THE TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO JUPITER'S MOON EUROPA

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Jupiter's icy moon Europa has long been thought of as a potentially friendly place for life in the solar system. But what would human explorers find if they set down their ship on the moon's icy shell?

• Europa is thought to have a vast water ocean beneath its icy surface, and is considered the best place to find life (animals?) in our solar system.
• Europa's surface is relatively smooth, lacking large craters and mountains because convective ocean forces constantly recycle Europa's surface ice. 
• If you were to look in any direction, you'd see little ridges, no more than a couple of meters high
•  You'd also see numerous cracks that crisscross the globe.
• These cracks and ridges are likely the result of the daily rise and fall of Europa's subsurface ocean due to tidal forces from Jupiter.
• Set up your base on the side of Europe permanently facing Jupiter.   Jupiter's magnetosphere showers Europa with deadly radiation, which is far stronger on the side facing away from the planet.
• The view is awesome.  Jupiter would look almost 24 times larger in the sky than Earth's moon appears from the planet's surface.
• Dress warm.  The temperature averages about minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 160 degrees Celsius) near the equator and minus 370 F (minus 220 C) near the poles.
• You'd definitely feel lighter.  Gravity is similar to that on Earth's moon.
Low gravity means almost no atmosphere.  Which results in no weather, no wind, no sky colors.  That sounds dull.  But wait.
• Excitement never ends.  Watch out for earthquakes, for giant plumes of water that could violently shoot out of the ice. There would also be a small chance you'd be hit by a small meteor or particles from space.
• Sightseeing ideas: the "chaos terrain," where the normally flat ice has been fragmented into jumbled blocks. It looks like Monument Valley. You'd also want to see the moon's depressions and ice domes, which are up to a little more than a half-mile (1 kilometer) high.  

 

http://www.space.com/28648-living-on-europa-jupiter-explained-infographic.html

 

Continue reading,
including link to article on how our Earth would be without its Moon

RUSSIANS CLAIM THEY FOUND MICROBES LIVING OUTSIDE THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Although still unconfirmed by Nasa, other extremophile microbes have survived in outer space

Not the same, but Tardigrades have survived in outer space

The Independent - A new report claims that Russian scientists have discovered traces of marine life living on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS).

 

Vladimir Solovyev, the official in charge of Russia’s ISS segment, told the news agency Itar-Tass that tiny plankton and microscopic organisms had been discovered on the spacecraft's exterior, describing the finds as “absolutely unique”.

 

However, the truthfulness of Solovyev's claim is unclear, with Nasa refusing to confirm the story. “As far as we're concerned, we haven't heard any official reports from our Roscosmos colleagues that they've found sea plankton," Nasa spokesperson Dan Huot told Space.com.

BEAUTIFUL ASTRONOMY PICTURES FROM PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST FINALISTS



Sebastian Guillermaz

From gazers through a geyser to daytime on Jupiter: Stellar images from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year shortlist 

In one image, Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, erupts as moon partially eclipses sun

Another shows Heart Nebula, 7,500 light years away in constellation of Cassiopeia

More than 2,500 entries poured in from amateur and professional photographers around the world 

More pictures - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2679666/From-gazers-geyser-daytime-Jupiter-Stellar-images-Astronomy-Photographer-Year-shortlist.html



Ole Christian Salomonsen

  

Patrick Cullis

NASA REVEALS STAR TREK SPACECRAFT DESIGNS FOR INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL

The 100 year Starship Project

A Nasa scientist in Houston worked with an artist to create the concept

The interstellar spacecraft builds on previous designs that theoretically allow distant travel by bending space-time

Called IXS Enterprise, it is similar to the Star Trek ship of the same name

Dr White said the spacecraft could reach Alpha Centauri in two weeks

Warp travel is the focus of Christopher Nolan's 2014 movie Interstellar

Pictured is an illustration of Dr White's IXS Enterprise, an interstellar ship drawn by artist Mark Rademaker that could be an accurate representation of what the first mission beyond the solar system will look like. The IXS Enterprise is a theory-fitting concept for a faster than light (FTL) ship - (Photo Mark Rademaker - Daily Mail)

