Slashdot Mirror

Mars Express contains 7 different scientific instruments and, amongs other things, it has already:

• discovered aurorae on Mars;
• transmitted back gigabytes of beautiful images with a resolution of up to 2 meters/pixel;
• discovered a huge subsurface water ice lake, with a thickness of 1.8 km and an extension of hundreds of kms;
• collaborated with NASA, receiving data from the Mars rovers and transmitting it back to Earth (yes: they use the same communication protocol!).

Mars Express contains 7 different scientific instruments and, amongs other things, it has already:

• discovered aurorae on Mars;
• transmitted back gigabytes of beautiful images with a resolution of up to 2 meters/pixel;
• discovered a huge subsurface water ice lake, with a thickness of 1.8 km and an extension of hundreds of kms;
• collaborated with NASA, receiving data from the Mars rovers and transmitting it back to Earth (yes: they use the same communication protocol!).

Mars Express contains 7 different scientific instruments and, amongs other things, it has already:

• discovered aurorae on Mars;
• transmitted back gigabytes of beautiful images with a resolution of up to 2 meters/pixel;
• discovered a huge subsurface water ice lake, with a thickness of 1.8 km and an extension of hundreds of kms;
• collaborated with NASA, receiving data from the Mars rovers and transmitting it back to Earth (yes: they use the same communication protocol!).

Mars Express contains 7 different scientific instruments and, amongs other things, it has already:

• discovered aurorae on Mars;
• transmitted back gigabytes of beautiful images with a resolution of up to 2 meters/pixel;
• discovered a huge subsurface water ice lake, with a thickness of 1.8 km and an extension of hundreds of kms;
• collaborated with NASA, receiving data from the Mars rovers and transmitting it back to Earth (yes: they use the same communication protocol!).

The Mars Express Orbiter will:

• image the entire surface at high resolution (10 metres/pixel) and selected areas at super resolution (2 metres/pixel);
• produce a map of the mineral composition of the surface at 100 metre resolution;
• map the composition of the atmosphere and determine its global circulation;
• determine the structure of the sub-surface to a depth of a few kilometres;
• determine the effect of the atmosphere on the surface;
• determine the interaction of the atmosphere with the solar wind.

The Beagle 2 lander was planned to:

• determine the geology and the mineral and chemical composition of the landing site;
• search for life signatures (exobiology);
• study the weather and climate.

ok, mr project developer - answer us some questions...

If the sea ice has deteriorated to the extent that it appears on those images, to what extent can we expect it to accelerate further due to various positive feedbacks the melting itself will create?

Can you simulate the effect on the gulf-stream of large amount of freshwater and the current and equilibrium changes caused? I remember the latest data, measured on site a few years ago, showed the gulf-stream has weakened significantly already.

And more importantly, are the scientists there selling their apartments and moving south yet?

Or is it the markets we should be following? Mittens and sunblock are up?

The most amazing thing is not the ice, but the fact that two landmasses have appeared north of Canada sometime between 2005 and 2006.

2005 vs. 2006

The most amazing thing is not the ice, but the fact that two landmasses have appeared north of Canada sometime between 2005 and 2006.

2005 vs. 2006

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM7ZF8LURE_index_1.html

I did a Google search[...]
Just goes to show you that Google is not a crutch for normal brain function. ;-) The article with pictures is linked right from ESA's main page.

at least one of the farging photos - albeit a bit touched up - here it is
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/envisat/ASAR-A MSR_2006_H.jpg
The non-red area near the pole (indicated by the black circle in the middle of the photo) is the concern, since it represents pack ice (and water) rather than solid ice

Mark Drinkwater of ESA's Oceans/Ice Unit...

Your pictures

good thing they found water on mars. No, just kidding, but seriously, there's water on mars.

