Series of Sungrazer Comets with SOHO - March 2010

On March 12th, 2010 SpaceWeather.com reported that the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) watched as a comet plunged into the sun and disappeared. Upon closer inspection of the SOHO images I found that it was part of a series of at least four comet fragments following the same trajectory. The highlights in this video are my own addition to make the comets more visible.

In the first view from the SOHO Lasco C3 camera (wider angle) a much smaller, previously unseen comet precedes the brighter comet. Then, as reported, the bright main comet is seen plunging towards the sun. Shortly following it is a faint pair of comets headed on the same path, which, at the time of publishing this video, have yet to reach the sun.

In the second view from the SOHO Lasco C2 camera (close-up angle) the first faint comet is briefly seen before being disintegrated by the sun's gravity, followed shortly by the much brighter second comet. The third and fourth pair of comets have yet to enter the field of view of the Lasco C2 camera.

You can follow the remaining comet fragments at the SOHO website with near-realtime data: Sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov and follow related stories at http://www.spaceweather.com/

NASA Announces 2010 Carl Sagan Fellows

NASA Announces 2010 Carl Sagan Fellows

NASA has selected seven scientists as recipients of Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowships in exoplanet exploration for 2010. The Sagan Fellowships support outstanding recent postdoctoral scientists in conducting independent research broadly related to the science goals of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program. That program's primary goal is to discover and characterize planetary systems and Earth-like planets around other stars.

"The Sagan Fellowship identifies and supports the most promising young scholars who are passionate about the scientific search for and study of planets beyond our solar system," said Charles Beichman, executive director of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "These young scientists combine interest in the fields of astronomy, astrobiology or geophysics with expertise in theory, observation, or state-of-the-art instrumentation. They are following a trail blazed by Carl Sagan -- after whom the fellowship program is named -- that may one day lead to the discovery of life on worlds other than Earth."

The program, created in 2008, awards selected postdoctoral scientists with stipends of approximately $62,500 for up to three years, plus an annual research budget of $16,000. Topics range from techniques for detecting the glow of a dim planet in the blinding glare of its host star, to searching for the crucial ingredients of life in other planetary systems.

In addition to the Sagan Fellowships, NASA has two other astrophysics theme-based fellowship programs: the Einstein Fellowship Program, which supports research into the physics of the cosmos; and the Hubble Fellowship Program, which supports research into cosmic origins.

Read the full article here....

NASA 2010: Final Space Shuttle Year Begins With Last Night Launch

NASA on Wednesday gave the green light for the US Endeavour space shuttle to blast off towards the International Space Station on February 7 carrying six astronauts.

Lift-off is set for 04:39 am (0939 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida in what marks the final year of space exploration for the shuttle fleet, which is due to be mothballed at the end of September.

Only five more shuttle flights, including the Endeavour launch, are planned, NASA said in a statement after a meeting of the US space agency's scientists.

During its 13-day mission Endeavour's crew will deliver the US module Tranquility, the last big piece of equipment to be flown to the ISS for installation.

Tranquility will provide extra room for crew members as well as the life support and environmental control systems. It will also help recycle waste water and produce oxygen.

The Endeavour's crew will also carry out three spacewalks during the mission.

ESA Students selected to 'Fly Your Thesis' 2010

Following the debut of ESA’s ‘Fly Your Thesis!’ programme in 2009, four teams of university students have been selected to conduct their microgravity experiments during a second series of parabolic flights aboard an aircraft.

During the final selection phase, all of the teams wrote a detailed scientific proposal and a technical proposal. They also had to give an oral presentation during a workshop held at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, in early December.

The teams, made up of students from five ESA Member States, were chosen from 12 teams whose proposals were short-listed in September 2009.

QNEM & nanos on board!
Four students from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium and the University Federico II, in Naples, Italy will investigate the thermal diffusivity and conductivity of nanofluids – suspensions in conventional liquids of particles ranging in size from a few nanometres to 200 nanometres. This could lead to significant improvements in heat transfer devices.

Supermassive B
Four students from Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, and Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France will study the properties of the dust resulting from asteroid collisions in order to improve exoplanet detection.

ARID
Two students from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands will investigate the interactions between soil particles to determine if the water repellence of top soils is affected by reorienting the water repellent coating on the surface of these particles. The results could improve understanding of the effects of forest fires and desertification on the repellence of water by soil.

GRAPPA
Four students from the University of Leicester, UK will investigate a ‘condensation mechanism for non-ideal kinetic gases of varying temperature’, and its relevance to the formation of planets and ‘rubble pile’ asteroids in the early Solar System.

The flights are scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2011.

Russia To Launch MIM1 Module To ISS Next Year

Currently there are 10 modules on the ISS, with the Russian segment consisting of Zvezda service module, Zarya functional cargo module, Pirs docking station and Poisk scientific module.

Russia is scheduled to launch a MIM1 experiment module to the International Space Station (ISS) next year, said the head of Russia's aerospace conglomerate on Monday.

The 7.9-ton module, temporarily named
"Twilight" (Sumerki), had been assembled and is awaiting shipment to the United States in mid-December, said Vitaly Lopota, president of Russia's Energia Aerospace Corporation, in Korolev in the Moscow region.

It will be sent to the ISS by a U.S. space shuttle in May 2010,together with a storage of some 1.4 tons of U.S. cargoes, Lopota added.

It is reported that "Twilight" will be deployed to conduct a series of scientific experiments, especially studies on biotechnology and hylology.

Currently there are 10 modules on the ISS, with the Russian segment consisting of Zvezda service module, Zarya functional cargo module, Pirs docking station and Poisk scientific module.

The Poisk, which will be formally deployed this month, is the first of three components Russia is planning to add to the space station in the next three years.

In keeping with its plans, Russia is scheduled to launch a node module to the ISS in 2012 and another two energy modules in 2014, which will boost the energy supplies of the Russian section of the ISS.