Source from CNN

New evidence of massive black hole

LONDON, England (Reuters) — Chinese scientists said on Wednesday they had gathered evidence that shows a giant object in the center of our galaxy is a super-massive black hole.

Zhi-Qiang Shen and researchers at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory captured radio waves emitted just beyond the edge of the mysterious object, known as Sagittarius A, with a system of 10 radio telescopes spread across the United States.

In a report in the science journal Nature they said it “provides strong evidence that Sgr A is a super-massive black hole.”

The celestial objects that suck in everything around them including light are among the most mysterious objects in the universe. They are formed when matter from a dying star collapses under its own gravity.

Black holes have been described as the ultimate victory over gravity because of their ability to suck in stars and other galactic features.

Scientists have long suspected the presence of a black hole in the center of the Galaxy. Astronomers believe it is four million times more massive than our Sun.

The research reported in Nature suggests the black hole is as wide as the radius of the Earth’s orbit.

“These observations provide strong evidence that Sgr A is indeed a black hole, and afford a glimpse of the behavior of the matter that is about to flow into it,” said Christopher Reynolds, of the University of Maryland in the United States, in a commentary in the journal.

He described the findings as a further step towards capturing an image of the shadow around the edge of a black hole, which would be a classic test of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

The theory predicts that massive bodies — planets, stars or black holes — actually twist time and space around as they spin.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/11/03/black.hole.reut/index.html

As a VERY amatuer astronomer (only two telescopes, one pair of binoculars, some cheap software, and a fair knowledge of the night sky, I love staying abreast of the lastest interstellar news. Mars is getting the big attention lately, and now is a great time to take the scopes out and get some quiet time with one of our closest neighbors in the sky.

Rich

AS MARS’ ORBIT NEARS EARTH, USE OUR TUTORIAL TO BECOME A MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE-FORM
By KARALEE MILLER
Fort Worth Star Telegram
10/26/2005

Space lovers everywhere are seeing red this week — and they couldn’t be happier.

Mars is the talk of the galaxy right now as its orbit inches closer and closer to our humble abode, Earth. The big moment comes into full view Saturday. And you know what that means — break out the telescopes; set up the lawn chairs; call a friend.

Mars will come closest to Earth at about 10:20 p.m. Oct. 29, when it will be a stone’s throw from Earth at 43.1 million miles. Mars will reach opposition to the sun — it will be opposite the sun from our view here on Earth — on Nov. 7.

Although it won’t be as close as it was two years ago — when it drew closer to Earth than it has been in nearly 60,000 years — it still will be a sight to see.

Armed with a telescope, sky gazers should be able to make out many of the planet’s surface details, like bright clouds, large dust storms and polar caps, says Karen Massey, an assistant at the Noble Planetarium at the Fort Worth (Texas) Museum of Science and History.

“What’s interesting about this event that’s different from August 2003 is that Mars is farther north and higher in the sky this time, so we’re looking through less atmosphere,” she says. “It will have a better, clearer view.”

Oh, and if you think you’ll just catch this the next time it happens, patience had better be one of your virtues. The next time Mars will be closer than this: summer 2018.

Did you know Mars . . .

– is the fourth planet from the sun and the seventh largest?

– is the only planet with a surface that can be plainly seen and charted from Earth?

– has polar ice caps, clouds, dust storms and four seasons?

– shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the sun, moon and Venus?

– is about half the size of the Earth and twice the size of the moon?

– takes almost twice as long as the Earth to go around the sun?

– is named after the Roman god of war?

– would be a dieter’s dream? That’s because we’d all weigh less on Mars than we do here on Earth. Mars is less dense than Earth and has much less gravity.

Touchdown:

Three methods have been used to explore Mars: flybys, orbiters, and landers and rovers. NASA says future Mars exploration may use airplanes and balloons, subsurface explorers and sample returns.

Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to have a successful flyby of Mars, on July 14, 1965, snapping the first pictures of Mars’ surface. The spacecraft was not expected to survive past its eight-month voyage, but it ended up lasting about three years in solar orbit.

Two Mars rovers — Spirit, above, and Opportunity — have been exploring sites on opposite ends of Mars since January 2004. They are now in the third extension of their missions.

