Spacewalkers Wire Up Station for Future Lab

Expedition 36 Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin closed the Pirs docking compartment hatch officially ending their spacewalk at 6:05 p.m. EDT. The duo rigged cables for the future arrival of a Russian laboratory module and installed an experiment panel.

Clad in Russian Orlan spacesuits, the spacewalkers began their spacewalk at a revised time of 10:36 a.m. They first set up a Strela cargo boom on the Poisk mini-research module. Misurkin then used the Strela to maneuver Yurchikhin with cables to the Zarya module near the Unity node. Yurchikhin then rerouted a cable connector and installed cables on Zarya.

While Yurchikhin was working on Zarya, Misurkin installed an experiment panel on Poisk. The experiment, named Vinoslivost, exposes materials to the space environment so scientists can study the changes in their properties. He then installed two connector patch panels and gap spanners on Poisk.

After completing the Poisk work Misurkin joined Yurchikhin and assisted him with the Ethernet cable installation work on the Zarya cargo module. The duo went back and forth between Zarya and Poisk routing and installing the cable at various points and securing the cable’s slack.

The cable work outside the station’s Russian segment prepares the orbital laboratory for the arrival of the “Nauka” Multipurpose Laboratory Module. The “Nauka” is planned for a launch atop a Russian Proton rocket to replace Pirs.

For the duration of the spacewalk, station Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy were isolated to the Poisk module and their Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft while Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency moved about the U.S. segment of the complex.

The spacewalk is the 172nd in support of station assembly and maintenance, the seventh in Yurchikhin’s career and the second for Misurkin. The two will venture outside Pirs again on Aug. 22 to replace a laser communications experiment with a platform upon which a small optical telescope will be mounted during a future spacewalk.

On the Trail of Dark Energy

On the Trail of Dark Energy: Physicists Propose Higgs Boson 'Portal'

Resolving this problem, often called the cosmological constant problem, has so far eluded theorists.

Now, two physicists -- Lawrence Krauss of Arizona State University and James Dent of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette -- suggest that the recently discovered Higgs boson could provide a possible "portal" to physics that could help explain some of the attributes of the enigmatic dark energy, and help resolve the cosmological constant problem.

In their paper, "Higgs Seesaw Mechanism as a Source for Dark Energy," Krauss and Dent explore how a possible small coupling between the Higgs particle, and possible new particles likely to be associated with what is conventionally called the Grand Unified Scale -- a scale perhaps 16 orders of magnitude smaller than the size of a proton, at which the three known non-gravitational forces in nature might converge into a single theory -- could result in the existence of another background field in nature in addition to the Higgs field, which would contribute an energy density to empty space of precisely the correct scale to correspond to the observed energy density.

The paper was published online, Aug. 9, in Physical Review Letters.

Current observations of the universe show it is expanding at an accelerated rate. But this acceleration cannot be accounted for on the basis of matter alone. Putting energy in empty space produces a repulsive gravitational force opposing the attractive force produced by matter, including the dark matter that is inferred to dominate the mass of essentially all galaxies, but which doesn't interact directly with light and, therefore, can only be estimated by its gravitational influence.

Because of this phenomenon and because of what is observed in the universe, it is thought that such 'dark energy' contributes up to 70 percent of the total energy density in the universe, while observable matter contributes only 2 to 5 percent, with the remaining 25 percent or so coming from dark matter.

The source of this dark energy and the reason its magnitude matches the inferred magnitude of the energy in empty space is not currently understood, making it one of the leading outstanding problems in particle physics today.

"Our paper makes progress in one aspect of this problem," said Krauss, a Foundation Professor in ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics, and the director of the Origins Project at ASU. "Now that the Higgs boson has been discovered, it provides a possible 'portal' to physics at much higher energy scales through very small possible mixings and couplings to new scalar fields which may operate at these scales."

