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Amateur Astronomers to ‘Target Asteroids!’

By Guest PostApril 21, 2012Science1999 rq36, amateur astronomer, asteroid, carl hergenrother, catalina sky survey, ccd camera, colorado plateau, dante lauretta, dolores hill, earth orbit, ed beshore, image, meteor crater, meteorites, northern arizona, nubian desert, osiris rex, primitive asteroid, rotation rate, solar system, space mission, sudan, target asteroids, tim hunter

Researchers on NASA’s robotic asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, are turning to amateur astronomers for new data on near-Earth asteroids in a citizen science observing campaign called Target Asteroids!

Amateur astronomers are about to make observations that will affect current and future space missions to asteroids.

Some will use custom-made, often automated telescopes equipped with CCD cameras in their backyards. Others will use home computers to make remote observations with more powerful telescopes states or continents away. Many belong to leading national and international amateur astronomy organizations with members ranging from retirees to school kids. (more…)

Newfangled Space-Propulsion Technology Could Help Clean up Earth Orbit

By Guest PostApril 12, 2012Scienceatmosphere, dead satellite, debris, earth, earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit, humans, international space station, mag beam, magnetized beam, magnetized ion plasma, mars, planet, plasma propulsion device, real estate, robert winglee, space junk, spacecraft, system, ultra high speed

Some of the most valuable “real estate” for humans isn’t on Earth at all but rather above the planet’s atmosphere, where all manner of human-made objects orbit. The problem is that those orbits are too crowded with dead satellites and debris, making new launches riskier.

Robert Winglee has spent years developing a magnetized ion plasma system to propel a spacecraft at ultra-high speeds, making it possible to travel to Mars and return to Earth in as little time as 90 days. The problem is that cost and other issues have dampened the desire to send astronauts to Mars or any other planet. (more…)

NASA Research Confirms it’s a Small World, After All

By Guest PostAugust 17, 2011Scienceatmosphere, baseline interferometry, champs sur marne, changes in earth size, charles darwin, delft university of technology, doppler orbitography and radiopositioning integrated by satellite, earth expansion contraction theory, earth is a small world, earth lithosphere, earth orbit, earth radius, france, french satellite system, geophysical research letters, global climate change, global positioning system, grace, gravity recovery and climate experiment, ground navigation, high precision space geodesy, international terrestrial reference frame, land, large scale climate events like el nino and la nina, models of ocean bottom pressure, mother nature, NASA, ocean, solid earth, the netherlands, tracking spacecraft, walt disney, xiaoping wu

A NASA-led research team has confirmed what Walt Disney told us all along: Earth really is a small world, after all.

Since Charles Darwin’s time, scientists have speculated that the solid Earth might be expanding or contracting. That was the prevailing belief, until scientists developed the theory of plate tectonics, which explained the large-scale motions of Earth’s lithosphere, or outermost shell. Even with the acceptance of plate tectonics half a century ago, some Earth and space scientists have continued to speculate on Earth’s possible expansion or contraction on various scientific grounds.

Now a new NASA study, published recently in Geophysical Research Letters, has essentially laid those speculations to rest. Using a cadre of space measurement tools and a new data calculation technique, the team detected no statistically significant expansion of the solid Earth. (more…)

Tag Archives: earth orbit

Amateur Astronomers to ‘Target Asteroids!’

Newfangled Space-Propulsion Technology Could Help Clean up Earth Orbit

NASA Research Confirms it’s a Small World, After All