Asteroids Calling you for Action - Explosion in Indonesia a Reminder - Number of Space Rocks this year

After long time for now its a wake up call from Space.As you are aware compared to last year there have been great number of asteroids i.e. space rocks entering atmosphere. This time however the scenario is different as it happened in india asking us to think and be prepared for the future.

From Indonesia Asteroid

What happened ?
On October 8, 2009 about 03:00 Greenwich time, an atmospheric fireball blast was observed and recorded over an island region of Indonesia. The blast is thought to be due to the atmospheric entry of a small asteroid about 10 meters in diameter that, due to atmospheric pressure, detonated in the atmosphere with an energy of about 50 kilotons (the equivalent of 110 million pounds of TNT explosives).
The blast was recorded visually and reported upon by local media representatives

Is it media hype story or happened in reality ?
A report from Elizabeth Silber and Peter Brown at the University of Western Ontario indicates that several international very-long wavelength infrasound detectors recorded the blast and fixed the position near the coastal city of Bone in South Sulawesi, island of Sulewesi. They note that the blast was in the 10 to 50 kT range with the higher end of this range being more likely.

Explosion detected by Many stations across the world :

In other words, the explosion was detected by many International Monitoring System (IMS) infrasound stations, five of them 10,000 km (6200 miles) away, and one 18,000 km (11,100 miles) from the blast. These stations monitor seismic waves, infrasound (low frequency soundwaves), hydroacoustic, and radionuclide emissions as part of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). They are well equipped to monitor explosions of nuclear weapons, but also detect other events such as meteorite impacts and asteroid explosions, tsunamis and earthquakes



What is the Size of the Asteroid ? What was it nature ? What is the danger level such kind of asteroids?
The size of asteroid is estimeated to be 5-10 meters in diameter. It is beleived to be stony type of asteroid. As a rule, such asteroids are not expected to cause ground damage unless their diameters were about 25 meters in diameter or larger.

Where are these asteroids located or from where they come ?
Here is the slide show which show location of asteroids,their number orbits etc..




How frequent such asteroids come to us ?
we would expect a fireball event of this magnitude about once every 2 to 12 years on average.

A more extensive report by Elizabeth Silber and Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario is here.

Here is the list of earlier such blast - as we recorded in our blog :

Pieces of Space rock (Meteorites) Recovered - Asteroid TC3 2008

Another New Asteroid 2009 FH Discovered on 17th Mar,09 - Buzz Past Earth

2009 DD45 - New Asteroid Discovered on 27th Feb - Flyby 63,500 km 2nd March, 09

Fireball in the Skies of Canada

Small Asteroid To Enter Earths Atmosphere - Sudan - No harm

100 Years of Space Rock: The Tunguska Impact

Homi J.Bhabha Birth Centenary Celebrations and Our 100th Post

Homi Jehangir Bhabha, FRS (October 30, 1909 – January 24, 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist who played a major role in the development of the Indian atomic energy program and is considered to be the father of India's nuclear program. Last year hon’ble Prime Minister of India launched Birth Centenary celebrations of this great legendry scientist.

Indian Nuclear Programme : Homi Jehangir Bhabha was the visionary who conceptualized the Indian Nuclear Programme and along with a handful of Scientists initiated the nuclear science research in India in March, 1944. He envisaged the vast potential of nuclear energy and its possible successful utilization in the field of power generation and allied areas. Dr. Bhabha started working with the goal of achieving self reliance in the fields of nuclear science and engineering and todays Department of Atomic Energy which is a consortium of different and diversified fields of science and engineering is the final outcome of the farsighted planning of Dr. Bhabha.

Farsightedness – Nuclear Energy for Power generation : Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, realizing the immense potential of nuclear energy as a viable alternative source for electric power generation, launched the Indian Nuclear Programme in March 1944. It was the farsightedness of Dr. Bhabha to start nuclear research in India at a time following the discovery of nuclear fission phenomena by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman and soon after Enrico Fermi etal from Chicago reporting the feasibility of sustained nuclear chain reactions. At that time very little information was available to the outside world about nuclear fission and sustained chain reactions and nobody was willing to subscribe to the concept of power generation based on nuclear energy.



