Ruimtevaart, foto's en missies

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Op woensdag 5 mei 2004 15:28 schreef pfaf het volgende:
een terugvindpostje.
En dan meteen een paar van de mooiste foto's ooit posten
Van Hubble uiteraard.

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Op woensdag 5 mei 2004 15:28 schreef pfaf het volgende:
een terugvindpostje.
En dan meteen een paar van de mooiste foto's ooit posten
Van Hubble uiteraard.

De foto's horen eigenlijk bij de catogorie astronomie .......

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Op donderdag 6 mei 2004 12:03 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:
oke oke dit is meer astronomie maar deze _moest_ ik gewoon meedelen aan jullie...

Ik kwam net op deze site;

Waar je nog meer een webcam voor kunt gebruiken , Deze gast heeft zijn webcam gekoppelt aan zijn sterrenkijker en weet zeer mooie pics te schieten, daarnaast is het ook nog eens een Nederlandse site... dus...

*gaat ook maar eens een webcam kopen

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BEIJING (AP) -- China plans to launch a pair of astronauts into orbit in autumn 2005 in its second manned space mission, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

The flight will last five to seven days, Xinhua said, citing Qi Faren, the space program's chief designer.

It was the first time the Chinese government disclosed the size of the planned crew of the Shenzhou 6 capsule. Earlier reports said the launch would be some time in 2005.

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Op maandag 17 mei 2004 13:04 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:
wat denken jullie, is dit De manier om de ruimte in t gaan via prive projecten??

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Op donderdag 27 mei 2004 14:19 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

Eén van de taken die ESA-astronaut André Kuipers meekreeg op Missie DELTA was het vastleggen van Nederland op de gevoelige plaat.

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Op maandag 31 mei 2004 16:00 schreef OldJeller het volgende:
Wat is het resultaat, Crash? Ik ben wel benieuwd..

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Op maandag 17 mei 2004 13:04 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

[..]

bron

Hmmm wie gaat er binnenkort mee naar boven...
Zo te zien schiet het al aardig op met die Xprize maar wat denken jullie, is dit De manier om de ruimte in t gaan via prive projecten??

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Op maandag 31 mei 2004 16:25 schreef OldJeller het volgende:
Die site doet het niet..
Maar dat geeft niet, heb in iedergeval het orgineel gezien dus heb wel een idee..

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Op dinsdag 22 juni 2004 16:29 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:
hmmm ik zie dat mijn tekst wat negatief overkomt maar ik vind de doelstellingen die gesteld zijn Super

Als ik een lijstje had mogen opstellen over waar de ruimtevaart zich op zou moeten focusen aankomende decenium (of decenia) dan zou ik dezelfde dingen op mijn verlanglijstje hebben staan...

* = in een optimistiche stemming!

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Op woensdag 23 juni 2004 15:08 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:
Ik kwam het volgende bericht tegen:
[..]

bron

Ik wist dat de simulatie omtrend de supersone turbulente luchtstroming in een scramjet engine lijvige berekeningen met zich meebrengt (zeker als je supersoon turbulent vuur wil simuleren) maar ik wist niet dat ze dit soort apparatuur hiervoor nodig hadden.... Wel Supers dat ze het nu gaan berekenen.

NASA'a X-34A zal hiermee een gigantische boost krijgen!!!
NASA's X-43A = SUCCES!!! --> info op fok

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Op dinsdag 3 augustus 2004 23:01 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:
En nog ff ( 7 jaartjes maar ) en dan issie bij Mercurius.

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Op dinsdag 3 augustus 2004 23:08 schreef Viola_Holt het volgende:

[..]

alvast even een topic openen en dat zeven jaar openhouden !

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Op maandag 23 augustus 2004 22:51 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

hi ik = terug nee nee geen ban ofzo gewoon vakantie en buiten bereik van internet cafe's ed.

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Op dinsdag 3 augustus 2004 0:43 schreef Yvonne het volgende:

Marvin-THE-MARTiAN, baggeren in WFL. 3 weken weg

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Op woensdag 8 september 2004 22:52 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:
netwerk hier lag vanmiddag langdurig op zijn gat... zag op 8u journaal (en later 10u) de eerste beelden... OMFG -de tering- ...

*zucht*

hadden ze ook een plan b of niet?!?...

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Op woensdag 27 oktober 2004 17:47 schreef andromeda1968 het volgende:
Titan's eerste close-up


Eindelijk zijn er een aantal closeup plaatjes genomen van Titan, toen de Cassini langs de nevelige maan scheerde op 1200 kilometer afstand.

