Boeing is confident to win the lucrative contract to build space taxis for NASA.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Boeing, the Chicago-based aerospace giant, will likely be the winner of the competition to build spacecraft that would take astronauts to and from orbit.

In the past, Boeing has said in that it plans on ferrying people into space aboard its CST-100 crew transportation vehicle.

The space taxi contract is worth more than $3 billion, reported the Seattle Times earlier this week, which added that the first flights under the program may take place as early as 2017.

Boeing's victory would come as a surprise to many, since SpaceX who is also competing, was seen as the preferred candidate, according to the Wall Street Journal, "because of its lower costs and nimbler approach."

The Journal also said that NASA would likely award a smaller contract "as a second source" to the other competing corporations.

Terdiman, Daniel. "Boeing said to win NASA space taxi contract." CNET. N.p., 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.

In April 2014 Scientists government officials, emergency planned, and others got together in Colorado for an annual gathering space weather workshop. The purposes of the workshops are to discuss relevant and potentially dangerous space storms. The members at the meeting were surprised to learn about a large scale solar storm that just missed earth.  

The close call happened in July 2012 when a coronal mass ejection shot out from the sun as fast as 3000 kilometer per second. Researches have concluded that this storm was one of the strongest in logged solar storm history.


If the storm had happened just one week earlier, earth would have been hit, causing severe technological disturbances

There would have been two evident waves of damage associated with the dangerous solar storm. First, X-rays and ultraviolet radiation from the solar flare would have produced radio blackouts and GPS navigation errors.

Secondly, within the next day, magnetized plasma from the CME would have struck earth. Power blackouts could have been devastating, making it difficult to even flush the toilet because most urban areas use electric water pumps.

"I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did," Daniel Baker at the University of Colorado.

Howell, Elizabeth. "Huge Solar Storm of 2012 Would Have Sparked Calamity on
     Earth." Space.com. N.p., Sept. 2014. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.

A finding that could turn supermassive black hole theories on their backs.  

Astronomers have spotted one of this supermassive blackhole. It was found inside a tiny galaxy 157 light-years away and about 500 times smaller than the Milky Way.

The important part  will be to see if the team can find more black holes like it, and that’s something they’re already starting to work on after the discovery inside of galaxy M60-UCD1.

“It’s very much like a pinprick in the sky,” said lead researcher Anil Seth, an astrophysicist at the University of Utah, of M60-UCD1 during an online press briefing Tuesday (Sept. 16).

Seth said that he realized something unique was happening when he saw the plot for stellar motions inside of M60-UCD1, based on statistics from the Gemini North Telescope located in Hawaii.

The stars in the center of the galaxy were orbiting a lot faster than the ones at the edge. He explained that the velocity was unforeseen given the type of stars that are in the galaxy.

“Immediately when I saw the stellar motions map, I knew we were seeing something exciting,” Seth said. “I knew pretty much right away there was an interesting result there.”

His team is set to look at numerous other galaxies such as M60-UCD1, but only seven to eight others would be bright enough from Earth to perform these measurements, he said.

Seth stated that further work will more than likely require a tool such as the impending Thirty-Meter Telescope. Moreover, he has research interests in globular clusters — vast groups of stars — and plans a visit to Hawaii in the next month to pursuit for black holes findings in  these objects as well.

Universe Today. Surprise! Tiny Galaxy Sports A Huge Black Hole, And There Could Be More Like It, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

A finding that could turn supermassive black hole theories on their backs .  

Astronomers have spotted one of this supermassive blackhole. It was found inside a tiny galaxy 157 light-years away and about 500 times smaller than the Milky Way.

The important part  will be to see if the team can find more black holes like it, and that’s something they’re already starting to work on after the discovery inside of galaxy M60-UCD1.

“It’s very much like a pinprick in the sky,” said lead researcher Anil Seth, an astrophysicist at the University of Utah, of M60-UCD1 during an online press briefing Tuesday (Sept. 16).

Seth said that he realized something unique was happening when he saw the plot for stellar motions inside of M60-UCD1, based on statistics from the Gemini North Telescope located in Hawaii.

Universe Today. Surprise! Tiny Galaxy Sports A Huge Black Hole, And There Could Be More Like It, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

Forceful solar flares from the sun this week may intensify the northern lights displays over the coming weekend.

Powerful solar storms erupted solar material, first on Monday (Sept. 8), then again on Wednesday (Sept. 10). During Wednesday's solar flare, the sun unleashed a major X1.6-class flare directly at Earth.

The most intense storm so far has been from Friday night(12th) into Saturday morning,(13th) William Murtagh, program coordinator for the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colorado, said in a teleconference with reporters last week.

It is the solar particles from the earlier solar flare this Monday that amplified auroras on Thursday night.

The Monday flare is ranked as a long-duration class M4.6 and might pump up northern lights displays for skywatchers Murtagh said.

Rao, Joe. "Back-to-Back Sun Storms May Supercharge Earth's Northern Lights."
     Space.com. N.p., 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.

If Scotland stays united with the United Kingdom Scotland could host the first dedicated base for space planes in the country.

