Carnival of Space #383
Another week, another Carnival of Space. We’ve been quiet here at Urban Astronomer while I work on a new project and (on a personal note) prepare for the birth of another child. But there’s always time to curate a Carnival of Space so let’s get started.
First up is the ever-reliable Universe Today, with an article on material salvaged from a meteorite that originated on the planet Mars, which may have had a biological origin and could be proof of life.
Still with Universe Today, we look at the Philae lander, to get a better understanding of just what happened on its slow, chaotic landing.
Then comes the official blog of the Chandra X-ray Telescope. The Chandra project recently held a symposium, and one highlight for scientists who’ve worked with Chandra was a chance to meet the crew of STS-93 – the space shuttle mission which delivered the telescope into its orbit.
Another regular contributor is Cosmoquest, who this week provide two articles. First is a brief introduction to the popular “Wanderers” short film, which looks towards humanity’s future in the Solar System. Second comes an introduction to a TV documentary celebrating the life of Neil Armstrong.
The Meridiani Journal offers the next attraction with a second opinion on an earlier topic: A new study showing that carbon in a Martian meteorite is ‘likely of biological origin’. Assuming nobody proves the study wrong, this is pretty earth-shattering news!
Then we return inevitably to Next Big Future. Their contribution opens with a short piece on ground based telescope detection of exoplanet superearths, and ends with a look at a new rocket engine being designed by private space company Blue Origin. Jeff Bezos says his vision is he wants to see millions of people living and working in space. Bezos’ private spaceflight company Blue Origin is currently working with the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to build a new liquid rocket engine called the BE-4. They plan to have rockets flying payloads with the new engine in 2019.
Finally, two items from the Space blog at io9. First, a detailed and thorough look at every stage of the long awaited launch of the Orion spacecraft on its first test flight. Sitting on top of a Delta IV heavy lift rocket, it’s an epic sight! But although Orion took the limelight, there was another test worthy of a write-up: the new Morpheus lander was tethered to a crane and allowed to show what it could do.