"We demonstrate that the simplest small mixing, related to the ratios of the scale at which electroweak physics operates, and a possible Grand Unified Scale, produces a possible contribution to the vacuum energy today of precisely the correct order of magnitude to account for the observed dark energy," Krauss explained. "Our paper demonstrates that a very small energy scale can at least be naturally generated within the context of a very simple extension of the standard model of particle physics."

While a possible advance in understanding the origin of dark energy, Krauss said the construct is only one step in the direction of understanding its mysteries.

"The deeper problem of why the known physics of the standard model does not contribute a much larger energy to empty space is still not resolved," he said.

NASA readies Gear to launch mission to Europa soon

Nasa is all set to launch one of its most amnitious projects-to find whearht jupiter’s icy moon europa is habitable.

The world’s leading space exploration agency is certain that europa may be able to support life.Nasa has commissioned a team of experts to consider the Goals for a landed spacecraft mission to the surface of Europa and to investigate the composition and geology of its icy shell and the potencrial for life within its interior ocean.

The nasa appointed science definition team on Thurseday presented the three main objectives of a future mission designed to land robotic spacecraft o the surface of Europa and to investigate its potential to support lifre.It will investigathe the compostition and chemistry,and dyunamics of its icy shell and stydy the moon’s human scale surface geology.

“landing on europa and touching its surface is a visionary goal of planetary science.Europa is the most likely place in our solar system beyond Earth to have life to day,and a landed mission would be the best way to search for sighs of life,”says Robert Pappalardo from Nasa’s jet propulsion Laboratory.Europa is slightly smaller then the earth’s moon.Like the earth,Europa is thought to have an iron core,a rocky mantle and surface ocean of salty water.Scientists know there may be enough oxygen in the watsrs of Europa to support millions of tons worth of fish.

The findings suggenst the satellight could be capable of supposting the kinds of life familiar to us heare on earth,if only in microbial form.Europa is enveloped by a global ocean 160km deep,within an icy crust that may be only a few miles thick.

The ice obn the surface is made from hydrogen and oxygen,and the constant stream of radiation pouring in form Jupiter reacts with this ice to rorm free oxygen and other oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide.the reactivity of oxygen and other oxidants such as hedrogen peroxide.The reactivcy of exygen is key to generating the energy that helped multi-cellular life flourish on our planet.Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is phase locked just like Earth's Moon-- so that the same side of Europa faces Jupiter at all times.However,because Europa's orbit is eccentric(an oval or ellipse not a circle)when it is close to Jupiter the tide is much higher than when it is far from Jupiter.

Thus tidal forces raise and lower-the sea beneath the ice,causing constant motion and likely causing the cracks we see in images of Europa's surface from visiting robotic probes.

This tidal heating causes Europa to be warmer than it would otherwise be at its  average distance about 780000000Km form the sun,more than five times as far as the distance from the Earth

to the Sun.

The warmth of Europa's liquid ocean could prove critical to the survival of simple organism within the ocean,if they exist.

Europa was discovered on 8 January 1610 by Galileo Galilei.The discovery,along with three other Jovian moons,was the first time a moon was discovered orbiting a planet other than Earth.The discovery of the four Galilean satellites eventually led to the understanding that planets in our solar system revolving around Earth.Galileo apparently around Earth.Galileo apparently had observed Europa on 7 January 1610,but had been unable to differentiate it from Io until the next night.

Europa was originally designated Jupiter II by Galileo because it was the second satellite of Jupiter.Europa is named for the Daughter of Agenor.

KIROBO, THE TALKING BOT, BLASTS OF INTO SPACE

The first talking humanoid robot  “astronaut” has taken off in a rocket. Kirobo-derived from the Japanese words for “hope” and “robot”-was among five tones of supplies and machines on a rocked launched on Sunday for the international space station from Tanegashima,Japan,the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said.The child-like robot was designed to be a companion for astronaut Koichi Wakata,and will communicate with another robot back on earth.The challenge was making sure it could move  and talk where there was no gravity. Ahead of the launch, the 34cm Kirobo said, “one small step for me,a giant leap for robots”.“i want the robot to function as a mediator between man and machine, and even between people”  it’s designer,Tomotaka Takahashi,said.

