Friday, April 19, 2013
NASA Scientists are finding hope for life on other planets. Do you think other intelligent life forms could exist outside of our solar system?
Scientists announced Thursday the discovery of three planets in a "habitable zone," outside our own solar system. NASA's Kepler mission, described the trio as super-Earth-size planets. Scientists do not know whether life could exist on these newfound planets, but their discovery signals we are another step closer to finding a world similar to Earth around a star like our sun. The Kepler space telescope, which monitors the brightness of more than 150,000 stars, is NASA's first mission capable of detecting Earth-size planets around stars like our sun. Two of the newly discovered planets orbit a star smaller and cooler than the sun. One of the planets, referred to as Kepler-62f, is only 40 percent larger than Earth, making it the exoplanet …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
It's official! Mars could have supported life.
Primitive life could have once lived on ancient Mars NASA officials announced Tuesday. Rock samples collected by NASA's Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes. "A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "From what we know now, the answer is yes." The rover Curiosity landed on Mars seven months ago to begin its two-year investigation into whether Mars could had supported life. Twenty percent of the sample was made up of clay minerals, which is believed to be a product of the reaction of water with other minerals in the sediment. NASA…
Monday, March 11, 2013
Comet PANSTARRS is the closet to the sun today which makes it bright but difficult to see.
Comet PANSTARRS might be at its brightest tonight, reports NASA. Scientists say the ability to see a comet without the aid of a telescope usually happens only once every five to 10 years. In 2013 however, sky watchers might have the opportunity to see two comets with the naked-eye, including the comet PANSTARRS (or Pan-STARRS) which is visible throughout March and Comet ISON, which will be in our skies this fall. The opportunity to see Comet PANSTARRS is only available every 100 million years, reports space.com. PANSTARRS will be be visible in the Northern Hemisphere for about 15 minutes after sunset until the end of March. To see Comet PANSTARRS, look to the west after right after the sun goes down. On Sunday, Mar. 10, the comet will…
Monday, March 4, 2013
Image of capital region at night was taken on the International Space Station.
NASA is known for supplying some of the most engaging images of planets, asteroids, galaxies, stars and other celestial bodies. Now, the U.S. space agency is enthralling us with images of our own planet. Chris Hatfield, commander of the current International Space Station mission, released a stunning image via Twitter of the Washington area from a height of 230 miles this week. In the image, you can clearly make out the convergence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, as well as some details of the infamous street layout of the city. The image is the latest in a series of Earth-focused images from NASA. In November, 2012, NASA released a book, “Earth as Art,” a series of 75 images that feature dazzling colors, shapes and textures of the …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The comet was discovered by two amateur astronomers in September.
Forget the Hunter's Moon in 2013, there is a new comet in town. Local skywatchers might get to see a spectacular Hunter's Comet — the newly discovered comet ISON. A NASA astronomer says ISON's fiery tail may be visible to those watching the night sky between October 2013 and January 2014. And the comet may hove into view without the help of a telescope. It all depends on whether the sun's heat vaporizes ices in the comet's body, scientists say in an article posted in the Huffington Post. Comet ISON will fly within 1.2 million miles from the sun's center on Nov. 28, 2013, astronomer Donald Yeomans, head of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif, told the San Jose Mercury News. If the comet …
Friday, July 8, 2011
Roger Guillemette, of Little Compton, blogged from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Friday morning for space.com for the final launch of NASA's storied space shuttle program.
NASA's historical shuttle program came to a close Friday with its final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. Little Compton resident Roger Guillemette was at Florida's Kennedy Space Center working. He provided live launch coverage for space.com. In an e-mail, Guillemette said clouds and rain showers cleared just in time to allow Atlantis to be launched on its final mission. The launch commenced at 11:29 a.m. Guillemette is a Cape Canaveral correspondent for the Web site and an aerospace journalist. He said he's lost count of the number of launches he's seen. He sent some spectacular photos of space shuttle Discovery's final launch in February.
Joe Sousa
11:32 am on Friday, April 19, 2013
Not hard to believe there is life on other planets . Whether they have visited us is a different story . If not for war , disease ,and religion we would probably have visited them by now. more ›