December 12, 2016

Going to the edge of space with Dutch instruments

Filed under: General,Technology by Orangemaster @ 10:18 pm

IMG_5901

In a few days, weather permitting, NASA’s stratospheric balloon STO2 will be launched from Antarctica to the edge of space to measure cosmic far infrared radiation in order to find out more about how stars and planets come to be.

The STO2 design has been headed by the University of Arizona, with vital contributions from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Utrecht and Groningen) and Delft University of Technology.

One of the tools is a receiver at 4.7 terahertz, one of the three frequencies that help find the presence of elements in space, including electrically neutral atomic oxygen. The localisation of the latter can be achieved using a 4.7 terahertz receiver, the first time such a tool will be brought to the edge of space for an unrestricted view, for two weeks.

As well, The teams of Alexander Tielens (Leiden University) and Floris van der Tak (SRON/University of Groningen) will help analyse the observations.

(Link: phys.org)

Tags: , , , , , ,

August 23, 2016

Dutch experimental music to be sent into space

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 11:40 pm

IMG_5901

On 8 September the experimental sounds of Dutch composer Roland Kuit will be heard in space as part of the OSIRIS-REx NASA mission, which will travel to a near-Earth asteroid called ‘Bennu’ and bring a small sample back to Earth for study. The mission’s goal is to get more insight into the origin of life.

Kuit’s sounds will be placed on a chip that will be left on the asteroid, which will send his music into space, powered by solar energy. “I think it’s great that NASA uses science as a vehicle for art, as art is something that differentiates humans from the rest”, explains Kuit.

Listen to the space sounds of Ronald Kuit:

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/230769965″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

(Link: www.waarmaarraar.nl)

Tags: ,