ILO, a shoe box sized telescope

It's conceivable that sometime in the future individuals or groups of individuals will collaboratively create outer space participatory projects. Many things albeit will likely need to change like launch and technology costs, let alone overall finance. Needless to say, there is one such 'citizen science' project in the throws of getting under way.

A shoe box sized telescope is set to be launched before the end of 2015, known as the International Lunar Observatory, (ILO)  the privately funded project was designed and built by Silicon Valley based Moon Express Inc. 

According to Moon Express CEO Bob Richards; "It's citizen science on the moon and it's really a new model of public participation,"  and "This will be a small, but very high-performance telescope on the moon that the public and scientists or professionals and amateurs alike will have access to over the internet." 

This will give just about  anyone interested individual unprecedented access to photograph and film in almost total panoramic views  the surface of the moon, earth and interstellar space.

Accordingly, Canadian-born Bob Richards, CEO of Moon Express, said the very high performance telescope has already been tested on the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, and pretended it to be on the moon and given access to some selected individuals through the internet, testing its successful work-ability.

Swiss Space Tech company developing satellite to capture space junk

Astro-scientists have for more than 10 years been concerned with what to do about the growing plethora of debris encircling earth.

Between Low Earth Orbit, 2000 km altitude and 35,786 km altitude or Geostationary Orbit are approximately 16,000 objects larger than 10 cm in diameter and hundreds of millions of smaller particles circumnavigating our planet at speeds of several kilometers per second.

On February 10, 2009, the U.S. satellite Iridium-33 exploded upon impact with the abandoned Russian satellite Cosmos-2251. This collision impacted with significant financial consequences, particularly for the insurance companies, but also adding much more junk for astro-technicians to monitor.

Asteroid box car buzz

Incidentally, were you aware that an asteroid the size of a large house discovered last week by telescopes in New Mexico buzzed by our planet before being flung back into interplanetary space by our planet's gravitational field, yesterday ?

Asteroid  2011 MD was part of a group of earth approaching asteroids called Apollo Class, which regularly crosses earths orbit and however unlikely have a slight but discernible chance of striking earth.

There is however a near earth asteroid discovered in 1951 Geographos if impacted earth would cause an extinction level event on the scale of the object that destroyed the dinosaurs. Albeit closer to our future we have the threat of asteroid Apophis to deal with, which is looming ever closer, mooted to either shave past or impact earth April 13 2036 several kilometers in diameter that would potentially cause severe devastation.

Its worth noting that Susan Sontag has said that "Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art."

The educative documentary video below from the Discovery channel encapsulates the mythology perpetrated by Hollywood with several speculated scenarios. The video rounds out its discussion of a possible utilization of near earth asteroid getting captured and turned into kind of box car facility for future inter solar activity.

Insane number of Asteroids discovered since 1980

When viewing the animation below look at the lower left of the video window, it shows the survey beginning from 1980 with the number of known asteroids . As the video progresses through to 1990 we begin to see many more having been discovered, which is a definite outcome of technological innovation, that is, as automated sky scanning systems come online.

"Notice now the pattern of discovery follows the Earth around its orbit, most discoveries are made in the region directly opposite the Sun. You'll also notice some clusters of discoveries on the line between Earth and Jupiter, these are the result of surveys looking for Jovian moons.

At the beginning of 2010 a new discovery pattern becomes evident, with discovery zones in a line perpendicular to the Sun-Earth vector. These new observations are the result of the WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) which is a space mission that's tasked with imaging the entire sky in infrared wavelengths." from the notes attached to the video.



Heck, wasn't that so dam daunting ?
But possibly no where as daunting as the stuff we've already left up there ?

Gyroscopically stabilized CD player in microgravity

Here we see NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit demonstrating gyroscopic spin stabilization with a CD player in microgravity on-board the International Space Station. Pettit floats several portable compact disc players in microgravity that are spinning and not spinning, and reveals something interesting.

This video was originally broadcast live from the International Space Station for the final episode of the Saturday Morning Science program in 2003.

Rogue Satellite, Galaxy 15 on a path of havoc

The satellite has not responded to commands since solar flares fried its CPU in April, and it won't shut down.  Thus it is likely to interfere with other satellites as it crosses their orbital slots on its way to an earth-sun Lagrange point, the natural final destination of a geostationary satellite without manoeuvring power.

The satellite looks to becoming Zombiefied, a satellite term for a failed satellite in orbit.

"Galaxy 15 is continuing on an orbital path occupied by C-band satellite AMC-11 operated by SES World Skies. Its still-operational payload could cause interference with the SES satellite for two weeks starting around May 23, according to estimates." via

Satnews, counters this claim; "There has been no immediate service interruption to customers, and based on current technical information, no service interruption is expected for the media customers on this satellite"

However the video here gives us a clearer account of possible interference outcomes of the rogue satellite.



