Mars looking and feeling better than what we have been told by NASA?

It seems once more that we have been fooled by NASA. Sky, ground and temperate might be way off what NASA gave us. The following video is a great explaination of this. Blue/Whitish sky, desert ground…

NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended

NASA is slow. We’ve seen that it had ice already in the past, I don’t understand what is the big deal about water now. It feels like NASA is 50 years behind what the actual discoveries and technology is at…
Anyway, here is the article:

TUCSON, Ariz. — Laboratory tests aboard NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander’s robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”

With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission.

“Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars,” said Michael Meyer, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday’s sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.

“Mars is giving us some surprises,” said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. “We’re excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected from all the Mars simulation testing we’ve done. That has presented challenges for delivering samples, but we’re finding ways to work with it and we’re gathering lots of information to help us understand this soil.”

Since landing on May 25, Phoenix has been studying soil with a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras. Besides confirming the 2002 finding from orbit of water ice near the surface and deciphering the newly observed stickiness, the science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.

The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.

“It’s a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars,” said Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.

A full-circle, color panorama of Phoenix’s surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.

“The details and patterns we see in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see,” said Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, lead scientist for Phoenix’s Surface Stereo Imager camera. “They help us plan measurements we’re making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale.”

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and development partnership at Lockheed Martin in Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

For more about Phoenix, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

(Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080731.html)

Scientists Narrow In On the Best Shot at ET Contact

“If those civilizations are out there – and we don’t know that they are – those that inhabit star systems that lie close to the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun will be the most motivated to send communications signals toward Earth, because those civilizations will surely have detected our annual transit across the face of the sun, telling them that Earth lies in a habitable zone, where liquid water is stable. Through spectroscopic analysis of our atmosphere, they will know that Earth likely bears life. Knowing where to look tremendously reduces the amount of radio telescope time we will need to conduct the search.”

~ Richard Conn Henry, Johns Hopkins University

At a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in St Louis, Missouri, US, on Wednesday, Richard Conn Henry of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues proposed that we limit our search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI) to the ecliptic plane in which our solar system’s planets orbit. This ecliptic band comprises only about 3 percent of the sky, which could make it easier for scientists to effectively narrow their search for intelligent ET.

The logic behind it postulates that if there is another, perhaps more advanced alien civilization in our galaxy out there; they may be trying to contact us, as well. If this is the case, Henry says a search focused on the ecliptic “should lead rapidly to the detection of other civilizations”.

…

(Full Article: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/06/the-ecliptic-sc.html)

Sun’s properties not ‘fine-tuned’ for life

Interesting. Are we finally coming to reason and understanding, we are not that special? Not that Unique? It’s never too late to wake up, or is it?

There’s nothing special about the Sun that makes it more likely than other stars to host life, a new study shows. The finding adds weight to the idea that alien life should be common throughout the universe.
…

(Source: http://space.newscientist.com)

Sun’s properties not ‘fine-tuned’ for life

Interesting. Are we finally coming to reason and understanding, we are not that special? Not that Unique? It’s never too late to wake up, or is it?

There’s nothing special about the Sun that makes it more likely than other stars to host life, a new study shows. The finding adds weight to the idea that alien life should be common throughout the universe.
…

(Source: http://space.newscientist.com)

The Pope’s chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article ‘Aliens Are My Brother’.

…

(Full Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7399661.stm)

The Pope’s chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article ‘Aliens Are My Brother’.

…

(Full Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7399661.stm)

Phoenix Mars Rover

What happened to Polar Lander, the last Mars rover that NASA tried to land in the Martian polar region, where it hopes that the Phoenix rover will touch down on May 25? The mysterious fate of the lander that simply disappeared moments before reaching Mars has been the subject of both scientific and UFO-logy debates. Was it shot down by angry Martians dwelling at the pole? Did it encounter some strange magnetic phenomenon that disabled it? Or did it just malfunction? We may soon find out.

Phoenix, an even more badass version of the current Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, will hit the Martian north pole. (Sadly, it can’t look for the dead Polar Lander, because that rover was headed for the South Pole.) If all goes as planned, it will immediately dig into the icy tundra and take samples to see what the deal is with all that ice. Could it be turned into potable water for future colonists?

