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Space: The Final Frontier. Exploring space developments and theorizing about how humans fit into the universe.
MAVEN Spacecraft Makes Evasive Maneuver to Avoid Impact With Mars' Moon Phobos
Mars is a busy place these days, with multiple rovers and orbiters exploring the planet. Out of the several spacecraft currently in orbit, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) is a fairly recent addition, having been at Mars for just over two years now. Usually, things are pretty routine, but this week the spacecraft had to make an unplanned evasive maneuver - to avoid a collision with one of Mars' two small moons, Phobos!
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism
Could the TRAPPIST-1 Planetary System Be Home to Alien Life?
The discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1 generated a lot of excitement last week. Earth-sized planets have been found before, among the thousands of exoplanets discovered so far by astronomers, but this is the first time that so many have been detected in one planetary system. As of now, astronomers are limited in how much they can learn about these new worlds, but the James Webb Space Telescope, the upcoming successor to Hubble due to launch in 2018, will be able to gather more data and analyze whatever atmospheres these planets have, perhaps bringing us closer to finding another habitable world.
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism
Mirror Cube
Since 2020, the Year of vision, we have been told that the universe is infinitely large but, as I said in my last post, (see Kaleidoscope Part 1) the universe is actually very small. Tiny. It’s vastness is a beautiful illusion created with smoke and mirrors. Whether this is designed to make us feel insignificant is up to you. Since I revealed my Tiny Universe Theory (T.U.T) to the world, on President’s Day, 2025, I’ve been feeling nervous…anxious… paranoid, I suppose. Worrying that I may have made myself a target for the forces that want us to keep believing that we are just an insignificant speck in an enormous universe that surpasses all understanding. There's a new President in the White House and, perhaps, there's a spy in the sky watching me from the Government block right now, I don’t know. I’m sure I see circles among the clouds in the sky when I'm out walking my dog, Robbo. If my social media accounts are shut down they will claim that I was the victim of a 'Bear' hacker.
By Ian Richardson9 years ago in Futurism
The Open Road Calls to Us
The news of the discovery of a solar system with possibly several exoplanets within the habitable-zone was just announced. For many of us in the scientific community that study biology, chemistry, astrobiology, etc, this is Wonderland. Thoughts and questions are added and manipulated in our brains like ingredients of a gourmet stew. And we are ready to eat.
By Nickolas Rudolph9 years ago in Futurism
Three Potential New Earths Found in a Planetary System of Seven
Astronomers have discovered what is undoubtedly one of the most exciting exoplanet systems of recent years; seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting a red dwarf star only 40 light years away. What makes this find extraordinary is that all seven may have oceans of liquid water and three may even harbor life itself.
By Richard J. Bartlett9 years ago in Futurism
Star Formation on Filaments in Molecular Cloud RCW106
The image above comes from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, an ESA mission with participation from NASA. It was obtained as part of Herschel's Hi-GAL key-project, which imaged the entire plane of the Milky Way in five different infrared bands.
By Susan Fourtané 9 years ago in Futurism
Five Experiments That Show Your Universe Is Weird, Really Weird
We take our reality just like we take our tax preparers: solid and dependable, with an aversion to surprises. Experiments during the last few years, however, seem to indicate that our reality is less like a nerdy accountant buried in piles of 1040 forms and more like the half naked, fully drunk performance artist who thrives on not just surprising, but shocking the ever-loving crap out of us.
By Matt Swayne9 years ago in Futurism
The Stepping Stone of Mars
Space travel is an unrehearsed dream. Many men have looked up at the night sky and thought about traveling to those pinpoints of light out there. First man went to the moon and now Millions lived there. The next place we went was Mars. It is only a stepping stone out into the great unknown. Men using their own minds to battle the vastness of time and space. Men who are always imagining new ways to further themselves and mankind as a whole. Even now shuttles are landing and departing from the red planet. This is a story about Milo, one man who is determined to tame the new frontier. Milo, who traveled to the new west to make his claim on history and make his fame and fortune here on the red rock and beyond. His shuttle landed and he made his way into the station and from there he was able to take a tram to his hotel. The gravity did feel lighter here than on Earth. As well it should but Milo thought about how much less gravity he felt here after spending his whole life on Earth. Knowing that the gravity was about a third of Earths was one thing but feeling it, experiencing was quite another thing. Milo felt so light on his feet. The fact that he could jump fifty feet at a time when running was exhilarating. But that was not why Milo had come. Milo was an inventor. Milo knew that the corporations that were on Mars wanted to go further. Those companies wanted to go out into the stars. Those companies wanted to do the impossible. Mine for Diamonds that rained down from the sky on Jupiter. Some companies had faster than light travel and were preparing to go out into the vast black emptiness of space. To explore those worlds that until now had been beyond mankind's reach. The corporation called Lightwill had designed an engine that would travel faster than light. Lightwill had a major problem though and that was stopping fast enough to make the trip worth it and not smash everything inside of the ship. That is where Milo came in. Milo had invented an artificial gravity machine. Arriving at the hotel Milo got very little sleep and was excited about presenting his idea to the board of Lightwill. Milo was up early and ate a very small meal as his stomach couldn't handle more. Milo thought for a few moments that maybe his loss of appetite might be due to an illness and that was something he couldn't have right at this crucial moment. Then Milo thought maybe it was due to the low gravity. As soon as he got up he knew it was just the excitement and nervousness at the life changing technology that he brought to the red planet.
By Adam McCaulley9 years ago in Futurism
The Top Ten Night Sky Sights for March, 2017
We've all stopped and stared at the night sky from time to time but few of us are aware of what we're looking at. Many of us are surprised to learn that our nearest neighbors, the planets, are just as easily seen ias the Moon and the stars themselves.
By Richard J. Bartlett9 years ago in Futurism
Kaleidoscope
Chapter One Have you ever stood outside on a clear, starry night and looked up in awe at the heavens? The universe… the myriad stars scattered across the darkling sky. And have you ever thought that it looks vast. Really, really vast! Extraordinarily immense, absolutely humungous! Too massive to comprehend.
By Ian Richardson9 years ago in Futurism
