FIELD CAMP OPPORTUNITY

Hey guys! Here is a really cool field camp opportunity for anyone interested.  The deadline is coming up quick though, so jump to it!




The LPI-JSC Center for Lunar Science and Exploration is excited to
announce a new student field camp opportunity coming this fall! The
Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater is being organized
under the auspices of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, which is
designed, in part, to train a new generation of explorers for the Moon
and beyond.

The Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater is a week-long
geology field class and research project based at Barringer Meteorite
Crater, Arizona, more popularly known as Meteor Crater. The goal will be
to introduce students to impact cratering processes and provide an
opportunity to assist with a research project at the crater.  Skills
developed during the field camp should better prepare students for their
own thesis studies in impact cratered terrains, whether they be on
Earth, the Moon, Mars, or some other solar system planetary surface.

The field camp is designed for graduate college students in geology and
planetary science programs, although advanced undergraduate students
will be considered if they have successfully completed a summer field
geology program and have a demonstrated interest in impact cratering
processes. The field camp is offered October 17-23, 2010, and limited to
twenty-four participants. Interested candidates should apply by June 11,
2010, to be considered.


For more information, please visit: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/nlsi/mcFieldCamp/

earth wars WATCH OUT

There are just SO many good things about this article.  Nemesis, Death star, star bombs....geeze...I don't know where to start.  READ HURR




It appears as though comets are slowly "killing us softly"  which actually isn't totally bogus (um, hello meteors smashing into Earth causing mass extinctions every few million years??? Yeeeeaaahh what's up.)


I dunno if there's really a Nemesis throwing deadly comet snowballs out there...I mean, c'mon, who would want to intentionally destroy US?  Das sum crazay talk yo.  The name rocks though.


Ciao-M

NASA's Endeavor to fly this Sunday

On Sunday, the Endeavor shuttle will meet up with the International Space Station on it's STS-130 mission.  The lift off time is scheduled at 4:39 EST, so waaaaay before anyone wants to wake up, but what a great way to start the day!


You can check out the briefing at this NASA TV link from Kennedy's press sight.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will meet with
reporters covering the launch of space shuttle Endeavour at the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Sorry for the late notice on this, guys.  But we (POSSE) just got back from visiting the Johnson's Space Center yesterday. Pictures and a re-cap of events will be posted shortly. We had a FANTASTIC time and learned a lot!

Have a happy shuttle launch and Superbowl Sunday!

Cheers - Martha

VAMPIRES

Well, sorta kinda.

The Hubble Space Telescope has recently determined another theory why some stars in globular clusters, pictured below, appear brighter than others.  It's not necessarily because they are bigger and farther away, or smaller and closer, but because they may actually be stealing some thunder from their neighbors.  Vampire style.

Or you could call it leeching, I guess.  Pretty much the same thing.  But NASA's right; vampires are way cooler.

Anyway, these clusters (usually 12-13 billion years old, abuh!) have a few loners (blue stragglers) that don't really appreciate their old age, and siphon youth (hydrogen) from the other stars.  Greedy, if you ask me.

The telescope also found that some of the blue stragglers increased their brightness after colliding with other stars, in a sort of nuclear fusion.

That's an interesting little elderly community right there.  Check it out here!

Cheers-Martha

Rover Update

Ello ello!  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!


Recent news on our sturdy little Mars Rover:


The little-rover-that-could may be finally reaching its courageous end...


The signs have been slowly creeping up (see the "Awwww Poor Rover... post on 11.13.2009), but still, the loyal followers, such as myself, kept pushing for the friendly robot to keep chugging along.
The dusty and rough Martian terrain has proven to be just too much to handle as of late, as the rover currently lies stuck in a ditch.  If circumstances don't change, power will run out by May.


Here's a little 2:32 minute video with an article below from National Geographic.  The text is taken word-for-word from the video.


Energizer batteries wouldn't work in this case, I'ma guessin'.


Ciao-Martha

Saturn Moon Ballet

Seasons greetings all!


In celebration, I have provided a link to a new video created by the Cassini Imaging team. This video puts together over 60 images captured by the Cassini spacecraft.  Take into account different sizes, velocities, angles of trajectories, and just how well Tchaikovsky goes with the images. 


Enjoy and I hope you have a wonderful holiday!


Ciao - Martha

Be Dazzled

Take a gander.

Oooooh.  Ahhh.

This image was made by piecing together 800,000 individual photos taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.  It equals a total of 2.5 billion pixels and captures about half of the entire Milky Way galaxy.

Like WHOA.

Ciao - Martha

Awwww Poor Rover...

Our sturdy Mars correspondent is getting on in years (robot years, that is) and is showing signs of amnesia.Maybe NASA should try breadcrumbs . . .


I wonder what WALL-E would do in this case.


I mean, I guess since the original planned mission was about 5% of the amount of time that the rover has actually been on Mars, it's understandable for it to be getting a little tired.


