NASAdude

In one of the most detailed astronomical images ever produced, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is offering an unprecedented look at the Orion Nebula. This turbulent star-formation region is one of astronomy's most dramatic and photogenic celestial objects.

The crisp image reveals a tapestry of star formation, from the dense pillars of gas and dust that may be the homes of fledgling stars to the hot, young, massive stars that have emerged from their gas-and-dust cocoons and are shaping the nebula with their powerful ultraviolet light.
-- Source

Continue reading "Orion Nebula panoramic" »

Posted by NASAdude at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This makes me think of the Red Mars / Green Mars / Blue Mars novel trilogy.

So what's the drawback of doing something like this?  Sure it will cost some $$$ to do it, but the potential advantages are countless.

I vote for sending all the politicians to Mars... indefinitely.  Or would it be inappropriate to inflict them on a new innocent planet?

This also is discussed on the Slashdot forum.

If you haven't done it yet, roll you mouse pointer over the image to the right to see what Mars will look like after we terraform it.

Red planet turning green?

There's a new mission to Mars. But we're not talking about cute little robot rovers anymore.

CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen reports on a plan to turn the Red Planet into a green one -- one that could support life.

"What we propose is to use greenhouse gases -- the same ones that are currently on the earth causing climate change," said Margarita Marinova, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology.

Continue reading "Green Mars" »

Posted by NASAdude at 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched successfully today.

Yahoo Space.com Wired.com Reuters.com Associated Press (added 8/13) coverage
minute-by-minute description of the launch and deployment

Excerpts from Yahoo:

The MRO was carried into space on an Atlas V rocket and is now on a nearly seven-month journey to Mars. The launch followed the successful completion Tuesday, August 9 of space shuttle Discovery's mission.

The spacecraft is carrying a hefty science payload to Mars, with six instruments designed to track Martian weather, resolve objects on the surface the size of a kitchen table and measure the planet's composition and atmospheric structure with more detail than ever before.

Continue reading "Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ahoy!" »

Posted by NASAdude at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MOJAVE, California (AP) -- Hoping to build on the momentum sparked by a private rocket plane's dash into space, supporters of opening the heavens to civilians are turning the winner-take-all race into an annual competition that might further fuel imaginations.

Continue reading "X Prize goes annual" »

Posted by NASAdude at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is huge news!  I've been watching the X Prize since 1996 when I met with Peter Diamandis.  It's so exciting that someone has been able to meet the necessary criteria to be awarded the prize.  Yay!

SpaceShipOne, the manned suborbital spacecraft built by Scaled Composites, captured the $10 million Ansari X Prize Monday after a trouble-free flight. SpaceShipOne deployed from its White Knight carrier aircraft at approximately 10:49 am EDT (1449 GMT) and soared to an estimated unofficial altitude of over 112,000 meters, well in excess of the X Prize qualifying altitude of 100 km and breaking the record for rocketplanes set by the X-15 four decades ago. The flight is the second to exceed 100 km by the vehicle in under one week, beating the two-week requirement of the prize. An official determination that the team won the prize may come later today or tomorrow; the actual prize will be awarded in St. Louis next month.
Source

Posted by NASAdude at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Jacqueline Ali, Source

New analysis by UK astronomers suggests our own planetary system may have formed in a very different way to those spotted orbiting other stars.

The findings suggest that one formation mechanism may not fit all planetary systems, as other astronomers have previously suggested.

Continue reading "Solar System could be 'unique'" »

Posted by NASAdude at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)