What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! I hope you got to see the Lunar Transit today as it was impressive (see my blog of 1-29-14). This pic from SDO was at about the half way point in the transit. With this view of the Moon I thought it appropriate to share with you something that I found just way too cool - one lunar spacecraft photographing another while both are in lunar orbit. I am not aware of this being done for two unmanned spacecraft although it was common during the Apollo lunar landings  for the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) to be photographed by the Command Module (CM). NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was able to photograph NASA's other active lunar spacecraft Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)   9 km below as both were zipping around at 3,600 mph - no small feat! You have to look very closely at the center of the image to see the "streak" caused by LADEE. But take a look at the computer wizardry done with the image that allows ...

Hey Space Placers! Tired of winter and being cooped up? How about some Internet observing from the comfort of your hopefully warm room. On 1-30-14 at 8:31a.m EST tune in on the Internet to SpaceWeather watch the Moon transit the Sun. This lunar transit of the Sun is NOT visible from Earth but it is from space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will have a ring side seat and will be capturing the eclipse which will cover about 90% of the Sun and last for about 2.5 hours. SDO will be taking pictures of the eclipse and relaying them back to Earth. This should be an Internet astronomer's dream to watch. I'll be tuned in and it is interesting that the Moon will not be "New" or directly between us and the Sun until 8 hours later at 4:38 p.m. EST. Here's to good Internet connections! Sky Guy in Arctic VA

Hey Space Placers! This time every year I remind my readers of the 17 American astronauts that gave their lives in the pursuit of spaceflight. The crews of Apollo 1 , Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia were killed on January 27, 1967,  January 28, 1986, and February 1, 2003 respectively. Apollo 1 was on the launch pad in a full dress rehearsal when fire broke out in the Command Module and suffocated Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Challenger was in flight and exploded 73 seconds after liftoff while Columbia disintegrated on re-entry. In each instance the cause of the disaster was found, fixed and as a result, made the successive flights safer. But we cannot forget that these lessons learned were at the cost of human lives. We have seen how an ocean liner can take lives in this modern age 100 plus years after the sinking of the Titanic. Spaceflight and space exploration are a risky business. But the rewards of discovery and furthering human knowledge are ...

Hey Space Placers! Now is the time to see all of the bright planets. Mercury and Jupiter are visible in the west and east respectively after sunset while Mars, Saturn and Venus adorn the sky in the hours before dawn. Now is prime time for Mercury for all of 2014 . It is fairly easy to spot now until 2/4/14. Sky & Telescope Diagram Be sure to look on 1/31/14 in the west as the beautiful young crescent Moon will be to the right of Mercury and will make a good photo op. Jupiter is up in the east right after sunset and is the brightest object in the sky besides the Moon so you can't miss the King of the Planets. A pair of binoculars will show you the four main moons of Jupiter although there may be fewer when you look as they can pass in front of and behind the planet, You can photograph the moons with a 200mm lens as I did below (enlarged view). Mars is headed towards closest approach to Earth in mid-April and is getting brighter every week. It rises in the...

Hey Space Placers! Drop what you are doing and watch this trailer for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto. I will be amazed if you do not get goose bumps and play it more than once and save it to see again. July 2015 can't get here fast enough. Sky Guy in Arctic VA

Hey Space Placers! Today marks the 10th year of operations on the Red Planet for rover Opportunity . Not bad for a vehicle that was expected to last 90 days! Her twin rover Spirit died in 2011 when she became mired in sand and could not receive enough sunlight to survive. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell Univ. / Arizona State Univ. Oppy as she is called is still going strong in Meridiani Planum returning photographs and data. She was in the news lately because of the "Jelly Donut Rock From Nowhere" . This rock is nothing like anything that has been studied before and is really stirring the pot among planetary geologists. Oppy has found that Mars was once a habitable place for life as we know it to exist on the Red Planet which certainly begs the question if life ever existed on Mars. Oppy has a bad wheel and some arthritis in her robotic arm but she will continue to add to the more than 25 miles she has driven on Mars. As long as she receives enough sunlight for power...

Hey Space Placers! Unmanned missions have been getting a lot of attention lately and rightfully so - Rosetta to a comet, Curiosity and Opportunity on Mars with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter above the Red Planet with Maven to arrive, New Horizons to Pluto next year, Dawn to Ceres next year, Juno to Jupiter and Dragon and Cygnus (the resupply ships to ISS). Even the Dream Chaser space plane just announced that it will fly to space on a test flight November 1, 2016 atop an Atlas-V launch vehicle. The Atlas-V is the same rocket NASA used last night to place its newest Tracking Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS) into orbit. But what about NASA's return to manned spaceflight? It has been years since an American went into space using a U.S. vehicle. We have been buying seats from Russia at $76 million a pop to get the space station. NASA has been working towards manned spaceflight capability quite spectacularly without a lot of public fanfare in my opinion. NASA has been posting upda...