Metallic Psyche , Inflatable Space Hotels, and The Road Ahead

Missions Map by Olaf  Frohn
Note the lower right hand side, with voyager 1 and 2 indicated ' off route'
more to come !

Hello, I hope 2017 finds you refreshed and raring to go - no? Oh well, straight in with a recent announcement by NASA that they are launching two missions.
The missions are titled Psyche and Lucy - one is to fly to a distant metallic asteroid , which is effectively a drifting core from a puported ' protoplanet '.
The mission, 'Lucy', is a little closer to home, exploring asteroids around the gas giant Jupiter , although the principle is similar - to examine materials dating from the early formation of our solar system..
Further examination of space comes with the IXPE mission selected by NASA , in which telescopes in space will gauge distant x-ray fields emanating from black holes .
This mission is set to launch in 2020.

In other news a series of distant frbs are drawing us to look closer - though at 3 billion light years away, close is a loose term...it seems the main attraction is the sheer power required to output a signal over such a distance - could it be ...

image by Shane Graf 

Alongside the ever increasing list of companies with designs on space travel, is Bigelow Aerospace . 

They hope to create interstellar hotels capable of flight - an admirable , progressive concept. Particularly if said hotels utilise solar sails to reach near light speed.
Of course, 80 % of light speed would mean your hotel is travelling at a fair clip , but the distance to the nearest starfield (Alpha Centauri) is so great, that you'd have plenty of time to work out how to drink a cocktail in zero gravity without looking foolish.
On a serious note, back to Bigelow Aerospace - their first working test is the BEAM unit recently added to the ISS.
Personally, I would have issues with a flimsy pod in space, with nothing between myself and the great unknown...
Aside from the unexplored depths of the Mariana trench (but that's for another discussion), 

there is no greater unknown than space, so it's just as well that Hubble is being used to map a path for the ongoing journeys of Voyagers 1 and 2, now that they are in unexplored territory - a SatNav for the galaxy...hopefully not too many wrong turns up ahead... this is amazing stuff - we're using an orbiting telescope to create a road map for a pair of explorer craft which are billions of miles away!

The future is now - okay, the map is presently about the chemical makeup of the road ahead, but Hubble is marking a wide swathe of space between the two explorers.

pic NASA/ ESA / G Bacon (st/scl)

From The Great Attractor To The Fountains of Enceladus

This is the closest thing to a cosmic xmas wreath, so...merry festive !

Apparently dark shadows in craters on Ceres conceal frozen water ice, something which the Dawn explorer is looking into (no pun intended) - the famous  highly reflective white patches are salt , and the craters conceal what could be ice water from which the salt has come; more evidence of a briny, subsurface ocean .
Given the sheer amount of subsumed salt on the surface, I'd wager it wasn't far beneath the surface.
It's almost a given that our solar system is full of worlds with hidden oceans.

A recent trend seems to be the coupling of serious information with crude humour , and the headline of this article continues the tradition.
Anyway, Uranus exhibits unusual rotation in the southern latitudes , rotating some 15% faster than the rest of the gas giant.
This seems to be the result of an unusual object deep inside the planet.
Very little is known about the gas giants , so this, along with the current Juno explorer , could help greatly increase our knowledge.

Scientists have measured the smallest sliver of time ever , so brief (850 zaptoseconds*) , that they can see an electron emerge from an atom which got me thinking ; how can they create a ' sliver ' of time?
Can they therefore stop time ?

A new Antarctic exploration has begun with an attempt to drill  down deep and uncover the oldest ice on Earth, yielding evidence from millions of years ago.
From the microscopic to the macrocosmic - the discovery of galactic infrastructure
(we are part of a supercluster called Laniakea) means that we  are potentially the tiny building blocks of an even greater universe .
This has implcations for many things, including our understanding of time; speaking of which, go see  Arrival...

Enceladus water plumes     image NASA / Cassini

The next journeys to Saturns moons Enceladus and Titan, will be to find evidence of life.
Nasa have an explorer lined up called Enceladus Life Finder, or ELF, to be funny.
Not to be outdone, ESA will be exploring with a craft named E2T , which isn't quite so snappy, but it will be amazing to see two flybys intent on uncovering evidence of life.
The focus will be on the jets of water seen emitting from the southern polar area of Enceladus. Coupled with a low altitude camera survey of the surface, it is hoped that enough information will be gleaned to establish for once and for all the possibility that even microbial life does or did exist in those subsurface oceans.

