tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38750906382172987382024-03-13T08:37:20.459+01:00SpaceTravelFoundationSpace news, scientific articles, space tourism, photographies of the UniverseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.comBlogger338125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-26390525006912636832017-04-04T23:41:00.000+02:002017-04-05T09:50:52.909+02:00SpaceX would recover the upper-stage of their Falcon Heavy laucnher<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elon Musk suggested Friday that when SpaceX does its first demonstration flight of the Falcon Heavy large payload rocket later this year, it might also include an attempt to return the upper stage back to Earth. Ultimately, the goal is to make sure the upper stage on the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/07/nasas-project-called-sls-biggest-space.html?spref=bl">Falcon Heavy</a> is reusable, which is part of SpaceX’s plan to make <a href="https://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/11/the-dream-of-dennis-tito-send-its-own.html?m=0">Mars a viable target</a> for repeat, return commercial spaceflight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Falcon Heavy test, which has been scheduled for some time now, is set for “late summer,” according to Musk. This is in keeping with the new 2017 timing, adjusted from late last year following delays resulting from SpaceX’s pre-flight launch pad explosion of a <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2016/06/spacex-plans-to-launch-reused-falcon-9.html">Falcon 9 rocket</a> last September.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is a heavy-lift rocket that would open up a whole new group of potential customers for the private launch provider. Falcon Heavy consists of three Falcon 9 cores at its center, which are made up of 27 Merlin engines, with a projected output of 5 million pounds of thrust. NASA is also preparing its own heavy launcher, the Space Launch System or SLS, with a target launch date of 2018.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Falcon Heavy will have a max cargo capacity of 119,000 pounds in terms of what it can carry to orbit, which is double the payload capacity of the current leader in operational launch craft, the Delta IV Heavy from ULA. It’ll have less capacity for actual mission launches, however, and capacity also goes down if the intent is to reuse the rocket, rather than expend it entirely in a single mission. SpaceX’s goal is to undercut both the SLS projected cost and the Delta IV Heavy actual launch bill by pricing launches at one-third the amount ULA charges.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SpaceX has successfully recovered its Falcon 9 rockets, which make up the first stage of the Falcon Heavy, on a number of occasions now, and on Thursday re-launched one of those recovered rockets for the first time ever. Now, it sounds like Musk is preparing to begin the process of successfully bringing a second stage back to earth, which in the Falcon Heavy includes a single Merlin 1D engine designed for use in a vacuum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recovery and reuse of both of these stages are essential to SpaceX’s Mars plan, as it eventually hopes to shuttle many tons of cargo from Earth to orbit, where they’ll be loaded on a craft destined for Mars supply missions.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-4383967449058101932017-03-20T23:17:00.000+01:002017-03-20T23:17:00.322+01:00SpaceX and Nasa are working to define Mars best landing sites<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a presentation at a symposium here March 18th on planetary surface exploration and sample return, Paul Wooster of SpaceX said the company, working with scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere, had identified several potential landing sites, including one that looks particularly promising.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wooster, who is involved in Mars mission planning in addition to his “day job” as manager of guidance, navigation and control systems on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, said that site selection is based on several criteria. One is access to large quantities of ice near the surface that could, ultimately, support human settlements.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another is to be close to the Equator and at a low elevation for solar power and better thermal conditions. “It’s probably hard to find that along with ice,” he acknowledged, so the focus has been on four locations at latitudes no more than about 40 degrees from the Equator.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wooster said the study identified four regions in the northern hemisphere of Mars that met those basic criteria. Three of the regions :</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They looked attractive in images from a medium resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissiance Orbiter called CTX, he said, but appear rockier in high-resolution HiRISE images.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The team at JPL has been finding that, while the areas look very flat and smooth at CTX resolution, with HiRISE images, they’re quite rocky,” Wooster said. “That’s been unfortunate in terms of the opportunities for those sites.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A fourth region, Arcadia Planitia, looks more promising in those high-resolution images. “What they’ve found is basically few or no rocks, and a polygonal terrain that they think is pretty similar to what was seen at Phoenix,” he said, referring to NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft, which landed in the north polar regions of Mars in 2008.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those landing sites are of particular interest, he said, for SpaceX’s long-term vision of establishing a human settlement on Mars, but he said the company wouldn’t rule our sending Red Dragon spacecraft elsewhere on the planet to serve other customers. “We’re quite open to making use of this platform to take various payloads to other locations as well,” he said. “We’re really looking to turn this into a steady cadence, where we’re sending Dragons to Mars on basically every opportunity.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.018em;">The Red Dragon spacecraft, he said, could carry about one ton of useful payload to Mars, with options for those payloads to remain in the capsule after landing or be deployed on the surface. “SpaceX is a transportation company,” he said. “We transport cargo to the space station, we deliver payloads to orbit, so we’re very happy to deliver payloads to Mars.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When SpaceX announced the Red Dragon program last year, it planned to perform the first launch as soon as the spring of 2018. Last month, however, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said it was likely that mission would shift to the next Mars launch window in mid-2020.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wooster said the slip didn’t have anything to do with issues with the mission itself. “Overall, we just had a lot of things on our plate at SpaceX. It’s not anything specific to Red Dragon,” he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Stay tuned</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-77138751036373130792016-10-04T14:07:00.001+02:002016-10-04T14:07:29.712+02:00SpaceX is considering sabotage as cause of Falcon 9 explosion<br />
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As <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/09/spacex-will-get-its-own-space-launch.html">SpaceX’s</a> investigation of a <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2015/04/spacex-just-released-some-gorgeous-4k.html">Falcon 9 rocket</a> explosion on September 1st drags into its second month, rumors are flying that this may have been more than a random technical failure. According to a Washington Postreport, SpaceX is considering the possibility of sabotage.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In a Holmesian twist to the investigation of the sudden fireball that eviscerated a Falcon 9 rocket, a $95 million internet satellite, and a chunk of Cape Canaveral’s launch pad 40, a SpaceX employee recently requested rooftop access to a building owned by competing rocket consortium </span><a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/12/life-streaming-of-orion-space-launch.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">United Launch Alliance</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">. As industry officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post, SpaceX was following up on “something suspicious” it had seen while reviewing video footage of the rocket explosion—a weird shadow and a white spot on the roof of the ULA building, which sits about a mile from the launch pad.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the Washington Post’s unnamed experts, SpaceX was denied access to the rooftop, which was instead investigated by Air Force officials who found no evidence of a connection to the September 1st explosion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">SpaceX’s official line—that it’s simply trying to leave no stone unturned—may well be true. But that hasn’t stopped the internet from offering up its own conspiracy theories, including that maybe a guy with a rifle shot the rocket from a mile away. (After all, Musk did say his company is trying to figure out the source of a “</span><a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/774153847371501569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">quieter bang sound</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">” a few seconds before the fireball!)</span></div>
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Then again, as <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2016/06/spacex-plans-to-launch-reused-falcon-9.html">Elon Musk</a> noted during his Martian colonization speechlast week, SpaceX has already investigated all obvious possibilities. “What remains are the less probable answers,” he said.</div>
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A ULA spokesperson responded to Gizmodo’s request for comment in an email, stating that “ULA cooperated with the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing, and nothing associated with the SpaceX accident was found.”</div>
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Source: <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/10/01/was-spacexs-rocket-sabotaged/">Fortune</a></div>
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Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-77066923841509347062016-07-25T09:25:00.005+02:002016-07-25T09:25:48.936+02:00NASA Kelpler mission reveals that huge solar flares sparked the creation of DNA molecules leading for life on Earth<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">NASA’s</span><a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/05/dear-followers-dad-news-for-search-for.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kepler Mission</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> found stars that resemble our sun about a few million years after its birth. The Kepler data showed many examples of what are called “superflares” – enormous explosions so rare today that we only experience them once every 100 years or so. Yet the Kepler data also show these youngsters producing as many as ten superflares a day.</span></div>
