Mars Travel Preparations in Russia

Confined Space



Preparing for Mars

The European Mars500 study is taking place in a special facility at the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow.

Cherry Blossom Forecast in Japan

Cherry Blossom Forecast



FOR REAL!

How awesome is THAT? :-)





Forecast of cherry blossom blooming dates in 2009 (updated on 25 March 2009)

Cool Quiz

The Coolest Quiz




You know you want to give it a try. Do it! Do it! (Starsky (Ben Stiller said in Starsky and Hutch 2004

This week Astroengine hosts Carnival of Space and I'm represented by this lady.

Mt. Edna

Mt. Edna Moves!



Credit: ESA


It is nothing special about a volcano or any part of the planet's crust moving. What is special is the long time series and gorgeous maps they've made. This is looking good science! :-)




Credit: Neri, M., F. Casu, V. Acocella, G. Solaro, S. Pepe, P. Berardino, E. Sansosti, T. Caltabiano, P. Lundgren, and R. Lanari (2009), Deformation and eruptions at Mt. Etna (Italy): A lesson from 15 years of observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L02309, doi:10.1029/2008GL036151, Published: 28 January 2009.

Muddy Mars

Blue Martian Mud



Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Domes on the Northern Plains on Mars

Solar Powered Up International Space Station

The International Space Station and Discovery








You have to forgive me, but I absolutely adore the full grown solar panel version of the International Space Station. It is so unbelievably beautiful. Forget about space technology and science and all those big questions. Just enjoy the sheer beauty of that thingy there. :-)





Discovery, the space shuttle, on ground again after a successful mission.

Space Shuttle Landed

Discovery Landed




Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett



Safe and Sound!

Green Supermodel

Supermodel Being Green - Easy!



I volunteer as a superNOVAE being green for mother Earth. Actually I could do a supermodel too. That is what astrophysicists do. Supermodelling a supernovae that is. Just watch me on a TV channel coming to a computer near you soon...;-)

Thor's Head ware

Thor's Helmet





Credit: www.celestialwonders.com

Mars Express Imagery

Mars Express - Express Imagery



The Mars Express blog where you can follow Mars live on webcam And get cool images prepared by a large Mars fan community. Endless resource, folks.

Blue Ice at Night

Baffin Island by Night



Credit: ESA

This is Baffin Island in the Arctic Northern Canada - at Night. The dark deep blue is the Baffin Island, while the sky blue is the ocean and sea ice. Pretty. :-)

Valentina Cosmonaut

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to orbit the Earth and she did so (1963) only a couple of years after the first human ever to leave this planet (1961), Yuri Gagarin. I think she deserves more glory and picked her as my representative of women in science and technology on Ada Lovelace day. Actually I think the Russians in general deserves more honor for their contribution to human culture. Because space exploration, as science and technology, is in fact an important element of human culture, not just a utilitarian tool.

There are many women we can and should admire within science and technology. Sadly they are not given as much credit for their achievements as their male counterparts. That is just how life is, I'm telling my son. Teaching him at the same time to never underestimate a woman. Never.


Valentina Tereshkova and Yuri Gagarin

To me Valentina clearly illustrates that women by no means are afraid of technology. In fact they are willing to be guinea pigs for the advancement of the field. Or plain adventurous. I know I was when I applied to become an astronaut. Ironically it was my son that kept me grounded. I was pregnant at the time and when they found out (I did not volunteer that information, the medical tests revealed the fertile condition I was in...) they told me they were very happy for me, BUT they could not allow further testing on my body. I was furious of course and have never forgiven that damn committee. It is a bit of comfort though that Valentina was allowed - even though it most likely was for political reasons rather than confidence in women. They wanted to beat the US not only with sending the first human into space, they wanted to be the first in space with both genders.


I've included a few links to further reading in the text above. For your convenience I've also included a short description of Valentina's life found on Britannica Online.




"Valentina V. Tereshkova. Soviet cosmonaut, the first woman to travel into space. On June 16, 1963, she was launched in the spacecraft Vostok 6, which completed 48 orbits in 71 hours. In space at the same time was Valery F. Bykovsky, who had been launched two days earlier in Vostok 5; both landed on June 19.

