Actually it works in Space check out

'Impossible' Space Engine Might Actually Work, Study Suggests.Engineers are working on ways to make spaceflight faster and cheaper, in an effort to open the heavens to exploration.
An experimental propulsion system that seems to violate the laws of physics may actually work, a new study suggests.A controversial and puzzling engine design known as the EmDrive generated small amounts of thrust in a lab test, NASA researchers reported in the study, which has yet to be published or peer-reviewed but was recently leaked online.
The EmDrive, which was developed by British researcher Roger Shawyer more than a decade ago, generates thrust by bouncing microwaves around inside a cone-shaped chamber. According to Newton's third law of motion — for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction — this shouldn't work, because there's no exhaust expelled out of the EmDrive system. (Think about rockets, which get their oomph by blasting superheated gases and other material out of nozzles at high speeds.)But the NASA team, led by Harold "Sonny" White of the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, did measure some thrust. Specifically, their EmDrive variant produced about 1.2 millinewtons of force per kilowatt of energy. That's about 100 times more thrust than solar-sailing spacecraft, which harness the momentum of photons streaming from the sun, are able to achieve, White and his colleagues wrote.Like solar sails, the EmDrive requires no propellant; a spacecraft equipped with this propulsion system could generate all the microwaves it needs using solar panels. So the EmDrive could make space travel much cheaper and faster, theoretically opening up the heavens to greater exploration, advocates have said.Don't get too excited — that's a long way from happening, if it happens at all. The new study is just a proof of concept, and further testing is needed to definitively rule out all possible sources of experimental error, White and his team said. (For example, it's possible that air within the EmDrive system could have heated up and expanded, causing some of the observed effect, the researchers wrote.) But the new result is the latest in a series of apparent successes for EmDrive technology. Shawyer reported generating thrust with his version, as did Chinese researchers who tested their own variant in 2012. And White and his colleagues reported a positive result back in 2013 as well.
So this seemingly impossible engine may actually work — perhaps by somehow harnessing the energy of subatomic particles that are constantly popping into and out of existence, White and his team have speculated.

posted from Bloggeroid

NASA and NOAA launch most advanced weather satellite ever !

A new weather satellite is on its way into space, but it’s unlike any of the weather satellites we have right now. Launched over the weekend by NASA and NOAA, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) is the first of a new fleet of weather-tracking satellites that could help scientists predict weather patterns further in advance and save lives. That’s just the start of what GOES-R can do.

The satellite is currently on its way to a geostationary orbit at 22,300 miles above the Earth. That means it has the same orbital period of the Earth, and thus remains in place over the continental US where it can monitor weather patterns. GOES-R will be a quantum leap for weather forecasting thanks to its advanced hardware. The satellite is capable of scanning the Earth five times faster, at four times the resolution, and in three times more spectrum bands than current satellites.

All the weather satellites NOAA relies upon currently were built with systems developed in the 1990s. With brand new technology in the GOES-R satellite called the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) could quite literally save lives by giving forecasters more timely data with which to predict the course of storms. Even a few minutes can make all the difference in warning people to take cover.

GOES-R could also fundamentally change the way weather forecasting is done thanks to live streaming of data from space. For example, lightning activity will be tracked in real time with an instrument called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) and sent back to Earth where meteorologists can monitor it. This won’t only see ground strikes, but also the much more common cloud-to-cloud lightning. That’s crucially important when simulating the path of severe weather like tornadoes and supercell thunderstorms.

While the ABI is GOES-R’s primary instrument, it has a few other neat gadgets on-board as well. It carries a sensor package capable of detecting x-ray and ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This allows scientists to track things like solar flares and the solar wind. The sun occasionally erupts with activity that can endanger our electrical grid, so scientists are understandably interested in learning all they can about the sun’s emissions. GOES-R also has the necessary hardware to participate in the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system. Individuals with special emergency transponders can send out distress signals that are relayed to rescuers via satellites. GOES-R makes these SARSAT beacons more reliable.

GOES-R was sent into space on an Atlas V rocket, one of the few launch vehicles with the power to get a large payload to geostationary orbit. It’s expected to be in position in about two weeks.

Stay tuned for more updates ....!

New crew blast off to the ISS

The three-person Expedition 50/51 crew includes Russian cosmonaut and Soyuz commander Oleg
Novitskiy,NASA astronaut Peggy Whitsonand the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet, who will become the first French astronaut to live aboard the International Space Station.Tightly packed in a Soyuz MS-03 space capsule atop a Soyuz FG rocket, the team lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodromein Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT).

