When you hear the term ‘Hybrid Motor’ you probably think of a low(er) emissions automobile that runs at least partially on some alternative form of fuel, anything other than oil that is. Although that is pretty much what it means to the automotive industry, in the Aerospace field a ‘Hybrid Motor’ is something else entirely.

A Hybrid Rocket Motor is in fact a rocket that gets its propulsion power by producing a chemical reaction using two separate components, one is solid, and the other is Fluid. Typically, a solid inert propellant is used along with a liquid oxidizer. The reaction requires an ignition source to be lit in the presence of both in order to get the party started. What does that actually mean? It’s simple.

Let’s start with the solid component. The solid fuel is cast into what’s called a grain, in a cylindrical shaped casing, with a hole down the middle, called a port. Think of it like a big roll of paper towel. The paper part is the solid fuel, and the hollow interior is the port, which is where the oxidizer is going to flow through. There are several materials that are commonly used to make the solid portion of the fuel: Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB), Polyethylene, Paraffin and various additives. Each fuel composition will giv . . . More

It would seem as though the end of an era is upon us. Tomorrow, will be the last scheduled launch of the NASA Space Shuttle. Or at least, that's what the current plan says. Never know with that Florida weather. Regardless of the date, there is only one mission left in the old bird. After which, NASA will recall it's vehicles, and the shuttle will be retired. For good.



I'm not typically one who cares much about so called historical events. However, I do find myself thinking: 'Awww.. no more shuttle.. Awwww'. Yes, there are 2 'Aww's in there. I'm as surprised as you are.



Being the space nut that I am, I spent much of my childhood day dreaming about what it would be like to take a ride up to space in that thing. So much so, that I in fact became the first person to land on the newly repaved landing strip runway at Cape Canaveral.



It was back in the early 80's. My family and I flew to FL to spend the summer with my grandma. During our stay, we took a road trip up to the Cape, and the eager little toddler that I was got on a facility tour bus with the big kids. My parents came along too. The bus took us all around the complex. No I don't remember any of this, but I do h . . . More

I'm excited about this new finding. Not only because water is a good thing to have in the far reaches of space, but because the new theory of how the water got there came into existence by analyzing new data, and discarding an old theory.

It is so important to remember that everything we think we know about stuff, can be totally turned around when new or additional information becomes available.

Back in 2001, water vapor was discovered in a cloud around a Carbon star named IRC+10216. It is the most studied carbon star to date. A Carbon star has an atmosphere containing more carbon than oxygen. The two elements combine to form carbon monoxide and the reaction continues until all the oxygen is consumed, leaving carbon atoms free to form other carbon compounds. This gives rise to the Carbon star's characteristic red 'sooty' look.

Located roughly 500 light years from Earth, IRC+10216 also known as CW Leonis, is about 4 times as massive as our Sun. Size wise, if placed in the center of our own solar system, it would sprawl out beyond . . . More

This week's guest blogger is Rachana Bhatawdekar. She's a budding astrophysicist currently traveling Europe and Asia. You can find her and a bunch of sciency tweets on twitter as @astrogeek03.

-------------------------------------------

When astronomers look in to deep space they can ‘look-back’ in to time, billions of years. Now I can understand it can take light a while to get here, but how did WE get here, considering we originated in the big bang just like all the stuff created whose light reaches us many years later?

Was the emergence of life unavoidable? Is it the result of a process that would have had to occur sooner or later? Or else is it the outcome of coincidences so improbable that time spans much longer than the age of the Universe would be insufficient to explain it by a random process?

Of course, when one has plenty of time, even the improbable becomes possible. When one plays dice for a very long time, one always ends up by throwing a double six three times in a row.

. . . More

Imagine if everyone on the planet cared about science, knew about science, helped figure out new things, and partook in advancing humanity. A dream? Maybe.

This week, a lucky group of 7th graders did just that! They found a formerly unknown cave on Mars! On MARS! That’s right, a group of 13 yr olds working on a science project at Evergreen Middle School, located in Cottonwood, CA, made this really cool discovery. They got this opportunity thanks to an amazing program called the Mars Student Imaging Program (MSIP). The program allows kids to come up with an interesting geological question about the red planet, and try and answer it. Their science teacher Dennis Mitchell said "The students developed a research project focused on finding the most common locations of lava tubes on Mars." With their question in mind, the kids looked through over 200 pictures taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging system (THEMIS) aboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey Orbiter. They then selected a target location, and got to command the imaging system themselves to take pictures of the Pavonis Mons volcano and surrounding area.

According to Glen Cushing, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist "This pit is certainly new to us, and it is only the second one known to be associated with Pavonis . . . More

This week's guest blogger is Waddell Robey. He has eighteen years of aerospace engineering and management experience and thirty plus years in health and human services research. He is a strong space exploration activist and maintains a steady commentary on Twitter as XiNeutrino and through direct mailings to NASA leadership. He has several blogs devoted to space exploration. His philosophy is that we are here to explore, and in exploring we discover, and in discovering we seek to explain, and in explaining we enrich that which we call science.

Introduce a topic about space elevators within a group of space travel enthusiasts and you will usually get a variety of reactions from eye-rolls, to snickers, to nods of acceptance and interest. Although there is continuing encouragement, especially from NASA, for design research into the total space elevator concept, there remains several critical areas that pose serious barriers. One of the most important and the most challenging to address is the exposure of the space elevator to intense radiation.

Anchored to an ocean platform on the equator and to a geo-synchronous space terminal 100,000 k . . . More

Did you hear the news? It would appear our astronomers have found a planet named Gliese 581g, not too far from us, that according to the data, could possibly sustain life as we know it.

Cool!!! This is very exciting! Of course this does not mean they found life on the planet, or that they even have a way to do so, 'cause they don't at the moment. But it does tell us there are other places in this universe that could potentially be not-too-hostile for life as we know it to exist, and possibly for us to explore/relocate to.

The discovery was made by astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The scientists used data from the HIRES spectrometer at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, and the HARPS at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile to come up with this data.

They looked for evidence of 'wobbles' in the movements of stars to locate new planets. If a star were to move unhindered across the night sky, its path or trajectory would be smooth. But if it were to 'wobble' or make a slight off-tra . . . More