Cosmic Dark Ages

Most folks are familiar with the historical concept of the Dark Ages. This term is applied to the time in Western European history between the fall of the Roman Empire and latter portion of the Middle Ages. This time is often considered by many to have a great lack of the light of knowledge. And so it was classified as a “dark” age in Western European history.

Now, did you know that in the cosmological theory of the Big Bang there was also a Dark Age? It is suggested that there was, but in this case it was a literal age of darkness.

Some time after the Big Bang, or the great expansion, as it is sometimes called, there was a time of about 800 million years when our universe had no light whatsoever. The energy from the Big Bang had subsided and cooled to the point that it no longer radiated visible light. The hydrogen and helium from the Big Bang may have begun to bunch and clump—the very beginning of star formation—but none had reached the stage where fusion would turn on in their cores and eventually cause their outer layers to shine. We are talking about a really, really dark time, here.

Astronomers want to study this time as part of their overall understanding of the universe formation, but how can they study what they cannot see? Well, rather than observing visible light, they are studying the radio-wave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are hoping that this will allow them to look back to the end of this Dark Age, to the point when the first stars began to shine, when the first black holes began to accrete matter, and when the first galaxies began to form. These were the building blocks of the universe we see today.

Because the desired radio signals are so far away and so faint, it is easy to confuse them with background interference. So in order to detect the proper radio signals and filter out the background noise, the radio telescopes for the task must be really, really large. To meet this need, at least three projects are currently under construction. One is in the U.S., another is in Europe.

The U.S. project is the Long Wavelength Array (LWA), currently under construction in the desert west of Socorro, New Mexico. The final array, scheduled for completion in 2010, will consist of 13,000 antennas. The LWA is sponsored by the University of New Mexico, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Naval Research Laboratory and others.

The Europe project is the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), which will stretch 5,000 antennas across northern Europe from a center in the Netherlands. LOFAR is currently scheduled for completion in 2011. The prime sponsor for LOFAR is ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. Astronomers in England, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden are also involved.

The Australia project is the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), currently under construction near Mileura Station in Western Australia. The array will consist of 8,192 antennas spread across the western Australia outback. Because of its location, it is also called the Mileura Widefield Array. The MWA is sponsored by MIT, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Air Force and the Australian Research Council.

These new radio telescopes will look for faint radio waves from the time the universe was 380,000 years to roughly a billion years old. The signals are coming from ancient hydrogen, which can be detected by a special line in the electromagnetic spectrum. Tiny variations in the hydrogen line indicate regions of slightly higher or lower density in the early universe. Over time, gravity accelerated the growth of these clumps, which became the seeds of the first generation of stars and galaxies.

Astronomers aren’t exactly sure about how long the Dark Age lasted, and they aren’t sure how much they will be able to detect of the end of this age and the beginning of star formation. Basically, they won’t know for sure about a lot of things until they try to find out. And of course, that’s what makes astronomers and other scientists so excited in the first place—trying to find things out.

To learn more about these three projects, and to learn a bit more about the cosmic Dark Age, check out these links:

The Long Wavelength Array (LWA)
http://lwa.unm.edu/

The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, prime sponsor for LOFAR
http://www.astron.nl/

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA)
http://www.mwatelescope.org/

YouTube video, “Cosmic Dark Age – a time without stars,” an excerpt from the BBC Horizon Science documentary “The Death Start,” (BBC Worldwide, running time 3 minutes 47 seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3mgHCuhfQk

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NGC 2623's Galactic Merger

NGC 2623 is one of those deep-sky objects recorded in the 19th-century compendium called “A New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars,” or for short, the “New General Catalogue” (NGC). Danish-Irish astronomer J. L. E. Dreyer published the NCG for the Royal Astronomical Society using primarily the recorded observations from William Herschel, is son, John Herschel.

NGC 2623, as recently imaged by ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope. Image Credit: ESA/NASA

The object NGC 2623 is located in the direction of the constellation Cancer, the Crab, about 250 million light-years away. When viewed in dark skies with a medium-sized telescope, with about a 12-inch aperture or so, the object has a strange, swirling shape. It has the appearance of a bird flying head-on at the observer, with one wing sweeping up, the other wing sweeping down, and the main mass of the body clumped in the center. This object is a galaxy. Or more accurately, two galaxies which are still in the process of merging into one.

Over the last century of study, astronomers have learned that it is not so uncommon for galaxies to collide and merge into larger galaxies. In fact, our own Milky Way galaxy has a date with the Andromeda galaxy in about 3 billion years. But that's another story…

Galaxies that merge do not just bump into each other. They contain lots of space between their stars, after all. But the interaction process does have a dramatic effect on each of the galaxies. Studies show that as galaxies approach one another massive amounts of gas are pulled from each galaxy toward the center of the other, until the two ultimately merge into one massive galaxy. NGC 2623 is in the late stages of the merging process. The centers of the original galaxies are combined, but stretching out from the center are two curling tails of young stars—these are the “wings” I referenced in my shape description earlier. The curling tails are a telltale sign that a galactic merger has occurred. During one of these mergers, the dramatic exchange of mass and gases initiates the process of star formation. The young stars visible in the two tails were created by this process.

Some of the galactic mergers, like that of NGC 2623, can result in an active galactic nucleus, where one of the super-massive black holes—from the center of one of the two original galaxies—is stirred into action. Matter is pulled toward the black hole, forming an accretion disc. The energy released by this activity heats up the disc, causing it to emit across a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum.

NGC 2623 is so bright in the infrared that it has become a member of the group of very luminous infrared galaxies (LIRG) and it has been extensively studied as the part of the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) project. The GOALS project combines data from some of the most advanced space-based telescopes, including Hubble. Additional data from infrared and X-ray telescopes can further characterize objects like active galactic nuclei and nuclear star formation by revealing what is unseen at visible wavelengths.

The GOALS project includes data from NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). The joint efforts of these powerful observing facilities have provided a clearer picture of our local Universe. To learn more about NGC 2326 and the Hubble Space Telescope, check out these links:

NGC 2326, at the European Home Page for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/html/heic0912a.html

NASA’s Home Page for the Hubble Space Telescope
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble/

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
http://www.stsci.edu/

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NASA Refines the Path of Asteroid Apophis, Again

Last Wednesday, October 7, NASA announced updated calculations on the path of Asteroid 99942 Apophis. Discovered June 19, 2004, is a near-Earth asteroid approximately 250 yards across—the length of two-and-one-half football fields.

Apophis was initially thought to have a 2.7 percent chance of striking Earth or Earth’s moon in 2029. Additional observations ruled out the possibility of a 2029 impact, but this led to a concern that on that 2029 pass Apophis might move through a region of space no more than about 600 meters across—called a gravitational keyhole—that would set up Apophis for an Earth impact on April 13, 2036. This concern was maintained until August 2006, when more observations ruled out this possibility. With the October 7 announcement, the probably of an April 13, 2036 impact is calculated as 1 in 250,000. While this is a good thing, Apophis will still go into the record books during its pass on Friday, April 13, 2029. On that date, Apophis is expected to come closer than 29,450 kilometers (18,300 miles) from Earth’s surface. Let’s put that distance in perspective.

- Earth’s moon orbits at about 384,400 km (238,900 mi), which is 354,950 km (220,600 mi) above the Apophis pass.

- Geosynchronous satellites—including communication and television satellites—orbit at about 35,786 km (22,236 mi), which is 6,336 km (3,936 mi) above the Apophis pass.

- Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites orbit at about 20,200 km (12,550 mi), which is 9,250 km (5,750 mi) below the Apophis pass.

- NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope orbits at 559 km (347 mi), which is 28,891 km (17,953 mi) below the Apophis pass.

- The International Space Station orbits at an average distance of 347 km (187 mi), which is well below the Apophis pass.

