New potential hazardous asteroid discovered by NASA

Dear followers,

for this beginning of 2014, +NASA revealed the discovery of a news potential hazardous asteroid, called 2013 YP139. The asteroid was at a distance of 0.235 astronomical units from Earth by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer from NASA. Its size is estimated around 650 meters.  It orbits the Sun in an elliptical orbit along the invariable plane and is currently 42 million kilometers away and is expected to come within 490,000 kilometers of our dear Earth planet, slightly beyond the orbit of the Moon. However, because of some potential uncertainties and this close proximity, the 2013 YP139 asteroid has classified as a potential threat.

Credit: +NASA / +NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Stay tuned 

TDRS-L spacecraft encapsulated in its payload at NASA facility in Florida

Credit image : +NASA / Kim Shiflett

Virgin Galactic's third rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo flight at 21 km of altitude !

Dear followers,

+Virgin Galactic successfully completed its third rocket-powered supersonic flight of its passenger carrying reusable space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2) on Jan. 10, 2014 from the spaceport in the Mojave Desert, soaring to a record 21 km of altitude!

Credit: +Virgin Galactic 

All details of the test flight there : http://www.virgingalactic.com/news/item/virgin-galactic-reaches-new-heights-in-third-supersonic-test-flight/

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo was berthed and installed with success to ISS

Dear followers,

after its successful lift-off from Earth 3 days ago, the Antares rocket developed by Orbital Sciences released its payload and the Cygnus was berthed and installed with success to the International Science Station. 

Credit image : Orbital Sciences

The module will remain for around one month while the crew of the space station transfers the 1.5 tons of provisions and experiments delivered by the private capsule, Cygnus. Enjoy the video:

Credit : +NASA 

Successful lift-off of the Antares rocket carrying equipments for ISS

Dear followers,

After a decrease of the radiation level which delayed the liftoff this week, the space launch  of the Antares rocket was performed. If you missed the Orb1 rocket launch to the ISS yesterday, enjoy this video 

Credit: +NASA 

Great 2014 picture of Orion nebula taken by amateur photographer

Credit image: Guillaume Doyen

Orb-1 mission of the Antares rocket delayed due to high space radiation environment

Dear followers,

yesterday, we announced that the Antares is already on the launch Pad-0A at +NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. This morning, the Antares launch team decided to delay the space launch due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket's electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment.

Image source : Orbital Science

The space rocket is in advance of a planned launch on January 8th at 1:32 p.m. EST on the Wallops Island, VA. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the international space station are science experiments, crew provisions, and other hardware. 

Stay tuned 

[Update] : if the level of radiations moves down, Orbital Sciences announces that the launch could be performed on Thursday, the launch targeted launch time would be 1:10 p.m. (EST), with Cygnus arriving at the ISS Sunday morning, January 12.

The Online Astronomy Society Ezine – Dec 13 / Jan 14

Credits: The Online Astronomy Society

Antares ready on the launch pad for its lift-off on Wednesday 8th

Dear follower,

I wish you a happy new year 2014, and today, the Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the +International Space Station from Orbital Sciences Corporation is already on the launch Pad-0A at +NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The space rocket is in advance of a planned launch on January 8th at 1:32 p.m. EST on the Wallops Island, VA. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the international space station are science experiments, crew provisions, and other hardware. 

Below a picture of the rocket on the pad, it's a great picture for a 2014 wallpaper !

 Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Stay tuned for the live streaming of the space launch on Wednesday

The Ear Nebula taken by IPHAS

Credit: T.A. Rector (+University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF)

The image was obtained using the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4 meters telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The picture shows the nebula known as the "Ear Nebula". This nebula is relatively old. It was discovered in 2005 by the IPHAS of the Northern Galactic Plane. The picture is built with observations in the Hydrogen alpha (red) and Oxygen (blue) filters. The North is to the top of the image, while the East is to the left.

Great shot of the Hubble Space telescope of the Crab Nabula

Credit: +NASA / +Hubble Space Telescope 

The Orion spacecraft cross the country for testing before its mission in September 2014

Credit: +NASA 

The spacecraft Orion is moving from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA to the Naval Base San Diego in California. There, the some test will be performed to simulate the recovery of the capsule during its first mission. its mission, called Exploration Flight Test – 1 (EFT-1), is scheduled for September 2014.

ISS without half of its vital cooling system

Dear followers,

yesterday, on Wednesday December 11th, the International Space Station lost half of its vital cooling system, due to a partial power down of some systems.

The safety of the members crew is under control, "at no time was the crew or the station itself in any danger" announced officially +NASA . All the astronauts slept on the orbiting laboratory as scheduled.

Credits: NASA

The trouble on the international space station occurred when one of two pumps used to circulate ammonia coolant outside of the space station shut itself down after the detection of unexpected low temperatures. The shutdown cut off half of the ability of the space system to regulate temperatures for both its internal and external systems. 