Dit zijn een van de meest nabije plaatjes ooit genomen van Saturnu's nevelige maan Titan. Ze werden genomen door Cassini's imaging sceince subsystem op 26 oktober toen het voorbij Titan vloog. Op het meest nabije punt was Cassini 1200 kilometer boven de maan, 300 keer dichter bij dan de eerste flyby op 3 juli 2004.

-KNIP-

En hier zichtbare kraters op Titan.
Met spanning volgen wetenschappers de beelden van de Cassini sonde van het oppervlak van de maan Titan. Ook oplettende AstroStart bezoekers houden de plaatjes in de gaten en dankzij E. Chessa hebben we een plaatje ontdekt waarop we kraters zien, jawel, kraters op het oppervlak van Titan.
Het plaatje werd op een afstand van 32865 kilometer boven het oppervlak van Titan gemaakt op 26 oktober 2004.



http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

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Op woensdag 10 november 2004 13:57 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:
[-compleet offtopic-]
He -CRASH- je hebt je oude avatar weer trug ?! staat je goed
[/-compleet offtopic-]

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Op woensdag 10 november 2004 18:33 schreef Phooka het volgende:
Minder flashy, maar wel OK...
9 dagen van 10 Newton thrust op een ruimteschip van 1000 kg, vanuit LEO...

Het programmaatje is nog euh... work in progress, maar de orbit propagator werkt! (met modified equinoctial elements, jaja)

[afbeelding]

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Op woensdag 10 november 2004 18:42 schreef Quarks het volgende:

[..]

Leuk, maar anders resize je het even

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Op dinsdag 9 november 2004 15:27 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:

[..]

Voor Saturnus en Titan is er een apart topic....
[Centraal] Cassini-Huygens

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Op woensdag 10 november 2004 21:45 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

[..]

aha, prive plannen om een reis naar Mars te maken?!?

Goed werk, wil je het programmaatje ook met ons delen of is het daarvoor nog veel te veel "in progress"...

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Op maandag 23 augustus 2004 22:51 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

[..]

MESSENGER: nog ff en dan issie bij Mercurius

hi ik = terug nee nee geen ban ofzo gewoon vakantie en buiten bereik van internet cafe's ed.

maar goed, het lezen van een aantal sf boeken doet ook wonderen...

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Op vrijdag 12 november 2004 19:42 schreef EMW het volgende:

[..]

Welke boeken kun jij mij echt aanraden?

Tevens tvp

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2004 20:05 schreef EMW het volgende:

The Space Movie
Destiny in Space 1994

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2004 20:15 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:

[..]




Solarmax was ookwel mooi om te zien

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2004 19:57 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:
BRON: Europe reaches the Moon

16 November 2004 ESA PR 60-2004.

ESA’s SMART-1 is successfully making its first orbit of the Moon,
a significant milestone for the first of Europe's Small Missions for
Advanced Research in Technology (SMART) spacecraft.

[afbeelding]

This image shows the Moon as seen by SMART-1 during the approach phase.
[afbeelding]

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Op vrijdag 19 november 2004 10:24 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

[..]

linkje ... meer info???

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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter On Schedule For August Launch
_{Denver CO (SPX) Jan 10, 2005}



Even as the Spirit and Opportunity rovers complete a year of successful operation on Mars, the next major step in Mars Exploration is taking shape with preparation of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for launch in just seven months.

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Op donderdag 16 februari 2006 10:27 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
PASADENA, California (AP) -- Researchers are tracking a gigantic storm on Saturn that is unleashing lightning bolts more than 1,000 times stronger than those found on Earth.
---

The image shows the storm as it appeared to the Cassini imaging system on Jan. 27, 2006. No lightning flashes are visible in the image.

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Op donderdag 16 februari 2006 20:22 schreef Fir3fly het volgende:
Is het vandaag "oude-topics-schop-dag?"

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Maar dan een vraag aan jou: Waarom zou het makkelijker zijn om een basis op Mars te runnen dan op de Maan?? Daarnaast zou je op de Maan "escape pods" klaar kunnen hebben staan naast je basis welke niet veel groter hoeven te zijn dan waarmee de Apollo astronauten terugkeerde naar de Aarde; zodat in het geval van nood men ook de basis kan evacueren en kan terugkeren naar Aarde binnen een dag of drie... Iets wat

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Op vrijdag 17 februari 2006 18:18 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

[..]


