This report - Once
in a lifetime experience for theSkyNet citizen
scientist - from ICRAR tells about a
participant in theSkyNet
who was rewarded for his top contribution
of computer time with a trip to the West
Australian outback to visit the future site
of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio
telescope.
Are all stars like the Sun? The
answer to this basic question has driven
the field of astronomy and astrophysics
for nearly 100 years. Explore the answer
here by observing stars and comparing their
features to those of the Sun - by classifying
stars. Your participation will be a major
contribution, observing stars never before
classified. You can be the very first person
to measure the temperature of a star never
before measured! This is discovery in the
purest sense of the word.
Virtual presenter Amanda Bush returns to report on
the recent SpaceX Dragon cargo delivery mission to the
ISS and on the short hover flight of the SpaceX Grasshopper
reusable first stage prototype. She concludes with a
brief update on the Curiosity rover's latest activities:
These videos are intended as demonstrations of an experimental
technique for generating animated presentations. The
show was generated autonomously by software according
to a text script. The project is described in the Virtual
Producer whitepaper (pdf). For further information
contact info@binary-space.com.
Here are the preceding two shows in the Virtual SpaceTV
3D series:
SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches
Dragon for Cargo Delivery to the ISS
Last May SpaceX
launched its Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon
capsule on top. The Dragon went on to a
sucessful docking with the ISS, followed
a few days later by a return to earth with
a sea landing off the coast of California.
That flight was a test of the Falcon 9/Dragon
cargo delivery service for NASA. SpaceX
has a contract with NASA to provide 12 cargo
delivery flights over the next few years.
The first such regular cargo deliver mission
began on October 7th when a Falcon 9 lifted
off from Cape Canaveral.
..
The launch of the Falcon 9/Dragon on Oct.7,
2012 from Cape Canaveral
Credits SpaceX.
One of the nine engines on the first stage
failed early in the flight but the redundancy
of the system allowed for the Dragon to
reach its proper orbit nevertheless. (A
secondary prototype satellite from Orbcomm,
however, could not be put into its target
orbit.)
A couple of days later Dragon made a successful
rendezvous and approach to the ISS. Japanese
astronaut Akihiko Hoshide then used the
station's Canadian-built robotic arm to
grab the Dragon. Expedition 33 Commander
Sunita Williams later carried out the berthing,
i.e. attaching, of the Dragon to the station.
..
Here is an update (Oct. 22, 2012) from
SpaceX on the Dragon's stay at the ISS.
Run the Satellite
Tracking Tool from BINARY
SPACE right here at HobbySpace
in your browser. The program allows you to track a large
set of satellites in both low earth and geostationary
orbits. (Note: the program requires Microsoft
Silverlight, Version 5 or higher, as well as the latest
version of your browser. Currently the program works on
the Microsoft® Windows® platform only.) The Satellite
Observing section provides additional information
and web resources about the hobby of satellite tracking
and watching.
Real-Time
Space Viewers
Earth
Weather maps, remote sensing
and spysat images.
Space
Weather
Sun, solar wind, aurora images
and the latest data