Mars in pop culture

Our collective fascination with the red planet has yielded everything from great (and mediocre) literature to tasty small consumables and expensive Hollywood films. Arm yourself for your next Trivial Pursuit game with these facts:

“– War of the Worlds:” The sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells was published in 1898 and describes the invasion of Earth by Martians. In 1938, Orson Welles presented it as a radio play, creating panic among some listeners. Movie director Steven Spielberg revisited the extraterrestrial storyline with this year’s film, starring Tom Cruise and the ubiquitous Dakota Fanning.

– Marvin the Martian: Looney Tunes got on the Mars bandwagon in 1948 by introducing Marvin the Martian in the short cartoon film “Haredevil Hare”.

– Mars Bars: Can’t seem to get your hands on a yummy Mars Bar these days? Just reach for a Snickers Almond Bar. Confused? Don’t be. The folks at Mars Inc. stopped marketing the candy bar in the United States as the Mars Bar and now sell it as the Snickers Almond Bar. However, elsewhere in the world, the same candy bar is sold as the Mars Almond bar.

“– Veronica Mars”: This junior detective lives in a town called Neptune and sports the last name Mars. No wonder fans think the show and its star, Kristen Bell, are out of this world.

“– Mars Attacks!” Wacky film director Tim Burton gave audiences this 1996 sci-fi spoof about Martians invading Earth that has become a cult favorite.

“– Red Planet”: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss and Benjamin Bratt jumped aboard this 2000 flick about astronauts searching Mars to find ways to save Earth. The movie’s original title was “Mars”, but was changed to avoid confusion with the Brian D Palma-directed “Mission to Mars”, released the same year.

“– Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”: In 1993, counselor and author John Gray gave readers something to think about with his book about how the sexes can learn to better understand, relate to and appreciate each other. Many found his advice down-to-earth, while others thought he should buy a one-way ticket to Pluto.

– Blondie: This new wave group, led by rock diva Debbie Harry, gave music listeners this little lyrical gem in 1981’s “Rapture” — “‘Cause the man from Mars stopped eatin’ cars and eatin’ bars/And now he only eats guitars” The song was the first chart-topping rap single.

Face time

Some people believe a mysterious “face” on Mars is evidence that there is life on the Red Planet. The face was discovered in 1976 by NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft while it was scoping potential landing sites for its sister ship. Mission controllers noticed a likeness of a human face jutting from the ground in the planet’s Cydonia region.

After much talk and further investigation, most planetary scientists agree the face was created when unusual lighting conditions fell upon a Martian hill. But that hasn’t killed speculation — or Hollywood’s interest.

The face has been used as a plot device in the TV shows “The X-Files” and “Futurama” and the film “Mission to Mars.”

SOURCES: Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov; www.planetary.org; www.mars.com; http://science.nasa.gov; “Entertainment Weekly”; www.imdb.com

Anyone got a match…oh, never mind.

Source

NASA unveils moon program
By Kate Tobin
CNN

(CNN) — NASA Administrator Michael Griffin rolled out NASA’s plan for the future Monday, including new details about the spaceship intended to replace the shuttle and a timeline for returning astronauts to the moon in 2018.

The design for the new crew exploration vehicle (CEV) looks a lot like the Apollo-era spaceship that first took NASA to the moon a generation ago. It is a similarity that is not lost on Griffin.

“Think of it as Apollo on steroids,” he told reporters at NASA headquarters in Washington.

Under the new NASA plan, a “moon shot” would actually require two launches, both using rockets derived from shuttle launch hardware.

One unmanned, heavy-lift rocket would transport a lunar lander plus supplies and other equipment to low-Earth orbit.

Afterward, a second rocket would carry a crew capsule capable of transporting up to six astronauts into a similar orbit. The two would dock with each other, and then head to the moon.

The first few missions are planned to put four astronauts on the surface of the moon for a week, while the unoccupied mothership orbits overhead. Once back in the crew capsule, the astronauts would return to Earth, with the capsule parachuting to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert.

Griffin said the total cost of the program spread out over 13 years will be $104 billion in 2005.

“Unless the United States wants to get out of the manned space flight business completely, then this is the vehicle we need to be building,” he said.

“And I don’t hear anyone saying that the United States would be better off being out of space, when other nations are there.”

He also dismissed speculation that federal spending on clean-up and rebuilding along the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina might eat into funds that would otherwise be earmarked for the space agency.

“The space program is a long-term investment in our future. We must deal with our short-term problems while not sacrificing our long-term investments in our future. When we have a hurricane, we don’t cancel the Air Force. We don’t cancel the Navy. And we’re not going to cancel NASA.”

