What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! With the last day of 2010 just hours away I thought I would reflect with you on what I thought was the "biggest" astronomy-space story of the year. I offer no justification for my selection except that it is a personal opinion. History will record that the direction of the US manned space program changed, for better or worse, in 2010 with the Obama Administration cancelling the Constellation Program - or at least the majority of it.  In 2004 President Bush set in motion the goal that the US return to the Moon to explore and stay this time via robotic and manned missions. Once accomplished this would provide the experience and hardware necessary to try for a manned Mars mission some decades later. Constellation - http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html  - was created to accomplish these goals and NASA put it all into motion. The new Administration wanted a comprehensive review done on Constellation and then would decide w...

Hey Space Placers! Asteroids are the left over rocky remnants - and perhaps directly related to comets - that occupy the space between Mars and Jupiter, as well as other areas in the solar system. Asteroids pose a direct and real threat to our existence as an impact from a kilometer sized object would be devastating if it were to occur in a populated area or in the oceans near a population center. The more we learn about them the better we will be able to defend ourselves against them. There are several world-wide patrol efforts ongoing that are looking for these threats every clear night. We have sent numerous missions to asteroids and have actually landed on them. But in 2010 there was a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission that not only landed on an asteroid, but took off to return to Earth with samples in a capsule! JAXA's Hayabusa spacecraft returned microscopic particles of the Itokawa asteroid and scientists have been studying them. The results will be ...

Hey Space Placers! For centuries comets - those cosmic snowballs left over from the formation of the solar system - were hunted and found by dedicated amateur astronomers using telescopes with an occasional photographic find. Want to know who has found the most comets in history? The answer is not a human hunter, but a spacecraft that monitors the Sun! NASA/ESA's Solar and Heliospherical Observatory - SOHO for short - discovered its 2000th comet on December 26th. Citizens monitoring SOHO via the Internet have searched images from the Sun watching spacecraft to find many of these sun grazing comets. Read More About It:  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/soho/comet-2000.html. Maybe you can find one! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Did you get caught in the big east coast storm? Well, check out the big storm on Saturn! This storm is high in the outermost atmosphere of the ringed planet. It has been monitored by amateur astronomers and NASA's Cassini Mission recently captured this wonderful view. I don't think any snow came out of this storm ;-) Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers, Space Shuttle Discovery, which I saw on Pad 39A from about a mile away 2 weeks ago today, was rolled back into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Dec. 22 for further tests. The tests consist of x-rays of all 108 aluminum stringers in the External Tank (ET) and will hopefully shed some light on why cracks were discovered in several of the stringers which are located in the ET intertank. The work is supposed to commence today and continue for the next week. Dec. 30th is currently scheduled as being the decision point on whether modifications will be needed on the ET.  Read more about it:  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/discovery_rss_collection_archive_1.html I'll update you as facts become available. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Merry Christmas and good will towards all ~ At the Kennedy Space Center I saw the firing room for all of the Apollo launches to the Moon. I also saw the launch pads, the massive crawler that took the Apollo-Saturn V stack out from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) (which was cool to see as well). I also saw the last pristine Apollo-Saturn V which was amazing. With the Christmas season and the KSC experience, I could not help but remember Apollo 8 - Christmas Eve 1968 - as Borman, Lovell and Anders orbited the Moon and read from Genesis for the entire world to hear and see. Please see http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/apollo_8.html  and see the video. Apollo 8 - Bill Anders took it - also took the first Earthrise picture which became an icon for the ages. When Apollo 8 was in orbit and reading from Genesis I was outside with my brand new 6-inch Newtonian Reflector telescope from Edmund Scientific looking at the crescent Moon while listen...

