by Scott Judson
Owner of Judson Steel, an iOS development studio based in Auckland
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
epic!
(Source: whereisthecoool)
A Close Pass of Saturn’s Moon Dione
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA
All the Water on Planet Earth
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Howard Perlman, USGS
Explanation: How much of planet Earth is made of water? Very little, actually. Although oceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth’s surface, these oceans are shallow compared to the Earth’s radius. The above illustration shows what would happen is all of the water on or near the surface of the Earth were bunched up into a ball. The radius of this ball would be only about 700 kilometers, less than half the radius of the Earth’s Moon
An enormous sunspot group has taken shape on the surface of the sun, hinting that our star may soon start spouting off some powerful storms.
The huge sunspot complex, known as AR 1476, rotated into Earth’s view over the weekend. It measures more than 60,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) across, researchers said. Scientists with NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory mission, a space-based telescope watching the sun, dubbed the solar structure a “monster sunspot” in a Twitter announcement.
With at least four dark cores larger than Earth, AR 1476 sprawls more than 100,000 km from end to end. (via Monster Sunspot To Unleash Powerful Solar Flares : Discovery News)
The First Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral
Credit: GRIN, NASA
Future extraterrestrial rovers may be powered remotely by high-energy laser beams shot through miles of thin fiber-optic cables. This new technology could allow robotic probes to penetrate thick layers of ice to explore Antarctic lakes or the subterranean oceans on icy moons like Europa or Enceladus, and even power a new kind of rocket into space.
“Our modest goal over the next three years is to use a 5,000-watt laser to send a cryobot through up to 250 meters of ice,” inventor and explorer Bill Stone, who presented the new concept today at NASA’s Astrobiology Science Conference in Atlanta, told Wired. “All the data show there are no show-stoppers for doing that. But from my standpoint, this is child’s play compared to what we could do.”
LASERS drilling into SPACE?!
YES, THAT IS CHILD’S PLAY INDEED.
The military won’t say what it has been doing with its experimental miniature space shuttle, but the pilotless spaceship, known as the X-37B, has been in orbit for a year now.
The 29-foot robotic spacecraft, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, was launched on March 5, 2011, on a follow-up flight to extend capabilities demonstrated by a sistership during a 244-day debut mission in 2010. (via Secret Military Mini-Shuttle Marks One Year in Orbit : Discovery News)
Yuri’s Planet
Image Credit: ISS Expedition 30, NASA