His Career – Interests : Dr. Bhabha was an astute scientist and committed engineer, a dedicated architect, a meticulous planner and a perfect executive. An ardent follower of fine arts and music, he was a philanthropist too. The path to perfection paved by Dr. Bhabha has taken the Indian Atomic Energy Programme to one amongst the best in the world. Whole country salutes the great scientist of our country- Dr. Homi Bhabha and rededicate ourselves in the pursuit of perfection set forth by him through the coming years.

40 Years of Internet- ARPANET - Months Of Celebrations

It may sound surprising, but the Internet is actually 40 years old today. Len Kleinrock, a computer scientist and his team at UCLA began experiments, laying the foundation of what later became the Internet. On September 2, 1969, two computers send out meaningless test data at Kleinrock's lab at the University of California, Los Angeles. In the present day, it is well nigh impossible to imagine a world without the world wide web. And which are the countries with the best Internet connection speed? No, it's not the United States. South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Denmark and Taiwan are the top five countries listed in terms of access to high-speed Internet.

The United States ranks 28th in the world in average Internet connection speed according to a report by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The average download speed in South Korea is 20.4 megabits per second (mbps), four times faster than the US average of 5.1 mbps.

How it began

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) created by the United States Department of Defense during the Cold War, was the world's first operational packet switching network, and the predecessor of the global Internet. ARPANET became the technical core of what later turned to be the world's favourite 'Internet'. The Internet and Transmission Control Protocols were initially developed in 1973 by American computer scientist Vinton Cerf as part of a project work of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and directed by American engineer Robert Kahn.

Vinton G. Cerf, known as the 'father of Internet', is now the vice president and chief internet evangelist for Google. He is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies and applications on the Internet and other platforms for the company.

The birth of www

The Internet began as a computer network of ARPA (ARPAnet) that linked computer networks at several universities and research laboratories in the United States. The design of the Internet was done in 1973 and published in 1974. The roll out of Internet took place in 1983, after ten years of research and hard work. Later, the domain names system was proposed. This was followed by introduction of suffixes .com, .gov and .edu in 1984. The world wide web (www) was developed in 1989 by English computer scientist Timothy Berners-Lee. He came up with the idea of a project based on 'hypertext' while working at CERN, the European Organization for Particle Physics Research.

Berners-Lee's aim was to enable sharing and updating of information among researchers. He joined hands with Robert Cailliau to build a prototype system named Enquire. This programme formed the basis for the World Wide Web. The first browser, WorldWideWeb was developed on NeXTSTEP, and the first Web server was called httpd. By December 1990, WorldWideWeb became the first successful demonstration of Web clients and servers working on the Internet.

The first Web site built by Berners-Lee at info.cern.ch went live on August 6, 1991. Berners-Lee also made his site the world's first Web directory, adding a list of other sites. The most remarkable fact about Berners is that he gave it away, without any patent and royalties. He wrote the first server client programme, the first version of the document formatting language HTML (hyper text mark-up language), and initiated the specifications for URLs (universal resource locators, HTTP (hyper text transfer protocol), and HTML. With the introduction of the World Wide Web, the Internet gained popularity. It enabled the internet to store text, images, sound and video. It used a system of hyperlinks (links) using a web browser. The earliest web browsers were Mosaic, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

In 1993, Marc Andreessen and his colleagues at the University of Illinois created Mosaic, the first web browser that combined graphics and text on a single page.


E-mail, a killer app!

The killer application of the Internet was is the e-mail. However, work on creating e-mail started much before the Internet. The Internet was a crucial tool in making the process faster. E-mail started in 1965 for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate. MIT first demonstrated the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in 1961. It allowed multiple users to log into the IBM 7094 from remote dial-up terminals, and to store files online on disk. This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. E-mail started in 1965 for users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate. The ARPANET computer network helped in the evolution of e-mail.In 1971, Ray Tomlinson created what later became the standard Internet e-mail address format, using the @ sign to separate user names from host names.


http://www.airtickets-india.com/online-flight-reservation/


Addicted to the Net

The Internet has hooked billions of people in its web. According to the latest figures, the number of internet users in the world is whopping -- 1,596,270,108. The number of internet users is expected to double over the next few years. According to InternetWorldStats (IWS), China tops in the number of Internet users. China has 298,000,000 users, followed by US with 227,190,9893 users. Japan comes next at the third place with 94,000,000 users. India comes next with 81,000,000 users. Brazil takes the fifth place with 67,510,400 users.


Internet faces space shortage!

