Source from CNN

NASA sets priorities: Agency will focus on completing space station, shuttle replacement

WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA’s top priorities are a replacement for the space shuttle and completing the international space station, and some other programs are being cut or deferred to concentrate the agency’s resources, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin said Thursday.

“NASA cannot afford to do everything on its plate today,” he told the House Science Committee. Funding priorities required the agency to cancel several programs that “we either did not need or did not need right now,” Griffin said.

For example, it seemed like putting the cart before the horse to continue life science studies about how people respond to being in space before the agency was sure it could put people back in space, he said.

In addition to life sciences, another affected program is nuclear systems technology, Griffin said.

That program is designed to provide power to an outpost planned for the surface of the moon. But that won’t be needed until after 2018, so the work is currently being deferred, he said.

The agency has adopted a “go-as-you-can-pay” approach, Griffin said.

That focus on two primary areas should serve as a warning of potential cuts for the rest of NASA, Rep. Bart Gordon commented.

Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert expressed support for Griffin but added that “NASA cannot use aeronautics and science as a piggy bank to fund human space flight.”

Griffin said the next flight of the space shuttle is still planned for spring, adding that while the agency was surprised by problems with the foam insulation on the last flight, a lot has been learned from that.

NASA has been developing the new crew exploration vehicle, which is intended to fly to the moon but also can replace the space shuttle when it goes out of service.

Delaying that work could result in the United States being out of the manned spaceflight business for a few years after the shuttle is retired, at the same time other nations are increasing their space programs, Griffin said.

In addition, he said, NASA is encouraging private industry to submit proposals to carry cargo and crew to the space station.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/11/03/nasa.priorities.ap/index.html

Source from MyWay news

Scientist: Comets Blasted Early Americans
Oct 28, 8:43 PM (ET)
By MEG KINNARD

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A supernova could be the “quick and dirty” explanation for what may have happened to an early North American culture, a nuclear scientist here said Thursday.

Richard Firestone said at the “Clovis in the Southeast” conference that he thinks “impact regions” on mammoth tusks found in Gainey, Mich., were caused by magnetic particles rich in elements like titanium and uranium. This composition, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist said, resembles rocks that were discovered on the moon and have also been found in lunar meteorites that fell to Earth about 10,000 years ago.

Firestone said that, based on his discovery of similar material at Clovis sites, he estimates that comets struck the solar system during the Clovis period, which was roughly 13,000 years ago. These comets would have hit the Earth at 1,000 kilometers an hour, he said, obliterating many life forms and causing mutations in others.

“I’m not going to tell you that there’s Clovis people on the moon, or that they had a space program,” Firestone said. But these particles look “very much like the material that comes from the moon, which is the only place we’ve found with this same high titanium concentration.”

Amateur archaeologist Richard Callaway said he was surprised by Firestone’s theory.

“I’ve always considered myself a pretty open-minded person,” Callaway said, while browsing some of the artifacts on display at the conference. “And it’s kind of shocking to hear that something from the solar system could have done something like this.”

Callaway, an Episcopal priest from Atlanta, said that he and his wife have volunteered at the Topper site in Allendale County for the past two summers.

“To be a part of this … and find something no human being has touched in 15,000 years - that’s something,” Callaway said. “That’s what I like about what we do. You don’t find the next answer. You find the next question.”

Earlier Thursday, University of South Carolina archaeologist Al Goodyear lectured on his discoveries at Topper, where he says he has found evidence that man existed in North America much earlier than previously thought. Goodyear showed slides of the many tools he has recovered from Topper, as well as a charcoal strip he discovered in soil two meters beneath a 16,000-year-old level of the site.

“Topper’s like a box of chocolates,” Goodyear said. “Every time we dig a hole, something new comes up.”

As the final event of the four-day conference, partially sponsored by USC, Goodyear will lead attendees on a visit to Topper on Saturday.

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

Source

Spy Imagery Agency Prepares to Record Rita
By KATHERINE SHRADER
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 22, 2005; 6:39 PM

BETHESDA, Md. – Peering from space using the government’s most covert satellites, a little-known spy agency is turning its cameras toward Hurricane Rita and the destruction it is expected to inflict on the Gulf Coast.

