Space SpinRobotic space exploration.Cassini sees collisions of moonlets on Saturn's ring- June 5, 2008 A team of scientists led from the UK has discovered that the rapid changes in Saturn's F ring can be attributed to small moonlets causing perturbations. Their results are reported in Nature (5th June 2008).Saturn's F ring has long been of interest to scientists as its features change on timescales from hours to years and it is probably the only location in the solar system where large scale collisions happen on a daily basis. Understanding these processes helps scientists understand the early...http://spacespin.org/article.php/80617-cassini-collisions-moonlets Integral reveals exotic and dusty binary systems- June 5, 2008 ESA's orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral has revealed a new population of exotic and dusty binary stars which might represent a brief evolutionary period in a binary star's life.The findings bring to light a gap in our knowledge of the formation and evolution of such binary star systems.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80616-integral-exotic-dusty-binary HiRISE images for June 4 2008- June 5, 2008 The following new images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft are now available:Proposed MSL Landing Site in Mawrth Vallis - Ellipse 4Mawrth Vallis has a rich mineral diversity, including clay minerals that formed by the chemical alteration of rocks by water.Proposed MSL Landing Site in Mawrth Vallis - Ellipse 4Mawrth Vallis has a rich mineral diversity, including clay minerals that formed by the chemical alteration of...http://spacespin.org/article.php/80615-mro-hirise-images Phoenix ready to gather samples- June 5, 2008 Two practice rounds of digging and dumping the clumpy soil at the Martian arctic site this week gave scientists and engineers gathered at the University of Arizona confidence to begin using Phoenix's Robotic Arm to deliver soil samples to instruments on the lander deck.Those samples will not be collected before Thursday. Following Wednesday's briefing on the mission, the Phoenix team learned that NASA's Odyssey orbiter, which relays Phoenix data to and from Earth, had entered a "safe mode,"...http://spacespin.org/article.php/80614-phoenix-ready-gather-samples Phoenix retesting release of Martian soil- June 4, 2008 Engineers and scientists operating NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander decided early today to repeat a practice of releasing Martian soil from the scoop on the lander's Robotic Arm.When the lander collected and released its first scoopful of soil on Sunday, some of the sample stuck to the scoop. The team told Phoenix this morning to lift another surface sample and release it, with more extensive imaging of the steps in the process.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80613-phoenix-retesting-release-soil Spitzer captures stellar coming of age in our galaxy- June 4, 2008 More than 800,000 snapshots from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have been stitched together to create a new "coming of age" portrait of stars in our inner Milky Way galaxy.The image, which depicts an area of sky 120 degrees wide by two degrees tall was unveiled at the 212th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in St. Louis, Mo.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80612-spitzer-coming-age-our-galaxy Two of the Milky Way's spiral arms go missing- June 4, 2008 For decades, astronomers have been blind to what our galaxy, the Milky Way, really looks like. After all, we sit in the midst of it and can't step outside for a bird's eye view.Now, new images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are shedding light on the true structure of the Milky Way, revealing that it has just two major arms of stars instead of the four it was previously thought to possess.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80611-two-milky-way-arms-missing Hunt for superearth planets underway- June 2, 2008 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientist, Dr. Drake Deming, will present an update on the EPOXI mission on June 2, 2008 at the 212th American Astronomical Society in St. Louis, MO.The mission which uses the Deep Impact spacecraft has begun its search for "super Earth" planets. The EPOXI team has focused its attention on the star GJ436.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80610-hunt-superearth-planets-underway Phoenix scoops up Martian soil- June 2, 2008 One week after landing on far-northern Mars, NASA Phoenix spacecraft lifted its first scoop of Martian soil as a test of the lander's Robotic Arm.The practice scoop was emptied onto a designated dump area on the ground after the Robotic Arm Camera photographed the soil inside the scoop. The Phoenix team plans to have the arm deliver its next scoopful, later this week, to an instrument that heats and sniffs the sample to identify ingredients.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80609-phoenix-scoops-martian-soil W28: A mixed bag- June 2, 2008 When some stars die, they explode as supernovas and their debris fields (aka, "supernova remnants") expand into the surrounding environments. There are several different types, or categories, of supernova remnants.One of these is known as a mixed-morphology supernova remnant. This type gets its name because it shares several characteristics from other types of supernova remnants.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80608-w28-a-mixed-bag |