First ever image of an Exoplanet!!!

I'm sure some of you heard already, but for those who didn't, there was a major breakthrough in Astronomy last week. Last Thursday, scientist released first ever images of planets outside of our solar system!

Published in the journal Science, four papers detailed many of the techniques used to find these planets. To detect planets, scientists would find the change in brightness of a star and determine if a Jupiter size object in front of the star caused it. That method can only infer that a gas giant is orbiting a star, which they couldn't see because of the brightness.

In the Hubble space telescope image, seen above, astronomers came up with a clever idea to see the planet. They used Hubble's coronagraph, which blocks out the light emitted for the star, to capture a picture of the faint planet.

Although this is a huge breakthrough, the scientists main goal is the find earth-sized planets.

How cool would that be!

Hot Air Balloons in Space?

Sounds like a silly idea, but this might be a reality in terms of studying Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

With the success of Cassini, a space probe that's studied Titan for over 4 years, an astrophysicist named Athena Coustenis is drafting plan to send a hot air balloon, an orbiting satellite, and a surface probe on the mysterious moon. Called the Titan and Saturn System Mission, TSSM, their goal will be to continue where Cassini left off.

Coustenis said that Titan would be a great place to use a balloon because of the atmosphere, which contains a high amount of nitrogen. She, and other scientists, are also believe this method would better discover properties of Titan that may resemble prehistoric Earth. This mission is only in the research stage though, with a possible launch in 10 years.

Team in lunar X-Prize has big plans for future.

Private firm Astrobiotic Technology announced Thursday that it plans to land a rover near the Apollo 11 landing site in May 2010 to win the Google lunar X prize competition. This challenge will award $20 million to the first team to complete all required tasks on the moon. This would seem like a worthy endeavor on its own, but their next plan is even more daring.

After that launch, they plan to launch FIVE more study possible ice deposits on the lunar poles. This will no doubt cost more than what they would get form the competition, but the president of Astrobotic, David Gump, acknowledge that these mission to the poles and other areas would benefit their investors, with all the data gathered from the rovers sent to many customers and researchers with access.

Their first post X prize plans are to send two rovers to NASA's Tranquility base to search for water (more specifically, ice) in 2011 and 2012. Other ice hunting rovers are expected to launch afterwards, with a "moon dozer" to follow past 2013.

It's also worth noting that they have an idea for a rocket to use, *cough, SpaceX!, Cough*

Armadillo Aerospace wins $350,000 in Lunar Lander Contest

For anyone who did not know, the third annual Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge was held October 24-25 at Las Cruces international airport. Handled by the X-prize foundation, this two level, $2 million competition lets anyone build a lander and make it hover in the air and land safely at another location using small rockets. It's part of NASA's Continental Challenges program to develop technology for humans to hop to different areas on the moon's surface.

Teams Armadillo and TrueZerO were the two teams competing this year. In level one, teams had to make their lander travel 50 meters in the air, stay airborne for 90 seconds, travel 50 meters away, and repeat the process within a two and a half period, all remotely I might add.
TrueZerO's lander started off promising, but crashed 18 seconds later. Team Armadillo, with over 3 years of experience, successfully had there lander suspended for 97 seconds, winning the level one prize worth $350,000.

Level two increases the difficulty by requiring the lander to hover twice as long and land on craters, simulating a real lunar landing. TrueZerO was only ready for level one and Armadillo's attempt ended in engine failure.

This still marks a great achievement in the private industry. Armadillos success might inspire other people to get involved also, with Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X-prize foundation, saying " There's still $1.65 million left on the table."

The FAA Approves Rocket Races!

Hey guys, have you watched Sci-fi movies like Star Wars and wondered, "Wouldn't it be cool to see vehicles like that race each other?" If you did, you might what to grab your binoculars because this may become a reality as early as next year!

On Tuesday,the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved rocket-powered aircraft to fly in 20 venues across the United States. They will compete what is called the Rocket Racing League (RRL), which people describe as NASCAR-type race in the air. This is the first time the FAA has allowed such aircraft for exhibition flights.

The RRL formed in 2005 and currently has six teams, each with rocket-powered racers fueled with liquid oxygen and kerosene. The league is also going to use the latest technology, as the video on the RRL's website describes. They have already had great success with their rockets, with a public demonstration flight that took place in September.

This means that we are one step closer to cheering for our favorite team roar pass the finish line at sub-sonic speeds, and I definitely can't wait.

Bungie announces Halo 3 Recon at Tokyo Game Show

At around midnight Eastern time on Wednesday, Bungie revealed a new expansion to the halo series, Halo 3 Recon at the Tokyo game show, an annual event held in Japan. Bungie, the developer of the game, previously released a teaser for this two weeks ago, in which dedicated fans speculated what the game will be about.

From the trailer, fans will notice that you will not play as Master Chief, the protagonist of the other Halo games, but instead an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST). The new game will not continue Halo 3's storyline either, but between Halo 2 and Halo 3, where the prophet entered slipspace over New Mombasa, the city in the trailer (this may be an overload of information, but it would be good to play the games and read the books to get the background information).

This game will set to release in fall 2009, so I'll keep you updated.

SpaceX Owner, Elon Musk, says private sector will play a big role in Space

About a week after his company made their historic launch, Elon Musk said today that private companies will be a major player in space. The Entrepreneur has invested $100 million and six years into SpaceX and is not a bit worried about the risks. They plan to help NASA deliver cargo to the International Space Station by 2010.

This will be a significant change to how private companies work with NASA. Usually they are under contract to build parts for the space agency, with NASA keeping the hardware at the end.
NASA administrator Michael Griffin is very happy for Musk though, saying that the private sector needs to get involved in space. NASA, however, does not plan to fund SpaceX, since they have to focus on creating their own spacecraft.

No matter the outcome, Elon Musk will join the rank of Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Galactic space tourist project, and Robert Bigelow, who wants to create a Private space hotel, as pioneering entrepreneurs in space.