It's curious there is so little comment about the ion engine. This project isn't/wasn't a joke and did a lot of good science. Possibly the top achievement was work analyzing the makeup of the 'stuff' in our solar system. Lookee here if you want more. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/index.html Doesn't SMART-1 get a few rounds of applause for disintegrating itself at the end of it's useful life rather than becoming yet one beer can on the side of the road?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

Unless I'm forgetting something, with Hubble, Chandra, SOHO, and Spitzer we're the only nation managing major space-based observatories.

Well, SOHO is actually a ESA project in which NASA is a junior partner. ESA also has a 15% stake in the Hubble mission ( e.g. one of the cameras are ESA-made )

You are also forgetting: XMM-Newton, Integral, Ulysses and arguably Rosetta By 2007, these missions will be joined by Corot, Herschel and Planck.

It's not easy getting your facts straight when jingoism gets the upper hand - is it?

FYI there are no stable orbits around the moon: the perilune becomes smaller and smaller with time, so unless you periodically re-raise it using on-board fuel anything that orbits the moon will eventually crash on it.

See question 5 from the ESA's SMART-1 FAQs for more details.

I know that yours was a joke, but FYI crashing into the moon is the end of every mission in lunar orbit (yes, this includes the ascent stages of the Apollo Lunar Modules); those orbits are not stable due to the gravity of the sun, the Earth and irregularities in the moon itself.

And, considering that this is an ESA mission, why the summary has only a link to the NASA site? ESA has a lot of good information about the mission and the impact:

• the SMART-1 divulgation site, which includes a "vodcast" (H.264+AAC encoding, plays fine with mplayer and VLC)
• the SMART-1 science site
• and the impact site

IMHO the most important results from this mission (beside a lot of nice detailed images) are the successful use of a ion engine with a very complicated low-power path (that thing passed through the L1 Lagrangian Point, switching seamlessly from earth orbit to lunar orbit) and the extensive mapping of the moon surface chemical composition using X-ray and infrared instruments.

I know that yours was a joke, but FYI crashing into the moon is the end of every mission in lunar orbit (yes, this includes the ascent stages of the Apollo Lunar Modules); those orbits are not stable due to the gravity of the sun, the Earth and irregularities in the moon itself.

And, considering that this is an ESA mission, why the summary has only a link to the NASA site? ESA has a lot of good information about the mission and the impact:

• the SMART-1 divulgation site, which includes a "vodcast" (H.264+AAC encoding, plays fine with mplayer and VLC)
• the SMART-1 science site
• and the impact site

IMHO the most important results from this mission (beside a lot of nice detailed images) are the successful use of a ion engine with a very complicated low-power path (that thing passed through the L1 Lagrangian Point, switching seamlessly from earth orbit to lunar orbit) and the extensive mapping of the moon surface chemical composition using X-ray and infrared instruments.

I know that yours was a joke, but FYI crashing into the moon is the end of every mission in lunar orbit (yes, this includes the ascent stages of the Apollo Lunar Modules); those orbits are not stable due to the gravity of the sun, the Earth and irregularities in the moon itself.

And, considering that this is an ESA mission, why the summary has only a link to the NASA site? ESA has a lot of good information about the mission and the impact:

• the SMART-1 divulgation site, which includes a "vodcast" (H.264+AAC encoding, plays fine with mplayer and VLC)
• the SMART-1 science site
• and the impact site

IMHO the most important results from this mission (beside a lot of nice detailed images) are the successful use of a ion engine with a very complicated low-power path (that thing passed through the L1 Lagrangian Point, switching seamlessly from earth orbit to lunar orbit) and the extensive mapping of the moon surface chemical composition using X-ray and infrared instruments.

the article says it could be possible to see the crash with a "backyard telescope", but also says that it might be too dim to be seen by a professional observatory:

"How bright will it be? No one knows. Estimates range from 7th to 15th magnitude. In other words, it might be bright enough for backyard telescopes--or so dim that even big professional observatories won't see a thing. The only way to find out is to look."

secondly..

