Discovery News: Space Diary

Carnival of Space - Universe from A to Z

Welcome to Carnival of Space No. 69, the Universe from to A-Z. Seatbelts on? Visors down? 3-2-1 blastoff. Have fun!

A is for Aliens and their apparent British invasion,

B is for Breakdown of political persuasion.

C is for Commercial, the new way to space,

D is for Dark Matter, an admittedly acquired taste.

E is for Energy that comes from deep within,

F is for Federation, an alliance of future space kin.

G is for Green, which apparently does exist in space,

H is for History and how to preserve the human race.

I is for Inspirational space art,

J is for Jupiter, where astronomers often start.

K is for Knowledge and some tips to find your way,

L is for Library, which can save a teacher's day.

M is for Mother Star, a collection of solar views,

N is for Next-Generation, a telescope NASA has yet to choose.

O is for Observe and some suggestions to blow your mind,

P is for Party, of the star-watching kind.

Q is for Quantum, though I didn't find anyone writing on this,

R is for Rocky Worlds, as in Earth and her three sis.

S is for Star Trek, and the space show in Las Vegas,

T is for Travels, the Mars probes latest.

U is for Unspotted, which describes our sun in August,

V is for Volcanoes and what that means for Mars rust.

W is for Watch as Cygnus flies above,

X is for eXpedition, a Lewis and Clark tale you'll love.

Y is for Youngsters, their space toys all a'clutter,

and Z is for Zettaflops, carbontubes and exotica I can only mutter.

Happy travels, my friends.

(Did I miss anyone? Please leave comment below. Thanks!)

Lake, ahoy!

While debate swirls about allocation, taxation and mitigation of Earth’s key energy source -- i.e. oil -- scientists have confirmed the location of a huge, untapped pool of liquid ethane and methane that’s your’s, mine and our’s for the taking.

It’s a bit far though. On a moon of Saturn.

Still, the discovery, announced in this week’s issue of the science research journal Nature, underscores a key reason for undertaking space exploration: so we can learn what’s out there.

What the dazzlingly brilliant and disciplined minds behind the Cassini science mission at Saturn have uncovered is that yes, indeed, Earth is not the only place in the universe that has liquids on its surface. Scientists have long suspected Titan had the goods, but it has taken years of detailed, methodical investigation to deliver the evidence.

Confirmation comes from a team at the University of Arizona charged with operating Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, which can ID chemicals by dissecting and analyzing wavelengths of light. VIMS found spectral fingerprints of liquid ethane pooled together in an area roughly 7,800 square miles (20,000 square km), which is just a bit bigger than Lake Ontario. Hence its name: Ontario Lacus.

Explains UA’s Robert Brown, the lead scientist for VIMS: "We know the lake is liquid because it reflects essentially no light at 5-micron wavelengths. It was hard for us to accept the fact that the feature was so black when we first saw it. More than 99.9 percent of the light that reaches the lake never gets out again. For it to be that dark, the surface has to be extremely quiescent, mirror smooth -- no naturally produced solid could be that smooth."

Observations at 2-micron wavelengths apparently clinched the deal, when the signature of ethane appeared at the precise wavelength that ethane absorbs infrared light. Brown says tiny particles of ethane, small as cigarette smoke, are filtering out of the atmosphere and into the lake. Atmosphere ethane is made when ultraviolet light from the sun zaps methane molecules.

There’s more: Titan’s lake apparently is evaporating, as would be expected since its summer-time on Titan’s southern hemisphere, where the lake is located.

"We can see there's a shelf, a beach, that is being exposed as the lake evaporates," Brown said.

The beach is darker than the shoreline, indicating that it is wet with organics or covered with a thin layer of liquid organics. Scientists know what’s not there: water ice, ammonia, ammonia hydrate or carbon dioxide. And it’s cold -- about 290 below zero Fahrenheit. That’s why the hydrocarbons are in a liquid state, not gas.

Personally, but I don’t mind the extra charge to Uncle Sam’s credit card to keep Cassini flying. Takes the edge off all the other mindless stuff.

Fly Me to the Moon -- Next Year

NASA’s kick-off mission under Apollo 2.0 will be off to a late start, Aviation Week is reporting. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a pole-circling probe that will lay the groundwork for human landings on the moon, apparently is grounded until Feb. 27, 2009. The spacecraft had been targeted for launch in November.

Two years ago, NASA awarded a $136-million contract to Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services to put LRO into lunar orbit for a year-long mapping mission. The company plans to use one of its heavy-lift Atlas 5 boosters.

AvWk, however, says LRO’s rocket and launch slot will be used instead for a classified military mission.

No enlightenment about which came from: chicken or egg. Since LRO and sidekick impactor payload LCROSS seems have been meeting all their milestones, I’m betting egg -- military wants the rocket.

Caption: More detailed maps of the moon's south pole, imaged here by the Clementine spacecraft, will have to wait until '09.

Where in the Universe?

Perhaps it is no accident that this world orbits far from its siblings and at an unusually high angle relative to the mother planet. It’s an odd bird by nearly every measure. Rather than round or oval in shape, this place has squashed in poles and midsection bulge that would make the most ardent Weight Watchers believer cry in despair. It's caused by a bizarre ridge of mountains that spans more than twice as high as Mt. Everest, Earth’s tallest peak. And that’s not even the most distinctive characteristic. Scientists are trying to figure out why half this place is black as tar and the other bright white. Their latest theory will do nothing to help your fears of global warming. Where am I?

A World A'Twitter

Curious what’s happening on Mars? No need to comb the net looking for news. NASA’s newest robot probe will phone you with its updates.

Phoenix, which is busily analyzing ice and soil samples from Mars’ northern polar cap, is using the social networking site Twitter to text-message the science-minded about its progress. Apparently, more than 27,000 folks are following Phoenix’s words, which can flash across your cell phone, pop up in your Instant Messaging program or passively wait to be read on its Twitter homepage.

Hungry for a direct outreach to the public, NASA has given more than a dozen machines a virtual life. Among Phoenix’s colleagues on Twitter are LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) which hasn’t even left the ground yet, the Hubble Space Telescope, the new gamma ray observatory GLAST and the space shuttles Atlantis , Discovery and Endeavour. Even space shuttle missions are incarnating.

It’s not just the ‘droids who are coming into their ‘lectronic lives. Apparently blogs are Twitter-fodder too so I took the plunge and signed up Free Space. At least I think I did. I’m waiting for my cell phone to ring to let me know if I’ve posted or not.

Phoenix, Descending

Phoenix's arrival at Mars did not go unnoticed... this image of its parachute descent toward the northern arctic region was captured by a sister spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Welcome to Mars

A view from Phoenix

Good night, Mars

This time of year, the sun never sets on the northern polar region of Mars. But it does here, so I'll leave you with this. (Can't wait for the color views!)

Meanwhile, Back on Earth

Was just about to post these when the Phoenix pcts started coming in ... so back on Earth, here's what the mood was like in the control room when folks learned the spacecraft had landed:

What's That??

A white object sticking up in the distance is sparking discussions ..