DISCOVER Magazine. Science, Technology and The Future
Current Issue
Subscribe Today »
  • Renew
  • Give a Gift
  • Archives
  • Customer Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Newsletter
  • Health & Medicine
  • Mind & Brain
  • Technology
  • Space
  • Human Origins
  • Living World
  • Environment
  • Physics & Math
  • Video
  • Photos
  • Podcast
  • RSS
Bad Astronomy

Archive for the ‘Space’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Best video of Soyuz rocket burning up so far

Assuming you had other things on your mind this past weekend, you may have missed the foofooraw of a Russian rocket booster that re-entered over Europe on Saturday. It was part of a rocket that took new crew up to the International Space Station a few days ago, and was expected to come back down at that time. It was seen by a lot of people, because it happened at 5:30 p.m. local time on a clear night, so a lot of folks were out. It was also bright and spectacular… as you can see for yourself in this amazing footage taken in Germany:

Pretty cool, isn’t it? Make sure to set it to the highest resolution, and make it full screen. When it’s in focus (cameras sometimes have a hard time focusing on objects at infinity) you can see parts of the booster breaking off and making their own trails as they burn up. The bright star passed by the fireball is Jupiter (the two stars above it are part of Aries), and then you can see it pass under the Pleiades, and then the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus.

There are lots of other videos of this amazing event; a search on YouTube will show you quite a few. This one shows the smaller pieces better than any video I’ve seen so far, though.

Things like this happen pretty often, but not generally over heavily populated areas at such an opportune time in the evening. To my knowledge, no one has ever been seriously hurt or killed by falling debris like this; what you’re seeing is happening very high in the atmosphere, and most of the pieces burn up. Keep in mind, too, the Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft — which was supposed to go to Mars, but never left Earth orbit — will be coming back down in early January. Reports on exactly when still vary a bit, and we don’t know where it will re-enter. I’ll have more on that when I know more.

Share

December 26th, 2011 7:00 AM Tags: ISS, Phobos-Grunt, re-enter, Soyuz rocket
by Phil Plait in Cool stuff, Space | 18 Comments » | RSS feed | Trackback >

Colbert on Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson may be the most recognizable astronomer on Earth these days, in part due to his frequent appearances on The Colbert Report. Earlier this year In 2010, Colbert sat down with Neil at the Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey and chatted with him about life, the Universe, and everything. Colbert did this out of his TV character — well, mostly — and even though it’s over an hour, it’s well worth your time. The original video is on the Hayden Planetarium site, but it’s also all over the place, including YouTube. I’ve embedded it here for your enjoyment, too.

Neil and I agree on a wide variety of topics, and he’s doing a great job inspiring people to look beyond their own immediate surroundings.


Related posts:

- Our Future in Space – panel at TAM 9
- In which I disagree with cartoon Neil Tyson
- SMBC on the brain
- Neil Tyson and I talk time travel

Share

December 17th, 2011 7:14 AM Tags: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Colbert
by Phil Plait in Astronomy, NASA, Piece of mind, Skepticism, Space | 29 Comments » | RSS feed | Trackback >