To make sure nothing goes wrong with the landing — or at least to see what the hell happened if it does — three Earth-controlled satellites orbiting Mars will be watching Phoenix’s descent into the ice. According to Discovery News:

…

(Full Article: http://io9.com)

New planet may lead to Earth’s twin

“That’s what Spanish scientists think they may soon detect after finding the smallest planet outside the solar system..”

(Source + Video: http://www.sciam.com)

New planet may lead to Earth’s twin

“That’s what Spanish scientists think they may soon detect after finding the smallest planet outside the solar system..”

(Source + Video: http://www.sciam.com)

Unidentified Lunar Objects Revealed In NASA Photography

Once the commander of tides, the muse of poets and songwriters, and the only object in the night sky clearly visible with an inexpensive telescope, the Moon as I knew it is now a land of mystery and intrigue.

What started off as a coffee table book of rarely seen photos taken during the Apollo missions has turned into something I would have never expected. Instead, it has become a collection of objects that I call ULOs. ULOs are Unidentified Lunar Objects – anomalous shapes that appear artificial to the lunar landscape and resist identification as known geological features.

Digitally clarified and highlighted, the ULOs in this collection resemble towers and spires, domes, stacked geometry, pathways leading to and from clusters of objects, pipes and pipe grids, wheel shaped objects, and ziggurat looking structures with annexes just to name a few.

Are there artificial structures and objects on the Moon? The answer is right in our back yard and we’ll only know for sure if we return to the lunar surface and see for ourselves. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

(Full Article: http://www.lunomaly.com/?q=ULOs)

Frank Drake and the Drake Equation – between 1000 to 100 million intelligent species

100 million! Far from the 8 original races or the 57 claimed by Clifford Stone. Wow!

Frank Drake, the author of the famed “Drake Equation,” which estimates the possible range of intelligent civilizations in our home Milky Way Galaxy, which contains about 400 billion stars will be giving a talk on Thursday, March 31, at the Alaska’s Barrow Arctic Science Consortium on “new habitable planets in space, and our new searches for the inhabitants.”

“One of the greatest developments in the history of astronomy,” Drake has written recently, “has been the detection, in only a few years, of more than 200 other planetary systems. Furthermore, our vision of the variety of inhabitable planets has greatly broadened – the prospects for there being many planets inhabited by intelligent creatures have greatly expanded.

“Our best estimate is that there are somewhere between 1,000 and 100 million advanced extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way,” he wrote in his book, “Is Anyone Out There?”

“The values for the various factors in the equation have changed over the years, but this answer remains the most probable range,” he said.

(Source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com)

European Space Freighter Makes Docking Debut

WASHINGTON — Europe’s first space freighter, the unmanned cargo ship Jules Verne, made its docking debut at the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday with a graceful arrival after weeks of waiting in Earth orbit.

(Full Article: http://www.space.com)

How to Find Other "Earths"

A new laser technique could locate planets much like our own.

(Full Article: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20509/)

Nearby Star Should Harbor Detectable, Earth-like Planets

A rocky planet similar to Earth may be orbiting one of our nearest stellar neighbors and could be detected using existing techniques, according to a new study led by astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The closest stars to our Sun are in the three-star system called Alpha Centauri, a popular destination for interstellar travel in works of science fiction. UCSC graduate student Javiera Guedes used computer simulations of planet formation to show that terrestrial planets are likely to have formed around the star Alpha Centauri B and to be orbiting in the “habitable zone” where liquid water can exist on the planet’s surface. The researchers then showed that such planets could be observed using a dedicated telescope.

…

(Full Article: http://www.redorbit.com)

A One-Way, One-Person Mission to Mars

Why would we sacrifice someone, when we already have the technology to go safely there, but still hidden deep black? What a foolish idea.

Will humans ever really go to Mars? Let’s face it, the obstacles are quite daunting. Not only are there numerous, difficult, technical issues to overcome, but the political will and perseverance of any one nation to undertake such an arduous task just can’t be counted on. However, one former NASA engineer believes a human mission to Mars is quite doable, and such an event would unify the world as never before. But Jim McLane’s proposal includes a couple of major caveats: the trip to Mars should be one-way, and have a crew of only one person.

