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NASA spacecraft to visit Mercury

Fri, 11/01/2008 - 14:22 by MT Bureau

Laurel, Md. -- U.S. space officials said a NASA spacecraft will visit Mercury for the first time since 1975, skimming as close as 124 miles above the planet.

On Monday, the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, called MESSENGER, will make the first of three flights past the planet, NASA said Thursday in a release.

MESSENGER's cameras and other instruments will collect more than 1,200 images and make other observations during the mission. It will make the first up-close measurements since Mariner 10 spacecraft's third flyby on March 16, 1975.

"This is raw scientific exploration and the suspense is building by the day," Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate said in a statement. "What will MESSENGER see? Monday will tell the tale."

Origin of antimatter cloud discovered

Thu, 10/01/2008 - 13:44 by MT Bureau

Greenbelt, Md. -- U.S. astronomers said the origin of a giant cloud of antimatter surrounding the galactic center of the Milky Way has been traced to binary stars.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, said observations from the European Space Agency's Integral satellite shows an imbalance that matches the distribution of a population of binary star systems that contain black holes or neutron stars, NASA said in a release Wednesday.

Scientists said the finding suggests the binaries are churning out at least half of the antimatter.

"The reported Integral detection of an asymmetry represents a significant step forward toward a solution of one of the major outstanding problems in high-energy astrophysics. I think I can hear a collective sigh of relief emanating from the community," Marvin Leventhal, a University of Maryland professor emeritus, said in a statement.

Alaska researcher changes asteroid orbit

Wed, 09/01/2008 - 17:54 by MT Bureau

Anchorage, Alaska -- An astrophysicist at the University of Alaska uncovered the information that narrowed the odds of an asteroid hitting Mars.

Andrew Puckett, who is doing post-doctoral research in Anchorage, found archival NASA data while using the Christmas break as a working vacation, the Anchorage Daily News reported. After he supplied the information to NASA, agency scientists increased the possibility of "Asteroid 2007 WD5" striking Mars from one in 75 to one in 28.

Puckett said he knew the data would change the asteroid's projected orbit.

"I was sure I would also change the impact odds, but I had no idea whether it would go up or down," he said. "So the fact that it went up -- and became a big story -- is just really exciting for me."

NASA to speed up shuttle launch schedule

Mon, 07/01/2008 - 12:59 by MT Bureau

Washington -- NASA officials in Washington plan to double the number of shuttle flights to hasten the completion of the International Space Station amid safety concerns.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said it has scheduled six shuttle launches for 2008, twice that of the previous two years, in an effort to complete the assembly of the International Space Station even though there are concerns about the durability and safety of the 27-year-old shuttle fleet, The Washington Post said Sunday.

Recurring electrical problems grounded the space shuttle Atlantis in December, and budgetary, political and maintenance considerations may tempt the fate of future missions.

NASA officials said they're confident the spaceships can complete the work load by the time they are to be retired in September 2010, but critics worry the ambitious schedule may be at the cost of safety.

Stardust shows comet formed close to sun

Sat, 05/01/2008 - 09:42 by MT Bureau

Livermore, Calif. -- A U.S. scientist said material picked up during NASA's Stardust mission indicate that parts of the comet Wild 2 were formed close to the sun.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher Sasa Bajt and international colleagues analyzed gases within Stardust samples and found that some of the Stardust grains match a special type of carbonaceous material found in meteorites.

Earlier research showed that the comet formed in the Kuiper Belt, outside the orbit of Neptune and only recently entered the inner regions of the solar system. New research, published in the journal Science, showed that some of the particles in Stardust are consistent with early solar nebula.

"The unusual isotope ratio of helium and neon demonstrate that materials in comet Wild 2 had been much closer to the young sun than previously expected," Bajt said in a release.

Russia to launch 13 satellites in 2008

Sat, 05/01/2008 - 08:49 by MT Bureau

Moscow -- The new year will be a busy one for the Russian space program with 13 satellite launches and two manned missions on the schedule.

The list released Friday by Russia's Federal Space Agency included six satellites that will provide global navigation services and another three that will handle broadcast and communications.

Russia's Interfax news agency said the manned Soyuz missions would be aimed at re-supplying the International Space Station. There will also be five Progress-M supply ships dispatched to the orbiting station.

There was no word on any expected military or intelligence satellite launches.

On the ground, the space agency will begin construction of a new space center in central Russia.

NASA aims for late January shuttle launch

Fri, 04/01/2008 - 19:20 by MT Bureau

Houston -- U.S. space officials said Thursday the much-delayed launch of space shuttle Atlantis will have to wait until late January or early February.

Fuel sensor system issues postponed two launch attempts in December. NASA said it is looking at a Jan. 22 launch date, although that date will be modified as required, the agency said Thursday in a release.

Other launch opportunities could come between Jan. 24 and the first week of February.

A connector suspected of prompting false readings during two previous launch attempts is undergoing intensive testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Meanwhile, technicians at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will modify a replacement connector for the one that was removed. The new connector is scheduled to be in place by Jan. 10.

Look! Up in the Sky!

Fri, 28/12/2007 - 19:57 by Rich Smith

They're ba-ack. The Soviets, that is.

Or rather, their Russian successors. On Tuesday, Russia launched the last three satellites needed to complete its Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS). A revitalization of the Soviets' creaky old Cicada system, which dated from 1976 and had fallen into disrepair along with the rest of the empire, GLONASS represents President Vladimir Putin's latest effort to rebuild the old Soviet military machine -- and potentially boost Russia's consumer electronics industry along with it.

Asteroid To Collide With Mars?

Wed, 26/12/2007 - 17:23 by Gaganjot Singh

Astronomers have calculated that a recently discovered asteroid named 2007 WD5 which is about 100 meters in diameter, is heading towards Mars and has a 1 in 75 chance of impact. The collision with the Red Planet could occur on January 30 according to the scientists.

Mars shines bright on Christmas Eve

Tue, 25/12/2007 - 12:52 by Abhishek Garg

Christmas is a time for gifts and surprises and this time even nature did not fall behind in showering a beautiful gift of bright shining Mars followed by a full moon on the Christmas Eve.

Russian ship detaches from space station

Sat, 22/12/2007 - 23:06 by MT Bureau

Moscow -- A Russian cargo craft detached from the International Space Station Saturday for a month-long independent voyage.

The Progress M-61, which is at the end of its service life, is to be used as a platform for experiments until the middle of next month when its orbit will begin to disintegrate and it will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, RIA Novosti reported Saturday.

The same was done previously with the Progress M-60. Automated Progress spacecrafts deliver food and water to the station's crew, fuel to maintain the station's orbit and other cargo and research equipment.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.

1-in-75 chance of asteroid hitting Mars

Fri, 21/12/2007 - 20:10 by MT Bureau

La Canada Flintridge, Calif. -- Scientists with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration said an asteroid has a good chance of colliding with Mars near the end of January.

Researchers with NASA's Near-Earth Object Program in La Canada Flintridge, Calif., said the asteroid has about a 1-in-75 chance of hitting the fourth planet from the sun on Jan. 30, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

The 1-in-75 shot is "wildly unusual," said astronomer Steve Chesley with the Near-Earth Object office, which has been tracking the asteroid since it was sighted in November.

"We're used to dealing with odds like one-in-a-million," Chesley said.

"Something with a one-in-a-hundred chance makes us sit up straight in our chairs."

Asteroid 2007 WD5 measures about 160 feet across, a comparable size to the asteroid that flattened Siberian forests in 1908, the scientists said.