What have we learned from this? Well, we’ve learned that while Apophis will not actually strike Earth, it will definitely pass through Earth’s network of satellites. That may mean nothing. Could Apophis hit a satellite on its way through? Probably not. After all, there is a lot of space up there. Though, as we have seen in the last year or so, some things are able to beat the odds from time to time, and run into each other up there. Of course, the event is still 20 years in the future and who knows how many satellites will be in orbit by then? Low-probability satellite impacts aside, could the passage of Apophis influence our satellite network? Again, probably not, but it definitely continues to bear close watching for the scientific interest.

Beyond 2029, the latest calculations show another possible close encounter with Earth in 2068 with a chance of impact currently estimated at approximately three-in-a-million. This estimate is expected to be more highly refined, with the risk probably diminishing, as additional years of observations are made.

The prediction of asteroid orbits is a science based on a physical model of the solar system which includes the gravitational influence of the sun, moon, other planets and the three largest asteroids—Ceres, Pallas and Vesta.

Asteroids and comets which pass close to Earth are detected by NASA using both ground and space-based telescopes. The Near-Earth Objects Observations Program, also known as “Spaceguard,” discovers these objects, characterizes a subset of them and plots their orbits to determine if any object could b potentially hazardous to those of us on Earth. For more information about asteroids and near-Earth objects, check out these links:

Twitter Page for NASA’s Asteroid Watch
http://twitter.com/asteroidwatch

NASA’s Asteroid Watch
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch

NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch

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Welcoming Jesus
Luke 10:38-42

What do you do when invited guests come to your home? Do you sit and talk with them? Do you make them something to eat? Do you hurry around to put away clutter? Do you treat your guest with high honor or as one of the family?

Martha was so happy when she and her sister Mary welcomed Jesus into their home. The word welcome means to greet with great hospitality and courtesy. Those whom we welcome should feel comfortable and well cared for. It is pretty certain that Martha and Mary did just that when Jesus came as a guest to their home.

But after welcoming Jesus, Martha went to the kitchen and distracted herself with all the formalities that came with welcoming a guest. In contrast, Mary humbly sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to His words.

Martha became focused on the formalities of hospitality, and yet wanted to be with Jesus just as Mary was. Many translations describe Martha as distracted. The word in the Greek text is periespato, meaning drawn away or dragged away. Martha came to Jesus, their guest, to resolve the matter as she thought it should be resolved—to get Mary into the kitchen and help her.

In love, Jesus explained to Martha that she was full of care and very troubled by all that she was doing. He described Mary’s choice of sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to His words as the best decision. Jesus’ words are a reminder to us that neither things nor people can take away the blessing of time with Jesus.

It seems apparent from this story that Martha and Mary had two very different personalities and each sought to show their love in different ways. Those with whom we interact every day also have unique and special personalities. Take a moment to think about those people around you and describe to yourself some of their unique traits which make them so special. Thank God for their uniqueness and ask God to help you show love to them in Jesus’ name.

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Catch a Re-Run of LCROSS

If you missed NASA’s live coverage on Friday of the two LCROSS impacts at the South Pole of the moon, you can catch it again on the LCROSS mission home page, http://www.nasa.gov/lcross. You’ll find links to the videos and images along the right margin.

On Friday morning at 7:31 a.m. EDT / 4:31 a.m. PDT, NASA’s Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) created to impacts in crater Cabeus at the South Pole of the Moon. The first impact was created by the Centaur upper stage which carried LCROSS and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to the Moon. LCROSS guided the Centaur to its target, hitting the surface at more than 1.5 miles per second. The second impact was created a few minutes later by the LCROSS spacecraft itself. The LCROSS spacecraft guidance teams are tremendously pleased that their part of the mission went so well. They definitely have smiles all around. But now the data analysis teams are working hard determine what the mission has told us.

The goal of the LCROSS mission was to confirm the presence or absence of water-ice in the dark and cold craters of the Moon’s South Pole. During the impacts, observations were made by LCROSS and LRO in lunar orbit, by observatories in Earth orbit, and by several ground-based facilities. At the moment, scientists are carefully studying all of the observation data.

The impacts did not create a spectacular plume of debris like the one made by NASA’s Deep Impact mission on Comet Temple 1 on July 4, 2005. Interestingly enough, we are being told that this is can be a good thing. Apparently, a bright flash or a highly visible impact plume would have suggested that the impactors had struck rock. Softer material like lunar soil or ice would not necessarily be easy to see in visible light, with all of that dark space in the background. But all areas of the electromagnetic spectrum were covered by the Friday observations and the data is being reviewed by the science times with great interest. They, like the rest of us, are curious to learn the answer regarding the amounts of water ice. But we must now be patient, for it will take the teams several weeks of study before they know exactly what that answer is.

The LCROSS and LRO spacecraft began their missions together on June 18, launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. LRO will continue its mission to search for resources, like water, which will be useful in future space exploration. To catch a re-run of the impacts, and to learn more about the mission, check out these links:

NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/lcross/

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html

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Yet Another Ring for Saturn

On Tuesday, October 6, NASA announced the discovery by the Spitzer Space Telescope of yet another ring around the planet Saturn, and the size of this one is tremendous.

The newly discovered ring has an orbital tilt of 27 degrees from Saturn’s main ring plane. Most of the ring’s material starts about six million kilometers—3.7 million miles—away from Saturn and extends outward for roughly another 12 million kilometers—7.4 million miles. Phoebe, one of Saturn’s most distant moons, actually orbits within the ring, and is suspected to be the source of the ring material.

This new ring is not as flat as the others. Its vertical height is about 20 times the diameter of Saturn—meaning that it would take about one billion tightly-packed Earth’s to fill the space of the new ring. The ring is made of ice and dust particles, but it is very, very, very fine stuff. Some have compared their size to smoke particles. Also, the particles are spread out pretty well—if you were floating in the ring you could not detect any haze created by the particles. This ring would be extremely difficult to spot in visible light, but Spizter’s infrared instruments were able to spot the cooler band of material—about 80 Kelvin, or minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit—in the slightly “warmer” space surrounding it.

Artist’s conception of the newly found ring. Image Credit: NASA

Scientists think the discovery may help to answer the question of why Saturn’s moon Iapetus has a strange appearance. Discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1671, Iapetus has one side that is bright while the other side is very dark. The pattern of light and dark shading has been compared to the yin-yang symbol. The dark side was name Cassini Regio in honor of the astronomer.

Image of Saturn’s moon Iapetus taken September 2007 by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA

Some scientists suggest that the particles in the newly found ring may be responsible for the two-toned affect on Iapetus. The new ring circles in the same direction as Phoebe, while Iapetus, the other rings and most of Saturn’s moons are circling in the opposite direction. Some suggest that the material from the ring drifts inward, toward Iapetus, and builds up over time to create the darker Cassini Regio portion. Many have wondered if Phoebe had something to do with the coloration on Iapetus, and this would seem to be the proof astronomers had been looking for.

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope—the largest infrared telescope—was launched August 25, 2003 and is currently 107 million kilometers (66 million miles) from Earth in orbit around the sun. The discovery of the new ring came before May of this year, when Spitzer ran out of the onboard coolant necessary to keep its infrared-observing instruments at an optimal temperature. Spitzer has now begun a “warmer” mission, making the best observations that it can in less-than-optimum circumstances. To learn more about this discovery and about the Spitzer mission, check out these links:

Artist’s conception of the newly found ring
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/multimedia/spitzer-20091007a.html

Image of Saturn’s moon Iapetus taken September 2007 by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08384

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope Mission Home Page
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/

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Watch the LCROSS Friday Impacts Live

"D-Day" is fast approaching for NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS for short. This Friday morning, October 9, at 7:31 a.m. EDT/4:31 a.m. PDT, LCROSS will create two back-to-back impacts in crater Cabeus, one of the permanently shadowed craters at the South Pole of the Moon. By studying the plumes kicked up by these impacts, the LCROSS mission intends to confirm the presence or absence of water ice at the Moon’s South Pole.