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“Early Earth received only about 70 percent of the energy from the sun than it does today,” said Vladimir Airapetian, a solar scientist at <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104119652854948680692" target="_blank">+NASA Goddard</a> center. “That means Earth should have been an icy ball. Instead, geological evidence says it was a warm globe with liquid water. We call this the Faint Young Sun Paradox. Our research shows that solar storms could have been central to warming Earth.”</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1255-FScXQFmhp892itEXW6lMD_tuFXVD4plr_DnQbD04Cfq3FposFRIrTLfAiGuxR36cQZVrQAVvODubz9JnbMW5EjywQu8-oJqIVezAy5MfEL2XKERJsCFYgd8Sh4w-oHy1KIOYx4-c/s1600/6a00d8341bf7f753ef01b7c87f018c970b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1255-FScXQFmhp892itEXW6lMD_tuFXVD4plr_DnQbD04Cfq3FposFRIrTLfAiGuxR36cQZVrQAVvODubz9JnbMW5EjywQu8-oJqIVezAy5MfEL2XKERJsCFYgd8Sh4w-oHy1KIOYx4-c/s640/6a00d8341bf7f753ef01b7c87f018c970b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Our sun’s adolescence was stormy, and new evidence, shows that these tempests may have been just the key to seeding life as we know it. Some 4 billion years ago, the sun shone with only about three-quarters the brightness we see today, but its surface roiled with giant eruptions spewing enormous amounts of solar material and radiation out into space. These powerful solar explosions may have provided the crucial energy needed to warm Earth, despite the sun’s faintness.The eruptions also may have furnished the energy needed to turn simple molecules into the complex molecules such as RNA and DNA that were necessary for life.</div>
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Understanding what conditions were necessary for life on our planet helps us both trace the origins of life on Earth and guide the search for life on other planets. Until now, however, fully mapping Earth’s evolution has been hindered by the simple fact that the young sun wasn’t luminous enough to warm Earth.</div>
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Scientists are able to piece together the history of the sun by searching for similar stars in our galaxy. By placing these sun-like stars in order according to their age, the stars appear as a functional timeline of how our own sun evolved. It is from this kind of data that scientists know the sun was fainter 4 billion years ago. Such studies also show that young stars frequently produce powerful flares – giant bursts of light and radiation — similar to the flares we see on our own sun today. Such flares are often accompanied by huge clouds of solar material, called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, which erupt out into space.</div>
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While our sun still produces flares and CMEs, they are not so frequent or intense. What’s more, Earth today has a strong magnetic field that helps keep the bulk of the energy from such space weather from reaching Earth. Space weather can, however, significantly disturb a magnetic bubble around our planet, the magnetosphere, a phenomenon referred to as geomagnetic storms that can affect radio communications and our satellites in space. It also creates auroras – most often in a narrow region near the poles where Earth’s magnetic fields bow down to touch the planet.</div>
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Our young Earth, however, had a weaker magnetic field, with a much wider footprint near the poles. “Our calculations show that you would have regularly seen auroras all the way down in South Carolina,” says Airapetian, lead author of the paper. “And as the particles from the space weather traveled down the magnetic field lines, they would have slammed into abundant nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere. Changing the atmosphere’s chemistry turns out to have made all the difference for life on Earth.”</div>
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The atmosphere of early Earth was also different than it is now: Molecular nitrogen – that is, two nitrogen atoms bound together into a molecule – made up 90 percent of the atmosphere, compared to only 78 percent today. As energetic particles slammed into these nitrogen molecules, the impact broke them up into individual nitrogen atoms. They, in turn, collided with carbon dioxide, separating those molecules into carbon monoxide and oxygen.</div>
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The free-floating nitrogen and oxygen combined into nitrous oxide, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. When it comes to warming the atmosphere, nitrous oxide is some 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The teams’ calculations show that if the early atmosphere housed less than one percent as much nitrous oxide as it did carbon dioxide, it would warm the planet enough for liquid water to exist.</div>
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This newly discovered constant influx of solar particles to early Earth may have done more than just warm the atmosphere, it may also have provided the energy needed to make complex chemicals. In a planet scattered evenly with simple molecules, it takes a huge amount of incoming energy to create the complex molecules such as RNA and DNA that eventually seeded life.</div>
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While enough energy appears to be hugely important for a growing planet, too much would also be an issue — a constant chain of solar eruptions producing showers of particle radiation can be quite detrimental. Such an onslaught of magnetic clouds can rip off a planet’s atmosphere if the magnetosphere is too weak. Understanding these kinds of balances help scientists determine what kinds of stars and what kinds of planets could be hospitable for life.</div>
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“We want to gather all this information together, how close a planet is to the star, how energetic the star is, how strong the planet’s magnetosphere is in order to help search for habitable planets around stars near our own and throughout the galaxy,” said William Danchi, principal investigator of the project at Goddard and a co-author on the paper. “This work includes scientists from many fields — those who study the sun, the stars, the planets, chemistry and biology. Working together we can create a robust description of what the early days of our home planet looked like – and where life might exist elsewhere.”</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: NASA</span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-68518393317625930502016-07-21T11:44:00.002+02:002016-07-21T11:50:08.487+02:00Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral mistaken for UFO<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear reader and followers,</span></div>
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In order to stop rumors on social network, such as facebook about UFO over an US airport, the explanation has been released:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was<a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/01/successful-lift-off-from-cape-canaveral.html"> Atlas V rocket</a> from Cape Canaveral, over the Miami Airport, in Florida, USA.</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, As the rocket climbed into the atmosphere, the combination of the pre-dawn light and the atmospheric conditions meant that the plume of the rocket formed an elongated shape as it climbed into space. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In some videos, like the one below, as the rockets travels upwards at an angle it almost looks like the rocket is moving horizontal across the sky – although this is just an illusion, and it is actually travelling into the distance.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-33382304604755496962016-06-09T11:53:00.002+02:002016-06-09T11:56:09.069+02:00SpaceX plans to launch reused Falcon 9 this fall<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Elon Musk the CEO of <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/09/spacex-will-get-its-own-space-launch.html">Space X</a> tweeted announced this week by a tweet that the company was planning the first reflight of a recovered first stage in September or October.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfnEWV1FMpEMGUFTGe287uwFn2L1Ie_Oc9uNcdGdkJq9y-DmSnpP6ctJ6srm_Ki-8FYmQORBCUIRglGpW77FcUnYsBK3gm9B2LhuBHc_QIeAyaD8xehy6etMPbvkLrmSTVHR5Yh3CF2De/s1600/23797956634_d90e17a27a_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfnEWV1FMpEMGUFTGe287uwFn2L1Ie_Oc9uNcdGdkJq9y-DmSnpP6ctJ6srm_Ki-8FYmQORBCUIRglGpW77FcUnYsBK3gm9B2LhuBHc_QIeAyaD8xehy6etMPbvkLrmSTVHR5Yh3CF2De/s640/23797956634_d90e17a27a_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That date is slightly later than what he mentioned at a conference last week, where he said that flight was planned to take place in two or three months. The company has not disclosed who would be the customer of that launch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As you know Space X succeeded many time to bring back the first stage the Falcon 9 space launcher. Before this successes, Space X changed its approach, and the SpaceX rocket touches down, <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.cz/2015/12/space-x-plans-to-land-these-rockets-at.html">it will be on solid ground</a>. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it is super hard to land a rocket on a platform in the middle of an ocean. Elon Musk has had to learn that the hard way, and now, you too can experience the crushing disappointment of trying to land the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2015/12/do-you-think-that-you-can-land-space-x.html">SpaceX Falcon 9 lander</a>, thanks to a new internet game (completely unaffiliated with SpaceX)</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-59550480006928880422016-04-28T09:19:00.000+02:002016-04-28T09:19:03.770+02:00Successful space launch for Soyuz with Sentinel-1 satellite, Cubesats and MicroSCOPE satelliteDear readers and followers,<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
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The second Sentinel-1 satellite, called Sentinel-1B was launched on April 25 2016 to provide more ‘radar vision’ for Europe’s environmental Copernicus programme. The launch has been done on a <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/11/soyuz-launch-with-two-minute-exposure.html">Soyuz rocket</a> from Europe’s <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/06/soyuz-launch-in-kourou-space-center.html">Spaceport in Kourou</a>, French Guiana, at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST), separating from the rocket’s Fregat upper stage 23 min 35 sec later.</div>