McLane worked at NASA for 21 years before leaving in 2007 to work for a private engineering firm. Being able to look from afar at NASA’s activities has given him a new perspective, he says.

But McLane was still at NASA when he originally had an idea for a one-way, one-person mission to Mars. He calls his proposal the “Spirit of the Lone Eagle,” in deference to Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight from New York to Paris in 1927.

…

(Full Article: http://www.universetoday.com)

Professor mulls odds of life in outer space

by Katie Petroski

More than 300 attendees crowded into a Welch auditorium Wednesday evening to hear what Chris Chyba, a Princeton astrophysical science professor, had to say about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

The event is part of a yearlong program, “Forging the Future of Space Science,” that began in September 2007 and is held by the Space Studies Board, which will continue to host an array of international space scientists to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year. During that year, scientists internationally coordinated a comprehensive collection of observations, resulting in events such as Russia’s launch of Sputnik.

Chyba focused most of his 90-minute lecture on analyzing the presence of liquid water on Mars and under the ice crust of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. He projected recent images of formations on Mars’ surface for the audience to consider the possibility that the formations might have been carved by moving water.

“Whether life ever existed or if it successfully retreated to the subsurface is up for speculation,” he said.

Chyba spoke about the upcoming Kepler Mission that will examine more than 100,000 stars to determine how many Earth-sized planets orbit stars.

“After this mission, we’ll know the answer of how many Earth-sized worlds are out there and what fraction are at the right distance from stars to have liquid water at its surface,” Chyba said. “This is something we need to make sure we don’t sleepwalk through two years from now.”

Chyba said he believes it is possible that humans exist alone as science does not yet know the conditions under which life originates or intelligence evolves.

“Astrobiology also needs to speak to human future and the future of human civilization,” he said. “It’s uniquely precious whether we are entirely alone or whether we are part of a grand community.”

Physics freshman Taylor Ratliff said he entertains thoughts of extraterrestrial life and said Chyba was not afraid to speculate with appropriate qualifiers.

“We can’t assume we have the right picture of the universe until we actually find out,” Ratliff said. “If there’s one thing you learn through science, it’s that you shouldn’t say anything is impossible.”

After the lecture, the audience hoped to look at the total lunar eclipse through telescopes but was unable to see the moon through the clouds. The next total lunar eclipse will be visible in December 2010.

(Source: http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com)

Higher odds on the discovery of extra-terrestrial life

Earth-like planets may have formed around most of the Milky Way’s Sun-like stars, according to research that shortens the odds on the discovery of extra-terrestrial life.

Observations using Nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope have found that at least 20 per cent — and perhaps as many as 60 per cent — of our galaxy’s Sun-like stars are good candidates for having rocky planets of the sort that can harbour life.

The findings offer further evidence suggesting that such worlds may be common in the galaxy, which would greatly enhance the prospects for finding one on which life has developed.

…

(Full Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk)

Solar Systems Similar to Ours Common in Milky Way

OH! Really! Those scientist are slow pokes. We have known these things for hundreds of years, but because now they can see, they say it might exist…

A team of international astronomers discovery of a solar system nearly 5,000 light years away containing scaled-down versions of Jupiter and Saturn. Their findings suggest that our galaxy could conceivably contain many star systems similar to our own.
…

(Full Article: http://www.dailygalaxy.com)

Japenase Aerospace Exploration Agency – Picture from the moon

This is a very nice high resolution picture. Not sure if you see what I see on there, but It seems to contain trails/roads in between the craters.
The image if from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Astronomers from NASA, Harvard and U of Colorado: "May be on Brink of Finding Habitable Second Earth"

David Latham – Harvard – Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

To date, Planet hunters have spotted more than 200 planets beyond our solar system, but the vast majority are hot, Jupiter-sized planets that would dwarf the Earth and are almost certainly lifeless.