Top 16 Pictures from Space 2011

Every year, I pick my favorite astronomical images over the past 12 months and collect them for your eyeball pleasure... and every year it gets harder. This year, when I listed out <em>hundreds</em> to choose from, I realized I had a problem. So I decided to break them up into categories and then post each group as a separate gallery. It was a huge amount of work, but when you see these glorious images, I hope you'll agree it was totally worth it.<br /><br />This gallery shows my favorite images of objects <em>in</em> near-Earth orbit, or<em> from</em> near-Earth orbit. You'll see our hardware in space, and our lovely planet from above. They're all beautiful, and some are simply astonishing. <br /><br />To browse, just click the arrows or the next image in the filmstrip. Clicking the image will take you to my original blog post about it, with more information. <br /><br />It's been a great year for space photography. Let's hope 2012 is even better. <br /><br />... and don't worry. The next gallery is coming soon! Stay tuned.<br /><br /><strong>Related Posts:</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/12/20/top-ten-astronomy-pictures-of-2010-runners-up/" target="_blank">Top 10 Astronomy Pictures of 2010 - Runners Up<br /><br /></a><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/12/14/the-top-14-astronomy-pictures-of-2010/" target="_blank">The Top 14 Astronomy Pictures of 2010</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/12/15/top-ten-astronomy-pictures-of-2009/" target="_blank">Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2009<br /><br /></a><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/17/top-ten-astronomy-pictures-of-2008/" target="_blank">Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2008</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/23/top-10-astronomy-pictures-of-2007-runners-up/" target="_blank">Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2007 - Runners Up</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/13/top-ten-astronomy-pictures-of-2007/" target="_blank">Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2007</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/12/27/the-top-ten-astronomy-images-of-2006/" target="_blank">Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2006</a><br /><br /><br /><div>On May 16, 2011, the Space Shuttle <em>Endeavour</em> launched into space for the last time. STS 134, as the mission was labeled, was a success, bringing a scientific instrument called<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/AMS-02.html" target="_blank"> the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer</a> to the International Space Station, as well as other equipment. Being the second-to-last Shuttle launch of all time, there was a huge crowd of people taking pictures, but no image I've seen came close to this one by photographer Trey Ratcliff, who captured the towering cloud of exhaust capped by the glow of the engines just as the Shuttle went through a low cloud deck. The beauty, and quite literal other-worldliness of this photo makes it stand out as one of the best Shuttle launch pictures ever taken.</div>
<div><br />
<div><em>Image credit: Trey Ratcliff (used under Creative Commons licensing)<br /></em><a href="http://stuckincustoms.smugmug.com/Portfolio-The-Best/your-favorites/i-MKZKwgz/0/X3/Shuttle-Launch-Cloud-X3.jpg" target="_blank"><br />Link to original image</a></div>
<a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/05/17/dream-of-endeavour/" target="_blank"><br />Original blog post<br /></a><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/05/17/dream-of-endeavour/" target="_blank"></a></div>On May 28th, 2011, the day before <em>Endeavour</em> undocked from the International Space Station, an astronaut snapped this amazing shot out a window of the ISS. <em>Endeavour</em> is partially seen, payload bay doors open wide, as well as ISS equipment, and some stars in the night sky. But the scene-stealer is the Earth itself, blurred slightly in this time exposure, cities streaking by as this man-made structure orbits 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth, traveling at 28,000 kph (17,000 mph).<br /><br /><em>Image credit: NASA </em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/554479main_iss028e006193_hires.jpg" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/05/31/stunning-pic-of-endeavours-last-spacedock/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>Shortly before the Orbiter <em>Endeavour</em> undocked from the space station one last time in late May 2011, astronaut Paolo Nespoli was in a Soyuz capsule about to return back to Earth. However, before they left, he and his fellow travelers circled the ISS complex <a href="http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?type=I&amp;amp;mission=MagISStra%20%28Astronaut%20Nespoli%29" target="_blank">and took a series of gorgeous pictures</a> from just about 200 meters away. This maneuver was done at the request of NASA, knowing this was the last time <em>Endeavour</em> and the ISS would be seen together from up close. It was a lovely farewell gesture, and produced a bittersweet photo album of the moment.<br /><br />Image credit: ESA/NASA<br /><br /><a href="http://www.esa.int/images/557676main_iss027e036801_1600_1600-1200.jpg" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/06/08/the-last-views-of-endeavour-and-iss/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>Astronauts on board the space station see 18 Moon rises and Moon sets every day, so they may be used to seeing a sequence like the one above, but it's pretty weird for those of us here on Earth! Italian space traveler Paolo Nespoli took these three picture in January 2011, showing the nearly full Moon rising over the Earth's limb. The Earth's atmosphere bends the light from the Moon, distorting its shape. The part of the Moon nearer the Earth's limb gets bent more than the part away from it, so the Moon looks flattened, and the effect decreases as it rises. You can see this effect here on the Earth's surface, but it's not as strong, making this picture that much weirder looking.