Frozen Plains in the Heart of Pluto’s 'Heart' This annotated view of a portion of Pluto’s Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain), named for Earth’s first artificial satellite, shows an array of enigmatic features. The surface appears to be divided into irregularly shaped segments that are ringed by narrow troughs, some of which contain darker materials. Features that appear to be groups of mounds and fields of small pits are also visible. This image was acquired by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers). Features as small as a half-mile (1 kilometer) across are visible. The blocky appearance of some features is due to compression of the image. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI In the latest data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, a new close-up image of Pluto reveals a vast, craterless plain that appears to be no more than 100 million years old, and is possibly still being shaped by geologic processes. This frozen region is north of Pluto’s icy mountains, in the center-left of the heart feature, informally named “Tombaugh Regio” (Tombaugh Region) after Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930. “This terrain is not easy to explain,” said Jeff Moore, leader of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team (GGI) at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. “The discovery of vast, craterless, very young plains on Pluto exceeds all pre-flyby expectations.” This fascinating icy plains region -- resembling frozen mud cracks on Earth -- has been informally named “Sputnik Planum” (Sputnik Plain) after the Earth’s first artificial satellite. It has a broken surface of irregularly-shaped segments, roughly 12 miles (20 kilometers) across, bordered by what appear to be shallow troughs. Some of these troughs have darker material within them, while others are traced by clumps of hills that appear to rise above the surrounding terrain. Elsewhere, the surface appears to be etched by fields of small pits that may have formed by a process called sublimation, in which ice turns directly from solid to gas, just as dry ice does on Earth. Scientists have two working theories as to how these segments were formed. The irregular shapes may be the result of the contraction of surface materials, similar to what happens when mud dries. Alternatively, they may be a product of convection, similar to wax rising in a lava lamp. On Pluto, convection would occur within a surface layer of frozen carbon monoxide, methane and nitrogen, driven by the scant warmth of Pluto’s interior. Pluto’s icy plains also display dark streaks that are a few miles long. These streaks appear to be aligned in the same direction and may have been produced by winds blowing across the frozen surface. The Tuesday “heart of the heart” image was taken when New Horizons was 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers) from Pluto, and shows features as small as one-half mile (1 kilometer) across. Mission scientists will learn more about these mysterious terrains from higher-resolution and stereo images that New Horizons will pull from its digital recorders and send back to Earth during the next year.
I can't wait to have a moon base. http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/20/9003419/nasa-moon-plan-permanent-base
http://time.com/3964301/breakthrough-listen-letter/ Really liking the sound of this Breakthrough Initiative
New Horizons Captures Two of Pluto's Smaller Moons Pluto has five known moons. In order of distance from Pluto they are: Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. While Pluto’s largest moon Charon has grabbed most of the lunar spotlight, two of Pluto’s smaller and lesser-known satellites are starting to come into focus via new images from the New Horizons spacecraft. Nix and Hydra – the second and third moons to be discovered – are approximately the same size, but their similarity ends there. New Horizons’ first color image of Pluto’s moon Nix, in which colors have been enhanced, reveals an intriguing region on the jelly bean-shaped satellite, which is estimated to be 26 miles (42 kilometers) long and 22 miles (36 kilometers) wide. Although the overall surface color of Nix is neutral grey in the image, the newfound region has a distinct red tint. Hints of a bull’s-eye pattern lead scientists to speculate that the reddish region is a crater. “Additional compositional data has already been taken of Nix, but is not yet downlinked. It will tell us why this region is redder than its surroundings,” said mission scientist Carly Howett, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. She added, “This observation is so tantalizing, I’m finding it hard to be patient for more Nix data to be downlinked.” Meanwhile, the sharpest image yet received from New Horizons of Pluto’s satellite Hydra shows that its irregular shape resembles the state of Michigan. The new image was made by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14, 2015 from a distance of 143,000 miles (231,000 kilometers), and shows features as small as 0.7 miles (1.2 kilometers) across. There appear to be at least two large craters, one of which is mostly in shadow. The upper portion looks darker than the rest of Hydra, suggesting a possible difference in surface composition. From this image, mission scientists have estimated that Hydra is 34 miles (55 kilometers) long and 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide. Commented mission science collaborator Ted Stryk of Roane State Community College in Tennessee, “Before last week, Hydra was just a faint point of light, so it's a surreal experience to see it become an actual place, as we see its shape and spot recognizable features on its surface for the first time.” Images of Pluto’s most recently discovered moons, Styx and Kerberos, are expected to be transmitted to Earth no later than mid-October. Nix and Hydra were both discovered