Something Wicked this way comes?

Over recent decades, astronomers have gathered data on asteroids by the thousands orbiting about the Sun largely in Zone 1 (terrestrial) and Zone 2 (asteroid belt) and, more recently, the Zone 3 (trans-Neptunian objects), yet astronomers have too little knowledge of the unmapped and uncharted region known as the hypothetical 1 LightYear out Oort cloud region of this solar system.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer [WISE vid] will provide a more detailed map for this region of the solar system. The infrared telescope is expected to uncover hidden dark asteroids, dwarf planets, and the possibility of a red or brown dwarf "Nemesis-like" binary star, perhaps in our solar system.

WISE is gathering the data now [vid] with more complete answers by 2013. Stay tuned! [Hat Tip to Quantum Flux and the recommended video]

OH MY GOODNESS: human spaceflight tests

ATK Tests 5-Segment Booster in Utah

Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and NASA conducted a successful ground test earlier today of the second Ares five-segment Development Motor (DM-2). The successful test is a milestone in the development of what will probably be the cancelled Ares-1 and Ares-V. There is ongoing Congressional debate on the booster to be used by NASA in the future and how American astronuts will get to low earth orbit (LEO). More from BBC, SpaceRef and NASASpaceflight.

Armadillo & Masten Gain NASA $upport

Commercial space companies Armadillo Aerospace of Texas and Masten Space Systems of California have been awarded nearly one-half million dollars to perform test flights of their experimental vehicles near the edge of space. The award is part of NASA's Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program (CRuSR), which seeks to develop commercial reusable transportation to near space for frequent, low-cost trips to near-space for small payloads.

The CRuSR awards will fund two flights this fall and one this winter of Armadillo's Super-Mod vehicle from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The first two flights will be to an altitude of approximately nine miles and the third to approximately 25 miles.

The Masten Space Systems' Xaero vehicle will make four flights this winter from the Mojave Spaceport in California. Two flights will reach an altitude of approximately three miles and two others will be to approximately 18 miles, with an engine shutdown during flight.

Schrödinger Geologic Map Paints Crater

This detailed geologic map of Schrödinger basin, which formed when a huge object struck the moon, reveals a patchwork of lunar material, including the peak ring (inner brown ring), recent volcanic activity (red), cratering (yellow) and plains material (dark green and kelly green). Credit: NASA/Scott Mest

Schrödinger is a huge lunar impact crater located near the south lunar pole on the far side of the Moon, and can only be viewed from lunar orbit. A new geologic map of the moon's Schrodinger basin paints an instant, camouflage-colored portrait of what a mash-up the moon's surface is after eons of violent events. The geologic record at Schrödinger is still relatively fresh because the basin is only about 3.8 billion years old; this makes it the moon's second-youngest large basin (it's roughly 320 kilometers, or 200 miles, in diameter).

Elizabeth Zubritsky at NASA Goddard Space tells more about the new geologic lunar map created by Scott Mest and his associates at the Planetary Science Institute, [video].

VASIMR: An alternative to chemical rocket?

Ad Astra Rocket Company and NASA have a Space Act Agreement to launch a flight version of the VASIMR, the VF-200, on the International Space Station in as early as 2014. The VASIMR will utilize a trickle-charged battery system allowing for 15 min pulses of thrust. If successful, the new propulsion system could cut the costs of orbital re-boosting of the ISS five-fold. Other new propulsion systems are also being reviewed by NASA now.

5-Segment Booster Set for Tuesday Test

THE FULLY ASSEMBLED NASA's five-segment solid rocket development motor in its test stand at ATK in Promontory, Utah. The New York Times reports on the test of the booster set for Tuesday in Utah amid an uncertain future in civil space policy on Capitol Hill.

sixty symbols: asteroids

there has been quite an excited buzz around the internet about the recent video showing asteroid discovery from 1980 to 2010. what you gain from watching is that there are LOTS of asteroids out there, which is "cool and mildly terrifying" as a friend so succinctly described it.

it just so happens that sixty symbols released a video describing asteroids today which describes, ironically, why individual asteroids are no longer given unique symbols.