The big day is here. For all of us who have been following it, the Scottish independence referendum is tonight, the 18th September 2014.

With the referendum being later today, and the potential for Scotland to leave the United Kingdom, it is important for us to understand, from a perspective on space exploration and research, what would happen if Scotland votes yes, and separates, or if it votes no, and stays.

If Scotland stays united with the United Kingdom Scotland could host the first dedicated base for space planes in the country.

Ministers want to establish the UK spaceport by 2018, only four years away. This would be the first of its kind outside of the US. Eight aerodromes have been accepted by the government and Scotland has six of the accepted potential locations – making it a likely candidate for the base.

The government of Scotland has said that the only thing that would lead to advancement in the space industry is for them to separate and become independent.  

For the space industry, and the ministers, the major interest in a UK spaceport is as a facility capable for satellite launches, and attracting tourist.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander implied that if Scotland does not separate, it can  become a crucial player in the UK government's future plans for developing commercial space travel.

 "I am delighted that the government is pushing forward with its ambitious plans to open a spaceport in the UK by 2018. Spaceports will be key to us opening up the final frontier of commercial space travel.” He said.

"Scotland has a proud association with space exploration. We celebrated Neil Armstrong's Scottish ancestry when he became the first man on the Moon and only last week an amazing Scottish company was responsible for building the UK Space Agency's first satellite.” Explained Alexander.

 "The UK space industry is one of our great success stories and I am sure there will be a role for Scotland to play in the future." He added.

It looks that the stakes are high for tonight’s referendum, of course there are many pros and cons for Scotland to separate, however, if Scotland becomes independent, there will likely not be a new base for space planes, causing the UK’s space program to slow down, and could eventually come to a steady stop. Yet if the do not separate and stay within the United Kingdom, we will see a new base for space planes in Scotland, and an advancement in space travel and exploration. 



"Scotland could be base for spaceport, says UK government." BBC News. N.p., 12 July 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.

  "Saturn's F ring looks fundamentally different from the time of Voyager to the Cassini era," said Robert French, of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. "It makes for an irresistible mystery for us to investigate." [Photos of Saturn's Glorious Rings]

French and his team have a hypothesis that might shed some light on the situation, and it's tied to the number of Saturn "moonlets" found near the F ring.

French’s team suggest that these tiny satellites, which are less than 5 kilometers wide, create bright clumps when they plow into the densest parts of the F ring. Consequently, the drop in bright clumps may indicate a big decrease in the number of moonlets; this would explain the change of look of Saturn’s iconic rings.  

But why would the moonlets be more common in the Voyager era than in the time of Cassini? Researchers believe that it may be due to periodic alignments of Saturn's 135 kilometer long moon Prometheus and the F ring.

Both the F ring and Prometheus lie near Saturn's Roche limit — the orbital distance within which the gas giant's powerful gravity rips small objects apart, as understood by the researchers.

The research team consider that this periodic alignment may lead to a generation of lots of moonlets, which would, in turn, produce many of the mysterious F-ring bright clumps. These clumps would fade over time, the researchers explained, because repeated collisions with ring material would eventually destroy the moonlets.

Wall, Mike. "Saturn's Weird Fast-Changing Ring Baffles Scientists."
     Space.com. N.p., Sept. 2014. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.

New astronaut-led, private spaceflight training program has started a contest to redefine the "right stuff" by giving trips to space in return for the impact those who go can make to the world.

Spaceship Earth Grants (SEG), presented by Star Harbor Space Training Academy, will award one ticket onboard a privately-owned suborbital spacecraft for every 50,000 applications it receives starting Monday (Sept. 15) through the end of the year. As the number of applicants increase, SEG will raise the rate at which spaceflights are awarded (to as high as one in 25,000).

To apply to send yourself into space, see: www.spaceshipearthgrants.com.

The organization, championed by former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin believes that by opening spaceflight to as many people as possible, it has the potential to positively  impact the way we think, and relate to our world.

"Space is thrilling; however, this is not just about creating thrill rides for people," said Melvin, SEG president, a two-time space shuttle astronaut and former NASA associate administrator for education. "There are aspects of spaceflight that can generate shifts in perspective to positively and profoundly influence the way people behave and think about our world." [Now Boarding: Top 10 Private Spaceships]

Pearlman, Robert Z. "Astronaut-Led Group Launches Contest to Send Public to
     Space." Space.com. N.p., 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.

Fortunately, most of it is expected to pass north of Earth, causing a only  week solar storm. Power grids will possibly experience fluctuations, as the plasma would affect the planetary magnetic field, but it poses little danger to those on earth or to anyone in the International Space Station.
On a positive note, the space weather events are likely to trigger colourful aurora borealis!

Image Credit: NASA
"Extreme solar storm approaches Earth." RT. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

More of Anders pictures can be found here:

http://500px.com/photo/83194141/one-boat-by-anders-hanssen
http://500px.com/photo/81560293/sunset-aurora-senja-by-anders-hanssen
http://500px.com/photo/81219633/magnetic-night-by-anders-hanssen