I came accross this interesting story about a plan to beat up the moon that sounds pretty interesting. Check this out:

Scientists are priming two spacecraft to slam into the moon’s South Pole to see if the lunar double whammy reveals hidden water ice.

The Earth-on-moon violence may raise eyebrows, but NASA’s history shows that such missions can yield extremely useful scientific observations.

“I think that people are apprehensive about it because it seems violent or crude, but it’s very economical,” said Tony Colaprete, the principal investigator for the mission at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

NASA’s previous Lunar Prospector mission detected large amounts of hydrogen at the moon’s poles before crashing itself into a crater at the lunar South Pole. Now the much larger Lunar Crater and Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission, set for a February 2009 moon crash, will take aim and discover whether some of that hydrogen is locked away in the form of frozen water.

LCROSS will piggyback on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission for an Oct. 28 launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket equipped with a Centaur upper stage. While the launch will ferry LRO to the moon in about four days, LCROSS is in for a three-month journey to reach its proper moon smashing position. Once within range, the Centaur upper stage doubles as the main 4,400 pound (2,000 kg) impactor spacecraft for LCROSS.

The smaller Shepherding Spacecraft will guide Centaur towards its target crater, before dropping back to watch - and later fly through - the plume of moon dust and debris kicked up by Centaur’s impact. The shepherding vehicle is packed with a light photometer, a visible light camera and four infrared cameras to study the Centaur’s lunar plume before it turns itself into a second impactor and strikes a different crater about four minutes later.

…

This comes as the latest mission to apply brute force to science.

The Deep Impact mission made history in 2005 by sending a probe crashing into comet Tempel 1. Besides Lunar Prospector’s grazing strike on the moon in 1999, the European Space Agency’s Smart-1 satellite dove more recently into the lunar surface in 2006.

LCROSS will take a much more head-on approach than either Lunar Prospector or Smart-1, slamming into the moon’s craters at a steep angle while traveling with greater mass at 1.6 miles per second (2.5 km/s). The overall energy of the impact will equal 100 times that of Lunar Prospector and kick up 1,102 tons of debris and dust.

Here’s what NASA says about it:

GLAST: Exploring the Extreme Universe

NASA’s Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is a powerful space observatory that will open a wide window on the universe. Gamma rays are the highest-energy form of light, and the gamma-ray sky is spectacularly different from the one we perceive with our own eyes. With a huge leap in all key capabilities, GLAST data will enable scientists to answer persistent questions across a broad range of topics, including supermassive black-hole systems, pulsars, the origin of cosmic rays, and searches for signals of new physics.

The mission is an astrophysics and particle physics partnership, developed by NASA in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, along with important contributions from academic institutions and partners in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the U.S.

Personally, I can’t wait to see what this baby can do. Some of you know I used to make my living as a chemist. I worked with gamma radiation (one of the reasons I wanted to get out of that field - plus the fact that chemists have a generally shorter life expectancy than most other professions) in biological assays. Vastly different from what this GLAST will be doing, of course, but in order to do that job, I had to study up on radiation and the physics of the different kinds of particles I’d be working with. My first few weeks “on the job” were spent in an empty office — reading. No joke. I got the job fresh out of college, reported to duty for my first day, and was parked in an empty office right next to the PhD who was to be my boss with a stack of books on radiation.

The only thing that saved me was the fact that before swithing my major to chemistry, I’d spent two years as a physics major. The reson I left that program had more to do with the faculty at my college than anything else. The entire physics department had heavy accents from all different places and although I’m very good with accents (I’m the daughter of a European immigrant), I couldn’t understand half these people! LOL. The chemistry department was much more intelligible. And at that point in my life, I was fascinated by the molecular workings of biological systems.

But enough of that… watch for more info on the GLAST launch. I’ll try to post any news I stumble accross here on the blog (for those of you who care). Geeks of the world - unite!

Here’s a snippet from the NASA site:

Space shuttle Discovery’s STS-124 mission is officially scheduled for launch May 31.

Discovery’s 14-day flight will carry the largest payload so far to the station and includes three spacewalks. It is the second of three missions that will launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory. The crew will install Kibo’s large Japanese Pressurized Module and Kibo’s robotic arm system. Discovery also will deliver new station crew member Greg Chamitoff and bring back Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who will end a three-month stay aboard the outpost.

