It was in 2004 that NASA inaugurated what it calls the Centennial Challenges. The purses for the seven contests would range from the $200,000 to $2 million for the creation of a new lunar lander. The winners retain the rights to their inventions. So if it works out as planned, everybody wins. So far this has not been easy…
The Amateur Future of Space Travel
October 24, 2007Burned-out star harbors signs of Earthlike planets
October 24, 2007Chemical elements observed around a burned-out star known as a white dwarf offer evidence Earth-like planets once orbited it, suggesting that worlds like our own may not be rare in the cosmos, scientists said on Thursday.
What if we made a moon base and no one showed up?
October 24, 2007Industry hasn’t found anything that’s worth doing in low-earth orbit so far, and they’re extremely unlikely to suddenly discover something that’s going to make it worth the added costs of doing it on the moon. There are compelling reasons to want to go to Mars. I haven’t seen an equivalent scientific justification for putting people on the moon…
How to feed a black hole
October 24, 2007A special magnetic effect, the so-called magnetorotational instability (MRI), plays a key role in the formation of stars and planetary systems. It is also what feeds the black holes in the center of galaxies. For the first time, this effect has been observed in a laboratory experiment at the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Germany).
Turbulence Detected in Space
October 24, 2007The highly ionized solar wind blows around our planet, disrupting satellites and endangering unprotected astronauts. A flotilla of four satellites have recently measured random variations in the solar wind’s propagation, providing the first definitive detection of turbulence in space.
Storm’s Giant Eye On Saturn (Photos)
October 24, 2007The Cassini probe has discovered a new wonder on Saturn–a storm similar to a hurricane on Earth.
Britain wide open to invasion by aliens
October 24, 2007Actual aliens this time, not an enlarged European Union… The British government is shockingly underprepared for an attack by extraterrestrials, an ex-MoD man has claimed.
Russia wants to join NASA moon program
October 24, 2007Rivals for lunar conquest four decades ago, Russia hopes to join the U.S. moon exploration program with technology and know-how. NASA said Monday that it would send a four-astronaut crew to the moon in 2020 and set up an international base camp on one of the moon’s poles that would be permanently staffed by 2024.
3 planets to offer rare visual treat on Sunday
October 24, 2007Rise before dawn on Sunday, prepare a thermos of hot cocoa, bundle up, drive to some spot where mountains don’t obstruct the eastern horizon — and watch an astronomical grouping not seen since the Civil War.. About 45 minutes before dawn on Sunday those three planets will be so close that the average person’s thumb can obscure all three from view.
Largest 3D Map of Galaxies
October 24, 2007A team of American, Australian and British astronomers has released maps from the largest full-sky, three-dimensional survey of galaxies ever conducted.
