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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 84 declined, 22 accepted (106 total, 20.75% accepted)

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Submission + - "Aluminum-Celmet" could boost electric vehicle ran (autoblog.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "The fear that EV's will leave the vehicle's occupants stranded well short of their destination, remains one of, if not the main barrier to the widespread adoption of EVs. A new material developed by Japanese company Sumitomo Electric could help allay such fears by potentially improving the capacity of lithium-ion batteries by 1.5 to three times, and therefore extending the range of EVs by an extra 50 to 200 percent. That would give a Nissan Leaf a range of up to 109 to 219 miles (175 to 352 km) or a Tesla Roadster (which would be MY CHOICE a range of up to 366 to 732 miles (589 to 1,178 km) — enough to assuage the range anxiety of the most fretful drivers."

Submission + - Burt Rutanâ(TM)s Race To Space: A Primer For (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Voyager, Proteus and SpaceShipOne have become aerospace legends. As has the man who established them all – Burt Rutan. Zenith Press has released a chronicle of the man and his machines entitled ."Burt Rutan’s Race to Space: The Magician of Mojave and His Flying Innovations" The book provides a chronicle of all the air and spacecraft that have soared off of Rutan’s blueprints and into reality.
The book’s first main segment is a large section which is essentially a catalog of the numerous craft that Rutan has produced over the decades. Many of the flying machines have their unique characteristics highlighted within the 160 pages of this book. Fear not, this tome is wallpapered with images – most of which are color (175 color images to 55 black and white).
Some of the most interesting of these images are not the glossy stills of air or spacecraft in action but rather the simple drawings that are done by the man himself. These sketches, some little more than cartoons others just simplistic line-drawings, highlight the genius that is Rutan and provide an insight into how his mind works.
The nature of the book changes somewhat when one reaches the chapter entitled, “The Scaled Composites Years.” From this point on, the book’s focus narrows to concentrate on Rutan’s X-PRIZE efforts – and beyond.
The book was written by Dan Linehan and is his second detailing the efforts of Rutan and Scaled Composites (the first was "SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History " ). In short, the freelance writer is steeped in all things Rutan. Whereas his first work on the subject covered the history-making flight of SpaceShipOne, this effort is a general overview of Rutan and his legacy. But be forewarned, there are many projects that span the entire realm of aerospace that Rutan and company have been involved with that might surprise you."

Submission + - Space Junk Forces ISS Crew to Takes Shelter in Soy (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "The six crewmembers on board the International Space Station were told to take shelter in the two Russian Soyuz spacecraft early Tuesday because Space Command predicted a piece of space junk could make a close approach to the station. Radar tracking indicated the debris would make its close pass at 8:08 a.m. EDT (12:08 UTC), coming within about 243 meters (800 feet) of the station and well within the “pizza box” -shaped area around the ISS, but when no impact was detected the crew was told they could reenter the station and resume normal operations."

Submission + - A Glitch in Pulsar J1718-3718 (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Pulsars are noted as being some of the universe’s best clocks. Their highly magnetized nature gives rise to beams of high energy radiation that sweep out across the universe. If these beams pass Earth, they can rival atomic clocks in precision. So precise are these timings, that the first extrasolar planet was discovered through the effects it had on this heartbeat. But in September of 2007, pulsar J1718-3719 appears to have had a seizure"
Space

Submission + - Exomoons Could Be Excellent Incubators (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Share With the arrival of the Cassini–Huygens mission in 2004 to Saturn’s satellite Titan, we terrestrials became acutely aware that similar moons could be orbiting similarly large planets in other solar systems besides our own. These extrasolar moons, or exomoons, might be incubators of extra solar life."

Submission + - Free Books From National Academies Press (nationalacademies.org)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "As of today all PDF versions of books published by the National Academies Press will be downloadable to anyone free of charge. This includes a current catalog of more than 4,000 books plus future reports produced by the Press. The mission of the National Academies Press (NAP) — publisher for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council — is to disseminate the institutions' content as widely as possible while maintaining financial sustainability.
  The free PDFs are available exclusively from the NAP's website and remain subject to copyright laws."
Space

Submission + - Opportunity Surpasses 30 KM Driving ! (universetoday.com) 1

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "With her most recent drive of 482 feet (146.8 meters) on June 1, 2011 (Sol 2614), NASA’s Opportunity Mars Rover has zoomed past the unimaginable 30 kilometer (18,64 miles) mark in total odometry since safely landing on Mars nearly seven and one half years ago on Jan 24, 2004. That’s 50 times beyond the roughly quarter mile of roving distance initially forseen.
And Opportunity is still going strong, in good health and has abundant solar power as she continues driving on her ambitious overland trek across the martian plains of Meridiani Planum. She is heading to the giant Endeavour crater, some 22 km (14 miles) in diameter."
Technology

Submission + - Cambridge Consultants - New design of through-wall (cambridgeconsultants.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Leading technology product design and development firm Cambridge Consultants has launched the latest evolution of its popular Prism through-wall radar product line. The Prism 200c is a lightweight and inconspicuous device that fits covertly inside a backpack. By simply placing the device against the outside wall of a room or building, the user is provided with intelligence on the location and movement of any people that might be inside that particular room."

