LUTETIA - Huge Asteroid in A Thick Dust Blanket

 Outer Space is still virtually an unknown entity. Every day new worlds are being uncovered as the technology improves. New planets, moons and asteroids are being identified and named on a daily basis, for example, an asteroid named Lutetia. According to the following article, a trip to Lutetia may be very uncomfortable. Read on . . .
     . . . June


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Huge Asteroid Wrapped in Thick Dust Blanket
Yahoo! News:

If astronauts ever visit the asteroid Lutetia, they may have to strap on snowshoes to avoid sinking into its nearly half-mile-thick layer of dust.

Dusty debris shrouds the huge asteroid to a depth of at least 2,000 feet (600 meters), scientists have calculated. The dust probably resembles the regolith found on the moon, and it's a result of the intense cosmic pummeling Lutetia has endured from other space rocks since the birth of the solar system.

'It must have been produced by impacts,' said Rita Schulz of the European Space Agency in a media briefing yesterday (Oct. 4) in Pasadena, Calif. The announcement came at a conference organized by the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Sciences.

The new look at Lutetia, which is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is the result of a close fly-by made by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft in July. Rosetta, whose chief task is chasing down and studying a comet, zoomed to within 1,900 miles (3,162 km) of Lutetia, making it the largest asteroid ever to be visited by a space probe.

Rosetta snapped some detailed photos and probed the space rock from afar with a suite of instruments. The data confirmed that Lutetia is an elongated body with its longest side spanning approximately 81 miles (130 km), ESA officials have said.

But it took some time for scientists to process and analyze much of Rosetta's data. Over the last few months, they scrutinized some of Lutetia's many craters, measuring how deep they are. Researchers then compared that information with predictions of how deep such craters are expected to be based on theoretical models.

The craters were much shallower than researchers had anticipated, Schulz said, because of the thick layer of dusty debris. Indeed, one of Rosetta's most dramatic photos shows a landslide of dust at the bottom of an enormous crater.


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VIRGIN GALACTIC Spaceship Makes First Solo Test Flight

A private spaceship flew its first solo test flight on Oct. 10 from Mojave Air and Space Port in California, according to the following article. Though the craft did not reach space, it was a major milestone for SpaceShipTwo backed by billionaire Richard Branson, establishing the Virgin Galactic firm to offer passengers suborbital treks at $200,000 a seat. Wow! Just like in  the movies!
     . . . June

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Virgin Galactic's Private Spaceship Makes First Solo Glide Flight
Yahoo! News: "SPACE.com Leonard David

A private suborbital spaceship flew its first solo test flight today (Oct. 10) from Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

Though the craft did not reach space, it was a major milestone for the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, which flew in glide mode for some 15 minutes once released from its carrier plane, WhiteKnightTwo, according Bill Deaver, an eye-witness of the test flight.

'It was perfect landing,' Deaver told SPACE.com. 'It looked just spectacular.'

Once released from the huge mothership, two pilots controlled the SpaceShipTwo to a safe runway touchdown

Designed to carry six ticket-holding passengers, the suborbital spaceship is named VSS Enterprise. U.K. billionaire Richard Branson is backing the development of the spaceliner, establishing the Virgin Galactic firm to offer passengers suborbital treks at $200,000 a seat. To date, over 340 people have signed-up for flights to the edge of space
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There has been a steady progression of testing of the vehicles over the last several months. For example, for the first time on July 15, VSS Enterprise flew with crew on board.

The first WhiteKnightTwo, christened VMS Eve after Richard Branson's mother, was revealed to the public for the first time in July 2008 and started its test flight program later that year.

As planned for that test last July, the spaceship remained attached to its carrier plane -- VMS Eve -- for the duration of the flight, and numerous combined vehicle systems tests were conducted. Also in that flight, the two crew members on board VSS Enterprise evaluated all of the spaceship's systems and functions from end to end in the air.

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