Astronomers may be on the brink of discovering a second Earth-like planet, a find that would add fresh impetus to the search for extraterrestrial life, according to the US journal Science. Astronomers from six major centers, including NASA, Harvard and the University of Colorado, outline how advances in technology suggest scientists are on the verge of being able to detect the presence of small, rocky planets, much like our own, around distant stars for the first time. The planets are considered the most likely habitats for extraterrestrial life.

One technique relies on observing the shift in light coming from a star as a planet swings around it. Until recently, this “radial velocity” method has only been sensitive enough to pick up planets far more massive than Earth, but improvements now make the discovery of a second Earth highly likely, said Dave Latham, a co-author on the paper at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

“It could happen almost any time now. We have the technological capability to identify Earth-like planets around the smallest stars even now,” he said.

Earlier this year, the world’s largest and most prolific team of planet hunters, the Anglo-Australian, California and Carnegie Planet Searches ( AAPS), reported their findings of 37 exoplanets that have been discovered over the past couple of years, 7 of which were previously unreported brown dwarfs.

Depending on whose number you go by, the total number of exoplanets currently discovered is 212 or 240, the majority of which have been discovered by the AAPS and their colleagues in the California and Carnegie searches.

The method of discovery primarily implemented is studying the Doppler wobble of stars. As a planet orbits its parent star, its gravitational pull causes the star to wobble. Using the Doppler Effect, the scientists are able to determine the velocity of the planet. When the planet moves away from Earth, its star moves toward the Earth, causing it to emit shorter wavelengths, which appear bluer. The opposite is true as well; as a planet moves closer to Earth, its star moves further away, emitting longer (redder) wavelengths of light. The AAPS uses highly advanced, sensitive spectographs to record these very small wavelengths.

But there are things that Doppler searches cannot tell researchers. With Doppler readings, they are able to calculate the velocities of the planets being studied as they move towards and away from the Earth. What Doppler readings are unable tell researchers are the angles of inclination of the orbital planet to the line of sight. This is important information because by being able to calculate the angles of inclination of the orbiting planet, scientists are able to determine the actual physical size of the planet.

The AAPS has developed a technique to find the angle of inclination: transit searches. Transit searches are a relatively new technique which has only just begun giving them results within the past few years. As a planet transits in front of its parent star, passing our line of sight from Earth, scientists are able to calculate its angle of inclination, thereby determining its eccentricity (how elliptical or round its orbital path is). In the years to come, the method of transit searches should advance, resulting in more information about already discovered planets.

Although the next generation of techniques such as interferometric astrometry and direct imaging will be the most promising new methods of detection in the future study and discovery of extrasolar planets, as Chris Tinney of AAPS explains, the most successful and powerful form of study currently in use is complementing Doppler searches with transit searches. By doing so, “You can essentially know everything you can know about a planet. You know exactly its mass and its radius, which means you can work out its density,” and therefore, “you can make estimates as to whether it’s a gas giant or an ice giant planet, or whether it’s rocky.”

As these techniques develop, the smaller and smaller the extrasolar planets being discovered will become.

So when does Tinney expect an Earth-sized planet discovery, now that they’ve gotten down to Venus-sized planets when once they only found those with a mass that of Jupiter’s?

Tinney thinks that “finding a planet of Earth mass is probably a only couple of years away. But…”—and he emphasizes the “but,” pausing for a moment—“there’s always a ‘but.’” As he explains, all of the things they are finding of very low mass are moving in very short orbital periods, which means that they are orbiting close to their parent stars. So although there they are like Earth in terms of their mass and size, these planets are very unlike the Earth in terms of their orbit.

“To find an Earth-mass planet in an Earth-like orbit is just not going to happen with the Doppler technique,” Tinney states. It is simply beyond the technology currently developed. Essentially, it would mean that they would need to be performing measurements 100 times better than any technology is capable of doing.

So does this rule out the possibility of finding a habitable planet?

Not quite. There is a “trick” to planet hunting. Scientists can look for Earth-mass planets in short period orbits around lower mass stars. These types of stars are called M dwarfs and have a mass one tenth the size of the Sun, which means that the velocity signal is ten times larger, and therefore the radius at which the planet must be from the star in order to have water or liquid on its surface is much smaller. For now, it’s Tinney’s opinion that some of the recent reports about habitable planets being discovered “is more hype than reality,” but that the discovery of such planets “will come in due course.”

