Virtual Star Party Planetary Resources shows off full-scale asteroid mining prototype Chris Lewicki and the Arkyd-100 prototype Image Gallery (7 images) Last year, we took an in-depth look at Planetary Resources’ asteroid mining plans. Now the Bellevue, Washington-based company has revealed a full-scale prototype of its Arkyd-100 Low Earth Orbit spacecraft that will search for promising mining candidates. In a video update, Planetary Resources President and “Chief Asteroid Miner,” Chris Lewicki gave a tour of the 11 kilogram (24.2 lb) spacecraft’s features and outlined the company’s immediate goals. View all The Arkyd-100 is the first in a series of different spacecraft that Planetary Resources is developing for asteroid mining. The propulsion-less Arkyd-100 is small, with a fold-up telescope tube, deployable solar arrays, an integrated avionics bay, and instrument and sensor package at the back of large optical assembly that takes up most of the craft’s volume. Planetary Resources sees the first launch of several Arkyd-100s in 2014 or 2015. Source: Planetary Resources
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2011 9 September 2011Last updated at 09:44 From giant oval storms on the surface of Jupiter to colourful wispy remnants from a supernova explosion and the dazzling green curtain of the Northern Lights - nearly 800 images were submitted for the latest Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Take a look at some of the winning photos with two of the judges from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, public astronomer Marek Kukula and astronomy programmes manager Olivia Johnson. Continue reading the main story Click the bottom right of the slideshow for detailed captions. The judges' choice of the best images can be seen in a free exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London, until February 2012. Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine. Music courtesy KPM Music. Related: National Maritime Museum - Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2011 Royal Observatory Greenwich Sky at Night Magazine More audio slideshows: Probing plasma
Information Found Inside Meteorite Gives Insight To Earth's Freezing Core Researchers have captured information stored inside tiny magnetic regions in meteorite samples using a detailed imaging technique at the BESSY II synchrotron in Berlin. Meteorites are fragments of asteroids formed in the early solar system. The asteroids were heated up by radioactive decay, causing them to melt and segregate into a liquid metal core surrounded by a solid rocky mantle. The convection of the liquid metal generates a magnetic field similar to how the Earth's magnetic field is created. The information found by the team relays the magnetic field of the meteorite during core solidification on its parent body. The meteorites used are called Pallasite Meteorites which are made up of iron and nickel. The data shows that the magnetic fields generated by the asteroids lasted longer than expected; about several hundred million years after the it formed. Video: Identifying Meteorites "It's funny that we study other bodies in order to learn more about the Earth," said Bryson.
Chappel Astro Plan to Capture an Asteroid Runs Into Politics But the space agency has encountered a stubborn technical problem: Congressional Republicans. Normally, there is bipartisan support (or disapproval) in Congress for NASA’s bolder plans, particularly when they involve human spaceflight. What squabbling does take place tends to pit lawmakers from states with big NASA presences, like Florida and Texas, against those with fewer vested interests. This month, however, the science committee in the Republican-controlled House voted to bar NASA from pursuing that faraway rock. In a straight party vote — 22 Republicans for, 17 Democrats against — the committee laid out a road map for NASA for the next three years that brushed aside the asteroid capture plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s agenda for space exploration. The plan, instead, included new marching orders, telling NASA to send astronauts back to the , set up a base there and then aim for (and to do so with less money than requested). Mr.
Depuis la Voie lactée, un mystérieux objet envoie un signal à la Terre toutes les 18,18 minutes En science, les incertitudes sont souvent plus excitantes que les confirmations, et celles qui font ces derniers jours se gratter la tête à quelques astronomes perplexes ont de quoi nourrir un embryon de scénario hollywoodien: dans la Voie lactée, un mystérieux objet envoie vers la Terre un signal toutes les 18,18 minutes. Comme l'explique New Atlas, le phénomène a été découvert par une équipe de scientifiques grâce au Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), un radiotélescope basse fréquence géant basé en Australie, chargé de scruter les cieux pour mieux en comprendre le passé le plus primitif. Comme dans un film, alors qu'il cherchait machinalement des objets de passage dans la Voie lactée, un étudiant nommé Tyrone O'Doherty est tombé sur un signal puissant, qui semblait ne pouvoir venir d'aucun objet déjà connu de la science. Un coucou suisse, en plus lointain Les scientifiques cherchent donc à comprendre de quoi il retourne. Un coucou suisse, en plus lointain
NASA Plans Asteroid Mining Mission - Space News August 9, 2013 Image Caption: This is an artist's concept of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft preparing to take a sample from asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Meaney [ Watch The Video: OSIRIS-REx Investigates Asteroid Bennu ] Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA announced yesterday that it will be launching a spacecraft in 2016 with the intent of laying the groundwork for future expeditions to mine asteroids. The space agency added that the mission – dubbed the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security and Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS- REx) – is scheduled to visit the asteroid Bennu and enable scientists to better study the origins of the universe by taking a sample of the 1,600-foot wide asteroid. After traveling through the solar system for two years, the spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Bennu in October 2018. Scientists are able to determine an asteroid’s approximate composition by analyzing the light that it reflects.
