Monsters are iNNNtersting

It’s almost Halloween! As a scifi dork, I love this time of year. But also as a man of a certain age, another thing I love is the master of humor his own self, Bug Bunny. So to get you in the Halloweeny mood, soak in the genius of Hare Raising Hare

Tip o’ the brow ridge to Samurai Frog.

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/FTGRvD8887U/

Interactions with Aerosols Boost Warming Potential of Some Gases

For decades, climate scientists have worked to identify and measure key substances ? notably greenhouse gases and aerosol particles ? that affect Earth’s climate. And they’ve been aided by ever more sophisticated computer models that make estimating the relative impact of each type of pollutant more reliable.
Yet the complexity of nature ? and the models [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/30/interactions-with-aerosols-boost-warming-potential-of-some-gases/

What?s Next for the Ares Rocket?

Written by Nancy Atkinson
After Wednesday’s picture perfect launch of the Ares I-X test rocket ? which revealed no real showstoppers or issues as of yet for the vehicle ? the obvious next question is: now what?
Much of what comes next for the Ares program, and Constellation in general, hinges on any decisions the Obama administration [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/30/whats-next-for-the-ares-rocket/

Picture of the day ? All for One

The International Space Station’s Expedition 1 crew took a break from training in the systems integration facility at the Johnson Space Center to pose for a crew photo in this picture from May 2009. From the left are cosmonaut and flight engineer Sergei Krikalev, mission commander William Shepherd and cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko, Soyuz commander.
Behind [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/30/picture-of-the-day-all-for-one/

Awesome to the corps

When I was in high school I was a marching band dork. Shocker, I know. But let me tell you something: we were good. Very good. We won a lot of competitions, and we hosted a drum and bugle corps competition at our school that pulled in the best from around the country. To this day, all these decades later, it’s still the loudest thing I have ever heard.

We humans have incredible talents: imagination, cleverness, dexterity, and musical abilities that are truly astonishing. Don’t believe me? Then behold:

Un. Flipping. Believable.

Those guys have major talent. Watch the bit from 4:50 to 5:10 again, and call those guys dorks. Holy mackerel, they rock.

Tip o’ the chapeau to Fark.

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/RgQGvOzD23c/

Station Crew Prepares for Cargo Craft Departure

(NASA) – The Expedition 21 crew of the International Space Station focused on a variety of science and housekeeping activities Wednesday and prepared for the departure of a Japanese cargo craft.
Flight Engineer Nicole Stott kicked off her workday by participating in a study of changes in aerobic capacity for station crew members during long-term [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/29/station-crew-prepares-for-cargo-craft-departure/

LRO Takes Closer Look at Apollo 17 Landing Site

Written by Nancy Atkinson
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter maneuvered into its 50-km mapping orbit on September 15, which enables it to take a closer look at the Moon than any previous orbiter.
This also allows for comparing previous images taken by LRO when it was at its higher orbit. Here’s the Apollo 17 landing site: just [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/29/lro-takes-closer-look-at-apollo-17-landing-site/

Opening up a Colourful Cosmic Jewel Box

The combination of images taken by three exceptional telescopes, the ESO Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal , the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO?s La Silla observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, has allowed the stunning Jewel Box star cluster to be seen in a whole new light.
Star clusters are among the most visually [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/29/opening-up-a-colourful-cosmic-jewel-box/

Death metal from the Skies!

What we would do without Twitter? If not for that 140 character service, I never would have found out that Dr. Chaotica wrote and performed a song called "Death from the Skies!", based on what is considered by some (OK, just me) to be the finest book to come out in 2008 (and 2009 in paperback).

I’m more of an ABBA and Shostakovich guy, but I have to admit I found my toe tapping to this happy tune of death and destruction from space.

Full story at http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/28/death-metal-from-the-skies/

NASA Awards Space Radiobiology Research Grants

WASHINGTON – NASA is funding 12 proposals from nine states to investigate questions about the effects of space radiation on human explorers. The selected proposals from researchers in Alabama, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington have a total value of approximately $13.7 million.
The ground-based studies will address the impact of space [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/28/nasa-awards-space-radiobiology-research-grants-2/

SMOS and Proba-2 installed in launch tower

In readiness for launch on 2 November, ESA?s SMOS and Proba-2 satellites ? encapsulated in the launcher fairing ? have been transported from the cleanroom and installed in the launch tower at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
This morning, the ?upper composite? of satellites joined to the Breeze-KM upper stage and sealed within the fairing [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/28/smos-and-proba-2-installed-in-launch-tower/

Ares I-X Countdown in Progress Again

With the countdown under way, the launch team is targeting a 6 a.m. rollback of the rotating service structure. The launch window opens at 8 a.m. and extends until noon. At present, the most likely T-0 may come between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.
Just as yesterday, the weather will be the question of the day. The [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/28/ares-i-x-countdown-in-progress-again/

Asteroid exploded over Indonesia weeks ago

I am just now hearing about an asteroid estimated to be about 10 meters across blowing up over Indonesia on October 8. Apparently no one was injured. I have no clue how I missed this, but The Telegraph has the story. This is not an everyday occurrence, but 10 meter rocks probably do come in and explode high over the Earth’s surface every few years or so. If they’re rock they won’t make it to the ground; instead they blow up due to the incredible force of their passage through the air (in this case, the explosive yield was about 50 kilotons of TNT). Smaller rocks will rain down, though.

