New hypothesis explains Earth's continued habitability

Los Angeles CA (SPX)
Mar 25, 2014

Researchers from USC and Nanjing University in China have documented evidence suggesting that part of the reason that the Earth has become neither sweltering like Venus nor frigid like Mars lies with a built-in atmospheric carbon dioxide regulator - the geologic cycles that churn up the planet's rocky surface.

Scientists have long known that "fresh" rock pushed to the surface via mountain formation effectively acts as a kind of sponge, soaking up the greenhouse gas CO2. Left unchecked, however, that process would simply deplete atmospheric CO2 levels to a point that would plunge the Earth into an eternal winter within a few million years during the formation of large mountain ranges like the Himalayas - which has clearly not happened.

And while volcanoes have long been pointed to as a source of carbon dioxide, alone they cannot balance out the excess uptake of carbon dioxide by large mountain ranges. Instead, it turns out that "fresh" rock exposed by uplift also emits carbon through a chemical weathering process, which replenishes the atmospheric carbon dioxide at a comparable rate.

"Our presence on Earth is dependent upon this carbon cycle. This is why life is able to survive," said Mark Torres, lead author of a study disclosing the findings that appears in Nature on March 20. Torres, a doctoral fellow at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and a fellow at the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI), collaborated with Joshua West, professor of Earth Sciences at USC Dornsife, and Gaojun Li of Nanjing University in China.

While human-made atmospheric carbon dioxide increases are currently driving significant changes in the Earth's climate, the geologic system has kept things balanced for million of years.

"The Earth is a bit like a big, natural recycler," West said. Torres and West studied rocks taken from the Andes mountain range in Peru and found that weathering processes affecting rocks released far more carbon than previously estimated, which motivated them to consider the global implications of CO2 release during mountain formation.

The researchers noted that rapid erosion in the Andes unearths abundant pyrite - the shiny mineral known as "fool's gold" because of its deceptive appearance - and its chemical breakdown produces acids that release CO2 from other minerals. These observations motivated them to consider the global implications of CO2 release during mountain formation.

Like many other large mountain ranges, such as the great Himalayas, the Andes began to form during the Cenozoic period, which began about 60 million years ago and happened to coincide with a major perturbation in the cycling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Using marine records of the long-term carbon cycle, Torres, West, and Li reconstructed the balance between CO2 release and uptake caused by the uplift of large mountain ranges and found that the release of CO2 release by rock weathering may have played a large, but thus far unrecognized, role in regulating the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide over the last roughly 60 million years.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/New_hypothesis_explains_Earths_continued_habitability_999.html.

Brazil to launch satellite in December

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (XNA)
Mar 25, 2014

Brazil will launch a new satellite in partnership with China in December, local media reported Friday. The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) confirmed that the launch of the Cbers-4 satellite is expected to take place in the first half of December, Brazilian news website G1 reported.

Cbers-4 was originally scheduled to be launched in 2015, but the date was brought forward following the failed launch of the Cbers-3 satellite in December, which did not reach its planned orbit after the rocket carrying it malfunctioned.

Cbers-4 will be launched from China under a partnership agreement signed between the two countries. Under the pact, each of them finances 50 percent of the project.

Cbers-4 will have the same mechanisms as Cbers-3, but with more modern cameras to observe the Earth, G1 said.

The satellite will be used to capture images for the Brazilian government, to monitor the environment and to better manage agricultural resources. The space program is part of the government's efforts to reduce its independence on U.S. and European space equipment.

As part of their partnership, China and Brazil also agreed to cooperate to build Cbers-5, which is expected to be launched in 2017.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Brazil_to_launch_satellite_in_December_999.html.

SpaceX Launch to the ISS Reset for March 30

Washington DC (SPX)
Mar 24, 2014

SpaceX has confirmed it will target its next cargo mission launch to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, for 10:50 p.m. EDT, Sunday, March 30.

NASA Television launch coverage begins at 9:45 p.m. for the company's third contracted resupply mission to the orbital laboratory. A post-launch news conference will follow at approximately 90 minutes after liftoff.

