http://www.redorbit.com Space http://www.redorbit.com/modules/news/images/tools/rss_logo.gif http://www.redorbit.com NASA launched a social media experience at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida that quickly turned into an unprecedented world-wide event as more than 100 Twitter users got a unique look inside America's space program and front row seats to the Nov. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789484/nasa_pushing_social_media_experience_to_new_heights/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:35:00 -0500 Space STS-129 Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik wrapped up a successful six-hour, eight-minute spacewalk after completing their scheduled tasks ahead of schedule. Official end of the spacewalk was at 3:39 p.m. EST. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789784/astronauts_complete_second_spacewalk/index.html?source=r_space Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500 Space Launch in February 2010Node 3, one of the three ISS interconnecting modules, will now undergo final activities for a February 2010 launch on Space Shuttle Endeavour together with the European-built Cupola Observation Module, which is already attached to Node 3."Node 3 and Cupola are Europe's final major hardware contributions to the ISS," said Mr Patti. "Once attached to the ISS in February next year, more than one-third of the pressurized ISS elements will have been built in Europe. The ISS is now almost complete and since we were able to add our European Columbus laboratory last year, our scientific and technological utilization program is at full swing and we are looking forward to its results."Cupola to provide stunning view of Earth during robotic control workFollowing the associated remarks and speeches, Mr Patti and Mr Suffredini concluded the handover with the official signing of the Transfer of Ownership agreement for Node 3.The handover of Node 3 completes the final major element of the barter agreement between ESA and NASA signed in Turin on October 8, 1997 under which ESA provided Nodes 2 and 3 plus additional equipment and know-how in return for transportation of the European Columbus Laboratory to the ISS by Space Shuttle. Both Node 2 and the Columbus laboratory have been performing successfully in orbit as key elements of the ISS since October 2007 and February 2008 respectively."Node 3, which follows in the footsteps of Node 2 and Columbus is generally recognized as the most complex pressurized element of the station by the ISS community," says Philippe Deloo, ESA's Project Manager for the Nodes and Cupola."Under ESA's management, Italian company Thales Alenia Space did an outstanding job with Node 3 in showcasing the capabilities in Europe to develop and build space technology. From its early design, this master piece of engineering has now evolved into an extremely complex Space Station module which will accommodate vital environmental support and life support systems for the Station’s crew."Tranquility to provide crucial life support and crew conditioning resourcesNode 3, which was named Tranquility by NASA, will house a variety of systems and equipment covering oxygen generation, air purification and water recovery, as well as avionics equipment to control Node 3; a treadmill and a resistive exercise device to act as conditioning and exercise equipment for the ISS crew; and a Waste and Hygiene Compartment. In addition one of Node 3's docking ports will be used as the connecting point for the Cupola observation module.The Cupola has already been at the Kennedy Space Center since 2004, with its ownership transferred to NASA in 2005. Following Node 3's arrival at the Kennedy Space Center in May 2009, the two European-built ISS elements were mated together in their launch configuration on September 1, 2009.Once on orbit, Node 3 will be connected to the left-hand docking port of the Unity Node 1. Hereafter the Cupola observation module will be moved to the Earth-facing port of Node 3 to provide a robotic control tower for the ISS with a stunning view of Earth for the Station's crew."Node 3 and the Cupola are the final elements of a very challenging assembly phase, which has been a great learning experience for all partners," said Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight."The fact that these modules with such important features were built in Europe says a lot about our industrial know-how and our ability to contribute to this great international project. By having developed several ISS modules and by completing its assembly in the months to come, we will open a new era of cooperation, utilization and exploration that will take humankind back to the Moon and beyond to other destinations while continuing to exploit the enormous possibilities in low Earth orbit."---Image 1: ESA's Cupola was mated to Node 3 in September 2009, and is now ready for launch. The Cupola observation module, which was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in 2004, and whose ownership was transferred to NASA in 2005, will provide an unprecedented capability for external ISS operations as a command tower for robotic operations as well as a stunning view of Earth for the ISS Expedition crews on board the orbiting ISS. Credits: ESAImage 2: Ownership of ESA's Node 3, Tranquility, the final European-built habitable module for the International Space Station (ISS), was transferred from the European Space Agency to NASA on 20 November 2009. Node 3 will now begin final activities prior to its launch to the ISS on the STS-130 mission in February 2010. Credits: ESAImage 3: Node 3 consists of a pressurized cylindrical hull 4.5 m in diameter with a shallow conical section enclosing each end. It is almost 7 m long and will weigh together with the Cupola over 13.5 tons at launch. The pressurized shell of Node 3 is constructed from aluminum alloys. This is covered with a multi-layer