Archive for the ‘ Outer Space ’ Category

The Size of the Universe

Scale is sometimes hard to quantify. What is the size of a cell compared to a Redwood tree?  How big is ‘outer space’?  This clever little Flash website gives you a cartoon view of scale that will amaze you. &nbsp[ READ MORE ]

Incredible Images of Mars

It’s well known I’m a space geek, and these latest images from the ESA’s Mars Express blew me away. Taken by the 9 year old Mars satellite, the images provide amazing detail of our planetary cousin. Click the photos to see them large. Via Space Fellowship: New images from ESA’s Mars Express show the Syrtis [ READ MORE ]

Lake Vostok: Earth’s Hidden World?

I watched a BBC documentary last night about Lake Vostok, the enormous lake that lies thousands of feet below Antarctica’s frozen ice. The documentary explores how this lake was discovered, and the incredible task of drilling through miles of ice to get access to it.  As compelling as the human task has been, the potential [ READ MORE ]

The Dark Side of the Moon

Perhaps you’ve worn out your Pink Floyd record, but chances are, you’ve never actually seen the dark side of the moon. In its orbit, the moon’s bright side is always facing us, leaving a mysterious dark side, which is highly cratered and rugged. via Cnet and NASA: NASA revealed the first unique views of the [ READ MORE ]

NASA’s New Blue Marble

For those that say NASA doesn’t serve a community purpose, just glance at this stunning new photo composite of our earth. Amazing. Via Colossal: NASA has just published what it calls the “most amazing highest resolution image of Earth ever”, dubbed Blue Marble. The 64-megapixel image weighing in at 8000×8000 pixels is actually a composite [ READ MORE ]

Oh the Places You’ll Go! (At Burning Man)

2011 was my first year at Burning Man, and it honestly blew away all expectations.   Forget your stereotypes, and go[ READ MORE ]

Voyager: Exiting the Solar System

I’ve posted about the Voyager spacecraft before, but a recent NPR segment re-captured my interest. Indeed one of the most amazing achievements of mankind, the Voyager probes were launched in the 70s, and Voyager I is speeding toward the very edge of our solar system’s heliosphere. Beyond that, the spacecraft will enter interstellar space, a [ READ MORE ]

What Exoplanets Might Really Look Like

Via Wired Science: Early in December, astronomers confirmed the existence of the first known world beyond the Solar System that exists in a cozy, habitable zone around its sun-like star. It’s too soon to say whether the planet, called Kepler-22b, has a rocky, watery or gassy surface. Nevertheless, NASA used some artistic license to render [ READ MORE ]

354,000,000 Mile Trip

Even through NASA’s budget cuts and scalebacks, the Mars Science Laboratory has been a work in progress for years, culminating in a launch Saturday out of Cape Canaveral, Florida. After a 354 million mile cruise through space, the MSL will land on Mars, and begin to explore the possibility of life having existed on Mars, [ READ MORE ]

Europa

What’s cooler than a vacation to Europe? A probe sent to Europa, one of Jupiter’s 60+ moons, and possibly a celestial body in our solar system that could harbor life. Scientists have for years wondered about the strange, complex surface textures of this moon. Slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate [ READ MORE ]

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