If for any reason the launch is postponed, the next launch opportunity is 9:39 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, with NASA TV coverage beginning at 8:30 p.m.

NASA TV also will air a prelaunch news conference at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 29 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A 2 p.m. briefing on the science and technology cargo being delivered to the space station by SpaceX will follow.

A March 30 launch would result in SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft arriving at the station on Wednesday, April 2 at approximately 7 a.m. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and berthing will begin at 5:45 a.m. for a 7 a.m. capture. Coverage of Dragon's installation will begin at 9:30 a.m...

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_Launch_to_the_ISS_Reset_for_March_30_999.html.

New ISS Crew Wrapping Up Training for Launch

Kourou, French Guiana (ESA)
Mar 24, 2014

Three new Expedition 39 crew members wrapped up training Friday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as they prepare for next week's launch to join Commander Koichi Wakata and Flight Engineers Rick Mastracchio and Mikhail Tyurin aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Steve Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev inspected the Soyuz TMA-12M that will carry them on an express, six-hour journey to the station on Tuesday. The trio checked out the seats and the interior configuration of the Soyuz in advance of its being rolled out to the launch pad.

The Soyuz carrying Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev is scheduled to lift off from Baikonur at 5:17 p.m. EDT Tuesday (3:17 a.m. Wednesday, Kazakh time) and dock to the Poisk mini-research module at 11:04 p.m. NASA Television will provide live coverage of all the events, including the hatch opening planned for 12:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev will remain aboard the station until mid-September. Wakata, Mastracchio and Tyurin have been aboard the orbital outpost since November 2013 and will return to Earth May 14, leaving Swanson as the Expedition 40 commander.

Aboard the orbiting complex Friday, Wakata, Mastracchio and Tyurin tackled a range of scientific experiments and performed some routine maintenance and cleaning to get the station shipshape for the arrival of their three new crewmates.

Wakata spent much of the morning cleaning the ventilation screens and ductwork that carries the air in and out of the Unity node. Proper air flow inside the station's module is essential to crew health because in the absence of gravity stagnant air can form dangerous pockets of carbon dioxide.

Mastracchio meanwhile continued maintenance work on the Waste and Hygiene Compartment - the station's bathroom located in the Tranquility node. He also replaced an audio terminal unit in the Columbus laboratory that was suspected of being faulty.

Afterward, Mastracchio assisted Wakata with the Body Measures experiment, which collects anthropometric data to help researchers understand the magnitude and variability of the changes to body measurements during spaceflight. Predicting these changes will maximize crew performance, prevent injury and reduce time spent altering or adjusting spacesuits and workstations.

The investigation also could help scientists understand the effects of prolonged bed rest, which produces physiological changes similar to those experienced in microgravity. With Wakata wearing reflective dots on his body - much like the ones used for motion capture for special effects in movies - Mastracchio collected data and photographs for the experiment.

Wakata rounded out the day with more ventilation system cleaning, while Mastracchio set up the Combustion Integrated Rack for more ground-commanded research. This experiment rack, which includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control and five different cameras, allows a variety of combustion experiments to be performed safely aboard the station.

On the Russian side of the complex, Tyurin spent much of his day loading items for disposal aboard the ISS Progress 54 cargo craft and updating the station's Inventory Management System as he went along. Progress 54, which arrived at the station back on Feb. 5 with 2.8 tons of cargo, is set to depart the station on April 7 for a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

Tyurin also deployed dosimeters for the Matryoshka experiment. Named after the traditional Russian nesting dolls, Matryoshka analyzes the radiation environment onboard the station.

Over the weekend, the station's residents will have some free time to relax, speak with family members back on Earth and take care of weekly housekeeping chores. Wakata, Mastracchio and Tyurin also will continue their daily two-hour exercise regimen to prevent the loss of muscle mass and bone density that occurs during long-duration spaceflight.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/New_ISS_Crew_Wrapping_Up_Training_for_Launch_999.html.

NASA Mars Rover's Next Stop Has Sandstone Variations

Pasadena CA (JPL)
Mar 25, 2014

Variations in the stuff that cements grains together in sandstone have shaped the landscape surrounding NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and could be a study topic at the mission's next science waypoint.