COSMIC GRAVEYARD OF COMETS DISCOVERED

A cosmic graveyard of comets has been discovered by astronomers in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Researchers, led by Ignacio Ferrin from the University of Antioquia describe how some of these objects, inactive for millions of years, have returned to life leading them to name the group the ‘Lazarus comets’. Most observed have highly elliptical orbits, meaning that they only rarely approach the sun. Some of these so called long period comets take thousands of years to complete each orbit around our nearest star. Although uncommon events, comets also collide with Earth from time to time and may have helped bring water to our Planet. The study looked at a third and distinct region of the solar system, the main belt of asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

CURIOSITY'S MARS TRIP: 1YR, 1.5KM&A WEALTH OF DATA

NASA's curiosity rover, which will complete one year on the red planet on august6, is now guiding designs for Future planetary missions. since its historic and hair raising touchdown, the nearly one ton SUV-sized rover has already achieved its main scientific goal of revealing that ancient mars could have supported life, NASA said Pointing out that the curiosity mission will eventually lead to a human landing on the red planet, NASA administrator Charles Bolden stated:"wheel tracks now will lead to boot prints later”. “Success of our curiosity-that dramatic touchdown a year ago and the science findings since then-advance us towards further exploration, including sending humans to an asteroid and mars”. He added.

NASA said curiosity has provided more than 190 gigabits of data; sent back more than 36700 full images and 35000thumbnail images; fired more than 75000 laser shots to investigate the composition of targets; collected and analyzed sample material from two rocks; and driven more than 1.5km.Curiosity travelled 699 meters in the past four weeks since leaving a group of locations where it worked for more than six months. The rover making its way to the base Mount Sharp. Where it will investigate lower layers of a mountain that rises nearly 5km from the flood of the crater. The mountain has exposed geological layers, including ones identified by Mars orbiters as originating in a wet environment. “We hope those layers preserve a broad diversity of conditions that could have affected habitability “said project scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

Sun’s magnetic field to flip 180°

Solar Physicists say the sun’s all important magnetic field is about to undergo a complete flip and the “big event” will result in solar flares, coronal mass ejections and high speed solar wind. This poses a severe threat to satellite and space stations as the domain of the sun’s magnetic influence (also known as the hemisphere) extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto.

A change in the field’s polarity produces cosmic rays which are a danger to astronauts and space probes. Some researchers say they might affect climate on Earth. “it looks like we’re no more than three to four months away from complete field reversal”, Said solar Physicists Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. “This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.”

The sun’s magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun’s inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself. As earth orbits the sun, it dips in and out of its current sheet. Transitions from one side to another can strip up stormy space weather around out planet. Current sheet is sprawling surface jutting outwards from the sun’s equator where the sun’s slowly rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current. During field reversals, the current sheet becomes very wavy.

Cosmic rays are also affected. These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by super-nova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy.

The current sheets acts as a barrier to cosmic rays, deflecting them as they attempt to penetrate the inner solar system. A wavy, crinkly sheet acts as a better shield against energetic particles from deep space.

CHANDRA X-RAY TELESCOPE

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a space telescope launched on STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors. Since the Earth's atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of X-rays, they are not detectable from Earth-based telescopes; therefore space-based telescopes are required to make these observations. Chandra is an Earth satellite in a 64 hour orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2013.

W. M. Keck Observatory

W. M. Keck Observatory

The W. M. Keck Observatory(twin Keck telescopes) is a two-telescope astronomical observatory at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The primary mirrors of each of the two telescopes are 10 meters (32.8 ft (394 in)) in diameter, making them the second largest optical telescopes in the world, slightly behind the Gran Telescopio Canarias; however the Gran Canary telescope does not have the capability to use all of its 10.4 meters, thus making the Keck telescopes the largest observable telescope in the world. The telescopes can operate together to form a single astronomical interferometer.

