Space-X – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com Open Source Entertainment, on Demand. Mon, 22 Feb 2016 02:46:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.3 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Space-X – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com 32 32 HIV & SpaceX Troubles | SciByte 84 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/33016/hiv-spacex-troubles-scibyte-84/ Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:17:22 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=33016 We look at a HIV-infected infant that is "Functionally Cured," a really old star, one big Antarctic meteorite, an update on a private Mars mission and more!

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We take a look at a HIV-infected infant that is \”Functionally Cured,\” a really old star, one big Antarctic meteorite, renaming a NASA center, an update on a private Mars mission and the Dragon space station supply mission, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

\”Functional Cure\” in an HIV-Infected Infant

  • A team of researchers from Johns Hopkins Children\’s Center has described the first case of a so-called \”functional cure\” in an HIV-infected infant
  • The infant described in the report underwent remission of HIV infection after receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 30 hours of birth
  • Natural Viral Suppression
  • Natural viral suppression without treatment is an exceedingly rare phenomenon observed in less than half a percent of HIV-infected adults
  • HIV experts have long sought a way to help all HIV patients achieve elite-controller status
  • \”Elite controllers,\” whose immune systems are able to rein in viral replication and keep the virus at clinically undetectable levels
  • Functionally Cured
  • \”Functionally cured,\” a condition that occurs when a patient achieves and maintains long-term viral remission without lifelong treatment and standard clinical tests fail to detect HIV replication in the blood
  • A functional cure occurs when viral presence is so minimal, it remains undetectable by standard clinical tests, yet discernible by ultrasensitive methods
  • Sterilizing Cure
  • A sterilizing cure-a complete eradication of all viral traces from the body
  • A single case of sterilizing cure has been reported so far in an HIV-positive man treated with a bone marrow transplant for leukemia.
  • The bone marrow cells came from a donor with a rare genetic mutation of the white blood cells that renders some people resistant to HIV
  • Such a complex treatment approach, however, HIV experts agree, is neither feasible nor practical for the 33 million people worldwide infected with HIV
  • Medical Details
  • The child described was born to an HIV-infected mother and received combination antiretroviral treatment beginning 30 hours after birth.
  • A series of tests showed progressively diminishing viral presence in the infant\’s blood, until it reached undetectable levels 29 days after birth
  • The infant remained on antivirals until 18 months of age, at which point the child was lost to follow-up for a while
  • Ten months after discontinuation of treatment, the child underwent repeated standard blood tests, none of which detected HIV presence in the blood
  • Test for HIV-specific antibodies-the standard clinical indicator of HIV infection-also remained negative
  • Antiviral Treatment
  • Investigators say the prompt administration of antiviral treatment likely led to this infant\’s cure by halting the formation of hard-to-treat viral reservoirs
  • Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns that begins within days of exposure may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment by preventing such viral hideouts from forming in the first place
  • Dormant cells are responsible for re-igniting the infection in most HIV patients within weeks of stopping therapy
  • Researchers say they believe this is precisely what happened in the child described in the report
  • What This Means
  • Currently, high-risk newborns-those born to mothers with poorly controlled infections or whose mothers\’ HIV status is discovered around the time of delivery-receive a combination of antivirals at prophylactic doses to prevent infection for six weeks and start therapeutic doses if and once infection is diagnosed
  • This particular case may change the current practice because it highlights the curative potential of very early ART
  • Investigators caution they don\’t have enough data to recommend change right now to the current practice of treating high-risk infants
  • This infant\’s case provides the rationale to start proof-of-principle studies in all high-risk newborns
  • The next step is to find out if this is a highly unusual response to very early antiretroviral therapy or something we can actually replicate in other high-risk newborns
  • Researchers say preventing mother-to-child transmission remains the primary goal as they already have proven strategies that can prevent 98 percent of newborn infections by identifying and treating HIV-positive pregnant women
  • Multimedia
  • Image Scanning electromicrograph of an HIV-infected T cell. (Credit: NIAID) | ScienceDaily.com
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Researchers describe first \’functional HIV cure\’ in an infant | MedicalXpress
  • Synthesized compound flushes out latent HIV | MedicalXpress
  • Researchers Describe First \’Functional HIV Cure\’ in an Infant | ScienceDaily.com

