Skip to main content

Home/ SciByte/ Group items tagged NASA

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Mars Base

Want to Phone Aliens? Help Get Your Messages On NASA's Pluto-Bound Spacecraft | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/pluto-spacecraft-petition.html

scibyte104

shared by Mars Base on 27 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • New Horizons mission — launched toward Pluto in 2006
  • flies into interstellar space in about 30 years, according to SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
  • the diverse group of space fans have created a petition
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • New Horizons Message Initiative
  • asking NASA officials to upload a yet-to-be-determined crowdsourced message from humanity onto the New Horizons craft after its encounter with the Pluto system
  • This website is an opportunity for anyone who is interested to sign a petition that asks NASA to approve the future use of the spacecraft
  • need formal permission from the agency and sub-support to make this happen
  • using some of the spacecraft's memory to store messages from earthlings beamed up to the probe
  • it might be possible to just reprogram about 100 megabytes of its memory and upload a new sights and sounds of Earth
  • When New Horizons gets past Pluto, [and] has done all its data
  • Before New Horizons launched, NASA officials discussed including an onboard message, but decided against it
  • small team on a tight budget
  • didn't want to see us being distracted from the project
  • NASA funds will not be used for the project, but initiative officials are asking for support from private individuals.
Mars Base

A Sunny Outlook for NASA Kepler's Second Light | NASA - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...-for-nasa-keplers-second-light

scibyte110 scibyte111 Kepler

shared by Mars Base on 26 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • A repurposed Kepler Space telescope may soon start searching the sky again.
  • A new mission concept, dubbed K2, would continue Kepler's search for other worlds, and introduce new opportunities to observe star clusters, young and old stars, active galaxies and supernovae
  • In May, the Kepler spacecraft lost the second of four gyroscope-like reaction wheels, which are used to precisely point the spacecraft, ending new data collection for the original mission
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • required three functioning wheels to maintain the precision pointing necessary to detect the signal of small Earth-sized exoplanets
  • With the failure of a second reaction wheel, the spacecraft can no longer precisely point at the mission's original field of view. The culprit is none other than our own sun
  • pushes the spacecraft around
  • the pressure exerted when the photons of sunlight strike the spacecraft
  • Without a third wheel to help counteract the solar pressure, the spacecraft's ultra-precise pointing capability cannot be controlled in all directions.
  • Kepler mission and Ball Aerospace engineers have developed an innovative way of recovering pointing stability by maneuvering the spacecraft so that the solar pressure is evenly distributed across the surfaces of the spacecraft
  • To achieve this level of stability, the orientation of the spacecraft must be nearly parallel to its orbital path around the sun
  • This technique of using the sun as the 'third wheel' to control pointing is currently being tested on the spacecraft and early results are already coming i
  • During a pointing performance test in late October, a full frame image of the space telescope's full field of view was captured showing part of the constellation Sagittarius
  • Photons of light from a distant star field were collected over a 30-minute period and produced an image quality within five percent of the primary mission image quality
  • Additional testing is underway to demonstrate the ability to maintain this level of pointing control for days and weeks.
  • The K2 mission concept has been presented to NASA Headquarters
  • A decision to proceed to the 2014 Senior Review – a biannual assessment of operating missions – and propose for budget to fly K2 is expected by the end of 2013
  • For four years, the space telescope simultaneously and continuously monitored the brightness of more than 150,000 stars, recording a measurement every 30 minutes.
Mars Base