in 2005 using Hubble Space Telescope data by a research team led by New Horizons project scientist Hal Weaver, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland. New Horizons’ findings on the surface characteristics and other properties of Nix and Hydra will help scientists understand the origins and subsequent history of Pluto and its moons. Image Caption: Pluto’s moon Nix (left), shown here in enhanced color as imaged by the New Horizons Ralph instrument, has a reddish spot that has attracted the interest of mission scientists. The data were obtained on the morning of July 14, 2015 and received on the ground on July 18. At the time the observations were taken New Horizons was about 102,000 miles (165,000 km) from Nix. The image shows features as small as approximately 2 miles (3 kilometers) across on Nix, which is estimated to be 26 miles (42 kilometers) long and 22 miles (36 kilometers) wide. Pluto’s small, irregularly shaped moon Hydra (right) is revealed in this black and white image taken from New Horizons’ LORRI instrument on July 14, 2015 from a distance of about 143,000 miles (231,000 kilometers). Features as small as 0.7 miles (1.2 kilometers) are visible on Hydra, which measures 34 miles (55 kilometers) in length. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI Last Updated: July 21, 2015
A newly discovered mountain range lies near the southwestern margin of Pluto’s Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region), situated between bright, icy plains and dark, heavily-cratered terrain. This image was acquired by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14, 2015 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers) and received on Earth on July 20. Features as small as a half-mile (1 kilometer) across are visible. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI Pluto’s icy mountains have company. NASA’s New Horizons mission has discovered a new, apparently less lofty mountain range on the lower-left edge of Pluto’s best known feature, the bright, heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region). These newly-discovered frozen peaks are estimated to be one-half mile to one mile (1-1.5 kilometers) high, about the same height as the United States’ Appalachian Mountains. The Norgay Montes (Norgay Mountains) discovered by New Horizons on July 15 more closely approximate the height of the taller Rocky Mountains. The new range is just west of the region within Pluto’s heart called Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain). The peaks lie some 68 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Norgay Montes. This newest image further illustrates the remarkably well-defined topography along the western edge of Tombaugh Regio. “There is a pronounced difference in texture between the younger, frozen plains to the east and the dark, heavily-cratered terrain to the west,” said Jeff Moore, leader of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team (GGI) at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. “There’s a complex interaction going on between the bright and the dark materials that we’re still trying to understand.” While Sputnik Planum is believed to be relatively young in geological terms – perhaps less than 100 million years old - the darker region probably dates back billions of years. Moore notes that the bright, sediment-like material appears to be filling in old craters (for example, the bright circular feature to the lower left of center). This image was acquired by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers) and sent back to Earth on July 20. Features as small as a half-mile (1 kilometer) across are visible. The names of features on Pluto have all been given on an informal basis by the New Horizons team.
Another mission to ISS tomorrow afternoon on another Soyuz. Three more folks going up to make a total of 6. Two of which have never been to space before.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/anot...ootPostID=cc8d57b304122b7c20aee26014b0e81f#oo 'Another Earth?': NASA hints at planetary discovery This artist rendering released by NASA shows a planet outside the solar system that was detected by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. (AP/NASA) 264 21 285 27 Emily Chan, CTVNews.ca Published Wednesday, July 22, 2015 10:26AM EDT NASA is teasing space enthusiasts, hinting that it may have some big news to announce about other Earth-like planets in the Milky Way. The space agency said it plans to share a new discovery from its Kepler Space Telescope at a news conference scheduled for 9 a.m. PST on Thursday. The Kepler mission, launched in 2009, is dedicated to finding Earth-like planets in what scientists call the "habitable zone," or the region near stars where orbiting planets might have the conditions to support the existence of liquid water. Water is a key ingredient for potentially sustaining life, but if a planet is too close to a star, high temperatures cause evaporation. If a planet is too far, freezing occurs. Since its launch, the Kepler telescope has discovered more than 1,000 planets and more than 3,000 planet candidates, including those in the habitable zone. But on Wednesday, NASA hinted that the latest discovery may be one of the most earth-like planets ever found. "Exoplanets, especially small Earth-size worlds, belonged within the realm of science fiction just 21 years ago," a press release by the agency said. "Today, and thousands of discoveries later, astronomers are on the cusp of finding something people have dreamed about for thousands of years -- another Earth." The suggestive statement already has the Internet abuzz with theories that the agency might have found a planet capable of sustaining life. To find out if NASA really has discovered "another Earth," the agency is encouraging space exploration fans to tune into a livestream of Thursday's teleconference, and to check out theirKepler mission website.