— NEWS BYTE —

A Star That’s Almost as Old as the Universe

  • Results from a new study show that a metal-poor star located merely 190 light-years from the Sun is 14.46+-0.80 billion years old, which implies that the star is nearly as old as the Universe
  • Such metal-poor stars are important to astronomers because they set an independent lower limit for the age of the Universe and can be used to corroborate age estimates inferred by other means
  • Amount of Metal vs Age of Star
  • Metal-poor stars can be used to constrain the age of the Universe because metal-content is typically a proxy for age
  • Heavier metals are generally formed in supernova explosions, which pollute the surrounding interstellar medium.
  • Stars subsequently born from that medium are more enriched with metals than their predecessors with each successive generation becoming increasingly enriched
  • The reliability of the age determined is likewise contingent on accurately determining the sample’s metal content, and is likewise contingent on the availability of a reliable distance
  • Analyses of globular clusters and the Hubble constant yielded vastly different ages, by billions of years, for the Universe, the discrepant ages stemmed partly from uncertainties in the cosmic distance scale
  • HD 140283
  • HD 140283 exhibits less than 1% the iron content of the Sun, which provides an indication of its sizable age.
  • Based on the microwave background and the Hubble constant, it must have formed soon after the big bang
  • This star had been used previously to constrain the age of the Universe, but uncertainties tied to its estimated distance (at that time) made the age determination somewhat imprecise
  • Scientists were recently also to obtain a new and improved distance for HD 140283 using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), namely via the trigonometric parallax approach
  • From that data the distance uncertainty for HD 140283 was significantly reduced by comparison to existing estimates, thus resulting in a more precise age estimate for the star
  • The age of HD 140283 does not conflict with the age of the Universe, 13.77 ± 0.06 billion years, within the errors
  • This study reaffirms that there are old stars roaming the solar neighborhood which can be used to constrain the age of the Universe
  • Multimedia
  • Image A new age estimate for the star HD 140283 implies that it was among the first few generations of stars created in the Universe | NASA, ESA, A. Felid (STScI) | UniverseToday.com
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Nearby Ancient Star is Almost as Old as the Universe | UniverseToday.com

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Antarctic Meteorite Season Findings

