■ - nexus6

The seven-member crew of the next space shuttle mission:
Endeavours crew members are Commander Mark Polansky,
Pilot Doug Hurley
and Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy,
Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Tim Kopra
and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette.

06/10/09 -- Russian EVA-23
06/13/09 -- STS-127/Endeavour/2J/A launch - JEM EF, ELM-ES, ICC-VLD (7:12am)
06/29/09 -- STS-127/Endeavour/2J/A landing (12:18am EDT, KSC)
07/17/09 – Progress M-02M/33P undock & deorbit
07/20/09 -- Soyuz TMA-14/18S relocation (from SM aft to DC1)
07/24/09 -- Progress 34P launch"
http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/reports/iss_reports/

Keck Study Sheds New Light on 'Dark' Gamma-ray Bursts - NASA
"One possible explanation for dark bursts was that they were occurring so far away their visible light was completely extinguished," said Joshua Bloom, associate professor of astronomy at the University of California (UC), Berkeley and the study's senior author. Thanks to the expansion of the universe and a thickening fog of hydrogen gas at increasing cosmic distances, astronomers see no visible light from objects more than about 12.9 billion light-years away. Another possibility: Dark bursts were exploding in galaxies with unusually thick amounts of interstellar dust, which absorbed a burst's light but not its higher-energy radiation.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/keck_burst.html
“Dark” Gamma-Ray Bursts Shed Light on Star Formation | Universe Today
Gamma-ray bursts have been detected in infrared wavelengths as far out as 13.1 billion light-years. “If gamma-ray bursts were frequent 13 billion years ago ― less than a billion years after the universe formed ― we ought to be detecting large numbers of them,” explained team member S. Bradley Cenko, also at UC Berkeley. “We don’t, which indicates that the first stars formed at a less frenzied pace than some models suggested.”
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/08/%e2%80%9cdark%e2%80%9d-gamma-ray-bursts-shed-light-on-star-formation/

Radio Telescopes Extend Astronomy's Best "Yardstick," Provide Vital Tool for Unraveling Dark Energy Mystery
Radio astronomers have directly measured the distance to a faraway galaxy, providing a valuable "yardstick" for calibrating large astronomical distances and demonstrating a vital method that could help determine the elusive nature of the mysterious Dark Energy that pervades the Universe.
http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2009/megamaser/

Precision Technique Provides Vital Tool For Unraveling Mystery Of Dark Energy
Radio astronomers have directly measured the distance to a faraway galaxy, providing a valuable "yardstick" for calibrating large astronomical distances and demonstrating a vital method that could help determine the elusive nature of the mysterious Dark Energy that pervades the Universe.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608131140.htm
To 300 Million Light Years, and Beyond! A New Way To Measure Cosmic Distances
"TO 300 MILLION LIGHT YEARS, AND BEYOND! A NEW WAY TO MEASURE COSMIC DISTANCES"
Ohio State University astronomers are using the Large Binocular Telescope to look for ultra long period cepheid stars in galaxies such as M81, shown here. The stars could offer a new way to measure distances to objects in the universe
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/ladder.htm

Black hole diagram
McDonald Observatory
http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/gallery/image.php?id=191
Texas-Sized Computer Finds Most Massive Black Hole in Galaxy M87
http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2009/0608.html
Super-Size Me: Black Hole Bigger Than Previously Thought | Universe Today
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/08/super-size-me-black-hole-bigger-than-previously-thought/

perchlorate: 過塩素酸塩
"The researchers studied the properties of sodium and magnesium perchlorates, salts detected by the Phoenix lander, under the temperature, pressure and humidity conditions found at the landing site. The discovery of perchlorates on Mars by the Phoenix mission surprised scientists – the compounds are rare on Earth, found mostly in extremely arid environments such as the Atacama Desert in Chile."　 - University of Arkansas
http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/15090.htm
現在の火星にも液体の水が存在する可能性
"過塩素酸塩はひじょうに毒性が強いため、単純に考えれば生命には不利と言える。ただ、別の性質に注目すると興味深い結論が得られるようだ。"
http://www.astroarts.co.jp/news/2009/06/08liquid_on_mars/index-j.shtml

若田宇宙飛行士が国際宇宙ステーション（ISS）内を紹介
JAXA 34分00秒日時 2009/6/05
ソユーズ宇宙船・・・帰還モジュール、軌道モジュール（トイレ、ソコル宇宙服）
「ズヴェズダ」（ロシアのサービスモジュール）・・・トイレ、運動器具、個室、窓、食卓、フードウォーマー、給水装置、食料庫、酸素発生装置など
プログレス補給船
「ピアース」（ロシアのドッキング室）・・・オーラン宇宙服、窓
「ザーリャ」（基本機能モジュール）・・・水タンク、洗面台
「ユニティ」（第1結合部）・・・運動器具、窓
「クエスト」（エアロック）・・・船外活動ユニット
「デスティニー」（米国実験棟）・・・ISSのロボットアーム操作卓、トイレ、酸素発生装置、個室
「ハーモニー」（第2結合部）・・・個室、身長測定、宇宙ステーション補給機（HTV）ドッキングポート
「コロンバス」（欧州実験棟）・・・流体科学実験装置、生命科学装置、グローブボックス、生理学実験装置
「きぼう」日本実験棟・・・各実験装置
http://iss.jaxa.jp/library/video/mini_earth.html