After forty years of existence, the Internet is running short of space. The internet is facing an IP address exhaustion, a fall in the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses due to the dizzying pace of the Internet's growth. Internet Protocol version 4 provides about 4.29 billion addresses. IPv4 addresses are likely to run out by 2011. This will affect the connectivity of the internet and curb its further growth. The answer to this crisis is Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) which will provide an unlimited number of addresses. It will also enable efficient roll out of broadband, Internet-connected mobile phones and sensor networks. Many existing networks would need to be upgraded to accommodate the new protocol to growth further and make better and faster technological advances in a medium that unites the world.

Galilean Nights - Spot Jupiter with Naked Eye

Planetary Society, India with a view to encourage general public participation in world wide observation activity of “Galilean Nights” Project proposed by International Astronomical Union as part of UN proclaimed International Year of Astronomy requests and presents Naked eye observation of Planet Jupiter.

Planet Jupiter: rising 4 minutes early than the previous day Jupiter can be spotted up till First Week of February 2010 after sunset. Presently it is the brightest object in the sky after moon. In Oct-Nov 09 Jupiter can be located high above in southern sky and setting in western sky by midnight. Dec 09 -Feb 2010 it can be found towards area of south west and West direction.

Direction – Time : after sunset at around 7 p.m if one can look towards the sky above in south direction. One would find a bright star like object which is Jupiter.

Using Moon from 24th – 30th October: often its difficult to spot a planet among number of stars around. However using Moon as guiding instrument from 24th-30th anyone can easily locate Jupiter.
i. 24-26 towards left of moon : from 24th -26th if one can locate the moon and look left side near the moon one can find Jupiter which very bright. Importantly people can notice the decrease in distance between Jupiter and Moon as it appears from earth every following night.

Here is the Sky Map for your assistance : Click on the image to see large size of Map



ii. 27-30 Towards Right of Moon : whereas one would see Jupiter would appear towards right side of the moon from 27-30th Oct. Further General Public can use simulated images at www.ournewplanets.com for assistance.

Note: Dear visitor if you have come here to know information about Observing Jupiter with Naked Eye September 2010. Kindly go to main page to read latest information and support. 

Chandryaan I Lanuch First Anniversary - We Slaute

Today is the day a year ago when Chandrayaan I India's First Mission to Moon was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR),Sriharikota, Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh.Today Planetary Society, India celebrates the first anniversary of this historic launch.

Commemorating this great occasion society reaffirms it dedication for promotion of space sciences. As part of the celebrations society organized "Journey to Moon and Beyond" a special awareness session involving school teachers.

Grand Salute offered :Marking the success of Chandrayaan I historic revealings of Water on Moon and many new truths to be unraveled from its data.Later in the evening Members of the society looking at Moon offered Grand Salute in honor of the spacecraft which is still in orbit though not in contact with earthlings.

We here present brief overview of India's Journey to Moon as Pradeep Mohandas uncovers :

The Beginning

1. Chandrayaan-I came out of a proposal provided by K Kasturirangan, former ISRO Chairman, who said that the Indian PSLV is capable of placing a small satellite in lunar orbit by 2008 in 1999. The plan was approved seperately by Indian scientists under the Indian Academy of Sciences and Astronautical Society of India.

2. Chandrayaan-I initially planned to carry 4 Indian instruments only. President A P J Abdul Kalam suggested the idea of an impactor to ensure that India registered its presence on the Moon and should offer 1 place for a foreign payload. India's fifth contribution, Moon Impact Probe (MIP) was born out of this suggestion. Announcement of
Opportunity for foreign payloads was solicited and returned 26 proposals from various countries. 6 were selected by ISRO.

3. The team developing Chandrayaan-I faced several problems: geographically seperated work centres, different work cultures and methodology, different levels of development, international laws, bureaucratic red tape, technical challenges, balancing budget
constraints etc.

4. The team offered a free ride for the 6 foreign payloads. The only requirement was that the data collected be shared. This data is valuable and could not have been easily accessed from a mission like LRO which is completely US run.

5. ISRO completed the development of additional requirements – Indian Space Science Data Center, Indian Deep Space Network and the improvised version of PSLV - PSLV-XL on time and within budget.

6. It also kept the promise given in 1999 for a launch of a small satellite carrying atleast 4 instruments orbited by PSLV by the year 2008.


