos a inferir cosas sobre el interior de Marte, tales como qué tan sísmicamente activo es.

La InSight se lanzó el 5 de mayo de este año y viajó, según reportes, aproximadamente 484 773 000 kilómetros, seguida de dos nano-naves espaciales, misión denominada Mars Cube One, para aportar información a la Tierra durante el proceso de aterrizaje. Previamente, las sondas Viking 1, Viking 2, Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Phoenix y Curiosity lograron aterrizar exitosamente en Marte. De ellas, solamente la Curiosity mantiene comunicación con la Tierra, luego de que la NASA perdiera comunicación con la Opportunity en junio. El sitio de aterrizaje del InSight, en Elysium Planitia, se localiza alrededor de 600 kilómetros del lugar de la Curiosity, el cráter Gale.


La sonda InSight è sbarcata su Marte: mandata la prima foto

Dopo sei mesi di viaggio nel cosmo, alle ore 20.54 (ora italiana) di martedì la sonda InSight (acronimo di Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) ha toccato il suolo di Elysium Planitia, una zona vicino all’equatore di Marte, a 146 milioni di chilometri di distanza dalla Terra. Sette minuti più tardi, ha inviato a Terra un segnale, assieme alla prima immagine della superficie marziana; la foto, non molto chiara, mostra un panorama  cosparso di polveri.

Il lander Insight della Nasa ha aperto i pannelli solari, completando così lo sbarco sul suolo marziano: questi  forniranno al veicolo l’energia necessaria per effettuare l'esplorazione del pianeta. Un sensore misurerà la temperatura fino a 5 metri di  profondità per verificare se ci sia una forma di calore nel sottosuolo: se così fosse, vorrà dire che l’acqua trovata nel messe di luglio sotto i ghiacci del Polo Sud di Marte, potrebbe essere più calda rispetto a quello che si ipotizzava.

Questo tipo di indagine  sulla struttura interna di Marte potrà dare informazioni anche sulle fasi più remote della formazione dei pianeta terrestre. Un altro scopo della missione è quello di studiare la geofisica, l'attività tettonica e gli impatti di meteoriti su Marte: ciò potrebbe dare pure notizie utili per capire gli stessi fenomeni sulla Terra.

I segnali provenienti dalla sonda sono stati ricevuti anche dall’Agenzia spaziale italiana (Asi) attraverso la grande parabola del Sardinia Radio Telescope in Sardegna; sarà lo stesso radiotelescopio a captare i segnali dei due cubesat: infatti, tutte le informazioni dei due piccoli satelliti arriveranno al S.R.T., già entrato  nel Deep Space Network (una rete internazionale di radiotelescopi a supporto delle missioni interplanetarie e di esplorazione del sistema solare).

È anche di produzione italiana, il sensore stellare, lo Star Tracker, fabbricato negli stabilimenti della Leonardo a Campi Bisenzio (Firenze), che ha guidato la sonda verso Marte.
Un altro strumento, il LaRRI (Laser Retro-Reflector for InSight), è stato costruito dall’Istituto nazionale di fisica nucleare e dall'Agenzia spaziale italiana per dare l'esatta posizione del rover.

Attualmente sono all'opera sul pianeta marziano altri due veicoli della Nasa: Curiosity, arrivato nel 2012, e Opportunity del 2004.
Il vice presidente degli Stati Uniti Mike Pence, alcuni minuti dopo l’arrivo della sonda, si è congratulato con la NASA a mezzo di un tweet, rilevando che questa è l’ottava missione americana di successo su Marte.


InSight Lander van NASA haet Mars bereik

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29 november 2018 - Op maondigaovend is d'n InSight Lander van NASA succesvol d'rin gesjlaag op Elysium Planitia, 'n oetgesjtrèkde vlakde op Mars, te lanje. Hae sjikde e signaal oet in de vorm van 'ne piep, same mit e plaetje van 't oppervlak van Mars. Dees kómme aan bie 't Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Californië.

De lanjer gebroekde aërobraking mit 'n hitssjèld, den 'n parachute en op 't lètste rakètte veur 'n zaachte lanjing op 't oppervlak te bewèrksjtellige. Hae gebroekde 'n saortgelieke binnekóms-, dalings- en lanjingsvolgrie biej 't Phoenix-ruumdevaartuug.

De projèkbehierder van InSight, Tom Hoffman, zag: "Veer rake de atmosfeer van Mars mit 19.800 km per oer en de ganse hanjeling van 't neerkómme op 't oppervlak doerde sjlechs [zès en 'n hauf] menuut [...] Tiejes dees korte tiedssjpan mós InSight autonoom 'n groet aantal versjèllende hanjelinge oetveure en dees gans zónger foute doon; wie 't noe sjteit is det ouch wat 't ruumdevaartuug haet gedaon."

