The U.S. Senate approved a budget of $18.7 billion that the President will now consider. Now, $18.7 billion sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but space exploration is a very expensive undertaking. Whenever numbers like this get thrown around discussions almost invariably ensue about how that money could be better spent. And while I completely agree that feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and fighting the ever increasing war on cancer are very wise uses for our tax dollars, I believe that human exploration is also important.

Now, clearly I am not arguing that a person's life and well being is more important than sending a man to the Moon, or launching a new telescope into space. But, at the same time Man has an intrinsic desire to explore, to learn and to discover the mysteries of the Universe. Science is an important part of our existence here on Earth, and it's that curiosity that makes us what we are.

So what do you think? Is nearly $19 billion dollars a wise use of our tax dollars? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Recently, scientists reported in the journal Nature that they detected the most powerful supernova ever. What makes this supernova unique is that it is the first of a new breed of supernova that prior to this discovery had only existed on paper as a mathematical prediction.

This new type of supernova is known as a Pair-Instability Supernova or PISN, and occurs through a process that is much different from a "normal" supernova. Usually, a massive star (between 8 and 100 times the mass of our Sun) fuses elements up to iron in its core. At this point there is not enough energy available for fusion to continue. It is the pressure due to this fusion that keeps the star from collapsing onto itself due to its immense gravity. Now that the fusion has ceased, the star begins a chain reaction that will cause it to die in a violent explosion.

A PISN however, never makes it to the iron fusion stage of its existence. In order for a star to become a PISN, it must begin with at least 150 times the mass of our Sun (with perhaps as much as 240 times the Sun's mass). While it is still fusing elements like oxygen in its core the immense temperature and pressure cause extremely high energy radiation to be emitted (much greater than that of smaller stars). This radiation is so energetic that it interacts with material in the star and actually transforms into an electron and positron (the anti-particle for an electron) through a process called pair-production.

It doesn't really sound all that different, but the problem is that electrons and positrons do not exert radiation pressure in the way that photons (light) do. Therefore there is not enough force to balance the gravitational pressure, and the star begins to collapse. During the collapse, the temperature and pressure further increase which accelerates the fusion process. The energy is released at such a rate that the star literally blows itself apart in a brilliant explosion that is 100 times greater than the most powerful of normal supernovae. That's enough energy to outshine trillions of stars at once.

Image Credit: NASA

Want to know what it would be like to work on the International Space Station (ISS)? Well, NASA has made available a short game that allows you to take a "spacewalk" around the ISS, and complete various tasks.

Ok, ok, so it won't really be like the real thing, but its fun nonetheless. Try your hand at unfurling the solar array, or take a ride on the robotic arm. What happens if your tools get lost in space? Can you retrieve them all before returning to the airlock? The game will allow you to get an idea of what the ISS really looks like, and even give you a little glimpse of how difficult it can be to work in outer space.

Image Credit: NASA

The International Space Station (ISS) is celebrating 10 years of research this year. And to commemorate the occasion, a new 2010 calendar is available.

You can print the calendar yourself (for posting to a bulletin board or the like), or you can take the pdf file to a store for printing and mounting. If you choose the later however, you will want to print off NASA's copyright agreement and take it with you. It states that all images are available for free under their copyright agreement. This will help avoid any confusion at the store that you are trying to print copyrighted material.

The calendar contains information and images about the various aspects of the ISS, as well as reminders about important NASA dates throughout the year. This is a great gift idea for anyone on your Christmas list that loves space, astronomy or technology. NASA plans to deliver at least 100,000 copies of the calendar to classrooms across all 50 states.

Image Credit: NASA