February 6, 2012

Good Morning,

Russia makes an exciting advance into the thick ice of Antarctica as a drilling project leads them down towards a prehistoric lake, which may harbor new species, ways of life, and strong evidence for life on other planets and moons. Check out the details in the first article.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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Russian drill approaching long-buried lake

MOSCOW - Russian researchers say their drilling project is close to breaching a prehistoric lake trapped deep beneath Antarctica for the last 14 million years. The 20-year-project is about to reach Lake Vostok, the largest in a sub-glacial web of more than 200 lakes hidden beneath 2 1/2 miles of Antarctic ice, WiredUK reported Thursday. The lakes are rich in oxygen with levels 50 times higher than in a typical freshwater lake, believed to be the result of the enormous weight and pressure of the continental ice cap. The conditions in Lake Vostok are thought to be similar to the conditions on Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus, believed to possess a massive saltwater reservoir beneath its icy surface. Finding life in the dark, inhospitable depths of Vostok would strengthen the case for life in the outer solar system, researchers said. Russian engineers said if they are successful in breaching the lake, they plan to send a swimming robot into the lake in the Antarctic summer of 2012 into 2013 to collect water samples and sediments from the bottom.


Treasure trove of species found in Peru

PUERTO MOLDONADO, Peru - A wealth of new, previously undocumented species have been discovered in a protected national park in southeastern Peru, wildlife conservationists say. Fifteen researchers participating in the inventory focusing on plant life, insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles in the Bahuaja Sonene National Park have identified 365 species, a release from the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society said Thursday. "The discovery of even more species in this park underscores the importance of ongoing conservation work in this region," Julie Kunen, WCS Director of Latin America and Caribbean Programs, said. "This park is truly one of the crown jewels of Latin America's impressive network of protected areas." The discoveries included unknown bird species, new bat species, and more than 200 undocumented species of butterflies and moths, the release said. The park contains more than 600 bird, more than 180 mammal, more than 50 reptile and amphibian, 180 fish and 1,300 butterfly species, researchers said. Researches said the study was especially important as the first time research of this scale has been carried out in Bahuaja Sonene National Park since it was created in 1996.


Matter is different outside solar system

GREENBELT, Md. - NASA says a spacecraft gathering data on material outside the solar system found matter out there doesn't look like the same stuff our solar system is made of. NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer methodically measures samples of particles that come into the solar system from far outside, the agency reported in a release Tuesday. And the material from out in the galaxy is different from what exists in our solar system, it said. "We've directly measured four separate types of atoms from interstellar space and the composition just doesn't match up with what we see in the solar system," Eric Christian, mission scientist for IBEX at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said. "IBEX's observations shed a whole new light on the mysterious zone where the solar system ends and interstellar space begins." The data, which show more oxygen atoms exists in the solar system than in the local interstellar space, will affect current models of how our solar system, and life, formed, researchers said. "Our solar system is different than the space right outside it and that suggests two possibilities," David McComas, principal IBEX investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said. "Either the solar system evolved in a separate, more oxygen-rich part of the galaxy than where we currently reside or a great deal of critical, life-giving oxygen lies trapped in interstellar dust grains or ices, unable to move freely throughout space."


SpaceX tests capsule engines

MCGREGOR, Texas - SpaceX says it has successfully test fired its SuperDraco engine, which will provide its Dragon spacecraft with maneuvering and escape capabilities. The private spacecraft company has been conducting further tests since it and NASA announced a delay in the Dragon's intended historic docking with the International Space Station, Forbes reported Thursday. The SuperDraco rocket engine is intended to allow for powerful but pinpoint control for precision flight maneuvers and also provide the ability for astronauts to jettison anytime from a launch rocket in the event of an emergency, the company said. "SuperDraco engines represent the best of cutting edge technology," Elon Musk, SpaceX chief executive and technology officer, said in a statement. "These engines will power a revolutionary launch escape system that will make Dragon the safest spacecraft in history and enable it to land propulsively on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy." The engines are also reusable, moving the Dragon a step closer to a completely reusable spacecraft, he said.


New planet best bet yet for water, life

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - A newly discovered planet orbiting in the habitable zone around a distant star is the best candidate yet observed for supporting life, U.S. astronomers say. Scientists say the planet orbiting the star GJ 667C is the best candidate yet for harboring water, and possibly even life, on its surface, because it sits in the circumstellar region neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist on the planet's surface. "It's the Holy Grail of exoplanet research to find a planet around a star orbiting at the right distance so it's not too close where it would lose all its water and boil away, and not too far where it would all freeze," Steven Vogt, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, told SPACE.com. "It's right smack in the habitable zone -- there's no question or discussion about it. It's not on the edge, it's right in there." The planet, dubbed GJ 667Cc, is at least 4.5 times as massive as Earth, which makes it a so-called super-Earth, researchers said. Its host star is a member of a system of three stars, they said. "The planet is around one star in a triple-star system," Vogt said. "The other stars are pretty far away, but they would look pretty nice in the sky." The discovery could mean potentially habitable alien worlds could exist in more environments than previously thought possible, researchers said. "Statistics tell us we shouldn't have found something this quickly this soon unless there's a lot of them out there," Vogt said. "This tells us there must be an awful lot of these planets out there. It was almost too easy to find, and it happened too quickly."

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