Steps into Space - Commercialisation, Occupation, Colonization: 03/11/16

Friday, 11 March 2016

What's eating at Pluto?

more »
Far in the western hemisphere, scientists on NASA's New Horizons mission have discovered what looks like a giant "bite mark" on Pluto's surface. They suspect it may be caused by a process known as sublimation -- the transition of a substance from a solid to a gas. The methane ice-rich surface on Pluto may be sublimating away into the atmosphere, exposing a layer of water-ice underneath, they report.
via Science Daily
Zazzle Space Exploration market place

NASA Targets May 2018 Launch of Mars InSight Mission

more »
NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission to study the deep interior of Mars is targeting a new launch window that begins May 5, 2018, with a Mars landing scheduled for Nov. 26, 2018.
via Science Daily
Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Unpacking space radiation to control astronaut, earthbound cancer risk

more »
Personalizing the assessment of cancer risk due to space radiation may let NASA pinpoint astronauts who could withstand higher doses, removing one barrier to a trip to Mars.
via Science Daily
Zazzle Space Exploration market place

World's thinnest lens to revolutionize cameras

more »
Scientists have created the world's thinnest lens, one two-thousandth the thickness of a human hair, opening the door to flexible computer displays and a revolution in miniature cameras. Researchers have said the discovery hinged on the remarkable potential of the molybdenum disulphide crystal.
via Science Daily

ExoMars updates

Follow updates as we count down to the launch of ExoMars on Monday
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/ExoMars_launch_updates

Lunar Shadow Transit

This snapshot from deep space captures planet Earth on March 9. The shadow of its large moon is falling on the planet's sunlit hemisphere. Tracking toward the east (left to right) across the ocean-covered world the moon shadow moved quickly in the direction of the planet's rotation. Of course, denizens of Earth located close to the shadow track centerline saw this lunar shadow transit as a brief, total eclipse of the Sun. From a spacebased perspective between Earth and Sun, the view of this shadow transit was provided by the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC).

Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old