In fact, that’s precisely what Tinney is currently working on, aside from his AAPS commitment. He has convinced the Gemini Observatory—a collaboration of the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina—to build a spectrograph on one of its largest class of telescopes. In order to perform the types of studies needed to find other Earth-mass planets, scientists would need to being studying the near infrared, rather than the green wavelengths of visible light. This new Gemini spectrograph, called the Precision Radial Velocity Spectrometer, will specifically be designed to do very high precision Doppler work in the near infrared, rather than the optical. Once that type of technology is developed, Tinney believes that rather than finding the occasional one or two Earth-sized planets around M dwarf stars, finding more and more “will be much more straightforward,” thereby dispelling some of the current hype and allowing scientists to gather actual statistics about these types of systems.

NASA’s mantra of “follow the water” has defined the search for extraterrestrial life on Mars and other planets. If water is crucial for life, then the most likely sanctuaries will be planets which lie in a “habitable zone” just the right distance from a star, so that it is neither so hot that water evaporates, or so cold that it remains permanently frozen.

Dr Latham of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center said missions such as Nasa’s planned Kepler space observatory, which is due to launch in early 2009, would have a high chance of finding Earth-like planets if they are out there.

“These are the biggest questions. Are there habitable abodes? Are we alone?” he said. “Put it like this. If we don’t find anything, I’ll have to rethink my agnosticism.”

Posted by Casey Kazan

(Source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/10/astronomers-fro.html)

I don’t have much liking in NASA but this is one of the interesting and important work they are doing. At least this has nothing to do with retarded space shuttle missions to militarise space. Well, this space exploration might be used for military purposes as well… who knows!?

Astronomers Believe Sun-like Star Best Bet Yet for ‘Earth’s Twin’

The most Sun-like star ever found has some astronomers very excited. They say a planetary system around such a star would be the ideal place to find intelligent life.

HIP 56948 is a star that lies a little more than 200 light years from Earth. Everything about this star, including its size, mass, temperature, and chemical makeup, are all so similar to the Sun’s that no measurable differences have yet been detected.

The analysis was carried out by Jorge Melendez of Mount Stromlo Observatory in Weston Creek, Australia, and Ivan Ramirez of the University of Texas in Austin using high-resolution observations made by the 2.7-meter telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, US.

Other Sun-like stars have previously been identified, including 18 Scorpii, HD 98618, and HIP 100963. But all of these previously found stars have several times more lithium than the Sun, while HIP 56948 is a near perfect match to the Sun in this respect as well.

That particular similarity has led some researchers to be more hopeful about the possibility of alien life around HIP 56948, since studies have suggested that stars with less lithium, like the Sun, are “safer” or less active, which means there are fewer flares that can bombard planets with deadly radiation, says Ramirez. If this is the case, then this star would definitely have a higher chance of harboring life than other stars.

Stars that are very similar to the Sun are considered good hunting ground for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), says Margaret Turnbull of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Turnbull helped draw up an existing list of about 17,000 high-priority targets for SETI called HabCat.

“We don’t know that Sun-like stars are necessarily the ‘best’ for intelligent life, but they are certainly a decent starting point given that we know of at least one civilization around such a star,” she said.

Peter Backus of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, US, who is heading the institute’s upcoming search for alien life with the new Allen Telescope Array, says the Sun’s newly identified twin will be targeted in the search, and was already on the HabCat list. But he says for now it’s not receiving preferential treatment.

“It’s still a matter of speculation on just what range of stars could host habitable planets. We will eventually get around to observing all of the stars [on the list].”

But astronomers at McDonald Observatory don’t plan on waiting. They have already started looking for planets around HIP 56948. They have already ruled out the possibility of any giant planets in tight orbits around the star, sometimes referred to as ‘hot Jupiters’ which would be the easiest planets to spot, but what they’re really looking for is planets that are not to hot and not too cold.

