Carnival of Space #285

Introducing the Carnival of Space, as hosted by EverydaySpacer.com!

While Everyday Spacer has been seen on a few Carnival sites, this is the first time we are hosting the Carnival!

“The Carnival is a weekly round-up of space stories from around the internet. If you’ve got a space-related blog, you too can join the Carnival of Space. Email carnivalofspace at gmail dot com to host, share a story you wrote, and to get to know other space bloggers.”
~Brie Allen | Tranquility Base

For the coming week, check back periodically as we add articles from bloggers participating in the Carnival of Space #285 until the CoS #286 publish date.  Click on the links to read the full articles.  Enjoy!

This week’s Carnival…

NASA May Include a European in Manned Flight Around the Moon
Mark Whittington | Examiner.com

…the agreement by the European Space Agency to provide the service module for two upcoming flights of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle will lead to the inclusion of a European astronaut on the second flight, manifested to take four astronauts on a lunar orbital mission no later than 2021.

NASA to Abandon Pad 39-A if it Can’t Find a Commercial Buyer
Mark Whittington | Yahoo News

NASA’s Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center is going to be “abandoned.” While NASA is not planning to make use of the pad, the term may not be true if an agreement for a commercial entity to use it is concluded.

Mark Whittington | Yahoo News

NASA has announced a formal agreement with the European Space Agency to provide a service module for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle that is scheduled to be launched on the Space Launch System in 2017.

Iran to Make Second Attempt to Launch a Monkey Into Space
Mark Whittington | Examiner.com

Iran will make a second attempt to send a monkey into space sometime in February. A previous attempt failed in 2011 for reasons that have not been fully explained.

Episode Six: With Astronomers Without Borders and Brad Snowder
The Cosmic Ray Show

Ray Sanders will be hosting a new episode of The Cosmic Ray show, his late-night science talk show. Scheduled guests are Astronomers without Borders, and astronomer Brad Snowder. The show airs on Jan 23rd at 7:00 PM Pacific on YouTube/Google+

Neon Signs and Shooting Stars
Megan Watzke, Chandra/HTE | Here.  There.  Everywhere.

…it might seem like shooting stars are burning up, they actually glow because of gases being ionized and then electrons recombining with the atoms. This process causes them to emit like, just like a neon sign.

Here,  There & Everywhere.  In Hawley, Pennsylvania
Kim Arcand, Chandra/HTE | Here.  There.  Everywhere.

The Here, There, and Everywhere (HTE) exhibit is currently residing at the Hawley Public Library in Hawley, Pennsylvania. Librarian Jean Kammer reports that the set up of the exhibit and activities went just fine. They are planning on… more

Boeing Presents a Plan for NASA Expeditions to Mars
Mark Whittington | Yahoo News

Boeing has proposed a multi-step humans-to-Mars program that would feature a reusable solar electric-propelled Mars Transfer Vehicle to be deployed by the heavy lift Space Launch System.

Curiosity Finds More Evidence for Watery Past and Prepares to Drill First Rock
Paul Scott Anderson | The Meridiani Journal

Curiosity finds more evidence for watery past and prepares to drill first rock

Dragon Blazes in Light and Color
CritterKeeper | Starry Critters

Explore the bright pockets of color, dark lanes of dark dust and blazing new stars in this image of LHA 120-N 11, or just simply N11, from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Quasar Group is 4 Billion Light Years Wide and is the Largest Structure in the Universe
Brian Wang | Next Big Future

Nextbigfuture – The largest known structure in the universe has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. The large quasar group is 4 billion light years cross. Quasars are the nuclei of galaxies from the early days of the universe that undergo brief periods of extremely high brightness that make them visible across huge distances. These periods are ‘brief’ in astrophysics terms but actually last 10-100 million years. Since 1982 it has been known that quasars tend to group together in clumps or ‘structures’ of surprisingly large sizes, forming large quasar groups or LQGs. The LQG also challenges the Cosmological Principle, the assumption that the universe, when viewed at a sufficiently large scale, looks the same no matter where you are observing it from.

Bigelow Inflatable Module Will be Added to Space Station
Brian Wang | Next Big Future

Nextbigfuture – NASA has awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide a new addition to the International Space Station. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will demonstrate the benefits of this space habitat technology for future exploration and commercial space endeavors.

‘Failed Stars’ May Shine With Alien Aurorae
Ian O’Neill | Discovery News

Brown dwarfs often get a bad rap for being “failed stars” or “sub-stellar objects,” but in light of new research they may finally be known as “over-achieving planets.” Scientists have used a radio antenna array in Europe to detect evidence that some brown dwarfs may glow with powerful aurorae.

Podcast #161: The Quantum Vacuum—or Not
Steve Nerlich | Cheap Astronomy Podcasts

Cheap Astronomy delivers a podcast about… nothing?
Site | List | Transcript

All The Data That FITS
Joe DePasquale | Chandra X-Ray Observatory Blog

This week marks a milestone in the openFITS collection as we’ve nearly doubled the amount of data offered up for curious minds to explore and create their own images. We now offer a collection of 17 data sets covering supernova remnants, galaxies, neutron stars, pulsars, and the supermassive black hole at the center of our very own galaxy, the Milky Way. Additionally, we’ve updated the openFITS overview and tutorials to reflect changes in…

Don’t Tell Bones: Are We One Step Closer to “Beaming Up?”
Jason Major | Universe Today

While we’re still a very long way off from instantly transporting from ship to planet à la Star Trek, scientists are still relentlessly working on the type of quantum technologies that could one day make this sci-fi staple a possibility. Just recently, researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK have reported ways to simplify the instantaneous transmission of quantum information using less “entanglement,” thereby making the process more efficient — as well as less error-prone.

And that concludes Carnival of Space #285.  Thanks to all the participants who are all about action!

Original image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/john-spade/6917115871/