Artist's rendering of the LCROSS spacecraft releasing the Centaur upper stage for the first impact. Image Credit: NASA

If you happen to be at a dark location where the Moon is visible at the time of the impacts, and if you have a telescope with a 10” to 12” aperture, you might want to gather some friends for a LCROSS impact viewing party. Such parties are planned at various locations, including a major event at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Those of us in the Eastern time zone and farther to the east, will miss out on a direct viewing of the impacts because of the rising sun. But we are in luck because NASA will broadcast the event on NASA TV and on the NASA Website.

At 6:15 a.m. EDT, 3:15 a.m. PDT, NASA will begin live TV coverage for the LCROSS impacts on NASA TV and http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. The 1.5 hour broadcast will include live footage from spacecraft camera, real-time telemetry based animation, views of LCROSS Mission and Science Operations, broadcast commentary with expert guests, prepared video segments, views of the public impact viewing event at NASA Ames Research Center, and possible live footage from the University of Hawaii 88-inch telescope on Mauna Kea. Following the event, there will be at 10 a.m. EDT, 7 a.m. PDT, a live LCROSS post-impact news conference.

As mentioned here on September 30, the identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon’s polar craters with two heavy impactors to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The impact will eject material from the crater’s surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (in the forms of ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.

Like on Earth, water is a crucial resource on the Moon and it won't be practical for humans to carry with them all of the water they will need. It is critical to find natural resources, such as water, on the Moon. The LCROSS mission will begin NASA's direct search for water, leveraging the information that was learned from NASA'S Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions.

By going first to the Moon and staying there for extended periods of time, astronauts can search for resources and learn how to work safely in a harsh environment before moving out to other bodies in our solar system. In addition, a close up and extended study of the Moon can offer scientists insight to the time when the planets were formed.

A sister mission working with LCROSS is NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. For the LCROSS mission, LRO will be observing and studying the results of the two impacts. Following that, LRO will continue to scout for safe and compelling landing sites for future lunar missions, locate potential resources (with special attention to the possibility of water ice) and characterize the effects of prolonged exposure to the lunar radiation environment. In addition to its exploration mission, LRO will also return rich scientific data that will help us to better understand the moon’s topography and composition.

I remember well the NASA Deep Impact mission and the tremendous impact plume kicked up on Comet Temple 1 back on July 4, 2005. Our Moon’s gravity is greater than Temple 1, but I hope these two impacts do that plume justice. Beyond that, I just hope the mission is a big success.

Back on June 18, LCROSS and LRO began their missions from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, sharing a ride aboard an Atlas V first stage with a Centaur upper stage. Since the launch, the mission teams have been using their returning data, along with data from other current and past lunar missions, to refine the targeting for the impacts. The first impactor will be the Centaur upper stage, which has been guided by the LCROSS spacecraft. Following its observations of the first impact, LCROSS itself will then dive in, creating the second impact.

To watch the coverage online, and to keep current on the missions, stay tuned to these sites:

NASA TV
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/lcross/

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html

NASA Ames Research Center
http://www.arc.nasa.gov

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Stay Connected to Your Favorite Missions

Are you always on the go, but still wanting to stay on top of the latest NASA/JPL missions and programs? Have your search engine attempts for information sources not come up with the hits you wanted? Well, search no more! If you are big into the social media Web sites—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Ustream, and blogging—then I have the sites that will turn your PC, mobile phone, iPod or PDA into a fountain of information on space and space exploration.

The missions and programs managed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have started using social-networking Web sites to keep the public informed. NASA and JPL also has their own blogs, with posts from scientists and engineers.

Before we get to the links, let’s go over some definitions for the uninitiated.

blog – a blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. The word “blog” is a contraction of the term “weblog.” The word “blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) – Launched February 2004, Facebook is a global social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University.

iTunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/) – iTunes is a digital media player application owned by Apple Inc. Introduced January 2001, iTunes is used for playing and organizing digital music and video files. The program is also an interface to manage the contents on Apple's popular iPod digital media players as well as the iPhone. Additionally, iTunes can connect to the iTunes Store via the Internet to purchase and download music, music videos, television shows, applications, iPod games, audiobooks, podcasts, feature length films and movie rentals (not available in all countries), and ringtones (available only in the USA). iTunes is also used to download applications for the iPhone and iPod touch running iPhone OS 2.0 or later. iTunes is available as a free download for Mac OS X, Windows Vista, and Windows XP from Apple's website. It is also bundled with all Macs, and some HP and Dell computers. Older versions are available for Mac OS 9, OS X 10.0-10.3, and Windows 2000.

MySpace (http://www.myspace.com) – MySpace is a social networking website, created by Brad Greenspan and several other employees of the company then known as eUniverse. MySpace launched August 2003. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California, USA, where it shares an office building with its immediate owner, Fox Interactive Media, which is owned by News Corporation.

podcast – A podcast is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication. Unlike simple downloading or streaming, podcasts require special client software applications known as podcatchers (like iTunes, Zune, Juice, and Winamp) to automatically identify and download new files in the series when they are released. The word “podcast” is a blending of the words “iPod” and “broadcast,” and is based on the nature of downloading and listing to syndicated files one one’s iPod or other MP3 player.

RSS – Originally meaning “RDF Site Summary,” RSS has since become translated as “Rich Site Summary” and, most commonly, “Really Simple Syndication.” RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a “feed,” a “web feed,” or “channel”) includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. The concept of RSS began in 1995, but has changed greatly since that time because of changes in available formatting and technology.

Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) – Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. While the service, itself, costs nothing to use, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees. Twitter was creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey.

Ustream (http://www.ustream.tv/) – Established March 2007, Ustream is a website with a network of diverse channels providing a platform for lifecasting and live video streaming of events online. The website currently has over 2,000,000 registered users who generate 1,500,000+ hours of live streamed content per month with over ten million unique hits per month.

YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) – Created February 2005 by three former PayPal employees, YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. YouTub, LLC is now a subsidiary of Google.


Now that we are passed that, here is a list of JPL-managed missions and projects and links to their social-networking pages.

JPL:
- On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAJPL
- On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/JPLnews
- On Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasajpl
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/nasajpl
- On Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa-jpl/
- blogs, with posts from scientists and engineers: http://blogs.jpl.nasa.gov/

Asteroid Watch:
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/asteroidwatch

Cassini Mission:
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn

Earth Vital Signs:
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/EarthVitalSigns

Mars Phoenix Mission:
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix

Mars Exploration Rover Missions:
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarsRovers

Mars Science Lab Mission:
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarsScienceLab

PlanetQuest:
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/PlanetQuest

JPL Education:
- Page on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NASAJPL_Edu

And there is much more than what is listed here. A full list of all the JPL-managed social media Web sites can be found at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/social

And a full list of all NASA-related social media Web sites can be found at: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate/index.html

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Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Hear is a story about a hymn text written by an English minister while in fear for his life in Northern Ireland. Have I got your interest? Charles Wesley (1707 - 1788) was an Anglican minister and a musician who, along with his younger brother John, founded the movement that would later be known as the Methodist denomination. Quite prolific when writing about his faith, Wesley was personally responsible for over six thousand hymn texts. This particular hymn was written, as I mentioned, in Northern Ireland.

It seems that Wesley was preaching in the fields of the parish of Killyleagh, County Down, when he was attacked by men who disagreed with his doctrines. Disagreement was not foreign to Charles Wesley. He was quite adamant in his faith and got into heated discussions with his bother John on numerous occasions. In this particular disagreement in Killyleagh, Wesley was forced to flee for his life with the attackers close on his trail. Wesley sought refuge in a house located on what was known as the Island Barn Farm. The farmer’s wife, Jane Lowrie Moore, told Wesley to hide in the millhouse, down in the garden. The mob soon arrived and demanded that Wesley be turned over to them. Mrs. Moore tried to quiet the mob by offering them refreshments. Going down to the millhouse, she instructed Wesley to climb through the rear window and hide under the hedge, which ran beside a little brook.

