Current Happenings In Astronomy And Space Related Occurances

The science of astronomy goes back as far as man does. Once tied closely to astrology, today it has become a serious science and hobby for millions of people. The current happenings in astronomy can be more entertaining than any Hollywood film. Australians were urged to look up and maybe duck in November when a 1400 LB Ammonia tank threatened to fall on them. Because it was too volatile to be carried on a re-entry craft, it was simply thrown into orbit. Since most of the Earth is water, the chances were much greater the chunks would land in the ocean than on land. On the plus side the Ammonia vapor that might result would clean people’s windows. Paul Hogan, the famous actor who played Crocodile Dundee, was unharmed. The Crocodile Hunter, however, was considered deceased after the incident. He was also deceased before the incident. Chinese astronauts were set to take the first space walk in that country’s history, launching in September 2008. Youtube video showed the festivities before the launch took place.

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No, the launch wasn’t faked. It was just a case of overzealous PR people. Still in China, a gigantic telescope is being erected near the site of the 2008 Olympic games. Revolutionary is the way this telescope tracks the sky – with two moving mirrors. This gives the telescope a unique look. Forget the dome, this telescope is a crooked pi symbol. Leave it to the Chinese to come up with something out of the ordinary. November 2008 also saw the launch of a satellite, in Kazakhstan. It’s a communications satellite called Astra-1M. Proton-M launched it into space. The satellite was designed and built in Europe. Astronomy hobbyists will love Worldwide Telescope. It was designed by Microsoft. It communicates with computers all over the world to bring amazing space images right to the desktop. It brings an observatory and the universe right to the desktop. Don’t expect any new discoveries, because this is all pre-existing data. So there are some of the current happenings in astronomy.

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