On a journey with many months yet to go toward prime destinations on the lower slope of Mount Sharp, Curiosity is approaching a site called "the Kimberley." Scientists on the team picked this location last year as a likely place to pause for investigation.

Its informal name comes from a northwestern Australia region known as the Kimberley. The Martian site's geological appeal, based on images taken from orbit, is that four types of terrain with different rock textures intersect there.

"The orbital images didn't tell us what those rocks are, but now that Curiosity is getting closer, we're seeing a preview," said Curiosity Deputy Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The contrasting textures and durabilities of sandstones in this area are fascinating. While superficially similar, the rocks likely formed and evolved quite differently from each other."

The rocks that the Curiosity mission has studied most intensively so far are finer-grain mudstone, rather than sandstone. The rover found evidence for an ancient lakebed environment favorable for microbial life when it analyzed sample powder drilled from mudstone last year in an area called "Yellowknife Bay."

The rover team is eager to inspect sandstone at the planned waypoint, now just 282 feet (86 meters) south of the rover. The pause for investigations at this site might include time for collecting rock-sample material with the rover's drill, for delivery to the laboratory instruments inside the vehicle.

Material filling the space between grains of sand in sandstone is called cement, whatever its composition. Characteristics of the cement can vary greatly, depending on the environmental history that affected the rock. Sandstones with some clay-mineral cements are quite soft. Tap them with a hammer and they crumble. Sandstones with quartz cement can be very hard. Hit them with a hammer and they ring.

"A major issue for us now is to understand why some rocks resist erosion more than other rocks, epecially when they are so close to each other and are both likely to be sandstones," said Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. He is the principal investigator for the Mast Camera and the Mars Descent Camera on Curiosity.

Malin said that variations in cement material of sandstones could provide clues to different types of wet environmental conditions in the area's history.

As in the southwestern United States, understanding why some sandstones are harder than others could help explain the major shapes of the landscape where Curiosity is working inside Gale Crater on Mars. Erosion-resistant sandstone forms a capping layer of mesas and buttes. It could even hold hints about why Gale Crater has a large layered mountain, Mount Sharp, at its center.

Erosion-resistant capping layers that Curiosity has sometimes driven across during the rover's traverse since leaving Yellowknife Bay have also presented an engineering challenge for the mission. Some rocks within those layers have sharp points that have punched holes in the rover's aluminum wheels. One of the strategies the rover team has used to reduce the pace of wheel damage is choosing routes that avoid crossing the hard caprock, where feasible.

"The wheel damage rate appears to have leveled off, thanks to a combination of route selection and careful driving," said JPL's Richard Rainen, mechanical engineering team leader for Curiosity. "We're optimistic that we're doing OK now, though we know there will be challenging terrain to cross in the future."

The pace at which new holes have appeared in the wheels during recent drives is less than one-tenth what it was a few months ago. Activities with a test rover at JPL this month show that wheels with much more extensive damage than has been sustained by any of Curiosity's six wheels can still perform well. The holes in Curiosity's wheels are all in the thin aluminum skin between much thicker treads. These tests on Earth are using wheels so damaged that many treads are broken, but they still provide traction.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/NASA_Mars_Rovers_Next_Stop_Has_Sandstone_Variations_999.html.

Mercury, the incredible shrinking planet

Paris (AFP)
March 16, 2014

Beneath its Sun-scorched exterior, the planet Mercury is cooling, which is causing it to shrink ever so slightly, scientists said Sunday.

Over the last 3.8 billion years, the planet has shrunk by up to 14 kilometers (8.8 miles) to reach its present diameter of 4,800 km (3,032 miles), they said.

Mercury, like Earth, is believed to have a superhot metallic core.

But unlike Earth, it has no tectonic plates which bump and jostle and slide in response to the stress that heat loss causes on the planet's crust.

Instead, Mercury has just a single, rigid top layer, which means the stress is transmitted directly to the planet's surface, causing it to "wrinkle" into gouges and ridges as the planet cools.

