Samantha Cristoforetti Sets New Records For Longest Stint In Space

Step aside, Sunita Williams. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has set a new record for the longest uninterrupted stint in space by a woman--as well as the longest such stint by any ESA astronaut. Cristoforetti, 38, who is scheduled to return to Earth from the International Space Station on June 11, has been in space since Nov. 23, 2014. When she comes home, she will have spent 200 consecutive days in space. (You can watch the return live here beginning at 9 a.m. EDT.) Williams, a 49-year-old NASA astronaut, previously held the record for the longest uninterrupted stint in space by a woman. She spent 195 days aboard the ISS in 2007. The first Italian woman in space, Cristoforetti originally had been scheduled to return to Earth a month earlier. Her stay aboard the ISS was extended after a Russian cargo spacecraft failed to reach the station. "Looks like it's not time to get my spacesuit ready yet...what a present!" she tweeted after the delay was announced. During her time in space, Cristoforetti has conducted research on weightlessness and sampled the first espresso in space, among other duties. But she's found the time to maintain a high profile on Twitter as @astrosamantha, and is known for posting some pretty spectacular photos. Scroll down to see some of her best. Yesterday @AstroTerry, @AntonAstrey and I spent some quality time in the #Soyuz getting ready for landing! #Futura42 pic.twitter.com/8hw1kZLdMB— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) June 9, 2015 A sinister cloud far on the horizon. #HelloEarth pic.twitter.com/iMj19OjcHL— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) June 4, 2015 Good night from #space. Buona notte dallo spazio. pic.twitter.com/CYxuysrFcK— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) June 4, 2015 Hallo #Torino! That's where many modules of the Space Station were built! #Italy pic.twitter.com/yG4XXtmApT— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) June 1, 2015 Written by Milan school children in their 1st language: #DareToFly! No matter where you're from & where life took U. pic.twitter.com/rWMlvCdNS3— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 31, 2015 A moving night view of #Europe. From #Greece up the Balkans and the Adriatic. Where do you think is that lightning? pic.twitter.com/I9Ez68ZUI9— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 31, 2015 No real nights these days, Sun always close to the horizon. Still, I can see some moon glint on the Adriatic! #taly pic.twitter.com/vozBdmPVPW— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 30, 2015 Good night from #space. Buona notte dallo spazio. pic.twitter.com/GjZFAMc9N9— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 27, 2015 Good night from #space. Buona notte dallo spazio. pic.twitter.com/ZAnEQCQr0F— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 24, 2015 Now #Dragon is at release position. Houston just gave @StationCDRKelly GO for release. Release window opens in 4 min. pic.twitter.com/eaiDROWyUc— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 21, 2015 Hello Bangkok! And a wonderful evening to you all in #Thailand. pic.twitter.com/ig3EI0LsSD— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 19, 2015 Hello #Venice! Ciao Venezia! #Italy #HelloEarth pic.twitter.com/6yHn2A8R9J— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 11, 2015 -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com

Cyprus to Participate in NASA Space Apps Challenge

Cyprus will take part, for the third consecutive year, in the NASA SpaceApps Challenge 2015. The program brings together people of diverse scientific background in an attempt to address engineering issues through specific challenges. According to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), this year’s event will take place in various cities around the world, among which is Limassol. The event in the coastal Cypriot town is scheduled for 4 and 5 April, at the premises of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT). The organizing team of CUT are engineering students Yiannis Papazoglou, Andria Christodoulou, Panayiota Kyriakou, Antigoni Tsiarta, Nicoletta Tsiarta, Giorgos Psaras and Christos Panayiotou who is the representative of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) at the organization committee. In an interview with CNA, the members of the organizing committee noted that the contest is very popular around the world because it provides researchers with a great opportunity to get involved with real missions of the US NASA. The applications created during the Space Apps competitions involve various fields such as planetary exploration, exploitation of resources from asteroids, environmental protection, warnings of weather phenomena, monitoring seismic activity and volcanic activity. More than 200 contestants are expected to participate at the Cypriot event (Limassol SpaceApps Challenge), while the first two winners of the Limassol competition will represent the country at the NASA International Space Apps Challenge. The Cypriot project “MarsSense,” which was the winner of the Space Apps Limassol 2013, was given the second international award in the category People’s Choice Award of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge. The Cypriot team of “MarsSense” was invited in 2014 to the biggest space conference, called Space Ops, which is organized by NASA. Similarly, the Greek project “Popeye on Mars,” which won the Space Apps Challenge Athens 2013, ranked first in the International Space Apps Challenge in the category Best Mission Concept.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Crazy Image Shows What One Of Jupiter's Moons Looks Like Compared To Earth