The Journey to the Moon

1. Five Earth burns and three lunar burns took Chandrayaan-I to lunar orbit on November 8, 2009. It became the first Indian object to go into deep space.

2. PSLV-XL and the improved Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) performed well to take Chandrayaan-I to desired orbit.

3. On its way to the Moon, after the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) was switched on, it took India's first Earth from Deep Space images of the Eastern Hemisphere.

4. All instruments on-board were switched on during the commissioning phase of the spacecraft and tested. SARA was the last instrument to be turned on in December.

Heating up

1. Chandrayaan-I faced thermal problems starting in November because of the extreme heat it faced in lunar orbit.

2. Scientists say it could be because the value of temperature taken during the design phase may have been lower than expected. This was taken as 75 degrees C. This, it is believed was not sufficient.

3. Scientists controlled the temperature by turning off various instruments and turning them on only when needed. Instruments give off heat much like a desktop computer does. It was believed that controlling the internal temperature could provide some sense of
thermal stability for the spacecraft and it worked.

Impact!

1. The MIP seperated from Chandrayaan-I for impact at 8:01 pm IST on November 14, 2008.

2. 20 minutes later, it impacted on the surface of the Moon and India became the fourth country to wilfully impact the Moon.

3. The impact was dedicated to India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru who supported the Indian Space Programme and to the children of the country as the country celebrates Children's Day on this day.

4. ISRO later said that its on board spectrometer had also detected signs of water on the Moon.

5. MIP impacted close to the Shackleton crater close to the South Pole of the Moon.

Pointing Problems

1. In April 2009, it is believed that some of the thermal problems faced by Chandrayaan-I led to the failure of the star sensor and the power bus.

2. The problem in the star sensor meant the spacecraft could not be properly pointed to the lunar surface. This led to using the back up system.

3. The back up system involved using gyroscopes, tracking certain features on the lunar surface and using Sun and Earth sensors to work out where the spacecraft was pointing at. The spacecraft was thus fixed.

4. The power bus problem affected the internal power supply system had problems. This is believed to have led to Chandrayaan-I's end as a result of loss of power to the antenna which was used to keep in touch with Chandrayaan-I.


Going Up!

1. On May 20, 2009 ISRO raised the orbit of Chandrayaan-I to 200 km circular polar orbit.

2. ISRO stated that all mission objectives at 100 kms were achieved. It said later that problems with the star sensor contributed to the decision.

3. Being at a higer orbit meant that the spacecraft could be better controlled from Earth. It meant some loss in the resolution (clarity) of data but enabled wider swath coverage.

Contact Lost

1. On August 29, 2009 ISRO called off the Chandrayaan-I mission after radio contact with the spacecraft was lost.

2. It is believed that the antenna could not be supplied with sufficient power to relay messages to Earth and led to the loss of the antenna.

3. This led to the failure of being able to track and send commands to the spacecraft. Hence, the spacecraft was lost.

Munching the Data

1. The technical mission ended on August 29, 2009 and provided lots of data for scientists to work on. This would be useful for future missions to the Moon.

2. The scientific mission began as soon as the spacecraft started sending back data and is now continuing.

3. Munching the Data to convert it into a form in which humans can understand and then interpret what the data is saying will provide insights into the mysteries of the Moon.

4. Data from various instruments is now being continued and ISRO expects data to get results over the next 3 years.

11th Anniversary of Planetary Society, India - Festival of Lights Reminding Loss of Ancient Heritage

Today Planetary Society, India completes 11th Year of its Establishment. Importantly society completes six years after its birth (registered) on 17th October,2003 under A.P.Societies Registration Act, 2001.

There is lot to talk on birth/origin and Evolution of the society. The role it has played over decade for now and its impact.It is a fact that our society is one among the few organisations in the country working consistently for promotion of space sciences. Being busy with work for recent floods in state of Andhra Pradesh this post with details about us would be short. Anyway here is the article previously written click here. Further you may kindly find time to browse through article under following headings towards right of this post named : On Television channels and Animations, OUR ACHIEVMENTS, OUR PROJECTS.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS:
Today Entire India celebrates the Festival of Lights (Diwali). This festival is known to commemorate the victory of good over bad. Our society wishes the people of country on this great occasion.

Enivronmentalists:We know environmentalists are not the happiest lot for this part of year in India for range of reasons like sound pollution,air pollution etc..there impact on humans, animals.

