10 new stories for 2015/09/01

NASA Tests Orion's Fate During Parachute Failure Scenario

A test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft successfully landed under two main parachutes in the Arizona desert Aug. 26, 2015 at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground. Credit: NASA

What would happen to the astronaut crews aboard NASA's Orion deep space capsule in the event of parachute failures in the final moments before splashdown upon returning from weeks to years long forays to the Moon, Asteroids or Mars?

NASA teams are evaluating Orion's fate under multiple scenarios in case certain of(...)
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© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2015. | Permalink | 9 comments |
Post tags: deep space, Delta IV Heavy rocket, EFT-1, EM-1, human spaceflight, Journey to Mars, NASA, Orion Capsule, Orion EFT-1, Orion EM-1, Orion parachutes, SLS, sls orion, ULA

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Eclipse By Fire! Smoky Haze Pervades Night Sky, Darkens Moon

The Full Moon at 10:30 p.m. last night (Aug. 30). Even at 25° altitude, it glowed a deep, dark orange due to heavy smoke from western forest fires. Credit: Bob King

The Full Moon at 10:30 p.m. last night (Aug. 29). Even at 25 degrees altitude, it glowed a deep, dark orange caused by heavy smoke from western forest fires. Credit: Bob King

Did you see the Moon last night? I walked outside at 10:30 p.m. and was stunned to see a dark, burnt-orange Full Moon as if September’s eclipse had arrived a month early. Why? Heavy smoke from forest fires in Washington, California and Montana has now spread to cover nearly half the country in a smoky pall, soaking up starlight and muting the moonlight.

If this is what global warming has in store for us, skywatchers will soon have to take a forecast of “clear skies” with a huge grain of salt.(...)
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Watch Where You Point That 'Scope: Police Mistake Telescope for a Gun

Levi Joraanstad, a student at North Dakota State University displays his telescope, which police mistook for a rifle. Image via WDAY TV, Fargo, North Dakota.

One more thing amateur astronomers might need to worry about besides clouds, bugs, and trying to fix equipment malfunctions in the dark – and this one's a little more serious.
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NASA and New Horizons team pick post-Pluto target … and serve up an awesome video

An artist's conception shows the New Horizons spacecraft flying past a Pluto-like object in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy material that lies billions of miles away from the sun. (Credit: Alex Parker / NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI)

NASA and the science team behind the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond have settled on the popular choice for the spacecraft’s next flyby: It’s 2014 MU69, an icy object a billion miles beyond Pluto that’s thought to be less than 30 miles (45 kilometers) wide.

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August Full Moon Anticipates September's Total Lunar Eclipse

$A Full Moon in all its horizontal glory. When near the horizon, refraction squeezes the lunar disk into an oval. Scattering removes the shorter wavelengths of white light, leaving the Moon a rich red or orange. Credit: Bob King$

A Full Moon in all its horizontal glory. When near the horizon, refraction squeezes the lunar disk into an oval. Scattering removes the shorter wavelengths of white light, coloring the Moon a rich red or orange. Credit: Bob King

Who doesn’t love a Full Moon? Occurring about once a month, they never wear out their welcome. Each one becomes a special event to anticipate. In the summer months, when the Moon rises through the sultry haze, atmosphere and aerosols scatter away so much blue light and green light from its disk, the Moon glows an enticing orange or red.(...)
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Orbital ATK on the Rebound With Antares Return to Flight in 2016

Two RD-181 integrated with the Orbital ATK Antares first stage air frame at the Wallops Island, Virginia Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF). Return to flight launch is expected sometime during Spring 2016. Credit: NASA/ Terry Zaperach

Orbital ATK is on the rebound with return to flight of their Antares rocket slated in early 2016 following the catastrophic launch failure that doomed the last Antares in October 2014 on a resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station (ISS).

Engineers are making "excellent progress" assembling a modified version of Antares that is currently on track to blast off as soon as (...)
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© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2015. | Permalink | 6 comments |
Post tags: Antares rocket, Antares rocket explosion, Atlas V rocket, cape canaveral, cargo dragon, commercial cargo, commercial resupply services (CRS), CRS, Cygnus, Cygnus cargo vessel, Falcon 9 rocket explosion, international space station, International Space Station (ISS), ISS, NASA, NASA Wallops, OA-4, Orb-3, Orbital ATK, SpaceX, SpaceX CRS-7, ULA

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Ceres' "Pyramid" Gets a Closer Look, But Bright Spots Remain a Mystery

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft spotted this tall, conical mountain on Ceres from a distance of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The mountain, located in the southern hemisphere, stands 4 miles (6 kilometers) high. Its perimeter is sharply defined, with almost no accumulated debris at the base of the brightly streaked slope. The image was taken on August 19, 2015.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

The Dawn spacecraft is now orbiting just 1,470 kilometers (915 miles) above Ceres' surface, and the science team released these latest images. Above is a closest view yet of the so-called 'pyramid' on Ceres, although the closer Dawn gets, the less this feature looks like a pyramid. It's actually more like a conical mountain with a flat top, almost like a butte.

And if you're like me and you see a crater instead of a mountain, just turn the picture over (or stand on your head). Below, we've turned the image upside down for you:
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Ice Giants at Opposition

Moons at opposition… check out the amazing captures of the moons of Uranus and Neptune! Image credit and copyright: Efrain Morales

It seems as if the planets are fleeing the evening sky, just as the Fall school star party season is getting underway. Venus and Mars have entered the morning sky, and Jupiter reaches solar conjunction this week. Even glorious Saturn has passed eastern quadrature, and will soon depart evening skies.(...)
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© David Dickinson for Universe Today, 2015. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: neptune 2015, neptune discovery, neptune opposition, uranus 2015, uranus discovery, uranus opposition

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Carnival of Space #420

Carnival of Space. Image by Jason Major.

The tent is up! This week's Carnival of Space is hosted by Pamela Hoffman at the Everyday Spacer blog.

Click here to read Carnival of Space #420.
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Astro-Challenge: Splitting 44 Boötis

44 Bootis from the Palomar Sky Survey. Image credit: The CDS/Aladin previewer

44 Boötis from the Palomar Sky Survey. Note the multiple nature of the system is much to close to be resolved in this shot. Image credit: The CDS/Aladin previewer

How good are your optics? Nothing can challenge the resolution of a large light bucket telescope, like attempting to split close double stars. This week, we'd like to highlight a curious triple star system that presents a supreme challenge over the next few years and will ‘keep on giving’ for decades to come.(...)
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© David Dickinson for Universe Today, 2015. | Permalink | 4 comments |
Post tags: 44 Bootis, bootes umlaut, cardboard interferometer, constellation bootes, dawes limit, double star challenge, resolution astronomy