NASA postpones Mars ´flying saucer´ test on Earth

LOS ANGELES: The U.S. space agency has postponed its plan to send a "flying saucer" into Earth´s atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars.

NASA spokeswoman Shannon Ridinger says weather conditions caused Wednesday´s launch of the saucer-shaped vehicle to be delayed.

The next potential launch date is June 14. NASA has depended on the same parachute design to slow spacecraft after they enter the Martian atmosphere.

But it needs a larger and stronger parachute if it wants to land heavier objects and astronauts.

After being launched via balloon from Hawaii, the new vehicle will ignite its rocket engine and climb to 34 miles (54 kilometers). It will slow itself down from supersonic speeds and unfurl a parachute for a water landing.

More evidence that Earth collision formed Moon: study

WASHINGTON: German scientists said Thursday that moon samples collected during the 1960s and 1970s have shown new evidence that the moon formed when a young Earth collided with another celestial body.

The smashup between an early form of Earth and a planetary body named Theia some 4.5 billion years ago is put forth by what scientists call the Giant Impact Hypothesis of moon formation.

While most experts support the notion, they say the only way to confirm such an impact is to study ratios between the isotopes of oxygen, titanium, silicon and others.

Until now, researchers studying lunar samples that arrived on Earth via meteorites have found that the Earth and moon were quite similar in makeup.

But using samples collected from the lunar surface by NASA´s Apollo 11, 12 and 16 moon missions, and more advanced scientific techniques, scientists found something new.

"They were able to detect a slightly but distinctly higher composition of the oxygen isotope in the lunar samples," said the study in the journal Science." This very small difference supports the Giant Impact Hypothesis of moon formation."

According to theoretical models of the collision, the moon would have formed mostly from Theia, at between 70-90 percent, with some 10-30 percent coming from Earth.

But researchers now say the moon could be a 50/50 mixture of Earth and Theia remnants, though more study is needed to confirm.

"The differences are small and difficult to detect, but they are there," said lead author Daniel Herwartz of Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen.

"We can now be reasonably sure that the Giant collision took place."

The findings will be presented at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in California on June 11. (AFP)

 

More evidence that Earth collision formed Moon: study

WASHINGTON: German scientists said Thursday that moon samples collected during the 1960s and 1970s have shown new evidence that the moon formed when a young Earth collided with another celestial body.

The smashup between an early form of Earth and a planetary body named Theia some 4.5 billion years ago is put forth by what scientists call the Giant Impact Hypothesis of moon formation.

While most experts support the notion, they say the only way to confirm such an impact is to study ratios between the isotopes of oxygen, titanium, silicon and others.

Until now, researchers studying lunar samples that arrived on Earth via meteorites have found that the Earth and moon were quite similar in makeup.

But using samples collected from the lunar surface by NASA´s Apollo 11, 12 and 16 moon missions, and more advanced scientific techniques, scientists found something new.

"They were able to detect a slightly but distinctly higher composition of the oxygen isotope in the lunar samples," said the study in the journal Science." This very small difference supports the Giant Impact Hypothesis of moon formation."

According to theoretical models of the collision, the moon would have formed mostly from Theia, at between 70-90 percent, with some 10-30 percent coming from Earth.

But researchers now say the moon could be a 50/50 mixture of Earth and Theia remnants, though more study is needed to confirm.

"The differences are small and difficult to detect, but they are there," said lead author Daniel Herwartz of Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen.

"We can now be reasonably sure that the Giant collision took place."

The findings will be presented at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in California on June 11. (AFP)

Apollo asteroid to hurtle between moon and Earth today

The asteroid 2014 DX110, is expected to make its closest approach on Wednesday. (Reuters)

A newly discovered asteroid will hurtle between the moon and the Earth on Wednesday. It will be passing by Earth on March 5 at around 21:06 Universal Time (UT)/ 4:06 PM EST close enough to dip inside the orbit of the moon.
The asteroid, named 2014 DX110, was revealed just four days ago by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey and astronomers tracking it already have a good idea of its size and its orbit around the sun.
It is about 20-30 metres wide and about 16,000 metric tons. It’s specifically an Apollo asteroid — so called because its orbit is larger than Earth’s orbit and takes it on a path that crosses Earth’s orbit.
It is approximately 217,000 miles from the Earth.
The asteroid is no threat to Earth or the Moon – it makes a pass 232,800 miles from our natural satellite one hour and 22 minutes after its closest passage from the Earth.
But if 2014 DX110 actually did hit Earth at some point, it would be comparable to the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, back in February of last year.
Both the Slooh Space Camera and the Virtual Telescope Project will be broadcasting their flies of the asteroid on Wednesday starting at 4 am ET from the Slooh site, and at 3:30 pm ET from the Virtual Telescope page.
Fortunately for the moon, though, it’s not in the path of 2014 DX110 — the asteroid actually misses the moon with a wider margin than it does the Earth.
Since October 2008, dozen of asteroids have passed through the Earth. Although the closest one was found to be the asteroid 2011 CQ1 passed within 7,294 miles of us on Feb 4, 2011.