Poor becoming Poor : Further it is matter of great concern that there hasnt been much of change in lifes of poor. As it may be seen poor are becoming more poor and rich becoming more rich. This has been a issue for developing countries for long time. Respecting beleifs of people we hope the Goddess of Wealth (LAKSHMI) who is worshiped today does the needful to the poor.

However we are greatly concerned by the report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which indicates it is the poor who would suffer a lot due to global warming.

Thanks to framers of Indian Space Programe there has been some change though not fully (due to various reasons) where space sciences have been reaching to everyone making significant contribution to life's of people.

After 6 years : After six year of successful run we believe our responsibilities have increased more than before. It is a fact that the mandate of society's aim and objectives are not just for astronomy or space sciences. They are very broad covering issues like Environment,Health, Socio-Economic progress, Culture, Heritage, UN's Initiatives etc.. where it is intended that space sciences to act/propel as a vehicle. This combined with our own understanding that space sciences can make a difference.

So we feel that we should focus and concentrate more on other responsibilities entrusted in the mandate of the society. As this is the need of the hour. So here is one such which we like to bring to your notice.

As a child we all grew with idea that dark is bad. So we see light every where.Our fellow countrymen particularly today (on occasion of Diwali - a Festival of Lights) unlike any other day, are also doing there bit with variety of artificial fireworks, crackers ensuring to establish this great truth written all over. But in the recent past science has proved how this over victorious light has been playing havoc with our life importantly animals, birds and plants.

Dark Skies - Ancient Heritage : Since time immemorial humans have always been looking up to the skies. UNISPACE III Declaration of United Nations says "Having in mind that humans have always gazed at the sky with wonder and .... from such was born the curiosity that drove early astronomers to study the movements of celestial bodies, from which the foundations of modern space science and technology were laid"

Every day when our ancestors used to look up to the skies they would notice the sky filled with stars. There minds had regular journey into skies trying to understand the mysteries of cosmos. However today's generation doesn't have the opportunity to understand this ancient heritage i.e. dark skies thanks to light pollution and various other factors.

We would like to write a detailed article with link here in few days from now. As to why Dark Skies are important.

Dark Skies Awareness Campaign: However beginning today society would every year celebrate this festival of lights with Dark Sky Awareness Campaign India. Under this campaign efforts would be made (through planned sky observations with/without telescope) to make people realize what they are doing, importantly losing the ancient heritage of dark skies.

The idea is very simple. Environmentalists have been making lots of efforts to communicate various issues to people. However very few understand the magnitude of the problem. So under our week long campaign every year we would ask people to look up to skies to find out on their own and spare a thought to know the reasons behind disappearance of thousands of stars from our view.

NOTE : This article and above campaign is in true spirit of society vision "to make people realize earth is a planet unique with life".

NASA's Cassini Scientist For A Day 2009 - India

Brief about Cassini's "Scientist for a Day”: is an opportunity for students in grades 5- 7 and 8-10 to learn about Saturn and the Cassini - Huygens mission while earning a opportunity to be “NASA’S Cassini Scientist For a Day” and interact with Mission scientists of NASA.

It may be known that in the year 2007 society has been appointed as National Point of Contact for organizing NASA’S “Cassini Scientist for A Day” Contest by CASSINI PEOPLE OUTREACH DIVISION, JPL, NASA. Further N. Sri Raghundnan Kumar, was National Coordinator for this activity


Breif About Cassini – Huygens Mission : Cassini–Huygens is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI robotic spacecraft mission currently studying the planet Saturn and its moons. The spacecraft consists of two main elements: the NASA Cassini orbiter, named after the Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, and the ESA Huygens probe, named after the Dutch astronomer, mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens.



It was launched on October 15, 1997 and entered into orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. On December 25, 2004 the Huygens probe separated from the orbiter at approximately 02:00 UTC, as confirmed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It reached Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005, where it made an atmospheric descent to the surface and relayed scientific information. It is the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn and the fourth to visit Saturn.

Is it true i can be a Cassini Scientist for a Day ?
Yes as you read in the introduction. This is lifetime opportunity for you to be Cassini Scientist for a Day.



Do you think i can really do it ?
Students equipped with knowledge on Planet Saturn, Cassini Mission of NASA can very much stand prepared to participate and win.

