Space May Be Filled With Germs Aug 7, 2008
"The universe is mostly empty space, but here and there are special places where complex things can happen: clouds of dust, planetary surfaces, comets and asteroids," said Cornell University astrogeologist. "They appear scattered throughout most of the observable space we can study with our instruments thus far. Astronomers have been finding hundreds of planets around other stars. There are probably lots more places out there where life could exist.". (Newsmax)
Antikythera Mechanism: Scientists Crack Secrets Of 2,000-year-old Astronomical Computer Aug 1, 2008
16, 2001) Two asteroids have been given Irish names in time for St. Patrick's Day. Discovered in July 1987 by famed asteroid hunter and planetary astronomer Eleanor Helin of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Science Daily)
How about social networking in space Jul 30, 2008
An interstellar radio telescope normally used to detect asteroids that could hit Earth is being taken off duty from October 9 to transmit messages from Bebo users into space. The messages are expected to reach a recently discovered planet in 2029. (India Times, India)
Bebo's latest expansion - into space Jul 30, 2008
Now here's something you don't get to write about every day: an interstellar radio telescope normally used to detect asteroids that could hit Earth is being taken off duty on October 9 so that ... "The RT-70 radio telescope that will be sending A Message From Earth is normally used for radio astronomy, and specifically near Earth asteroid research, where it broadcasts radio waves to help identify and track asteroids that could potentially pose a hazard to Earth. "Russian-British cooperation in... (Media Guardian)
Buzz Aldrin Concerned About Moon Rocket Jul 30, 2008
And The Planetary Society, one of the country's largest organizations promoting space exploration, plans to encourage NASA to save money by, for example, exploring asteroids rather than the moon. Some space advocates fear that both Barack Obama and John McCain might latch on to any study as a way to scrap Constellation entirely. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Social networking in outer space Jul 30, 2008
An interstellar radio telescope normally used to detect asteroids that could hit Earth is being taken off duty October 9 to transmit messages from Bebo users into space. The messages are expected to reach a recently discovered planet in 2029. (Sify.com, India)
SaintXi Announces Light of Altair Jul 29, 2008
"The game is played out though the colonies the player builds on worlds, moons and asteroids." explains Lead designer Thomas de Rivaz. "The player can build a colony up from a landing pod to a mighty metropolis, or build a network of colonies to trade with each other. Throughout the storyline the player is free to develop in many different directions and the game adapts to suit the player's needs and discoveries.". (IGN PC Games)
New solar system guide: The latest lingo Jul 29, 2008
But critics have said that asteroids can be found accompanying established planets like Earth, Mars and Jupiter, throwing a wrench in that requirement ... Objects smaller than a dwarf planet are called solar system bodies, according to the IAU. Other astronomers refer to such things, right down to relatively small asteroids, as minor planets ... Named after a Roman goddess of grain, Ceres was discovered in 1801 and was initially considered a planet until astronomers began to spot other asteroids... (USA Today -- Tech)
Houston, we have a problem: Nasa will struggle when shuttle ... Jul 28, 2008
As early as 2004, he was advocating that astronauts should be sent to touch down on hurtling asteroids or visit waypoints out in space known as Lagrange points, where the gravity of the sun and Earth effectively cancel out rather than loop around the Earth. But Griffin has a problem, and it is one he is vexed by. (guardian.co.uk)
Satellite readies for asteroid hunt Jul 24, 2008
An illustration of NEOSSat, the 143-pound satellite expected to launch in 2010 and track asteroids and satellites orbiting near the Earth ... Nearby asteroids could likewise serve as targets for future spacecraft missions to investigate ... NEOSSat will also shed more light on the less famous Inner Earth Objects, or asteroids found close to the sun within Earths orbit, mission managers said. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Distant Dwarf Planet Designated Third 'Plutoid' Jul 22, 2008
That's because its orbit, which falls in the belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, is smaller than that of the more distant Neptune. Originally designated 2005 FY9, the object was nicknamed "Easter Bunny" by its discoverers before officially being named Makemake after the Easter Island creator of humanity and god of fertility, the IAU said. (Fox News)
Horse Racecourse In Ancient Olympia Discovered After 1600 Years Jul 22, 2008
ScienceDaily (July 21, 2008) The site of the ancient hippodrome course in Olympia, where the emperor Nero competed for Olympian laurels, has been discovered. The hippodrome was discovered in Olympia by a research team that included Professor Norbert M. (Science Daily)
Solar systems like ours may be rare Jul 22, 2008
Plus, large planets could kick comets and asteroids out of their orbits and onto paths toward the smaller terrestrial planets. These space rocks could be delivery systems for organic materials and water. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Microbes beneath sea floor genetically distinct Jul 22, 2008
Biddle notes that these microbes could survive major Earth impacts by asteroids, so the subsea floor could be a refuge for life during extinction events. Now this study shows they may be a reservoir of novel genetic material as well. (EurekAlert!)