NASA Space Telescopes Find Patchy Clouds on Exotic World - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - 0 views

www.jpl.nasa.gov/...news.php

scibyte105 exoplanet

shared by Mars Base on 05 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes have created the first cloud map of a planet
  • known as Kepler-7b
  • Previous studies from Spitzer have resulted in temperature maps of planets orbiting other stars
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • this is the first look at cloud structures on a distant world.
  • observing this planet with Spitzer and Kepler for more than three years, we were able to produce a very low-resolution 'map' of this giant, gaseous planet
  • wouldn't expect to see oceans or continents on this type of world, but we detected a clear, reflective signature that we interpreted as clouds
  • Kepler-7b was one of the first
  • Kepler's visible-light observations of Kepler-7b's moon-like phases led to a rough map of the planet that showed a bright spot on its western hemisphere
  • data were not enough on their own to decipher whether the bright spot was coming from clouds or heat
  • Spitzer Space Telescope played a crucial role in answering this question
  • Spitzer can fix its gaze at a star system as a planet orbits around the star, gathering clues about the planet's atmosphere
  • Spitzer's ability to detect infrared light means it was able to measure Kepler-7b's temperature, estimating it to be between 1,500 and 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 and 1,300 Kelvin).
  • relatively cool for a planet that orbits so close to its star -- within 0.06 astronomical units (one astronomical unit is the distance from Earth and the sun)
  • , too cool to be the source of light Kepler observed.
  • Instead, they determined, light from the planet's star is bouncing off cloud tops located on the west side of the planet.
  • Kepler-7b reflects much more light than most giant planets we've found, which we attribute to clouds in the upper atmosphere
  • the cloud patterns on this planet do not seem to change much over time -- it has a remarkably stable climate
  • With Spitzer and Kepler together, we have a multi-wavelength tool for getting a good look at planets that are trillions of miles away
  • exoplanet science
  • moving beyond just detecting exoplanets, and into the exciting science of understanding them
  • observations of Kepler-7b previously revealed that it is one of the puffiest planets known: if it could somehow be placed in a tub of water, it would float
  • found to whip around its star in just less than five days
  • a fully rendered 3D visualization tool, available for download at http://eyes.nasa.gov/exoplanets
  • program is updated daily with the latest findings from NASA's Kepler mission and ground-based observatories around the world as they search for planets
Mars Base

NASA Moon Probes' Impact Craters Spotted from Space | Grail Mission | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/-grail-moon-probes-graves.html

scibyte87 Grail

shared by Mars Base on 20 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) snapped a series of photographs of the two 16.5-foot-wide (5 meters) craters, which mark where the space agency's twin Grail probes ended their gravity-mapping mission, and their operational lives, on Dec. 17.
  • It's a bit of a surprise that the LROC team was able to find the craters at all
  • the craters are small, nondescript features on a body riddled with impact scars
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • The two Grail spacecraft — known as Ebb and Flow — slammed into a mountain near the lunar north pole at 3,771 mph (6,070 km/h), striking the surface about 20 seconds apart.
  • The Grail craters first showed up in LROC photos from January, but images taken on Feb. 28 show them in much greater detail
  • used these later photos to produce a topographic map of the impact zone
  • This map revealed that the two craters are separated by about 7,250 feet (2,210 m) in straight-line distance and 985 feet (300 m) in altitude
  • the crashes ejected material that appears darker than the surrounding lunar dirt.
  • these may be dark due to spacecraft material being mixed with the ejecta
  • may be residual fuel left in the probes' lines, or bits of their carbon-fiber bodies
  • LRO didn't get any images of the actual crashes, which occurred in the dark.
  • ultraviolet imaging spectrograph did see emissions from mercury and atomic hydrogen in the ejected plumes when they rose high enough to reach sunlight
  • The analysis of the Grail impact plumes is ongoing
  • The probes' measurements have allowed scientists to create the best-ever gravity map of any celestial body
  • And that map is getting better all the time, as researchers continue to analyze the data
  • The twin probes, which were each about the size of a washing machine, zipped around the moon at an average altitude of just 7 miles (11 km) in their final days
Mars Base

