Lightning in Venus?

NASA Scientist Confirms Light Show on Venus..


Venus is a place of high crushing air pressure and temperature. It is not possible to have lightning at space because of the temperature and the air pressure.Scientist only know three other planetary bodies in the entire universe that generate lightning -- Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.

Is an important discovery because the electrical discharges drive the chemistry of an atmosphere by breaking molecules into fragments that can then join with other fragments in unexpected ways. The lightning on Venus is unique from that found on Earth, Jupiter and Saturn in that it is the only lightning known that is not associated with water clouds. Instead, on Venus, the lightning is associated with clouds of sulfuric acid.

Any future missions to the second rock from the sun may have to take into account the electrical activity in the Venusian atmosphere.

The confirming measurements of the electrical discharges were made with data obtained by the Venus Express magnetometer instrument provided by the Space Research Institute in Graz, Austria. The measurements were taken once a day for two minutes, during a period when the spacecraft was closest to Venus. A Venusian day is about 117 days long.

With its primary mission completed, Venus Express will now embark upon its extended mission to watch Earth's nearest planetary neighbor for two more Venusian days. Among other things, it will look for the telltale infrared radiation from lava flows. In 2010, when a Japanese mission, Venus Climate Orbiter, also called Planet-C, arrives at Venus, scientists will be able to compare results from the two spacecraft.

More than 250 scientists and engineers across Europe are involved in the Venus Express mission, supported by their institutes and national space agencies. The mission also sees the contribution of scientists from Russia and Japan, as well as from NASA, which sponsors 15 American Venus Express scientists and provides support to the radio science investigation via its Deep Space Network antennas.

Source : http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/venus-20071128.html

STS-122 ready to launch

Space shuttle Atlantis is set to begin its launch countdown for the STS-122 mission with a flurry of activities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis is scheduled to launch at 4:31 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 6.

STS-122 TIMELINE
Flight Day 1

• Atlantis launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida
• Open payloads bay doors
  
• Power up shuttle's robot arm
  

Flight Day 2

• Inspect orbiter's heat shield using robot arm with boom
• Configure shuttle for docking to International Space Station
• Check spacesuit

Flight Day 3

• Atlantis perform backflip, or rendezvous pitch maneuver
• Station crew autographs Atlantis
• Atlantis docks at Space Station
  

Flight Day 4

• Astronaut Walheim and Schlegel make first spacewalk
  
• Columbus module attached to Harmony node of International Space Station

Flight Day 5

• Focused inspection of Atlantis's heat shield (if necessary)
• Astronaut enter Columbus module

Flight Day 6

• Walheim and Schlegel make second spacewalk
• Columbus module outfitting
  

Flight Day 7

• Columbus module outfitting
  
• Crew off-duty time

Flight Day 8

• Walheim and Love make third spacewalk, install station components, remove faulty gyro

Flight Day 9

• Cargo tranfers
• Join news conference
  
• Columbus module outfitting

Flight Day 10

• Atlantis undocks and flies around International Space Station
• Late inspection of Atlantis's heat shield

Flight Day 11

• Crew prepares for landing

Flight Day 12

• Deorbit burn
• Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Trip to the MARS!!

Can you believe? One day, human can go to Mars? The distance from Earth to the Mars is 490 million km. Its a long way from home. Thats why we should consider about the transport fuel, foods and drinks for the astronaut to live.However, for a trip which would take a minimum of 12 month travelling time plus perhaps a 1 1/2-year stay to wait for the next Earth-Mars alignment which would allow the crew to return home, this is not possible.

Resupply trips by unmanned vehicles, like those made for the ISS, are also not possible, because the necessary Earth-Mars alignment only happens every two years. The journey actually give big danger to the spacecraft crew because the radiation exposure become greater as we go far from our planet because of the total absence of Earth's magnetic field. On Mars itself, the effect of the radiation may be tempered by building habitation modules underground, but during the trip there and back, the spacecraft itself must be able to prevent dangerous radiation levels.

If ice exists, Martian water could be used for consumption, once purified. Also since water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, it could be possible that decomposed water be used to fill up the tanks of the spacecraft once it arrive on the Red Planet.

Another suggestion given by John Hoffman, a physicist at the University of Texas at Dallas who is working on a 2007 Mars probe “is to send rockets up two years before people go, then robotically make water for an 18-month stay and fuel for the return journey.”

If it is possible to make water, fuel and air on-site, then it would be possible to grow food. If the chemical samples like those onboard the Spirit prove that Mars soil is not poisonous, it would be a relatively straightforward job to assemble a greenhouse on Mars and grow crops there. 13 crops have been identified to be able to thrive in a space habitat including wheat, potatoes, Soya beans and salad green by Donald Henninger, a NASA chief scientist.

sources : http://www.angksawan.com.my
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html