Launch Date: May 31, 2008
Launch Time: 5:02 p.m. EDT

I usually watch launches and landings both on my computer (so I can watch the entire thing) and my big screen TV (so I can see it REALLY well! LOL). Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and all systems go!

But as a columnist for the Financial Times put it:

…one has to admit that the first response to this notion was “Crikey! Does the Vatican have a chief astronomer?”

That was my response too, though being American, I never say “crikey.” I’ve been mulling this over in my mind, recalling a conversation I had with an Israeli Biblical scholar during grad school. He indicated that in early, non-Catholic/Christian versions of Genesis, other planets are mentioned. He said that the ancient texts talk about other planets God created before he created Earth. I was always intrigued by that quick conversation I had with this man so many years ago.

Now it seems, the Catholic church has similar ideas, though I guess they’re not going to revive earlier versions of the Bible anytime soon. ;-) Here’s what Reuters had to say about the initial news story, with quotes from the priest involved:

“In my opinion this possibility (of life on other planets) exists,” said Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, a 45-year-old Jesuit priest who is head of the Vatican Observatory and a scientific adviser to Pope Benedict.

“How can we exclude that life has developed elsewhere,” he told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano in an interview in its Tuesday-Wednesday edition, explaining that the large number of galaxies with their own planets made this possible.

Asked if he was referring to beings similar to humans or even more evolved than humans, he said: “Certainly, in a universe this big you can’t exclude this hypothesis”.

In the interview headlined “The extraterrestrial is my brother,” he said he saw no conflict between belief in such beings and faith in God.

“Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can’t put limits on God’s creative freedom,” he said.

“Why can’t we speak of a ‘brother extraterrestrial’? It would still be part of creation,” he said.

Funes, who runs the observatory which is based south of Rome and in Arizona, held out the possibility that the human race might actually be the “lost sheep” of the universe.

“There could be (other beings) who remained in full friendship with their creator,” he said.

To quote a famous TV alien, this is simply “fascinating!”

Now, I write about aliens quite a bit, but mine are the fantasy hunks of my limited human imagination. I freely admit I write about these cool alien dudes because I don’t think men like them exist on Earth. LOL! Well, okay, maybe there are a few… but not many! So to justify the existence of so many “perfect” (or at least really compelling) men, I had to turn to the unknown of outer space. I just hope the real aliens will forgive me for taking such liberties if/when they ever show up!

It was a beautiful by-the-book landing for the Phoenix last night on Mars. Just think of it, we landed on another planet. How cool is that?

I guess what I forgot in the hustle and bustle of life on Earth is that we already have a bunch of stuff going on on Mars. There are two American sattelites orbiting the planet already, in addition to at least one from Europe. (Not sure who else might have something orbiting around up there.) And there were those two rovers - Spirit and Opportunity - that were rolling around, taking samples and photos of rocks. So Mars is becoming something that we’re beginning to know a lot more about.

This latest mission is a stationary unit that will dig into the Martian soil and analyze what it finds. It’s up near the pole, so chances are good it might encounter Martian ice. This would be the first time a human craft encounters water on another planet. Again, I have to ask - how cool is THAT???

Aside from the goings on in space, I also just wanted to take a moment to remember our servicemen, veterans and POW’s on Memorial Day.

I went to a concert over the weekend with my parents (I bought the tickets as a gift) where a group of foreign-born musicians surprised the crowd by playing “America The Beautiful” in a coliseum packed with probably somewhere around 30,000 people. Many of the attendees at this concert were like my Mom - born in another country - so I didn’t expect them to really respond. I have to tell you, I was surprised and touched when every single person in that coliseum rose to their feet and sang along. And people say New Yorkers aren’t patriotic!

I think many of you know how much I enjoy keeping up with the latest developments in space. Well, everybody keep your fingers crossed - they’re going to land another mission on Mars today. Here are some snippets from a press release from NASA:

May 25 arrival of Phoenix Mars Lander will be available on NASA Television and on the Web

Entry, descent and landing begins at 4:46 p.m. PDT on May 25, when the flight team listens for radio signals indicating that Phoenix has entered the top of the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft must perform a series of challenging transformations and activities during the seven minutes after it enters the atmosphere to slow it from 12,000 mph to 5 mph and a soft touchdown. The Phoenix team will be watching for radio signals confirming the landing at 4:53 p.m. More than half of previous international attempts to land on Mars have been unsuccessful. For a detailed schedule and landing timeline, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

On landing day, May 25, live landing commentary will air on NASA TV. A telecast of mission control — without roll-in videos and interviews — will run on NASA TV’s Media Channel beginning at 3 p.m. Another telecast with commentary, interviews and videos will begin at 3:30 p.m. on NASA TV’s Public Channel. 