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India Preparing Astronaut Food

When a nation opts to have a human space program, the astronauts must have food. India's space sector is now preparing space food.

Au Sable Point hike and swim

Due to the August shows and a busy museum, I have not had a chance to hike for a few weeks. Wendy and I decided to hike west from the Log Slide when I left the museum yesterday. We wanted to return to the beach that we visited a few weeks ago so we could go swimming. I brought my snorkel gear and had a blast. The Jacobsville sandstone shelf extended from the shore around 100 feet. It was shallow enough that allowed me to pull myself across the surface of the water by grabbing hand holds in the rock. Temperatures were in the mid 80s, so the water felt great.

Japan pushes space-based solar power

The Japanese JAXA space agency is taking the lead on the development of the technology while the United States struggles in taking-up the challenge. Wiki provides a premier on the history of the developing space-based solar power technology.

The Number of Asteroids Discovered Grows!

This incredible video by Scott Manley/Armagh Observatory graphically provides 20-years of observation leading humanity to have a map of the asteroids in a number that appears to be growing by the day with the work of the WISE. [Above vid best viewed FULL SCREEN, look bottom left for data.]

Linked is more from UniverseToday and an important PSA message RTvid from one of the leaders of the Space Frontier Foundation.

Space, Propulsion and Energy Sciences Conference Set at U of Md, March 2011

The Integrity Research Institute (iRi), under the direction of President Thomas Valone, is teaming up with the prestigious Institute for Advanced Studies in the Space, Propulsion and Energy Sciences (IASSPES) from Madison AL to host a joint conference under the umbrella of Space, Propulsion & Energy Sciences International Forum (SPESIF) to be held 15-17 March 2011 on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Russian Far East Home to New Spaceport

Russia will launch its spacecraft from its very own cosmodrome by 2018. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the ambitious project that will help mobilise Russia's intellectual resources and industrial potential. During a trip to Russia's Far East, Putin officially launched the scheme as he paid a visit to the site of the future cosmodrome. Russia will continue to use the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on which it has a lease until 2050.

China has a fourth spaceport, the second human-rated capable, under construction now. The United States has only Kennedy Space Center rated for human space launch travel. Wallops Island, Va. could be a second in the near future but it will largely rest with the wishes of the good US Senator from Maryland.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Readied

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer leaves CERN to embark on a USAF plane, on its journey to Cape Canaveral, and then Space. The AMS will be installed on the International Space Station next year, where it will look for antimatter in Space. It is now at the Kennedy Space Center's space station processing facility. More from ESA 6-min video about the AMS.

Expedition 23: Six Months on the ISS

NASA Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer's voyage on the International Space Station is featured from his launch aboard a Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft in December 2009, to his landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan in June of 2010. "15 nations = 1 international space station; together is the future."

Multiple Asteroid Impact Theory Advanced

The end-Cretaceous mass extinction has been attributed by most to a single asteroid impact at Chicxulub on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. The discovery of a second smaller crater with a similar age at Boltysh in the Ukraine has raised the possibility that a shower of asteroids or comets impacted Earth close to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, according to a new study lead by David Jolly from the Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, Kings's College, Aberdeen University. More form the BBC and UPI. The multiple impact theory has been raised a number of times in this decade.

castles in north wales

here are some photos from a trip to wales i took in the spring. the focus of this trip was to see old castles, but we stoppen in Llangollen...


and saw this interesting aqueduct.


we visited conwy castle in nothern wales....


we didnt enter this one, but we walked around the wall that still surrounds the city.




we found the smallest house in great britain! the last occupant was 6 ft 3 and named robert jones. the tiny flat was condemned in the early 1900s, but when the tall man got kicked out, he traveled around great britain to visit all the small houses to verify that his was indeed the smallest.


a mere 20 miles south of conwy, is the massive caernarfon castle, which translates to carnarvon ("car-NAR-von") in english, if that makes the pronunciation any easier!








a small bit of the welsh language.

