Category Archives: Space Science

Activism, In Space Infrastructure, Space Science

Space Show: Mars rock drilling on Hotel Mars + Lunar building webinar

Dr. Dorothy Oehler of NASA’s Johnson Space Center spoke on “Hotel Mars” this week with David Livingston and John Batchelor about Curiosity rover’s recent drilling operation and about “the process, the significance, possible findings, and pending analysis, plus the uniqueness of this incredible first time ever drilling operation”: John Batchelor “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 2-13-13 – Thespaceshow’s Blog

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On Sunday Feb. 17, 2013, 1-3 PM PST (4-6 PM EST, 3-5 PM CST),  DR. Haym Benaroya of Rutgers University will lead a webinar on the building of lunar structures on the Space Show: Space Show Webinar with Dr. Haym Benaroya, Dr. John Jurist, Sunday, 2-17-13 – Thespaceshow’s Blog

You can follow along with the presentation using this slides file: Short – Space Show Webinar on Lunar Structures Engineering 17 Feb 2013 (pptx).

Activism, Space Science

Planetary Society Hangout: Earth-sized exoplanets in our neighborhood

In the latest Planetary Society Hangout (February 14, 2013), Emily Lakdawalla of the Society and Courtney Dressing of Harvard talked “about just how common Earth-sized exoplanets may be in our neighborhood”:  Planetary Society Weekly Hangout, Thu Feb 14 1200PT/2000UT: Courtney Dressing – The Planetary Society –

http://youtu.be/W-RBczNMzfM

Activism, Space Science

Planetary Society to host live coverage of asteroid 2012 DA14 flyby

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PlanetCast:  Live Coverage of the Encounter With Asteroid 2012 DA14

Join Planetary Society Director of Projects Bruce Betts for live webcast coverage of the encounter with Asteroid 2012 DA14. This 45-meter asteroid will pass within 27,000 kilometers of Earth.  Also on hand will be the host of Planetary Radio, Mat Kaplan.

Friday, February 15, 2013
11:15am to at least 12:00pm Pacific Standard Time / 1930 to 2000 UTC
Go to :  http://planetary.org/planetcast

You’ll see:

  • Live telescope feeds from around the world (*courtesy of JPL)
  • A video tour of La Sagra Observatory in Spain, where 2012 DA14 was discovered with a camera provided by the Planetary Society
  • A live conversation with co-discoverer Jaime Nomen at La Sagra (subject to his availability)
  • Just possibly a surprise guest!

Bruce will also answer your questions about this and other Near Earth Objects (NEO) as he explains how the Planetary Society backs efforts to detect, track and eventually deflect NEOs that threaten our planet.  It may be the biggest show in space this year.

Don’t miss it!

Regards,

The Planetary Society Staff

* Note: Telescope feeds provided by JPL will be dependent on weather conditions from the various observatories throughout the world.

Astronomy, Space Science

Colorful life on other planets

The colors of exoplanets may tell us if they possess life: Extreme life might be visible on colourful exoplanets – New Scientist

Space Science

Curiosity drills out sample of rock for the first time on Mars

Curiosity has drilled into rock for the first time:

Hole drilled in rock by Curiosity

NASA JPL report:

NASA’s Curiosity rover has, for the first time, used a drill carried at the end of its robotic arm to bore into a flat, veiny rock on Mars and collect a sample from its interior. This is the first time any robot has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on Mars.

The fresh hole, about 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) wide and 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) deep in a patch of fine-grained sedimentary bedrock, can be seen in images and other data Curiosity beamed to Earth Saturday. The rock is believed to hold evidence about long-gone wet environments. In pursuit of that evidence, the rover will use its laboratory instruments to analyze rock powder collected by the drill.

“The most advanced planetary robot ever designed is now a fully operating analytical laboratory on Mars,” said John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. “This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America.”

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