Voting to rename NASA Dryden after Neil Armstrong

— SPACECRAFT UPDATE—

SpaceX – Dragon Space Station Resupply Mission Glitch

  • The Glitch
  • The problem cropped up immediately following Dragon\’s separation from the rocket upper stage, nine minutes into the flight.
  • Three of the four sets of thrusters on the company\’s unmanned Dragon capsule did not immediately kick in, delaying the release of the solar panels.
  • The problem may have been caused by a stuck valve or a line blockage
  • Dragon\’s twin solar wings swung open two hours later than planned, an hour later, the Dragon was raised with the thrusters to a safe altitude.
  • Working Towards the Solution
  • SpaceX worked to bring up the idled thrusters and keep the capsule on track
  • The Dragon is equipped with 18 thrusters, divided into four sets, and can maneuver adequately even with some unavailable.
  • The capsule is designed to return to Earth with just two good sets of thrusters and, in \”a super worst case situation,\” conceivably just one although it would be \”a bit of a wobbly trip.\”
  • If SpaceX and NASA had determined that more time was needed to gain confidence that Dragon could safely carry out an attempt the Dragon could have stayed in orbit for several additional months if needed
  • By late Saturday afternoon sufficient recovery work had been accomplished to warrant NASA, ISS and SpaceX managers to give the go-ahead for the Dragon to rendezvous with the station early Sunday morning, March 3.
  • Capture
  • The capsule was captured 5:31 am EST (1031 GMT) on Sunday, March 3
  • More than 1 ton of space station supplies aboard this Dragon, which included some much-needed equipment for air purifiers
  • It is scheduled to spend more than three weeks at the space station before being cut loose by the crew
  • Despite the one-day docking delay, the Dragon unberthing and parachute assisted return to Earth will still be the same day as originally planned on March 25.
  • History
  • This has been the first serious trouble to strike a Dragon in orbit, none of the four previous unmanned flights had any thruster issues
  • On the previous flight in October, one of nine first-stage engines on the Falcon rocket shut down too soon, on this flight it performed \”really perfectly\” and that the thruster problem was isolated to the Dragon
  • Future Re-Supply Missions
  • SpaceX plans to launch its next Dragon to the station in late fall.
  • SpaceX says it has 50 launches planned-both NASA missions and commercial flights-totaling about $4 billion in contracts
  • NASA also has a $1.9 billion resupply contract for the station with Orbital Sciences Corporation, which will launch the first test flight of its Antares rocket from a base in Virginia in the coming weeks
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube SpaceX Dragon Carrying NASA Cargo Arrives at International Space Station | NASATelevision
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • SpaceX\’s capsule arrives at ISS | phys.org
  • SpaceX\’s capsule nears ISS for rendezvous on Sunday (Update) | Phys.org
  • SpaceX Dragon Recovers from Frightening Propulsion System Failure – Sunday Docking Set | UniverseToday.com
  • SpaceX rocket launched, but problem with thrusters (Update 3)
  • SpaceX working to fix Dragon capsule\’s thrusters (Update 2) | phys.org
  • SpaceX company fixes Dragon capsule problem | phys.org
  • Dragon Spacecraft Glitch Was \’Frightening,\’ SpaceX Chief Elon Musk Says | Space.com

— UPDATES—

Russian Meteorite Chunk Found

Dennis Tito\’s Honeymoon Suite to Mars

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

  • The \’Glitch\’
  • The spacecraft remained in communications at all scheduled communication windows on Wednesday, but it did not send recorded data, only current status information.
  • Status information revealed that the computer had not switched to the usual daily \”sleep\” mode when planned
  • On Thurs, Feb 28, the ground team for NASA\’s Mars rover Curiosity switched the rover to a redundant onboard computer in response to a memory issue on the computer that had been active
  • Flash Memory
  • The condition is related to a glitch in flash memory linked to the other, now-inactive, computer.
  • Diagnostic work in a testing simulation at JPL indicates the situation involved corrupted memory at an A-side memory location used for addressing memory files
  • It appears to have caused the computer to get stuck in an endless loop.
  • Protections and History
  • Curiosity has protections against such high-energy disruptions, but the problem was compounded by what appears to have been the location of the strike-in the directory, or \”table of contents,\” of the computer\’s memory
  • Similar problems were caused by high-energy solar and cosmic ray strikes on other space missions
  • Previous rovers experienced many so-called \”anomalies\” during the early part of their treks
  • Like many spacecraft Curiosity carries a pair of redundant main computers in order to have a backup available if one fails
  • Each of the computers, A-side and B-side, also has other redundant subsystems linked to just that computer
  • Operations
  • Curiosity is now operating on its B-side, as it did during part of the flight from Earth to Mars. It operated on its A-side from before the August 2012 landing through Wednesday.
  • Although scientific investigations by the rover were suspended the team hopes that Curiosity would resume science work in about a week.
  • While resuming operations on the B-side, they are also working to determine the best way to restore the A-side as a viable backup
  • What Happens Next
  • Even if the rover is fully operational again in a week, the amount of science it can perform is limited.
  • The sun comes between Mars and the Earth in early April, partially blocking the path for radio commands for an entire month
  • The Curiosity team had planned to send back science data from Mars during that period-called \”solar conjunction,\” but had decided not to send up any commands.
  • Multimedia
  • Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
  • Image This artist concept features NASA\’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover | mars.jpl.NASA.gov
  • Social Media
  • Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Curiosity Rover Has Computer Problems | UniverseToday.com
  • Mars Rover Curiosity Has First Big Malfunction news.NationalGeographic.com
  • Mars Science Laboratory: Computer Swap on Curiosity Rover | mars.jpl.NASA.gov
  • Computer Swap on Curiosity Rover – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | jpl.nasa.gov