For NASA TV streaming video, schedules, and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

I’ll be watching! Will you?

I got up to around 2:30am to watch the night launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on NASA TV. It was really spectacular! They don’t seem to do a lot of launches at night, so it was cool to be able to watch one, even on the interenet. Those guys will be up there for about 16 days - the longest mission to the space station so far - so I’ll be watching NASA TV quite often over the next two weeks or so.

Now I’m going to take a nap. *sigh* I’m tired! lol

Some of you may have noticed, I added a link in my blogroll for the projected launch schedule NASA keeps on their site. See, I like to watch launches and figured some of you might too, so now there’s an easier way to find the link to NASA’s page that tells you what’s launching and when.

The next Space Shuttle mission is scheduled for March 11th. Mission STS-123 on Space Shuttle Endeavour will deliver the Kibo Japanese Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized Section to the International Space Station, which should be great to watch on NASA TV.

Here’s the direct link to the launch schedule: http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html

Many of you probably know how much I love to watch the progress of the Space Shuttle every time it goes up. STS-122 is now in orbit and working on catching up with the International Space Station for a scheduled docking on Saturday.

Here’s a bit from the NASA site about this mission:

NASA astronaut Steve Frick commands a crew of six, including Pilot Alan Poindexter and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Stanley Love and the European Space Agency’s Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts. This is the first spaceflight for Poindexter, Love and Melvin.

During the 11-day mission, the crew’s prime objective is to attach the European Space Agency’s Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station, adding to the station’s size and capabilities.

Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel Tani, who arrived at the station aboard Discovery in October, will return to Earth with the Atlantis crew as Eyharts takes his place on the station.

More info on the NASA site - http://www.nasa.gov/

I’ll be watching NASA TV and marveling at the space walks and everything else these guys are doing up there that they let us see. I love watching those space walks!

Jan. 15, 2008, 12:57AM
Small Texas town abuzz over reported UFO sightings
By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press

STEPHENVILLE — In this Texas farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of what many believe is a UFO.

Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.

“People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it’s the end of times,” said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. “It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts.”

While federal officials insist there’s a logical explanation, locals swear that it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object’s lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.

Machinist Ricky Sorrells said friends made fun of him when he told them he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Dublin home. But he decided to come forward after reading similar accounts in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.

“You hear about big bass or big buck in the area, but this is a different deal,” Sorrells said. “It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I’m not crazy.”

Sorrells said he has seen the object several times. He said he watched it through his rifle’s telescopic lens and described it as very large and without seams, nuts or bolts.

Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, said no F-16s or other aircraft from his base were in the area the night of Jan. 8, when most people reported the sighting.

Lewis said the object may have been an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes. Lights from the aircraft would seem unusually bright and may appear orange from the setting sun.

“I’m 90 percent sure this was an airliner,” Lewis said. “With the sun’s angle, it can play tricks on you.”

Officials at the region’s two Air Force bases — Dyess in Abilene and Sheppard in Wichita Falls — also said none of their aircraft were in the area last week. The Air Force no longer investigates UFOs.

One man has offered a reward for a photograph or videotape of the mysterious object.

About 200 UFO sightings are reported each month, mostly in California, Colorado and Texas, according to the Mutual UFO Network, which plans to go to the 17,000-resident town of Stephenville to investigate.

Fourteen percent of Americans polled last year by The Associated Press and Ipsos say they have seen a UFO.

Erath County Constable Lee Roy Gaitan said that he first saw red glowing lights and then white flashing lights moving fast, but that even with binoculars could not see the object to which the lights were attached.

“I didn’t see a flying saucer and I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t an airplane, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gaitan said. “I think it must be some kind of military craft — at least I hope it was.”

There’s a video news report on the Houston Chronicle site that’s worth watching too. Some of it is probably meant to make the folks who saw the UFO look silly - and it does - but I guess it all depends on your point of view. Personally, I always bought the Carl Sagan theory of the billions and billions of stars with possibly billions and billions of planets orbiting them. It would be hubris to assume we’re the only intelligent life in the universe, right?

The other alternative is that this this is something man-made and top secret. That’s always a possibility. Or maybe a bunch of folks in Texas are just all halucinating. What do you think?