Back in 1999, we lost contact with the Mars Polar Lander during its descent toward the surface of Mars. Since then, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft orbiting Mars has taken hi-resolution photographs of the areas we think the Mars Polar Lander may have crashed. These images are available online. Can you find the missing spacecraft?
How cool is this?!? The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured avalanches on Mars as they were happening. Wow.
At around 9 PM (US Eastern) last night, I saw probably the most beautiful meteor I have ever seen. I had just stepped out of my car and looked up into the sky. The meteor streaked approximately East to West, beginning probably from about the zenith (maybe a little East of zenith) and continuing to about 30 degrees above the horizon. As it streaked across the sky, it changed from white to blue-white, getting brighter the whole way. At the end it almost seemed to split into a handful of smaller fragments, though that could have been my imagination.
OnOrbit, a new social web site for space enthusiasts, went live for public alpha testing on January 18th. OnOrbit is part of the SpaceRef family and was co-founded by space advocates Marc Boucher and Keith Cowing. It has a number of cool features such as video channels, a discussion forum, podcast and a social news component similar to Digg.
The MESSENGER spacecraft zipped past Mercury on January 14, 2008 for it’s first flyby of that planet. More beautiful photos from the MESSENGER imaging team have been released since then. The closeups show amazing details of craters, cliffs, crater rays, etc.
You might also want to check out Emily Lakdawalla’s multiple recent posts (like this one) about Mercury and the flyby on the Planetary Society blog.
The Internet is playing more of a part than ever in the 2008 US presidential race. We have a unique opportunity to make sure that the presidential candidates at least have space exploration on their radar this time around. And if enough people speak up, we may even get the candidates to discuss their views on space in public. Michael Laine has been blogging (and microblogging) about this and has some good suggestions.
Space is a critical part of our national prestige, economy, technology base, and inspiration. Yet it receives a relatively minuscule budget and not nearly enough mindshare from our national leaders. It’s time for that to change.
I recently received the Postcards from the Future DVD for my birthday. Last night my wife and I grabbed some popcorn and watched it. I really enjoyed it.
The style of the movie was somewhat like a ‘vlog’, or video blog. The story is told almost completely by an electrical engineer/astronaut who sends short video ‘postcards’ to his wife. That style makes the movie very personal, emotional and realistic. I think the only think I really didn’t like was that I wish there was more! The movie takes place over quite a few years, so there certainly could have been more content, but I think it’s actually OK that there wasn’t. Especially for viewers who are not total space buffs.
Anyway, I do recommend this movie for all space enthusiasts. I’d also recommend showing it to those who are not space buffs to help evangelize the concept of human space exploration. The movie does not really say much about why we should explore space, but does show that space exploration involves sacrifice and risk and that those taking the risks believe it’s totally worth it.
Also, check out this interview of Alan Chan on The Space Show regarding the movie.
For those of you familiar with LiftPort (the Space Elevator company), you know that we have not heard much from them lately. So I was glad to see that LiftPort’s president - Michael Laine - has again begun blogging with a renewed commitment after quite a long hiatus. It’s a long post, but worth the read. If you have interest at all in the elevator to space, read what Michael has to say and get involved in whatever way you can.
I’ve been using the “track” feature in Twitter to alert me when certain key words and phrases are “tweeted”. Sometimes I get some real gems, like this link to a set of beautiful photos taken from orbit (from NASA).
As I was walking from my car to my house this evening, I noticed a very bright smudge in the Eastern sky. I wondered whether it was a comet, so I grabbed a pair of binoculars. Lo and behold, when looking through binoculars I saw a very bright hazy blob surrounded by pin-pricks of light (those would be stars). It certainly wasn’t a galaxy (I also quickly spotted the Andromeda Galaxy as well), so I figured it probably was a comet.
I’ve been really busy at work, so have not been keeping up on my space-related news. But I did remember hearing about a naked-eye comet. And sure enough, a quick look at the interactive sky chart at Sky and Telescope’s web site and Comet Holmes was indicated exactly where I saw what I figured was a comet.
Can you believe it? Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1: October 4, 1957. As the music video below says, men walked on the moon only 12 years later. And then we essentially stalled our forward progress, at least as far as human exploration is concerned. Let’s hope the advances of human space exploration - and space exploration in general - over the next 50 years simply astound us!
Enjoy the videos below and check out these related articles:
Last night my wife and I went to see the “In the Shadow of the Moon” documentary at a movie theater in New Haven. What a wonderful experience! I highly recommend it.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the surface of the moon just a few months before I was born. When Apollo 17 landed on the moon, I was still far to young to appreciate what was going on. I missed the wave of energy, enthusiasm and excitement that electrified the world when a handful of humans from Earth walked on the moon. Nevertheless, hearing, seeing and reading about these events just a few years later inspired my imagination and hooked me on space exploration. Since then I have watched a number of documentaries and read many books about our ventures into this bold new frontier. But “In the Shadow of the Moon” is probably one of the most exciting and inspiring so far.
The film combines interviews with some of the actual Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon - including Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke, Alan Bean, John Young, Dave Scott, Edgar Mitchell, Harrison Schmitt & Jim Lovell (that’s from memory, so I may have missed a couple) - with actual Apollo footage and an emotional soundtrack.
Astronauts described the Apollo program, their experiences and their insights in their own words. Reading books and interviews about Apollo just isn’t the same as watching these men, seeing their expressions and hearing their words spoken aloud. Printed words just don’t convey the same level of emotion. The interviews really bring the experience to life.
Seeing the Apollo footage on the “big screen” just blows you away. Especially if you’ve only seen the old videos on VHS or in tiny windows on a computer. There are some absolutely amazing scenes of the Apollo Saturn V launch. Some film shot at a very high frame rate shows the engine ignition and the rocket climbing slowly to clear the tower in vivid detail and extremely slow motion. Then there are some rocket staging scenes taken by cameras inside the stages. These show breathtaking views.