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • March 10, 1797: 216 years ago : Thomas Jefferson on paleontology : Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) presented a paper on the megalonyx to the American Philosophical Society. It was published as \”A Memoir on the Discovery of Certain Bones of a Quadruped of the Clawed Kind in the Western Parts of Virginia,\” Transactions of American Philosophical Society 4:255-256, along with an account by Caspar Wistar (1761-1818). This is arguably the first American publication in paleontology, but the only paleontology paper written by Jefferson. In 1822, this huge extinct sloth was named Megalonyx jeffersoni by a French naturalist. (Megalonyx Gr. large claw). It was a bear-sized ground sloth, over 2 meters tall, widespread in North America during the last Ice Age

Looking up this week

  • Keep an eye out for …

  • Mercury, Venus, Mars | Now hidden in the Sun\’s glare

  • Jupiter | High in the S-SW after sunset, moving to the W/SW later in the evening

  • Saturn | ~10-11 pm | Rises in the E-SE moving to high in the Southern skies by dawn

  • Where to Find Comet PanSTARRS

  • 10* is about the width of your fist held at arm\’s length.
  • This diagram is drawn for a viewer near 40* north latitude (Denver, New York, Madrid) 30 minutes after sunset.
  • If you\’re south of there, the comet will be a little higher above your horizon early in the month than shown here.
  • North of 40°, it will be a little lower early in March than shown here.
  • SkyandTelescope.com/panstarrs

Daylight Savings Time

The post HIV & SpaceX Troubles | SciByte 84 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Painful Math & Canadian Rovers | SciByte 70 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/27201/painful-math-canadian-rovers-scibyte-70/ Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:54:38 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=27201 We take a look at Painful Math, Canadian robotic rovers, using the Kinect in science, updates on spacecraft, stories, and Curiosity!

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We take a look at Painful Math, Canadian robotic rovers, using the Kinect in science, updates on spacecraft, stories, and Curiosity, viewer feedback, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

Math Hurts

  • Mathematics anxiety can prompt a response in the brain similar to when a person experiences physical pain, according to new research
  • The low down
  • Using brain scans, scholars determined that the brain areas active when highly math-anxious people prepare to do math overlap with the same brain areas that register the threat of bodily harm
  • Anticipation of doing math prompts a similar brain reaction as when they experience pain
  • Significance
  • Researchers found it was the anticipation of having to do math, and not actually doing math itself, that looked like pain in the brain.
  • Brain activation does not happen during math performance, suggesting that it is not the math itself that hurts it is the anticipation of math is painful
  • Scholars worked with 14 adults who were shown to have math anxiety based on their responses to a series of questions about math
  • Additional tests showed that these individuals were not overly anxious in general; instead, their heightened sense of anxiety was specific to math-related situations.
  • Volunteers were tested in an fMRI machine, which allowed researchers to examine brain activity as they did math, they were given mathematical equations to verify like the validity of the following equation: (12 x 4) – 19 = 29
  • Subjects were also shown short word puzzles. For these puzzles, people saw a series of letters (for example: yrestym) and had to determine if reversing the order of the letters produced a correctly spelled English word.
  • fMRI scans showed that the anticipation of math caused a response in the brain similar to physical pain
  • The higher a person’s anxiety about math, the more anticipating math activated the posterior insula—a fold of tissue located deep inside the brain just above the ear that is associated with registering direct threats to the body as well as the experience of pain.
  • Math anxiety levels were not associated with brain activity in the insula or in any other neural region when volunteers were doing math.
  • For those with math anxiety, a painful sense of dread may begin long before a person sits down to take a math test.
  • Of Note
  • current work is also consistent with other research which showed that the mere anticipation of doing mathematics changes functioning in the brains of people with high levels of math anxiety
  • Mathematics anxiety can begin as early as first grade
  • The value of seeing math anxiety not just as a proxy for poor math ability, but as an indication there can be a real, negative psychological reaction to the prospect of doing math.
  • The reaction needs to be addressed like any other phobia rather than simply piling on math homework for students who are anxious about math, students need active help to become more comfortable with the subject
  • For instance, that writing about math anxieties before a test can reduce one’s worries and lead to better performance.
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • When people worry about math, the brain feels the pain | MedicalXPress.com

— NEWS BYTE —

Canadian Robotic Rovers?

