Outer Space Crud

[rick49]

"Pioneer Spacecraft Heads Toward Interstellar Space"

www.space.com/20546-nasa-pioneer-spacecraft-photos.html


"40 Years Later, NASA's Pioneer 11 Probe's Solar System Legacy Lives On"

www.space.com/20537-nasa-pioneer-11-spacecraft-anniversary.html



"Ingredient for Life Common on Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa "

"A potential energy source for life appears to be common on Jupiter's icy moon Europa, a new study suggests."

"An analysis of infrared observations of Europa revealed that hydrogen peroxide is abundant on the ice-covered Jovian moon. If the hydrogen peroxide finds a way beneath Europa's surface and mixes with the moon's liquid water ocean, it could be a vital energy source for any life that might exist there, scientists said."

www.b.weather.com/news/science/space/jupiter-moon-europa-life-20130408

[rick49]

"Mars vs. Comet in 2014: Scientists Prepare for Red Planet Sky Show"

"A close encounter between Mars and Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) in 2014 is creating both opportunity and anxiety in scientific circles."

www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/mars_vs_comet_in_2014_scientis/9462203



"What If We Had a Planet Instead of the Moon?"

"The moon is a big object – more than 2,100 miles in diameter, it's about a quarter of the size of Earth, which it orbits at a distance of some 239,000 miles away. But what if our planet was circled by something bigger?"

"Miller spoke with weather.com earlier this week about his most recent project, which imagines what our sky would look like with planets from the solar system in orbit around us: "

www.weather.com/news/science/space/planet-instead-of-the-moon-earth-20130403

Makes nice computer wallpaper.

[reverend]

40 years out and in interstellar terms it's just putting it's coat on!

[rick49]

"Saturn Moon Titan's Methane May Dry Up"

"Today, methane sloshes around in pools on the surface of Titan, but the hydrocarbon may eventually vanish from Saturn's giant moon, according to a new study."

"Images and data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show that the compound doesn't seem to be getting replenished fast enough on Titan's surface to keep the methane cycle sustainable, scientists say."

"We are seeing an active Titan whose active chemistry may come to an end in some tens of million years,"

www.space.com/20706-saturn-moon-titan-methane-lakes.html



"Baby Boom: Ancient Galaxy Fires Out New Stars at Record Pace"

www.space.com/20709-ancient-starburst-galaxy-big-bang.html



"What Might Alien Life Look Like on New 'Water World' Planets?"

www.space.com/20728-new-alien-planets-oceans-life.html

[flatandy]

Rover draws penis in Martian sand.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/24/mars-rover-penis-nasa_n_3144656.html

[rick49]

"Birth of a Black Hole"

"A new kind of cosmic flash may reveal something never seen before: the birth of a black hole."

www.caltech.edu/content/birth-black-hole

[rick49]

Kepler bites the dust.


"Planet-Hunting Kepler Spacecraft Suffers Major Failure, NASA Says"

weather.yahoo.com/planet-hunting-kepler-spacecraft-suffers-major-failure-nasa-203147459.html


It completed it's primary three and a half year mission and was in extended mission before failure, though.

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/keplerm-20130515.html

[Chromo]

Been hearing the 'interstellar" news for years now

science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast03may_1/

[Eric]

Nice story Chromo.

[hammerhead]

Yeah, good read that.

[rick49]

"In the next million years, Pioneer 10 will pass ten stars at distances ranging from three to nine light years, and will probably still be traveling through the Milky Way galaxy when the Sun becomes a red giant and destroys our planet five billion years hence."

[Chromo]

Maybe the only evidence that intelligent life that ever existed.

[rick49]

"Rover Finds New Evidence That Ancient Mars Was Habitable"

"NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has made perhaps the biggest discovery of its nearly 10-year career, finding evidence that life may have been able to get a foothold on the Red Planet long ago."

"The Opportunity rover spotted clay minerals in an ancient rock on the rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater, suggesting that benign, neutral-pH water once flowed through the area, scientists said."

"This is water you could drink," Opportunity principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell University told reporters today (June 7),

"Opportunity's latest discovery fits well with one made recently on the other side of the planet by the rover's bigger, younger cousin Curiosity, which found strong evidence that its landing site could have supported microbial life in the ancient past."

news.yahoo.com/rover-finds-evidence-ancient-mars-habitable-193232257.html;_ylt=A2KJ2UZx5bNRRScAzhfQtDMD

[jimboky]

"Rover Finds New Evidence That Ancient Mars Was Habitable"



Isn't that a hell of a conclusion to make with such little data?
I'm as big a fan of the Mars rovers, however there still may be something we haven't seen, seems early to make conclusions

[rick49]

"60 Billion Alien Planets Could Support Life, Study Suggests"

"Though only about dozen potentially habitable exoplanets have been detected so far, scientists say the universe should be teeming with alien worlds that could support life. The Milky Way alone may host 60 billion such planets around faint red dwarf stars, a new estimate suggests."

"Based on data from NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, scientists have predicted that there should be one Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of each red dwarf, the most common type of star. But a group of researchers has now doubled that estimate after considering how cloud cover might help an alien planet support life."

www.accuweather.com/en/outdoor-articles/astronomy/60-billion-alien-planets-could/14849761


"OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Exceeds 37 Kilometers of Odometry!"

marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html#opportunity


"Mars Rover Opportunity Passes Half-Way Point to Next Destination"

marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20130702a.html

[rick49]

"NASA Hubble Finds a True Blue Planet"

"If seen directly, this planet would look like a deep blue dot, reminiscent of Earth's color as seen from space. That is where the comparison ends."

"On this turbulent alien world, the daytime temperature is nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it possibly rains glass -- sideways -- in howling, 4,500-mph winds. The cobalt blue color comes not from the reflection of a tropical ocean as it does on Earth, but rather a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds laced with silicate particles. Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more than red light."

www.weather.com/news/science/space/nasa-hubble-finds-true-blue-planet-20130713



"If The Sun Went Out, How Long Could Life On Earth Survive?"

www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/if-sun-went-out-how-long-could-life-earth-survive

[Eric]

Jul 20, 2013 15:57:38 GMT rick49 said:

"NASA Hubble Finds a True Blue Planet"

"If seen directly, this planet would look like a deep blue dot, reminiscent of Earth's color as seen from space. That is where the comparison ends."

"On this turbulent alien world, the daytime temperature is nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it possibly rains glass -- sideways -- in howling, 4,500-mph winds. The cobalt blue color comes not from the reflection of a tropical ocean as it does on Earth, but rather a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds laced with silicate particles. Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more than red light."

Been there.
Its overrated.

[flatandy]

This is utterly lovely for us remote-sensing nerds.

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia17080.html#.UfFv9o3VCSo

Curiosity seen from HiRISE.

Tiny thing we put on Mars seen, along with its tracks and it's dead rocket, by other tiny thing we put orbiting around Mars.

[voice]

Thats Arizona that is...

[rick49]

"Mars Curiosity Rover Sings 'Happy Birthday' To Itself"

"Anyone listening on Mars would have heard the Curiosity rover singing to celebrate its one-year anniversary since touching down."

news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57597122-1/mars-curiosity-rover-sings-happy-birthday-to-itself/