How do i prepare ?
i. Using books in school library or internet or click here
or
ii. through workshop
or
iii.School in Session (through interactive C.D.)

You can prepare.

Note: Few workshops/School in Session would be conducted by organizing committee at various places in India.

Ok, What exactly i should do ?
After due preparation we expect you to write a 500-word essay explaining which of three possible imaging targets(provided by NASA) you think would yield the best scientific results imagining yourself as a scientist on the mission.

What will i get ?
You can win an opportunity to ask questions and get replies from scientists of NASA.

LCROSS Pre-Impact Briefing Notes

Currently, spacecraft is GO for Impact

Target chosen: Cabeus Crater

(Image: Showng the Cabeus Crater. Credit: APOD)
The Cabeus Crater is a 3.5 to 4 kilometers deep crater in the Southern polar region of the Moon. It is 100 kms wide and about 100 kms from the Lunar South pole. Therefore, there were worries on whether the ejecta could be seen from Earth. However, new topography data obtained by LRO's LOLA instrument and Kaguya's altimeter data showed that there was a gap in the rim which would enable us to see the ejecta.

Earth and Space-based Observatories observations

Earth and Space-based observatories are going to watch the LCROSS impact. On 7th October 2009, a rehersal was done which included the Keck, CFHT, Gemini, IRTF and Haleakale observatories in Hawaii and MMT, Kitt Peak and Palomar facilities in South West United States rehearsed the observation and tested the communication infrastructure successfully. The impact will also be witnessed by space-based observatories like Hubble.

What is happening now?
Image: A picture showing the current location of the LCROSS spacecraft at 19:36 hrs UTC on October 8, 2009. LCROSS has been made bigger than its actual size. Credit: NASA

Ground and lunar orbital based observation of the Cabeus crater is now under way. Recent data from Chandrayaan and LRO have re-confirmed that there is hydrogen in the crater. The LCROSS and Centaur stage are currently in orbit around Earth-Moon system and heading towards the impact target.

Ground based Observations
NASA scientists say that there will be nothing dramatic in the ground based observations. With the black background, the ejecta will be seen as a reduction in the blackness.

Impact!
Centaur Upper Stage Impact: Centaur will be seen drifting away from LCROSS spacecraft. As the Centaur upper stage heads for impact, 5 cameras will watch the spacecraft. At the time of impact, a near-infrared camera will watch the spacecraft. After the impact, as the impact plume from the Centaur upper stage rises normal cameras will be switched on.

LCROSS Spacecraft Impact: Four minutes after the Centaur upper stage impacts the Moon, the LCROSS spacecraft will also impact the Moon 3 to 4 kilometers away in a region known to be rich in water ice. The second impact will add to the vapour cloud rising higher than the dust plume and thus can be seen by ground based observers.

Will the Impact affect our Moon?
We have explained the answer to this question thoroughly in this post. NASA scientists add that impacts of such energy happen atleast four times a month on the Moon. So, there is no danger to our Moon.

NASA MISSION TO IMPACT MOON - WILL NOT BOMB IT

On 9th October, 2009 as part of NASA'S Historic Mission to Moon “Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite ("LCROSS") and its Centaur booster rocket would have double-impact on surface of Moon. This impact on crater's floor is designed to "unearth" signs of lunar water. According to NASA the satellite and upper stage both are scheduled to hit a permanently shadowed crater of the moon called Cabeus, four minutes apart approximate time of impact would be 4:30 a.m PDT i.e. 5 P.M. Indian Standard Time on 9th October,2009.

Significance : This impact event grabs all significance as it comes after Historic announcement of NASA that the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3, an instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon. As you know the announcement was confirmed with support of Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and NASA's Epoxi (originally Deep Impact Mission) spacecraft.



Before we go any further here is a bit of info
United Nations World Space Week 4th -10th Oct : World Space Week is an annual observance held from October 4 to October 10 established by the United Nations General Assembly to be an international celebration of science and technology and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. World Space Week is coordinated by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Society has prepared school kit, media kit regarding this impact as part of World Space Week celebrations in order promote awareness about lunar exploration and in true spirit of International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Here is the Video compiled by society sourced from NASA:


So What is LCROSS OR LRO ? When were they launched ?
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) are the first missions launched as part of the United State’s Vision for Space Exploration program. Launched on 18 June 2009, in conjunction with the LCROSS, as the vanguard of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, this is the first United States mission to the Moon in over ten years.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently (as of October 2009) orbiting the Moon on a low 50 km polar mapping orbit. The LRO mission is a precursor to future manned missions to the moon by NASA. To this end a detailed mapping program will identify safe landing sites, locate potential resources on the moon, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

So what will exactly happen on 9th October, 2009 ? Is it true that NASA is bombing Moon ? Will this impact put our Moon into danger ? Will moon be broken into two halves ?
According to NASA the LCROSS satellite and upper stage both are scheduled to hit a permanently shadowed crater of the moon called Cabeus, four minutes apart.

