NASA TV Coverage Set for Orbital Sciences Demonstration Mission

NASA Television will air pre- and post-launch news conferences and provide live launch coverage of Orbital Sciences Corporation's cargo resupply demonstration mission to the International Space Station.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-tv-coverage-set-for-orbital-sciences-demonstration-mission

NASA Exercises Option on Engineering and Scientific Services Contract

NASA has exercised the first option under its contract with Vantage Partners LLC of Lanham, Md., to continue providing engineering and scientific support services to the agency's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-exercises-option-on-engineering-and-scientific-services-contract-0

NASA Awards Center Maintenance, Operations and Engineering Contract

NASA has selected Jacobs Technology, Inc., of Tullahoma, Tenn., to provide core support services at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., in the areas of institutional and research operations, maintenance and engineering.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-awards-center-maintenance-operations-and-engineering-contract

Tarantula Nebula iPhone 5 Covers

Here's a great product from Zazzle featuring an astronomy case. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

what do you think of this one? I bumped into it and thought it was cool. By battletrek,
another talented artist from the Zazzle community!

Tarantula Nebula iPhone 5 Covers

Tarantulas are scary, but Tarantula Nebulas are not. So why not have one on your phone?

»visit the battletrek store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

The Active Cigar Galaxy - Messier 82 Square Stickers

Here's a great sheet of stickers featuring a beautiful image from deep space

The Active Cigar Galaxy - Messier 82 Square Stickers

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

Composite of images of the active galaxy Messier 82 from the three Great Observatories: Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and Spitzer Space Telescope. X-ray data recorded by Chandra appears here in blue, infrared light recorded by Spitzer appears in red. Hubble's observation of hydrogen emission appears in orange. Hubble's bluest observation appears in yellow-green.

All items with this image
All items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series
Image code: agmet

Image credit: Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope
Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Detecting biomarkers on faraway planets

more »

(Phys.org) —On Earth, life leaves telltale signals in the atmosphere. Photosynthesis is ultimately responsible for the high oxygen levels and the thick ozone layer. Microbes emit methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, and seaweeds emit chloromethane gas. These chemicals, when present in sufficient quantities, are indicators of life and are known as atmospheric biomarkers. Detecting them in the atmosphere of an exoplanet should, in theory, be a means of discovering whether life exists on any alien worlds.



Zazzle Space market place

Hubble catches a spiral in the air pump

more »

(Phys.org) —Lying more than 110 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Antlia (The Air Pump) is the spiral galaxy IC 2560, shown here in an image from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. At this distance it is a relatively nearby spiral galaxy, and is part of the Antlia cluster—a group of over 200 galaxies held together by gravity. This cluster is unusual; unlike most other galaxy clusters, it appears to have no dominant galaxy within it.



Zazzle Space market place

Astronomers unravel 20-year dark matter mystery with new computer models

more »

(Phys.org) —Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin believe they have discovered the answer to a 20-year debate over how the mysterious cosmic "dark matter" is distributed in small galaxies. Graduate student John Jardel and his advisor Karl Gebhardt found that the distribution, on average, follows a simple law of decreasing density from the galaxy's center, although the exact distribution often varies from galaxy to galaxy. The findings are published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.



Zazzle Space market place

Saturn Solar Eclipse Posters

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space

Saturn Solar Eclipse Posters

You may think that this is a fake image, but it is actually a real photo taken from the Cassini space craft of Saturn eclipsing the Sun. The rings glow brightly as the light filters through them and the reflect that light all the way around to the back of the planet creating a surreal effect.A special surprise in the photo is that, just to the left of the rings, that bright blue dot is Earth, where you're sitting right now. This is truly a fascinating and beautiful image.Courtesy of NASA and JPL.
Click to customize with size, paper type etc.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

New magnetic semiconductor material holds promise for 'spintronics'

more »

Researchers have created a new compound that can be integrated into silicon chips and is a dilute magnetic semiconductor -- meaning that it could be used to make "spintronic" devices, which rely on magnetic force to operate, rather than electrical currents.

via Science Daily

Spectrometer will help astrobiologists hunt for traces of Martian life

more »

An instrument similar to those used on Earth by art detectives and to sense explosives at airports will be taken into space for the first time by ExoMars, the European Space Agency's mission to Mars in 2018. This Raman spectrometer will help space scientists hunt for traces of Martian life.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Cyborg astrobiologist uses phone-cam to search for signs of life

more »

A novel, hybrid part-human, part-machine visual system that uses a simple mobile phone camera has been developed to search for evidence of past or present life in planetary analogue sites on Earth.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Phaethon confirmed as rock comet by STEREO vision

more »

The Sun-grazing asteroid, Phaethon, has betrayed its true nature by showing a comet-like tail of dust particles blown backwards by radiation pressure from the Sun. Unlike a comet, however, Phaethon’s tail doesn’t arise through the vaporization of an icy nucleus. During its closest approach to the Sun, researchers believe that Phaethon becomes so hot that rocks on the surface crack and crumble to dust under the extreme heat.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Water hidden in the Moon may have proto-Earth origin

more »

Water found in ancient Moon rocks might have actually originated from the proto-Earth and even survived the Moon-forming event. Scientists have studied the amount of water within lunar rocks returned during the Apollo missions.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

New technique efficiently resolves chemistry of nanoparticles

more »

(Phys.org) —A new technique from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and FEI Company lets scientists efficiently resolve elements' locations in three dimensions. The team's technique combines scanning transmission electron microscopy and X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry with a new detector arrangement and a brighter electron beam. The result is a three-dimensional map of the elements' placement on a sample smaller than a single blood cell. The team applied this technique to a lithium-rich nickel-based material that could be part of tomorrow's batteries. They discovered how nickel was segregating away from other elements on the material's surface.



Zazzle Space market place

Quantum tunnelling could aid life's chemistry in the coldest places

more »

New research has revealed that chemical reactions previously thought to be 'impossible' in space actually occur 'with vigour,' a discovery that could ultimately change our understanding of how alcohols are formed and destroyed in space - and which could also mean that places like Saturn's moon Titan, once considered too cold for life to form, may have a shortcut for biochemical reactions.



Zazzle Space market place

The Pinwheel Galaxy iPhone 5 Cover

Here's a great product from Zazzle featuring an astronomy case. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

it's always a pleasure to choose a design from battletrek,
another talented artist from the Zazzle community!

The Pinwheel Galaxy iPhone 5 Cover

Even if your phone isn't a Galaxy S, you can have a galaxy on your phone!

»visit the battletrek store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!