[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i want them to look MORE into space. and i want them to have more money.


WASHINGTON, Mar. 6, 2007(AP) NASA officials say the space agency is capable of finding nearly all the asteroids that might pose a devastating hit to Earth, but there isn't enough money to pay for the task so it won't get done.

The cost to find at least 90 percent of the 20,000 potentially hazardous asteroids and comets by 2020 would be about $1 billion, according to a report NASA will release later this week. The report was previewed Monday at a Planetary Defense Conference in Washington.

Congress in 2005 asked NASA to come up with a plan to track most killer asteroids and propose how to deflect the potentially catastrophic ones.

"We know what to do, we just don't have the money," said Simon "Pete" Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center.

These are asteroids that are bigger than 460 feet in diameter _ slightly smaller than the Superdome in New Orleans. They are a threat even if they don't hit Earth because if they explode while close enough _ an event caused by heating in both the rock and the atmosphere _ the devastation from the shockwaves is still immense. The explosion alone could have with the power of 100 million tons of dynamite, enough to devastate an entire state, such as Maryland, they said.

The agency is already tracking bigger objects, at least 3,300 feet in diameter, that could wipe out most life on Earth, much like what is theorized to have happened to dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But even that search, which has spotted 769 asteroids and comets _ none of which is on course to hit Earth _ is behind schedule. It's supposed to be complete by the end of next year.

NASA needs to do more to locate other smaller, but still potentially dangerous space bodies. While an Italian observatory is doing some work, the United States is the only government with an asteroid-tracking program, NASA said.

One solution would be to build a new ground telescope solely for the asteroid hunt, and piggyback that use with other agencies' telescopes for a total of $800 million. Another would be to launch a space infrared telescope that could do the job faster for $1.1 billion. But NASA program scientist Lindley Johnson said NASA and the White House called both those choices too costly.

A cheaper option would be to simply piggyback on other agencies' telescopes, a cost of about $300 million, also rejected, Johnson said.

"The decision of the agency is we just can't do anything about it right now," he added.

Earth got a scare in 2004, when initial readings suggested an 885-foot asteroid called 99942 Apophis seemed to have a chance of hitting Earth in 2029. But more observations showed that wouldn't happen. Scientists say there is a 1-in-45,000 chance that it could hit in 2036.

They think it would mostly likely strike the Pacific Ocean, which would cause a tsunami on the U.S. West Coast the size of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean wave.

John Logsdon, space policy director at George Washington University, said a stepped-up search for such asteroids is needed.

"You can't deflect them if you can't find them," Logsdon said. "And we can't find things that can cause massive damage."

___

sometimes peoples priorities are more half baked then even mine!

[Sheriff Rhys Chatham]

you should read up on dark matter.
quite interesting.
Billions and billions of galaxies.

[atari 2600]

Have you ever wondered what a solar eclipse would look like from space? The STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) has just sent back its view (awe-inspiring video included). It has also sent back some gorgeous pictures of our sun (and the McNaught Comet). For more media, check out the other galleries (including some 3D images). For more about the project, see NASA's STEREO homepage. Be sure to also stop by the Johns Hopkins University STEREO Page, where you can download a mission guide (pdf), view animations, watch a video of the launch, or even make your own papercraft STEREO model (pdf). You can also learn more in six minute segments with their series of short educational videos.

[Rob Instigator]

this video is fucking amazing. Thank you so much

[Hip Priest]

Cassini's spectacular image of Saturn's polar vortex, published this month by NASA, may provide astronomers with a missing piece in the puzzle of how that planet's atmosphere works. For planetary scientists studying Venus, the image was strangely familiar...

[atari 2600]

It's like Google Maps...for space. Wikisky is a draggable, zoomable, web-based star map. And if you click on a star or other object, it brings up a page with all the information you could want on it, including recent articles and astrophotos that contain that object. And it does lots more. Go explore.

[floatingslowly]

I can see my home from there!

that's a seriously cool site mr. 2600.


from Science News Weekly:

Radar reveals signs of seas on Titan

Newly discovered features that appear to be hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's moon Titan are at least 10 times as large as any such features previously imaged there. Recent radar observations of Titan's north pole taken with the Cassini spacecraft show that one of the putative oceans is larger than any of North America's Great Lakes.

The features' darkness in radar images indicates smooth surfaces and their outlines resemble shorelines. Scientists contend that the bodies are probably made of liquid ethane or methane. Methane is abundant in Titan's thick atmosphere and cylces between the moon's atmosphere and rigid surface, much as water cycles on Earth.

Some of the features are large enough for Cassini's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer to perform a key test in the next year or two, when the sun climbs higher over Titan, says Cassini researcher Jonathan Lunine of the University of Arizon in Tucson. With stronger solar illumination, the instrument could obtain spectra indicating whehter the bodies are indeed compsed of liquid hydrocarbons.

"We couldn't do that with the other lakes previously discerned by Cassini's radar because those areas were too small" Lunine adds. Cassini took the radar images during a Feb. 22 flyby, and NASA release them on March 13.

[yay transcription]

[Hip Priest]

Beautiful and 'near-perfect' great big fuckoff red square found floating in space.

[PAULYBEE2656]

wow, amazing saturn photo. looks so surreal....

[atari 2600]

Staring at the sun. YouTube video of solar flares, made from images captured by the SOHO satellite. Yes, there is more.

[Rob Instigator]

staring at the sun!!!!!

