Showing posts with label space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label space. Show all posts

PostHeaderIcon Water found in the moon

11/14/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Is there water in the moon? Now it can be said, there is. It took painstaking work for scientists to answer the age-old question. The NASA spacecraft which crashed on the moon surface last month disclosed the presence of water---- at least 25 gallons disturbed by the aircraft’s impact in the shadowy southern polar fringes of the heavenly body closest to earth. Anthony Colaprete, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center was elated to report the find.

“The mission actually involved two moon shots. First, an empty rocket hull slammed into the Cabeus crater. A shepherding spacecraft recorded the drama live before it also crashed into the same spot four minutes later.

Though scientists were overjoyed with the plethora of data beamed back to Earth, the mission was a public relations dud. Space enthusiasts who stayed up all night to watch the spectacle did not see the promised debris plume in the initial images… Scientists spent a month analyzing data from the spacecraft's spectrometers, instruments that can detect strong signals of water molecules in the plume.”----AP (11/13/09 Chang, A.)

The implications of finding significant water are great. The moon is not barren and dry. Not only will this information change the way scientists study the earth’s neighbor, it gives greater possibility of creating a lunar space station needed for future space explorations.

With the presence of water, the chance of finding living organisms is greater--- a step towards understanding the nature of the solar system. It is interesting to know where the lunar water comes from and quantify how much there is. (Photo Credit: AFP/ NASA) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon Moon Landing, 40 years after

7/18/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post





In a thought-provoking file photo of the three brave American heroes who made a “great leap” for mankind during the first lunar landing, the world contemplates on the day when Apollo 11 visited the moon, earth's nearest luminescent neighbor.

In the mission was Neil Armstrong, (L,) the Mission Commander and first man to ever walk on the moon. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, (R) who was the Lunar Module Pilot also made shoe-marks on the sandy surface of the enigmatic heavenly body in our solar system. Michael Collins, (C) was the Command Module pilot.

It was on July 16, 1969, 40 years ago, when the first humans landed on the moon from its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

As the challenge of the sky continues to beckon to the world, we come to think of the very planet where we live. In spite of advances in science, there are places on earth which are barely understood and remain to be explored.

There are human problems here greater than the concerns we have in deciphering the mysteries of the solar system and the universe. Surely though, we aren't prevented to look up into the heavens--- dream of star dusts, comets, and far away places beyond the stretch of our competencies and limitless imagination. (Photo Credit: Reuters/ Nasa x 2; Reuters/ Neil Armstrong) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon From the frontiers of space, an explanation of a sky glow seen 436 years ago

12/05/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Using the distant echoes of light from a thermonuclear flare which an ancient Dutch astronomer witnessed in November 1572, scientists were able to make a composite picture of the event. Astronomer Tycho Brahe described the enigmatic glow in the heavens. He thought it was a new star in the Cassiopeia constellation.

Scientists arrived at an explanation of “SN1572,” the luminescent body which was first seen and documented by Brahe 436 years ago before it faded in the sky. Scientists from Europe and Japan confirmed it was supernova, an old exploding star.

“Supernovae are the explosions of aging stars, that produce enough light to outshine entire galaxies for a few weeks. They are important scientifically because they seed the universe with heavy elements, providing the raw material for successive generations of new stars. The very well defined luminosity of type-Ia supernova also makes them ideal “standard candles”, allowing astronomers, by comparing their observed and actual luminosities, to gauge distances within the universe and thereby chart the cosmic rate of expansion.“ Physicsworld.com (12/03/08, Cartlidge, E)

The interesting findings of the Tycho Brahe’s supernova are important in the understanding of aging stars--- the past, present, and future of the universe in general. Photo Credit: Nasa/AP)=0=
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PostHeaderIcon A sugary delight in the outer fringes of the Milky Way

11/30/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


In the outer reaches of our galaxy where the condition is less hostile and potentially habitable, a basic sugar has been detected by scientists. This makes seekers of extra-terrestial life ecstatic. The monosaccharide sugar called glycoldehyde is a molecule on which ribonucleic acid (RNA,) a biochemical construct of life, can originate.



"This is an important discovery as it is the first time glycolaldehyde, a basic sugar, has been detected towards a star-forming region where planets that could potentially harbor life may exist,"---reported Serena Viti of University College London---Wired Science Network (11/26/08, Moskowitz, C)

The discovery of the glycolaldehyde in the outer rim of the Milky Way galaxy, about 26 million light years away from earth, generates more curiosity and effort from researchers to seek life outside our planet. From the gaseous eerie clouds of outerspace, the building elements of life such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen are studied in the hope that an incovertible evidence of life outside earth will be discovered. (Photo Credit: TQWestphal;Wired Science Network:=0=

RELATED BLOG: "Mars Exploration: Inching Its Way To Find The Ultimate Proof Of Life" Posted by mesiamd at 7/18/2008.

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