In the wake of the shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, NASA officials announced that the agency intends to end the space shuttle program in 2010.

The CEV is expected to be ready for test flights around 2012. In the meantime, NASA intends to launch robotic missions to the moon in 2008 and 2011, to scout possible landing sites.

Unlike the spacecraft of the Apollo era, which could land only on the moon’s equator, the new lunar lander should be able to set down anywhere on the moon’s surface, NASA said.

NASA scientists said a landing site at the lunar south pole might be of particular interest because previous studies indicated the presence of ice there.

One goal of future moon missions will be to learn how to “live off the land,” using the hydrogen and oxygen from water ice as well as other compounds from the lunar soil to make rocket fuel and other “consumables” necessary for long-term space missions.

Griffin on Monday did not lay out a timeline for the construction of a lunar base or a manned mission to Mars, both of which have been included previously as part of President Bush’s “vision for space exploration.”

He did indicate, however, that both of those activities remain on the table, to be pursued as the budget allows.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/09/19/nasa.moon/index.html

I sure hope this mission completes ok, without any problems. After seeing a shuttle land at Edwards Air Force Base back in the spring of 2001 (while parked at the auto parts store, north of the main town intersection in Mojave, California, from high ground off the highway heading into Tehachipi Pass, and using REALLY good binoculars), I have always paid a lot more attention to the Shuttle program than I did before. Now, the astronauts are doing the equivalent of what I have done a LOT in my life…emergency road side repairs…with only the tools at hand. Can’t imagine how this one might turn out….but then again, I’ve been pretty darn good, and pretty fortunate to know what *I’m* doing, when I have to do it.

I’m saying prayers for this one…

Rich

Source

Space shuttle to get critical fix

By Paul Rincon
BBC News science reporter, Houston

Experts are confident the shuttle will return safely to Earth
An astronaut is to make unprecedented repairs to the space shuttle Discovery, the US space agency Nasa has announced.

Stephen Robinson will remove strips that are sticking out between heat shield tiles on Discovery’s belly.

Nasa is concerned the dangling material - called gap fillers - could cause part of the shuttle to overheat as it re-enters the atmosphere.

Astronauts have never fixed a shuttle’s heat shields on a spacewalk before - or gone under an orbiting shuttle.

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Space shuttle to get critical fix

Very interesting theories….but do they hold water?

Rich

[SCI] The Shadow of Extinction: Why the End is Near

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Shadow of extinction

Only six degrees separate our world from the cataclysmic end of an ancient era

George Monbiot
The Guardian

It is old news, I admit. Two hundred and fifty-one million years old, to be precise. But the story of what happened then, which has now been told for the first time, demands our urgent attention. Its implications are more profound than anything taking place in Iraq, or Washington, or even (and I am sorry to burst your bubble) Wimbledon. Unless we understand what happened, and act upon that intelligence, prehistory may very soon repeat itself, not as tragedy, but as catastrophe.

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Very interesting theories….but do they hold water?

Link to the USAToday story here…

Posted 12/25/2004 3:50 AM

Asteroid has 1-in-60ish chance of Earth hit
By Robert Roy Britt, SPACE.com
An asteroid that has a small chance of hitting Earth in the year 2029 was upgraded to an unprecedented level of risk Friday, Dec. 24. Scientists still stress, however, that odds are further observations will show the space rock won’t be on a collision course with the planet.
The risk rating for asteroid 2004 MN4 was raised Friday by NASA and a separate group of researchers in Italy.

The asteroid’s chance for hitting Earth on April 13, 2029 has now been categorized as a 4 on the Torino Scale. The level 4 rating — never before issued — is reserved for “events meriting concern” versus the vast majority of potentially threatening asteroids that merely merit “careful monitoring.”

The Dec. 24 update from NASA states:

“2004 MN4 is now being tracked very carefully by many astronomers around the world, and we continue to update our risk analysis for this object. Today’s impact monitoring results indicate that the impact probability for April 13, 2029 has risen to about 1.6%, which for an object of this size corresponds to a rating of 4 on the ten-point Torino Scale. Nevertheless, the odds against impact are still high, about 60 to 1, meaning that there is a better than 98% chance that new data in the coming days, weeks, and months will rule out any possibility of impact in 2029.”

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Eyes to the Sky, people!