Read more and see exciting pictures of this project, and the film designs that inspired them
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2655105/Engage-warp-drive-Nasa-reveals-latest-designs-Star-Trek-style-spacecraft-make-interstellar-travel-reality.html
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SCIENTISTS PROPOSE SENDING HUMAN DNA TO OTHER PLANETS AND 3-D PRINTING COLONIZERS -- WHY??? - When we humans have already wrecked our home planet and caused so much suffering to billions of innocent animals

Planet Kepler 186f - NASA - Daily Mail

Humans could colonise space by sending DNA to distant planets and 'printing' a new civilisation, experts claim

A Nasa expert has joined others in saying we could launch DNA to planets

Sending fragments of the human genome might allow people to be 'printed'

Could solve the problem of how humans can survive interstellar travel

The genome segments would be left to evolve on a distant exoplanet

Or information on how to 'print' a human could be sent to a machine.

Read more
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2646257/Humans-colonise-space-sending-DNA-distant-planets-printing-new-civilisation-experts-claim.html

What civilization?  Genocide, greed, fanaticism, hate, overpopulation, extreme cruelty against innocent animals and other humans, destruction of the environment, depravity, addictions, murder, and the creation of life-destroying technology, such as nuclear power plants and weapons,

 

It obviously hasn't dawned on these scientists that humans are NOT the type of species that should be exported to other planets. 

 

In fact, humans should leave space alone.  Wherever our technology goes, it leaves a trail of junk and pollution.

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ASTEROIDS CAUSE HUGE NUCLEAR-SCALE BLASTS IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE - Some are stronger than the Hiroshima nuclear explosion

Asteroids caused 26 nuclear-scale explosions in the Earth's atmosphere between 2000 and 2013, a new report reveals.

 

Some were more powerful – in one case, dozens of times stronger – than the atom bomb blast that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945 with an energy yield equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT.

 

Most occurred too high in the atmosphere to cause any serious damage on the ground. But the evidence was a sobering reminder of how vulnerable the Earth was to the threat from space scientists said.

NOT IF - BUT WHEN - A LARGE ASTEROID WILL HEAD FOR EARTH AND WREAK HAVOC - Scientists say that so far we've just been lucky

Where major asteroids have hit from 3.5 million years ago till 2013 -  Daily Mail Illustration

Nasa experts have found evidence that large-scale asteroids have struck Earth three to ten times more often over the past decade than previously thought.  The evidence, which will presented by three former Nasa employees, including two astronauts, will reveal the full extent of the explosions which they claim have shaken countries across the world.  At the event, experts will announce that the only thing 'preventing a city-killer size asteroid is blind luck'.

 

The group says that since 2001 it has detected 26 explosions, which it claims are down to asteroids hitting the planet.  The only reason, the group claims, that the explosions have not been in the public eye is because they have taken place in remote locations.  Phys.org revealed that the group, named B612 Foundation, will present its findings at Seattle's Museum of Flight.

 

Read more -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2608420/The-thing-preventing-catastrophe-city-killer-size-asteroid-blind-luck-Nasa-astronauts-reveal-evidence-10-times-large-scale-asteroids-hit-earth-decade-previously-thought.html

 

 

RELATED

 

April 19, 2014 - Meteorite shoots through Russian city at night

Footage has emerged from Russia showing a meteor exploding as it enters the atmosphere and lighting up the night sky.  In the short clip, recorded on a car's dash camera, a bright object can be seen streaking across the sky before breaking into pieces and disappearing.  The scenes are reminiscent of the 2013 Russian meteor which exploded in the sky over Chelyabinsk, shattering glass in nearby buildings and injuring 1,200 people.