Lawmakers Vote to Rename NASA Dryden After Neil Armstrong | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/rmstrong-nasa-center-name.html

scibyte84

shared by Mars Base on 27 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to rename a NASA flight research center after the late Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon
  • was approved unanimously in the House, calls for NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California to be renamed the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.
  • also renames the surrounding Western Aeronautical Test Range after Hugh L. Dryden to continue honoring the aeronautical engineer.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Dryden was the visionary behind NASA's X-15 rocket plane and the Apollo program. Neil Armstrong was the one who flew the spacecraft Dryden envisioned
  • This is at least the third time since 2007 that the House of Representatives has tried to rename the NASA center after Armstrong
  • the bill now passed in the House, it will be referred on to the Senate for consideration
  • Dryden recommended to President John F. Kennedy that the goal of putting a man on the moon within 10 years was achievable and something the American people could rally behind
  • Neil Armstrong, flying with his Apollo 11 crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, accomplished Kennedy's goal of landing on the moon
  • Armstrong died Aug. 25 at age 82 following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures
  • Dryden was not able to see his dream become reality, as he died in 1965
  • honor both men's legacies by naming the Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong and the surrounding Test Range after Hugh Dryden
Mars Base

Mars Science Laboratory: Data From NASA Rover's Voyage To Mars Aids Planning - 0 views

mars.jpl.nasa.gov/...index.cfm

scibyte96 Curiosity

shared by Mars Base on 03 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) is the first instrument to measure the radiation environment during a Mars cruise mission from inside a spacecraft that is similar to potential human exploration spacecraft
  • The RAD data showed
  • indicate radiation exposure for human explorers could exceed NASA's career limit for astronauts if current propulsion systems are used.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Two forms of radiation pose potential health risks to astronauts in deep space. One is galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), particles caused by supernova explosions and other high-energy events outside the solar system. The other is solar energetic particles (SEPs) associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun
  • NASA has established a three percent increased risk of fatal cancer as an acceptable career limit for its astronauts currently operating in low-Earth orbit
  • The findings,
  • Only about three percent of the radiation dose was associated with solar particles because of a relatively quiet solar cycle and the shielding provided by the spacecraft
  • In terms of accumulated dose, it's like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days
  • Current spacecraft shield much more effectively against SEPs than GCRs. To protect against the comparatively low energy of typical SEPs, astronauts might need to move into havens with extra shielding on a spacecraft or on the Martian surface, or employ other countermeasures
  • GCRs tend to be highly energetic, highly penetrating particles that are not stopped by the modest shielding provided by a typical spacecraft.
  • RAD data collected during Curiosity's science mission will continue to inform plans to protect astronauts as NASA designs future missions to Mars in the coming decades.
Mars Base

Pioneering Moon, Mars Scientist David McKay Dies at 76 | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/-mckay-obituary-moon-mars.html

scibyte83

shared by Mars Base on 26 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • McKay, who served as chief scientist for astrobiology at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston,died peacefully in his sleep on Feb. 20
  • As a graduate student, McKay was in the audience
  • when President John F. Kennedy gave his legendary "We choose to go to the moon" speech
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • McKay joined NASA in June of 1965
  • participating extensively in astronaut training leading up to 1969's historic Apollo 11 mission
  • McKay was lead author of a 1996 paper in the journal Science that suggested ALH84001 may contain evidence of past life on Mars.
  • The claim still spurs controversy, but it also sparked a shift in perspectives that is alive and well within NASA today
  • McKay developed innovative new technology for both life detection and the use of lunar regolith as feedstock, radiation protection, fuel, nutrient source for microbial bioreactors and long-term lunar habitation.
Mars Base

NASA Wants Gas Stations In Space | NASA Contracts for Cryogenic Rocket Fuel Studies | F... - 0 views

www.space.com/ace-gas-station-contracts.html

scibyte34 satellite

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • 05 August 2011
  • NASA has awarded contracts to four companies with plans to study how to store and transfer fuel in space.
  • Rocket fuel is cryogenic, meaning super-cold substances like liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. If not kept extremely chilled and protected, some of those liquids tend to boil off into gases.
Mars Base

