Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 10, 2008 in Science
It’s amazing how every day we find more and more obvious clues that there may be other signs of life in he universe. This latest discovery shows that astronomers have detected carbon dioxide (a basic requirement for plants to perform photosynthesis) on a Jupiter sized planet. What’s great about this is that someday this technique may used to hunt for hints of life on an Earth like planet: Read more…
As a new administration comes in I’m starting to see NASA push hard for the idea of returning to the moon. My own feeling is that this is going backwards, and people should speak up about it now. Frankly my larger worry is that in view of a major economic downturn that NASA will have their budget chopped yet again — and what sad is that there hasn’t been any serious investment in the program for almost forty years now. So here are my ten reasons why we should try to land on Mars by 2018 instead of going back to 1969: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 24, 2008 in Science
Supporters of NASA and the commercial space industry are taking a close look to what the Obama administration will bring. The last few years with the Bush administration have been a disappointment to say the least, so many of us are looking for a fresh break. Early on in the Democratic primaries Obama indicated that he wouldn’t push manned space exploration, but that stand changed later in the race. And now it’s looking like New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will be heading to the Obama cabinet as commerce secretary. This may be really good news as Richardson is very pro-space. As Governor in New Mexico he’s been pushing for Spaceport America which would act as a launching point for a commercial space industry. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 22, 2008 in Science
NASA is starting to make fairly elaborate plans for building a moon base which include creating on site nuclear power plants. This reminds me a great deal of the 70s series Space:1999 which took the concept a step further and made the moon a dumping ground for nuclear waste as well. What’s funny is that except for the possibility of a transportation disaster the idea of storing nuclear waste on the moon may seems like a better long term solution than storing it here on Earth. Also that would give an economic reason to return to the moon. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2008 in Science
It turns out that NASA has discovered that under soil of Mars there are huge glaciers — what cool about this is that it means that a future manned visit to the red planet would be much easier to pull off. Scientists are now trying to figure out just how the ice got there in the first place, but to me that’s yet another argument why NASA should be focusing on a Mars mission instead of returning back to the moon (which China and India are already doing as we speak). Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 16, 2008 in Science
Up until this moment I always regretted not being an astronaut — but the idea of having to drink urine to explore outer space is giving me second thoughts: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 14, 2008 in Science
While the photo above looks pretty, it’s no ordinary snapshot — in fact within the red dust is the very first photo of a planet that’s outside of our solar system. Read more…
Someday in the future spaceships will make use of talented but perhaps blind engineers to rescue the day? Yes it sounds like the character Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but no it’s the year 2008 and our hero is Marco Midon who works for NASA: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 11, 2008 in Science
Everyone is mourning the loss of the Phoenix lander due to the harsh Martian winter, however I’m quite impressed with how this mission lasted much longer than anyone could have predicted:
Thanks to a bill passed by Texas legislators In 1997 astronauts have the right to vote. This year onboard the International Space Station Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff cast their vote via a secure electronic ballot. To celebrate this occasion the crew recorded this video urging their fellow earth bound citizens to get out and vote (which I more than concur with).
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2008 in Science
It’s great to see some physical evidence of progress with the Orion Exploration Vehicle, but it’s depressing to me to think that it will take until 2020 to get to the moon — and 2030 to get to Mars:
“NASA rolled out its next-generation space capsule here Wednesday, revealing a bulbous module that is scheduled to carry humans back to the moon in 2020 and eventually onward to Mars. Unlike the space-plane shape of the shuttles, the new Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle looks strikingly similar to the old Apollo space capsule that carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon and back in 1969, with Armstrong and Aldrin becoming the first humans to walk on the lunar surface.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2008 in Science
Just a few days after coming back to life Hubble rewards us with the fantastic image above of a pair of double galaxies, and yet like some sad ignored family member will have to wait for a repair mission for a few months:
“The Hubble Space Telescope is working again, taking stunning cosmic photos after a breakdown a month ago. But the good news was quickly tempered by NASA’s announcement Thursday that a mission to upgrade the popular telescope will be delayed at least until May.
A key replacement part that is essential because of the telescope’s failure in September won’t be ready for at least six months. It was the latest twist in the long-running drama surrounding the 18-year-old space telescope — one that initially took only fuzzy photos, then when fixed, provided dazzling and scientifically significant pictures of space, including a new one NASA showed Thursday.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 21, 2008 in Science
Don’t panic quite yet — scientists claim that there isn’t anything to be worried about. However this is yet another reminder just how fragile life on earth is:
Sun’s protective ‘bubble’ is shrinking The protective bubble around the sun that helps to shield the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation is shrinking and getting weaker, NASA scientists have warned.
“New data has revealed that the heliosphere, the protective shield of energy that surrounds our solar system, has weakened by 25 per cent over the past decade and is now at it lowest level since the space race began 50 years ago. Scientists are baffled at what could be causing the barrier to shrink in this way and are to launch mission to study the heliosphere.
“Around 90 per cent of the galactic cosmic radiation is deflected by our heliosphere, so the boundary protects us from this harsh galactic environment.” The heliosphere is created by the solar wind, a combination of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields that emanate a more than a million miles an hour from the sun, meet the intergalactic gas that fills the gaps in space between solar systems.”