Tech Fetish Podcast, Episode 23 Jul 16, 2008
Continuing to some space oriented items, we urge everyone who cares about discovering alien life and not getting wiped out by asteroids hitting the planet to be aware that the Arecibo Observatory for lack of funding. Wrapping up the space theme, we next chat about NASA's recently published schedule for the remaining 8-missions of the Space Shuttle program, which will make its last flight in May of 2010. (IGN Gear)
Binary asteroid to glide past Earth this week Jul 15, 2008
"Radar images of the close-approaching space rock reveal two components, a primary and a secondary asteroid. Among all the near-Earth asteroids only a handful come this close," Nehru Planetarium director N Rathnashree told IANS.. A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids, where both bodies are roughly of the same size. (Sify)
Asteroid cruises past Earth ... with a partner! Jul 15, 2008
But scientists want to learn more about binary asteroids because one day they might find one headed our way ... Asteroids are often loose rubble piles rather than solid objects, and pairs are common ... While most asteroids roam in a belt between Mars and Jupiter, some are kicked or drawn inward and cross our path around the sun. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Asteroid cruising past Earth turns out to be two Jul 14, 2008
But scientists want to learn more about binary asteroids because one day they might find one headed our way ... Asteroids are often loose rubble piles rather than solid objects, and pairs are common. (Xinhuanet, China)
Asteroids with Split Personalities Jul 13, 2008
As recently as the 1970s, dynamicists scoffed at the notion that some asteroids have moons, even though observers had reported seeing occasional double blink-outs when asteroids passed in front of stars ... Nature / K. J. Walsh and others , published by a trio of theorists in the July 10th issue of Nature, finds that some asteroids can spin so rapidly that they literally fly apart ... The Nature authors focused on different types of "rubble-pile" asteroids, chunky collections held loosely... (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Water in Moon Dust Raises Questions Jul 13, 2008
The water could also come from meteorites or asteroids that struck the Moon. Saals team suggests that these collisions must have happened within 200 million years of the event that launched the molten lunar building blocks into Earth orbit. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
NASA Hunts "Civilization Killers" Jul 13, 2008
The Earth is pockmarked with the evidence of ancient collisions - huge craters blasted into its surface by asteroids or comets ... Even so, one way or the other, many more potential incoming asteroids will be identified in the next decade, astronomers say. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Solar Spin Put On Asteroid Moon Formation Jul 13, 2008
ScienceDaily (July 11, 2008) Asteroids with moons, which scientists call binary asteroids, are common in the solar system ... Because the team's model closely matches observations from binary asteroids, it neatly fills in missing pieces to a solar system puzzle ... The model gives information on the shapes and structure of near-Earth binary asteroids that could be vital should such a pair need to be deflected away from a collision course with Earth. (Science Daily)
Relationship Violence Appears Common Among College Students Jul 8, 2008
Astronomy students looking for supernovae examined photographs and found asteroids. They used both unaided eyes and computer analysis to identify the. (Science Daily)
Keeping an eye on the skies for the next big (or small) meteor Jul 8, 2008
The Earth is pockmarked with the evidence of ancient collisions - huge craters blasted into its surface by asteroids or comets ... " NASA estimates that there are about 940 or so near-Earth space rocks a kilometer in diameter or larger. So far, according to Yeomans, NASA has identified 743. (Over all, NASA has pinpointed more than 5,500 near-Earth objects.) Budget constraints have slowed NASA's efforts to meet its goal of identifying 90 percent of those big objects by next year. As for rocks... (International Herald Tribune)
Lava could offer clues to planets' birth Jul 7, 2008
He said that if the same method was applied to terrestrial and extraterrestrial basalts, including meteorites from Mars and the asteroids, it could provide "more definitive evidence for a scientifically popular idea that the moon was born from a giant collision between Earth and another large object.". "Michael Garcia, University of Hawaii geologist-geophysicist, said: "They went to Kilauea to first establish whether there is variation (in isotopes), which they did. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
* Volcanoes behind craters on Mercury: researchers Jul 6, 2008
Some have believed the craters were caused by asteroids striking the surface of the planet. Messenger, whose name is derived from Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging, came within 200km of Mercury on Jan. 15. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Sunlight's gentle nudge on asteroids detected Jul 6, 2008