Hey Space Placers! I'm back from a great 12 day getaway that included a fantastic visit to the Kennedy Space Center and viewing the total lunar eclipse on a ship. I'll have more about it during the coming days. The International Space Station (ISS) is making a series of bright passes during the next few days. Check out this link for your area: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ Also, check out this link for changes in the seasons: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/seasons.cfm?msource=ed20101221&tr=y&auid=7540722 Happy Holidays to all! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! I'm off to some places where I may not be able to hit the 'net. I have left blogs and a December skies summary for you to use for the Geminid Meteor Shower on the night of the 13th-14th and the total lunar eclipse on 12-21. We'll get caught up when I surface again, probably on the 23rd. Clear skies for everyone and Happy Holidays! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! History was made today with the successful launch at 10:43 a.m. of Space Exploration Technology Corporation's (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's launch complex 40. After two orbits the Dragon capsule re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean and was recovered. This is the first time in history that a commercial company has recovered a spacecraft from orbit. Only government programs have done this before. This is a huge step forward in the commercial orbiting program that NASA and several companies are pursuing. The goal is to use commercial rockets and spacecraft to ferry cargo and ultimately astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Once the Space Shuttle program is completed - there are only two flights left - the US will have to rely on Russia and its' Soyuz spacecraft to get supplies and astronauts to ISS. For more information on the Falco...

Hey Space Placers! Next Monday, 12-13-10, the Geminid Meteor Shower will take place. The shower starts around 9 p.m. and lasts until dawn. My "December Skies" blog gives you details on how to observe the shower but I hope you will check out this link for more information on the Geminid Meteor Shower: http://science.nasa.gov/ science-news/science-at-nasa/ 2010/06dec_geminids/ This meteor shower does not disappoint those who get out in the cold temps and bundles up for the show.

Hey Space Placers! My oh my! What month of skywatching December brings as the Geminid Meteor Shower and a total lunar eclipse take top billing. But first, join me at George Mason University Observatory on Monday, December 6th (weather permitting) at 6:00 p.m. Make sure you dress warmly. Check here for more details and weather status http://physics.gmu.edu/~hgeller/observing.html . Skywatching Highlights The Geminid Meteor Shower takes place on the night of the 13th-14th. This is a very active and enjoyable event as from a dark sky site observers can see perhaps 60 to 100 meteors an hour. Even from suburban skies it is worth looking as these bits of debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon really are pretty bright. Meteor showers are usually caused by cometary debris so the Geminids are unique. To see the Geminids, start looking to the northeast at around 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. The best time to look will be after midnight up to dawn. Find a comfortable spot to put a reclining lawn chair, or j...

Hey Space Placers! Space Shuttle Discovery will remain on the launch pad until at least Feb. 3rd, 2011. NASA announced the move following a mission status meeting on Thursday. Engineers need more time to study the cause and effect of the two cracks found in the U shaped aluminum stringers on the external tank. The cracks have been repaired and the insulation replaced, but it is still not known precisely why this happened. Tests and scanning of the tank will hopefully provide some answers so Discovery can be launched. Space Shuttle Endeavor will now look at an April launch date for the last shuttle flight. Read More About It: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Hey Space Placers! The much anticipated NASA Astrobiology-Extraterrestrial Life related press conference today - 12-2-10 - was about an Earth-bound discovery. I and I am sure a lot of others did not expect the announcement to have to do with Mono Lake in California! A team of NASA backed researchers found a microorganism that can survive and thrive using  arsenic instead of phosphorus for key biological processes. This is the first instance of such a discovery and it basically says that life as we know it has just been expanded. The biology textbooks will have to be rewritten and this discovery begs the question, "What else can life do that we are not aware of?" Here is the link to read more: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/02dec_monolake/ Life as we knew it before today's announcement can exist in extreme environments of heat, cold, pressure, drought, high and low Ph levels. Now we find that life can exist beyond the original six basic c...

Hey Space Placers! Have you heard the buzz on the 'net about NASA's press conference set for Dec.2nd? Some are going so far as to say they think the announcement will be that extraterrestrial life has been discovered! I doubt that!!! The press conference will "discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life." BTW, Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. My good friend Dr. Harold Geller and I were speculating what this announcement may be. Dr. Geller teaches an Astrobiology class with me teaching the associated lab at GMU. Here are some of the possibilities: Exosolar planets - there are now over 500 known and maybe an Earth-like planet discovery has been made Something connected to Mars Something connected to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn that are thought to have oceans under their frozen surfaces A discovery in interstellar space regarding mo...