Our Cosmic Neighbors

Astronomers in Hawaii, California, and Arizona have discovered a solar system like ours only 54 light-years away. There is a planetary system orbiting a star, but it differs in that the three closest planets all orbit their sun in just 5, 15, and 24 days. This star and system was found using the Automated Planet Finder (APF) Telescope. The telescope measures the gravitational pull from the planets on the stars to map out the system's progress, then uses light to measure the validity of the planetary discoveries. APF is revolutionary because it is entirely automatic and needs to humans to function it. It will search for new planets every time there is a clear night, all night, without any humans. The star, named HD 7924, was first found with it's innermost planets in 2009. There have actually been discoveries of many thousand extra-solar planets, which have proven to be very common in our Milky Way. The discovery of a planetary system around HD 7924 is important because the three planets that are orbiting it are unlike anything that we have seen. Their masses are 7-8 times as much as the earth, with orbits that are extremely close to their sun.

This was an intriguing article to me because I love space exploration and wondering what's out there past what we know. I think that the invention of the APF is brilliant because now we can be looking for extraterrestrial systems and life 24/7, without the need of a human to be on guard. It's also extremely interesting that there are such varieties in the planetary systems throughout the universe. To imagine a planet that orbits it's sun in just 5 days, but still with the mass of 7-8 times of the Earth is just extraordinary to me. I can't even comprehend how many more planetary systems there must be out there, and with it, extraterrestrial life. 

SpaceX Attemps to Land a Rocket

Yesterday, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX as it is more commonly known, attempted to launch a rocket carrying supplies and equipment to the International Space Station (ISS). There are currently astronauts inhabiting the ISS for a one year journey, two of whom are Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko. The stage two Falcon-9 unmanned spacecraft that was sent up to them contained food, supplies, and materials for science experiments. This was just an ordinary rocket launch that went off without a hitch, and the craft should reach the ISS by Friday. What was unique about this launch was what SpaceX was trying to do afterwords. They were trying to land a rocket stage on a floating barge in the ocean. How the liftoff occurs is that the booster with nine engines controls the initial liftoff through the first 160 seconds of the flights. The booster then detaches from the capsule at the top, which was carrying two tons of cargo the the space station. After the booster runs out of fuel, it detaches from the capsule which has its own single engine to take it the rest of the way.


Now, what traditionally happens is the detached engines just crash into the sea. What SpaceX was trying to do was land the stage of the rocket on a barge in the ocean. Really, the only reason that they are trying to accomplish this is to save money. Elon Musk, the companies owner, says that if anyone can figure how to "reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred." Saving and reusing space equipment would cut down the cost of space travel so much so that space explorations would be much cheaper to commence. This attempt yesterday did end up in failure though. The rocket did hit the unmanned barge in the ocean, but it landed at a strange angle and exploded. This did not deter SpaceX though, who plans to keep trying at this until they succeed. The eventually want to be able to land rockets on land safely to be reused.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/science/spacex-comes-close-to-recovering-rocket.html?ref=space&gwh=2674928D8C955A888E6C882B2D4D4C3D&gwt=pay&_r=0

Robotic Planes

Planes are becoming more and more electronically controlled. Already, pilots are only flying the aircraft  about 7 minutes manually operating their aircraft. Commercial and cargo planes are controlled by an autopilot that tracks the position of the plane using motion sensors that is corrected by a GPS. Manually controlling the plane is becoming less and less needed. As there are already over 11,000 drones used in the military, the military has already invested in automated aircraft. But these drones are remotely controlled by a human on the ground. What is being developed right now for commercial airlines is, as the first step, a robot that will act in place of the co-pilot, being able to speak, listen, and control the aircraft and take over the flight in case of an emergency.The recent Germanwings crash has raised the question if there should be some way to instrumentally control the aircraft from outside the plane, as a group controller. This would give the person controlling the place from the ground the ability to guide the plane if the pilot become incapacitated.
I agree and disagree with what is happening on this matter and what is trying to be accomplished. I don't believe that human pilots can be entirely substituted for robots, for a few reasons. First, a robot doesn't have human senses. They cannot physically see what's in front of them, they can't smell a possible problem on board the craft, and they can't register the emotions of others on the plane. Another reason I believe that a plane piloted automatically would not work is because people would simply not trust a robot to fly them 1000 miles to their destination, and safely land them. I sure wouldn't. I'm suspicious of planes already, because when I think of how well regular electronics work, like my printer or computer, I'm amazing how rarely there is a problem with aircraft. I believe they could eventually get the robot pilot right, but not after a few failures, which could cost the lives of thousands of humans. Where I agree with this article is the part where the plane can be remotely controlled by humans on the ground. This would reduce the risk if the pilot becomes incapacitated or goes insane. If the worst comes to worst, which doesn't happen often, there is still a cool head on the ground who can guide the plane down.