Source – NASA:
What’s up for June? Solar system collisions!
Posts Tagged ‘Educational’
NASA/JPL What’s Up for June 2011?
Sunday, June 5th, 2011NASA’s Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars
Sunday, June 5th, 2011Source – NASA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
May 25, 2011
NASA has ended operational planning activities for the Mars rover Spirit and transitioned the Mars Exploration Rover Project to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit’s still-active twin, Opportunity.
This marks the completion of one of the most successful missions of interplanetary exploration ever launched.
Spirit last communicated on March 22, 2010, as Martian winter approached and the rover’s solar-energy supply declined. The rover operated for more than six years after landing in January 2004 for what was planned as a three-month mission. NASA checked frequently in recent months for possible reawakening of Spirit as solar energy available to the rover increased during Martian spring. A series of additional re-contact attempts ended today, designed for various possible combinations of recoverable conditions.
“Our job was to wear these rovers out exploring, to leave no unutilized capability on the surface of Mars, and for Spirit, we have done that,” said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Spirit drove 4.8 miles (7.73 kilometers), more than 12 times the goal set for the mission. The drives crossed a plain to reach a distant range of hills that appeared as mere bumps on the horizon from the landing site; climbed slopes up to 30 degrees as Spirit became the first robot to summit a hill on another planet; and covered more than half a mile (nearly a kilometer) after Spirit’s right-front wheel became immobile in 2006. The rover returned more than 124,000 images. It ground the surfaces off 15 rock targets and scoured 92 targets with a brush to prepare the targets for inspection with spectrometers and a microscopic imager.
“What’s really important is not only how long Spirit worked or how far Spirit drove, but also how much exploration and scientific discovery Spirit accomplished,” Callas said.
One major finding came, ironically, from dragging the inoperable right-front wheel as the rover was driving backwards in 2007. That wheel plowed up bright white soil. Spirit’s Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer and Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer revealed that the bright material was nearly pure silica.
“Spirit’s unexpected discovery of concentrated silica deposits was one of the most important findings by either rover,” said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity. “It showed that there were once hot springs or steam vents at the Spirit site, which could have provided favorable conditions for microbial life.”
The silica-rich soil neighbors a low plateau called Home Plate, which was Spirit’s main destination after the historic climb up Husband Hill. “What Spirit showed us at Home Plate was that early Mars could be a violent place, with water and hot rock interacting to make what must have been spectacular volcanic explosions. It was a dramatically different world than the cold, dry Mars of today,” said Squyres.
The trove of data from Spirit could still yield future science revelations. Years of analysis of some 2005 observations by the rover’s Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer and Moessbauer Spectrometer produced a report last year that an outcrop on Husband Hill bears a high concentration of carbonate. This is evidence of a wet, non-acidic ancient environment that may have been favorable for microbial life.
“What’s most remarkable to me about Spirit’s mission is just how extensive her accomplishments became,” said Squyres. “What we initially conceived as a fairly simple geologic experiment on Mars ultimately turned into humanity’s first real overland expedition across another planet. Spirit explored just as we would have, seeing a distant hill, climbing it, and showing us the vista from the summit. And she did it in a way that allowed everyone on Earth to be part of the adventure.”
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rovers Opportunity and Spirit for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For more about the rovers,
see:http://www.nasa.gov/rovers and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov.
Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov
2011-160
3D Solar System Simulator
Monday, May 30th, 2011I have added a 3D Solar System Simulator to our web site.
SSS is Flash based 3D model of Planets of Solar System and the Night Sky.
The Model consists of 3 main Views (Heliocentric, Geocentric and Panaromatic), including:
• Precise Positions of all Celestial Objects according to NASA Calculations
• Schematic Distances and Sizes for better understanding of Planet Surfaces and Motions
• a unique feature to Drag Planets through their Orbits
• a lot of interesting Settings which allow you to Observe particular Motions and Events
• Distance Calculator to measure distances between Planets even while in motion
• Earth Observatory set-up with which you can watch Celestial Happenings on your Night Sky
SSS mean Astronomy for Everybody
Ensign Software – ESPL: Dances of the Planets
Saturday, May 21st, 2011This remindes of the old days with my color pens and the spirograph where did I put that thing??
Source – Ensign Software – ESPL: Dances of the Planets
The planets in the heavens move in exquisite orbital patterns, dancing to the Music of the Cosmos. There is more mathematical and geometric harmony than we realize. The idea for this article is from a book Larry Pesavento shared with me. The book, ‘A Little Book of Coincidence‘ by John Martineau, illustrates the orbital patterns and several of their geometrical relationships. .