NASA - Kepler Mission Manager Update - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...keplerm-20120401.html

scibyte43 Kepler aprilfool

shared by Mars Base on 04 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • For those inspired by Roger's look for the day, you can participate by adding a Johannes Kepler (the namesake of the mission) likeness to your personal photo and sharing with the NASA Kepler mission community on Facebook and Twitter.
  • identification of potentially habitable planets requires deep thought. To think deeply, we must dress as deep thinkers have dressed in the past. There is nothing that speaks of deep thought more plainly than a formal neck-ruff
Mars Base

NASA offers guidelines to protect historic sites on the Moon - 0 views

phys.org/...lines-historic-sites-moon.html

scibyte48 moon PrivateSpaceTravel

shared by Mars Base on 26 May 12 - No Cached
  • NASA and the X Prize Foundation of Playa Vista, Calif., announced Thursday the Google Lunar X Prize is recognizing guidelines established by NASA to protect lunar historic sites and preserve ongoing and future science on the moon. The foundation will take the guidelines into account as it judges mobility plans submitted by 26 teams vying to be the first privately-funded entity to visit the moon.
Mars Base

Private Manned Space Capsule Passes Big Review | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/ace-capsule-design-review.html

scibyte54 SpaceX

shared by Mars Base on 14 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • The crewed version of SpaceX's Dragon space capsule has passed a key design review, moving one step closer to carrying astronauts into orbit, NASA officials announced
  • July 12).
  • company officials gave NASA details about every phase of a potential crewed Dragon mission to the International Space Station
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • outlined how it plans to modify its launch pads to support such a mission
  • discussed the Dragon capsule's docking capabilities, living arrangements, weight and power requirements and potential ground landing sites
  • designed to carry seven astronauts
  • also presented studies that showed how its launch abort system, which is known as SuperDraco, would perform if an emergency occurred shortly after liftoff
  • company told NASA how it would attempt to safeguard astronauts if something unexpected occurred on the way to orbit, in space or during the trip home
  • ready to move on to the next phase and on target to fly people into space aboard Dragon by the middle of the decade
  • SpaceX is one of four companies — along with Blue Origin, Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp. — to receive funding over the last two years from NASA's Commercial Crew Program. CCP
  • NASA hopes at least two of these firms can have vehicles up and running by 2017
Mars Base

NASA Spacecraft in Home Stretch of Journey to Pluto | NASA & New Horizons Mission | Plu... - 0 views

www.space.com/raft-horizons-anniversary.html

scibyte30 newhorizons pluto

shared by Mars Base on 20 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • the mission will give scientists their first good look at any dwarf planet — a class of bodies suspected to be far more numerous in our solar system than terrestrial and giant planets combined.
  • New Horizons has put about 2.14 billion miles (3.45 billion km) on its odometer,
  • another 1 billion miles (1.6 billion km) left to go before the close encounter.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • NASA has billed New Horizons as the fastest spacecraft ever launched from Earth
  • But the Tombaughs' two children, Annette and Alden, should get to see what New Horizons discovers. They'll be the mission team's guests of honor when the probe makes its closest approach to Pluto in July 2015
Mars Base

NASA - NASA Discovers New Double-Star Planet Systems - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...kepler-34-35.html

scibyte29 NASA circumbinary exoplanet multimedia

shared by Mars Base on 13 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • An artist's rendition of the Kepler-35 planetary system
Mars Base

Hubble directly observes the disc around a black hole - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...11-hubble-disc-black-hole.html