This Week in Space Video Report

silent star wars

i'm almost more impressed by the piano composition than the silent movie bit, but its still worth a quick watch...

2010 Space Generation Congress Draws Near

Two of the 20 member US delegation to the 2010 Space Generation Congress will come from the Central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, with newcomer David Brundage and veteran Starla Jo Kiser joining the event with global organizers in Prague late next month.

Brundage, a Wise, Va. native, is a University of Tennessee at Knoxville aerospace major with interests in hypersonics and nuclear fusion space-based propulsion systems. He completed his first NASA Langley internship in the summer of 2010.

Kiser, a Coeburn, Va. native, is a finishing medical and government student at Harvard University with interests in space medicine and astrobiology. An 'Advocate' of the Space Frontier Foundation, she has been involved with the Space Generation Congress since attending her first international space confab at Vancouver, Canada in 2004.

Mars crater formation a mystery, says ESA

Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression near Mars's equator, in the eastern hemisphere of the planet. Located between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons, its formation remains a mystery. More today from the European Space Agency (ESA).

Agate Photos

First of all, friend Andy Mitchell sent me this better photo of the double rainbow we had the other night. My camera would not let me capture the whole rainbow. Thanks, Andy, for allowing me to share this great shot!



The photographer for the book, Tom Shearer, sent me a few photos over the last few weeks. For those who have seen the book and for all of you who view these photos, you can see that Tom is the "go to guy" if you need to get a picture taken of your favorite rocks. If you are interested in hiring Tom to take photos of your treasures, please send me an email to karen@agatelady.com. The first two are of a couple of Lake Superior candy stripers. The next two are Fairburn agates.







Here is a nice agate found by Chris Cooper at the mouth of the Two Hearted River. The large 16 pound agate was found in a swamp by the grandmother of Paul Mihelcich. The agate was found a long time ago in the Keweenaw. The agate was cut by the Seaman Museum. Paul does have both halves.





The next series of agates were found this summer by Joel Brussell in the Grand Marais area.

Mars Atmosphere to be Investigated

One of the instruments on a 2016 mission to orbit Mars will provide daily maps of global, pole-to-pole, vertical distributions of the temperature, dust, water vapor and ice clouds in the Martian atmosphere [vid].

The joint European-American mission, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, will seek faint gaseous clues about possible life on Mars. This instrument, called the ExoMars Climate Sounder, will supply crucial context with its daily profiling of the atmosphere's changing structure.

The European Space Agency and NASA have selected five instruments for ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. The European Space Agency will provide one instrument and the spacecraft. NASA will provide four instruments, including ExoMars Climate Sounder, which is coming from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. More from NASA.

"But where are the Martians?" [new video]

Space Launch News Video Report

bad universe on TV!

phil plait, aka the bad astronomer, has a tv show on the discovery channel!! so if youre in the US, tune in this sunday night at 10pm.

here's a description of the episode: "65 million years ago, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into the Earth wiping out the dinosaurs. Are we in for the same fate? Phil Plait investigates the possibility and tests some explosive measures that may just save our planet."

and here's a preview:



i'm excited for this opportunity for phil and i'm thrilled that he gets to share his enthusiasm and knowledge on TV for the masses! let me know what you think!

Mulit-Planet System Confirmed; 700 More Planets Awaiting Peer Review Confirmation

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star. The transit signatures of two distinct planets were seen in the data for the sun-like star designated Kepler-9. The planets were named Kepler-9b and 9c. The discovery incorporates seven months of observations of more than 156,000 stars as part of an ongoing search for Earth-sized planets outside our solar system. The findings will be published in this week's issue of the journal Science.