While hiding there, hearing the cries of his pursuers all around him, Wesley turned to God for his deliverance. He may have recalled Scripture passages such as David’s Psalm 18, which describes the Lord God as a refuge in the midst of the raging storms and battles of life. He may have recalled David’s Psalm 23, which describes the Lord God as his shepherd, guiding him and caring for him in the midst of great troubles. Wesley might even have recalled Jesus’ story of the prodigal, recounted in Luke 15:11–32, where the Lord God is described as the generous and loving father who allows his wayward son to leave but waits for his return, and who then counts him as once being lost, but now found.

It was in this setting that Wesley wrote what is considered by many as one of the best loved hymns of all time. The words speak of a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, describing Him as Lover, Protector, and Provider. While we do not know the final details of Wesley’s ordeal, it is apparent that he survived. The hymn text was first published in the 1740 collection entitled “Hymns and Sacred Poems.”

Several melodies have been paired with Wesley’s text over the years. The first recorded pairing is with a tune called “Martyn,” published in 1834 and written by American musician, choir director and Sunday School superintendent Simeon Butler Marsh (1798 - 1875). Another popular pairing is with a tune called “Aberystwyth,” published in 1879 and written by Welsh-American composer Joseph Parry (1841 - 1903). There are others, but whatever tune you prefer, the hymn text is the important thing. And it speaks to hearts even today.

The story of Wesley’s ordeal and his deliverance, comes down to us through the Moore family descendants. To this day, Moore family members still live in the house, which is much the same as it was in Wesley’s time.

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

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Bibliography

“Charles Wesley.” NetHymnal. 11 Nov. 2007. Web. 05 Oct. 2009. <http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/w/e/s/wesley_c.htm>.

“Charles Wesley.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 20 Sept. 2009. Web. 05 Oct. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley>.

“Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” NetHymnal. 26 Aug. 2007. Web. 05 Oct. 2009. <http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/l/jlmysoul.htm>.

“Joseph Parry.” NetHymnal. 21 Oct. 2007. Web. 05 Oct. 2009. <http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/p/a/r/parry_j.htm>.

“Joseph Parry.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 7 June 2009. Web. 05 Oct. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Parry>.

“Simeon Butler Marsh.” NetHymnal. 20 Oct. 2007. Web. 05 Oct. 2009. <http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/m/a/r/marsh_sb.htm>.

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Fifth Anniversary for SpaceShipOne

Yesterday, October 4, was a birthday of sorts. It was the fifth anniversary of the winning of the $10 million Ansari X Prize, when SpaceShipOne was officially declared the first privately built and piloted vehicle to reach space, and to do it reliably and repetitively. You might also consider it the birthday of private commercial space travel.

Landing of SpaceShipOne on October 4, 2004 following it's second Ansari X Prize flight. Image broadcast by the live coverage of NASA TV. Image Credit: NASA

SpaceShipOne was designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Lifted to an extremely high altitude above California’s Mohave Desert by the equally impressive and innovative “White Knight” carrier ship, SpaceShipOne was then dropped. It then fired its own engines to reach its maximum altitude, achieve a weightless state for 3 minutes, and then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a powerless glider, back on the runway where it began.

SpaceShipOne flew several tests as a glider and under powered flight, but only the last three flights actually exceeded an altitude of 100 kilometers (62.14 miles), the officially accepted boundary for space. The first was piloted by Mike Melvill and flown June 21, 2004. Melvill’s flight actually reached 100.1 kilometers.

Once the June 21 flight was accomplished, Rutan and Allen announced that they were ready to demonstrate their ability to reach space on two back-to-back flights with a quick turnaround time, as the Ansari X Prize required. The first of these two flights was on September 29 and also piloted by Melvill. This flight reached an altitude of 102.9 kilometers. The second flight was on October 4 and was piloted by Brian Binnie, one of those who had piloted the earlier test flights of SpaceShipOne. Binnie’s, flight reach an altitude of 112.0 kilometers—actually exceeding by 4.1 kilometers the maximum altitude set by U.S. Air Force pilot Joe Walker in North American’s X-15 experimental aircraft.

Today, SpaceShipOne is now on display the National Mall Building of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The craft hangs in a place of honor between Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis and Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1.

Even now, tests are underway on SpaceShipTwo, which will serve as the foundation for a fleet of suborbital space tourism vehicles to be owned and operated Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic company.

To learn more about SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo, check out these sites:

Scaled Composites – Tier One, Private Manned Space Program
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/

Scaled Composites
http://www.scaled.com/

Virgin Galactic
http://www.virgingalactic.com/

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Jesus, a Son of the Commandment
Luke 2: 40-52

The canonical Bible does not tell us much at all about Jesus’ boyhood before the age of 12. The Scripture passage Luke 2:21-39 does tells us that in obedience to the Mosaic Law—the first five books of the Old Testament—Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus at the temple. And Luke 2:40 sums up His childhood years in a single statement.

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. –Luke 2:40, NIV

According to Deuteronomy 16:16, all Jewish men were required to attend the temple at Jerusalem at Passover, Penetecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. From what we can tell, Joseph was diligent to fulfill his duties, and apparently Mary attended the observances with Joseph on at least some of these occasions, even though the women were not required to do so. Jesus’ trip to the temple at age 12 may, or may not, have been His first. Either way, this trip was a special event. When a Jewish boy reached the age of 13, he was initiated fully into religious life, becoming a “bar Mitzvah”—a “son of the commandment.” Usually a boy attended the festivals in Jerusalem one year before this point in order to gain greater understanding of his new responsibilities. Based upon Luke 2:40, we know that Jesus had been growing and learning the privileges and responsibilities that went along with Jewish manhood. At this point in Jesus’ life we do not know the full extent of Jesus’ growing awareness of His special place in God’s plan. But over the next few days Jesus must have experienced some special revelations about God and Jesus’ relationship to Him.

Jewish custom dictated that teachers sat in the temple courts during Passover and entered into discussions with the people. Jesus joined the people and followed in this practice of hearing teachers and asking questions. This process was the usual educational method of that period. But Luke 2:47 tells us that the teachers were amazed by Jesus’ understanding.

Families come to church today just like families went to the temple in Jesus’ day. How do you interact with your children and the children of others? Do you encourage their learning of the Bible? Do you talk about Bible truths and encourage others in the doing of them? What can you do to foster a son or a daughter of the commandment?

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Shine On, Harvest Moon

There is a full moon this weekend. Specifically, the moon reaches full tonight at 06:10 UTC, which translates to 2:10 a.m. EDT October 4 / 11:10 p.m. PDT October 3. Wherever you are, the moon is going to look wonderful for the next few days. This full moon is the closest to the northern autumnal equinox, which occurred this year on September 22, and therefore this full moon is traditionally called the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon and the full moon that follows--called the Hunter's Moon—are both special. On average, the moon rises 50 minutes later each evening as it goes through its monthly (or “monthly”) cycle, but around the time of the Harvest and Hunter's Moon the time difference between moonrises is shorter, closer to 30 minutes difference each evening as seen from about 40 degrees North or South latitude. So for several evenings around these two full moons there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moorise. This phenomenon for the full moons of September, October and November can also be seen in the southern hemisphere for the full moons of March, April and May around the time of the northern vernal (spring) equinox, which is the southern hemisphere's autumnal equinox.

In the past, when farmers depended more on natural light, the Harvest Moon allowed farmers to work late into the evening as they gathered their harvest of ripening crops. Once the crops were in, the farmers then used the next month's light from the Hunter's Moon to make their last big catches of protein for the season, before the snows made it too difficult to hunt or travel over long distances.