The star does have one main difference from the Sun in that it is probably about 1 billion years older. But that difference only makes it all the more attractive for SETI, Ramirez speculates, because older stars have had more time to produce intelligent civilizations.

“Assuming that these stars have planets and those planets have life, then you have given more time for that life to evolve,” he points out.

Astronomers would be thrilled to observe a radio signal from a civilization around the star, but while it is possible for us to have received a signal at this point in time there is no way they could have received one of our radio signals. With a distance of over 200 light years from Earth, none of our radio or television signals would have had time to reach it yet, notes Ramirez. “If there is life there and intelligent life, then they haven’t heard from us yet.”

Posted by Rebecca Sato

(Source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com)

Astronomers Believe Sun-like Star Best Bet Yet for ‘Earth’s Twin’

The most Sun-like star ever found has some astronomers very excited. They say a planetary system around such a star would be the ideal place to find intelligent life.

HIP 56948 is a star that lies a little more than 200 light years from Earth. Everything about this star, including its size, mass, temperature, and chemical makeup, are all so similar to the Sun’s that no measurable differences have yet been detected.

The analysis was carried out by Jorge Melendez of Mount Stromlo Observatory in Weston Creek, Australia, and Ivan Ramirez of the University of Texas in Austin using high-resolution observations made by the 2.7-meter telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, US.

Other Sun-like stars have previously been identified, including 18 Scorpii, HD 98618, and HIP 100963. But all of these previously found stars have several times more lithium than the Sun, while HIP 56948 is a near perfect match to the Sun in this respect as well.

That particular similarity has led some researchers to be more hopeful about the possibility of alien life around HIP 56948, since studies have suggested that stars with less lithium, like the Sun, are “safer” or less active, which means there are fewer flares that can bombard planets with deadly radiation, says Ramirez. If this is the case, then this star would definitely have a higher chance of harboring life than other stars.

Stars that are very similar to the Sun are considered good hunting ground for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), says Margaret Turnbull of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Turnbull helped draw up an existing list of about 17,000 high-priority targets for SETI called HabCat.

“We don’t know that Sun-like stars are necessarily the ‘best’ for intelligent life, but they are certainly a decent starting point given that we know of at least one civilization around such a star,” she said.

Peter Backus of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, US, who is heading the institute’s upcoming search for alien life with the new Allen Telescope Array, says the Sun’s newly identified twin will be targeted in the search, and was already on the HabCat list. But he says for now it’s not receiving preferential treatment.

“It’s still a matter of speculation on just what range of stars could host habitable planets. We will eventually get around to observing all of the stars [on the list].”

But astronomers at McDonald Observatory don’t plan on waiting. They have already started looking for planets around HIP 56948. They have already ruled out the possibility of any giant planets in tight orbits around the star, sometimes referred to as ‘hot Jupiters’ which would be the easiest planets to spot, but what they’re really looking for is planets that are not to hot and not too cold.

The star does have one main difference from the Sun in that it is probably about 1 billion years older. But that difference only makes it all the more attractive for SETI, Ramirez speculates, because older stars have had more time to produce intelligent civilizations.

“Assuming that these stars have planets and those planets have life, then you have given more time for that life to evolve,” he points out.

Astronomers would be thrilled to observe a radio signal from a civilization around the star, but while it is possible for us to have received a signal at this point in time there is no way they could have received one of our radio signals. With a distance of over 200 light years from Earth, none of our radio or television signals would have had time to reach it yet, notes Ramirez. “If there is life there and intelligent life, then they haven’t heard from us yet.”

Posted by Rebecca Sato

(Source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com)

3 Titans of Asia Face Off: Who Gets the Biggest Chunk of Moon?

Amid a renewed burst of global space agendas, Asian spacefarers are racing to the moon. It seems everyone wants to ensure their piece of the lunar pie. Asian giants Japan, China and India are engaging in a race to map lunar resources and put dibs on the moon as a platform to eventually explore the planets beyond.

Japan may have sparked the Asian lunar race on September 14 when it successfully launched its first lunar orbiter. China will now launch its own moon probe before the end of the year, followed by India in the first half of 2008.

