CAN PEOPLE GO TO MARS? A new study shows that an 18-month mission to Mars would expose astronauts to more space radiation than NASA shielding technology can handle. Shorter 6-month missions to Moon are "problematic," too. Get the full story from Science@NASA. SPACE STATION FLARES: Lately, a growing number of observers are reporting intense "flares" coming from the International Space Station (ISS). A typical sighting begins with a normal, sedate flyby: The station soars overhead, cutting silently through the stars with no hint that something extraordinary is about to happen. Then, a startling explosion of light boosts the station's luminosity 10-fold or more. Some observers have witnessed flares of magnitude -8 or twenty-five times brighter than Venus. On May 22nd, Dutch amateur astronomer Quintus Oostendorp watched a flare through his backyard telescope. A movie he recorded using his Canon 1000D shows what happened: Click to view a 0.7 MB Quicktime movie The bright flash is sunlight glinting off the station's enormous solar arrays. Earlier this year, on March 20th, astronauts unfurled a new pair of arrays on the space station's starboard side, adding 8000 sq. feet of light-catching surface area to the station's profile. The extra area increases both the chances and the luminosity of flares. "It is a spectacular sight!" says Oostendorp. No one knows when they will happen or how bright they will be. That's what makes the hunt for "space station flares" so much fun. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times--and let the hunt begin! more flares: from Maximilian Teodorescu of Dumitrana, Romania; from Rafael Schmall of Hungary, Somogy, Kaposfo; from Kevin Kell of Yarker, Ontario, Canada; from Martin Gembec of Litice nad Orlici, Czech Republic; from Nicolas Biver of Versailles, France; DANDELION MOON: This week's crescent Moon was so beautiful, artist Sally J. Smith of Wadhams, New York, decided to put a frame around it. "I created a special sculpture for the Moon using reeds and dandelions," she says. "On Monday evening after the wind died down, I set it up and waited for the Moon to emerge from the twilight." When it did, she recorded the view using her Nikon D40: "I did not realize the Moon would be so slender. It was gorgeous and I was so glad the sky opened up and that the wind dropped so I could frame this Moon with the delicate dandies!!" Rewind one day: "The night before, I did a practice set up and allowed the setting sun to illuminate the sculpture," she adds. "The result was a picture I call Ring of Fire (click here). It reminds me of that phase in a solar eclipse just before totality." April 2009 Aurora Gallery [previous Aprils: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002] Explore the Sunspot Cycle |