Meanwhile, on Mars...

Slightly closer to home - well, Mars anyway, is on target for the 2020 Exomars thing, with the addition of a drill capable of taking samples from a depth of two metres below the surface in the ongoing search for biosignatures...

High above the Earth...

...even closer to home is the ISS, and NASA are mooting a new form of parachute braking system to enable two way journeys of science payloads.
Plans are already afoot for a new space station, with the mooted NASA / Roskosmos collaboration scheduled for 2024 . By this time, such operations should be quite commercialised , and a joint exploration of Mars is also planned - to which end, the new Orion is being put through its paces.

Out there, somewhere...

Apparently,the Great Attractor is our destiny .
Whats going to happen is a secret though-
It's 200 million light years away, so we won't be getting spoilers for a long time.
No one knows what the great attractor is, except that it has the mass of 200 billion suns, and is drawing us inexorably towards it
So it's pretty irresistible
Pun was not intended

I am posting this as we approach the end of  2016, for better or worse.
Personally, I think it's for the better, as this year has been relentless and miserable .
I do intend to write a couple more blogposts by the end of this year, but they may be more 'Earthbound' than recent posts.
I'm scratching my head though - perhaps I should just get a new blog.
Decisions, eh ?

Until soon, take care !





* Apparently its very short. I trust New Scientist not to prank me.

Touchdown , Smackdown , Saturn and Giant Wombats

16 sunrises every day on the ISS

It is now 21 years since the discovery of  the first exoplanet , 51Pegasi B, in the constellation of Pegasus.
Following this find , the number of exoplanets has rocketed ( no pun intended) , and now stands at  approximately 3500 
Whilst many exoplanets are woefully unsuitable for Earth comparisons - 51Pegasi B is a 'hot Jupiter', a tidally locked world that orbits its sun every four days with an average surface temperature of 1200°c .
The figure of 3500 exoplanets gives only a tiny fraction of potentially Earth - like worlds - personally, I think we're wasting precious resources looking for our own reflections.
Are we a world of Narcissists ?
Actually...

NASA celebrates 16 years of the ISS in orbit with the release of an amazing selection of  gifs charting the development of the little 'space colony '.
 A recent touchdown of returning crew from the ISS in Kazakhastan  generated some great photos courtesy of  Bill Ingalls

Returning Soyuz capsule    pic NASA/ Bill Ingalls

Saturn pic Cassini   NASA

The mysterious hexagon , which is bigger than Earth at Saturn's north pole has changed color,
shifting from blue to gold...speculation abounds online that the planet is the solar systems mood-ring.
Meanwhile, it is revealed that Saturns moon Titan is littered with steep- walled canyons filled with liquid methane .
Stunning views and fine sailing for anyone brave enough...seriously though, when Cassini reaches the end of its tenure, there is a proposed submarine mission 

Giovanni Cassini's journals.
He discovered four of  Saturn's moons
between 1671-1684

 Meanwhile on Mars...

The dauntless explorer Curiosity is still roving over the rugged martian landscape.
Its latest find is a meteorite ( known as egg-rock) composed of a nickel / iron mixture .
Whilst it's not exactly big news, I include it here as evidence that NASA are scanning images for even such small oddities - although they obviously missed the squirrel , witchy woman and alien -crab -thingy amongst other uncanny similes.
For those who wish to conduct a post -mortem , the wreckage of the ill- fated Schiaparelli has been imaged by the Mars Orbiter.
I hope that someday the wreckage can be displayed alongside Beagle II and remnants of the many other ill- fated expeditions to the ' Red Planet'.
No doubt the Curiosity rover will be first in line to mock its failed predecessors / rivals in an understated , robotic way

Following the revelation that there are huge amounts of galaxies ( at least two trillion ) in the observable universe, it's the brain- melting number -crunch time again.
Apparently dark matter ( the theoretical crazy-glue of the cosmos) is comprised of trillions of axion particles.
Trillions of axions in every cubic centimeter of the universe.
Ponder.
Feel incredibly small.
Then get annoyed at all the ' ifs' and ' possiblies' associated with what is undoubtedly impressive but almost totally conjectural work.
Personally, I was initially impressed, but increasingly angered by the vagueness of the piece ( see above link).
Perhaps.


MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH...

A mysterious 'ping' sound emanating from the seabed in the Arctic is being investigated by the Canadian military .
Early reports dismiss industrial exploration and international subterfuge .
Apparently this ping is pretty serious then , or we're involved in a publicity scam for a new X-files movie....

In the last post, I mentioned the discovery of a hybrid cattle / bison species depicted in cave paintings - now we hear of a discovery indicating that Australia was populated 10 000 years earlier than previously thought.
Evidence has emerged with the discovery of bone fragments, weapons and egg shells in the Australian outback.
The media spin tells us that a man made the discovery when he was caught short and decided to answer the call of nature in a rocky shelter .

Other ancient discoveries recently include what may or may not be a dinosaur brain.
Found some 50 miles from London , ( for the politically inclined, there are dinosaur brains in London , in the Palace of Westminster, which are still functioning in a rudimentary fashion) it is currently being studied as a rare anomaly  (soft tissue tends to degenerate quickly , leaving no trace)  by a Paleobiologist - blimey - first I knew of such a profession !

Finally , a tip of the hat to the tireless writers of  Gizmodo , ( particularly the excellent work of Maddie Stone) , the Planetary org , NASA and  also thanks to you for indulging this weird little micro -blog 
Until next time

G Alias Me

The Ninth Planet and Giant Mirrors

It's busy up in space, so NASA have created this useful spread for us.


I'm a little underwhelmed by the hyperbole around Ceres, though.
Can't help feeling there's something - missing ?
Oh yes, the mysterious ' lights' in the Occator crater ?


Speaking of missing, they've 'found' a Ninth planet in our solar system - well, to be precise, the scientist responsible for the Pluto downgrade has allegedly found a new ninth planet, four times the size of Earth, with an orbit taking 10 - 20,000 years to loop around the sun.
Except, they haven't actually found anything.
Its existence is based on the unusual orbits of other bodies.
Beware the hype !

Orbits which supposedly prove the ninth planet exists ©Caltech / 

There is a live feed from NASA which allows you to watch the building of the Webb telescope
Hardly world shattering, but don't forget, when this thing gets to space, it will be able to see further than ever before, with its infra-red capabilities and position on the second Lagrange point at a distance of 1.5 million km from Earth.
Okay, October 2018 is the projected launch date from French Guiana, so a little wait yet,
although I'm sure citizen astronomers will be on the case already.

Znamiya 2.5             pic Triz Journal

Productivity bonus!
There once was an attempt to turn night to day, thus enabling more productive times on Earth - well, Cold - War era Soviet Russia.
Far from being a flakey idea, the man behind the huge space mirror created the spaceship docking system still in use today at the ISS.

In other non-news
There is a new allusion to illustrate quantum mechanics, which says that three pigeons can be put in two holes without the same pigeons occupying any hole.
Which is like saying that a thing does not exist until it is noted.
I think.
My problem with this example is why not have two pigeons in one hole without being in the same hole ?
Surely that is more quantum ?
Remaining in the realm of hypothesis and brain-ache , two strands of possible systems are being reconciled - yes, they have found common ground between string theory and looping quantum physics , which may close the chasm of incompatibility.
For the layman like myself, it just means that interstellar travel may be possible sooner .
Or at all.
My brain hurts.

Final words in a pointless post
In my endless drifting through the world of social media news aggregates (tough, repetitive work, but someone has to do it), I notice with dismay the new tendency to over-use superlatives.
It's almost as though everything is awesome incredible shocking.
I suppose in our news hungry modern world, these are the superlatives needed to grab attention.
I can't help thinking though, that ultimately something really amazing will be overlooked, and left ignored, swamped by a sea of viral puffery.
For those who wonder what 'puffery' means, it's pointless trivia like this :
Did you know that the Wikipedia article on Jesus has been edited more than 25,000 times?
That's more than the article on The Beatles (only 22,000 edits, approx}.
So it's true to say that Jesus is more famous than The Beatles, now.
Which is only slightly funny for a few people.
Oh well.