[..]


[..]


[..]

Er gaat véél meer energie zitten in een vlucht naar Mars dan naar de Maan... -vandaar- dat we er nog nooit zijn geweest (afgezien van robot missies)

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Op vrijdag 17 februari 2006 19:01 schreef Speth het volgende:

[..]

Akkoord, zoals ik zei, ik heb het niet berekend.. Maar toch, op Mars heb je in ieder geval hoop op een basis die enige zelfstandigheid ontwikkeld, op de maan is dit gewoon veel moeilijker..

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Op woensdag 22 februari 2006 22:02 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

[..]

Zo, lekker bezig!!

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NASA Aims at May 10 for Next Shuttle Flight
_{By Tariq Malik Staff Writer posted: 28 February 2006 4:53 p.m. ET}


NASA’s is aiming for a May 10 target to launch its next space shuttle flight – the second to fly since the Columbia accident – though much work remains before the mission lifts off, the agency’s shuttle chief said Tuesday.

Space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told reporters that he is “optimistic” NASA’s STS-121 shuttle mission will lift off this May based on ongoing work to prepare the Discovery orbiter and its fuel tank for flight.

“As of today I see no reason to say anything other than we’re progressing toward May,” Hale said during a press conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC). “There is a lot of work that needs to be done.”

An “aggressive” effort is underway to reach STS-121’s current launch window, which runs through May 22, though a significant, time-consuming glitch could push the flight into July, NASA officials said.

Fuel tank checks

Much of the work remaining involves the verification of external tank modifications aimed at preventing potentially harmful chunks of foam from separating during launch and striking the orbiter’s heat shield.

According to video from NASA’s first post-Columbia accident flight – STS-114 also aboard Discovery – a total of 16 pieces of foam separated from the orbiter’s fuel tank during its July 26, 2005 launch, including a large chunk from a protective ramp that was previously believed to be safe, according to a NASA report.

The problem was similar to one which doomed the space shuttle Columbia and its seven-astronaut crew in early 2003. A briefcase-sized piece of foam fell from that orbiter’s tank at launch and breached the heat shield along its left wing, allowing hot atmospheric gases to enter the hole during reentry and destroy the craft on Feb. 1, 2003.

Engineers were able to remove about 37 pounds (16 kilograms) of foam in a pair of Protuberance Air Load (PAL) ramps from ET-119 for the STS-121 flight. But engineers are awaiting results from a string of ongoing wind tunnel tests to verify the fix will not compromise fuel tank integrity, since PAL ramps were designed to shield pressure and fuel lines from the air pressures at launch.

Study is also underway to determine how much material can be shaved from ice frost ramps, each covered in about 1.5-pounds (0.6-kilograms) of foam, that run vertically along the external tank, Hale said.

Tim Wilson, NASA’s external tank tiger team lead for the agency’s Engineering and Safety Center, said his group is watching over the agency’s fuel tank preparations.

“Foam will still come off the tank after we’ve done all these mitigation efforts,” Hale stressed, adding that pieces the size of a matchbox or smaller are expected. “We believe the pieces will be small.”

If the Discovery’s STS-121 launch, commanded by veteran astronaut Steven Lindsey, goes as expected, NASA could launch two additional orbiters later this year, Hale added.

“It does depend on what happens on those flights,” Hale said. “I am very optimistic that, if we can fly in May or July, that we can get three flights up in this year.”

Other challenges

NASA launch director Michael Leinbach said there other, non-foam related challenges also facing Discovery’s STS-121 flight.

Shuttle workers found that main engine seals used for Discovery’s three main engines are not as thick as specifications call for. While they passed leak checks, study is ongoing to ensure their flight worthiness, Leinbach said. The seals could be replaced without detaching Discovery’s engines, he added.

Engineers also found a small metallic particle on a filter that leads into an engine valve. Analysis has shown it to be too small to clog up any plumbing downstream it shake loose, but shuttle officials are concerned it may provide an ignition source for the volatile liquid oxygen used during launch.

“We’ve tried to remove the particle and we can’t get it out,” Leinbach said, adding that engineers have attempted using a bore sight instrument to extract the particle through test ports.

Analysis is ongoing to determine whether the engine will have to be opened up – which could risk even more contamination – for cleaning, or if the particle can be left as is, he added.

