NEWS

1.Celebrate the Holidays, From Space!                            Dec 1st 2010

Its December, so many people are getting ready to celebrate … something, be it Hanukkah, Christmas, Winter Solstice, National Pie Day (today!), Emily Dickinson’s birthday (Dec. 10) or National Wear Plunger on Your Head Day (Dec. 18), or just being able to get together with family or having some time off work.

To help you celebrate, there are lots of online spacey goodies. The Zooniverse started theZooniverse Advent Calendar, similar to the one-a-day-chocolate-treat calendars we all love, but this calendar includes a surprise each day such as special images, downloads and even a couple of very big pieces of news (since no one has figured out how to send chocolate over the web, yet.

for more info log on to http://www.universetoday.com/80990/celebrate-the-holidays-from-space/#more-80990

2.Lockheed Martin Wants to Launch Orion Spacecraft – on a Delta IV Heavy                     Dec 1st 2010

If everything goes according to their plan - Lockheed Martin would have their Orion spacecraft launch on a Delta IV Heavy rocket. Image Credit: NASA

After the announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) one of the proposals to reduce the space flight ‘gap’ between the shuttle program and the Constellation Program was to attach the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to a Delta IV Heavy rocket. With all the political wrangling this simple solution appeared lost – or so it was thought. The idea of man-rating a Delta IV heavy never seemed to quite fade away and now a plan is under way to launch theOrion spacecraft on top of one of these massive launch vehicles – within the next three years.

  for more info follow the link http://www.universetoday.com/80968/lockheed-martin-wants-to-launch-orion-spacecraft-on-a-delta-iv-heavy/

2.First Super-Earth Atmosphere Observed            DEC 1ST 2010

Artist’s impression of GJ 1214b

With the recent milestone of the discovery of the 500th extra solar planet the future of planetary astronomy is promising. As the number of known planets increases so does our knowledge. With the addition of observations of atmospheres of transiting planets,astronomers are gaining a fuller picture of how planets form and live.

Thus far, the observations of atmospheres have been limited to the “Hot-Jupiter” type of planets which often puff up, extending their atmospheres and making them easier to observe. However, a recent set of observations, to be published in the December 2nd issue of Nature, have pushed the lower limit and extended observations of exoplanetary atmospheres to a super-Earth.

for more info follow the link  

http://www.universetoday.com/80687/first-super-earth-atmosphere-observed/

4.Red Dwarf Discovery Changes Everything!         Dec 1st 2010

Artists Impression of a Red Dwarf (courtesy NASA)

Its often said that the number of grains of sand on Earth equals the number of stars in the Universe. Well it looks like a recent study by astronomers working at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii have found that its more like three times the number of grains of sand on Earth! Working with some of the most sophisticated equipment available, astronomers from Yale University have been counting the number of dim red dwarf stars in nearby galaxies which has led to a dramatic rethink of the number of stars in the Universe.

for more info follow the link  

http://www.universetoday.com/80955/red-dwarf-discovery-changes-everything/#more-80955

5.ε Eridani’s Dust Disc                                  Dec 1st 2010

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This artist's conception shows the closest known planetary system to our own, called Epsilon Eridani. Credit: NASA/JPL/Caltech

Many stars have been discovered to have narrow discs of warm dust surrounding them. Since dynamical effects with the star‘s solar winds should clear these out over long timescales, it’s presumed that these must be recently formed, likely through collisions of small rocky bodies in an asteroid or Kuiper belt. Such a disc has been detected around the nearby star ε Eridani. However, ε Eridani is also known to harbor one planet at a distance of 3.4 AU, and a second one at 40 AU is suspected. Because of this inner planet, any asteroid belt that close would be dynamically unstable as well and should have been cleared out long ago rendering the system incapable of producing dust in this region. So where did ε Eridani get this dust? A new studyinvestigates this.

for more info follow the link   http://www.universetoday.com/80948/eridanis-dust-disc/

6.Falcon 9 Ready for Second Flight – Dragon for First   Dec 1st 2010

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft is set to launch from Cape Canaveral on Dec. 7. Image Credit: SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is preparing to conduct the first demonstration launch for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, utilizing its Falcon 9 rocket. This first test flight appears to be holding solid for its targeted liftoff on Tuesday, Dec. 7. Launch will take place from the company’s launch site at Launch Complex 40 located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

for more info follow the link     http://www.universetoday.com/80872/falcon-9-ready-for-second-flight-dragon-for-first/#more-80872

7.Secret Mini Space Shuttle Could Land on Friday    Dec 1st 2010

The X-37B spaceplane sits on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base during prelaunch taxi tests. Credit: U.S. Air Force

The US Air Force announced that the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, a miniature, unmannedspace shuttle could return to Earth as soon as this Friday, December 3. It has been in Earth orbit for about nine months on a classified mission for the military. It will land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Los Angeles sometime between Friday and Monday, Air Force officials said in a statement. The exact time of touchdown will depend on weather conditions and technical factors.