William Atkins
Tuesday, 16 December 2008 04:55
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 4
NASA RETURNS TO THE MOON WITH INSTRUMENTS ON INDIAN SPACECRAFT
“NASA has partnered with India to fly two science instruments aboard
the country's first lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1. The Indian Space
Research Organization launched Chandrayaan-1 on Oct. 22 from
Sriharikota, India. It entered lunar orbit on Nov. 8. NASA's Moon
Mineralogy Mapper is surveying mineral resources of the moon, and the
Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar is mapping the moon's polar regions
and looking for ice deposits in the permanently shadowed craters. Data
from the two instruments is contributing to NASA's increased
understanding of the lunar environment as the agency implements the
nation's space exploration policy, which calls for robotic and human
missions to the moon.”
Check out the
Moon Mineralogy Mapper and
Mini-RF.
HUBBLE FINDS PLANET CIRCLING A DISTANT STAR
“Astronomers announced in 2008 that NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has
taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another
star. Observations … by the coronagraph on Hubble's Advanced Camera for
Surveys showed the object orbiting around a star named Fomalhaut. The
planet, called Fomalhaut b, is approximately 10 times the distance of
Saturn from our sun. Estimated to be as much as three times Jupiter's
mass, Fomalhaut b is located 25 light-years away in the constellation
Piscis Australis, or the 'Southern Fish' ....”
See “
A planet orbiting another star” for more.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION NEARS COMPLETION ON 10TH ANNIVERSARY
“NASA completed four space shuttle missions in 2008 to deliver modules
and hardware to the International Space Station, allowing it to grow in
size, volume and science capability.... Nov. 20 was the 10th anniversary
of the launch of Zarya, a Russian control module that was the station's
first component. In the decade since Zarya arrived in orbit, the
station has grown to become the largest spacecraft ever built. Its mass
has expanded to more than 313 tons, and its interior volume is more
than 25,000 cubic feet, comparable to the size of a five-bedroom house....”
For more information, go to “
International Space Station 10th Anniversary”
Page three continues with more ...
