Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
NASA to launch probe to map solar system's edge
This is hella cool, im curious to see what they find out.
LOS ANGELES – A small NASA spacecraft embarks on a two-year mission this weekend to give scientists their first view of the happenings at the edge of the solar system. The Ibex probe, short for Interstellar Boundary Explorer, will study a chaotic region in space where the solar wind from the sun clashes with cold gases from interstellar space.
The solar wind, a stream of charged particles spewing from the sun at 1 million miles per hour, carves out a protective bubble around the solar system. This bubble known as the heliosphere shields against most dangerous cosmic radiation that would otherwise interfere with human spaceflight.
Scientists recently discovered that the solar wind pressure is at its weakest level in 50 years, although the exact reason remains a mystery. Ibex could help confirm whether the heliosphere is shrinking.
Observations from Ibex should help researchers in "unlocking the secrets of this important interaction between the sun and the galaxy," said David McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. He is chief scientist for the $165 million mission.
Ibex, the size of a bus tire, will be launched aboard a Pegasus rocket that will be dropped from an aircraft over a Pacific atoll on Sunday.
The rocket will lift Ibex 130 miles above Earth and put it into orbit. The spacecraft will then fire its solid rocket motor to loft itself even higher, eventually to 200,000 miles above Earth.
Ibex will build on the discoveries of the long-running twin Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets. The deep-space, manmade probes have since sailed past the outer planets and are headed out of the solar system.
Unlike the Voyager craft, Ibex will not barrel through space, but instead will do its job from high-Earth orbit. The probe carries two sensors that will collect information about the solar wind's mass and energy from all directions.
LOS ANGELES – A small NASA spacecraft embarks on a two-year mission this weekend to give scientists their first view of the happenings at the edge of the solar system. The Ibex probe, short for Interstellar Boundary Explorer, will study a chaotic region in space where the solar wind from the sun clashes with cold gases from interstellar space.
The solar wind, a stream of charged particles spewing from the sun at 1 million miles per hour, carves out a protective bubble around the solar system. This bubble known as the heliosphere shields against most dangerous cosmic radiation that would otherwise interfere with human spaceflight.
Scientists recently discovered that the solar wind pressure is at its weakest level in 50 years, although the exact reason remains a mystery. Ibex could help confirm whether the heliosphere is shrinking.
Observations from Ibex should help researchers in "unlocking the secrets of this important interaction between the sun and the galaxy," said David McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. He is chief scientist for the $165 million mission.
Ibex, the size of a bus tire, will be launched aboard a Pegasus rocket that will be dropped from an aircraft over a Pacific atoll on Sunday.
The rocket will lift Ibex 130 miles above Earth and put it into orbit. The spacecraft will then fire its solid rocket motor to loft itself even higher, eventually to 200,000 miles above Earth.
Ibex will build on the discoveries of the long-running twin Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets. The deep-space, manmade probes have since sailed past the outer planets and are headed out of the solar system.
Unlike the Voyager craft, Ibex will not barrel through space, but instead will do its job from high-Earth orbit. The probe carries two sensors that will collect information about the solar wind's mass and energy from all directions.
Iran to press for output cut at OPEC meet
Ok i feel this is BS, with our economy the way it is and falling, raising the oil prices wont help unless that ia what they are after.
TEHRAN, (AFP) – Iran said on Saturday that OPEC should cut oil output at its emergency meeting next week amid prospects of reduced demand in the face of the global economic slowdown, the state broadcaster reported.
"Iran's clear proposal for the OPEC emergency meeting is that crude supply should be reduced in proportion with demand," Iran's ambassador to the oil cartel, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told the state broadcaster.
"Global demand for crude oil has fallen, so crude supply should be reduced in order to preserve balance and stability in the market," Khatibi said, describing falling oil prices as "worrying".
Iran is OPEC's second largest exporter and its economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas income.
OPEC said on Thursday that it would hold an extraordinary meeting earlier than expected next Friday -- instead of in November -- to discuss the global financial crisis and its impact on the oil market.
Oil prices had reached a peak of 147 dollars a barrel earlier this year but slumped below 70 dollars on Thursday for the first time in more than a year.
Prices rebounded above 71 dollars a barrel on Friday on speculation that OPEC could cut production at the emergency meeting, traders said.
TEHRAN, (AFP) – Iran said on Saturday that OPEC should cut oil output at its emergency meeting next week amid prospects of reduced demand in the face of the global economic slowdown, the state broadcaster reported.
"Iran's clear proposal for the OPEC emergency meeting is that crude supply should be reduced in proportion with demand," Iran's ambassador to the oil cartel, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told the state broadcaster.
"Global demand for crude oil has fallen, so crude supply should be reduced in order to preserve balance and stability in the market," Khatibi said, describing falling oil prices as "worrying".
Iran is OPEC's second largest exporter and its economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas income.
OPEC said on Thursday that it would hold an extraordinary meeting earlier than expected next Friday -- instead of in November -- to discuss the global financial crisis and its impact on the oil market.
Oil prices had reached a peak of 147 dollars a barrel earlier this year but slumped below 70 dollars on Thursday for the first time in more than a year.
Prices rebounded above 71 dollars a barrel on Friday on speculation that OPEC could cut production at the emergency meeting, traders said.
It's been awhile
Its been awhile since i have last written. In that time I have been to a couple of concert and my step father has gotten ill. We all knew it was a matter of time cause his health has gone down in the past several years. On 10-5-2008 he suffered a massive stroke. He slowly began to recover. They put him in a rehab center then on 10-16-2008 he died for 20 min and they brought him back. This gave the family time to say thier final goodbyes. This was also a time for the family to heal the differences from the past. My brother Shane who walked away from the family 13+ yrs ago came back home. I wasn't able to be there for that :(. On 10-17-2008 at 8:30pm pst they turned off his life support. He was clasified as brain dead. He is in a better place now. you will be missed Lee.
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