The engineer on the ground are working hard to troubleshoot the issue. If the showdown of the cooling system is due to a hardware problem, it may require that astronauts go outside ISS to replace or fix the pump module with a spare unit.

More news soon, so stay tuned.

The Cat's Paw Nebula taken from Chile

Credits Dr. Travis A. Rector / +NASA 

NASA discovers an ancient lake on Mars

Dear followers,

after many months on Mars, the Curiosity rover reveals its major discovery which could change the space field research. Actually, the space rover has revealed the evidence of an ancient lake with water that could plausibly be described as drinkable. This validates the first analyses performed and published few months ago: the first scoop of soil analysed by the analytic suite in the belly of martian rover reveals that fine materials on the surface of the planet contain several percent water by weight.

Credits: +NASA 

This discovery might emphasize the probability of an ancient life on the red planet; “If we put microbes from Earth and put them in this lake on Mars, would they survive? Would they survive and thrive? And the answer is yes,” said John Grotzinger, a Caltech planetary geologist who is the chief scientist of the Curiosity rover mission. 

As described in the science paper, "A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars", the aqueous environment found on the red planet was characterized by neutral pH, low salinity, and variable redox states of both iron and sulfur species. C, H, O, S, N, and P were measured directly as key biogenic elements, and by inference P is assumed to have been available. These results highlight the biological viability of fluvial-lacustrine environments in the post-Noachian history of Mars.

We should have more details in the next days and months, so stay tuned

The Chinese spacecraft is in Lunar orbit

Dear followers,

few days ago, China sent its third spacecraft for a Lunar mission with the support of the European Space Agency for the communication with the spacecraft. 

Last Friday, so, less than five days after leaving Earth, the China's Chang'e 3 spacecraft reached lunar orbit to prepare for an historic landing on the Moon. The landing should take place in the moon's Bay of Rainbows, a dark lava plain on the upper-left quadrant of the moon's near side, around December 14th 2013.

Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

The spacecraft is now flying in orbit 100 km above the Moon. This week it plans to move down and lost its altitude. The spacecraft, Chang'e 3, will use its main engine to make a soft landing in the Moon ground. In order to guide its landing, the spacecraft will use some terrain recognition sensors. Around 1 meter above the moon, the lander will autonomously cut off its engine and drop to the lunar surface.

Stay tuned for the live landing in the next days.

Amazing successful liftoff Atlas5 rocket with NROL-39 And 12 CubeSats

Credits: Matthew travis

You could find below the badge of the Atlas5 with NROL-39 mission

ESA collaborates with China for its mission to the Moon

Dear followers,

as you know, few days ago, the China National Space Administration sent its first rover, called Yutu, to the Moon. For this mission, China is helped by the +European Space Agency, ESA . Actually, after the liftoff of the China’s Chang’e 3 spacecraft, the ESA's network of tracking stations is providing a crucial support during all the Lunar cruise of the spacecraft. This mission is the third Chinese mission to the moon after the Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 lunar orbiter flights, launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

Credit: CCTV

After its liftoff from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the country's Sichuan province, the ESA’s station in Kourou, French Guiana, started receiving signals from the spacecraft and uploading commands on behalf of the Chinese control center. This tracking is operated during the voyage to the Earth's moon. Next, during the descent and after the landing some other ESA's space stations will follow the rover Yutu mission.

Credits: ESA

The landing of Yutu is planned to be in the Sea of Rainbows on December 14th 2013. This landing will be the first since Russia’s Luna-24 in 1976. This mission is the second step of the China's lunar exploration program. That program consists of three major steps: Orbit, land and finally return some Moon rock samples to Earth by 2020.

 Credits: China National Space Administration

Stay tunes for the next news during the phases of descend and landing on December 14th.

Curiosity Mars rover is back after a power glitch

Dear followers,

The NASA's space rover Curiosity which explores the Mars's land for 16 months has stopped the whole of the science operations and driving during six days. Actually, an electrical power system glitch had induced a system dysfunction on the space rover. Fortunately, the problem has now been resolved.

This dysfunction is the second trouble observed on the martian rover after an other one which has been observed and which has been assigned to radiation effects. For the moment the cause of this dysfunction has still not been found but the +NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers are working on it. “We made a list of potential causes, and then determined which we could cross off the list, one by one,” said rover electrical engineer Rob Zimmerman of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California.

Credits: +NASA 

For the moment, Curiosity has already accomplished its primary science goal of discovering a habitable zone at her landing site. This kind of dysfunction could be critical for the Curiosity mission, but the martian rover is safe now.

In the next months, the Curiosity rover will be join by the Maven spacecraft sent by NASA two weeks ago.

Stay tuned for the next news about the red planet discoveries.

Source: NASA

First commercial satellite launched by the SpaceX rocket

  Credits: Spacevids.tv