Computer Virus At JAXA

It can happen to the best of us.

A computer at the Japanese space agency has been infected with a virus. The agency said the virus got access to sensitive information about the H-2 Transfer Vehicle, the Japanese cargo ship that services ISS.

The agency doesn't yet know where the virus originated, but the very same computer was infected last summer.

Phobos-Grunt Coming Home

Phobos-Grunt, the Russian space probe intended to sample the Martian moon Phobos and return the sample to Earth, is expected to fall back to Earth sometime this weekend. The probe never made it out of Earth orbit as an upper stage rocket failed to ignite.

Russia says most of the probe will burn up during re-entry, but as many as twenty pieces may reach the surface. Those pieces are currently seen hitting harmlessly in the Indian Ocean, but that could still change.

Kepler Finds Tiny Solar System

Using data from the Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft, astronomers have discovered three tiny planets in orbit around a tiny star. The star is a red dwarf, and all three worlds are smaller than Earth-- a major breakthrough in the search for exoplanets. One of the three, the smallest, is roughly the size of Mars. All three orbit the star in less than two Earth days, so they are not seen as likely homes of life.

This discovery does bring up another possibility related to life, however. Red dwarfs are the most common stars in the universe. They are also stable for extraordinarily long periods-- billions of years. If a civilization decided to expand beyond its home star system, therefore, establishing colonies in red dwarf systems might be obvious stepping stones. Now, we have confirmed that at least some red dwarfs have planetary systems, which would mean those potential colonizers could have plenty of raw materials at their disposal in their new homes. It might be worth monitoring such stars for radio signals.

More Planets Than Stars

There are roughly 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. According to a new study, however, there are even more planets-- perhaps 160 billion-- orbiting their stars in an area corresponding to the expanse between Venus and Saturn. Further, most of those worlds are small and rocky, roughly similar to Earth.

Actually, of course, there are even more planets than that because we know planets orbit stars both inside and outside those boundaries. Just in the Solar System, Mercury orbits inside Venus while Neptune and Uranus orbit outside Saturn. It's also possible that most planets do not orbit stars at all. They are rogue planets, ejected from their home systems, flying through the void of space unattached.

Another Approach To Finding Exoplanets

Astronomers using old Hubble Space Telescope data have already found a couple of exoplanets. Now, they are going to take a more systematic approach to mining HST archival data in hopes of finding more.

The new effort will focus on 350 nearby stars. Using the data, researchers have found planets in orbit around a star 130 light years distant. If any further possible exoplanets are found in the ten years of data available, they can be checked by leading observatories using techniques not yet developed when the HST images were originally taken.

Searching For Aliens

SETI researchers have already begun focusing their search for alien radio signals on Earth-like exoplanets found by the Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft. That list will almost certainly grow as Kepler continues its mission. There is also another possibility. Astronomers have found Jupiter- and Neptune-type worlds orbiting in the habitable zones of their stars, and speculate those exoplanets could have Earth-like exomoons. If such giant satellites are discovered, they would also be SETI possibilities.

This, of course, constitutes a new era for SETI. Heretofore, researchers would sometimes target Sun-like stars, but most SETI searches scanned the sky.

Using The X-37B

Reacting to a news report that said the U. S. Air Force is using its secret X-37B unmanned spaceplane to spy on China's space station module, the USAF insists it's doing nothing of the kind. Outside experts tend to agree, noting the difference in the orbits of the two spacecraft. Of course, that doesn't mean the U. S. isn't interested in Tiangong 1, but those same experts say America has better ways to get information about it.

The USAF says it is using the X-37B to test new technologies, but declines to go beyond that. For whatever it's worth, the outside experts say that's reasonable.

One of those new technologies is clearly not a cloaking device. Amateur astronomers around the world are tracking both spacecraft.