If it’s metal, that would be worse. It might withstand the aerodynamic pressure and hit intact. However, like I said, this is pretty rare.

The newspaper article above plays up the "What if it were just a bit bigger?" aspect, which is true enough, but what can we do? A rock or chunk of metal 30 or so meters across is dangerous, sure, but is too small to see very far out, so there’s not much we can do about it. That’s not exactly great news. It’s possible it might get spotted a day or two in advance — we’ve seen smaller ones with a day’s warning — but most likely our first warning would be the flash in the sky.

It would cost a fortune, hundreds of millions or more, to set up telescopes to scan the sky deeply and quickly enough to see all these rocks. There are some ’scopes like that in the works, but I suspect the political will to create the network needed just isn’t there. It may take a few more impacts like the one over Indonesia before people start taking this seriously.

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/ZDIcPU2aMxY/

Visiting Vehicle Operations Keep Station Crew Busy

(NASA) – A Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) will be unberthed from the International Space Station on Friday then re-enter the Earth?s atmosphere for destruction over the Pacific Ocean. On Monday, the crew reviewed robotics operations and prepared Russian cargo for stowage inside the HTV. Flight Engineers Robert Thirsk and Nicole Stott will be at [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/27/visiting-vehicle-operations-keep-station-crew-busy/

DLR simulates Mars? atmosphere in G�ttingen

Is the Earth the only place in our Solar System on which living organisms exist? Is there, for example, life on Mars?
The goal of the European space mission ExoMars is to resolve this question. To this end, the atmosphere on Mars is being simulated at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum f�r Luft- und [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/27/dlr-simulates-mars-atmosphere-in-gottingen/

Picture of the Day ? Ares I-X at the Launch Pad

NASA’s Ares I-X rocket is seen on Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. The flight test of Ares I-X, scheduled for today, Oct. 27, 2009, will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/27/picture-of-the-day-ares-i-x-at-the-launch-pad/

Felicia Day collides galaxies!

Regular readers know I have an marginally unhealthy crush on Felicia Day. Of course, so do millions of other people, so she’s probably relatively safe from me.

But are we safe from… colliding galaxies? Apparently, only Felicia knows for sure, as she demonstrates in this NASA PSA:

Hey! That was funny! Like, really funny! Lots of inside jokes for Felicia’s fans, too ("Is this your first time doing an internet video, Miss Day?") A lot of times videos like this are just painful, but this one is actually really good. Felicia is great, and the Sean Astin stuff cracked me up.

And I think someone’s been reading my book… OK, probably not. But the way she talked about all the astronomy was very natural and smooth, so I just know deep in her heart Felicia’s harboring a strong and undeniable love for astronomer. I mean astronomy. Yes! Astronomy! Of course that’s what I meant!

Sigh. We’ll always have Comic Con.

Tip o’ the Guilded lily (see what I did there?) to Javier Pazos.

Full story at http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/26/felicia-day-collides-galaxies/

Nano-Spacecraft Specialist Joins White Label Space

It is widely believed that space exploration is set to experience a revolution due to nanotechnology, and Christos Merkouris has joined White Label Space to advise the team on how best to take advantage of the new technologies that are becoming available in this area.
Christos is a Master of Science candidate at the Department of [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/25/nano-spacecraft-specialist-joins-whiet-label-space/

Speed Up ? Hybrid Static Test

An Update from the Speed Up Team: Last Saturday we did a static test with another hybrid grain. This one was made from a 2″x12″ PVC pipe nipple with threaded end caps. The fuel was candle wax.
I’m happy to say the catalyst ignition system is completely confirmed. The video shows a white peroxide cloud for [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/25/speed-up-hybrid-static-test/

Astronomy Question of the Week: What happens when stars play hide-and-seek?

Astronomers know the answer and would therefore have been able to answer the One-Million-Euro question in the 250th episode of G�nter Jauch?s hit TV show Who wants to be a millionaire?: What is an eclipsing binary?
An eclipsing binary is a special binary star system. A binary star is a system comprising two stars which lie [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/26/astronomy-question-of-the-week-what-happens-when-stars-play-hide-and-seek/