I have been fascinated by the China since I was a child. Their civilization has existed for thousands of years. Periodically, they would have a strong leader who would unite the country and provide stability for exploration, innovation and trade. Then their empire would collapse from corruption and civil war or external invasion. After a time, a strong leader would arise to unify the nation and the cycle would repeat.
The height of the Cold War
Star light is forever
The light that stars have emitted is still around in the universe. This forms a cosmic 'fog' that can be utilized by astronomers to determine the space between stars. These types of things make me wonder if we could make use of this light to do the extraordinary think powering time-travel machines.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has been great for understanding space and the universe. It was the Hubble and Keck telescopes that have given great insights into the formation of galaxies. Galaxies take ages to mature and this time span is in the billions of years. Being a space enthusiast for so long, this is actually not news to me.
Space shuttle Endeavour
The space shuttle Endeavour is being transported from LAX to the California Science Center. Crowds are snapping pictures of Endeavor, eager to capture a historic moment as the space shuttle moves through the city at a top speed of 2 mph. It is now the new star in LA moving at a slow pace which is a far cry from the way it used to hurtle through space.
It really seems to make for an out of this world sight. This transport of Endeavour is a huge project costing $10 million with roads and underground utilities being modified to withstand its weight. Everything about Endeavour’s journey has been a once in a lifetime sight starting from its hop-scotch across the country on a Boeing 747 that looked so peculiar.
The satellites around the Earth are going to have come to be very careful as time goes on.
Space debris is the last thing on people’s minds when they watch Satellite TV and look up stuff on their GPS, but using a lot of everyday items such as these will depend on how we take care of the space around us. We don’t want to come to a situation where we are even unable to make a space flight because of the mounting space debris. There is the case of the Chinese blasting their own satellite to show off their anti-satellite capability which has contributed to what has become known as the Kessler Syndrome.
Space agencies are seeing further than ever before and it allows us humans to gather valuable knowledge about the beginnings of the universe. The picture by the Hubble Telescope was assembled utilizing Hubble Telescope views over a decade.
The universe is estimated to have a 13.7 billion-year lifespan and the galaxies in the XDF photo go back as much as 13.2 billion years. The Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3 were used by Hubble to generate this image. Astronomers are now able to examine the universe by seeing into the depths of space and time.
Next month there is a big decision that has to be made in the world of physics with the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded. But appropriately giving credit for the discovery of the "God Particle" is no easy task. There are whole countries that are clamoring for the physics world to recognize their intellectuals and the contributions they have made.
A lot of people have difficulty in comprehending the need for space exploration. Here is a fact I'd like to share: four percent of the United States labor force is comprised of scientists and engineers, but they create jobs for the other 96 percent.
Those in the scientific community recognize the significance of this Higgs boson discovery and marvel at what physicists can do by harnessing the Higgs field. For those of you studying physics, this is a new opening for a job related to what you are studying or have studied.
Since ancient times, people have always dreamt of the Red Planet. When looking at what governments are hoping to do in the future, there is an indication that there could be another space race. This is all very exciting for me, but will it be governments like Japan and Russia that will lead the way or will it be the Americans who will be the pioneers like they always have been?
When looking at the future, you can look at it with a glass half full or half empty. I choose the former and the United States has made strong progress with its $2.5 billion Curiosity Rover mission that a human mission to Mars is being strongly considered by planners and policymakers.
The Voyager 1 was a very exciting project by NASA that has paid big dividends. The images that it has captured has given us so much knowledge over the years. There is still more to come.
The Voyager 1 will be the first ever manmade object to go beyond the Sun's sphere of influence. The heliopause is the region that Voyager 1 will cover in the next two years before moving out into the Milky Way. It will be interesting to see what information Voyager 1 can send back to Earth after having done that.
