Download astro sites

1. http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-confirms-super-earth-could-hold-life-020348934.html
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In NASA’s search for other habitable planets in our universe they seem to have
finally found one. It is the first habitable found that is outside of our solar
system. It was first spotted in 2009 by French astronomists, and just recently the
Kepler space Telescope was able to confirm that it is habitable. Astronomists
have been able to observe it passing behind its’ star a total of three times since it
was first spotted. Signs of life have yet to be spotted on Kepler 22b but the
conditions are right for water and atmosphere to exist. Kepler 22b is 600 light
years away and is approximately 2.4 times bigger than Earth. Swiss and French
astronomers have discovered similar planets but none are as likely to support life
because their stars are cooler and smaller than our sun. So far, in the search for
other life outside of Earth, there has been forty-eight exoplanets discovered and
the Kepler telescope has found 2,326 possibilities.
2. http://www.space.com/13548-mars-rover-curiosity-ready-launch.html
 NASA is planning to launch their biggest Mars Rover yet. This mini cooper sized
rover is their most sophisticated too. The main goal of this rover is to explore
Mars and find out if it was ever able to support life. It is scheduled to leave for
Mars November 25 and will arrive in August of 2012. The landing of Curiosity is
the most complicated yet, it will approach the surface by parachute and then it
will hover above the surface and be lowered down by tethers. The scientists
selected Gale Crater to be the landing site because it has the most variety of
rocks and other materials. I think this is a very big step in astronomic research
because it will be able to tell us more information than we could get from
previous rovers. However at the same time it is very difficult because there are
many variables and so many things have to go right for it to work properly.
3. http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/ufo-aliens-football-games-2149/
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Recently there were two sightings of UFOs during football games. Originally no
one thought anything of the videos until an expert on UFOs examined the videos
and saw that there were flashing lights and they were circular in shape. Some
Skeptics are saying that the lights from the video at the Saints game was just a
passing insect because light can be elongated by a passing object. As for the
lights at the high school football game they were most likely just night time
skydivers. I believe that they were not alien spaceships but something else there
were too many other options of what they could be and why would astronomers
not have reported any activity anywhere in the world if there were flying objects
over the world.
4. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/quirks-quarks-blog/2011/11/another-close-call.html
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On November 8 something remarkable occurred, a 400 meter wide asteroid
passed between the earth and the moon. As it turns out this is actually a
common occurrence because there are so many asteroids that orbit around the
sun. When it passed by astronomers used radio signals to bounce off its surface
to get a picture of what it looks like because the surface is just too dark for visual
pictures to capture what is looks like. Studying these asteroids can be very
important because they can change the earth if a big enough one hits the Earth
and it has happened many times before, although the last big hit was about 65
million years ago. I think it is very cool how close something as giant as an
asteroid can fly by earth and most everyone on Earth will never know about it.
Also it is a little scary how close they come to Earth because they can have such
power and if they aren’t handled correctly it could change every aspect of life on
earth.
5. http://news.yahoo.com/newfound-comet-dive-sun-next-week144807344.html;_ylt=AqTudof247ZfBTxI72OvDsiHgsgF;_ylu=X3oDMTRmNTRua21qBG1pdANUb
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NTdkLWI0ZTQxYjUyNDJiNgRwb3MDMTgEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDNGY5ODU0YzAtMjAxOS0
xMWUxLWI3ZmYtZGFlNDYyNjI4OGRk;_ylg=X3oDMTJkbDM4amVvBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi1
1cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlfHNwYWNlIC0gYXN0cm9ub215BHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zB
HRlc3QD;_ylv=3
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In mid-December a comet is going to graze the suns photosphere and it will be
destroyed by the intense heat of the sun. The comet was first discovered by an
amateur astronomer from Australia. When he first found the comet he thought
it was just a reflection or something like that, but then a couple nights later he
found the same object and that was when he called some more experienced
astronomers to take a look at his discovery. At the comets closest point to the
sun it will be within 115,000 miles. Astronomers think that all of the star grazing
comets originated from the same one that broke apart a long time ago, and now
they are all on the same orbit towards the sun. It was once thought that this was
a rare event but just recently it has been discovered that a small comet hits our
sun about every three days. I would have thought that something like this was
more rare, in some ways it is but comets hit the sun all the time. However most
of the time they aren’t spotted by an Earth based satellite.
