Chandrayaan-1 uncovers miniature magnetic field on moon, potential site for moonbase

99.vikram

99.vikram

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Well, this has been one fruitful mission!

First ice on the moon, now a magnetic field? Awesome!

This magnetic field could offer some protection from solar winds, reducing the need for shielding on a future moonbase. We're now closer to mining Helium-3 with an army of clones than ever! :bounce:

Article said:
The 224-mile- (360-kilometer-) wide magnetosphere was detected by an instrument on the Indian Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The mini magnetosphere revealed itself by fewer hydrogen atoms scattering off the surface of the moon.
...

The lunar magnetospheres are a lot like those on Mars, said Halekas, except that on Mars they are almost certainly the remnants of a global magnetic field that was created by the planet's core. A molten core dynamo on the moon is a bit less likely, however.

"It's still quite possible that there was a dynamo on the moon," said Halekas.

Another possibility is that the mini-magnetosphere was generated by large impacts on the direct opposite side of the moon.
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Good to see that the Indian space program isn't an entire wash...

But really... does this mean that the core of the moon is spinning too? Maybe it's a little hotter than we thought? Interesting stuff...
 
Good job India.

We need to get our space program up and running: it's been impeded ever since the US told us we can't play with ICBMs or long range missiles.
 
StarBob said:
But really... does this mean that the core of the moon is spinning too? Maybe it's a little hotter than we thought? Interesting stuff...
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Magnetic fields are very weird...

For example, neutron stars retain their magnetic field from their parent stars after supernovae. There are a few reasons for this but seeing as it is made almost entirely of neutrons you'd think it would be impossible for any type of magnetic field to exist. Crazy.
 
At the end of the article they offer some strange explanations and say that the iron core dynamo effect is unlikely. I'd still vote for it just to be special.
 
battlezone 3,this time inda vs china
 
Oh, magnetism is nothing to be toyed with.

It may impair technology usage in the moon base.

Also maybe it is a secret UFO antennae!!!!!
 
Billy Shears said:
Oh, magnetism is nothing to be toyed with.

It may impair technology usage in the moon base.

Also maybe it is a secret UFO antennae!!!!!
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We're talking about a field much weaker than the Earth's. It's perfectly safe, I think. The main advantage is that we can cut down on the weight of the walls we use for artificial structures in that region.
 
15357 said:
Good job India.

We need to get our space program up and running: it's been impeded ever since the US told us we can't play with ICBMs or long range missiles.
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Well stop being America's little bitch.
 
Shyam said:
Well stop being America's little bitch.
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But then who would love us? :(




And overlook our stockpile of chemical weapons? And supply us with Patriot missiles?

Well it certainly ain't you, sheep rapists
 
99.vikram said:
First ice on the moon, now a magnetic field? Awesome!
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It's only a matter of time...

300px-Whaler_on_the_Moon.jpg
 
15357 said:
Well it certainly ain't you, sheep rapists
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You forget I have dual citizenship, I have Indian and New Zealand citizenship.

But yes, I recognise South Korea needs U.S, support. But learn from Israel, they make America their little bitches.
 
this is really interesting news. and could open new doors on future moon hunts and colonization. do you think they found similar results on the other few dozen moons around the other planets??

edit:

Potentially Dangerous Asteroid Spotted Passing Earth
asteroid-2005-YU55-100429-01.jpg

An asteroid on the list of potentially dangerous space rocks that could endanger the Earth was caught on camera as it zoomed past our planet this month, and found to be larger than astronomers originally thought.

The asteroid buzzed the Earth on April 19 and came within 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) of the planet. That's about six times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Astronomers used the planetary radar system on the famed Arecibo radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico to spot the asteroid, called 2005 YU55, over four days starting on April 19. The photo revealed the asteroid as a half-lit space rock flying through the solar system.

"This object is on the list of 'potentially hazardous asteroids' maintained by the Minor Planet Center, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.," Arecibo astronomers said in a statement. [More asteroid photos.]

The astronomers found that the asteroid is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in size – about a quarter-mile (400 meters) long and twice as big as originally thought. The Arecibo telescope's planetary radar system resolved features on the asteroid down to about 25 feet (7.5 meters).

Asteroid 2005 YU55 was first discovered by astronomer Robert McMillan, of the Spacewatch detection team, on Dec. 28, 2005. And this isn't the only chance astronomers will have to study 2005 YU55.

The space rock will be back.

On Nov. 8, 2011, the asteroid will complete another trip around the sun and swing by Earth again just inside the moon's orbit. It should fly by at a distance of 191,120 miles (307,577 km), about eight-tenths the distance between Earth and the moon. The distance from Earth to the moon is on average about 238,900 miles (384,472 km).

The asteroid poses no risk of impacting the Earth when it returns next year, though astronomers will keep watching its path through space.

NASA routinely tracks asteroids and comets that may fly near the Earth with a network of telescopes on the ground and in space. The agency's Near-Earth Object Observations program is responsible for finding potentially dangerous asteroids and studying their orbits to determine if they pose a risk of hitting the Earth.

So far, the program has found about 85 percent of the huge asteroids that fly near Earth, but it hasn't been quite as good at finding rocks that are smaller. The program detected only 15 percent of space rocks that are 460-feet (140-meters) wide and could potentially cause widespread devastation at their impact sites if they hit us, according to a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences.

Only 5 percent of asteroids 164-feet (50-meters) across have been found, the report found. More funding is needed if NASA hopes to reach a Congress-mandated goal of tracking all potentially dangerous space rocks.

President Barack Obama has proposed a budget increase in NASA's asteroid-tracking program that would boost its resources from $3.7 million in 2009 to $20.3 million in 2011. The program received a $2 million increase in 2010 to support the Arecibo telescope.

Obama has also proposed sending astronauts to visit an asteroid by 2025 to study it and gather data that could help astronomers find ways to deflect space rocks before they threaten all life on Earth.

The Arecibo Observatory is part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center which is managed by Cornell University under a deal with the National Science Foundation. Astronomers with Cornell, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and the University of Maine participated in the observing of asteroid 2005 YU55.
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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/potentially-dangerous-asteroid-passes-Earth-100429.html

Wow we just dodged a giant bullet! We really need to get our heads out of our asses and focus on the big stuff. an asteroid this big would literally kill thousands initially and possibly millions in the fallout
 
"You can think of it as kind of a mini umbrella," said Martin Wieser of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, Sweden. "It will be effective for certain kinds of (space) weather."
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They must have some big ass umbrella's in Sweden
 
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