<br /><br /><em>Image credit: ESA/NASA</em><br /><br /><a href="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5045/5372739290_0e5e088038_o.jpg" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/21/squishy-moonrise-seen-from-space/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>In late September, 2011, a huge low pressure system squatted over the Great Lakes region of the US, causing gloomy weather for millions of people that lasted for days. Seen here by NASA's Aqua satellite, the system is over 2000 km north-to-south, and has a distinct comma shape due to the Coriolis effect, the same phenomenon that shapes hurricanes. While this may have made the weather gray and dreary on the planet's surface, from space it's exceedingly lovely, which tells you that sometimes to see the beauty in things you just need a little shift in perspective.<br /><br />Image credit: NASA/Aqua<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6188946512/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/09/27/the-pressure-of-living-on-a-spinning-planet/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>On July 21, 2011, the Orbiter <em>Atlantis</em> re-entered Earth's atmosphere for the very last time. Due to the vagaries of orbital mechanics, the ISS happened to be near the spot where <em>Atlantis</em> came back in, and an astronaut on-board captured this amazing picture of its fiery return. As the orbiter rams through our atmosphere at two dozen times the speed of sound, it violently compresses the air, heating it to incandescent temperatures. In other words, it glows, and the heated air takes a few minutes to dim. The result is a long, brilliant trail marking the final passage of <em>Atlantis</em> back to the ground, and one of the most spectacular pictures ever taken from orbit.<br /><br /><em>Image credit: NASA</em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/573269main_iss028e018218_hires.jpg" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/07/22/the-fiery-descent-of-atlantis-seen-from-space/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>In August 2011, the powerful and huge hurricane Irene achieved landfall over the east coast of the US. It had been a category 3 storm but had subsided somewhat before reaching land, but it still did damage over a vast area. Images from NASA satellites like this one can help us better understand hurricanes. While we can't manipulate or stop them, the more we know about them, the more we can predict where they will hit and where to concentrate evacuation efforts if necessary. Space-based observations of our planet are absolutely critical for our own well-being... and they can also be beautiful.<br /><br />[Note: You should also check out <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/08/30/hurricane-irene-from-start-to-finish/" target="_blank">this video of Irene</a> showing its progress from start to finish as seeen from space.]<br /><br /><em>Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team</em>
<div><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6083518236/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/08/26/irene-sidles-up-to-the-east-coast/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a></div>Off the coast of Patagonia in late December 2010 (but not posted until January 1, 2011, if you were wishing to penalize me) a phytoplankton bloom erupted, coloring the Atlantic waters in various shades of teal. Colliding currents stir up the plankton in eddies and whorls, clearly visible in this photo taken by NASA's Aqua Earth-observing satellite.<br /><br /><em>Image credit: Norman Kuring, <a href="Norman Kuring, NASA’s Ocean Color website" target="_blank">NASA’s Ocean Color website</a></em><br /><br /><a href="http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/48000/48244/patagonia_amo_2010355_lrg.jpg" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/02/phytoplankton-bloom/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a><div>I always get a thrill when a shot of Earth from space shows something recognizable, and there's hardly a more obvious landform on the planet than the boot of Italy. Lit up at night, as seen in this picture taken on June 15, 2011, the boot's outline is drawn in for you by such cities as Bari, Brindisi, and Naples. Sicily is lit up as well. The ISS was almost a thousands kilometers east of Italy when it took this shot looking west, which is why it looks a bit squashed, foreshortened by the curve of the Earth.<br /><br /><em>[Update: Some folks are wondering about the orientation of this picture. The ISS was northeast of Italy, <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=51274" target="_blank">over Romania</a>, when this shot was taken, and the photographer was looking west. The limb of the Earth can be seen to the lower left. If you imagine yourself looking <strong>up</strong> at the Earth in this picture, not <strong>down</strong>, you can flip the orientation in your head like an optical illusion. Try it!]</em></div>
<br /><em>Image credit: NASA</em><br /><br /><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=51274" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/07/07/buonanotte-italia/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a><div>The volcanic island Ostrov Shikotan is one of a long chain of such that lie north of the Japanese islands. There are two extinct volcanoes on the island, and two human settlements as well. This picture, taken in February 2011 by EO-1 satellite, shows ice in the frigid water of the northwest Pacific swirling around the snow-covered island. From a distance, and from a height, the patterns are lovely and graceful, but I imagine anyone living there has a slightly chillier opinion of them.</div>
<div><br /><em>Image credit: Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team<br /> </em></div>