There were only two things I didn’t like. First, there were only about six of us watching the movie; I wish the theater had been packed because everyone should see this film. And second, I didn’t want the film to end. But I guess that’s also a strength in that it leaves you wanting more instead of being thankful when it’s finally over.
Go see this film. You won’t regret it.
I recently heard about a new movie called Postcards from the Future and a new play called Expedition 6. Both have been created by people in the entertainment industry with the intent of engaging the public in human space exploration. Postcards will be available on DVD this fall. Expedition 6 is currently playing at The Magic Theatre at Ft. Mason Center in San Francisco (runs Sep 8 – Oct 7, 2007). It’s good to see these efforts to capture the imagination of the general public.
In a recent post, I mentioned the importance of continuing funding for mission extensions. Well, the research required to continue investigating the Pioneer Anomaly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Pioneer 10 and 11 were launched in 1972 and 1973. Since then, scientists discovered that the Pioneer spacecraft - which are on an ‘escape trajectory’ out of our the solar system - appear to be slowing down for unknown reasons. There could be a very simple and conventional explanation, or we could find that our understanding of the laws of physics needs tweaking. But without analyzing the data, we won’t know. And it would take decades for any other spacecraft to be in a position to collect corraborating data.
The problem is old computers, old computer code, old data storage media, old computer data formats, etc. A lot of work must be done to put the data into a usable format before analysis can even begin. Yet while funding to do the research has been made available, funding to actually put the data into a usable format has NOT been funded (groan!). The research cannot be done unless the data conditioning can be funded! The Planetary Society has been trying to save this project and is now asking for tax-deductible donations to help fund the required data conditioning. It would be a shame to let all the collected data go to waste. I’ll bet NASA spends more in ballpoint pens each year than this funding will cost (though I have no data to back this up).
A new documentary about the moon race - titled In the Shadow of the Moon - premieres this week. It has a limited release, so make sure to check the locations and dates in your area. This film has already won several awards including an Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. I watched the trailer and it put a lump in my throat.
Maybe I’m a little slow in finding out about this, but I just read in the July/August 2007 issue of the Planetary Society’s Planetary Report that both the Deep Impact and Stardust missions will be extended! The extended Deep Impact mission - termed EPOXI - will contain two projects: the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI) and the Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization (EPOCh). Stardust’s extended mission is New Exploration of Tempel 1 (NExT).
According to the article, these missions will be accomplished for approximately 15% of the cost of a new mission! I think this is fantastic. When hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on missions, it totally makes sense to use perfectly good operational robotic spacecraft to continue performing quality science. In fact, it’s wasteful and stupid not to!
New missions are “sexier” and more exciting, but space exploration should not only be about new missions. We should absolutely continue with new missions, but also try to squeeze every last bit of capability from each spacecraft when it makes sense to do so. Congress and NASA should certainly keep these things in mind when approving NASA budgets and planning for project staffing.
So it always excites me to see these missions extensions. I hope this trend continues. We’ll continue to get great new scientific information for a fraction of the cost.
My wife and I grabbed the wireless baby monitor and cordless phone and set up some lounge chairs - tilted back all the way - in the back lawn around 9:00 pm on Sunday, August 12. We spent about 90 minutes staring up at the sky and chatting. I even called my parents to wish them a happy 40th wedding anniversary.
The weather was clear, so we had a nice view of the Milky Way and saw several satellites zipping by overhead. Since it was a Sunday and the end of our week-long vacation, we didn’t really want to stay up too late. So unfortunately we missed the peak of the shower. However, we did see around 2 dozen meteors. Most were moving very fast and left short trails, but there were a handful that traveled a bit more slowly and left longer, brighter trails across the sky. We also managed to avoid any mosquito bites.
Although we missed the shower peak, it was still nice to spend some time with each other watching the wonders of the universe together. It was still an impressive show.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Mars Express orbiter will monitor the Phoenix Mars Lander during it’s entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase, and possibly during other parts of the Phoenix mission as well.
The current mission at the Mars Society’s Flashline Mars Artic Research Station (FMARS) has been running on Mars time, not Earth time, for a little over a month - i.e., they have an extra 39 minutes per day. The crew seems to have adapted to the change.
Reminder: The Perseids meteor shower peaks August 12. This coincides with the New Moon, so hopefully the weather cooperates.
Dust storms on Mars may cause problems for Opportunity, one of the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs). The storms deposit dust one the rover’s solar panels, decreasing the power available.
The first of two transporters for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory antennas is ready. At 20m x 10m x 6m, weighing in at 130 tons and driving on 28 tires, this thing is pretty massive. And according to a recent European Southern Observatory (ESO) press release, “This colossus will be able to transport a 115-ton antenna and set it down on a concrete pad within millimetres of a prescribed position.” Pretty impressive.
Space Shuttle mission STS-118 (Endeavor) is scheduled for launch 7:02 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, August 7, 2007. The mission will deliver and install a new truss segment (S5) to the International Space Station (ISS).
Barbara Morgan - a former teacher who is now an astronaut - will take her first flight into space on this mission. She’s been waiting over 20 years for this opportunity.
You can watch the launch event live on NASA TV.
The Phoenix Mars Lander is scheduled to launch very early on the morning of Saturday, August 4, 2007. The first launch window is at 2:26:34 a.m. PDT (5:26:34 a.m. EDT) and the second (if needed) is at 3:02:59 a.m. PDT (6:02:59 a.m. EDT). The launch was previously scheduled for Friday, August 4, but was postponed 24 hours due to predicted severe weather earlier in the week which could have caused fueling delays. The launch event will be available live on NASA TV.