No, nothing will happen to moon. Moon is not put to any sort of danger.

What is the sequence of events ?
First of all the Centaur rocket will strike first, transforming 2200 kg of mass and 10 billion joules of kinetic energy into a blinding flash of heat and light.

Researchers expect the impact to throw up a plume of debris as high as 10 km.
Close behind, the LCROSS mothership will photograph the collision and
then fly right through the debris plume. On board spectrometers will analyze the sunlit plume for signs of water (H2O), water fragments (OH), salts, clays, hydrated minerals and assorted organic molecules.

Next comes the mothership's own plunge. Four minutes after the Centaur "lands," the
700 kg LCROSS satellite will strike nearby, sending another, smaller debris plume over the rim of Cabeus.

The Hubble Space Telescope, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and hundreds of
telescopes great and small on Earth will scrutinize the two plumes, looking for signs of water and the unexpected.


Which is the place on Moon where this impact would take place ? Cabeus is crater on moon where the impact would take place.

Click on the image for larger image:


Why was this Crater Chosen ? Crater Cabeus was chosen for impact because it has greatest level of certainty, it is known to have highest hydrogen concentrations at the south pole.

At What time this impact would take place ?
approximate time of impact would be 4:30 a.m PDT i.e. 5 P.M. Indian Standard Time on 9th October,2009.

Can this impact be seen from India ? From where exactly this is visible? No the material thrown out from moon after the impact cannot be seen from India. Because at 5pm is no where in the sky. It is slated to rise some time late in night.

The Pacific Ocean and western parts of North America are favored with darkness and a
good view of the Moon at the time of impact. Hawaii is the best place to be, with Pacific coast states of the USA a close second. Any place west of the Mississippi River, however, is a potential observing site.

What will people see from earth ?
After impact of the LCROSS plumes would emerge from Cabeus, they will be illuminated by sunshine streaming over the polar terrain. The crater itself will be in the dark, however, permanently shadowed by its own walls. "That's good.Crater's shadows will provide a dark backdrop for viewing the sunlit plumes." says a NASA Scientist.

When was in recent past such kind of Impact taken place on Moon ?
India’s Moon Impact Probe On 14th Nov,2008 : Earlier as part of India’s First Mission to Moon “Chandrayaan I”. Indian flag embedded on “Moon Impact Probe” successfully impacted the surface of moon on 14th November,2008.

According to ISRO Chairman even before M3 instrument of NASA. India’s MIP Impact gave one of the first signatures for presence of water on moon.

Further not to forget Kaguya the Japanese Mission to Moon also crash landed this year. Click here our article in june, 2009 for details of this.

Im a Student how can i know more about this mission ? What can i do ? Kids if you are studying in school we have lot more to give this time. You may ask any incharge to write us at planetarysocietyindia@yahoo.com with request along with proper identification, full details of school,name of the principal,phone etc.. Importantly
1. one scanned letter from Principal that the kit would be used for a session in the school
2. After the programme Report containing images of the session conducted can be sent to us.

if you can do this next time there will not be any hassles. Things will directly be delivered to your school freely/nominal cost.


OK IF YOUR NOT SATISFIED WITH THAT THERE IS NO HARM TO MOON JUST SEE THE NEXT ARTICLE.

Moon will not be bombed by NASA - No harm to Chandamama (Moon)

You may have woken up this morning reading ! NASA is going to "bomb" the Moon on Friday morning, or "hurt the Moon," or "split the Moon in half," or change its orbit.

So dont worry our CHANDAMAMA (in india moon is refered with this name) or CHANDRA is safe.

Strong assurance before you go further ?
This is all just nonsense and scare-mongering, and those worried about our Moon can rest assured our lunar companion will remain in the sky relatively unchanged after this experiment to search for water ice on the Moon's south pole. Let's take a look at the physics involved and what might happen to the Moon.

