Weekly Space Hangout – May 8, 2015: Emily Rice & Brian Levine from Astronomy on Tap

TL;DR

High school students discover Pulsar, NASA plans Enceladus life search, SpaceX's milestone, and Comet studies advance.

Transcript

foreign for the weekly space hangout I'm Fraser Kane publisher of universe today and this week we're going to be talking about uh SpaceX the progress the crashed progress we're going to be talking about uh life in Enceladus uh NASA's warp drive uh and comets coming this summer but we've also got some special guests so we'll get to that at the end f... Read More

Key Insights

• ✋ High school students can make significant contributions to astronomy, as evidenced by the discovery of a Pulsar.
• 🚨 Enceladus emerges as a compelling target for life detection due to its subsurface ocean and potential hydrothermal vents.
• 🏆 SpaceX continues to achieve milestones in crew safety assurance through successful tests of its escape mechanisms.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did high school students contribute to the discovery of a Pulsar with an extremely wide orbit?

The students participated in a program that allowed them to analyze data and find celestial objects, leading to the discovery of the Pulsar.

Q: What is NASA's plan regarding the search for life on Enceladus, and why is this moon significant?

NASA aims to use flybys to gather data from Enceladus, a moon with suspected subsurface oceans and potential hydrothermal vents, making it conducive to hosting life.

Q: What milestone did SpaceX achieve with its Dragon capsule recently?

SpaceX conducted a successful pad abort test with the Dragon capsule, proving its safety mechanisms for crew escape during a launcher malfunction.

Q: How are comets contributing to astronomical research currently?

The study of comets, such as Q1 Pan-STARRS and G2 Master, provides valuable insights into their orbits, compositions, and behaviors, aiding researchers in understanding these cosmic phenomena better.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• High school students discover a Pulsar with the widest orbit ever in our solar system.

• NASA plans to search for life on Enceladus, Saturn's moon, using flybys and sample missions.

• SpaceX conducts a successful Dragon capsule pad abort test while two comets show promise for future observations.