The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has become one of the select few space research bodies to have successfully put its Mars Orbiter Mission (M.O.M.) into orbit of the red planet.

1. This mission, dubbed Mangalyaan (“Mars Craft” in Sanskrit) puts India in the same league as the United States, Europe and Russia as having put a probe into the orbit of Mars.
2. At a cost of just $74 million, the Mangalyann mission cost about 11% of NASA’s Maven mission, which came in at $670 million. It even cost less than the Hollywood movie Gravity ($100 million).
3. Covering a distance of approximately 780 million kilometers, this journey to from Earth to Mars cost India about $0.094 per kilometer – cheaper than cabs in most places on Earth.
4. The ongoing success rate for missions to Mars runs around 40%, with ISRO now being 1 for 1.
5. The 1,350 kilogram payload of the Mars orbiter was launched from Earth by ISRO’s the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
6. The Mars Orbiter Mission will focus its research on the following:

• detecting the presence of methane on Mars
• studying the neutral composition of itse upper atmosphere
• mapping the surface composition and mineralogy of Mars
• and of course, taking pictures of Mars and its surface

This NASA photo includes an interesting cross section of its research aircraft. Starting on the left and going clock wise, the major aircraft are:

Rockwell-MBB X-31 
The Rockwell-Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm X-31 was a test platform designed for validating thrust vectoring engine technology for DARPA, NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Two X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability planes were built and 500 test flights were conducted between 1990-95.

McDonnell Douglas F-15 STOL
The F-15 STOL/MTD (Short Takeoff and Landing/Maneuver Technology Demonstrator) was a modified F-15 Eagle. This technology demonstrator was used by NASA and the US Air Force to study thrust vectoring and maneuverability. The single testbed was later used for the F-15 ACTIVE (Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles) to further study enhanced aircraft maneuverability.

Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”
This super-secretive Mach3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft originated from Lockheed’s famous Skunk Works secret projects program. NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center based out of Edwards Air Force Base in California flew SR-71 Blackbirds between 1992 and 1999, when the “Blackbird” was retired from service.

Convair F-106 Delta Dart
The F-106 was an all-weather-interceptor inducted into service with the USAF in 1959. The drone version of the aircraft (QF-106) was used by NASA in the late 1990s at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California as part of project Eclipse. It demonstrated the ability to tow and launch a reusable launch vehicle from behind the towing airplane.

General Dynamics F-16XL
This cranked-arrow delta wing version of the USAF (and NATO) workhorse F-16 Fighting Falcon was developed to compete in the Enhanced Tactical Fighter requirement of the USAF. After losing out to the F-15E Strike Eagle, the two F-16XL planes were used by NASA to test various flight characteristics and performance measures. One of the prototypes even attained supercruise during NASA testing at Dryden Flight Research Center in California.

X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV)
NASA’s X-38 was conceived as a family of vehicles to be used with the International Space Station (ISS). It included collaboration with the ESA and the German Space Agency (DLR). The wingless lifting body re-entry vehicle conducted  its first test flight in 1999 but the program was cancelled in 2002.

McDonnell Douglas/Boeing X-36
The X-36 was a prototype remotely piloted concept jet, designed to 28% scale of a fighter aircraft. Two prototypes were built and the program, which included NASA’s Ames and Dryden Research Centers, was completed in November 1997 having successfully demonstrated its tailless fighter design. Some additional testing was done in 1998 after which the two sub-scale  technology demonstrator aircraft were shelved.

“It is girdled by a think flat ring, nowhere touching, included to the ecliptic.”

There are four main groups of rings around Saturn lying on the same plane, in-line with the planet’s equator. The rings extend outwards for about 170,000 miles. These rings are separated by distinct gaps and the rings are composed of pieces of ice coated rubble, orbiting the planet. More rings seem to be added over time as we get better data about Saturn. The source of Saturn’s rings are believed to be either the remnants of the original nebular material that formed Saturn or that they are what’s left of its former moon Veritas, which broke up because it came too close to the planet Saturn.

Saturn has been one of the favourite subjects of NASA when it comes to the study of planets in our solar system. There have been five unmanned missions to Saturn and its moons over the years, with some of the recent ones having included partnerships with the European Space Agency (ESA). The Saturn missions include:

• Pioneer 11
• Voyager 1
• Voyager 2
• Huygens (with ESA)
• Cassini (with ESA)

The International Space Station is composed of 15 different modules – seven that are American, five Russian, two Japanese and one European. The ISS provides a unique 800+ cubic meter platform for experiments that cannot be performed anywhere else. With call-sign Alpha, the ISS orbits Earth every 92.85 minutes travelling at a speed of 27,600 km/h. The maximum crew capacity of the International Space Station is 6 with a typical astronaut load of 3. The ISS includes an amateur radio (Ham radio) on board and astronauts use it to communicate on 145.80 (downlink) and 144.49 / 145.20 Mhz (uplink) frequencies with other Hams.

NASA’s main west coast facility is located at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Located in Central California, Vandenberg is preferred for spacecraft requiring a north-south orbit.