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Sentinel-1B joins its identical twin, Sentinel-1A, in orbit to deliver information for numerous services, from monitoring ice in polar seas to tracking land subsidence, and for responding to disasters such as floods.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqpXhDJEtmTCY3qCDi7N-yu3-HYl8Lkcu56Ki8P8IB0typW89v6LvxJxIgqLP9DGvuMd4txFSEyWVNWs0I9AOvsclvbnedNBwz4XTQWHREWQm10xuO_PCYjhpSz9VzzBrvOJlSow_99Lj/s1600/315de2306c_sentinel1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqpXhDJEtmTCY3qCDi7N-yu3-HYl8Lkcu56Ki8P8IB0typW89v6LvxJxIgqLP9DGvuMd4txFSEyWVNWs0I9AOvsclvbnedNBwz4XTQWHREWQm10xuO_PCYjhpSz9VzzBrvOJlSow_99Lj/s640/315de2306c_sentinel1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/100720077817157516563" target="_blank">+European Space Agency, ESA</a> </div>
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ESA’s Director General Jan Woerner announed that “the launch of Sentinel-1B marks another important milestone as this is the first constellation we have realised for Copernicus,” Both satellites carry an advanced radar that images Earth’s surface through cloud and rain regardless of whether it is day or night.</div>
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<a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2016/04/Birth_of_two_icebergs"><img height="640" src="http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2016/04/birth_of_two_icebergs/15937410-1-eng-GB/Birth_of_two_icebergs_small.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
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Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/100720077817157516563" target="_blank">+European Space Agency, ESA</a> </div>
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During the launch, the satellite’s 12 m-long radar antenna and two 10 m-long solar wings were folded up to fit into the Soyuz rocket’s protective fairing. The solar wings and radar open together in a careful sequence that will take about 10 hours to complete.</div>
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Now that Sentinel-1B has been placed safely in orbit, the team of controllers at ESA’s operations centre in Germany will ensure that everything is working correctly and commission the satellite for operations.</div>
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Volker Liebig, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, said, “We have seen some marvellous results from Sentinel-1A. Only two weeks ago, for example, it captured images of large icebergs breaking away from Antarctica’s Nansen ice shelf</div>
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In the other hand, three CubeSats took advantage of this space launch. These small satellites, each measuring just 10×10×11 cm, were developed by teams of university students through the ‘Fly Your Satellite!’ programme, run by ESA’s Education & Knowledge Management Office in close collaboration with European universities. The three CubeSats are: OUFTI-1 from the University of Liege, Belgium, e-st@r-II from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, and AAUSat-4 from Aalborg University, Denmark.</div>
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“Importantly, the programme is helping to educate the next generation of scientists and engineers by transferring ESA knowhow in designing, building, testing, launching and operating satellites,” said Piero Galeone, ESA’s Head of the Tertiary Education Unit. “This way we are helping to shape the space workforce of the future by enabling students to experience the full lifecycle of a real space project according to ESA’s standards.”</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bwE4Zhdibxxc_d9ufmFyfvC8fjhoduYltRVv1G2Uv0y3liPv8WH06xgwUWAOkQ_fvz8hnS59SaLWIFnudhqj3x3X778_8Mq45-lBUuupeNX2FGOZ8c9rEzlP1Ya_icWrkpuLN1ADUzNP/s1600/CubeSats_orbiting_the_Earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bwE4Zhdibxxc_d9ufmFyfvC8fjhoduYltRVv1G2Uv0y3liPv8WH06xgwUWAOkQ_fvz8hnS59SaLWIFnudhqj3x3X778_8Mq45-lBUuupeNX2FGOZ8c9rEzlP1Ya_icWrkpuLN1ADUzNP/s640/CubeSats_orbiting_the_Earth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/100720077817157516563" target="_blank">+European Space Agency, ESA</a> </div>
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The other satellite that piggybacked a ride today is Microscope from the French space agency, CNES. MicroSCOPE (Micro-Satellite à traînée Compensée pour l'Observation du Principe d'Equivalence) is an approved CNES/ESA gravity-research minisatellite mission, put forward in 2000 by ONERA (Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales), Châtillon, France, and by OCA (Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur) in Grasse, France. The mission is a collaboration between CNES, ZARM laboratory (University of Bremen), PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt) of Braunschweig, Germany, OCA and ONERA.</div>
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The objective is to conduct a fundamental physics experiment, namely to test the general theory of relativity.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdx4V7FnEvWxeGczSQojGPcxNJwVs1nQlQnncDRGZMBX2Tklh0dVrQCzgHkmnEDUJFqSrlzp18WVdy6Py3xesDdhM84f5G32twsQdk7pHYrcyVH8Qo-0Z7FoIyLTVKM8PxDDyFslrLqGso/s1600/2a96873c09_microscope_PrincipeEquivalence_onera_cnes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdx4V7FnEvWxeGczSQojGPcxNJwVs1nQlQnncDRGZMBX2Tklh0dVrQCzgHkmnEDUJFqSrlzp18WVdy6Py3xesDdhM84f5G32twsQdk7pHYrcyVH8Qo-0Z7FoIyLTVKM8PxDDyFslrLqGso/s640/2a96873c09_microscope_PrincipeEquivalence_onera_cnes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/108355510043392743703" target="_blank">+CNES</a> </div>
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More details about this scientific space satellite will be published in the coming days, so stay tuned.</div>
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Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-23993864242339060492016-01-14T18:27:00.002+01:002016-01-14T18:27:29.910+01:00Europe pushing by ESA will start a new space project and will send humans back to the moon by 2030<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159" target="_blank">+NASA</a> and the private space industry has its sights set on <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/11/the-dream-of-dennis-tito-send-its-own.html">putting a human on Mars</a>. Europe, however, has slightly more modest goals; it wants to put humans back on the moon and build a base.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/100720077817157516563" target="_blank">+European Space Agency, ESA</a> has announced its intentions to send astronauts to our nearest satellite by 2030. A video posted on the agency's website titled 'Destination Moon' sets out the plan that will see European developed robots sent to the surface first.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This return to the Moon envisions a series of human missions starting in the early 2020s that would see astronauts interact with robots on the lunar surface from orbit," <a href="http://blogs.esa.int/meteron/2016/01/07/the-moon-awakens/">a statement on the ESA website says.</a> "Eventually we will see a sustained infrastructure for research and exploration where humans will live and work for prolonged periods," the video's narrator says. This plan could look like the space base presented in the movie <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2015/08/nasa-shares-its-technologies-with.html">The Martian</a>, but on the lunar land.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Here we will put into practice the lessons of the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/05/docking-to-iss-and-welcome-onboard-to.html">International Space Station</a>, to establish a facility akin to those we see in Antarctica today. In the future the moon can become a place where the nations of the world work together."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcXiARZJyE6gxd9mmfVY77dQjQMOC9qUvNTiJZzsxXK-DJBZTTeyAytjk0M79zWWg11ezOvdH_MK0cS2oaODZXlM-4AomnlF_PVbPYvDpyUnBOKlt3nszfJMJxLRtgbXDs3EmjNYRuIAY/s1600/Screen-Shot-2016-01-08-at-10.16.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcXiARZJyE6gxd9mmfVY77dQjQMOC9qUvNTiJZzsxXK-DJBZTTeyAytjk0M79zWWg11ezOvdH_MK0cS2oaODZXlM-4AomnlF_PVbPYvDpyUnBOKlt3nszfJMJxLRtgbXDs3EmjNYRuIAY/s640/Screen-Shot-2016-01-08-at-10.16.44.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ESA says that it will learn "lessons" from its experience in building and maintaining International Space Station, where <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/tim-peake">British astronaut Tim Peake</a> is currently based.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike the 1960s space race, which led to the Apollo missions putting man on the moon's surface for the first time, this attempt will not be a competition. Both the Russian space agency and the China National Space Administration each have their own plans to explore the moon. ESA's announcement may be welcome however, with Russian plans for exploration <a href="http://www.techtimes.com/articles/120360/20160102/russias-moon-exploration-plans-face-budget-cuts-as-space-program-falls-victim-to-economic-crisis.htm">potentially faltering due to economic problems</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This new exploration will be achieved not in competition, as in the past, but through peaceful, international cooperation," the video says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plans for the mission include projects to explore the unknown parts of the <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/moon">moon</a>, as human and robot exploration of the satellite has mostly focused on the surface that faces the Earth and that around the equator. The <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/esa">ESA</a>-led mission, which will work in collaboration with others, including Nasa, will look to learn more about "the polar regions hand-in-hand with robots".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In the coming years we will see explorers at the lunar poles; exploiting the sunlight for solar power and performing research to benefit life on Earth and to understand our place in the universe," the video says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-21378717039767192352015-12-10T14:52:00.002+01:002015-12-10T14:52:29.343+01:00Do you think that you can land the Space X Falcon lander ? Go ahead !<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear reader and followers,</span></div>
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it is super hard to land a rocket on a platform in the middle of an ocean. Elon Musk has had to learn that the hard way, and now, you too can experience the crushing disappointment of trying to land the SpaceX Falcon 9 lander, thanks to a new internet game (completely unaffiliated with SpaceX). The game is simple; choose a level with your space bar, and use the arrow keys to gently guide the rocket onto the tiny floating platform before you run out of fuel. Or hit the ocean. Or hit the platform and explode violently. You could also succeed, but only if you are a secret genius/wizard.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmNTyYTcFHjMWfbqg3lIxcrnkoQ7rhVUrDLmf8a2FgUwVe9CaaWF3Bp4sN1JS3udrdPuw8b0dBQBowsNvOJ2ppkPO_1-zVaB-ur5fBoivbr5lliOv8Wlo-KVZzudn8y7lPMIFepvM5FGS/s1600/1434663465285239437.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmNTyYTcFHjMWfbqg3lIxcrnkoQ7rhVUrDLmf8a2FgUwVe9CaaWF3Bp4sN1JS3udrdPuw8b0dBQBowsNvOJ2ppkPO_1-zVaB-ur5fBoivbr5lliOv8Wlo-KVZzudn8y7lPMIFepvM5FGS/s640/1434663465285239437.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SpaceX Falcon 9 Lander is a fun twist on the classic Lunar Lander game that has you trying to perfectly balance thrust, rotation, descent, and your remaining fuel to safely land a rocket ship back on a floating platform.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Playing it is slightly less stressful than trying to land the real Falcon 9 since you’re not out millions of dollars every time you crash–but only just. If you’re looking for a way to relax and kill some time this afternoon, this isn’t it. But if you want to feel as frustrated as Elon Musk does, definitely give it a shot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to the hardness to land in the middle of the ocean, Space X change its approach, next time a SpaceX rocket touches down, <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.cz/2015/12/space-x-plans-to-land-these-rockets-at.html">it will be on solid ground</a>. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.</span></div>