De naam InSight sjteit veur Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy en Heat Transport ("Binneverkènning mit Seismisch Óngerzeuk, Geodesie en Hitsverveur"). De twie jaor doerende missie van de lanjer mót gaon bepaolde wie 't op Mars ónger de gróndj is, waat de hitsvleujing op de planeet is en 't loestere nao de naosjókke van gróndjbevinge en meteorietinsjlaeg.

D'n oetveurenden dirrektäör vanne aafdeiling van planetaire weitesjap biej NASA, Lori Glaze, zag: "Veer höbbe Mars vanoet de baan óm de planeet en vanoet de oppervlakde besjtudeerd saer 1965, woedoor veer dènger höbbe gelierd euver 't waer dao, d'n atmosfeer, geologie en de sjemische samesjtèlling van de oppervlakde [...] Noe zölle veer èntelik de binnekantj van Mars gaon óntdèkke en oos versjtandj van ozen aerdelike naober gaon oetdepe, mitdet NASA zich veurbereid minsjelike verkènners deper 't zónnesjtèlsel in te sjikke."

Van InSight weurt verwach det zien missie binne 'n paar maond tied geit beginne, op 't memènt det d'r zien oetrösting haet denaergezatte op 't oppervlak van Mars. Noe zeen zien zónnepanele aop; dees vange zónleech op en gaeve sjtroum aan 't ruumdevaartuug. Hae is oetgerös mit 'n apparaat det toet 5 maeter deep in de gróndj kan waere gedreve; veur op Mars is det e rekaor. Dit apparaat geit me gebroeke veur de hitsvleuj op de planeet te kènsjetse. InSight haet ouch ultrageveulige seismomaeters die d'r zal gebroeke veur de gróndjsjókke op Mars veur 't iers te detectere. Door de seismische golve van dees bevinge vas te lègke zal InSight weitesjappers helpe dènger aaf te leije van wat aan de binnekantj van de planeet gebäörd, zoewie wie seismisch aktief de planeet is. Insight haet eine seismomaeter woemit NASA van plan is signaal van versjèllende types vibrerende golve te registrere, mit driehooksbepaoling de brón te bepaole en zoe infermasie euvere binnekantj van Mars te achterhaole.

InSight is op 5 mei dit jaor gelanceerd gewaore en haet mier es 484.773.000 km aafgelag tösse de planete, gevolg door twie cubusvörmige satelliete te greute van 'n handjkoffer, genaamp Mars Cube One, individueel MarCO-A en MarCO-B, die infermasie doorsjikke nao de aerd gedoerende 't lanjingsprocès.

Veurige Mars-lanjers die succesvol wore zeen ónger angere Viking 1, Viking 2, Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Phoenix en Curiosity. Van dees communiceert allein Curiosity nog mit de aerd, naodet NASA kommunikasie verloor mit Opportunity in juni. De lanjingsplaats van Insight op 't Elysium Planitia is zoeget 600 km aaf van de lanjingsplaats van Curiosity, in de Gale-krater.

Dit artikel besleit aad nuujs en maak deil oet van oos arsjief van nuujsberichte.


Ruimterobot InSight landt op Mars

InSight, de ruimterobot van NASA die op 5 mei werd gelanceerd, is gisteravond na een reis van bijna zeven maanden veilig geland op het oppervlak van de planeet Mars. De lander dook met een snelheid van ca. 20.000 km per uur de dampkring van Mars binnen en stond zes en een halve minuut later aan de grond. De snelheid werd in die tijd teruggebracht tot nul met behulp van stuwraketten, een parachute en schokbrekende poten. Het is de achtste keer dat een ruimtesonde vanaf de Aarde veilig op Mars landt.

Insight heeft inmiddels ook al de eerste foto's van Mars naar Aarde verzonden. Het duurde acht minuten voordat deze foto's de aarde bereikten.

In de komende twee jaar gaat InSight de bodem van Mars onderzoeken, onder meer met een seismometer die trillingen in de grond meet. Met de meetgegevens verkrijgen wetenschappers inzage naar de inwendige structuur van Mars. Zo wil men bijvoorbeeld ontdekken of Mars ook een vloeibare kern heeft, net als de Aarde. Ook wordt onderzocht of er onder het oppervlak van de Rode Planeet vloeibaar water aanwezig is, een belangrijke voorwaarde voor het bestaan van eventueel leven.


NASA's Juno spacecraft enters Jupiter orbit

Yesterday, NASA announced their spacecraft Juno has reached Jupiter orbit. It was launched almost five years ago to investigate the largest planet of the Solar System, especially its past.

Charles Bolden, NASA administrator, said, "Independence Day always is something to celebrate, but today we can add to America's birthday another reason to cheer — Juno is at Jupiter". He also added the spacecraft would help study the evolution of the Solar System and explore Jupiter's radiation belts.

NASA spent US$1.1 billion for Juno. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) reported Juno was confirmed in Jupiter's orbit at 0353 UTC. Including the camera, the probe has nine scientific instruments. Juno has covered 2.7 billion kilometres (1.7 billion miles) to reach Jupiter.

