The iconic Canadarm (formerly known as Shuttle Remote Manipulator System) being deployed by the space shuttle Endevour (STS 77) during a 1996 mission conducting Spacelab experiments. In the background is a chance solar starburst pattern. The Canadarm is a “robotic arm” that was designed and built by SPAR Aerospace in Montreal and first delivered to NASA in 1981. Canadarm2 followed this original SRMS system and continues to be used on the International Space Station (ISS). It is now built by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) of Canada.
A couple of days ago ago we talked about three asteroids that had passed by very close to Earth in the short span of a day. Today there were some reports that a small meteoroid had also burned up as a fireball over Yellowknife, Northwest Territories – in the Canadian Arctic. The fireball was photographed by a contingent of Japanese tourists out to view the Aurora Borealis, and was shared on Twitter.
Meteoroid photographed by Yuichi Takasaka over NWT
The meteoroid would have been too small to cause any damage but it apparently turned the night sky blue over that part of the NWT. Another fireball was also seen around New Mexico and it is believed that many more occurred, with some being photographed or recorded by NASA.
Medium coronal mass ejection (M-Class CME) from August 18, 2013
Coronal mass ejection (CME) is the violent release of gas, radiation and magnetic fields, above the Sun’s corona and then often into space. This picture from August 18, 2013 is of a medium solar flare (M-class flare) and the associated coronal mass ejection. The solar flare is the strong bright region while the CME is the plasma streaking out. This picture was taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).
SDO is a mission launched in 2010 to study the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. A CME directed towards Earth could affect affect us greatly. It could cause our planet’s magnetic field to shift suddenly; inducing electricity in large, powerful conductors. This would overload the affected electrical systems and cause massive damage to the critical electricity transformers and other grid infrastructure – with potentially drastic results for mankind.
On Wednesday evening, a massive 100-foot wide Asteroid 2014 DX110 passed between Earth and the Moon, about 346,000 from Earth (0.9 lunar distance). DX110 was tracked by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program (Spaceguard) and several other organizations. Here is a time lapse video of the asteroid from the SLOOH community observatory.
The Catalina sky survey also tracked a smaller asteroid, 2014 EC, about 20 to 30 feet wide and 500 to 600 tons in weight. 2014 RC will fly by much closer (62,000 km) to Earth around 1:21PM (PST) on March 6, 2014. JPL picked up yet another asteroid, 2014 EF, which was a bit smaller and further out than 2014 EC and also passed by Earth yesterday evening. There were some speculative reports that 2014 EF may have entered Earth’s upper atmosphere and broken up over Venezuela, landing into the Pacific Ocean, but this has not been corroborated by NASA or any other organizations. All in all, a very busy couple of days for asteroid hunters.
Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars.
Picture of the Victoria Crater taken by NASA’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The Victoria Crater is found in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars (located at 2.05°S, 5.50°W) and this impact crater measures approximately half a mile across.
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