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Play the game <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/76866912/">here</a>. Good luck!</div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-67660533431947975152015-12-03T08:34:00.001+01:002015-12-03T08:34:22.789+01:00Space X plans to land these rockets at Cape Canaveral instead of on an ocean platform<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next time a SpaceX rocket touches down, it will be on solid ground. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6ymuEagIJ5CsXUnxJBZOtSzp9gV6RmP9siMhzwgR5q2YLXEgJOkCjrdWzS46yg88X23S7SQYOM0vQrfZ2vc5Bh2wRqNnZGC1M-Afdw1kkXc0E6KCbgfpPyktsrwa8kSZROoUxh9NYvmg/s1600/screen_shot_2015-01-27_at_5.17.00_pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6ymuEagIJ5CsXUnxJBZOtSzp9gV6RmP9siMhzwgR5q2YLXEgJOkCjrdWzS46yg88X23S7SQYOM0vQrfZ2vc5Bh2wRqNnZGC1M-Afdw1kkXc0E6KCbgfpPyktsrwa8kSZROoUxh9NYvmg/s640/screen_shot_2015-01-27_at_5.17.00_pm.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SpaceX has attempted to land a rocket gently before, but those attempts were made on giant floating platforms in the ocean (which just missed). Then, last week, competitor Blue Origin managed to land it's own reusable rocket safely on the ground, amping up the public pressure on SpaceX to successfully land their own rocket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since one of their rockets exploded in June, SpaceX has been grounded as they troubleshoot. The company is also upgrading their rockets with new engines that can carry heavier loads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SpaceX's next launch could happen in the coming week, as early as December 15th 2016, but that remains unconfirmed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-82596030006630468122015-08-21T08:33:00.000+02:002015-08-21T08:56:13.854+02:00NASA shares its technologies with Hollywood for the movies The Martian <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NASA explained the science behind nine real NASA technologies featured in Ridley Scott’s new film The Martian. Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Andy Weir, the upcoming film stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, a botanist accidentally left for dead on Mars.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XDp1EwnmrWqXAHzXVOKHRA9XAom_-9UqHqIpP1aKBvrEKiRP1OD8a0uXrDxhEIfqh1jR6Y_PYgjWkXm2RxvZT-8jKRCFY6oUOknJxYLp-2MuEcIkIq4_xS0vHT1tOiN_w_vrgGhIanVt/s1600/the_martian_by_nuevemonos-d8r6o9r.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XDp1EwnmrWqXAHzXVOKHRA9XAom_-9UqHqIpP1aKBvrEKiRP1OD8a0uXrDxhEIfqh1jR6Y_PYgjWkXm2RxvZT-8jKRCFY6oUOknJxYLp-2MuEcIkIq4_xS0vHT1tOiN_w_vrgGhIanVt/s640/the_martian_by_nuevemonos-d8r6o9r.jpg" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: <a href="http://nuevemonos.deviantart.com/art/The-Martian-529390431">Nuevemonos</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The Martian” merges the fictional and factual narratives about Mars, building upon the work NASA and others have done exploring Mars and moving it forward into the 2030s, when NASA astronauts are regularly traveling to Mars and living on the surface to explore. Although the action takes place 20 years in the future, NASA is already developing many of the technologies that appear in the film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The habitat</b>: On the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/06/there-was-some-floodwaters-on-mars.html?google_comment_id=z133wh4reunnttrqi04cf5wigsawyn0qlwk0k">surface of Mars</a>, Watney spends a significant amount of time in the habitation module, called the Hab, his home away from home. Future astronauts who land on Mars will need such a home to avoid spending their Martian sols lying on the dust in a spacesuit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At NASA Johnson Space Center, crews train for long-duration deep space missions in the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/HRP-HERA-Experiment-Information-Package.pdf">Human Exploration Research Analog</a> (HERA). <span style="text-align: start;">HERA is a self-contained environment that simulates a deep-space habit. The two-story habitat is complete with living quarters, workspaces, a hygiene module and a simulated airlock. Within the module, test subjects conduct operational tasks, complete payload objectives and live together for 14 days (soon planned to increase to up to 60 days), </span>simulating future missions<span style="text-align: start;"> in the isolated environment. Astronauts have recently used the facility to simulate <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/09/isss-astronaut-point-of-view.html">ISS missions</a>. These research analogs provide valuable data in human factors, behavioral health and countermeasures to help further NASA’s understanding on how to conduct deep space operations.</span></span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The rover:</b> once humans land on the surface of Mars, they must stay there for more than a year, while the planets move into a position that will minimize the length of their trip home. This allows the astronauts plenty of time to conduct experiments and explore the surrounding area, but they won’t want to be limited to how far they can go on foot. Astronauts will have to use robust, reliable and versatile rovers to travel farther. In "The Martian," Watney takes his rover for quite a few spins, and he even has to outfit the vehicle with some unorthodox modifications to help him survive. Here, the rover should be more bigger than <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/12/curiosity-mars-rover-is-back-after.html">Curiosity</a>, the NASA's rover or <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/01/chinese-moon-rover-yutu-has-mechanical.html">Yutu the Chinese's rover</a>.<br />
On Earth today, NASA is working to prepare for every encounter with the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV). The <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/464826main_SEV_FactSheet_508.pdf">MMSEV</a> has been used in NASA’s <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/541196main_Analogs_FactSheet_508.pdf">analog mission projects</a> to help solve problems that the agency is aware of and to reveal some that may be hidden. The technologies are developed to be versatile enough to support missions to an asteroid, Mars, its moons and other missions in the future. NASA’s MMSEV has helped address issues like range, rapid entry/exit and radiation protection. Some versions of the vehicle have six <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BpXzBzKfPw">pivoting wheels</a> for maneuverability. In the instance of a flat tire, the vehicle simply lifts up the bad wheel and keeps on rolling.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More technology have been shared, such as: plant farm, water recovery, oxygen generation, Mars spacesuit, ion propulsion, solar panel, ....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">Source</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-53476584720412546792015-08-19T13:39:00.001+02:002015-08-19T13:39:24.031+02:00Launch of the Japanese supply spaceship to ISS today<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Japan will launch its robotic HTV-5 cargo vessel toward the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/search/label/International%20Space%20Station">International Space Station</a> on Wednesday morning, August 19th at 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT). You can watch the liftoff live in the window below, <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/">courtesy of NASA T</a>V. Coverage begins at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT). If all goes according to plan, HTV-5 will arrive at the space station next Monday morning, August 24th 2015.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The HTV is one of four robotic spacecraft that currently resupply the space station, along with <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/02/progress-m-22m-docks-with-iss-6-hours.html">Russia's Progress</a> freighter and the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/03/iss-data-communication-boosted-by-laser.html">Dragon</a> and <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/01/orbital-sciences-cygnus-cargo-was.html">Cygnus</a> vehicles, which are built by American companies SpaceX and Orbital ATK, respectively. The HTV, Progress and Cygnus are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere at the end of their cargo missions, while Dragon makes a parachute-aided splashdown in the ocean when its time in space is done.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a><br /><br /><br />Stay tuned</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-43735059195486058392015-06-16T09:34:00.003+02:002015-06-16T09:37:53.845+02:00OneWeb selects Airbus to build 900 Internet satellites<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Airbus Defense and Space and OneWeb, a startup backed by Richard Branson’s <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/09/virgin-galactic-test-flights.html">Virgin Group</a> and wireless tech giant Qualcomm, announced Monday plans to set up a joint venture for the construction of 900 Internet broadcasting satellites for launches beginning in 2018. Each OneWeb satellite will weigh less than 150 kilograms (330 pounds) and will begin launching in 2018. The satellites will fly in orbits about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) above Earth. OneWeb’s constellation will consist of 648 operational satellites. The rest of the spacecraft will be spares on the ground or in orbit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: Oneweb</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OneWeb’s selection of Airbus comes after a competition among U.S. and European satellite manufacturers to win the lucrative deal to construct the largest fleet of spacecraft ever launched. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Airbus officials said it requires the company to scale up its satellite manufacturing business to complete construction of up to four spacecraft per day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a statement, Airbus and OneWeb officials said the European contractor’s experience with assembly line production of airliners will help establish the rapid cadence of satellite integration required to meet OneWeb’s ambitious launch schedule. Airbus and OneWeb said the first 10 satellites will be produced at the Airbus plant in Toulouse, France. The remaining 890 satellites will be assembled at an undisclosed site in the United States.