Check out this snap taken by the Mars Global Surveyor on May 22, 2003. Every so often the planets align so that both Jupiter, Earth and the moon can all be captured in one wide angle breathtaking shot.
Hit the jump to see where the planets were located when this shot was taken.
It has been 40 years today since Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, effectively becoming the first human being ever to set foot on a space mass other than Earth.
Almost half a century later, the first step is still awe-inspiring. Thank you for providing the inspiration needed to launch MTV.
NASA is more than a bunch of dorks launching satellites and Mars rovers. Now the government space agency is challenging Gatorade and Powerade by unveiling a new sports drink that’s appropriately titled “The Right Stuff.” It promises serious hydration, greater endurance and superior performance. Hey, it beats drinking recycled urine.
Says NASA:
The novel electrolyte formula contains a specific ratio of key ingredients, sodium chloride and sodium citrate, for rapid restoration of hydration. These electrolytes, dissolved in water, optimize the levels of sodium ions in the body. The beverage is an isotonic formulation that restores both intra- and extracellular body fluid volumes in dehydrated astronauts, athletes and others.
Simply put: It’ll rehydrate ya.
In a move that should come as no surprise, NASA has completed its installation of a urine-to-water recycling system aboard the International Space Station. To celebrate, the crew of the ISS stuck some straws in funky-looking bags of the liquid and drank up. Some claim that the recycled piss is actually cleaner than most tap water on Earth, but I beg to differ. After all, it’s not just human whiz: there’s also animal waste going into the filtration system as well. Gross? Sure, but it’s all in the day of an astronaut.
While World of Warcraft still reigns supreme as king of the MMOs, Blizzard has an unusual competitor entering the market: NASA. The government space agency is developing an MMO that takes place around 2035 and focuses on “being in a habitat on a planetary surface and doing things like mining Helium-3 for fuel, operating a hydroponics facility to grow plants and create oxygen and operating robots and vehicles.” Sounds pretty entertaining if you’re interested in outer space.
The working title for the MMO is called Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond and it’s being developed using the Unreal 3 engine. The prospect of being able to walk around on Mars and level up through real-world applications (as opposed to casting Fire III) should excite dorks of all walks of life. Judging by the screenshots, NASA’s MMO is looking to be a lot of fun for any gamer.
Outer space is filled with things we’ll never know about. Beautiful objects swirling around in the fiery cosmos. How poetic.
Luckily, we have half-decent scientists here in America (and some OK ones from Britain) who used the Gemini North and Keck telescopes at the Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii to explore outside our solar system. After a little digging, they found a planet orbiting the star known as Formalhaut. With the discovery of more planets in an entirely different solar system, the possibility to find another Earth totally exists. One day, we’ll be able use intergalactic travel to emulate our Spore fantasies.
The Phoenix Mars Lander has given NASA and scientists an unimaginable amount of information. It discovered both water and snow on Mars and has helped paved the way for exploring for life in outer space. But all good things must come to an end and after a Martian dust storm, combined with the harsh winter conditions on the surface of the planet, the time has come for the Phoenix to shut down and die. NASA has declared the mission officially over and the lander is now shut off and dead.
If you’ll recall, the mission cost about $475 million. I think you’ll have to agree that it was money well spent considering what we discovered. I call dibs on the lander wheels when we all move to Mars in 2056.
The Phoenix Lander is still hard at work discovering various hints of life on Mars. NASA had originally believed there was ice on Mars, but weren’t able to prove it at the time. Then, NASA found water. Now, Philip Christensen, the principal investigator for the Mars Odyssey THEMIS camera system and a professor from Arizona State University says melting snow in Martian craters may have created a system of gullies that have potentially formed life.
“I think we have discovered remnants of snow packs on Mars that in the recent past have melted,” says Christensen. “I think if you were to land on one of those and stick a shovel in the ground, you’d be shoveling snow. And if life ever existed on Mars, I can’t think of a more exciting place to possibly go and look.”
Mars is a cold place, but just because it’s as cold as a witches tit doesn’t mean it can’t sustain lifeforms. After all, there are organisms on Earth that can withstand the temperature of Mars. Is mankind ready to take that giant leap into the final frontier and colonize a planet? Probably not. Regardless, Mars is proving itself to be the perfect candidate and has been proving it for quite some time.
Everyone has dreamed of traveling to space at one time or another. The problem is, no one wants to spend a fortune forcing themselves into a marriage just so they can get into space. So the finest Japanese minds are collectively collaborating the construction of an elevator into space. This vision has spurred the inspiration of many scientists around the world as well as government organizations such as NASA.
Now, several separate projects have launched and it has become a competition to see who can make the best carriages and tether for the lift. Could it really be possible to build an elevator whose “top floor” is outside of the Earth’s atmosphere? Scientists seem to think so. Until I see results, I’ll remain in the lobby: planet Earth.
