Friday, February 15, 2013
A meteor reportedly caused untold damage and injury to eastern Russia today when it entered the Earth's atmosphere.
Space.com is reporting that a meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere over eastern Russia over the Urals Mountains early Friday morning U.S. time and the sonic boom from the event shattered windows and caused damaged to buildings. According to Fox News, Russian officials are reporting over 400 people injured as a result of the event, primarily from broken glass shattered in the sonic boom. "I was driving to work," 36-year-old Viktor Prokofiev, a resident of Yekaterinburg, told Reuters. "It was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day." As of this posting, no fatalities have been reported in the event. Videos of the event have turned up all over YouTube this morning from users in the affected areas. You can view some of …
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Dr. Maria T. Zuber, Ph.D., was a key member of NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter project.
According to the DaVinci Science Center's website, Norristown native Dr. Maria T. Zuber, Ph.D., was part of a team that helped make history when they successfully transmitted information to the NASA'a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite on the moon. That information? An image of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Zuber was the Deputy Principal Investigator on the agency's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) project. NASA scientists reportedly believe that in the future, lasers may support or even replace radio waves as the primary mode of satellite communication. Read more about the program and Zuber's other accomplishments here.
Monday, August 6, 2012
NASA's internal video feed followed all the action from California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the multibillion-dollar rover touched down on the planet surface.
Curiosity is the third unmanned rover to touch down on Mars, but that didn't make the spectacle any less thrilling to behold, whether you saw it first-hand from the command center at the California Jet Propulsion Laboratory or at home on your computer. The images shown here are screenshots captured from the internal NASA HD streaming video feed, broadcasted live online Monday morning, Aug. 6. For a few tense moments at about 1:15 a.m. EST, the command crew watched, nervously, as high-resolution computer simulations generated an approximate descent path of the capsule containing Curiosity. There were small cheers at various stages of the mission, including the successful deployment of an antenna array, then of the parachute, and finally an …
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
You'll probably be dead the next time this happens, so watch this once-in-a-lifetime event this evening.
A little after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5, residents of our area will have an opportunity to witness one of the rarest predictable celestial events: a transit of Venus. Often referred to as the "Evening Star" or "Morning Star," Venus is the brightest natural object in our sky after the Sun and the Moon. As the second planet from the Sun, it's closer to the Sun than the Earth is. A "transit" of Venus occurs when Venus passes between us and the Sun in such a way that we can see Venus's silhouette backlit by the Sun's brilliant light. It last happened in 2004, but it won't happen again until 2117. Unless you plan to shatter some human longevity records, this is probably your last chance. Were Venus either large enough or close enough to block…
Monday, February 13, 2012
Norristown-based AFM*Radio is the only 24-hour internet radio station dedicated to astronomy and other sciences.
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Monday, February 13, 2012
According to Western University in Ontario, Canada, the Norristown-based AFM*Radio is the only 24-hour internet radio station dedicated to astronomy and other sciences, and the school’s Centre for Planetary Science & Exploration (CPSX) will be using the station to broadcasting to more than 20,000 listeners in 85 countries with its new weekly show, Western Worlds. The show will discuss the latest news in planetary science and exploration. “Ultimately, the application of exploration technologies in space has the potential to improve our daily lives and to help us to understand the world on which we live, and its context, a little better,” said Western post-doctoral fellow John Moores on the school's website. “That's the story we hope to tell…
Monday, August 15, 2011
Our universe is currently explained using two contradicting theories: general relativity and quantum mechanics. The quest for one unified theory has gripped the world of physics into frenzy.
Our universe is split into two different worlds; the world of the very big and the world of the very small. Einstein’s theory of general relativity elegantly and effectively explains the world of the large, including things like stars, planets, galaxies and even black holes to an extent. However, when zooming into the atomic realm of electrons and photons, general relativity starts to unwind and break down. The core issue when analyzing very small particles is that gravity, the weakest of the forces and a major component of general relativity, seems to have no effect. Let’s explore the two theories and their importance to our everyday lives with help from PBS, Stanford University and Infoplease. General relativity The theories of general …
Monday, July 25, 2011
With Atlantis’ final mission complete, the future of U.S. space exploration seems uncertain. What do you think the future holds for NASA and the U.S. space program?
Last Thursday, the final flight of the space shuttle Atlantis safely returned to Earth after a rendezvous with the International Space Station, ending NASA’s longest running spaceflight program. According to an article published on Haaretz.com, the decision to cease the shuttle program came down to money. In addition to nixing the program, 1,510 skilled employees, including engineers and scientists, have been laid off. According to an article on Voice of America, the ending of the program also leaves the U.S. with no means of putting astronauts into space unless we feel like paying Russia $50-million per ride. It’s an understandable decision with the economy being in somewhat of a trench, but I feel that the implications of the shuttle …
Philip Freda
4:24 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Ms. Dalantinow, Thank you so much! I am also very glad to see others comment on the articles! It is good to have some healthy, enlightened discussion once and a while more ›