Kodiak Island facility is used by NASA for polar launch operations, providing a wide launch azimuth and unobstructed downrange flight path. The Reagan Test Site located in the South Pacific’s Kwajalein Atoll and the Wallops Island flight facility in Virginia are the other specialized NASA space launch facilities.

From an astronomical perspective, almost any total lunar eclipse could be called a blood moon as the moon does tend to turn a coppery-red colour. Historically, full moons of every month have been given names and the full moon in October was called the “Harvest Moon” or “Blood Moon” or “Sanguine Moon”.

The Biblical aspect of the phrase blood moon comes from end of times prophecy where the moon is supposed to turn blood red. As stated in Joel 2:31 –

“The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”

The recent intrigue surrounding blood moons also comes from the fact that over 2014-2015, we will be seeing four total lunar eclipses in a row without any partial eclipses in between which, will be separated by six full moons. This lunar tetrad, is quite rare with only eight that will occur this century and the ones in 2014-2015 will happen to fall  on the Jewish feasts of Passover and Tabernacles – an even rarer phenomenon, having only occurred seven times before.

The last three of these lunar tetrads falling on the Jewish feasts of Passover and Tabernacles ocurred in 1493-94, 1949-50 and 1967-68 and after the lunar tetrad of 2014-15, none are expected for the next five centuries.

In conclusion, every total lunar eclipse could be called a blood moon as the moon tends to turn red in colour. From a historic astronomical perspective, the full moon following the “Harvest Moon” was called the “Hunter’s Moon” or “Blood Moon”.  In Biblical prophecy circles, the upcoming tetrad of lunar eclipses (2014-2015) are also being referred to as blood moons. As it can be seen, this (over) use of the term in multiple contexts can lead to confusion, if not worse outcomes.

We now know that these are not “stars” at all but are instead small bodies of solid materials travelling through space, called meteors. When meteors pass through the Earth’s atmosphere they generate heat because of the friction between air and the meteor’s surface and end up, burning up in a bright fiery train of light.  Most meteors are destroyed/burned up entirely as they enter our atmosphere with some very small particles surviving down to the Earth’s surface. Large meteors surviving the journey through the atmosphere are very rare.

Scientists believe that tens of thousands of meteors pass by Earth with thousands falling onto the surface every day, most ending up in our vast oceans and seas. The source of meteors is likely broken fragments of comets, which can break up into millions of pieces and continue to travel through space as a meteor shower. Meteors associated with comets often appear to travel in a set orbit through space. A meteor that reaches the surface of the Earth intact is called a meteorite.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

In addition to these eight planets, our solar system also has three “Dwarf Planets” or “Minor Planets”. These smaller planets are Ceres, Pluto and Eris. Pluto was classified as a regular planet until 2006 when it was demoted after a formal definition of what was a planet was established by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are composed of solid rock and are classified by the IAU as “terrestrials”. The next four planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – are composed of various gases and are classified as “gas giants”.

The potential benefits of carrying out astronomical observations from space were first suggested in 1923, by the German rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. NASA worked on several initiatives and conducted proof of concept studies in the 1960s and 1970s that formed the basis of the Hubble Space Telescope. By sitting high above Earth’s atmosphere, Hubble can avoid all the background light and distortions that exist for telescopes on even the most remote areas of Earth. As a result, Hubble has provided astronomers and scientists with some amazing high resolution images of our universe. This has given us invaluable insights into how the universe came about, with some deep views into space and time.

Some of Hubble Space Telescope’s many significant contributions to astronomy and other scientific fields include:

• Dark Energy: detection of distant supernova what that tells us about the age of the universe.
• The process by which planets are formed.
• Massive black holes that exist at the centre of almost all galaxies.
• Hubble detected organic molecules outside of our solar system.
• Protoplanetary disks of gas and dust exist around many young stars.
• The origin of gamma ray bursts.

Over the years, Hubble has seen five servicing missions that have corrected problems and made many enhancements to the space telescope. Its most recent upgrade and maintenance occurred in 2009 and Hubble is expected to continue providing its stunning pictures and insights into our universe until 2014-15 (and hopefully beyond). As of 2010, the total cost of Hubble telescope is estimated to have been $10 billion.

We have all seen beautiful sunsets – sometimes in person and often in pictures that are much like the one above. The sun often sets in  a scintillating reddish-orange aura. Why is the the sun red in colour? Even though it may look red to you when it is setting at your location on Earth, it is also looking bright white to those further to your west where it is not setting.  So we know that the sun itself isn’t really red in colour.

The main reason for the change in its colour is the large distance of the Sun (150,000,000 km) from the Earth. As the sun sets, the distance its light must travel through the Earth’s atmosphere also increases. This atmosphere is composed of many gases, water vapour and numerous particles that affect the sunlight passing through. They can scatter the light, which is made up of all colours, in such a way short-wavelength colours (green, blue, violet) are scattered out and they leave more of the red and yellow frequencies for us to see.

On the flip side, during the day the sky looks blue because the red light goes through our atmosphere while the blue and violet waves are scattered by the water vapour, gases and particles – hence visible to our eyes.