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The companies announced the partnership in conjunction with the Paris Air Show:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- “Combining the innovation and large volume manufacturing techniques from its A350 aircraft production, with a rich history of building extremely reliable high performance space systems, Team Airbus will help us deliver the OneWeb system on time, providing reliable connectivity for our customers,” said Brian Holz, head of space systems at OneWeb. “We look forward to working with Airbus Defense and Space in order to bring to bear the best resources around the globe for achieving affordable Internet access for everyone.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- “This partnership is a fantastic new chapter in our space story,” said Francois Auque, head of space systems at Airbus Defense and Space. “Teaming with OneWeb with a requirement to produce several small satellites each day has inspired us to develop innovative designs and processes that will dramatically lower the cost in large volumes for high performance space applications.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Airbus Defense and Space’s core satellite business is in building large one-off communications and Earth imaging spacecraft spacecraft. The company has a base satellite platform, but each production unit is tailored to the needs of its customer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OneWeb officials said earlier this year the company would place launch contracts after selecting a satellite manufacturer. Launch providers from the United States and Europe, such as a new air-launched rocket under development by Branson’s Virgin Galactic, are thought to be in contention for OneWeb deals. Established by telecom entrepreneur Greg Wyler and based in Britain’s Channel Islands, OneWeb plans to deploy the satellites into 20 orbital planes around Earth for global coverage. The satellite Internet signals will supply private consumers, businesses, schools, and hospitals with broadband connectivity through small ground user terminals, which can connect nearby phones, computers and other devices with the Internet, according to OneWeb. The network will provide more than 10 terabits per second of new capacity to underserved areas around the world and extend the reach of mobile phone networks and Internet service providers, OneWeb officials said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before splitting off to launch OneWeb, Wyler founded O3b Networks to beam backhaul broadband services to rural areas. O3b has 12 satellites in orbit today, and telecom companies from Pacific island nations and Africa are among O3b’s initial customers. O3b is backed by Google, HSBC and satellite operator SES. Wyler joined Google from O3b, then left last year to work on OneWeb.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The constellation is a communications system to bring Internet access to the world,” Wyler said in a promotional video posted on YouTube by Airbus. “The fundamental mission is to enable affordable access to the emerging markets. Just about half the world has limited to no communications at all. It’s a big project, but OneWeb is designed to bring Internet access right to the schools, and right to places in the most rural of environments, high-speed Internet access: 50 megabits per second at 30 milliseconds latency.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2015/01/google-makes-major-investment-in-spacex.html">Google confirmed in February a $900 million investment in SpaceX </a>to support innovation in space transportation, reusability and satellite manufacturing. Armed with fresh Google funding, SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk in January announced a plan to field a 4,000-satellite constellation in low Earth orbit for global Internet service, with initial operations expected within five years. Musk said SpaceX will build its own satellites at a new manufacturing center in Redmond, Washington, keeping with the company’s penchant for in-house hardware production. Large satellite fleets have met trouble in the past. An 840-satellite constellation named Teledesic went bust in 2002 before its first launch, even with the backing of Bill Gates, cell phone tycoon Craig McCaw and Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://airbusdefenceandspace.com/newsroom/news-and-features/airbus-defence-and-space-selected-to-partner-in-production-of-oneweb-satellite-constellation/">Source</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-6745883919437977812015-06-12T14:52:00.000+02:002015-06-12T14:53:00.717+02:00Private space mining company supported by Google founders is ready for an amazing 2015 year <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you might know the company Planetary Resource, formerly known as Arkyd Astronautics, is an American company that was formed in November 2010, and reorganized and renamed in 2012. Their stated goal is to "expand Earth's natural resource base" by developing and deploying the technologies for <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/06/nasa-announces-first-ever-human-mission.html?google_comment_id=z125zfajnweqdpuzs04cht5ivnqxsv1o2hk">asteroid mining</a>. Backers includes Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, but also other well known people such as James Cameron.</span></div>
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Their co-Founders Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson often refer to this time in history as being “exponential”. This phrase is ringing true with their team this year, as they forge a path towards asteroid prospecting with two launches in 2015 of their technology demonstration spacecraft!</div>
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The first of these spacecraft launched successfully into space today. The Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R) technology demonstration spacecraft is on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 that is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) as a part of the CRS-6 crew resupply mission.</div>
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Once it reaches the ISS, A3R will be brought on board by the astronauts, and be put in a queue for launch from the Kibo air-lock into low-Earth Orbit tentatively in July 2015. A3R will also complete the mission of the first <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/10/antares-rocket-failed-during-its-launch.html">Arkyd 3 that they lost last year in the Antares explosion</a>, by testing the subsystems they’ll need to venture out into the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/09/voyager1-leaves-solar-system.html">Solar System</a> and prospect for valuable resources on asteroids.</div>
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During its 90 day Earth-orbiting mission, it will send back data on the health of its subsystems to their team at their headquarters in Redmond, WA, and complete its mission with a fiery re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere as a result of its natural atmospheric orbital-decay.</div>
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They’ve learned so much with A3 and A3R on the way to the launch pad and are extremely excited to continue to learn from its performance in Earth orbit.</div>
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Keeping with exponential theme of 2015, the private company is launching a 2nd spacecraft later this year, that will be twice the size and even more capable. In parallel with A3R, Planetary resource has been working on a line of robust Arkyd 6U ScienceCraft that they’ll use not only to test the scientific instruments and deep space technologies at the heart of their asteroid prospecting missions, but to also provide a platform that will allow others to fly their mission with their technology.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6K4AZ4EXAssW0H5qeFlg8KKfE4pnsVQZOtA_D4S0r1CB2sDgMnyDDmED0hd8Wf3P4oo4oIRDfqOBsiFscGD5qYhkaCwVuhqE9oqTj8wivMpSEllK1xMxTuWkmtTN66j4vgxnIkxHQwEf/s1600/External-5j-680x452.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6K4AZ4EXAssW0H5qeFlg8KKfE4pnsVQZOtA_D4S0r1CB2sDgMnyDDmED0hd8Wf3P4oo4oIRDfqOBsiFscGD5qYhkaCwVuhqE9oqTj8wivMpSEllK1xMxTuWkmtTN66j4vgxnIkxHQwEf/s640/External-5j-680x452.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: Planetary Resource</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arkyd 6 (A6), will be the first of these missions to launch, and Planetary resource is contracted with Spaceflight Services, Inc. to launch in a ride share configuration with Formosat-5, currently scheduled in December 2015. Built in compliance with the 6U CubeSat standard and designed to accommodate one of their UV, hyperspectral or MWIR instruments, it is a modular and cost-efficient spacecraft that they are making available for technologists and science investigators to further their own research, whether it be in Earth orbit or deep space. The precision pointing capability, high bandwidth communications, and flexible architecture of their Science-craft provides a robust platform for anyone conducting space research and development, without having to build their own space system.</span></div>
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Planetary resource is composed by a team of scientists and engineers who believe that lowering the barriers to the scientific exploration of space is an important step along the path to expanding humanity’s reach into the Solar System. With their Science-craft program, Planetary Resources is working with their science partners at every step of the discovery process, from proposal to publication, to maximize scientific return.</div>