<a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49344" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/02/23/icy-swirls-around-a-patient-volcano/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>Although it's not squished like the other Moon picture, I love this one -- taken on July 15, 2011 by astronaut Ron Garan -- because of the colors of the Earth's atmosphere, because the Moon was only about a day old, and because you can clearly see the outline of the dark part of the Moon. The light from the Sun illuminates the day side of the Earth, and that light then goes to the Moon, illuminates the surface, and reflects back to us. Called <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/11/19/the-twice-reflected-moon-light/" target="_blank">Earthshine</a>, it's twice reflected sunlight! It has an even more poetic nickname: the new Moon in the old Moon's arms.<br /><br /><em>Image credit: NASA</em><br /><br /><a href="http://twitpic.com/5yz1r2/full" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/07/31/crescent-moonset-from-space/" target="_blank">Original blog post </a>Nabro is a volcano in Eritrea in the horn of eastern Africa. In June 2011 it started erupting in a weeks-long event that was best seen from space, due to the remote location of the volcano. This false-color photo from the EO-1 satellite shows near-infrared as red, clearly showing where hot lava is erupting from the ground. The teal cloud is most likely water vapor from the eruption, with other gases seen as well. Pictures of volcanoes from space are among my favorite of all photographs, especially when they're looking straight down an active volcano's throat like this.<br /><br /><em>Image credit: NASA/EO-1/Robert Simmon; NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team, Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon<br /></em><br /><a href="http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/51000/51216/nabro_ali_2011175_swir_lrg.jpg" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/06/28/staring-down-an-active-volcanos-throat/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>A lot of people aren't aware that the International Space Station is easily visible to the naked eye when it passes overhead; it's actually the fourth brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, Moon, and Venus). But you can go further than that; with a good telescope and some preparation you can see structure on it, since it's about 100 meters across, the size of a football field. But astrophotographers Thierry Legault and Emmanueal Rietsch went further still, capturing these amazing images of the ISS with<em> Endeavour</em> docked to it! The detail is astonishing; <em>Endeavour</em> is clearly visible along with the station's solar panels and various accouterments. It's hard to believe these were taken from the ground with a relatively small telescope, but they were. Thierry has a gift for timing and prep work... check out the next picture in the series to see what I mean.<br /><br /><em>[Note: Thierry and Emmanuel <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/03/09/discovery-spacewalk-seen-from-the-ground/" target="_blank">also got shots of Discovery mission spacewalk</a>, showing the astronaut on the ISS!]</em><br /><br /><em>Image credit: <a href="http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/STS-134.html" target="_blank">Thierry Legault and Emmanuel Rietsch</a></em>
<div><br /><a href="http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/STS-134_110529.jpg" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/06/06/seriously-jaw-dropping-pictures-of-endeavour-and-the-iss/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a></div>On January 4, 2011 (so it <em>just</em> made this list) there was a partial solar eclipse, with the Moon cutting a chord across the Sun. Astrophotographer Thierry Legault, using some astronomy software, realized the best place to take pictures of the eclipse was in Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. Why there? Because from that location during the eclipse the International Space Station also transited the Sun! He snapped this picture with preternatural timing; the ISS moves so rapidly as seen from the ground that it only takes 0.9 seconds to cross the Sun's face. Thierry literally had to have split-second timing to get this once-in-a-lifetime shot.<br /><br /><em>Image credit: Thierry Legault</em><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/04/insanely-awesome-solar-eclipse-picture/" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/04/insanely-awesome-solar-eclipse-picture/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>Ever wonder why the call it Iceland? Maybe this picture, taken on March 9, 2011, by NASA's Terra Earth-observing satellite makes it a little more clear.<br /><br /><em>Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team</em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5570900415/sizes/o/" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/04/03/oh-so-thats-why-they-call-it-that/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a><div>Every year in August, the Earth passes through the debris trail from the comet Swift-Tuttle, resulting in thousands of the tiny bits of fluff burning up in our atmosphere. This causes the annual Perseid meteor shower, and on August 13, 2011, at 7:17 p.m. UT, astronaut Ron Garan took this incredible picture of a Perseid meteor burning up in the atmosphere <strong>below him</strong>. I wonder if he was nervous seeing those shooting stars as he sat in the space station, looking down. He needn't have been; <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/08/15/what-a-falling-star-looks-like-from-space/" target="_blank">according to my math</a> the odds are low that the ISS will get hit by a Perseid even if it circled the Earth for millennia. Space is big, and even at 100 meters in diameter, the space station is a tiny target in comparison.</div>
<div><br /><em>Image credit: NASA<br /><br /> </em></div>
<a href="http://twitpic.com/662hqp/full" target="_blank">Original image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/08/15/what-a-falling-star-looks-like-from-space/" target="_blank">Original blog post</a>