And since we are talking about the moon, please allow me to catch you up on current lunar exploration activities. Here is a quick summary of three currently ongoing lunar missions. First, there is Change’s 1, China's lunar orbiter. Launched October 24 2007, Change’s 1 is designed to make three-dimensional imagery of the lunar surface and study its chemical elements and soil composition, preparing the way for future Chinese lunar lenders. Second, there is NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched June 18, 2009 with the mission to make high-resolution maps of the lunar surface for future landing sites, and to seek potential sources of water-ice. And third, there is NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). Launched along with LRO, LCROSS is designed to create two impacts on October 9 in a crater at the lunar South Pole. The first impact will be made by the Centaur upper stage that carried LRO and LCROSS, and that LCROSS will steer to its final resting place. The second impact will be made soon after by LCROSS itself. The resulting plumes from these impacts will be carefully checked for the presence of water (in the form of ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.

Now, with a nod to musical nostalgia, the Harvest Moon always reminds me of a popular song from the early 1900s called “Shine On, Harvest Moon.” Officially, the words were written by Jack Norworth, the music was composed by Nora Bayes and the song was first published in 1908. But there is a little difference of opinion on the authorship, because as with many songs of the time, once a song was purchased outright, be came the property of the purchaser. Some credit the song to Edward Madden and Gus Edwards, while others credit David Stamper. Whatever the case, the song was extremely popular for several decades. I should note that the months referenced in the chorus have been changed by different performers over the years. For example, I learned them as “January, February, June or July.” If you need a refresher on the song, I’ve listed below a YouTube link to a wonderful performance of the chorus, given by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the 1939 movie “The Flying Deuces.”

Shine On, Harvest Moon

The night was mighty dark so you could hardly see,
For the moon refused to shine.
Couple sitting underneath a willow tree,
For love they did pine.
Little maid was kinda ’fraid of darkness
So she said, “I guess I'll go.”
Boy began to sigh, looked up at the sky,
And told the moon his little tale of woe

Chorus:

Oh, Shine on, shine on, harvest moon
Up in the sky;
I ain't had no lovin’
Since January, April, June or July.
Snow time ain’t no time to stay
Outdoors and spoon;
So shine on, shine on, harvest moon,
For me and my gal.

I can't see why a boy should sigh when by his side
Is the girl he loves so true,
All he has to say is: “Won't you be my bride,
For I love you,
I can't see why I'm telling you this secret,
When I know that you can guess.”
Harvest moon will smile,
Shine on all the while,
If the little girl should answer “yes.”

(chorus)

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Official Home Page of China’s Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) and Chang’e 1
http://www.clep.org.cn/

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mission Home Page
http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov/

NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Mission Home Page
http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/

YouTube video, performance of the chorus of “Shine On, Harvest Moon”, given by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the 1939 movie “The Flying Deuces.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qZZapTHFo

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MESSENGER Makes Pass Number Three

Here is an update on NASA’s intrepid little robotic explorer called MESSENGER. On September 29, MESSENGER successfully flew by Mercury for the third time in its journey, gaining a critical gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011. MESSENGER also captured addition images of the planet surface, bringing the total now to 90 percent.

The above images is one of those taken by MESSENGER on
September 29, during its third flyby of Mercury. Image Credit: NASA

For clarification, this is the NASA Discovery mission called MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging—or MESSENGER for short—is a scientific investigation of the planet Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet. The mission’s anagram is a nod to the winged messenger of the gods in Roman mythology—Get it? Messenger? Oh, never mind…

MESSENGER passed by Mercury at an altitude of 142 miles and at a relative velocity of more than 12,000 mph. As the spacecraft approached the planet, MESSENGER’s Wide Angle Camera captured portions of Mercury's surface that had remained unseen by spacecraft even after the three flybys by Mariner 10 in 1974 and 1975 and by MESSENGER’s two earlier flybys in 2008.

This was MESSENGER’s last opportunity to use the gravity of Mercury to adjust its trajectory without using its limited fuel supply. You see, like many of us who travel today, MESSENGER is traveling smarter and cheaper, though often taking longer to get where its going. The “smarter and cheaper” comes from the fact that messenger has used gravity-assist maneuvers to gain momentum and direction from multiple flybys of various solar system bodies along its journey, including Earth, Venus and Mercury. By using this technique, the spacecraft conserves fuel and also doesn’t have to carry as much. This allows the spacecraft to be smaller, lighter, and require less of a boost to get on its way. But then there is the “taking longer” aspect, which comes from the fact that MESSENGER is in a solar orbit and so must wait up to one orbit of the sun before it catches up with a given gravity-assisting body to perform the flyby maneuver. MESSENGER was launched on August 3, 2004 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The spacecraft has now performed three close-up flybys of the planet Mercury, and will finally enter orbit in March of 2011 and begin a year of study of our innermost planet.

NASA’s MESSENGER mission is a scientific investigation of the planet Mercury. Like any good researcher the goal of MESSENGER is to answer questions. In this case, six specific questions about Mercury. They are: Why is Mercury so dense? What is the geologic history of Mercury? What is the nature of Mercury's magnetic field? What is the structure of Mercury's core? What are the unusual materials at Mercury's poles? What volatiles—chemical compounds with low boiling points—are important at Mercury?

The MESSENGER spacecraft has a scientific payload including seven instruments that gather data. One is the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), a camera with wide and narrow fields-of-view, for monochrome, color, and stereo imaging. Another is the Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS), which maps the elemental makeup of Mercury’s crust. The third is the X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS), also used to map elemental abundances in crustal materials. The fourth is the Magnetometer (MAG), which maps the detailed structure and dynamics of Mercury's magnetic field and magnetosphere and searches for regions of magnetized crustal rocks. The fifth instrument is the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), which measures the planet’s topography. The sixth is the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS), which measures the abundance of atmospheric gases and detects minerals in surface materials. And the seventh instrument is the Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer (EPPS), which measures the makeup and characteristics of charged particles within and around Mercury's magnetosphere.

In addition to these, a radio scence investigation uses MESSENGER's telecommunications system to monitor the Doppler effect–the shift in the frequency of the spacecraft's radio signal with changes in the spacecraft's velocity relative to Earth–to measure Mercury's mass distribution, including spatial variations in crustal thickness.

Along with the instruments and experiments, MESSENGER has other necessities for the mission. It has a sunshade to protect the spacecraft from direct sunlight, allowing the electronics and instruments to operate at room temperature even in the hot Mercury environment. MESSENGER has a solar array and battery to collect and distribute power to intruments and other systems. And the craft has liquid chemical-fuled thrusters which perform fuel burns to change its trajectory and attitude.

For more on the MESSENGER mission and to keep up on the latest events, check out the mission home page.

MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) Home Page
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/

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Spitzer Spots Swirling Planetary Material

...Say that phrase ten times fast. Anyway, the astronomers working with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have observed some rather odd behavior around a young star. Something, maybe another star or a planet, appears to be pushing a clump of planet-forming material around. The observations may provide a rare look into the early stages of planet formation.

Our current understanding of planet formation says that planets form out of swirling disks of gas and dust. And over a period of five months, Spitzer observed infrared light coming from one such disk around a young star called LRLL 31, located in the open star cluster IC 348, a star-forming region about 1,000 light years away, in the direction of the constellation Perseus. While observing LRLL 31, the astronomers were surprised to see that the light varied in unexpected ways over a period of just one week. Since we understand planets to take millions of years form, it is rare to see any change over a human lifetime, let alone over one week.

One explanation they offer is that a close companion to the star—either a star or a developing planet—could be shoving planet-forming material together, causing its thickness to vary as it spins around the star.

One theory of planet formation suggests that planets start out as clouds of gas and dust grains swirling around a star in a disk. Over time, the grains slowly clump and gradually increase in size to that of planets. As the planets get bigger and bigger, they carve out gaps in the dust, until a so-called transitional disk takes shape with a large doughnut-like hole at its center. This disk fades very gradually over time, and a new type of disk emerges, made up of debris from collisions between planets, asteroids and comets. Ultimately, a more settled, mature solar system like our own forms.

