“‘We’re thrilled to have identified clear signs of water on a planet that is trillions of miles away,’ said study leader Giovanna Tinetti of the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris in France.” Scientists discover clear signs of existing water well outside the solar system at HD 189733b, a Jupiter-ish gas giant in the Vulpecula constellation, 64 light years away. “The researchers found that the planet absorbed starlight in such a way that could only be explained by the presence of water vapor in its atmosphere.“
Category: Space
Phoenix Rising.
NASA prepares a probe, named Phoenix, to dig for water on Mars. “Upon reaching Mars in May 2008, the spacecraft is to land just as the winter ice begins to recede around the polar cap.”
Hawking Swoops and Soars.
“I have long wanted to go into space, and the zero-gravity flight is the first step toward space travel.” Physicist Stephen Hawking experiences zero gravity aboard the Vomit Comet. “Hawking said he hoped his flight would provide a boost for commercial spaceflight, in line with his oft-expressed belief that humanity’s future depended on moving beyond Earth…’I think that getting a portion of the human race permanently off the planet is imperative for our future as a species. It will be difficult to do this with the slow, expensive and risk-averse nature of government space programs,’ Hawking said, working in a veiled reference to NASA. ‘We need to engage the entrepreneurial engine that has reduced the cost of everything from airline tickets to personal computers.‘” I’m in full agreement…far be it from me to differ with a man as intelligent, knowledgeable, and solid on the mic as Mr. Hawking.
Sol to Gliese, over?
“Because of its temperature and relative proximity, this planet will most probably be a very important target of the future space missions dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life. On the treasure map of the Universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X.” The big news today, of course: Astronomers announce the discovery of an earth-like planet, Gliese 581c, at the galactically tiny distance of 120 trillion miles (20.5 light years) away. (For the stargazers, Gliese 581 is a red dwarf “located in the northeastern part of constellation Libra.”) Of course, we still don’t know if we even have to go that far to find extraterrestrial life — Europa, Mars, Ganymede, and Callisto all still pose unresolved questions. Nevertheless, it’s an exciting moment in our history to discover the first planet far afield that might possibly be inhabited (and inhabitable)…and even more exciting to know that there’ll assuredly be many more to come. The stars, our destination!
Water, Water Everywhere?
A faraway Jupiter-like gas planet, HD 209458b, is found (by some) to have water in its atmosphere. I saw this on Blivet on Friday and spent the weekend dreaming about it: If my sleeping brain can be trusted, HD 209458b has winged, eel-like space reptiles cavorting amidst the gaseous clouds there. Alas, my subconscious makes for a lousy exobiologist: “[A] Jupiter-like gaseous planet such as this one, as opposed to a rocky one like Earth, is highly unlikely to harbour any kind of life.” Well, damn.
Tale of the Tape.
“What would happen if an astronaut became mentally unstable in space and, say, destroyed the ship’s oxygen system or tried to open the hatch and kill everyone aboard?” Yet another use for that miracle of miracles, duct tape, is discovered: restraining crazy astronauts in space. Hmmm. Somehow I doubt that would’ve worked on Ash.
Godspeed, ISS.
“To not utilize that station the way I think it ought to be utilized is just wrong.” Forty-five years to the day after his historic orbit, space pioneer and former US Senator John Glenn makes a case for the International Space Station.
Breaking News.
Anna Nicole Smith died after what looks to be a casino bender, and, just in time for Valentine’s Day, Houston has a problem with crazy-jilted astronauts. I have very little to say about either of these stories, but since they feverishly consumed most of this week’s news cycles, here they are.
They Blinded Me With Science.
The source of that Hawaii link above deserves its own posting: DISCOVER magazine presents the Top 100 science stories of 2006.
Red Surf?
New photos released by NASA from the Mars Global Surveyor seem to suggest the possibility of surface water on Mars, which would make any attempt to visit — or colonize — the red planet considerably easier (although, obviously, it’s still no walk in the park.)