NASA ordered the Genesis spacecraft to close up its particle collectors this week, to prepare its sample-return capsule to enter the Earth's atmosphere. Over the last three years, Genesis has been collecting particles blown by the Sun on a special array made from exotic materials. This material should give scientists detailed information about the composition of the Sun. Genesis will release its capsule on September 8, 2004, and helicopter pilots will snag it in mid-air with giant hooks.

After 15 years of observation, over the course of more than 1,000 nights, a European team of astronomers has collected the most thorough survey of our local stellar neighborhood. The team performed an analysis of more than 14,000 stars to calculate their distance, age, chemical analysis, velocity and orbit around the Milky Way. Each star was measured 4 times over the course of this period. It turns out that the motion of stars through the Milky Way is much more chaotic and turbulent than previously thought.

Most of the asteroid sky surveys have been carried out in the Northern Hemisphere, but astronomers from the University of Arizona have taken the hunt down under. They're using a refurbished telescope at the Australian National University's Siding Spring Observatory. The new survey is funded by NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Survey, that hopes to locate 90% of the spacerocks larger than 1 kilometre, which have the potential to cause severe devastation if they strike the Earth.

On March 22, 2004, the ESA/NASA SOHO solar observatory spacecraft observed its 750th comet since its launch in late 1995. SOHO has a special instrument that blocks out the glare of the Sun, and allows it to see comets that graze the Sun. Amateur astronomers from around the world analyze the photographs taken by SOHO, which are published on the Internet - more than 75% of the discoveries have been made by amateurs. This one was discovered by Sebastian H?nig from Germany.

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory captured a rare event in January when Saturn's moon, Titan, passed in front of the Crab Nebula. The large moon was illuminated by the X-rays from the nebula, so it cast a shadow. This allowed astronomers to measure its atmosphere in the X-ray spectrum to be about 880 kilometres thick. This might be the first transit of Titan over the Crab Nebula since it was formed from a supernova explosion in 1054.

Since it was awarded a contract to study the feasibility of return samples of Mars back Earth, EADS Space has come up with two different directions. The first is to launch the sample ascent vehicle from the surface of Mars and dock with the return vehicle in space. In the second design, the ascent vehicle would reach orbit and then eject the samples for the return vehicle to "catch". How the samples are returned to Earth will make a big difference on the mission's cost, mass and complexity.

SpaceDev announced on Thursday that it has won a $43 million contract to build micro satellites for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The four-phase, five-year contract will see SpaceDev build a micro satellite distributed sensing experiment (three to six microsats), and an option for a laser communications experiment. SpaceDev launched its first and only satellite, CHIPSat, just over a year ago.

An international team of astronomers have mapped a sizable region of space around the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and have found the wreckage of many galaxies, torn apart by its massive gravity. One stream of stars has been found stretching back 50,000 to a satellite galaxy which is in the process of being consumed. They also found 14 globular star clusters floating far from Andromeda's centre; the remnants of destroyed galaxies. By studying these galactic fossils, astronomers can better understand the evolution of Andromeda.

Radio astronomers have successfully measured an object that surrounds the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. The centre of our galaxy lies 26,000 light-years from Earth, but it's normally obscured by gas and dust, so visible light telescopes can't see it. By focusing on the object, called Sagittarius A, with high radio wavelengths, the astronomers were determine that its size is as about the same as the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The supermassive black hole at the centre is likely the size of the orbit of Mercury, but it contains 4 million solar masses.

NASA's Spirit Rover has found a rock that seems to have been acted on by water in the past. The rock is called "Mazatzal", and lies partially buried near the rim of the Crater Bonneville; its light-toned appearance caught the eye of NASA scientists. Spirit used its rock abrasion tool to grind under the surface, and found a darker interior with a bright stripe that cut across both layers. This seems to indicate a fracture that water flowed through. More data about the rock is being transferred back to Earth while Spirit drives to Columbia Hills, located 2.3 kilometres away.

The Gravity Probe B spacecraft, which is designed to test two predictions of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, has been scheduled to launch on April 17. The spacecraft will use four precise gyroscopes to determine how space and time are distorted by the gravity of the Earth and its rotation. The spacecraft will orbit the Earth once every 90 minutes, and gather data for more than a year, comparing any drift in its gyroscopes to the position of a guide star.

Here's the latest desktop wallpaper of Saturn (1024x768), taken by Cassini when it was 56.4 million kilometres from Saturn. The resolution is about 25% better than its last full image, taken a month ago, and you can see fine details, like spots in the atmosphere. Three of Saturn's moons are also visible in this image: Mimas, Dione, and Enceladus. Cassini will arrive at Saturn this summer.