I have, until now expected most satellites would include a backup control system, after all, aren't most of these sophisticated objects that sail out beyond human physical boudaries  multimillion dollar investments ?

A Very Special Episode of Elevator to: Space

A comedy sketch by Chris Garcia.
Space is a vacuum and it loves ice cream.

Mystery Monolith on Mars Moon; Phobos

In this video, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin speaks about the future of space exploration and says the public would be interested in a monolith on Phobos, one of the two small moons that revolve around Mars.

Astronomers estimate the rectangular structure measuring five meters across, was photographed by a super high resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The giant monolith juts out of the planet’s surface casting a huge shadow below. The monumental structure resembles the black monolith seen in Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the movie the structure is believed to be a key to man’s evolution.

Although there is much hype about the monolith such as an alien species placed there, or is a remnant left over from creatures once living on the red planet. I can imagine two other possibilities. Either it is an optical illusion or one huge crystal. What do you imagine it to be ?

Event Horizon Captured of Black Hole at the Galactic Core

Since we now know that space is cuvred and that light contributes to its warping, many astro junkies and sci-tech geeks have managed to zoom directly into the center of our Milky Way galaxy with unparalleled detail.

Andrew J. Hanson of the University of Indiana reveals all here in his clever animation which was " put together using data collected by astronomers all over the world to examine the surroundings of the Black Hole suspected to be present at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy."

Lucky for us and this post this picture in today's Astronomy Picture of the Day provides us with a full, on upfront view of our galaxy (mind you the image linked is big), whew unreal!

2009; the International Year of Astronomy

just look up experience, learn, and enjoy the changing sky.

2009 was chosen by the International Astronomical Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization because it occurs 400 years after Galileo turned one of the first telescopes toward the heavens. Peering through that small window, Galileo discovered that the Moon has craters, Venus has phases, Jupiter has moons, and Saturn has rings.


Here is a short compilation of stills from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, and multiple ground based observers. The music is "Conversations" by Freddie Ravel.


The Opening ceremony of the International Year of Astronomy will officially take place in Paris, January 15-16, 2009, under the aegis of the UN, the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the IAU (International Astronomical Union).

View of the sky from the Moon

Imagine being on the surface of the moon and looking up in the sky, what would be in your astronomical view ?

Alexandru Csete managed to create or simulate views of the sky from 3 points on the moon from the Apollo 11, 15 and Surveyor 7 landing sites and he achieved this by using the free open source Stellarium software for linux.

"Stellarium is a complete planetarium software for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It even allows you to look at the sky from surface of other planets and moons."

His video documents the cartographic simulations of the star charts and earths relative rotation into a rewarding experience, enhanced by the music of Carlos Saura.

Virgin Galactic unveils WhiteKnightTwo

Entrepreneur and project financier Richard Branson and designer Burt Rutan of Virgin Galactic today unveiled WhiteKnightTwo, a twin-hulled four-engined hauling aircraft at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California. Here is a truncated news report video and here also is an animation of 6 space tourists enjoying weightlessness.

WhiteKnightTwo according to Richard Branson is to be called "Eve" and may quite possibly launch from the Space Port presently being built in the Mojave desert New Mexico.

Gizmodo has published a heap of photographs of the unveiling.

Astronomers Discover Earth Emits acoustic sound waves

Astronomers have discovered that the earth emits an ear-piercing series of chirps and whistles that could (theoretically), be heard by any extra-terrestials who might be listening. The sounds are created by charged particles from the solar wind colliding with Earth's magnetic field, experience these sounds in this video. This phenomena is referred to as Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR).



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Whew: Our Local Group of Galaxies is moving @ 600 kms/second

Our Earth is not at rest. The Earth moves around the Sun. The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy orbits in the Local Group of Galaxies. The Local Group falls toward the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. But these speeds are less than the speed that all of these objects together move relative to the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). The map indicates that the Local Group moves at about 600 kilometers per second relative to this primordial radiation. This high speed was initially unexpected and its magnitude is still unexplained. Why are we moving so fast? What is out there?

Local Group is the group of galaxies that includes our galaxy, the Milky Way. The group comprises over 35 galaxies, with its gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxies of the Local Group cover a 10 million light-year diameter.

Whew thats some party. eh ?

Jules Verne Blasts Off With Supplies For ISS Astronauts

A European rocket lifted off from French Guiana early Sunday on a mission to resupply oxygen, food, water and equipment to the international space station. The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), a 20-ton payload the size of a London double-decker bus, blasted into the skies aboard a beefed-up Ariane 5 launcher, This is the first ATV from Europe and is named after Jules Verne, the French author who pioneered science fiction.

The most strikingly positive feature of this mission is that after the craft services the ISS and detaches; it will take with it the rubbish accumulated during the station's mission. The trash and freighter will then safely disintegrate over the Pacific, mission scientists say.