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Kinect in Science

  • Researchers in Scotland have devised a means of using a Microsoft Kinect sensing system to allow for hand control of holographic optical tweezers
  • The low down
  • Laser tweezers are laser based devices that allow for manipulation of very small objects; typically at the cellular level
  • A laser beam is projected towards a target, but before reaching it, is split into three separate beams
  • The three beams are broadcast onto the edges of the object to be manipulated and as the beams are moved the object is caused to move in lockstep
  • However fine tuning control of the laser to cause the movement of an object has been less than ideal and researchers to continue looking for alternative means
  • Significance
  • In this new research, the team connected a Microsoft Kinect device to the tweezers and then demonstrated an ability to move microscopic sized objects by moving their hands around in the air.
  • Connecting a Kinect device to their virtual tweezers, the researchers found that they were able to define the space in which they wished to work by using simple hand movements and then to connect, virtually to a particular tiny object
  • The Kinect is not precise enough to capture subtle movements however as it doesn’t allow for force-feedback, or the ability to feel the resistance of an object as its being moved
  • Of Note
  • HoloHands, is not sophisticated enough to allow for serious research work but it is being used as a tool for educational purposes, either as a tool, or implemented as a learning game.
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube HoloHands: Kinect control of holographic optical tweezers | dundeephysics
  • Kinect control of two trapped particles. | C. McDonald
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Physicists use Kinect to control holographic tweezers (w/ Video) | phys.org

– SPACECRAFT UPDATE –

Shuttles

— Updates —

Space-X’s Grasshopper

  • The low down
  • SpaceX is developing the “Grasshopper” reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing rocket
  • In September, the 32-meter- (106-ft-) tall Grasshopper made a tiny hop – barely lifting off the pad just to test-fire its engines
  • The Grasshopper has now made a second, bigger hop
  • Phase 1 and 2
  • Reportedly the goal with Grasshopper is to eventually create a reusable first stage for its Falcon 9 rocket that would be able to land safely instead of falling back into the ocean and not being usable again
  • The Grasshopper test program is to have three phases of test launches at SpaceX’s facility in McGregor, Texas
  • Both Phase 1 and 2 flights would last up to 45 seconds.
  • Phase 1 rocket would rise to not more than 240 feet [73 meters]
  • Phase 2 rocket would rise to not more than 670 feet [204 meters]
  • Both Phase 1 and 2 flights would last up to 45 seconds.
  • Phase 3
  • Phase 3 tests have the goal of increasingly higher altitudes with higher ascent speeds and descent speeds altitude test sequence likely would be 1,200 feet [366 meters]; 2,500 feet [762 meters]; 5,000 feet [1,524 meters]; 7,500 feet [2,286 meters]; and 11,500 feet [3,505 meters]
  • The maximum test duration of Phase 3 firings would be approximately 160 seconds. If all goes well the Grasshopper would land back on the launch pad
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube Flight of 10 story tall Grasshopper rocket | Clark Lindsey
  • Social Media
  • SpaceX @SpaceX
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • SpaceX’s 10-Story Re-useable Grasshopper Rocket Takes a Bigger Hop | UniverseToday.com

