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Parabolic Arc

Spaceport Body of Knowledge Library Goes Live

17 Apr 2014, 01:17 UTC As part of the FAA Center of Excellence in Commercial Space Transportation Task 220 with New Mexico State University (NMSU), a collection of spaceport-related documents, a.k.a., the “Body of Knowledge for Commercial Spaceport Operations” has gone live on the web at the following URL: http://contentdm.nmsu.edu:2011/cdm/landingpage/collection/NMSGCBOK The Framework for Spaceport Operations is an evolving collection of documents and information that represents available documentation of industry best practices. The collection was created and made accessible by a multi-agency, multi-partner research team led by NMSU and funded by the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. Please visit the NMSU Body of Knowledge collection on the web. To learn more about the FAA COE CST please visit www.coe-cst.org

SPACE.com

NASA Wants Ideas to Recycle Precious Oxygen on Deep-Space Voyages

16 Apr 2014, 22:21 UTC When humans leave Earth to explore planets like Mars and other hostile environments in outer space, they'll need to supply their own breathable oxygen. NASA is now seeking proposals for systems to safely and efficiently regenerate air on those long trips.

Scientific American

Giant Gamma Ray Detector Searches for Two Home Sites

16 Apr 2014, 22:00 UTC The Cherenkov Telescope Array will track high-energy photons to probe black holes, dark matter and relativity -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Astro Watch

Business as Usual on Space Station, Despite Sanctions Against Russia, Says CSA Boss

16 Apr 2014, 21:17 UTC The head of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) says sanctions taken against Russia for its invasion of Crimea are not affecting operations on the International Space Station. NASA is continuing co-operation related to the space station but has severed its ties with Russia and forbidden its employees from travelling to the country. Canadian Space Agency president Walt Natynczyk says Canada continues to work with all its partners involved in the space station, which include the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan. "The space station is fully functioning and we have people living aboard," he told reporters on Tuesday. "So, as part of that international partnership, Canada works with all partners."Natynczyk noted that Canada currently does not have any of its own astronauts on board, but it is still involved daily in operating the Canadarm on the space station and Dextre, a two-armed $200-million robotic mobile servicing system.Dextre performs tasks including changing batteries and handling experiments outside the space station."But beyond that, it's always on a case-by-case basis," Natynczyk said of Canada's co-operation.The CSA president made his comments after a luncheon speech to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.He would not comment when asked whether the Canadian Space Agency was consulted ...

The Planetary Society Blog

The Birth of the Wanderers

16 Apr 2014, 19:50 UTC How did planets originate? This is a question that has puzzled scientists for centuries, but one which they have been able to tackle directly only in the last few decades, thanks to two major developments: breakthroughs in telescope technology and ever-increasing computing power.

Universe Today

Um, You Can See a Car on Mars

16 Apr 2014, 19:04 UTC First of all, I completely stole this headline from NASA engineer Bobak Ferdowski (AKA The Mohawk Guy) on Twitter. Second, this is just a great image of the Curiosity rover sitting on Mars, including views of its tracks and where it did a wheelie or two. Plus, where the rover now sits is a very […] A recent image taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the Curiosity rover in “The Kimberly” area in Gale Crater on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona First of all, I completely stole this headline from NASA engineer Bobak Ferdowski (AKA The Mohawk Guy) on Twitter. Second, this is just a great image of the Curiosity rover sitting on Mars, including views of its tracks and where it did a wheelie or two. Plus, where the rover now sits is a very intriguing region called “The Kimberly.” Curiosity will soon whip out its drill to see if it can find hints of organic material, which could be a biomarker — the holy grail of Mars exploration. Find out why this is such an intriguing region in this video: (...)Read the rest of Um, You Can See a Car on Mars (23 ...

Astro Bob

Moon closes in on Saturn tonight, beckons us back to the sky

16 Apr 2014, 18:13 UTC No way is the moon done serving up delights. Tireless as ever even after a long slog through Earth’s shadow Monday night, it lifts our gaze to the planet Saturn tonight. Look moon-ward after 11 o’clock tonight and bang – Saturn … Continue reading → The moon, one day past full, rises over the ice on Lake Superior last night. Its squished shape is caused by atmospheric refraction. Near the horizon, light rays from the bottom half of the moon are bent more strongly upward than those from the top, causing the bottom half to “push up into” the top and creating an oval shape. Credit: Bob King No way is the moon done serving up delights. Tireless as ever even after a long slog through Earth’s shadow Monday night, it lifts our gaze to the planet Saturn tonight. Lovely shot of the moon reflecting off both ice and water in Lake Superior last night. Credit: Jan Karon Look moon-ward after 11 o’clock tonight and bang – Saturn will be right in front of your nose. The two worlds are in conjunction this evening and paired up very close to one another in the southern sky. Moonrise happens around 10 ...