'How Not To Write' , Space Lettuce and Mysterious Mounds

Hello there,

                      

Seems like only a week since we last met - actually, it was.
I know I said I was going to take time out , but I had a change of heart , and my conclusion was this - to pause, however briefly, is to concede defeat, and that is not the point.

So I return to the fray, not exactly energised, but in the fray at least.

Someone once said that you lose 100% of the shots you don't take.

I can understand that .

Perhaps a little context is needed.

This blog actually started as a way of detailing my progress and efforts in the world of writing (with perhaps the occasional sidestep into my strange electronic dabblings).

I had it all worked out, and it seemed perfectly do-able.
that's also why early posts were concerned with publishing ventures and such.
As it turns out, I've decided not to detail the cut and thrust of my work -in- progress, because mechanical details of the writing process are dull - unless you're lucky enough to be a famous author, in which case people want every detail with a view to replicating your successful formula, or simply to worship at the altar of greatness.

I am neither a famous author, nor do I have an 'altar of greatness'.

However, this blog is a challenge even without the angst-laden missives from the 'ivory tower'.

Keeping things interesting is a challenge, in itself - although I find the 'stream of consciousness' thing works well for me .

Trouble is, now I'm writing about how to write.

Which I said I wouldn't - because, the truth is I don't know.

Infact, I'd go so far as to say that no-one knows, beyond certain accepted constants like spelling / punctuation, etc.

Unless of course, they invest in lots of 'How-To' manuals.

Don't get me wrong - there's a burgeoning market for self-help in the writing field.

'Writing Done Right' - actually that's not a real title, but hey - be my guest if you want to use it, just remember to credit Gordon at Invisible Words...

Infact, truth be told, if you invested in all of the practical writing aids available, you'd be dead before you could possibly read them all.

Like anything, writing is best learned on-the-fly.
In a zen style.
To learn by doing.
Ye gods, I'm full of it...

I don't advocate 'fake it 'til you make it' - I'm an old school believer in learning as much as you can about your chosen field, but hey - where there's a will, there's a way .

Back to my point - invisiblewordsonanendlessthread (one word, lower caps if you're Googling)* was begun for a specific reason.
However, my blog has assumed a life of its own and the frequency has leapt from once a month to weekly writings on a variety of subjects .

Except food.

Which is adequately catered for elsewhere (pun intended).

Although I could do food with a twist.

So how about this - humans have now grown and eaten lettuce in space.

 Romaine lettuce grown on the ISS          image © NASA

That's a first.

The pinkish glow in the image is due to the grow lights being red and blue. Although green is the most obvious colour choice, the maximum growth was obtained in the red/blue spectrum.
Good for radish and beets, then.

Apparently space-lettuce has a slightly spicey flavour, remniscent of (groan) rocket.
If nothing else, I imagine it's a pleasant change from vacuum-packed astronaut food, which to my limited understanding, only tastes like it's supposed to through the science of molecular gastronomy.

I only hope that lettuce - munching space caterpillars remain in their own cosmic eco-system.

Otherwise, the consequences on Earth could be devastating.

I've seen those old films.

'First Men In The Moon' 1964 ©u.k.

In other news...

The comet 67p/churyumov–gerasimenko reached its closest point to our sun on August 13th, and is now completing its orbit heading back to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. 

It remains to be seen whether the errant lander Philae is still hanging on for dear life, hunkered down in a darkened precipice somewhere - certainly communication with mothership Rosetta has been sporadic to say the least.

In mid December 2015, Rosetta will end its cometary pursuit, perhaps with a soft-landing to become one with the comet and Philae, an almost touching end to the historic mission.

Science continues.

And what of the enigmatic Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt ?

It is supposedly being surveyed as we speak, with the Dawn explorer at its closest point of orbit to the surface .

The enduring mystery of the strange 'lights' in the cratered surface must surely now be resolved - along with the new strangeness, the four mile - high plateau in the middle of otherwise flat-land...

Watch that Space

The mysterious mound on Ceres     ©NASA/JPL/Caltech/UCLA

*of course, I realise that if you're reading this, then you don't need to Google the name, but that's how I roll, as they say #pointlessinstruction