Nick's Space / Astronomy Blog January 2005 Archive

On this date in 1958, Explorer 1, the first U.S. Earth-orbiting satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch vehicle was an Army Jupiter-C rocket. Explorer 1 orbited the ... Read More

Joy Over New Shuttle Eases Columbia Pain ABC says, "Two years after Columbia's demise, excitement over the space shuttle fleet's return to the skies in just a few short months is ... Read More

The Space Shuttle Challenger flew nine successful missions before that fateful day. Shuttle mission 51L was much like most other missions. The Challenger crew consisted of mission commander Francis R. ... Read More

Saturn Moon's Methane Mystifies Experts MSNBC says, "Saturn's largest moon contains all the ingredients for life, but senior scientists studying data from a European probe ruled out the possibility Titan's abundant ... Read More

On this date in 1967, the crew of Apollo/Saturn 204 (more commonly known as Apollo 1 mission) were training for the first crewed Apollo flight, an Earth orbiting mission scheduled ... Read More

High-Tech Spacesuits Eyed for "Extreme Exploration" Space.com says, "Future explorers on the Moon and Mars could be outfitted in lightweight, high-tech spacesuits that offer far more flexibility than the bulky suits ... Read More

As reported in today's headlines, the Mars Rover, Opportunity recently celebrated it's first anniversary on the Red Planet. For a mission originally planned for 90 days, both rovers are showing ... Read More

Spacewalking Astronauts Work on Station ABC says, "The two space station astronauts left their orbiting home in the hands of ground controllers Wednesday and floated outside to install an experimental robotic ... Read More

On this date in 1994, Clementine Lunar Orbiter launched. The official name for Clementine is Deep Space Probe Science Experiment (DSPSE). It was a Department of Defense program used to ... Read More

Wanted: Tons of Fake Moon Dirt "If humans are going back to the moon for real, there's need for 'counterfeit' lunar materials," according to MSNBC. "Known as simulants, tons of fake ... Read More

Featured Astronomy Image of the Week On 14 January, 2005 ESA's Huygens probe made an historic first ever descent to the surface of Titan, 1.2 billion kilometres from Earth and the ... Read More

Methane Rain, River Beds Found on Titan ABC is reporting, "Saturn's largest moon apparently is lashed regularly by rain made of liquid methane, forming pools, cutting river beds and eroding rocks ... Read More

The Big Bang Theory is the dominant scientific theory about the origin of the universe. According to the big bang, the universe was created sometime between 10 billion and 20 ... Read More

Does Deep Earth Host Untapped Fuel? ABC says, "Thomas Gold was not your typical radical. Far from being a mad scientist, he was a brilliant professor of astronomy at Cornell University, ... Read More

Titan, one of the moons of Saturn has been in the news a lot over the last few days. Discovered in 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, Titan is the ... Read More

Scientists Floored by Photos From Titan ABC says, "Pictures snapped by the Titan probe and a low, whooshing sound picked up by an on-board microphone drew gasps and applause from scientists, ... Read More

After its seven-year journey through the Solar System on board the Cassini spacecraft, ESA’s Huygens probe has successfully descended through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and safely landed ... Read More

Aristotle (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. Along with Plato, he is often considered to be one of the two most influential philosophers in ... Read More

Tonight, Saturn will be 750 million miles from Earth--the closest we get to the ringed planet all year long. Step outside around 7:30 p.m. and look east. Golden Saturn is ... Read More

Early Universe Bears Imprint of Big Bang's Echo MSNBC says, "The early universe rang with the sound of countless cosmic bells, which filled the primordial darkness with ripples like the surface ... Read More

The Greek philosopher, Thales was born around 624BC, the son of Examyes and Cleobuline. While some believe his lineage was Phoenician, most consider him to be Milesian (Miletus, Asia Minor, ... Read More

Old Meets New in the Cosmos According to USATODAY, "An ancient star atlas lost for centuries and a cutting-edge atlas of the modern universe were unveiled Tuesday by scientists at the ... Read More

On this date in 1610, Galileo Galilei discovered Jupiter's moon Ganymede. 177 years later, in 1787, William Herschel discovered Uranus' moons Titania and Oberon. Jan 4 thru 15, 1601, Galileo Galilei ... Read More

Astronomers Pin Down Cause of Strange Cosmic Shapes USATODAY says, "Few objects in the sky have more magnetic personalities than planetary nebulas. Astronomers have been drawn to the strange objects since ... Read More

On this date in 1969 the Venera 6 atmospheric probe to Venus launched. Venera 6 arrived at Venus on May 17, 1969. Along with Venera 5, atmospheric data was returned ... Read More

NASA Readies Comet Collision Rocket ABC says, "It's a concept even kids can relate to: If you want to see what's inside a rock, whack it with a hammer. That's precisely ... Read More

On December 26, 2004, a tsunami swept across the Indian ocean, spawned by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. Indonesia suffered many tsunami casualties, part of the ... Read More

On this date in 1610, Galileo Galilei first saw Io, Europa, and Callisto. Jan 4 through 15, 1610, Galileo Galilei points his newly developed telescope at the sky and observes ... Read More

'Star Trek,' Math Inspire Calendar Reform According to the Discovery Channel, "Two scientists who believe the current Gregorian calendar is outdated have each created proposals for calendars that they believe improve ... Read More

On this date in 1969 Venera 5 spacecraft launched, second spacecraft to return data from Venus atmosphere. Venera 5 arrived at Venus on May 16, 1969. Along with Venera 6, ... Read More

Probe Passes 'Moon of Two Halves' The BBC NEWS reports, "The Cassini spacecraft has made a close pass of Saturn's moon Iapetus, a striking world of two halves. One side of ... Read More

On this date in 1610, Galileo Galilei pointed his newly developed telescope at the sky and observed craters and mountains on the Moon, moving spots on the Sun, four moons ... Read More

NASA Excited About Comet-Busting Spacecraft MSNBC says, "The big, grown-up boys on the NASA team can hardly wait. Next Fourth of July, they get to bust up a comet, Hollywood-style. "'Blow ... Read More