CLUMP: todle je taky nádhera-jak na dlani :)

CLUMP: Namib is an isolated barchan (crescent-shaped) dune which has been observed from orbit to move over time. On sol 1194 (December 16, 2015), Curiosity approached the southern face of the dune, the steep slip face down which sand cascades as the dune marches slowly southward.



Full resolution: http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/4-mars/2015/20151216_23713233831_c3ff5dcf48_o.jpg

Spinnable maps of the major moons are below.

Mapping Saturn’s Moons
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/18/science/space/nasa-cassini-maps-saturns-moons.html

This week, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will make its final flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The spacecraft has spent 11 years orbiting Saturn and studying its 62 moons.

Worth the wait: First public release of Rosetta science camera images of comet 67P | The Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/12161908-worth-the-wait-first-public.html

I have spent a good chunk of the last three days playing with the data, and it's spectacular. Most cameras that have been sent to the outer solar system have detectors that are about 1000 pixels square; the OSIRIS detectors are 2048 by 2048, and breathtaking in their detail.

ESA provides a really cool browse tool that lets you get a feel for what's in the data. You can browse all of the Rosetta data from both OSIRIS science cameras and the Navcam engineering camera at this site. But, geek that I am, I want more information at a glance, so I set out to build my own browse pages to the data.

VIRGO:
SVANC: Jiří Hošek/kosmo.cz cituje ze schváleného zákona:
"Provided further, That, of the amounts provided, $175,000,000 is for an orbiter with a lander to meet the science goals for the Jupiter Europa mission as out-lined in the most recent planetary science decadal survey: Provided further, That the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall use the Space Launch System as the launch vehicle for the Jupiter Europa mission, plan for a launch no later than 2022, and include in the fiscal year 2017 budget the 5-year funding profile necessary to achieve these goals."

Co slibovali, to vykonali :) Šestka osazená, sedmý segment už je na robotickém rameni!



Webcam přímo z kuchyně: http://jwst.nasa.gov/webcam.html

Vůbec za velkou louží teď probíhají slušný řešičky...
Gov’t Officials Pummel ULA and Raytheon for Poor Atlas-V Judgement and GPS III Ground Segment Performance « AmericaSpace
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=89559
Officials with oversight of critical U.S. national security space operations bombarded two key defense
contractors this week with searing criticism for poor judgement and technical incompetence. Those companies are:

United Launch Alliance (ULA) — Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) cited what he called “especially dubious” and “inappropriate tactics” by ULA’s management in its decision
not to compete a Russian RD-180 powered Atlas-V against a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket for the launch of the first GPS-III satellite in 2018. This has ceded the launch to
SpaceX without a formal competition as desired by the U.S. Air Force and Congress. In a Dec. 8 letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Sen. McCain requested that
the Defense Dept. investigate what he called “troubling and specious claims” by ULA.

Raytheon — The San Diego-based company is in charge of developing the “OCX” ground system for the new GPS-III constellation, but a Dec. 4 project review reaffirmed
that critical system is in deep trouble. “The OCX program is a disaster, just a disaster, and it’s embarrassing to have to stand in front of people and try to defend it,
so I won’t,” said USAF Gen. John Hyten, who commands Air Force Space Command. The Pentagon review was held with Frank Kendall, the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition.

SVANC: Koukal jsem včíra v noci, ale ještě to nestihl přeposlat dál,
teď se toho děje strašně moc. Každopádně dobrá zpráva po letech...
NASA gets huge increase in 2016 spending bill | Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/article/nasa-gets-huge-increase-2016-spending-bill
NASA's 2016 Budget Is the Biggest in At Least a Decade - The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/...2/nasa-budget-2016-mars-rover-europa-mission-planetary-science/420912/

Dobrá zpráva :)
Congress Just Gave NASA A Massive Budget For Next Year | IFLScience
http://www.iflscience.com/space/congress-just-gave-nasa-massive-budget-next-year

CLUMP: pokracovani

Curiosity Sol 1194
http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/01194.html

Pluto’s Moon Nix, Half Illuminated
http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/pluto-s-moon-nix-half-illuminated

New Findings from NASA’s New Horizons Shape Understanding of Pluto and its Moons
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/p_leisa_hires_crop_0.jpg

New Horizons science team members are highlighting the latest findings from the Pluto flyby at this week’s American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting in San Francisco. Among the highlights are insights into Pluto’s geology and composition, as well as new details about the unexpected haze in Pluto’s atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind.

“We’re much less than halfway through transmitting data about the Pluto system to Earth, but a wide variety of new scientific results are already emerging,” said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern.



Plne rozliseni: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/p_leisa_hires_crop_0.jpg

V clanku je jeste brutalnejsi pruh: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/p_leisa_hires.jpg

Falcon 9 went vertical yesterday and the teams ran through pad operations. Working towards static fire later today.

VIRGO: 4. března by měl o vulkanismu ve sluneční soustavě přednášet Petr Brož, který se zabývá vulkanismem na Marsu. Už se těším!

Formy vulkanismu ve sluneční soustavě:

Musím se přiznat, že mi ty jednotlivé průlety s razítkem "naposled" nedělaj veselo na duši. Juno bude
chabá záplata - ne ve smyslu vědeckém, ale Jupiter z něj udělá za chvilku řešeto, a bude padla. Za Cassini
budu těžce a dlouho hledat novou partnerku.. :/

Cassini Final "E22" Enceladus Flyby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ZVYpKmQBE


V sobotu před 19h našeho času proběhne poslední blízký průlet kolem Encelada ve vzdálenosti necelých 5 000 km.
Ještě pár přiblížení nás čeká, ale už pouze z větších vzdáleností (min. 4x). Samozřejmě hlavním cílem bude opět
výzkum teplotních mechanizmů vnitřku měsíce a dynamických procesů, které vyvrhují z podpovrchového oceánu částice
ledu a plynu do volného prostoru.