AmericaSpace

Soyuz-U Successfully Launches Egypt’s Second Earth-Watching Satellite

16 Apr 2014, 16:52 UTC The four tapering strap-on boosters and central core of the Soyuz-U booster pierce the darkness in today’s rousing EgyptSat-2 launch. Photo Credit: TsENKI, with thanks to Mike Barrett A Russian Soyuz-U booster has staged what is expected to be its final non-Progress mission, with a rousing liftoff from Site 31/6 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in [...]

ESO Announcements

ESO Steps into Augmented Reality Territory with New ALMA App for Tablets and Smartphones

16 Apr 2014, 16:00 UTC Thanks to a new app developed in partnership with the Polish company Bridge, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will appear in 3D before your eyes by using your tablet or smartphone along with a print-out of a PDF file, called a tracker. The app can be just for fun or used as an educational tool to learn more about ALMA by visualising the array of 66 antennas at a touch of your screen. By zooming in on selected antennas you will be able to see details in the three-dimensional model. To download the ALMA augmented reality app for free please visit Google Play and the iTunes AppStore. The tracker document is also available in PDF form on the ESO web pages. ALMA is an array of 66 antennas spread out over up to 16 kilometres on the Chajnantor Plateau at 5000 metres above sea level in northern Chile. It is the most powerful telescope in existence for observing the cool Universe. The ALMA array was inaugurated in March 2013. Bridge is a design and technology research bureau developing augmented reality technology. More Information The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North ...

Universe Today

German Impact Crater Could Have Hosted Early Life On Earth

16 Apr 2014, 14:14 UTC Could life thrive in the devastated rock left behind after a meteorite impact? A new study hints that possibly, that could be the case. Researchers discovered what they think are geological records of biological activity inside of Nördlinger Ries, a crater in Germany that is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) wide. (...)Read the rest of German Impact […] Aerial view of Nördlinger Ries crater in Germany, a formation so subtle it was not even known as an impact crater until the 1960s. Credit: Credit: Jesse Allen/NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS/ASTER Could life thrive in the devastated rock left behind after a meteorite impact? A new study hints that possibly, that could be the case. Researchers discovered what they think are geological records of biological activity inside of Nördlinger Ries, a crater in Germany that is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) wide. (...)Read the rest of German Impact Crater Could Have Hosted Early Life On Earth (170 words) © Elizabeth Howell for Universe Today, 2014. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: crater, early life on earth, exobiology, impact crater, Nördlinger Ries Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