Any extensive unplanned change or modification could push Discovery’s flight outside of its May launch window into July, where a lift off could occur between July 1 and July 19.

“If we run into a big gotcha, we won’t have much time to resolve it,” Leinbach said, adding under current plans there are no added contingency days in Discovery’s preflight schedule. “Barring the big gotcha in processing, we’re confident we can make May.”

Next fuel tank on the way

Leinbach said shuttle workers are eager to greet Discovery’s external tank, which shipped out Saturday from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The tank, NASA’s first PAL rampless vessel to fly, will arrive at KSC by barge at about 1:00 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) Wednesday.

“We’re just really glad to get another piece of flight hardware here and to get on with the mission process,” Leinbach said.

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Op woensdag 1 maart 2006 14:58 schreef haphaphap het volgende:
Iemand een mooie luchtfoto van Nederland gemaakt uit de ruimte? Ben op zoek geweest maar kan niet echt mooie vinden of ik kijk niet op juiste pagina's :P

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Op vrijdag 3 maart 2006 21:25 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
Asteroid Mission Cancelled

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- NASA on Thursday canceled a mission to visit two asteroids, five months after the program was put on hold because of cost overruns and technical problems.

The cancellation is the latest setback for NASA, which has been forced to delay science missions to focus on developing a new manned spacecraft to return to the moon in the next decade.

The project was capped at around $371 million, project scientists said previously. But scientists asked for an additional $40 million last year.

The Dawn spacecraft was supposed to lift off in June on a nine-year voyage to two of the solar system's largest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta, which reside in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Asteroids are believed to be remnants from the solar system's formation about 4.5 billion years ago, and studying them could provide clues into how the sun and planets formed.

Dawn would have been the first spacecraft to orbit the two asteroids, which scientists believe formed in different parts of the solar system and had different evolutionary processes.

Dawn was part of a NASA program called Discovery that aims to explore the solar system on what the space agency considers to be a shoestring budget. The program includes the Stardust mission, which returned to Earth in January with samples of comet dust.

The Dawn mission was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

=====
Best wel balen. NASA heeft al veel tegenslagen gehad. Nog even en alles wordt stopgezet.

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Spacecraft to Slam into the Moon

^{By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 07 March 2006 06:32 am ET}



Scientists are plotting out a “crash course” in learning what happens when a European lunar probe slams into the Moon.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) SMART-1 spacecraft—now circling the Moon—is headed for a planned early September impact with Earth’s celestial neighbor.

The ESA probe would plow into the lunar surface, giving it a glancing blow as it speeds in at nearly 5,000 miles per hour (2 kilometers per second).

SMART-1 is Europe’s first robotic lunar mission. The name SMART stands for Small Mission for Advanced Research in Technology

The spacecraft was launched on September 27, 2003. Making use of its ion-propulsion engine to slowly nudge it outward from Earth, the probe powered its way into lunar orbit on November 15, 2004.

Outfitted with miniaturized instruments, SMART-1’s goal has been to gauge key chemical elements in the lunar surface, as well as look into the theory that the Moon was formed following the violent collision of a smaller planet with Earth long ago.

ESA’s lunar probe completes a loop around the Moon every five hours—but that’s about to end later this year.

Rehearsal mode

Engineers and scientists are now targeting SMART-1 for possible impact on the Moon around September 1-2. The current uncertainty range for the exact time of impact is 15 hours.

At the end of June, SMART-1 is slated to carry out two maneuvers. These will fine-tune the exact time of impact. Those slight thrust firings will lead to the spacecraft flying over the Moon at its lowest point at below186 miles (300 kilometers) in altitude.

In early July, the plan calls for assessing the success of the maneuver and determining the spacecraft’s orbit and expected impact time. Later that month, the probe will zip as close as 124 miles (200 kilometers) from the barren lunar landscape.

In early August, SMART-1 will make an overflight of its eventual impact site, racing over that area at just 75 miles (120 kilometers) height in what’s termed as “rehearsal” mode for the early September run-in with the Moon.

According to Bernard Foing, ESA SMART-1 project scientist, an inventory is being made of the composition and mechanical properties of the spacecraft—including aluminum, copper, titanium, and other materials, as well as the probe’s remaining hydrazine fuel.

That data will be used to support observations of what is kicked up from the Moon itself on impact, contrasted to bits, pieces, and fuel tossed into the mix due to SMART-1’s high-speed slap.

