Budget Problems For MSL

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project has been plagued by budget overruns virtually from the start, and, according to a report by the agency's independent Inspector General, those problems not only continue, but they threaten the November launch date. NASA says it agrees with the report and its conclusions, and is working to solve the problems.

MSL is a highly complex mission meant to study whether Mars is now or ever has been habitable. Its Curiosity rover will be the largest, most capable rover yet sent to another world. MSL already missed a launch window in 2009, and if it can't launch this November or December, the next launch window isn't for another 26 months. Delaying again would cost even more money.

Mapping Luna

Using altimeter data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists have put together the most detailed topographical map of the lunar surface to date. The true, established roughness of the surface suggests the Moon's past was even more violent than scientists had thought-- and they'd already thought it was pretty violent.

The new map can also help those planning to settle Luna. By identifying areas that are permanently in shadow, and therefore constantly cold, the map can tell us where water ice might exist on the surface-- a key to the success of future outposts and settlements.

Worms

Scientists have recently discovered worms living deep within the Earth-- thousands of feet under the surface, in fact. They had expected to find no life at all that deep, or, at best, bacteria or single cell organisms. In comparison to such things, the tiny worms found are absolutely huge.


The discovery makes finding life on other worlds more plausible. Life deep under the surface of Mars, especially, is given a boost. If these worms can exist so deep within Earth, as the reasoning goes, something similar might exist deep within Mars.


Of course, this discovery is simply the latest in a string in which life has been found in supposedly extreme environments. Virtually everywhere on Earth scientists have looked for life, they've found it-- and sometimes when they haven't been looking for it, life has made itself obvious. The worms, therefore, maybe should not have been such a surprise. They do remind us, however, that we are nowhere near able to define exactly where life might thrive and where it will not.

Copenhagen Suborbitals Succeed

An amateur rocketry group called the Copenhagen Suborbitals has successfully launched a rocket from a platform floating in the Baltic Sea. The group had hoped the rocket would reach ten miles altitude. In fact it only reached two miles, but the group still said this first test flight was a success.

The goal of the Copenhagen Suborbitals is to develop an extremely inexpensive launch system capable of carrying indiviiduals on suborbital flights. That's quite a goal for an amateur group, and the Suborbitals clearly have a very long way to go in that regard. Still, they are off to a solid start.

Milky Way Twin

Astronomers have found a galaxy that looks to be the twin of our Milky Way. It is NGC 6744, and it's 30 million light years away in the southern sky.

Looks can be deceiving, however. NGC 6744 is actually about twice as big as our home galaxy.

The Sounds of Titan

When we contemplate other worlds, we rarely include sounds. Often, that's reasonable. Sound requires an atmosphere, so worlds that lack atmospheres will be silent.

Saturn's moon Titan, however, has an atmosphere that is thicker than Earth's. It produces storms. It has methane rain. The surface of Titan could be a noisy place. Scientists are currently trying to understand what sounds there might be like so they can build instruments for future Titan probes which will be able to listen. Specifically, they're interested in detecting thunder. Thunder implies lightning, and lightning jolting the organic compounds of Titan could spark the creation of life.

Endeavour Finally Home

Space shuttle Endeavour came home for the final time early this morning, making a rare night landing on the long runway at Cape Kennedy. Potentially, that might be the last time a shuttle will use the runway.

Endeavour will soon be headed west, where it will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.