The European Space Agency will be supplying technology to assist adventurer Bertrand Piccard's attempt to fly a solar-powered plane around the world. Piccard was part of the team that successfully flew a balloon around the Earth. The solar powered plane will have a 70-metre wingspan (larger than a Boeing 747), and carry enough batteries to be able to fly in the night as well. The plane would fly at an altitude of 10 km; well above the clouds to capture all the available sunlight. The first round-the-world attempt will be made some time after 2009.

Although more than 100 planetary systems have been discovered, astronomers have only found large, Jupiter-sized planets. The real prize will be to discover Earth-sized planets in orbits where liquid water could be present. A new simulation by a team from Open University "injected" Earth-sized planets into the habitable zone of the star systems already discovered. About half of the systems already found could have Earth-sized planets in stable orbits in the habitable zone. It will still be several years before there are instruments built that can detect them.

A survey with the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) has revealed dozens of miniature galaxies the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster. These are a class of galaxies known as "ultra compact dwarfs" (UCDs). These objects were completely unknown until a few years ago, and now astronomers believe that they are very common. Perhaps they are leftover primordial building blocks that merged together to form larger galaxies. They are incredibly small, only about 120 light-years across, but they can contain tens of millions of stars.

Venus, currently the brightest "star" in the sky, will spend the next few days passing through the Pleiades star cluster, making for a beautiful sky show. Venus is easy to see, it's that blazingly bright "star" high in the Western sky after sunset. Pleiades is much dimmer; a collection of young stars that looks like a miniature dipper that's hard to see in polluted city skies. On April 2, Venus will be right below the cluster; on April 3 it will be in the handle; and then April 4 it will have passed completely through. Find some dark skies over the next few nights to really appreciate the view - it won't happen again for another 8 years.

Saturn's moon Titan is the largest in the Solar System; at 5,150 km in diameter, it's larger than Mercury and Pluto. It's unique because it has an unusual hazy atmosphere of nitrogen, methane, and hydrocarbons. The Voyager spacecraft took a quick look at Titan, but Cassini and the Huygen spacecraft will make detailed observations when they arrive later this year. Until then, huge observatories on Earth are working to gather as much information as possible about Titan. This will help give some perspective when the spacecraft arrive, and optimize the data they gather.

Instead of sending single, high-risk spacecraft to explore the solar system, researchers are thinking of ways to send fleets of co-operating spacecraft to get the job done. There are many advantages to this method: decreased risk of losing the whole mission if a spacecraft fails, lowered launch costs, the ability to replace a failed instrument by sending a replacement. Swarms of rovers could crawl the surface of Mars, or explore the oceans of Titan.

When the European Space Agency's Huygens probe reaches Titan early next year, it might encounter a hydrocarbon ocean different from anything we have here on Earth. Researchers have calculated what these oceans might look like, and found that the waves might be 7 times higher, but move more slowly and be further apart. Other scientists think Titan's surface is covered by an icy hard layer or maybe a hydrocarbon sludge. We'll find out for sure when the probe reaches Saturn's moon on January 14, 2005.

In order the represent the Universe mathematically, physicists use a handful of constants, such as the speed of light, or the gravitational constant. One called the "fine structure constant", or alpha, helps describe how the forces hold atoms together and interact with light. Researchers recently revealed that alpha might have changed over the history of the Universe, but a new study from the European Southern Observatory refutes this evidence. By studying the light from a distant quasar with a high degree of precision, they found that alpha doesn't seem to have changed over time.

Mark Mortimer reviewed Lost in Space yesterday (read the review), but he had a few more questions to author Greg Klerkx about his opinions about NASA and the impact of space exploration on society. Considering the book was released just before the new Bush Moon/Mars policy was announced, many of Klerkx's insights into the space agency become more relevant as the agency works to implement a return to the Moon. Mark put his questions to Greg, and here's what he had to say...

Scientists consider the discovery of methane in the Martian atmosphere to be one of the strongest indicators of habitable conditions for life. Methane can be produced through both biological and non-biological processes, but it degrades very quickly - it should disappear within 300 years in the Martian atmosphere. So what's producing it? The last period of volcanism seems to be millions of years ago (Olympus Mons was active 100 million years ago). That's doesn't necessarily mean life, though. There could still be volcanic vents gassing methane which haven't been discovered.

When the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft reaches Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it will send down the Philae lander to the surface. Landing on a comet has never been done, and it's as hard to do as it sounds. The lander will need to be able to deal with any kind of surface, from solid ice to fluffy snow. The comet's gravity is very weak, so the spacecraft could bounce off the surface if it descends too quickly. The lander is equipped with pads that spread its weight over a large area to stop it from sinking into powdery snow. It also has a harpoon that will fire as it gets close to stop the lander from drifting back into space. We'll find out if it works in 2014.

