In order the represent the Universe mathematically, physicists use a handful of constants, such as the speed of light, or the gravitational constant. One called the "fine structure constant", or alpha, helps describe how the forces hold atoms together and interact with light. Researchers recently revealed that alpha might have changed over the history of the Universe, but a new study from the European Southern Observatory refutes this evidence. By studying the light from a distant quasar with a high degree of precision, they found that alpha doesn't seem to have changed over time.

Mark Mortimer reviewed Lost in Space yesterday (read the review), but he had a few more questions to author Greg Klerkx about his opinions about NASA and the impact of space exploration on society. Considering the book was released just before the new Bush Moon/Mars policy was announced, many of Klerkx's insights into the space agency become more relevant as the agency works to implement a return to the Moon. Mark put his questions to Greg, and here's what he had to say...

Scientists consider the discovery of methane in the Martian atmosphere to be one of the strongest indicators of habitable conditions for life. Methane can be produced through both biological and non-biological processes, but it degrades very quickly - it should disappear within 300 years in the Martian atmosphere. So what's producing it? The last period of volcanism seems to be millions of years ago (Olympus Mons was active 100 million years ago). That's doesn't necessarily mean life, though. There could still be volcanic vents gassing methane which haven't been discovered.

When the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft reaches Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it will send down the Philae lander to the surface. Landing on a comet has never been done, and it's as hard to do as it sounds. The lander will need to be able to deal with any kind of surface, from solid ice to fluffy snow. The comet's gravity is very weak, so the spacecraft could bounce off the surface if it descends too quickly. The lander is equipped with pads that spread its weight over a large area to stop it from sinking into powdery snow. It also has a harpoon that will fire as it gets close to stop the lander from drifting back into space. We'll find out if it works in 2014.

The European Space Agency has confirmed reports that Mars Express has measured methane in the Martian atmosphere. The presence of methane - 10 parts per billion - was confirmed using the spacecraft's Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), which can detect the chemical in trace amounts. This isn't a lot of methane, but it has to be produced by some ongoing process such as volcanoes... or by life. The spacecraft will continue to measure the presence of methane in the atmosphere, mapping out the planet to find where it's concentrated. This will help to confirm or rule out volcanic gasses.

Lost In Space, The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age by Greg Klerkx, is a book about space which could have easily been entitled "Space Dreamers versus the Establishment". Of course there is no harm in dreaming and dreams are an essential part of being an abstract thinking human being. However, reality, like an extremely cold shower, can reduce dreams to a ghostly image trapped somewhere in the back of your mind. Greg Klerkx sees his dream of space, a defining element of our species, getting a thorough dousing from both big business and government - and he doesn't like it.

A NASA X-43A prototype scramjet aircraft performed a successful test on Saturday, reaching a top speed of Mach 7. The X-43A was mounted to the front of a Pegasus rocket which was dropped from a B-52 bomber. The rocket carried it to an altitude of 29,000 metres and then the X-43A fired its scramjet for 10 seconds, extinguishing its hydrogen fuel supply. It flew for a few more minutes to record aerodynamic data. Another test flight is scheduled for later this year.

Once Spirit wraps up its observations of Crater Bonneville, it will begin the long journey to reach the Columbia Hills, located 2.3 kilometres away. The trip is likely to take 2-3 months, because the rover will stop along the way to analyze anything of interest; some potential targets are a few smaller craters and some trails left by dust devils. The rover's final task at Bonneville will be to analyze some light-coloured rock on the crater's rim. Spirit has been on the surface of Mars for 12 weeks now.

Space Adventures announced today that Gregory Olsen will be their next private space tourism client. He's expected to launch for the International Space Station on board a Soyuz rocket some time in 2005, maybe before. Dr. Olsen is the head of Princeton-based Sensors Unlimited and paid an estimated $20 million for the trip. Olsen is hoping to do some science while on board the station, testing his company's equipment and performing some experiments on crystal growth; but his main goal is to use the trip to help build enthusiasm for space exploration with young people.

Theorists are working madly to develop the new "Theory of Everything" that will tie together all the forces in the Universe into one unified explanation. Experimenters are also working to come up with ways to test these various theories, and narrow down the ones that actually predict what happens in Nature. One upcoming experiment called LATOR will test how the Sun's gravity bends light emitted by mini-satellites - it will be so precise that many theories will be invalidated if it doesn't find deviations from Einstein's predictions.

The European Space Agency has successfully tested a new tracking system that will allow its new automated cargo ship dock to the International Space Station. The "videometer" (VDM) is a device attached to the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) which uses eye-like sensors to track the position and orientation of the station to dock with it. The device was tested in a 600-metre long building, with the VDM guiding a simulated vehicle approaching a station mockup. It locked on at 313 metres and guided the simulated vehicle into dock perfectly on the first test.

A series of 30 images of Saturn taken by Cassini from February 15-19 have been blended together into a mini-movie that shows 5 complete rotations of the ringed planet. The images were taken using Cassini's 889 nanometer filter, which shows light reflected high in Saturn's atmosphere, so they reveal the highest altitude clouds. Atmospheric motions can clearly be seen in the planet's southern regions.

As you've probably heard, NASA has cancelled a future mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. This means that Hubble will likely stop functioning in the next few years. If you're interested in convincing NASA to continue missions to Hubble, you'll want to contact your member of congress and encourage them to sponsor H. Res 550. Here's the full text of the resolution. Right now there are 41 members of congress who support the resolution, but organizers want to get to 100 to make an impact. They need to sign the resolution by April 1, 2004. You can call your member of congress by calling the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to speak to his or her Legislative Assistant in charge of space policy, and then explain to that person that the congressman should become a cosponsor of H. Res 550.

If you want more Hubble wallpapers, then you need to make the call. :-)

Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today

Researcher Dr. Mike Duke has been working for several years to create a rover that could use lunar dust to create propellant for use by future explorers. Over the course of four years, Duke and his team have created a robotic excavator that can scoop up soil. In the future, this excavator could deliver the soil to a Moon-based extraction system that would process the soil to draw out hydrogen. In a future scenario, propellant created on the Moon could be launched back into space to refill spacecraft relatively inexpensively.

NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory has found unexpectedly large quantities of magnesium in an exploded star called N49B. N49B exploded as a supernova approximately 10,000 years ago, and it seems to have ejected a mass of magnesium equal to the mass of our Sun - this would make the original star 1,000 times larger than the Sun. High concentrations of magnesium usually correspond to high concentrations of oxygen in a star, but this wasn't the case with N49B. So how did the extra magnesium get there?

The spiral shape of the Martian icecaps has puzzled astronomers since they were discovered. No place on Earth, or in the rest of the solar system has this structure. But what causes them? The icecaps are illuminated by the Sun at a low angle, so the light only hits one side of crevices. Some of the ice turns directly to water vapour and floats across the crevice; it refreezes on the part of the crevice in shadow. This slowly moves ice around on the icecap. A researcher from the University of Arizona has created a simulation which matches the observed structure of the Martian icecaps, including the irregularities.

Greece and Luxembourg have been approved to join the European Space Agency; they should become full members of the agency on December 1, 2005. Greece applied to join the agency in October 2003, and Luxembourg in December 2003. The ESA council unanimously accepted their applications. Until their full acceptance, the two countries have been granted observer status, so they can attend ESA meetings and familiarize themselves with procedures and working practices.

The European Space Agency's Envisat satellite took this latest image of the mouth of the Yangtze River; the longest river in Asia, and the third longest river in the world. The image was taken using Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), which is designed to measure ocean colour. This image shows how the Yangtze's sediment discharges into the East China Sea, and colours the coastline.