On 1 February NASA released the first video from GRAIL, its newest moon mission. As part of the mission twin spacecraft Ebb and Flow are orbiting the moon, and Ebb has captured a video of the moon’s far side. Awesome!
The Gravity Recover and Interior Laboratory or GRAIL for short consists of two robotic probes – GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B (named Ebb and Flow by school children in January 2012). The probes are orbiting the moon in tandem, using variations in the radio signals between them to help study the moon’s gravity with the overall goal of the mission understanding more about the formation of our solar system.
GRAIL is the first robotic planetary mission to carry equipment for the sole purpose of education. One piece of equipment that both probes carry is a MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students), which will allow students (in the U.S) to study specific parts of the moon helping inspire them to consider careers in science and engineering.
Russian Progress spacecraft re-entering Earth's atmosphere (click to enlarge) - Credit: NASA
Check out this stunning image of the Russian Progress spacecraft re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after a six-month stay at the International Space Station (ISS).
Released by NASA this week this image really does show Space in its beautiful natural state.
The image is one frame of a time-lapse video taken by the astronauts of Expedition 29 above the ISS as Progress 42P (Russian designation M10-M) was undocked and de-orbited on 29 October this year and depicts the curvature of the Earth, the light emitted by atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere (known as airglow), and the glare of the rising sun.
Only a little post but for a worthy cause!
Source: Earthsky.org (read the whole article here)
Just like "Star Wars" Tatooine newly discovered Kepler-16b is a world where two suns set over the horizon - Credit: NASA TV
Exciting news from the Kepler mission announced at 1800 UTC/GMT + 1 today.
The existence of a world with two suns like Tatooine, as seen in the film Star Wars more than 30 years ago, is now scientific fact.
NASA’s Kepler mission has made the first real detection of a circumbinary planet (a planet orbiting two stars) located 200 light-years from Earth.
The planet, called Kepler-16b, is not thought to be habitable. It is thought to be a cold world, with a gaseous surface. So what’s all the fuss about?
“This discovery confirms a new class of planetary systems that could harbor life,” Kepler principal investigator William Borucki said. “Given that most stars in our galaxy are part of a binary system, this means the opportunities for life are much broader than if planets form only around single stars. This milestone discovery confirms a theory that scientists have had for decades but could not prove until now.”
Scene from Star Wars showing the two suns from Tatooine - Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd. / NASA TV
Although Kepler-16b lies outside the system’s habitable zone, where liquid water could exist on the surface at least we now know how to detect circumbinary planets and maybe we’ll find more, one like Tatooine that can actually harbor life?
NASA will announce a new discovery by its Kepler planet-hunting telescope on Thursday 15 September in a press conference featuring astronomers and — oddly — a representative from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
The announcement is scheduled for Thursday at 18:00 UTC/GMT and will broadcast and webcast live on NASA TV.
15 September. Just announced! Click here for the latest news and post.
The visual effects company, a division of Lucasfilm Ltd., was founded in 1975 by filmmaker George Lucas to produce the effects for his “Star Wars” films.
Keeping in touch with Juno since its take off in early August – the Jupiter-bound probe was, as of the 24 August approximately 6.2 million miles from Earth, travelling at a velocity of 77,600 miles per hour relative to the sun. NASA reports the unmanned probe is in excellent health and is operating nominally.
The image below was taken from the spacecraft’s on board camera called JunoCam as part of the mission teams check out. The team is currently conducting its initial detailed checks on the spacecraft’s instruments and subsystems following its launch on 5 August.
Makes us look rather small and insignificant!
Earth (left) and the Moon (right) from 9.5 million kilometres - Credit: NASA (click to enlarge)
This is not the final farewell however as Juno is due to fly by Earth in 2013 for a gravitational slingshot which will give it enough speed to get on its way to Jupiter for 2016.