Boom and bust finale

Here on Earth, sky watchers worldwide are getting ready for the projected September 1-2 lunar boom and bust finale of SMART-1.

Foing told SPACE.com that he is now engaged in assembling a “coordinated campaign” of ground-based observations. This activity would support SMART-1 measurements and monitor the artificial crash that mimics in a small way, an asteroid or comet hit on the Moon.

Numbers of observatories around the world have indicated interest in watching the outcome from SMART-1’s collision with the Moon, Foing has reported.

At impact, the ESA spacecraft will weigh a little over 628 pounds (285 kilograms), punching the Moon at a grazing incidence near 37 degrees south latitude. The near-side impact is timed so that it will be illuminated to assist in observations from Earth.

A current orbit simulation of the SMART-1 impact for September 2 is at lunar longitude 44.54 degrees West and 36.22 South in Lacus Excellentiae, 10 degrees south of Mare Humorum. A far more refined target point will come as the event draws closer.

Crater-making crash

Back on July 31, 1999, the Moon was on the receiving end of NASA’s Lunar Prospector.

That farewell fall of space hardware struck within a crater near the lunar south pole—in an attempt to detect water ice stirred up by the wallop. No visible debris plume was reported.

According to Foing, the hope is that those Earth-based observers intending to take part in September’s thump of the Moon can make pre-hit predictions of SMART-1’s impact magnitude, cloud ejecta dynamics, exospheric effects and other observable manifestations brought about by the crash.

Coordinated measurements by observers here on Earth are high on the priority list, Foing noted. Impact observations would include: Infrared imaging of thermal flash; visible/infrared imaging of ejected clouds; hydrazine flame detection; post-characterization of ejecta; as well as exospheric effects if lunar material is blasted high off the Moon’s surface.

In addition, Foing said, there is also intent to conduct follow up searches for the crater produced by SMART-1’s crash into the Moon via the sensor eyes of future, follow-on lunar orbiters.

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Op woensdag 8 maart 2006 22:25 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
WASHINGTON - Na een reis van zeven maanden bereikt een onbemande sonde van de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA vrijdag de planeet Mars. De Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) moet vanuit een baan om Mars onder meer gaan uitzoeken of er lang genoeg water op de rode planeet is geweest om leven mogelijk te maken.

Het contact met het controlecentrum in de Verenigde Staten is vrijdag een half uur lang verbroken als de sonde de achterkant van de planeet passeert. Daarna wordt duidelijk of de MRO in de juiste baan om Mars is gekomen of dat het ruimteschip verder door het heelal vliegt.


Gelijkenis

De MRO heeft na de lancering in augustus vorig jaar een afstand van ongeveer 500 miljoen kilometer afgelegd. Mars is een gewild onderzoeksobject van de NASA en de Europese ruimtevaartorganisatie ESA vanwege de gelijkenis met de planeet aarde.

In de afgelopen decennia zijn tientallen onbemande ruimtevaartuigen naar Mars gestuurd. De meeste daarvan waren bedoeld om vanuit een baan rond de planeet onderzoek te verrichten.

Enkele ruimtevaartuigen zijn op Mars geland. De VS hebben plannen voor een bemande ruimtevlucht naar Mars rond 2020.

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Op donderdag 9 maart 2006 15:03 schreef Marvin-THE-MARTiAN het volgende:

[..]

dan moet je eens onder mijn posts kijken

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Op donderdag 9 maart 2006 23:20 schreef speknek het volgende:
Zou dat echt zo zijn? Ik zou zeggen dat je beter niet kan hebben dat die geisers aan het oppervlak komen, spuw je zo alle microben de ruimte in . Maar het is in ieder geval een aardige indicatie dat er hete lavabronnen in het water zitten, ook op andere planeten/manen. Dat was natuurlijk al zo goed als zeker, maar toch.

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Op zaterdag 11 maart 2006 14:02 schreef speknek het volgende:
Hebben niet alle stenen planetoiden een kern van lava?
http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/captions/saturn/encelads.htm

edit, met een vorm van getijdewerking om de verhitting draaiend te houden tenminste.

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Op maandag 17 april 2006 12:54 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
Nog een interessant stuk over een komeet die de aarde in mei passeert en die in stukken gevallen is. (zie ook de Frontpage waarop één of andere gast beweert dat delen er van op 25-5 gaan inslaan)

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/24mar_73p.htm

Weet nie of het een apart topic waardig is en waar het anders in zou moeten

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Op maandag 17 april 2006 14:47 schreef -skippybal- het volgende:
Kunnen we die kometen hier in Nederland ook zien?

