| July 03, 2009 |
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our time will build eternity |
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Dawn Switches Back To Ion Propulsion System Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 30, 2009
Having completed the longest planned coasting period of its entire mission, Dawn is now back to its familiar routine. On June 8, the ion propulsion system was called back into action to propel the probe to its rendezvous with asteroid Vesta. The spacecraft began its 7-month coast period on October 31, 2008. Since then, it had used its ion thrusters for a measurement of the solar array ... read moreSpace Shuttle Links 1908 Tunguska Explosion To Comet
Ithaca NY (SPX) Jun 25, 2009The mysterious 1908 Tunguska explosion that leveled 830 square miles of Siberian forest was almost certainly caused by a comet entering the Earth's atmosphere, says new Cornell University research. The conclusion is supported by an unlikely source: the exhaust plume from the NASA space shuttle launched a century later. The research, accepted for publication by the journal Geophysical ... more
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Cooking Up Comet Crystals
Moffett Field CA (SPX) May 21, 2009Scientists have long wondered how tiny silicate crystals, which need sizzling high temperatures to form, have found their way into frozen comets, born in the deep freeze of the solar system's outer edges. The crystals would have begun as non-crystallized silicate particles, part of the mix of gas and dust from which the solar system developed. A team of astronomers believes they have foun ... more NASA Study Shows Asteroids May Have Accelerated Life On Earth
Boulder CO (SPX) May 21, 2009NASA-funded study indicates that an intense asteroid bombardment nearly 4 billion years ago may not have sterilized the early Earth as completely as previously thought. The asteroids, some the size of Kansas, possibly even provided a boost for early life. The study focused on a particularly cataclysmic occurrence known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, or LHB. This event occurred approximatel ... more The Asteroids Are Coming
Bethesda MD (SPX) May 04, 2009This isn't just "buzz" to get you excited about a new movie coming; we really are being buzzed by asteroids and other NEOs (Near Earth Objects), and one day these conjunctions could become collisions! There are lots of NEOs out there orbiting the sun. Some, like comets, are less worrisome since they are composed primarily of ice and small, rocky particles that dissipate upon entering Earth ... more Comets Contain Key Ingredients For Life On Earth
Tel Aviv, Israel (SPX) May 05, 2009Comets have always fascinated us. A mysterious appearance could symbolize God's displeasure or mean a sure failure in battle, at least for one side. Now Tel Aviv University justifies our fascination - comets might have provided the elements for the emergence of life on our planet. While investigating the chemical make-up of comets, Prof. Akiva Bar-Nun of the Department of Geophysics and Pl ... more |
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UK Astronomers Observe Asteroid Before It Crashes Into Earth
London, UK (SPX) Mar 26, 2009UK astronomers, using the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) William Herschel Telescope on La Palma, observed a rare asteroid as it was hurtling towards our planet and have captured the only spectrum of it before it exploded in our atmosphere. This is the very first time that an asteroid that hit the Earth has been studied before entering our atmosphere, allowing the scient ... more Dawn Journal Maintains Good Health
Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 10, 2009Now boosted into a new solar orbit courtesy of Mars, Dawn continues its interplanetary journey. The spacecraft is healthy and coasting, keeping its main antenna pointed to Earth, as it will for most of the next 3 months. After that, it will resume its familiar routine of devoting most of the time to gently thrusting with its ion propulsion system, with only a short period each week for com ... more Scientists Possibly Find Why Asteroids Are Missing
Tempe AZ (SPX) Feb 26, 2009University of Arizona scientists have uncovered a curious case of missing asteroids. The main asteroid belt is a zone containing millions of rocky objects between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The scientists find that there ought to be more asteroids there than researchers observe. The missing asteroids may be evidence of an event that took place about 4 billion years ago, when the solar ... more NASA's Swift Spies Comet Lulin
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 24, 2009While waiting for high-energy outbursts and cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite is monitoring Comet Lulin as it closes on Earth. For the first time, astronomers are seeing simultaneous ultraviolet and X-ray images of a comet. "We won't be able to send a space probe to Comet Lulin, but Swift is giving us some of the information we would get from just such a mission ... more |
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