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17 Apr 2014
- 02:06 UTC Tychogirl Chiaroscuro (Light-Dark) #3 Dear Moon, While I was looking up at you, my insides cooled and mountain ranges formed. The alluvial fans that kept me young hardened. If there was grey around your ...
- 01:42 UTC e! Science News Red moon at night; stargazer's delight Monday night's lunar eclipse proved just as delightful as expected to those able to view it. On the East Coast, cloudy skies may have gotten in the way, but at ...
- 01:34 UTC e! Science News Meteorites yield clues to red planet's early atmosphere Geologists who analyzed 40 meteorites that fell to Earth from Mars unlocked secrets of the Martian atmosphere hidden in the chemical signatures of these ancient rocks. Their study, published April ...
- 01:30 UTC Astronomy.com News A study in scarlet An image from the European Southern Observatory reveals a cloud of hydrogen called Gum 41, which is one small part of a bigger structure called the Lambda Centauri Nebula.
- 01:20 UTC Astronomy Nerd Eclipse Luna 2014-04-14 by gvanhau on Flickr. Eclipse Luna 2014-04-14 by gvanhau on Flickr.
- 01:17 UTC Parabolic Arc Spaceport Body of Knowledge Library Goes Live As part of the FAA Center of Excellence in Commercial Space Transportation Task 220 with New Mexico State University (NMSU), a collection of spaceport-related documents, a.k.a., the “Body of Knowledge ...
- 00:33 UTC NASA Watch Looking for Original ISEE-3 Telemetry Tapes Keith's note:We have had multiple folks ask if we have any received data telemetry tapes from ISEE-3 or the others in the series (ISEE-1 or ISEE-2). If anyone has any ...
- 00:05 UTC e! Science News A study in scarlet This area of the southern sky, in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur), is home to many bright nebulae, each associated with hot newborn stars that formed out of the ...
16 Apr 2014
- 22:33 UTC Astro Watch Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Spies Curiosity Rover Near Ma... Scientists using NASA's Curiosity Mars rover are eyeing a rock layer surrounding the base of a small butte, called "Mount Remarkable," as a target for investigating with tools on the ...
- 22:29 UTC Dear Astronomer Happy Trails! I’ve ran the Dear Astronomer blog for the past five years. During the time that I’ve been blogging, I had the opportunity to meet some amazing people in the space ...
- 22:21 UTC SPACE.com NASA Wants Ideas to Recycle Precious Oxygen on Deep-Space... When humans leave Earth to explore planets like Mars and other hostile environments in outer space, they'll need to supply their own breathable oxygen. NASA is now seeking proposals for ...
- 22:14 UTC What's Up? The Spac... Moon & lunar Eclipse At Sea Pics Sky Guy Pulling Into Funchal, Portugual Tomorrow
- 22:09 UTC Women in Astronomy A Call to Nominate! And, Self-Nominate Too! Fellow AAS Members!The time has come for you to nominate! Nominate, I say, be it thy colleague, or thyself!The AAS Prizes are important. They are our community's most visible means ...
- 22:06 UTC Universe Today SpaceX Leases Historic Launch Complex 39A from NASA for n... The keys to NASA’s historic launch Pad 39A that propelled humanity’s first man to walk on the Moon – Neil Armstrong – during the history making flight of Apollo 11, ...
- 22:02 UTC Nature World News Blood Moon Makes for Good Photos, But Also Provides Infor... While much of the US East coast was covered by clouds during the total lunar eclipse early Tuesday morning, the skies were unobstructed in Arizona where the National Science Foundation's ...
- 22:02 UTC Sean Carroll Twenty-First Century Science Writers I was very flattered to find myself on someone’s list of Top Ten 21st Century Science Non-Fiction Writers. (Unless they meant my evil twin. Grrr.) However, as flattered as I ...
- 22:01 UTC Astro Watch Soyuz-U Rocket with Egyptian Satellite Successfully Launc... A Soyuz-U rocket carrying an Egyptian communication satellite, EgyptSat-2, was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, April 16, and entered terrestrial orbit. "At 8:28 pm the satellite ...
- 22:00 UTC Scientific American Giant Gamma Ray Detector Searches for Two Home Sites The Cherenkov Telescope Array will track high-energy photons to probe black holes, dark matter and relativity -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
- 21:42 UTC AmericaSpace SpaceX Secures 20-Year Lease Agreement with NASA for Use ... SpaceX has finalized a lease agreement with NASA for use of launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch site for many historic missions such as the ...
- 21:42 UTC SPACE.com Mars Puts on Dazzling Show for Amateur Astronomers (Photo... Stargazers took a set of stunning images of Mars during a fortuitous alignment that occurs every two years. The bright rust coloration of Mars is known for is due to ...
- 21:40 UTC Astro Watch China's President Xi Jinping Urges Greater Military Use o... Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the air force to adopt an integrated air and space defence capability, in what state media on Tuesday called a response to the increasing military ...
- 21:24 UTC 13.7 Find A Mentor, Be A Mentor The right person can make all the difference in your life. Marcelo Gleiser has benefitted from more than one mentor in his life. Now he gives his time to others ...
- 21:24 UTC 13.7 Find A Mentor, Be A Mentor The right person can make all the difference in your life. Marcelo Gleiser has benefitted from more than one mentor in his life. Now he gives his time to others ...
- 21:17 UTC Astro Watch Business as Usual on Space Station, Despite Sanctions Aga... The head of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) says sanctions taken against Russia for its invasion of Crimea are not affecting operations on the International Space Station. NASA is continuing ...
- 21:10 UTC SPACE.com Milky Way, Auroras & Thunderstorms Star in Amazing Time-L... Auroras dance, the Milky Way dazzles and lightning sparks in the night sky over some of the most rugged and beautiful terrain South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah have to offer ...