Documentary : Chasing Atlantis

Fermi

  • Astronomers using data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope were able to look at distant blazars to help measure the background light from all the stars that are shining now and ever
  • Last time on SciByte
  • Breast Cancer & Mayan Calender | SciByte 69 (October 30, 2012
  • The low down
  • This enabled the most accurate measurement of starlight throughout the universe, which in turn helps establish limits on the total number of stars that have ever shone.
  • The optical and ultraviolet light from stars continues to travel throughout the universe even after the stars cease to shine
  • Fossil radiation field we can explore using gamma rays from distant sources and also provide a stellar density in the cosmos of about 1.4 stars per 100 billion cubic light-years, which means the average distance between stars in the universe is about 4,150 light-years
  • Significance
  • Blazars, which are among the most energetic phenomena in the universe. They are galaxies powered by extremely energetic black holes:
  • To gamma rays, the EBL functions as a kind of cosmic fog, but Fermi measured the amount of gamma-ray absorption in blazar spectra
  • Gamma rays produced in blazar jets travel across billions of light-years to Earth
  • Occasionally, a gamma ray collides with starlight and transforms into an electron and its antimatter counterpart, a positron
  • Once this occurs, the gamma ray light is lost much the same way as fog dims a distant lighthouse.
  • From studies of nearby blazars, scientists have determined how many gamma rays should be emitted at different energies
  • Which gives an upper and lower limit on the amount of stars that have formed
  • Previous estimates have only been an upper limit, this data shows that the upper and lower limits are very close to each other
  • Of Note
  • Measuring the extragalactic background light was one of the primary mission goals for Fermi
  • While Fermi is providing us with a shadow image of the first stars, whereas Webb will directly detect them
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube NASA | Fermi Explores the Early Universe
  • The locations of 150 blazars (green dots) used in the a new by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope. | NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Fermi Measures Light from All the Stars That Have Ever Existed | UniverseToday
  • Light From Universe’s First Stars Seen | Fermi Telescope | Space.com
  • Astronomers spot leftover light from ancient stars | Atom & Cosmos | Science News

— Viewer Feedback —

  • Educational Experience
  • Jusitn Luna asks about my Educational experience, in regards to school applications
  • Graduated with a BA in Physics, minoring in Astrophysics
  • Did all the volunteer work and internships I could both related and unrelated to school
  • Pay careful attention to all resume’s, mistakes creep in very easily, ask someone to look it over
  • What is pertinent to what you are applying for and check the details
  • If you have to do interviews practice
  • New ”Super-Earth” found
  • Michael Henriques pointed out a story about a new “Super Earth” found
  • That story is actually on the docket for next week

– CURIOSITY UPDATE –

  • Returning to Earth time
  • After three months working on “Mars time,” the team operating NASA Mars rover Curiosity has switched to a Earth schedule as planned
  • A Martian day, called a sol, is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, so the team’s start time for daily planning has been moving a few hours later each week
  • Telecommuting Teams Start
  • In addition more than 200 non-JPL scientists who have spent some time working at JPL since Curiosity’s landing will now continue participating regularly from their home institutions throughout North America and Europe
  • The team has been preparing in recent weeks to use dispersed participation teleconferences and Web connections.
  • X-Ray Analysis
  • Results of the first analysis of Martian soil by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) experiment on NASA’s Curiosity rover show the presence of crystalline feldspar, pyroxenes and olivine mixed with some amorphous (non-crystalline) material
  • This makes is similar to volcanic soils in Hawaii
  • NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has completed initial experiments showing the mineralogy of Martian soil is similar to weathered basaltic soils of volcanic origin in Hawaii
  • The teams used its Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) for quantitative results and new identifications of the minerals in this first X-ray diffraction analysis on Mars
  • Identification of minerals in rocks and soil is crucial for the mission’s goal to assess past environmental conditions and the mineral records the conditions under which it formed.
  • The composition of a rock provides only ambiguous mineralogical information, minerals diamond and graphite, which have the same chemical composition, but strikingly different structures and properties
  • CheMin uses X-ray diffraction, which provides more accurate identifications of minerals than any method previously used on Mars it reads minerals’ internal structure by recording how their crystals distinctively interact with X-rays
  • The sample was processed through a sieve to exclude particles larger than 0.006 inch (150 micrometers), roughly the width of a human hair.
  • The soil material CheMin has analyzed is more representative of modern processes on Mars
  • So far materials Curiosity has analyzed are consistent with our initial ideas of the deposits in Gale Crater recording a transition through time from a wet to dry environment
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube Curiosity Rover Report (Nov. 1, 2012): First CheMin Results | JPLNews
  • Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
  • Social Media
  • Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Curiosity rover finds clues to changes in Mars’ atmosphere | UniverseToday.com
  • NASA rover’s first soil studies help fingerprint Martian minerals | phys.org
  • Why Mars Life Hunt Targets Methane | Space.com
  • Curiosity rover finds clues to changes in Mars’ atmosphere | phys.org
  • Curiosity Finds Methane on Mars, or Not – ScienceNOW | ScienceMag.org
  • Curiosity team switches back to Earth time | phys.org