Notre perception de l’Univers pourrait être totalement biaisée, selon une étude ⇧ [VIDÉO] Vous pourriez aussi aimer ce contenu partenaire (après la pub) Le modèle standard de la cosmologie, qui décrit toutes les étapes de l’évolution de notre univers et son contenu, repose sur la métrique de Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker. Celle-ci décrit la géométrie moyenne de l’Univers à grande échelle ; il est communément admis qu’à l’échelle du cosmos, l’espace-temps possède une géométrie homogène et isotrope. Le principe cosmologique d’homogénéité et d’isotropie a été introduit par Albert Einstein en 1917, alors qu’il cherchait à appliquer la théorie de la relativité générale à l’ensemble de l’Univers. Les fluctuations du FDC que nous percevons sur Terre sont dues aux mouvements de notre planète au sein du système solaire, mais aussi aux mouvements de notre propre galaxie dans l’Univers — tout comme la fréquence d’une sirène d’ambulance nous semble déformée lorsqu’elle passe au plus près de nous. Un univers pas vraiment symétrique Source : N.
NASA takes asteroid mining seriously; funds viability study Only five months after Google’s billionaire co-founders and filmmaker James Cameron officially launched their asteroid mining focused Planetary Resources company, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funding a study to evaluate how viable the endeavour really is. According to Universe Today, space architect Marc Cohen will lead the research project, with the help of two trajectory and robotics specialists and a mineral economist. Their jointed proposal, says NASA, will look at the fundamentals of some major questions facing the asteroid mining industry, such as the most suitable kinds of spacecraft needed, as well as the technology and business model required for a space mining project. The team will design a mission, using a robotic miner that would launch from one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange Points (EMLP) and intercept a near Earth asteroid, mine its resources on site, and then return to the EMLP to eventually ship the mined materials to Earth.
Discovery of a Giant Arc in distant space adds to challenges to basic assumptions about the Universe - UCLan Alexia added: “A quasar acts like a giant lamp shining a spotlight through other galaxies, with the light eventually reaching us here on Earth. “We can use telescopes to measure the spectra of these quasars, which essentially tells us the journey that the quasar light has been through, and in particular where the light has been absorbed. We can locate where the quasar light has passed through galaxies by a signature Mg II doublet feature, which is a distinctive pair of absorption lines in the spectra. From this easily identified absorption ‘fingerprint’, we can map low luminosity matter that would usually go unseen due to its faint light emitted in comparison to the quasars. “When viewed on such a large scale, we expect to see a statistically smooth distribution of matter across the Universe, based on the Cosmological Principle introduced by Einstein to make the maths easier, that the Universe is isotropic and homogeneous.
Asteroid-mining company seeks $20 million in funding. - latimes.com A group of private entrepreneurs is raising $20 million to fund the first stage of a mission to identify asteroids close to Earth and mine them for valuable materials. Deep Space Industries plans to launch three small crafts armed with cameras, called Fireflies, on an asteroid discovery mission as early as 2015. Three more spacecrafts, called Dragonflies, are expected to launch in 2016 to collect samples to be evaluated for mining potential. Planetary Resources, a Seattle company that launched its asteroid-mining operation last year, is developing a space telescope for spaceflight soon. More than 9,000 near-Earth asteroids have been recorded, according to NASA. Experts believe that asteroid mining could become its own industry. Deep Space Industries' founders called asteroid mining a potential "gold rush" during an unofficial launch event Tuesday at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying. Firm has its sight set on mining asteroids Meteorite may offer clues on asteroid Vesta's inner life
Combating the asteroid threat: Column For a while, earlier this year, it seemed as if we were completely at the mercy of killer asteroids. On the same day that Asteroid 2012 DA14 passed within 17,000 miles of the earth -- closer than a communication satellite orbits -- we had the meteor that exploded over Russia, injuring more than a thousand people, followed a few days later by another meteor that produced a spectacular fireball seen over much of America's east coast. In each case there was little warning and not much that we could have done if those rocks had been bigger. Asked a few weeks ago at a Congressional hearing what we could do if we had a few weeks' warning of an incoming asteroid, NASA chief Charles Bolden said: "pray." This isn't the place for a faith-based initiative. But things are looking up. In that area, we're starting to see more action. Now they're moving ahead with considerable support. Somewhere out there is a killer asteroid or comet with Earth's name on it.