Errr..not yet. The Soyuz (In-english means Union) TMA-18 spacecraft arrived by train (due to its large body) to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, March, 31, 2010. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 23 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov, Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko and NASA Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson is scheduled for Friday, April 2, 2010 at 12:04 a.m. Eastern. On this mission, both Russia and USA scientists are working together as a team.

Click to Enlarge :O

Source

PARIS – MARKING a further step in the hunt for worlds orbiting other stars, astronomers on Wednesday said they had found a cool planet the size of Jupiter that encircles a sun at searing proximity.

The work is a technical exploit in the field of exoplanets, as planets outside our Solar System are called, they said.

‘This is the first (exoplanet) whose properties we can study in depth,’ said Claire Moutou, one of 60 astronomers who took part in the discovery. ‘It is bound to become a Rosetta Stone in exoplanet research.’ More than 400 exoplanets have been spotted since the first came to light in 1995.

To the disappointment of those dreaming of a home from home, none has yet proved to be a small, rocky, watery world like our own. Instead, most are ‘hot Jupiters’, or huge gassy balls that are so close to their stars that their surfaces can be scorched to a thousand degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) or more.

The new find, named CoRoT-9b after the French orbital telescope that originally spotted it in 2008, takes a little over 95 days to orbit its host star, CoRoT-9, located 1,500 light years away in the constellation of Serpens, the Snake. By comparison, our own Mercury takes 88 days to orbit the Sun.

CoRoT-9b, though, is a gas giant with a mass about 80 per cent that of Jupiter and – compared with other such exoplanets – is relatively temperate, with a surface temperature of between 160 and -20 C (320 and -4 F), according to the research published by the journal Nature. — AFP

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view of the Sun sinking below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera (Pancam) mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover’s 489th Martian day, or sol. Because Mars is farther from the Sun than the Earth is, the Sun appears only about two-thirds the size that it appears in a sunset seen from the Earth. The floor of Gusev crater is visible in the distance, and the Sun is setting behind.

Click to Enlarge :O

Photo Credit: Imgur via NASA

Have you ever wondered the size of our universe? According to an article in BBC News – May 2004, the visible universe is at least 156 billion light years wide and that implies that its radius is half that or 78 billion light years. Still cannot imagine? See the photos below. Earth is too small.

Image Credit: Nasa via Yurock

It has been a NASA dream to see someday they can use a DepthX-like Robot to explore Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter. Being a mechanical-means for deep sea exploration, DeathX has a good design for the scientists to explore a new world for human. Astrobiologists have long suspected that frozen Europa harbors liquid water – making it one of the most probable places in our solar system to support life. A robot like DepthX could eventually be launched into space aboard a probe, descends through Europa’s frozen surface in a bullet-shaped, heat-generating capsule, and be released into the frigid, mysterious waters below. The robot will be smart enough to decide where to go from there to optimize the chance of discovering new life.

How it Works?

1. Moving Towards Life
By monitoring temperature, acidity, oxygen and other gradients, DepthX sniffs for environments most likely to support life and then heads towards sites of biological interest. Along the way, it creates maps of the new world, keeping track of areas already explored and ensuring that It can get back to the capsule to “phone home”.

2. Gathering Evidence
Reaching a promising site – a hydrothermal vent, say – DepthX takes pictures and uses image-processing software to discern patterns of color and shape that indicate microbial life. “if you see yellows, oranges and greens, something is up”.

3. Identifying Aliens
Finally, DepthX takes water samples for microscopic analysis. A machine vision system will look for things that are critter-like. The samples will be dyed so that when illuminated by light, the DNA of the organisms fluoresces.

A satellite called The Chandra X-ray Observatory has been launched by NASA on July 23, 1999. It was named in honor of Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who is known for determining the mass limit for white dwarf stars to become neutron stars. “Chandra” also means “moon” or “luminous” in Sanskrit. Being one of four Great Observatories, Chandra is X-ray sources 100 times fainter compared to other X-ray telescope. Below are some stunning extraterrestrial photo shots done by Chandra X-ray Observatory. You might think it’s just the sky, but some people get really excited about astronomy snapshots and send photo cards like these instead of greeting cards. Hey, it’s only more personal that way, right?

Eagle Nebula

Crab Nebula

Celestial Fireworks

Light Echo

Ant Nebula

Purple Black Hole

Cosmic Drama

Pinwheel Galaxy

Supernova Explosion

Wild and Mild Galaxy

Pulsar Galaxy

Blackhole Overflows

Tycho Supernova

Cat’s Eye Nebula

Jet Power Assortment

Images Resource: Chandra NASA Flickr

I want to introduce you a very talented and creative artist nowadays. His name is Sam Rohn. He has been scouting locations for television commercials, episodic television, feature films, music videos, commercial photographers, event planners, directors, producers, production designers and others since 1992. Generally he obtains film permits, and deal with local film commissions, communities, & police departments, as well as the location owners & neighbors before, during, and after the shoot to ensure his project is a success, and all parties concerned are happy with the outcome. I really admire his art works. Below are the stunning photos made by him.

Sam Rohn Flickr