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Op dinsdag 23 mei 2006 00:07 schreef Phooka het volgende:
Had ik deze hier al neergeplempt? Ik heb d'r ook doorheen mogen kruipen om de besturing van de upper stage te controleren, zo'n 7 dagen voor de lancering...

[afbeelding]

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Op dinsdag 23 mei 2006 22:43 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:

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GUILTY

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Op dinsdag 23 mei 2006 23:08 schreef Phooka het volgende:

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Hahaha - hm. Ach ja, ik mis Frans Guyana... Naast de lanceerbasis zijn er ook veel andere interessante zaken, daar.

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Op woensdag 24 mei 2006 22:47 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:

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LIVE Coverage: Delta 4 Rocket Poised to Launch GOES-N Weather Satellite


UH...... Je gaat toch niet naar Cape Canaveral hé

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Op maandag 29 mei 2006 20:02 schreef Freek99 het volgende:
Op 1 juli 2006 zal na ruim een jaar opnieuw de Space shuttle Discovery gelanceerd worden. Wat verwachten jullie van deze missie en zullen er opnieuw problemen zijn met het hitteschild?

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Op donderdag 22 juni 2006 11:45 schreef Freek99 het volgende:
Voor de mensen die niet weten op welke tijd Space Shuttle Discovery vertrekt en waar de lancering live te volgen is: klik hier

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Op zaterdag 1 juli 2006 22:03 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:

[..]

En ze zijn nog niet weg
vanwege de onweers wolken in de buurt.

Te volgen op Nasa TV

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Op vrijdag 4 augustus 2006 08:23 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
Twee 'planeten zonder ster' ontdekt
Sterrenkundigen hebben twee bijzondere planeten ontdekt. Terwijl de meeste planeten om een ster draaien, doen deze twee dat om elkaar. De ontdekking staat in het Britse blad New Scientist.

Verrassing
De sterrenkundigen zijn verrast door de vondst en weten niet precies hoe dergelijke hemellichamen hebben kunnen ontstaan. De planeten liggen op ongeveer 400 lichtjaren van de aarde.

Afstand
De tussenliggende afstand is ongeveer 240 keer zo groot als die tussen de aarde en de zon. De planeten zijn gevonden met behulp van een telescoop in Chili.

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SPACE.com Exclusive: Spectacular Meteor Shower Possible for 2007


A spectacular meteor shower might be in the offing late next summer, SPACE.com has learned.

It may not last very long, but could produce a bevy of bright, swift shooting stars for favorably positioned skywatchers. The prediction is found in a technical report, co-authored by two astronomers who are targeting Sept. 1, 2007 as the date for the potential display.

The meteors are called "Aurigids" because they appear to fan-out from the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer.

At least a strong shower

Meteor showers occur whenever we ride into the dusty debris left behind in a comet's orbit. The debris left behind by Kiess, a comet last seen in 1911, is what produces the Aurigids. The comet takes approximately 2,500 years to orbit the Sun, but there are also dense trails of dust traveling along its orbit. Earth has had glancing blows in the past with a few of these dust trails in 1935, 1986 and 1994.

In 2007, however, the Earth is expected to pass very close to the center of a dust trail, which astronomers Esko Lyytinen of Finland and Peter Jenniskens of NASA's SETI Institute in California said, should result in "a spectacularly rich shower of bright meteors."

Verder lezen klik bovenstaande link

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Op donderdag 17 augustus 2006 21:04 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:

SPACE.com Exclusive: Spectacular Meteor Shower Possible for 2007
*knip*

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NASA's Spitzer Digs Up Troves of Possible Solar Systems in Orion
^{For Release: August 14, 2006}

Spitser Image Gallery
Astronomers have long scrutinized the vast and layered clouds of the Orion nebula, an industrious star-making factory visible to the naked eye in the sword of the famous hunter constellation. Yet, Orion is still full of secrets.

A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope probes deep into the clouds of dust that permeate the nebula and its surrounding regions. The striking false-color picture shows pinkish swirls of dust speckled with stars, some of which are orbited by disks of planet-forming dust.

Spitzer, with its powerful infrared vision, was able to unearth nearly 2,300 such planet-forming disks in the Orion cloud complex, a collection of turbulent star-forming clouds that includes the well-known Orion nebula.

