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Mars Base

This Week's Sky at a Glance - SkyandTelescope.com - 1 views

  • Thursday, February 6
  • First-quarter Moon
  • Mercury is visible in evening twilight, low in the west-southwest. It fades rapidly
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  • y in the dawn; look southeast
  • s just 4° or 5° from lesser Spica to its lower right.
  • highest in the south around 4 a.m., with Spica now under Mars.
  • the eastern sky in early evening
  • . It crosses nearly overhead (for mid-northern observers) around 9 or 10 p.m
  • ) rises around 1 or 2 a.m. and is high in the south at dawn
  • Regulus in Leo to the Moon's left during evening.
  • "Morning Star" in the dawn; look southeast
  • ) rises around 10 or 11 p.m. now
  • 5° to the right of
  • It crosses nearly overhead (for mid-northern observers) around 9 p.m.
  • rises around 1 a.m. and is highest in the south at dawn.
  • by 28°
  • Wednesday, February 19
  • Go out after 11 tonight, and low in the east-southeast, where the Moon has just risen or is about to rise, you'll find bright, fiery Mars with Spica to its right.
  • Thursday, February 20 As dawn breaks Friday morning the 21st, spot the waning Moon in the south with Saturn to its left. Off to their right are Mars and Spica (out of the frame above).
  • before and during dawn; look southeast. It's at its brightest this week.
  • rises around 10 p.m. now, a fiery blaze 5° or 6° to the right of icy Spica. The two of them are highest in the south around 3 or 4 a.m., with Spica now to Mars's lower right
  • Jupiter
  • high southeast in early evening. It crosses nearly overhead (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes) around 8 or 9 p.m.
  • Saturn
  • rises around midnight or 1 a.m. and is highest in the south at the beginning of dawn. By then it's far to the left of Mars and Spica,
  • Venus
  • rises around 10 p.m
  • 6° to the left of icy Spica. The two of them are highest in the south around 3 or 4 a.m., with Spica now lower right of Mar
  • Jupiter
  • e high south during evening
  • Thursday, March 13
  • left of the Moon this evening for Regulus. It's the bottom star in the handle of the Sickle of Leo.
  • Venus
  • "Morning Star" before and during dawn; look southeast.
  • rises around 9 p.m
  • Mars (
  • Spica 5° or 6° to its right
  • highest in the south around 2 a.m., with Spica now lower right of Mars
  • Jupiter
  • overhead during evening
  • Saturn
  • rises around 11 p.m. and is highest in the south before dawn
Mars Base

March 2014 guide to the five visible planets | Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky - 0 views

  • Jupiter sets in the west before dawn’s first light
  • Venus to rise in the east about two hours before sunrise.
  • Venus, for this world will shine at its brilliant best as the morning “star” in mid-February.
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  • Mars shines in
  • coming up around 10 p.m. local time at the month’s end. It is near Spica
  • about two hours before dawn late in the month
  • Saturn is
  • close to local midnight by the end of the month. Saturn climbs to its highest point in the sky at dawn.
  • Venus
  • Venus
  • Mars reaches its highest point for the night
  • 4 a.m. local Daylight Time in early March and 2 a.m. local Daylight Time in late march
  • in the east-southeast around 1 a.m. local Daylight Saving Time in early March, and roughly 11 p.m. local Daylight Time by the end of the month.
  • highest point in the sky shortly before morning dawn
Mars Base

China's Yutu Moon Rover Unable to Properly Maneuver Solar Panels - 0 views

  • The serious technical malfunction
  • of China’s Yutu moon rover
  • has been identified as an inability to properly maneuver the life giving solar panels
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  • “Yutu suffered a control circuit malfunction in its driving unit,” according to a newly published report on March 1 by the state owned Xinhua news agency.
  • prevented Yutu from entering the second dormancy as planned
  • A functioning control circuit is required to lower the rovers mast
  • They must be folded down into a warmed electronics box to shield them from the damaging effects of the Moon’s nightfall when temperatures plunge dramatically to below minus 180 Celsius, or minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • The panel driving unit also helps maneuver the panels into position to efficiently point to the sun to maximize the electrical output
  • Chinese space engineers engaged in troubleshooting to try and identify and rectify the technical problems in a race against time to find a solution before the start of Lunar Night 3.
  • The 140 kilogram rover was unable to move during Lunar Day 3 due to the mechanical glitches.
  • “Yutu only carried out fixed point observations during its third lunar day
  • it did complete some limited scientific observations. And fortunately the ground penetrating radar, panoramic and infrared imaging equipment all functioned normally.
  • Yutu and the companion Chang’e-3 lander have again gone into sleep mode during Lunar Night 3 on Feb. 22 and Feb 23 respectively, local Beijing time.
  • the issue with the control circuit malfunction in its driving unit remains unresolved and a still threatens the outlook for Yutu’s future exploration.
  • Yutu is now nearing its planned 3 month long life expectancy
Mars Base

