Author Archive for Ian O'Neill
NASA Considers Manned Asteroid Mission
What would happen if we spot a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEO) heading straight for us? Assuming we had enough time, we might be able to pull together a group of brave astronauts (or oil drillers) and send them to the asteroid just in the nick of time to destroy it… oh hold on, that sounds like [...]
Will Mars Astronauts be put in Suspended Animation for the Journey?
Could you handle six months in space with a tiny handful of crew? Keep in mind you'd be doing everything with them, eating, sleeping, chatting, working, waiting, more sleeping, the occasional emergency, more chatting… If you look around your office now, could you really see yourself spending 24/7 with any of those guys for 24 [...]
Digging for Dark Matter: The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) Detector
How do you catch a WIMP? No, I'm not talking about bullying the weakest kid in class, I'm talking about Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (those WIMPs). Well, it isn't easy. Although they are "massive" by definition, they do not interact with the electromagnetic force (via photons) so they cannot be "seen" and they do not [...]
Send Your Name to the Moon
Have you ever dreamt of travelling to the Moon? Unfortunately, for the time being, this will be a privilege only for an elite few astronauts and robotic explorers. But NASA has just released news that you will have the opportunity to send your name to the Moon on board their next big Moon mission, the [...]
Searching for Water and Minerals on Mars – Implications for Colonization
New results from the The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) reveal the mineral composition of the bottom of Chandor Chasma. There is a rich mix of sulfate and pyroxene-containing deposits in this region and the CRISM instrument continues to find deposits of minerals never thought to [...]
Could Jupiter Wreck the Solar System?
Scientists have expressed their concern that the Solar System may not be as stable as it seems. Happily orbiting the Sun, the eight planets (plus Pluto and other minor planets) appear to have a high degree of long-term gravitational stability. But Jupiter has a huge gravitational influence over its siblings, especially the smaller planets. It [...]
