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I Wish Office Work Was This Interesting

Having just stumbled around the space blogs, I was enthusiastic that I would find some inspiration toward my next Astroengine.com article. Along the way, I found this rather entertaining short film on Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy website. As Phil points out, “black holes don’t work this way.” Although, that is a shame.

There’s a strong moral to this story: don’t photocopy alone, as you never know when your Xerox machine will print out a singularity. Well, not really, perhaps the guy should have stopped at stealing a snickers bar, a lesson we could all learn from. Actually, I might have walked off with just one wad of cash… actually, maybe two… you get the picture.

Needless to say, this isn’t actually how a black hole works… it’s not even how a wormhole would work. But take the short film at face value and get some entertainment from it, I thought it was quite good fun.

Climate Change, More Human Than We Thought

The Aztecs caused it too! (Getty) — The Aztecs, affected atmospheric carbon levels? (Getty)

Global warming anyone? I ask as I don’t want to upset anybody. Forget it, I’m going to talk about it anyway.

Climate change is an important subject worthy of debate. But for a debate to develop into something constructive, all sides need to have some scientific merit. Clearly, if we listen to Leo DiCaprio, Al Gore and the world’s carbon-cutting politicians, we might be led to believe we are damaging the environment… hell, we might even be warming the whole planet through carbon emissions! So, strip the Hollywood glamour and political spin from the debate, does the global warming debate have any science linking human activity with increased global temperatures?

In a new study, focusing on Central and South America, scientists have uncovered possibly one of the earliest recorded cases of human-induced climate change, possibly amplifying (or even triggering) the Little Ice Age in Europe throughout the 16th century and beyond…
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MRO Spots Mars Dust Storm in the Making

Wind whipping up a dust storm on Mars (NASA)

One of the overriding features in the Martian atmosphere is the troublesome dust storm. Sometimes, these storms can last months and can span the entire planet. As testified by the solar panels on rovers Spirit and Opportunity, dust storms block sunlight from passing through the atmosphere and can deposit a thick red layer over the robots, amplifying the dust storm’s damaging effects.

In the stunning image above, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured the dust being blown up from the Red Planet’s surface. In short, this is the source of a growing dust storm from a canyon system, injecting a huge amount of material into the skies…
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Tonight’s Astroengine Live Cancelled

It's sad, but the next show will be awesome...

Sorry everybody, but if you’re listening in to Astroengine Live for your weekly space news updates, you’ll notice a recording is currently being re-broadcast on WPRT Radio (thank you Jack!). Due to unforeseen circumstances I am currently stuck in Palm Desert and can’t return to LA in time for the show. Very frustrating, as I had a lot of Christmas goodies for you… however, they can wait until next week!

I will keep you posted about what I have planned for next week in the next couple of days. For now, check out the Astroengine Live pages, and remember, if you have any topics you want to be discussed on the show, please drop a message to astro@wprtradio.com.

Sorry for the break in service, but I’ll be back next week… For now, have a wonderful Christmas with your families and stay warm!

Cheers, Ian

SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Awarded NASA Contracts: $3.5 Billion Total

SpaceX Dragon approaches the ISS (SpaceX)

NASA has just signed two very large cheques for two private spaceflight companies, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences Corporation. The contracts will allow private launches to re-supply the International Space Station beyond Shuttle decommissioning in 2010, and SpaceX claims they could be doing it by next year.

These contracts represent some of the largest ever given to private enterprise, and demonstrates the trust the US space agency is placing in these space start-ups. The contracts are worth $3.5 billion combined; $1.9 billion for Orbital Sciences and $1.6 billion for SpaceX, equating to 8 flights from Orbital and 12 flights from SpaceX. For now, these contracts are for cargo deliveries only, replacing the Shuttle and providing a viable alternative to the Russian Progress flights. Critically, the US now has a very real prospect to bridge the “5-year gap” from Shuttle retirement (2010) and Constellation launch (2015).

All we need now is for SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket system to become “human rated” and we could see the first routine commercial launches of US astronauts before the Constellation Program is even rolled out onto the launchpad. Very exciting times…

Source: Universe Today, SpaceX

Sorry, 2012 Just Got Quieter: No Comet Impact

Comets are out there, but there's nothing scheduled for 2012...

It’s been a nagging frustration ever since I started writing about the 2012 doomsday scenarios seven months ago. Every time I posted articles with the keywords “2012”, “doomsday”, “comet” or “asteroid”, ads would appear across my website linking to 2012 doomsday sites. Simply writing about these misguided theories had attracted ads for the very sites I was criticising!

At first I blocked them, but then I became pretty relaxed about it. Why not allow these ads to appear? I get ad revenue, they lose ad revenue, seems somehow justified doesn’t it? Well, not really. If I let these individuals advertise on my site with impunity, I’d be little better than them… I’d be cashing in (albeit in a small way) on their popularity. So I’ve kept the worst of them blocked (although you will still see some 2012 ads, they shouldn’t be the ones I’m critical of in my writing, and they shouldn’t be promoting the end of the world).

Today I decided to make a stand against these 2012 comet theories and write an article. It’s been a long time coming. In fact, it was one of those articles that have been hanging over my head for months, an uncomfortable thorn in my side. The comet impact theory has been around for decades, there’s nothing new with the thought that we might be scrubbed out of existence by a comet or asteroid, but the whole 2012 worry has dusted off some old fears…
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Can Gravitational Waves be Used for Evil?

Theoretical gravitational waves generated after a black hole collision. Can we surf them?

Gravitational waves are a theoretical consequence of a propagating energy disturbance through space-time. They are predicted by Einstein’s general relativity equations, and astrophysicists are going to great pains to try to detect the faint signature from the passage of these waves through local space. Unfortunately, even though millions of dollars have been spent on international experiments, the gravitational wave remains in equation form; there is little (direct) evidence to support their existence.

However, this doesn’t stop the US military from worrying about them and commissioned a 40-page report into whether high frequency gravitational waves could be used by an enemy. Excuse me? Gravitational waves… as a weapon?
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Who Said Star Wars Was Dead? Introducing the Airborne Laser

A plane... with a frickin' laser attached to its head! Sorry, couldn't resist... The 747 plus ABL (USAF)

The US Air Force and a number of military contractors have successfully test-fired the first aircraft-based military laser system called the “Airborne Laser” (or ABL). Airborne Laser? Looking at the laser-touting Boeing 747 above, you’d think the USAF would have come up with a more imaginative name… Like, “Project Lightning Strike“, “Winged Overlord” or “Delta Echo Alpha Tango Hotel (DEATH)“. There’s probably some military call-sign, but on reading about the ABL, I found myself a little bored of the concept until I saw the finished product…
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