Share

December 6th, 2011 5:57 AM Tags: Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavour, hurricane, Iceland, International Space Station, Patagonia, Perseids, Space Shuttle, volcano
by Phil Plait in Astronomy, NASA, Pretty pictures, Space, Top Post | 35 Comments » | RSS feed | Trackback >

Last week’s solar eclipse tripled by Hinode

Did you know there was a solar eclipse last week? Probably not, since — due to the geometry of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth — it occurred over Antarctica.

However, it was seen by the Japanese Sun-observing satellite Hinode (pronounced, "HEE-no-day"; meaning "sunrise"). As the satellite moved around the Earth, its viewing angle of the Moon changed, so it saw the eclipse not just once but three times, making for a very odd video of the event:

This change in perspective is called parallax, and besides tripling the eclipse fun, it also manifests itself as a severe curve to the Moon’s motion in the video. If the satellite were hovering over the Earth, it would’ve seen just one eclipse as the Moon slowly moved across the Sun’s face (if it had been over Antarctica at the time). But the satellite orbits the Earth at a height of about 700 km (400 miles), moving at several kilometers per second. That motion is reflected in the apparent path of the Moon in the sky, and so it saw not just one but three eclipses. Something like this happened earlier in the year with another solar satellite, and I have a more a more detailed explanation in a post about that event.

One of the biggest positive aspects of being a space-faring race is the change in perspective we get by seeing things from a different angle… and in this case, it’s literally a continuously changing perspective. It’s a great reminder that the way we perceive the Universe from the Earth’s surface is not the only way to do so, nor necessarily the best way.

Credit: Credit: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory


Related posts:

- ANOTHER insanely awesome shot of the solar eclipse?! (an earlier solar eclipse video by Hinode, and very cool)
- An eclipse from space with a two-way Moon
- A Swiftly passing asteroid
- When the Earth takes a bite out of the Sun

Share

December 5th, 2011 7:00 AM Tags: Hinode, solar eclipse
by Phil Plait in Astronomy, Cool stuff, Pretty pictures, Space | 8 Comments » | RSS feed | Trackback >

ESA writes off Phobos-Grunt

The Russian space probe Phobos-Grunt was an ambitious attempt to send a spacecraft to Mars, land on its moon Phobos, and return a sample to Earth. However, once it achieved low-Earth orbit after launch in November, the rocket that would have sent it on its way to Mars failed to fire, stranding the probe here at Earth. There have been numerous attempts to communicate with Phobos-Grunt, but they have been met with very limited success and most usually failure.

And now another nail has been driven in the coffin: the European Space Agency, which was tasked with spacecraft communications during the cruise phase to Mars, has announced they will no longer try to talk to Phobos-Grunt, declaring the mission "no longer feasible". Ouch.

NASA joined in the effort to talk to the probe, but had to abandon those efforts when the antennae were needed for other missions. It’s unlikely Russia will give up on the mission soon, but my own opinion is that the outlook’s pretty bleak. If they can’t get the probe on its way, or even boosted to a higher orbit, it’ll burn up in an uncontrolled re-entry over Earth sometime in February. The Russians are saying the fuel onboard will burn up as well and shouldn’t pose a threat to people on the ground. I expect we’ll be hearing more about that as time goes on.

I’ll note that Curiosity, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover, launched successfully recently and is looking good as it heads to Mars, so there’s that.

As usual, you should follow Emily Lakdawalla on her blog and on Twitter for current info on all things involving planetary space missions.

Share

December 2nd, 2011 2:07 PM Tags: ESA, Phobos, Phobos-Grunt
by Phil Plait in NASA, Space | 40 Comments » | RSS feed | Trackback >

Curiosity on its way to Mars!

Yesterday morning, NASA successfully launched the Mars Science Laboratory — named Curiosity — toward the fourth planet. If, like me, you missed the launch itself (^%$#@&! sinuses) why then, here’s some pretty dramatic video of the liftoff:

[Make sure to set it to 720p resolution!]

The cool parts to watch are: about 2 minutes in when the booster rockets fall by the wayside; 3:42 when the payload fairing is jettisoned, exposing the Curiosity spacecraft — as seen by the camera onboard the rocket, which is way cool; 4:38 when the entire rocket starts to slowly spin up, providing stabilization and allowing the Sun to heat the assembly evenly; then a few seconds later when the upper stage Centaur rocket ignites, leaving the booster behind (also extremely cool).