"Golveka is a very good radar target and this group are the world experts in radar," says Alan Harris of the German Aerospace Centre in Berlin, who works on thermal emissions from asteroids ... The researchers will now move on to calculating the masses of other asteroids ... "This is going to allow us to explore asteroids remotely by getting their mass, density and their surface properties," says Chesley, avoiding the difficult and expensive requirement of sending out spacecraft. (Yahoo News -- Meteors and Asteroids)
* [SCIENCE]: A century on, mystery shrouds cosmic impact Jul 5, 2008
Comets move at far greater speeds than asteroids, which means they release more kinetic energy kilogram-for-kilogram upon impact ... Comets are far less numerous than asteroids but are rather more worrying, as they are largely an unknown entity. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Asteroid Impacts On Earth: A Protection Plan Jul 4, 2008
Thwarting the threat of Earth-colliding asteroids is on the action agenda list for former Apollo astronaut, Russell L. (Rusty) Schweickart ... They are the smaller asteroids, in far greater number and could wreak havoc on our world, but in a more localized way ... Speaking recently at a Secure World Foundation luncheon at the University of Colorado - Boulder, Schweickart emphasized that what is needed is an international protocol mission rules -- that deal with asteroids that are menacing to... (Science Daily)
Will Discovery Help Repel Asteroids Headed for Earth? Jul 4, 2008
Will Discovery Help Repel Asteroids Headed for Earth ... Will Discovery Help Repel Asteroids Headed for Earth ... The discovery may help scientists predict asteroids' travel routes with greater accuracy and even provide crucial data to help deflect asteroids headed for Earth, researchers say. (Yahoo News -- Meteors and Asteroids)
Life Altered 12,900 Year Ago By Giant Comet? Jul 3, 2008
The film "Asteroids" is part of that network s "Naked Science" series ... "Our planet has been hit by asteroids many times throughout its history, and when that happens, it does produce climate change.". (Science Daily)
Impact Earth: Could we divert a giant asteroid? Jul 2, 2008
What happened at about 7am on 30 June 1908, near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia is now legendary among scientists studying near-Earth objects asteroids and comets with orbits around the Sun that can bring them perilously close to our own planet ... Asteroids are chunks of rock or space debris left over from the birth of the solar system ... Comets are "dirty snowballs" composed of ice and dust they are less likely to hit the Earth than asteroids. (Independent)
What Hit Siberia 100 Years Ago? Tunguska Event Still Puzzles Scientists Jul 2, 2008
Yeomans and his colleagues at JPL's Near-Earth Object Office are tasked with plotting the orbits of present-day comets and asteroids that cross Earth's path, and could be potentially hazardous to our planet ... Threatening asteroids that zoom past the Earth, fireballs in the sky seen by hundreds of people and mysterious. (Science Daily)
100 Years After Tunguska, Earth Not Ready for Meteors Jul 2, 2008
Most NEOs are asteroids, and NASA currently classifies about 959 asteroids as potentially hazardous. Continued on. (National Geographic)
Fire in the sky Jul 1, 2008
Page last updated at 11:43 GMT, Monday, 30 June 2008 12:43 UK. By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News. (BBC News -- Science)
Canadian scientists to launch miniature asteroid tracker Jul 1, 2008
OTTAWA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A Canadian research team unveiled a plan Monday to launch a mini-satellite that will be able to track the skies day and night, and send back early warning of dangerous asteroids approaching Earth ... The sun blocks astronomers' view and they can study asteroids only at night ... It is designed to provide an early warning of any dangerous asteroids approaching earth. (Xinhuanet, China)
Pitting human will against the whims of the cosmos Jun 30, 2008
The dangers posed by wandering asteroids and comets range from ;zero; (a fly-by, of which there have been several in recent years) to ;certain; (from a large body that may cause global climatic collapse and threaten the future of civilisation as we know it). Fortunately there are no certain predictions for large hits in the near future. (Business Day)
Asteroid anniversary recalls Earth's rocky history Jun 30, 2008
LEARN MORE ABOUT ASTEROIDS ... Summertime a time for sunny days, beach weekends and of course, leisurely reflections on the end of the world and the monster asteroids that could smack into us ... Asteroids and comets are still out there, of course. (USA Today -- Tech)
Asteroid-hunting Satellite A World First Jun 28, 2008
ScienceDaily (June 27, 2008) Canada is building the world's first space telescope designed to detect and track asteroids as well as satellites. Called NEOSSat (Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite), this spacecraft will provide a significant improvement in surveillance of asteroids that pose a collision hazard with Earth and innovative technologies for tracking satellites in orbit high above our planet ... Although NEOSSat's 15-centimetre telescope is smaller than most amateur astronomers',... (Science Daily)
A Canadian gadget that may save the world Jun 28, 2008