JAXA, as the Japanese space agency is known, will carry out more robotic missions before sending their own astronauts to the moon, said agency president, Keiji Tachikawa, in a brief interview Monday.

Missions to the moon and to Mars and international cooperation topped the agenda of a five-day global conference held recently in Hyderabad, India that brought together 2,000 space professionals, including scientists, astronomers and astronauts.

“There is a great revival of interest in exploring various planets,” said Sun Laiyan, head of the China National Space Administration.

China’s Chang’e 1 lunar probe is being transported to the launch site and “if everything goes fine, will be launched by the end of the year,” said Sun, adding that China will be considering their own manned moon mission if all goes well.

India’s Chandrayaan 1 lunar probe will be launched in March or April 2008, said B.N. Suresh, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram. Preparatory work is in “full swing” at the Sriharikota space station in southern India, where the craft is being assembled, the launch vehicle readied and antennae installed to receive data from the moon, Suresh revealed.

Also in 2008, India will likely choose the target year for a human spaceflight to the moon, confirmed G. Madhavan Nair, head of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Although mankind has had more than four decades of lunar missions, space scientists are still lacking basic knowledge about the moon’s origin, the minerals it contains and even whether or not it holds water that could support human life.

“There is a lot more known about the moon, but even after the current round of lunar missions, you will still have more questions,” said Indian scientist U.R. Rao, who did pioneering work on space launch vehicles.

Mineral samples from the moon contained abundant quantities of helium 3, a variant of the gas used in lasers and refrigerators as well as to blow up balloons. Space experts believe it could offer a solution to the earth’s energy shortages.

Technology for converting helium 3 to energy is still largely unexplored, but spacefaring nations are already talking about a permanent human presence on the moon where resources can be identified and studied. Nations are also increasingly looking beyond lunar missions to Mars and other distant worlds.

NASA aims to put a man on Mars by 2037, Michael Griffin, the administrator of the US space agency, indicated earlier this week, saying the orbital international space station targeted for completion by 2010 would provide a “toehold in space” for travel first to the moon and then Mars.

Japan’s 55-billion-yen (478 million-dollar) Kaguya is the largest moon explorer since the US Apollo missions back in the 1970s after six human landings—the only time mankind visited another world. But the vision and purpose of space explorations has changed dramatically since then. Several renowned astrophycists have called on mankind to seriously consider colonizing space as a means of preventing extinction.

“The moon is no longer a place for us to visit,” said JAXA’s Tachikawa. “We should consider inhabiting and exploiting it.”

While many agree with Tachikawa, humanity is still a “couple of generations away” from tapping viable commercial opportunities in outer space, including the moon, believes Franco Bonacina, spokesman for the European Space Agency.

“But we need to go back to the moon to go even farther,” he said. “The moon is a harbor — a kind of spare wheel — from where we can push to Mars.”

In the scramble to reach the moon, spacefarers risk duplication of effort, pointed out Indian scientist Rao, who called for cooperation between the world’s space agencies to avoid that.

“Everyone doing the same work would be a waste of resources.”

Rao is right, but as recently highlighted by the Russian underwater Arctic flag-planting debacle, humans tend to want to get there first to stake things off and make a claim to the coveted land in question—be it on Earth or beyond.

Posted by Rebecca Sato

(Source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/09/titans-of-asia-.html)

NASA Dreams Up Exotic Earth-Sized Planets

Science fiction writers have been imagining other worlds for years, and now they’re going to get a little scientific help, thanks to NASA. The agency recently modeled a range of roughly Earth-sized planets, from the familiar to the exotic. Instead of thinking just about planets with Earthlike characteristics, they imagined every possible kind of planet that might exist around other worlds. This should keep the writers busy.

We’re not talking about familiar looking planets, with strange surface features and aliens with pointed ears here, we’re talking about the very extremes of planetary formation: pure water ice, carbon, iron, silicate, carbon monoxide, and silicon carbide, and others which could be mixtures of these various compounds.

(Source: http://www.universetoday.com)

I’m glad we getting into such important talks. Better late than never. There is a very important awakening happening, and it’s GOOD!!! It will definitively make things easier, when our space brothers land