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gap fillers, Planet X and Martian ice

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Written by staff
Wednesday, 03 August 2005
>mind the gap fillers A spacewalk outside Discovery on Wednesday will mark the first time that NASA astronauts have attempted to make in-flight repairs to a shuttle. Two objects called gap fillers, which are normally in between the heat shield tiles, are protruding somewhat from the heat shield near Discovery’s nose cone, according to the BBC. While only rising about an inch above the surrounding tiles, NASA engineers are concerned about the aerodynamic effects upon re-entry and have decided that a spacewalk to yank out the offending strips of material is necessary. The Canadian robot arm will position an astronaut beneath the shuttle to make the fix. >Planet X A 10th planet, larger and more distant than Pluto, has been discovered in our solar system, according to space.com. 2003 UB313 is three times more distant than Pluto, orbits at an incline of 45 degrees from the rest of the planets, and has a methane ice surface. Many argue that it’s not a planet at all, but just one of many distant objects in the Kuiper Belt. This is complicated by the fact that no clear astronomical definition of “planet” exists. >cool and refreshing Mars Express has found a large water ice patch in a crater near the martian north pole. The ice caps normally seen on Mars are carbon dioxide. The discovery of a large water ice patch at this time of year indicates that the ice survives year-round. There are also traces of ice on the crater rim and crater walls. The crater is roughly 35 kilometers wide.

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