<- jealous face.
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Sometimes I wonder if a world wide approach to the problems of deep space travel would yield better results.
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I/10th of that wasted money could have built Trump's border wall.
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But 10/10th of the money for that is coming from Mexico.
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With the best air pressure sensor ever on Mars, scientists find a mystery
This feature is repetitive, and "slightly strange."
An artist's image of InSight on the surface of Mars, showing the location of its weather sensors.
This feature is repetitive, and "slightly strange."
An artist's image of InSight on the surface of Mars, showing the location of its weather sensors.
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Hubble images show a Neptune moon that may have been repeatedly reborn
Technique transforms every image from a Hubble orbit into same frame of reference.
An artist's concept of the tiny moon Hippocamp.
Technique transforms every image from a Hubble orbit into same frame of reference.
An artist's concept of the tiny moon Hippocamp.
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The first private mission to the Moon may launch Thursday night
"What it means to me is that the responsibility is very high."
An artist's concept of the Space IL lunar spacecraft on the surface of the Moon.
SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday night, and while it may not be the primary payload, a small Israeli lunar lander is by far the mission's most intriguing payload.
The 180kg Beresheet spacecraft, privately developed by SpaceIL in Israel and funded largely through philanthropy, will spend more than six weeks raising its orbit and becoming captured into lunar orbit before finally making the first private attempt to land on the Moon. Until now, only the US, Russian, and Chinese space agencies have ever successfully landed on the Moon.
"What it means to me is that the responsibility is very high."
An artist's concept of the Space IL lunar spacecraft on the surface of the Moon.
SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday night, and while it may not be the primary payload, a small Israeli lunar lander is by far the mission's most intriguing payload.
The 180kg Beresheet spacecraft, privately developed by SpaceIL in Israel and funded largely through philanthropy, will spend more than six weeks raising its orbit and becoming captured into lunar orbit before finally making the first private attempt to land on the Moon. Until now, only the US, Russian, and Chinese space agencies have ever successfully landed on the Moon.
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- 10,801
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- 6,526
Eggheads want YOU to name Jupiter's five newly found moons ‒ and yeah, not so fast with Moony McMoonface
Looks like someone's thought ahead this time
The Carnegie Institution for Science, a research hub headquartered in America's capital, is asking for the public’s help to name five of Jupiter’s newly discovered moons.
Looks like someone's thought ahead this time
The Carnegie Institution for Science, a research hub headquartered in America's capital, is asking for the public’s help to name five of Jupiter’s newly discovered moons.
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Hayabusa2 touches down on asteroid, shoots it
Impactor blasts bits of asteroid into a sample collection cone.
Impactor blasts bits of asteroid into a sample collection cone.
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The clearest images of Ultima Thule reveal a strange-looking object
There are some interesting details to glean here.
The most detailed images of Ultima Thule, obtained just minutes before the spacecraft's closest approach at 12:33am EST on Jan. 1.
There are some interesting details to glean here.
The most detailed images of Ultima Thule, obtained just minutes before the spacecraft's closest approach at 12:33am EST on Jan. 1.
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Europe unveils design of reusable rocket that looks a lot like a Falcon 9
"I have no problem saying we didn’t invent anything."
"I have no problem saying we didn’t invent anything."
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- Joined
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Spooky! Solar System's Planet NINE could be discovered in the next NINE years (plus one to six), say astroboffins
Where is that elusive super-Earth hiding?
Majestic ... What the Sun looks like with a tiny planet near it in this completely abstract illustration
There is no sign of the Solar System's hypothetical “Planet Nine” yet – however, astronomers in America aren’t giving up, as they continue to find bits and pieces of evidence for its existence.
The idea that there could be more than eight planets on our cosmic street (shut up, Pluto) has been floating around for a while. Some distant objects beyond Neptune have strange orbits that could be the result of a mysterious special guest planet influencing their motion. Said alien world, dubbed Planet Nine, was proposed, spookily enough, roughly the square-root-of-nine years ago, though scientists haven’t managed to find it yet.
Now, coincidentally, nine astronomers (minus seven) from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) have analysed whether the clustering of Kuiper Belt Objects circling the outer limits of the Solar System is due to a foreign body, like say Planet Nine, gravitationally tugging on them, or if their measured positions are purely the result of biased observations. According to these results published in a paper in The Astronomical Journal last month, the chance of the clustering occurring because of biases is only 0.2 per cent.
Where is that elusive super-Earth hiding?
Majestic ... What the Sun looks like with a tiny planet near it in this completely abstract illustration
There is no sign of the Solar System's hypothetical “Planet Nine” yet – however, astronomers in America aren’t giving up, as they continue to find bits and pieces of evidence for its existence.
The idea that there could be more than eight planets on our cosmic street (shut up, Pluto) has been floating around for a while. Some distant objects beyond Neptune have strange orbits that could be the result of a mysterious special guest planet influencing their motion. Said alien world, dubbed Planet Nine, was proposed, spookily enough, roughly the square-root-of-nine years ago, though scientists haven’t managed to find it yet.
Now, coincidentally, nine astronomers (minus seven) from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) have analysed whether the clustering of Kuiper Belt Objects circling the outer limits of the Solar System is due to a foreign body, like say Planet Nine, gravitationally tugging on them, or if their measured positions are purely the result of biased observations. According to these results published in a paper in The Astronomical Journal last month, the chance of the clustering occurring because of biases is only 0.2 per cent.
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We choose to go to the moon (with other people) not because it is easy, but because we need something big to distract from the SNC Lavalin scandal - and, besides, there might be some contracts in it for SNC Lav... I mean, Canadian companies.
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Craters on Pluto suggest Kuiper Belt ate its smaller bodies
Both Pluto and Charon have a dearth of craters made by small objects.
A view of Vulcan Planitia's craters on Charon.
What did the earliest bodies in our Solar System look like, and what was their fate? It's difficult to tell, because it's not clear that there are any of them left. Lots of the earliest material was swept up into the planets. Many of the smaller bodies that remained are products of multiple collisions and have perhaps formed and re-formed multiple times—some are little more than rubble piles barely held together by gravity.
Without some knowledge of what these bodies looked like, then, it's difficult to determine whether our models of the physics of the early Solar System are right and whether similar processes are likely to be in play in exosolar systems.
Now, some researchers have found a way to infer the sizes of objects present in the early Solar System: looking at the craters they left behind when they smashed into Pluto and Charon. The results suggest a shortage of objects smaller than 2km in diameter and suggest that much of the material in the Kuiper Belt was quickly swept up into larger objects, which somehow avoided smashing into each other and liberating a new generation of smaller fragments.
Both Pluto and Charon have a dearth of craters made by small objects.
A view of Vulcan Planitia's craters on Charon.
What did the earliest bodies in our Solar System look like, and what was their fate? It's difficult to tell, because it's not clear that there are any of them left. Lots of the earliest material was swept up into the planets. Many of the smaller bodies that remained are products of multiple collisions and have perhaps formed and re-formed multiple times—some are little more than rubble piles barely held together by gravity.
Without some knowledge of what these bodies looked like, then, it's difficult to determine whether our models of the physics of the early Solar System are right and whether similar processes are likely to be in play in exosolar systems.
Now, some researchers have found a way to infer the sizes of objects present in the early Solar System: looking at the craters they left behind when they smashed into Pluto and Charon. The results suggest a shortage of objects smaller than 2km in diameter and suggest that much of the material in the Kuiper Belt was quickly swept up into larger objects, which somehow avoided smashing into each other and liberating a new generation of smaller fragments.