User: Fraser Cain

Internet Coverage on this story

On: Comet LINEAR Erupts

Here are links to this story around the Internet:

Hubble and Chandra imaged the comet in early July and saw a house sized chunk come off the comet:
NASA Press Release

A British telescope imaged the comet in late July as it completely vapourized:
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes Press Release

Finally, here are links to the CNN article, and everywhere else on the Internet I could find:
Astronomy Now
CNN Space
Space Online

And, of course, my own coverage on Universe Today.

Fraser Cain

List of Internet coverage

On: NASA Rolls Out Mars Mission Plans

Here's a list of all space news sites talking about this story. Compare and contrast the coverage.

Astronomy Now
BBC News
CNN Space
MSNBC
Space Chronicle
Space Online
SpaceDaily
SpaceViews

And, of course, my own at Universe Today

Fraser Cain

Slowing a Solar Sail Down

On: NASA Demonstrates Space Sails (In The Lab)

One of the biggest problems with the solar sail techology is that it's relatively easy to speed the sail up to interstellar speeds (theoretically almost to the speed of light).

The problem is slowing them down again. Especially if you're using some kind of laser or microwave to boost the speed of the sail. Sure, you could make it to Alpha Centauri, but you'd hurtle past it close to speed of light. Maybe you'd have time for a near-relativistic snapshot.

Bob Zubrin's latest book, Entering Space has interesting theory on how you could slow yourself back down again. (Bob's the guy who wrote The Case for Mars).
Essentially you use a different technology called a Magnetic Sail to slow yourself down - it's a thin grid of superconducting wire charged with electricity. The grid interacts with the solar wind coming from your target star, and slows you back down. The faster you're going, the more you slow down.

Fraser Cain