March 16 - Today in Science History - Scientists born on March 16th, died, and events - 0 views

  • Spacecraft docking
  • In 1966, the first US manned docking of two spacecraft was accomplished by the Gemini VIII. The Gemini space vehicle with command pilot was Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong and pilot Astronaut David R. Scott, was launched at 10:41 a.m. The primary objective of the scheduled three-day mission was to rendezvous and dock with the Gemini Agena target vehicle and to conduct extravehicular activities. Though this was accomplished, some problems developed that required the mission and its other planed objectives and experiments to be terminated early
  • Rocket
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  • In 1926, the first US liquid-fuel rocket flight was launched by Robert Goddard in a field in Auburn, Mass. He thought stable flight could be obtained by mounting the rocket ahead of the fuel tank. The tank was shielded from the flame by a metal cone and was pulled behind the rocket by the lines for gasoline fuel and oxygen. The design worked, but did not produce the hoped-for stability. The rocket burned about 20 seconds before reaching sufficient thrust (or sufficiently lightening the fuel tank) for taking off. During that time it melted part of the nozzle. It took off to a height of 41-ft, leveled off and within 2.5 seconds hit the ground 184 feet away, averaging about 60 mph. The camera ran out of film, so no photographic record of that flight remains.
Mars Base

March 13 - Today in Science History - Scientists born on March 13th, died, and events - 0 views

  • Pluto
  •   In 1930, the discovery of a ninth planet was announced by Clyde W. Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory. It is only one-tenth as large as Earth and four thousand million miles away. The planet was named Pluto on 24 May 1930.
  • Uranus
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  • In 1781, English astronomer William Herschel detected Uranus in the night sky, but he thought it was a comet. It was the first planet to be discovered with the aid of a telescope. By 1787, he had also observed the Uranian satellites Titania and Oberon (11 Jan 1787), which were later given these names by his son, John Herschel.
  • In 1930, the discovery of a ninth planet was announced by Clyde W. Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory. It is only one-tenth as large as Earth and four thousand million miles away. The planet was named Pluto on 24 May 1930.
Mars Base

New class of antibiotics discovered by chemists -- ScienceDaily - 0 views

  • team of
  • researchers
  • have discovered a new class of antibiotics to fight
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  • drug-resistant bacteria
  • oxadiazoles, was discovered in silico (by computer) screening
  • has shown promise in the treatment of MRSA in mouse models of infection
  • Researchers
  • screened 1.2 million compounds found that the oxadiazole inhibits a penicillin-binding protein,
  • The oxadiazoles are also effective when taken orally
  • there is only one marketed antibiotic for MRSA that can be taken orally.
Mars Base

March 12 - Today in Science History - Scientists born on March 12th, died, and events - 0 views

  • Sound on film
  • In 1923, the Phonofilm, the first motion picture with a sound-on-film track was demonstrated at a press conference. It was developed (1920) by Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the radio tube (1907). Dancers and musicians were shown on the film with music, but without voice dialogue. The sound was imaged in a narrow margin alongside the picture frames on the film. (De Forest's process came several years before the 1928 film, the "Jazz Singer," but that film used the Warner Vitaphone system. The Vitaphone system attempted to synchronize its sound from a record player turntable connected to the film projector.) The de Forest process read a series of light and dark areas on the film itself, using a photocell to convert to audio.
Mars Base

Doctors hope for cure in a second baby born with HIV (Update) - 0 views

  • A second American baby born with the AIDS virus may have had her infection put into remission and possibly cured by very early treatment—in this instance, four hours after birth.
  • The girl was born
  • a month after researchers announced the first case from Mississippi
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  • that led doctors worldwide to rethink how fast and hard to treat infants born with HIV
  • In another AIDS-related development, scientists have modified genes in the blood cells of a dozen adults to help them resist HIV.
  • The Mississippi baby is now 3 1/2 and seems HIV-free despite no treatment for about two years
  • baby is still getting AIDS medicines, so the status of her infection is not as clear.
  • A host of sophisticated tests at multiple times suggest the LA baby has completely cleared the virus
  • The baby's signs are different from what doctors see in patients whose infections are merely suppressed by successful treatment,
  • don't know if the baby is in remission ... but it looks like
  • Doctors are cautious about suggesting she has been cured
  • Most HIV-infected moms in the U.S. get AIDS medicines during pregnancy, which greatly cuts the chances they will pass the virus to their babies
  • The LA baby was born
  • mother
  • was not taking her HIV medicines
  • Four weeks later, half of the patients were temporarily taken off AIDS medicines to see the gene therapy's effect
  • started the baby on them a few hours after birth. Tests later confirmed she had been infected, but does not appear to be now, nearly a year later
  • study in adults was prompted by an AIDS patient who appears cured after getting a cell transplant seven years ago
  • from a donor with natural immunity to the virus
  • Only about 1 percent of people have two copies of the gene that gives this protection
  • HIV usually infects blood cells through a protein on their surface called CCR5. A California company, Sangamo BioSciences Inc., makes a treatment that can knock out a gene that makes CCR5.
  • tested it in 12 HIV patients who had their blood filtered to remove some of their cells. The treated cells were infused back into the patients
  • The mom was given AIDS drugs during labor to try to prevent transmission of the virus
  • The Mississippi girl was treated until she was 18 months old, when doctors lost contact with her
  • Ten months later when she returned, they could find no sign of infection even though the mom had stopped giving her AIDS medicines.
  • a federally funded study just getting underway to see if very early treatment can cure HIV infection
  • About 60 babies in the U.S. and other countries will get very aggressive treatment that will be discontinued if tests over a long time, possibly two years, suggest no active infection.
  • The virus returned in all but one of them; that patient turned out to have one copy of the protective gene
  • knew that the virus was going to come back in most of the patients
  • the hope is that the modified cells eventually will outnumber the rest and give the patient a way to control viral levels without medicines
Mars Base

