Make Your Own Craters

While we're on the subject of lunar impactors, I feel the need to share a fun crater activity with you. This one is very easy and easily adaptable to just about any age audience. The supplies you will need include:

- a large pan or tub (a pie tin could work, as well as a baking pan, but don't use anything breakable)
- flour
- Nestle Nesquik, instant hot chocolate powder, cocoa powder or any other brown powder you can find
- pebbles, marbles, other spheres of varying sizes and masses

First, you'll put a layer of flour at the bottom of your pan. Make it at least half an inch thick, up to an inch if possible. Smooth out your flour. Next, put a thin layer of chocolate powder over the flour so that none of the chocolate shows. Finally, make your craters!
This is the part that you can adapt very easily. You can choose to use the same size/mass object and drop it into the powder from varying heights (or throw it at varying speeds, but dropping from different heights achieves the same result with better accuracy); or you can see what different objects dropped from the same height do. Try throwing your pebbles onto the tray at an angle.
As the objects impact the powder, the flour will come out from under, simulating the way subsurface materials are brought to the surface during an impact event. In addition, the contrast of the white flour and brown powder make it easy to see the impact sites and details.
There are a million variations on this one out there, but the Night Sky Network has a good one available online as part of a suite of activities for LCROSS; you can get the PDF here.

LCROSS (Finally) Launches

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite launched yesterday, after months of delays and with very little media attention. Originally scheduled to launch in October 2008, this mission will crash a 1,000 kg impactor into the moon at over 9,000 km/hr. Then it will fly through the debris and see what came up. (I love these missions that seem to have been conceived by ten year old boys!) The reason for doing this is to determine if there is any subsurface water on the moon, ostensibly to support any future lunar stations or settlements.
Also launching was the LRO, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. With very high resolution imagers on board, LRO will take detailed 3-D images of the surface of the moon in order to identify possible future landing sites, and will even be on the lookout for any of the leftover Apollo equipment we left on the moon.
I'll keep you updated on further developments, and of course let you know when we start seeing 3-D lunar surface images.

June = Moon

June is going to be full of moon stuff, so here are highlights from Momstronomer:

-the launch of LCROSS (the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) with its companion satellite, LRO (the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)

-the end of Kaguya, the Japanese lunar orbiter

-Not one, but two fun moon activities you can try at home

Stay tuned!

Earthrise

You may be familiar with the famous "Earthrise" image taken by Apollo 11 astronauts, in which they see Earth rising from the moon. Well, JAXA (the Japanese version of NASA) has their Kaguya spacecraft orbiting the moon right now, and they took a time lapse of Earth rising with their camera. I did not expect to be quite as moved by the sight of it as I was. Seeing our home world from this perspective is certainly unique. Please enjoy!

Atlantis Launches

I don't always post when the shuttle launches, but in this case I will. Because I was there! That's right; Hubbystronomer, Little Dudestronomer and I headed to Cape Canaveral to see the launch. How was it, you ask? Just as amazing as you imagined. It was really bright and shot up into the sky. It took a few seconds for the deep rumbling the reach us, and then it gave me heart palpitations.

It was so neat to see so many people out for the launch. There was a real spirit of camaraderie as we all waited, and people were even polite on the road afterward. That's the real sign of community.

Now the astronauts aboard will head to the Hubble Space Telescope for some repairs and replacements. It sounds simple, but this will be anything but. I'm sure there will be plenty of news coverage, so stay tuned.

Colbert Gets His Wish

As reported by NASA, Stephen Colbert will have his name on a piece of important space equipment. While it may not be a module of the International Space Station, it will be aboard ISS. Formerly known as T2, the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill will provide astronauts will a much-needed exercise regime that will help keep them healthy in space. Way to go, COLBERT!

National Astronomy Day

I know I've been remiss in my posts of late, but I can't let today pass without reminding you that Saturday, May 2 is International Astronomy Day. Wherever you are, find an event and celebrate this exciting day with your loved ones. If you are in the Santa Barbara area, the Museum of Natural History will be hosting their annual festivities, including live science demos, make-and-take crafts for kids, lots of planetarium shows, a speaker from JPL to talk about a next-generation Mars robot, and a free telescope raffle.
I'll be at the Miami Science Center with Hubbystronomer and Little Dudestronomer. If you're in the area, I'll hope to see you there. If you're elsewhere, make sure to celebrate Astronomy Day!