Take the orbits of any two planets and draw a line between the two planet positions every few days. Because the inner planet orbits faster than the outer planet, interesting patterns evolve. Each planetary pairing has its own unique dance rhythm. For example, the Earth-Venus dance returns to the original starting position after eight Earth years. Eight Earth years equals thirteen Venus years. Note that 8 and 13 are members of the Fibonacci number series.
Click on the above link to read the rest of the article and see the neat graphs.
Brighton Astronomy Group at Brighton High School Science Palooza 2011…
Monday, May 2nd, 2011We were invited to the Brighton High School 3rd Annual Science Palooza on April 28th.
Thanks to Orion Telescopes and NASA/JPL we were able to giveaway 4 Astronomy Videos and Posters for Door Prize and the top 2 in grade level best of show science project.
While awaiting the announcements for the awards to be giving out, Adam and Matt were giving out 3D Solar Poster with glasses to anyone who could answered some astronomy questions. I thought It would be fun to video and them post on the blog site. I also help out by doing gravity demonstrations using the NASA Night Sky Networks Black Hole Survival outreach kit.
How The Universe Works – Big Stars
Thursday, March 31st, 2011The sun has been lighting our planet for 4.6 billion years and sustains all life on Earth, but it’s a speck in comparison to other stars in the universe.
Astronomers Find Coldest Star in the Universe
Thursday, March 24th, 2011The MESSENGER probe enters orbit around the innermost planet on March 17th
Thursday, March 17th, 2011Source – NASA: NASA Science News for March 15, 2011
It’s not easy to visit Mercury, but NASA is about to settle in for a long stay. The MESSENGER probe enters orbit around the innermost planet on March 17th.
Super Full Moon March 19, 2011
Thursday, March 17th, 2011Source – NASA: NASA Science News for March 16, 2011
On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It’s a super “perigee moon”–the biggest in almost 20 years.
NASA Hosting Events for Valentine’s Night Comet Encounter
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011News release: 2011-044B Feb. 08, 2011
NASA Hosting Events for Valentine’s Night Comet Encounter
The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-044b&cid=release_2011-044b
PASADENA, Calif. — NASA will host several live activities for the Stardust-NExT mission’s close encounter with comet Tempel 1. The closest approach is expected at approximately 8:37 p.m. PST (11:37 p.m. EST) on Feb. 14, with confirmation received on Earth at about 8:56 p.m. PST (11:56 p.m. EST).
Live coverage of the Tempel 1 encounter will begin at 8:30 p.m. PST on Feb. 14 on NASA Television and the agency’s website. The coverage will include live commentary from mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and video from Lockheed Martin Space System’s mission support area in Denver.
Live coverage of a news briefing is planned for 10 a.m. PST on Feb. 15. Scheduled participants are:
– Ed Weiler, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Washington
– Joe Veverka, Stardust-NExT principal investigator, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
– Tim Larson, Stardust-NExT project manager, JPL
– Don Brownlee, Stardust-NExT co-investigator, University of Washington, Seattle
Mission coverage schedule (all times PST and subject to change):
– 8:30 to 10 p.m., Feb. 14: Live NASA TV commentary begins from mission control; includes coverage of closest approach and the re-establishment of contact with the spacecraft following the encounter.
– Midnight to 1:30 a.m., Feb. 15: NASA TV commentary will chronicle the arrival and processing of the first five of 72 close-approach images the team expects to be downlinked after the encounter. The images are expected to include a close-up view of the comet’s surface.
– 10 a.m., Feb. 15: News briefing
– Starting on Feb. 9, NASA TV will air Stardust-NExT mission animation and other video during its Video File segments. For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv .
– Commentary and the news conference will also be carried live on one of JPL’s Ustream channels. During events, viewers can engage in a real-time chat and submit questions to the Stardust-NExT team at: http://www.ustream.tv/user/NASAJPL2 .
The public can watch a real-time animation of the Stardust-NExT comet flyby using NASA’s new “Eyes on the Solar System” Web tool. JPL created this 3-D environment, which allows people to explore the solar system from their computers. It is available at: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes .
This flyby of Tempel 1 will give scientists an opportunity to look for changes on the comet’s surface since it was visited by NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft in July 2005. Since then, Tempel 1 has completed one orbit of the sun, and scientists are looking forward to monitoring any differences in the comet.
During its 12 years in space, Stardust became the first spacecraft to collect samples of a comet (Wild 2 in 2004), which were delivered to Earth in 2006 for study. The Stardust-NExT mission is managed by JPL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft and manages day-to-day mission operations.
A press kit and other detailed information about Stardust-NExT is available at: http://stardustnext.jpl.nasa.gov .
DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
Blaine Friedlander 607-254-6235
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
bpf2@cornell.edu