Sea turtles 'lost years' mystery starts to unravel - 0 views

  • Small satellite-tracking devices attached to sea turtles swimming off Florida's coast have delivered first-of-its-kind data that could help unlock they mystery of what endangered turtles do during the "lost years."
  • "lost years" refers to the time after turtles hatch and head to sea where they remain for many years before returning to near-shore waters as large juveniles
  • The time period is often referred to as the "lost years" because not much has been known about where the young turtles go and how they interact with their oceanic environment
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  • "Before this study, most of the scientific information about the early life history of sea turtles was inferred through genetics studies, opportunistic sightings offshore, or laboratory-based studies
  • With real observations of turtles in their natural environment, we are able to examine and reevaluate existing hypotheses about the turtles' early life history
  • A team of scientists
  • tracked 17 loggerhead turtles for 27 to 220 days in the open ocean using small, solar-powered satellite tags
  • The goal was to better understand the turtles' movements, habitat preferences, and what role temperature may play in early sea turtle life history
  • While the turtles remain in oceanic waters (traveling between 124 miles to 2,672 miles) off the continental shelf and the loggerhead turtles sought the surface of the water as predicted
  • the study found that the turtles do not necessarily remain within the currents associated with the North Atlantic subtropical gyre
  • . It was historically thought that loggerhead turtles hatching from Florida's east coast complete a long, developmental migration in a large circle around the Atlantic entrained in these currents
  • the team's data suggest that turtles may drop out of these currents into the middle of the Atlantic or the Sargasso Sea.
  • The team also found that while the turtles mostly stayed at the sea surface, where they were exposed to the sun's energ
  • the turtles' shells registered more heat than anticipated (as recorded by sensors in the satellite tags
  • a new hypothesis about why the turtles seek refuge in Sargassum. It is a type of seaweed found on the surface of the water in the deep ocean long associated with young sea turtles.
  • propose that young turtles remain at the sea surface to gain a thermal benefit
  • "This makes sense because the turtles are cold blooded animals. By remaining at the sea surface,
  • by associating with Sargassum habitat, turtles gain a thermal refuge of sorts that may help enhance growth and feeding rates, among other physiological benefits.
  • More research will be needed, but it's a start at cracking the "lost years" myster
  • findings are important because the loggerhead turtles along with other sea turtles are threatened or endangered species
  • Florida beaches are important to their survival because they provide important nesting grounds in North America
  • More than 80% of Atlantic loggerheads nest along Florida's coast
  • There are other important nesting grounds and nursing areas for sea turtles in the western hemisphere found from as far north as Virginia to South America and the Caribbean.
  • "There's a whole lot that happens during the Atlantic crossing that we knew nothing abou
  • r work helps to redefine Atlantic loggerhead nursery grounds and early loggerhead habitat use
Mars Base

New dinosaur found in Portugal, largest terrestrial predator from Europe -- ScienceDaily - 0 views

  • new dinosaur species found in Portugal may be the largest land predator discovered in Europe, as well as one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs from the Jurassic
  • Scientists discovered bones belonging to this dinosaur north of Lisbon
  • They were originally believed to be
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  • a dinosaur species from North America
  • Closer comparison of the shin bone, upper jawbone, teeth, and partial tail vertebrae suggest
  • a new species name
  • had blade-shaped teeth up to 10 cm long, which indicates it may have been at the top of the food chain in the Iberian Peninsula roughly 150 million years ago
  • scientists estimate that the dinosaur could reach 10 meters long and weigh around 4 to 5 tons
  • The number of teeth, as well as size and shape of the mouth, may differentiate the European and the American
  • the mouth bones have a different shape and structure
  • is not the largest predatory dinosaur we know
  • With a skull of 115 cm, Torvosaurus gurneyi was however one of the largest terrestrial carnivores at this epoch
  • an active predator that hunted other large dinosaurs, as evidenced by blade shape teeth up to 10 cm
  • evidences of closely related dinosaurs suggest that this large predator may have already been covered with proto-feathers
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