NASA said non-essential equipment was turned off for the approach. They expect photos in some days. The first orbital revolution period is 53 days. Juno is expected to orbit the planet 37 times keeping an altitude of 5000 kilometres (3100 miles) above the Jovian clouds and then fall into the planet in 2018.

NASA's Galileo, launched in 1989, found evidence of saline water on Jovian satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

The electronics have been encased in titanium to protect them from high-energy radiation.


La sonda Juno raggiunge Giove

Stamattina, alle ore 05:53 (Ora Italiana), la sonda Juno è arrivata in orbita intorno a Giove.

La sonda ha raggiunto il suo obbiettivo dopo un viaggio durato cinque anni.

Alimentata da pannelli solari, la sonda porta con sè 11 apparecchi scientifici, realizzati da diverse agenzie spaziali.

Due di questi sono stati realizzati da aziende Italiane.

Lo scopo della missione è quello di provare l'esistenza di un nucleo solido di Giove, che è una gigantesca palla di gas, grande circa 300 volte la Terra.

Le esplorazioni scientifiche dureranno 20 mesi; a partire dall'arrivo nell'atmosfera del gigante rosso, Juno compirà 37 orbite attorno al pianeta, per lasciare definitivamente il corpo celeste nel febbraio 2018.

L'ultima sonda ad esplorare Giove è stata la New Horizons, sempre della NASA.

Google ha anche dedicato un doodle alla Sonda, per celebrare il suo arrivo su Giove.


«Юнона» достигла орбиты Юпитера

Утром 5 июля 2016 года автоматическая межпланетная станция НАСА «Юнона» вышла на орбиту планеты Юпитер.

В твиттере миссии говорится:

Цель аппарата — изучение Юпитера.

Маневрируя в течение 35 минут на автопилоте, Юнона сбавила скорость и попала под действие гравитационного поля Юпитера. В это время командный центр общался со станцией простыми сигналами: его антенна была направлена на планету Земля, но усилий операторов для корректировки траектории не понадобилось.

По плану, после 1,5 лет аппарат завершит миссию, сгорев в атмосфере Юпитера.

Полный оборот зонд совершит за 53 земных суток, в октябре аппарат начнёт облетать планету за две земных недели. После чего на Землю придут данные.

Стоимость миссии составила миллиард долларов США.

Раньше ни один зонд не приближался к планете на такое расстояние, по причине радиационных поясов, способных ликвидировать электронные устройства на борту станции. Чтобы избежать уничтожения, Юнона оборудована защитными экранами из титана.

Первый космический аппарат, который достигал орбиты Юпитера — «Галилео» с 1995 года по 2003 год.

Интересно, что «Юнона» совершит полный оборот вокруг Юпитера за такое же время, сколько понадобится ультрамарафонцу-википедисту Дмитрию Ерохину для оббега Байкала.

«Юнона» (Jupiter Polar Orbiter) — автоматическая межпланетная станция НАСА, запущенная 5 августа 2011 года для исследования Юпитера. Это второй проект в рамках программы «Новые рубежи». Целью миссии является выход аппарата на полярную орбиту газового гиганта 5 июля 2016 года, изучение гравитационного и магнитного полей планеты, а также проверка гипотезы о наличии у Юпитера твёрдого ядра. Кроме того, аппарат должен заняться исследованием атмосферы планеты — определением содержания в ней воды и аммиака, а также построением карты ветров, которые могут достигать скорости в 618 км/ч. Космический аппарат питается от солнечных батарей, что более характерно для аппаратов, работающих во внутренней части Солнечной системы, в то время как в полетах ко внешним планетам чаще всего используют РИТЭГи. Солнечные батареи «Юноны» являются крупнейшими солнечными батареями, использующимися автоматическими межпланетными станциями на данный момент для выработки электроэнергии. Кроме того, три солнечные батареи играют важнейшую роль в стабилизации аппарата. Название космического корабля происходит из греко-римской мифологии. Бог Юпитер закрыл себя завесой облаков, чтобы скрыть свои проделки, но его жена, богиня Юнона, смогла заглянуть сквозь облака и увидеть его истинную натуру.

5 июля 2016 года


NASA's New Horizons space probe performs first close planetary flyby of Pluto

On Tuesday, NASA's space probe New Horizons reached near Pluto. It was launched about nine-and-a-half years ago on January 19, 2006 to collect data about the dwarf planet, amongst other targets. With its flyby on Tuesday it became the first spacecraft to explore Pluto closely.

NASA collected data regarding the geology of the planet. The space probe had seven scientific instruments and massed about 450 kilograms (about 1000 lb). The probe has Pluto and the Kuiper Belt as its highest priorities. Scientists released images from the flyby on Wednesday. Mission scientist John Spencer said, "We have not found a single impact crater on this image. This means it must be a very young surface".  He put the age of the current surface at no more than 100 million years.

The images also did not show craters on its natural satellite, Charon. NASA said mountains on the planet may be made of water-ice.

In February 2007 the space probe flew by Jupiter. The future mission is to explore the Kuiper Belt.