In two years, a suitcase-sized telescope will boldly soar into space on a mission to detect crashing asteroids before it's too late ... The $12-million Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite, dubbed NEOSSat, is considered a world's first - designed specifically as an early warning system to pinpoint asteroids on a collision course with Earth ... Scientists gathered at the university's Rothney Astrophysical Observatory southwest of Calgary, where the country's only telescope to search the night... (Globe and Mail)
Planet Survival, Pro and Con Jun 28, 2008
(Caveat: Not all such collision scenarios, which include comets and meteors in addition to asteroids, posit the destruction of all human life on the planet. . (Slate)
Canadian-led space project designed to spot planet-killer asteroids Jun 27, 2008
A one-of-a-kind, $12-million satellite mission to be launched by the Canadian Space Agency in 2010 will track at least some of the tens of thousands of large asteroids within striking distance of Earth ... Instead of looking for asteroids with large telescopes in observatories, researchers will get to see the skies from the point of view of the satellite - 24/7 data from areas not normally visible from earthbound telescopes ... He says there are an estimated 100,000 large asteroids in the solar... (Canada.com)
Bits of ancient earth hidden on the moon Jun 26, 2008
The original idea was presented in a 2002 paper by University of Washington astronomer John Armstrong, who suggested that material ejected from Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment (a period about four billion years ago when the Earth was subjected to a rain of asteroids and comets) might be. Armstrong's suggestion was interesting, but whether a meteor ejected from the Earth might arrive intact on the moon remained an open question. (Yahoo News)
Dwarf Planets Are Planets Too: Get Involved! Jun 24, 2008
This challenge has come to the fore owing to the discovery of numerous dwarf planets in the outer solar system, the recognition that Ceres is a dwarf planet (a fundamentally different body than the smaller asteroids), the discovery of planets around a pulsar, and the numerous discoveries of hot Jupiters orbiting other stars. Geophysicists have come up with a planetary definition that makes a lot of sense. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Active Submarine Volcanoes Found Near Fiji Jun 20, 2008
19, 2000) Volcanoes may pose a bigger threat to life on Earth than asteroids, said geophysicists this weekend at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophyscial Union. Scientists also warned that people. (Science Daily)
Meteorites Brought DNA "Ancestors" to Earth, Study Says Jun 19, 2008
Some of life's crucial building blocks, they said, were forged in the hearts of roving comets and asteroids, which seeded them throughout the cosmos ... The nucleobases could have formed in space or in the interiors of asteroids, where the molecules would have been shielded from harsh ultraviolet light and other radiation, study leader Martins said. (National Geographic)
Ont. space hardware firm to develop micro-satellites Jun 18, 2008
Built for a modest $10 million, MOST is seen as the template for the next generation of small satellites, including another project currently in development, the Near Earth Orbit Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSAT), which will be able to detect and track Earth-orbiting objects and asteroids and has a modest budget of $9. 4 million. (CBC.ca)
More Planets Like Earth? Jun 18, 2008
There are more than 70 sextillion or 70 thousand million million million stars in the cosmos, and that doesn't include uncountable moons and asteroids and comets and more. With all that, you wouldn't think you could generate much buzz by announcing that astronomers had spotted a few dozen more bodies whirling about out there. (Time.com)
NASA Plans To Visit The Sun Jun 17, 2008
Planets, comets, asteroids they all feel it. Curiously, there is no organized wind close to the sun's surface, yet out among the planets there blows a veritable gale. (Science Daily)
Pluto makes new name for itself Jun 16, 2008
Tholen, renowned internationally for his work on asteroids, said in an e-mail that the IAU Executive Committee apparently "decided to take matters into their own hands" since the pluton suggestion was shot down. "As far as I'm concerned, they just muddied the waters even more," he said. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Pluto Finally Gets Some Respect. Sort Of. Jun 13, 2008
To head off a torrent of new trans-Neptunian objects demanding classification as planets, the IAU voted to define a planet as a celestial body orbiting the sun, massive enough that its own gravity pulls it into a roundish shape, and with enough gravity to have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit of asteroids and other chunks left over from the formation of the solar system. It was the third requirement that doomed Pluto: Pluto now falls into the dwarf planet category on... (Newsweek)
'Plutoid' Chosen As Name For Solar System Objects Like Pluto Jun 12, 2008
The absolute magnitude H for planets, dwarf planets, comets and asteroids allows astronomers to compare the brightness of objects as if they all sat one astronomical unit from the Sun and the Earth and at a phase angle of zero degrees. In this scale, increasing brightness corresponds to a decreasing magnitude. (Science Daily)