- 20:35 UTC Discovery News - Sp... Mars Orbiter Spies on Curiosity's Work Site Curiosity may feel distant and isolated, but its orbital buddy is never far away.
- 20:32 UTC Astro Watch 2013 Comet Awards Announced The Minor Planet Center, located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Mass., has announced the recipients of the 2013 Edgar Wilson Award for the discovery of comets by ...
- 20:07 UTC Space Fellowship Dragon Set to Launch Friday; Station Crew Preps for Space... The International Space Station Program and SpaceX have selected Friday for the next launch attempt of the Falcon 9 rocket to send the Dragon cargo craft on the company’s third ...
- 20:00 UTC Astro Watch New Study Outlines 'Water World' Theory of Life's Origins Life took root more than four billion years ago on our nascent Earth, a wetter and harsher place than now, bathed in sizzling ultraviolet rays. What started out as simple ...
- 19:50 UTC The Planetary Socie... The Birth of the Wanderers How did planets originate? This is a question that has puzzled scientists for centuries, but one which they have been able to tackle directly only in the last few decades, ...
- 19:27 UTC Parabolic Arc Sierra Nevada Plans Additional Dream Chaser Flight Tests ... By Douglas Messier Managing Editor Sierra Nevada Corporation will conduct additional drop tests of its Dream Chaser space shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base in the fall, Co-program Director John ...
- 19:23 UTC Astro Watch NASA Astronauts Will Breathe Easier With New Oxygen Recov... For NASA's long-duration human spaceflight missions, travelers will need to recycle as much breathable oxygen in their spacecraft environments, as possible. To turn that need into a reality, NASA is ...
- 19:07 UTC Astro Watch ESO Site Shortlisted for Cherenkov Telescope Array ESO’s Paranal–Armazones site in Chile has been shortlisted as one of two potential sites in the southern hemisphere for the international Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) — a large array for ...
- 19:04 UTC Universe Today Um, You Can See a Car on Mars First of all, I completely stole this headline from NASA engineer Bobak Ferdowski (AKA The Mohawk Guy) on Twitter. Second, this is just a great image of the Curiosity rover ...
- 19:00 UTC One Universe at a T... Flare Up Carbon 14 is radioactive, and decays over time. It is one of the ways we can date the age of living things long after they’ve died. The reason is because ...
- 19:00 UTC Sydney Observatory Daily cosmobite: the Southern Cross This is the best-known star group or constellation in the southern sky. At this time of the year it is high in the southern sky in the evenings. It is ...
- 18:43 UTC Space Fellowship Searching for dark energy with neutrons With neutrons, scientists can now look for dark energy in the lab. All the particles we know to exist make up only about five per cent of the mass and ...
- 18:35 UTC Space Fellowship NASA Mars Orbiter Spies Rover Near Martian Butte Scientists using NASA's Curiosity Mars rover are eyeing a rock layer surrounding the base of a small butte, called "Mount Remarkable," as a target for investigating with tools on the ...
- 18:17 UTC NASA Watch NAC Has 6 New Members for Bolden Not To Listen To NASA Names Six New Members to Advisory Council "The six new members are Wanda Austin, Wayne Hale, Scott Hubbard, Miles O'Brien, Thomas Young, and Kathryn Schmoll. The group has a ...
- 18:16 UTC Spudis Lunar Resour... International Repercussions [Part 1] The Unreliable Partn... An interesting exchange occurred last week at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), when representatives from several national space agencies met to discuss the Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) for spaceflight, which ...
- 18:15 UTC The Daily Galaxy "The Universe May be Permeated by an as Yet Unknown Field... "Perhaps empty space is not completely empty after all, but permeated by an unknown field, similar to the Higgs-field", says Professor Hartmut Abele of the Vienna University of Technology, director ...
- 18:13 UTC Astro Bob Moon closes in on Saturn tonight, beckons us back to the ... No way is the moon done serving up delights. Tireless as ever even after a long slog through Earth’s shadow Monday night, it lifts our gaze to the planet Saturn ...
- 18:04 UTC Sky and Telescope Total Lunar Eclipse, Spica, and Mars from Kure Beach, NC The post Total Lunar Eclipse, Spica, and Mars from Kure Beach, NC appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- 18:03 UTC Sky and Telescope Lunar Eclipse – Blood Moon The post Lunar Eclipse – Blood Moon appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- 17:54 UTC Sky and Telescope Lunar Eclipse and moisten leaves The post Lunar Eclipse and moisten leaves appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- 17:39 UTC open.NASA Space Apps: Inspiration Beyond the Stars I never dreamed that Space Apps would be so inspiring. This year, we kicked off our activities in Doha, Qatar at midnight on Thursday night Qatar time and closed out ...
- 17:23 UTC SPACE.com 'LIGO: A Passion for Understanding' — The Minds Behind th... Filmmaker Kai Staats joins leading researchers from the LIGO team to share the motivations behind "LIGO: A Passion for Understanding."
- 17:16 UTC Parabolic Arc Dick Rutan Resigns From Mojave Spaceport Board Long-time Mojave Air and Space Port board member Dick Rutan has resigned from that body, citing a business opportunity he had become involved in that could present a conflict of ...
- 17:02 UTC SPACE.com Saturn Shines Near the Moon Tonight: How to See It If your weather is clear, look toward the eastern sky tonight (April 16) about 10:30 p.m. your local time. You should see the bright moon rising, and just below and ...
- 16:52 UTC AmericaSpace Soyuz-U Successfully Launches Egypt’s Second Earth-Watchi... The four tapering strap-on boosters and central core of the Soyuz-U booster pierce the darkness in today’s rousing EgyptSat-2 launch. Photo Credit: TsENKI, with thanks to Mike Barrett A Russian ...