The coming of spring is different on Mars than it is on Earth. Mars has a two-tier polar cap configuration, for one thing. The planet has substantially permanent ice caps at both poles made of water ice. Unlike Earth, however, Mars also has seasonal caps. Carbon dioxide freezes through the winter, building upon the permanent caps. Those seasonal caps, of course, are not made of water ice. Instead, they are made of what we know as dry ice.
According to images taken from orbit, spring is breaking on Mars. With the warmer temperatures, the carbon dioxide changes directly back to gas. When that happens beneath the surface, the gas builds pressure and eventually explodes through the layer of ice on top.
Imagine being an early explorer of Mars, sitting in your pressurized scout vehicle, watching such explosions-- a Martian rite of spring.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Virgin Galactic Pushing Forward
Last week, test flights of Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo, the carrier plane that will take SpaceShipTwo from the ground to the altitude to fire its rockets, continued with the longest and fastest flight yet. VG is pleased with the progress being made in checking out the aircraft.
This specific WhiteKnightTwo has been christened "Eve," after the mother of Sir Richard Branson, founder and head of VG. Branson says he looks forward to flying in Eve even before test flights that carry SpaceShipTwo.
Once operational, Eve and her siblings are expected to fly up to four suborbital tourist flights a day.
This specific WhiteKnightTwo has been christened "Eve," after the mother of Sir Richard Branson, founder and head of VG. Branson says he looks forward to flying in Eve even before test flights that carry SpaceShipTwo.
Once operational, Eve and her siblings are expected to fly up to four suborbital tourist flights a day.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Home Sweet Home
Space shuttle Discovery landed safely in Florida yesterday afternoon, bringing STS-119 to a successful conclusion. The mission largely completed construction of the ISS, and brought it to full power with the installation of the final pair of solar panel wings.
For a little more than a day, with a new Soyuz on its way to ISS and Discovery still in space, the human population in Earth orbit stood at 13, the highest ever.
Next up for the space shuttle program-- the final repair of the Hubble Space Telescope.
For a little more than a day, with a new Soyuz on its way to ISS and Discovery still in space, the human population in Earth orbit stood at 13, the highest ever.
Next up for the space shuttle program-- the final repair of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Dulce, New Mexico
According to this week's UFO Hunters, a butte in Dulce, New Mexico, on the Jicarilla Apache reservation, is home to an underground base at which humans and aliens perform horrific genetic experiments. In this episode, the show, which generally tries to stay somewhere close to the evidence it presents, goes over the top. It presents nothing supporting the assertion that anything is in the butte, for instance. Some witnesses report UFOs over the butte, but that's hardly sufficient. There seems to be stories about aliens whirling around the community, but the show offered nothing beyond that. Genetic experimentation? One set of pictures showing a fetus taken from a cow. The show suggested it was some sort of hybrid animal, but gave no further evidence to support that claim.
At its best, UFO Hunters can be interesting. This episode wasn't its best. Carl Sagan used to say, regarding aliens visiting Earth: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Bill Birnes, nominal leader of the UFO Hunters team, clearly doesn't agree with that. At Dulce, however, Birnes goes far beyond even his own lax standards.
At its best, UFO Hunters can be interesting. This episode wasn't its best. Carl Sagan used to say, regarding aliens visiting Earth: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Bill Birnes, nominal leader of the UFO Hunters team, clearly doesn't agree with that. At Dulce, however, Birnes goes far beyond even his own lax standards.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Charles Simonyi
Billionaire Charles Simonyi became the first private space traveler to fly into space twice this morning when his Soyuz launched on its mission to ISS.
Both of Simonyi's flights have been courtesy of Space Adventures. Simonyi said in an interview that this will be his last flight for a very long time. It seems that when wives put the hammer down, even intrepid, billionaire space travelers bow to a higher power.