scibyte20 black holes quasar

shared by Mars Base on 06 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Scientists have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to observe a quasar accretion disc -- a glowing disc of matter that is slowly being sucked into its galaxy's central black hole
  • Scientists have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to observe a quasar accretion disc -- a glowing disc of matter that is slowly being sucked into its galaxy's central black hole.
  • the team measured the disc's size and studied the colours (and hence the temperatures) of different parts of the disc
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, combined with the gravitational lensing effect of stars in a distant galaxy, the team measured the disc's size and studied the colours (and hence the temperatures) of different parts of the disc.
  • These observations show a level of precision equivalent to spotting individual grains of sand on the surface of the Moon.
  • show a level of precision equivalent to spotting individual grains of sand on the surface of the Moon
  • Quasars — short for quasi-stellar objects — are glowing discs of matter that orbit supermassive black holes, heating up and emitting extremely bright radiation as they do so.
  • Until now, the minute apparent size of quasars has meant that most of our knowledge of their inner structure has been based on theoretical extrapolations, rather than direct observations.
  • using the stars in an intervening galaxy as a scanning microscope to probe features in the quasar's disc that would otherwise be far too small to see
  • As these stars move across the light from the quasar, gravitational effects amplify the light from different parts of the quasar, giving detailed colour information for a line that crosses through the accretion disc.
  • the team were able to reconstruct the colour profile across the accretion disc
  • allowed the team to measure the diameter of the disc of hot matter, and plot how hot it is at different distances from the centre
  • Quasars' physical properties are not yet well understood
  • This new ability to obtain observational measurements is therefore opening a new window to help understand the nature of these objects."
Mars Base

T Minus 9 Days - Mars Orbiters Now in Place to Relay Critical Curiosity Landing Signals - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...ical-curiosity-landing-signals

scibyte56 Curiosity

shared by Mars Base on 28 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • NASA’s Mars Odyssey will relay near real time signals of this artist’s concept depicting the moment that NASA’s Curiosity rover touches down onto the Martian surface
  • Engines aboard NASA’s long lived Mars Odyssey spacecraft fired for about 6 seconds to adjust the orbiters location about 6 minutes ahead in its orbit. This will allow Odyssey to provide a prompt confirmation of Curiosity’s landing inside Gale crater at about 1:31 a.m. EDT (531 GMT) early on Aug. 6 (10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5) – as NASA had originally planned.
  • Watch NASA TV online for live coverage of Curiosity landing: mars.jpl.nasa.gov or www.nasa.gov
Mars Base

Backup Computer Glitches On Space Station But Crew Safe, NASA Says - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...tation-but-crew-safe-nasa-says

scibye126 iss

shared by Mars Base on 13 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • A backup computer that controls “some systems associated with robotics
  • is not “responding to commands
  • The crew is safe, there’s no “immediate” change to space station operations, and because the primary computer is working
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • If the computer does need to be replaced, crew members of Expedition 39 will need to do at least one spacewalk
  • NASA is allowing contingency spacewalks in American spacesuits to go forward as the agency addresses problems raised in a report about a life-threatening spacesuit leak in July
  •  confirmed Friday night that a backup computer on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) called a Multiplexer-Demultiplexer (MDM) is not responding to commands
  • The station’s MDM computers control some systems associated with robotics aboard the space station
  • The primary MDM operating aboard the space station is functioning normally and there is no immediate impact to space station operations
  • The computer outage does not pose a risk to the six crew members aboard the space station
  • Replacing the backup MDM, if needed, would require a spacewalk
  • April 11
Mars Base

Contingency Spacewalk Planned Next Week, But Dragon Must Arrive At Space Station First - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...-arrive-at-space-station-first

scibyte126 iss

shared by Mars Base on 14 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • : a quick 2.5-hour run to swap out a failed backup computer that controls several systems
  • including robotics
  • t NASA doesn’t want to go ahead with it until spare spacesuit parts arrive, in the aftermath of a life-threatening suit leak that took place last summer.
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • Those parts are on board the
  • SpaceX Dragon spacecraft
  • The spacewalk would take place April 22 — if Dragon gets there as planned on Wednesday
  • e Dragon is carrying a new spacesuit, components to fix an existing spacesuit, critical research experiments and food for the six crew members of Expedition 39.
  • The challenge, however, is making sure the station could be ready even if the primary multiplexer demultiplexer (MDM) fails before spacewalkers can make the backup replacement.
  • There are more than a dozen MDMs on station, but each one controls different functions
  • This primary MDM not only controls a robotics mobile transporter, but also radiators and a joint to move the station’s solar arrays, among other things.
  • . NASA needs to reposition the arrays when a vehicle approaches because plumes from the thrusters can put extra “loads” or electrical power on the system.
  • Luckily, the angle of the sun is such these days that the array can sit in the same spot for a while, at least two to three weeks
  •  NASA configured the station so that even if the primary computer fails, the array will automatically position correctly
  • NASA also will move a mobile transporter on station today so that the station’s robotic arm is ready to grasp the Dragon when it arrives, meaning that even if the primary computer fails the transporter will be in the right spot
  • If Dragon is delayed again, the next launch opportunity is April 18 and the spacewalk would be pushed back
  • There are at least two or three spare MDMs on station
  • the one needed for this particular spacewalk is inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory, which is handily right next to the S0 truss and spacesuit worksite.
Mars Base