The observing team suggests that a companion to the star, circling in a gap in the system's disk, could explain the data. The companion would have to be close in order to move the material around this fast—about one-tenth the distance between Earth and the sun.

More information is needed to confirm the presence of a companion. The latest information came from five months of observing LRLL 31, and more observations are planned using Spitzer as well as ground-based telescopes. The next observations may be more of a challenge as Spitzer slowly comes to the end of its operational life. You see, Spitzer needs coolant to keep its temperature low enough to make the necessary infrared observations. Spitzer has already exceeded its 5+ years lifespan estimate, and finally ran out of coolant in May of this year. Spitzer is still operating, but now in a “warmer” state which may influence how much infrared “light” the observatory will be able to detect.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope was originally developed as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), but NASA later renamed the program in honor of renowned American astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer, Jr. (1914-1997). Spitzer is an infrared space telescope—it detects bodies in space by their infrared energy, or heat, which radiates between the wavelengths of 3 and 180 microns (1 micron is one-millionth of a meter). Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground, but can be observed from outside our atmosphere.

Spitzer was launched aboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 25, 2003. Consisting of a 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically-cooled science instruments, Spitzer is the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space. Its highly sensitive instruments give us a unique view of the Universe and allow us to peer into regions of space which are hidden from optical telescopes. Many areas of space are filled with vast, dense clouds of gas and dust which block our view. But infrared light can penetrate these clouds, allowing us to peer into regions of star formation, the centers of galaxies, and into newly forming planetary systems. Infrared also brings us information about the cooler objects in space, such as smaller stars which are too dim to be detected by their visible light, extrasolar planets, and giant molecular clouds. Also, many molecules in space, including organic molecules, have their unique signatures in the infrared.

Because infrared is primarily heat radiation, Spitzer must be cooled to near absolute zero (-459°F or -273°C) so that it can observe infrared signals from space without interference from the telescope's own heat. Also, the Spitzer must be protected from the heat of the Sun and the infrared radiation put out by the Earth. To do this, Spitzer carries a solar shield and was launched into an Earth-trailing solar orbit. This unique orbit places Spitzer far enough away from the Earth to allow the telescope to cool rapidly without having to carry large amounts of cryogen (coolant). Spitzer is the final mission launched in NASA's Great Observatories Program—a family of four orbiting observatories, each observing the Universe in a different kind of light (visible, gamma rays, X-rays, and infrared). Other missions in this program include the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO), and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO). Spitzer is also a part of NASA's Astronomical Search for Origins Program, designed to provide information which will help us understand our cosmic roots, and how galaxies, stars and planets develop and form.

To learn more about Spitzer and this latest discovery, check out the mission home page:

Spitzer Space Telescope Mission Home Page
www.spitzer.caltech.edu/

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LCROSS Adjusts its Aim

Do you remember NASA's Deep Impact mission of July 4, 2005, which punched a spectacular hole in Comet Temple 1 in order to see what was inside? Well, as Yankee's great Yogi Berra would say, its “déjà vu all over again.” Only this time the target is a lovely crater at the South Pole of the Moon.

The mission is NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS for short. The mission objectives of LCROSS include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed—and therefore always cold--crater at the Moon’s South Pole. As mentioned here a few days ago with the Chandrayaan-1 announcement, the identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon’s polar craters with two heavy impactors to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The impact will eject material from the crater’s surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (in the forms of ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.

Like on Earth, water is a crucial resource on the Moon and it won't be practical for humans to carry with them all of the water they will need. It is critical to find natural resources, such as water, on the Moon. The LCROSS mission will begin NASA's direct search for water, leveraging the information that was learned from NASA'S Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions.

By going first to the Moon and staying there for extended periods of time, astronauts can search for resources and learn how to work safely in a harsh environment before moving out to other bodies in our solar system. In addition, a close up and extended study of the Moon can offer scientists insight to the time when the planets were formed.

A sister mission working with LCROSS is NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. From lunar orbit, LRO will scout for safe and compelling landing sites for future missions, locate potential resources (with special attention to the possibility of water ice) and characterize the effects of prolonged exposure to the lunar radiation environment. In addition to its exploration mission, LRO will also return rich scientific data that will help us to better understand the moon’s topography and composition.

Back on June 18, LCROSS and LRO began their mission from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, aboard an Atlas V first stage with a Centaur upper stage. Since then, the mission teams have been using their returning data, along with data from current and past lunar missions (those previously noted as well as ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 and JAXA's Kaguya spacecraft), to refine the South Pole target for the LCROSS impactors.

Until recently the target was crater Cabeus A, a companion to crater Cabeus (proper). Then on Monday the LCROSS mission announced it was shifting the target to Cabeus (proper). The latest data now seems to show that Cabeus has the highest hydrogen concentrations at the South Pole. Also, the latest terrain models show a small valley in an otherwise tall Cabeus perimeter ridge, which will better allow sunlight to illuminate the ejecta cloud—the stuff flying out from the impact—on October 9, which is the scheduled date for the event. While this target change means that the ejecta will have to fly a little higher before it is visible to ground-based and Earth-orbital telescopes, a shadow cast by a large hill along the Cabeus ridge, will provide an excellent, high-contrast, back drop for ejecta and vapor measurements. The first impactor will be the Centaur upper stage, which has been guided by the LCROSS spacecraft. Following its observations of the first impact, LCROSS itself will then dive in, creating the second impact.

The exact time of the impact is early Friday morning, October 9, at 7:30 a.m. EDT/4:30 a.m. PDT. As the date gets closer, mission teams will continue to refine the target, choosing the exact point of impact within Cabeus crater in order to avoid rough spots, and to maximize solar illumination of the expected debris plume and Earth observations. Scientific benefits aside, it looks to be a great show. If you happen to be at a location where the Moon is visible at that time, and if you have a telescope with a 10” to 12” aperture, you might want to gather some friends for a LCROSS impact party. It should be fun. Just be sure to observe and party responsibly.

To keep current on the missions as they progress, stay tuned to these sites:

NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Mission
www.nasa.gov/lcross/

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html

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Friday Fireball Over the GTA

Last Friday evening—September 25th—a meteor streaked across the sky over southern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area (locally abbreviated as the GTA). The event was seen just after 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Many described the light as a greenish color and that its brightness was greater than that of the full Moon—qualifying the object as a fireball. Some Toronto security cameras under the fireball's path actually caught the dramatic change in brightness at ground level as the fireball passed. One security camera actually caught a reflection of the fireball in the paint job of a parked van.

After a few seconds of fame, the meteor broke into reddish fragments and faded from view. Some described the meteor as a bolide since it broke up in flight. My understanding of a bolide is that the exposition would be more violent than what was reported, and that it would normally be accompanied by sonic boom-like sounds. Neither of these occurrances was reported in the story, but no matter. By whatever you call it, the event was spectacular.

So what do we really know about the object? When all is said and done, not much. But that has never stopped us before. Let’s pretend that we are a bunch of amateur astronomers sitting around a jolly table with a tasty beverage in hand. What can we guess about the object—and guessing is definitely what we are doing here.

Was this really a meteoroid or was it space junk? Good question. Since the newspapers did not report any official announcement of “something” expected to fall on that evening, I’m guessing that it was not space junk. If it was, though, shame on them for missing it. Let’s stay with the meteoroid guess.

About how big was it? Well, fireballs are thought to be the result of meteoroids that range in size from a basketball to a small car. At least, that would be the size range when it entered the atmosphere. It would have gradually broken up on its way down until it finally did that major breakup at the end.