Submission + - Another Milestone For Virgin Galactic (virgingalactic.com) 1

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Early on Wednesday 4th May 2011, in the skies above Mojave Air and Spaceport CA, SpaceShipTwo, the world’s first commercial spaceship, demonstrated its unique reentry ‘feather’ configuration for the first time. This test flight, the third in less than two weeks, marks another major milestone on the path to powered test flights and commercial operations.
SpaceShipTwo (SS2), named VSS Enterprise, has now flown solo seven times since its public roll-out in December 2009 and since the completion of its ground and captive -carry test program."
Space

Submission + - Daily Kos: Rockets to nowhere (dailykos.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "The end of the space shuttle approaches and its primary legacy, the International Space Station, is essentially finished. Soon the new 2010 NASA reauth bill will really kick in, a new era of cost-effective space exploration will dawn and like a zombie that keeps lurching about with arms outstretched no matter how many bullets or kitchen implements are put into its rotten head, the undead "The Spawn Of Ares" rises from the grave to feed on the blood of taxpayers.
More accurately, it's kind of like a rocket-bridge to nowhere. Except it's worse: there are plenty of places for rockets to go, this one included; our vast unexplored solar system beckons! It's just that this one probably won't go to any of them because there's barely a snowball's chance in hell it will ever be completed. And without a prolonged funding commitment, even the early costs could quickly swell up and delay or eliminate rockets that will go somewhere.
Meanwhile, there are smaller, nimble rockets capable of performing the same tasks over multiple missions already in final flight testing that will soon be available at a Meanwhile, there are smaller, nimble rockets capable of performing the same tasks over multiple missions already in final flight testing that will soon be available at a fraction of the cost We have every reason to believe NASA can build revolutionary deep space vehicles in orbit using these smaller ground-to-orbit rockets, because a 500-ton space station has now been assembled in low earth orbit using that very method. And folks, a 500-ton departure stage already in orbit would be a lot of spaceship. Forget about lunar return or a Near Earth Asteroid; in terms of sheer mass, 500 tons parked in low orbit represents enough fuel, supplies, and hardware to damn near fly a crew to Jupiter and back."

Submission + - MESSENGER Finds Where X Marks the Spot on Mercury (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Buried treasure on Mercury? If so, I’d look here first. This image shows a currently unnamed crater with an “X” emblazoned on it. The perpendicular lines that cross the crater are secondary crater chains caused by ejecta from two primary impacts outside of the field of view, according to MESSENGER scientists. MESSENGER has been in orbit of Mercury since mid-March of this year, and its Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) pivot and Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) spotted this unusual landform. MESSENGER will be mapping more than 90% of Mercury’s surface as part of a high-resolution surface morphology base map that will be created with its MDIS"

Submission + - Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space - NASA Sci (nasa.gov)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "More than 30 years after they were launched, NASA's two Voyager probes have traveled to the edge of the solar system and are on the doorstep of interstellar space.
Today, April 28, 2011, NASA held a live briefing to reflect on what the Voyager mission has accomplished--and to preview what lies ahead as the probes prepare to enter the realm of the Milky Way itself."
Space

Submission + - Several Student-Led Experiments to Fly on Endeavou (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "STS-134, the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour – is set to carry several experiments of students from the middle school, high school and collegiate levels. Two of these payloads are sponsored by the NASA Florida
The first experiment is one that could provide some guidance on future long-duration space flight missions, it deals with seed germination. As missions take astronauts further and further away from Earth, they will need to be able to produce their own food. Learning everything possible about the effects of micro-gravity on seeds therefore is viewed as relevant and important research.
Another experiment, one comprised of squid embryos is being spearheaded by the University of Florida and will research the physiological impact of the micro-gravity environment on the animal’s growth and development."

Submission + - Planets Party In The Morning (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Set your alarm clocks for an early treat about a half an hour before sunrise on Thursday April 28 through Sunday, May 1, 2011, as there will be a planetary delight in store!
Find an unobscured view of the Eastern horizon to see a conjunction (objects near each other in the sky) of the planets Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, below and to the left of the thin crescent moon.
Bright Venus will be easy to spot first, then Mercury followed by Jupiter. The real challenge is to find Mars which will be very close to Jupiter. See the above diagram for help on where each object is located."

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