The planet Earth will be destroyed by the fireball created by the death of the Sun. Astronomers have predicted that when the Sun dies some seven and a half billion years from now it will take the Earth with it in an orgy of fire and destruction.

Previously some astronomers had thought that our planet might escape the backlash from the Sun's death, however it now seems that our home will indeed be destroyed. A new paper from Dr Robert Smith from the University of Sussex and Dr Klaus-Peter Schroeder from the University of Guanajuato in Mexico overturns previous hopes that the Earth could survive in some form, albeit badly battered and burned. It now appears that the Sun's "atmosphere" would drag the Earth in to share our star's destruction.

Can anything be done to save the planet? Well, Smith points to a scheme suggested at Santa Cruz University that involves using the gravity of a large asteroid to "nudge" the Earth into a safer orbit.

Failing that I'd hope we could find another home or evolve to the point where the physical destruction of our home is irrelevant.

7.6 billion years might sound too far in the future to worry about, and for most people it probaly is. But if you subscribe to the singularity concept and plan to "live long enough to live forever" then it might become a "hot" issue for you.


Photo Credit: mysza831 (Creative Commons)

Labels: Earth, More, singularity, Space, Sun

Nasa has announced that a Beatles track is to be the first song beamed into deep space. The Fab Four's song "Across The Universe" will be transmitted over Nasa's Deep Space Network at 7pm EST on Feb 4th 2008. Beatles fans across the world are beng urged to join in by playing the song at the same time.

The transmission is aimed at Polaris, the North Pole Star, which is situated in the constellation of Ursa Minor and is some 431 light years from Earth. The event celebrates a double anniversary: the 40th birthday of the song and the 50th year since NASA's founding.

So first contact could consist with aliens of pools of sorrow, waves of joy.

Labels: Beatles, music, NASA, Space

Virgin Galactic, the company founded and owned by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, has unveiled the design of its SpaceShipTwo tourist spacecraft. The model was displayed by Branson at a press conference at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan..

Virgin Galactic is a high profile player in the field of space tourism, which many believe could become a reality in the not too distant future. SpaceShip Two (SS2) is based on the company's previous SpaceShipOne (SS1) design. The main rocket, carrying two pilots and six passengers, will be lifted by White Knight Two (WK2) before blasting off for a suborbital flight reaching an altitude of 100km. Total flight time per trip will be around two and a half hours.

Construction of WK2 is almost complete and SS2 is some 60% finished. Virgin Galactic hope to start test flights later this year.

Virgin Galactic describes its goal as "to undertake the challenge of making private space travel available to everyone and by creating the world's first commercial spaceline". Initially few of us will be able to afford to buy a ticket - Virgin Galactic are currently quoting a price of $200,000. However they hope that the price will fall significantly within five years of the first commercial flights.

So there's hope for me yet.

Labels: Space, space tourism, Virgin Galactic

Nasa is seriously considering the development of a space-based online multi-player universe (an MMO or perhaps MMORPG). The plan follows the success of the CoLab Nasa island in Second Life (SL).

Nasa has issued an MMORFI, a project Request For Information (RFI), in which it says:

"A high quality synthetic gaming environment is a vital element of NASA’s educational cyberstructure. This new synthetic world would be a collaborative work and meeting space as well as a game space of a kind familiar to increasing numbers of American students. Games and challenges in the MMO would engage students in a way that is both familiar and comfortable for them. In turn, participation in the MMO would build increased student awareness of STEM fields and lead more students to pursue STEM courses of study."

The RFI is aimed at "organizations with proven immersive synthetic environments expertise".

This idea has great potential and if successful could clearly be expanded (I almost said "take off"...). The NASA MMO environment could be a taste of a future where we routinely use immersive VR for learning that is also creative and fun.

Unfortunately I suspect that if we ever do meet a virtual alien then first contact will consist of "ASL?".

Labels: MMO, NASA, Space, VR

Astronomers at the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) have announced that a huge gas cloud (Smith's Cloud) is on collision course with our galaxy, the Milky Way. When it hits the impact of the collision will be like a gigantic bomb going off and the cosmic shock wave could trigger a burst of new star and supernova formation.

But don't panic. It's not going to happen for 20 to 40 million years yet.

By that time the human race is unlikely to still be around in its present form. If it is then we are likely have found ways of moving to a more salubrious neighbourhood!

Labels: Milky Way, Smith's Cloud, Space

The aging Hubble Space Telescope had been expected to each the end of its life in a few years, failing some time in 2010 or 2011. However NASA have announced a mission by Space Shuttle Atlantis intended to not only keep Hubble going but to improve it as well.

The plan, announced at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Austin, Texas is described as "challenging". It was initially pencilled in for August 2008 however that date is likely to slip as other delayed Shuttle missions are given priority.

Assuming the mission goes ahead and is successful it could extend the life of Hubble by another ten years. It will also significantly improve the telescope's field of view, spectroscopy and wavelength capabilities. The end result will be a Hubble telescope some 90 times more powerful than when it was first launched in 1990.

So it looks like the future will contain more spectacular Hubble pictures. I for one am looking forward to them.

Labels: Hubble, NASA, Space

China was relatively slow entering into the space game - it first put a man into orbit in 2003 - but looks to be making up for lost time.

This year, 2008, China plans another space launch, its third manned mission. This is intended to feature the first Chinese space walk. In addition to this manned mission China plans some 30 other unmanned launches this year.

Some cynics have pointed out the coincidence of all this happening in the same year that Beijing hosts the olympics. Is it all just part of a PR offensive?

Perhaps, but let's not forget that China is a huge nation with vast population and resources. It's already close to dominating the earth-bound economy. If China sets its sites on space then there's little chance of the West catching up.

First Contact is more likely to be conducted in Mandarin than English.



Photo Credit: ernoldiño (Creative Commons)

Labels: China, Space

The EU satellite project Galileo is to continue despite earlier worries over its future.

Galileo is a planned global network of 30 satellites that will provide Europe with an alternative timing and location system to GPS. The project came under threat when a private consortium collapsed earlier this year. Now EU transport ministers have agreed to finance the project with money from other areas of the EU budget.

Galileo promises five levels of service: Open Access, Commercial, Safety of Life, Public Regulated and SAR (Search and Rescue). Unlike GPS the Galileo system will be civilian run, not military.

Labels: EU, Galileo, satellite, Space