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Source: <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/">Planetary Ressouce</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-24317907190080148212015-06-09T08:51:00.003+02:002015-06-09T08:52:15.437+02:00LDSD flight complete and NASA discussed status of test Mars landing<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">last week we announced you that <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159" target="_blank">+NASA</a> was ready for its its <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2015/06/nasa-is-ready-for-its-second-flight.html">second flight test of Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This first of three LDSD flights will determine the flying qualities of the test vehicle. As a bonus, the flight plan also includes deployment of two new technologies -- an inflatable device and mammoth parachute. However, those landing technologies are not officially scheduled to be tested until next summer, in two additional LDSD flights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday NASA released status report of the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/10/orion-spacecraft-flight-testing.html">test flight</a>. NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project completed its second flight test when the saucer-shaped craft splashed down safely Monday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. A post-flight media teleconference will be held at 1 p.m. EDT/7a.m., Tuesday, June 9th to review the test.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu3Xp1zCNgk3g42PqdKidQlcKZiG4Li7wYLJQGyAFenrZtFTXrdrXtGaWniQBCU9j9UeHxmWWODL7oNHEAsFoAftC3SxdAqNRnZlbTQhQ8gJt85gRMpKiMlnP5Z8PDXYcQqnrgU5pkio92/s1600/ldsd20140628-full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu3Xp1zCNgk3g42PqdKidQlcKZiG4Li7wYLJQGyAFenrZtFTXrdrXtGaWniQBCU9j9UeHxmWWODL7oNHEAsFoAftC3SxdAqNRnZlbTQhQ8gJt85gRMpKiMlnP5Z8PDXYcQqnrgU5pkio92/s640/ldsd20140628-full.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159" target="_blank">+NASA</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two experimental decelerator technologies – a supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator and a supersonic parachute – were tested. The supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator deployed and inflated. The supersonic parachute also deployed; however, it did not perform as expected. Data were obtained on the performance of both innovative braking technologies, and the teams are beginning to study the data.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-14469188683630094862015-06-02T10:14:00.003+02:002015-06-02T10:14:18.673+02:00NASA is ready for its second flight test of Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second flight test of <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159" target="_blank">+NASA</a>'s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) is expected today, Tuesday, June 2nd, The <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/10/orion-spacecraft-flight-testing.html">flight test</a> is a launch of a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle into near-space from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/08/a-pink-exoplanet-found.html">in Hawaii</a>. At launch time, a <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/07/japanese-artist-makes-fly-bonsai-tree.html">giant balloon</a> will carry the test vehicle to an altitude of about 36 km. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRF03xJZSakTcG7jzVsPyMcStNkjrYHgcAqJ9CgWItsNP9lbHY7vGUD0kQdnZCTh_V5ZuT_OeMMmD8pfVOAb_B1Clunvc9utsSZWIE0SQEgS0UaS_wP6d1XbPouHux2DazFq0R1Vn6c_t/s1600/18052513548_f2fc14c3bd_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRF03xJZSakTcG7jzVsPyMcStNkjrYHgcAqJ9CgWItsNP9lbHY7vGUD0kQdnZCTh_V5ZuT_OeMMmD8pfVOAb_B1Clunvc9utsSZWIE0SQEgS0UaS_wP6d1XbPouHux2DazFq0R1Vn6c_t/s640/18052513548_f2fc14c3bd_o.jpg" width="446" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159" target="_blank">+NASA</a> </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-21026555520923582592015-04-24T11:56:00.002+02:002015-04-24T11:59:26.692+02:00Ariane 5 ready for Arianespace’s upcoming heavy-lift mission<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear reader and followers,</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.arianespace.com/index/index.asp">Arianespace</a> has delivered another <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/08/success-of-fourth-ariane5-launch.html">Ariane 5</a> to the launch zone at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, positioning this workhorse heavy-lift vehicle for tomorrow’s flight with a pair of telecommunications satellites: THOR 7 and SICRAL 2.</div>
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The Ariane 5 rolled out yesterday from the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/02/successful-launch-and-orbiting-of-2.html">Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building</a> to the ELA-3 launch zone, where it is scheduled for liftoff during a launch window that opens on April 24th at 4:38 p.m. local time in French Guiana, or 9:38 Paris time.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07IivWQdUIX-8nGAHpyouHsHFVUdejIqi7MfQOAd6T_VOsbi2NW9JlFKVvn-sQ-aK8qc3jKicCIdP9IMm81N81VVvQZOgWo1PABKs26OiwwJ54kmprm0s6IgNcKGaJ6QUo4m_G9NLQilk/s1600/1283-pano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07IivWQdUIX-8nGAHpyouHsHFVUdejIqi7MfQOAd6T_VOsbi2NW9JlFKVvn-sQ-aK8qc3jKicCIdP9IMm81N81VVvQZOgWo1PABKs26OiwwJ54kmprm0s6IgNcKGaJ6QUo4m_G9NLQilk/s1600/1283-pano.jpg" height="408" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: Ariane Space</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For this 78th overall flight of an Ariane 5, the payload lift performance is estimated at 9,850 kg. – which includes a combined total of some 9,000 kg for the two satellites, plus the launcher’s dual-passenger dispenser system and integration hardware.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riding as the upper passenger in Ariane 5’s payload arrangement is THOR 7, which will be released at approximately 28 minutes into the mission. The spacecraft was built by SSL (Space Systems/Loral) for Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, and will operate from an orbital position of .8 deg. West.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THOR 7 is to serve the maritime sector, delivering high-powered coverage over the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the Red Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean. Also incorporated in this relay platform is a Ku-band payload for broadcast and television services in Central and Eastern Europe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SICRAL 2 is a military telecommunications satellite developed in the framework of a turnkey contract that the Italian Defense Ministry and the French DGA armament agency (Direction Générale de l’Armement) have with Thales Alenia Space Italy; while Telespazio is responsible for the launch service. It will be deployed from Ariane 5’s lower passenger position at approximately 34 minutes after liftoff – completing the mission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the deployment by Ariane 5, SICRAL 2 – offering a design life of 15 years – will provide strategic and tactical telecommunications links for French and Italian military forces, as well as reserve capacity for other NATO nations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow’s Ariane 5 launch is designated VA222, signifying the 222nd liftoff of an Ariane-series vehicle since 1979. It also will mark Arianespace’s third flight in 2015 with a launcher from its three-member family – following the medium-lift Soyuz mission on March 27 that orbited two European Galileo FOC (Full Operational Capability) navigation satellites, and February 11’s lightweight Vega suborbital flight with Europe’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) spaceplane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-53066158133605673422015-04-20T13:43:00.003+02:002015-04-20T13:43:30.538+02:00Asteroid size of Statue of Liberty 'on collision course with Earth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span></div>
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an astronomer has claimed an asteroid the size of the Statue of Liberty is on a collision course with earth. Dr Judit Györgyey-Ries, astronomer at the University of Texas' McDonald Observatory, believes the giant rock could create a huge impact when it reaches earth in around October 2017.</div>
<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3BShsMmUToO5ICiIYq_Py2XN0j96R09JBT4Yvp7eb_TpJ-PZdN6WACcVwtiIoBMqqE-2sFlE0hspaOTm02U_mC3-PJGuGsAIuCcDsHjJ4wRjkYM89xVimfu0NXlyCY_Q0itKB6KPZ4G-/s1600/Asteroid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3BShsMmUToO5ICiIYq_Py2XN0j96R09JBT4Yvp7eb_TpJ-PZdN6WACcVwtiIoBMqqE-2sFlE0hspaOTm02U_mC3-PJGuGsAIuCcDsHjJ4wRjkYM89xVimfu0NXlyCY_Q0itKB6KPZ4G-/s1600/Asteroid.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
Scientists estimate Asteroid 2012 TC4 is around 40 meters wide and could cause even more chaos than the one <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/10/a-piece-of-meteor-fallen-in-russia-in.html">which hospitalised more than 1,200 people when it exploded over Russia in February 2013</a> .</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr Györgyey-Ries told astronomy website <a href="http://astrowatch.net/">astrowatch.net</a><span id="goog_1843322318"></span><span id="goog_1843322319"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>: "We could see an airburst maybe broken windows, depending on where it hits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The giant asteroid narrowly missed earth in October 2012 when it passed 94,800 km away. Detlef Koschny, head of the near-earth object segment at the <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/100720077817157516563" target="_blank">+European Space Agency, ESA</a> , said: "There is a one in a million chance that it could hit us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The size was estimated from the brightness, but we don't know the reflectivity. So it could be smaller or larger, assume from 10 to 40 metres.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A 40m iron object would go through the atmosphere and make a crater; a 10m rocky object would hardly be noticed."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shock waves from the Russia airburst smashed windows, rattled buildings, and knocked people off their feet, more than 1,200 of whom attended hospital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Researchers visiting villages in the area found a region of shock-wave damage extending some 50 miles on either side of the meteor's trajectory path.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-67216978891715406762015-04-13T13:49:00.001+02:002015-04-14T17:30:56.345+02:00SpaceX just released some gorgeous 4K rocket launch footage<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear readers and followers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As if watching rockets going to space wasn't already awesome, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104512038508075599339" target="_blank">+SpaceX</a> just released a two-minute supercut of 4K footage of its <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/12/first-commercial-satellite-launched-by.html?m=0">Falcon 9 rocket</a> launches. It's got some slow-motion footage, some HDR-style footage, and lots of different angles of a vehicle that is capable of producing a million pounds of thrust. All of it is beautiful, even if it's accompanied by an unnecessarily loud techno track that covers up the thrilling sound of a rocket taking off.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gmJgW-yMAIg" width="650"></iframe><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: 28.0499992370605px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit video: <a href="https://plus.google.com/104512038508075599339">+SpaceX</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coincidentally, SpaceX has another Falcon 9 launch scheduled for today. After the rocket helps deliver cargo to the <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/107086706691409379909" target="_blank">+International Space Station</a>, the company will once again attempt to land its reusable Falcon 9 on an autonomous drone ship at sea; something it has unsuccessfully tried twice. No pressure. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBr_-WlWhYl1ZBVyOtchNM9XCdBexvZuKfKtLLu-gxeZ-xl3Oqjnk2df7thUywiN9UqMQQ7d57tHUVZpFQhfbsk8HWYj9dNWy8J11VqxtUXGok7GDe51E70nWVs2sBj9V1SPMkMkohdNbs/s1600/SpaceX-photos-006-794247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBr_-WlWhYl1ZBVyOtchNM9XCdBexvZuKfKtLLu-gxeZ-xl3Oqjnk2df7thUywiN9UqMQQ7d57tHUVZpFQhfbsk8HWYj9dNWy8J11VqxtUXGok7GDe51E70nWVs2sBj9V1SPMkMkohdNbs/s1600/SpaceX-photos-006-794247.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104512038508075599339" target="_blank">+SpaceX</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SpaceX intends to build a vertical launch area and control center to support 12 commercial launches per year. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-61110421348378206772015-03-20T11:30:00.002+01:002015-03-23T10:03:08.010+01:00March 20th Eclipse from Warwickshire in UK<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you enjoyed the eclipse this morning, please find this picture taken this morning from Warwickshire, UK, even with the bad weather. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOueGkmbJf6ctP2t8ROrAAl8RD__7Z0vkzBd4HSRxBOy8v4_H9OY6lWxgqxMdD3DE3Zznqfp5JGURKF5RhxRSsHbYtXTAasdHKLsOkBUDeQU7xJiUP5frM-W8rQvLLoreIr5XDfLdsurW9/s1600/CAiKwLFWYAAnE4Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOueGkmbJf6ctP2t8ROrAAl8RD__7Z0vkzBd4HSRxBOy8v4_H9OY6lWxgqxMdD3DE3Zznqfp5JGURKF5RhxRSsHbYtXTAasdHKLsOkBUDeQU7xJiUP5frM-W8rQvLLoreIr5XDfLdsurW9/s1600/CAiKwLFWYAAnE4Z.jpg" height="594" width="640" /></a></div>