I love outer space. thanks for keeping this thread stocked with great space info and images

[atari 2600]

This life-like movie sequence captures Saturn's rings during a ring plane crossing--which Cassini makes twice per orbit--from the spacecraft's point of view. The movie begins with a view of the sunlit side of the rings. As the spacecraft speeds from south to north, the rings appear to tilt downward and collapse to a thin plane, and then open again to reveal the un-illuminated side of the ring plane, where sunlight filters through only dimly.

The Great Crossing -- The Movie (7 MB)
posted by y2karl

[floatingslowly]

Martian Sunsets

Viking I - Chryse Planitia

 

Spirit - Gusev Crater

 

[Cardinal Rob]

This is a great thread.

I'm quite into the odds and ends of outer space myself, and have been ever since I first heard Sun Ra's "Space Is the Place". A recent thing I enjoy pondering is that, if one was to travel to our closest off galaxy, Andromeda, and look through an extremely powerful telescope allowing them to see all the details of our earth, they being 2 million light years away, would see primitive man walking earth.
Two million years after their death.
From the most local galaxy.

'Tis amazing.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Rob

This is a great thread.

I'm quite into the odds and ends of outer space myself, and have been ever since I first heard Sun Ra's "Space Is the Place". A recent thing I enjoy pondering is that, if one was to travel to our closest off galaxy, Andromeda, and look through an extremely powerful telescope allowing them to see all the details of our earth, they being 2 million light years away, would see primitive man walking earth.
Two million years after their death.
From the most local galaxy.

'Tis amazing.

oh man have you seen that movie? insane! one of my favorites--ever.

[floatingslowly]

Mars Has Cave Networks, New Photos Suggest

Scott Norris
for National Geographic News

March 21, 2007

Seven circular pits on the surface of Mars appear to be openings to underground caverns, researchers have announced. The discovery of potential caves is exciting, the scientists said, because such underground formations may be the most promising places to look for signs of life.

 

Researchers were able to peer into the openings from far above, using visual and infrared imaging instruments aboard the Mars orbiter Odyssey.


No bottom is visible in six of the chambers. In the seventh, a section of cave floor illuminated by direct sunlight suggests a minimum depth of about 425 feet (130 meters).
Thermal scans helped establish that the holes are probably "skylight" openings to an underground cave system. Each skylight is 330 to 820 feet (100 to 250 meters) across.
A research team presented the discovery at a meeting of the Lunar and Planetary Institute last week in Houston.
Phil Christensen, of Arizona State University in Tempe, heads the thermal imaging project on Odyssey.
He noted that temperatures at the openings remained more constant than at surrounding areas exposed to Mars' bitter nighttime temperatures.
"These pits stay relatively warm at night," Christensen said. "That suggests we're looking down into a cavern that is trapping daytime heat."
To an observer on the Martian surface, he added, "it would be a pretty spectacular view. You could stand on the edge and look in, but I'm not sure you could see the bottom."
Pits and Tubes The openings are scattered across several hundred kilometers on the side of Mars' second highest mountain, known as Arsia Mons, near Valles Marineris. Others lie on the mountain's lower flanks, where conditions may be more hospitable for life.


The surface of Mars is strewn with craters from meteor impacts and depressions formed by the collapse of underground chambers formed by flowing lava, the experts said.
Similar "collapse pits" and lava tubes with skylight openings are found in volcanic cave systems on Earth, in places such as Hawaii, the team pointed out.
The Martian caves may be similar in structure to Hawaii's lava tubes, Christensen said, albeit on a larger scale.
Smaller skylights may also be present, he added. Odyssey's thermal imager can only detect openings larger than about 330 feet (100 meters) across.
New details may come soon from additional imaging, the researchers said, as well as from the use of the high-resolution camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Shelter From the Storm
In addition to insulation from cold temperatures, Mars' caverns may provide shelter from the barrages of dust, ultraviolet radiation, charged particles, and small meteorites that whip the planet's surface.
Some researchers have suggested that Martian caverns in low-lying areas could hold reservoirs of water, which would make the existence of microbial life much more likely.
(Read related story: "Mars Has Liquid Water, New Photos Suggest" [December 6, 2006].)
At the elevations where the caves are located, the presence of water or ice is doubtful, the Odyssey scientists said. But there remains an intriguing possibility of ongoing volcanic and hydrothermal activity in the region.
Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University headed a recent study of potential Martian hydrothermal sites including Arsia Mons.
"If there is still volcanic activity at or near the [cave] sites, the chances for life are much higher," he said.
"Hydrothermal water and associated nutrient-containing compounds could be released periodically and sustain life." Whatever secrets the newfound caves may hold, they are likely to remain mysterious for some time. The caves' location makes them difficult if not impossible to reach with robotic rovers, the scientists said.

[SynthethicalY]

A planet is discovered, may sustain life

[m1rr0r dash]

Experts to Discuss U.S. Space Plan

Back to the Moon? Push on to Mars? Visit an asteroid?

At Stanford University on Tuesday, 50 space experts and advocates from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, industry, academia and advocacy groups are gathering to ask whether the United States is on the right track in its plans to reach the Moon by 2020, build a long-term lunar base there and eventually send humans to Mars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/science/space/12space.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=space+exploration&st=ny t&oref=slogin

[Cantankerous]

space fucking rocks.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Cantankerous

space fucking rocks.

you mean the asteroid fucking belt?