Apophis will hit us in 2029

Apophis would pass through a "gravitational keyhole", a specific region in space no more than about 400 meters across that would set up a future impact on 13 April 2036.

Planetary Society is offering a $50,000 prize for the best plan to put a tracking device on or near the asteroid. It is predicted that the comet will change its orbit and might attack us again in 2036. The University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS program is training four powerful digital cameras towards the heavens to watch for the attack. Impact Summary

Its a 5x10¹⁰kg asteroid and has a temperature of -290K. Additional observations through 2006 resulted in Apophis being lowered to Torino Scale 0 on August 6, 2006. NASA astronaut Edward Lu is campaigning for a new space tractor, costing between $200 million and $300 million that would divert this asteroid on a path to slam into Earth by changing the space rock's orbit.

"We're only trying to get a really tiny change in the velocity of the asteroid to prevent an impact," said Lu, a former University of Hawaii solar physicist.

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This time we will live on moon !

Have you ever thought of living on moon ?
" Why Moon ? Because space age lies ahead of us "

Yes ! We are returning to moon by 2020. This time to stay on it .

1.) Human Civilization : Humans would be concocting and exploring the depths of technologies to make this return possible to moon.

2.) Scientific Knowledge : The equipments, instruments and techniques to travel around moon and its various characteristics would be developed by NASA.

3.) Exploration Groundwork : NASA is going to dedicate its team of experts, scientists, researchers and astronauts to plan the voyage back to moon. Shuttle design, Rocket features and planning the whole mission worth billion dollars is the biggest task in facade.

4.) Worldwide partnerships: Lunar Exploration opens the door to new technologies that benefit our society and financial system. It will begin global correlation and mutual associations between various nations participating in the course.

5.) Economic Expansion & Public Engagement : Inhabiting a place other than earth in the solar system certainly opens new avenues of research and resource implementation. It would also give a boost to space tourism and spirit of international cooperation.

Moon turns metric
If you think in pounds and miles instead of kilograms and kilometers, you need to become a little lunar. The whole world is based on metric system except few countries. NASA has agreed to use a single measurement system. This will make the human habitats and vehicles placed on the Moon by different space agencies more compatible with each other. That could come in handy if, say, one agency needs help from another agency's base.

All data will be in compatible units, whether it's scientific data or operational data -- such as how deep should it be drilled to carry out research on moon surface.

Return to Moon
Lastly, return to the Moon gives a very different feeling than the Cold War space race of the 1950s and '60s. This mission would surely bring the nations closer and give a boost to our vision for space exploration.

"The earth is the cradle of mind, but one cannot forever live in a cradle" - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

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Comet McNaught plunging towards sun

HOT COMET: Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is plunging toward the Sun having its closest approach on Jan. 13th. It will be much closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury. The comet will experience fierce heating and it could brighten considerably, emerging from the encounter brighter than a 1st magnitude star.

For the next few mornings, northerners can see Comet McNaught before it disappears into the Sun's glare. It's an easy target for binoculars hanging low in the eastern sky at sunrise. After Jan. 11th, only SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) will be able to track the comet as it angles toward the bright Sun. SOHO images are posted in near-real time on the Internet, so you can watch the comet-sun encounter and see what happens.

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Order it for me !!

Hi !


A very Happy New Year to all the readers. Keeping science apart, lets have some fun..

There are two delectable pictures below. It just awaits conversion into reality. Oh ! I wish it could come out of the screen … “How do you feel after eating a chocolate?”
I just start floating into past sweet memories of fun and leisure when my friends and me used to sit at the last bench and eat chocolates. Of course, the teacher never knew but it was indeed enticing to do all this. The taste fills my heart with alluring thoughts... Just love it !

By the way, how does one feel after eating a chocolate ? Please post your thoughts.

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