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The eclipse has been also from space by <a href="https://plus.google.com/100720077817157516563">+European Space Agency, ESA</a> using the Proba2 satellite</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYkWDq4TUzFFJc2gvwi9z-SQ3_EQ1BS4JYmvtdagmuu3wgGhrYfng6eOvcVQ399w6P5Izo7ObjiJW8PRjpiwFpFQj0HFKbcldnIeRjzpwYIfEcakZvK7nDBCnyY5yE-Tgcj1vjf3PCzWS/s1600/CAiJtbgU8AAl1gC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYkWDq4TUzFFJc2gvwi9z-SQ3_EQ1BS4JYmvtdagmuu3wgGhrYfng6eOvcVQ399w6P5Izo7ObjiJW8PRjpiwFpFQj0HFKbcldnIeRjzpwYIfEcakZvK7nDBCnyY5yE-Tgcj1vjf3PCzWS/s1600/CAiJtbgU8AAl1gC.jpg" height="466" width="640" /></a></div>
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Credit image: ESA</div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-27569165029868545492015-03-02T13:45:00.001+01:002015-03-02T14:01:32.114+01:00Military weather spy satellite apparently exploded in orbit<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A 20-year-old military weather satellite apparently exploded in orbit February. 3rd 2015 following what the U.S. Air Force described as a sudden temperature spike. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The “catastrophic event” produced 43 pieces of space debris, according to Air Force Space Command, which disclosed the loss of the satellite on February 27th 2015. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdklJDyj_NQxQY6SMPQQYpUZlgwvSLOYzfnh-3kX-spcgAU5AccsQDxxZ6jBZiCsZN9d-FJ89PKR7Lzhv9dMeCZ7HCKZmG-d9KZjaKE3x824YNKP1cZ5eSwBELesykEeI_DLGemip0PBG/s1600/DMSP-USAF-879x485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdklJDyj_NQxQY6SMPQQYpUZlgwvSLOYzfnh-3kX-spcgAU5AccsQDxxZ6jBZiCsZN9d-FJ89PKR7Lzhv9dMeCZ7HCKZmG-d9KZjaKE3x824YNKP1cZ5eSwBELesykEeI_DLGemip0PBG/s1600/DMSP-USAF-879x485.jpg" height="352" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit image: US air force</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The satellite, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 13, was the oldest continuously operational satellite in the DMSP weather constellation. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Launched in 1995, DMSP-F13 provided thousands of hours of weather imagery to Air Force and Navy forecasters before transitioning to a backup role in 2006. The Air Force said its sudden loss would have minimal impact. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DMSP-F13 flew in a 800 kilometers sun-synchronous polar orbit popular for weather and <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/10/the-us-secret-space-drone-finally-came.html">spy satellites</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Because this satellite was no longer used by the National Weather Service or the Air Force Weather Agency, the impact of the loss of this satellite is minimal,” the Air Force said. “We anticipate real-time weather data for tactical users will be slightly reduced without this satellite, but its data was not being used for weather forecast modeling.”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQwFUKPZVGLH436f-iAQDI5qxqC7EtDwnsC6PLcLqY54Uy7QEPUEafqof9ywqu0tBlpE0Tj8ylFaugNRRCtiSSv0ETbu8iifkmE1-QoQCdGIZYZf_oYCIiUQvzOt4wT1ra69SbsL0h7Gk/s1600/e-sat99-00001L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQwFUKPZVGLH436f-iAQDI5qxqC7EtDwnsC6PLcLqY54Uy7QEPUEafqof9ywqu0tBlpE0Tj8ylFaugNRRCtiSSv0ETbu8iifkmE1-QoQCdGIZYZf_oYCIiUQvzOt4wT1ra69SbsL0h7Gk/s1600/e-sat99-00001L.jpg" height="512" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Air Force still has six DMSP satellites in service following the launch last April of DMSP-F19. A seventh satellite, DMSP-F20, was under consideration for a 2016 launch as recently as November.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Air Force Space Command said DMSP-F13’s power subsystem experienced “a sudden spike in temperature” followed by “an unrecoverable loss of attitude control.” As DMSP operators were deciding to “render the vehicle safe” the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, identified a debris field near the satellite. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Air Force said it is continuing to track the debris and will issue conjunction warnings if necessary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“While the initial response is complete, JSpOC personnel will continue to assess this event to learn more about what happened and what it will mean for users within this orbit,” said Air Force Col. John Giles, the Joint Space Operations Center’s director.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first public indication of a problem with DMSP-F13 came from T.S. Kelso, a senior research astrodynamicist for Analytical Graphics’ Center for Space Standards and Innovation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who noted Feb. 25 that there had been “another debris event with 26 new pieces” in addition to five previously cataloged DMSP-F13 objects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Space news</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-31552041026733219892015-02-18T14:18:00.002+01:002015-02-18T14:53:50.872+01:00Mystery haze found on Mars surprises scientists <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enormous cloud-like plumes reaching 260 kilometers above the surface of Mars have left scientists baffled. This is way beyond Mars’ normal weather, reaching into the exosphere where the atmosphere merges with interplanetary space. None of the conventional explanations for such clouds make sense, neither water or carbon dioxide ice nor dust storms nor auroral light emissions usually hit such heights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These “mystery clouds” came as a surprise, in particular when considering they were first spotted by a string of amateur astronomers in 2012. After all, an international fleet of five orbiters and two rovers is currently operating on and around Mars, and one may be excused thinking the red planet has little left to hide and its exploration has become routine.</span></div>
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A survey of images from the <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104933578966497599647" target="_blank">+Hubble Space Telescope</a> and amateur astronomers revealed massive clouds had been seen on Mars before, but none as prominent as the 2012 observations.</div>
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Perhaps these clouds could be aurorae, similar to the northern lights (aurora borealis) here on Earth, or their southern counterpart aurora australis. These displays happen when the Earth’s magnetic field channels charged particles emitted by the Sun towards the poles, where they interact with the atmosphere and emit light.</div>
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Mars does not have a global magnetic field, only pockets of magnetization. The mystery clouds were spotted over one of these so-called magnetic anomalies, and <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_discovers_aurorae_on_Mars">auroral lights have been observed</a> there previously.</div>
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However, to explain the 2012 observations, an aurora would have had to be 1,000 times brighter than the northern lights. This would require an increased flow of charged particles from the sun, but its activity was not unusually high during the time. Could dust be the culprit? A volcanic eruption or an asteroid impact were among the earliest theories about these clouds’ origin. New eruptions on Mars are plausible, though we’re yet to observe any active volcanoes on the planet. The <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/07/lava-flows-frozen-in-time-on-biggest.html">youngest lava flows reported</a> are a few million to tens of million years old, which is recent in geological terms.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaH9gKDZwT9nWQiDA7BG2sz1QS-x-kUCKhyphenhyphenQNCl1_v9I-MK08gOPWpOpf-sRKf9QBNJXYyRv3EqHgonX2NlmdZxwbh0JLO80DuHOBbIOviOoAJg36M9bnDa9zGqFlL784hYfnXOzctHIP/s1600/stock-footage-animation-of-erupting-volcano-on-mars-spewing-smoke-and-lava.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaH9gKDZwT9nWQiDA7BG2sz1QS-x-kUCKhyphenhyphenQNCl1_v9I-MK08gOPWpOpf-sRKf9QBNJXYyRv3EqHgonX2NlmdZxwbh0JLO80DuHOBbIOviOoAJg36M9bnDa9zGqFlL784hYfnXOzctHIP/s1600/stock-footage-animation-of-erupting-volcano-on-mars-spewing-smoke-and-lava.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/09/maven-delivered-first-observations-of.html">Mars’ thin atmosphere</a> offers little protection against asteroids, and its surface is pockmarked with impact craters. Cameras on board NASA’s <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/10/mars-orbiters-healthy-after-siding.html">Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter </a>have documented the appearance of hundreds of new craters in the nine years since the spacecraft arrived at Mars.</div>
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However, both theories were quickly discarded because they were inconsistent with the behavior of the clouds. Continued observations showed that they disappeared during the Martian daytime, were not visible in the evening, and reappeared each morning for at least ten consecutive days.</div>
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This also rules out dust storms, which frequently engulf large areas of the planet’s surface. Furthermore, the wavelength profile of the light reflected by the mystery clouds is a poor match for Martian dust particles. That leaves water or carbon dioxide ice particles, which fit the wavelength profile of the reflected light. Both water and carbon dioxide molecules also occur naturally in the atmosphere at these heights.</div>
