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"Mark your calendar: The 2008 Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12th and it should be a good show. "The time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday, August 12th," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
"There should be plenty of meteors--perhaps one or two every minute."
The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is far away, currently located beyond the orbit of Uranus, a trail of debris from the comet stretches all the way back to Earth. Crossing the trail in August, Earth will be pelted by specks of comet dust hitting the atmosphere at 132,000 mph."
The conference is sponsored by the new NASA Lunar Science Institute at NASA Ames and the Lunar and Planetary Institute of the Houston area.
Dr. Everett Gibson, an astrobiologist from NASA Johnson Space Center - and the Moon, during the NASA Lunar Science Conference held at NASA Ames Research Center from July 20-23, 2008.
On Sunday July 20th, NASA Ames held a public day in celebration of the 39th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Landing on the Moon at their NASA Exploration Visitors Center. There were displays, NASA scientists talking about the lunar soil, and activities for children including making a lunar rocket, building an edible solar system, and a hands-on activity about lunar craters.
The understanding craters activity involved dropping a metal object into a tray of flour, powdered cocoa and rock-like clumps of flour simulating the Moon's surface. A photographer (in the background) takes a photo at the exact moment of impact that is then shown on the screen (upper center) capturing the flying debris that the impact creates.
This is an demonstation of what one of NASA's future lunar spacecraft called Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) will do when it sends an impactor to the Moon's surface during its mission to study the debris with instruments on its orbiting satellite.
"NASA wants to move up launch dates for its next two shuttle missions to ensure the second can be sent up before a window of opportunity closes in late November, officials said Tuesday. Advertisement
But it is unlikely NASA can advance the Oct. 8 launch of a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission more than a couple days.
And a proposed six-day move for a Nov. 10 launch would put liftoff of an International Space Station supply run on the same day as the 2008 presidential election."
NASA scientists are suggesting that before sending humans back to the moon, we should launch plants there and watch them grow.
Dr. Chris McKay, my former astrobiology mentor at NASA, and plant biologist Dr. Robert Ferl of the University of Florida, presented their plan at a meeting of lunar scientists at NASA Ames this week.
The idea is simple: Fly a simple plant habitat to the moon. Bring along seeds (you don't have to care for them or feed them on the launch pad or the flight out). Germinate them inside your lunar plant-growth module on the surface and see how they cope with the low gravity, temperature and pressure as well as the high radiation by monitoring their gene expression. You can even go a step further and add lunar soil to the chamber to monitor the toxicity of the soil or the content of the soil."
"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The same Ohio State University researcher who is helping rovers navigate on Mars is leading a new effort to help humans navigate on the moon.
When NASA returns to the moon -- the space agency has set a target date of 2020 to do so -- astronauts won't be able to use a global positioning system (GPS) to find their way around, explained Ron Li, the Lowber B. Strange Designated Professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science.
So NASA has awarded Li $1.2 million over the next three years to develop a navigation system that will feel a lot like GPS to the astronauts that use it, but will rely on signals from a set of sensors including lunar beacons, stereo cameras, and orbital imaging sensors. "
NASA and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library based in San Francisco, made available the most comprehensive compilation ever of NASA's vast collection of photographs, historic film and video Thursday.
On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) hosted NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Secretary of Agriculture Edward T. Schafer during the signing of a memorandum of understanding to enable the USDA's Agricultural Research Service to conduct plant related research on the International Space Station.
Researchers using a fleet of five NASA satellites have discovered that explosions of magnetic energy a third of the way to the moon power substorms that cause sudden brightenings and rapid movements of the aurora borealis, called the Northern Lights.
NASA satellites, aircraft, and research know-how have created a wealth of cutting-edge tools to help firefighters battle wildfires. These tools also have helped scientists understand the impact of fires and smoke on Earth's climate and ecosystems.
Software used to define safety margins for spacecraft re-entries and detect planets outside our solar system are co-winners of the 2007 Software of the Year Award.
What do you think is the best reason to continue the International Space Station Program?
Submit
Sign up to send your name to the moon. Names will be collected and placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its historic mission bringing NASA back to the moon. You will also receive a certificate showcasing your support of the mission.
The deadline is July 25, 2008 for the submission of names.
LRO's objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.
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