Planetary geologists led by Paul Byrne at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington used a tally of these features to get a yardstick for the planet's thermal contraction, the term for shrinkage through heat loss.

They studied nearly 6,000 landforms recorded by NASA's Messenger spacecraft to look for these telltales.

Earlier estimates based on images of only 45 percent of the planet suggested a contraction of 1.6 to six kilometers (one to four miles) over the course of its history.

The starting point for the measurement is the end of the "late heavy bombardment" of the Solar System -- a period that ran from around 4.1 billion to 3.8 billion years ago, when our star system was a shooting gallery of comets and other icy bodies which smashed into the nascent planets.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Mercury_the_incredible_shrinking_planet_999.html.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Resumes Full Duty

Pasadena CA (JPL)
Mar 16, 2014

Engineers have restored NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to full operations, following a March 9 unplanned swap of duplicate computers aboard the spacecraft. On Thursday morning, March 13, the orbiter resumed science observations with its own instruments and relay of data from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.

The MRO orbiter put itself into a precautionary safe standby mode March 9 after an unscheduled swap from one main computer to another. The mission's ground team has begun restoring the spacecraft to full operations.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's science observations and its relaying of communications from NASA's two active Mars rovers have been suspended. The rovers continue to use NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter as a communications relay.

Entry into safe mode is the prescribed response by a spacecraft when it detects conditions outside the range of normal expectations. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has experienced unplanned computer swaps triggering safe-mode entry four times previously, most recently in November 2011.

The root cause of the previous events has not been determined. The spacecraft has also experienced safe-mode entries that have not involved computer swaps.

Unlike any previous safe-mode entries experienced in this mission, the March 9 event included a swap to a redundant radio transponder on the orbiter. While the mission resumes operations with this transponder, engineers are investigating the status of the one that is now out of service.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter entered orbit around Mars eight years ago, on March 10, 2006. Since then, it has returned more data than all other past and current interplanetary missions combined.

The mission met all its science goals in a two-year primary science phase. Three extensions, the latest beginning in 2012, have added to the science returns. The longevity of the mission has given researchers tools to study seasonal and longer-term changes on the Red Planet.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter_Resumes_Full_Duty_999.html.

China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover rouses from latest slumber

Beijing (AFP)
March 14, 2014

China's troubled Jade Rabbit moon rover "woke up" again early Friday, though the mechanical troubles that have plagued it remain unfixed, the government said.

The rover, called Yutu in Chinese, turns dormant and stops sending signals during the lunar night, two-week periods when the part of the moon's surface it is on rotates away from the sun and temperatures turn extremely cold.

The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said on its website that the rover "woke up" from its third such slumber at 6:42 am Beijing time.

The Jade Rabbit is named after the pet of Chang'e, the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology, and was deployed on the moon's surface on December 15, several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe landed.

The Chang'e-3, which also goes dormant, woke up on Wednesday, SASTIND added.

Jade Rabbit experienced a "mechanical control abnormality" as the lunar night fell on January 25, leading to fears in China it might never revive. To the country's relief, however, it started sending signals again in mid-February.

But the mechanical problem has still not been fixed, SASTIND said Friday.

The Chang'e-3 probe's landing -- the third such soft-landing in history, and the first of its kind since a Soviet mission nearly four decades ago -- has been a source of national pride in China, which has huge space ambitions.

Beijing sees the space program as a symbol of China's rising global stature and technological advancement, as well as the Communist Party's success in reversing the fortunes of the once-impoverished nation.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Chinas_Jade_Rabbit_lunar_rover_rouses_from_latest_slumber_999.html.

Russia slams Germany for halting arms deal over Crimea

Moscow (AFP)
March 23, 2014

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov on Sunday said Germany's decision to halt a major arms deal over Moscow's takeover of Crimea was "unconstructive" and taken under pressure from the United States.

Berlin on Wednesday blocked German defense group Rheinmetall from proceeding with a 100-million-euro ($140-million) contract to build a training camp for Russian forces, saying any military deals in the current context would be "indefensible".