A Tetrad of Lunar Eclipses - NASA Science - 0 views

science.nasa.gov/...27mar_tetrad

scibyte126 moon ViewerFeedback

shared by Mars Base on 12 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • For people in the United States, an extraordinary series of lunar eclipses is about to begin.
  • a lunar eclipse tetrad—a series of 4 consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six month intervals
  • The total eclipse of April 15, 2014, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015.
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA
  • On average, lunar eclipses occur about twice a year, but not all of them are total.  There are three types
  • A penumbral eclipse is when the Moon passes through the pale outskirts of Earth’s shadow.  It’s so subtle, sky watchers often don’t notice an eclipse is underway
  • A partial eclipse is more dramatic.  The Moon dips into the core of Earth’s shadow, but not all the way, so only a fraction of Moon is darkened.
  • A total eclipse, when the entire Moon is shadowed, is best of all.  The face of the Moon turns sunset-red for up to an hour or more as the eclipse slowly unfolds.
  • Usually, lunar eclipses come in no particular order
  • Occasionally, though, the sequence is more orderly. When four consecutive lunar eclipses are all total, the series is called a tetrad.
  • During the 21st century, there are 9 sets of tetrads
  • a frequent occurrence in the current pattern of lunar eclipses
  • During the three hundred year interval from 1600 to 1900, for instance, there were no tetrads at all
  • Why red?
  • Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth
  • nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway
  • As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once
  • This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb.
  • More information about the lunar eclipse may be found on NASA's eclipse home page
Mars Base

Did a Piece of Mir Really Land in Massachusetts? - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...r-really-land-in-massachusetts

scibyte99

shared by Mars Base on 20 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • What at first glance was a simple “Man finds space rock” story morphed into an extraordinary claim
  • Phil Green of Amesbury, Massachusetts.
  • was searching the local riverbed for arrowheads when he came across the
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • black pitted rock immediately struck him as something bizarre
  • didn’t register as metallic to his metal detector, but Mr. Green kept it in his backyard for about five years until it was noticed by a friend
  • Green told local reporters that the rock was sent off for analysis, only to be returned to him just a few weeks ago
  • The media quickly ran with the “Man finds a piece of Mir” story
  • The analysis
  • stated that the vitreous material “shows a composition similar to that used in ballast by the Soviet space program starting in the mid-1980s
  • There are
  • problems with
  • Mir reentered in 2001, six years before the 2007
  • Mir ended its career in the “so-called spacecraft cemetery of the southern Pacific Ocean
  • possibility of a reentry of a Progress resupply vehicle being a potential source, or perhaps an unrelated Russian space vehicle.
  • problem of the certification
  • Several articles state that the piece of debris coming from Mir was “confirmed by NASA.”
  • NASA Chief Scientist for Orbital Debris
  • that no such NASA validation exists
  • NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has not been presented with any claim regarding debris from the Mir space station
  • it is not possible for debris from the Mir reentry to have landed in the U.S.”
  • the find does look like something interesting. The pitting and the melted fusion crust are all reminiscent of reentry
‹ Previous 21 - 40 of 488 Next › Last »
Showing 20▼ items per page