Although she had no pilot training, Tereshkova was an accomplished amateur parachutist and on this basis was accepted for the cosmonaut program when she volunteered in 1961. She left the program just after her flight, and on November 3, 1963, she was married to Andriyan G. Nikolayev, another cosmonaut. From 1962 until 1990/91 she was an active member in the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet. She directed the Soviet Women’s Committee in 1968, and from 1974 to 1990/91 she served as a member of the Supreme Soviet Presidium. Tereshkova was named a hero of the Soviet Union and was twice awarded the Order of Lenin."

Deadly Beauty

Deadly Beauty - Bushfires in Australia




Credit: NASA

Wilson's Promontory National Park, located at the southern tip of Victoria, Australia, was one of many areas scorched by large bushfires in February 2009. The Cathedral Fire was was sparked by lightning whereas the Churchill fire imaged below was started by arson.








NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.



East of Churchill, Victoria, we see another burn scar left by one of the deadly Australian bushfires in February 2009 also made visible by using false-colors.

Both images combine visible light with near-infrared light making the burned areas (charcoal-brown) stand out better from unburned vegetation (red) and areas where vegetation is naturally sparse or dormant (beige). The burn scar is brown is some places and more charcoal-colored in others depending on geological and vegetational factors.

These beautiful satellite images contrast the brutal reality on the ground - it is reported nearly two dozen deaths caused by the Churchhill fire and a closing down of the Wilsons Promontory Natural Park for weeks.

EVA

EVA




Credit: NASA

Extra Vehicular Activity - EVA. Fixin' up the Kibo. :-)

Spirit on Mars

The Western Route



Looks OK to me. :-)

In a distance, through the haze, you see the hills of the Thera Crater - on Mars, of course.

Blue Sun

The Quiet Sun in Blue




The Sun has been so quiet for so long I almost forgot how much I love these blue images of the Sun taken by SOHO. :-)

Japanese Mantis

Bugs in Blue



Credit: sakuraaya

This is a mantis living in Japan. Completely charming!

Mars Climate

Mapping Mars



Credit: NASA/MGS/MOLA/THEMIS
Aram Chaos


Geological studies done by Mars Express' OMEGA instrument, the Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer, has revealed that the Aram Chaos region on Mars shows a significant amount of sulphates and rust. This again tells us more about the past climate on planet Mars. Cool!

And A Lovely Map!

Sun-Earth 2009

Sun-Earth Day 2009


Credit: STEREO/NASA

Alfven Waves - Doing a magnetic twist

Magnetic Twists



Credit: QUB


What better way to celebrate vernal equinox than Alfven waves doing magnetic twists? Nope, none better ways exist! :-))

Equinox!

Equinox on Naxos




Credit: Anthony Ayiomamitis

This image is not taken at equinox, when the day and night is almost 12 hours each, but it is a great picture of a sunset in the Aegean sea, Greece that celebrates this moment in time. We are looking forward to loooong days here in Norway. :-)

Venus Passage

Oriental Passage



Credit: Kwon. O Chul



Venus passage of the Sun as seen from Korea. I love the blue Korean signs in this photo. It adds an extra dimension to the already formidable Venus passage. :-)

Saturn and Company

Hey! Let's Ornament Saturn!



Said Titan, Mimas, Dione and Enceladus.

Pavlovian Food

I Want Pavlova



Why has nobody from Down Under ever told me about Pavlova? This is totally my style. And the final remark on a completely ridiculous discussion over at scientificblogging.com that originally started with climate change modeling. I have no idea how we ended up with Pavlova, even if I read the whole discussion, but it doesn't matter because I discovered Pavlova. I want! :-)

Laponian Area

Sweden - Almost As Beautiful As Norway



We all know that Norway is several orders of magnitude more beautiful than our dear neighbor Sweden. However, there are versions of Sweden, like this gorgeous capture of the Laponian Area north in Sweden, that are rather stunning. ;-)

Now, come kill me big brother! hahaha

Measuring Gravity - GOCE Fly

GOCE Fly!



The GOCE satellite was successfully launched yesterday after a halt of the launching the day before just 7 seconds before liftoff. So far all is good. Then we'll see if the instruments on board the satellite will function as well and give us unprecedented information about Earth's gravity. :-)

Tycho Brahe's supernova

Swell Supernova, Brahe!