When compared to giant, gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn, our Earth is tiny. But that doesn't mean we have to feel small all of the time, especially compared to the many moons throughout our solar system. The picture above is of the fourth largest moon in the solar system, Io, placed on top of North America for scale. Io is the closest moon to Jupiter and is one of the most inhospitable places imaginable. Earth's moon, by comparison, is the fifth-largest moon and is nearly the same size as Io. Here's a chart of Earth and the largest moons in our solar system indicating how our planet an moon compare in size. The moon Io might look like a golden sphere, or as John Brady for Astronomy Central describes it as a cheese pizza, but this moon actually gets its yellow-hue from the chemical element, sulfur. Io is the most geologically active object in our solar system and also the driest. Dotting its surface are more than 400 active volcanoes, some of which erupt plumes of sulfur and sulfur dioxide — a toxic gas that has a pungent, rotten odor — so high that they would engulf the International Space Station. But when compared to its parent planet, Jupiter, this spritely moon looks miniscule and harmless. The image of Io that John Brady used to make the comparison picture up top, is a true-color image taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in 1999. The original is shown below. All of the dark pockmarks across the surface are erupting volcanoes. One of Io's famous volcanoes, located just left of center, is Prometheus, which the International Astronomical Union named after the Greek fire god the same year it was discovered in 1979. Over the years, this volcano's lava has flowed and cooled 62 miles away from the eruption site. If you look closely, you can see a lighter-yellow circle surrounding the volcano and a red streak to the right. The light yellow circle is comprised of sulfur dioxide deposits from the volcano while the red is from red sulfur. At room temperatures, sulfur is yellow, but when you heat it to above 392 degrees Fahrenheit, it turns a deep red and adopts a molten consistency. Here's an up-close image of Prometheus taken by Galileo. READ MORE:  Crazy Image Shows What North America Would Look Like On Jupiter CHECK OUT: NASA's Incredible, Futuristic, And Totally Real Plan To Establish A Human Colony On Venus Join the conversation about this story »

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.businessinsider.com

Vangelis Composes Theme for Rosetta Space Mission

Oscar-winning Greek composer Vangelis (Papathanasiou) has been commissioned to write three musical numbers for the Rosetta ESA mission. The European Space Agency made history yesterday by landing the first spacecraft on the surface of a comet. The Philae spacecraft landed twice on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The confirmation was relayed via the Rosetta orbiter to Earth and picked up simultaneously by ESA’s ground station in Malarguee, Argentina and NASA’s station in Madrid, Spain. The signal was immediately confirmed at ESA’s Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, and DLR’s Lander Control Centre in Cologne, both in Germany, according to NASA. The ambitious space mission will now have its own cinematic soundtrack. The ESA commissioned Vangelis to compose three pieces for Rosetta, concluding with “Rosetta’s Waltz” which has just been released. Vangelis is not new to composing space themes as in 2001 he had released the album “Mythodea: Music for the NASA mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey.” Inspired by the NASA mission to Mars, the album and the DVD of the concert at the Temple of Olympian Zeus site in June 2001 had a promotional tie-in with NASA. ESA has quoted him as saying, “Mythology, science and space exploration are subjects that have fascinated me since my early childhood. And they were always connected somehow with the music I write.” The Greek composer won the Oscar for Best Music for “Chariots of Fire” in 1981. A year later, he wrote the score to 1982 sci-fi epic “Blade Runner” that was nominated for BAFTA. Other soundtracks by Vangelis are Antarctica, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Alexander, and the PBS documentary Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan. He also wrote the music for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Watch “Rosetta’s Waltz” here:

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Vangelis Composes Theme for Rosetta Space Mission

Oscar-winning Greek composer Vangelis (Papathanasiou) has been commissioned to write three musical numbers for the Rosetta ESA mission. The European Space Agency made history yesterday by landing the first spacecraft on the surface of a comet. The Philae spacecraft landed twice on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The confirmation was relayed via the Rosetta orbiter to Earth and picked up simultaneously by ESA’s ground station in Malarguee, Argentina and NASA’s station in Madrid, Spain. The signal was immediately confirmed at ESA’s Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, and DLR’s Lander Control Centre in Cologne, both in Germany, according to NASA. The ambitious space mission will now have its own cinematic soundtrack. The ESA commissioned Vangelis to compose three pieces for Rosetta, concluding with “Rosetta’s Waltz” which has just been released. Vangelis is not new to composing space themes as in 2001 he had released the album “Mythodea: Music for the NASA mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey.” Inspired by the NASA mission to Mars, the album and the DVD of the concert at the Temple of Olympian Zeus site in June 2001 had a promotional tie-in with NASA. ESA has quoted him as saying, “Mythology, science and space exploration are subjects that have fascinated me since my early childhood. And they were always connected somehow with the music I write.” The Greek composer won the Oscar for Best Music for “Chariots of Fire” in 1981. A year later, he wrote the score to 1982 sci-fi epic “Blade Runner” that was nominated for BAFTA. Other soundtracks by Vangelis are Antarctica, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Alexander, and the PBS documentary Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan. He also wrote the music for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Watch “Rosetta’s Waltz” here:

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

How To Watch That 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Comet Swing By Mars

A comet will be swinging by Mars this Sunday, and eager astronomers say they're ready for the "once-in a lifetime event." Comet C/2013 A1, or 'Siding Spring' will make its closest approach to Mars at 2:27 p.m. EDT, coming within 87,000 miles of the red planet's surface . That's 16 times closer than any comet has ever come near Earth and less than half the distance from Earth to the moon. “This is a cosmic science gift that could potentially keep on giving, and the agency’s diverse science missions will be in full receive mode,” John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., said in a written statement. “This particular comet has never before entered the inner solar system, so it will provide a fresh source of clues to our solar system's earliest days.” NASA will be tracking the spectacular flyby with a massive fleet of spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes. How can you get in on the fun? With the help of binoculars and telescopes, skywatchers in the U.S. may be able to spot Mars and the comet by looking west and low to the horizon after sunset. The SLOOH Community Observatory will also be broadcasting a live feed of the flyby starting at 2:15 p.m. EDT. Just check it out above. “Our focus is science, not mythology,” Slooh astronomer Bob Berman said in a written statement. "But it is hard to ignore the world’s historical legends when a comet -- traditionally perceived as a sinister omen -- skims past the planet named for war, whose two moons are the Greek words for ‘fear’ and ‘death.’” Happy comet spotting! Animation of Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring / Mars encounter via Near-Earth Object (NEO) office and NASA JPL.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com