Space

Why The Moon Is By FAR The Best Place For A Backup- NOT Mars- To Protect And Restore Our Beautiful Earth

I think we should build our first offworld backup on the Moon. We can start by storing seeds there, similar to the Svalbard seed vault in Norway. Within a few years we should have easy access to the Moon, and then it will be easy to do. The lunar caves ar ...

Article - Robert Walker - Mar 31 2019 - 4:44pm

Let's Make Sure Astronauts Won't Extinguish Native Mars Life- Op Ed

Lisa Pratt, the new planetary protection officer for NASA takes up her job at a challenging time for astrobiology. We are approaching a major decision point for Mars. If Elon Musk succeeds in his ambitious plans, then some time in the next couple of decad ...

Article - Robert Walker - Mar 12 2018 - 12:38am

How To Deal With Trash On Moon? More To It Than You'd Think

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Article - Robert Walker - Mar 18 2018 - 11:18pm

Chasing Evidence Of A Black Hole's Shadow

One of the most fundamental predictions of Einstein's theory of relativity is the existence of black holes. Although gravitational waves from binary black holes have been detected, direct evidence using electromagnetic waves hasn't happened and a ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 17 2018 - 11:05am

Polar Regions Of Mars Of Outstanding Interest For Astrobiology- Why We Haven't Searched For Life There Yet

The reason we know so little about the polar regions is not lack of interest. The polar regions are of great interest, for instance the Martian dry ice geysers in Richardson crater, one of the most interesting dynamic processes on Mars and the polar regio ...

Article - Robert Walker - Apr 30 2018 - 4:09pm

KIC 8462852: Where I Think Evangeline Fits In The System

I've noted the following about a chained orbital resonance system with base period P: If an observer at ~138° from our vantage point is well-positioned to observe transits pass by at intervals that are multiples of P, then we would see transits pass b ...

Blog Post - Jose S - Apr 29 2018 - 3:33pm

Jupiter Last Friday

Visual observation of the planets of our solar system has always been an appealing pastime for amateur astronomers, but the digital era has taken away a little bit of glamour to this activity. Until 30 years ago you could spot with your eye more detail tha ...

Article - Tommaso Dorigo - Apr 30 2018 - 1:06pm

Protecting Mars- And Earth- From What- And Why Bother? Our Inheritance Of Unopened Astrobiological Treasure Chests

This is a debate hosted by the SETI institute between Robert Zubrin, founder and head of the Mars Society, and one of NASA’s former planetary protection officers, John Rummel. They debate the requirements of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 to protect both ...

Article - Robert Walker - May 29 2018 - 6:08pm

NASA’s Building Blocks of Life on Mars: Keep Calm and Carry On.

Building blocks of life are not life or even really close, but they are hopeful signs.  N ASA has announced that the Curiosity rover has found signs of the building blocks of life, as we know it, on Mars.    These building blocks are common throughout the ...

Blog Post - Hontas Farmer - Jun 7 2018 - 2:11pm

On The Residual Brightness Of Eclipsed Jovian Moons

While preparing for another evening of observation of Jupiter's atmosphere with my faithful 16" dobsonian scope, I found out that the satellite Io will disappear behind the Jovian shadow tonight. This is a quite common phenomenon and not a very s ...

Article - Tommaso Dorigo - Jun 23 2018 - 4:16am