The disks -- made of gas and dust that whirl around young suns -- are too small and distant to be seen by visible-light telescopes; however, the infrared glow of their warm dust is easily spotted by Spitzer's infrared detectors. Each disk has the potential to form planets and its own solar system.

"This is the most complete census of young stars with disks in the Orion cloud complex," said Dr. Thomas Megeath of the University of Toledo, Ohio, who led the research. "Basically, we have a census of potential solar systems, and we want to know how many are born in the cities, how many in small towns, and how many out in the countryside."

A look at Orion's demographics reveals that the potential solar systems populate a variety of environments. Megeath and his colleagues found that about 60 percent of the disk-sporting stars in the Orion cloud complex inhabit its bustling "cities," or clusters, containing hundreds of young stars. About 15 percent reside in small outer communities, and a surprising 25 percent prefer to go it alone, living in isolation.

Prior to the Spitzer observations, scientists thought that up to 90 percent of young stars, both with and without disks, dwelled in cities like those of Orion.

"The Orion image shows that many stars also appear to form in isolation or in groups of just a few stars," said team member Dr. John Stauffer of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "These new data may help us to determine the type of environment in which our sun formed."

Astronomers do not know whether our middle-aged sun grew up in the stellar equivalent of the city or countryside, though most favor a large city scenario. Newborn stars like the ones in Orion tend to drift away from their siblings over time, so it is hard to trace an adult star's origins.

Megeath and his colleagues estimate that about 60 to 70 percent of the stars in the Orion cloud complex have disks. "It is an interesting question why this number isn't 100 percent. Eventually, we may be able to understand why some stars don't have disks," said Megeath.

Spitzer's infrared vision also dug up 200 stellar embryos in the Orion cloud complex, most of which had never been seen before. Stellar embryos are still too young to have developed disks.

The Orion cloud complex is about 1,450 light-years from Earth and spans about 240 light-years of space. Spitzer's wide field of view allowed it to survey most of the complex, an area of the sky equivalent to 28 full moons. The featured image shows a slice of this survey, the equivalent of four full moons-worth of sky, and includes the Orion nebula itself.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Spitzer's infrared array camera, which made the observations, was built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The instrument's principal investigator is Dr. Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

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Op donderdag 31 augustus 2006 16:27 schreef the_disheaver het volgende:
is het al bekend wanneer STS-115 (atlantis) de lucht in gaat?

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SMART-1 to Crash the Moon

August 30, 2006: Amateur astronomers, grab your telescopes. A spaceship is about to crash into the Moon, and you may be able to see the impact.

The spacecraft: SMART-1, a lunar orbiter belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA).


The impact site: Lacus Excellentiae (The Lake of Excellence), an ancient, 100-mile wide crater in the Moon's southern hemisphere.

The time to watch: Saturday, September 2nd at 10:41 p.m. PDT (Sept. 3rd, 0541 UT).

Right: The impact site, with current moon phase shown. Updated daily. Image courtesy: ESA.

Why is SMART-1 crashing? There's nothing wrong with the spacecraft, which is wrapping up a successful 3-year mission to the Moon. SMART-1's main job was to test a European-built ion engine. It worked beautifully, propelling the craft in 2003 on a unique spiral path from Earth to the Moon. From lunar orbit, SMART-1 took thousands of high-resolution pictures and made mineral maps of the Moon's terrain. One of its most important discoveries was a "Peak of Eternal Light," a mountaintop near the Moon's north pole in constant, year-round sunlight. Peaks of Eternal Light are prime real estate for solar-powered Moon bases.

But now SMART-1 is running low on fuel. It has to come down sometime—and soon—so ESA mission scientists decided to crash it in a place where the crash can be seen from Earth and studied.

When SMART-1 hits the ground, it will explode in a flash of light. This won't be the sort of explosion we'd see on Earth. The Moon has no oxygen to support fire or combustion. Instead, the flash will be caused by rocks and soil made so hot by the impact that they suddenly glow.

The area will be in complete darkness at the moment of impact, so much the better to see the flash. How bright will it be? No one knows. Estimates range from 7th to 15th magnitude. In other words, it might be bright enough for backyard telescopes--or so dim that even big professional observatories won't see a thing. The only way to find out is to look. Observing tips may be found here (ALPO), here (ESA) and, in many languages, here (REA Brazil).

"We'll be watching," says Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "Measuring the brightness of SMART-1's impact is important to our research."

