NASA to Partner with Commercial Firms in Developing Space Technology

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Consistent with the goal of President Barack Obama to further the commercialization of human space flight, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected several commercial companies to help them develop space flight technology.

NASA awarded a total of $50 Million through funded agreements to the following companies.

Blue Origin of Kent, Washington

The Boeing Company of Houston

Paragon Space Development Corporation of Tucson, Arizona

Sierra Nevada Corporation of Louisville, Colorado

United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado

Will this further boost the technological capability of humans to fly to space? Or will this be the final demise to the decreasing popularity of space programs?

The full story is available in the link below.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9111

Asteroid Will be Close to Earth by 2011

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An asteroid was spotted to be of close distance to Earth last April 19. The 400 mm size Asteroid 2005 YU55 orbits the sun in an orbit close to earth. For this year however, the distance poses no threat. Last April 19, the asteroid pass by the earth in a distance of 2.4 Million kilometers, about six times the distance between the Earth and the moon.

In 2011 however, the distance will be much closer. The asteroid is predicted to be as close as 308, 000 kilometers, or about eight-tenths of the distance between the Earth and the moon. According to the astronomers, the 2011 encounter would still be harmless to the Earth though they will still keep track of its position in case a possible collision may occur in the future.

For the full story, see the article below.

SPACE.com -- Potentially Dangerous Asteroid Spotted Passing Earth

Could Asteroids Be Earth's Water Origin?

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The theory that asteroids crashing with the Earth nearly four billion years ago could have been the seed to Earth's water seems to get more consideration recently. The new attention came after a team of astronomers found organic compounds in an asteroid.

The asteroid named 24 Themis situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter was found to be coated with thin layer of frost.

Is this evidence will be the final touch on the old theory? What questions are still unanswered and what explanations we have so far?

Read the entire article below for the full story.

Ice asteroids likely source of Earth's water: study - Yahoo! News

Soviet Rover Lunokhod 1 Reflector Redsicovered

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The long lost moon rover Lunokhod-I launched by USSR on November 17, 1970 was found by a team of American physicists after 40 years of search.The reflector was found using a high-resolution camera on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

The finding of the Lunokhod-I reflector will greatly help scientist in verifying the deviation in the orbit of the moon as predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity.

Read the full article plus the actual photos of LRO in the link below.

SPACE.com -- Lost Soviet Reflecting Device Rediscovered on the Moon

European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) to be Built on Chile

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The soon-to-be world's largest telescope, European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is to be built on top of a 3000-meter mountain in Chile.

The telescope will have a primary mirror with an unprecedented size of 42 meters in diameter. It is expected to be 15 times more powerful than the current largest optical telescope and will be able to produce images more clearer and more distant objects than what is currently reached by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

The construction of this $ 1 billion worth project is planned to begin next year and the observatory is expected to start operating by 2018.

See the rest of the article in the link below.

Al Jazeera English - Americas - Chile to host giant telescope

Stephen Hawking on Alien Invasion

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British renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said in his new Discovery Channel program that mathematically, it is possible that there may be other life forms in the universe.

But he also warned that encounter with such aliens can be devastating to the human race. If the aliens visits the earth, it means that they have the technology to travel in distant places in space and therefore are more advanced civilization.

The encounter might be a demise to the human civilization just like what happened to the American natives when Christopher Columbus landed in the American soil.

Aliens may exist but contact would hurt humans: Hawking - Yahoo! News

LYRIDS METEOR SHOWER TONIGHT!

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Lyrids meteor shower will be visible late tonight (Thursday, April 22) until the dawn of the next day (Friday, April 23). According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA), we can expect a shower rate of 10-15 meteors per hour.

Lyrids meteor shower is named after the constellation Lyra because it appears that the meteors were coming from that region of the sky. It was an annual event that takes place sometime between April 16 to 25.

PAGASA: Meteor shower visible April 22–23 - Nation - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

NASA - Space Shuttle Discovery Returns

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Space shuttle Discovery has safely returned to Earth after its 15-day, 6 million-mile journey to the International Space Station.

This latest mission made history of most women in space, four.

Discovery is one of the oldest space shuttle that is still being used by NASA. This recent mission will be its second to the last. After it's last mission scheduled this September, it will be off to its retirement.

See the article on NASA website below.

NASA - Space Shuttle

Searching for Intelligent Life Out There - CBS Sunday Morning - CBS News

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It's been five decades now since the search for extra terrestrial intelligence (SETI) became formally recognized as an astronomical study. It's pretty young compared to other branches of science indeed.

Until now, SETI astronomers continue to listen and they listen more intently with the aid of powerful radio telescopes.

Will they ever found intelligent life outside the earth? Will it confirm the notion of Frank Drake that there is life out there?

Read the article below to know the status of the search for the answer to the most intriguing question that faced humanity: ARE WE ALONE?

Searching for Intelligent Life Out There - CBS Sunday Morning - CBS News

Moon vets say Obama's NASA cuts would ground U.S. - USATODAY.com

Obama's plans for NASA was criticized by veteran astronauts including the legendary Neil Armstrong.

The return to the moon project codenamed Project Constellation is going to be cancelled.

See the original article below.

Moon vets say Obama's NASA cuts would ground U.S. - USATODAY.com

New Planets Displaying Opposite Orbital Patterns - Space News - redOrbit

Scientists' recent discovery of exoplanets (planets orbiting another star) that revolve on their orbits in the opposite direction as the rotation their host stars led them to reevaluate and re-validate their current understanding of how the solar system formed.

See the original news article below.

New Planets Displaying Opposite Orbital Patterns - Space News - redOrbit

QUASARS DON'T SHOW TIME DELAYS

Time waits for no quasar – even though it should - space - 08 April 2010 - New Scientist

This is an article from the new Scientist magazine. It discusses the possible theories and assumptions from the observed behavior of Quasars. BTW, Quasars are distant galaxies that are bright enough that they can be seen from earth. Based on the Hubble's law of expanding universe and Einstein's theory of relativity, distant galaxies should show time delays. Distant supernova does but quasars are not. What could be the correct explanation?

Brown Dwarf Neighborhood

'Dark sun' is one of our nearest neighbours - space - 09 April 2010 - New Scientist

The nearest BROWN DWARF star ever found. Less than 10 light years away.

Space shuttle Discovery, 7 astronauts blast off - World - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

Space shuttle Discovery, 7 astronauts blast off - World - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

Space Shuttle DISCOVERY carrying 7 astronauts, three of them were women were already launched into space by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).