insulation blanket for thermal stability and around 75 sections of paneling to act as a protective shield against bombardment from space debris. This paneling is also constructed of an aluminum alloy together with a layer of Kevlar and Nextel. Internal and external secondary structures are used to support the installation of equipment, piping and electrical harnesses. Two water loops (respectively low-temperature and moderate-temperature loops) allow the rejection of the heat generated inside the element to the ISS ammonia lines by means of two heat exchangers mounted on the external side of one end cone. Credits: ESA http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789830/handover_ceremony_paves_way_for_launch_of_final_european_iss/index.html?source=r_space Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:50:00 -0500 Space This image is the first data sent to Earth by the MIRAS instrument on ESA's SMOS satellite, launched on November 2. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789638/first_smos_data_received/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:20:34 -0500 Space Image Caption: The CryoSat mission will provide data to determine the precise rate of change in the thickness of the polar ice sheets and floating sea ice. It is capable of detecting changes as little as 1 cm per year. The information from the CryoSat will lead to a better understanding of how the volume of ice on Earth is changing and, in turn, a better appreciation of how ice and climate are linked. Credits: ESA – P. Carril http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789456/cryosat_launch_campaign_gets_green_light/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:24:38 -0500 Space Actor Dwayne Johnson, usually known for his action and comedic film roles, takes to the stars as an astronaut in a new animated feature that brings important messages about the importance of space exploration and education to those of us here on Earth.Johnson provides the voice of space explorer Chuck Baker in the new Sony family film "Planet 51" and is featured in a series of new public service announcements dealing with education, diversity and NASA "spinoff" technologies. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789467/planet_51_star_brings_nasas_message_of_exploration_down_to/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:25:00 -0500 Space Though it began a little later than planned, the STS-129 crew is awake and starting work on the day’s activities.Their wakeup call came at 3:28 a.m., which gave them 30 extra minutes intended to make up for sleep lost overnight when false depressurization caution alarms sounded on the International Space Station. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1788836/robotics_work_spacewalk_preps_for_shuttle_crew/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:35:00 -0500 Space Image Caption: This side of Earth was facing the Leonid debris stream at the time of the Nov. 17th outburst. Image credit: Danielle Moser of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1788126/meteor_shower_a_mixed_success_for_observers_in_asia/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:10:00 -0500 Space Findings add to evidence for ancient Martian oceanNew research adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting the Red Planet once had an ocean.In a new study, scientists from Northern Illinois University and the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston used an innovative computer program to produce a new and more detailed global map of the valley networks on Mars. The findings indicate the networks are more than twice as extensive (2.3 times longer in total length) as had been previously depicted in the only other planet-wide map of the valleys.Further, regions that are most densely dissected by the valley networks roughly form a belt around the planet between the equator and mid-southern latitudes, consistent with a past climate scenario that included precipitation and the presence of an ocean covering a large portion of Mars' northern hemisphere.Scientists have previously hypothesized that a single ocean existed on ancient Mars, but the issue has been hotly debated."All the evidence gathered by analyzing the valley network on the new map points to a particular climate scenario on early Mars," NIU Geography Professor Wei Luo said. "It would have included rainfall and the existence of an ocean covering most of the northern hemisphere, or about one-third of the planet's surface."Luo and Tomasz Stepinski, a staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, publish their findings in the current issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research — Planets."The presence of more valleys indicates that it most likely rained on ancient Mars, while the global pattern showing this belt of valleys could be explained if there was a big northern ocean," Stepinski said.Valley networks on Mars exhibit some resemblance to river systems on Earth, suggesting the Red Planet was once warmer and wetter than present.But, since the networks were discovered in 1971 by the Mariner 9 spacecraft, scientists have debated whether they were created by erosion from surface water, which would point to a climate with rainfall, or through a process of erosion known as groundwater sapping. Groundwater sapping can occur in cold, dry conditions.The large disparity between river-network densities on Mars and Earth had provided a major argument against the idea that runoff erosion formed the valley networks. But the new mapping study reduces the disparity, indicating some regions of Mars had valley network densities more comparable to those found on Earth."It is now difficult to argue against runoff erosion as the major mechanism of Martian valley network formation," Luo said."When you look at the entire planet, the density of valley dissection on Mars is significantly lower than