The Wire - Hayabusa sadness, interstellar fungus and a performance by Paul McCartney

Home

News

Home

News

News from Space

Hayabusa sadness, interstellar fungus and a performance by Paul McCartney

| Print |

E-mail

Written by staff
Wednesday, 16 November 2005
>more Hayabusa sadness After problems delayed its first practice-landing on asteroid Itokawa, the Japanese probe Hayabusa is now experiencing further setbacks. On Saturday, Nov. 12, Hayabusa released a small lander named Minerva which was to photograph the asteroid’s surface; however, the lander failed to touch down on the asteroid and instead floated off into space, according to an Associated Press report. All is not lost, yet, as actual landings on the asteroid by the main craft are still scheduled for later in November. >attack of the interstellar fungal symbiotes? On a recent European Space Agency exobiology experiment, two different species of lichen were exposed to full vaccuum outside a spacecraft for 14 days, including all the associated temperature fluctuations and cosmic radiation. Upon return to Earth, the lichen colonies were still alive and capable of photosynthesis. Lichen are almost more like tiny ecosystems than organisms, since a lichen colony is composed of fungal and algal cells bound together in symbiosis. Their remarkable success in space adds credence to “interstellar seed” theories of how life may be able to be transmitted through space. More to the point, exposure to cosmic radiation and subsequent return to Earth is what created the Fantastic Four. >ISS and English Tea On Sunday, Nov. 13 the crew of the International Space Station was treated to a special wake-up serenade from Paul McCartney, who played the special set of “Good Day Sunshine” and “English Tea” from on-stage in Anaheim, Calif. Sounds nice, and now we’re waiting for ours.

< Prev		Next >

dig, dug

After a rough start, the Phoenix Mars Lander is successfully analyzing dirt samples dug up from...

clumping

While the robot arm on the Phoenix Mars Lander has successfully delivered dirt to the lander, at...

scoops and dumps

On June 2, NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft lifted its first scoop of Martian soil as a test of...

greetings from the Martian arctic

On May 25, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander successfully touched down in the Martian arctic in...

now with a pulsating carbon surface

Hidden right in the familiar Big Dipper, astronomers have discovered a new type of white dwarf...

ATV in space enounters rough patch

No, not an All Terrain Vehicle—an Automated Transfer Vehicle, which was launched by the...

and in this corner; taken too literally

and in this corner

Iran has launched a rocket into space from its own space center...

bright comet

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has probed the bright core of Comet 17P/Holmes, which...

extrasolar system

Astronomers have discovered a fifth planet circling 55 Cancri, a star beyond our solar system,...

the goddess who flew to the moon

On Monday, Nov. 5, China’s Chang’e 1 satellite successfully entered lunar orbit, only...

walking; now with more black holes

walking

Space Shuttle astronauts recently completed installing a new solar power...

massive darkness

news from space

we’ll take two
The National Security Space Office has issued a...

the dark side of Iapetus

the dark side of Iapetus

“The side of Iapetus that faces forward in its...

burst; ion power

burst

A recently detected burst of radio waves has stumped scientists, who have...

hollow Mars

NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has discovered entrances to seven possible caves on the...

the Victoria era; the inconvenient polar ice

the Victoria era NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has descended into...

crashing in Kazakhstan

A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying a Japanese communications satellite malfunctioned after...

aqua vitae

aqua vitae

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, while observing a young solar...

galactic dominion

As if detailed satellite maps of the Earth weren’t enough, or a virtual globe that you can...

Music
Seacoast CD bestsellers this week introducing The Buoy in Kittery Foreside; Funky Divas of Gospel and Rock My Soul Deerhunter; Hauschka; The Walkmen; Ocean a royal flush

Film
Student Bodies Quantum of Solace 976-EVIL

Boing Boing

Michael Moore on Bailout of US Auto Makers

Obama might get rid of daylight saving time

Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan MP3s