Stardust |
Stardust |
Jan 31 2006, 08:22 AM
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#226
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Member Group: Members Posts: 370 Joined: 12-September 05 From: France Member No.: 495 |
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Feb 1 2006, 12:53 PM
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#227
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Member Group: Members Posts: 370 Joined: 12-September 05 From: France Member No.: 495 |
Stardust Status Report
January 31, 2006 The pace of sample processing has ramped up. Six particles have been removed from the aerogel. http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/status/060131.html ------------------------------------ Scientists Begin Intense Study of Stardust Particles Work is already beginning on analyzing the pristine grains the spacecraft brought to Earth. http://planetary.org/news/2006/0131_Scient...e_Study_of.html |
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Feb 1 2006, 09:34 PM
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#228
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
Image of the Day: Flash and Burn!
http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_060201.html The Earthward plunge of NASA's Stardust sample return capsule is captured by Bruce Fischer of the Ogden Astronomical Society in Utah. -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Feb 3 2006, 06:04 PM
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#229
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Seeing stardust: New image shows speck of comet dust from NASA mission
UC Berkeley News February 1, 2006 |
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Guest_PhilCo126_* |
Feb 3 2006, 08:59 PM
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#230
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Stardust was a superb mission ... thanks for the photo-link ljk4-1 !
By The Way did UC Berkeley already open a website for enthusiasts helping to do some basic research on the samples ? |
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Feb 3 2006, 10:50 PM
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#231
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Member Group: Members Posts: 688 Joined: 20-April 05 From: Sweden Member No.: 273 |
QUOTE (PhilCo126 @ Feb 3 2006, 10:59 PM) Stardust was a superb mission ... thanks for the photo-link ljk4-1 ! By The Way did UC Berkeley already open a website for enthusiasts helping to do some basic research on the samples ? Details at: http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ tty |
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Feb 4 2006, 08:47 AM
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#232
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2492 Joined: 15-January 05 From: center Italy Member No.: 150 |
QUOTE (ljk4-1 @ Feb 1 2006, 09:34 PM) Image of the Day: Flash and Burn! http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_060201.html The Earthward plunge of NASA's Stardust sample return capsule is captured by Bruce Fischer of the Ogden Astronomical Society in Utah. Probably the most beautiful image from the reentry (hey, there is Orion constellation on the left!). Looking at this, there is a considerations that took my breath away: perhaps, almost 4 billions years ago, a similar event sparked life on our planets and now we reproduced it! Thanks to Fischer and all NH team! -------------------- I always think before posting! - Marco -
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Feb 8 2006, 11:53 PM
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#233
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/status/060207.html
Stardust Status Report February 7, 2006 Dr. Peter Tsou Stardust Deputy Principal Investigator It has been 3 weeks since landing! Based upon an initial X-Ray Tomography (XT) examination of the quickstone - a particle track removed from an aerogel fragment with an ultrasonic blade - the bifurcated track (2 tracks as shown in Photo 1) is now determined to be "pentafurcated" (5 tracks) since three more smaller tracks have been identified. With the XT, we will have a solid digital model of the quickstone and be able to view the entire track from all directions on a computer screen. This is especially important in identifying sizes of grains scattered along the track (down to 0.1 microns) and their precise locations. On January 19th, 2006, we released the first picture of a particle (shown in Photo 2) taken in situ of the aerogel. We have now made a keystone of the track (shown in Photo 3). The particle and its track removed from an aerogel fragment with an automated keystone system. This keystone can now be conveniently transported and placed into various analytical instruments to study its properties. The Preliminary Examination Team will be gathered in the Stardust Cleanroom on February 9 to begin the second cell extraction cycle. The Team has looked at some of the removed small particles and found the entry fragments are melted more so than the particles further down the track. This was as expected. The Team will remove some of the larger particles to determine how well the grains had survived. The Team will also remove a few grains from the largest tracks to determine their compositions. Images Photo 1: Aerogel slice removed with an ultrasonic blade, showing particle tracks. Photo 2: Comet particle in aerogel. Photo 3: A "keystone" cut of aerogel showing particle and track. -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Guest_RGClark_* |
Feb 10 2006, 02:41 PM
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#234
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QUOTE (RGClark @ Jan 19 2006, 03:41 PM) I think the skepticism in general on this question is because of our lack of knowledge about the interiors of comets. Let me ask you a hypothetical: suppose it is confirmed that clays and carbonate occur in the interior of comets as Deep Impact suggests they do and suppose it is found they formed from liquid water (the presence of both clay and carbonate strongly implies this is the case). Given that it has already been long known that organics are abundant in comets, do you think it is likely life exists or existed in comets? - Bob Lisse et.al. will report on their detection of carbonate and clay from Deep Impact at the 37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March: Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of the Nucleus and Dust of Deep Impact Target Comet 9P/Tempel 1. C.M. Lisse1 and the Deep Impact Spitzer Science Team. 1 JHU-APL, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 ****@jhuapl.edu. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII (2006) 1960.pdf http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2006/pdf/1960.pdf They have submitted this for publication in Science. - Bob Clark |
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Guest_RGClark_* |
Feb 17 2006, 04:43 AM
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#235
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Just saw this on Uplink.space.com:
Published online: 13 February 2006 A comet's tale. ... "Whatever it is, it's weird" After fiddling around to improve the picture slightly, Kearsley starts a more intensive scan of the grain that will reveal its chemical make-up. As the analysis comes through, there are cries of surprise. "Whatever it is, it's weird," says Bland. "The team agonize over the decision to make another scan to get more accurate results, but Kearsley is worried about "frying" the sample. "These grains have had a long journey and rather a lot of money spent on them," he cautions. "They can see that just a few minutes exposure to high-energy electrons has changed the structure of some of the epoxy surrounding the grain, so they finally decide that the initial results are so astonishing that they should contact Mike Zolensky at Johnson Space Center immediately to tell him about the find, and wait for further instructions. Zolensky is in charge of the preliminary analysis of the samples, and is collating all the information from these first tests." http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060213/full/060213-2.html Bob Clark |
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Feb 17 2006, 05:07 AM
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#236
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Member Group: Members Posts: 624 Joined: 10-August 05 Member No.: 460 |
Just saw this on Uplink.space.com: Published online: 13 February 2006 A comet's tale. ...If it comes out in dribs and drabs it'll be total chaos," explains Zolensky. He and his team will put together all the results, which they expect to present at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas, in March. http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060213/full/060213-2.html[/url] Wacky crystals? Should we start a pool on what they are? quartz? Bucky Balls? Diamonds? zirconium hexaflouride? |
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Feb 17 2006, 06:28 AM
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#237
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Member Group: Members Posts: 356 Joined: 12-March 05 Member No.: 190 |
It's Pop Rocks.
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 30th March 2024 - 12:38 AM |
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