on Earth," he said. "However, the most densely dissected regions of Mars have densities comparable to terrestrial values."The relatively high values over extended regions indicate the valleys originated by means of precipitation-fed runoff erosion—the same process that is responsible for formation of the bulk of valleys on our planet," he added.The researchers created an updated planet-wide map of the valley networks by using a computer algorithm that parses topographic data from NASA satellites and recognizes valleys by their U-shaped topographic signature. The computer-generated map was visually inspected and edited with help from NIU graduate students Yi Qi and Bartosz Grudzinski to produce the final updated map."The only other global map of the valley networks was produced in the 1990s by looking at images and drawing on top of them, so it was fairly incomplete and it was not correctly registered with current datum," Stepinski said. "Our map was created semi-automatically, with the computer algorithm working from topographical data to extract the valley networks. It is more complete, and shows many more valley networks."Stepinski developed the algorithms used in the mapping."The basic idea behind our method is to flag landforms having a U-shaped structure that is characteristic of the valleys," Stepinski added. "The valleys are mapped only where they are seen by the algorithm."The Martian surface is characterized by lowlands located mostly in the northern hemisphere and highlands located mostly in the southern hemisphere. Given this topography, water would accumulate in the northern hemisphere, where surface elevations are lower than the rest of the planet, thus forming an ocean, the researchers said."Such a single-ocean planet would have an arid continental-type climate over most of its land surfaces," Luo said.The northern-ocean scenario meshes with a number of other characteristics of the valley networks."A single ocean in the northern hemisphere would explain why there is a southern limit to the presence of valley networks," Luo added. "The southernmost regions of Mars, located farthest from the water reservoir, would get little rainfall and would develop no valleys. This would also explain why the valleys become shallower as you go from north to south, which is the case."Rain would be mostly restricted to the area over the ocean and to the land surfaces in the immediate vicinity, which correlates with the belt-like pattern of valley dissection seen in our new map," Luo said.The research was funded by NASA.---Image 1: A zoomed-in area comparing the old map of valley networks and the new one. (Left) A satellite image, with color indicating elevation; (center) the old map of valley networks; (right) the new map of valley networks. Credit: Wei Luo, Northern Illinois UniversityImage 2: This is a global map depicting the dissection density of valley networks on Mars, in relation to the hypothesized northern ocean. Two candidate sea levels are shown: contact 1 with mean elevation at -1,680 meters and contact 2 with mean elevation of -3,760 meters. Credit: Wei Luo, Northern Illinois University http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1790095/computer_map_shows_more_extensive_valley_network_on_mars/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:45:00 -0500 Space The combined 12-member crew of Atlantis and the International Space Station will move the last of this mission’s spare hardware during the third and final spacewalk today.Mission Specialists Randy Bresnik and Robert Satcher Jr. are scheduled to begin their six hour spacewalk at 6:18 a.m. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789882/final_spacewalk_preparations_for_crew/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:10:46 -0500 Space Russian cosmonaut and spaceship designer Konstantin Feoktistov has died at the age of 83, Roscosmos said in a statement on Sunday.Feoktistov passed away on Saturday. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789877/russian_astronaut_feoktistov_passes_away/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:40:00 -0500 Space Image Caption: Astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh (left), STS-129 commander; and Robert L. Satcher Jr., mission specialist, are pictured near a window in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Atlantis remains docked with the station. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789811/astronauts_relax_before_preparing_for_3rd_spacewalk/index.html?source=r_space Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:45:00 -0500 Space NASA's Centennial Challenges program awarded $350,000 this week to a pair of designers who developed concepts for more flexible space gloves that could make it easier for astronauts to perform tasks.The 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge awarded a first place prize of $250,000 to Peter Homer of Southwest Harbor, Maine, and a second place prize of $100,000 to Ted Southern of Brooklyn, N.Y. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789665/nasa_awards_350000_to_winning_astronaut_glove_designers/index.html?source=r_space Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:55:00 -0500 Space Image 1: This image of the central parts of Centaurus A reveals the parallelogram-shaped remains of a smaller galaxy that was gulped down about 200 to 700 million years ago. The image is based on data collected with the SOFI instrument on ESO’s New Technology Telescope at La Silla. The original image, obtained by observing in the near-infrared through three different filters (J, H and K) was specially processed to look through the dust, providing a clear view of the center. The field of view is about 4 x 4 arcminutes. Credit: ESO/Y. BeletskyImage 2: Comparison between a visible-light image (left) of Centaurus A, as seen with the Wide-Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, and a near-infrared view (right) obtained with the SOFI instrument on ESO’s New Technology Telescope, also at La Silla. Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is the nearest giant, elliptical galaxy, at a distance of about 12 million light-years. Between 200 and 700 million years ago, this galaxy is believed to have consumed a smaller spiral, gas-rich galaxy — the contents of which appear to be churning inside Centaurus A’s core, triggering new generations of star birth. The SOFI image was specially processed to look through the dust, providing a clear view of the center and revealing a previously unknown ring of stars and clusters. The field of view is about 4 x 4 arcminutes. Credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789448/cannibal_galaxys_last_meal/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:28:03 -0500 Space Image 1: In this illustration, the multicolored (blue and green) bubble represents the new measurements of the emission of particles known as energetic neutral atoms. Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL Image 2: NASA's Cassini spacecraft created this image of the bubble around our solar system based on emissions of particles known as energetic neutral atoms. Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789446/cassini_the_view_from_the_center_of_our_solar_system/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:10:29 -0500 Space Footnotes:[1] The veil of water vapor enveloping Earth acts like an invisible "brick wall" to the infrared energy from cosmic objects, absorbing most all of it. The energy journeys millions of light years only to be stopped by our planet's atmosphere within 5 miles of reaching us. SOFIA solves this problem by viewing the heavens from "above the veil" – something ground-based scopes can’t do. Like SOFIA, space-based telescopes collect the infrared energy before it reaches Earth.[2] SOFIA has an exceptional ability to finely separate out and distinguish different infrared wavelengths, allowing it to capture these spectra.---More information:* SOFIA is a joint program between NASA and the German Space Agency, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt, Bonn, Germany. The SOFIA program is managed by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.; the aircraft is based at the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility, Palmdale, Calif. NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., manages the SOFIA science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, Md., and the Deutsches SOFIA Institute, Stuttgart, Germany.* Plans are in the works for writers and teachers to be invited to join scientists with SOFIA up where the air is thin.* How do you keep a telescope still enough to point accurately and stay "on point" in a moving airplane? "First, SOFIA's plane will fly in the relatively stable stratosphere," says Marcum. "Also, we have a clever vibration isolation system. The mirror is mechanically isolated from the plane. Shock absorbers, serving the same purpose as those found in a automobile, surround the giant bearing that bears the telescope's weight, isolating the mirror from vibration in all directions." ---Image 1: NASA's SOFIA infrared observatory 747SP overflies its home, the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. Credit: NASA/Jim Ross.Image 2: (Left) SOFIA's 2.5-meter infrared telescope peers out from its cavity in the rear fuselage. (Right) A close-up of the German-built telescope assembly. Photo credit: NASA/Tom Tschida.Image 3: An artist's concept of a protoplanetary disk where young planets are being born. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Image 4:  To illustrate how infrared sensors can see things the human eye cannot, Marcum offers these white light vs. IR images of a warm-blooded dog and a cold-blooded lizard. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789335/sofia_seeks_secrets_of_planetary_birth/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:30:00 -0500 Space NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite rocketed into Earth orbit on Nov. 18, 1989, and quickly revolutionized our understanding of the early cosmos. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1788119/cobe_marks_20th_anniversary/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:55:00 -0500 Space Two key instruments from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have a new home in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington after being returned to Earth aboard space shuttle Atlantis last May.Astronauts brought back the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, or WFPC-2, and the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, or COSTAR, after more than 15 years in space. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1787877/nasa_provides_hubble_hardware_to_smithsonian/index.html?source=r_space Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:15:00 -0500 Space NASA's revolutionary planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has been honored with the 2009 Best of What's New Grand Award from Popular Science Magazine and a 2009 Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics Magazine."The Kepler Space Telescope is a stunning new tool that has a very targeted mission: studying planetary systems," the Popular Mechanics magazine editors wrote in recognizing Kepler. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789455/science_magazines_honor_cuttingedge_nasa_programs/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:16:59 -0500 Space Image Caption: The site of a ground station for Galileo, Europe's global navigation satellite system, inside the Guiana Space Centre (CSG), near Kourou in French Guiana, was inaugurated on 19 November 2009. The site, which was made available by France's Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), will play an essential role in the setting up of the Galileo system, since it will accommodate the most comprehensive of the Galileo ground segment stations. The Kourou station will consist of a telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) station to monitor and control the Galileo constellation satellites, a sensor station (GSS) for acquisition of the satellite navigation signals, and two uplink stations (ULS) for transmission of navigation and integrity messages to the satellites. The site was inaugurated in the presence of René Oosterlinck, Director of the Galileo program and navigation-related activities at ESA, and of Joël Barre, Director of CNES/CSG. Credits: ESA/CNES/ARIANESPACE - Photo Optique Video CSG, P. Baudon, 2009 http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789447/inauguration_galileo_station_site_at_kourou/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:15:37 -0500 Space Image Caption: Artist's impression of SMOS in orbit. SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), an ESA Earth Explorer satellite, was launched into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Monday 2 November 2009. Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1788837/smos_instrument_comes_alive/index.html?source=r_space Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0500 Space Image Caption: This mosaic of images from the Spirit rover, taken on Sol 1925 (June 2, 2009), helped engineers assess the rover's state and plan Spirit's extraction from the soft soil at the site called "Troy." The images were taken by Spirit's microscopic imager instrument, mounted on the end of the robotic arm. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/USGS http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1788635/second_planned_extrication_drive_for_stuck_spirit/index.html?source=r_space Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:19:17 -0500 Space Information field theory enables astronomers, medical practitioners and geologists to look into places where their measuring instruments are blindA bit of imagination on the part of a measuring instrument wouldn’t be a bad thing. It could help to add data from areas where the instrument is unable to measure. However, it must do so constructively. In order to infer missing data in an astronomical measurement with more than just imagination, physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics have formulated a theory of spatial perception called information field theory. The scientists have developed a series of rules for reconstituting incomplete and noisy image data. Furthermore, they have established the various conditions under which the rules should be applied. They draw on a mathematical algorithm that particle physicists use in quantum field theory. The theory could also help to create images in the areas of medicine, geology and materials sciences. (Phys. Rev. D, online publication, 9 November 2009)Sometimes we hear or see what we think makes sense: we can recognize a cup even if we only see a single detail. And we understand someone mumbling on the phone more clearly if we are already familiar with their voice. It’s the expectation of a sensory impression that makes life easier for magicians, too, when they make a ball disappear by throwing it up in the air: our eyes follow the ball that we think should be flying through the air, but the conjurer only pretended to throw the ball and actually hid it instead.A measuring instrument should be safe from such illusions - on the one hand. But on the other hand, it would certainly be helpful if scientists could add data in places where it cannot be measured: for instance, when they want to take a picture of the universe behind the Milky Way, which telescopes are unable to penetrate. To enable them to draw conclusions about astronomical blind spots, Torsten Enßlin and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching have developed a clever system, which they call information field theory (IFT)."We add the missing data on the basis of the existing measuring points around the edge of the blind spot," says Torsten Enßlin, who heads a research group at the Garching-based Institute on the cosmic microwave background, the relic radiation from the Big Bang: "These conclusions are more or less uncertain, of course." Yet adding data in a way that appears to make sense is not enough to avoid reaching a wrong conclusion: "Our theory also calculates precisely how uncertain the statements are," says Enßlin. Using this method, the scientists partially completed measurements of the cosmic microwave background, a radiation echo of the Big Bang, behind the Milky Way, where even the most clear-sighted telescope is blind.IFT is based on the responses to two questions, which the system must answer for each unknown point. If the researchers want to reconstruct the microwave background on the basis of measuring data, for example, they first ask: How probable are the measured data? Then they ask: How probable are our assumptions on the microwave background? These two probabilities determine how plausible the respective images of the microwave background are in light of the data and prior knowledge. An optimal reconstruction lies in the middle of the probable images.The relationship between the signal sensitivity and the noise of the measuring instrument plays a decisive role in answering the first question. The noise disturbs the measurement, and at worst a physical measuring signal can get lost in the noise - like the static that distorts an analogue radio transmission with poor reception."The answer to the second question comes from the previous question; in other words, my expectation of a signal resulting from my prior knowledge," explains Torsten Enßlin. The signal corresponds to the reality of the data that the measuring instrument may only be able to reproduce with distortion. Correctly applying the expectation of a signal is a tricky business. "If I really want to see