 

Read more and see video

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2608450/Incredible-moment-blinding-meteorite-stuns-driver-shoots-Russian-city-night.html

 

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SATURN'S MOON ENCELADUS HAS HUGE OCEAN BENEATH FROZEN SURFACE



Enceladus illusstration NASA-JPL-Caltech

Just a few years ago, scientists discovered that one of Saturn’s moons was violently spewing something far, far into space.

 

That’s a pretty odd discovery on its own, but even stranger were the readings given off by the resulting plume of material: rather than being made of super-heated rock or steam, it was made almost entirely of frozen material.

 

Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth-largest moon, is sending out a 500-kilometre jet of solid granular hydrocarbons and, more importantly, crystals of water ice.

 

The engine behind this massive ejection is thought to be gravitational force exerted by Saturn itself, but that hypothesis relies on the assumption that Enceladus is hiding enormous reserves of liquid water just beneath its frozen surface.

DWARF PLANET CERES IS GUSHING WITH WATER

The round dwarf planet otherwise known as the largest asteroid in the solar system is releasing water vapour at a rate of 13lb (6kg) per second

Observations by the European Space Agency's Herschel telescope suggest it could be coming from geysers or ice volcanoes

GOOGLE SHOWS MYSTERIOUS OBJECT ON THE MOON'S SURFACE - ALIEN SPACECRAFT?

DAILY MAIL - The bizarre triangular anomaly, spotted on Google's map of the moon, has rows of seven light-like dots along its edge that have been likened to an alien base or spaceship.  The two-sided, triangular feature on the lunar surface, was uncovered by paranormal researcher WowForReeel and posted in a new video. It can be found on the Google Moon viewer at coordinates 22042'38.46N and 142034'44.52E.

According to website Tech and Gadget News: 'The gigantic shape actually looks like the leading edge of an immense, triangular space ship, similar to, so far, super secret stealth aircraft technology, but is much larger than any airplane ever built on Earth.

Read more and see pictures - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2541410/What-mystery-object-spotted-Google-Moon-Bizarre-wedge-shaped-craft-appears-lunar-surface.html


This blog suspects it may be a US or Russian piece of spacecraft debris. 


RELATED


Earth surrounded by spacecraft debris - Picture - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/picture-of-space-debris-wherever-humans.html
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MYSTERIOUS ROCK APPEARS ON MOON ROVER'S PATH - WAS NOT THERE BEFORE

A mysterious Martian rock that appeared in front of the Opportunity rover within days has left scientists scratching their heads.

The rover, which landed on Mars in 2004, hasn't moved in over a month as it waits for better weather on the red planet. But a photo taken on Sol 3540 (January 8th, or the 3,540th Martian solar day since the Opportunity rover landed) shows a rock that wasn't visible in previous photos taken on Sol 3536.  One theory claims the rock was stuck in the rover's wheels and fell to its current position

Read more and see picture - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2541383/Mystery-Mars-Rock-suddenly-appears-Opportunity-rover-leaving-scientists-baffled.html


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NASA RELEASES THOUSANDS OF PICTURES FROM APOLLO PROGRAM - A RUEFUL FEELING OF WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

 

Americans look back to their abandoned dream.  After reaching the Moon, they contented themselves with science pastimes at the Space Station. 

 

See newly released photos from the Apollo program here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2528936/One-small-click-man-Nasa-releases-17-000-photos-Apollo-program-including-rare-shots-mission-13.html

 

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Now the Chinese have landed a robotic spacecraft on the Moon, and plan to establish a military base there.   

 

An expert from the China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration Programme Centre told a Chinese newspaper that the moon could be used as a military base from which to fire missiles at the Earth.

 

 

Will China turn the Moon into a Death Star?

