Scientists retrieve capsule, seeking asteroid dust

clipped from news.yahoo.com ADELAIDE, Australia – A team of scientists flew to the Australian Outback on Monday and recovered a Japanese space capsule that they hope contains asteroid samples providing clues into the evolution of the solar system. The Hayabusa explorer returned to Earth overnight after a seven-year, 4-billion mile (6-billion kilometer) journey, burning apart on re-entry in a spectacular fireball just after jettisoning the capsule. It was the first time a spacecraft successfully landed on an asteroid and returned to Earth. The craft was designed to shoot a bullet into the surface of the asteroid that would crush and propel material through a long tube into a sample collection container. There is no certainty the bullet actually fired, scientists say, but they believe the impact of the tube's landing would have forced some material upward and into the collection chamber. "We have perhaps a 50 percent chance" of retrieving samples, Sakamoto said.

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Sun begins new solar cycle, flinging radiation at the Earth

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Ezekiel 38:18 “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ 21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”’

clipped from www.dw-world.de As a new solar cycle of activity begins this year, the Earth will once again be bombarded with increased radiation from the sun. This effect may damage satellites and interfere with GPS, television and communications. In ancient history, men would sometimes look up into the extreme northern or southern skies and see flickering green or blue lights shimmering across heavens. These auroras were often attributed to the gods, for what else could explain such displays? "Space weather can disable satellites, cause power grid failures and disrupt global positioning, television and telecommunication signals," the effect is caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with the Earth's magnetic field. But for hikers, drivers, pilots and ship's captains, perhaps the biggest concern is that interference from the solar radiation could mislead or disable their global positioning system (GPS) signal.

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