Still, it's kinda sad. . . Maybe NASA should try laying down some breadcrumbs.


Maybe fresh Martian air will jog the Spirit's memory soon.  We can only hope.


Don't FORGET to read the article! haha...


-Martha

La Agua Luna

Thirsty, anyone?  
This weekend was really super hot and humid, and I probably drank a few gallons of water. . . . 
Good thing I'm not on the moon! 
haha. . .

Okay, that was lame.  BUT I do have a point.  I'm referring to NASA's  exciting and recent discovery of water molecules on our lunar buddy, of course!

No, not "lakes, oceans or even puddles. Water on the moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl that interact with molecules of rock and dust specifically in the top millimeters of the moon's surface."

So dirty water, basically.  Sorry to disappoint.

Read it hurr! 

-Martha

We're Mapping our Junk now?

Good job guys!  We've finally done it !

NASA has calculated that we've produced enough trash to actually cause a distraction in space.  What an accomplishment.  

I mean really, "space is a very big place" (ahem . . . understatement of the year!) and it's quite an achievement.  There's so much now, that we have to map it so we don't run into our own junk! 

I realize that space debris is a necessary thing, but since we don't know the consequences of it yet, I can't be one to support dumping our waste into space.

Space dumping is a little ridiculous when you think about it.  Maybe we should think about turning a planet into a colossal landfill.  Oh wait, we already have . . . 

-Martha

P.S. Sorry about not posting in a while - I've been crazy busy!

Well that was a great talk...But now for Budget Woes!

Sorry We've been off the radar for a little while - busy week.

Dr. Holt's talk last week was interesting and entartaining. Best part of all was the little kids asking the questions afterward. We learned a lot about the polar regions of Mars and how Italian radar has been helping us to understand where water is suspected to be in several ice caps and below the surface of Mars.

Martha got stuck with one of the little ones who just wanted to talk about saving Yoshi in some Super Mario game he had. Needless to say, it was humorous.

-----

Now, Sean has brought to our attention a US News & World Report article on how "Budget Woes Could End NASA's Space Exploration Plans".... One of my favorite lines is "Trying to put a thousand pounds of canaries in a 500-pound box is where we are now."

President Obama has decided to review NASA's budget by use of the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee to decide whether or not NASA should get as much money as it's asking for to further it's plans for human space exploration. Such things include a replacement vehicle for the space shuttle and future missions to Mars and the Moon. The Augustine report from that committee is soon to be delivered to congress of its findings on the matter later this month. It seems like it will be a balance between cost and benefit of these missions and which are plain unnecessary to the current administration.

One scary line from the article was said byJohn Logsdon, a former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University: "The message is pretty ugly. The whole notion we are going back to the moon, given the current budget is a myth"


Hopefully we can still get the Constellation program that will implement the Ares booster rockets to get to Mars! (They'll be usable for the moon too...)





-Tim


picture of Ares Rocket courtesy of globalsecurity.org/space/systems/images/clv-atk_evolution2.jpg

Click the pic for a NASA video!

My Hubble Bubbles!

NPR has released a story including the new beautiful pictures that are coming forth from the Hubble Space Telescope's new camera/imagers (freshly installed in May 2009). They say that many astronomers consider this "space porn"

These pictures truly are spectacular and you should check out and read the story by NPR here.

If you want more info on The Hubble Telescope and the original scoop from NASA, then go to http://hubblesite.org



-Tim

Where my Money at?

NOOOOOOO!


NASA May Have to Revamp Science Plans Without RTGs 
-from Universe Today 



Okay, in all honesty, I had no idea what an RTG was before reading this article.  But now that I know, I'm downright scared.

The LAST thing NASA needs is more obstacles.  And cutting funds?  That's a tough obstacle to overcome.  I don't think anyone will disagree that the main cause for the molasses-like progress in space exploration is owed to monetary conflicts.  It's just depressing to hear that the aspirations of planetary scientists are still at the bottom of the list when it comes to government funds.  BUT that is another reason for our UT society!  To raise awareness and interest!  It's go time.


Where are those Russians when you need them?


-Martha

From Russia, with Love

The Russians have got the right idea.  

Check out this Spectrum article: Russia Reveals Vision for Manned Spaceflight

Firstly, they named their space agency Roskosmos, which is just awesome.  RosKOSMOS, like cosmos?!  That's deep man.

Secondly, they've got the groundbreaking idea to unite international space organizations, like themselves and our very own NASA, in order to make space exploration CHEAPER while still going where no man has gone before?  Like Mars!

Of course, there are some kinks to work out, seeing as though they built their launching spot right on the Chinese border, which I'm pretty sure Hu Jintao isn't too happy about . . . But you never know, if the Russians share their super secrets, it may just help border relations! . . . possibly. 

Anyway, I believe this way of thinking is what WILL finally get us to Mars, to infinity, AND BEYOND!

         First Russian Space Dogs from http://englishrussia.com/