About 9 minutes after liftoff, the Soyuz capsule arrived in low-Earth orbit. For the next two days, the space travelers will be chasing after the space station. [See more Expedition 50 Soyuz launch photos]The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 17 at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT)

Are you all waiting for the Supermoon? Here are some unknown facts

Tomorrow's 'supermoon',the biggest and brightest in 68 yearsThe so-called 'supermoon,' expected to peak in Israel at 6 P.M. Monday, is expected to provide a breathtaking sight, last seen in January 1948.The biggest and brightest moon in 68 years is expected to appear in the sky on Monday. Beginning in the evening hours, a phenomenon known as a "supermoon" will take place – a situation in which the moon is full and at its closet point to Earth.
The moon is expected to provide a breathtaking sight, which was last seen in January 1948: The full moon of the middle of the Hebrew (lunar) month of Heshvan will look 14 percent larger than the full moon at its furthest point, and 30 percent brighter.
Due to our inability in a difficult environmental situation to discern the change in the size of the moon with the naked eye, it is measured with the help of photographs and measuring instruments. However, the change in brightness is visible even without equipment, and people can therefore enjoy the sight of a particularly bright and prominent full moon.A swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse is seen in the Israeli Mediterranean coastal city of Netanya, early on September 28, 2015. The moon will be at its most impressive at about 6 P.M. Israel time, about an hour after sunset, when it will rise slightly above the horizon and provide a large and illuminated backdrop to mountain ridges, buildings, trees or other objects that loom on the horizon.The supermoon phenomenon in itself is not rare. Because the moon's orbit of the Earth is elliptical, its distance from Earth changes all along its orbit. But the Earth and the moon are of course part of a larger system: The Earth's orbit (and therefore its proximity to the moon's orbit) is influenced by the sun, and therefore the points of proximity of the moon to the Earth are not fixed. Astronomers know how to calculate and predict the close encounters with the moon. The accepted professional term for the supermoon (whose name originates in the world of astrology) is the "perigee moon," named after the closet point to Earth on the moon's orbit.The November supermoon is only one of three supermoon events taking place in 2016, during three consecutive months – the first on October 16, the second on November 14, and the last on December 14. However, Monday's supermoon is the rarest and most interesting of the three. At its height, the moon will reach a distance of only 356,509 kilometers from Earth, as compared to 406,000 kilometers at its furthest point on the orbit. According to NASA experts, the next such close encounter will be seen in November 2034.According to the experts at the U.S. Slooh Community Observatory, which will provide a live broadcast of the supermoon, the early American colonists, and the Indian tribes dubbed the full moon of November a "beaver supermoon." For them its appearance signified the right time to place traps to catch the animal, just before the swamps froze, in order to guarantee warm furs for winter.
The moon's closest point to Earth changes annually, and between 2008 and 2013 the distance was constantly increasing. But since 2013 supermoon events have been taking place closer to Earth, and on November 25, 2034 the distance will be less than 356,500 kilometers - only 356,446 kilometers from Earth.In 2052 it will be even closer – 356,425 kilometers from Earth. And that still won't be the closest encounter. On January 14, 1931 the supermoon was only 356,397 kilometers from Earth. The event is expected to recur, more or less, in January 2057 – when inhabits of Earth will be able to observe a full moon only 356,371 kilometers away.

posted from Bloggeroid

New planet like Earth

Scientist found new planet like earth which is orbiting nearby star where the life might exist. This planet is rocky like Earth and only slightly bigger orbiting Proxima Centaur which is the nearest star of the solar system. Its found that its in the not too hot, not too cold "Goldilocks Zone" where the liquid water a key to life is possible if the planet has an atmosphere. It is a mere 4.22 light years from earth or 25 trillion miles. The international team of astronomers announced the discovery didn't saw the planet actually but ascertained it's existence indirectly by using telescope to spot and calculate the gravitational pull on star by possible orbiting body. The planet is more or like what we have on earth. They are naming it as Proxima b. It's 4.6 million miles from its dwarf star. This would be likely mean an incredible orange sky with no blue. The planet circle it's star quickly that its year is about 11 days. The planet doesn't rotate so one side is dark and cold and the other side is facing the star always. It's bombarded with the X-ray and ultra violet light but this would not necessarily be fatal to life since the life can exists underground. Moreover 3,000 planets were found outside the space in past 20 years and 40+ of the planets seems to be in habitable zone.

JUNO CAPTURES JUPITER'S FIRST IMAGE

NASA'S JUNO spacecraft captures first image of the Jupiter, which is a large planet in the solar system where Juno set into Jupiter last week. The image shows Jupiter's famous great Red spot, some of its cloud belts and the three big Jovian moons Europa, Ganymade and lo with its visible light junocam instrument on Sunday.
At present , it is 2.7 million miles from Jupiter. This shows that it could survey in Jupiter's extreme radiation environment without any damage. The scientists said that they couldn't wait for first view of Jupiter, since it enters Jupiter on July 4 after a 5 year journey through deep space.
It is assumed that the next image can be captured on August 27 where Juno makes it to the next orbit. Its aim is to discover and understand how Jupiter and the solar system formed and evolved. Juno's mission is currently found to end in February 2018.