Credit: MPIA/NASA

GOCE Delayed

The GOCE Thriller




Credit: ESA


What do you know! GOCE was delayed again. This time it was a really close race. I wrote a short piece on the topic with a personal twist over at my scientificblogging.com column.

And I only serve you the nice BLUE image of GOCE here. :-)



ESA's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE)

Space Bat

Brian The Space Bat




Space shuttle Discovery carried extra weight at launching yesterday. Brian the Bat insisted on sticking to his shuttle territory. :-)

Comet Itagaki

Itagaki




Credit: G. Muler

I like comets with exotic names like Lulin and now Itagaki. Nice collage of images of the comet, as well. :-)

In The Arctic

Arctic Temperature



Credit: UNEP/GRID-Arendal
Trends in Arctic temperature, 1880-2006.


Reading assistance: The thick white line running horizontally on this chart is the average temperature for the period 1961-1990. The red curve shows the mean deviation from that average temperature based on the measurements shown in gray.

The chart shows that there have been colder periods in the Arctic and that the latest trend is warmer than the century average.

I think this illustrates pretty well the facts of the matter. What causes these variations in temperature and what consequences a lasting warming will have are still not well enough understood and we do our best to gather more information and understanding of the complex Earth system.

Carnival of Space

Space Last Week



We need to get the Earth darker. It looks pretty with all the sparkling light on these merged maps of Earth at night, but it destroys our ability to study objects well beyond our planet.

This week's space report is hosted by Out of The Cradle

Star Motion

Starry Stripes




Credit: Alexandre Santerne

Soon Spring

Blue Just Around The Corner...





On a delightful site about gardening is my cute little Delft vase with my favorite flowers in it. I am so looking forward to my Hepaticas... and some gardening. :-)

Ocean Energy

Timely Tidal Energy




Submarine hydropower. The Moon helps us pulling the oceans and moving the water about, creating a source of energy for us to tap. If we figure out a way to do it. Sounds strange to you? If you've been to the beach you've probably noticed the tides - the water level fluctuating on a regular basis every day. That is the tide. And basically the Moon is to blame for that. Luckily.

The hydropower on land comes from water running down towards the sea due to gravitational pull. Like, what comes up most come down. We've developed turbine technology that transform that gravitational energy to electricity. What we need is a more horizontal version of that, in the ocean, to tap the tidal energy.

It seems that we are getting there. NASA definitely contributes to the development of new technology for alternative energy sources. :-)

Mars Moon

Delicious Deimos



Moon of Mars

Gamma Rays

Know Your Gammas





I'm delighted to see the Sun on the list of top ten sources of gamma rays. If only people knew the kind of radiation that is continuously beamed our way...:-)

Space Disco

Disco, Disco, Space Disco



Credit: NASA/Swift/Univ. of Leicester/Bodewits et al.
Comet Lulin in Disco Colors


Excellent, entertaining and enlightening.
You know you like disco.

The lovely Lulin leads to Discovery Space...:-)

Orion and A Horse

Orion




Credit: Dale J Martin, Massapoag Pond Lunenburg, MA.

And a Horse Head







Technicalities and a big one.

Saturn

Las Vegas From Above

Water and Vegas



Credit: NASA/USGS
Las Vegas in false-color images spanning from 1994 - 2009. The dark purple grid of city streets and the green of irrigated vegetation grow out in every direction into the surrounding desert.


Plenty of drinks in Las Vegas, no doubt. Just not drinking water! In the future.


Las Vegas October 1984



Las Vegas January 2009








PS. It's not the speed, it's the acceleration. Stellare reveals her illegal tendencies on the road to Las Vegas, Baby...:-)

Don't worry. I have legal back-up.

On Space

Things Can Go Wrong in Space and other Stories



Each week a bunch of astro-space blogs throw a blogparty called Carnival of space. This time the unfortunate mishap with the environmental satellite OCO launching is on everyone's cyber-lips. PlanetBye contributed with a terrestrial eclipse as seen from the Moon. Here on Earth we only get to see lunar and solar eclipses, but thanks to Japan's Kaguya mission we got to see the eclipse of the Earth. :-)

Tiny Moonlet Orbits Saturn

A Saturn Moonlet


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute


Found in G-Ring