What kind of meteor was it? Well, we don’t have details in the news story as to its direction, so we cannot even extrapolate an orbit that my suggest a possible family of Near-Earth asteroids, so we will have to let that one go. With regard to its composition, we can take a wild guess. The witnesses report that it was bright green. That is one of the usual colors seen of fireballs, along with blue, yellow, red, or even white. The color green can be an indication of the presence of the mineral nickel, so perhaps it was a nickel-iron meteoroid, and therefore produced nickel-iron meteorites.

Can we find the meteorites? Well, that depends on whether someone was close to the break-up point, and has a good idea of the general location. If they are nickel-iron meteorites, and that is a very wild guess, then they would be easier to spot than stony or stony-iron meteorites, which tend to blend in with the surrounding rocks. One think to look for is a crusty, charred exterior, as if someone took a large knife and carved big chunks out of the surface, creating interestingly shaped rocks. This carving appearance is the result of the ablation process as the meteoroid passes through the atmosphere. The surrounding air molecules are compressed, heat up, and ionize the gas around the meteoroid. As the outside of the meteoroid heats up, parts of the exterior pop off, taking the excess heat with them and allowing the larger body to survive intact for at least a little longer. If you do see a meteor, and if it comes down near your location, look around as best you can. If you do find something that you think might be a meteorite, take it to the nearest university, science museum or science center. Talk to the most knowledgeable person there on the subject of meteorites. Tell them all you can about the rocks and where you found them. If that person agrees with your opinion, they may need to send it off to someone for testing, or perhaps do the tests themselves. And if you’re lucky, you might have found a meteorite.

Why didn’t astronomers warn anybody about this one? Well, that goes back to its size. Official watch groups, like the participants in NASA’s Near-Earth Objects program, only look for bodies that are a kilometer in size or greater. The smaller stuff is just too small to consistently spot. And besides, statistics show that the smaller stuff usually breaks up well before hitting the ground, like this one did, or falls in water or in a remote area. The numbers say that bigger stuff is possible on the average of every one hundred years or so, like the Tunguska event over northern Russia on June 30, 1908. Wait, you say. It is now 2009. Are we statistically due for another Tunguska-sized event? Oh, I see you have been watching the History Channel. Me, too. Well, to be a concern, the body would have to affect a populated area, not a remote area or a body of water. Beyond that speculation, I’m not even going further. That topic is for the professionals.

If you really want to know about Near-Earth objects, then NASA’s Near Earth Object Program is definitely the place to check out. The folks in this group are constantly looking for bodies that might be a concern to Earth either now or in the future. As of September 27, 6,386 Near-Earth object have been discovered by them. These are bodies orbiting our Sun which come close to Earth every now and then. Knowing who our neighbors are and where our neighbors are is the first step in avoiding our neighbors, if you know what I mean. As I say these folks are dedicated and do a great job. And the site is very informative, too. Summing up, I would say that since these groups are diligently working away, it is a good chance that anything that would be a concern to us would be reported in the news well in advance of a possible problem. So please don’t worry your pretty little head about it.

Gee, that was fun. And I’m in need of another tasty beverage, so I’ll leave you now. But if you want to learn more about observing meteors and finding meteorites, or about Near-Earth objects, please check out these great sites:

American Meteor Society
http://www.amsmeteors.org/

International Meteor Organization
http://www.imo.net/

NASA's Near Earth Object Program
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

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Planck is Up and Mapping Ancient Light

The Planck mission has produced its first rough images of the ancient sky, demonstrating that the new observatory is working and ready to measure cosmic microwave background radiation—ancient light from the dawn of time.

Cosmic microwave background radiation, or CMBR for short, is thought to play a key role in the field of cosmology—the study of the origin and nature of the universe. CMBR is a form of electromagnetic radiation which fills the universe. While the space between the stars and galaxies appears pitch black in an optical telescope, a radio telescope reveals a faint background glow, almost exactly the same in all directions, that is not associated with any star, galaxy, or other object. This glow is strongest in the microwave region of the radio spectrum, leading to the name cosmic microwave background radiation. CMBR was discovered in 1964 by radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson and was the culmination of work initiated in the 1940s. Their discovery earned them the 1978 Nobel Prize.

According to the Big Bang model of cosmology, before the formation of stars and planets, the universe was much smaller, much hotter, and filled with a uniform glow from its white-hot fog of hydrogen plasma. As the universe expanded, both the plasma and the radiation filling it grew cooler. When the universe cooled enough, stable atoms formed. These atoms were no longer able to absorb the thermal radiation, and the universe became transparent instead of being an opaque fog. The photons that existed at that time have been traveling ever since, though growing fainter and less energetic, since the exact same photons fill a larger and larger universe.

The objective of the Planck mission is to detect and map these ancient photons. Planck is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission that has significant participation from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA played key roles in the development of the Planck mission and is providing important contributions to the science analyses of mission data.

The mission is named after German physicist Max Planck (1858 – 1947), considered to be the founder of quantum theory. The Planck mission was launched (along with the Herschel mission) on May 14, 2009 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Since July 2, Planck has been orbiting the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 2 (L2), about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth in the direction opposite the Sun. This dark location, combined with an onboard cooling system, allows Planck to be very cold indeed, with an operational temperature of -273.05°C (-459.5°F). This temperature allows Planck’s detectors to study the CMBR.

And extensive checkout and initial calibration of Planck's instruments was completed by the second week of August. Planck's "first light" survey, which ran continuously from August 13 to 27, verified the stability of its instruments and their ability to be calibrated over long periods to the extreme accuracy that is needed. The survey produced maps of a 360° strip of the sky, one map for each of Planck's nine observed frequencies. Preliminary analysis indicates that the quality of the data is excellent.

Astronomers expect that Planck will provide the best views to date of the early moments of our universe, over 13 billion years ago. Planck will survey the entire sky continuously for at least 15 months, yielding at least two full and independent all-sky images. The mission promises to contain a treasure trove of data that will keep cosmologists and astrophysicists busy for decades to come.

The Planck mission follows in the footsteps of previous missions which studied the CMBR, including NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) , NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) , NASA's and the Netherlands (NIVR) Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) , and other orbital and ground-based missions. For more on the Planck mission and earlier CMBR missions, check out these sites:

Planck Mission, ESA Home Page
http://www.esa.int/planck

Planck Mission, NASA Home Page
http://www.nasa.gov/planck

NASA’s Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/

NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Archive Page
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/cobe/

NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Archive Page
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/current/

NASA's and the Netherlands (NIVR) Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) Archive Page
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/iras/

Paul, Timothy and the Bible
Acts 16:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:1-5; 3:14-17

Who built a foundation for your faith in Jesus Christ? Who helped you understand the gospel? Who was present when you asked Jesus to be your Savior? Who influenced you on your spiritual journey? Was it a parent? A grandparent? Another family member? A close friend? Who was your Paul?

Timothy may have been converted to faith in Christ on Paul’s first missionary journey to Lystra, a city in what is now modern Turkey. When Paul returned to Lystra on his second journey, he found that Timothy was well respected by other believers for this faith.

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, Paul addressed Timothy as his son, indicating a close relationship between them. Paul described Timothy’s faith as sincere and that it first lived in his grandmother and his mother. Timothy grew up in a family that nourished his faith from their own.

Paul reminded Timothy to do those things he had learned. Timothy did not learn the truth from strangers, but from people close to him who lived out Scripture teachings. Timothy’s personal knowledge of his teachers assured him of the reliability of the things he had learned. The content of the teaching was important, but so was the character of those who taught him.

Paul asserted to Timothy that the Scripture guides, corrects, and helps us to know what to do and how to act. The Scriptures can lead people to wisdom and then salvation. Just knowledge of the truths of Scripture is not enough. Saving faith comes only through trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Faith in Christ is the link which unites the message of the entire Scripture.

As a Christian, you can help others to hear and know what the Bible says. You can be a Paul to someone else. You can help them begin to do what the Bible says to do. You help build foundations in the lives of others so they will know how to live for God. Who will be your Timothy?