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • Nov 09, 1965 | 47 years ago | Blackout | The biggest electricity grid failure in U.S. history at the time caused a 13-hour blackout in northeast America and parts of Canada. The power lines from Niagara Falls to New York City were operating near their maximum capacity. At about 5:15 pm, a transmission line relay failed. Now there was insufficient line capacity for New York City. New England and New York are interconnected on a power grid, and the power that had been flowing toward New York City had to go elsewhere, instantly. Unable to handle this overload, generator operators shutdown to protect their equipment. Almost the entire grid failed, affecting 80,000 square miles, and 25 million people. In the subways of New York, 800,000 people were trapped

Looking up this week

Solar and Lunar Eclipses

  • Solar Eclipse
  • On Nov. 13, residents of northeastern Australia will get a ‘false-start’ sunrise
  • About an hour after the sun breaks the horizon in the coastal city of Cairns, it will be fully obscured by the moon, whose shadow will darken the sky and bring the stars back into view for 2 minutes there
  • The solar corona should take on a ‘wound up’ circular shape, with a high potential for tongues of pink nuclear fire leaping from the Sun’s edge
  • A three-man crew will be capturing and broadcasting the solar eclipse live with a telescope in northern Australia, which will be the only land area that will witness the total eclipse
  • Parts of New Zealand and Chile will see the sun partially obscured as the moon crosses the sky
  • Lunar Eclipse
  • A lunar eclipse that will take place on Nov. 28.
  • The penumbral lunar eclipse will manifest as a slight but noticeable darkening of the northern half of the moon; the dimming should be easily visible to the naked eye after most of the moon has dipped into the Earth’s penumbra
  • The Eastern United States will miss out on the lunar eclipse, as the moon will already have set there when the eclipse begins
  • The rest of the country can watch at least part of it, with the duration of visibility longest for people on the West Coast and in Alaska
  • Use THIS NASA GRAPHIC to check if you’ll be able to watch the lunar eclipse from their backyard.
  • Multimedia
  • Watch the Nov. 13 Solar Eclipse webcast for free starting at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time LIVE FEED
  • Lunar eclipse location graphic IMAGE
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Total Solar Eclipse and Minor Lunar Eclipse to Grace Nov. Skies | Space.com

The post Painful Math & Canadian Rovers | SciByte 70 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Private Space Flight | J@N | 4.27.11 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/7612/private-space-flight/ Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:25:23 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=7612 We discuss the X-Prize, Space-X, Virgin Atlantic, and all other means of projects and undertakings being pursued by the private space sector.

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Heather joins us once more to discuss the X-Prize, Space-X, Virgin Atlantic, and all other means of projects and undertakings being pursued by the private space sector. We’ll talk about space tourism, NASA’s involvement, and even cover a bit of history on where the whole shebang started, and how far it has come in such a short time.

After several weeks straight of jabbering on and on about traveling to Mars with NASA, we’ve decided to focus a show on one particular piece of feedback we received from a J@N audience member. In a nutshell, our lack of coverage of PRIVATE space flight, was a gross oversight which we aim to fix tonight!

Show Feeds:

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Show Notes:

Looking for the full show notes? Heather packed so much amazing epic into this week’s notes, that we thought it would be best to break them off onto their own page!

The post Private Space Flight | J@N | 4.27.11 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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