The European Space Agency has confirmed reports that Mars Express has measured methane in the Martian atmosphere. The presence of methane - 10 parts per billion - was confirmed using the spacecraft's Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), which can detect the chemical in trace amounts. This isn't a lot of methane, but it has to be produced by some ongoing process such as volcanoes... or by life. The spacecraft will continue to measure the presence of methane in the atmosphere, mapping out the planet to find where it's concentrated. This will help to confirm or rule out volcanic gasses.

Lost In Space, The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age by Greg Klerkx, is a book about space which could have easily been entitled "Space Dreamers versus the Establishment". Of course there is no harm in dreaming and dreams are an essential part of being an abstract thinking human being. However, reality, like an extremely cold shower, can reduce dreams to a ghostly image trapped somewhere in the back of your mind. Greg Klerkx sees his dream of space, a defining element of our species, getting a thorough dousing from both big business and government - and he doesn't like it.

A NASA X-43A prototype scramjet aircraft performed a successful test on Saturday, reaching a top speed of Mach 7. The X-43A was mounted to the front of a Pegasus rocket which was dropped from a B-52 bomber. The rocket carried it to an altitude of 29,000 metres and then the X-43A fired its scramjet for 10 seconds, extinguishing its hydrogen fuel supply. It flew for a few more minutes to record aerodynamic data. Another test flight is scheduled for later this year.

Once Spirit wraps up its observations of Crater Bonneville, it will begin the long journey to reach the Columbia Hills, located 2.3 kilometres away. The trip is likely to take 2-3 months, because the rover will stop along the way to analyze anything of interest; some potential targets are a few smaller craters and some trails left by dust devils. The rover's final task at Bonneville will be to analyze some light-coloured rock on the crater's rim. Spirit has been on the surface of Mars for 12 weeks now.

Space Adventures announced today that Gregory Olsen will be their next private space tourism client. He's expected to launch for the International Space Station on board a Soyuz rocket some time in 2005, maybe before. Dr. Olsen is the head of Princeton-based Sensors Unlimited and paid an estimated $20 million for the trip. Olsen is hoping to do some science while on board the station, testing his company's equipment and performing some experiments on crystal growth; but his main goal is to use the trip to help build enthusiasm for space exploration with young people.

Theorists are working madly to develop the new "Theory of Everything" that will tie together all the forces in the Universe into one unified explanation. Experimenters are also working to come up with ways to test these various theories, and narrow down the ones that actually predict what happens in Nature. One upcoming experiment called LATOR will test how the Sun's gravity bends light emitted by mini-satellites - it will be so precise that many theories will be invalidated if it doesn't find deviations from Einstein's predictions.

The European Space Agency has successfully tested a new tracking system that will allow its new automated cargo ship dock to the International Space Station. The "videometer" (VDM) is a device attached to the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) which uses eye-like sensors to track the position and orientation of the station to dock with it. The device was tested in a 600-metre long building, with the VDM guiding a simulated vehicle approaching a station mockup. It locked on at 313 metres and guided the simulated vehicle into dock perfectly on the first test.

A series of 30 images of Saturn taken by Cassini from February 15-19 have been blended together into a mini-movie that shows 5 complete rotations of the ringed planet. The images were taken using Cassini's 889 nanometer filter, which shows light reflected high in Saturn's atmosphere, so they reveal the highest altitude clouds. Atmospheric motions can clearly be seen in the planet's southern regions.

As you've probably heard, NASA has cancelled a future mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. This means that Hubble will likely stop functioning in the next few years. If you're interested in convincing NASA to continue missions to Hubble, you'll want to contact your member of congress and encourage them to sponsor H. Res 550. Here's the full text of the resolution. Right now there are 41 members of congress who support the resolution, but organizers want to get to 100 to make an impact. They need to sign the resolution by April 1, 2004. You can call your member of congress by calling the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to speak to his or her Legislative Assistant in charge of space policy, and then explain to that person that the congressman should become a cosponsor of H. Res 550.

If you want more Hubble wallpapers, then you need to make the call. :-)

Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today

Researcher Dr. Mike Duke has been working for several years to create a rover that could use lunar dust to create propellant for use by future explorers. Over the course of four years, Duke and his team have created a robotic excavator that can scoop up soil. In the future, this excavator could deliver the soil to a Moon-based extraction system that would process the soil to draw out hydrogen. In a future scenario, propellant created on the Moon could be launched back into space to refill spacecraft relatively inexpensively.

NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory has found unexpectedly large quantities of magnesium in an exploded star called N49B. N49B exploded as a supernova approximately 10,000 years ago, and it seems to have ejected a mass of magnesium equal to the mass of our Sun - this would make the original star 1,000 times larger than the Sun. High concentrations of magnesium usually correspond to high concentrations of oxygen in a star, but this wasn't the case with N49B. So how did the extra magnesium get there?

The spiral shape of the Martian icecaps has puzzled astronomers since they were discovered. No place on Earth, or in the rest of the solar system has this structure. But what causes them? The icecaps are illuminated by the Sun at a low angle, so the light only hits one side of crevices. Some of the ice turns directly to water vapour and floats across the crevice; it refreezes on the part of the crevice in shadow. This slowly moves ice around on the icecap. A researcher from the University of Arizona has created a simulation which matches the observed structure of the Martian icecaps, including the irregularities.

Greece and Luxembourg have been approved to join the European Space Agency; they should become full members of the agency on December 1, 2005. Greece applied to join the agency in October 2003, and Luxembourg in December 2003. The ESA council unanimously accepted their applications. Until their full acceptance, the two countries have been granted observer status, so they can attend ESA meetings and familiarize themselves with procedures and working practices.

The European Space Agency's Envisat satellite took this latest image of the mouth of the Yangtze River; the longest river in Asia, and the third longest river in the world. The image was taken using Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), which is designed to measure ocean colour. This image shows how the Yangtze's sediment discharges into the East China Sea, and colours the coastline.

Opportunity took a last look back at the 22-metre "Eagle Crater" that it called home for two months while providing incredible evidence of Mars' watery past. This panoramic photo shows just how flat the Meridiani Planum region is. The area is surrounded by windblown sand, which indicates that wind is the primary geologic process going on here. There are two interesting depressions in the ground that Opportunity will examine before heading off to another crater.

The European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft completed its 250th orbit this week on its long, slow journey to the Moon. The spacecraft's solar-powered ion engine is being turned on for 1.5 hours at the low point of each orbit. This slowly (and efficiently) raises the spacecraft in larger and larger orbits until it finally gets caught by the Moon's gravity - then it will decrease its orbit until it's going around the Moon. This whole journey will take 16 months, with SMART-1 arriving in lunar orbit in March 2005.

NASA has scheduled March 27 for the next flight for the experimental X-43A research vehicle. The unpiloted 4-metre prototype will be carried to supersonic speeds on the front of a Pegasus rocket. It will then fly under its own power using an air-breathing scramjet engine to reach Mach 7. A scramjet scoops oxygen from the air as it flies, and uses this to combust its fuel. This is the second test of a X-43A prototype; the first was destroyed because of a problem with the Pegasus booster.

NASA announced today that Opportunity has found evidence that the rocks around it were built up at the bottom of an ancient Martian salty ocean. The rover has found evidence of cross-bedding, where inclined layers of rocks are formed through sedimentation. Scientists aren't sure how long ago the sediments were created, so they're planning to send Opportunity to another outcropping of rock to make more observations. These kinds of rock formations are ideal for finding fossil evidence of past life; unfortunately, Opportunity's instruments aren't sensitive enough to see fossils if they're there.

Dark matter is a mystery. Astronomers know it's there because they can measure the effect of its gravity on stars and galaxies, but they can't see it. One theory about the nature of dark matter is that it's composed of theoretical subatomic particles called Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPS). A team from Italy believed they detected these WIMPs back in 1998, but other scientists were skeptical. A researcher from the University of Utah has proposed that the Italians search for different streams of particles coming from different galaxies to validate their original experiment.

Astronomers have measured the light from a supernova, and believe that it was inside a very unusual star system when it exploded. The team used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile to analyze the light from supernova 2002ic, and determined that it was inside a flat, dense, clumpy disk of dust and gas that was previously blown out by a companion star. It seems similar to objects known as protoplanetary nebulae, which are found in our own Milky Way.

NASA's Opportunity has crawled out of the crater it landed in, and turned back to survey its old home. Getting out of the hole wasn't as easy as NASA originally thought it was going to be. The Opportunity made an attempt to drive out of the crater, but the slope was so steep it slipped back down. Operators finally found a route that was gentle enough for the rover to get out and onto the plains above. The 22-metre crater has been named "Eagle Crater"

Amateur astronomer Jay McNeil made a lucky discovery last month when he noticed a new smudge of dust in the constellation of Orion using his 3-inch telescope - it turned out McNeil had discovered a nebula surrounding a newborn star that was illuminated when the star flared up. After his discovery, observatories around the world turned their larger instruments on "McNeil's Nebula" to get a better understanding of what's happening in this stellar nursery. This latest image was taken by the 8-metre Gemini observatory in Hawaii.