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Dawn Reaches Milestone Approaching Asteroid Vesta

By Guest PostMay 5, 2011Scienceasteroid, asteroid belt, asteroid vesta, cape canaveral air force station, celestial body, christopher russell, cosmic rays, dawn spacecraft, earth, earth orbiting telescopes, florida, gamma ray, interplanetary travel, marc rayman, NASA, neutron detector, orbit, planet, protoplanet, radio signal, spacecraft, terra incognita, vesta

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has reached its official approach phase to the asteroid Vesta and will begin using cameras for the first time to aid navigation for an expected July 16 orbital encounter. The large asteroid is known as a protoplanet — a celestial body that almost formed into a planet.

At the start of this three-month final approach to this massive body in the asteroid belt, Dawn is 1.21 million kilometers (752,000 miles) from Vesta, or about three times the distance between Earth and the moon. During the approach phase, the spacecraft’s main activity will be thrusting with a special, hyper-efficient ion engine that uses electricity to ionize and accelerate xenon. The 12-inch-wide ion thrusters provide less thrust than conventional engines, but will provide propulsion for years during the mission and provide far greater capability to change velocity. (more…)

Asteroids Collide at 11,000 Miles Per Hour; Scientists Study Debris

By Guest PostApril 30, 2011Science596 scheila, asteroid, collision of asteroids, david jewitt, dust plumes, earth, empire state building, evolution of the solar system, history of astronomy, hubble data, Hubble Space Telescope, jupiter, mars, NASA, new york, scheila, swift ultraviolet optical telescope, uvot

Scientists have captured and studied the collision of two asteroids for only the second time in the history of astronomy. In the May 20 edition of the Astrophysical Journal Letters (currently online), UCLA’s David Jewitt and colleagues report on observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of a large asteroid that was hit by a much smaller one.

On Dec. 11, 2010, astronomers noticed that an asteroid known as (596) Scheila had unexpectedly brightened and was sporting short-lived dust plumes. Data from NASA’s Swift satellite and Hubble Space Telescope showed that these changes likely occurred after Scheila was struck by a much smaller asteroid, probably in late November or early December. The shape, evolution and content of the plumes enabled the scientists to reconstruct what occurred. (more…)

NASA Orbiter Reveals Big Changes in Mars’ Atmosphere

By Guest PostApril 22, 2011Scienceatmosphere, dry ice, frozen carbon dioxide, greenhouse effect, lake superior, liquid water, mars, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian carbon dioxide, martian dust storms, martian surface, NASA, red planet, roberto seu, roger phillips, south pole

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the total amount of atmosphere on Mars changes dramatically as the tilt of the planet’s axis varies. This process can affect the stability of liquid water, if it exists on the Martian surface, and increase the frequency and severity of Martian dust storms.

Researchers using the orbiter’s ground-penetrating radar identified a large, buried deposit of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice, at the Red Planet’s south pole. The scientists suspect that much of this carbon dioxide enters the planet’s atmosphere and swells the atmosphere’s mass when Mars’ tilt increases. The findings are published in this week’s issue of the journal Science. (more…)

Report Provides NASA with Direction for Next 10 Years of Space Research

By Guest PostApril 13, 2011Sciencecomplex fluids, einstein, global positioning systems, gps, moon, NASA, paul chaikin, quantum gases, rob duncan, rockets, soft condensed matter physics, Space, space exploration, superconductors, Technology, telescopes, theory of relativity

*MU vice chancellor led committee that focused on fundamental physics research projects*

COLUMBIA, Mo. — During the past 60 years, humans have built rockets, walked on the moon and explored the outer reaches of space with probes and telescopes. During these trips in space, research has been conducted to learn more about life and space. Recently, a group of prominent researchers from across the country published a report through the National Academy of Sciences that is intended as a guide as NASA plans the next 10 years of research in space. Rob Duncan, the University of Missouri Vice Chancellor for Research, led the team that developed a blueprint for fundamental physics research in space for the next 10 years. (more…)

The Art of Making Stars

By Guest PostApril 5, 2011Scienceabstract painting, earth, edward wright, infrared light, NASA, nearby stars, nebula, reflection nebula, rho ophiuchi, sigma scorpii, splash of colors, star forming complex, wavelengths, wide field infrared explorer, wise

It might look like an abstract painting, but this splash of colors is in fact a busy star-forming complex called Rho Ophiuchi. NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer, or WISE, captured the picturesque image of the region, which is one of the closest star-forming complexes to Earth. (more…)

NASA Airborne Radar Set to Image Hawaiian Volcano

By Guest PostApril 1, 2011Sciencebig island, earthquakes, eruption, glacier movements, gulfstream aircraft, hawaii, kilauea volcano, landslides, magma, NASA, pacific region, paul lundgren, rift zone, uavsar, uninhabited aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar, volcanoes

PASADENA, Calif. – The Kilauea volcano that recently erupted on the Big Island of Hawaii will be the target for a NASA study to help scientists better understand processes occurring under Earth’s surface.

A NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft equipped with a synthetic aperture radar developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is scheduled to depart Sunday, April 3, from the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., to the Big Island for a nine-day mission. (more…)

Study of How Brain Corrects Perceptual Errors Has Implications For Brain Injuries, Robotics

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2011Sciencebiological and artificial systems, brain, david bowie, david wozny, flash of light, ladan shams, mars rovers, milliseconds, NASA, perception of the sound, perceptual systems, radio static, rehabilitation from brain injuries, robotic recalibration, sensory recalibration, shams, shams and wozny, spatial map, static environments, ventriloquist illusion

“Don’t you wonder sometimes about sound and vision?” — David Bowie

New research provides the first evidence that sensory recalibration — the brain’s automatic correcting of errors in our sensory or perceptual systems — can occur instantly.

“Until recently, neuroscientists thought of sensory recalibration as a mechanism that is primarily used for coping with long-term changes, such as growth during development, brain injury or stroke,” said Ladan Shams, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology and an expert on perception and cognitive neuroscience. “It appeared that extensive time, and thus many repetitions of error, were needed for mechanisms of recalibration to kick in. However, our findings indicate we don’t need weeks, days, or even minutes or seconds to adapt. To some degree, we adapt instantaneously. (more…)

Stars Gather in ‘Downtown’ Milky Way

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2011Science120 degree view, astronomers, earth, galactic center, Galaxy, infrared array camera, milky way galaxy, multiband imaging photometer, myriad of stars, NASA, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, spitzer image, spitzer space telescope, starlight

The region around the center of our Milky Way galaxy glows colorfully in this new version of an image taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

The data were previously released as part of a long, 120-degree view of the plane our galaxy (see https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2680-ssc2008-11a-Spitzer-Finds-Clarity-in-the-Inner-Milky-Way). Now, data from the very center of that picture are being presented at a different contrast to better highlight this jam-packed region. In visible-light pictures, it is all but impossible to see the heart of our galaxy, but infrared light penetrates the shroud of dust giving us this unprecedented view. (more…)

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