Astronomy group strokes poor Pluto's bruised ego Jun 12, 2008
"It's a very similar medical condition to asteroids," he joked. Bowell is president of the planetary-systems division of the IAU, the group that recommended the name "plutoid" to the executive committee, which approved it at a meeting in Oslo, Norway, last week, said Bowell. (Arizona Daily Star)
Engineering Researcher Seeks Answers To Asteroid Deflection May 29, 2008
The potential for such devastation has astronomers scanning the skies to find and track asteroids that pose a danger, and it has Wie initiating this concerted research effort now before any asteroids are discovered heading toward Earth. Last November, NASA reported 900 known potentially hazardous objects (PHOs), most of which are asteroids ... Developing technologies that can be used to prevent or mitigate threats from asteroids while also advancing space exploration is a challenge we accept as... (Science Daily)
Phoenix Spacecraft On Course For May 25 Mars Landing May 23, 2008
A NASA mission to two asteroids, one formed of lava and the other potentially containing water, will help find clues about the formation of our solar. . (Science Daily)
Aust lags in space race: Andy Thomas May 23, 2008
Also there is the longer term prospect of minin asteroids for minerals as the easily available deposites on earth are exhausted ... Someone needs to tell the mining industry that there's huge amounts of untapped resources on the planets and asteroids out there, no pesky environmental standards and no-one to complain about having their jobs taking by automated machinery. (ABC Online)
Astronomers Search For Orphan Stars Using Newly Upgraded Telescope May 22, 2008
24, 1999) NASA astronomers searching for asteroids headed toward Earth are expanding their sky-watching repertoire by adding high-tech, computerized electronic upgrades to the classic 1. 2-meter- diameter. (Science Daily)
That's flashy: 100 explosions recorded on the Moon May 22, 2008
Bits of stray comet dust and chips off old asteroids pepper the Moon in small but ultimately significant numbers. Earth gets hit, too, which is why on any given night you can stand under a dark sky and see a few meteors per hour glide overhead no meteor shower required. (USA Today -- Tech)
Robot to Dig Martian Arctic May 21, 2008
"In fact, it's really tough. If we measure organics, the first thing we think is, 'It's terrestrial; we brought it with us.' The second thing is that it's from the asteroids and comets," Smith agreed. "It would take a considerable amount of evidence before we could talk about biology.". (Space.com)
LIDAR Imaging Detector Could Build 'Super Road Maps' Of Planets And Moons May 17, 2008
The device can also be used to probe the environments of comets, asteroids and moons to determine composition, physical processes and chemical variability ... A NASA mission to two asteroids, one formed of lava and the other potentially containing water, will help find clues about the formation of our solar. (Science Daily)
Soon, 3 D 'super road maps' of planets May 17, 2008
The device can also be used to probe the environments of comets, asteroids and moons to determine composition, physical processes and chemical variability. In addition to planetary mapping, imaging LIDAR detectors will have uses on Earth. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Mans Mission to 2000 SG344? May 13, 2008
Some of the complications they will face include the fact that asteroids do not have any gravity of their own ... But whenever we ve sent robotic probes to look at asteroids, we ve always been surprised at what we ve seen, he said ... Many asteroids are remnants of the early universe, being formed from impacts and explosions many millions of years ago. (Canada Free Press)
NASAs Pleiades Project to speed up exploration of universe May 11, 2008
It will also help NASA to design and develop such things as hypersonic airacraft and spacesuits, and simulate the landing of spacecraft on various celestial bodies such as the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. Currently, NASA s fastest running computer is called Columbia. (iTWire)
NASA: Earth May Once Have Had Three Moons May 9, 2008
For example, there are two groups of asteroids in the Lagrangian points of Jupiter's orbit around the Sun one called the "Greek camp" leads the giant planet by 60 degrees in its circular orbit, while the other group, dubbed the "Trojan camp," follows 60 degrees behind. Lissauer and Chambers figure the two small moons would have orbited Earth for about 100 million years before the slight gravitational tugs from the solar system's other planets sent them spiraling off course, either to crash into... (Fox News)
* NASA mulls plan to land astronauts on 40m asteroid May 8, 2008
As well as giving space officials a taste of more complex missions, samples taken from the rock could help scientists understand more about the birth of the solar system and how best to defend against asteroids that veer into Earths path ... Because gravity is close to zero on asteroids, the capsule would need to attach itself, possibly by firing anchors into the surface. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