His group at the Marshall Space Flight Center has spent the last year watching things hit the Moon—not spacecraft, but meteoroids. "The Moon is under constant bombardment from meteoroids," says Cooke. "They hit the ground and explode just like SMART-1 will do." The Moon actually sparkles, slowly and faintly, as one space rock after another hits the ground.


Above: Possible SMART-1 impact times and coordinates. Image courtesy: ESA.

Cooke's group has a knack for this kind of work: Using only two small telescopes, they've spotted eight meteoroid impacts this year, almost doubling the number of confirmed sightings in all of the history of astronomy before 2006. Cooke attributes their success to improvements in digital video cameras, which they use to record the brief flashes.

Lunar impacts interest NASA greatly. Astronauts are going back to the Moon and "we need to know what kind of danger meteoroids pose to both people and Moon bases," explains Cooke. How often do they hit? And what kind of damage do they do?

Think of SMART-1 as a controlled, man-made meteoroid impact, he says. "We know exactly how much kinetic energy SMART-1 packs. And, if all goes well, we're going to see how bright a flash it makes. This will help us interpret our meteoroid data."

When SMART-1 hits, it won't plunge straight into the ground. "The spacecraft will enter Lacus Excellentiae at a shallow angle, only a few degrees from horizontal," notes Cooke. For this reason, it will gouge a long, narrow crater, about a meter wide and many meters long. The grazing impact should kick up a plume of debris—no one knows how high. If it rises high enough, the plume might catch some sunlight and become visible to telescopes on Earth. The chances of this, however, are slim. The main event is the flash of heat and light at the "point" of impact.

Another side-effect of the shallow approach is uncertainty about when, exactly, SMART-1 will strike. The spacecraft is due to glide low over the floor of Lacus Excellentiae several times on Sept. 3rd. Mission controllers believe it will hit on orbit number 2890 at 0541 UT. But it could equally well hit one orbit earlier or one orbit later. Possibilities are summarized in the table, above. The nominal impact time favors observers in western parts of North America and across the Pacific Ocean. Depending on when SMART-1 hits, however, almost anyone could catch the flash.

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LUNAR FLASH:
Europe's SMART-1 spacecraft crashed into the Moon this morning at 0542 UT. The resulting flash was too faint for most backyard telescopes, but a team of astronomers using the big 3.6m CFH telescope in Hawaii did photograph the explosion:

^{Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope / 2006 More Images}

The flash in this animation is an infrared flash. It shows heat generated by the spacecraft's 4500 mph impact into the lunar surface near the edge of Lacus Excellentiae (34.4 S, 46.2 W).

Lacus Excellentiae was in darkness when SMART-1 hit--the better to see the flash. Tomorrow, however, the sun will come up, illuminating the impact site. Amateur and professional astronomers will scour the area for additional signs of the crash.

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Op maandag 17 april 2006 14:34 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:

[..]

"73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 is approaching Earth--and fast"
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says amateur astronomer Guillaume Poulin (Mont-Mégantic Observatory)
who made this movie of fragment B traveling 36,000 mph on April 11th.

Not shown in Poulin's movie are 19 other fragments of the comet also heading our way.
The swarm will pass only 6 million miles from Earth on May 12th-14th, providing a
marvelous view to anyone with a backyard telescope:
Lees Verder....

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2006 21:51 schreef Schonedal het volgende:

[..]

Als je het artikel goed doorleest hebben ze het over mei 2006, dus die komeet is allang voorbij.

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2006 21:30 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
zag net beelden op CNN van een mega-hurricane op saturnus...
interessante foto's!

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Op vrijdag 10 november 2006 19:14 schreef -CRASH- het volgende:
NASA Loses Contact With Mars Global Surveyor

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft has failed to check in with Earth for the fifth straight day in a row, after losing contact during a routine adjustment of its solar array.

On Nov. 2, MGS mangers sent commands for the spacecraft to adjust the position of one of its solar power arrays to better track the sun. Returning data indicated a problem with the motor that moves the array, so a backup motor and control circuitry were switched on.

No signal was received on Nov. 3 and 4, but a weak signal was received on Nov. 5, suggesting the spacecraft had switched to a safe mode and was awaiting further instructions from Earth. The signal cut out completely later that day and nothing has been heard since.
Lees Verder....

Dat is geen goed teken......

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Op zaterdag 25 november 2006 16:05 schreef Nieuwschierig het volgende:
Apollo 16, op weg naar de maan.

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