Daily Archives: April 27, 2016

EmDrive

Posted on April 27, 2016 by jasperluastronomy

One of the greatest difficulties interstellar, or even just interplanetary, travel faces today is the problem of fuel storage. In order to accelerate to fast enough speeds to travel between planets in a reasonable amount of time, as well as to later decelerate, ships would need to hold a tremendous amount of fuel, which would […] Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , | Comments Off on EmDrive

EmDrive

Posted on April 27, 2016 by jasperluastronomy

One of the greatest difficulties interstellar, or even just interplanetary, travel faces today is the problem of fuel storage. In order to accelerate to fast enough speeds to travel between planets in a reasonable amount of time, as well as to later decelerate, ships would need to hold a tremendous amount of fuel, which would […] Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , | Comments Off on EmDrive

EmDrive

Posted on April 27, 2016 by jasperluastronomy

One of the greatest difficulties interstellar, or even just interplanetary, travel faces today is the problem of fuel storage. In order to accelerate to fast enough speeds to travel between planets in a reasonable amount of time, as well as to later decelerate, ships would need to hold a tremendous amount of fuel, which would […] Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , | Comments Off on EmDrive

Signing off, at least for now

Posted on April 27, 2016 by philhawkins221

captain’s blog, Stardate 69786.0 Well friends, this is it. This blog has covered a lot of ground and explored a lot of territory. Topics of discussion include the Cosmic Calendar, the theory of relativity, groundbreaking new research in astrophysics, and aliens. Lots of talking about aliens. But I think the most important thing I’ve learned from […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Signing off, at least for now

Tardigrades

Posted on April 27, 2016 by annamcc9

Tardigrades are amazing extremophiles! They are minute animals that are the only organism proven to withstand the vacuum of space. Recently, thousands of them were attached to a satellite that was spent into space, and were exposed into the vacuum of space to see how they would survive. As they dried out in space, their DNA broke […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, SolarSystem | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Tardigrades

What’s Next?

Posted on April 27, 2016 by OscarBen

Wow. In these last few months, we have gone over the entire cosmic calendar. The last topic of the class, life elsewhere in the universe, covered stuff that hasn’t even happened on this calendar yet. In this class, I really believe I’ve learned a lot of material, rather than memorizing a lot. Studying for this upcoming… More What’s Next? Continue reading →

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on What’s Next?

Is The Drake Equation Useless?

Posted on April 27, 2016 by segalastronomyblog

The Drake Equation is an equation that was developed to help us determine what life exists in our universe beyond planet Earth. In class, we have been doing much work with the Drake Equation, including filling it out ourselves using our own estimates. But…is the Drake Equation useful or even worth our time? If you are […] Continue reading →

Posted in Observables | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Is The Drake Equation Useless?

Vanderbilt Aerospace

Posted on April 27, 2016 by mattsastronomyblog

On the weekend of April 15th, the Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Lab (VADL) traveled to Huntsville, Alabama to compete in NASA’s Student Launch Initiative.  We competed against 40 other colleges and universities.  While in Huntsville, we participated in a rocket fair where we had the opportunity to showcase our rocket as well as learn about rockets […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Space Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Vanderbilt Aerospace

Tardigrade: The Winter Soldier

Posted on April 27, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

Earth’s most resilient organism has once again astounded the scientific community. Tardigrades, also referred to as “waterbears”, have successfully demonstrated the ability to survive deep freezing for decades. In November of 1983 a Japanese research team harvested moss while on an anarctic expedition, contained within this harsh environment (as with many other equally harsh areas) […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Tardigrade: The Winter Soldier

The Future of Humans on Mars

Posted on April 27, 2016 by clharrell

Humans inhabiting Mars has been a much debated topic amongst engineers, astronomers, and scientists for decades. Stories of manned missions to Mars can be found in film, books, and other forms of popular culture. The notion of colonizing Mars is often accompanied by the imminent doom of our home planet. However, in order for a […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Space Travel | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Future of Humans on Mars