In June 2010, Kepler mission scientists submitted findings for peer review that identified more than 700 planet candidates in the first 43 days of Kepler data. The data included five additional candidate systems that appear to exhibit more than one transiting planet. The Kepler team recently identified a sixth target exhibiting multiple transits and accumulated enough followup data to confirm this multi-planet system. More from NASA Ames.

The Kepler Space Telescope, and others, should find hundreds of more planets, [video].

Sixty Symbols: you ask the questions!

the 100th video for the sixty symbols project will be filmed soon! the filmmaker, brady, is asking for you all to submit questions that he can ask us - without us knowing the questions beforehand! i like his advice: don't ask something that you could look up in a textbook or on the internet... see if you can be creative and ask questions we've never been asked before!

i admit, i'm moderately terrified by this idea, but certainly excited to see what you come up with! eek!

you can submit questions directly to brady at sixtysymbols [at] hotmail.co.uk or you can ask me a question in the comments if you want!

Sunsets and Rainbows

We have had a couple of great sunsets in the last few days. Here are a couple of shots taken from my front porch.




When I conducted a lecture the other night and left the museum, I was greeted by one of the best rainbows I have ever seen. It completely arched over Grand Marais bay. It was so big, my camera could not capture the whole rainbow. I think it was extra spectacular because the rainbow happened right at sunset. Thus, the low sun angle seemed to increase the intensity of the rainbow. These pictures don't even do the rainbow justice.




Last night I went over to one of my friend's house. We took a walk on the beach to watch the sunset.



Although you can still see Lonesome point, located on the southeast parat of the bay, it is much diminished from what existed twenty years ago. It has probably eroded back at least a half mile.



This is a shot of the current mouth of the Sucker River. There seems to be a struggle between the river escaping into the bay, the accumulation of new sand.



Soon after the sun set, the full moon made its appearance.

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Corbyn: Magnetic Cycle of Sun, Modulated by the Moon, Impacts Earth Weather

Corbyn is a man worthy of hearing? Perhaps so.

Earth-like planets to be announced today

Scientists Talk Earth-like Worlds

Most detailed image of a sunspot released

The Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) located in Big Bear Lake, California high in the San Bernardino Mountains, has achieved "first light" using a deformable mirror in what is called adaptive optics at BBSO. "This photo of a sunspot is now the most detailed ever obtained in visible light," according to Ciel et l'Espace. In September, the publication, a popular astronomy magazine, will publish several more photos of the Sun taken with BBSO's new adaptive optics system. More from the BBSO.

Whitefish Point -- Post 2

Across the parking lot from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. Even though the dedicated staff (mostly volunteers) are focused on monitoring bird migration, they also are very helpful to rockhounds. If you visit Whitefish Point, make sure to take time to stop by the bird observatory. Here are a couple of shots from their web page. First, a picture of their sign as well as a photo of their building (which has a nice gift shop and an informational/display room), and then an aerial shot of Whitefish Point.





The mission of this group is reprinted below.

The Mission of the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory is to document the distribution and abundance of birds in the Great Lakes Region, with special emphasis on migration. Research projects focus on assessing the status of bird populations and movements. Information acquired will be used to increase knowledge of bird migration, to encourage public awareness of birds and the environment, and to further bird conservation. Whitefish Point is a recognized Important Bird Area (IBA). Whitefish Point was designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) in 2007 due to the fact that 25-40% of the North American population of Red-necked Grebes are annually observed migrating past Whitefish Point.

The Important Bird Areas Program (IBA) is a global effort to identify and conserve areas that are vital to birds and other biodiversity. The Michigan Important Bird Areas Program officially began in March 2006 with the hiring of a coordinator by four managing partners: Michigan Audubon, National Audubon, Detroit Audubon Society, and Kalamazoo Nature Center.

If you are a bird lover, more information is available on their website http://wpbo.org/about/important-bird-areas/.

Here are some photos of the owl and piping plover displays, as well as a shot of their bird sighting board.