Images the agency captured after Katrina struck included a gas rig that vanished from the sea leaving only bubbles, broken levees and a house in seemingly good condition _ except it was upside-down.

“And here comes Rita,” said Lynne Puetz, who heads the office overseeing North and South America for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

A part of the Defense Department, the agency usually toils behind the scenes to provide the images and analysis of what’s happening in other countries, including weapons tests. Among the government’s most closely guarded secrets, the quality of pictures from its satellites is believed to far exceed the 1-meter resolution available commercially.

Since the war on terror began, the agency has expanded its mission inside the United States. In the last four weeks, Puetz’s Americas Office has been focused heavily on hurricanes.

Before the storms make landfall, government experts assemble images to record what the threatened regions look like pre-squall.

They compile graphics and maps on the whereabouts of hospitals, roads, bridges and other critical facilities for government officials at any level to use _ 163 different mapping products in all.

In Rita’s case, the agency is inventorying the locations of hazardous material, petroleum refineries and other potentially messy facilities. One of the agency’s contractors, the commercial satellite company Space Imaging, collected 4,250 square miles of cloud-free pictures of Houston and Galveston, Texas, on Thursday.

When the storms pass, the imagery experts go to work compiling information for search-and-rescue and damage assessments.

Puetz said she’s never seen destruction comparable to Katrina’s. Parts of the Gulf region look like last year’s Asian tsunami; others, the 1993 floods that ravaged huge swaths of the Midwest. With the pictures from above, she can see a clear line where the waves surged. Oceanside, there is nothing left.

“We are used to seeing hurricane aftermaths, and we were stunned,” Puetz said.

The inventory of Katrina’s destruction continues to grow. Oil spills. Damaged and weakened levees. Missing oil rigs. A house turned upside-down, perfectly intact, but 100 yards from its foundation.

“We are looking at the debris, and we are wondering how in the world we are going to find a place to put it all,” Puetz said. “We saw a picture of a place where there had been a gas rig at one point in time, and there are just bubbles now.”

Then, there is the ground: coated in a mixture of oil, chemicals and various other toxins. Using sophisticated aerial imaging technology, intelligence analysts can determine the signatures of substances and develop maps and graphics allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to sort out the contamination.

Although the intelligence agency sits in the Washington suburbs, much of the work is being done in the hurricane zone using two humvees _ self-contained intelligence analysis units complete with generators, tents, plasma screen monitors, computers and communications equipment.

Called Mobile Integrated Geospatial-Intelligence Systems, or MIGs, they can draw information from U-2 spy planes, Navy P-3 surveillance planes and commercial and classified satellite systems.

One humvee sat at the New Orleans pier, even as Rita roared into the Gulf. Another is en route to Texas. In all, several dozen people affiliated with the agency are in the region, with many more supporting them back at headquarters.

Puetz acknowledges that legal issues have arisen requiring the agency to look at executive orders and other regulations that limit spy agencies activities inside the United States to prevent spying on Americans. For instance, overhead reconnaissance is allowed domestically when it is not directed at specific U.S. citizens or companies.

She said situations are being handled internally by lawyers and policy officials, who are keeping an audit trail.

“We’re breaking a lot of new ground here,” Puetz said.

Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists project on secrecy, said in times of emergency the government should mobilize all resources, even agencies focused on foreign intelligence. Although he’s normally a critic of the intelligence community, Aftergood said it appears the agency is taking the right steps.

“I think Americans are desperate to see signs of competence in their government, and it’s a bit ironic that some of the most useful and farsighted work” is coming from an agency that normally snoops on other countries.

Amid policy debates and the destruction, some moments of levity have arisen. The Canadian Navy sent in ships and divers a week after Katrina.

But Puetz said the Canadians quickly called in an SOS: “We are using restaurant place-mat maps. Can you help us?” they asked.

Her office quickly gave them street maps of New Orleans.

On the Web:
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: http://www.nga.mil/

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