Fragments Found of Meteor That Exploded Over California

• By Damon Poeter
• April 26, 2012 07:50pm EST

Near the site of the discovery that launched the Gold Rush more than 150 years ago, meteorite hunter Robert Ward has tracked down another sort of rock —fragments of a minivan-sized meteor that blew up in the sky above California's Sierra foothills early on Sunday.
Ward, who has been hunting for meteorites for more than 20 years, told the Associated Press Thursday that he found a pair of fragments weighing about 10 grams each roughly 35 miles northeast of Sacramento nearby Sutter's Mill, the famous location where James W. Marshall discovered gold in 1848.
MORE: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403642,00.asp


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Russian-U.S. space station crew returns to Earth

Nastassia Astrasheuskaya Reuters

7:55 a.m. CDT, April 27, 2012

KOROLYOV, Russia (Reuters) - A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut from the International Space Station (ISS) landed safely in Kazakhstan on Friday.

The Soyuz TMA-22 parachuted down onto the steppe in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, landing on schedule and on target north of the town of Arkalyk after a three-hour descent from the orbital outpost.
MORE: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-russia-space-landingbre83q0n3-20120427,0,5534912.story

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Student researcher spies odd lava spirals on Mars

Originally published: April 26, 2012 2:16 PM
Updated: April 26, 2012 3:11 PM
By The Associated Press  ALICIA CHANG (AP Science Writer)

Photo credit: AP | This image provided by NASA on Thursday, April 26, 2012 shows lava flows in the shape of coils located near the equatorial region of Mars. Analyzing high-resolution images of the region, researchers have determined the area was sculpted by volcanic activity in the recent geologic past. This is the first time such geologic features have been discovered outside of Earth. (AP Photo/NASA)

LOS ANGELES - (AP) -- A researcher has spotted lava flows shaped like coils of rope near the equator of Mars, the first time such geologic features have been discovered outside of Earth.
These twisty volcanic patterns can be found on Hawaii's Big Island and in the Pacific seafloor on our planet. While evidence for lava flows is present in many places on Mars, none are shaped like this latest find.
"I was quite surprised and puzzled when I first saw the coils," Andrew Ryan, a graduate student at Arizona State University, said in an email. He reported the discovery in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

MORE: http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/student-researcher-spies-odd-lava-spirals-on-mars-1.3684104

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Cassini Finds Saturn Moon has Planet-Like Qualities

Phoebe's true nature is revealed in startling clarity in this mosaic of two images taken during Cassini's flyby on June 11, 2004. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
› Full image and caption

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April 26, 2012

PASADENA, Calif. -- Data from NASA's Cassini mission reveal Saturn's moon Phoebe has more planet-like qualities than previously thought.

Scientists had their first close-up look at Phoebe when Cassini began exploring the Saturn system in 2004. Using data from multiple spacecraft instruments and a computer model of the moon's chemistry, geophysics and geology, scientists found Phoebe was a so-called planetesimal, or remnant planetary building block. The findings appear in the April issue of the Journal Icarus.

MORE: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-119&cid=release_2012-119&msource=12119

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Dawn Spacecraft Reveals Secrets of Giant Asteroid Vesta

April 24, 2012

PASADENA, Calif. - Findings from NASA's Dawn spacecraft reveal new details about the giant asteroid Vesta, including its varied surface composition, sharp temperature changes and clues to its internal structure. The findings were presented today at the European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna, Austria, and will help scientists better understand the early solar system and processes that dominated its formation.

Images from Dawn's framing camera and visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, taken 420 miles (680 kilometers) and 130 miles (210 kilometers) above the surface of the asteroid, show a variety of surface mineral and rock patterns. Coded false-color images help scientists better understand Vesta's composition and enable them to identify material that was once molten below the asteroid's surface.

MORE, PHOTOS, & VIDEO: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-117&cid=release_2012-117&msource=12117

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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NASA Releases Call For Phase II Visionary Advanced Concepts

 

 

WASHINGTON -- The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program is seeking proposals to continue promising studies for which it has supported the first phase. These cutting-edge concepts have the potential to transform future exploration missions, enable new capabilities, or significantly alter current approaches to launching, building, and operating aerospace systems.

"These transformative concepts have the potential to mature into the new capabilities NASA needs for the challenging space missions in its future," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

MORE: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/apr/12-137_NIAC_PhaseII.html

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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New, dramatic Saturn video created from Voyager and Cassini spacecraft images

New Saturn video created from Voyager and Cassini spacecraft images

By Eric Pfeiffer | The Sideshow – 3 hrs ago

Netherlands-based director Sander van den Berg has taken images from NASA's Cassini orbiter and Voyager spacecraft to create an amazing new video of Saturn entitled "Outer Space."

At first, the compilation of images looks like relatively simple computer-generated imagery of the gas giant. But the images become awe-inspiring when you realize they are all actual photos taken by NASA.

The collection of moving images is set to "That Home," performed by the British jazz and electronic band The Cinematic Orchestra.

45 seconds into the video you can see space debris crashing into Saturn's rings. About a minute into the video, the images take on an almost psychedelic turn, as van den Berg captures images of gas geysers on the solar system's second largest planet.

MORE & VIDEO: http://0-news.yahoo.com.precise.petronas.com.my/blogs/sideshow/saturn-video-created-voyager-cassini-spacecraft-images-164450202.html

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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