"The nominal impact time favors observers in western parts of North America and across the Pacific Ocean. Depending on when SMART-1 hits, however, almost anyone could catch the flash."

The International Space Station is a novel idea and I've always supported countries working together. After reading the Wikipedia entry on its costs, I have to question its utility versus the cost. The European Space Agency estimates it to be around 100 billion Euros which isn't cheap.

According the Wikipedia entry, NASA spends $5 billion annually on the ISS. I guess I hope to hear more news of discoveries from ISS and scientific advancements once it nears completion but I have not seen much in the news as of late. In fact, Hubble seems to be the best investment we've made next to the ISS. Is this just a proof of concept that we can work together with other nations on space exploration? What do we envision for the ISS in our future?

I know that this is an easy thing to complain about and I'm not the first to ask if it's really worth it. But can anyone tell me what $5 billion of our tax payer dollars has done for us? And why is it that construction grinds to a halt when only one of the member nations involved grounds its shuttles? Is this really an "international" space station? Also, doesn't this leave the United States eternally committed to developing this project? Will we ever be able to opt out of this even after its completion?

With the current administration in the United States, spending doesn't seem to worry them at all. And with the National Debt Clock ticking at around $8.5 trillion these days, I guess I should expect nothing more. Why is it that "small government conservatives" have the knack to make that clock jump by large percentages?

This just in: "By measuring the abundance of several elements across the lunar surface, scientists can better constrain the contribution of material from the young Earth and its possible impactor to condense and form the Moon. Current models suggest that more came from the impactor than from Earth." Source:ESA

One reason why NASA put its launch facility at Cape Canaveral (and the missile range at Vandberg AFB) is that it is usually advantageous to launch as close to the equator as possible. Because the Earth's rotation, being at the equator means you have a greater starting velocity than if you launched from, say, the north pole. The rotation of the Earth, in radians per second, is the same for everyone, but your tangential velocity increases the farther you get from the axis of rotation. (It's easier to draw or demonstrate with a ball it is to describe)

This is why the ESA has a major launch facility in French Guiana, at just 5 degrees latitude.

A craft launching from Cape Breton, which lies at about 45 degrees north latitude, would only have about 70% of the initial velocity, and so only 1/2 the kinetic energy, as a craft that starts from the equator. The only way to get that extra energy you'll need to reach orbit is by burning more fuel.

Slashdot wants more characters per line Sky above 37Â375"N 122Â2222"W at Sat 2005 Jul 2 20:11 Slashdot wants more characters per line ScienceDaily Magazine -- News Summaries Slashdot wants more characters per line BBC NEWS | Science/Nature Slashdot wants more characters per line Science News Online Slashdot wants more characters per line Molecule of the Day Slashdot wants more characters per line The Loom Slashdot wants more characters per line Cosmic Variance Slashdot wants more characters per line Scientific American news Slashdot wants more characters per line Sciencegate Slashdot wants more characters per line New Scientist Slashdot wants more characters per line LiveScience Slashdot wants more characters per line Science And Politics Slashdot wants more characters per line Chris C Mooney Slashdot wants more characters per line symmetry Magazine Slashdot wants more characters per line Discover Magazine Slashdot wants more characters per line Mathematician OTD Slashdot wants more characters per line Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Home Slashdot wants more characters per line Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Home Slashdot wants more characters per line ESA - Cassini-Huygens Slashdot wants more characters per line NASA - Cassini-Huygens: Close Encounter with Saturn Slashdot wants more characters per line HiRISE Operations Center -- HiROC Slashdot wants more characters per line Cassini Saturn Slashdot wants more characters per line CICLOPS: Cassini Imaging Slashdot wants more characters per line Saturn Today Slashdot wants more characters per line HubbleSite - NewsCenter Slashdot wants more characters per line MESSENGER Web Site Slashdot wants more characters per line Deep Impact: Your First Look Inside a Comet! Slashdot wants more characters per line Pluto, Charon, and other Kuiper Belt Objects including, Sedna, 2003 UB313, as well as Asteroids and Comets. Slashdot wants more characters per line Nature Slashdot wants more characters per line Pharyngula

