12 September 2011
Posted in Our Planet, Our Universe

Nearing the 10 year anniversary of the September 11^th attacks, planet Mars serves as a memorial to those lost that tragic day in 2001. Two aluminum shields were fashioned out of scraps of metal from both tower 1 and tower 2 of the World Trade Center, and attached to NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity Rovers in 2003. The shields are adorned with an American flag and are designed to protect cables on the Rover’s rock abrasion tools, also known as RAT’s.

The Rover’s new tribute tools were made by Stephen Gorevan, founder and chairman of Honeybee Robotics whose offices are actually located less than a mile away from ground zero.  “It’s gratifying knowing that a piece of the World Trade Center is up there on Mars,” says Gorevan. “That shield on Mars, to me, contrasts the destructive nature of the attackers with the ingenuity and hopeful attitude of Americans.”

Fellow Honeybee engineer Tom Myrick hand delivered the scrap pieces to a shop in Texas that had already been working on other RAT components. There, the scraps were turned into the shields that are no larger than a credit card.

The Honeybee team never intended to publicly announce the memorial when it was launched back in 2004. Gorevan stated, “It was intended to be a quiet tribute. Enough time has passed. We want the families to know”

NASA believes that even after the Rover’s stop functioning, the memorial pieces could remain in good condition for millions of years!

02 August 2011
Posted in Our Planet, Our Universe

A giant meteorite has been found in the mountains of China. Embedded into the Altai Mountains in China’s Xinjiang Uygur province, the large rock is estimated to have a mass between 25-30 tons, says Sky and Telescope magazine. This discovery could be the country’s largest known grounded meteorite, as well as one of the largest meteorites found on Earth.

The site was investigated by a small group, led by Baolin Zhang, a meteorite specialist at the Beijing Planetarium. What they found was an oddly shaped iron meteorite sticking out of the ground, measuring about 7.5 feet long and half as wide. This is a very exciting discovery for the scientific world. The article on explains that “most meteorites were formed close to [about] 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system was formed, any newly discovered meteorites (regardless of their size) have the potential to provide scientists with some unique insights into the formation and earliest history of our solar system."

Another iron meteorite was found in 1898 in the same region. Research is still being conducted to see if the two meteorites are related. It is still undecided on how the meteorite will be removed from its current location to be further analyzed. The largest known meteorite can be seen below. It was found in Namibia and has a mass of about 60 tons.

22 July 2011
Posted in Our Planet, Our Universe

NASA's last space shuttle, Atlantis, has left International Space Station and is back home. Their mission was the 135th and last flight for the program, which began in 1981. Over the past 30 years, the space shuttles held more than just humans and the occasional animals. A Star Wars lightsaber, Buzz Lightyear figurine, and even the Mets’ home plate have all been space travelers. See a list of the top 9 weirdest things that flew into space.

15 July 2011
Posted in Our Planet, Our Universe

Wine may not just be for unwinding after a hard day of work on Earth. French researchers suggest red wine may reduce the effects of microgravity on astronauts in space. Microgravity is also known as weightlessness or zero gravity. It is a state of free fall, just like the feeling you get as you drop on a roller coaster.

When experienced over an extended period of time, microgravity can have some scary consequences. Bone deterioration, muscle loss, weakened immune system, dehydration, and shortness of breath are all common side effects of weightlessness on astronauts. Human bones grow in a state of gravity and our immune system builds up to ward off infections we are exposed to on Earth. Once humans are taken out of that state of gravity and familiar environment for an extended period of time, our bodies can react negatively to the change. In space, many astronauts experience nausea, headaches, sweating, and of energy from Space Adaption Syndrome. It usually lasts a few days, but their immune system is weakened.

Astronauts go through extensive training to prepare for these effects. But according to recent research, drinking red wine could reduce the risks associated with zero gravity. As stated in an article from DiscoveryNews.com, “Red wine contains resveratrol, an antioxidant that prevents blood clots, lowers "bad" cholesterol levels, and just helps protect your blood vessels in general. And now it seems as if resveratrol can also prevent bone density loss and muscle atrophy.” By studying rats in a simulated microgravity environment, the French researchers were able to see that those rats that didn’t receive resveratrol showed a loss of bone and muscle density, as well as signs of pre-diabetes from insulin resistance.

So what’s the catch? Why aren’t astronauts popping bottles of vintage in space? It turns out the rats had to consume quite a bit of resveratrol to show resistance to microgravity. It would take more than one or two glasses of wine for humans to do so. NASA certainly doesn’t want our astronauts intoxicated in space, so more research will need to be done. For now, the astronauts aboard Atlantis can look forward to a nice glass of wine when they come back to earth.