What's up around the Universe (& close to home)

A Close Call for Earth

Not so close, but a rare event for scientists, an asteroid the size of a city block went streaking past the Earth. More of a saunter really, it will be along side of us for the next week. A mere 5 million km away from the Earth, it is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid. Of course Asteroids have torpedoed by much closer.

In 2005 YU55 passed within 330,000 km and was the size of an aircraft carrier. When YU55 passed by it was considered a ‘near-miss’. The last time an asteroid was that close was 1976 (1976AU). Of course there are worries regarding a close call. The Earth has had many asteroids end civilizations through out the years so NASA and scientists around the world monitor for incoming rocks.

So ever vigil like a super hero in the dark, the men of science keep their eye to the sky for any close calls for Earth.

The arrival of Mini-Shuttle

After 469 days in orbit the unmanned and reusable shuttle (the X37B) that is a smaller version (only 29 ft. long with a 15 foot wingspan)landed at Vandenberg Airbase in CA.

NASA would not divulge the mission details claiming confidentiality, but the shuttle launches again in the fall on the back of the Atlas V rockets. But it is thought to either have been testing new technologies or completing intelligence operations.

The Alien Under the Sea

Here’s a piece of information I just couldn’t let slide by without a comment. A strange item lies at the bottom of the Baltic. Scientists employed the use of robotic cameras and sonar and finally deep sea divers. Lindberg concedes that it may be an alien spaceship-if aliens made their ships out of Meteor Rock. Apparently it appears to be a disc shaped spaceship on top of a pillar. There are some markings, construction lines, and boxes on it with cracks-between them an as yet unidentified black substance. The “ship” is believed to have crash landed prior to Sweden having built up its coast.

And in closing, I had to share this:

New Photos have made that show an odd development on Mercury. The Messenger in its mission to Mercury has taken pictures of some craters in a configuration that suggests Mickey Mouse. “The shadowing helps define the striking ‘Mickey Mouse’ resemblance, created by the accumulation of craters over Mercury’s long geologic history,” says NASA in the photo description on Flickr.