NASA's deep space 1 launched 1998 http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/quick_facts.html

ESA's SMART-1 launched 2003 http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/SEMSDE1A6BD_0. html

boeing sells ion thrusters for satelites http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/fact sheets/xips/xips.html

additionally, these technologies will never be used to replace chemical rockets. chemical rockets throw a lot of mass out the back at a relativly slow speed, but all at once. giving you enough velocity to get off the planet.

ion thrusters throw a very little bit of mass out the back at very high speeds, but run continuously for months/years. after that length of time at a constant acceleration you end up with a very high velocity.

unless you have discovered some new physics and an antigravity engine, throwing things out of the back of the spaceship, or hauling it up an elevator are the only conceiveable methods of getting something off the planet.

Of course, the shuttle can take a much, much larger payload than anything else currently available (I think).

More importantly, the Shuttle can return payloads and experiments to the ground. The Soyuz module has very little space to return payloads. Progress is destroyed during re-entry, as ESA's ATV will be.

In addition the Shuttle connects to ISS using the US docking port allowing the of transfer large rack-sized payloads into ISS. For example this mission will deliver the MELFI rack payload to ISS (a freezer capable of -80C) developed by EADS through ESA for NASA. For more information on MELFI see the ESA fact sheet (pdf).

Fact: Both NASA and the Russian space agency have used the space pen in flights since 1968.

Compared to this one, 3,000,000 light years across, just discovered by XMM-Newton.

It's waaaay older than that.....

http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Mars_Express/SEMMTFNFGLE_ 0.html

There are lots of images and videos with detailed descriptions over at the ESA site - similarly there's stuff over at the JPL website.

It's all real imaging data, carefully stitched together and colorised (using real data again) - it's probably about as good results as they can possibly get. Titan's gone from being a strange, difficult-to-imagine world to being somewhere almost homely (near-Earth-like rolling hills and eroded valleys) - all thanks to this one little space probe...

I just want to say congratulations on an apparently perfect orbit shot.

NICE JOB ESA!

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEMY1SNF GLE_0.html

s/Set to reach/Has reached it's/

Europe Scores new Planetary Success

more info can be found at the European Space Agency's website
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/index.ht ml
and of course, at wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Express

Is this article a bit late?

See here:

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fa reaid=64

The thing is due to achieve orbit in a few days.

"ESA to Send Spacecraft to Venus"? They already did, Venus Express launched on 2006-11-09, it arives at Veuns on Tuesday.

FYI

ESA Kids (in 6 languages :-)

ESA Highschool

FYI

ESA Kids (in 6 languages :-)

ESA Highschool

> If I remember correctly the European Space Agency's mission control system (processes the spacecraft telemetry, on the ground) is open source. Currently they are using SCOS-2000.

This is correct: all new ESA missions use SCOS-2000 to process and display telemetry and to prepare and monitor telecommanding. It currently runs on Solaris/SPARC or SUSE Linux/x86.

Current mission using SCOS-2000 include Mars Express, Venus Express, Rosetta and Smart-1 and coming missions, Herschel/Planck and GOCE will use it.

(SCOS-2000 replaced SCOS-1 (VAX/FORTRAN) that is still supporting the ERS-2, Cluster and Envisat missions.)

If I remember correctly the European Space Agency's mission control system (processes the spacecraft telemetry, on the ground) is open source. Currently they are using SCOS-2000. But the best a quick search came up with was via this article on XMM.

Hello all:

Just when I said that flying cars are no where in sight, something like this comes along...

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/GSP/SEM0L6OVGJE_0.html

Cheers.

B. Pascal.

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/gsp/Experimental _Detection.pdf It seems they were careful - thermally isolated, faraday cage to block electromagnetic affects, multiple versions of the superconducting ring with different materials.