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2518665/Does-China-want-turn-moon-DEATH-STAR.html

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SPACE-THEMED WALLPAPERS CHOSEN FOR YOU BY IO9

See the illustrations here - especially chosen for IO9 readers.

http://io9.com/gorgeous-space-wallpapers-to-fill-your-holidays-with-st-1485818163

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HUGE GEYSER ERUPTS IN JUPITER'S MOON EUROPA

 
Could there be life on Europa? Hubble spots 100-mile high jets of water shooting from the surface of Jupiter's icy moon.
 

Scientists have detected two vapour jets appearing for up to seven hours

This proves that water from Europa's ocean can easily reach the surface

Experts believe the moon's ocean may have conditions that can support life

 
Like 'Old Faithful', the famous volcanic geyser in Yellowstone National Park, U.S., the plumes appear to erupt at regular intervals.
 
But while Old Faithful manages around 100 feet, Europa's vapour fountains are thought to reach heights of 124 miles - around 20 times higher than the peak of Mount Everest.
 
Similar plumes have previously been seen on one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus.
 
FACTS ABOUT JUPITER'S MOON EUROPA
 
Jupiter's icy moon Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon.
 
Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is phase locked -- just like Earth's Moon -- so that the same side of Europa faces Jupiter at all times.  However, because Europa orbits in an oval, when it is close to Jupiter the tide is much higher.

It is thought to have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salty water, like Earth.
Unlike on Earth, however, this ocean is deep enough to cover the whole surface of Europa, and being far from the sun, the ocean surface is globally frozen over.
 
Many experts believe the hidden ocean surrounding Europa, warmed by powerful tidal forces caused by Jupiter's gravity, may have conditions favourable to life

Read more and see illustrations - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2523047/Could-life-Europa-Hubble-spots-100-mile-high-jets-water-shooting-surface-Jupiters-icy-moon.html


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PICTURE OF SPACE DEBRIS - WHEREVER HUMANS GO, THEY LEAVE DEBRIS AND POLLUTION BEHIND

 

German photographer Michael Najjar, a "certified civilian astronaut" who has a ticket to go to space on board Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo in 2014, created an image showing all the human debris circling the Earth.

 

He titled the piece "Space Debris I", and created it with the help of the Institute of Aerospace Systems at the Braunschweig University of Technology, the world leading institute for space debris tracking. “Based on a data archive, each spherule in the picture represents a real existing object orbiting in space," Najjar says.

 

Floating debris could also lead to the kinds of problems as depicted in the films Gravity and Mission to Mars, putting the safety of spacecraft at risk.  

See picture here - http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/space-pollution-every-known-piece-space-debris-orbiting-earth.html

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SPECTACULAR PICTURE OF GREAT LAKES FROM SPACE

One fifth of the world's fresh water in one single picture taken by NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg.

 

The world's largest group of freshwater lakes, lakes Superior, Michigan, Erie, Huron and Ontario together contain just over 20% of the world's fresh surface water.

 

That percentage can be a little tough to fathom, but, then again, it's important to remember that there's not nearly as much water on this rock (fresh or otherwise) as many of us assume; Jupiter's moon Europa, for example, which is way smaller than Earth, actually has more of the stuff than we do.

See picture here - http://io9.com/one-fifth-of-the-worlds-fresh-water-in-one-spectacular-1446407718

RELATED

Ontario Power plans to build radioactive waste site one mile from Great Lake Huron.  Radioactive spills onto the lake possible - but nothing to worry about, they say.

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/09/knowingly-setting-up-future-nuclear.html

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/canada/2013/10/1/state-of-mi-legislators-speak-out-against-great-lakes-radioa.html

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/canada/2013/9/28/momentum-building-of-international-opposition-against-opg-du.html

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WEST FUNDING NIGERIAN SPACE PROGRAM

(Daily Mail) - Britain alone is contributing more than one billion pounds in foreign aid for Nigeria. This aid will help fund Nigeria's training program for astronauts that will join American, Chinese or Russian space missions.  Nigeria also plans to  launch its own rockets. 

 

The space program is costing Nigeria millions of dollars.  70% of Nigerians live below the poverty line.

