NASA’s haunting Jack-O-Lantern sun

NASA’s haunting Jack-O-Lantern sun

 

Happy early Halloween.
NASA released an image of the sun this weekend looking more like a pumpkin than a star. The image, produced by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, combines pictures of the sun in two different wavelengths of light (171 and 193 angstroms) that are typically colored gold and yellow. The resulting composite photo creates something that looks like the face of a Jack-O-Lantern.
The process is explained here.

The brighter spots in the image are the “active regions,” which “emit more light and energy,” according to NASA. They’re “markers of an intense and complex set of magnetic fields hovering in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona.”

That’s one really creepy sun.

NASA delays launch of satellite to track carbon pollution

WASHINGTON: A water flow problem on Tuesday forced the US space agency to postpone the launch of a satellite to track atmospheric carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 was due to take off atop a Delta 2 rocket at 2:56 am Pacific time (0956 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But the operation was halted 46 seconds before scheduled liftoff time due to an issue with water flow to the rocket, NASA said.

The launch window on Tuesday was quite short, just 30 seconds.

The timing had to be precise so that the satellite could join the A-Train, a constellation of five other international Earth-observing satellites.

More details on the nature of the problem and a time for the next launch attempt were expected later Tuesday, NASA commentator George Diller said.

NASA´s previous attempts to launch carbon satellites failed in 2009 and 2011. (AFP)

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.

Nasa readies satellite to measure atmospheric CO2

WASHINGTON: NASA is preparing a July 1 launch for its first satellite dedicated to measuring atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that plays a key role in climate change.

CO2 levels have reached their highest point in at least 800,000 years, according to the US space agency.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite is very similar to its predecessor, OCO-1, which was destroyed during its launch in February 2009.The satellite will help provide a more complete and global picture of man-made and naturally occurring CO2 emissions as well as the effects of carbon "sinks," like oceans and forests, which absorb and trap the gas.

"Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere plays a critical role in our planet´s energy balance and is a key factor in understanding how our climate is changing," said Michael Freilich, director of NASA´s Earth Science Division.

"With the OCO-2 mission, NASA will be contributing an important new source of global observations to the scientific challenge of better understanding our Earth and its future," he added in a statement.

The OCO-2 satellite will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, aiming for an orbit at 438 miles (705 kilometers) above the Earth´s surface.

NASA envisions it becoming the lead satellite for a six-strong fleet that will circle the Earth every 99 minutes, allowing nearly simultaneous observations across the globe.OCO-2, designed to operate for at least two years, will take measurements of carbon emissions and carbon sinks around the world to help scientists analyze how they change over time.

In April, monthly concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surpassed 400 particles per million in the northern hemisphere, which NASA said was the highest level in at least the past 800,000 years.

Human activities -- including the burning of fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal -- are blamed for emitting nearly 40 billion tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere each year, leading to an unprecedented accumulation of the greenhouse gas.

Climate scientists have concluded that the increase of CO2 emissions from human activities, especially from fossil fuels and deforestation, have upset the planet´s natural carbon cycle, prompting rising temperatures and planet-wide climate change.

Currently, less than half of the CO2 emitted by human activities remains in the atmosphere, scientists say.

Measurements of CO2 levels taken by the new satellite will be combined with data obtained by land-based observatories, airplanes and other satellites. (AFP)

NASA approves space station supply launch

CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA is pressing ahead with Monday´s planned launch of a supply ship despite a critical computer outage at the International Space Station, determining the situation is safe.

Mission managers decided Sunday to proceed with the countdown for the SpaceX Dragon capsule, already a month late in delivering more than 2 tons of cargo.

"We´re good to go," said NASA space station program manager Mike Suffredini.

Suffredini noted the many important supplies aboard the Dragon, including a new spacesuit and repair parts for the older spacesuits already in orbit.

Much-needed food is also packed away."There´s a certain amount of urgency to go ahead and get these vehicles" at the space station, Suffredini told reporters.

These shipments have to fit around other space station operations, like crew comings and goings.

"Things start to bunch up," Suffredini said, "and so we´re just trying to fly as soon as we safely can, which is what we believe we´re doing.

"This backup computer, located on the outside of the space station, mysteriously failed to work when activated Friday.

The main computer kept operating perfectly, and the six-man crew was never in any danger.

NASA debated whether to delay the SpaceX mission and, on Sunday, determined the station has sufficient redundancy to safely support the visiting vessel.

A spacewalk will be required, meanwhile, to replace the bad computer. Engineers don´t know why it failed.

Suffredini said the spacewalk will be conducted by a pair of astronauts on April 22, using suits outfitted with new fan components to avoid the near-disaster that occurred last summer.

An Italian astronaut almost drowned when his helmet flooded with water from the suit´s cooling system.

An April 22 spacewalk will give SpaceX two chances to get its unmanned Dragon capsule flying.

Good weather is forecast for Monday´s 4:58 p.m. (2058 GMT) launch. If that doesn´t work, the next launch attempt for the California company´s Falcon rocket would come Friday.

NASA images from space show North Korea shrouded in darkness

(CNN) -- Give an astronaut on the International Space Station a digital camera and you're bound to end up with some astounding images -- especially if they're flying above North Korea.

When the space station passed over East Asia one night recently, a member of NASA's Expedition 38 crew took a series of photographs that show just how off-the-grid the Hermit Kingdom really is.

While thriving cities and major roads are seen glowing across South Korea and China, the landscape between the two countries is so dark that it's difficult to tell where the sea ends and North Korea begins.

Pyongyang "appears like a small island," says NASA, noting that the light emission from the North Korean capital is equivalent to the smaller towns of its neighbor to the south.

The space agency, which turned the images into a timelapse video, says city lights at night are a good indicator of the relative affluence of cities.

Looking at the images, it's hardly a surprise that energy use is dramatically different on either side of the 38th parallel. In South Korea, per capita power consumption is 10,162 kilowatt hours while in North Korea the figure is 739 kilowatt hours, according to World Bank data.