Race to Mars

It's assumed that the US will be the first to land men on Mars,but UK scientists have come with a concept that Envisages a three-person crew journeying to the red planet within eight years.With all those spending cuts for NASA,is it possible that the US will be beaten to draw by space faring

 minnows like the UK or China?Competition's good,at any rate.

US Shelves plan to capture asteroid

It is known,informally,as the asteroid-lasso plan:Nasa wants to launch an unmanned spacecraft in 2018 that would capture a small asteroid,haul it closer to Earth,then send astronauts up to examine it,in 2021 or beyond.But the space agency has encountered a stubborn technical problem:Congressional Republicans.
Normally,there is bipartisan support(or disapproval) in congress for Nyasa's bolder plan.This month,however,the science committee in the republican controlled house voted to bar NASA from pursuing that faraway rock.In a straight party vote-22 Republicans for,17 Democrats against-the committee laid out a road map for NASA for the next three years that brushed aside the asteroid capture plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration's agenda for space exploration.The plan,instead,included new marching orders,telling NASA
 to send astronauts back to the Moon,set up a base there and then aim for Mars(and to do so with less money than requested).
"A costly and complex distraction"is how one republican critic,Representative Steven Palazzo of Mississippi,described the asteroid mission.Other legislators complained that the project seemed far-fetched and poorly articulated,and that it would not advance America's bragging rights in space the way a return to the moon could.The bill awaits a vote by the full house. NASA is trying to figure out how to proceed.

Slingshot to put cargo into space?

An alternative transportation system to send small payloads and bulk cargo,like water or fuel,into space is being developed by a US company.
The Virginia company HyperV technologies corporation proposes to slingshot objects off the earth,rather than using chemical rockets."Imagine the old style sling,with a string that you would whirl a payload around and then you'd let go and it'd go flying off"HyperV president and chief scientist Dough Witherspoon said.
The system called "Slingatron"uses a spiral shaped steel track then accelerates a payload with gyrating,  hula hoop-like motions,"discovery news"reported. with around 60 cycles per second and precision timing,a pay load travelling along the inside of the spiral will synchronize with the hula hoop-motion and continue accelerating,he said. 

Largest gamma telescope coming up in Russia

Astrophysicists from the Irkutsk State university have begun the construction of the world's largest gamma-ray telescope Tunka-Hiscore.The telescope will be constructed in Tunka valley in Buryatia,close to Russia's border with Mongolia.

New Chandra image of M83

This new Chandra image of M83,a spiral galaxy about 15 million light years from Earth,is one of the deepest X-ray observations ever made of supernova from a spiral galaxy beyond our own.X-ray observations have detected an
exoplanet passing in front of its parent star.

Light stopped for a minute

London:Scientists have brought the fastest thing in the universe-Light-to a complete stop for a record breaking minute.A minute may not seem like much,but in just sixty seconds,Light can travel and incredible distance of 18 million Km-enough time to orbit the moon about 20 times.
"One minute is extremely,extremely long.This is indeed a milestone"said Thomas Krasuss at the University of St Andrews,UK.While this isn't the first time experts have successfully stopped light,it is for the longest duration.

NASA telescope may get new lease of life as asteroid hunter!