Reflecting on the Ice of Mars

The science teams for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission have been very busy of late, studying images of sub-surface water ice on the planet Mars. The images were taken by MRO’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). The images show craters that were dug by meteorite impacts in 2008. One crater is 12 meters, or 40 feet, across and is located within Arcadia Planitia. Another crater is 8 meters, or 26 feet, across on the flat, dark plains of Vastitas Borealis. When HiRISE found these recent additions to the Martian surface, it also found something very exciting—ice. Other MRO mission instruments were put into play and the teams soon confirmed they were looking at sub-surface water ice that was 99 percent pure.

This discovery provided two big surprises about Mars. The first surprise was that the exposed water ice was so pure. They previously thought that the ice would accumulate between the soil grains, creating a 50-50 mix of dirt and ice. But by watching the ice slowly fade in progressive images, they estimate the mixture to be about one percent dirt and 99 percent ice. The second surprise was that, while scientists expected ice beneath the Martian surface at high latitudes, they did not expect it to stretch at least to 48 degrees of latitude—over halfway to the equator. This amazing discovery could have a major impact on the future and direction of Mars exploration. But what if this discovery had been made earlier? Say, 30 years earlier?

Flash-Back Time… Do you remember NASA’s Viking program? I sure do. It consisted of two ambitions orbiter/lander missions to Mars. Viking 1 launched August 20, 1975 and Viking 2 launched September 9. The probes reached Martian orbit on June 19 and August 7, respectively, of 1976. The Viking 1 Lander reached the surface July 20 and the Viking 2 Lander on September 3. Viking 1 touched down in Chryse Planitia (Greek for “Plain of Gold”) and Viking 2 landed in Utopia Planitia (Greek for “Plain of Utopia”). Trekkers in the know will remember that the U.S.S. Enterprise D, from TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, was assembled in the Utopia Planitia Yards, a nod to the amazing achievements of the Viking program. The various Viking crafts operated for a significant time. Orbiter 2 until July 25, 1978, Lander 2 until April 11, 1980, Orbiter 1 until August 17, 1980, and Lander 1—the old man of the program—operated until November 13, 1982. Their combined data provided most of our knowledge about the Red Planet well into the early 2000s.

Viking was pretty big for me. Like many other teenagers in the southeastern U.S., I got an opportunity to see the mission up close and personal. It was, of course, 1976, the year of the U.S. Bicentennial celebration. NASA's Kennedy Space Center was hosting Third Century America, an exposition of what American science and technology had achieved and what was possible in the future. The event was assembled around the south end of the Vehicle Assembly Building and featured an Apollo Saturn V launch vehicle on display and a collection of geodesic-domed pavilions filled with exhibits. One pavilion featured a full-scale model of a Viking Lander with updates on the Lander activities and real-time feed of the downloaded images.

But what if those downloaded images had included sub-surface water ice? What if Viking had discovered it? The relative location of at least one of these meteorite craters is near to the Viking 2 Lander site. Could Viking 2 have discovered it? Well, the Viking scoops were designed for mission experiments to test the soil for organic compounds that would indicate the presence of current or past life. They were not designed to dig deeply, like the Mars Polar Lander of 1999 or the Phoenix Lander of 2008. But what if they had? What if those scoops were able to dig just three or four inches deeper? We would not have had to wait until the Mars Polar Lander (which failed) or the Mars Phoenix Lander before we saw water ice in the Martian soil. How would that discovery have affected our perception of Mars and the exploration of Mars for the next twenty years? Would this knowledge have encouraged the budgetary support for more robotic Martian probes through the 1980s and 1990s? Would the talk of human exploration of Mars have become a reality by now? Maybe…and maybe not.

The important question for us now is this: How does this discovery affect our perception of Mars and Mars exploration now? Will this encourage the budgetary support for more robotic probes? Will the talk of human exploration of Mars become a reality sooner than later?

To learn more about the discovery of sub-surface water ice on Mars, and to learn more about Mars exploration, please check out these great sites:

HiRISE Home Page
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Home Page
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/

NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Home Page
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/

NASA’s Mars Polar Lander Mission Home Page
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/

NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission Home Page
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php

NASA’s Viking Mission Home Page
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/viking/

Water on the Moon

The scientific community is all a-buzz today, using phrases like "definitive," "clear evidence" and "unequivocally confirm." Of what do they speak? Why of the presence of water on the Moon, a world previously thought, for the most part, to be as dry as a bone.

The new evidence comes from three corroborating sources. The first is the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, an instrument developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and flown on Chandrayaan-1, India’s first robotic lunar probe. The second source is the Deep Impact spacecraft, which made its discoveries on two fly-by’s of the Moon during it's current extended mission (EPOXI). The third source is NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

The new data shows that over the course of the long lunar day, a water only a few molecules thick—described by some as “dew”—gradually forms on the lunar surface and then gradually dissipates. Scientists are not certain how this happens, but they think the cycle is driven by the sun. They suggest that hydrogen ions are carried by the solar wind to the Moon where they interact with oxygen rich minerals in lunar soil and rock to produce the molecules for water and hydroxyl. The molecules form in the cooler lunar morning and then evaporate in the warmer lunar mid-day. Scientific reports estimate that one ton of lunar surface containing the molecules could naturally yield as much as 32 ounces, or one quart, of water. While this amount is not large, scientists note that there are ways to increase the output. What’s more, scientists suspect that if their theories regarding the process are correct, then this is happening throughout the inner solar system on all airless bodies with oxygen-bearing minerals.

This is very exciting news, but, for now, there are a few hurdles that sill need to be cleared. The discovery must be confirmed to everyone's satisfaction. The resource finds must be in sufficient quantities to be usable. And the resources must be cost effectively accessible. If all of these issues can be addressed, this is major. Just think about it. Once the necessary extracting, processing and storing facilities were up and running, future explorers would no longer have to "bring their own everything" when they left the safety and comfort of Earth. Instead, they could pack the minimum essentials for a short hop and let the Moon provide the rest. This would include water for drinking and farming, oxygen for breathing, and the combination of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel. This turn of events could give a tremendous boost to the arguments for using the Moon for colonization and as a platform for future solar system missions. In addition to the possible benefits to space exploration, there are those that are considering, with the presence of water, the possibility of life on the Moon. Whatever the final outcome, this discovery should definitely boost budgets for lunar exploration in the short term.

Chandrayaan-1 was India's first robotic lunar probe, managed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The word “Chandrayaan” is Sanskrit, meaning “Moon-vehicle” or "Lunar Craft.” Chandrayaan-1 was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota on October 22, 2008. Designed for a two-year mission, it ended after only 312 days when radio contact was lost on August 29. Even with this loss, mission managers were able to achieve 95 percent of the planned objectives. The spacecraft carried eleven scientific instruments. Five were Indian, three were from the European Space Agency (ESA), one from the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, and two were from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). One of these was the Moon Mineralogy Mapper .

NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft was originally built for is 2005 mission in which it successfully punched a hole in comet Tempel 1 in order to find out what was inside. The spacecraft's data on lunar water were obtained as part of calibration opportunities that occurred during two June flybys of the Earth and Moon, which were needed to get a sufficient gravity boosts to travel on its EPOXI mission to a second comet, Hartley 2, which the spacecraft will encounter in November 2010.

NASA’s Cassini-Huygens mission was launched October 15, 1997 and is currently orbiting Saturn, studying the planet, its ring system and its moons.

For the latest on the discovery, please check out these sites:

Chandrayaan-1 Mission Home page: http://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan/htmls/home.htm

NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper home page: http://m3.jpl.nasa.gov/

NASA’s Cassini Mission home page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html

NASA’s Deep Impact Mission home page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/deepimpact/main/index.html

NASA’s EPOXI Mission home page: http://epoxi.umd.edu/