Carnival of Space 324

The Carnival of Space is up at Universe Today

What do the remains lying in your fireplace have to do with diamond rain on Jupiter and Saturn? Quite a lot actually. Take a quick look at the story and physics behind what scientists speculate goes on in the clouds of gas giants. Scientists have found that there is a chance that it rains diamonds on Jupiter, Saturn and possibly on Uranus and Neptune.

The Space Frontier Foundation has a commentary piece up about the movie ‘gravity’ and the very real threat of space debris. What are the current plans to mitigate the biggest threat to on orbit operations.

Nextbigfuture – Spacex reviewed the September 29th, 2013 launch of the upgraded falcon rocket. They included a picture of the first stage re-igniting its ending just above the ocean. This was to demonstrate using the engines to slow down and land for reusable rockets.Spacex reviewed the September 29th, 2013 launch of the upgraded falcon rocket.

Though not a primary mission objective, SpaceX was also able to initiate two engine relights on the first stage. For the first restart burn, we lit three engines to do a supersonic retro propulsion, which we believe may be the first attempt by any rocket stage. The first restart burn was completed well and enabled the stage to survive reentering the atmosphere in a controlled fashion.

SpaceX then lit the center engine for a single engine burn. That relight also went well, however we exceeded the roll control authority of the attitude control thrusters. This particular stage was not equipped with landing gear which could have helped stabilize the stage like fins would on an aircraft. The stage ended up spinning to a degree that was greater than we could control with the gas thrusters on board and ultimately we hit the water relatively hard.

Nextbigfuture – What would it take be the Christopher Columbus of the Space Age ? I believe the successful measure of explorers like Lief Ericson and Christopher Columbus is the start of successful and lasting permanent colonization. Columbus founded La Navidad in what is present day Haiti on his first voyage. After it’s destruction by the indigenous Taino people, the town of Isabella was begun in 1493, on his second voyage. In 1496 his brother, Bartholomew, founded Santo Domingo. In 1502, 2500 more Spanish settlers arrived. By 1508 there were 10,000 Spaniards living in 15 new settlement. It has been estimated that in the 16th century about 240,000 Spaniards emigrated to America, and in the 17th century about 500,000, predominantly to Mexico and Ecuador.

From the 14th to the early 18th century, the population in Spain was between 6 and 9 million.

In 1508, the ten thousand Spaniards represented at least 0.1% of the population.
In 1599, the 240,000 Spaniards represented about 2.5% of the population.

An American Columbus for the space age should generate space colonies with a population of 300,000 people within about 25 years of the start of space colonization. Within 100 years, the space colonies of the US should be over 10 million.

Universe Today – Wet Asteroid’s Remains Found In Old Star That Could Have Hosted Habitable Planets

Remains of a water-filled asteroid are circling a dying white dwarf star, right now, about 150 light-years from us. The new find is the first demonstration of water and a rocky surface in a spot beyond the solar system, researchers say.

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