something, I choose a strong prior - but then I’m blind to everything else," says Enßlin. Up to now, scientists often constructed their expectations of measuring data more or less randomly and equally randomly decided how strongly they should be incorporated into a data point. Information theory, on the other hand, precisely regulates how expectations should be formulated and also what weighting they should carry. "What’s new about our theory is that we can apply information theory to spatially distributed parameters - we call them fields - when we broaden them for the purposes of information field theory," says Enßlin.There is already a rule for supplementing incomplete spatially distributed data: the Wiener filter. Torsten Enßlin compares another scenario to explain how it works: "If you can see a lot of trees, you’re probably standing in a forest," he says: "Even if your sight is impaired, you can conclude that there is another tree standing next to all the trees you can see." The Wiener filter applies only under a number of conditions: the noise of the instrument must be independent of the signal’s strength, and the measuring instrument’s response to the signal must increase in a linear fashion, in other words, evenly in line with the increase in strength. And finally, the noise and the signal must follow Gaussian statistics, which are easy to apply mathematically. Information field theory incorporates the Wiener filter - as a simple special case.Often, at least one of these conditions is not met. "But because there was no theory for this case, physicists also applied the Wiener filter when they really shouldn’t have," says Torsten Enßlin. He and his colleagues have now created this theory. They formulated a description of how to proceed in individual cases in the form of Feynman diagrams - schematic drawings consisting of dots, lines and circles, which, if you know how to read them, reveal what mathematical operations need to be carried out. The physicist Richard Feynman developed this schematic code to record the goings-on in the world of the tiniest elements - such as what happens when two electrodes collide. Feynman thereby put his quantum field theory, which described such processes, into practice more or less clearly. And this was the inspiration behind information field theory. "At some point I had the feeling that I had to refresh my knowledge of quantum field theory," says Torsten Enßlin. So he waded through a textbook on the subject and came across a footnote explaining how human visual perception can be described as statistical field theory. "This gave me the idea to formulate information field theory, because we have measuring problems especially when researching cosmic microwave radiation and the distribution of matter in the universe. These can be very well described by statistical field theories," he says. "Someone could have come up with the idea earlier, but quantum physicists do not usually concern themselves with signal recognition and electrical engineers do not read books about quantum field theory".Since Torsten Enßlin’s work as a physicist was concerned with signal recognition, he developed a mathematical algorithm that can be of great help to many - and not only to astrophysicists. Medical practitioners would, in numerous cases, be able to make more precise diagnoses if the imaging procedures took a less limited perspective. And IFT could also help geologists locate mineral resources where measurements provide an incomplete picture. Torsten A. Ensslin, Mona Frommert, Francisco S. Kitaura. Information field theory for cosmological perturbation reconstruction and non-linear signal analysis. Physical Review D, online publication, November 9, 2009---Image 1: A complete picture of the galaxy despite incomplete data: The measurement does not cover all points (dark areas in the left-hand image) but the distribution of matter in a section of the universe can be partially reconstructed using the Wiener filter (right-hand image). Image: Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics / KitauraImage 2: Reconstructing data with lines and dots: Max Planck researchers have used Feynman diagrams to formulate what they need to do to create a complete picture from incomplete data. In the simplest case, known as the Wiener filter, you conclude point A from point B (left-hand image, a). It is more complex but also more reliable to reconstruct A if you consider information from points C and D in combination (b). The scientists use a loop to describe how the uncertainty surrounding point B affects point A (c). Depending on the conditions, the rules for reconstructing data can be very complex (right-hand image). Image: MPI for Astrophysics/Enßlin http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1790103/visual_assistance_for_cosmic_blind_spots/index.html?source=r_space Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:31:34 -0500 Space Congressman Bart Gordon and Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville will host a live conversation between more than 120 students and NASA astronaut Barry E. Wilmore on Sunday, Nov. 22. Wilmore is the pilot of space shuttle Atlantis, which launched Nov. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1788634/shuttle_pilot_set_to_talk_with_students_from_orbit/index.html?source=r_space Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:50:00 -0500 Space The 12 crew members aboard space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station will hold a news conference at 7:13 a.m. CST on Tuesday, Nov. 24.Reporters can ask questions from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Kennedy Space Center in Florida and headquarters in Washington. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1789336/space_station_space_shuttle_joint_crew_news_conference_tuesday/index.html?source=r_space Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:35:59 -0500 Space