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Moon
explosions
The
moon has taken a real beating in the last two years and half years.
NASA
astronomers have observed over a hundred explosions on the moon
Meteoroids
both large and small have smashed in to the moon at great speed
257,495km per hour
Over a
metric ton of material fall on the moon every day.
Impacts
from lager meteoroids occur every hour during meteor showers (Persides
and Quadrantids )
Here on
earth we are protected by our atmosphere most of the material burns up.
On the
moon there is no Atmosphere so these object just slam in to the surface
It is
important that NASA monitors the impact
So we
have greater understanding of this danger for future missions and
establishing of a Moon base.
A
typical blast can be seen with a backyard telescope
Each
blast could be equivalent to 100kg of TNT
NASA
are calling upon Amateur Astronomer that have lots of patience that can
record the flashes this will help the NASA Meteoroid Environment
Office
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast30nov_1.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4570730.stm
Follow
up on the Phoenix Mars Lander
The 420
million dollar mission led
by University of Arizona and managed by JPL landed on Mars on Monday
26th May, 2008
Amazing
images were sent back within 30 mins of the probe landing
Approximate-colour
image taken shortly after landing by the Phoenix's Surface Stereo
Imager, generated from two colour filters, a violet and an infrared
filter. It shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars.
The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal
cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also
observed in permafrost terrains on Earth
The
Mars Reconnaissance Obiter did some first class reconnaissance by
snapping an image of Phoenix during its descent with a parachute. This
is the first time that a spacecraft has imaged the final descent of
another spacecraft onto a planetary body.
Other
missions that are in obit around mars are helping with communication
The
Phoenix Lander is preparing to unfurl its 2.3m robotic arm in
preparation for collecting sample of subsurface ice surrounding the
probe
It has
been imaging and monitoring the weather
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/multimedia/pia09942.html
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/
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