Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/19/13 - New Look at Old Vesta Images

The Dawn Spacecraft is a trailblazer in every sense of the term. Over the course of the last few years, it has offered us valuable insight into the inner workings of several non-planetary bodies in our solar system (proving that size doesn"t necessarily always matter). Now, as it makes its way toward Ceres - a dwarf planet that can be found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) - scientists decided to take another look at some of the images it beamed back to Earth during its foray with a large asteroid from 2011 to 2012.

The new look at the original images of Vesta was led by a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Using the images that were gathered by Dawn"s framing camera, the team analyzed the surface features in unprecedented detail by ascribing specific colors to wavelengths of light noted on Vesta. This granted them with the opportunity to make out details that would not be discernible to the naked eye (In the images, each pixel is representative of 200 feet [60 meters]).

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-vesta/

Larger Image: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/vesta.jpg

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/15/13 - The Dunes of Noachis Terra

Mars is a treasure trove of beautiful - albeit alien - scenery. The dunes of Noachis Terra, which are found inside an impact crater in the southern landmass, are no exception. This enhanced-color image was taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera – the image itself spans about six-tenths of a mile (or about 1 kilometer).

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrived at the Red Planet on March 10, 2006 and immediately began preparations for its primary mission; to survey the Martian surface and locate landing sites for future missions. The MRO has been instrumental in helping scientists choose these landing sites, as is the case with the Phoenix and Curiosity missions. The orbiter was originally scheduled to operate for two Earth years. However, even after nearly 7 years, this spacecraft is returning amazing data (not to mention, some awesome pictures) of our little red friend.

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-121513-the-dunes-of-noachis-terra/

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

The Seriousness of the Kessler Syndrome

The Kessler Syndrome recently stared in the hit movie "Gravity," but what is it? Well, it all starts with our trash. The problem with space debris isn"t that it"s just a problem of having all this trash floating around, or that it will have an environmental impact (since anything that re-enters the atmosphere typically disintegrates). The real problem with space debris is the speed of that debris, and the possibility that said debris will impact other (more valuable) objects in orbit. And we"re not talking about a fender-bender here; we"re talking about two rather fragile thousand-pound objects colliding at speeds of tens of thousands of miles an hour.

In the event that two objects impact one-another, the collision creates a massive debris cloud which is also traveling at thousands of miles an hour. Anything from stray solar panels to a screw could obliterate another spacecraft (imagine a screw traveling 20,000 miles an hour). That debris would then hit other objects in orbit, which creates more debris and hits more objects and....you get the picture.

To read the full article, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-seriousness-of-the-kessler-syndrome/

Next Generation Rovers Will Be Able to Think For Themselves:

It goes without saying that the Curiosity rover is one of the most sophisticated pieces of technology in human history. While it was in the developmental stages, researchers worked diligently in developing something that could withstand an environment much more harsh than anything experienced here on Earth. Not just within the confines of the Red Planet, but Curiosity also had to survive the year-long-trek through space. Then, it had to remain in perfect working order following what was affectionately dubbed the "seven minutes of terror." (The time in which JPL couldn"t monitor the rover"s progression through the Martian atmosphere, to its landing spot in Gale Crater) We won"t even get started with the many things that could spontaneously go wrong during this journey (micrometeorite impacts always pose a problem).

With that said; it has several issues that still need to be worked through. One of its biggest issues has nothing to do with the rover itself, but with the constrictions caused by the laws of physics. One of them - the universal speed limit - prevents JPL team members from being able to command and maneuver our robots in real time. Instead; they were constantly on a 40 minute loop (it takes 20 minutes for a signal traveling at light speed to make it from Earth to Mars. Meaning, it takes 40 minutes for one single correspondence to make a round trip)

To read the full article, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/next-generation-rovers-will-be-able-to-think-for-themselves/

Dropping a Hammer and Feather on the Moon (video post)

Have you ever seen a feather and a hammer dropped from the same height at the same time and land together? It is rather hard to accomplish this feat on Earth, as the air usually causes the two to land at different times. But the same isn"t true on the Moon. In the image pictured here, artist Alan Bean depicts Davin Scott preforming the hammer and feather experiment on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission. And seeing this happen in a 40-second video clip is probably one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time.

Even though the feather and the hammer have different weights, in this video, you will see them hit the ground at the same time. Why does this happen? It is all because of a property of gravity discovered by Galileo Galilei. As you may have heard, he discovered the principle of gravitational acceleration (or acceleration due to gravity) by taking various objects to the top of the Tower of Pisa and dropping them. Later, Galileo devised a method to measure this acceleration by rolling balls down an incline.

To see the video of gravity in action, go to:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/dropping-a-hammer-and-feather-on-the-moon-video-post/

Image source: Alan Bean
http://www.alanbeangallery.com/hammerfeather-story.html

India to Mars! A Potential New Space Race Ignites!

Some exciting news is on the horizon, with the announcement that India will be attempting its hand at launching its first interplanetary probe! The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) originally scheduled the date of this event to transpire on Oct.28, 2013, but due to delays with the delivery of crucial radar equipment - it has now been postponed for November 5, 2013.

The probe, called Rs 450-crore Mars Orbiter Mission, will India"s first mission to the Red Planet. The spacecraft will be ejected into orbit, then, through a series of complicated maneuvers, it will align its trajectory to keep the probe in sync with Mars" orbit. Because of the short distance separating Mars and Earth, October and November are the ideal months for launch.

Read more here: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/india-to-mars-a-potential-new-space-race-ignites/

Image Credit: NASA