Asteroid Disposition

NASA is currently looking at capturing a tiny asteroid and placing it in a stable orbit around the Moon, where it could be visited repeatedly by humans.

Such an asteroid would not become a permanent neighbor, however.  After a century or so, NASA is considering deliberately crashing the thing into the lunar surface.  Of course, by then, residents of the Moon might have something to say about that.

Shutdown Consequences

According to a report NASA has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, if there is a shutdown of the federal government, fewer than 600 of the space agency's 18,000 employees will remain on the job.

Maintaining the safety of personnel and the effectiveness of equipment will be the agency's priorities.

Perchorates And Organics

Perchorates are compounds of salts and oxygen, and are abundant in Martian soil.  A new study suggests they might be hindering the search for life on Mars.

NASA's rover Curiosity heats soil samples to look for organic compounds and possible life.  However, when perchorates are heated the oxygen is released, and oxygen destroys some forms of life.  So, when Curiosity detects organics and possible life in the soil, there may in fact be more there than is detected.

A Two Percent Solution

Analysis of soil samples gathered by the Curiosity rover indicates roughly 2 percent by weight of Martian soil is water.  Scientists believe that ratio will probably hold planetwide.

If it does, that would be a big plus for the human exploration and settlement of Mars.  Humans could meet their water needs by extracting water from the soil.

Earth And Io

A new study argues the very early Earth may have been similar to Jupiter's moon Io, which is currently the most volcanically active body in the Solar System.

Before cooling down and having plate tectonics kick in, the study says Earth released its internal heat through immense and prolonged volcanic eruptions.  Such an environment wouldn't seem a likely incubator for life, but the study argues the release of huge amounts of physical and chemical energy from rock into water would actually have encouraged the creation of life.

More Evidence Of Martian Water

NASA's Curiosity rover has found veins cut through sandstone rock on Mars.  Scientists are confident the cutting agent was flowing liquid water.

It's simply the latest bit of evidence strengthening the case that ancient Mars had substantial amounts of liquid water on the surface.

North Korean Rocketry

North Korea may have tested a large rocket in late August, according to analysts who studied satellite images of the launch site taken days apart, before and after the alleged event.

From that evidence, analysts say the rocket could have been a space launcher-- or it could have been a test of a long range ballistic missile.