6. http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-starts-off-mission-moon-085838427.html
 Over the New Years weekend NASA landed two crafts on the moon for the sole
purpose of studying its gravity. This trip took far longer than the normal 3 days
to get to the moon, this took three and a half months. They landed just 24 hours
apart the first on new years eve and the second on new years day. So far Earth
has had about 100 missions to the moon and NASA alone has landed 12
astronauts on the moon. And as a result of these missions it is still a mystery
despite over 800 pounds of dirt and sand. Along with studying the gravity,
astronomers also want to figure out what is below the surface which can tell us
how it formed. To help save money they squeezed both crafts into one small
rocket and had it take 30 times longer to get there. This mission can greatly help
the astronomers to gain more knowledge about the moon and even the
universe and its vast history.
7. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/world/asia/china-unveils-ambitious-plan-to-explorespace.html
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The Chinese government has just recently released a plan that will threaten the
United States program. They hope to put a man on the moon and build a space
station. The main reason China is catching up to the US is because we have
slowed down our efforts because we don’t have the money. China is able to
take advantage of our slow time because they have a very good economic
situation so they can afford to speed up their program. China hopes to launch a
space lab and collect moon samples all by 2016. Chinas plan brings in both
military and civilian resources and it will benefit both too. Although China is as
far along in space travel as the US was in the 60’s they are moving along at a very
consistent pace and meeting every goal they set. I think we should be worried
about China exceeding our progress in Space, not anytime in the next few years,
but sometime in the future because they are always moving forward. Also they
are much more organized than we are which makes it a lot easier to be
successful. And while they are making progress some might say we are moving
the other way because we just recently shut down our 30 year-long space
shuttle program.
8.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/23/us-space-stationidUSTRE7BM12D20111223
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Three more people have been sent up to work on the international space station, a
Russian, European, and one from NASA. Shortly following this launch the Russians
attempted to launch an unmanned satellite into orbit, but as with four others it was a
failure. On the Brightside this will have no effect on the international space station
construction because the rockets that have failed aren’t the same as the ones used for
the construction. However it has left the crew on the space station shorthanded but
they are still working and improving it. Also the next launch for cargo and other
materials is on January 25. I think Russia needs to get its act together it’s supposed to
be the second strongest program in the world and it seems they have no idea what they
are doing. If they can’t improve than the construction is going to slow down drastically
and that is not a good thing because that means more money.
9. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1997768,00.html
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Japan has always been known for its achievements in all sorts of technological
devices. Once again they wow everyone by creating a space ship that acts a sail
boat by using the energy from sunlight to propel it forward. This spaceship left
Earth seven years ago and just returned in June of 2010 it brought back the first
samples from an asteroid in space. This was seemingly perfect timing because
with Japans new government they were going to have to cut funding. They
recently requested $19 million and they were only allowed $330,000 but
because of the success of this mission the government will continue funding.
With the ships great technology they can use the suns power to move to towards
it and to the inner planets, like Venus, without using any rocket fuel.
Unfortunately a lot could go wrong because of how fragile it is, it is thin than
newspaper. The mission that just ended most thought that it was going to be a
failure because it lost three of the four engines and it also lost communications
for fifty days. The particles that it brought home may not be seen for several
days because it is such a risky process because if it gets contaminated in anyway
the mission was all for nothing. I think it so cool that this “kite” was able to fly
hundreds of millions a miles into space to an asteroid that to me is amazing. This
could change the entire way we look a space travel.
10. http://www.nasa.gov/about/whats_next.html
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A common thought right now is that because the shuttle program has shut down
that means NASA will shut down, this is not the case at all. NASA is working
toward many goals right now such as man on Mars and also a multi-purpose
vehicle. They are even planning a Space Launch System that will help make jobs,
improve space travel, and hopefully help us travel farther into space. The
International Space Station is always growing and improving because they
always have at least six astronauts working and living there all the time. It has
been divided up into sections and the US section is a laboratory. The ISS is
basically just a huge research facility in space it hopes to find new ways of doing
things. Aside from the ISS NASA is also working on making flying safer and more
efficient. They also want to help make controlling all of the crafts easier such as
creating new ways to handle traffic. And of course they are always looking
farther and farther into the universe looking to answers to all of their many
questions. I think it is awesome that NASA is still improving and moving forward
despite shutting down a very successful part of their program. This just shows
how powerful and intelligent we truly are.