Just think of the possibilities of discovering another planet able to sustain or types of carbon based life forms. Imagine that we'd perfected long distance space travel and had to bug out for one reason or another to one of these planets. Would we be welcomed? Seen as invaders? Sent packing? Be way more kickass than them and take over? Someone should write a book about it.
More importantly how far away is it and what stage is it's star at? It could burn out by the time we got there. I'd love to know how life evolved on such a planet though. It could literally be jurassic world.
So let's say for a second that NASA announces, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they have found another Earth: liquid water, breathable (or almost) atmosphere, right temperature, similar gravity, day/night cycle, seasons, etc. What happens after that? I guess it depends on how far away the planet is. Most of the Kepler planets have been hundreds or thousands of light years from here. What would we even do with that information? It would be agonizing, knowing that's out there and that we (our generation) probably won't ever know what is on that rock.
Save it as a waypoint in the intergalactic GPS until we've figured out how to slip through wormholes. Duh.
I watched Interstellar last night. I was reading this thread too much and needed to Matthew to walk me through space.
Hopefully that would light a fire under humanity's ass and we would invest billions more into space travel/exploration. "look here is this planet that has water and breathable air, but I'm sure you people wouldn't want to go check it out right?"
I watched an awesome thing on Science Channel (seriously one of my top 3 fav channels) last night about how certain heavy metals are made via supernova. They recently discovered that gold is only made from collisions of binary star systems in which both stars collapsed and formed into a neutron star (Neutrons get so compressed that a star the size of the sun shrinks down to the size of NYC but has the same mass, 1 tsp of this material would weigh like 100 billion tons on earth). These stars in this binary system orbit each other for billions of years until they collide, crashing their super dense metals together and exploding out gold and platinum and other super heavy metals. I fucking love space
No doubt, but this has always been the biggest reason I never expect to find intelligent life. Our paths corresponding at the exact same time seems damn near impossible, even if intelligent life has happened billions upon billions of times in the universe. Hell, even if we exchanged radio waves with them, it could be hundreds of years in the past by the time we each receive them. And by the time we can actually lug people over there, their entire civilization could be gone. But you're right, just finding life will uproot the egocentric way in which people view earth.
I watched contact for the first time a few weeks ago. I can't believe it took me so long to watch it because it is right up my alley
I would like to believe that, but for the majority of the public this concept would be too abstract, especially in this country.
New crew arrives at International space station after two-month delay Sky 105 about 4 hours ago News http://www.theskypost.com/2015/07/new-crew-arrives-at-international-space.html A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three new crew for the International Space Station arrived at the orbital outpost on Wednesday after a two-month launch delay.Veteran Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and rookie astronauts Kjell Lindgren with NASA and Japan's Kimiya Yui blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket at 5:02 p.m. from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They arrived less than six hours later to begin a five-month mission aboard the station, a $100-billion laboratory that flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth. The trio had been set to fly in May, but Russia delayed the mission after a botched launch of a similar Soyuz rocket on April 28. That accident stranded a Progress cargo ship in an orbit too low to reach the station. Nine days later, the capsule, loaded with three tons of equipment and supplies, fell back into Earth's atmosphere and was incinerated. Accident investigators determined that the Progress failed to separate properly from the Soyuz rocket's third-stage engine. The Soyuz returned to flight on July 3, successfully launching a replacement load of cargo to the station. "We're confident in the rocket ... we're all very excited to launch," Lindgren, 42, told a pre-launch news conference. Two U.S. companies that fly cargo to the station under contract with the U.S. space agency also lost capsules after recent failed launches. Privately owned SpaceX and Orbital ATK remain grounded following accidents last month and in October 2014, respectively. A fourth station resupply line is operated by Japan, which is scheduled to fly again in August."It's certainly no fun to see several of the cargo vehicles undergo mishaps," Lindgren said. "It underscores the difficulty of this industry and ... how unforgiving the space environment is." The arrival of Lindgren, Kononenko, 51, and Yui, 45, returns the space station to a full six-member crew for the first time in six weeks. "We look forward to seeing them," U.S. station flight engineer Scott Kelly said during an inflight interview on Tuesday. Kelly and Russia's Mikhail Kornienko are participating in the station's first year-long mission. Also aboard is veteran cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, the current station commander.
They've also been in the habitable zone for a billion years longer than we have so if there is anything there it could be more advanced.
My initial thought was that we should shoot some radio waves their way. But then I read that it is 1,400 light years away. We wouldn't get a response until the year 4815 at the earliest.
I'm retarded. I don't have a clue how that number came out. I used a calculator and everything. :derp:
Dang man, 1,400 light years. Awesome find. Hopefully we can extrapolate some more info from ground based analysis.