Posts tagged science
Artificial heart ready for human trials.
French company CARMAT have announced that their artificial heart is scheduled to be implanted into patients in four medical centers around the world. The device completely replaces the patient’s original heart.
The artificial heart consists of two cavities, mimicking the organ’s ventricles, which are separated by a moving membrane that’s hydraulically powered via a special actioning fluid. This membrane reproduces the action of the ventricular wall during contractions, creating blood flow in and out of the device. The system is works in conjunctions with sensors and a microcontroller that continuously adjust the activity of the prosthesis to match the needs of the patient.
Meteor impact on the Moon bright enough to see with the naked eye.
The impact of a 40kg meteor on the Moon on March 17 was bright enough to see from Earth without a telescope, according to NASA, who captured the impact through a Moon-monitoring telescope.
Now NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will try and search out the impact crater, which could be up to 20 metres wide.
Autonomous NASA rover released on Greenland ice sheet.
GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, is an autonomous, solar-operated robot that carries a ground-penetrating radar to examine the layers of Greenland’s ice sheet. Its findings will help scientists understand how the massive ice sheet gains and loses ice.
The robot’s tests on the ice began on May 8, defying winds of up to 23 mph (37 kph) and temperatures as low as minus 22 F (minus 30 C). The tests will continue through June 8. Its trial in Greenland will also serve as a test of using rovers in harsh polar regions to gather data.
Oh grow up, Mars rovers.
The tracks shown are from both the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, in this image released by NASA.
Photo: NASA’s Sounding Rockets Launch from the Marshall Islands
Red and white vapor clouds filled the skies over the Marshall Islands as part of NASA’s Equatorial Vortex Experiment (EVEX). The red cloud was formed by the release of lithium vapor and the white tracer clouds were formed by the release of trimethyl aluminum (TMA). These clouds allowed scientists on the ground from various locations in the Marshall Islands to observe the neutral winds in the ionosphere.
The EVEX was successfully conducted during the early morning hours on May 7 from Roi Namur, Republic of the Marshall Islands. A NASA Terrier-Oriole sounding rocket was launched at 3:39 a.m. EDT and was followed by a launch of Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket 90 seconds later. Preliminary indications are that both rockets released their vapor clouds of lithium or trimethyl aluminum, which were observed from various locations in the area, and all science instruments on the rockets worked as planned.
Volcanic ash cloud to be recreated for test flight.
An aviation-industry group is preparing to test an airborne ash avoidance system by releasing a tonne of volcanic ash collected from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland.
The team behind the AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Imaging Detector) system say they will disperse the ash from an Airbus plane at an altitude of over 30,000 feet, before flying a second aircraft as far as 100 kilometres behind towards the cloud. If successful, the second aircraft will use AVOID to detect and navigate safely around the ash cloud.
Annular eclipse today.
On May 10 the Moon will move directly in front of the Sun, leaving a thin fiery ring visible around the outside.
The eclipse will only be visible from a few locations within a 100 mile wide track.
Animation shows all known space-rock impacts on Earth.
Bolides shows all recorded impacts of space rocks or meteorites with Earth - all 1,042 of them up to 2012.
Check it out here.
Check out NASA’s ‘In-Space Propulsion Systems Roadmap’.
NASA have released their roadmap for in-space propulsion out to 2030 and beyond. The document (pdf) describes propulsion methods for travel in space only, beginning after the launch vehicle leaves Earth’s atmosphere.
Included in the roadmap is a crewed orbit of Mars in 2029, with a manned Mars surface mission not until the late 2030’s.
Rapid inner solar system missions with flexible launch dates are difficult, requiring propulsion systems that are beyond today’s current state of the art. The logistics, and therefore the total system mass required to support sustained human exploration beyond Earth to destinations such as the Moon, Mars or Near Earth Objects, are daunting unless more efficient in-space propulsion technologies are developed and fielded.
NASA invites you to send a haiku to Mars.
NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere.
The DVD will be in NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch in November. The DVD is part of the mission’s Going to Mars Campaign coordinated at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.
The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku. However, only three haikus will be selected. The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin July 15.
Submit your entry here.
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