Tag Archives: NASA

Science and Environment

FICKLE-MINDED ASTRONOMERS: PLUTO REGAINS PLANET STATUS

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imageWASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – A day after its successful flyby, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft sent back the first close-up photos of Pluto. The piano-sized spacecraft traveled nine years and three billion miles to study the dwarf planet and its five moons.

(On Aug. 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union, an organization of professional astronomers, revoked Pluto’s planetary status.)

Since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has been a bit of a puzzle: It’s smaller than any other planet — even smaller than Earth’s moon. It’s dense and rocky, like the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars). However, its nearest neighbors are the gaseous Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). For this reason, many scientists believe that Pluto originated elsewhere in space and got caught in the sun’s gravity.

Some astronomers once theorized that Pluto used to be one of Neptune’s moons. Pluto’s orbit is erratic. The planets in our solar system all orbit the sun in a relatively flat plane. Pluto, however, orbits the sun at a 17-degree angle to this plane. In addition, its orbit is exceptionally elliptical and crosses Neptune’s orbit.

One of its moons, Charon, is about half Pluto’s size. Some astronomers have recommended that the two objects be treated as a binary system rather than a planet and satellite.

But after seeing the new photos of Pluto which revealed a young surface dotted with ice mountains, the astronomers decided to reinstate the dwarf planet’s  full planet status. “If there’s water, there must be life,” the astronomers concluded, ” and Pluto might be the only  planet other than Earth  where life exists.”

The United States is now finalizing a blueprint to be the first to send human beings to Pluto. Expect this human landing in 2024!

Human Interest, International, Politics, Science and Environment, Technology, The Media

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION DISCOVERED ON MARS

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NASA photo captured by Mars Rover
NASA photo captured by Mars Rover

Washington, D.C. – It was the search for weapons of mass destruction that prompted the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.  It was to become the legacy of the administration of George W. Bush. But neither the ‘shock and awe’ that began the Iraq war nor Bush’s speech on board USS Abraham Lincoln with the sign ‘Mission Accomplished’ emblazoned behind him produced any evidence of  WMDs.

Now, it can be revealed that the regime of Saddam Hussein indeed harbored weapons of mass destruction, not hidden anywhere within Iraqi territory, but stashed away on the planet Mars.

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) has released photos taken by one of two rovers on the red planet. The photos showed what appears to be artificial light emanating outward from the planet’s surface, and beamed millions of miles from Mars to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Scientists were quick to speculate that intelligent beings exist in Mars.  However, a confidential memo from the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that the light beam was part of the cache of WMDs which it said Iraq sent to the red planet just weeks prior to the U.S. invasion.

Both NASA and DOD are currently determining whether the WMDs were rocketed to Mars in unmanned spaceships or whether there actually are Iraqis now on Mars who are managing and maintaining the weapons.

 

 

International, Religion, Science and Environment

NASA WARNS OF FLIP IN THE SUN’S MAGNETIC FIELD

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splash3Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) disclosed on its website that “something big is about to happen on the sun,” adding that “according to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun’s vast magnetic field is about to flip.”

Minutes after the announcement was posted, NASA’s phone lines became jammed and several of its servers crashed as people around the world sought answers on how this phenomenon, which happens every 11 years, would impact planet earth.  The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) immediately convened its council members to discuss the NASA announcement, summoning NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Jr. to New York City.

Bolden said that NASA is still assessing the potential impact of the change in polarity of the sun’s magnetic field.  However, he confirmed that the following will definitely occur as a result of this flip:

  • The Continental United States and all of Canada will lose their winter, spring and fall seasons.  Only the summer season will remain for the first half of each year.  The second half will see a hurricane season.
  • Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, Tonga, the Marianas, the Philippines and all other islands in the Pacific will lose their tropical weather and will experience winter for eight months of each year, with the remaining four months bringing fall-like weather
  • California’s tectonic fault lines will even up, practically eliminating any chance of earthquakes
  • Most of Western Europe – but only those countries who are part of the Schengen agreement – will not experience any change in weather or environment
  • Environmental changes in the rest of Europe remains unknown at this point
  • A few countries in the Middle East will see all their desert sand evaporate
  • The rest of the world will see shorter daylights, which will have a heavy toll on their electric consumption

Queried by the UNEP council members if there is anything that countries and governments can do to avert the impending solar flip, Bolden said, “Well, for a start, we  can all implore Pope Francis to lead a universal prayer for a miracle.  He expressed confidence that the Pope can intercede not only on behalf of Catholics but Atheists and all others who belong to different religions.