Although the launch is very quickly over, this youtube video follows the rocket all the way into space accompanied by commentary in French.

This link however carries the main video in English demonstrating the entire mission, complete with commentary in English.


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Messenger Spacecraft From Mercury Reveals; The Spider

Are these stress lines from cataclysmic impact or might they be the collapsing or imploding zone of Mercury since the scientists have determined the planet to be shrinking ?

Near the center of the Caloris Basin on Mercury the MESSENGER spacecraft's cameras have captured a unique planetary feature which the Science team have nicknamed the spider .........

A set of troughs radiates outward in a geometry. The radial troughs are interpreted to be the result of extension (breaking apart) of the floor materials that filled the Caloris basin after its formation. Other troughs near the center form a polygonal pattern. This type of polygonal pattern of troughs is also seen along the interior margin of the Caloris basin. An impact crater about 40 km (~25 miles) in diameter appears to be centered on “the spider.” The straight-line segments of the crater walls may have been influenced by preexisting extensional troughs, but some of the troughs may have formed at the time that the crater was excavated.

Huh, the crater was excavated ?

I also wondered if Mercury is coloured black and white ?

Or, did cost cutting measures by JPL exclude a color camera ?


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Dusty Stellar Nursery RCW 49 Shows Young Star Cluster Westerlund 2

Dusty stellar nursery RCW 49 surrounds young star cluster Westerlund 2 in this remarkable composite skyscape from beyond the visible spectrum of light. Infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope is shown in black and white, complimenting the Chandra X-ray image data (in false color) of the hot energetic stars within the cluster's central region. Looking toward the grand southern constellation Centaurus, both views reveal stars and structures hidden from optical telescopes by obscuring dust. Westerlund 2 itself is a mere 2 million years old or less, and contains some of our galaxy's most luminous, massive and therefore short-lived stars. The infrared signatures of proto-planetary disks have also been identified in the intense star forming region. At the cluster's estimated distance of 20,000 light-years, the square marking the Chandra field of view would be about 50 light-years on a side.

Earth's Highest Clouds Captured by A Nasa Spacecraft

Interesting new images of Earth's highest and most mysterious clouds have been captured by a Nasa spacecraft. The AIM probe (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere) has now returned the first truly global pictures of these phenomena which appear to be increasing in frequency and extent. These clouds are known as Noctilucent, or "night-shining", clouds and they appear as thin bands in twilight skies, some 80km (50miles) above the surface. Scientists say their observations show how the clouds alter rapidly, hour by hour and day by day. They hope their studies will reveal the key triggers to the clouds' formation and why these triggers appear to be undergoing long-term change.

These Noctilucent clouds, or polar mesospheric clouds are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere, located in the mesosphere at altitudes of around 85 km, ands are visible from earth only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the ground and lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow; otherwise they are too faint to be seen. They are primarily composed of water ice (confirmed by UARS). It has been suggested that they may be related to climate change. At least one researcher, Dr. Michael Stevens of the US Naval Research Laboratory, believes space shuttle exhaust may contribute to the formation of noctilucent clouds. Imaging has also shown that some debris clouds from various space disasters have been mistaken for noctilucent clouds. Nevertheless it has been suggested that a transition to a hydrogen economy could increase the number of noctilucent clouds in the future through mass water vapour emissions. Gee, what does that mean ?


Sources: ONE TWO THREE VIDEO

IceCube: Dual Use Neutrino Telescope

Being built in the Antarctic Ice plains to help map the heavens could also one day be used as a planetary scanner to help build up a picture of the earth's core;

Currently under construction, Icecube is designed to detect subatomic particles called neutrinos, which are so evasive that they can slip quite easily through the body of the planet. A few neutrinos are not so lucky, however, and deep under the South Pole IceCube is designed to spot them. The machine consists of thousands of detectors and will eventually fill a cubic kilometre of ice. The detectors look downwards, watching for the distinctive flash of blue light that means a neutrino has come through most of the planet only to get snagged in the Antarctic ice. The main aim is to look for neutrinos from exotic objects in deep space, such as the giant black holes in galactic cores, using the bulk of the Earth as a shield to screen out unwanted noise from other cosmic particles.

Apparently building the IceCube is less an act of construction than a kind of archaeology in reverse; the process will consist of entombing glass-globed sensors the size of basketballs on 1-mile-long strings, 70 sensors per string, in 70 deep holes beneath the polar surface. This will then allow scientists to develop, a "library of the universe"

Sources: One Two Three

Latest Pictures From Space: Riding With Robots

For the past two years, Europe's Venus Express orbiter has been studying Earth's planetary neighbor up close. Mission scientists have released a new collection of findings and amazing images. They include evidence of lightning and other results that flesh out a portrait of a planet that is in many ways like ours, and in other ways hellishly different, such as surface temperatures over 400C and air pressure a hundred times that on Earth.

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