Both of Simonyi's flights have been courtesy of Space Adventures. Simonyi said in an interview that this will be his last flight for a very long time. It seems that when wives put the hammer down, even intrepid, billionaire space travelers bow to a higher power.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Charles Gibson
Last evening on ABC's World News Tonight, Charles Gibson, who is in Houston at the moment, ran the first of a two part report on the future of America's space program. It was not a strong effort. First, the focus of the report seems to be the manned spaceflight program, which ignores the extraordinarily successful unmanned program. Let's give Charlie a break on that one. Unfortunately, the report had several such loose statements.
Gibson began the report by asserting that most Americans don't know much about their space program. Assuming that's correct, why would it be? Could it be because the mainstream media, including ABC News, doesn't systemically cover the space program?
Gibson went on to note that NASA's headquarters is in Houston. Wrong. NASA HQ is in Washington. Johnson Space Center is in Houston. JSC could loosely be called the headquarters of the manned spaceflight program, but it still takes orders from NASA in Washington, D. C.
Gibson went on to discuss "NASA's plan" to return astronauts to the Moon and to go on to Mars. In fact, NASA doesn't make its own plans, any more than any other Federal agency is free to pursue its own plan. The plan Gibson referenced is U. S. policy. It was developed by the Bush administration in the wake of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy, adopted and funded, so far, by Congress, and maintained, so far, by the Obama administration. NASA is clearly excited by the prospect of sending astronauts beyond low Earth orbit again, but referring to the effort as "NASA's plan" is a touch misleading, and may border on the dismissive.
Hopefully, the next part of the report will be stronger.
Gibson began the report by asserting that most Americans don't know much about their space program. Assuming that's correct, why would it be? Could it be because the mainstream media, including ABC News, doesn't systemically cover the space program?
Gibson went on to note that NASA's headquarters is in Houston. Wrong. NASA HQ is in Washington. Johnson Space Center is in Houston. JSC could loosely be called the headquarters of the manned spaceflight program, but it still takes orders from NASA in Washington, D. C.
Gibson went on to discuss "NASA's plan" to return astronauts to the Moon and to go on to Mars. In fact, NASA doesn't make its own plans, any more than any other Federal agency is free to pursue its own plan. The plan Gibson referenced is U. S. policy. It was developed by the Bush administration in the wake of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy, adopted and funded, so far, by Congress, and maintained, so far, by the Obama administration. NASA is clearly excited by the prospect of sending astronauts beyond low Earth orbit again, but referring to the effort as "NASA's plan" is a touch misleading, and may border on the dismissive.
Hopefully, the next part of the report will be stronger.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Salmonella In Space
Salmonella, the bacteria responsible for many illnesses and some deaths yearly, was sent to ISS by NASA to be studied in microgravity conditions, and the results show Salmonella is even more virulent there than it is on Earth. NASA researchers hypothesize that might be because microgravity is similar in some physical characteristics to the environment of fluidity found in the human gut. The same basic reasoning underlies the practice of astronauts training for spacewalks doing so underwater.
NASA hopes that studying Salmonella in microgravity can lead to new medical approaches to the disease-- both for astronauts in space and people on Earth.
Of course, such an approach won't stop at one disease. Studying how life generally behaves in various gravitational environments promises deeper insights into its fundamental workings. Manufacturing useful chemical compounds-- medicines-- in microgravity that cannot be manufactured at the bottom of Earth's gravity well is also a distinct possibility. Indeed, if such medicines are found to cure some of the real plagues of humanity, that could be the spark that finally establishes private enterprise beyond Earth.
NASA hopes that studying Salmonella in microgravity can lead to new medical approaches to the disease-- both for astronauts in space and people on Earth.
Of course, such an approach won't stop at one disease. Studying how life generally behaves in various gravitational environments promises deeper insights into its fundamental workings. Manufacturing useful chemical compounds-- medicines-- in microgravity that cannot be manufactured at the bottom of Earth's gravity well is also a distinct possibility. Indeed, if such medicines are found to cure some of the real plagues of humanity, that could be the spark that finally establishes private enterprise beyond Earth.
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