Spider web galaxy

    The spiderweb galaxy is the one if the most massive galaxy ,it lies 10 billion light years away and is made up of dozens of star -forming galaxies in the process of merging together.
     The light from the dust originates in thew spiderweb galaxy itself  by the ALMA observation. Atacama large millimetre /submillimeter array shows that the water is located far out in galaxy.
     The light from the water is concentrated in two regions fat to the east and west of the galaxy core. The image of the spiderweb galaxy as seen by the Hubble space telescope.
        Optical - red
        Very large array-green.              
         ALMA-blue
     The red colours shows where the stars are located within the system.  The dust is also seen in blue colour.

Juno enters Jupiter on 4th July

NASA'S JUNO SPACECRAFT was launched on August 5,2011 from Cape Canaveral Air force station. It is scheduled to slide into the orbit of Jupiter on Monday(4th July). Its mission is to find about Jupiter's composition, Magnetic field, Gravity field, Polar magnetosphere, how the planet is formed whether it has a rocky core and water present in the deep atmosphere.
It captures the photos of Jupiter and its four biggest moons last week. Total mission duration is 6 years,and it weighs about 3,625kg. It is the most distant travelled solar powered spacecraft from Earth.

EARTH'S ANCIENT MAGNETIC FIELD HAD MORE THAN TWO POLES

We all know that earth has two magnetic poles- north and south and the magnetic field between these two poles protects us from harmful cosmic rays and high speed solar winds.
      But  a recent study reveals that this arrangement will not always same.Ancient earth had multiple poles that suddenly appeared across the globe causing planet's magnetic field behave erratically.
    Researchers claim that these findings could offer an explanation for the bizarre fluctuations in magnetic field direction seen in geologic record.

Unexpected minerals on Mars

        NASA scientist have discovered the unexpected minerals sample at Gale crates on mars. "Bucksin" means that the low angle self portrait of NASA curiosity mars. It shows that the vehicle reach down the site to drill into a rock target.
         The drilling is visible on the foreground, Bright powders from that July 30,2015.it has been sedimentary rocks within craters since landing in August 2012.By using X-ray diffraction instrument on the rover,the new silicate material is detected and is named as"Tridymite".

ENCELADUS - SATURN'S MOON

Enceladus is the 6th largest and massive moon on Saturn. It is of diameter 314 miles(505 kilometres) and it is just 1/7 th of the diameter on the Earth.It is Oblate Spheroid in shape.
It has been a promising site to lead a life in solar system. It has liquid water beneath its surface.It was discovered by Sir William Herschel.
The moon's icy surface reflects more than 90% of the sunlight falls on it. Instead of observing sunlight, it reflects, which makes the moon shine brightly. It reaches the temperature -201°C(-330°F).

Liquid ocean under icy shell

Pluto may have a liquid ocean sloshing around under its icy crust ,according to a new analysis of data from NASA's New Horizon spacecraft.

Omni directional electromagnetic absorber

  Artificial mini "black hole" was successfully created by chinese researches that built an electromagnetic absorbing device microwave frequencies.The device consists of 60 cylinder (thin) to concentric metamaterials, is capable of absorbing microwave radiation and has been compared to an astrophysical black hole.

YOUNGEST EXOPLANET

     Astronomers have discovered a exoplanet around a young star by using NASA's Kepler space telescope.It is extended k2 mission and also 3000 exoplanet so far.
      The new planet is found and named is K2-33b is bit larger than Neptune.our earth is roughly 4.5 Billion years old.By comparison, the planet k2-33b is very young(10 million years old).

First 'Wind Nebulae'around a magnetar

   Wind Nebulae was discovered by Astronomers ,a vast cloud of high energy particles and it around a ultra magnetic neutron star .Neutron star is a crushed core of massive star that ran out of fuel, collapse under its own weight and exploded as a Supernova.Each one compresses the equivalent mass of half a million each into a ball just 12miles.It about the length of New York's Manhattan Island and it also found as pulsars,which produce rays (radio ,visible, x-rays,gamma) at various location in their magnetic field. It can be 100 billion to 10 trillion times stronger than earth magnetar field.2600 neutron star are known as magnetars.

Electric research plane -NASA

   NASA is building a battery powered ,energy efficient experimental airplane named 'X-57 and nicknamed as "Maxwell". 14 electric motors integrated in the wing turn propellers.