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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…)

NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft

By Guest PostJanuary 23, 2011Scienceairborne telescopes, atmosphere, crater, earth, ed stone, icy rings, magnetic north, Miranda, mysterious seventh planet, NASA, neptune, saturn, south poles, Space, stars, suzanne dodd, uranian equator, uranus, voyager 2 spacecraft, voyager spacecraft

As NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft made the only close approach to date of our mysterious seventh planet Uranus 25 years ago, Project Scientist Ed Stone and the Voyager team gathered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., to pore over the data coming in.

Images of the small, icy Uranus moon Miranda were particularly surprising. Since small moons tend to cool and freeze over rapidly after their formation, scientists had expected a boring, ancient surface, pockmarked by crater-upon-weathered-crater. Instead they saw grooved terrain with linear valleys and ridges cutting through the older terrain and sometimes coming together in chevron shapes. They also saw dramatic fault scarps, or cliffs. All of this indicated that periods of tectonic and thermal activity had rocked Miranda’s surface in the past. (more…)

Broken Glass Yields Clues to Climate Change

By Guest PostDecember 31, 2010Environmentatmosphere, brittle objects, carbon dioxide, clay particles, climate, climate models, clouds, drinking glass, dust, dust particles, future climate, human hair, jasper kok, marine ecosystems, microscopic particles, northern africa, precipitation, sarah ruth, solar energy, Space, temperature, to model, united states, weather forecasting

*Ordinary drinking glasses and atmospheric dust particles break apart in similar patterns*

Clues to future climate may be found in the way an ordinary drinking glass shatters.

Results of a study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences find that microscopic particles of dust can break apart in patterns that are similar to the fragment patterns of broken glass and other brittle objects. (more…)

Spacecraft will Enable Scientists to Study Space Environment around Moon, Earth

By Guest PostNovember 2, 20102 commentsScienceacceleration, artemis, artemis spacecraft, aurora borealis, earth, electrodynamics, Environment, events, gravity, lunar environment, macroscale interactions, magnetic field, mission, moon environment, NASA, particle acceleration, reconnection, satellites, Space, spacecraft, substorms, sun-earth-moon, themis, time history, turbulence, vassilis angelopoulos

Two spacecraft are now beginning to study the moon’s environment as part of NASA’s ARTEMIS mission, whose principal investigator is Vassilis Angelopoulos, a UCLA professor of Earth and space sciences.

One of these satellites has been in the lunar environment since Aug. 25, and the second arrived Oct. 22, marking the start of the ARTEMIS mission to gather new scientific data in the sun-Earth-moon environment.

About the image: An artist’s rendering of the two ARTEMIS spacecraft in the lunar environment. Image credit: NASA/SVS (more…)

New Hubble Observations of Supernova 1987A Reveal Composition of ‘Star Guts’ Pouring Out

By Guest PostSeptember 4, 20101 commentScience13.7 billion years ago, astronomer, big bang, dwarf galaxy, earth, emission, hubble repair mission, Hubble Space Telescope, kevin france, large magellanic cloud, milky way galaxy, NASA, observations, richard mccray, Space, star guts, string of pearls, supernova, supernova 1987A, university of colorado at boulder

Observations made with NASA’s newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope of a nearby supernova are allowing astronomers to measure the velocity and composition of “star guts” being ejected into space following the explosion, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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Asteroid Found in Gravitational “Dead Zone”

By Guest PostAugust 20, 20101 commentScience2008 lc18, carnegie institution, chad trujillo, Chile, Galaxy, gravitational tug, hawaii, jupiter, lagrangian points, las campanas, magellan telescopes, mars, neptune, planet, pluto, scott sheppard, Space, spacecraft, subaru telescope, sun, trojan asteroids

Washington, D.C.—There are places in space where the gravitational tug between a planet and the Sun balance out, allowing other smaller bodies to remain stable. These places are called Lagrangian points. So-called Trojan asteroids have been found in some of these stable spots near Jupiter and Neptune. Trojans share their planet’s orbit and help astronomers understand how the planets formed and how the solar system evolved.

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