NASA on December 5, 2014 carried out a successful test flight of Orion space vehicle, a new generation of spacecraft to resume deep space exploration in future after the grounding of the last of space shuttles. Orion was launched in a space launch system (SLS), and the capsule reached the Van Allen Belt surrounding the earth, farthest ever venture since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Orion reached the height of 3,604 miles over the earth, almost 14 times higher than that of the International Space Station. After a voyage of 4-and-1/2 hours, the capsule splashed into Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Baja California at a speed of 20,000 mph and endured a temperature of 4,000 degrees. The same capsule will be reused for a launch abort test in 2017, and a second Orion will be launched in 2018.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Superb Touchdown on a Distant Comet on the Periphery of Solar System
Historic Day for European Space Agency
European Space Agency's Rosetta mission accomplished the rare feat on November 12, 2014 as the Philae lander unplugged from the (Rosetta) spacecraft and landed on the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a 2.5-mile wide ball of rock, ice and dust formed at the beginning of our solar system almost 4.5 billion years ago. The comet is moving faster than 40,000 mph around the Sun along a 6-and-1/2-year elliptical orbit. The Rosetta spacecraft traveled 4 billion miles, for 10 years to have Philae's touchdown 311 million miles from the earth.
However, the lander's harpoon, designed to tether the surface of mountain size comet, failed to fire and deploy, leading to Philae to make two bounces before stopping under the shadow of a cliff. As a result, Philae's battery may die down in coming days as it is now deprived of solar powers by the protruded cliff. Scientists hope that as the comet will hurtle toward the sun, the lander will be able to receive solar powers again.
Source from Where Earth's Water Has First Come Gets More Clouded
As the long-held, promising assumption that earth's water might have come from comets has excited scores of scientists and astrophysicists over the years, the Rosetta mission's recent finding based on the research of water in the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko raises questions to that assumption. According to the finding, the water seems heavier unlike the water in the earth. Scientists believe that there are two types of comets:
(1) Kuiper Belt Comets, or Near Earth Comets
The region lies outside Neptune and Pluto, and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko belongs to the Kuiper Belt family of comets
(2) Oort Cloud Comets, or Far Earth Comets, which further out in our solar system
In 1986, a spacecraft came in close proximity (within 400 miles) of Halley's comet, an Oort Cloud comet, and analyzed its water. The analysis found the Halley's water heavier than earth's, leading to assumption that the earth's water might have come from the Kuiper Belt Comets during our planet's formation 4 billion years ago. However, the water found in the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko turned out to be heavier than that of Halley. The research was published in the journal Science and reported by The Associated Press on December 10, 2014.
European Space Agency's Rosetta mission accomplished the rare feat on November 12, 2014 as the Philae lander unplugged from the (Rosetta) spacecraft and landed on the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a 2.5-mile wide ball of rock, ice and dust formed at the beginning of our solar system almost 4.5 billion years ago. The comet is moving faster than 40,000 mph around the Sun along a 6-and-1/2-year elliptical orbit. The Rosetta spacecraft traveled 4 billion miles, for 10 years to have Philae's touchdown 311 million miles from the earth.
However, the lander's harpoon, designed to tether the surface of mountain size comet, failed to fire and deploy, leading to Philae to make two bounces before stopping under the shadow of a cliff. As a result, Philae's battery may die down in coming days as it is now deprived of solar powers by the protruded cliff. Scientists hope that as the comet will hurtle toward the sun, the lander will be able to receive solar powers again.
Source from Where Earth's Water Has First Come Gets More Clouded
As the long-held, promising assumption that earth's water might have come from comets has excited scores of scientists and astrophysicists over the years, the Rosetta mission's recent finding based on the research of water in the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko raises questions to that assumption. According to the finding, the water seems heavier unlike the water in the earth. Scientists believe that there are two types of comets:
(1) Kuiper Belt Comets, or Near Earth Comets
The region lies outside Neptune and Pluto, and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko belongs to the Kuiper Belt family of comets
(2) Oort Cloud Comets, or Far Earth Comets, which further out in our solar system
In 1986, a spacecraft came in close proximity (within 400 miles) of Halley's comet, an Oort Cloud comet, and analyzed its water. The analysis found the Halley's water heavier than earth's, leading to assumption that the earth's water might have come from the Kuiper Belt Comets during our planet's formation 4 billion years ago. However, the water found in the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko turned out to be heavier than that of Halley. The research was published in the journal Science and reported by The Associated Press on December 10, 2014.
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