Are there any Explosives involved in the impact ?
First of all, there are no explosives involved. The LCROSS mission is going sending a upper stage of a Centaur rocket and a smaller spacecraft to impact the Moon. The two objects will create a crater — The 5,000-pound (2,270-kilogram) Centaur is expected to slam into Cabeus Crater on the Moon's south pole at a sharp angle at a speed of 5,600 mph (9,000 kilometers per hour). The Centaur's collision is expected to create a crater roughly 60 or 70 feet wide (20 meters wide) and perhaps as much as 16 feet (5 meters) deep, ejecting approximately 385 tons of lunar dust and soil — and hopefully some ice.

The LCROSS spacecraft itself, weighing in at 1,500-pounds (700-kilograms), will follow the Centaur by about four minutes and fly through the regolith plume thrown up by the collision, just before it too slams into the lunar surface, kicking up its own smaller plume of debris, all the while using its sensors to look for telltale signs of water, beaming the information back to Earth.

What will happen ?
yes, it will make a rather big crater on the Moon. But one close-up look at the lunar surface will reveal that the Moon is full of craters, and still regularly receives hits by meteorites and larger space rocks – not as much as in the past, as most of the craters on the Moon are from an earlier period in our history when there was more debris left over from the formation of the solar system. The Moon was not "hurt" in the past, and it will not get hurt by this impact. Additionally, other spacecraft have hit the lunar surface with no adverse effects on the Moon or its orbit.

But will this impact change the Moon's orbit? Dr. Jeff Goldstein from the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education writes about this on his blog, Blog on the Universe:

The Atlas V Centaur upper stage has a mass of 2,000 kg (the more massive of the two vehicles impacting the Moon). It will be moving at 5,600 mph (2.5 km/sec.) BAM! By comparison, the Moon is orbiting the Earth at the measely speed of 2,300 mph (1.022 km/sec). On the other hand, the Moon is just a tad bit more massive than the specks on a collision course.

So let’s say we wanted to change the Moon’s speed by JUST 1 MPH (0.0004 km/sec)—which is less than 1/2,000th its orbital speed—and we were going to do it by hurling Atlas V Centaur upper stages at the Moon. How many would we have to hurl its way? HEY, let’s give every person on planet Earth an opportunity to hurl one. Would that do it? Uh … nope. Every person on Earth (all nearly 7 billion of us) would each need to hurl 1 MILLION Atlas V Centaur upper stages at the Moon. I’d rather just hurl one and not worry about it. Rest easy, sleep well, and let’s see if we can find water on the Moon at the South Pole.

Another question people have been asking: Will the impact destroy the water we are looking for?

NASA answers this :

The LCROSS impact will have the same effect on the water (if it is indeed there) as any other object that might naturally impact it. Most (>90%) of any water that is excavated by LCROSS will most likely return to nearby “cold traps”. The LCROSS impact is actually a slow impact and, thus, most of the material is not thrown very high upward, rather outward, adjacent to the impact site. Of the water that does get thrown upward, much of it will actually return to the Moon and eventually find its way back to the dark, cold craters. This is actually one possible way that the water was supplied in the first place: it was deposited following the impacts of comets and asteroids.

There is about 12,500 square km of permanently shadowed terrain on the Moon. If the top 1 meter of this area were to hold 1% (by mass) water, that would be equivalent to about 4.1 x 1011 liters of water! This is approximately 2% the volume of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The LCROSS impact will excavate a crater approximately 20 meters in diameter, or about one-trillionth the total permanently shadowed area. It is safe to say the LCROSS impact will not have a lasting effect on lunar water, if it does indeed exist. So we hope this article a compilation form universe today folks solves the sea of misunderstanding.

World Space Week: October 4-10, 2009

October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union started the space age with the launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. The event is commemorated world wide. The week from October 4 to October 10 every year is celebrated as World Space Week, declared by the United Nations.

On October 4, 2004, a private company in the United States, Scaled Composites became the first private company to reach sub-orbital space with two human beings on board. This was as part of a competition called the Ansari X Prize. The competition heralded the NewSpace era with private US companies taking part in space exploration and development.

Planetary Society, India would like to use the World Space Week 2009 theme: "Space in Education" and would like to encourage students and teachers from across India to participate and celebrate in World Space Week.