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However, to form these clouds both substances would need to condense into ice particles. This would require the atmospheric temperature at these heights to drop suddenly by up to 100˚C. We’ve no idea what would cause such a drop, and we’re yet to spot such a massive, localized cold snap.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2wAFBlvavUW9PN0FjR1a4CGGRUqT8SG16pJijvRxYJ8FsL7lHwJIrfbdz_XeY3Lo7VTFVphd-cd1c8yHfkMVX0EqDsZ6cp6Euk4lLOZMm8PNU4Dp13z9glZXJjPhhS9eYlc_ke_RpuNl/s1600/iuvs-final-image-annotated.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2wAFBlvavUW9PN0FjR1a4CGGRUqT8SG16pJijvRxYJ8FsL7lHwJIrfbdz_XeY3Lo7VTFVphd-cd1c8yHfkMVX0EqDsZ6cp6Euk4lLOZMm8PNU4Dp13z9glZXJjPhhS9eYlc_ke_RpuNl/s1600/iuvs-final-image-annotated.png" height="434" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sánchez-Lavega and colleagues thus declare that their “explanations defy our current understanding of Mars’ upper atmosphere” and their investigation only partially lifts the shroud surrounding these mysterious clouds.</div>
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High altitude clouds are not the only Martian mysteries keeping researchers on their toes. One question driving the exploration of the red planet is whether there has ever been life on Mars. Latest results by NASA’s Curiosity rover reaffirm that the planet provided habitable conditions in its past.</div>
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Water is the most important prerequisite for life. One explanation for the ongoing formation of gullies and related features, for example, is liquid water at or near the Martian surface even during the currently prevailing extreme dry and cold conditions. And while there are many possible explanations for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/curiosity-catches-a-whiff-of-methane-on-mars-and-a-possibility-of-past-life-35595">enigmatic whiffs of methane</a> observed on Mars, one of the most exciting is the production by microorganisms living just below the surface.</div>
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Part of the fascination of Mars exploration is that it is very much about understanding our own origins and future. As the example of the mystery cloud observations shows, everybody has a chance to participate in unraveling the red planet’s mysteries.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-27852049746017133042015-02-10T13:30:00.002+01:002015-02-10T13:30:46.051+01:00An ancient earth inside Earth? Harvard scientists say YES<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a<a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-06-scientists-echoes-ancient-earth.html"> study presented</a> at the Goldschmidt conference in Sacramento, California, claims that the previously inexplicable isotope ratio from the depths of the Earth may be an “echo” of the ancient Earth that existed before the collision with another celestial body, which is estimated to have led to the <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2014/08/nasa-observed-asteroid-collision.html">formation of the Moon</a> around 4,5 billion years ago.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtEAmkvzkiwZ4C3Lb5JUVKvVWiBMgF9CcTdRUMOUnOFR0hUpFMtvkDiILU20m3oDotqbjDJMtWyXmDusquu-Dl3Wml9oB-bLIKFbipz_VmyMIdAhTlvxrYaMwcP_0CfKADb1xbd99BdOh/s1600/moon-formation-theories-debated_69202_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtEAmkvzkiwZ4C3Lb5JUVKvVWiBMgF9CcTdRUMOUnOFR0hUpFMtvkDiILU20m3oDotqbjDJMtWyXmDusquu-Dl3Wml9oB-bLIKFbipz_VmyMIdAhTlvxrYaMwcP_0CfKADb1xbd99BdOh/s1600/moon-formation-theories-debated_69202_600x450.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the authors of the study, the ratio may represent a signal from a material that existed prior to the moment of the collision.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scientists of the <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/107511988236393178296" target="_blank">+Harvard University</a> led by Associate Professor Sujoy Mukhopadhyay believe that only a portion of the Earth melted as a result of the collision, and that in the depths of our planet’s mantle there still exists a part of the ancient Earth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scientists have studied the isotope ratio of noble gases from the depths of the Earth’s mantle and compared it to the isotope ratio of the gases found closer to the surface. They found that the ratio of 3He to 22Ne from the surface layers of the mantle is much higher than the one of its deeper layers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The analysis of the 129-Xenon and 130-Xenon ratio also confirms the hypothesis suggested by the researchers. Material which has been rendered to the surface from the deep mantle has a lower ratio than the one which is typically located near the surface.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the 129-Xenon is produced by the radioactive decay of 129-Iodine, these isotopes indicate thatthe ancient part of mantle was formed during the first 100 million years of the Earth’s evolution. Scientists believe that this theory explains the differences between the isotope ratios of noble gases in different parts of the Earth.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HizUgz1hgqsQxOEiav3lXdBpkAdLlsRq_CT4fjSHGJCckVKGLfgI30db5fZsN8GM_cQy9OEnQ0BPy5NP1kV1GxWxpB2Xv2kHI2XUWmm7DmPo_33EtcQ9THkiHpYq8mw2cmTMKj7yYQeU/s1600/coverimage_hd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HizUgz1hgqsQxOEiav3lXdBpkAdLlsRq_CT4fjSHGJCckVKGLfgI30db5fZsN8GM_cQy9OEnQ0BPy5NP1kV1GxWxpB2Xv2kHI2XUWmm7DmPo_33EtcQ9THkiHpYq8mw2cmTMKj7yYQeU/s1600/coverimage_hd.jpg" height="307" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Professor Mukhopadhyay said: “The geochemistry indicates that there are differences between the noble gas isotope ratios in different parts of the Earth, and these need to be explained. The idea that a very disruptive collision of the Earth with another planet-sized body, the biggest event in Earth’s geological history, did not completely melt and homogenize the Earth challenges some of our notions on planet formation and the energetics of giant impacts. If the theory is proven correct, then we may be seeing echoes of the ancient Earth, from a time before the collision“.</span></div>
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<a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-06-scientists-echoes-ancient-earth.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source</span></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-36589968806258512202015-02-05T09:08:00.002+01:002015-02-05T09:08:39.807+01:00NASA launched a rocket into Northern Lights<div style="text-align: justify;">
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The interaction of the solar wind (issue from the Sun ) and Earth’s atmosphere produces <a href="http://spacetravelfoundation.blogspot.fr/2013/07/aurora-above-yellowknife-northwest.html">auroras</a>. These northern and southern lights dance across the night sky and have mesmerized and inspired observers for centuries. For scientists, this dance of light also leads to many questions about how space weather affects Earth’s atmosphere. In late January 2015, scientists, in collaboration with NASA, launched a rocket with probes into the northern lights in order to learn more about how they heat the planet’s atmosphere. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPZPY1agiKGJyNj2U0B8A5BgrvOZ0gaK0yd0nmYtHJxWJr82ksF1hc52CU6aAq1lJxjf52uDvSaJuhUe1Ghyphenhyphenz2apmNgaYAoFTTbxHDIxEgbMoh2osY6PtJROzD3zzkNmsk3Pm2AdG5iM1/s1600/ASSP_aurora-rocket_2015028_lrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPZPY1agiKGJyNj2U0B8A5BgrvOZ0gaK0yd0nmYtHJxWJr82ksF1hc52CU6aAq1lJxjf52uDvSaJuhUe1Ghyphenhyphenz2apmNgaYAoFTTbxHDIxEgbMoh2osY6PtJROzD3zzkNmsk3Pm2AdG5iM1/s1600/ASSP_aurora-rocket_2015028_lrg.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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Credit image: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159" target="_blank">+NASA</a> </div>
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The Auroral Spatial Structures Probe (ASSP) was launched at 5:41 a.m. on January 28th 2015, from the Poker Flat Research Range about 50 kilometers north of Fairbanks, Alaska. </div>
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The ASSP carried seven instruments to study the electromagnetic energy that can heat the thermosphere, the second highest layer of the atmosphere, during auroral events. The interaction of waves and particles from the solar wind, Earth’s magnetosphere, and the upper atmosphere can cause “Joule heating.” Essentially, the electrical currents on the edge of space run into a resistant media (the air in the atmosphere) and generate heat in a process similar to that of a toaster coil or electric stove. This heating can expand the atmosphere upward and increase the friction, or drag, on spacecraft and satellites.</div>
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The AASP launch occurred just two days after the successful launches of the Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Turbulence Experiment (M-TeX) and the Mesospheric Inversion-layer Stratified Turbulence (MIST) experiment. Two pairs of instrumented rockets were launched about 30 minutes apart to study how turbulence is formed in the presence of inversion layers in the upper atmosphere. This turbulence causes particles to diffuse between atmospheric layers. The MIST launches included the release of harmless trimethyl aluminum vapor to help researchers trace diffusion at high altitude</div>
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“Recent solar storms have resulted in major changes to the composition of the upper atmosphere above 80 kilometers, where enhancements in nitrogen compounds have been found,” said Richard Collins, upper atmospheric researcher from the University of Alaska. “These compounds can be transported into the middle atmosphere where they can contribute to ozone destruction. However, the meteorological conditions do not always allow such transport to occur. Thus, the impact of solar activity on the Earth is not just about how the Sun is a source of energetic particles, but also how the Earth’s meteorological conditions determine the fate of these particles in the atmosphere.”</div>
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<br />Remember that this blog is free, but you can support us with <a href="https://flattr.com/profile/laurenta31">Flattr</a><br /><br /><br />Stay tuned</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569793889925233278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3875090638217298738.post-40153131279040509382015-02-02T13:33:00.000+01:002015-02-02T13:33:24.858+01:00Life of stars in pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVYXDIzeF39ujPsa8QynHg41INmeZFbwUv2zDTn-6AZc1PUWjlecK65LfTAzcvE9aFLo2f0r6rjlHkQA0_UG-CZKQl1FCWsFxbM9UlJQE0wmMoaPoTjxbKkRByWaz2M53Y-Wbc46x1F5b/s1600/10635917_1406499542984266_1737649601206098137_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVYXDIzeF39ujPsa8QynHg41INmeZFbwUv2zDTn-6AZc1PUWjlecK65LfTAzcvE9aFLo2f0r6rjlHkQA0_UG-CZKQl1FCWsFxbM9UlJQE0wmMoaPoTjxbKkRByWaz2M53Y-Wbc46x1F5b/s1600/10635917_1406499542984266_1737649601206098137_n.jpg" height="378" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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Credit images: <a href="https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159">+NASA</a> / <a href="https://plus.google.com/100720077817157516563">+European Space Agency, ESA</a> / <a href="https://plus.google.com/104933578966497599647">+Hubble Space Telescope</a> </div>
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