But wait! There’s more!

(more…)

Share

November 27th, 2011 7:05 AM Tags: Curiosity, Mars
by Phil Plait in Cool stuff, NASA, Space | 77 Comments » | RSS feed | Trackback >

Curiosity launches to Mars on Saturday

[UPDATE: SUCCESS! The launch was just about perfect, and Curiosity is now on its way to Mars, scheduled to land in August 2012. Congrats to everyone on the mission!]

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 26 at 10:02 Eastern (US) time (15:02 UTC), an Atlas V rocket carrying the Curiosity Mars rover will blast off from Florida, sending the sophisticated rolling lab to the Red Planet.

You can watch the launch live at NASA TV, or I recommend on the NASA/JPL UStream channel. I imagine I’ll be up and tweeting about it, as will my pal Emily Lakdawalla.

It is no exaggeration to say that Curiosity is a huge leap forward for Mars exploration. Designed to last for nearly two years, it’s 3 meters long — the size of a hefty golf cart — and its scientific payload is ten times more massive than its predecessors. It has instruments (PDF) that can sample and taste the air and surface, imagers to provide high resolution stereo pictures, a laser to zap rocks and get their spectra (which yields their composition), and even a camera that will take video of the last two minutes of its descent to the surface to provide aerial context for its cameras once it lands.

If you thought Spirit and Opportunity were cool — and you’d be right — Curiosity will up the ante considerably. I’m very excited by the prospect of the science this rover will do, and the exploration it’s capable of as a precursor, eventually, to a human being stepping foot on this odd, dry, and cold neighboring world.

Share

November 25th, 2011 11:55 AM Tags: Curiosity, Mars, rover
by Phil Plait in Astronomy, Cool stuff, NASA, Space | 61 Comments » | RSS feed | Trackback >

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »




    • About Bad Astronomy


      Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.


      The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.


      Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com


       
      Keep Libel Laws out of Science
       
       Bad Astronomy was chosen as one of Time.com's Best Blogs of 2009.


    • Science Getaways


      Science Getaways: Vacation with your brain!


    • Subscribe to BA


      Subscribe to Bad Astronomy using RSS! RSS feed button


    • Death from the Skies!


      Order a copy of Death from the Skies! from Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

      "If things worked the way I wanted them to, any reporter about to do another 'sensational' story on deadly meteors would consult this volume, and bang! common sense would find its way into the news. How strange would that world be?"
      -- Adam Savage, Mythbusters


      "Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
      -- Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising


    • Recent Posts

      • Maiden flight for ESA’s Vega rocket tonight
      • Another interactive way to scale the Universe
      • An ear to the ocean
      • The staring eye of a crescent moon
      • A hoopy frood
    • Social/Networking/Cool Stuff


      Google+


       Twitter




       Facebook


    • Post Categories

    • Archives

    • Blogroll

      • Bad Astronomy (old site)
      • Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum
      • BAFacts Archive
      • Commenting Policy
      • Computer Support
      • Contact Information
      • DM: 80 Beats
      • DM: Cosmic Variance
      • DM: Discoblog
      • DM: Gene Expression
      • DM: NERS
      • DM: Science Not Fiction
      • DM: The Intersection
      • DM: The Loom
      • James Randi Educational Foundation
      • My use of the word "denier"
      • Planetary Society Blog
      • Politics and Religion posts
      • Press Kit
      • Q&BA Archive
      • The Antivax Bible
      • Universe Today
    • RSS DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space

      • Maiden flight for ESA’s Vega rocket tonight | Bad Astronomy
      • Another interactive way to scale the Universe | Bad Astronomy
      • The staring eye of a crescent moon | Bad Astronomy
      • When the Moon hits your apse in a way-cool time lapse | Bad Astronomy
      • Funhouse galaxy | Bad Astronomy
    • RSS DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom

      • A Planet of Viruses: Autographed Book Sale
      • Animal Friendships: My cover story for Time magazine
      • The Future of E-books–podcast of my interview on Wisconsin Public Radio
      • Thursday, February 16: Science and social media panel in New York
      • A Scientific Jonah: My profile of Joy Reidenberg in tomorrow’s New York Times


  • Kalmbach Publishing Co.

    Copyright © 2012, Kalmbach Publishing Co.

    Privacy - Terms - Reader Services - Subscribe Today - Advertise - About Us