"Refusing to have contacts and exchanges between delegates from military agencies is canceling out the positive trends developed in recent years," Antonov said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"We consider that the decisions of the German side were taken under pressure and to be unconstructive."

He blamed the United States for pressuring both Germany and France, whose Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday that it had suspended most military cooperation with Russia.

"It's obvious that the notorious 'Atlantic solidarity' prompted our French and German partners to make loud statements on Russia," Antonov said.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_slams_Germany_for_halting_arms_deal_over_Crimea_999.html.

Thousands march in Moscow to protest Crimea vote

March 15, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters marched in central Moscow Saturday against a Kremlin-backed referendum in Crimea on whether to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.

It was the largest anti-government demonstration since 2012. Demonstrators waved Russian and Ukrainian flags, while opposition activists — including two members of the Pussy Riot punk band — shouted "Say no to war!" and "Putin, go away!" from the stage.

Protesters also held up banners that read: "For your freedom and for ours!" One demonstrator held up a plate of salo — cured pork fat that is a staple of Ukrainian cuisine and adored by many Russians — along with a poster that read: "Make salo, not war!"

Nearby, a rally of several thousand was held close to the Kremlin in support of Russian intervention in Crimea. Crimea's referendum Sunday has been loudly condemned as illegitimate by much of the international community. As heavily armed forces apparently under Russian command have effectively taken control of the peninsula, the vote to join Russia has been widely criticized as a mere formality.

Russian support for reclaiming Crimea majority has intensified amid weeks of relentless state television coverage of purported aggression toward ethnic Russians by the new Kiev government, which came to power after Ukraine's Moscow-friendly president, Viktor Yanukovych, fled the country in February.

While President Vladimir Putin's ratings have risen since he announced Russia's willingness to use force in Ukraine, the anti-government demonstration Saturday showed that not everyone is happy with the decision.

"I love Ukraine — it's Putin who needs war and an empire, not me," said Dmitry Maksimov, a 29-year-old lawyer who held a bouquet of flowers dyed blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of Pussy Riot, called for defiance against the authorities.

"Don't believe it when they say that we are few, that we are weak. Together we will change this country," she said in a speech from a stage. None of Russia's state-owned news channels showed footage from the anti-government protest, and instead showed live video from the rally near the Kremlin, where large gangs of men from a group called "Essence of Time" dressed in uniform red jackets and marched to the sound of Soviet-era military music in disciplined columns.

Twitter suspends accounts in response to Turkish government complaints

Sunday, 23 March 2014

Twitter approved Sunday a complaint filed by the Turkish telecommunications authority against accounts that publicized fabricated recordings aimed at smearing officials from the ruling AK Party.

Twitter's decision came as a reaction to court rulings issued recently by the Turkish Constitutional Court.

On Thursday, the Turkish government blocked the social networking website Twitter hours after warnings by Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan to "eradicate" the website because of its failure to uphold Turkish court decisions.

The crisis started when a Turkish citizen publicized fabricated recordings allegedly belonging to government officials. Accordingly, the Constitutional Court issued a verdict to remove the fabricated content from the website and the telecommunications authority submitted a copy of the decision to Twitter in order to implement it, in accordance with Twitter's policy. However, officials complained that the website ignored their request, which led Erdogan to publicly slam Twitter and vow to block it, irrespective of the international community's reactions.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/10463-twitter-suspends-accounts-in-response-to-turkish-government-complaints.

3 bear cubs rescued from captivity in Kosovo

March 23, 2014

MRAMOR, Kosovo (AP) — Animal activists in Kosovo say three brown bear cubs have been rescued from captivity.

The one-month-old cubs, Ema, Oska and Ron, were found at two separate homes last week in the western town of Peja and are believed to be from the same mother. No arrests have been made. Activists said they don't know what happened to the mother. Authorities were tipped off by citizens after photos of the cubs were spotted on Facebook.

"The cubs were stressed upon arrival but are recovering well", said Afrim Mehmeti, manager of a bear sanctuary run by international animal charity group Four Paws. Keeping wild animals in Kosovo is forbidden by law and authorities are strict on the captivity of brown bears, an endangered species in the country.