1001Messages: 2012-01-22

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Declassified US Spy Satellites from Cold War Land in Ohio

Gambit 1 KH-7 is one of three formerly classified reconnaissance satellites that went on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, starting Jan. 26, 2012.
CREDIT: U.S. Air Force

A trio of once-secret U.S. spy satellites built to look down on the Soviet Union were unveiled in Ohio this week in a rare public display by the United States Air Force.
The vintage reconnaissance satellites joined the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, on Thursday (Jan. 26), and will eventually be installed in a new wing for space relics and other aircraft. The satellites — called KH-7 Gambit 1, the KH-8 Gambit 3 and the KH-9 Hexagon — were officially declassified in September by the National Reconnaissance Office and released for public viewing.

This still from a NASA broadcast shows the Russian Progress 46 spacecraft as it prepared to dock at the International Space Station on Jan. 27, 2012.

CREDIT: NASA TV

A robotic Russian cargo ship pulled up to the International Space Station Friday (Jan. 27), delivering tons of fresh fruit, clothing and other vital supplies for the orbiting lab's six-man crew.
The Progress 46 cargo ship arrived at the space station at about 7:09 p.m. EST (0009 GMT Jan. 28) after a two-day spaceflight that marked Russia's first space mission of the year. The supply ship launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked with the space station as the two spacecraft sailed about 240 miles (386 kilometers) above the northeastern coast of Brazil.

160 Billion Alien Planets May Exist in Our Milky Way Galaxy

This artists’s concept gives an impression of how common planets are around the stars in the Milky Way. A six-year search that surveyed millions of stars using the microlensing technique concluded that planets around stars are the rule rather than the exception.

CREDIT: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Alien planets are incredibly common in our Milky Way galaxy, outnumbering stars by a large margin, a new study suggests.

The latest study on the likely distribution of planets in our galaxy has found that at least 160 billion alien worlds exist in our Milky Way. Astronomers say the survey, based on estimates and computer projects, means that at least 1.6 planets circle each star in our galaxy. See how the alien planet population of our galaxy stacks up in the SPACE.com infographic above.

3 Alien Planets Smaller Than Earth Found

This artist's concept depicts the newfound planetary system KOI-961, which contains three alien planets smaller than Earth. The exoplanets circle their red-dwaf host star at very close distances, so they're likely too hot to host life.

CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech

AUSTIN, Texas - Astronomers have discovered the three smallest alien planets yet, including one that's just the size of Mars.
The alien worlds, detected using publicly available data from NASA's Kepler mission, are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the diameter of Earth, respectively; the smallest one is roughly Mars-size.

On Jan. 11, 2012, astronomers announced the discovery of a miniature solar system made up of three tiny planets - all of them smaller than Earth - in orbit around the red dwarf star KOI-961 about 130 light-years from Earth. The planets are the smallest alien worlds yet discovered and were found using NASA's Kepler space observatory. See how the small alien planets stack up to our own solar system and Jupiter in the SPACE.com infographic above.

Failed Russian Mars Probe Crashes Into Pacific Ocean: Reports

This artist's concept shows fuel from Russia's failed Mars probe Phobos-Grunt burning from a ruptured fuel tank as the spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere.
CREDIT: Michael Carroll

A failed Russian Mars probe came crashing back to Earth Sunday (Jan. 15) in a death plunge over the Pacific Ocean, according to Russian news reports.

'Space Hurricane': Huge Solar Storm Is Pounding Earth Now

by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) at 0327, 0342, and 0412 GMT on January 23 (10:27 p.m., 10:42 p.m. and 11:12 p.m. EST on Jan. 22).
CREDIT: NASA/SDO

by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer

An Air Force photographer snapped this profile view of the X-37B shortly after its landing on Dec. 3, 2010, which marked the end of the secret vehicle's maiden space mission.
CREDIT: USAF/Vandenberg Air Force Base

by Mike Wall, SPACE.com Senior Writer