 

Despite Nigeria having the second-highest national income of all African countries, most of its people still live in poverty.  It is also mired in corruption.  The most modest estimates suggest between £2.5 and £5billion is stolen from the state’s coffers every year by corrupt officials and politicians. 

Britain is also spending about £280million a year on aid to India, another country with its own space program.

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2387338/As-Cameron-attacks-Bongo-Bongo-MEP--How-1billion-cash-used-help-Nigeria-join-space-race.html


Backlash in Britain over financial aid to oil-rich Nigeria

Read more -http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2387359/Nigeria-country-corrupt-better-burn-aid-money.html

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Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/08/west-funding-nigerian-space-program.html

 

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MAD SCIENCE NEWS -

REAL IRON MAN SUIT FOR SPACE TO EARTH JUMPING

 

 

This commercial space suit will include rocket boots, reality goggles, power gloves and movement gyros. The RL MARK VI will be ready for testing in 2016, and will enable people to make jumps from near-space, suborbital space, and low Earth orbit.
 

Felix Baumgartner managed to dive from 127,852 feet above the Earth in October 2012. It took him 4 minutes and 19 seconds before he opened his parachute.
 

Read more and see pictures of the suit and of Iron Man in action here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2330170/The-real-life-Iron-Man-suit-let-jump-space-land-WITHOUT-parachute-using-rocket-boots.html

SPACE ISSUES -

 

How to greet a space alien

 

Do you remember the movie "Independence Day"? And that scene when Will Smith punches the alien in the face and says "Welcome to Earth" Yes, I loved that scene too. I would have done the same thing.

But what if the aliens are just parked up there, above us, watching us, waiting, waiting...

 

io9 staff questioned several anthropologists gathered for the annual CONTACT conference about earthlings' etiquette regarding visiting space aliens.
 

One anthropologist said tht if she had to sum up the best ethical response in one word it would be "hospitality." Humans should extend hospitality to the visitors as we would "to any alien entity, including the human variety illegal alien" she added. (Yeah, like the hospitality natives granted to European explorers. Look what it got them. Not a good idea.)
 

Other scientists speculated about the possible modes of communication. 
 

But what if the aliens don't want to communicate? Humans don't try to communicate with animals. They just slaughter them. And to a technologically more advanced species we'd be like cattle or pests to exterminate so that they can get on with the business that brought them over here in the first place.
 

The whole attitude among Contact scientists seems to be an utterly and terminally romantic one. They are still stuck on the movie ET, with the adorable alien.
 

The harsh truth is that the laws of nature are such that species need to compete and impose themselves by taking over territory, either by killing their competitors or chasing them away. 

There is cooperation in nature also, but not when the arriving species wants to take over territory and resources. 

That dominating behavior is widespread all over our planet, no matter whether it's on land or water, among superior animals, microbes or plants, and we should expect that the same laws of life exist in other planets.
 

Call me a warmonger if you want, but if space visitors happens to approach, let's not extend the welcome mat.
 

Read more on the anthropologists' statements and see short video clip of Will Smith punching the alien:

http://io9.com/anthropologists-explain-how-to-approach-aliens-parked-i-474026110

NAZIS PLANNED SPACE SUN GUN

MAD SCIENCE NEWS -

 

THEY PLANNED TO BOIL OCEANS AND BURN CITIES

Their project consisted of a mile-wide mirror placed in space and powered by the sun.  It would be directed from a human-manned space station to reflect the sun's light and heat on enemy targets 

 

The idea was hatched by rocket scientist Hermann Oberth in 1923 and revived by the Nazi regime - one of many secret weapons projects. Documents proving this were retrieved by the Allies in the war aftermath. 
 

See details and pictures here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2302786/The-secret-Nazi-plan-blow-cities-giant-mile-wide-SUN-GUN.html

This is definitely not an April Fool's Day joke. I found previous information on this on the web:
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-third-reichs-diabolical-orbiting-superweapon/ (interesting website too)