NASA is considering reactivating a month balled space telescope to help find asteroids that could be on a collision course with earth,according to senior US space agency official.
Launched in December,the wide-field Infrared survey Explorer,or WISE,telescope spend about a year taking pictures for an all sky map.with its infrared detectors,WISE was able to peer through thick layers of dust and see even relatively dim objects suck as cool brown dwarf stars in great detail.
NASA then put WISE to work on another mission looking for asteroids and comets in the solar system.of particular interest were objects in orbits that pass relatively close to earth.WISE found about 150 near-Earth asteroids, including 20 that were potentially hazardous,before funding for the project ran out.The telescope was put into hibernation in February 2011.
NASA is now reviewing options for enhancing its asteroid-hunting efforts including bringing WISE out of hibernation,Lindley Johnson,who oversees the agency"s Near-Earth objects observations programme,said this week.This follows February's explosions of a small asteroid in the skies above Russia and the near-Earth passage of a larger one the same day.

THE CLOSEST ACTIVE GALAXY

THE CLOSEST ACTIVE GALAXY


A galaxy that contains a highly luminous core and emits intense radiation is known as active galaxy. The closest one of this type to us is Centaurus A, just eleven million light years away!

NEUTRON STARS!

NEUTRON STARS!


Neutron stars are the smallest stars in the universe, with diameter of about 10-30 km! They are very compact and dense bodies, formed during supernova explosion. When the tiny particles of exploded star merge together a neutron star is formed.
Its so dense that a sugar cube size portion of the star would weigh as much as all the people on the earth. It has a very powerful magnetic field and spins about 100 times a second.

LATEST SUPERNOVA

I love this galaxy. Not only does M74 display a near perfect spiral form but if this latest supernova is the third to “go boom” in the galaxy in just 11 years. The new object, designated PSN J01364816+1545310, was discovered blazing near 12.4 magnitude by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search at Lick Observatory near San Jose, Calif. “PSN” stands for “possible supernova” and the long string of numbers give the object’s position in the sky using the celestial equivalents of latitude and longitude.


Update: The supernova has now been confirmed, and is now officially named SN 2013ej.

Supernova 2013ej, taken remotely on July 29, 2013 from iTelescope Network using the Siding Spring Observatory. Credit: Ernesto Guido and Nick Howes.

Supernova 2013ej, taken remotely on July 29, 2013 from iTelescope Network using the Siding Spring Observatory. Credit: Ernesto Guido and Nick Howes/Remanzacco Observatory.

Additional information and imagery of this from the Remanzacco Observatory team can be found at their website, including an animation of a “before and after” the supernova exploded.

M74 is a classic spiral galaxy with arms that appear to unwind from a bright, star-packed nucleus. Located 32 million light years away in the constellation Pisces, M74 contains about 100 billion stars. The spiral arms are dotted with dense star clusters and pink clouds of fluorescing hydrogen gas. Credit: Jim Misti

M74 is a classic spiral galaxy with arms that appear to unwind from a bright, star-packed nucleus. Located 32 million light years away in the constellation Pisces, M74 contains about 100 billion stars. The spiral arms are dotted with dense star clusters and pink clouds of fluorescing hydrogen gas. Credit: Jim Misti

The Lick search uses a fully robotic or automated 30-inch (76 cm) telescope dedicated to scanning the skies for new supernovae. It nailed M74′s latest exploding star on July 25. Two previous supernovae flared in the galaxy - SN 2002ap and SN 2003gd - and rose to 12th and 13th magnitude respectively before fading away into obscurity.

THIRTY METER TELESCOPE

THIRTY METER TELESCOPE

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a planned ground-based large segmented mirror reflecting telescope, proposed to be built on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The telescope is much larger than existing telescopes (though the planned European Extremely Large Telescope's mirror is 30% larger), and designed for observations from the near-ultraviolet to the mid-infrared (0.31 to 28 μm wavelengths). In addition, its adaptive optics system would help correct for image blur caused by the atmosphere of the Earth, helping it to reach the potential of such a large mirror. The TMT is the focal point of a legal battle in the State of Hawaiʻi over construction on Mauna Kea, which Native Hawaiians hold sacred.
The telescope was given approval by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources in April 2013.[4]
It will be Operational by 2022. The joint partners are India, U.S, Canada ,China, Japan